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Below is one of our free research papers on The Growth Of Democracy. If the term paper below is not exactly what you're looking for, you can search our essay database for other topics.
The Growth of Democracy
In 1850, Britain was an undemocratic country. At this time the electoral system divided Boroughs and Counties. Voting qualifications were different in boroughs and constituencies. The vote was only given to men over the age of 21 providing their property was valued at £10 or more, or land was more than £2 per year in rent. Seats were distributed unequally and traditional ruling families usually formed the Cabinet. Furthermore, bribery and corruption were widespread and only the minority of the population were entitled to vote. At this time there was no form of a basic education for the population masses and there was still a lot of power lying within the House Of Lords and not with elected officials. A certain degree of money was necessary to stand for election because this was not a paying job, which, as a result stopped vast numbers of people standing for election because the did not have the finances to support themselves. Nor were they able to afford to stand for election as due to bribery and corruption, the poor stood no chance of winning as they did not have the money to provide voters with what they wanted in return for their support. For democracy, there needed to be regular elections and although at this time elections were every seven years, this was not often enough.
However between 1850 and 1918, progress was made towards Britain becoming a democracy. Now there was better communication and education increasing political inte...
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April 11, 2013
What makes two figures congruent? Find out in BrainPOP Jr.’s new math movie, Congruent and Similar Shapes. In the newest addition to BrainPOP Jr.’s Geometry unit, Annie and Moby explore geometry and learn about the properties of different shapes. They also guide students in comparing and contrasting the shapes and sizes of multiple figures. The movie’s visual explanation of congruent and similar shapes is a great support to reinforce your students’ understanding of geometry concepts.
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A Close-Up View of Mercury's Colors
October 30, 2008
- Date Acquired: October 6, 2008
- Instrument: Wide Angle Camera (WAC) of the Mercury Dual Imaging System (MDIS)
- Scale: The width of this scene is 620 kilometers (390 miles)
Of Interest: After MESSENGER made its closest approach to Mercury, flying just 200 kilometers (124 miles) above the surface, and as soon as the sunlit side of Mercury was fully in view, MDIS captured the highest-resolution color images ever obtained of Mercury (500 meters/pixel (0.3 miles/pixel)). This area was also seen by Mariner 10, whose lower-resolution two-color images hinted at the variety and nature of regions of different colors, and hence composition, on Mercury. Viewed here at high-resolution and in enhanced color, the relationship between the relatively young smooth plains on the left and older, dark blue material on the right is clear. The younger smooth plains cover the lower parts of rougher pre-existing topography and infill older craters, like the 120-kilometer (75-mile) diameter Rudaki crater lower-left of center. Dark, relatively blue material was ejected from the 105-kilometer (65-mile) diameter crater on the right side of the image, covering older smooth plains. A relatively young, small crater then excavated through this blue material to reveal the smooth plains beneath. This scene is centered at 4° South, 310° East and is outlined by a white rectangle on the enhanced color equatorial view of the side of Mercury seen during MESSENGER's second Mercury flyby.
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Nov. 7, 2010 For the first time, scientists have discovered that a poorly understood class of RNA produced in a mammal's cells during a respiratory virus attack may affect the outcome of the infection. Their findings are reported in mBio, a journal of the American Society for Microbiology.
RNA (ribonucleic acid) contains information transcribed from the cell's instruction manual, its DNA. The best known of these RNAs translate sections of DNA code into building blocks for proteins.
Most studies of how animals' cells respond to virus infection typically look at protein-coding genes, which produce germ-fighting or inflammation-producing substances. However, mammalian cells also transcribe thousands of other RNAs that don't code for proteins.
"The role of most of these non-protein-coding RNAs remains an enigma," noted lead author of the study Dr. Xinxia Peng, a computational research scientist in the Department of Microbiology, University of Washington (UW) School of Medicine in Seattle. Dr. Michael Katze, UW professor of microbiology, directed the project. Katze heads the Center for Systems and Translational Research on Infectious Disease (STRIDE).
"Some attention," Katze said, "has been given to small RNAs, like microRNAs, in host-virus interactions, but now it's becoming apparent that many long-non-protein coding RNAs -- bigger than 200 nucleotides -- are also biologically important."
Researchers are learning that long non-protein-coding RNAs have a wide variety of functions. A few examples are modifying chromosomes, regulating genes, influencing cell structure, and serving as precursors for small RNAs and microRNAs, which are involved in virus-host interactions.
The library of RNA transcripts inside of a cell is called its transcriptome, and is a reflection of gene activity. Many different RNAs can be read from a single gene. That is why a transcriptome contains much more complex instructions than seems possible from the DNA code. Unlike the genome, the transcriptome varies in different types of cells in the body and in accordance with ever-changing conditions inside and outside the cell. Peng recalled, "There were intensive discussions about what value the new whole-transcriptome analysis would add to our understanding of viral pathogenesis. After several exploratory analyses, we realized that many long non-protein coding RNAs also responded to SARS virus infection. We were so excited. The response had just been overlooked by people."
"People have not seriously looked at these long-non-protein coding RNAs during viral infection," Peng noted, "because so little is known about these RNAs in general and this type of RNA can't be monitored easily with typical technologies." Katze and his research team were able to use highly advanced technologies, namely next generation sequencing, to perform a whole-transcriptome analysis of the host response to severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV) infection. The study was conducted in four strains of mice, some more susceptible to this virus or to the flu virus than others.
Through a comprehensive computational analysis of the data, the researchers observed that virus infection triggered about 500 long non-protein coding RNAs transcribed from known locations on the genome and about 1,000 from previously unspecified genomic regions.
"Using this approach," Katze noted, "we demonstrated that virus infection alters the expression of numerous long non-protein coding RNAs. These findings suggest that these RNAs may be a new class of regulatory molecules that play a role in determining the outcome of infection." The long non-protein coding RNAs may be helping to manage the infected animal's response to the virus, including the basic, first-line defense against infection -- the animal's innate, or inborn, immunity.
Another important finding was that the strains of more susceptible mice had a common profile showing distinct rates of genetic activity. This profile contained unique "signatures" of non-protein coding RNA activity. These signatures were associated with lethal infection. Test-tube studies show that more that 40 percent of the long non-coding RNAs and genomic regions activated in a SARS infection were also activated in response to both influenza virus infection and interferon treatment.
This finding further pointed to a signature profile associated with pathogenicity -- the power of a virus-host interaction to cause disease.
"The relevance of long-non-protein coding RNAs to viral infections has not been systematically studied," said Dr. Paulene Quigley, program manager of the STRIDE center. " But now, with our ability to do whole-transcriptome analysis using next generation sequencing, we can systematically catalog and compare these long non-protein coding RNA in response to infection. What we are finding is very promising for infectious disease research."
These results, to the best of the scientists' knowledge, are the first to clearly demonstrate the widespread production and activation of long non-coding RNAs in response to virus infection. Their success opens new avenues for investigating the roles of long-non-protein coding RNAs in innate immunity to infection.
Exactly how the long-non-protein coding RNAs perform these functions is not yet known. It's possible that they might interact with protein complexes that modify gene expression during a viral infection. They might also modulate the host's response by regulating neighboring protein-coding genes.
"The functions of non-protein coding RNAs remain largely unexplored, but we now have the tools to study them," Katze said. "Such studies are critical, because non-protein coding RNAs may represent a whole new class of innate immunity signaling molecules, interferon-dependent regulators, or modulators of the host response during viral infection. They could also be a new class of biomarkers for infectious disease and for diagnostics development. Identifying similar profiles in response to lethal respiratory infections may even provide clues into the 'high-path' viral infection, one of the holy grails of virology. That's a big deal any way you slice it."
Highly pathogenic viruses causing life-threatening illnesses, like SARS or West Nile or pandemic flu, continue to emerge. Looking forward, a detailed knowledge of non-protein coding RNA regulation and function likely will be necessary for a full understanding of how viruses cause disease and how the body defends against or succumbs to viruses.
In addition to Peng and Katze, other researchers on the study are Lisa Gralinski, Department of Epidemiology, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill; Christopher S. Armour, Matthew C. Biery, and Christopher K. Raymond, all of NuGEN Technologies; Martin T. Ferris, Department of Genetics, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill; Matthew J. Thomas, Sean Proll, Birgit G. Bradel-Tretheway, Marcus J. Korth, all of the UW Department of Microbiology; John C. Castle, Institute for Translational Oncology and Immunology, Mainz, Germany; Heather K. Bouzek, UW Department of Microbiology, David. R. Haynor, UW Department of Radiology; Matthew B. Frieman, Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of Maryland, Baltimore; Mark Heise, Department of Genetics, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill; and Ralph S. Baric, Department of Epidemiology and Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.
The work was supported by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Department of Human Services, through grant U54 AI081680 (Pacific Northwest Regional Centers of Excellence) and contract no. HHSN272200800060C, a Systems Biology Approach for Infectious Disease Research.
Other social bookmarking and sharing tools:
- X. Peng, L. Gralinski, C. D. Armour, M. T. Ferris, M. J. Thomas, S. Proll, B. G. Bradel-Tretheway, M. J. Korth, J. C. Castle, M. C. Biery, H. K. Bouzek, D. R. Haynor, M. B. Frieman, M. Heise, C. K. Raymond, R. S. Baric, M. G. Katze. Unique Signatures of Long Noncoding RNA Expression in Response to Virus Infection and Altered Innate Immune Signaling. mBio, 2010; 1 (5): e00206-10 DOI: 10.1128/mBio.00206-10
Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.
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Read About Best Practices in Small-Group Reading
This module explores small-group reading and its benefits for grades 38. You will examine the many aspects of small-group reading: appropriate texts, small-group reading sequence, flexible grouping, and teaching for comprehension.
Small-group reading is an assisted literary experience in which the teacher supports and guides students on their instructional level before, during, and after reading. The instructional level of students is assessed through teacher observation and ongoing evaluations such as informal reading inventories. This flexible, small-group setting allows the teacher to match students reading abilities to appropriate reading materials, observe students reading behaviors, and model specific reading behaviors and strategies in context. Each small group consists of two to six students who are reading on the same level or have the same instructional need. The teacher helps students develop an understanding of the text and prompts them to apply strategies to monitor and improve their comprehension.
The goal of small-group reading is to develop independent readers who think about what they are reading and know how to use a variety of strategies to gain and maintain meaning before, during, and after reading. Small-group reading is a time for students to take on more responsibility for their learning with the teacher as a safety net. She scaffolds, supports, and challenges students learning through explicit use of instructional texts. Students read assigned text silently while practicing the strategy or strategies. Then they discuss their thinking, all the while becoming better readers and building confidence and self-esteem about themselves as readers.
To select appropriate texts for each group, teachers should know:
Knowing The Students
Students enjoy reading books about topics in which they are interested. They read fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and biographies. Conducting a reading survey at the beginning of the school year will help teachers learn more about their students interests. Teachers also need to know students reading strengths and weaknesses, which can be identified through informal reading inventories (IRIs). IRIs such as Flynt-Cooter, QRI-III, and DRA help teachers determine independent and instructional reading levels and specific reading behaviors.
Available Texts, Including Nonfiction
Though often overlooked, an important factor when choosing appropriate small-group reading books is being familiar with small-group reading books on the campus. Many schools have literacy libraries or book rooms where all small-group readers are located. Teachers should take the time to become familiar with these books. Since book titles do not offer enough information as to the subject of the book or what strategies might be taught with the book, it is wise to skim as many books as possible with every book room visit. A quick way to get to know many books in a short amount of time is to split the book room into section with each teammate reviewing a different section of the room; then debrief together and talk about what was found. Ask each other questions such as: What level of books did you review? What supports and challenges did the books have? Did the book contain boldfaced words with definitions in context? What comprehension strategy could you teach with the books? Did the books have skills guides? What were the content-related topics connected with the book?
Many schools do not have a literacy library due to space. If this is the case, locate where small-group reading books are housed and become familiar with them.
Though intermediate teachers can teach fiction, the push for nonfiction is greater in the intermediate grades than it is in the primary grades. Intermediate students are learning more complex content and must acquire the necessary skills and strategies to access difficult nonfiction text. With fiction, the storyline keeps readers engaged. One part of the story leads to another part of the story and so on. With nonfiction, the connection between concepts even within the same content is often difficult for adults to grasp. For example, in science class the concept is space exploration. Within space exploration are any number of connected sub-concepts. Intermediate students do not necessarily see these connections. Using nonfiction during small group reading can assist students in seeing the concepts bigger picture.
Many students also struggle with nonfiction vocabulary. They may learn and practice content-area vocabulary in isolation during social studies and science, but when encountered in nonfiction text, they struggle. Small-group nonfiction readers scaffold vocabulary for students within context.
Students also need practice interpreting nonfiction text features such as graphs, charts, timelines, and labeled diagrams. Teachers can plan specific small-group reading lessons for particular nonfiction text features.
Text Gradient and Difficulty
A gradient of text (Fountas and Pinnell, 2001) is the ordering of books to a specific set of characteristics. Gradient means ascending or descending in a consistent way so that each gradient is defined in relation to each other. As the gradient increases, text becomes more difficult. As the gradient decreases, text becomes easier. Many companies identify each level of gradient with a letter, others use a number, and others use both. Some companies simply correlate their books to grade levels. For example, Benchmark Education Company™ has the following text gradient.
WarningIt is very common for teachers to identify students reading levels and correlate them to text gradient levels. Remember that levels are a starting place when selecting appropriate small-group reading material. Students cannot be identified merely as a level P or S. All factors, including the book's supports and challenges, text structures and features, and student interests must be considered before choosing any book. Bottom linestudents must be able to access the text; otherwise the book is inappropriate.
Text difficulty is measured by its internal structure factors such as:
Teachers choose books that match students strengths and abilities using these internal factors. Text difficulty can also be divided into text supports and challenges. A support is anything in the text that offers support for the reader. A challenge is anything in the text that the student will probably need assistance with. A support for one child may be a challenge for another child.
The Reading Process
The final, and possibly most important, part of choosing books is knowing the reading process. Teachers who know the reading process are better equipped to choose appropriate small-group reading books because they understand how students learn to read. These teachers set a focus for lessons (comprehension strategies, vocabulary strategies, writing strategies) because they understand reading behaviors over time and supports and challenges that will benefit each group. See the module on Reading Process and Reading Behaviors Over Time for more information.
Putting It All Together
Once teachers have gathered all information, use the following questions to guide your choice. (Dorn, et al. 1998):
Just like a lesson sequence, small-group reading has a very distinct sequence with each component building off the others. The small-group reading sequence is:
Build Background/Link to Prior Knowledge
Students should know something about the topic they are reading or have knowledge built into their schema. There are many activities to build background and link to prior knowledge. The following are a few examples:
In the intermediate grades, introducing a small-group reader does not necessarily mean conducting a book walk. It can mean having students browse the book looking for something specific assigned by the teacher. The following are a few examples of book introductions for intermediate readers:
At the end of a book introduction, offer a short synopsis of the book.
After the building background knowledge/activating prior knowledge, teachers can model the strategy or strategies that students will use for that lesson. It is easy to assume that students do not need to see the teacher model the strategy because it may have been modeled during read aloud and/or shared reading. Keep in mind that many students need to see the strategy(ies) modeled through a teacher think-aloud in a small-group setting.
A modeling lesson might look something like this: (From Gold Rush, level R/40)
Identify Cause-and-Effect Relationships
Identify Cause-and-Effect Relationships
After modeling, students are prepared to find cause-and-effect relationships in pairs and on their own.
Silent Reading for a Purpose
When the group next meets, the teacher reviews the lesson from the previous day, assigns the next chunk of text, and provides a purpose for reading which connects to the strategy: a cause-and-effect relationship for this book. Students read the assigned text SILENTLY, (not whisper read nor round robin). Students use self-stick notes or readers journals to jot down ideas connected to the purpose.
Teacher and Students Debrief
When students have completed the reading assignment, the teacher debriefs with the students. Students share how they used the strategy and what questions they have. The teacher can make comments about how students were using the strategy. The teacher may also help students complete a section of the graphic organizer. By the end of the book, the graphic organizer has been completed and teachers can show students how to make inferences or draw conclusions from the information.
Just as the lesson sequence has before, during, and after components, so does the small group reading sequence. Every time students meet in their small group, the teacher guides them through before, during, and after activities. Before and after activities can be as simple as reviewing and debriefing. During activities can be build background/activate prior knowledge lessons, book introductions, or actually reading chunks of the book. See the sample schedule below to better understand before, during, and after activities.
Day 1-Activate Prior Knowledge
BeforeOffer information about the books topic.
DuringProvide Activate Prior Knowledge activity.
AfterDebrief student responses from activity.
Use a book introduction activity.
Day 2-Chunk 1 (Chapters 1 and 2)
BeforeOffer information about the strategy.
DuringModel the strategy using a graphic organizer if applicable.
AfterDebrief the strategy modeled. Teacher and students can ask questions about the strategy. Jot down questions to review during the next lesson.
Day 3-Chunk 2 (Chapters 3 and 4)
BeforeReview questions and comments from yesterday. Also review the strategy and offer a purpose for reading.
DuringAsk students to read the chunk silently using self-stick notes or the readers journal to write thoughts to place on graphic organizer.
AfterDebrief with students about how they read for a purpose. Complete graphic organizer section for that chunk.
Day 4-Chunk 3 (Chapters 4 and 5)
BeforeReview strategy and tell students that they will read silently for a purpose and use the strategy. Provide purpose.
DuringStudents read silently following day 3s format.
AfterDebrief with students following day 3s format.
Day 5-After the Book is Complete
BeforeReview the strategy and book by using the graphic organizer. Assign an after reading activity and remind students how to complete the activity.
DuringStudents complete after book reading activity.
Note: The activity may take more than one day to complete.
Notice that every days lesson has before/during/after components. The book, too, has before/during/after components. Build Background/Activate Prior Knowledge (Day 1) occurs before the book. Reading the book (Days 24) occurs during the book. After the Book activity (Day 5) occurs after the book.
Finally, at the end of every days lesson, teachers jot down what they are seeing their students doing during small group reading. They should ask themselves questions such as:
Before the Book: What do I think this student already knows about the topic and strategy? What do his responses to this activity tell me about what he knows? What more do I need to do to help him understand the topic?
During the Book: How is he progressing with this strategy? What questions did he have? What do those questions tell me about this students knowledge of the strategy?
After the Book: What evidence do I have to support the conclusion that he does or does not understand this strategy? If there is a problem, what can I do about it?
As the teacher observes and documents the progress of her students, she may occasionally move a student from one group to another based on the evidence shes gathered during small and whole group instruction, as well as independent activities. This type of flexible grouping allows the teacher to adapt instruction to meet the needs of each student rather than having a group of students follow the same path. A teacher should trust her instincts about a student whom she wishes to move. Try the move. If the new groups work is too hard or easy, return the student to his former group.
In intermediate grades, many students are considered good readers if they can read aloud with few or no mistakes. Though fluency is a part of reading, if students are not gaining and maintaining meaning, they are not reading. They are word calling. Good readers:
Good readers use all the above strategies to comprehend text. Comprehending text requires taking it apart (analyzing) and putting it back together (synthesizing) to create meaning that is specific to the student. Teachers can assist students comprehension of text by using graphic organizers and prompts during small group reading lessons. A few sample graphic organizers are identified below:
Main Idea and Supporting Details
When used in a small-group setting, this graphic organizer provides the teacher with information on how well students process information. Some students can generate a main idea but cannot identify the supporting details. They may write any detail on the graphic organizer because the detail was on the page. Clearly those students do not know the difference between supporting details and just any details. Teachers should ask themselves the following question. If a student cannot identify how he determined the main idea, then how does he know that he is right? The answer is he does not know if he is right. If this problem arises, the teacher should conduct a few mini-lessons on supporting details versus any details.
All of the graphic organizers shown below are excellent ways to analyze both science and social studies content such as the Civil War, Westward Expansion, space exploration, and conservation.
Webbing is an excellent way to explain events.
Teacher prompts used often enough and at appropriate times become independent student prompts.
1. The author gives me a picture in my mind when he describes…
2. I can really see what the author is talking about when he …
3. I can draw a picture of what the author is describing.
Determine Text Importance
Monitor Comprehension and Fix-Up Strategies Prompts
Set a Purpose for Reading
I Need To Know When Im Confused
I Need to Know What to do About My Confusion
Teachers can and should keep observation notes of each child during and after small-group reading. These observation notes help the teacher determine:
A simple way to manage observation notes is to make a file folder for each group. As the teacher observes the group during small-group reading, she writes brief notes in the folder. Students do not know what or whom she is writing about. The information is confidential, but is a wonderful source of information for parent conferences, principal conferences, ARD meetings, or GT meetings.
Sample Lesson Plan
Introduce the Book
Draw students attention to the front cover of the book. Read the title together. Turn to the back of the book and read the blurb and author information. Examine the table of contents. Page through the book, looking at the illustrations. While previewing, pose the following questions to encourage students to think about the text before reading.
Set a Purpose for Reading
Explain that as they read, students will be encouraged to make personal connections with the text. They will need to incorporate new ideas with prior knowledge to gain insight and draw conclusions.
Introduce the Graphic Organizer
Provide each student with a copy of the Drawing Conclusions from Key Ideas graphic organizer. This reading exercise will challenge students to synthesize information as they read. Their objective is to identify key ideas in sections of text, then concisely explain the meaning of each idea they decide is important to list. Instruct students to write the key idea in the first column. The second-column responses may include a variety of ideas, but youll want to encourage readers to synthesize the information using all their reading comprehension strategies so that they can draw conclusions.
Note: different graphic organizers will be used for different skills
Read the Text
Use the following prompt to set a purpose for the reading: As you read, think about the information the author is presenting. What does she want you to know? What is the authors purpose for writing this book?
Ask students to read the chapters independently. Invite them to use self-stick notes to flag sections of the text that support their ideas about the authors purpose. Also ask them to highlight key ideas for their graphic organizers, as well as any unfamiliar words they encounter. When the group has finished, use the activities below to focus on skills, strategies, and text and graphic features of the book.
Focus on Comprehension
Discuss the Authors Purpose
Invite student to share their ideas about the authors purpose. Invite them to point out examples from the text that helped them figure it out. If students have difficulty, use a think-aloud to model how a good reader thinks through authors purpose.
Reading the introduction really helped me understand the authors purpose. First she explains what a/an ______________________is. Then she lists the things she is going to cover in the book.
Begin the Graphic Organizer
Ask students to reread or skim and scan the text to locate information for the graphic organizer. Help students get started by modeling the first key idea. Read the introduction together. Explain that when you cant infer meaning from the title, you can read the first few sentences to determine the key point. Students should recognize that the main topic is ______________. Model the thinking process by asking: Why are _____________ important? What does the author tell you and what personal knowledge do you have about emotions? What meaning can you take away from this text? Students should put their responses in the second column.
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Estuaries form a transition zone between river environments and maritime environments and are subject to both marine influences, such as tides, waves, and the influx of saline water; and riverine influences, such as flows of fresh water and sediment. The inflows of both sea water and fresh water provide high levels of nutrients in both the water column and sediment, making estuaries among the most productive natural habitats in the world.
Most existing estuaries were formed during the Holocene epoch by the flooding of river-eroded or glacially scoured valleys when the sea level began to rise about 10,000-12,000 years ago. Estuaries are typically classified by their geomorphological features or by water circulation patterns and can be referred to by many different names, such as bays, harbors, lagoons, inlets, or sounds, although some of these water bodies do not strictly meet the above definition of an estuary and may be fully saline.
The banks of many estuaries are amongst the most heavily populated areas of the world, with about 60% of the world's population living along estuaries and the coast. As a result, many estuaries are suffering degradation by many factors, including sedimentation from soil erosion from deforestation, overgrazing, and other poor farming practices; overfishing; drainage and filling of wetlands; eutrophication due to excessive nutrients from sewage and animal wastes; pollutants including heavy metals, polychlorinated biphenyls, radionuclides and hydrocarbons from sewage inputs; and diking or damming for flood control or water diversion.
The word "estuary" is derived from the Latin word aestuarium meaning tidal inlet of the sea, which in itself is derived from the term aestus, meaning tide. There have been many definitions proposed to describe an estuary. The most widely accepted definition is: "a semi-enclosed coastal body of water, which has a free connection with the open sea, and within sea water is measurably diluted with freshwater derived from land drainage". However, this definition excludes a number of coastal water bodies such as coastal lagoons and brackish seas. A more comprehensive definition of an estuary is "a semi-enclosed body of water connected to the sea as far as the tidal limit or the salt intrusion limit and receiving freshwater runoff; however the freshwater inflow may not be perennial, the connection to the sea may be closed for part of the year and tidal influence may be negligible". This definition includes classical estuaries[clarification needed] as well as fjords, lagoons, river mouths, and tidal creeks. An estuary is a dynamic ecosystem with a connection with the open sea through which the sea water enters with the rhythm of the tides. The sea water entering the estuary is diluted by the fresh water flowing from rivers and streams. The pattern of dilution varies between different estuaries and depends on the volume of fresh water, the tidal range, and the extent of evaporation of the water in the estuary.
Classification based on geomorphology
Drowned river valleys
Their width-to-depth ratio is typically large, appearing wedge-shaped in the inner part and broadening and deepening seaward. Water depths rarely exceed 30 m (100 ft). Examples of this type of estuary in the U.S. are the Hudson River, Chesapeake Bay, and Delaware Bay along the Mid-Atlantic coast; and along the Gulf coast, Galveston Bay and Tampa Bay.
Lagoon-type or bar-built
These estuaries are semi-isolated from ocean waters by barrier beaches (barrier islands and barrier spits). Formation of barrier beaches partially encloses the estuary, with only narrow inlets allowing contact with the ocean waters. Bar-built estuaries typically develop on gently sloping plains located along tectonically stable edges of continents and marginal sea coasts. They are extensive along the Atlantic and Gulf coasts of the U.S. in areas with active coastal deposition of sediments and where tidal ranges are less than 4 m (13 ft). The barrier beaches that enclose bar-built estuaries have been developed in several ways:
- building up of offshore bars by wave action, in which sand from the sea floor is deposited in elongated bars parallel to the shoreline,
- reworking of sediment discharge from rivers by wave, current, and wind action into beaches, overwash flats, and dunes,
- engulfment of mainland beach ridges (ridges developed from the erosion of coastal plain sediments around 5000 years ago) due to sea level rise and resulting in the breaching of the ridges and flooding of the coastal lowlands, forming shallow lagoons, and
- elongation of barrier spits from the erosion of headlands due to the action of longshore currents, with the spits growing in the direction of the littoral drift.
Barrier beaches form in shallow water and are generally parallel to the shoreline, resulting in long, narrow estuaries. The average water depth is usually less than 5 m (16 ft), and rarely exceeds 10 m (33 ft). Examples of bar-built estuaries are Barnegat Bay, New Jersey; Laguna Madre, Texas; and Pamlico Sound, North Carolina.
Fjord-type estuaries are formed in deeply eroded valleys formed by glaciers. These U-shaped estuaries typically have steep sides, rock bottoms, and underwater sills contoured by glacial movement. The estuary is shallowest at its mouth, where terminal glacial moraines or rock bars form sills that restrict water flow. In the upper reaches of the estuary, the depth can exceed 300 m (1,000 ft). The width-to-depth ratio is generally small. In estuaries with very shallow sills, tidal oscillations only affect the water down to the depth of the sill, and the waters deeper than that may remain stagnant for a very long time, so there is only an occasional exchange of the deep water of the estuary with the ocean. If the sill depth is deep, water circulation is less restricted, and there is a slow but steady exchange of water between the estuary and the ocean. Fjord-type estuaries can be found along the coasts of Alaska, the Puget Sound region of western Washington state, British Columbia, eastern Canada, Greenland, Iceland, New Zealand, and Norway.
These estuaries are formed by subsidence or land cut off from the ocean by land movement associated with faulting, volcanoes, and landslides. Inundation from eustatic sea level rise during the Holocene Epoch has also contributed to the formation of these estuaries. There are only a small number of tectonically produced estuaries; one example is the San Francisco Bay, which was formed by the crustal movements of the San Andreas fault system causing the inundation of the lower reaches of the Sacramento and San Joaquin rivers.
Classification based on water circulation
In this type of estuary, river output greatly exceeds marine input and tidal effects have a minor importance. Fresh water floats on top of the seawater in a layer that gradually thins as it moves seaward. The denser seawater moves landward along the bottom of the estuary, forming a wedge-shaped layer that is thinner as it approaches land. As a velocity difference develops between the two layers, shear forces generate internal waves at the interface, mixing the seawater upward with the freshwater. An example of a salt wedge estuary is the Mississippi River.
As tidal forcing increases, river output becomes less than the marine input. Here, current induced turbulence causes mixing of the whole water column such that salinity varies more longitudinally rather than vertically, leading to a moderately stratified condition. Examples include the Chesapeake Bay and Narragansett Bay.
Tidal mixing forces exceed river output, resulting in a well mixed water column and the disappearance of the vertical salinity gradient. The freshwater-seawater boundary is eliminated due to the intense turbulent mixing and eddy effects. The lower reaches of the Delaware Bay and the Raritan River in New Jersey are examples of vertically homogenous estuaries.
Inverse estuaries occur in dry climates where evaporation greatly exceeds the inflow of fresh water. A salinity maximum zone is formed, and both riverine and oceanic water flow close to the surface towards this zone. This water is pushed downward and spreads along the bottom in both the seaward and landward direction. An example of an inverse estuary is Spencer Gulf, South Australia.
(See also Estuarine water circulation)
The most important variable characteristics of estuary water are the concentration of dissolved oxygen, salinity and sediment load. There is extreme spatial variability in salinity, with a range of near zero at the tidal limit of the tributary river(s) to 3.4% at the estuary mouth. At any one point the salinity will vary considerably over time and seasons, making it a harsh environment for organisms. Sediment often settles in intertidal mudflats which are extremely difficult to colonize. No points of attachment exist for algae, so vegetation based habitat is not established[clarification needed]. Sediment can also clog feeding and respiratory structures of species, and special adaptations exist within mudflat species to cope with this problem. Lastly, dissolved oxygen variation can cause problems for life forms. Nutrient-rich sediment from man-made sources can promote primary production life cycles, perhaps leading to eventual decay removing the dissolved oxygen from the water; thus hypoxic or anoxic zones can develop.
Implications for marine life
Estuaries provide habitats for a large number of organisms and support very high productivity. Estuaries provide habitats for many fish nurseries, depending upon their locations in the world, such as salmon and sea trout. Also, migratory bird populations, such as the black-tailed godwit, Limosa limosa islandica make essential use of estuaries.
Two of the main challenges of estuarine life are the variability in salinity and sedimentation. Many species of fish and invertebrates have various methods to control or conform to the shifts in salt concentrations and are termed osmoconformers and osmoregulators. Many animals also burrow to avoid predation and to live in the more stable sedimental environment. However, large numbers of bacteria are found within the sediment which have a very high oxygen demand. This reduces the levels of oxygen within the sediment often resulting in partially anoxic conditions, which can be further exacerbated by limited water flux.
Phytoplankton are key primary producers in estuaries. They move with the water bodies and can be flushed in and out with the tides. Their productivity is largely dependant upon the turbidity of the water. The main phytoplankton present are diatoms and dinoflagellates which are abundant in the sediment.
As ecosystems, estuaries are under threat from human activities such as pollution and overfishing. They are also threatened by sewage, coastal settlement, land clearance and much more. Estuaries are affected by events far upstream, and concentrate materials such as pollutants and sediments. Land run-off and industrial, agricultural, and domestic waste enter rivers and are discharged into estuaries. Contaminants can be introduced which do not disintegrate rapidly in the marine environment, such as plastics, pesticides, furans, dioxins, phenols and heavy metals.
Such toxins can accumulate in the tissues of many species of aquatic life in a process called bioaccumulation. They also accumulate in benthic environments, such as estuaries and bay muds: a geological record of human activities of the last century.
Estuaries tend to be naturally eutrophic because land runoff discharges nutrients into estuaries. With human activities, land run-off also now includes the many chemicals used as fertilizers in agriculture as well as waste from livestock and humans. Excess oxygen depleting chemicals in the water can lead to hypoxia and the creation of dead zones. This can result in reductions in water quality, fish, and other animal populations.
Overfishing also occurs. Chesapeake Bay once had a flourishing oyster population which has been almost wiped out by overfishing. Historically the oysters filtered the estuary's entire water volume of excess nutrients every three or four days. Today that process takes almost a year, and sediment, nutrients, and algae can cause problems in local waters. Oysters filter these pollutants, and either eat them or shape them into small packets that are deposited on the bottom where they are harmless.
- Albemarle Sound
- Amazon River
- The Golden Horn
- Chesapeake Bay
- Delaware Bay
- Drake's Estero
- Gippsland Lakes
- Great Bay
- Gulf of Saint Lawrence
- Hampton Roads
- Laguna Madre
- Lake Borgne
- Lake Pontchartrain
- Long Island Sound
- Mobile Bay
- Narragansett Bay
- New York-New Jersey Harbor
- Ob River
- Puget Sound
- Pamlico Sound
- Port Jackson (Sydney Harbour)
- Rio de la Plata
- San Francisco Bay
- Shannon Estuary
- Thames Estuary
- Pritchard, D. W. (1967). "What is an estuary: physical viewpoint". In Lauf, G. H. Estuaries. A.A.A.S. Publ. 83. Washington, DC. pp. 3–5.
- McLusky, D. S.; Elliott, M. (2004). The Estuarine Ecosystem: Ecology, Threats and Management. New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-852508-7.
- Wolanski, E. (2007). Estuarine Ecohydrology. Amsterdam: Elsevier. ISBN 978-0-444-53066-0.
- Kunneke, J. T.; Palik, T. F. (1984). "Tampa Bay environmental atlas". U.S. Fish Wildl. Serv. Biol. Rep. 85 (15): 3. Retrieved January 12, 2010.
- Kennish, M. J. (1986). Ecology of Estuaries. Volume I: Physical and Chemical Aspects. Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press. ISBN 0-8493-5892-2.
- Wolanski, E. (1986). "An evaporation-driven salinity maximum zone in Australian tropical estuaries". Estuarine, Coastal, and Shelf Science 22 (4): 415–424. Bibcode:1986ECSS...22..415W. doi:10.1016/0272-7714(86)90065-X.
- Tomczak, M. (2000). "Oceanography Notes Ch. 12: Estuaries". Retrieved 30 November 2006.
- Day, J. H. (1981). Estuarine Ecology. Rotterdam: A. A. Balkema. ISBN 90-6191-205-9.
- Kaiser; et al. (2005). Marine Ecology. Processes, Systems and Impacts. New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 019924975X.
- Gillanders, Bronwyn M. (2003). Evidence of connectivity between juvenile and adult habitats for mobile marine fauna: an important component of nurseries. Marine Ecology Progress Series.
- Gill, Jennifer A. (2001). "The buffer effect and large-scale population regulation in migratory birds". Nature 412 (6845): 436–438. doi:10.1038/35086568.
- Ross, D. A. (1995). Introduction to Oceanography. New York: Harper Collins College Publishers. ISBN 978-0-673-46938-0.
- "Estuaries tutorial". NOAA. Retrieved March 25, 2008.
- Branch, G. (1999). "Estuarine vulnerability and ecological impacts: Estuaries of South Africa, edited by Brian R. Allanson and Dan Baird". Trends in Ecology & Evolution 14 (12): 499. doi:10.1016/S0169-5347(99)01732-2.
- "Indigenous Peoples of the Russian North, Siberia and Far East: Nivkh" by Arctic Network for the Support of the Indigenous Peoples of the Russian Arctic
- Gerlach (1981). Marine Pollution. Berlin: Springer. ISBN 0387109404.
- "Oyster Reefs: Ecological importance". US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Retrieved 2008-01-16.
|Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Estuaries|
|Look up estuary in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.|
- Animated documentary on Chesapeake Bay NOAA.
- "Habitats: Estuaries - Characteristics". www.onr.navy.mil. Retrieved 2009-11-17
- The Estuary Guide (Based on experience and R&D within the UK).
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The Canary Islands are in the oil industry’s crosshairs, and that spells danger for the area’s marine habitats and wildlife.
In a new report, Oceana has denounced oil prospecting plans in the Canary Islands, highlighting the dangerous impact of these activities on cold-water coral reefs, deep sponge fields, hydrothermal vents, and nearly 100 protected species.
Spanish oil company Repsol is planning to prospect in the Canary Islands Channel, located off the northwest coast of Africa. The channel contains gas-based habitats that are protected under the Habitats Directive. These habitats support coral and sponge communities that would be destroyed by oil prospecting activity.
A total of 25 protected areas and 82 endangered species would be threatened by Repsol’s prospecting activities. These include sea turtles, short finned pilot whales, angel sharks, bottlenose dolphins, and a variety of fish.
The International Maritime Organization has declared the Canary Islands a Particularly Sensitive Area for its biological wealth and its economic dependence. This status affords the islands’ strict protection in terms of waste and pollution.
The Canary Islands is an archipelago supported by fishing and tourism. Both of these industries rely on the islands’ high biodiversity—more than 600 species and 350 communities and habitats. Oil prospecting would interfere with fishing and tourism, and reduce the biodiversity of the area.
We'll be sure to keep you posted!
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On This Page
EPA is taking a common-sense approach to developing standards for greenhouse gas emissions from mobile and stationary sources under the Clean Air Act. Below are the key proposed or completed actions taken to implement Clean Air Act requirements for carbon pollution and other greenhouse gases.
A summary of EPA's efforts to reduce carbon pollution is also available in testimony by Gina McCarthy, Assistant Administrator for EPA's Office of Air and Radiation, to Congress on June 29, 2012. (16 pp,105 K, About PDF)
Greenhouse Gas Endangerment Findings
On December 7, 2009, Administrator Lisa Jackson signed a final action, under Section 202(a) of the Clean Air Act, finding that six key well-mixed greenhouse gases constitute a threat to public health and welfare, and that the combined emissions from motor vehicles cause and contribute to the climate change problem. Learn more about the Greenhouse Gas Endangerment and Cause or Contribute Findings.
EPA and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) are taking coordinated steps to enable the production of a new generation of clean vehicles-- from the smallest cars to the largest trucks--through reduced greenhouse gas emissions and improved fuel use. Together, the enacted and proposed standards are expected to save more than six billion barrels of oil through 2025 and reduce more than 3,100 million metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions. Learn more about standards and regulations for controlling greenhouse gas emissions from new motor vehicles and engines.
EPA is also responsible for developing and implementing regulations to ensure that transportation fuel sold in the United States contains a minimum volume of renewable fuel. By 2022, the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) program will reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 138 million metric tons, about the annual emissions of 27 million passenger vehicles, replacing about seven percent of expected annual diesel consumption and decreasing oil imports by $41.5 billion.
On March 27, 2012, EPA proposed a Carbon Pollution Standard for New Power Plants that would, for the first time, set national limits on the amount of carbon pollution that power plants can emit. The proposed rule, which applies only to new fossil-fuel-fired electric utility generating units, will help ensure that current progress continues toward a cleaner, safer, and more modern power sector.
On May 13, 2010, EPA set greenhouse gas emissions thresholds to define when permits under the New Source Review Prevention of Significant Deterioration (PSD) and Title V Operating Permit programs are required for new and existing industrial facilities. This final rule "tailors" the requirements of these Clean Air Act permitting programs to limit covered facilities to the nation's largest greenhouse gas emitters: power plants, refineries, and cement production facilities.
On March 29, 2010, EPA completed its reconsideration of the December 18, 2008 memorandum entitled "EPA's Interpretation of Regulations that Determine Pollutants Covered by Federal Prevention of Significant Deterioration (PSD) Permit Program" (the so-called "Johnson memo"). The final action confirmed that any new pollutants that EPA may regulate becomes covered under the PSD program on the date when the EPA rule regulating that new pollutant takes effect. The final action then clarified that for greenhouse gases, the effective date would be January 2, 2011, when the cars rule took effect.
The Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program collects greenhouse gas data from large emission sources across a range of industry sectors, as well as suppliers of products that would emit greenhouse gases if released or combusted. Greenhouse gas data are available through the Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program Data Publication Tool.
Other Related Actions
On April 18, 2012, EPA finalized cost effective regulations to reduce harmful air pollution from the oil and natural gas industry, while allowing continued, responsible growth in U.S. oil and natural gas production. The final rules are expected to yield a nearly 95 percent reduction in VOC emissions from more than 11,000 new hydraulically fractured gas wells each year. The rules will also reduce air toxics and emissions of methane, a potent greenhouse gas.
Geologic sequestration is the process of injecting carbon dioxide (CO2) from a source, such as a coal-fired electric generating power plant, into a well thousands of feet underground and sequestering the CO2 underground indefinitely. With proper site selection and management, geologic sequestration could play a major role in reducing emissions of CO2. EPA has finalized requirements for geologic sequestration, including the development of a new class of wells, Class VI, under the authority of the Safe Drinking Water Act's Underground Injection Control Program. Learn more about EPA's rulemakings on geologic sequestration under the Safe Drinking Water Act.
On July 23, 2009, EPA published a rule that proposes to establish the criteria for including sources or sites in a Registry of Recoverable Waste Energy Sources (Registry), as required by the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007. The agency is also proposing the Survey processes by which EPA will collect data and populate the Registry. The proposed rule would apply to major industrial and large commercial sources as defined by EPA in the rulemaking.
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Simply begin typing or use the editing tools above to add to this article.
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restoration of Burmese kingdom
By the end of the 16th century, Ava had been resurrected and the second Ava dynasty established, and by 1613 Bayinnaung’s grandson Anaukpetlun had reunited Myanmar. Anaukpetlun’s successor, Thalun, reestablished the principles of the Myanmar state created half a millennium earlier at Pagan. Heavy religious expenditures, however, weakened Ava politically, much as they had done in Pagan. In the...
What made you want to look up "Anaukpetlun"? Please share what surprised you most...
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Going Wireless in the Deep Blue
You’re exploring how currents develop in the ocean, or how salt and spray are exchanged with the atmosphere, or how superheated fluids and lava erupt from the seafloor.
You could make observations from a ship, but expeditions provide only snapshots of the ocean. They don’t allow you to observe changes over months or years, nor can you capture sudden, unpredictable events such as earthquakes or eruptions.
Instruments on satellites offer useful broad and long-term observations of the ocean. But the view is only skin deep, as cameras and lasers can only penetrate the top few meters of water.You could build a cabled observatory, running power and communications cables to an array of instruments on the seafloor and obtaining data in real time. But once built, your observatory is limited to one place on the map, usually close to a coast. And it would be expensive to build.
So how do you get long-term ocean measurements from any spot on the globe, with daily feedback and lower costs? If you are Dan Frye of the WHOI Advanced Engineering Laboratory, you take an old oceanographic concept—the moored buoy—and bring it into the 21st century with wireless technology. He calls it an acoustically linked deepwater observatory.
“The system is like a wireless computer network or hotspot,” said Frye, a senior research specialist in the Applied Ocean Physics and Engineering Department. “It allows users to move in and out in a very flexible and seamless manner, and it eliminates the complexity and expense of cables and connectors used in a conventional wired system.”
High-tech take on an old-school tool
For several years, Frye, Matthew Grund, Lee Freitag, Jonathan Ware and other engineers and buoy specialists at WHOI have been testing the limits of tried and true technology. They have searched for or developed new mooring cables and connectors. They have doubled, tripled, and quadrupled the speed of underwater modems that send data in sound waves. And they have watched and learned from the latest developments in satellite communications.
The result is a wireless buoy observatory, which the team deployed for a trial run from May 2004 to July 2005 with colleagues from the University of Washington and the Scripps Institution of Oceanography. The system was set up in 2,362 meters (7,750 feet) of water along the Nootka Fault, off Vancouver Island, a site rich with fluid seeps, mud volcanoes, hydrothermal venting, and other dynamic geologic processes.
This relatively low-cost observatory allowed researchers to observe daily what was happening on the seafloor, in the water above, and at the surface. Data were sent back to researchers on shore six times a day, with the opportunity to gather information more often when interesting oceanic events occurred. The 12-member research team could talk to the instruments—sending commands to adjust experiments on the fly—while adding others long after the initial deployment.
The keys to the system are satellite transmitters and acoustic modems. For several years, scientists have watched with great interest as commercial companies have established satellite phone and communications networks that enable conversations from anywhere in the world. The Nootka buoy was outfitted with two Iridium satellite transceivers, allowing the research team to send and receive “calls” from their offshore observatory any time of day or night.
Sounds of science
But getting information from a buoy to shore is only part of the challenge. The bigger test is getting signals from the seafloor to the surface. Instead of sending data through cables—which are costly and physically limiting—the Nootka observatory relies on sound waves. Computer codes and data are turned into sound signals—much like those passing through the phone line and modem to your home computer—and transmitted between the seafloor instruments and the acoustic modems on the surface buoy.
Once a novelty, underwater acoustic modems have been made ever faster by WHOI engineers. During the test deployment, roughly half a megabyte of data was sent home per day—a small amount by land-based standards, but a giant leap for remote sensing in the ocean.
With the wireless approach, up to 15 separate instruments can be set up as far as three kilometers (1.8 miles) away from the base of the mooring. Frye and colleagues believe the distance could be stretched even farther by using hydrophones to relay signals along the seafloor from outlying instruments to closer ones that can be heard by the surface buoy.
The distributed design allowed researchers to add a Scripps/University of Washington instrument package to the network several months after the initial installation. With no cables to attach, the research team simply deployed the new instruments on the seafloor and reprogrammed the observatory’s computer systems to listen for another new voice.
The only serious limitation is power. Current battery systems can provide enough juice to get through roughly a year of observations before they need to be replaced.
Because the acoustically linked buoy has a relatively low-cost (two to four times less than buoy systems using cables) and a self-contained infrastructure, researchers believe the system could be deployed and re-deployed almost anywhere in the world—certainly in some places not now reachable with cables.
“The success of the project has been important to the development of ocean observatories because it has demonstrated the feasibility of using acoustic links for long-term, deep-ocean applications,” said Frye. “This system can be installed and maintained using conventional, low-cost logistics as it doesn't require the use of specialized remotely operated vehicles (ROVs) or expensive ships. The sensors can be added or removed without impacting the rest of the system and, since they are independent, they are less likely to experience a system-wide failure.”
The National Science Foundation, the W.M. Keck Foundation, and the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution provided funding for the Nootka observatory project. Satellite telemetry service was provided through the Oceans.US Iridium project.
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For the past five years, a small troupe of the University’s leading lights in maternal and child health pack their bags with teaching materials, bound for Hanoi, Vietnam. On arrival they transfer to a local airline and continue on to the isolated monsoonal northwest of Dien Bien Phu. Here, in the district hospital and in villages of the surrounding mountains where the health of mothers and babies is as poor as the worst in Asia, they set up impromptu classrooms.
Lifelike baby models, feeding tubes, heart monitors, resuscitation bags, pharmaceutical samples and more, are laid out and classes begin. The students, who include village midwives and nurses, community doctors and health workers, are organised into small groups. The intensive hands-on training over the next couple of days provides them with the skills to administer lifesaving health care.
Community nurses learn, for example, how to identify when a baby is becoming dangerously dehydrated and if necessary, how to insert a tube to administer fluids. They learn how to assess when a baby needs resuscitation, the techniques to keep babies warm at birth; what equipment is required if a baby doesn’t breathe, and how to use it. Students learn what to do if a new baby has acute diarrhoea, and how to manage postpartum haemorrhage in young mothers. They learn preventive medicine including hygiene and infection control, and in a country where all manner of pharmaceuticals are available over the counter, they learn about rational use of drugs.
The purpose of the classes is to reduce infant and maternal mortality. As shown in recent statistics, there are 33 deaths per 1000 live births in the region – about one baby in 30 dies before age one. That is close to twice the rate for Vietnam overall (in 2007, 16 per 1000 live births) and is no comparison with Australia where infant mortality is less than five per 1000 live births.
“The region has one of the highest rates of maternal and infant mortality in Vietnam,” says Elizabeth Elliott, Professor of Paediatrics and Child Health at the University, based at the Children’s Hospital at Westmead, and a Dien Bien Phu regular since 2005. “People here are desperate to prevent so many mothers and babies dying but they have little in the way of educational opportunities and equipment. It has taken us a while to build relationships, to earn their confidence, but what we now see is incredible enthusiasm for the practical training and the equipment we can provide.”
Elliott, along with professors Heather Jeffery and Jonathon Morris, have been the core of the team behind the child and maternal health workshops in Dien Bien Phu and elsewhere in Vietnam by the Sydney Medical School’s Hoc Mai Foundation. All three are key Sydney Medical School staff – Heather Jeffery is Professor of International Maternal and Child Health and former head of Newborn Care at the Royal Prince Alfred hospital; and Jonathon Morris is Professor of Obstetrics and Gynaecology and head of Obstetrics at Royal North Shore Hospital. They are among the many who have contributed time and expertise to Hoc Mai’s programs over the past decade.
For anyone who lived through the Vietnam War or has any interest in the military and colonial history of Indochina, Dien Bien Phu is a famous name. But if the world was transfixed by Dien Bien Phu in the middle of the 20th century, it has been a different story since. Geographically isolated, with low literacy levels, low incomes, poor transportation to and between provincial villages, and home to 21 ethnic minority groups, Dien Bien Phu has missed most of the benefits of recent economic growth.
It is still old Asia: dusty streets, dilapidated buildings, people and animals living in close quarters, markets crammed with every consumable animal body part. While tourism in Vietnam is booming, it is only a committed few who venture off the regular tourist trail.
Regional health statistics then are no surprise, and it is not only the health of children and mothers that fares poorly. Just weeks after the clinics ended last year, the Vietnamese government reported a death at Dien Bien Phu hospital from avian flu – a local man who kept chickens and geese.
“Being able to contribute to improving health in Vietnam is a great opportunity, and it has been a privilege and an education
to develop relationships and work with the wonderful Vietnamese health professionals,” says Professor Elliott.
“The response we get here is incredible,” says Heather Jeffery, both of the workshops in Dien Bien Phu and others run at hospitals in Hanoi. “We teach in small groups, and our approach is to break down the problem into manageable components. For example, a very common cause of death in a newborn infant is failure to breathe at birth. So we devised a neonatal resuscitation program, broken into four stages, each with clear skills objectives. It is a very practical approach and students soak it up. Maternal and child mortality could be improved significantly if the people knew how to prevent and treat some very basic health problems.”
At last November’s workshop Elizabeth Elliott and Heather Jeffery were joined by Dr Monica Lahra, a microbiologist with a particular interest in perinatal infections, and a senior lecturer in infectious diseases; and Dr Jane Hirst, a young obstetrician based at Royal North Shore Hospital and senior lecturer in the Sydney Medical School, who was recently awarded one of the Prime Minister’s Endeavour Asia Awards.
All bring different skills. Monica Lahra, with her expertise in microbiology and infectious diseases, is helping to develop the hospital diagnostic laboratory so there is improved ability locally to diagnose common infections; the University’s International Program Development Fund grant supports this project. Jane Hirst’s area of research is stillbirth and she spent three months in 2008 working and gathering data at Vietnam’s largest maternity hospital, Tu Du, in Ho Chi Minh City, where an almost unbelievable 50,000 babies are born a year, about 1300 a day.
Hoc Mai was set up by the Dean of the Medical School, Professor Bruce Robinson, with the aim of improving health in Vietnam through practical measures – by improving the skills of Vietnamese doctors and nurses. The foundation brings Vietnamese practitioners to study in Australia, and organises for highly regarded medical educators and clinicians to provide their
expertise in Vietnam.
By 2009, when Hoc Mai celebrated 10 years of medical exchanges, more than 200 of the University’s medical and nursing school staff had contributed to the programs. The legacy is considerable: a growing number of the most senior health professionals in Vietnam have benefited from training provided by the Sydney specialists.
The University’s Chancellor, Professor Marie Bashir, who is also the Patron of the Hoc Mai Foundation, alerted Liz Elliott, Heather Jeffery and Jonathon Morris to the desperate need for education and training in the Dien Bien Phu province.
Last year, the Chancellor travelled to Hanoi to open the foundation’s latest project – installation of a water filtration plant which provides safe drinking water to one of the largest hospitals in Hanoi, Viet Duc, and neighbouring Hoc Mai House. Funds for Hoc Ma i House were raised by the foundation, and it was built in 2005. It provides accommodation for the families of hospital patients, who would otherwise spend their days and nights sleeping on paths or elsewhere in the hospital grounds.
Hoc Mai doesn’t have a big profile in Australia, but that is not the case in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City. In 2008, Bruce Robinson along with Professor Kerry Goulston, also from Sydney Medical School, were awarded Vietnam’s highest health award, the People’s Medal, for their work in improving the protection, care and health of the people in Vietnam.
The foundation’s other programs in Vietnam include:
- providing scholarships to young Vietnamese doctors and nurses to do advanced training in Australia
- teaching and train-the-trainer programs for doctors and nurses in Vietnamese hospitals
- courses in ‘medical English’
- scholarships to young Australian medical and graduate students who want to study or work in Vietnam.
More recently, the foundation has been working to develop medical research skills in Vietnam.
“[The] Hoc Mai program started with three young Vietnamese doctors coming to Royal North Shore Hospital to improve their medical skills. It has expanded over the past 10 years thanks to generous support by donors, the Australian government, the University and especially by a large number of medical and nursing colleagues who donate their time and expertise. They do this for absolutely no financial reward, because of their commitment to a worthwhile endeavour,” says Professor Robinson.
“In the latest year, more than 80 senior Vietnamese medical professionals came to Australia for advanced training, funded
through AusAID or from our supporters, and more than 50 medical professionals from Sydney travelled to Vietnam to run training programs or provide other assistance.”
“But it isn’t a one way relationship. Hoc Mai means ‘forever learning’ and the foundation is based on an exchange of knowledge. I believe the reason it has done so well over a decade is that both sides have so much to gain. Our young students who spend their Christmas vacation working in Vietnamese hospitals have their eyes opened to different ways of doing things and benefit greatly from the experience, and that is just one example.”
Words: Beth Quinlivan
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Aside from the issues of the physical network (signal types and voltage levels, connector pinouts, cabling, topology, etc.), there needs to be a standardized way in which communication is arbitrated between multiple nodes in a network, even if its as simple as a two-node, point-to-point system. When a node "talks" on the network, it is generating a signal on the network wiring, be it high and low DC voltage levels, some kind of modulated AC carrier wave signal, or even pulses of light in a fiber. Nodes that "listen" are simply measuring that applied signal on the network (from the transmitting node) and passively monitoring it. If two or more nodes "talk" at the same time, however, their output signals may clash (imagine two logic gates trying to apply opposite signal voltages to a single line on a bus!), corrupting the transmitted data.
The standardized method by which nodes are allowed to transmit to the bus or network wiring is called a protocol. There are many different protocols for arbitrating the use of a common network between multiple nodes, and I'll cover just a few here. However, its good to be aware of these few, and to understand why some work better for some purposes than others. Usually, a specific protocol is associated with a standardized type of network. This is merely another "layer" to the set of standards which are specified under the titles of various networks.
The International Standards Organization (ISO) has specified a general architecture of network specifications in their DIS7498 model (applicable to most any digital network). Consisting of seven "layers," this outline attempts to categorize all levels of abstraction necessary to communicate digital data.
Level 1: Physical Specifies electrical and mechanical details of communication: wire type, connector design, signal types and levels.
Level 2: Data link Defines formats of messages, how data is to be addressed, and error detection/correction techniques.
Level 3: Network Establishes procedures for encapsulation of data into "packets" for transmission and reception.
Level 4: Transport Among other things, the transport layer defines how complete data files are to be handled over a network.
Level 5: Session Organizes data transfer in terms of beginning and end of a specific transmission. Analogous to job control on a multitasking computer operating system.
Level 6: Presentation Includes definitions for character sets, terminal control, and graphics commands so that abstract data can be readily encoded and decoded between communicating devices.
Level 7: Application The end-user standards for generating and/or interpreting communicated data in its final form. In other words, the actual computer programs using the communicated data.
Some established network protocols only cover one or a few of the DIS7498 levels. For example, the widely used RS-232C serial communications protocol really only addresses the first ("physical") layer of this seven-layer model. Other protocols, such as the X-windows graphical client/server system developed at MIT for distributed graphic-user-interface computer systems, cover all seven layers.
Different protocols may use the same physical layer standard. An example of this is the RS-422A and RS-485 protocols, both of which use the same differential-voltage transmitter and receiver circuitry, using the same voltage levels to denote binary 1's and 0's. On a physical level, these two communication protocols are identical. However, on a more abstract level the protocols are different: RS-422A is point-to-point only, while RS-485 supports a bus topology "multidrop" with up to 32 addressable nodes.
Perhaps the simplest type of protocol is the one where there is only one transmitter, and all the other nodes are merely receivers. Such is the case for BogusBus, where a single transmitter generates the voltage signals impressed on the network wiring, and one or more receiver units (with 5 lamps each) light up in accord with the transmitter's output. This is always the case with a simplex network: there's only one talker, and everyone else listens!
When we have multiple transmitting nodes, we must orchestrate their transmissions in such a way that they don't conflict with one another. Nodes shouldn't be allowed to talk when another node is talking, so we give each node the ability to "listen" and to refrain from talking until the network is silent. This basic approach is called Carrier Sense Multiple Access (CSMA), and there exists a few variations on this theme. Please note that CSMA is not a standardized protocol in itself, but rather a methodology that certain protocols follow.
One variation is to simply let any node begin to talk as soon as the network is silent. This is analogous to a group of people meeting at a round table: anyone has the ability to start talking, so long as they don't interrupt anyone else. As soon as the last person stops talking, the next person waiting to talk will begin. So, what happens when two or more people start talking at once? In a network, the simultaneous transmission of two or more nodes is called a collision. With CSMA/CD (CSMA/Collision Detection), the nodes that collide simply reset themselves with a random delay timer circuit, and the first one to finish its time delay tries to talk again. This is the basic protocol for the popular Ethernet network.
Another variation of CSMA is CSMA/BA (CSMA/Bitwise Arbitration), where colliding nodes refer to pre-set priority numbers which dictate which one has permission to speak first. In other words, each node has a "rank" which settles any dispute over who gets to start talking first after a collision occurs, much like a group of people where dignitaries and common citizens are mixed. If a collision occurs, the dignitary is generally allowed to speak first and the common person waits afterward.
In either of the two examples above (CSMA/CD and CSMA/BA), we assumed that any node could initiate a conversation so long as the network was silent. This is referred to as the "unsolicited" mode of communication. There is a variation called "solicited" mode for either CSMA/CD or CSMA/BA where the initial transmission is only allowed to occur when a designated master node requests (solicits) a reply. Collision detection (CD) or bitwise arbitration (BA) applies only to post-collision arbitration as multiple nodes respond to the master device's request.
An entirely different strategy for node communication is the Master/Slave protocol, where a single master device allots time slots for all the other nodes on the network to transmit, and schedules these time slots so that multiple nodes cannot collide. The master device addresses each node by name, one at a time, letting that node talk for a certain amount of time. When it is finished, the master addresses the next node, and so on, and so on.
Yet another strategy is the Token-Passing protocol, where each node gets a turn to talk (one at a time), and then grants permission for the next node to talk when its done. Permission to talk is passed around from node to node as each one hands off the "token" to the next in sequential order. The token itself is not a physical thing: it is a series of binary 1's and 0's broadcast on the network, carrying a specific address of the next node permitted to talk. Although token-passing protocol is often associated with ring-topology networks, it is not restricted to any topology in particular. And when this protocol is implemented in a ring network, the sequence of token passing does not have to follow the physical connection sequence of the ring.
Just as with topologies, multiple protocols may be joined together over different segments of a heterogeneous network, for maximum benefit. For instance, a dedicated Master/Slave network connecting instruments together on the manufacturing plant floor may be linked through a gateway device to an Ethernet network which links multiple desktop computer workstations together, one of those computer workstations acting as a gateway to link the data to an FDDI fiber network back to the plant's mainframe computer. Each network type, topology, and protocol serves different needs and applications best, but through gateway devices, they can all share the same data.
It is also possible to blend multiple protocol strategies into a new hybrid within a single network type. Such is the case for Foundation Fieldbus, which combines Master/Slave with a form of token-passing. A Link Active Scheduler (LAS) device sends scheduled "Compel Data" (CD) commands to query slave devices on the Fieldbus for time-critical information. In this regard, Fieldbus is a Master/Slave protocol. However, when there's time between CD queries, the LAS sends out "tokens" to each of the other devices on the Fieldbus, one at a time, giving them opportunity to transmit any unscheduled data. When those devices are done transmitting their information, they return the token back to the LAS. The LAS also probes for new devices on the Fieldbus with a "Probe Node" (PN) message, which is expected to produce a "Probe Response" (PR) back to the LAS. The responses of devices back to the LAS, whether by PR message or returned token, dictate their standing on a "Live List" database which the LAS maintains. Proper operation of the LAS device is absolutely critical to the functioning of the Fieldbus, so there are provisions for redundant LAS operation by assigning "Link Master" status to some of the nodes, empowering them to become alternate Link Active Schedulers if the operating LAS fails.
Other data communications protocols exist, but these are the most popular. I had the opportunity to work on an old (circa 1975) industrial control system made by Honeywell where a master device called the Highway Traffic Director, or HTD, arbitrated all network communications. What made this network interesting is that the signal sent from the HTD to all slave devices for permitting transmission was not communicated on the network wiring itself, but rather on sets of individual twisted-pair cables connecting the HTD with each slave device. Devices on the network were then divided into two categories: those nodes connected to the HTD which were allowed to initiate transmission, and those nodes not connected to the HTD which could only transmit in response to a query sent by one of the former nodes. Primitive and slow are the only fitting adjectives for this communication network scheme, but it functioned adequately for its time.
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The Kingdom of Belgium is a country in northwest Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts its headquarters, as well as those of other major international organizations, including NATO and the OECD. Belgium covers an area of 30,528 km2 (11,787 square miles) and has a population of about 10.7 million.
Straddling the cultural boundary between Germanic and Latin Europe, Belgium is home for two main linguistic groups, the Flemings and the French-speakers, mostly Walloons, plus a small group of German-speakers.
Belgium's two largest regions are the Dutch-speaking region of Flanders in the north, with 59% of the population, and the French-speaking southern region of Wallonia, inhabited by 31%. The Brussels-Capital Region, officially bilingual, is a mostly French-speaking enclave within the Flemish Region, and has 10% of the population. A small German-speaking Community exists in eastern Wallonia. Belgium's linguistic diversity and related political and cultural conflicts are reflected in the political history and a complex system of government.
The name 'Belgium' is derived from Gallia Belgica, a Roman province in the northernmost part of Gaul that was inhabited by the Belgae, a mix of Celtic and Germanic peoples. Historically, Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg were known as the Low Countries, which used to cover a somewhat larger area than the current Benelux group of states. From the end of the Middle Ages until the 17th century, it was a prosperous centre of commerce and culture. From the 16th century until the Belgian revolution in 1830, many battles between European powers were fought in the area of Belgium, causing it to be dubbed "the battlefield of Europe" and "the cockpit of Europe"—a reputation strengthened by both World Wars. Upon its independence, Belgium eagerly participated in the Industrial Revolution, and, at the end of the nineteenth century, possessed several colonies in Africa. The second half of the 20th century was marked by the rise of communal conflicts between the Flemings and the Francophones fuelled by cultural differences on the one hand and an asymmetrical economic evolution of Flanders and Wallonia on the other hand. These still-active conflicts have caused far-reaching reforms of the unitary Belgian state into a federal state.
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Can AIDS be cured?
The question could only be imagined a few months ago. But participants at an international meeting on AIDS here last week were jolted when some scientists said that continued use for a few years of new drug combinations, which already drive the AIDS virus to undetectable levels in the blood, might eradicate the virus from patients' bodies. Drug treatment could then be stopped forever for such people. A cure.
For now, there is only the hope of such a result. But Dr. David D. Ho and Dr. Martin Markowitz take the hypothesis that a cure is possible seriously enough that they plan to test it at some point by stopping treatment of a very small number of infected individuals at the Aaron Diamond AIDS Research Center in New York City and possibly elsewhere. Definitive proof of a cure probably could not come for years. Failure could come sooner.
News that some scientists are seriously considering the possibility that new drug treatments might not only control, but cure AIDS has caused widespread excitement, and intense controversy.
To critics, merely raising the possibility of curing what has been a generally fatal disease is far too premature and perilous. In doing so, some critics have warned that scientists could create a false sense of security, leading many to drop their guard against unsafe sex and other risky behavior, and negate gains in prevention if people assume that they could be cured if they did become infected. Another fear is that medical science could get a huge black eye if a widely publicized effort to cure AIDS fails.
In speaking of cure, eradication and elimination, proponents are borrowing words from other areas of medicine where they have differing meanings.
Surgeons say that an appendectomy cures appendicitis because after its removal there is no chance the appendix can become inflamed again. But cancer cures are measured in terms of five-year disease-free survival, even though patients may die from the same cancer years later.
For bacterial infections, a cure may be declared for those like gonorrhea or pneumococcal pneumonia that permanently disappear after antibiotic treatment. If a patient develops gonorrhea or pneumonia again, it is from a new exposure.
Viral infections are another story. Cures of most viral diseases like influenza occur naturally, a result of the immune system's defenses. Chicken pox is usually considered cured after the last scab disappears from the skin. But the chickenpox virus remains dormant in nerve cells and often causes shingles in infected individuals decades later. What triggers the delayed effect is not known.
Eradication and elimination are words generally used in the public health field to describe the disappearance of a disease from a geographic area. Only one disease, smallpox, has been eradicated from the world. But many other diseases have been eliminated from certain regions, like polio from the Americas.
Now virologists at the meeting are applying the words eradication and elimination to individual patients in whom H.I.V. cannot be detected after combination drug therapy. Yet no one can say the virus has permanently disappeared because H.I.V. still could be hidden somewhere in the body.
The fact that the concept of a cure for AIDS is on the brink of being tested has caught key Federal officials and agencies by surprise.
There is "no cure on the horizon" for AIDS, Dr. Helene D. Gayle, who heads the AIDS program at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, wrote in the program for a session devoted to preventing H.I.V.
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Photo by Brad Otto
One of the world’s most technologically advanced floating nautical survey platforms has been anchored off Birch Bay for the past few weeks collecting data to update national nautical charts.
The Rainier, one of the research ships in the Pacific fleet of the National Oceanic and Atmosphere Administration (NOAA), is in the middle of a mission collecting data to update NOAA’s nautical charts for the Strait of Georgia. Its work will eventually take it up the coast of Alaska.
The data will provide more information on the shoals in the vicinity of Cherry Point, which is the largest tanker port in Washington. This information will be helpful to the Puget Sound pilots who steer large tankers through the sound and the Strait of Georgia. The area has seen changes in vessel traffic recently due to the increased capacity of the facilities at Cherry Point, according to the NOAA website for the ship.
The Rainier, originally launched in 1967, is 231 feet long and weighs about 1,500 tons. It can house a total of 25 crew members and stay at sea for 22 days at a time. For more information on the Rainier, visit the ship’s website.
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2013-05-20T02:31:18Z
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A passage from the Prophets recited after Torah reading.
Traditionally, on Shabbat and holiday mornings, a selection from one of the biblical books of the Prophets is read after the Torah reading. The portion is known as the haftarah (hahf-tah-RAH, or in Ashkenazic Hebrew: hahf-TOH-rah). On two fast days, Yom Kippur and Tisha B'av, a haftarah is recited at both morning and afternoon services.
While the Torah reading cycle proceeds from Genesis through Deuteronomy, covering the entire Five Books of Moses, only selected passages from the Prophets make it into the haftarah cycle. A cluster or three or four berakhot (blessings), depending on the occasion, follows the haftarah. Their call for prophecy to be fulfilled and for God to restore the Jewish people to Zion serve as a finale to the full set of the day's scriptural readings, Torah and Haftarah together.
Prophets of Truth and Justice
Rabbinic literature does not discuss the origin of the practice of reading publicly from the Prophets in a formal cycle. We might look to the liturgical setting of the haftarah, then, for some clue about its intended function. In addition to berakhot recited after the portion, every haftarah is introduced with a berakhah praising God for having "chosen good prophets and accepted their words, spoken in truth."
The formula goes on to note that God shows favor to "the Torah, Moses His servant, Israel His people, and the prophets of truth and justice." This focus on the reliability of the Israelite prophets has led some scholars in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, including Adolf Büchler and Abraham Zevi Idelsohn, to speculate that the institution of the haftarah originated in bitter polemics among competing religious groups in Ancient Israel--the Jews and the Samaritans.
The Samaritans were then an ethnic group rivaling the Jews in numbers, power, and influence. The Samaritans insisted on the exclusive truth of the Torah (their version differs somewhat from the Jewish Torah) and rejected all prophets after Moses. That rejection could well have formed the background for the practice of reading from the Prophets in synagogues. By declaring the prophetic books authoritative and their origin divinely inspired, the Jews may have sought to exclude Samaritans from local communities and offer a statement of opposition to a major tenet of Samaritan theology. This view is now accepted widely, but not universally, among scholars of Jewish liturgy.
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Parents and teachers often ask about realistic reading and writing expectations for young children. Learn about typical developmental timelines by age and find recommendations for what parents and family members can do to support emerging readers and writers.
National Head Start Association
Our shows on PBS
Professional development webcasts
- Make Reading Count: Effective Strategies for Teaching Comprehension
- From Babbling To Books
- Differentiated Reading Instruction
Learning the basic ABC song is an important milestone for a young child. The sing-song approach helps a child to learn and remember. Holding her book helps this young girl to make the connection between the sounds of letters and letters on the page.
In our blogs
Sound It Out
- On the cusp of reading
- Talking about talking, and more
- You had a lot to say about...
- Kindergarten "red-shirting:" What about summer birthdays?
- Report card comment redux
Page by Page
- Literacy Milestones: Age 6
- Literacy Milestones: Ages 3-4
- Literacy Milestones: Age 5
- Literacy Milestones: Birth to Age 3
Speech and language
Do you have concerns?
- Developmental Delay
- Clues to Dyslexia from Second Grade On
- Clues to Dyslexia in Early Childhood
- Suspect a Problem?
Download and print
- Beginning Readers: Look! I Can Read This!
- Emergent Readers: Look! That's My Letter!
- Reading Tips for Parents
- Recognizing Reading Problems
- Learning to Read and Write: A Longitudinal Study of 54 Children From First Through Fourth Grades
- Beginning to Read: Thinking and Learning About Print
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“A remote Indian village is responding to global warming-induced water shortages by creating large masses of ice, or “artificial glaciers,” to get through the dry spring months. (See a map of the region.)
Located on the western edge of the Tibetan plateau, the village of Skara in the Ladakh region of India is not a common tourist destination.
“It’s beautiful, but really remote and difficult to get to,” said Amy Higgins, a graduate student at the Yale School of Forestry & Environmental Studies who worked on the artificial glacier project.
“A lot of people, when I met them in Delhi and I said I was going to Ladakh, they looked at me like I was going to the moon,” said Higgins, who is also a National Geographic grantee.
People in Skara and surrounding villages survive by growing crops such as barley for their own consumption and for sale in neighboring towns. In the past, water for the crops came from meltwater originating in glaciers high in the Himalaya.”
Read more: National Geographic
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H. neanderthalensis La Ferrassie 1
Neanderthal or Neandertal is an extinct species (Homo neanderthalensis) of the Homo genus that inhabited Europe and parts of western Asia from about 250,000 years ago until as recent as 30,000 years ago. At that point, they disappeared from the fossil record, being replaced by modern Homo sapiens. "Neanderthal" and "Neandertal" are optional spellings, but Neanderthal is more common in English and in scientific literature.
There is continued debate over whether Neanderthals should be classified as a separate species, Homo neanderthalensis, or as a subspecies of H. sapiens, labeled as Homo sapiens neanderthalensis. The classification as a subspecies was popular in the 1970s and 1980s, but today many list them as separate species (Smithsonian 2007b).
Fossils of Neanderthals were first found in the eighteenth century prior to Charles Darwin's 1859 publication of The Origin of Species, with discoveries at Engis, Belgium in 1829, at Forbes Quarry, Gibraltar in 1848, and most notably a discovery in 1856 in Neander Valley in Germany, which was published in 1857. However, earlier findings were widely misinterpreted as skeletons of modern humans with deformities or disease (Gould 1990). The new species H. neanderthalensis was recognized in 1864.
Mayr claims that Neanderthals arose from Homo erectus, arguing, "There is little doubt that…the western populations of H. erectus eventually gave rise to the Neanderthals" (2001).
The issue of whether or how much Neanderthals contributed to the modern human genome is unsettled and remains vigorously debated (Kreger 2005). At least one group of scientists concludes from genetic studies that Neanderthals did not contribute genetic material to modern humans (Krings et al. 1997). One of the participants of this study argues, "These results [based on mitochondrial DNA extracted from Neanderthal bone] indicate that Neanderthals did not contribute mitochondrial DNA to modern humans… Neanderthals are not our ancestors" (PSU 1997). However, other scientists working from fossil evidence argue that Neanderthals interbred with humans and this assimilation is why they are extinct (Hayes 2006). Kreger surmises that the issue "is not as cut and dry" as is oftentimes claimed and it seems "highly unlikely that the Neanderthals contributed absolutely nothing to the modern genome" (2005).
Equally unsettled is why the Neanderthals disappeared.
More argument is focused on Neaderthals by academia of paleoanthropology than any other species (Kreger 2005).
The August day in 1856 when a fossil was discovered in a limestone quarry in Germany is heralded as the beginning of paleoanthropology as a scientific discipline (Kreger 2005). This discovery of a skullcap and partial skeleton in a cave in the Neander Valley (near Dusseldorf) was the first recognized fossil human form (Smithsonian 2007b). This is not to say, however, that this was the first time Neanderthal fossils were discovered, as skulls were unearthed in Engis, Belgium in 1829 and Forbes' Quarry, Gibraltar in 1848. However, these earlier discoveries were not recognized as belonging to archaic forms.
The type specimen, dubbed Neanderthal 1, consists of a skull cap, two femora, three bones from the right arm, two from the left arm, part of the left ilium, fragments of a scapula, and ribs. The workers who recovered this material originally thought it to be the remains of a bear. They gave the material to amateur naturalist Johann Karl Fuhlrott, who turned the fossils over to anatomist Hermann Schaffhausen. The discovery was jointly announced in 1857. In 1864, a new species was recognized: Homo neanderthalensis.
These, and later, discoveries led to the idea that these remains were from ancient Europeans who had played an important role in modern human origins. The bones of over 400 Neanderthals have been found since.
The term Neanderthal Man was coined by Irish anatomist William King, who first named the species in 1863 at a meeting of the British Association, and put it into print in the Quarterly Journal of Science the following year (Kreger 2005). The Neanderthal or "Neander Valley" itself was named after theologian Joachim Neander, who lived there in the late seventeenth century.
"Neanderthal" is now spelled two ways. The spelling of the German word Thal, meaning "valley or dale," was changed to Tal in the early twentieth century, but the former spelling is often retained in English and always in scientific names, while the modern spelling is used in German. The original German pronunciation (regardless of spelling) is with the sound /t/. When used in English, the term is usually anglicized to /θ/ (as in thin), though speakers more familiar with German use /t/.
Classic Neanderthal fossils have been found over a large area, from northern Germany, to Israel to Mediterranean countries like Spain and Italy, and from England in the west to Uzbekistan in the east. This area probably was not occupied all at the same time; the northern border of their range especially would have contracted frequently with the onset of cold periods. On the other hand, the northern border of their range as represented by fossils may not be the real northern border of the area that they occupied, since artifacts indicative of the Middle Paleolithic have been found even further north, up to 60° on the Russian plain (Pavlov et al. 2004).
In Siberia, Middle Paleolithic populations are evidenced only in the southern portions. Teeth from Okladniko and Denisova caves have been attributed to Neanderthals (Goebel 1999). The transition to the Upper Paleolithic coincides with the appearance of modern Homo sapiens in Siberia. Early Upper Paleolithic sites in southern Siberia, found below 55 degrees latitude and dated from 42,000 to 30,000 Before Present (B.P.) correspond to the Malokheta interstade, a relatively warm interval in the Mid to Upper Pleistocene (Goebel 1999).
The first proto-Neanderthal traits appeared in Europe as early as 350,000 years ago (Bischoff et al. 2003). By 130,000 years ago, full blown Neanderthal characteristics were present. Neanderthals became extinct in Europe approximately 30,000 years ago. There is recently discovered fossil and stone-tool evidence that suggests Neanderthals may have still been in existence 24,000 years ago, at which time they they disappeared from the fossil record and were replaced in Europe by modern Homo sapiens (Rincon 2006, Mcilroy 2006, Klein 2003, Smithsonian 2007b, 2007c).
There are a diversity of views on the disappearance of Neanderthals, including those related to rapid extinction, gradual extinction, and assimilation.
Neanderthal brain sizes have been estimated to be larger than modern humans, although such estimates have not been adjusted for their more robust builds. On average, Neanderthal males stood about 1.65 m tall (just under 5' 5") and were heavily built with robust bone structure. Females were about 1.53 to 1.57 m tall (about 5'–5'2").
Neanderthals made finer tools than earlier humans and are considered the first to bury their dead and to have symbolic ritual (Smithsonian 2007c). This practice of intentional burial is one reason given for the finding of so many Neanderthal fossils, including skeletons (Smithsonian 2007c).
For many years, professionals have vigorously debated whether Neanderthals should be classified as Homo neanderthalensis or as Homo sapiens neanderthalensis, the latter placing Neanderthals as a subspecies of Homo sapiens.
The original reconstruction of Neanderthal anatomy was flawed and exacerbated the distinction between Neanderthals and humans (Smithsonian 2007b, 2007c). Based on a nearly complete skeleton of an elderly male found in France, the reconstruction showed bent knees and a slouching gait (Smithsonian 2007b, 2007). This image, which led to a standard and lingering view of crude cavemen, was mistaken, as Neanderthals apparently walked fully upright without a slouch or bent knees (Smithsonian 2007c). They also had a larger cranial capacity than modern humans and were culturally sophisticated in terms of tool making, symbolic ritual, and burying their dead.
As a result of anatomical similarities and cultural aspects, it was popular through the 1970s and 1980s to consider Homo neanderthalensis as a subspecies of Homo sapiens.
However, there were also many differences between Neanderthals and modern populations. They had a low forehead, double-arched brow ridge, larger nasal area, projecting cheek region, heavily-built bones, short lower leg and arm bones relative to the upper bones, and so forth (Smithsonian 2007c). Based on these characteristics, many scientists concluded that the Neanderthals were a different species than H. sapiens.
Recent evidence from mitochondrial DNA studies has been interpreted as evidence that Neanderthals were not a subspecies of H. sapiens and did not interbreed (Hodges 2000). Other scientists, for example Milford Wolpoff, argue that fossil evidence suggests that the two species, in fact, did interbreed, and hence were of the same biological species. Some scholars, such as Cambridge Professor Paul Mellars, say "no evidence has been found of cultural interaction" (AFP 2005).
Neanderthals had a compact body of short stature. Males averaged 1.7 m (5ft 5 in) tall and were an estimated 84 kg (185 lb.), and females averaged 1.5 m (5 ft) tall and an estimated 80 kg (176lb) (Smithsonian 2007c). Neanderthals also had a large cranial capacity, estimated at 1500cc, which is slightly larger on average than modern humans (1350 to 1450cc range).
Neanderthals also differed from modern humans in that they had a low forehead, double-arched brow ridge, larger nasal area, projecting cheek region, weak chin, obvious space behind the third molar, heavily-built bones, broad scapula, short lower leg and arm bones relative to the upper portions, occasional bowing of the limb bones, the hip joint rotated outward, a long and thin pubic bone, and large joint surfaces of the toes and long bones (Smithsonian 2007c).
The following is a list of physical traits that distinguish Neanderthals from modern humans; however, not all of them can be used to distinguish specific Neanderthal populations, from various geographic areas or periods of evolution, from other extinct humans. Also, many of these traits occasionally manifest in modern humans, particularly among certain ethnic groups. Nothing is known about the skin color, the hair, or the shape of soft parts such as eyes, ears, and lips of Neanderthals (Carey 2005).
|Suprainiac fossa, a groove above the inion||Considerably more robust|
|Occipital bun, a protuberance of the occipital bone that looks like a hair knot||Large round finger tips|
|Projecting mid-face||Barrel-shaped rib cage|
|Low, flat, elongated skull||Large kneecaps|
|A flat basic cranium||Long collar bones|
|Supraorbital torus, a prominent, trabecular (spongy) browridge||Short, bowed shoulder blades|
|1200-1750 cm³ skull capacity (10 percent greater than modern human average)||Thick, bowed shaft of the thigh bones|
|Lack of a protruding chin (mental protuberance; although later specimens possess a slight protuberance)||Short shinbones and calf bones|
|Crest on the mastoid process behind the ear opening||Long, gracile pelvic pubis (superior pubic ramus)|
|No groove on canine teeth|
|A retromolar space posterior to the third molar|
|Bony projections on the sides of the nasal opening|
|Distinctive shape of the bony labyrinth in the ear|
|Larger mental foramen in mandible for facial blood supply|
|A broad, projecting nose|
Neanderthals appear to have had many adaptations to a cold climate, such as large brain cases, short but robust builds, and large noses.
The issue of whether Neanderthals had a complex language is unsettled, but there are morphological suggestions that such was possible.
The idea that Neanderthals lacked complex language was widespread, despite concerns about the accuracy of reconstructions of the Neanderthal vocal tract, until 1983, when a Neanderthal hyoid bone was found at the Kebara Cave in Israel. The hyoid is a small bone that connects the musculature of the tongue and the larynx, and by bracing these structures against each other, allows a wider range of tongue and laryngeal movements than would otherwise be possible. Therefore, it seems to imply the presence of the anatomical conditions for speech to occur. The bone that was found is virtually identical to that of modern humans (Arensburg et al. 1989).
Furthermore, the morphology of the outer and middle ear of Neanderthal ancestors, Homo heidelbergensis, found in Spain, suggests they had an auditory sensitivity similar to modern humans and very different from chimpanzees. Therefore, they were not only able to produce a wide range of sounds, they were also able to differentiate between these sounds (Martinez et al. 2004).
Aside from the morphological evidence above, neurological evidence for potential speech in neanderthalensis exists in the form of the hypoglossal canal. The canal of Neanderthals is the same size or larger than in modern humans, which are significantly larger than the canal of australopithecines and modern chimpanzees. The canal carries the hypoglossal nerve, which supplies the muscles of the tongue with motor coordination. Researchers indicate that this evidence suggests that neanderthalensis had vocal capabilities similar to, or possibly exceeding that of, modern humans (Kay et al. 1998). However, a research team from the University of California, Berkeley, led by David DeGusta, suggests that the size of the hypoglossal canal is not an indicator of speech. His team's research, which shows no correlation between canal size and speech potential, shows there are a number of extant (living) non-human primates and fossilized australopithecines that have equal or larger hypoglossal canal.
Many people believe that even without the hyoid bone evidence, tools as advanced as those of the Mousterian Era, attributed to Neanderthals, could not have been developed without cognitive skills capable of encompassing some form of spoken language.
Many myths surround the reconstruction of the Neanderthal vocal tract and the quality of Neanderthal speech. The popular view that the Neanderthals had a high larynx and therefore could not have produced the range of vowels supposedly essential for human speech is based on a disputed reconstruction of the vocal tract from the available fossil evidence, and a debatable interpretation of the acoustic characteristics of the reconstructed vocal tract. A larynx position as low as that found for modern human females may have been present in adult male Neanderthals. Furthermore, the vocal tract is a plastic thing, and larynx movement is possible in many mammals. Finally, the suggestion that the vowels /i, a, u/ are essential for human language (and that if Neanderthals lacked them, they could not have evolved a human-like language) ignores the absence of one of these vowels in very many human languages, and the occurrence of "vertical vowel systems" which lack both /i/ and /u/.
More doubtful suggestions about Neanderthal speech suggest that it would have been nasalized either because the tongue was high in the throat (for which there is no universally accepted evidence) or because the Neanderthals had large nasal cavities. Nasalization depends on neither of these things, but on whether or not the soft palate is lowered during speech. Nasalization is therefore controllable, and scientists do not know whether Neanderthal speech was nasalized or not. Comments on the lower intelligibility of nasalized speech ignore the fact that many varieties of English habitually have nasalized vowels, particularly low vowels, with no apparent effect on intelligibility.
One anatomical difference between Neanderthals and humans that deserves consideration regarding human speech is the mental tubercle on the mandible (the point at the tip of the chin), which is the attachment point for the depressor labii inferioris muscle and the mentalis muscle. These two muscles provide fine motor control of the lower lip and are essential in controlled speech. The mental tubercle is pronounced in humans and is absent in Neanderthals, suggesting that they had a more gross motor control of the lower lip. However, more research needs to be conducted in this area.
Tools, burial, and other cultural aspects
Neanderthal (Middle Paleolithic) archaeological sites show a different, smaller toolkit than those that have been found in Upper Paleolithic sites, which were perhaps occupied by the modern humans that superseded them. Fossil evidence indicating who may have made the tools found in Early Upper Paleolithic sites is inconclusive.
The characteristic style of stone tools in the Middle Paleolithic is called the Mousterian culture, after a prominent archaeological site where the tools were first found. They typically used the Levallois technique. Mousterian tools were often produced using soft hammer percussion, with hammers made of materials like bones, antlers, and wood, rather than hard hammer percussion, using stone hammers. Near the end of the time of the Neanderthals, they utilized the Châtelperronian tool style, which is considered more advanced than that of the Mousterian. They either invented the Châtelperronian themselves or borrowed elements from the incoming modern humans who are thought to have created the Aurignacian style.
The Mousterian flake and simple biface industry that characterize the Middle Paleolithic, wherever found with human remains, are found with Neanderthals, and wherever Aurignacian style is found with remains, those remains are of modern humans (West 1996).
There is little evidence that Neanderthals used antlers, shell, or other bone materials to make tools; their bone industry was relatively simple. However, there is good evidence that they routinely constructed a variety of stone implements. The Neanderthal (Mousterian) toolkits consisted of sophisticated stone-flakes, task-specific hand axes, and spears. Many of these tools were very sharp. There is also good evidence that they used a lot of wood, although such artifacts would likely not have been preserved (Henig 2000).
Middle Paleolithic industries in Siberia (dated to 70,000 to 40,000 years ago) are distinctly Levallois and Mousterian, reduction technologies are uniform, and assemblages consist of scrapers, denticulates, notches, knives, and retouched Levallois flakes and points. There is no evidence of bone, antler, or ivory technology, or of art or personal adornment (Goebel 1999).
While Neanderthals had weapons, no projectile weapons have yet been found. They had spears, in the sense of a long wooden shaft with a spearhead firmly attached to it, but these were not spears specifically crafted for flight (such as a javelin). However, a number of 400,000 year old wooden projectile spears were found at Schöningen in northern Germany. These are thought to have been made by one of Neanderthal's ancestors, either Homo erectus or Homo heidelbergensis. Generally, projectile weapons are more commonly associated with H. sapiens. The lack of projectile weaponry is an indication of different sustenance methods, rather than inferior technology or abilities. The situation is identical to that of native New Zealand Maoris—modern Homo sapiens who also rarely threw objects, but used spears and clubs instead (Schwimmer 1961).
Although much has been made of the Neanderthal's burial of their dead, their burials were less elaborate than those of anatomically modern humans. The interpretation of the Shanidar IV burials as including flowers, and therefore being a form of ritual burial (Solecki 1975), has been questioned (Sommer 1999). On the other hand, five of the six flower pollens found with fossil Shanidar IV are known to have had traditional medical uses, even among relatively contemporary populations. In some cases Neanderthal burials include grave goods, such as bison and auroch bones, tools, and the pigment ochre.
Neanderthals performed a sophisticated set of tasks normally associated with humans alone. For example, they constructed complex shelters, controlled fire, and skinned animals. Particularly intriguing is a hollowed-out bear femur that contains holes that may have been deliberately bored into it. This bone was found in western Slovenia in 1995, near a Mousterian fireplace, but its significance is still a matter of dispute. Some paleoanthropologists have postulated that it might have been a flute, while some others have expressed that it is natural bone modified by bears.
The fate of the Neanderthals
The Neanderthals began to be displaced around 45,000 years ago by modern humans (Homo sapiens), as the Cro-Magnon people appeared in Europe. Despite this, populations of Neanderthals apparently held on for thousands of years in regional pockets, such as modern-day Croatia and the Iberian and Crimean peninsulas. The last known population lived around a cave system on the remote south-facing coast of Gibraltar, from 30,000 to 24,000 years ago.
There is considerable debate about whether Cro-Magnon people accelerated the demise of the Neanderthals. Timing suggests a causal relation between the appearance of Homo sapiens in Europe and the decline of Homo neanderthalensis.
Both the Neanderthal's place in the human family tree and their relation to modern Europeans have been hotly debated ever since their discovery. A common perspective among scientists, based on ongoing DNA research, is that Neanderthals were a separate branch of the genus Homo, and that modern humans are not descended from them (fitting with the single-origin thesis).
In some areas of the Middle East and the Iberian peninsula, Neanderthals did, in fact, apparently co-exist side by side with populations of anatomically modern Homo sapiens for roughly 10,000 years. There is also evidence that it is in these areas where the last of the Neanderthals died out and that during this period the last remnants of this species had begun to adopt—or perhaps independently innovate—some aspects of the Châtelperronian (Upper Paleolithic) tool case, which is usually exclusively associated with anatomically modern Homo sapiens.
There are various scenarios for the extinction of Neanderthals.
Jared Diamond has suggested a scenario of violent conflict, comparable to the genocides suffered by indigenous peoples in recent human history.
Another possibility paralleling colonialist history would be a greater susceptibility to pathogens introduced by Cro-Magnon man on the part of the Neanderthals. Although Diamond and others have specifically mentioned Cro-Magnon diseases as a threat to Neanderthals, this aspect of the analogy with the contacts between colonizers and indigenous peoples in recent history can be misleading. The distinction arises because Cro-Magnons and Neanderthals are both believed to have lived a nomadic lifestyle, whereas in those genocides of the colonial era, in which differential disease susceptibility was most significant, resulted from the contact between colonists with a long history of agriculture and nomadic hunter-gatherer peoples. Diamond argues that asymmetry in susceptibility to pathogens is a consequence of the difference in lifestyle, which makes it irrelevant in the context of the analogy in which he invokes it.
On the other hand, many pre-European contact Native Americans were not nomadic, but agriculturalists, such as Mayans, Iroquois, and Cherokee, and this still did not protect them from the epidemics brought by Europeans (Smallpox). One theory is that because they usually lacked large domesticated animal agriculture, such as cattle or pigs in close contact with people, they did not develop resistance to species-jumping diseases like Europeans had. Furthermore, the nomadic Eurasian populations, such as the Mongols, did not get wiped out by the diseases of the agriculturalist societies they invaded and took over, like China and eastern Europe.
There are also gradual extinction scenarios to account for the decline of Neanderthal population over the course of some 10,000 years.
The problem with a gradual extinction scenario lies in the resolution of dating methods. There have been claims for young Neanderthal sites, younger than 30,000 years old (Finlayson et al. 2006). Even claims for interstratification of Neanderthal and modern human remains have been advanced (Gravina et al. 2005). So the fact that Neanderthals and modern humans coexisted at least for some time seems certain. However, because of difficulties in calibrating the C14 dates, the duration of this period is uncertain (Mellars 2006).
There have been claims both that Neanderthals assimilated with modern human beings and that they did not assimilate.
It is possible that the Neanderthals, with their small numbers, could have been absorbed by the much larger populations of modern Homo sapiens. In November 2006, a paper was published in the United States journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, in which a team of European researchers suggest that Neanderthals and humans interbred, citing distinct human and Neanderthal features in a 30,000 year-old fossil found in Romania. Co-author Erik Trinkaus from Washington University explains, "Closely related species of mammals freely interbreed, produce fertile viable offspring and blend populations. Extinction through absorption is a common phenomenon" (Hayes 2006).
One skeleton that has led some researchers to claim that it shared Neanderthal and Cro-Magnon features has been found at Lagar Velho in Portugal. This may suggest the two species may have interbred. The child skeleton does seem to be more robust than what we would expect for modern humans. While it is uncertain whether this is in fact a hybrid of the two species, or simply an extreme individual of one or the other, most researchers think that it represents extreme variation within modern humans.
Assimilation is difficult to prove as genetic differences between Neanderthals and Cro-Magnons were far more minute than the morphological differences between the two species might seem to indicate. Tests comparing Neanderthal and modern human mitochondrial DNA show some dissimilarity.
According to genetic studies, Neanderthals and modern humans diverged genetically 500,000 to 600,000 years ago, suggesting that, though they may have lived at the same time, Neanderthals did not contribute genetic material to modern humans (Krings et. al. 1997). Subsequent investigation of a second source of Neanderthal DNA supported these findings.
Most researchers adhere to a view that has the European Neanderthals either interbreeding and being absorbed or having been marginalized by invading Homo sapiens until they died out, leaving no genetic legacy (Kreger 2005). Few believe that Neanderthals evolved into modern Europeans. Kreger notes that the fate of Neanderthals in terms of modern human phylogeny is still very much questioned and debated, and "whether they left a large heritage in modern humans or an insignificant one is a question that might not be answered satisfactorily for a long time."
Unable to adapt
European populations of H. neanderthalensis were adapted for a cold environment. One view on their extinction is that they may have had problems adapting to a warming environment. The problem with this idea is that the glacial period of our ice age ended about 10,000 years ago, while the Neanderthals went extinct about 24,000 years ago.
Another possibility has to do with the loss of the Neanderthal's primary hunting territory: Forests. It is speculated that their hunting methods (stabbing prey with spears rather than throwing the spears) and lack of mobility could have placed them at a disadvantage when the forests were replaced by flat lands. It is also suggested that they mainly ate meat, and thus were less adaptable. Homo sapiens, which hunted large prey but did not depend on them for survival, may have indirectly contributed to their extinction this way.
Division of labor
In 2006, anthropologists Steven L. Kuhn and Mary C. Stiner of the University of Arizona proposed a new explanation for the demise of the Neanderthals (Wade 2006). In an article titled "What's a Mother to Do? The Division of Labor among Neanderthals and Modern Humans in Eurasia," Kuhn and Stiner theorize that Neanderthals did not have a division of labor between the sexes (2006). Both male and female Neanderthals participated in the single main occupation of hunting the big game that flourished in Europe during the ice age, like bison, deer, gazelles, and wild horses. This contrasted with humans who were better able to use the resources of the environment because of a division of labor with the women going after small game and gathering plant foods. In addition, because big game hunting was so dangerous, this made humans, at least females, more resilient.
At three billion base pairs, the Neanderthal genome is roughly the size of the human genome and likely shares many identical genes. In July 2006, the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, together with the 454 Life Sciences Corporation, announced that they would be sequencing the Neanderthal genome over the next two years. It is thought that a comparison of the Neanderthal genome and human genome will expand understanding of Neanderthals as well as the evolution of humans and human brains (Moulson 2006).
Some comparisons have already been done. Two studies of the DNA extracted from the femur of a 38,000-year-old Neanderthal specimen found in a cave in Croatia—one involving more than 1 million base pairs and the other 65,000 pairs—yielded 99.5% identical base pairs (Than 2006). The findings also found no evidence that Neanderthals and humans interbred, finding no mixing of genes 30,000 to 40,000 years ago in Europe.
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- Sommer, J. D. 1999. The Shanidar IV "flower burial": A reevaluation of Neanderthal burial ritual. Cambridge Archæological Journal 9: 127–129.
- Than, K. 2006. Scientists decode Neanderthal genes: Material from 38,000-year-old bone fragment being analyzed. MSNBC. Retrieved March 7, 2007.
- Wade, N. 2006. Neanderthal women joined men in the hunt. The New York Times, December 5, 2006.
- West, F. H. 1996. Beringia and New World origins: The archaeological evidence. In F. H. West, ed., American Beginnings: The Prehistory and Palaeoecology of Beringia, pp. 525-536. The University of Chicago Press. ISBN 0226893995.
- Wild, E. M., M. Teschler-Nicola, W. Kutschera, P. Steier, E. Trinkaus, and W. Wanek. 2005. Direct dating of Early Upper Palaeolithic human remains from Mladeč. Nature 435: 332–335.
- UniZH.ch - 'Comparing Neanderthals and modern humans: Neanderthals differ from anatomically modern Homo sapiens in a suite of cranial features' (cranio-facial reconstructions), Institut für Informatik der Universität Zürich. Retrieved March 29, 2007.
- Homo neanderthalensis reconstruction - Electronic articles published by the Division of Anthropology, American Museum of Natural History. Retrieved March 29, 2007.
- Mousterian Tools of Neanderthals From Europe - World Museum of Man. Retrieved March 29, 2007.
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Evolutionary philosophy - the application of evolution by whatever mechanism as the primary metaphysical reality - is false.
False because it is self-refuting nonsense (since it destroys any possibility of knowledge, including knowledge of its own truth), and wrong because it is anti-Christian (therefore anti-Truth).
But it is also false to say that evolution cannot happen anywhere, ever.
Indeed we know by ordinary common sense that evolution really happens - the dispute is whether evolution happens in such and such a circumstance, and how far or fast it can go.
The main common sense knowledge of evolution comes from animal and plant breeding - evolution gradually became common sense from the 1700s onward as ordinary people purposefully began to change the functional properties and appearance of crops, farm animals and pets such that these changes were inherited by future generations.
Animal breeding provides the major example of evolution in the Origin of Species precisely because it was - by that time - a matter of undeniable common knowledge that the properties of some living things could sometimes be shaped by artificial selection.
Darwin's primary argument was that if this could happen due to human purpose it could also sometimes happen without human purpose.
Which, once stated, seems obviously correct.
Darwin's secondary argument was that if obvious but quantitative change could be produced in human lifetimes, then vastly greater and qualitative change could be produced over a much longer timescale (time now available to theorists as the estimates of the age of the earth became much greater).
But this secondary argument is not a matter of common sense or common experience - nobody in primary reality has seen qualitative change happen or experienced the age of the earth - it is instead an extrapolation, an assumption.
That all complex adaptations (functionality) in biology and all the diversity of species, and indeed the reality of species differences could be explained by natural selection is a metaphysical assumption, logically incoherent and un-provable by common sense.
But also: that such and such a breed of pig or dog - with a relatively specified appearance and behavior and functionality transmissible by heredity - was produced by the breeding experiments of Farmer Giles or Mr Smith... this is a matter of appropriate knowledge: common experience evaluated by common sense.
So evolutionary philosophy - e.g. the assertion that evolution is always and necessarily happening, or the assertion that adaptations are always and necessarily due to natural selection or chance variation - is false; but evolution as a specific phenomenon is true because humans have seen it, done it and continue to do it.
Science properly works in this area of specific and local - constructing simplified models that are understandable and have consequences and 'checking' these models by using them in interacting with the world, to attain human purposes.
Indeed, I would assert that, since the capacity for human deception including self-deception is so very great, the understandings of science are ultimately worth nothing unless or until they are brought to the level of evaluation by common sense and common experience.
Once we step away from common sense and common experience, reality can be constructed - and these constructions may be utterly false.
However, evolution passes the test of common sense and common experience - therefore it has potential validity in some situations.
Therefore evolution cannot (and should not) be ruled-out altogether.
We operate in the space between these bounds: on the one hand evolution is not intrinsically true because it is not the ultimate reality; but on the other hand evolution may sometimes be true with respect to certain situations.
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One only has to be reminded of the BSE crisis and the MMR vaccine scare to recognise the importance of having policy informed by the best available science. Now, a collaboration of over fifty academics and policy makers from around the world have come together to agree a new research agenda on the role of science in public policy. The findings appear today Friday, 09 March in PLoS ONE, a leading interdisciplinary open-access journal.
The importance of using science for public policy has long been recognised, but recent years have seen a growing debate over how this is best achieved. 'Evidence-based policy' has become the desired norm, and this has led to a greater embedding of scientists alongside other specialists in public policy. In many governments, scientists are engaged at a senior level. For example, in the UK, in addition to the Government Chief Scientific Adviser, all government departments have a dedicated Chief Scientific Adviser post.
In spite of their acknowledged importance, however, relations between science and policy are sometimes troubled, and periodically erupt into controversy. Prominent examples include the acrimonious debate over scientific understandings of climate change and the continuing disputes over the use of genetically modified crops and foods.
The aim of this project was to identify key questions which, if addressed through focused research, could both address important theoretical challenges and also improve the mutual understanding and effectiveness of those who work at the interface of science and policy.
To address these issues, Professor William Sutherland, from the University of Cambridge, working with the University's Centre for Science and Policy (CSaP), convened a unique workshop which brought together 52 leading scientists and policy makers to agree a new research agenda. They came from a wide range of academic disciplines (including the physical, biological, environmental, medical, and social sciences) as well as government, NGOs and industry. Initially, each participant was invited to produce a list of questions; through a process of voting, deliberation and further voting, the initial list was distilled into a final set of 40 questions.
Explaining the significance of the research, Professor Sutherland said: "When public policy is supported by scientifically-sound evidence, it is to the benefit of all of society. In order to strengthen the relationship between science and policy, we have, for the first time, compiled a clear set of research questions on scientific advice to governments."
The final questions include an examination of how the design of scientific advisory systems affects policy outcomes (Q18), whether making science advice more transparent has improved its quality (Q35) and how to ensure early identification of policy issues that require scientific advice (Q10).
Others, for example, include:
- What is the effectiveness of different techniques for anticipating future policy issues requiring science input? (Q17)
- How and why does the role of scientific advice in policy-making differ among local, regional, national and international levels of governance? (Q19)
- How do policy makers understand and respond to scientific uncertainties and expert disagreements? (Q29)
Dr Robert Doubleday, Head of Research, Centre for Science and Policy (CSaP) at the University of Cambridge, said: "For the first time scientific advisers, policy makers, and academics who study science policy have come together through a structured process to agree a common research agenda. This is a critically important step as too often in the past there has been a serious disconnect between the theory and practice of science policy. This paper will help overcome this gap. At CSaP we are committed to assessing progress made towards addressing these questions."
Explore further: The dissector and the draughtsman
More information: The paper 'A collaboratively-derived science policy research agenda' will be published in the 09 March 2012 edition of PLoS ONE. After the embargo lifts, the paper can be viewed at dx.plos.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0031824
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Birth Defects Directory
About 3% of U.S. babies -- around 120,000 newborns per year -- are born with any of 45 types of birth defects. Some birth defects have only a mild impact on a child's life, while others can be devastating, and even life-threatening. Many birth defects can be identified during pregnancy with prenatal testing. Follow the links below to find WebMD's comprehensive coverage about birth defects, what causes them, how they can be prevented, and much more.
Fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS) is a group of signs and symptoms that appear together and indicate a certain condition.
Read Full Article
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Components of both an arc burn and a contact burn make up the mechanism of injury. Arc burns result from electrolyte-containing saliva ( the small pool of drool at the corner of the mouth or the moist mucosa lining of the mouth) bridging the polarity gap of the wires and causing an arc or flash. The contact component of the burn occurs as the current passes from the electrical source through the mouth and to the ground through the path of least resistance.
The tissue injury results from direct thermal changes at the entrance and exit site. Temperatures can reach as high as 3000°C (5400°F). Alternating current at low voltage is more dangerous than direct current. Alternating current produces tetanic spasm and can freeze the patient to the power source with subsequent prolongation of contact. Nerve, blood vessels, and muscle offer little resistance and show the greatest destruction. Tendon, fat and bone tissue have highest resistance and show less destruction. Photo credit
The burn most often invades both upper and lower lip and the oral commissure. There is usually a significant tissue defect in this area. They are usually full thickness burns involving muscle destruction. The extent of tissue necrosis is not immediately known as it may progress for some time after injury. Patient observation reveals that these wounds are usually not as painful as they appear. Tetanus prophylaxis must be verified and boosters given if indicated.
Immediately after injury, the wound margins appear coagulated without an apparent margin of necrosis. Blood vessels are cauterized by the heat, so little or no bleeding is present. At approximately six hours, the wound is covered with whitish fibrin, a surrounding rim of erythema, and edema of the local tissue. The edema has a tendency to increase, as well as a progressive thrombosis, so after 24 hours there is usually a significant margin indicating the area of tissue necrosis. Bleeding from the labial artery has been reported to occur from these wounds between 1 and 2 weeks after injury as the eschar sloughs. The healing process follows the formation of the eschar, and takes 1 to 2 weeks. At that time, the eschar will slough from the wound, leaving a scar that has a tendency to contract.
The treatment concept
Surgical intervention immediately after injury is not indicated, because the extent of tissue necrosis cannot be defined precisely. For this reason the initial treatment is conservative. Topical antibiotic ointment should be used to prevent infection and assure wound healing. Some of the more severely injured patients were also treated with oral penicillin. Reconstructive procedures were planned after the healing was completed and after the degree of functional and/or aesthetic deformity was established (usually 6 months post-injury).
Attention must be paid not only to the existing deformity, but also to the functional impairment. After the healing process, the size of the tissue defect is most often substantially decreased because of scar contracture. The oral commissure is often narrowed and shortened, causing functional impairment and aesthetic deformity. Sometimes functional impairment and deformity is evident only during movement of the lips and cheeks (smiling or opening the mouth). Defects of the vermilion in the area of the commissure and adjacent upper and lower lips present a difficult reconstructive problem. However, it is more difficult to correct functional impairment and obtain perfect symmetry during movements. Both form and function must be considered when planning a reconstructive procedure.
During the six months post-injury, special attention should be paid to the scar formed in the area of the commissure. Vigorous scar massage should be done using vitamin E cream, kenalog cream, or Mederma to soften the scar as much as possible. Massage is performed by the patient (or parent for the child) five to seven times per day, for 2 to 3 minutes each time. Some suggest the use of splints to prevent contracture of the commissure. photo credit
Planning of the reconstructive procedure depends on the size, shape, and location of the defect, as well as the texture of the scar and the condition of the surrounding tissue. The surgeon must determine which design and which tissue to include into the local flap reconstructive procedure. The reconstructive procedure for recreating the commissure may be combined with that for reconstructing the vermilion on one or both lips adjacent to the commissure. Staged procedures are required in cases where defects of the vermilion are substantial. In these cases, the commissure is reconstructed first, followed by reconstruction of the lip 6 to 12 months later.
Reconstruction of the oral commissure, when performed simultaneously with reconstruction of the adjacent vermilion of the upper and/or lower lip, is based on recruiting a mucosal flap from the cheek and transferring it to the commissure and the adjacent lip defects that require reconstruction of the vermilion. The operation starts with precise measurements to determine the position of the commissure after reconstruction and anticipates postoperative scar contracture. The length of the oral fissure on the affected side is determined according to the measurements taken on the normal side. The commissure on the affected side is extended an additional 2 mm laterally to allow for postoperative scar contracture, which will narrow the commissure, bringing it up to the length of the normal side. It is also essential to position the commissure exactly at the same level as on the normal side. The incision is usually carried through the skin and muscle to completely remove the scar and to save the intact mucosa adjacent to the commissure. The design of the mucosal pedicle flap may vary, depending on how much tissue is necessary for reconstruction of the vermilion and closure of the lip defects. (photo from third reference article).
- Burns, Electrical by Richard F Edlich, MD PhD--eMedicine Article
- Electric Burns of the Lip--Pediatric Dentistry, "just for kids"
- Oral Commissure Burns in Children; Plastic & Reconstructive Surgery. 97(4):738-744, April 1996; Canady, John W. M.D.; Thompson, Sue Ann Ph.D.; Bardach, Janusz M.D.
- Bardach, J. Local Flaps and Free Skin Grafts in Head and Neck Reconstruction. St. Louis: Mosby, 1992.
- Safe Uses of Extension Cords
- Reducing the Risk of Burns--Cincinnati Children's Hospital
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The wide area network transports the station data transparently to the central systems. The control information is sent via this network as well.
The station fields are distributed over a region of roughly hundred kilometres in diameter andfor the international stations up to thousands of kilometres. For coherent data processing such as calculation of the correlation function and tied array beamforming, it is necessary to combine signals from all stations, which is performed at the central processing site. The wide area network transports the output data streams from the stations to the central processing site.
The main part of the LOFAR data that is transported throughout the network is observation data, in addition, a small part of the LOFAR data stream concerns monitoring and control data transport. The Wide Area Network consists of dark fiber and active communication equipment. Among these are network switches, optical multiplexers and media converters. The WAN will be implemented using 10 Gigabit Ethernet (10 GbE) technology. This is the obvious choice for distances up to ~40 km with a single transmitter/receiver pair, but will also be used for longer distances unless cheap and reliable alternatives are available (e.g. by reuse of existing infrastructure).
Data rates in the network vary from 2 to 20 gigabit per second, dependent on antenna location. The network will also be used for the transportation of data of the sensors of the LOFAR partners. The data from these sensors is routed also over the LOFAR network. This is done in a way that other running experiments are not influenced.
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Formerly lumped with the Juniper Titmouse as the species known appropriately as Plain Titmouse, the Oak Titmouse is small drab bird whose small head tuft is nearly its only field mark.
riparian, mixed oak woodland
Cool Facts •The Oak Titmouse sleeps in cavities or in dense foliage. When roosting in foliage, the titmouse chooses a twig surrounded by dense foliage or an accumulation of dead pine needles, simulating a roost in a cavity. •The Oak Titmouse mates for life, and pairs defend year-round territories. Most titmice find a mate in their first fall. Those that do not are excluded from territories and must live in marginal habitat until they find a vacancy. •The Oak Titmouse, unlike other members of the family, does not form flocks in winter.
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2013-05-18T18:51:30Z
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Past Times- Throwley Airfield
Work began in the summer of 1917 to build an airfield for the Royal Flying Corps when 112 Squadron was moved to Throwley . The airfield was situated between Bells Forstal and Throwley Forstal ( see the map on this site). The main aircraft based at Throwley were Sopwith Pups which were soon replaced by the more powerful Sopwith Camels, both aircraft types were biplane fighters. A photograph below (bottom right) gives todays view of what was then the airfield, then hedges were cut down from the surrounding fields to ease take off & landing .Today very little remains however, the Officers Mess was located at Bells Forstal Farm (see photograph bottom left) & the Guardroom is now the site of a private dwelling.
At first accomodation was basic for men and machines, tents and canvas covered hangers. Later permanent buildings were erected in Dodds Willows, a wooded area near the Guardroom which offered some protection for men & aircraft.The Sopwith Camels conducted night flights from time to time which were quite risky given the lack of equipment available at the time. Pilots were trained by flying in daylight using coloured goggles. Aircraft were frequently damaged on take off or landing and some pilots were killed , Throwley Churchyard has the graves of two pilots ( see photograph bottom centre) , both got into spins which they could not control & crashed (This was a particular problem with the Sopwith Camel which had so much power that the torque from the propellor could cause a right hand turn to go into a spin)
A reported problem with the site was the lack of water ,which is a surprise given the area now provides a major source of water from underground acqifers , a borehole was later sunk to provide supplies for the Airfield.
German Raids by Zeppelin airships were one of the targets of the Throwley pilots however,the Airships ability to fly at higher altitudes ment they often evaded attack, another target was German Gotha bombers, reports indicate more success in attack by Throwley based Sopwith Camels.
The Parish Registers show that some pilots and Airmen married into local families.
After the end of the first World War Throwley Airfield was disbanded in 1919 and the accomodation huts were sold off at auction. The camp hall was used by the villagers with the last event being the havest supper in 1973 after which the building suffered vandalism and was later pulled down.
References : 1 : An illustrated history of Throwley- Throwley Parish by H.B Reid 1995
2 : Airfield Focus - 58 : Throwley - Anthony J Moor
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2013-05-18T18:15:11Z
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As envisioned since 1996, the U.S. National Missile Defense effort consists of three main elements: infrared early-warning satellites, ground-based radars to precisely track warheads and decoys from thousands of kilometers away, and multistage, rocket-powered homing interceptor missiles launched from underground silos. The most critical element of this defense is the roughly 1.5-meter-long “exoatmospheric kill vehicle” that the homing interceptor deploys after being launched to high speed by its rocket stages. After deployment, the kill vehicle has about a minute to identify the warheads in a cloud of decoys as it closes on the targets at high speeds. To that end, it carries its own infrared telescope and has small rocket motors that enable it to home in on its prey. The kill vehicle does not carry a warhead. Rather, it is designed to destroy its quarry by force of impact.
When an enemy missile is launched, it typically takes 30 to 60 seconds to reach altitudes where the infrared early-warning satellites can detect the hot exhaust from its engines. These satellites orbit at an altitude of 40,000 kilometers and can be kept over the same point on the earth’s surface. Once two or more detect the rocket, they can crudely track it in three dimensions by stereo-viewing. However, the satellites can only see the hot exhaust from the rocket’s engines, so their tracking ends abruptly when the engines shut down-an event that typically happens in space at between 200 and 300 kilometers in altitude.
Roughly three minutes after engine shutdown, the rocket’s upper stage and the just released warhead and decoys rise above the horizon, where they can be tracked by radar. The radar systems originally planned for this task operate on a very short wavelength (three centimeters at a frequency of 10 gigahertz), which allows them to identify objects to an accuracy of 10 to 15 centimeters from many thousands of kilometers away. This makes it possible to observe distinct reflections from different surfaces-even the seams on an object as it tumbles through space. The spacing and intensity of these signals, and the way their echoes vary as the orientation of a target object changes, can in some circumstances be used to determine which object is a warhead and which a decoy. If all goes well, this information will be used to deploy one or more interceptors within about 10 minutes of an attack’s being launched. The interceptors will fly to the defense, destroying their targets about 18 minutes after launch (see “Space-based vs. boost-phase defense”).
That, at any rate, is how the system was initially supposed to work. President Bush’s latest proposal does not include this high-resolution radar, making tracking and identification of enemy missiles harder and delaying the interception time. But even with the more advanced original system, big problems surround the scenario. For starters, an adversary could alter the reflections from decoys and warheads by covering surfaces and seams with wires, metal foil or radar-absorbing materials. These simple strategies would render the radar unable to reliably sort out warheads from their armadas of decoys.
Compounding this problem is a simple fact: in the near vacuum of space, a feather and a rock move at the same speed, since there is no air drag to cause the lighter object to slow up relative to its heavier companion. This basic vulnerability makes it even easier for an adversary to devise decoys that will look like warheads to radar or an infrared telescope observing them from long range.
What’s more, an adversary would likely deploy decoys and warheads close together and in multiple clusters. Under these conditions, even if the radar could initially identify a warhead among all the decoys, it couldn’t track it accurately enough to predict the relative locations of the different objects when the kill vehicle encountered them some eight minutes later. Consequently, the kill vehicle must be able to identify warheads and decoys without help from satellites, ground radars or other sensors. If it cannot perform this task, the defense cannot work. This is where the infrared telescope comes in-and it was really this critical part of the system that the June 1997 test was all about.
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http://www.technologyreview.com/featuredstory/401407/why-missile-defense-wont-work/page/2/?p=4
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2013-05-23T19:14:55Z
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October 25, 2004
Long hidden behind a thick veil of haze, Titan, the only known moon with an atmosphere, is ready for its close-up on Oct. 26, 2004. This visit by the Cassini spacecraft may settle intense speculation about whether this moon of Saturn harbors oceans of liquid methane and ethane beneath its coat of clouds.
Cassini will fly by Titan at a distance of 1,200 kilometers (745 miles), with closest approach at 9:44 a.m. Pacific Time. This flyby will be nearly 300 times closer than the first Cassini flyby of Titan, on July 3.
This is one of 45 planned flybys of Titan during the four-year tour. Subsequent flybys will bring the spacecraft even closer. Scientists believe Titan's atmosphere is similar to that of early Earth.
"Cassini will see Titan as it has never been seen before. We expect the onboard instruments will pierce the moon's dense atmosphere and reveal a whole new world," said Dr. Charles Elachi, director of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., and team leader for the Cassini radar instrument.
One important goal of this flyby is to confirm scientists' model of Titan's atmosphere to prepare for the Huygens probe descent. The probe, built and managed by the European Space Agency, will be cut loose from its mother ship on Christmas Eve and will coast through the atmosphere of Titan. On the way down, the probe will sample the atmosphere with a sophisticated set of scientific instruments.
"Titan has been lying still, waiting. Cassini may finally show us if what we thought of this moon is true, and whether the Huygens probe touchdown will be a splash," said Dr. Jean-Pierre Lebreton, Huygens project manager and project scientist for the European Space Research and Technology Center, Noordwijk, Netherlands.
Eleven of Cassini's 12 instruments will be aimed at Titan during this encounter. Scientists hope to learn more about Titan's interior structure, surface, atmosphere and interaction with Saturn's magnetosphere. This first in-place sampling of Titan's atmosphere will help in understanding the atmosphere's density and composition, which, in turn, will help aid management of the Huygens probe. This flyby will mark the first time Cassini's imaging radar is used to observe Titan, and is expected to provide topographical maps and show whether there is a liquid or solid surface.
"We know our instrument will see through the haze to Titan's surface," said Dr. Robert H. Brown, team leader for the visual and infrared mapping spectrometer, University of Arizona, Tucson. "This encounter is about digging down below the atmosphere and getting our first glimpse of Titan geology."
Cassini's ion and neutral mass spectrometer will taste mysterious, subtle flavors in Titan's atmosphere. "Our instrument will scoop up a breath of Titan's puffy atmosphere during the flyby," said Roger Yelle, instrument team member, also with the University of Arizona. The experiment will measure how many molecules of different masses it gathers in the gulp of Titan's mostly nitrogen, methane-laced atmosphere.
Titan is Saturn's largest moon. It is larger than Mercury or Pluto and is the second largest moon in the solar system, after Jupiter's moon Ganymede. Titan is a cold place thought to be inhospitable to life at 95 degrees Kelvin (minus 289 degrees Fahrenheit).
Cassini has performed flawlessly since entering orbit around Saturn on June 30. The team believes that on Tuesday night, all will proceed as planned.
"This is not the same white-knuckle situation we had during Saturn orbit insertion, but there are some things we can't control," said Earl Maize, deputy project manager for the Cassini-Huygens mission at JPL. "If a spacecraft anomaly should occur, or if the weather at the tracking stations does not cooperate, the science return may be limited or lost. Although this is an unlikely scenario, the possibility still exists." Cassini will have only one opportunity to send the data back to Earth before the data are overwritten on the recorders by data from the next set of observations. The first downlink of data by NASA's Deep Space Network occurs at 6:30 p.m. PDT.
The Cassini-Huygens mission is a cooperative project of NASA, the European Space Agency and the Italian Space Agency. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the Cassini-Huygens mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C.
Carolina Martinez (818) 354-9382
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.
Don Savage (202) 358-1727
NASA Headquarters, Washington, D.C.
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Marcus, Joseph A.
Yucca treculeana Carr.
Spanish Dagger, Don Quixote's Lance, Palma Pita
Agavaceae (Century-Plant Family)
or small tree
unbranched except near the top, and up to 10 or more feet tall. In brushy and open areas. Leaves stiff, sharp pointed, up to 3 feet long by 3 inches wide, in large clumps at the ends of stems or branches, dead ones hanging below the live ones. Flowers white or faintly purplish, in dense, showy clusters rising above the leaves, appearing in March and April. Fruit
up to 4 inches long by 1 inch wide.
Image Gallery: 43 photo(s) available
Bloom InformationBloom Color: White , Red
Bloom Time: Jan , Feb , Mar , Apr , Dec
TX Native Habitat:
Chaparral & brush country USDA Native Status: L48(N)
Growing ConditionsWater Use: Medium
Light Requirement: Part Shade
Soil Moisture: Dry
Cold Tolerant: yes
Soil Description: Sandy, Sandy Loam, Medium Loam, Clay Loam, Clay
Conditions Comments: It is said that the Aztecs used to use the leaves of the Spanish Dagger to stab snakebite wounds in their skin in order to help flush out the poison.
Blooms ornamental, Accent tree
Aromatic, Security hedge Use Wildlife:
Nectar-moths, Nesting site. Conspicuous Flowers:
Butterflies Larval Host:
Yucca giant skipper butterfly, Ursine giant skipper, Streckers giant skipper. Deer Resistant:
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One of the Best Science Encyclopedia and Reference Book Sets for Students
The Student Discovery Science Encyclopedia is designed to meet the science information needs of both young learners and visual learners. This 13-volume set features easy-to-understand language, fun facts, and thousands of colorful illustrations and diagrams. Special features and engaging articles make science for young learners accessible and fun.
Key features of the set include more than 2,100 entries, 3,300 illustrations, and over 60 experiments and activities. The articles provide up-to-date, accurate, and clear information on hundreds of high-interest subjects—from space science and physics to biology and zoology—relevant to science curriculums for young learners. The Student Discovery Science Encyclopedia also includes many of the features also found in adult reference products, such as cross-references, guide words, and pronunciation guides. Volume 13 also contains a cumulative index. These elements promote familiarity with reference sources and develop research skills.
Several special features make the Student Discovery Science Encyclopedia a standout science resource for young learners. The Science Guide in Volume 13 functions as a guide to the dozens of activities and experiments in the set. It provides information on how to prepare the experiments and activities, as well as tips on how to plan a science fair project. Throughout the set, biographies of important scientists from the past and present provide fascinating insight into the people behind the technology, medicine, and scientific discoveries that have built and changed our world. Lastly, the stunning cover design draws readers in while thousands of colorful illustrations and diagrams provide both visual interest and scientific information. These features make the Student Discovery Science Encyclopedia a perfect addition to home or school libraries.
Browse through all of World Book's kids' science books!
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Disease Controlskip to main navigation skip to secondary navigation
Proper disease identification and treatment, especially in the early stages, are critical to disease control in trees and shrubs.
The vast majority of what we consider plant diseases in urban and suburban settings are actually noninfectious disorders. Rather than being caused by pathogens, these disorders are the result of nutrient deficiency, foreign climate, pollutants, and other often controllable factors. For instance, Chlorosis, which presents as a yellowing of the leaves, is the result of an iron deficiency (possibly due to a lack of nutrients in the soil or a problem with the roots of the tree). Noninfectious disorders can be just as detrimental as infectious diseases, so it's important to treat them seriously. However, they are generally easy to prevent through proper maintenance practices.
Infectious diseases, like Bleeding Canker, Anthracnose, Dutch Elm Disease, and many others are caused by pathogens in the form of fungi, viruses and bacteria. In order for a disease to develop: a pathogen must be present, the plant must be susceptible to the disease, and the environmental conditions and condition of the tree need to be suitable. So keeping susceptible plants in healthy, unstressed condition is one major factor in preventing disease. Another is choosing disease-resistant trees and shrubs when we know that a particular pathogen may present a problem. For example, Dogwood Anthracnose is a prevalent problem in the Northeast, so an arborist might recommend planting a Stellar Hybrid Series Dogwood that has been bred to resist Anthracnose, rather than a more traditional Flowering Dogwood.
Depending on the type of pathogen present, tree and shrub diseases can be treated systemically or with foliar applications. Many pathogens infect the leaves and other external parts of a tree with spores (e.g. Apple Scab) and can be treated with topical applications. On the other hand, systemic injections of different controls made directly into the sapstream (xylem) of a tree can fight those more exterior pathogens as well as diseases infecting the trunk and vascular system.
When it comes to applying disease controls, Almstead utilizes a wide range of products for targeted control. We're also dedicated to ensuring that the materials we use to treat your property are the safest, most effective controls available in the industry. With the exception of certain products that we inject directly into the soil or the xylem (sap stream) of trees, nearly all of the controls we use are either recognized as "reduced risk" by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), or are safe enough that they have been exempted from EPA regulations altogether.
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My two digit number is special because adding the sum of its digits
to the product of its digits gives me my original number. What
could my number be?
If you wrote all the possible four digit numbers made by using each
of the digits 2, 4, 5, 7 once, what would they add up to?
A rhombus PQRS has an angle of 72 degrees. OQ = OR = OS = 1 unit. Find all the angles, show that POR is a straight line and that the side of the rhombus is equal to the Golden Ratio.
The problem is how did Archimedes calculate the lengths of the sides of the polygons which needed him to be able to calculate square roots?
Four cards are shuffled and placed into two piles of two. Starting with the first pile of cards - turn a card over...
You win if all your cards end up in the trays before you run out of cards in. . . .
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A Timeline of Management and Leadership
1880 - Scientific Management
Frederick Taylor decides to time each and every worker at the Midvale Steel Company. His view of the future becomes highly accurate:
"In the past man was first. In the future the system will be first." - Frederick Taylor
In scientific management the managers were elevated while the workers' roles were negated.
"Science, not rule of thumb, - Frederick Taylor
The decisions of supervisors, based upon experience and intuition, were no longer important. Employees were not allowed to have ideas of responsibility. Yet the question remains — is this promotion of managers to center-stage justified?
1929 - Taylorism
The Taylor Society publishes a revised and updated practitioner's manual: Scientific Management in American Industry.
1932 - The Hawthorne Studies
Elton Mayo becomes the first to question the behavioral assumptions of scientific management. The studies concluded that human factors were often more important than physical conditions in motivating employees to greater productivity.
1946 - Organization Development
Social scientist Kurt Lewin launches the Research Center for Group Dynamics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. His contributions in change theory, action research, and action learning earn him the title of the “Father of Organization Development:” the systematic application of behavioral science knowledge at various levels (group, intergroup, and total organization) to bring about planned change.
Lewin is best known for his work in the field of organization development and the study of group dynamics. His research discovered that learning is best facilitated when there is a conflict between immediate concrete experience and detached analysis within the individual. Also see Organizational Behavior.
1949 - Sociotechnical Systems Theory
A group of researchers from London's Tavistock Institute of Human Relations, led by Eric Trist, studied a South Yorkshire coal mine in 1949. Their research leads in the development of the Sociotechnical Systems Theory which considers both the social and the technical aspects when designing jobs. It marks a 180-degree departure from Frederick Taylor's scientific management. There are four basic components to sociotechnical theory:
- environment subsystem
- social subsystem
- technical subsystem
- organizational design.
1954 - Hierarchy of Needs
Maslow's hierarchy of needs theory is published in his book Motivation and Personality. This provides a framework for gaining employees' commitment.
1954 - Leadership/Management
Drucker writes The Practice of Management and introduces the 5 basic roles of managers. He writes:
The first question in discussing organization structure must be: What is our business and what should it be? Organization structure must be designed so as to make possible the attainment of objectives of the business for five, ten, fifteen years hence."
1959 - Hygiene and Motivational Factors
Frederick Herzberg developed a list of factors which are closely based on Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs, except it more closely related to work. Hygiene factors must be present in the job before motivators can be used to stimulate the workers.
1960 - Theory X and Theory Y
Douglas McGregor's Theory X and Theory Y principles influence the design and implementation of personnel policies and practices.
Late 1960s - Action Learning
An Unheralded British academic was invited to try out his theories in Belgium — Action Learning — it leads to an upturn in Belgian's economy.
Unless your ideas are ridiculed by experts they are worth nothing. - the British academic Reg Revens, creator of action learning:
L = P + Q ([L] Learning occurs through a combination of programmed knowledge [P] and the ability to ask insightful questions [Q])
Note that Revens work has had little impact on this side of the ocean, although it remains one of the best ways to learn and to bring about productive change in the organization.
1964 - Management Grid
Robert Blake and Jane Mouton develop a management model that conceptualizes management styles and relations. Their Grid uses two axis. "Concern for people" is plotted using the vertical axis and "Concern for task" is along the horizontal axis. The notion that just two dimensions can describe a managerial behavior has the attraction of simplicity.
1978 - Performance Technology
Tom Gilbert publishes Human Competence: Engineering Worthy Performance. It describes the behavioral-engineering model which become the bible of performance technology. Gilbert wrote that accomplishment specification is the only logical way to define performance requirements. Accomplishments are the best starting points for developing performance standards. In addition, accomplishments are the best tools for the development of performance-based job descriptions as they allow management to describe the measurement that is important to the organization, specific to the position, and observable.
1978 - Excellence
McKinsey's John Larson asks his colleague, Tom Peters, to step in at the last minute and make a presentation that leads to In Search of Excellence. Thus Tom Peters spawns the birth of the “Management Guru Business.”
1990 - Learning Organization
Peter Senge popularized the Learning Organization in The Fifth Discipline: The Art and Practice of the Learning Organization. He describes the organization as an organism with the capacity to enhance its capabilities and shape its own future. A learning organization is any organization (e.g. school, business, government agency) that understands itself as a complex, organic system that has a vision and purpose. It uses feedback systems and alignment mechanisms to achieve its goals. It values teams and leadership throughout the ranks. He called for five disciplines:
- System Thinking
- Personal Mastery
- Mental Models
- Shared Vision
- Team Learning
1995 - Ethics
On December 11, 1995 a fire burned most of Malden Mills to the ground and put 3,000 people out of work. Most of the 3,000 thought they were out of work permanently. CEO Aaron Feuerstein says, “This is not the end” — he spent millions keeping all 3,000 employees on the payroll with full benefits for 3 months until he could get another factory up and running. Why? He answers, “The fundamental difference is that I consider our workers an asset, not an expense.” Related concept — Ethos and Leadership.
Business Process Management (BPM) - 2000
This is actually a slow advance in process management that has the following roots:
- Record Management
- Workflow - 1970
- Business Process Re-engineering (BPR) - 1990
- Business Process Management (BPM) - 2000
Return to the main History page
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During the past month, terrorism alerts and talk of war with Iraq have become almost as much a part of daily life in the United States as weather forecasts and traffic alerts. As a result, many teachers have been left wondering how much -- if at all -- they should discuss with their students about terrorism and war.
How teachers address those topics, experts say, depends on a community's circumstances, students' ages, and the level of concern expressed by the students. Obviously, some children -- such as those who live near military bases and those who live near sites of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks -- are affected more than others. But all students can benefit from activities, both inside and outside the classroom, that help them feel more responsible and more confident during unsettling times.
Lessons, activities, and discussions about war and terrorism are necessary because the issues are part of most students' lives, according to Dr. Robert Gillio, whose company InnerLink, Inc. provides online science, health, and safety education products and services. Gillio, who volunteered at Ground Zero for several weeks following the World Trade Center attacks, also wrote a book Lessons from Ground Zero, which includes lesson plans for helping children cope with disasters.
"Many students are suffering sub-clinical levels of post-traumatic stress disorder or are living with someone who is," he told Education World, maintaining that most know someone in the military, or know of someone who is in the service. "Through the media, every terrorist attack anywhere in the world is played repeatedly in their homes on television and rehashed in the newspaper," Gillio said. "Students need to be able to express their fears and have them dealt with -- using information, planning, training, and counseling where necessary.
"Teachers can adapt the Lessons from Ground Zero lesson plans to whatever situation they are preparing students for," Gillio added, "putting the emphasis on learning to make decisions and thinking through challenges they may not have been prepared to encounter."
Being truthful about a situation is effective with most children, Gillio said. In dealing with young children, he recommends that teachers
The American Red Cross also offers resources for teaching young children about readiness. Those include the Be Ready 1-2-3 Instructor's Manual and accompanying Be Ready 1-2-3 Book for 4 to 7 year olds. Through that curriculum, children learn about disaster preparedness, with help from Cool Cat, Ready Rabbit, and Disaster Dog.
Masters of Disaster, another American Red Cross curriculum, provides K-8 students with lessons and activities on preparing for natural and other types of disasters.
Additional resources are available from theNational Association of School Psychologists (NASP). Those include Helping Children Cope in Unsettling Times -- Tips for Parents and Teachers and Children and Fear of War and Terrorism -- Tips for Parents and Teachers.
When talking with children or answering their questions about war and terrorism, the NASP emphasizes that it is critical for adults to help children feel safe and, especially with young children, to differentiate between war and terrorism. Some children may think that U.S. security precautions mean war is going to break out near their homes.
According to the NASP, during the current climate, teachers especially need to keep an eye on youngsters who are more susceptible to stress, such as those who
Some schools prefer to handle the issues on a case-by-case basis. In the Williamsport (Pennsylvania ) Area School District, according to district psychologist Brenda Frazier, if a child expresses undue concern about war or the possibility of a terrorist attack, teachers are told to acknowledge those fears and matter-of-factly tell the child about safety precautions in place to keep kids safe. If that child's anxiety increases, Frazier said, he or she would be referred to a guidance counselor and parents would be contacted.
Schools with large populations of military dependents know they have an extra responsibility, because their students already are directly affected. In those schools, many students have watched parents leave for overseas duty; others are waiting for the call. Support staff members in the Cumberland County School District in Fayetteville, North Carolina, which abuts Ft. Bragg, mobilized quickly when military deployments began. Although Ft. Bragg has some base schools, about 30 percent of Cumberland County's 70,000 students are affiliated with the military base, according to Robbin Tatum, district coordinator of counseling services.
The district formed a Military Child Task Force that includes school and base personnel. Staff members underwent training on how to counsel students individually and in groups, and teachers participated in professional development programs designed to help them identify children who might be especially anxious. Schools also made sure they had current phone numbers, so they could quickly reach students' parents or guardians.
Counselors talk to students in groups about living with uncertainty. "Counselors talk to kids about how to deal with stress, and they discuss the loss of control students might feel when circumstances change," Tatum explained. Some children have had both parents deployed, forcing them to stay with relatives. "We try to keep their school routine as normal as possible," she added.
Some of the youngest students were not certain what "deployment" meant, Tatum noted, and that was explained to them. The topic of patriotism is covered as well; staff members tell students whose parents are in the service that "they are doing something noble." Children also are reassured that it is okay to be angry or upset because a parent or other relative is away, and they are encouraged to channel their anger into positive activities --activities they have control over.
School staff also have met with parents of children in the military, and advised them of behaviors that might indicate that their children are over-stressed. For those with younger children, staff members suggest that the parent who is leaving videotape himself or herself reading a story to the child, and also record a holiday message. "We also tell them to try to maintain as normal a routine as possible," Tatum told Education World.
Older children can meet with parents and discuss ways they can provide extra help for the family while a parent is away, which can help build self-esteem.
In addition to giving older students more responsibility at home, providing them with factual information and opportunities to voice their opinions can help them feel more secure and confident, according to Susan Graseck, director of the Choices for the 21st Century Education Program. Part of the Watson Institute for International Studies at Brown University, Choices is committed to encouraging interest in international issues, through teaching and professional development.
Choices' staff members developed lesson plans called Teaching with the News: Crisis with Iraq, which teachers can use to help students understand the background and current issues involved in the U.S.-Iraq dispute.
"That curriculum, which is being used by more than 3,500 schools, allows students to look at different topics and decide what they think," Graseck told Education World. "That way, they can be part of the conversation. Sometimes, it's scarier when you don't know enough to participate. The ability to understand is one way to deal with fears."
Gillio agrees with the idea of fortifying high-school-aged students with information. "Older students need to be made aware that the world is changing around them. They remember a time only a year and a half ago, when average Americans were only afraid if they were in the wrong neighborhood after dark. They remember when the rest of the world respected and cherished our presence and what we stood for. They need to realize that they are inheriting problems that are not their fault, but that will affect them.
"They need to get as smart as they can about their own personal health and safety, and be able to step in if something happens to someone else. They need to be sure their homes and schools are prepared for a variety of unlikely scenarios and have plans and supplies ready. Teachers need to stress the unlikely nature of terrorist threats, and focus on the secondary benefit of becoming a smarter, safer, and healthier student, living in a community that is increasingly pulling together."
Building the "Freedom Generation"This generation of youngsters has a unique place in American history, and educators and parents should encourage youngsters to create a legacy for themselves and their children, according to Dr. Robert Gillio, author of Lessons from Ground Zero.
"This should be Generation Freedom," Gillio told Education World. "This is the last group that will remember the America before daily fear and before it was acceptable to be searched prior to entry into any public place, event, or transportation center.
"Teachers need to realize that these kids are living in a time of revolutionary changes, a time analogous to the era of the Gutenberg printing press," he continued. "Kids have the power to do good, and to have it geometrically affect the millions who see it, read about it, or get involved with it."
According to Gillio, unlike past generations, today's young people have no positive collective memories -- such as the Allied victory in World War II, President Kennedy's inauguration speech, or men walking on the moon. "This generation's common memories are tragedies rather than triumphs: the Columbine High School shootings, the terrorist attacks, and the destruction of the space shuttle Columbia. Teachers need to help students build positive memories. If our leaders won't provide them with common positive memories, let's at least create them on a school or community basis," Gillio said.
Among the activities that Gillio feels can help students develop positive common memories, by making spare time "care time" are
* interviewing their heroes and writing about them.
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Flaccid paralysis is a condition characterized by extreme weakness of muscles and loss of muscle tone.
Acute paralysis in limbs that are flaccid (floppy or limp) are associated with this condition. Signs and symptoms depends on what is causing the AFP:
Free Legal Case Evaluation
- Progression of paralysis
- Fever onset
- Diminished muslce tone
- Sensory loss, cramps, or tingling of palms and soles of the feet
- Bladder dysfunction
- Respiratory insufficiency
Causes of Flaccid Paralysis
A common cause of flaccid paralysis is anterior spinal artery syndrome, in which the anterior spinal artery is blocked. Blockage can be caused by spinal cord trauma, cancer, arterial disease, or thrombosis. Other causes of flaccid paralysis include:
- Central pontine myelinolysis— The protective layer around the brainstem nerve cells is destroyed, preventing the transmittal of nerve signals
- Hyperkalemia— Caused by an excess of potassium in the body
- Hypokalemic periodic paralysis— An inherited muscle condition characterized by severe episodes of paralysis and muscle weakness which can last for hours or days
- Japanese encephalitis— A form of encephalitis transmitted by mosquitoes
Treatment for Flaccid Paralysis
The doctor determines the location of activity using evaluation and special testing. Once the presence of muscle activity is determined, a therapist can help the patient regain some strength and muscle tone by reinforcing correct movement patterns.
Acute Flaccid Paralysis and West Nile Virus
The West Nile Virus has also been associated with acute flaccid paralysis because of a peripheral demyelinating process. Patients who exhibit sever weakness should be screened for West Nile Virus before beginning treatment for presumed Guillain-Barre Syndrome (GBS). AFP can be differenitated from GBS, as GBS usually exhibits symmetric weakness, sensory changes or parathesias, and the syndrome usually follows signs of a severe infection after several days. Elevation of CSF proteins is also characteristic of GBS.
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Fighting the U-boats
The Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF)
Despite the fact that Australia is situated quite literally at the other end of the Earth from the North Atlantic Ocean, Australian airmen were intensively involved in fighting the U-boats throughout WW2.
The participation of Australians in the Battle of the Atlantic arose from two decisions made early in the war. In September 1939, the RAAF happened to have two squadrons of Short Sunderland flying boats under construction in the UK. When war broke out, Australia supported Britain by committing the flying boats and their Australian crews to anti-U-boat patrols in British waters.
At about the same time, the British 'Dominion' countries (such as Australia and Canada) were organised into a massive 'Empire' aircrew training scheme. Under this scheme, individual RAAF aircrew could find themselves receiving basic training in Australia, followed by advanced training in Canada and operational conversion with RAF units in Britain. This system produced a sustained flow of Australians into Europe even after the Japanese attack in the Pacific in 1941.
It was originally expected that Australian aircrew arriving in Britain would be used to form wholly 'Australian' squadrons. This did indeed happen for around half of the RAAF manpower supplied to Europe. The other half were randomly allocated as replacements throughout the British RAF. As a result, many RAAF airmen played important roles in U-boat sinkings which have historically been classified as 'British' successes.
The chronology below lists 29 U-boat sinkings and eight other significant actions where RAAF airmen made a major contribution. In many cases, references are listed for relevant photos held by the Australian War Memorial in Canberra (AWM). The photos can easily be viewed at http://www.awm.gov.au/database/photo.asp.
(Instructions: It is recommend that you open a new Internet browser window. (Hit Cntl+N in Internet Explorer.) Next, click on the above link to open the AWM photo search engine. Copy and paste the search keywords noted below, including any punctuation, to the 'Find This' box of the search engine, then click the 'Search' button.)
NOTABLE RAAF ACTIONS AGAINST THE U-BOATS IN WW2
An Early Morale Boost. U-26 Scuttled Under Pressure.
1 July 1940.
U-26 attacked a convoy southwest of the Scilly Isles and was damaged by the corvette HMS Gladiolus. The U-boat tried to escape on the surface but it was then twice attacked with depth-charges by an Australian Sunderland, aircraft 'H' of 10 Squadron RAAF ('10/H'), piloted by Flight Lieutenant Bill Gibson. With the Naval escort catching up, he captain of U-26 then decided to scuttle his boat. All of his crew were picked up by HMS Rochester. This sinking occurred about 300 miles SSW of the 10 Squadron base at Mount Batten near Plymouth on the southwestern coast of England.
(For a photograph of the Sunderland's depth-charges exploding near U-26; AWM Keyword: U26 )
(For an fascinating selection of propoganda photos of RAAF 10 Squadron Sunderlands and their base, taken in July 1940, including several cheesy portraits of Gibson; AWM Keyword (use the entire string): +"1940-07", +"raf station mount batten" )
Leigh Light Debut. Italian Submarine Luigi Torelli Damaged.
3 and 7 June 1942.
Luigi Torelli was the first Axis submarine attacked at night with the assistance of the 'Leigh Light' airborne searchlight. An Australian, Pilot Officer Triggs, was the second pilot of the 172 Squadron RAF Wellington which delivered that attack.
Three days later, the damaged Torrelli was spotted, limping back through the Bay of Biscay, by an RAAF 10 Squadron Sunderland. This was joined by another 10 Squadron Sunderland flown by Flight Lieutenant Ed Yeoman, who attacked with depth-charges. Both Australian flying boats were damaged by return fire.
The next day the Luigi Torelli was observed beached, with a large hole amidships, at Santander on the Spanish coast. Torelli was patched up and had a remarkably colourful career over the rest of the war. It was boarded by the Japanese in Singapore when the Italians surrendered in 1943 and then handed to the Germans in Penang, Malaya, as UIT-25. Following the German surrender in 1945 it was renamed I-504 by the Japanese and operated with the Imperial Japanese Navy until August 30th, 1945. It scored the last combat victory of any Japanese naval vessel in WW2, shooting down an American B-25 Mitchell bomber. Some of the original Italian crew served on the boat right through all of its ownership changes.
(Ed Yeoman was killed in action two months after his attack on Torelli. For two portraits of Triggs, who later survived a ditching in the Bay of Biscay; AWM Keyword: 400500 )
Gun Drill. U-71 Damaged.
5 June 1942.
One example of the many inconclusive encounters between Australian aircraft and U-boats is recorded in a dramatic photo showing U-71 being strafed in the Bay of Biscay by RAAF Sunderland 10/U, piloted by Flight Lieutenant S. R. C. Wood. U-71 was depth-charged whilst crash-diving and forced back to the surface. The Sunderland had no further depth-charges and fired 2000 rounds of machinegun ammunition before U-71 eventually dived, trailing oil. No-one was injured on board the U-boat.
Shortly afterwards the Sunderland was engaged by a German FW200 Condor four-engined patrol plane. In a running gun battle lasting 75 minutes, these two large aircraft both sustained serious damage.
(The sea boils around U-71; AWM Keyword: 044829 )
Cloud Cover. U-105 Damaged.
11 June 1942.
U-105 was located on the surface of the Bay of Biscay during daylight by an RAAF Sunderland flown by Flight Lieutenant E. B. Martin. This was during the difficult period for U-boat commanders when they were threatened with Leigh Light attacks at night, but had not yet been equipped with the Metox radar detector. Many U-boats chose to surface in daylight for battery charging during this period, when they had a better chance of seeing an attacker in time to make a crash dive. Martin flew a radar approach behind low cloud cover and then made a surprise depth-charge attack. While this attack was not fatal, the badly damaged U-105 had to take refuge in El Ferrol, Spain. Martin himself was killed in action only six weeks later.
(Martin's depth-charges explode as U-105 slips away. Note: there is a mistake in the dating of this photo, it should be c1942; AWM Keyword: SUK10562 )
Rear Access. Italian Submarine Alabastro Sunk.
14 September 1942.
A Sunderland flying boat of RAF 202 Squadron flying from Gibraltar happened across the Italian submarine Alabastro in the western Mediterranean, NW of Algiers. The Sunderland was piloted by RAAF Flight Lieutenant E. P. Walshe. Alabastro stayed on the surface and fought with guns, but an approach from the rear by Walshe unsighted some of the Italian gunners. Precise suppressive fire from the Sunderland gunners then allowed an accurate depth-charge drop to be made. Alabastro stopped dead in the water and sank after half an hour, leaving 40 survivors in the water.
(For portraits of Walshe, who received his DFC at Buckingham Palace; AWM Keyword (include the quote marks): "e. p. walshe" )
Chicago Bound. U-505 Damaged and a Hudson Lost.
10 November 1942.
This incident, which occurred in the Caribbean approaches SE of Trinidad, is notable because it involved one of the best-known U-boats, U-505. The boat was attacked by a twin-engined RAF Hudson patrol bomber, operated by an unusually diverse multinational crew.
Hudson 'L' of RAF 53 Squadron had on board one American, one Australian, two Britons and a New Zealander. All were killed during their attack on U-505, when one of their depth-charges detonated on the deck planking of the boat. The overflying Hudson was caught in the blast and crashed into the sea. U-505 suffered two wounded personnel during this attack, plus some spectacular damage, but was able to limp all the way back across the Atlantic to Lorient. After the war, U-505 became a famous walk-through exhibit in the Chicago Museum of Science and Industry.
Irredeemable. U-167 Scuttled. 5 April 1943.
While operating near the Canary Islands, U-167 was attacked by RAF Hudson 233/L, flown by RAAF Pilot Officer K. R. Dalton. The U-boat was seriously damaged. Later that afternoon it was found stopped on the surface by another Hudson and attacked ineffectually with depth-charges. At that stage, U-167 submerged with difficulty, but it was irredeemably damaged. Soon after, it was scuttled near the SW shore of Gran Canaria island. All of the crew got off safely with the help of local fishing boats.
Bolt from the Blue. U-632 Sunk.
6 April 1943.
U-632 was surprised and sunk south-west of Iceland by Liberator 'R' of RAF 86 Squadron. The pilot was RAAF Pilot Officer Cyril Burcher. Later during the same patrol, Burcher attacked another U-boat with his remaining depth-charges.
Stopgap Success. The Death of U-227.
30 April 1943.
The spring of 1943 saw desperate British efforts to cover the 'Northern Transit Zone' between the Shetland and Faeroe islands, where U-boats leaving Germany entered the Atlantic. Part of this effort included patrols by twin-engined Hampden torpedo bombers of 455 RAAF Squadron. The Australian crews had to do without specialised training for this role. They flew many lonely missions in these slow and obsolete aircraft, which also lacked search radar. Despite this, Hampden X/455, flying from Sumburgh in the Orkneys, at the far northern tip of the UK, spotted U-227 north of the Shetlands. The Hampden's pilot, Sergeant J. S. Freeth, executed two accurate depth-charge attacks to sink the boat. None of the U-boat men survived. They had been outward bound on their maiden voyage.
(For several fine pictures of 455 Squadron Hampdens and station life; AWM Keyword (include quotes): "hampden torpedo bomber" ) (For a portrait of Freeth, who was soon afterwards killed in a flying accident; AWM Keyword: P02450*007 )
Hot Reception. U-465 Sunk.
2 May 1943.
Early in the pivotal month of May 1943, as Doenitz's 'fight-back' directive produced a rash of daylight U-boat sightings, Flight Lieutenant Bertie Smith was patrolling the southern end of the 'Derange' area of the Bay of Biscay in Sunderland 'M' of RAAF 461 Squadron.
U-465 was spotted from 10 miles away, travelling outbound from France. 461/M approached using low broken cloud for cover. The U-boat engaged the Sunderland with cannon fire at a distance of one mile.
During the final approach, the bow turret gunner, Sgt Macdonald, an RAF man attached to the Australian squadron, successfully suppressed the fire from U-465. Smith's first 4-bomb depth-charge attack then washed the U-boat's gun crews into the ocean. U-465 began to list heavily, circled and stopped, blowing vapour and leaking oil. It started to catch fire. A second depth-charge drop by Smith foiled an attempt to re-man the flak guns. U-465 settled by the stern and around 15 men jumped into the sea. Unfortunately, none survived. Smith and his crew returned to their base at Pembroke Dock, South Wales.
(For several fine pictures of Smith, his crew and 461/M; AWM Keyword: 400297 )
(Panoramic view of their base at Pembroke Dock; AWM Keyword: UK0119 )
White Warpaint. U-663 Fatally Wounded.
7 May 1943.
Operating from his base at Mount Batten in Cornwall, Flying Officer Geoff Rossiter was patrolling the 'Derange' area of the Bay of Biscay in RAAF Sunderland 10/W. U-663 was spotted with binoculars, outward bound, whilst the Sunderland was about 17 miles away and patrolling just below the cloud base. The Sunderland's white camouflage provided excellent concealment in these conditions. The aircraft was then flown above the clouds to within four miles of the estimated position of the U-boat.
The Sunderland then made two swift depth-charge attacks. U-663 was seriously damaged. It circled, then stopped; then slowly submerged, trailing oil. It reported in by radio after the attack, but sank during the following day with total loss of life.
(A portrait of 10/W's crew; AWM Keyword: UK00135 )
(U-663 circling; AWM Keyword: 043768 )
Body Blow. U-447 Sunk.
7 May 1943.
U-447 was sunk 200 miles SW of Cape Saint Vincent, Portugal, by two Hudson aircraft of 233 RAF Squadron, operating from Gibraltar. The pilot of one, RAAF Flight Sergeant T. V. Holland, made a well-placed depth-charge attack which seemed to lift U-447 bodily out of the water. U-447 attempted to dive, then resurfaced, obviously in difficulties. It wallowed briefly and then sank out of sight for the last time. No survivors were seen.
(As a complete contrast to such destruction, there are four photos of the kind-hearted Holland presenting bananas (an unobtainable treat in those days) to children in a London hospital; AWM Keyword: 416002 )
Homed In. U-563 Battered into Oblivion.
31 May 1943.
On the last day of 'Black May', U-563 was attacked twice by RAF Halifax 58/R in the Bay of Biscay. The submarine was severely damaged and unable to submerge. 58/R homed in several more aircraft. A second RAF Halifax, 58/J, made two less accurate attacks, leaving U-563 trailing oil, but still turning easily in evasive manoeuvres. Then an RAAF Sunderland, 10/E, piloted by Flight Lieutenant M. S. Mainprize, made two depth-charge attacks which temporarily stopped the U-boat in the water, before it slowly got under way again. U-563 was finally sunk by two further depth-charge attacks from RAF Sunderland 228/X. The last attack went in as the crew were attempting to abandon the boat. 30 men were observed floating in the water, but none were ever rescued.
(Mainprize's Crew; AWM Keyword: SUK10945 )
(An action photo; AWM Keyword: 0473767 )
Body Guard. U-564 Sunk but Avenged.
14 June 1943.
On the previous day, U-564 had been damaged in the Bay of Biscay by a Sunderland from 228 RAF Squadron. Although it managed to shoot the Sunderland down, U-564 was too severely damaged to submerge, and BdU instructed the nearby U-185 to escort U-564 back to base and help fend off any attacking aircraft. On the way back, the two U-boats were spotted by an elderly Whitley bomber on active training duty, aircraft 'G' of RAF Number 10 OTU (Operational Training Unit). The pilot was RAAF Sergeant Buzz Benson. The Whitley circled the boats while sending out homing signals for other aircraft. This was the standard procedure for attacking defensive groups of U-boats.
However, after more than two hours, only one other Allied plane had arrived. This was an RCAF Hampden, an aircraft barely more effectual than the Whitley. Benson requested permission from Coastal Command to attack anyway. He made an accurate depth-charge drop which finished off U-564. The boat sank quickly and only 18 survivors were picked up by U-185.
Benson's Whitley suffered significant engine damage from the combined flak defence of the two U-boats. He was unable to remain airborne and had to ditch on the way home. Fortunately, he managed to do this safely and his crew were rescued by French fishermen. The crew became prisoners of war when they were landed back on the French coast. Benson was awarded a DFM for sinking U-564.
To cap off this day of destruction, the unfortunate RCAF Hampden was shot down by a flight of German Ju88 fighters despatched to the scene.
(A portrait of Benson; AWM Keyword: P02052*001 )
Mediterranean Sun. U-97 Sunk.
16 June 1943.
U-97 torpedoed a ship near Haifa in the Eastern Mediterranean. Subsequently, Hudson 'T' of 459 Squadron RAAF, piloted by Flying Officer D. T. Barnard, was despatched from Lydda Palestine to search for the U-boat. U-97 was found fully-surfaced with some crew apparently sunbathing on deck. The Hudson made an immediate depth-charge attack. One depth-charge exploded on U-97's decking, two more went into the water alongside. The U-boat was fatally holed and sank within five minutes. The Hudson was damaged by the blast from the direct hit. It required great skill to bring it safely back to base. Only 21 of U-97's crew were rescued.
(For an interesting set of photos of 459 Squadron Hudson aircraft and base activities; AWM Keyword (use entire string): gambut, "459 squadron" )
North Atlantic Encounter. U-200 Goes Down Fighting.
24 June 1943.
On this clear summer's day, U-200 was spotted by the crew of Liberator 'H' of 120 RAF Squadron, which was flying from Iceland towards a convoy escort rendezvous. U-200 fought on the surface, but was sunk on the first depth-charge pass. The Liberator was seriously damaged by U-200's cannon fire but was successfully landed back in Reykjavik by its Australian pilot, Flight Lieutenant A. W. Fraser.
U-200 was one of the 'Monsun' boats despatched to Asia. It was carrying 'special forces' troops in addition to the normal crew. All perished.
Fraser himself died one year later in a flying accident. Many RAAF lives were lost in such accidents - all part of the huge cost of countering the U-boat threat.
(Two dramatic photos of the attack (note that U-200 is mis-identified in one caption) plus some shots of Fraser's crew in Reykjavik and England.; AWM Keyword (include quotes): "A. W. Fraser" ) (A fine air-to-air shot of Liberator 120/H, which was credited with sinking five U-boats over its career; AWM Keyword: P01367*006 )
A Matter of Chance. An Unsuccessful Attack.
30 June 1943.
The Australian War Museum has a gripping photo of a low-level attack on a U-boat in the Bay of Biscay by an RAAF Sunderland, flown by Flight Lieutenant H. W. Skinner. Unsuccessful attacks like this one were more common than sinkings, but even sighting a U-boat was a rare event. The Biscay aircrews had to endure many thankless hours of patrolling to achieve each sighting, flying in all weathers and faced with the constant threat of hostile German aircraft.
(AWM Keyword: SUK11049 )
The Bullet With Your Name On It. U-461 Sunk by 461/U!
30 July 1943.
This strange co-incidence occurred during a classic anti-submarine engagement involving combined forces on both sides. It illustrates the intensity of the fighting during Doenitz's 'group sailing' experiments in 1943, when groups of U-boats travelled together on the surface to provide mutual anti-aircraft defence.
Two strategically valuable 'milk-cow' U-tankers (U-461 and U-462) and a Type IX (U-504), were travelling together outbound through the Bay of Biscay. The group of boats was spotted by RAF Liberator 53/O, which homed in two Halifaxes from RAF 502 Squadron, a USN 19th Squadron Liberator and an RAAF Sunderland, 461/U, flown by Flight Lieutenant Dudley Marrows. Nearby British Naval units were also alerted and gave chase.
All of the aircraft circled the U-boat group, which stayed on the surface at top speed in calm sea conditions and good visibility. One of the Halifaxes made an ineffective attack. It was damaged by the boats' accurate defensive fire and had to run for home. Halifax 502/S then attacked out of the sun and dropped three 600-pound bombs which damaged U-462. Other approaches from the aircraft were beaten off by the flak, until Liberator 53/O succeeded in bravely diving through the barrage. It was heavily hit and was unable to make an accurate attack.
However, this diversion allowed Marrows in Sunderland 461/U to approach closely before he was noticed by the defence. Machine-gun fire from the Sunderland silenced the gunners of U-461. Marrows skimmed in so low over the wave-tops that the other two boats did not have a clear shot past U-461. Marrows released his depth-charges and zoomed over the conning tower of U-461, sinking the large U-tanker. (This moment is depicted in the Robert Taylor painting at the head of this page.)
Soon afterwards, not lacking in courage, Marrows made a further determined attack on U-504. Halifax 502/S then succeeded in sinking the other milch-cow, U-462. The remaining Type IX, U-504, continued to fight on alone but had to submerge once the Naval guns of the pursuing 2nd Support Group came within range. It was then hunted with sonar and sunk by depth-charges from the ships.
Marrows returned to the site of the U-461 sinking and dropped a life raft to the 25-30 swimmers seen amongst the wreckage, but only 15 of these men were eventually picked up by HMS Woodpecker. As if Marrows' crew had not had enough excitement for the day, on the way home they spotted another U-boat. Marrows decided to attack it. The attack was unsuccessful and their Sunderland was further damaged by return fire. Having now expended their last depth-charges and being low on fuel, they no doubt gladly turned for home. Their robust Sunderland was subsequently written-off due to the damage from these battles.
Marrows was later able to obtain some souvenirs of U-461 from the Royal Navy, the captain's life preserver and keys. He donated these to the Australian War Memorial.
(Action photos taken during the battle; AWM Keyword: U-461 )
(Ten photos of U-461 in less stressful circumstances AWM Keyword: u461 )
(Two months later, Marrows and his crew were very lucky to survive a running battle with six Ju88 twin-engined fighter aircraft. Their Sunderland was critically damaged and they had to ditch. Following their rescue, the crew was photographed with the small inflatable raft which kept them safe until they were picked up the next day. AWM Keyword: p02184*003 )
Fatal Exchange. U454 sunk.
1 August 1943.
Sunderland 'B' of 10 Squadron RAAF was co-operating with the Royal Navy 2nd Support Group in the Bay of Biscay when it spotted U-454 in very rough seas only six miles from the British ships. 10/B was immediately steered in to the attack by its pilot, Flight Lieutenant K. G. Fry. The Sunderland was severely holed by flak, but Fry pressed home an accurate depth-charge strike which broke U-454 in two. The mortally wounded flying boat was then steered towards the ships by Fry, who attempted to alight on the water. Unfortunately the damaged Sunderland broke up in the rough conditions. Only six of the 12 crew could be rescued. Fry did not survive. 14 survivors of U-454 were also picked up by the sloop HMS Kite.
(The survivors of Fry's crew back in Plymouth; AWM Keyword: 405965 ) (The dramatic rescue; AWM Keyword: SUK11307 )
Hare and Hounds. The Sinking of U-106.
2 August 1943.
U-106 was intercepted in the Bay of Biscay and chose to stay on the surface to fight two Sunderlands, 'M' of 461 RAAF Squadron, flown by Flight Lieutenant I. A. F. Clark, and 228/N RAF. The U-boat probably stayed up because British Naval units were also nearby and they would quickly have been on top of it, had it submerged. Both aircraft attacked with depth-charges and machine guns. After four depth-charge runs U-106 blew up and sank. 36 survivors were later picked up by the Naval 2nd Support Group.
(Before and after photos of the explosion; AWM Keyword: U106 )
Rocket Attack. The Sinking of U-336.
5 October 1943.
U-336 was attacked by Hudson 'F' of RAF 269 Squadron, which was on convoy patrol south-west of Iceland. The Australian pilot, Flight Sergeant G. C. Allsop, fired four pairs of armour-piercing rockets during his approach, while the U-336 gunners tried to swat the Hudson out of the sky. The U-boat was holed and stopped in a cloud of smoke. It sank by the bow in the cold seas. All hands were lost.
(A typical rocket installation on an RAAF aircraft; AWM keyword: SUK12387 )
Baiting Procedure. U-419 and U-643 Sunk.
8 October 1943.
An effective technique for locating U-boats was to mount intensive aircraft patrols around threatened convoys. The example below also illustrates how the efforts of different aircrew members could contribute to a victory.
South of Iceland, Liberator 'R' of 86 Squadron RAF was patrolling around a convoy when its Australian wireless operator, Warrant Officer A. R. Craine, on lookout with binoculars, spotted U-419's wake from 6 miles away. An unsuccessful depth-charge attack was made as U-419 crash dived. However, the position was marked and the aircraft departed the area temporarily, to see if U-419 could be bluffed into surfacing again ('baiting procedure'). An hour later, the Australian navigator of the Liberator, Flying Officer Webb, guided 86/R back to the same position and they caught U-419 on the surface. The Liberator sank U-419 with its last two remaining depth-charges. The Naval escort from the convoy could only find one survivor.
86/R resumed its patrol, only to discover another boat, U-643, on the surface. U-643 stayed up, probably hoping to keep the aircraft at bay with flak and thus avoid a vulnerable crash dive. 86/R engaged U-643 with gunfire, but had no depth-charges left. Craine the wireless operator homed in another 86 Squadron aircraft, Liberator 'Z', flown by RAAF Pilot Officer Cyril Burcher. (It was Burcher who had sunk U-632 four months earlier.)
U-643 dived as soon as the second aircraft appeared, escaping a rushed depth-charge attack from Burcher. He marked the location with a smoke float and followed baiting procedure. When 86/Z returned one hour later, U-643 was found on the surface - already under attack from Liberator 120/T. Burcher immediately made an accurate depth-charge attack. This was followed by another attack from 120/T. Both Liberators then made four machine-gun passes. The U-643 crew were observed on the deck with life jackets and dinghies, then a terrific internal explosion finally sank the boat. 18 survivors were picked up by the Naval escort.
(For a portrait of Burcher; AWM Keyword: UK0833 )
Tag Team. U-470 Sunk.
16 October 1943.
U-470 was sunk after a protracted battle with three of the aircraft protecting convoys ON-206 and ONS-20, which were transiting south of Iceland. RAAF Pilot Officer W.G. Loney was flying one of the RAF aircraft which shared credit for the sinking, Liberator 59/C. Two survivors from the U-470 crew were later picked up.
Crippling Exchange. U-280 Sunk.
16 November 1943.
Liberator 'M' of 86 RAF Squadron was patrolling around convoy HX265, south-west of Iceland, when it spotted U-280. The Australian pilot, Flight Lieutenant J. H. Bookless, delivered two depth-charge attacks while his men fought intense gun duels with U-280's flak crews. One of the Liberator's engines was crippled in the exchange. U-280 submerged on an even keel, apparently only damaged, but it must soon afterwards have foundered with all hands. For the next hour after this encounter, Bookless resolutely ignored the damage accrued by his aircraft and stayed on patrol to safeguard the convoy.
Showdown. U-426 Defeated.
8 January 1944.
During a midwinter 'Percussion' patrol in the Bay of Biscay, Sunderland 'U' of 10 Squadron RAAF spotted U-426, outward bound at a distance of 12 miles in excellent visibility. Confidently remaining on the surface, U-426 opened fire at five miles with its daunting armament of an automatic 30mm gun and 4x20mm cannon. Flying Officer J. P. Roberts, piloting the Sunderland, closed to 1,200 yards and hosed the U-boat's gun platforms with his four fixed bow-mounted machine guns (a new armament devised by the Australians for the Sunderland). This caused chaos on the U-426 bridge. The boat was unable to further defend itself and Roberts pressed home a depth-charge attack. U-426 was holed at the rear. The crew abandoned the rapidly sinking boat, but none of them were to survive the exposure to the winter conditions.
(For an interesting variety of pictures of Roberts and his crew; AWM Keyword: 413931 )
(An action photo; AWM Keyword: SUK11747 )
Quick-Draw. U-571 Sunk.
28 January 1944.
Sunderland 'D' of 461 RAAF Squadron, piloted by Flight Lieutenant R. D. Lucas, was providing close protection for a convoy SW of Ireland. The Sunderland sighted U-571 on the surface. The boat made no attempt to dive. U-571's flak gunners were suppressed by strafing during the first unsuccessful depth-charge run by the Sunderland. Lucas attacked again with his last two depth-charges. This accurate attack caused U-571 to break up within one minute. There were no survivors. (Note: The title 'U-571' has recently been used for a major Hollywood action film. However, the movie's fanciful script does not in any way resemble the genuine history of U-571.)
(Portraits of Lucas' crew; AWM Keyword (include quote marks): "r. d. lucas" )
Bomber's Moon. U-545 Scuttled.
10 February 1944.
RAAF Flight Lieutenant Max Paynter was flying RAF Wellington 612/O in the Northern Approaches (the sea lanes NW of the UK) at night. Following a radar contact, Paynter spotted U-545 from one mile away in the moonlight. He made an immediate depth-charge attack, but chose not to use his Leigh Light to avoid drawing return fire. This was wise, as U-545 had previously shot down a Canadian 407 Squadron Wellington. U-545 was unable to continue. It was scuttled and the crew were rescued by U-714.
Lucky Squeak. An Unsuccessful Attack.
An amazing action photograph from the Bay of Biscay shows a U-boat being straddled by well-placed RAAF depth-charges, but escaping fatal damage. (AWM Keyword: SUK12074 )
Pea Shooter. U-241 Outshot and Sunk.
18 May 1944.
U-241 was sunk NE of the Faeroe Islands by Catalina 'S' of 210 Squadron RAF. The Australian bow gunner of this flying boat, Warrant Officer Hinderson, made a significant contribution to this sinking. He used his comparatively ineffectual 0.303 calibre single-barrelled Vickers gun to knock out the heavily-armed defensive flak crew of U-241. Meanwhile his pilot coolly dove the Catalina towards U-241 and sank the submarine with a pattern of well-placed depth-charges. All of U-241's crew perished.
The Best Way To Learn. U-675 Sunk.
24 May 1944.
U-675 was spotted and sunk in the North Sea west of Alesund, Norway, by a Sunderland on training duty, aircraft 'R' of RAF No. 4 OTU. The flying boat was captained by Flight Lieutenant F. P. Frizell, RAAF, and manned by a scratch crew of instructors and trainees. The crew of U-675 were themselves inexperienced, being on their first patrol. They were all lost.
Double Teamed. The Sinking of U-990.
25 May 1944.
U-990 was sunk by multi-aircraft attack in the North Sea. One of the planes involved, Liberator 'L' of RAF 59 Squadron, was flown by RAAF Flight Sergeant A.R. Playford. Credit for the sinking went to Liberator 59/S. At the time, U-990 was also carrying a large group of survivors that it had picked up from U-476. 51 men of the combined crews escaped from U-990. A German patrol boat rescued them.
The Salmon Run. A Multinational Crew Downed.
6 June 1944.
Many RAAF aircrew lost their lives to the potent anti-aircraft defences of the U-boats. Below is just one example.
In response to the Allied D-Day landings at Normandy, the U-boat force made a brave attempt to interdict the Allied invasion fleet from the western end of the English Channel. A strong anti-submarine force had been prepared by the Allies for just this eventuality, and the result was the largest pitched battle between U-boats and aircraft of the entire war. Both sides suffered significant casualties. One example was the loss of Leigh Light Liberator 'B' of 224 Squadron RAF, shot down by U-415 in a night-time battle. All ten crewmembers of the Liberator were killed, including seven Australians.
(Five interesting pictures of an RAF Liberator demonstrating its Leigh Light; AWM Keyword (include quote marks): "leigh light" )
Jitterbug. U-243 Sunk.
8 July 1944.
RAAF Sunderland 10/H was patrolling in the Bay of Biscay, 130 miles SW of Brest, France, when it spotted U-243. The pilot of the flying boat, Flight Lieutenant Bill Tilley, immediately dove to attack. The U-243 gunners opened up at 2 miles range. Tilley jinked the ungainly four-engined flying boat violently from side to side, while his bow turret gunner, Flight Sergeant Cooke, replied accurately to the defensive fire. U-243's guns were silent by the time that the Sunderland passed over at only 75 feet. The close approach allowed the decisive placement of Tilley's depth-charges. U-243 was holed and stopped, but the crew briefly mounted some further gun defence, during which time two additional ineffectual attacks were made by an RAAF Sunderland and an RAF Liberator which had been homed onto the scene. The submarine finally foundered after about half an hour, leaving a number of survivors in the water. Tilley dropped a life raft and food pack. 38 of the U-243 crew were later picked up.
(Action photos of U-243 under attack and Tilley's crew; AWM Keyword; U243 )
(The U-243 survivors adrift on the ocean; AWM Keyword: 135147 )
(A portrait of Tilley's crew; AWM Keyword: SUK12913 )
Moonlight Sonata. U-385 Sunk by Air-Sea Co-Operation.
10-11 August 1944.
U-385 was one of the U-boats ordered to abandon its base on the French Biscay coast once the Allied armies broke out from their Normandy beachhead. Pilot Officer Ivan Southall, flying RAAF Sunderland 461/P over the Bay on the night of the 10th of August, sighted the boat, outbound on the surface 150 miles south of Brest.
Southall flew a curved approach to keep the boat visible in the moonpath. This also allowed him to avoid using flares, which would have given away his presence to the U-boat gunners. He made an accurate attack with a stick of six depth-charges, which caused U-385 to lose way and begin wallowing. The Sunderland circled while the U-boat sent up heavy but ill-directed defensive fire. Southall flew off to guide nearby Naval units to the area. When 461/P returned, U-385 had submerged. Early the next morning U-385 was detected by the five ships of the 2nd Support Group, depth-charged to the surface by HMS Starling and engaged with gunfire as the crew abandoned it. All except one of U-385's crew survived.
(A nice study of 461/P taking off; AWM Keyword: P01520*001 )
(Portrait of Southall just after VE-Day trying out one of the guns on the surrendered U-776; AWM Keyword: UK2928 )
(After the war, Southall moved on to more important things; AWM Keyword: UK3158 )
Flare-Lit Finale. The End of U-270.
13 August 1944.
U-270 was another refugee from the Biscay bases. The boat was detected at night on the surface, outbound from St Nazaire, by Sunderland 'A' of 461 RAAF Squadron, flown by Flying Officer D. A. Little. U-270 found itself suddenly illuminated by flares dropped from the Sunderland. The boat's guns immediately opened fire. Little pressed a determined attack and U-270 was straddled and holed by depth-charges on the first run. There was enough time for all of U-270's men to get off. They were later picked up by British Naval vessels.
(Portrait of Little; AWM Keyword: UK1925 )
Let This Be Their Memorial. A Multinational Crew Shot Down Over the Kattegat and U-534 Sunk.
5 May 1945.
The last few days of the war in Europe saw many dramatic escape attempts by U-boats based on the north German coast. These boats were ordered to run for safer Norwegian ports ahead of the rapidly advancing Allied ground forces. One such action, involving the now-preserved U-534, occurred in the Kattegat Strait between Denmark and Sweden.
On this day, patrolling RAF Liberator 86/G used radar to detect a group of three U-boats running on the surface in hazy daylight in a staggered line-astern formation. 86/G homed in another RAF Liberator, 547/E. As the first two boats of the group began gingerly submerging in the shallow water, 547/E made two ineffective attacks on the lead boat. Unfortunately it then had its wing blown off by the powerful armament of U-534, which had remained on the surface. The Liberator crashed into the sea and only one man survived from its multinational aircrew. The dead included Canadians, Britons and one Australian.
Meanwhile, U-534 was attacked by Liberator 86/G, and was sunk after two depth-charge runs. 86/G was operated by yet another multinational crew which included four Australians.
All except three of U-534's crew survived and were rescued. The wreck of U-534 has been salvaged and is now on display near Liverpool in the UK. It has been preserved as a memorial to all who died in the Battle of the Atlantic.
(Photos of the raised hulk of U-534.)
(The crew of 86/G and an action photo (note that the date should read 1945); AWM Keyword: nollau )
(Another Australian connection with U-534 is the rescue of three survivors from an RAF Wellington shot down by U-534 in August 1944. RAAF Sunderland pilot Bill Tilley, who had sunk U-243 a month earlier, was an excellent flier who was able to safely alight on the open ocean to save the three men; AWM Keyword: SUK13008 )
Most of this material draws on the work of Australian war historian John Herington. He wrote two volumes of the official Australian war history published by the Australian War Memorial in 1954; Air War Against Germany and Italy 1939-43 and Air Power Over Europe 1944-45. These fascinating books are available in most Australian public libraries. Herington was a Catalina pilot operating out of Gibraltar during WW2 and he is therefore an informed commentator on the U-boat War. (Some factual information reported by Herington, such as the presumed identities of certain U-boats, has been updated using the latest revised data from uboat.net.) Other sources used were the more recent books, U-boat Versus Aircraft and Black May; and www.regiamarina.net for Italian data.
Compiled by James Oglethorpe, Sydney, 2002.
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JutlandArticle Free Pass
Jutland, Danish Jylland, projection of northern Europe forming the continental portion of Denmark. The peninsula is bounded to the west and north by the North Sea and the Skagerrak and to the east by the Kattegat and the Little Belt. The Chersonesus Cimbrica, or Cimbric Chersonese, of ancient geography, it was subsequently named for the Jutes (a Germanic people) and includes, in its larger sense, the German state of Schleswig-Holstein. Politically, as the result of the Treaty of Versailles of 1919, Jutland ends southward at Flensburg (Flensborg) Fjord and includes the islands north of the Limfjorden. Area 11,496 square miles (29,775 square km).
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Stephen Moylan was born of wealthy parents in Cork, Ireland, in 1737, and, though he had been in the United States only seven years at the outbreak of the Revolutionary War, he became a vigorous advocate of independence and established a reputation for intense loyalty to the American cause. His family was Catholic and he had been sent to school in Paris, where he received a good education. He engaged in the shipping business, first in Lisbon and then in Philadelphia, where he moved in 1768. Although still in his thirties, he had gained considerable wealth and social prestige before the outbreak of the war. His jovial nature won him many friends, and when the Friendly Sons of St. Patrick, comprised mainly of prosperous merchants. was founded in Philadelphia in 1771 he was elected the first president.
John Dickinson, prominent Philadelphia lawyer, recommended him to Washington as a zealous patriot. Moylan joined the Army at Cambridge and Washington appointed him Muster-Master General in August 1775. In January 1776 Moylan became one of the leaders in the movement for complete independence of the colonies. His ambition was to become ambassador to Spain, but failing to get the appointment he remained in the Army. In March of that year he was named secretary to Washington. Three months later, on June 7th, Congress appointed him Quartermaster General to succeed Thomas Mifflin.
Moylan was unfortunate in that his appointment came on the eve of the disastrous New York campaign in the summer of 1776. Washington made the tactical error of attempting to hold Long Island against a much larger British army and strong fleet. Moylan was instructed to try to block the progress of the English fleet up the Hudson, but his frantic efforts in anchoring obstacles in the river proved fruitless. In the meantime, he had been transporting supplies to the troops by means of the Hudson and East rivers. When the British gained control of these waterways, overran the island, and defeated the Americans in a battle at Brooklyn, the Continental Army was forced into a hasty retreat across the East River, leaving behind many wagons containing most of its baggage and supplies. Not only was the morale of the soldiers shattered by the retreat but their distress was increased by the interruption to the flow of supplies, and in their irritation they blamed Moylan for their predicament. Congress appointed a committee "to inspect the state of the army in New York." The committee arrived while Moylan was making valiant efforts in the face of overwhelming difficulties to get supplies again moving to the troops. After a three-day investigation the committee suggested in a "delicate" manner to Moylan that be resign in favor of Mifflin in an effort to restore the morale of the soldiers
Although he was convinced that he was the victim of circumstances beyond ''the power of man" to control, Moylan demonstrated his strength of character and his devotion to "the Glorious Cause we are engaged in," when he wrote to the President of the Continental Congress that he was ready to resign if it was deemed "for the publick good," and added that he would remain in the Army as a volunteer. This he did, and served with distinction at the battle of Princeton.
Late in 1776, upon orders from Washington, Moylan organized and took command of a regiment of dragoons, which became a part of the American cavalry commanded by General Pulaski. Moylan, with a display of Irish temper, engaged in a quarrel with Pulaski and Zielinski, another Polish officer, with the result that he was tried by a court martial. He was acquitted, but Zielinski later had the satisfaction of "unhorsing" him in a tilt. When Pulaski resigned his command of the cavalry, Moylan succeeded him and retained the post for three and a half years with outstanding success. His military career ended after the surrender of Cornwallis at Yorktown, when ill health forced him to return to his home in Philadelphia.
Moylan occupied no position of national prominence after the war. He spent the greater portion of his life in Philadelphia, but for a while lived on a farm in Chester County, Pennsylvania. Washington appointed him Commissioner of Loans in Philadelphia--a position he occupied until his death on April 13, 1811, at the age of 74. He was buried on the grounds of St. Mary's Catholic Church in Philadelphia.
as of 3 Sep 00
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Infants born to mothers who received the influenza vaccine while pregnant are nearly 50% less likely to be hospitalized for the flu than infants born to mothers who did not receive the vaccine while pregnant, according to a study led by researchers at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center.
The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) recommends influenza vaccination for anyone 6 months of age and older, but specifically singles out target groups—including pregnant women—who have a greater risk of influenza-related complications.
“It is recommended that all pregnant women receive the influenza vaccine during pregnancy because it is known that pregnant women have increased morbidity and mortality during pregnancy and in the immediate postpartum period if they get the flu,” said Katherine A. Poehling, MD, MPH, an associate professor of pediatrics and lead author on the study, in a statement. “We also know that mothers pass antibodies through the placenta to the baby. This study showed us that receiving the influenza vaccine during pregnancy not only protects the mother, but also protects the baby in the early months of life.”
The study, which is the first population-based, laboratory-confirmed study to demonstrate this benefit, was published in the June issue of the American Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology.
Although infants 6 months of age and younger have the highest rates of flu hospitalization among all children, the influenza vaccine is not licensed for or effective in infants that young, Poehling explained. Therefore, the investigators sought to assess whether receiving the vaccine during pregnancy would provide some protection for a newborn.
Poehling and colleages analyzed data collected by the CDC-funded New Vaccine Surveillance Network over the course of seven flu seasons between 2002 and 2009, before the H1N1 pandemic. The data included information about 1,510 babies who had been hospitalized with fever, respiratory symptoms, or both within the first six months of life and had undergone laboratory testing for influenza infection.
The investigators found that infants born to mothers who received the influenza vaccine during pregnancy were 45% to 48% less likely to be hospitalized with laboratory-confirmed influenza.
“Similar findings have been published from other studies, but they’ve been published in general journals or journals about pediatrics and infectious diseases,” Poehling said. “Where the information is published really does make a difference because pediatricians need to know about it, but it’s even more important that the doctors taking care of pregnant women – obstetricians and gynecologists (OB/GYNs) – know it, too. Pediatricians have been vaccinating children for a long time, but vaccine recommendations for OB/GYNs have changed over the last decade, so everyone is having to learn new recommendations and adjust. This is a relatively new activity for OB/GYNs.”
For more on the study, click on the video below.
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Friday, November 27, 2009
The site is set up like a wiki, and, in fact, Sr. Larry Sanger, one of the co-founders of Wikipedia, initiated the concept. The site offers pages for teachers, students, and parents, and allows for contributing videos and commenting upon videos viewed. As a new site, its evolution and use will be interesting to follow. I just sampled several of the videos. You'll find below the category, title, URL, and site's recap of the video. Check out the site, and let us know what you think, keeping in mind the site launched just a few weeks ago.
“This video was made for the Connecticut College kids judge neuroscience fair. It tells the harrowing story of Phineas Gage and the amazing discoveries gained from his brain injury.”
Category: Science/Earth Science
“Why Study Earth Science”
"A geoscientist stresses the importance of learning earth science. He also explains the changes on our planet through geological time. The scientist also stresses the importance of learning earth science. It is a six minute video and contains nice photographs and good narration. "
“The Geography Tutor? What is Geography?”
"A Geography Tutor Video. Video answers the questions: What do geographers mean when they talk about culture? Culture can be defined as a way of life that distinguishes a people from another group. Cultural traits can be explained in religion, language, system of government, customs, and beliefs. Also discusses; culture region - which is an area occupied by people who share one or more cultural trails, culture hearth - which is a place where important ideas began and from which they spread to other areas. Video is of good quality and appropriate for students in elementary school and middle school." Ages 7 – 13
“Basic Math Lesson: Fractional Expressions
"Concepts covered: Decimal Fraction, Percentage, and Ratio. "Ages 10-18
“Rolling R’s Days of the Week”
"Instructor Larry Keim explains the days of the week in Spanish. Find out how to say the days of the week and how to talk about the different days of the week using some simple grammar and phrases."
Languages/Spanish/Native Conversation in Spanish
“Spanish Activities and Transportation”
"Watch as the instructor tells about her childhood and the different activities that she liked to do, and different modes of travel and transportation. This lesson can be used for intermediate to advanced learners as a tool for listening comprehension."
Learn about the Site: http://www.watchknow.org/About.aspx; check the WatchKnow.org Press Release
Friday, November 20, 2009
Teacher Magazine on Facebook
Teacher Magazine on Twitter
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
Sunday, November 15, 2009
Saturday, November 14, 2009
Photos Story Tutorial # 2
Photo Story Tutorial # 3
Final version of Yosemite Park Photo Story based on the 3 tutorials
Photo Story of the author's bio (includes narration)
Photo Story 3 tutorial created with children engaged in an art project
To see a tutorial on how to add narration, view this tutorial, the first half of which reviews how to customize motion and the second half of which explains the ease with which narration is added: Narrate Your Pictures and Customize Motion
For those of you interested in using Photo Story to string together pictures already found on the Internet, perhaps by using the "Image" search feature in Google, this tutorial will give tips on creating a Photo Story with found images on the Internet. This video is very helpful for working with students who will find pictures on the Internet and want to know how to save them and what the minimum resolution (500 pixels) should be for the pictures not to look grainy (fuzzy) in the final movie. Because this video is so helpful for learning how to use Photo Story in the context of an actual movie that students might create for a class project, I have also embedded the YouTube. The topic for the movie was the culture of China. If you only have 8 minutes to learn about Photo Story 3, I suggest you start with this tutorial, viewing it from my blog or the YouTube link provided. In this way, you learn about Photo Story as well as see a finished product all within 8 minutes.
I know there a bit to absorb in the blog, but want to emphasize how much can be done with simple free tools like Photo Story 3. You will find a host of movies made with Photo Story at YouTube, TeacherTube, and other online video hosting sites. If you find ones worth sharing, please post their URL's. Happy hunting, and enjoy!
Friday, November 13, 2009
A mix of face-to-face and virtual learning
Online courses in which students apply their learning to solve real-world problems
Increased teacher engagement and seamless connections with online tools
New leadership roles for teachers including collaborating with policymakers
Increased emphasis on individualization based on the differentiated instruction model
If interested, read Berry’s full report: "The Teachers of 2030: Creating a Student-Centered Profession for the 21st Century.” As you think ahead, what's your vision of public school education in 2030?
Image from: www.manchesterumc.info/may9.html
Monday, November 9, 2009
Images are from Baron's post at the The Noun Game
Wednesday, November 4, 2009
Slideshare, a site for storing PowerPoint presentations and other slide displays, gets a top billing, and Nings are receiving increasing attention as professional development tools. Twitter moved to first place from 11th in 2008. PowerPoint went from 8th place in 2008 to 12th in 2009, a sign that emerging Web 2.0 tools are overtaking Microsoft Office products. Slideshare is in 7th place this year, above PowerPoint by 4 spots. YouTube in 4th place this year was in 18th in 2008, a significant climb. Delicious, a social bookmarking site, slipped to second place this year from 1st last year as Twitter moved to the top. Let us know which of the multitude of sites you incorporate in your teaching or plan to consider for the future.
We will devote one night in class to Blogger/Blogspot, in 14th place; it's one of the easiest blogging tools to learn. The top 100 for 2008 is also available to view on SlideShare, and the 2009 list should be in SlideShare soon once the voting closes. In fact, you have until Nov. 15, 2009 to cast your vote for this year's winners.
Remember to bookmark Top 100 Tools for Learning for reference. There's lots to explore. I will soon update my list of "Education Websites" on this blog's second sidebar, and for class, you need to create your own annotated lists of valuable sites for teachers and students. The Top 100 Tools and the second sidebar on this blog might help you find some sites you want to include.
Image from the Centre for Learning and Performance Technologies
Monday, November 2, 2009
Photo of Susan Engel from her faculty page at Williams College.
- ► 2012 (19)
- ► 2011 (73)
- ► 2010 (44)
- Bookmarks and Annotations on Delicious.com
- New Site Launches Library of Educational Videos
- Facebook and Twitter for Professional Development
- Did You Know
- Why Let Students Blog in the Classroom
- What's A Wiki?
- 7th Grader's Sample Photo Story 3
- Photo Story 3 In Less than 10 Minutes
- Teachers Selling Their Wares on the Internet
- Easy Moviemaking with Photo Story 3
- Kid's Video on What's a Wiki
- What Will Teaching Look Like in 2030?
- Cultural Diversity in the Classroom
- Top 100 Tools for Learning
- It's Your Education: What Do You Think?
- ▼ November (15)
- ► 2008 (92)
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Over Dilios’ narration, the life of young Leonidas is depicted. Cast into the wild to fend for his life per Spartan doctrine, Leonidas survives the harsh winter and returns home to be crowned King.
Years later, messengers arrive at the gates of Sparta demanding its submission to King Xerxes. Outraged and offended by their threats and behavior, King Leonidas and his guards kick the messengers into a well. Acknowledging the threat of Xerxes’s invasion force, he visits the Ephors proposing a strategy to repel the numerically superior enemy by using the terrain of Thermopylae (the Hot Gates), which would funnel the Persians into a narrow pass between the rocks and the sea. The Ephors, wary of Leonidas’ plans, consult the Oracle, who in her trance decrees that Sparta must not go to war, lest they interrupt the sacred Carneian festival. As Leonidas departs a messenger from Xerxes appears, rewarding the Ephors a mountain of gold in return for their covert support.
Despite the Oracle’s orders, Leonidas decides on a leisurely walk to the Hot Gates, gathering 300 of his best soldiers to act as his personal bodyguards. Along the way, they are joined by a force consisting of Arcadians and various other Greeks before arriving at the Hot Gates of Thermopylae. In sight of the approaching Persian army, they construct a wall to contain the Persians’ advance. Leonidas meanwhile encounters Ephialtes, a hunchbacked Spartan who requests a private audience with the King. A severely disfigured child, his parents fled Sparta to spare him certain infanticide. Ephialtes asks to redeem his father’s name by joining Leonidas in battle against the Persians and warns him of a secret goat path the Persians could use to outflank and surround them. Leonidas is sympathetic to the eager warrior, but rejects him upon realizing that Ephialtes cannot properly hold a shield, which would compromise the Spartans’ phalanx.
Prior to the battle the Persians demand that the Spartans “lay down their weapons.” Leonidas refuses and challenges the Persians to come and get them. With their tightly-knit phalanx formation, the Spartans funnel the Persians into the narrow terrain, repeatedly rebuffing them and inflicting heavy casualties. Xerxes, impressed with Spartan fighting skill, personally approaches Leonidas to persuade him to surrender. He promises Leonidas wealth and power in exchange for his loyalty. Leonidas declines, promising instead to make the “God King” bleed, and turns to rejoin his army. Dismayed at the refusal, Xerxes dispatches the feared Immortal (his elite personal guard), whom the Spartans draw into a trap and narrowly defeat. The battles continue, with the Spartans prevailing over soldiers and animals drawn from the vast reaches of the Persian empire: from Mongolian barbarians and Eastern chemists to African rhinoceroses and Indian war elephants. After two days of fighting however, an embittered Ephialtes defects to Xerxes and reveals the location of the goat path.
In Sparta, Queen Gorgo attempts to enlist the influential Theron to help persuade the Spartan council to send reinforcements to Leonidas. Theron agrees, but demands that Gorgo submit sexually to him, to which she reluctantly consents. At the Hot Gates, the Greeks realize Ephialtes’ treachery and the Arcadians’ retreat in the face of certain death. The Spartans, obedient to their law, refuse to follow, and Leonidas orders a reluctant Dilios to return and orate the story of the valiant 300 to ensure their memory. In Sparta, Queen Gorgo appeals to the council but is betrayed by Theron, who publicly accuses her of adultery in an attempt to discredit her. Enraged by his betrayal, Gorgo snatches a sword and kills Theron, rupturing a bag of Xerxes’ gold in the folds of his robe and spilling it onto the ground. With this evidence, the Council denounces Theron as a traitor and unites against Persia.
At the Hot Gates, as the Persians surround the Spartans, Xerxes’s general demands their surrender, declaring that Leonidas may keep his title as King of Sparta and become Warlord of all Greece, answerable only to Xerxes. Ephialtes begs him to do so as well, to which Leonidas remarks “May you live forever,” an insult from a culture valuing death and valor in battle. Leonidas drops his shield and removes his helmet, seemingly bowing in submission. Stelios then leaps over him and kills the general. A furious Xerxes orders his troops to attack. As Persian archers shoot the remaining Spartans, Leonidas rises and hurls his spear at Xerxes, ripping open his cheek (and missing a fatal blow by mere centimetres), thus making “the God-King bleed.” Xerxes, visibly disturbed by this reminder of his own mortality, watches as the remaining Spartans perish beneath the combined might of his army.
Concluding his tale before an audience of attentive Spartans, Dilios declares that the 120,000-strong Persian army that narrowly defeated 300 Spartans now faces 10,000 Spartans commanding 30,000 Greeks. Praising Leonidas’s sacrifice, Dilios leads the assembled Greek army into a fierce charge against the Persian army, igniting the Battle of Plataea.
The look of this film is what makes it so amazing, because let’s face it, if you were to go up to Joe Q. Public on the street and ask him if he’d be interested in seeing a historical film, chances are he’s laugh at you.
There isn’t much acting that goes on in this film. A little dialogue here and there. Mostly Gerard Butler’s character screaming inspirational speeches, and a few other scenes with other characters doing this and that, but this film is about the battle scenes.
The scenes are a thing of beauty. Each one carefully choreographed and historically accurate (minus the mythological creatures).
I’m sure the ladies that watch this will drool over the men in nothing but bikini briefs. However, if you’re one of those expecting some sort of love story or anything in this, you’ll be disappointed. Other than a quick love scene near the beginning, this is all about the testosterone.
I wasn’t sure if I was going to like this film or not, but as I watched it, I found that I lost track of time and it was over before I knew it. That is a sign of a truly excellent and entertaining film.
5 out of 5 stars
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A July 2012 camera trap study in Nepal identified 37 individual tigers—a marked increase from 18 tigers counted in 2009. The tigers were monitored over a three-month period inside Bardia National Park in Nepal and the Khata wildlife corridor in the Terai Arc Landscape.
Wildlife migrations depend on natural wildlife corridors—passages that allow regular travel, seasonal migration or population dispersal of different species. Any barriers to this basic need are a threat to healthy wildlife populations. WWF works with businesses, government leaders, public and private land managers, hunters, anglers, farmers and ranchers to ensure wildlife connectivity is a part of all land and wildlife management decisions.
Climate change is causing many Eastern Himalayan glaciers to melt faster than ever observed and in the process they leave behind pools of water that form glacial lakes. Weak walls of earth and rock contain the water but can burst suddenly, resulting in massive flooding downstream that is catastrophic for local communities.
WWF pioneered a project in the Langtang region of Nepal that empowers communities to adapt to climate change impacts. Faced with water shortages, unpredictable rainfall, and shifting seasons, the project has helped these local communities become “water smart.”
Camera traps placed in the Terai Arc Landscape revealed a variety of images of big cats, rhinos, elephants and more. While a "camera trap" might sound menacing, it actually does not harm wildlife. The name is derived from the manner in which it "captures" wildlife on film.
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Bosco Verticale: the world's first vertical forest
October 18, 2011
Italian architecture firm Boeri Studio hopes to merge vegetation and urban architecture, with its Bosco Verticale (Vertical Forest) project. The Italian firm has designed a model that could see the "reforestation and naturalization" of metropolitan cities, by growing forests sky-ways. "Bosco Verticale [is a] device for the environmental survival of contemporary European cities," says Stefano Boeri, who worked with Gianandrea Barreca and Giovanni La Varra on the project.
Milan will host the first example of Bosco Verticale, with two residential towers already planned for construction. The towers, measuring 110 and 76 meters (361 and 250 feet), will become home to over 900 trees and that's excluding a wide range of shrubs and floral plants. The basic idea is that if you were to take the building out of the picture, the amount of trees needed to plant a forest on the land surface should be equal to those growing vertically on the tower. In essence, you will be creating a 10,000 square meter (11,960 sq. yds.) forest, growing upwards.
The project also aids in filtering air pollution contained in the urban environment. This is achieved as the the plants help produce humidity, absorb CO2 and dust particles, and produce oxygen. This will improve the quality of living for the residents, and it also creates a canopy that protects the building from radiation and noise pollution.
An irrigation and filtering system will be installed, that recycles gray water for maintenance of the plants. Photovoltaic solar cells will help contribute to the building's energy self-sufficiency.
Bosco Verticale will cost EUR65 million (US$87.5 million) and is stage one of the proposed BioMilano, which is hoped to create a green belt around the city.
Source: Boeri Studio
Just enter your friends and your email address into the form below
For multiple addresses, separate each with a comma
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Camp Arbuckle was established in 1850 by Company D of the Fifth Infantry, Capt. Randolph B. Marcy commanding. In spring 1850 Marcy was ordered to build a fortification to protect the California Road. After marching some seventy miles from Fort Washita, he selected a site for the outpost on August 22, 1850. Named in honor of Gen. Matthew Arbuckle, Camp Arbuckle was located just south of the Canadian River, one mile northwest of present Byars in McClain County.
Tents sheltered the soldiers until their barracks was completed in December. The log structure measured two hundred feet by twenty-five feet, contained a kitchen, and was constructed with a clapboard roof, puncheon floors, and chimneys. Four separate officers' huts were built. The site proved unacceptable, however, and was abandoned in April 1851. The troops relocated south to near present Hoover, in Garvin County, and constructed Fort Arbuckle along Wild Horse Creek. No ruins of Camp Arbuckle remain.
Delaware Indians under Black Beaver dwelled near Camp Arbuckle and occupied the post after Company D departed. Lt. Amiel Weeks Whipple visited the site, by then known as Beaversville, in August 1853. His party was conducting a transcontinental railroad survey and spent four days there resting and making repairs. Heinrich Balduin Mällhausen, the expedition topographer and artist, drew the only image of the settlement known to exist. The Delaware vacated Beaversville prior to the Civil War.
To avoid confusion, it should be noted that two other Oklahoma military posts were named Camp Arbuckle. In 1832 ranger companies under Capts. Nathan Boone and Lemuel Ford established a Camp Arbuckle on the west bank of the Grand (Neosho) River, some two miles south of Fort Gibson. In 1834 a Camp Arbuckle was built at the confluence of the Arkansas and Cimarron rivers. Sometimes called Fort Arbuckle, it served as a forward base for the Dodge-Leavenworth Expedition. Located west of present Sand Springs, the site is listed in the National Register of Historic Places (NR 78002269).
BIBLIOGRAPHY: William Brown Morrison, "Fort Arbuckle," The Chronicles of Oklahoma 6 (March 1928). William Brown Morrison, Military Posts and Camps in Oklahoma (Oklahoma City: Harlow Publishing, 1936). George H. Shirk, "The Site of Old Camp Arbuckle," The Chronicles of Oklahoma 27 (Autumn 1949).
Jon D. May
© Oklahoma Historical Society
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Conditions of Use
I made a wong on my garage band
Article posted April 30, 2012 at 09:18 AM •
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Cool song Hunter I liked it a lot!
Comment Posted on May 22, 2012 at 08:58 AM by
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Acidic and basic are two extremes thatdescribe chemicals, just like hot and cold are two extremes that describe temperature. Mixing acids and bases can cancel out their extreme effects; much like mixing hot and cold water can even out the water temperature. A substance that is neither acidic nor basic is neutral.
The pH scale measures how acidic or basic a substance is. It ranges from 0 to 14. A pH of 7 is neutral. A pH less than 7 is acidic, and a pH greater than 7 is basic. Each whole pH value below 7 is ten times more acidic than the next higher value. For example, a pH of 4 is ten times more acidic than a pH of 5 and 100 times (10 times 10) more acidic than a pH of 6. The same holds true for pH values above 7, each of which is ten times more alkaline—another way to say basic—than the next lower whole value. For example, a pH of 10 is ten times more alkaline than a pH of 9.
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On August 19, 2012, thick smoke streamed from a fire in Western Australia near Lake Gregory when the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Terra satellite acquired this image. Red outlines indicate hot spots where MODIS detected unusually warm surface temperatures associated with the fire. MODIS first observed the blaze, likely a prescribed burn, on August 18. The fire appeared to be extinguished by August 20.
NASA image courtesy Jeff Schmaltz, LANCE MODIS Rapid Response. Caption by Adam Voiland.
- Terra - MODIS
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Birds have always held a fascination for men, whether they are good or bad omens. Augur, which is another word for omen, comes from the Latin ‘augurium’ or, literally, ‘divinatory observation of birds’, which gave augur the meaning, ‘priest who provides favourable omens’.
Initially, the messages, predictions and divinations delivered by the augurs were systematically good. The word ‘august’ which means now ‘imposing and worthy of respect’ came to mean, in those days, ‘sanctioned by the augur’ in other words promised success by the gods.
From the word ‘august’ came the origin of our month of August, and the Christian name Augustus. Subsequently, ‘augur’ was to take on the meaning of good or bad prediction. But before that, the augur could only be good.
Although the Roman priests were great and renowned soothsayers, paying particular attention to the signs revealed by birds, the divinatory arts made up from compilations of omens relating to birds were in common use and highly prized by the Egyptians, Chaldeans, Greeks, Celts, Gauls, Indians, Arabs and Chinese. In Greece this divinatory art took the name of ornithomancy, that is, divination by birds. But it was in Rome that each of the gods was awarded a protecting bird: the eagle to Jupiter, the dove to Venus, the owl to Minerva, etc.
The bird as a reflection of the soul.
It is true that very early on the bird represented in men’s minds the most precious and important thing in him; his soul! Also, any man who, in the eyes of his fellow creatures, was divine or supernatural often had the power to talk to the birds, and these used to come to him as if he were one of them That is why someone who can talk to the birds and understand their song is a symbolic representation of the man who has succeeded in taming his soul, often depicted as a snake or bird which you cannot catch. Merlin, the sorcerer, and St. Francis of Assisi, for example, lived amongst the birds and seemed to understand their language and converse with them.
With regard to the relationship and associations which exist between the bird and the snake, in the world of myths and symbols of Antiquity, there is the Greek legend of Cassandra and her brother Helenus, she became a prophetess and he became a seer, that is, a visionary and a soothsayer, after some snakes had licked their eyes and ears while they were asleep. Another Greek legend, in similar vein, tells us how the visionary Melampus, having had his ears licked by the snakes which he had reared himself, could hear and understand the universal language, that is to say, the language of symbols, which was often likened to the songs of birds.
From then on, it really did seem that the relationship or relation between the snake and bird was established, if not scientifically, then at least intuitively and metaphorically, by our ancestors who had a liking for omens and knew how to detect the mysterious links between different forms or revelations of nature. Nowadays palaeontologists are inclined to think that birds could be the descendants of certain kinds of carnivorous dinosaurs. Recently, in an area north of Peking, the fossil of a carnivorous dinosaur with feathers, christened Sinosauropteryx, was discovered. Expert palaeontologists did not consider it to be the direct ancestor of the bird, but they saw enough similarities to reveal a likely connection between the huge reptile and the bird.
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May 20, 2010 Scientists have for the first time successfully imaged the internal tissues of a soft bodied marine worm at high resolution using a technique borrowed from biomedical science. The findings are published in the Journal of Microscopy.
"Invertebrate worms are important for the functioning of marine ecosystems, and studies of their internal anatomy are needed to understand their physiology, ecology and evolution," explained John Dinley of the University of Southampton's School of Ocean and Earth Science based at the National Oceanography Centre, Southampton.
"Techniques such as dissection and the cutting of sections for light or electron microscopy studies are time consuming and destructive. What is really needed is a reliable, non-invasive method that can be used in the laboratory," he added.
In conjunction with Professor Ian Sinclair of the University of Southampton's Department of Engineering and other colleagues, Dinley has helped develop the use of a technique called micro-computed x-ray tomography (micro-CT) for scanning the internal structure soft-bodied marine worms.
In micro-CT scanning, the object to be scanned is rotated within a stationary x-ray beam, and magnified images are received onto a detector screen. The researchers have successfully used a bench-top micro-CT scanner to produce high-definition images of the internal structure of the predatory, burrowing worm Nephtys hombergii, specimens of which were collected from the sands of Poole Harbour.
"We believe that this is the first time this technique has been developed and successfully applied to the soft tissues of invertebrates without the use of tissue enhancing stains or radio-opaque fluids," said Dinley.
Impressive three-dimensional rotating and fly-through images have also been produced, which can be invaluable in the assessment of many aspects of functional anatomy.
As a direct result of this work, a micro-CT machine has been installed in the Natural History Museum in London. Now museum specimens or even living specimens can be scanned and their internal organs carefully examined and compared with this rapid, non-invasive and non-destructive technique.
"Large-scale comparative anatomical studies are now feasible that will lead to greater evolutionary insights," says Dinley.
The researchers are: John Dinley and Lawrence Hawkins (SOES/NOC), Gordon Paterson and Alex Ball (Natural History Museum, London), Ian Sinclair and Polly Sinnett-Jones (Dept. Engineering, University of Southampton), and Stuart Lanham (UoS/Southampton General Hospital).
Other social bookmarking and sharing tools:
- J. Dinley, L. Hawkins, G. Paterson, A.D. Ball, I. Sinclair, P. Sinnett-Jones, S. Lanham. Micro-computed X-ray tomography: a new non-destructive method of assessing sectional, fly-through and 3D imaging of a soft-bodied marine worm. Journal of Microscopy, 2010; 238 (2): 123 DOI: 10.1111/j.1365-2818.2009.03335.x
Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.
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Seventh Ecumenical Council
Disputes concerning the Person of Christ did not end with the sixth Council in AD 681, but continued through the eighth and ninth centuries. This time, the controversy focused on icons—pictures of Christ, the Theotokos, the saints, and holy events—and lasted for 120 years, starting in AD 726. Icons were kept and venerated in both churches and private homes. The two groups in the controversy were:
- also called "icon-smashers," they were suspicious of any art depicting God or humans; they demanded the destruction of icons because they saw icons as idolatry.
- also called "venerators of icons," they defended the place of icons in the Church.
The controversy, however, was more than a struggle over different views of Christian art. Deeper issues were involved, and it is these the Council addressed:
- The character of Christ's human nature
- The Christian attitude toward matter
- The true meaning of Christian redemption and the salvation of the entire material universe
The controversy falls into two periods:
- From AD 726 when Leo III began his attack on icons until AD 780 when Empress Irene ended the attacks
- Again from AD 815 through AD 843 when Empress Theodora stamped out the attacks permanently
The iconoclasts had support from both inside and outside the Church. Outside the Church, there may have been influence from Jewish and Muslim ideas, and it is important to note that just prior to the iconoclast outbreak Muslim Caliph Yezid ordered the removal of all icons with his territory. Inside the Church there had always existed a "puritan" outlook which saw all images as latent idolatry.
Largely through the work of St. John of Damascus (c. 676-749), who, ironically, was housed in Muslim-controlled lands and therefore outside the reach of the Empire, the iconodules' position won out. He addressed the charges of the iconoclasts thus:
- Concerning the charge of idolatry: Icons are not idols but symbols, therefore when an Orthodox venerates an icon, he is not guilty of idolatry. He is not worshipping the symbol, but merely venerating it. Such veneration is not directed toward wood, or paint or stone, but towards the person depicted. Therefore relative honor is shown to material objects, but worship is due to God alone.
- We do not make obeisance to the nature of wood, but we revere and do obeisance to Him who was crucified on the Cross... When the two beams of the Cross are joined together I adore the figure because of Christ who was crucified on the Cross, but if the beams are separated, I throw them away and burn them. —St. John of Damascus
The Decision of the Council
- Concerning the teaching of icons
- Venerating icons, having them in churches and homes, is what the Church teaches. They are "open books to remind us of God." Those who lack the time or learning to study theology need only to enter a church to see the mysteries of the Christian religion unfolded before them.
- Concerning the doctrinal significance of icons
- Icons are necessary and essential because they protect the full and proper doctrine of the Incarnation. While God cannot be represented in His eternal nature ("...no man has seen God", John 1:18), He can be depicted simply because He "became human and took flesh." Of Him who took a material body, material images can be made. In so taking a material body, God proved that matter can be redeemed. He deified matter, making it spirit-bearing, and so if flesh can be a medium for the Spirit, so can wood or paint, although in a different fashion.
- I do not worship matter, but the Creator of matter, who for my sake became material and deigned to dwell in matter, who through matter effected my salvation... —St. John of Damascus
The seventh and last Ecumenical Council upheld the iconodules' postion in AD 787. They proclaimed: Icons... are to be kept in churches and honored with the same relative veneration as is shown to other material symbols, such as the 'precious and life-giving Cross' and the Book of the Gospels. The 'doctrine of icons' is tied to the Orthodox teaching that all of God's creation is to be redeemed and glorified, both spiritual and material.
The Holy Fathers of the Seventh Ecumenical Council are commemorated in October, on the Sunday of the Fathers of the Seventh Ecumenical Council.
- The Orthodox Church, Bishop Kallistos (Ware) of Diokleia
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|Born||c. 370 BCE
|Died||c. 283 BCE
|Other names||Kauṭilya, Vishnugupta|
|Occupation||Professor and royal advisor of Chandragupta Maurya|
|Known for||Foundation of the Maurya Empire|
|Notable work(s)||Arthashastra (authorship disputed), Chanakya Neeti|
Originally a professor of economics and political science at the ancient Takshashila University, Chanakya managed the first Maurya emperor Chandragupta's rise to power at a young age. He is widely credited for having played an important role in the establishment of the Maurya Empire, which was the first empire in archaeologically recorded history to rule most of the Indian subcontinent. Chanakya served as the chief advisor to both Chandragupta and his son Bindusara.
Chanakya is traditionally identified as Kautilya or Vishnu Gupta, who authored the ancient Indian political treatise called Arthaśāstra. As such, he is considered as the pioneer of the field of economics and political science in India, and his work is thought of as an important precursor to Classical Economics. Chanakya is often called the "Indian Machiavelli", although his works predate Machiavelli's by about 1,800 years. His works were lost near the end of the Gupta dynasty and not rediscovered until 1915.
Sources of information
There is little purely historical information about Chanakya: most of it comes from semi-legendary accounts. Thomas R. Trautmann identifies four distinct accounts of the ancient Chankya-Chandragupta katha (legend):
|Version of the legend||Example texts|
|Buddhist version||Mahavamsa and its comentary (Pali language)|
|Jain version||Vamsatthappakasini, found in Parisistaparvan by Hemachandra|
|Kashmiri version||Kathasaritsagara by Somadeva, Brihat-Katha-Manjari by Ksemendra|
|Vishakhadatta's version||Mudrarakshasa, a Sanskrit play by Vishakhadatta|
The following elements are common to these legends:
- The King Dhana Nanda insults Chanakya, prompting Chanakya to swear revenge and destroy the Nanda Empire.
- Chanakya searches for one worthy successor to the Nanda and finds the young Chandragupta Maurya.
- With the help of some allies, Chanakya and Chandragupta bring down the Nanda empire, often using manipulative and secretive means.
Chanakya's birthplace is a matter of controversy, and there are multiple theories about his origin. According to the Buddhist text Mahavamsa Tika, his birthplace was Taxila. The Jain scriptures, such as Adbidhana Chintamani, mention him as a Dramila, implying that he was a native of South India. According to the Jain writer Hemachandra's Parishishtaparva, Chanakya was born in the Canaka village of the Golla region, to a Jain Brahmin named Canin and his wife Canesvari. Other sources mention his father's name as Chanak and state that Chanakaya's name derives from his father's name.
Identitification with Kautilya or Vishnugupta
The ancient treatise Arthashastra has been traditionally attributed to Chanakya by a number of scholars. The Arthaśhāstra identifies its author by the name Kautilya, except for one verse that refers to him by the name Vishnugupta. Kautilya is presumably the name of the author's gotra (clan).
K.C. Ojha puts forward the view that the traditional identification of Vishnugupta with Kautilya was caused by a confusion of the text's editor and its originator. He suggests that Vishnugupta was a redactor of the original work of Kautilya. Thomas Burrow goes even further and suggests that Chanakya and Kautilya may have been two different people.
Early life
Chanakya was educated at Takshashila, an ancient centre of learning located in north-western ancient India (present-day Pakistan). He later became a teacher (acharya) at the same place. Chanakya's life was connected to two cities: Takshashila and Pataliputra (present-day Patna in Bihar, India). Pataliputra was the capital of the Magadha kingdom, which was connected to Takshashila by the northern high road of commerce.
Role in the fall of the Nanda empire
Chankaya and Chandragupta have been credited with defeating the powerful Nanda Empire and establishing the new Maurya Empire.
Mudrarakshasa ("The Signet of the Minister"), a play dated variously from the late 4th century to the early 8th century, narrates the ascent of Chandragupta Maurya to power: Sakatala, an unhappy royal minister, introduced Chanakya to the Nanda king, knowing that Chanakya would not be treated well in the court. Insulted at the court, Chanakya untied the sikha (lock of hair) and swore that he would not tie it back till he destroyed the Nanda kingdom. According to Mudrarakshasa, Chandragupta was the son of a royal concubine named Mura and spent his childhood in the Nanda palace. Chanakya and Chandragupta signed a pact with Parvataka (identified with King Porus by some scholars) of north-west India that ensured his victory over the Nanda empire. Their combined army had Shaka, Yavana (Greek), Kirata, Kamboja and Vahlik soldiers. Following their victory, the territories of the Nanda empire were divided between Parvataka and Chanakya's associate Chandragupta. However, after Parvataka's death, his son Malayaketu sought control of all the former Nanda territories. He was supported by Rakshasaa, the former Nanda minister, several of whose attempts to kill Chandragupta were foiled by Chanakya. As part of their game plan, Chanakya and Chandragupta faked a rift between themselves. As a sham, Chandragupta removed Chanakya from his ministerial post, while declaring that Rakshasa is better than him. Chanakya's agents in Malayaketu's court then turned the king against Rakshasa by suggesting that Rakshasa was poised to replace Chanakya in Chandragupta's court. The activities by Chanakya's spies further widened the rift between Malayaketu and Rakshasa. His agents also fooled Malayaketu into believing that five of his allies were planning to join Chandragupta, prompting Malayaketu to order their killings. In the end, Rakshasa ends up joining Chandragupta's side, and Malayaketu's coaliation is completely undone by Chanakya's strategy.
According to the Buddhist texts, Chandragupta was the son of the chief of the Moriya clan of Pippalivana. Chanakya once saw him leading a band of local youth and was highly impressed. He picked Chandragupta as the leader of the anti-Nanda revolt.
Several modern adaptions of the legend narrate the story of Chanakya in a semi-fictional form, extending these legends. In Chandragupta (1911), a play by Dwijendralal Ray, the Nanda king exiles his half-brother Chandragupta, who joins the army of Alexander the Great. Later, with help from Chanakya and Katyayan (the former Prime Minister of Magadha), Chandragupta defeats Nanda, who is put to death by Chanakya.
Twenty-first-century works such as Chanakya (2001) by B. K. Chaturvedi and Chanakya's Chant (2010) by Ashwin Sanghi also present semi-fictional narratives of Chanakya's life. According to these, Chanakya's father Chanak was a friend of Shaktar, the Prime Minister of the Magadha kingdom, and Chanakya loved Shaktar's daughter Suvashini. Shaktar had lost much of his political clout to another courtier called Rakshasa, and one night, Shaktar was imprisoned by the King Dhana Nanda. The rivalry of the Chanakya's family with King Dhana Nanda started when Chanak openly criticised the misrule of the king. After the execution of Chanak by the King, the former Magadha minister Katyayan sent Chanakya to Acharya Pundarikaksha of Takshashila. Chanakya completed his education at Takshashila and became a teacher there. After some years, he returned to Pataliputra to meet his mother, only to learn that she was dead. He also learnt that the Nanda administration had further deteriorated under the growing influence of Rakshasa, who had made Suvashini his mistress. When Chanakya visited the royal court to advise him, he was insulted and imprisoned by the king. Chanakya was rescued by the men of General Maurya, another person who despised with the king's rule. Chanakya took Chandragupta Maurya to Takshashila, where he trained the young man. King Ambhi, the ruler of Takshashila, had allied with the invader Alexander the Great to defeat Parvataka. Chanakya and Chandragupta gathered a band of people discontented with Ambhi's rule and formed an alliance with Parvataka to defeat the Nanda king. Their initial attempts at conquering Magadha were unsuccessful. Once, Chanakya came across a mother scolding her child for burning himself by eating from the middle of a bowl of porridge rather than the cooler edge. Chanakya realised his initial strategic error: he was attacking Magadha, the center of the Nanda territory. He then changed his strategy and focused on capturing the areas located at the peripharies of the Nanda empire. With help from Suvashini, he drove a wedge between the king and Rakshasa. Finally, he defeated the last Nanda king and established a new empire with Chandragupta Maurya as the emperor.
After the establishment of the Maurya Empire
Chanakya continued to serve as an advisor to Chandragupta after the establishment of the Maurya Empire. According to a popular legend mentioned in the Jain texts, Chanakya used to add small doses of poison to the food eaten by Emperor Chandragupta Maurya in order to make him immune to the poisoning attempts by the enemies. Unaware, Chandragupta once fed some of his food to his queen, Durdhara, who was seven days away from delivery. The queen, not immune to the poison, collapsed and died within a few minutes. In order to save the heir to the throne, Chanakya cut the queen's belly open and extracted the foetus just as she died. The baby was named Bindusara, because he was touched by a drop (bindu) of blood having poison.
When Bindusara was in his youth, Chandragupta gave up the throne and followed the Jain saint Bhadrabahu to present day Karnataka and settled in the place of Shravana Belagola. He lived as an ascetic for some years and died of voluntary starvation according to Jain tradition. Chanakya meanwhile stayed in the court as an advisor to Bindusara.
The real cause of Chanakya's death is unknown and disputed. According to one legend, he retired to the jungle and starved himself to death. According to another legend mentioned by the Jain writer Hemachandra, Subandhu, one of Bindusara's ministers, did not like Chanakya. One day he told Bindusara that Chanakya was responsible for the murder of his mother. Bindusara asked the nurses, who confirmed the story of his birth. Bindusara was horrified and enraged. Chanakya, who was an old man by this time, learnt that the King was angry with him, he decided to end his life. In accordance with the Jain tradition, he decided to starve himself to death. By this time, the King learnt the full story: Chanakya was not directly responsible for his mother's death, which was an accident. He asked Subandhu to convince Chanakya to give up his plan to kill himself. However, Subandhu, pretending to conduct a ceremony for Chanakya, burnt Chanakya alive.
Literary works
Two books are attributed to Chanakya: Arthashastra and Neetishastra (also known as Chanakya Niti).
The Arthashastra discusses monetary and fiscal policies, welfare, international relations, and war strategies in detail. The text also outlines the duties of a ruler. Some scholars believe that Arthashastra is actually a compilation of a number of earlier texts written by various authors, and Chanakya might have been one of these authors.
Neetishastra is a treatise on the ideal way of life, and shows Chanakya's deep study of the Indian way of life. Chanakya also developed Neeti-Sutras (aphorisms – pithy sentences) that tell people how they should behave. Of these well-known 455 sutras, about 216 refer to raja-neeti (the dos and don'ts of running a kingdom). Apparently, Chanakya used these sutras to groom Chandragupta and other selected disciples in the art of ruling a kingdom.
Chanakya is regarded as a great thinker and diplomat in India. Many Indian nationalists regard him as one of the earliest people who envisaged the united India spanning the entire subcontinent. India's National Security Advisor Shiv Shankar Menon praised Chanakya's Arthashastra for its clear and precise rules which apply even today. Furthermore, he recommended reading of the book for broadening the vision on strategic issues.
The diplomatic enclave in New Delhi is named Chanakyapuri in honour of Chanakya. Institutes named after him include Training Ship Chanakya, Chanakya National Law University and Chanakya Institute of Public Leadership. Chanakya circle in Mysore has been named after him.
Film and television
- Television series Chanakya is archetypal account of the life and times of Chanakya, based on the play "Mudra Rakshasaa" (The Signet Ring of "Rakshasaa")
- Indian popular Hindi channel NDTV Imagine started a Biographical series on the life of Chandragupta Maurya and his teacher, Chanakya, produced by Sagar Arts. The series is named Chandragupta Maurya.
- The song "Make My" by The Roots from their 2011 album undun features a quote attributed to Chanakya: "A man is born alone and dies alone; he experiences the good and the bad and the consequences of his karma alone; and he goes alone to hell or the Supreme Abode"
- The story of Chanakya and Chandragupta was taken as film in Telugu language in 1977 entitled Chanakya Chandragupta. Akkineni Nageswara Rao played the role of Chanakya, while N. T. Rama Rao portrayed as Chandragupta.
Books and academia
- An English-language book titled Chanakya on Management contains 216 sutras on raja-neeti, each of which has been translated and commented upon.
- A book written by Ratan Lal Basu and Rajkumar Sen deals with the economic concepts mentioned in Arthasashtra and their relevance for the modern world.
- In 2009, many eminent experts discussed the various aspects of Kautilya's thought in an International Conference held at Oriental Research Institute, Mysore (India) to celebrate the centenary of discovery of the manuscript of the Arthashastra by R. Shamasastry. Most of the papers presented in the Conference have been compiled in an edited volume by Raj Kumar Sen and Ratan Lal Basu.
- Chanakya's Chant by Ashwin Sanghi is a fictional retelling of the life of Chanakya a political strategist of ancient India. The novel relates two stories in parallel, the first of Chanakya and his machinations to bring Chandragupta Maurya to the throne of Magadha; the second, that of a modern-day character called Gangasagar Mishra who makes it his ambition to position a slum child as the Prime Minister of India.
- Kautilya's role in the formation of the Maurya Empire is the essence of a historical/spiritual novel Courtesan and the Sadhu by Dr. Mysore N. Prakash.
- Chanakya`s contribution to the cultural heritage of Bharat (in Kannada) by Shatavadhani Ganesh with the title Bharatada Samskrutige Chanakyana Kodugegalu.
- Pavan Choudary. Chanakya's Political Wisdom. Wisdom Village Publications Division. ISBN 978-81-906555-0-7., a political commentary on Chanakya
See also
- Magadha Empire
- Mauryan dynasty
- Chandragupta Maurya
- Rajamandala, a concept of friendly and enemy neighbour states mentioned in Arthashastra
- Shang Yang (c. 390–338 BCE), a contemporary of Chanakya, known as the Chinese Machiavelli
- V. K. Subramanian (1980). Maxims of Chanakya: Kautilya. Abhinav Publications. pp. 1–. ISBN 978-0-8364-0616-0. Retrieved 2012-06-06.
- S. K. Agarwal (1 September 2008). Towards Improving Governance. Academic Foundation. p. 17. ISBN 978-81-7188-666-1. Retrieved 2012-06-06.
- Mabbett, I. W. (1964). "The Date of the Arthaśāstra". Journal of the American Oriental Society (American Oriental Society) 84 (2): 162–169. doi:10.2307/597102. JSTOR 597102. ISSN 0003-0279.
- L. K. Jha, K. N. Jha (1998). "Chanakya: the pioneer economist of the world", International Journal of Social Economics 25 (2–4), p. 267–282.
- Waldauer, C., Zahka, W.J. and Pal, S. 1996. Kauṭilya's Arthashastra: A neglected precursor to classical economics. Indian Economic Review, Vol. XXXI, No. 1, pp. 101–108.
- Tisdell, C. 2003. A Western perspective of Kauṭilya's Arthasastra: does it provide a basis for economic science? Economic Theory, Applications and Issues Working Paper No. 18. Brisbane: School of Economics, The University of Queensland.
- Sihag, B.S. 2007. Kauṭilya on institutions, governance, knowledge, ethics and prosperity. Humanomics 23 (1): 5–28.
- "The Indian Machiavelli" or Political Theory in India Two Thousand Years Ago by Herbert H. Gowen. Political Science Quarterly Vol. 44, No. 2 (Jun. 1929), pp. 173–192. Published by: The Academy of Political Science.
- Herbert H. Gowen (1929). and in a much more conventional world.or Political Theory in India Two Thousand Years Ago, Political Science Quarterly 44 (2), p. 173–192.
- Namita Sanjay Sugandhi (2008). Between the Patterns of History: Rethinking Mauryan Imperial Interaction in the Southern Deccan. ProQuest. pp. 88–89. ISBN 978-0-549-74441-2. Retrieved 2012-06-06.
- The Indian Encyclopaedia by Subodh Kapoor (2002). Cosmo Publications. Page 1372. ISBN 978-81-7755-257-7. Retrieved 14 April 2012.
- Iyengar, P. T. Srinivasa (1929). History of the Tamils from the Earliest Times to the Present Day.
- P. E. Granoff (1 January 1993). The Clever Adulteress and Other Stories: A Treasury of Jaina Literature. Motilal Banarsidass Publ. pp. 189–190. ISBN 978-81-208-1150-8. Retrieved 21 December 2012.
- Trautmann, Thomas R. (1971). Kautilya and the Arthaśhāstra: A Statistical Investigation of the Authorship and Evolution of the Text. Leiden: E.J. Brill. p. 10.
- Trautmann 1971:5 "the very last verse of the work...is the unique instance of the personal name Vishnugupta rather than the gotra name Kautilya in the Arthaśhāstra.
- Trautmann 1971:10 "while in his character as author of an Arthaśhāstra he is generally referred to by his gotra name, Kautilya."
- Mabbett 1964: "References to the work in other Sanskrit literature attribute it variously to Vishnugupta, Chanakya and Kautilya. The same individual is meant in each case. The Panchatantra explicitly identifies Chanakya with Vishnugupta."
- Trautmann 1971:67 'T. Burrow ("Cāṇakya and Kauṭalya", Annals of the Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute 48–49 1968, p. 17 ff.) has now shown that Cāṇakya is also a gotra name, which in conjunction with other evidence makes it clear that we are dealing with two distinct persons, the minister Cāṇakya of legend and Kauṭilya the compiler of the Arthaśāstra. Furthermore, this throws the balance of evidence in favor of the view that the second name was originally spelt Kauṭalya, and that after the compiler of the Arth came to be identified with the Mauryan minister, it was altered to Kautilya (as it appears in Āryaśūra, Viśākhadatta and Bāna) for the sake of the pun. We must then assume that the later spelling subsequently replaced the earlier in the gotra lists and elsewhere.'
- Manohar Laxman Varadpande (2005). History of Indian Theatre. Abhinav Publications. pp. 227–230. ISBN 978-81-7017-430-1. Retrieved 2012-06-06.
- Ray, Dwijendralal (2006–07) . "Bhumika: Aitihasikata" [Preface: Historic References]. In Bandyopadhyay, Sukumar. Dwijendralaler Chandragupta [Chandragupta by Dwindralal] (in Bengali) (4th ed.). Kolkata: Modern Book Agency Pvt Ltd. pp. Preface–10–14.
- B. K. Chaturvedi (2001). Chanakya. Diamond Pocket Books. ISBN 978-81-7182-143-3. Retrieved 2012-06-06.
- Wilhelm Geiger (1908). The Dīpavaṃsa and Mahāvaṃsa and their historical development in Ceylon. H. C. Cottle, Government Printer, Ceylon. p. 40. OCLC 559688590. Unknown parameter
- Bibliotheca Indica, Volume 96, Issue 5. Asiatic Society (Calcutta, India). Baptist Mission Press, 1891.
- M. Srinivasachariar (1989). History of classical Sanskrit literature (3 ed.). Motilal Banarsidass. p. 550. ISBN 978-81-208-0284-1.
- Jainism in South India by P. M. Joseph. International School of Dravidian Linguistics, 1997. ISBN 978-81-85692-23-4.
- Journal of Indian History. University of Kerala. 1949. p. 211. Retrieved 2013-02-07.
- Nury Vittachi (2007). The Kama Sutra of Business: Management Principles From Indian Classics. Wiley India Pvt. Limited. p. 87. ISBN 978-81-265-1454-0. Retrieved 2012-06-06.
- Paul Halsall. Indian History Sourcebook: Kautilya: from the Arthashastra c. 250 BCE Retrieved 19 June 2012
- "India needs to develop its own doctrine for strategic autonomy: NSA". Economic Times (NEW DELHI). PTI. 18 October 2012. Retrieved 18 October 2012.
- "Chandragupta Maurya". www.tvbasti.com, Retrieved 11 January 2012
- Chanakya Chandragupta, 1977 Telugu film at IMDb.
- Ratan Lal Basu & Rajkumar Sen: Ancient Indian Economic Thought, Relevance for Today, ISBN 81-316-0125-0, Rawat Publications, New Delhi, 2008
- Raj Kumar Sen & Ratan Lal Basu (eds): Economics in Arthasastra, ISBN 81-7629-819-0, Deep& Deep Publications Pvt. Ltd., New Delhi, 2006
- Srinivasaraju, Sugata (27 July 2009). "Year of the Guru". Outlook India. Retrieved 8 March 2012.
- The Courtesan and the Sadhu, A Novel about Maya, Dharma, and God, October 2008, Dharma Vision LLC.,ISBN 978-0-9818237-0-6, Library of Congress Control Number: 2008934274
- bharatiya-samskrutige chanakyana kodugegalu
|Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Chanakya|
- Chanakya Nitishastra at hinduism.co.za
- Chanakya (Kautilya): Arthashastra, Chanakya Niti, Chanakya Sutras: Full text Sanskrit, and translations at sabhlokcity.com
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How do children learn to count? You could imagine that numbers are words, and children learn them like any other word. (Actually, this wouldn’t help much, since we still don’t really understand how children learn words, but it would neatly deflect the question.) However, it turns out that children learn to count in a bizarre fashion quite unlike how they learn about other words.
If you have a baby and a few years to spend, you can try this experiment at home. Every day, show you baby a bowl of marbles and ask her to give you one. Wait until your baby can do this. This actually takes some time, during which you’ll either get nothing or maybe a handful of marbles.
Then, one day, between 24 and 30 months of age, your toddler will hand you a single marble. But ask for 2 marbles or 3 marbles, etc., your toddler will give you a handful. The number of marbles won’t be systematically larger if you ask for 10 than if you ask for 2. This is particularly odd, because because by this age the child typically can recite the count list (“one, two, three, four…”).
Keep trying this, and within 6-9 months, the child will start giving you 2 marbles when asked for, but still give a random handful when asked for 3 or 4 or 5, etc. Wait a bit longer, and the child will manage to give you 1, 2 or 3 when asked, but still fail for numbers greater than 3.
This doesn’t continue forever, though. At around 3 years old, children suddenly are able to succeed when asked for any set of numbers. They can truly count. (This is work done by Karen Wynn some years ago, who is now a professor of psychology at Yale University.)
Of course, this is just a description of what children do. What causes this strange pattern of behavior? We seem to be, as a field, homing in on the answer, and in my next post I’ll describe some new research that sheds light onto the question.
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Many scientists consider the shift from
coral-dominated reefs to weed-dominated
reefs a signal that the health of the coral
ecosystem is in decline.
A new scientific study has found that seaweeds have claimed large areas of the coastal shelf of Australia’s Great Barrier Reef (GBR).
Part of a global effort to record and understand changes in coral reefs worldwide, the study has found that more than 40 per cent of inshore reefs on the GBR are dominated by seaweeds (macroalgae) – but that the mid-shelf and outer reefs are virtually free of weed.
“The Great Barrier Reef is widely regarded as the world’s most intact large reef system – and that’s the way we aim to keep it,” says Professor Dave Bellwood of the ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies and James Cook University. “As part of that goal, it is important to study what makes up the reef, in order to monitor any changes that may occur and understand what is causing them.”
Worldwide, many scientists consider that a shift from coral-dominated reefs to weed-dominated reefs signals a decline in the health of coral ecosystems – and is exceptionally difficult to reverse. Much therefore depends on keeping coral-dominated reefs in as weed-free a condition as possible, Prof. Bellwood suggests.
“We carried out two major censuses in the northern and central regions, sampling reefs close to the shore, in the mid GBR lagoon, and on the outer GBR, in which we swam more than 500 10-metre transects, taking careful note of the reef composition.
Seaweed cover was greatest on inner-shelf reefs – around 43 per cent per cent were dominated by weeds – and decreased markedly to around 4 per cent on mid-shelf and outer-shelf reefs in both regions of the GBR.
“We got quite a shock when we saw how much of the inner reefs were dominated by weed,” Prof Bellwood – who has dived the GBR for several decades – admits. “Forty-three per cent is a surprisingly big number – but it is their natural state or not? There is a lack of historical data to tell us for sure. It needs close scrutiny to find out.”
He called on Australians who may have been photographing inshore reefs since the 1950s to provide whatever pictorial evidence they may have of weed and coral cover, provided the photos are clearly dated and the location they were taken is known. This may help scientists establish whether the seaweed is on the increase or not.
As yet there is much to learn about what causes reefs to become dominated by algae, although nutrients from the land are one suspect and herbivorous fish are unquestionably an important factor in keeping weeds in check.
“In our survey the corals of the mid-shelf reefs were in much better condition – and one of the things we can clearly do is make sure they stay that way. It would be tragic if macroalgae started to spread on them,” he adds.
Key to this, Prof. Bellwood says, is maintaining strong populations of browsing and grazing fishes, like parrot, surgeon, rabbit and bat fish, which keep the weeds down by ‘mowing’ them and preventing them from getting a foothold. “There is overwhelming scientific evidence from Australia and round the world to show that herbivores are vital to the overall health of coral reefs,” he adds.
However Australia has no legislation to protect this vital group of fishes and their central role in helping to conserve the Great Barrier Reef.
Prof. Bellwood has written to the Rudd Government suggesting the need for a national policy – but has yet to receive a positive reply.
“This is a win-win politically, as well as for the environment,” he says. “Protecting Australia’s herbivorous fishes would offend few people – but would have major benefits in keeping our reefs clean and healthy and so supporting the $5 billion in activities that rely on them.”
Finally, Prof. Bellwood urges those diving the reef to visit the weedy inshore reefs: “They aren’t all coral, but they can be spectacularly beautiful in their own way, and you will see a mix of species inshore that you can see nowhere else. In my eyes they rival anything you can see in a dive on the outer barrier reef – yet they are so much easier to gain access to.”
For those who regularly dive the inshore reefs and take pictures, Prof Bellwood, urges them to keep careful records of date and place. “We really need to know whether or not these reefs are changing, and how fast. If anyone has records going back to the 1950s, that would be brilliant.”
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Leopold von Ranke
Ranke, Leopold von (lāˈōpôlt fən rängˈkə) [key], 1795–1886, German historian, generally recognized as the father of the modern objective historical school. He applied and elaborated Barthold Niebuhr's scientific method of historical investigation. Ranke's aim was to reconstruct the unique periods of the past as they actually were and to avoid injecting the history of former times with the spirit of the present; this approach to historiography is known as historicism. To attain his goal, Ranke insisted that only contemporary accounts and related material be used as sources. His technique depended in large part on exhaustive archival research and on philological criticism of sources.
It is difficult to say whether Ranke was more influential through his writing or through his teaching. As professor at the Univ. of Berlin (1825–71), he inaugurated the seminar system of teaching history and formed an entire generation of historians, who in turn spread his methods throughout the world. Outside Germany, his ideas were particularly influential in England and in the United States. The accumulation of facts and details, serving the purposes of preparatory research and practical training, was a prominent feature of Ranke's method. In his seminars originated the Jahrbücher [yearbooks], which grew into a tremendous repository of information on medieval Germany.
It is implicit in Ranke's work that he regarded history as the result of the divine will. Since he saw power as the overt expression of that will, Ranke concentrated on political, and primarily on diplomatic, developments. He sought to apply his methods to the history of all European nations, and his investigations ranged over a wide field. One of his earliest works was Zur Kritik neuerer Geschichtschreiber [critique of modern historical writing] (1824), which set forth his method; the culmination of his life work was his Weltgeschichte [universal history] (9 vol., 1881–88).
The great body of Ranke's writing is made up of particular histories of the 16th, 17th, and 18th cent. English translations include the enduring Ecclesiastical and Political History of the Popes during the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries (3 vol., 1840), Memoirs of the House of Brandenburg and History of Prussia during the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries (3 vol., 1847–48), Civil Wars and Monarchy in France in the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries (1852), and History of England (6 vol., 1875). Important among his other writings are extensive histories of Prussia and of the rise of the Prussian state. The quantity of his work is as impressive as the quality; the German edition (1867–90) of his complete works numbered 54 volumes without the universal history. Politically a conservative and a monarchist, Ranke did not share the liberalism of some of his Prussian contemporaries.
See G. P. Gooch, History and Historians in the Nineteenth Century (2d ed. 1952, repr. 1965); T. H. Von Laue, Leopold Ranke, the Formative Years (1950, repr. 1970).
The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th ed. Copyright © 2012, Columbia University Press. All rights reserved.
More on Leopold von Ranke from Fact Monster:
See more Encyclopedia articles on: Historians, European: Biographies
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Best Known For
Holy Roman emperor Joseph II tried to strengthen the Habsburg empire with his enlightened reforms, but the changes he made were met with fierce opposition.
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Future Holy Roman emperor Joseph II was born in Vienna, Austria, on March 13, 1741. He became co-regent with his mother, Maria Theresa, in 1765, and sole ruler in 1780. During his time in power, Joseph issued decrees that promoted equality and education, but the speed and scope of his reforms led to problems for him and his empire. Joseph died in Vienna on February 20, 1790, at the age of 48.
"I do not need your consent for doing good."
"The idea of being able to do good and render one's subjects happy is undoubtedly the finest and the only flattering aspect of power..."
On March 13, 1741, in Vienna, Austria, Habsburg heir Joseph (baptized as Joseph Benedict Augustus Johann Anton Michael Adam) was born. His mother, Maria Theresa, was the ruler of the Habsburg empire. His father, Francis I, held the title of Holy Roman emperor. As the firstborn son, Joseph spent his childhood knowing he would grow up to take the reins of power. In 1765, after his father died, Joseph became Joseph II, Holy Roman emperor.
With his father's death, Joseph also became his mother's co-regent, and took over the handling of the army and foreign affairs. In foreign matters, Joseph's attempt to exchange part of the Austrian Netherlands for Bavaria was undermined by Frederick II of Prussia.
Although Joseph was co-regent, Maria Theresa maintained control of the empire. His mother made some changes that Joseph supported, such as an expansion of elementary education in the 1770s. But Maria Theresa objected to the idea of religious tolerance and refused to institute reforms that Joseph, a disciple of the Enlightenment, desperately wanted.
When Maria Theresa died in 1780, Joseph became the absolute ruler of the Habsburg domains and enacted many reforms that his mother had refused to consider. During his reign, Joseph put forth an average of 690 decrees a year. (Maria Theresa had made fewer than 100 each year.) Joseph's reforms included abolishing serfdom, ending press censorship and limiting the power of the Catholic Church. And with his Edict of Toleration, Joseph gave minority religions, such as Protestants, Greek Orthodox and Jews, the ability to live and worship more freely.
Joseph was considered an "enlightened despot," and his reforms were open-minded, to a point. However, Joseph's main aim was to make the empire more efficient and financially secure. Believing that he was doing what was right and necessary, Joseph did not bother to smooth the way with nobles or clergy who felt threatened by his changes.
Joseph's reforms convinced people in the Austrian Netherlands that their historical privileges were not being respected. Hungarian nobles tried to reject Joseph's decrees on the grounds that he had not gone through an official coronation there. Even peasants were often more concerned with the taxes that the empire demanded than with their new freedoms.
Joseph also encountered difficulties outside his empire. To counter Prussia's strength, Joseph forged an alliance with Catherine II of Russia, which brought the empire into a conflict in Turkey. This stretched the empire's resources and also opened the door for more unrest.
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A fairy ring, also known as fairy circle, elf circle, elf ring or pixie ring, is a naturally occurring ring or arc of mushrooms. The rings may grow to over 10 metres (33 ft) in diameter, and they become stable over time as the fungus grows and seeks food underground. They are found mainly in forested areas, but also appear in grasslands or rangelands. Fairy rings are detectable by sporocarps in rings or arcs, as well as by a necrotic zone (dead grass), or a ring of dark green grass. If these manifestations are visible a fairy fungus mycelium is likely to be present in the ring or arc underneath.
There are two theories regarding the process involved in creating fairy rings. One states that the fairy ring is begun by a spore from the sporocarpus. The underground presence of the fungus can also cause withering or varying colour or growth of the grass above. Mushrooms, the fruiting bodies of fungi that poke their heads up out of the soil after rainstorms, tell only part of the fungi's story. Hidden in the soil is a huge network of thread-like mycelia. Mushrooms are not individual organisms. Rather, they are just one part of the mycelia lurking beneath the ground.
The second theory, which is presented in the investigations of Japanese scientists on the Tricholoma matsutake species, shows that fairy rings could be established by connecting neighbouring oval genets of these mushrooms. If they make an arc or a ring, they continuously grow about the centre of this object.
Necrotic or rapid growth zones
One of the manifestations of fairy ring growth is a necrotic zone—an area in which grass or other plant life has withered or died. These zones are caused by the mycelia which, during a very dry year, coat the roots of grasses and other herbs in meadows. After some time they are removed by biotic factors from the ground, at which stage a zone on the surface soil becomes visible. Patterns other than the basic ring or arc are also possible: circles, doubled arcs, sickle-shaped arcs, and other complicated formations are also formed by this process. Fungi can deplete the soil of readily available nutrients such as nitrogen, causing plants growing within the circle to be stressed which leads to plant discoloration. Some fungi also produce chemicals which act like hormones called gibberellins, which affect plant growth, causing rapid luxuriant growth.
Long-term observations of fairy rings on Shillingstone Hill, England, further suggested that the cycle depended on the continuous presence of rabbits. Chalky soils on higher elevations in the counties of Wiltshire and Dorset (U.K.) used to support many meadow-type fairy rings. Rabbits crop grass very short in open areas and produce nitrogen-rich droppings. Mushrooms need more soil nitrogen than grass does. A ring can start from a single spore from which the mycelium develops; the fruiting bodies of the mushrooms only appearing later, when sufficient mycelial mass has been generated to support them. Subsequent generations of fungi grow only outwards, because the parent generations have depleted their local nitrogen levels. Meanwhile, rabbits keep cropping the grass, but do not eat the fungi, allowing them to grow through their competition to tower, relatively, above the grass. By the time a circle of mushrooms reaches about 6 metres (20 ft) in diameter, rabbit droppings have replenished the nitrogen levels near the centre of the circle, and a secondary ring may start to grow inside the first.
Soil analysis of soil containing mycelium from a wood blewit (Clitocybe nuda) fairy ring under Norway spruce (Picea abies) and Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris) in southeast Sweden yielded fourteen halogenated low molecular weight organic compounds, three of which were brominated and the others chlorinated. It is unclear whether these were metabolites or polluntants. Brominated compounds are unknown as metabolites from terrestrial fungi.
There are two generally recognised types of fairy ring fungus. Those found in the woods are called tethered, because they are formed by mycorrhizal fungi living in commensalism with trees. Meadow fairy rings are called free, because they are not connected with other organisms. These mushrooms are saprotrophic. The effects on the grass depend on the type of fungus that is growing; when Calvatia cyathiformis is growing in the area grass will grow more abundantly; however, Leucopaxillus giganteus will cause the grass to wither.
Species involved
One of the largest rings ever found is near Belfort in France. Formed by Infundibulicybe geotropa, it is thought to be about 600 metres (2,000 ft) in diameter and over 700 years old. On the South Downs in southern England, Calocybe gambosa has formed huge fairy rings that also appear to be several hundred years old.
List of species
- Agaricus arvensis
- Agaricus campestris
- Agaricus praerimosus
- Amanita muscaria
- Amanita phalloides
- Amanita rubescens
- Bovista dermoxantha
- Calocybe gambosa
- Calvatia cyathiformis
- Clitocybe dealbata
- Clitocybe nebularis
- Clitocybe nuda
- Clitocybe rivulosa
- Chlorophyllum molybdites
- Chlorophyllum rhacodes
- Cyathus stercoreus
- Disciseda subterranea
- Entoloma sinuatum
- Gomphus clavatus
- Infundibulicybe geotropa
- Lepista sordida
- Leucopaxillus giganteus
- Lycoperdon gemmatum
- Marasmius oreades
- Sarcodon imbricatus
- Tricholoma album
- Tricholoma orirubens
- Tricholoma pardinum
- Tricholoma matsutake
- Tuber melanosporum
- Vascellum curtisii
Cultural references
Oral tradition and folklore
A great deal of folklore surrounds fairy rings. Their names in European languages often allude to supernatural origins; they are known as ronds de sorciers ("sorcerers' rings") in France, and Hexenringe ("witches' rings") in German. In German tradition, fairy rings were thought to mark the site of witches' dancing on Walpurgis Night, and Dutch superstition claimed that the circles show where the Devil set his milk churn. In Tyrol, folklore attributed fairy rings to the fiery tails of flying dragons; once a dragon had created such a circle, nothing but toadstools could grow there for seven years. European superstitions routinely warned against entering a fairy ring. French tradition reported that fairy rings were guarded by giant bug-eyed toads that cursed those who violated the circles. In other parts of Europe, entering a fairy ring would result in the loss of an eye. Fairy rings are associated with diminutive spirits in the Philippines.
Western European, including English, Scandinavian and Celtic, traditions claimed that fairy rings are the result of elves or fairies dancing. Such ideas dated to at least the mediæval period; The Middle English term elferingewort ("elf-ring"), meaning "a ring of daisies caused by elves' dancing" dates to the 12th century. In his History of the Goths (1628), Olaus Magnus makes this connection, saying that fairy rings are burned into the ground by the dancing of elves. British folklorist Thomas Keightley noted that in Scandinavia in the early 20th century, beliefs persisted that fairy rings (elfdans) arose from the dancing of elves. Keightley warned that while entering an elfdans might allow the interloper to see the elves—although this was not guaranteed—it would also put the intruder in thrall to their illusions.
The folklores of the British Isles contain a wealth of fairy lore, including the idea from which fairy rings take their name: the phenomena result from the dancing of fairies. In 19th-century Wales, where the rings are known as cylch y Tylwyth Teg, fairies were almost invariably described as dancing in a group when encountered, and in Scotland and Wales in the late 20th century, stories about fairy rings were still common; some Welsh even claimed to have joined a fairy dance. Victorian folklorists regarded fairies and witches as related, based in part on the idea that both were believed to dance in circles. These revels are particularly associated with moonlit nights, the rings only becoming visible to mortals the following morning. Local variants add other details. An early 20th-century Irish tradition says that fairies enjoy dancing around the hawthorn tree so that fairy rings often centre on one. One resident of Balquhidder, Scotland, said that the fairies sit on the mushrooms and use them as dinnertables, and a Welsh woman claimed that fairies used the mushrooms as parasols and umbrellas. Olaus Magnus in Historia de Gentibus Septentrionalibus wrote that the brightness of the fairy ring comes not from the dancing of the fairies, who harm it with their feet, but from Puck, who refreshes the grass. A Devon legend says that a black hen and chickens sometimes appear at dusk in a large fairy ring on the edge of Dartmoor. A Welsh and Manx variant current in the 1960s removes dancing from the picture and claims that fairy rings spring up over an underground fairy village. These associations have become linked to specific sites. For example, "The Pixies' Church" was a rock formation in Dartmoor surrounded by a fairy ring, and a stone circle tops Cader Idris in northern Wales, believed to be a popular spot for fairy dances.
Many folk beliefs generally paint fairy rings as dangerous places, best avoided. Sikes traces these stories of people trespassing into forbidden territory and being punished for it to the tale of Psyche and Eros. In it, Psyche is forbidden to view her lover, and when she does so, her palace disappears and she is left alone. Superstition calls fairy circles sacred and warns against violating them lest the interloper (such as a farmer with a plough) anger the fairies and be cursed. In an Irish legend recorded by Wilde, a farmer builds a barn on a fairy ring despite the protests of his neighbours. He is struck senseless one night, and a local "fairy doctor" breaks the curse. The farmer says that he dreamed that he must destroy the barn. Even collecting dew from the grass or flowers of a fairy ring can bring bad luck. Destroying a fairy ring is unlucky and fruitless; superstition says it will just grow back.
A traditional Scottish rhyme sums up the danger of such places:
- He wha tills the fairies' green
- Nae luck again shall hae :
- And he wha spills the fairies' ring
- Betide him want and wae.
- For weirdless days and weary nights
- Are his till his deein' day.
- But he wha gaes by the fairy ring,
- Nae dule nor pine shall see,
- And he wha cleans the fairy ring
- An easy death shall dee.
Numerous legends focus on mortals entering a fairy ring—and the consequences. One superstition is that anyone who steps into an empty fairy ring will die at a young age. A 20th-century tradition from Somerset calls the fairy ring a "galley-trap" and says that a murderer or thief who walks in the ring will be hanged. Most often, someone who violates a fairy perimeter becomes invisible to mortals outside and may find it impossible to leave the circle. Often, the fairies force the mortal to dance to the point of exhaustion, death, or madness. In Welsh tales, fairies actively try to lure mortals into their circles to dance with them. A tale from the Cambrian Mountains of Wales, current in the 19th century, describes a mortal's encounter with a fairy ring:
... he saw the Tylwyth Teg, in appearance like tiny soldiers, dancing in a ring. He set out for the scene of revelry, and soon drew near the ring where, in a gay company of males and females, they were footing it to the music of the harp. Never had he seen such handsome people, nor any so enchantingly cheerful. They beckoned him with laughing faces to join them as they leaned backward almost falling, whirling round and round with joined hands. Those who were dancing never swerved from the perfect circle; but some were clambering over the old cromlech, and others chasing each other with surprising swiftness and the greatest glee. Still others rode about on small white horses of the most beautiful form ... All this was in silence, for the shepherd could not hear the harps, though he saw them. But now he drew nearer to the circle, and finally ventured to put his foot in the magic ring. The instant he did this, his ears were charmed with strains of the most melodious music he had ever heard.
Entering the ring on May Eve or Halloween night was especially dangerous. One source near Afon fach Blaen y Cae, a tributary of the Dwyfach, tells of a shepherd accidentally disturbing a ring of rushes where fairies are preparing to dance; they capture him and hold him captive, and he even marries one of them. In variants from Scotland recorded by Edwin Sidney Hartland in 1891, the ring is replaced by a cavern or an old mill.
Freedom from a fairy ring often requires outside intervention. A tactic from early 20th-century Wales is to cast wild marjoram and thyme into the circle and befuddle the fairies; another asks the rescuer to touch the victim with iron. Other stories require that the enchanted victim simply be plucked out by someone on the outside, although even this can be difficult: A farmer in a tale from the Langollen region has to tie a rope around himself and enlist four men to pull him from the circle as he goes in to save his daughter. Other folk methods rely on Christian faith to break the enchantment: a stick from a rowan tree (thought to be the wood from which the cross of Jesus Christ was built) can break the curse, as can a simple phrase such as "what, in Heaven's name", as in a 19th-century tale from Carmarthenshire. A common element to these recoveries is that the rescuer must wait a year and a day from the point where the victim entered the ring.
Mortals who have danced with the fairies are rarely safe after being saved from their enthrallment. Often, they find that what seemed to be but a brief foray into fairyland was indeed much longer in the mortal realm, possibly weeks or years. The person rescued from the fairy ring may have no memory of their encounter with the sprites, as in a story from Anglesea recorded in 1891. In most tales, the saved interlopers face a grim fate. For example, in a legend from Carmarthenshire, recorded by Sikes, a man is rescued from a fairy ring only to crumble to dust. In a tale from Mathavarn, Llanwrin Parish, a fairy-ring survivor moulders away when he eats his first bite of food. Another vulnerability seems to be iron; in a tale from the Aberystwyth region, a touch from the metal causes a rescued woman to disappear.
Some legends assert that the only safe way to investigate a fairy ring is to run around it nine times. This affords the ability to hear the fairies dancing and frolicking underground. According to a 20th-century tradition of Northumberland, this must be done under a full moon, and the runner must travel in the direction of the sun; to go widdershins allows the fairies to place the runner under their sway. To circle the ring a tenth time is foolhardy and dangerous. Thomas Keightley recorded a similar tradition from Northumberland in 1905: "The children constantly run this number [nine times], but nothing will induce them to venture a tenth run." A story from early 20th century England says that a mortal can see the sprites without fear if a friend places a foot on that of the person stepping beyond the circle's perimeter. Another superstition says that wearing a hat backwards can confuse the fairies and prevent them from pulling the wearer into their ring.
Although they have strong associations with doom, some legends paint fairy circles as places of fertility and fortune. Welsh folk belief is that mountain sheep that eat the grass of a fairy ring flourish, and that crops sown from such a place will prove more bountiful that those from normal land. A folk belief recorded in the Athenian Oracle claims that a house built on a fairy circle will bring prosperity to its inhabitants. Likewise, a legend from Pont y Wern says that in the 13th or 14th century, the inhabitants of the town of Corwrion watched fairies dancing in a ring around a glow worm every Sunday after church at a place called Pen y Bonc. They even joined the sprites in their revels. The legend survives in a rhyme: "With the fairies nimbly dancing round / The glow-worm on the Rising Ground." A Welsh tale recorded by Rhys in 1901 tells of a man who supposedly lived on the side of the Berwyn, above Cwm Pennant, in the early 19th century. The man destroyed a nest of rooks in a tree surrounded by a fairy ring. In gratitude, the fairies gave him a half crown every day but stopped when he told his friends, "for he had broken the rule of the fair folks by making their liberality known". Nevertheless, fairy boons are not without their curses, and tales often tell of the sprites exacting their revenge.
Fairy rings have featured in the works of European authors, playwrights, and artists since the 13th century. In his Arthurian romance Meraugis de Portlesguez, Raoul de Houdenc describes a scene clearly derived from Celtic fairy-ring lore: The title character visits the Château des Caroles and sees a circle of women and a knight dancing around a pine in the castle courtyard. Meraugis is unable to fight the intense desire to join in, thus freeing the previous knight from the spell. Meraugis is helpless to leave the dance until, ten weeks later, another knight joins it and frees him. Fairy circles feature in works by several Elizabethan poets and playwrights. William Shakespeare alludes to them in A Midsummer Night's Dream, Act II, Scene I ("And I serve the fairy queen, / To dew her orbs upon the green" and "To dance our ringlets to the whistling wind"), and The Tempest, Act V, Scene I:
- ... you demi-puppets that
- By moonshine do the green sour ringlets make,
- Whereof the ewe not bites, and you whose pastime
- Is to make midnight mushrooms, that rejoice
- To hear the solemn curfew ...
- And in their courses make that round
- In meadows and in marshes found,
- Of them so called the Fairy Ground,
- Of which they have the keeping.
Fairy imagery became especially popular in the Victorian era. Thomas Hardy uses a fairy ring as a symbol of lost love in The Mayor of Casterbridge (1886); the character Michael Henchard passes a fairy ring and remembers that he last saw his wife Susan there when he sold her to a sailor in a drunken rage. Victorian poets who have referred to fairy rings in their works include Elizabeth Barrett Browning, Eliza Cook, Robert Stephen Hawker, Felicia Hemans, Gerald Massey, and Alfred, Lord Tennyson. W. H. Cummings composed the cantata The Fairy Ring, and William Butler Yeats wrote of them in The Land of Heart's Desire (1894).
Fairy circles have appeared in European artwork since at least the 18th century. For example, William Blake painted Oberon, Titania and Puck with Fairies Dancing, depicting a scene from Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream, around 1785, and Daniel Maclise painted Faun and the Fairies around 1834. Images of fairies dancing in circles became a favourite trope of painters in the Victorian period. On the one hand, artists were genuinely interested in the culture such imagery represented, and on the other, fairies could be depicted as titillating nudes and semi-nudes without offending Victorian mores, which made them a popular subject of art collectors. Examples of Victorian fairy-ring paintings include Come unto these Yellow Sands (1842) by Richard Dadd and Reconciliaion of Titania and Oberon (1847) by Joseph Noel Paton.
Modern depictions continue in a similar vein. The online game RuneScape features a magical fairy-ring network used for transportation, and Ultima Online includes circles of mushrooms in several locations. The popularity of the garden gnome in England may be the most visible manifestation of the imprint of fairy-ring imagery on popular culture, as it links the fairy-like gnome with imagery of toadstools and mushrooms.
Further reference is included in Guillermo Del Toro's Don't Be Afraid of the Dark. The main character, Sally, is venturing through the grounds of her father's new estate when she comes across a fairy ring. She steps carefully into and out of it before continuing on. Mr. Harris, however, a restoration worker, knows of the house's negative history with ancient fae and warns the girl. There is special attention paid to the fact that, as he is forcibly removing her from the area, he crushes many of the mushrooms forming the fairy ring. He is later attacked and hospitalized through the fae's failed attempts to murder him.
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- Shakespeare, A Midsummer Night's Dream, Act II, Scene I.
- Shakespeare, The Tempest, Act V, Scene I.
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- See Browning, "The Deserted Garden"; Cook, "'Don't You Remember?'"; Hawker, "The Fairy Vision" and "Chorus of Fairies"; Hemans, "Canto III"; Massey, "Love's Fairy-ring"; and Tennyson, "Guinevere".
- Skelton 181.
- Silver 26.
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- Cielo, Astra (1918). Signs, Omens and Superstitions. New York City: George Sully & Company.
- Croker, Thomas Crofton (1838). Fairy Legends and Traditions of the South of Ireland v. 1–3. London: John Murray.
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- Drayton, Michael (2002 ). Nymphidia: The Court of Fairy. Luminarium Editions. Online version accessed 10 March 2008.
- Franklin, Anna (2002). The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Fairies. London: Paper Tiger. ISBN 1-84340-240-8.
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|Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Fairy rings|
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- Fairy Ring information
- Marasmius oreades from California Fungi
- Marasmius oreades as Norwegian fungus of the month, with ring photographs – from webarchive
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Repeat analysis of D. virilis contigs compared to the D. melanogaster genome. The repeat density, defined as the percentage of total sequence (in base-pairs) that has been annotated as repetitive has been calculated using the D. virilis fosmid sequence obtained in this study and homologous regions from D. melanogaster (see Materials and methods). D. melanogaster and D. virilis have a very similar low repeat density on the major chromosome arms, and a similar but much higher repeat density on the dot chromosomes. (a) Percent repeat for each type identified by RepeatMasker using RebBase 8.12 with additional repeats identified in a BLASTN all-by-all comparison of the fosmid sequences presented here. (b) Percent repeat for each type identified by RepeatMasker using the Superlibrary (see text for description). The dot chromosome of D. melanogaster has about three times more DNA transposon sequence than does the D. virilis dot chromosome. 'Unknown' repeats are those from both RebBase 8.12 and the D. virilis PILER-DF library that have not been classified as to type.
Slawson et al. Genome Biology 2006 7:R15 doi:10.1186/gb-2006-7-2-r15
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Revised November 1998
Dengue is a mosquito-borne infection which in recent years has become a major international public health concern. Dengue is found in tropical and sub-tropical regions around the world, predominately in urban and peri-urban areas. Dengue haemorrhagic fever (DHF), a potentially lethal complication, was first recognized during the 1950s and is today a leading cause of childhood mortality in several Asian countries. There are four distinct, but closely related, viruses which cause dengue. Recovery from infection by one provides lifelong immunity against that serotype but confers only partial and transient protection against subsequent infection by the other three. Indeed, there is good evidence that sequential infection increases the risk of more serious disease resulting in DHF.
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Genetic determinism usually refers to the idea that some or all of an individuals behaviors or characteristics are determined by their genetic make-up, or their genes. Obvious examples of this are known genetic disorders, such as Downs Syndrome or cystic fibrosis, which have identifiable genetic causes and influence the overall person.
But genetic determinism is also connected broader research that seeks to explain complex social and individual human behaviors, including sexual behaviors, in terms of our genetic make-up.
One well known example of this is the (as yet unsuccessful) search for a gay gene that determines sexual orientation. In 2006, researchers published the first study attempting to connect specific elements of a gene to sexual arousal, desire, and behavior.
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In an English course book that I use for my Intermediate class, I encountered this problem. The exercise required students to complete the sentences with 'many' or 'much' where possible, otherwise use ' a lot of '. Now, there is this question which I am not sure of its given answer. The question is : Is there ----- population in your country? The answer from the course book is : 'much'
I have checked the dictionary for the word 'population'. It is an countable noun. Why is the answer 'much' and not ' a lot of ' ? If the answer is 'many', the whole sentence sounds weird to me. Of course, I might be wrong.
Would you please advise me?
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Horizontal Gaze Nystagmus
When looking to determine the level of impairment of a driver who is suspected of driving under the influence, many law enforcement officers will administer a field sobriety test. This is a test that looks to the physical and mental abilities of the defendant to determine how impaired they are from alcohol usage. The problem, however, arises when one considers that this is a test with no objective results. Instead, it is a subjective test with opinionated conclusions. To help in creating standards for these tests, the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration has created guidelines for how these should be administered. One of the most popular includes the Horizontal Gaze Nystagmus (HGN) .
To understand the HGN test, one must understand nystagmus. Scientifically speaking, nystagmus refers to the involuntary jerking of the eye when the inner ear is disturbed. HGN therefore refers to this jerking when it occurs in a horizontal pattern. The reason that the NHTSA uses this as a field sobriety test is that it is believed that alcohol consumption can cause the eye to bounce laterally, with the amount of the jerking to increase with the amount of alcohol in the body's system.
This is typically referred to as Alcohol Gaze Nystagmus and is due to the fact the alcohol can affect the motor control systems of the body. This results in instability and poor motor coordination, which can in turn affect the ability of a person to smoothly control their eye movements. When the nervous system is affected, the eyes can be unable to remain steady and can have an observable effect.
To administer the test, the officer will place the subject in an area with good lighting, although they are not permitted to be facing blinking lights or oncoming traffic as this could disturb the ultimate results of the test. The officer will then use a flashlight to point towards their face. The subject is then asked to follow the tip of a pen with their eyes which is placed from twelve to fifteen inches from their eyes. Should there be a lack of smooth eye movement or distinct jerking, the subject could fail the test.
Although this is a standardized test from the NHTSA, it does not mean that it is without flaws. Should the test be administered by a police officer that is not properly trained or if the officer makes a subjective decision based solely on opinion, you should not be forced to suffer from the results. In fact, in some courts, the HGN test is not admitted as evidence as it can be believed to be insufficient.
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http://www.la-duidefenselawyer.com/DUI-Defense/Field-Sobriety-Tests/Horizontal-Gaze-Nystagmus.aspx
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2013-05-21T10:14:28Z
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Oregon History: Northwest Coast
The native peoples of the shoreline and western Oregon valleys, in general, shared lifeways common with Indians residing along the North Pacific from Cape Mendocino to southeast Alaska. From the Clatsop at the mouth of the Columbia to the Chetco at the California border and from the Clackamas near the falls of the Willamette to the Takelma and Shasta of the Rogue River Valley--these people shared a common setting: a wet, temperate region, heavily forested, connected by rivers running into the sea. Their environment provided the essentials of life: cedar to frame and cover their houses, materials for clothing and dugout canoes, salmon and other fish as primary subsistence, and a bounty of game, roots, and berries to supplement their diet.
For these Indians life was predictable and generally easy. They had to work hard to secure and maintain supplies of firewood, repair their fishing traps, weirs, and nets, and engage in extensive gathering activities, but for them, nature was generous. Shoreline residents harvested vast quantities of mollusks and crustaceans from the intertidal zones. Valley Indians dug camas and wapato, gathered and processed acorns, hunted deer and elk, and worked a bit harder to survive. Annually they set fire to the meadows, opening and shaping the landscapes of the Willamette, Umpqua, and Rogue River valleys. Burning stimulated nutritious browse for deer, assisted women in the harvest of tarweed seeds, stimulated the regeneration of berries, and maintained an open understory, which undoubtedly enhanced the security of settlements.
Oregon natives of the western part of the state possessed sufficient time and wealth to develop special arts. The Chinookans of the Columbia River carved handsome, high-prowed canoes with animal effigies on their bows and erected remarkable wooden spirit figures at vigil and grave sites. The Tututni and Chetco of the south coast bartered for raw materials and made massive obsidian wealth-display blades; wove intricately decorated basketry with geometric designs of beargrass, maidenhair fern, and wild hazel bark; and sent their young people off on spirit quests to sacred sites atop mountain peaks or promontories overlooking the sea. The Coquille, Coos, Lower Umpqua, Siuslaw, Alsea, and Tillamook occupied estuaries that carry their names. A dozen bands from the Tualatin to the Santiam and Yoncalla lived in the Willamette Valley and northern Umpqua Valley. South of them resided the Upper Umpqua, Cow Creek, Shasta Costa, Takelma, and Shasta. Western Oregon Indians had connections of trade and commerce reaching into northern California and to coastal Washington and British Columbia. They were involved in the flow of dentalium shells, elk hide armor, slaves, and surplus foods. Their lifeways echoed the strong traditions of art, ceremony, social class distinction, and emphasis on wealth that ran for hundreds of miles along the North Pacific Coast.
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Preventing eye injuries
About 900,000 preventable eye injuries occur each year! This means that if a few eye safety precautions are used almost one million eyes could be saved from potential blindness every year. Nearly half of all eye injuries occur around the home or during leisure activities. If you are aware of potential hazards and follow a few safety precautions, you may save your sight or the sight of a loved one.
In the home
- Take special care when using cleaning products or harsh chemicals. Read ALL the instructions BEFORE use. Wash hands well AFTER use.
- Wear safety goggles when using powerful chemicals to protect your eyes from splashes and fumes.
- Make sure that spray nozzles point AWAY from you before pressing nozzle.
- Use grease shields on frying pans to decrease spattering.
In the workshop
- Always wear goggles or safety glasses.
- Read the instructions for all tools and chemicals before using and follow directions for proper usage, observing any special precautions.
- Keep all tools and power equipment in good repair.
- Extinguish cigarettes or matches BEFORE working around flammable materials or opening the hood of the car.
Around the yard
- Pick up rocks and twigs before mowing the lawn.
- Keep children and others out of the area where you are mowing.
- Wear safety glasses or goggles especially when chopping wood or trimming bushes and trees.
When playing sports
- Observe safety rules when you play.
- Wear safety glasses, especially for racquet sports such as tennis, squash, and racquetball. Eye injuries are common in these sports.
- Wear protective head helmets or face protectors, when appropriate, especially for sports such as ice hockey.
- Explosive fireworks are extremely dangerous and should not be used.
- Never allow children to ignite fireworks.
- Do not stand near others when lighting fireworks.
A special word about children's safety
Children are especially vulnerable to eye injuries. Protect your child's vision by teaching him or her safety rules:
- Never look directly into the sun, even wearing sunglasses.
- Carry scissors and sharp objects carefully and correctly, never point them at anyone.
- Never spray aerosols toward anyone's face.
Use common sense when selecting children's toys. Consider the child's age and responsibility level when choosing toys and games. Avoid projectile toys such as darts, BB guns, air rifles and slingshots.
Supervise children when they are playing with potentially dangerous toys and games. Three out of four children's eye accidents occur when no adult is present.
Reprinted by permission of the Medical College of Wisconsin HealthLink, [2004-12-03], www.healthlink.mcw.edu.
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Energy-Efficiency and Conservation
Programs that reduce energy use, both during peak and off-peak periods, typically without affecting the quality of services provided. Such programs substitute technologically more advanced equipment to produce the same (or a higher) level of end-use services (e.g., lighting, heating, cooling, drive power, or building shell) with less electricity.
Demand response is reducing or shifting electricity use in response to either high wholesale electricity prices or reliability problems on the electricity grid.
Distributed Generation (DG)
Distributed generation refers to a variety of small, modular power-generating technologies that can be combined with energy management and storage systems and used to improve the operation of the electricity delivery system, whether or not those technologies are connected to an electricity grid.
Renewable energy resources include solar, wind, hydropower, hydrogen, geothermal, and biomass. Renewable energy resources - such as wind and solar energy - are constantly replenished and will never run out. Most renewable energy comes either directly or indirectly from the sun. Sunlight, or solar energy, can be used directly for heating and lighting homes and other buildings, for generating electricity, and for hot water heating, solar cooling, and a variety of commercial and industrial uses.
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http://www.easternct.edu/sustainenergy/energy_solutions/energy_management.html
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2013-05-18T17:48:47Z
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Radiant Barriers: Performance Revealed
In the summertime, radiant barriers give attic insulation a clear advantage in cutting the demand for cooling energy.
Radiant barriers—sheets of aluminum foil that are normally adhered to a fiberglass mesh or a Mylar bubble wrap—obstruct the transfer of heat from the attic into the conditioned space and can cut summertime cooling loads. But exactly how well do radiant barriers work in different attics with different levels of insulation? Surprisingly few field data exist to help answer this question. To sort out the situations in which radiant barriers would have the most impact, I chose to investigate how the level of attic insulation would affect the performance of radiant barriers during a hot summer. I conducted the experiment in College Station, Texas, where hot summers and mild winters are typical of a subtropical climate. I used two identical single-room test houses with identical insulation characteristics. One of the houses was used as a control, while the other was retrofitted with a radiant barrier.
Both the radiant barrier and the fiberglass insulation were new at the time of installation. Over the summer, I sequentially fitted both houses with three different levels of fiberglass insulation: R-11, R-19, and R-30. Each level was measured for seven to ten days, with air and surface temperatures taken in the attics and living spaces.
To produce reliable experimental results, it is critical to control air movement in the attic. For this reason, I chose to use forced attic ventilation instead of natural ventilation. Since attic ventilation flow rates greater than 0.25 CFM/ft2 do not affect the reduction in ceiling heat flow caused by a radiant barrier, and since higher air flow rates are more accurately measured than lower rates, I ventilated the attics at a rate of 1 CFM/ft2. Finally, as the results were strongly influenced by the indoor temperature of the houses, I was careful to keep the temperature inside each house as constant as possible. The average difference in indoor temperature between the two houses never surpassed 0.3°F.
My experiments confirmed that radiant barriers cut summertime heat gain through the attic floor, when the sun is shining. The average reduction in ceiling heat flow when radiant barriers were used in combination with R-11 insulation was 42% (see Figure 1). When R-19 was used, the average reduction was 34%. When the insulation level was R-30, the average reduction was approximately 25%. This reduction in ceiling heat flow contributed to maintaining the indoor temperature at a constant value without placing much demand on the air conditioner.
Two notable conclusions may be drawn from these data. First, radiant barriers cut air conditioning demand. Second, the less insulation there is, the larger the effect produced by the radiant barrier. In attics where insulation levels are low, and installing more insulation is difficult, radiant barriers should be used, since they clearly reduce the heat gain and increase comfort levels during the summer. (See Table 1 for cost-effectiveness of materials.)
Why do radiant barriers reduce heat flow less as insulation levels increase? One possible explanation is that, as insulation level increases, so does the surface temperature of the radiant barrier (as well as other parts of the attic). This causes the radiation exchange to occur at higher temperatures, making the relative heat flow reduction smaller. Every heat transfer process is driven by a temperature difference between the bodies (or surfaces) that exchange heat. Therefore, if the temperature difference between the “hot” body and the “cold” body is significant, the heat transfer will be significant. On the other hand, if the temperature difference between “hot” and “cold” bodies is relatively small, the heat transfer is low. In the case of the attics with R-30, what happens is that the top of the fiberglass (assuming that the fiberglass is installed on the attic floor) develops a relatively high temperature. This happens because the insulation prevents the heat from traveling to the conditioned space. So now we have a “hot” deck and a not-so- “cold” top of the fiberglass (or top of the radiant barrier). As a result, the temperature difference that drives the heat transfer process is small, and thus the heat transfer is lower than it is with lower levels of insulation.
In retrofit applications, radiant barriers are usually installed in one of two configurations. In the horizontal radiant barrier (HRB) configuration, the barrier is installed horizontally over the attic frame (see Figure 2). In the truss radiant barrier (TRB) configuration, the barrier is attached to the rafters that support the deck (see Figure 3). The HRB configuration is often not recommended for residential use because dust and other particulates accumulate on the barrier, which can reduce the barrier’s performance. In addition, this type of installation eliminates attic space that might otherwise be used for storage purposes. However, the first problem can be minimized by using a radiant barrier with low emissivity on both sides. Most of the heat transfer from the bottom side of the radiant barrier to the insulation occurs via radiation. This radiation heat transfer is affected by surface emissivity. The surface emissivity of the bottom side of the radiant barrier is relatively low because this side faces down. Therefore, very little or no dust and other particulates accumulate on it.
In comparing the performance of the TRB and HRB configurations in attics equipped with R-19 insulation, I found that they showed similar profiles and almost identical heat flux reductions. However, the TRB showed a significantly greater reduction in attic air temperature than the HRB, because of the location of the radiant barrier. In the TRB configuration, the radiant barrier is above the attic space; in the HRB, the attic space is above the radiant barrier. In the TRB, there is therefore less heat transfer from the deck to the rest of the attic. This is because the HRB reflects a significant amount of the heat from the deck that arrives at the barrier, thus making the attic hotter. The temperatures of the shingles were nearly identical in both cases. The temperature probe was located where the shingles overlap, where the temperature is greatly influenced by the solar flux and convection from the shingles to the ambient air rather than by what is beneath the roof layers.
I used my measurements to calibrate an attic heat flow model. The model accurately predicted the reductions in ceiling heat flows in preretrofit as well as in retrofit cases for both HRB and TRB configurations. The weather data used to drive the simulations were from typical meteorological year (TMY) tapes for the city of Austin, Texas.
The modeling agreed with the experimental findings that reductions in heat flow differed depending on the level of insulation (see Figures 4 and 5). That is, there were more relative savings in the low-insulation case than in the highinsulation case. The modeling results for yearly aggregates—excluding the swing season months of March, April, October, and November—revealed that the radiant barrier produced the greatest reduction in heat flows (44%) in attics insulated with R-11. I excluded the swing season months because, in subtropical climates, little cooling or heating is done during these months. Reductions in ceiling heat flows, in the range of 28% and 23%, were realized by the use of radiant barriers in combination with insulation levels of R-19 and R-30, respectively. These results are aggregated over the year.
My experimental results differed slightly from the simulation results. In the field, I had obtained summertime reductions in ceiling heat flow of 42%, 34%, 25% for insulation levels of R-11, R-19, and R-30, respectively. One possible reason for the discrepancies in savings between the experiments and the simulations could be the number of days used in the two cases. During the experiments, the data were produced in seven- to ten-day increments, while yearly simulations using a TMY took into account every day in an eight-month period.
The model predicted negative savings of less than 10% in the heating season for an attic with a radiant barrier and either of two levels of insulation (R-11 or R-30) compared to an attic with no radiant barrier. It is not known why the middle level of insulation did not follow the same pattern as the other two in this regard. One of the reasons for these losses is weather related. In Austin, winters are mild with significant sunshine. In monthly simulations in subtropical regions, the heating energy savings would either be low—next to insignificant— or negative. Sunshine is desirable during the heating season because it reduces the load on heating equipment. Radiant barriers, on the other hand, limit the amount of solar radiation, which is carried to the conditioned space through the attic. This blockage of solar radiation from the attic deck is undesirable during the winter season, and helps to explain the negative savings produced. In warmer regions, wintertime savings could be realized. In subtropical (hot and humid) climates, more energy is used for cooling than for heating. Therefore, even with this detrimental effect, the net annual savings in subtropical climates are still positive, because of the energy reductions that are realized in the summer.
Radiant barriers cut cooling energy demand in every situation that I tested. Installing more insulation cuts both cooling and heating energy costs, and so would be preferable to relying on radiant barriers in most situations. However, in the summertime, radiant barriers give insulation a clear advantage.
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http://www.homeenergy.org/show/article/nav/archive/page/14/magazine/75/id/37
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2013-05-19T10:16:23Z
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This effort will develop lightweight, inflatable ballutes for use in return of humans or cargo from the Moon. This innovative concept involves deployment of a large, lightweight, inflatable aerodynamic decelerator whose large drag area allows the spacecraft to decelerate at very low densities high in the Earth's atmosphere. This "fly higher, fly lighter" concept provides the required deceleration for entry and aerocapture missions with heat rates low enough such that no thermal protection system (TPS) is required. This technology can also be applied to the related problems of aeroentry and aerocapture at Mars using either robotic or crewed vehicles.
Jeffery Hall - Jet Propulsion Laboratory
Exploration Systems Research and Technology
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2013-05-19T18:41:29Z
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While the vast majority of scientists today assert that humans contribute to the earth’s increasing temperatures, there is still a debate going on among politicians and journalists over the facts for global warming.
Facts For Global Warming
- The 10 hottest years recorded were in the past 12 years. Since record-keeping began in 1880, the years between 1997 and 2008 were the warmest the planet has seen in quite some time.
- Global average temperatures have increased by 1.4 degrees Fahrenheit since 1880.
- Today’s CO2 levels are the highest they’ve been in the last 650,000 years.
- CO2 levels have increased by 43% since the Industrial Revolution. Before this time, the average concentration of carbon dioxide was 260-280 parts per million (ppm). In 2008, levels hit 388 ppm, a record high.
Facts Against Global Warming
Truth be told, the only “facts” against global warming are myths perpetrated by individuals and groups with political or social agendas. These people are trying to keep you in the dark about what’s to come so they can continue to profit from the sale of foreign oil.
- Myth #1: It’s not your fault. This isn’t true; scientific evidence shows a direct correlation between the levels of carbon dioxide in our atmosphere (which have increased primarily from humans’ use of fossil fuels) and the increasing temperatures our planet is experiencing.
- Myth #2: It’s perfectly natural. While the earth does go through periods of natural temperature fluctuation, the major increases in temperature and CO2 levels we are facing go far beyond the normal realm. Many experts believe that the world’s average temperature will increase by 2.5 to 10.4 degrees Fahrenheit by 2100.
- Myth #3: Don’t worry; be happy. Global warming doesn’t mean the end of winter and a permanent tropical climate. On the contrary, the more correct term is “climate change” which means more frequent and intense storms, droughts, wars breaking out over water, and mass migrations on a biblical scale as the waters slowly drown out coastal areas.
The Truth Can’t Be Denied
Author: Brown, Nathan. A Cooler Climate, 2008.
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http://www.acoolerclimate.com/are-the-facts-for-or-against-global-warming/
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2013-05-24T01:29:36Z
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Man-midwives were male doctors who attended at births instead of female midwives. They were also known as ‘he-midwives’ or (more fashionably) as accoucheurs. After thousands of years of women-only births, male midwifery started suddenly in the early 1700s. University medical graduates, trained in modern anatomy, had become more confident. They also used forceps for difficult births. The midwifery forceps were invented by the Chamberlen family in the 1600s, and remained a family secret until the 1730s. Midwives complained of hundreds of male competitors taking up this lucrative new trade.
In England the wealthiest and most influential man-midwife was the Scottish surgeon William Smellie. Smellie improved the forceps and wrote a bestselling practical midwifery handbook. He taught many pupils, including the famous surgeon and obstetrician William Hunter. Hunter’s pupil William Shippen successfully introduced male midwifery to America. But in Germany female midwives were protected by being given better training and a new licensing system. In France, Italy and Spain the Catholic church insisted on the use of female midwives, to protect female modesty.
Related Themes and Topics
J Donnison, Midwives and Medical Men. A History of the Struggle for the Control of Childbirth (London: Historical Publications Ltd, 1988)
I Loudon, ‘Childbirth’ in W F Bynum & R Porter (eds), Companion Encyclopedia of the History of Medicine, 1 (London: Routledge, 1993), pp 1050-1053
L McTavish, ‘Blame and vindication in the early modern birthing chamber’, Medical History, 1/50/4 (October 2006), pp 447–464
R Porter, The Greatest Benefit to Mankind (London: Harper Collins, 1997)
A branch of medical science concerned with the structure of living organisms.
A pliers-like medical instrument used to grasp tissue.
A branch of medicine dealing with the care of women. This care occurs during pregnancy, childbirth, and the period of recovery from childbirth.
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Technologies over the years have been increasing the efficiencies of corn/sugarcane-based ethanol production. One issue with corn however, is that it also an important food crop and some fear demand for fuel could raise food prices. Researchers study new technologies that may be more efficient than corn or sugarcane.
The majority of a plant is not convertible to sugar and potential ethanol fuel is wasted because of this unconvertibility. Research is currently investigating the efficiencise of converting plant matter (biomass) using chemical processes into ethanol. Switchgrass, a plant that grows on the Great Plains in the United States, is under study due to its high cellulose content (Iowa DNR).
Ethanol from non-sugar/starch sources is called cellulosic ethanol. One benefit from using any kind of plant matter is that it is widely avaible; any sort of plant matter can be converted by chemical processes into ethanol. The negative side however, is that the plant matter must be processed into sugars and then processed into ethanol, an additional step that reduces effiencies. According to Pimentel and Patzek, switchgrass-based ethanol production is less efficient that corn based production.
One method that has been in the media lately is algae-based fuel production. Because algae are simple organisms, they do not use much energy in building structures, as plants do. Current experiments with algae involve finding which species would be the most efficient and suited for the climate a production plant would be in.
The process for algae-based production of ethanol requires a fossil fuel energy station. Power plants that burn coal, oil, or natural gas produce large volumes of carbon dioxide. Instead of releasing the gas into the atmosphere, the gas is first passed through tubes filled with algae, which flourish due to the high amounts of carbon dioxide. This process can reduce the carbon dioxide output of a power plant by as much as 40% andd reduce nitrous oxide emissions by nearly 90% (USAToday). From the algae, an oil that can be used as biodiesel is produced. In addition, the remaining biological matter can be converted into ethanol. Major benefits from this technology also include less demand on land, for the algea are grown in bags or tubes and for the amount of fuel produced, the algae require a fraction of the land corn or other plant-based production woudl require.
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Scientists find gene links to vitamin D deficiency
LONDON (Reuters) - Scientists have found three genetic differences that affect a person's risk of being deficient in the "sunshine" vitamin D and say their work helps explain why sunlight and a good diet aren't always enough.
British and American researchers studied the genes of almost 34,000 white Europeans and found that variants of three genes involved in cholesterol synthesis, vitamin D metabolism and vitamin D transport may increase the risk of deficiency.
"Our findings establish a role for common genetic variants in regulation of circulating vitamin D concentrations," said Elina Hypponen of the University College London Institute of Child Health, who worked on the study.
She said the presence of the variants at the three specific genes more than doubled the risk of vitamin D insufficiency.
Most vitamin D is made by the body as a natural by-product of the skin's exposure to sunlight. It is vital for health, as it helps cells absorb calcium and is key for bone strength.
Some recent studies have also suggested vitamin D may protect against cancer, artery disease and tuberculosis.
A normal level of vitamin D is defined as a concentration greater than 30 nanograms per millilitre (ng/ml), while vitamin D insufficiency is 20 to 30 ng/ml and vitamin D deficiency is less than 20 ng/ml.
Almost half of the world's population has lower than optimal levels of vitamin D and scientists say the problem is getting worse as people spend more time indoors or cover up too quickly and completely when they are exposed to sunshine.
Non-white populations in less sunny climates are at higher risk since dark skin can make it harder for the body to absorb ultraviolet light.
Hypponen said there was no doubt that sunshine and a good diet were still the most important factors for vitamin D levels, but the study helped explain why some people who should get enough from these sources still appear to be deficient.
"Sometimes when we look at geographical variations in vitamin D deficiency, they do not always go logically in the way we would expect, for example, on the basis of sunlight," she said in a telephone interview. "So this study raises the possibility that that is down to genetic influences."
Besides the sunlight source, vitamin D can also be found in fish liver oil, eggs and fatty fish such as salmon, herring and mackerel, or taken as a supplement.
There are no definitive studies on the optimal daily vitamin D dose but some experts recommend 25 to 50 micrograms.
A study published in March found that vitamin D is important in activating the immune system's killer cells, known as T cells, which remain dormant and unaware of threats from infections if vitamin D is lacking in the blood.
(Editing by Mark Trevelyan)
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Chinese soft shelled turtles are exquisitely adapted to their aquatic lifestyle, sitting contentedly on the bottom of brackish muddy swamps or snorkelling at the surface to breath. According to Y. K. Ip from the National University of Singapore, they even immerse their heads in puddles when their swampy homes dry up: which intrigued Ip and his colleagues. Why do these air-breathing turtles submerge their heads when they mainly depend on their lungs to breathe and are unlikely to breathe in water? Given that some fish excrete waste nitrogen as urea – in addition to ammonia – and expel the urea through their gills, the team wondered whether the turtles were plunging their heads into water to excrete waste urea through their mouths, where they have strange gill-like projections. Ip and his colleagues publish their discovery that turtles effectively urinate through the mouth in The Journal of Experimental Biology at http://jeb.biologists.org.
Purchasing turtles from the local China Town wet market and immersing them in water for 6 days, the team measured the amount of urea that passed into the turtles’ urine and found that only 6% of the total urea that the animals produced was excreted through the kidneys. Removing the turtles from the water and providing them with a puddle to dip their heads into, the team noticed that the turtles submerged their heads occasionally and could remain underwater for periods lasting up to 100 minutes. They also calculated the excretion rate of urea through the mouth by measuring the amount of urea that accumulated in the water and found that it was as much as 50 times higher than the excretion rate through the cloaca. And when the team injected urea into the turtles and measured their blood- and saliva-urea levels, they realised that the saliva-urea levels were 250 times greater than in the blood. The turtles were dipping their heads into water to excrete urea through their mouths.
Knowing this, the team reasoned that the animals must produce a specialised class of protein transporters in their mouths to expel the waste and, as these transporters can be deactivated by phloretin, the team decided to test the effect of phloretin on the turtle’s ability to excrete urea. When the turtles were supplied with phloretin in their puddle of water, they were unable to excrete urea from their mouths when they submerged their head. And when the team analysed the turtles’ cDNA, they found that the animals carried a gene that was very similar to urea transporters found in other animals. Finally, they checked to see if the turtles express this gene in their mouths and found evidence of the mRNA that is necessary to produce the essential urea transporter, allowing the reptiles to excrete urea waste through the mouth.
So, why do Chinese soft-shelled turtles go to such great lengths to excrete urea through their mouths when most other creatures do it through their kidneys? Ip and his colleagues suspect that it has something to do with their salty environment. Explaining that animals that excrete urea have to drink a lot, they point out that this is a problem when the only water available is salty – especially for reptiles that cannot excrete the salts. The team says, ‘Since the buccopharyngeal [mouth and throat] urea excretion route involves only rinsing the mouth with ambient water, the problems associated with drinking brackish water… can be avoided’.
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Paths of Gold
In 1848, gold was discovered in California, and the region's 10-year-long gold rush began. The Panama Route connected steamships in the Pacific and Atlantic oceans across the Isthmus of Panama by rail. These "Panama Steamers" carried almost all of the gold exported from California to eastern cities.
The ship route ran from San Francisco to Panama City, rail from Panama City to Chagres, and from there by boat again to Havana, and then New York.
Lost Treasure on the Perilous Panama Route
On September 3, 1857, the S.S. Central America left Panama for New York with 475 passengers, 103 crew and more than three tons of gold. Four days later, the ship sank in a hurricane off the South Carolina coast. There were only 153 survivors.
The loss of the gold from the Central America was a terrible blow to financial markets, leading to an economic depression that lasted until the Civil War.
The Central America's 1857 gold would be worth nearly $58 million at today's value. Recovered in 1986, the cargo from the ship's wreck is the largest collection of early California gold.
More than 300 privately mined coins were recovered from the wreckage of the Central America.
Turning Gold into Dollars
During the early years of the gold rush, there was no easy way to change mined gold into currency in order to buy other goods; there were no branches of the United States Mint west of the Mississippi. Gold dust, although accepted as a means of exchange, was impractical for daily use. Private companies began to make their own gold coins to answer the need for currency.
Making a Mint
When the federal government opened the San Francisco Branch Mint in 1854, federal coins slowly replaced privately minted ones. Up until 1850, the largest government-issued gold coin was the $10 piece, known as the "eagle." Then the United States Mint created a $20 gold coin, called the "double eagle," filling a need for a higher-value coin. Of the more than 7,500 gold coins recovered from the Central America, most were double eagles.
Worth and Weight
The first step in turning gold into money was to weigh and assay it. Assayers were chemists trained to test the purity of gold. After weighing and issuing a receipt to the miner for it, the assayer melted the gold in a furnace and poured it into an iron mold to form a bar called an ingot.
Next, the assayer cut small chips from opposite corners of the cooled ingot and performed chemical analysis of one chip in order to determine its purity. The other chip was the assayer's commission.
Finally, the ingot was stamped with the assayer's information. Ingots could be used as currency in large transactions, such as banking or commercial shipments to New York.
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If you’re looking for some small cacti with unusual shapes and forms, the bishop’s caps are just the thing.
Also known as the star cactus, there are several species in this group. These are native to Southwestern U.S., and Mexico. Blooming in late summer, they are sometimes spiny.
Unlike the very tropical cacti, these can tolerate cooler temperatures during the winter.
The star cactus or bishop’s caps need a coarse, well drained mix. They need to be kept pretty dry during the winter when they are resting.
If growing outdoors in warm climates, they benefit from a little partial shade during the hot afternoons. Otherwise, they need full sun.
There are several species of the bishop’s cap cactus, including the following.
Bishop’s cap (Astrophytum myriostigma)
This low growing cactus is noted for its unusual form. With an overall globular shape, the five ribs are arranged so they resemble the angles one would see on a bishop’s miter. Scattered randomly over the surface are tiny white spots. When the sun is out during the day, the large vivid yellow blooms emerge in clusters from the crown of the plant.
As young plants, these tend to be very slow growing. When mature, they reach about eight inches across. One unusual feature of the bishop’s cap is that this species is spineless.
Goat’s horn (Astrophytum carpricorne)
This plant is named for the twisted spines. Goat’s horn grows in the form of a globe with about eight ribs from which the spines emerge. It can reach almost ten inches in height. There are silvery tinges decorating the body.
The rather open, funnel-like blooms are yellow with red centers.
Monk’s hood (Astrophytum ornatum)
Also known as star cactus, this species forms a chubby globe. The eight folds or ribs are arranged spirally. As the plant becomes older, it assumes a columnar shape. This eventually grows to be about seven feet or so in height. This has tufts of stiff, sharp, tan spines. Funnel-shaped, the monk’s hood blooms are vivid yellow. Monk’s hood has lovely silver spots.
Sand dollar (Astrophytum asterias)
Also known as sea urchin cactus, this low growing, and somewhat flattened cactus has a dome shaped body with prominent indentations that resemble ribs. This has particularly attractive white spots that dot the body. In addition, there are tufted areoles, which are scattered about as well on the surface. The yellow blooms arise from the crown. These have a prominent red center. This species has large tufts of slender, tan spines.
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Using this photo and referring to it is encouraged, and please use it in presentations, web pages, newspapers, blogs and reports.
For any form of publication, please include th link to this page and give the photographer credit (in this case Lawrence Hislop)
Mangroves in Bali are a vital part of the coastal ecosystem
The removal of large areas of mangroves for industrial purposes can significantly alter these precious coastal ecosystems. This can have a broader effect on the community, threatening vital clean water sources, tourist industries and the food supplies on which we rely. In addition to this, the root system of a mangrove forest serves to stabilize the coastline, providing protection from storm surges. Being a small archipelago made up of 17,000 islands, Indonesia is particularly vulnerable to rising sea levels or intense tropical storms linked to Global Warming (1).
Removal of mangroves also damages the cycle
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Center of gravity analysis of machines.
by Donald E. SimanekOne of the reasons that analysis of unworkable devices is fascinating and educational is that there are usually several valid approaches, all leading to the same conclusionsthe devices don't work. Some methods that we have used on these pages include:
Take, for example, the most ancient of perpetual motion wheels, the Baskara Wheel. It consisted of a wheel with evenly spaced vials partially filled with sand, mercury or water. Supposedly the weight of the material in the vials was always biased toward one side of the wheel, causing that side to fall, and since the "overbalance" was present in every wheel position, the wheel should turn continually. But, to the frustration of believers ever since, the wheel just sits there unmoving.
We often hear folks say that the possibility of perpetual motion was believed because science hadn't advanced sufficiently to deny it. I don't buy that. Let's examine this idea using only principles well known from the time of the ancient Greek philosophers to the time of Newton. Specifically these two principles:
Consider this container partly filled with water. To simplify the following analysis, assume that the container is rectangular in shape, like a glass acquarium. Why does the water assume a level surface and not some other surface? Water is easily moved around, and if you stirred it vigorously it would no longer have that flat surface, but when you stop stirring it would soon settle down to a flat surface. What's the reason?
The ancients were good at geometry, and understood the importance of the concept we call "center of gravity". For a uniform density material, the center of gravity is its geometric center. The center of gravity of the water is shown here as "×".
Why couldn't the water surface remain tilted as shown here? The volume is the same as before, only part of the volume has moved up. The center of gravity of the water is no longer at ×, but has moved up to a higher position. The ancient mathematicians knew how to find the position of the new center of gravity. It is a simple exercise to find the center of gravity of a triangle. You just draw two lines from triangle vertices to the opposite sides of the triangle. They cross at the center of gravity.
This is shown here. The previous water level is shown as a horizontal dashed line. Clearly the center of gravity has moved up from its previous position (C) and is now at (C'). This is an unstable situation, since every bit of the water is free to move so that the water will flow so its center of gravity will assume its former position at C. This is as low as it can go, for water is highly incompressible. If you push the water surface down somewhere it rises up somewhere else. The water cannot, by itself, climb up the sides of the container and spill out, because to do that it would have to raise its center of gravity again.
The classic perpetual motion devices were usually in the form of a wheel. Consider a wheel with a heavy ball attached to its rim (black in the diagram). If the wheel were free to turn on its axle, we know that it would rotate clockwise due to the unbalanced weight.
In fact, it would rotate clockwise until the weight was raised up on the left nearly as high as it was on the right, then back counterclockwise, continuing this pendulum-like motion, but would eventually end up at rest at its lowest possible point, shown here. Medieval natural philosophers spoke of a body's "impetus" as a mysterious property that sustains motion, but is somehow "used up" until the body comes to rest. We mention this only to show that natural philosophers knew that this is the way nature operates, and that wheels eventually come to a stop, no matter how well balanced they are and no matter how smooth their bearings. Today we attribute this slowing of motion to friction.
This is a good point to mention Galileo's interrupted pendulum experiment. A weight (black ball) is suspended from a support by a string. It is pulled to point A and released. The string hits a peg and the weight swings in an arc of smaller radius on the right, only to point B, nearly the same height (the dashed line H) as point A. Even if the bob is released from a height greater than the height of the peg, it will only rise on the right to the same height it had initially. We assume the release is gentle, without giving the weight any push. This standard demonstration of introductory physics courses is very instructive if accompanied by a discussion of kinetic energy and potential energy, free body diagrams, force, torque, momentum and impulse, and it can even be used to illustrate Lagrangian methods of dynamics. But we needn't do that here. Here we mention it only to show how nature behaves.
Finally we return to the Bashkara wheel. To simplify analysis let's consider just two of the tilted vials, on opposite sides of the wheel. Suppose there's one heavy ball in each vial. In this position of the wheel, they will be at their lowest possible position, as shown, and their center of gravity is halfway between them. Aha, says the believer in perpetual motion. If the wheel rotates a bit counter clockwise, the center of gravity will move to a point just beneath the axle, which is lower. But then the wheel will just oscillate back and forth till its "impetus" is gone (using the language of the medieval philosophers).
Now lets add two vials, making four. One thing is obvious immediately. Because the balls are free to move within their vials to the lowest point, then the center of gravity of all the balls taken together is lower than the center axis of the wheel. The position shown is not necessarily the position of lowest center of gravity, so the wheel will rotate and then oscillate until it finds that lowest c.g. This will be true no matter how many vials are placed on the wheel.
Adding balls within the vials doesn't improve anything. In fact, if the vials were filled with balls, they could not move within the vials, and the center of gravity of the whole system would be exactly at the center axle of the wheel. A simple flywheel would work as well, and if given a push might turn foreverif only you could somehow make it frictionless.
And replacing the balls with sand or liquid doesn't help either.
But our perpetual motion seeker objects. He observes that at some point in the wheel's rotation two of the opposing vials will be horizontal, and at that point the vial's contents shift from one end of the vial to the other. Maybe that's where the wheel might get some impetus to continue its motion. But, it can't help, for even during this shift the center of gravity of the contents of these two vials still remains at the same level, and combined with the center of gravity of all the other balls, the center of gravity of all taken together is still below the wheel axle.
Finally we can attack the little puzzle we proposed back in 2004. It is a wheel with three chambers partly filled with liquid. It has three-fold symmetry, but the liquid inside moves (seeking its own level) as the wheel is turned. Anyone who tackles this by detailed analysis of geometry and free body analysis is in for a messy problem.
But is that necessary? Is it like using a sledgehammer to crack a walnut?
Lets suppose the wheel, empty of water, is perfectly balanced. Now completely fill the three chambers with liquid. It is still balanced. The center of gravity of liquid in each chamber is fixed in position relative to the wheel, for the liquid inside cannot change its shape. Now consider the chambers only half-filled with liquid. The liquid inside a chamber has a center of gravity that is always lower than that of the fully filled chamber, no matter what the wheel's position. So the center of gravity of all the liquid (all three chambers) is lower than when they were full, and is lower than the wheel's axle.
So the center of gravity of the entire wheel will always be lower than the center of rotation of the wheel, in any position of the wheel. This can be seen by considering how you could make the center of gravity at the center axis of the wheel. Only by filling the chambers completely. Any smaller amount of liquid will cause the center of gravity of the liquid to be lower than the center of the wheel.
After all these years since 2004 no one has proposed a simple solution to this puzzle, though some have noted that "It should be obvious." Yes, most physicists and engineers will take one look at it and say "It won't work." Yet few care enough to explain how they know that it won't. In February 2011 one finally did:
That’s an easy one...I am guilty of misleading readers by suggesting that this might be a difficult puzzle. Well, it might be, if you make it so.
Gravity wheels are wheels with a fixed axis, intended to rotate continually about that axis. They usually have mechanisms, gimmicks and moving parts attached to the wheel and only to the wheel. The fixed axis is the device's only anchor to the outside world.
We can state a useful principle that can be applied for quick analysis of other gravity wheel proposals, without the complications of force and torque anaysis.
If a gravity wheel's center of gravity is always lower than its rotation axis for any position of the wheel, it cannot initiate or sustain unidirectional motion by itself.This does not say that a gravity wheel with its center of gravity above the rotation axis will move continually by itself.
This simple rule applies only to this limited class of devices, not to all devices. For example, a pendulum is not a gravity wheel. Its fixed axis is its point of support and if friction and other dissipative processes could be eliminated it would qualify as a perpetual motion device. But no energy could be extracted from it without slowing it eventually to a stop. Unbalanced wheels typically can oscillate in the same way, but cannot sustain unidirectional rotation. To qualify as a perpetual motion wheel, the wheel's center of gravity must be able to "get over the top", that is, to reach the maximum height the constraints allow, with enough speed to continue in one direction, cycle after cycle.
Extension to other unworkable devices.Ever since I began "collecting" perpetual motion device proposals, I struggled with two questions.
Consider this version of the Villard wheel, which is sometimes attributed to Jacob Leupold (1674 –1727). However, Leupold knew very well that it wasn't perpetual motion. Where is the center of gravity of the weights on the articulated arms? If all the weights were fully extended, the c.g. would be at the wheel's axle. But since some weights are flopped over, this lowers the c.g., so it is never as high as the wheel axle. Conclusion: perpetuum immobile.
Here's a belt device. Look familiar? Balls in short enclosed tubes evenly spaced around the belt. It's just the Baskara device extended by using a belt. Where's the c.g. of the balls?
In belt devices we must compare the center of gravity of the movable elements to the center of gravity of a plain belt on the same two pulleys. In this case, halfway between the belt axles.
In any position of this device, its c.g. is always below the c.g. of the device without the shifting balls. It isn't going anywhere.
Yes, this was granted a German patent.
Almost every unworkable belt device is just this sort of extension of a wheel device, and it fails for the same reasons.
This old idea imagines a rotating sphere or cylindrical drum half immersed in water on the left, with a marvelous waterproof and frictionless seal to prevent water leaking out. The inventor supposed that the buoyant force of water would lift the left portion of the drum and cause it to rotate. This is a good puzzle to expose misunderstandings of buoyancy. Smaller minds will fuss about irrelevant considerations such as "You can't make frictionless and leakproof seals." Of course you can't, but that's not the point of this thought experiment, which we discuss elsewhere. But now, look at the center of gravity of all the moving parts of this device. Surprise! Even if the drum is rotated (by hand), its center of gravity never changes. So in any position, there's no other position with lower center of gravity, so the system has no tendency to move.
This 19th century invention by F. G. Woodward suggests that since there's more weight of ring to the left of the two rollers, it must turn counterclockwise. Even naive students immediately recognize that there's no reason to expect it to turn. Does our center of gravity principle apply? It qualifies as a supposedly gravity-driven wheel. The ring's center of gravity never goes above its own rotation axis. The rollers' centers of gravity never go above their rotation axes either. This curious paperweight will just sit there, unmoving.
By now, anytime you see an overbalanced gravity wheel, your first impulse should be to look at the center of gravity of the moving parts! If the center of gravity can never move above the wheel's rotation axis it's a non-starter.
Irrelevant, but interesting, observations.Perpetual motionists often display a perverse addiction to their beliefs, even when their reasons for belief are demolished, one by one. Talking with them is a "whack a mole" game. When the fatal flaw in their idea is exposed, their response is often, "Yes, but what if...." followed by some proposed modification of the device that will, they think, ensure success.
The above examples do ignore some possible modifications. They assume slow motion of the wheel, and generally do not mention centrifugal effects. It turns out these don't matter, but let's consider them for a bit. They result from the fact that bodies in motion, unconstrained, continue in that same motion unless something (some physical constraint) prevents that. [Newton refined that observation into his first law of motion.]
Consider the Bashkara wheel with balls in tilted vials. If the wheel were spun rapidly by hand, the balls would, when the vial reaches a horizontal orientation, stay at the outer end of the vial rather than beginning to roll to the inner end. If the wheel were spun very fast, all balls would stay at the outer ends of the vials and the center of gravity would be exactly at the wheel's axles, and can go no higher. Any of our example devices would then continue spinning indefinitely if they were friction-free, as would a simple flywheel on frictionless bearings.
Copyright 2010, 2012 by Donald E. Simanek.
Return to The Museum of Unworkable Devices.
Return to Donald Simanek's page.
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Compare and contrast a motor nuerone and a bacterium
The first 200 words of this essay...
The aim of this essay is to compare and contrast a salmonella bacteria (prokaryotic) cell with a motor neurone (eukariotic) cell.
Cells are the basic structures contained in all living organisms, their function, size and shape differ depending on which organism serves as its host. They are catagorised as either eukaryotic or prokaryotic cells, prokaryotic being the old Greek term meaning 'before nucleus'.
It wasn't until the 17th century that cells were discovered by the European Antonie van Leeuwenhoek with his latest invention - a very primitive microscope. These new discoveries were later named by an English scientist by the name of Robert Hooke. (Wikipedia 2007)
The eukaryotic cell can be found in either animals or plants, although the two are very different in both structure and function. The animal cell has a complex internal structure containing many membrane bound organelles that individually have a defined role to play within the cell - more detail will be given about the motor neurone later in this essay. Most animal cells have the same basic parts, namely, nucleus, cell membrane, and cytoplasm with various membrane bound organelles (see appendix 1).
The prokaryotic (bacteria) cell has a more
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""Simon. Politics and International Relations. University Student.
""Sabreena, England. A Level Student. Biology and Chemistry.
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Botany: A Record-Breaking Pollen Catapult
The release of stored elastic energy often drives rapid movements in animal systems, and plant components employing this mechanism should be able to move with similar speed. Here we describe how the flower stamens of the bunchberry dogwood (Cornus canadensis) rely on this principle to catapult pollen into the air as the flower opens explosively. Our high-speed video observations show that the flower opens in less than 0.5 ms — to our knowledge, the fastest movement so far recorded in a plant.
© 2011 Nature Publishing Group, a division of Macmillan Publishers Limited. All Rights Reserved.
Edwards, Joan, Dwight Whitaker, Sarah Klionsky, Marta J. Laskowski. "Botany: A Record-breaking Pollen Catapult," in Nature, Vol. 435, No. 164 (12 May 2005). doi:10.1038/435164a
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encomienda (ānkōmyānˈdä) [key] [Span. encomendar = to entrust], system of tributory labor established in Spanish America. Developed as a means of securing an adequate and cheap labor supply, the encomienda was first used over the conquered Moors of Spain. Transplanted to the New World, it gave the conquistador control over the native populations by requiring them to pay tribute from their lands, which were "granted" to deserving subjects of the Spanish crown. The natives often rendered personal services as well. In return the grantee was theoretically obligated to protect his wards, to instruct them in the Christian faith, and to defend their right to use the land for their own subsistence. When first applied in the West Indies, this labor system wrought such hardship that the population was soon decimated. This resulted in efforts by the Spanish king and the Dominican order to suppress encomiendas, but the need of the conquerors to reward their supporters led to de facto recognition of the practice. The crown prevented the encomienda from becoming hereditary, and with the New Laws (1542) promulgated by Las Casas, the system gradually died out, to be replaced by the repartimiento and finally debt peonage. Similar systems of land and labor apportionment were adopted by other colonial powers, notably the Portuguese, the Dutch, and the French.
See L. B. Simpson, The Encomienda in New Spain (rev. ed. 1966); J. F. Bannon, Indian Labor in the Spanish Indies (1966).
The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th ed. Copyright © 2012, Columbia University Press. All rights reserved.
More on encomienda from Fact Monster:
See more Encyclopedia articles on: Latin American History
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Perfecting a circuit breaker for high-voltage DC linesa crucial step for widespread use of renewable energy.
Streaming local TV programs to mobile devices, filling a void left by broadcasters who have essentially ignored the Internet.
Advancing ultra-efficient solar. The military will use Alta's flexible sheets to provide portable power to drones and soldiers.
Cranking up the appeal of purchasing goods online by offering same-day delivery in some places.
Making a battery for storing energy on power grids. Its molten electrodes quickly absorb large amounts of electricity.
Improving displays by extending its Retina technology from small screens to MacBooks and iPads.
Beginning to sell a novel kind of battery that it can manufacture cheaply; utilities could use it for grid storage.
Becoming a bigger factor in computing as it expands from mobile chip designs into tablet, PC, and server processors.
Pushing autonomous cars closer to fruition with a laser-scanning road detector that fits in a vehicle's front grille.
Sequencing more genomes than anyone else and becoming a worldwide provider of genome services.
Opening the biggest solar plant where mirrors reflect light onto a tower to generate steam.
Producing a new kind of glass that is thin and flexible yet strong enough to be used in touch-screen devices.
Making college courses available free online and developing ways to adjust them to students' individual needs.
Introducing a new kind of antivirus software that's better at detecting attacks and identifying their sources.
Making inexpensive diagnostic tests on paper, which could greatly benefit poor countries.
Commercializing roof shingles that incorporate photovoltaic materials and thus double as cheaply installed solar panels.
Figuring out how to correlate online and offline activity, which should lead to novel advertising methods.
Collecting and analyzing big data sets to create stores of knowledge that can inform many kinds of software.
Offering a genetic test that helps doctors select the right drugs for cancer patients.
Helping utilities make use of wind and solar. A new GE gas turbine ramps up quickly when greener power isn't available.
Running the most widely used smartphone software, which has greatly expanded the competition for devices.
Pushing the physical boundaries of computing with technologies inclusing circuits that transmit data with light.
Driving down the cost of DNA sequencing and creating new diagnostics markets for genomics.
Challenging Google and Apple in the market for mobile ads. InMobi sells, distributes, and helps make the ads.
Surpassing rivals in the performance of mobile processors, even though it still trails badly in market share.
Developing relatively small antennas that replace satellite dishes so planes and trains can get better broadband service.
Bringing gesture control to any computer. Leap's $70 controller responds to pinches, grabs, and swipes in the air.
Pioneering stretchable electronics with applications in sports and medicine, like an impact-sensing skullcap.
Combining traditional computing with touch technology. Windows 8 could influence the PC and mobile markets.
Expanding the delivery of live baseball and other sports video to mobile devices.
Bringing the smartphone revolution to more poor countries with Firefox OS, which is based on Web technology.
Marketing a thermostat that learns users' temperature preferences and maximizes efficiency as it implements them.
Developing a continuous drug-manufacturing process that could combine compounds quickly and in novel ways.
Creating new applications for speech recognition technology, from cars to video games.
Demonstrating an alternative business model for social networking: selling users extra services.
Making efficient LED light bulbs affordable and more useful. One new bulb can be controlled by phones and tablets.
Creating a social network centered on collecting and finding images of desired products and experiences.
Broadening the use of robotics in manufacturing. Its robots are easily taught and can work safely alongside humans.
Extending the use of the mobile currency M-Pesa in Kenya. Its new mobile lending service challenges banks.
Leading the market for smartphones and making a tablet that is one of the few credible challengers to the iPad.
Using a novel method of concentrating sunlight through tiny lenses to boost the efficiency of solar power.
Developing batteries and wind technologies that will be crucial in Germany's plan to rely more heavily on renewable power.
Launching the private space-flight business. Its rockets are making new space-based businesses possible.
Streamlining transactions. A Square mobile app lets you pay for things just by speaking your anme to a store clerk.
Dominating Chinese social media. The company's version of Twitter is hugely influential in political affairs.
Expanding its dominance of the hybrid-car market with its new plug-in version of the Prius.
Restoring the promise of gene therapy. The Dutch company has approval to treat a rare metabolic disorder.
Threatening the likes of Cisco by using a compression technology to enable high-def video conferencing on smartphones.
Making cloud services more powerful with software-defined networking, a technology it gained by buying startup Nicira.
Automating urban services. A Xerox system in Los Angeles changes the price of parking spots as demand fluctuates.
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CC-MAIN-2013-20
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http://www2.technologyreview.com/tr50/2013/
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2013-05-19T02:39:41Z
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Fotowoosh 3-D images
Automatic Photo Pop-up 3D images
Al-Yaman Awad MAT267 FOOTNOTE 18
Supervised by Professor Naala Brewer
As the world becomes more technologically advanced, the required pace of learning is increasing to keep up with the vast amounts of knowledge. The learning curve is increasing and with it students need more and more tools to help them attain an advanced comprehensive perspective on many early but fundamental concepts. One of the most fundamental mathematical concepts that numerous students experience problems with is 3-D coordinal systems and graphs. This concept is taught extensively in Calculus 3 after a 2-D approach in Calculus 2. While completing work and passing exams may be feasible for students, an advanced level of comprehension of 3-D systems is somewhat difficult to ascertain, and may feel overwhelming at first. Being able to mentally draw what the graph for a hyperbolic paraboloid or hyperboloid of two sheets is extremely difficult even for engineers unless they have had a solid understanding of how to approach these types of functions. Most of the problems can be eliminated by addressing not only the method by which people perceive equations but the world in general.
After speaking with some older friends early on during the semester about the differences between calculus 2 and 3, we came to the conclusion that just as long as you can describe and imagine the graphs you are drawing you should be fine. One of them led me to a new program called “fotowoosh”, an automatic pop-up 3D image. This new program uses mathematic principles to transforms 2D images that you would take with a digital camera into 3D by morphing the angle of perspective and stretching it across a variable axis. That axis is the vertical axis that gives the images we see using our eyes depth (How does it work?). Although the math behind this software deals with linear algebra and algorithms, the application greatly exceeds these two concepts. By seeing these images broken down and the perspective changed, Calculus students can see first hand what 3D graphs actually are. It enables students to have a new outlook on the way they see the world around them, allowing them to more extensively comprehend what the addition of a z axis does.
are a few advanced programs already in use by universities across the
like MATLAB and Maple that construct 3D images using an input function,
approach of Fotowoosh is what is particularly appealing in addition to
friendly design. Rather than just drawing graphs and shapes that
find in their textbooks, it brings the concept of 3D imaging into to
life. Dr. Hoiem created the program with the help of Prof. Efros and
What the software does is revolutionary since it is the first software to automatically create the pop-up 3D image. While manual methods do produce better results, it simply requires too much extensively complicated work, which the average person will be unable to complete. The goal was to produce simple, piecewise planar models, using images of outdoor scenes. What the program does in a gist is label in the image where the ground, vertical, and sky of the image are. It puts a simple label on each of these that will enable the program to determine where to cut and fold the image. After the system has done this, it folds and stretches the image and textures it. By doing this a pop-up 3D image is created similar to a child’s pop-up book.
Fotowoosh recently released their first public beta through Facebook as an application. It allows the user to upload images they currently have saved in their profile. The beta automatically “wooshes” your image and creates a video for the pop-up 3-D image. While the current beta features a success rate of about 35%, the program will only get better and better.
Derek Hoiem’s webpage: (contains tons of interesting projects and information)
Derek Hoiem’s Automatic Photo Pop-Up homepage: (download presentation file for great videos)http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~dhoiem/projects/popup/index.html
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http://math.la.asu.edu/~nbrewer/Fall2007/MAT267/Fotowoosh.htm
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2013-05-26T03:49:58Z
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TeachMeFinance.com - explain Ice Fog
Ice Fog The term 'Ice Fog' as it applies to the area of the weather can be defined as ' (Also called ice-crystal fog, frozen fog, frost fog, frost flakes, air hoar, rime fog, pogonip.) A type of fog, composed of suspended particles of ice; partly ice crystals 20 to 100 micron in diameter, but chiefly (especially when dense) ice particles about 12–20 micron in diameter, formed by direct freezing of supercooled water droplets with little growth directly from the vapor. It occurs at very low temperatures, and usually in clear, calm weather in high latitudes. The sun is usually visible and may cause halo phenomena. Ice fog is rare at temperatures warmer than -30°C, and increases in frequency with decreasing temperature until it is almost always present at air temperatures of -45°C in the vicinity of a source of water vapor. Such sources are the open water of fast-flowing streams or of the sea, herds of animals, volcanoes, and especially products of combustion for heating or propulsion. At temperatures warmer than -30°C, these sources can cause steam fog of liquid water droplets, which may turn into ice fog when cooled (see frost smoke). See ice-crystal haze, arctic mist'.
Copyright © 2005-2011 by Mark McCracken, All Rights Reserved. TeachMeFinance.com is an informational website, and should not be used as a substitute for professional medical, legal or financial advice. Information presented at TeachMeFinance.com is provided on an "AS-IS" basis. Please read the disclaimer for details.
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http://www.teachmefinance.com/Scientific_Terms/Ice%20Fog.html
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2013-05-22T07:21:06Z
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A-level Geography/AS OCR Geography/Investigation Paper
Spearman's Rank
This is a concept to find the statistical significance of the correlation between the two variables. First, a null hypothesis needs to be made.
Mann-Whitney U Test
Mann-Whitney U test is a test for difference between 2 data sets. Using a critical values table, the level of confidence in the relationship can be established, and the null hypotheses can be accepted or rejected. There are both advantages and disadvantages which accompany this statistical test for analysis of statistical data. One advantage is that it can compare two data sets that are different sizes. This makes the test much more versatile, and can be applied to a range of different data sets. Secondly, the test is not based on observed values. This means that there are no assumptions made about the distribution of the data. This is particularly useful in geography because most of the data we collect will be either positively or negatively skewed. Finally, Mann-Whitney U uses non-parametric (non-grouped) data. This is an advantage because the trends in the data cannot be generalised, and thus producing a more statistically sound result.
It does however carry some disadvantages with it, one being the fact that it cannot be applied to more than 2 data sets at one time. This is because it is non-parametric data. If the test was done using parametric (grouped) data, you would be able to compare multiple data sets at once. An example of this is the student’s “t” test. This is because parametric data provides a result in proportion to the data, and can therefore be contrasted with many data sets. Also, Mann-Whitney becomes increasingly less effective as the data sets get larger. This reduces its effectiveness because the calculation becomes too long-winded, and it takes a very long time to complete. It also reduces the precision of the result, as with a bigger sample size there is more margin for error.
In conclusion, despite the obvious flaws with the test, it is a very effective way of looking at the differences between 2 pairs of data sets.
Five Sections of Investigation
Pragmatic = essentially safety and accessibility. For example, if a student is carrying out a river investigation they might use pragmatic sampling methods meaning only areas that were easily accessible and did not pose a risk would be studied. It is reliable and practical.
Random = Not as one might assume randomly selecting a site or throwing a quadrat, in order to use random sample methods either a calculator, grid or computer is needed to generate random statistics that have not been influenced by human decision.
Systematic = This type of technique would be used if progressional change over distance or time was being studied. A transect would be measured and data recorded at regular intervals along said transect, so that change over time or distance could be observed. For example, if a student wished to study psammosere succession, a transect might be measured from the sea to the climax environment (woodland) and at every 25m or so measurements would be taken.
Stratified = To be completed by Magneto and River's landmass.
Statistics: Mode
Most = Mode The most frequent Sample number. This is the sample figure which occurs the most times e.g.7,8,9,5,4,3,5,6,7,5,5,5,5,3,5, 5=mode Comes from the French word "la mode" for fashion
Statistics: Median
This is the middle sample when all the samples are placed in arithmetic Order. e.g. 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9 5=median
Statistic: Range
The area which the samples stretch from.
Statistics: Standard Deviation
To describe the data regarding an infiltration rate statistically I would use the mean and the standard deviation as a measure of central tendency and dispersion. These two are always used together.
The mean is simply the sum of all values of x (infiltration rate) divided by n (total number of samples)
The standard deviation is more complicated and requires the use of the formula; where x is the individual infiltration rate and
X bar is the mean of x’s (as above)
This is simply done by listing the value of x on a table, and subtracting x bar from each. In the next column, square the subsequent result.
Then add up all the values of (x-xbar) ² (Σ (x-xbar) ². Divide this by n (100 IN THIS CASE), and then square root the answer.
These methods are the most powerful and sensitive, because they include all the values of all the data. They do not exclude any data. However, the data must be (nearly) normally distributed to use them.
Mode and range mealy state the most numerous value of x and the difference between the smallest and largest which is not very useful, as it ignores most of the data. Interquartile deviation and medium rely on the rank order of the data row do not engage with the size of the values for x, and ignore the extremes of the data set.
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CC-MAIN-2013-20
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http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/A-level_Geography/AS_OCR_Geography/Investigation_Paper
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2013-05-24T15:36:36Z
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| 1,101
|
Maps and Who's Mapping
The work of this Department impacts Americans all over the country. Displaying information on maps can demonstrate relationship between sources of information, show off the great work your office is doing, and allow for people to quickly find information relevant to a particular locality. You can create basic maps that plot simple location points, or you can implement with more advanced features including regions with layered display options.
Get started with mapping
Mapping involves first and foremost having the geo-located data appropriately organized and exported in the right file type: Usually an XML or KML. Without getting into the technical weeds here, just know that a map can only be as good as the data behind it!
There are many 3rd-party technologies available that for mapping. HHS has signed TOS-amendments with, and thus clearing some legals barriers to using, Socrata and ZeeMaps. A TOS-amendment with MapBox is also in the works.
In addition to these tools, HHS has acquired an Enterprise License for the Google Maps API Premier that is available to all HHS offices and programs. If you have information that can be plotted on a map, and doing so can bring value to your site visitors, you should explore how you can display your information using the Google Maps.
Our Google Maps AP Premier page has more information to help you get started with Google Maps.
Who in HHS is using location?
The Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) has used location-based data to display information from programs that are part of The Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act. For each of the below links, the map referenced is found at the bottom of that page.
- The Community College Consortia comprises five regional groups of more than 70 member community colleges in all 50 states.
- The Beacon Community Cooperative Agreement Program provides funding to selected communities to build and strengthen their health IT infrastructure and exchange capabilities.
- The Health Information Technology Extension Program consists of Health Information Technology Regional Extension Centers (RECs).
AIDS.gov has created a HIV/AIDS prevention & service provider locator widget using data from multiple federal agencies. Check it out:
ATSDR is using location to organize the Public Health Assessments & Health Consultations according to the state or U.S. territory and also by the ATSDR regions where they originated.
These are only a few examples of mapping being used in this Department. Are there other mapping examples in HHS? What do you think are the biggest barriers to implementation?.
- Add a link to Maps and Who's Mapping to my browser Favorites
- Send a link to Maps and Who's Mapping to someone by E-mail
- Share Maps and Who's Mapping on Facebook
- Tweet about Maps and Who's Mapping on Twitter
- Bookmark Maps and Who's Mapping on Google
- Submit Maps and Who's Mapping to Yahoo! Buzz
- Bookmark Maps and Who's Mapping on Delicious
- Rank Maps and Who's Mapping on Digg
- Find More places to share Maps and Who's Mapping on AddThis.com…
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<urn:uuid:c5decc09-d1e1-48cf-a8b9-efe7ffce2a98>
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CC-MAIN-2013-20
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http://newmedia.hhs.gov/blog/maps_and_whos_mapping.html
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2013-05-21T18:26:32Z
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s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700380063/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103300-00001-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
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en
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Luce Foundation Center for American Art
Painting: Pre-18th century: Festive Scene
Jan Miense Molenaer
(born Haarlem, Holland about 1610 -- died Haarlem, Holland 1668)
Jan Miense Molenaer captured the lively households and bawdy taverns of seventeenth-century Holland. These images gave a comic spin to the familiar morality tales, and were as appealing to American patrons of the nineteenth century as they were in their own time. Molenaer learned his craft in the lively art community of Haarlem, where he married the respected painter Judith Leyster in 1636. Not long after, the courts ordered his property confiscated to pay debts, forcing Molenaer and his bride to flee to Amsterdam. There, his financial situation improved with important commissions and his wife’s inheritance. After twelve years in Amsterdam, Molenaer purchased a house in Heemstede, but he continued to accrue debt and sold his paintings to settle accounts. A strong-willed and colorful character, Molenaer was arrested more than once for public brawling.
Image Credits: Painter in his studio by Jan Miense Molenaer. Courtesy Museum Bredius.
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CC-MAIN-2013-20
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http://americanart.si.edu/luce/artist.cfm?key=344&artistmedia=0&object=783&subkey=3376
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2013-05-25T19:34:40Z
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s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706153698/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120913-00003-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
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en
| 0.973732
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Poulianos/Poulos Family: First Greeks in Setauket, Long Island, New York
COMING TO AMERICA
By: George Moraitis
Arriving in America:
Among the many Greek families who left Greece, during the immigration years, were three sons of Konstantinos Poulianos of Icaria, (Ikaria) Greece: John (Ioannis), Anthony (Antonios), and Louis (Elias). They came to America between 1905 and 1920 choosing to gamble everything on a chance for a better life. Leaving behind their home that offered few opportunities, they and other Greek immigrants began their great adventure knowing that they might fail but insisting on their right to try for a better life. They sailed across the Atlantic Ocean and after passing the Statue of Liberty in New York Harbor, they began the Poulianos/Poulos American history.
Family oral history states that John Poulianos left his home on the Greek island of Icaria at the age of eighteen for the 'new world' - somewhere about the year 1905. He made his way through Ellis Island in New York and went to Warren and Youngstown, Ohio, where he worked as a commercial painter for over a decade.
After about twelve years, he moved to New York City, where he shared a rented two room apartment (with cooking facilities) on Madison Avenue with other Greek men. He found a job working at Columbia University in the kitchens. Jobs were not easy to come by, but John - like many immigrants - found his job through his fellow Greek villagers. These were tough times for the Greek immigrants since they were targets of anti-Immigrant hatred.
Before long, John left Columbia University to work for the John Raptis Painting Company. This job took him out of New York City to Long Island and to the Port Jefferson - Setauket area. By 1917, John had settled in Port Jefferson taking a job with the Frank Stein Painting Company and working as a cook in the Elk Hotel and Restaurant.
1920 was a big year for John, he and his brother bought a home and he married. John and his younger brother, Anthony, purchased a farm in South Setauket which would serve as the family homestead until it, burned in 1975. John and his new wife, Georgia, did not live on the farm, but instead lived in a second floor apartment on top of Terry's Barber Shop in Port Jefferson. In 1921, the twins, Konstantinos (Gus) and Demetrios (Jimmy) were born. In 1922, the family moved to a house on Maple Place also in Port Jefferson where a third son, Peter, was born. In 1923, They moved again to William Street where a fourth son, Alexander (Alex) was born. They would soon move to their permanent residence on Sheep Pasture Road in the 'Gildersleeve' house that was built by the Loper Brother builders of Port Jefferson.
The four sons went to the Port Jefferson High School. Peter and Gus remained in the family home, neither of them married. James and his wife, Polly did not have any children. Alex and his wife, Helen had two children, Georgia and John II.
John Poulos, (Ioannis Poulianos) died in 1944 at the age of fifty-seven. His wife, Georgia lived thirtyfour years longer until her death in 1978. Three of the sons are deceased: James in 1980, Peter in 1986 and Alex in 2003. Gus still lives at the family home on Sheep Pasture Road. John, Georgia, Peter, Alex and his wife, Helen are buried in Cedar Hill Cemetery in Port Jefferson. Due, to his World War II Army service, James is buried in the National Cemetery in Calverton, Long Island, N.Y.
Antonios (Anthony) Poulianos, younger brother to John, came to America around 1915, at about the age of eighteen. Uncle Tony, as he was called, went into the United States Army, serving his time in France during the First World War. Upon returning to America, Tony took his separation money of $600.00 and combined it with his brother, John's limited savings and together they purchase a farm on Pond Path in South Setauket, New York from Frederick Smith, son of Amos C. Smith, in 1920. Tony was the first to establish a thriving a dairy and egg business in Port Jefferson.
In 1920, Konstantinos Poulianos, father to John and Tony, wrote to his sons in America from Greece to inform them that they were to receive their brother, Louis (Elias) , his wife and their daughter. Louis was shortly to complete his tour of duty in the Greek Army and was coming to America. In their father's letter, Konstantinos recommended that Tony wear his American Army uniform to Ellis Island so that it would be easier to get Louis and his family through the procedure of Ellis Island quickly. Tony refused to wear the uniform but did go to Ellis Island to meet Elias (Louis), his wife, Mary (nee: Frangos) and their daughter, Thespina. Louis and Mary relied on Tony for many things during their first years in South Setauket, including his ability to speak English.
Tony, when he had married his new wife, Athena, built a house on Liberty Avenue, near the gates to Cedar Hill Cemetery in Port Jefferson. He soon after sold the farm to his brother, Louis. Tony continued to be hard working holding several jobs at once. He worked as a baker in the Jim Melluses Bakery in Port Jefferson and was still selling vegetables wholesale. Later, he went to work for the Veteran's Administration Hospital in Northport, New York for many years where he would finally retire. Tony and Athena lived in Port Jefferson for many years. But, because of failing health, he sold his home and moved to a garden apartment in Port Jefferson Station. Both Anthony and Athena died in 1981 and are buried in the Cedar Hill Cemetery, leaving no children. Family stores include many memories of the bungalow of which Tony bought at West Meadow Beach in Stony Brook. Nieces and nephews of two generations would often stay for many nights during the summer months.
By 1924, Louis and Mary were established well enough to purchase the farm from his brother, Tony. It served as the focal point for the family for the next fifty years. The family made a living by farming and extra cash Louis earned working as a laborer. Louis and Mary quickly took over Tony's dairy business that was operating from the farm.
Mary Poulianos, (Poulos and sometimes, Poulinos, as she was sometime known in the area), ran the farm and had the dairy and egg routes in Port Jefferson. Her clients included private homes and such establishments as the Elk Hotel and Restaurant on Main Street. She also took care of her children. Louis and Mary had five more children after they had arrived from Greece. Thespina (Daisy) was born on the Greek island of Icaria in 1916. Visiliki (Bessie) was born in 1921. By 1922, Athena (Ethel) was born on the farm with Dr. McCrea as the attending doctor. Stelios (Steve) was born at Mather Hospital in Port Jefferson. Elpiniki (Alice), my mother, was born in 1927. Nicholas was born in 1933, the last to be born on the farm, the doctor being paid by chickens and eggs. The children's names, for the most part, were changed by the Setauket School principal and the Americanized versions were written on their school records.
Louis supplemented the family's farm income by working in construction. He worked on building the John T. Mather Memorial Hospital where some of his children were born. Often, these supplemental construction jobs took him far from the farm and Long Island. It was on one of these construction jobs in Indian Creek, (near Pittsburgh)Pennsylvania, while he was painting a bridge, where he died in 1943 from a heart attack. He was fifty-two. Mary died in 1970. Both Louis and Mary are buried at Cedar Hill Cemetery in the family plot.
Family Folklore: Life on the farm:
Family life on the farm differed very little from farm life in Greece. Farm life was harsh, especially during the Depression years and during the winter seasons. Even so, America promised a better life and fulfillment of grander dreams that were no longer possible in Greece. The Poulianos family learned what other immigrants had to learn: save as much as possible to survive. America was all things to all people.
Farm life meant hard work. The cows had to be milked by hand, fields had to be cleared for planting of crops and livestock had to be tended. The farm had also sheep, goats, chickens, pigs and the family dog. Work included making goat's milk cheese (Feta) and shearing wool from the sheep. There were plenty of eggs and bacon. There were also apples and other fruit trees on the property. There was a produce stand out on Pond Path.
Cows had to be led to pasture early in the morning after the first milking, brought back to the barn for the afternoon water and oats. They were led back to the pasture and later returned to the barn for the late evening milking. The farm did not have a bull. So the family paid a 'stud' fee. This was done in order for the cows to continue to produce milk after a calf was born. Cows often had such names as Bessie and Susie. Calving was not always easy. One family story recounts how the vet, with a long glove on, had to reach for the calf. Louis would take apples from his large orchard to the cider mill at the end of Hub Road. This mill was patented and began operation in 1863 by George W. Hawkins. It was still milling in the early twentieth century. It is the mill portrayed by genre painters, William Sidney Mount of Stony Brook and William M. Davis of Port Jefferson twenty years later.
According to family tradition, Louis would ferment apple cider into 'hard cider' as well as brewing beer and making wine and Greek Ouzo (Anisette). Family stories indicate that there were many parties with plentiful drink during the life on the farm, especially during the Prohibition era. Louis was known to share with his friends and relatives as well as neighbors. The police turned a blind eye Louis' beverages since he was very good to his neighbors, especially during the Depression. He helped them by giving them food and dairy products. And so, the police would tip Louis off before an inspection of the farm for 'moon-shine'. But, he did not always get clear. One day, Mary, who did not approve of his enterprise, took an axe to the beer still that was in the cellar.
Toil in the field was a hard task indeed. Firewood had to cut from the woods up the hill. Big logs had to be carried down, cut and split to size and stacked. The older daughter, Daisy, mainly did this. Rats and foxes often raided the chicken coops, which housed over three thousand chickens. It was a chore to control vermin that pestered crops and other livestock as well. However, cleanliness was of the utmost concern of any dairy and egg business. Cleaning of old hay and manure in the barns was a daily chore that was shared by all the Poulos children. Hide and seek in the hay piles became a favorite game while working in the barns. Cleaning the barn, feeding the animals and chasing down the cows were just a few of the chores done by all the children and later by the grandchildren.
The Setauket farmhouse and the homes which John and Anthony had in Port Jefferson would soon let rooms to other Greeks, who would come to Long Island from New York City for a weekend or summer vacation. Soon, the American public from other parts of the city would rent rooms at the Poulos' homes and vacation on Long Island. Later in time, the Poulos farmhouse grew. The larger the house grew, the more boarders they were able to take and collect rent from. The house grew to have fifteen bedrooms, four bathrooms (plus one in the barn) and three kitchens. The main kitchen was to prepare the milk and of making cheese. The cooking of main holiday meals were cooked in this kitchen. They were able to rent out large parts of the house for the boarder's use. Sick people would come to the farm for the fresh foods and fresh air in order to get well. It is told that the city's newspaper ads would read: "If you want to get well - Go to Mrs. Poulos". The twenty-plus acres of land were rented out to the United States Department of Agriculture and private farmers. Mary continued to rent rooms until her death in 1970, at the age of 79. From 1920, until the house was destroyed by fire in 1975, Poulos family members with their children lived and worked on the farm. Today, what was called, 'The Poulos Farm' is now 'Pond Estates' development on Pond Path, South Setauket.
There were the usual farm vehicles and equipment in order to run the farm, both horse drawn and motorized.
'Cousin Gus' Poulianos would tell of a story of when his father John and his family would walk to the farm from Port Jefferson. He would say, "Sheep Pasture Road and Pond Path were a dirt roads back then." So the family would spend the whole day on the farm. Upon arriving on the farm there was plenty of food, dancing and, of course, wine. The story continues, as it was time to go back to Port Jefferson, everybody would pile into Louis' Model-T Ford. On the way back to Port, the headlights went out and Gus and some of the other brothers would climb on the hood of the car and light up the road with flashlights. However, because of dimmed lights and drink, Louis would many times drive off the road into roadside wooded areas. Of course, Louis' older brother, John would be cursing, in Greek, about the car and his brother's driving. For I am told that he hated automobiles and especially that one. Nicholas would tell of a story of how, at a very young age, he would drive vacationers to West Meadow Beach. One time, while driving on Pond Path on their way to the beach and the tire on the car caught a rut in the road and the car flipped over, people and all. He flipped the car upright and continued on their way.
Greeks were so proud of their adopted land that on the Fourth of July, Alice's godfather, Stavos Raptis, would purchase hundreds of dollars worth of fireworks and shoot them off on the farm for all to enjoy. Neighbors would come around and watch the beautiful display. Army soldiers, from Camp Upton in Brookhaven, would be marching across the farm's property and Mary Poulos would invited them into the house for a home-cooked meal. Louis would pack up surplus canned goods and drive up to 'Chicken Hill' and distribute these goods to the poor that live there.
Yet, one of the most critical moments in the family's Americanization process came when the 'Poulianos' surname was legally changed to 'Poulos'. The Poulos name remained as such for many years to come. However, in later years, the families of John Poulos and Anthony Poulos had the name legally changed back to Poulianos so they would not lose their roots of their name. The family of Louis Poulos retained the name of Poulos.
Times were not always rosy. Family members found a letter from the local Ku Klux Klan threatening harm to the family because of their thriving dairy business in Port Jefferson. The K.K.K. objected to foreigners running local businesses. Ethel remembered her mother asking, in Greek, "What is this K.K.K.?" She could not understand how such hatred could be possible. One day, Louis found both his milk wagon horses maimed during his route, possibly done by some local members.
The Poulianos family had proven themselves as good neighbors by helping others in time of need with shelter and fresh foods. The older daughters worked as volunteers at the local Red Cross, American Legion Halls, and Veteran's Hospitals and at the National Guard Units on Long Island during the Second World War. All Poulianos/Poulos males served in the American armed forces. There are Poulianos/Poulos family members belonging to many Greek and American philanthropic organizations. Many family members belong to the AHEPA, the Pan-Icarian, Philoptochos and other organizations. They belong to the local Greek Orthodox Churches. Community members and local school officials came out for Louis' funeral in 1943 and some had traveled many miles from out-of-state for Mary's in 1970.
This is a small story of my grandparents: Elias and Mary Poulos of Icaria, Greece and South Setauket, Long Island, New York. My wife, Barbara and I, along with our baby son, George were the last family members to live on the farm when my grandmother had past in the month of August of 1970. I also had the opportunity to visit the little home they left behind on the Greek island, to which they never returned. I stood there on the very same ground they once stood before making the choice to leave and I thank them for all the sacrifices they made for my generation to have a better life here in America.
As of all of us, we have the opportunity to learn much of our European roots and our past family history here in America. We can learn either from the oral histories of our relatives, written history found in family bibles or general ethnic histories learned in school. Through these histories we can learn of the life-styles of the 'Old World' and of the life-style lived by our older generations who came to America. They can bring up memories that were suppressed for years and to see their joy or sorrow to re-tell of them and to re-live that memory. It is a thrill for the younger generation to seek and research their history. We have inherited many traits from them. Their blood runs in our veins. We have learned to work very hard, to save and make America the best life that we can make it. We imitate our immigrant ancestry in doing so. We make their history our history. These newly arrived immigrants were part of American history. They were creating history. They lived through the high immigration period, the Depression and the war years. They were creating history - history in the making!
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Typically when you spawn a new thread, you want to give it a name to facilitate debugging. For example:
//.. other stuff....
Thread thread = new Thread(new ThreadStart(DoSomething);
thread.Name = "DoingSomething";
The code in the method DoSomething (not shown) will run on a thread named "DoingSomething."
Now suppose you're writing a socket server using the asynchronous programming model. You might write something that looks like the following:
ManualResetEvent allDone = new ManualResetEvent(false);
public static void Main()
Socket socket = new Socket(...); //you get the idea
socket.BeginAccept(new AsyncCallback(OnSocketAccept), socket);
public void OnSocketAccept()
Thread.CurrentThread.Name = "SocketAccepted";
// Some socket operation.
In the example above, we're setting up a...
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Hubble's view of Hoag's Object
Click on image for full size
NASA and the Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA
New Pictures of Hoag’s Object!
News story originally written on September 12, 2002
The Hubble Space Telescope has recently taken some exciting pictures of Hoag’s Object, a mysterious galaxy 600 million light years from Earth.
The galaxy was named after Art Hoag, the astronomer who found it in 1950. Located in the constellation Serpens, Hoag’s Object is about the size of our galaxy but it has an unusual shape with a blue ring of young stars and a yellow center of older stars. It is so unusual, in fact, that Art Hoag did not know it was a galaxy when he first found it.
Hoag’s Object is unlike other ring shaped galaxies, which often form by collision with another galaxy, because it shows no signs of collision. Astronomers suspect that the outer ring of stars was formed two to three billion years ago when a galaxy passing nearby left young stars behind.
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Transcription of Australian Aboriginal languages
Prior to the arrival of Europeans, Australian Aboriginal languages had been purely spoken languages, and had no writing system. The Latin script of the colonizers was inevitably used for the transcription of Australian Aboriginal languages, but the details of how the sounds were represented has varied over time and from writer to writer, sometimes resulting in a great many variant spellings of the same word or name.
Early writing
At first, Australian languages were written following English spelling conventions, as it sounded to the writer. This meant that sounds which were distinguished in Australian languages but not in English were written identically, while at the same time sounds which were allophones in Australian languages but distinct in English were written differently.
Most Aboriginal words used in English follow these early conventions, and therefore do not usually give a good idea of how the word was pronounced in the original language.
|Guugu Yimidhirr||“tongue”||unjar (1770)
|nganhdhaar (1979)||[ŋan̪d̪aːɻ]||Early spellings may miss the word-initial [ŋ], and fail to properly distinguish dental consonants.|
|Gamilaraay||“honey”||wuddul (1903)||warrul (1993)||[waɾul]||Early spellings may fail to distinguish between [ɾ] and [d], which are allophones in English but distinct in Australian languages.|
Writers with more linguistic knowledge sometimes employed symbols such as ŋ or ġ for /ŋ/, ñ for /ɲ/, macrons (¯) or circumflexes (^) for long vowels, breves (˘) for short vowels, but these were often applied inconsistently.
Modern practical orthography
Linguists working with Australian languages today purposely use unambiguous phonemic orthographies based on detailed phonological analysis of the language in question. In orthographies of this kind each spoken word can only be written one way, and each written word can only be read one way.
Usually, but not always, practical orthographies use just the letters of the basic Roman alphabet. This necessitates the use of digraphs for sounds that do not have a standard character. In some cases this can lead to ambiguities, for example where the single sound /ŋ/ and the consonant cluster /nɡ/ could both be written as ng. These are commonly distinguished by writing the cluster n.g (inserting a full stop), n’g (inserting an apostrophe), or nk.
Vowels and semivowels
Most Australian languages distinguish just three vowels, which are written i, a and u. Even though they may sound like e or o at times, they are not written e or o, e.g. the Martuthunira word wirrirri "flame" is roughly pronounced werrerree [weɾeɾɪ]. Long vowels are represented by double letters, i.e. ii /iː/, aa /aː/, uu /uː/.
The semivowels w and y are usually pronounced as in English. In some languages, w may not be pronounced next to u, and y next to i, but for various reasons a linguist may still choose to write them, so that e.g. Gamilaraay yinarr "woman" is actually pronounced inarr [inar].
A handful of languages have a dental semivowel, which is written yh (see Place of articulation below).
In languages that have only one of the two r's, it's simply written r.
Place of articulation
The bilabial, velar and alveolar consonants are usually written the same as in English, i.e. p /p/, b /b/, m /m/, k /k/, g /ɡ/, ng /ŋ/, t /t/, d /d/, n /n/, l /l/. Ng may also be written using the non-English letter ŋ, called eng. Note that ng sounds like the ng in singer, not as in finger; the latter would be written ngg.
Palatal consonants are often represented by a digraph made of an alveolar consonant + j or y, i.e. tj /c ɟ ɲ ʎ/ can be written tj/ty, dj/dy, nj/ny, and lj/ly. C and j are other possible ways of writing the palatal stops.
Dental consonants are represented by a digraph made of an alveolar consonant + h, i.e. th /t̪/, dh /d̪/, nh /n̪/, lh /l̪/. Note that th is not a fricative as in Australian English, but a stop as in Irish English.
Retroflex consonants are represented by a digraph made of r + an alveolar consonant, i.e. rt /ʈ/, rd /ɖ/, rn /ɳ/, rl /ɭ/.
Voicing of stops
Most Australian languages do not distinguished between voiced and voiceless stops, so that e.g. t and d both occur as variants of the same sound. Both the voiced and voiceless allophone will usually be written the same way, but whether to use the voiceless symbol or the voiced symbol varies depending on which occurs more frequently in the language. Some languages have been written using the voiced symbols by one linguist and the voiceless symbols by another. Moreover, some linguists choose to use voiceless symbols for some consonants in a language and voiced symbols for others.
Some languages do distinguish between voiced and voiceless stops, however.
Some languages have prenasalised consonants, a stop preceded by a nasal sound which is considered one consonant. In Yanyuwa these are written mb /ᵐb/, ngk /ᵑɡ/, nj /ᶮɟ/, nth /ⁿd̪/, nd /ⁿd/, rnd /ᶯɖ/.
Cited references
- Cook, James (1955). The Journals of Captain James Cook. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
- Roth, Walter E. (1901). The structure of the Koko-Yimidir language. Brisbane: Government Printer.
- Haviland, John (1979). "Guugu Yimidhirr Sketch Grammar". In R. M. W. Dixon and B. Blake. Handbook of Australian Languages Vol I. pp. 26–180.
- Mathews, R. H. (Jul.–Dec. 1903). "Languages of the Kamilaroi and Other Aboriginal Tribes of New South Wales". The Journal of the Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland (The Journal of the Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland, Vol. 33) 33: 259–283. doi:10.2307/2842812. JSTOR 2842812.
- Austin, Peter (1993). A Reference Dictionary of Gamilaraay, northern New South Wales. La Trobe University.
- Bradley, John; Kirton, Jean (1992). Yanyuwa Wuka: language from Yanyuwa country. unpublished.
General references
- Dixon, R. M. W. (2002). Australian Languages: Their Nature and Development. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
- McGregor, William (2004). The Languages of the Kimberley, Western Australia. London, New York: Taylor & Francis. pp. 21–26.
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Galaxy NGC 2397 with an explosive secret
NGC 2397, pictured in this image from Hubble, is a classic spiral galaxy with long prominent dust lanes along the edges of its arms, seen as dark patches and streaks silhouetted against the starlight. Hubble's exquisite resolution allows the study of individual stars in nearby galaxies.
Located nearly 60 million light-years away from Earth, the galaxy NGC 2397 is typical of most spirals, with mostly older, yellow and red stars in its central portion, while star formation continues in the outer, bluer spiral arms. The brightest of these young, blue stars can be seen individually in this high resolution view from the Hubble's Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS).
About the Image
|Release date:||31 March 2008, 13:30|
|Size:||3038 x 2425 px|
About the Object
|Type:||• Local Universe : Galaxy : Type : Spiral|
• Galaxies Images/Videos
|Distance:||60 million light years|
Colours & filters
|435 nm||Hubble Space Telescope|
|555 nm||Hubble Space Telescope|
|814 nm||Hubble Space Telescope|
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- Comprehensive Wetland Habitat Program
- Ecological Reserves
- Wildlife Areas
- GIS Information
- Lands Inventory Fact Sheet
- Land Management Planning
- Staff Directory
- Articles from Outdoor California
Private Lands Conservation Programs
Subscribe to Outdoor California
Ecological Reserves: Special Protection for Special PlacesBy Colleen Flannery
On a remote slope in the dead of night, a moist, smooth-skinned creature emerges to feed. Leaving strange, web-toed tracks on the ground, the amphibious thing moves along silently, slowly, crawling on its belly. Later, having eaten its fill, the creature slinks quietly into cracks in the limestone, waiting to return another night....
A scene from science fiction? No, it's real life at Limestone Salamander Ecological Reserve, one of the few California Department of Fish and Game (DFG) ecological reserves which limit public access during all or part of the year. The amphibious "creature" is one of California's three-inch limestone salamanders (Hydromantes brunus)! Like many species protected by California's ecological reserve system, the limestone salamander has a small, specialized range, and in this case, habitat too fragile for human visitors.
DFG manages 119 ecological reserves statewide, ranging from the China Point Ecological Reserve near the Oregon border to Otay Mountain, just a few miles north of the international border with Mexico. Of these, just a handful limit or preclude public access.
"Some resources are too sensitive for public use, " said Kari Lewis, DFG senior biologist, who coordinates the ecological reserve system. "In some cases the best course of action is to close a reserve or limit access to protect sensitive species and natural communities, especially during critical periods."
"Closing a reserve is a tough call and the regions struggle with it," said Teresa Le Blanc, a DFG senior biologist who managed ecological reserves in DFG's Central Coast Region for nine years. "Your first responsibility is to the resource and it's important to explain that to the public. In most cases after they know the reasons why a closure is necessary, they have a better understanding and an appreciation for what the Department is trying to do."
Resources needing protection include some of the most specialized species and habitats in the world. Besides the limestone salamander, the Santa Cruz long-toed salamander (Ambystoma macrodactylum croceum) and the desert slender salamander (Batrachoseps aridus) also require protection from activities which would significantly alter or destroy their habitat. Impacts to water sources, geological features and vegetation in salamander habitat can hinder the ability of the amphibians to survive and reproduce. In order to protect peninsular bighorn sheep watering areas, managers close two reserves in the Eastern Sierra - Inland Deserts Region from June 15 to Sept. 30 each year. Managers also close reserves during peregrine falcon and shorebird nesting periods so these birds can care for their young without disturbance. The rarity of the plant communities protected at Pine Hill, Phoenix Field and Apricum Hill ecological reserves in the Sacramento Valley - Central Sierra Region necessitates caution on the part of reserve managers to minimize habitat disturbances such as soil erosion, fires at the wrong time of year, and vegetation damage, all of which adversely affect the health of these plant communities.
Seeking the Limestone Salamander
Steep, mossy ridges beside a river in the Sierra Nevada hide the limestone salamander during the day. Slippery rocks and slopes greater than 30 degrees comprise the habitat of this secluded amphibian, of which there are fewer than two dozen populations worldwide. Scientists estimate each of these populations have fewer than 100 individuals - many populations with only one or two at last count. Walter Tordoff, a California State University Stanislaus biologist who completed a census of areas likely to support limestone salamander populations, stressed the sensitivity of the habitat.
"The habitat is very fragile," he said. "The salamanders are found deep down in talus slopes, underneath rocks. Disturbing these rocks is very destructive to the habitat."
Talus slopes earn the nickname "rock rivers" due to accumulation of loose and sometimes falling rock. These qualities make scaling these slopes a difficult, if not impossible feat.
"It's very steep,"said Tordoff. "There's no easy access to it. It's probably too dangerous for people to get to it," adding that there are better places to explore the Sierras without damaging salamander habitat.
"No easy access" describes other sensitive salamander habitat as well. The Hidden Palms Ecological Reserve supports desert slender salamanders. Discovered in 1969 by DFG Game Warden Russell Murphy, the amphibians live in only a couple of moist areas of the California Colorado Desert. A steep, narrow desert canyon with a trickle of spring water, Hidden Palms is also closed year-round to protect the salamanders.
Deserting the bighorn
The peninsular bighorn sheep relies on food and water it finds deep in desert canyons and along lower elevation alluvial fans. Unfortunately, many such areas are impacted by human activities. Additionally, human disturbance can cause the sheep to avoid water sources critical to their survival.
"They are very shy of people," said Senior Biologist Dee Sudduth, who manages southern lands in the Eastern Sierra - Inland Deserts Region. "In the summertime, if people are near the water, they'll stay away."
With desert summer temperatures exceeding 100 degrees, avoiding water could harm or kill the bighorns. So DFG closes off ecological reserves important to bighorns in the summer months. DFG also limits access to areas of the reserves during the sheep's lambing season.
As is the case with such closures, DFG scientists and wardens may enter the reserves. At Magnesia Spring and Carrizo Canyon, they often do, checking the water supply to make sure it is not contaminated or blocked. Others may occasionally enter as well, such as emergency personnel, when necessary. Research scientists may enter reserves with written permission to study animal or plant life. Photographers and sightseers may be granted written permission to enter, as long as their presence will not threaten the sensitive species or habitats the reserves are designed to protect.
At Magnesia Spring and Carrizo Canyon, DFG scientists manage lands to minimize problems between visitors and the bighorn.
"They try to keep sheep-human conflicts to a minimum," Sudduth said.
She promises would-be summer visitors they are not missing much.
"Seasonally, the areas don't change much, really," she said, stressing the hot, dry conditions of the desert during summer. Summer high temperatures commonly exceed 100 degrees Fahrenheit in these areas, and there is no potable water available. The winter is a better time to visit, when daytime temperatures are milder.
If ecological reserves need to be closed to protect sensitive species and communities, then why do DFG scientists lead tour groups to some of them? Sometimes, ecological reserves not only protect a resource, but also provide educational opportunities for the public. At Woodbridge Ecological Reserve near Lodi, visitors follow the sound of wintering sandhill cranes, and a DFG guide onto an area usually closed to the public. Interpreters and docents are careful not to disturb the birds, guiding visitors to a blind constructed to conceal them as they view the cranes.
"The birds are just too sensitive to keep the reserve open all the time," said Bruce Forman, a Sacramento Valley-Central Sierra Region interpreter. "People want to get closer to the cranes. It's not good for them to be disturbed; cranes are migratory and they need to save their energy for the big migration ahead of them. On tours, visitors are kept at a safe distance."
While completely opening the ecological reserve could cause excess disturbance to the birds, allowing the public to periodically view the cranes gives Forman a chance to educate the public about the importance of wetlands and of the role of the DFG at Woodbridge.
"They (visitors) learn about Fish and Game, about what we do to make the wetlands usable for the cranes," Forman said. "It's not just a recreational experience. People are learning, they increase their appreciation for the area. They learn about wildlife and they learn about keeping their distance for the protection of the animals."
Educational aspects of ecological reserves which limit access go beyond occasional crane tours. Limited tours at Pine Hill Ecological Reserve allow occasional educational groups to view plants so rare, they are found in only a small portion of the Sierra Nevada foothills, concentrated in a 40-square mile area of western El Dorado County. According to DFG Botanist Daniel Burmester, the limited number of the plants and the fact that private property surrounds most of the reserve's parcels limits the DFG's ability to open Pine Hill to the public.
"The primary reason for restricting access to the ecological reserve is the rarity of the plants," he said, noting that most of the world's population of Pine Hill flannelbush (Fremontodendron decumbens), an endangered species, grows on slopes of the reserve. "Although these plants are fire-adapted, a fire at the wrong time of the year could be devastating to one or more of these rare species."
Burmester said the relatively small size of the reserve, which consists of three separate units totaling less than 600 acres, means next to nothing when compared to its diversity.
According to Burmester, Pine Hill Ecological Reserve provides a view of the Pine Hill gabbro soil community, found nowhere else in the world. In this rare community, gabbro and serpentine rocks underlie a surface that supports sensitive plants. Besides the flannelbush, the reserve contains populations of three plants federally listed as endangered: Stebbins' morning-glory (Calystegia stebbinsii), Pine Hill ceanothus (Ceanothus roderickii) and El Dorado bedstraw (Galium californicum ssp. sierrae). It has one plant listed as threatened, Layne's butterweed (Senecio layneae). Also present is the federal species of concern, El Dorado mule-ears (Wyethia reticulata). Except for the morning glory, which is also state-listed as endangered, all of these plants have been listed by California as rare, or are considered rare by experts.
"Approximately 10 percent of the native plant species (about 740 species) known from California are represented within this tiny fraction of El Dorado County, making it a significant location of species diversity," he said. Protecting Pine Hill and other ecological reserves needing special protection sometimes means helping people learn about the diversity of California's natural communities.
"Education plays a key role in the conservation of these sensitive areas," said Lewis.
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Yi-Chang Chiu wants to move people efficiently — lots of people, millions of people — in response to a terrorist attack or natural disaster.
Suppose, for instance, that a disaster occurred in Southern California and suddenly 700,000 vehicles headed for the Arizona border? How would transportation officials generate the best traffic management strategy to cope with the traffic?
One very good option would be to use the computer simulation package that Chiu, an assistant professor in The University of Arizona Civil Engineering Department, has been developing since 1995, when he was a graduate student at the University of Texas in Austin.
"Solving large-scale evacuation problems is overwhelming," Chiu said. "No one can just sit down with a map and draw lines and figure out the best answer to problems like these."
No single plan or even series of plans is sufficient, he added. "We're not focusing on a script because a disaster scenario is very unpredictable. You can't have one plan that fits all situations, and you can't evaluate hundreds of scenarios or your 'plan' will end up looking like a phone book."
Instead, Chiu and his colleagues have focused on developing software that can react to a situation in real time, adjusting as conditions on the ground change.
Planning on the Fly
"If we're reacting to a hurricane, we have 72 hours to plan," he said. "But what if an unforeseen disaster occurs" We need to make a decision in 15 minutes."
The software package depends on detailed traffic census data that is collected by state and city transportation departments in conjunction with real-time traffic surveillance data. "The cars aren't just randomly placed on the streets in our simulations," he said. "We know where every car has come from, where it's at and where it's headed, and vehicle movements follow rigorous traffic flow theories. So the simulation is very realistic. It's not just a random process."
It's also very complicated. The software considers decisions each driver might make on factors such as when to leave, which route to take, if they listen to radio reports and change their route, if they are slowed by congestion and change routes, or if they react to freeway message boards that carry routing advisories.
Responding to Airborne Hazards
The model also can be combined with an air-plume dispersion model to predict how traffic will respond to airborne hazardous material.
"We have a scenario that says a refinery caught fire and every 30 minutes the wind plume is progressing according to the wind speed and temperature," Chiu said. "So we can calculate the health risk. In the case of an extremely toxic substance, we can also calculate the number of casualties and where they will occur."
The model isn't finished when the disaster ends. It also has post-disaster applications. For instance, Chiu and his colleagues analyzed a high-rise, multi-level interchange in El Paso, Texas where I-10 and US 54 meet.
If that interchange were completely destroyed, what would be the immediate and long-term impact to the city and what would be the best scenario for recovery?
"If you have only limited funds or time, which project will do the most good for recovery"" Chiu asked. "Do you open I-10 first or US 54? The model allows us to make those kinds of after-disaster recovery decisions based on the detailed, day-to-day traffic-flow data that has been collected by the City of El Paso and the projected traffic patterns from the model."
Value Pricing on Toll Roads
Chiu and his colleagues also have used the software to model what's called "value pricing" on toll roads. The idea is to use a sliding toll scale to manage congestion. When traffic increases, the toll notches up incrementally to a maximum amount. This information is broadcast to drivers in various ways, with the hope that they will choose a different route, use public transit or delay their trip.
"The real research focus here is to develop a fair method for calculating tolls," Chiu said. "It can't be arbitrary or people won't accept it. You need to do very careful planning."
The traffic software, which Chiu and others began building line-of-code by line-of-code back in 1995, has undergone several software engineering cycles since then and now is a mature product that will soon be ready for state transportation and emergency medical agencies.
The next generation of the software, which is now under development, is called MALTA (Multi-Resolution Assignment and Loading of Traffic Activities). It is being designed to run even faster, to handle networks with much larger sizes, and to respond minute-by-minute to real-time emergencies. Instead of running on a single computer, it employs parallel processing, in which several computers work together on the problem. The National Science Foundation and Arizona Department of Transportation are funding the development and field testing of MALTA.
Source: University of Arizona
Explore further: Researchers develop fast, economical method for high-definition video compositing
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"The recapitulation is no longer simply a return; it is the necessary outcome, the final closing of gaps and reconciling of differences" [p. 198]. This largely sums up the contention of Karol Berger's new book, Bach's Cycle, Mozart's Arrow, which is subtitled, "An essay on the origins of musical modernity". This book is that – to a point. But that's not the whole story.
Berger deals with much wider cultural milieux than those of musical history. He is at home too in musical technicalities and abstract philosophies, though always well-anchored in art history. These he uses to make a simple, central point: that some time in the eighteenth century, some time between Bach and Mozart, between the High Baroque and Classical eras, composers fundamentally changed their conception and execution of music to reflect an altered view of time. For millennia up to and including the time of Bach and his contemporaries, time had been conceived of as cyclical… events recurring, the seasons, (church) year, births, marriages, deaths. Between these two composers, the circle became straight and time came to represent more of a straight arrow to composers and thinkers; it became linear, directed and moved only "forward".
This shift in the way in which music was conceived and written is concomitant with a change in views of the individual's (and indeed society's) relationship with a god. Those same changes in musical structure corresponded with a move away from artistic life lived in the service of (a Christian) god to(wards) one intent on defining the individual's uniqueness in his/her world and examining his/her place in it – and place in relation to other humans. Berger follows the idea expressed by Ernst Robert Curtius in his book European Literature and the Latin Middle Ages that there were two great "caesuras" in European history – the "decline" between 425 and 775 CE; and the onset of the "Modern" period around 1750. Berger further suggests that Monteverdi ushered in the modernity. Other areas of cultural life only experienced what we now know as modernity up to four or five generations later.
At first sight, these theses are simple enough (though neither plain, nor simplistic) ideas; they are not particularly new, controversial or contentious. But they require truly expert exposition with multiple examples to illustrate and prove. They need to be extrapolated from considerations, above all, of musical structure, tonality – and the complex and abstruse relationships between structure and tonality. These propositions require that generalities and particular examples are explored in depth for them to be adequately demonstrated. They get more than adequate such treatment in this book.
Karol Berger takes a careful, detailed and clear approach. It is both an eclectic and a refined approach. It convincingly makes a body of links between those two hypotheses and musical (and literary, philosophical: there is a lengthy chapter on Rousseau) form, progression, technique, tonality and construction. His central claim is that "… in the later eighteenth century European art music began to take seriously the flow of time from past to future" [p 9]. For Bach, harmony was a metaphor for God; for Goethe a hundred years later God was the metaphor for harmony! Key works by Bach and Mozart successively explore how such a change came about. Bach wanted time to stand still; Mozart (and Beethoven) needed to exploit time in order to map character, contrast, mimetic reality and purely musical concerns onto the experience of writing and listening to music.
Such a development, as Berger sets it out in his chapter on Rousseau, became inevitable as the idea of a self gained ground – and a self for its own sake; and a self answerable more than ever before to… itself. So by the end of the several chapters and sections on Mozart, Berger convinces us that even Mozart's tempi and the very structure of his concerto allegri, for example, act in the service of a linear forward movement – as opposed to anything cyclical; and that despite sonata form. The chapter on Don Giovanni is particularly lucid in this respect. Other examples nicely paced throughout the book set out to illustrate the particularities of this thesis. The Da Ponte comedies all acknowledge the forward motion of time through their bipartite structure, which Berger explains very clearly with ample apposite musical examples. In fact, the whole book is very rich in well-presented musical examples; some continue for many pages and are effectively indispensable to the points Berger makes.
A caveat must be entered at this point, though not one which in any way devalues the (impact of) the book. Instead of stating his theme or hypothesis (really, a series of chapter-by-chapter sub-themes) and then illustrating it/them, he tends to jump straight in and engage in an (albeit superb) exposition of the detail, only to draw the conclusion midway; at the end; or even merely by implication. Even those familiar with the music which he takes to illustrate these hypotheses (the St. Matthew Passion, Don Giovanni, Die Zauberflöte, the B Minor Mass, Das Wohltemperierte Clavier etc) may not be completely clear why they are being led (albeit expertly) through the music despite the many clear examples, carefully-annotated passages, tables, references, cross-references and scores. The theme before its variations would have made following Berger's argument easier.
Moreover at times Berger appears to have strayed a little far from his central argument: there is relatively scant coverage of conceptions of time in his sixth chapter (on Don Giovanni and Faust), for example. The standard, poise and logic of the music criticism and indeed the references to psychology and philosophy are well-explored, interesting and spare of extraneous detail: is the Don actually the embodiment of desire for desire's sake in us all which society needs to suppress, for example? But they at times seem to be commentary for commentary's sake, rather than to advance the basic premise on which the book is predicated. Only later in the chapter when Berger uses Kierkegaard's analysis of the Don's succession of "Now's (his numerous "conquests') to suggest a life without coherence (there can be no meaning to repeated self-indulgence at others' expense) is there a conclusive illumination on a third model of time: neither eternal/cyclical, nor linear/progressive; but disjointed. An analogous "middle-way" Berger finds in Faust where Faust's "attention" to The Moment, dissatisfaction with knowledge and – ultimately – with sentience suggests that what (modern) humans need is "the relative durability and permanence of civilization, freedom and existence won anew every day and eternity made to human measure" [p. 279, emphasis added].
The conclusion – and it remains implied, even in Berger's incisive style – which we are tempted to draw is that something radically altered with Rousseau. And that such an alteration was not that subsequent composers' notions and uses of time changed (as promised by the book's very title); but that they were attenuated. Indeed that other concerns replaced them. Up to Chapter 5, Berger continually anchors us in such constructs. He deals head-on with time as represented by the circularity of the da capo aria; with the nature of tonal resolution as an adjunct of time; with Faust's bargaining over time; and with cadence as a consequence of linear time. But by the later chapters, those ideas take second place to the accentuation of the mimetic in opera, and the notion of utopia etc.
Indeed, by its end Bach's Cycle, Mozart's Arrow seems to have strayed so far from the original thesis on composers' (implicit) understandings of time that one searches in vain for the structure with which it so promisingly began. In the sense that musical examples in early sections clearly illustrated such a thesis, one is brought up short, not by any inadequacy of scholarship or ability to set out examples and draw conclusions (Berger is consistently engaging, expert and exact in that respect throughout the book). But one ends by wondering where the original stance of the book has gone and how it applies to some of the later examples (Beethoven's melancholy and "outcast" status, for example, in the last section). The notions of modernity and changes in how time is viewed are there implicitly, to be sure. But their relevance to the musical examples explored at such great length is at best tangential; really secondary. Unless, that is, our notion of "musical modernity" has somehow moved on from a concern with the nature of time. But nowhere is any such progression made explicit in Berger's narrative.
Bach's Cycle, Mozart's Arrow is an important, useful, an all round excellent book that will appeal to anyone interested in the history of ideas, in musical history in general and – in particular – interested in music around what must be seen as the watershed of the French Revolution. So in the interests of balance another minor criticism to be dispensed with concerns a rather fey use of language: why "Jean-Jacques" and not "Rousseau"? Was the appellation for this important chapter of "Interlude" an attempt to lighten what the author or publisher feared might be otherwise heavy-going text? In fact, although packed with examples, at times dense argument and reasoning, the subject matter with which Berger deals so well is – through his erudition and obvious passion for the material, not to say his gifts of communication and clarity – rendered entirely translucent.
It's true that tightly-focused and closely-argued nature of Bach's Cycle, Mozart's Arrow would not be out of place as a PhD thesis. But at the same time, it is a thesis (in the looser sense of that word) that ought to be understood by anyone interested in music of the past three hundred and fifty years: only by clearly understanding, for example, the development of musical structure from a Baroque Sonata to a Classical one (where the latter quite quickly and inexorably imposed a temporal meaning on relationships between successive moments, as the former did not) can the nature of either be fully appreciated.
But what began as a tight and focused idea – that musical modernity is predicated on fundamental shifts in how (some of most prominent) practitioners conceived of time (both philosophically, and in terms of compositional structure) – slowly takes second place to arguments which begin and end in the music being examined. One would, for example, have welcomed a more explicit examination of why and how Bach wrote for eternity (perhaps without knowing so!) and Beethoven for himself.
This is not to devalue the book; nor to say that Berger hasn't succeeded. He has. He presents a fascinating and extremely well-illustrated path through mainstream music from Monteverdi to Beethoven. But it's a path that serves just as well as a commentary on the music with reference to itself as to external developments in philosophy or epistemology as they occurred so rapidly fifty years either side of the French and Industrial Revolutions. The illustrations are clear, the layout attractive, the indexing, pacing and structuring of the book are all first rate. The underlying thesis is important and fascinating. If you are aware of the diversions in the book and prepared to make your own way through the sometimes dense examples and musical exegesis, then you should certainly investigate Bach's Cycle, Mozart's Arrow.
Copyright © 2008 by Mark Sealey
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Spelling Rules!: Makes Spelling Stick
Bk. E: Student (Spelling Rules!)
This item is unavailable.
We will email you if this item comes back into stock.
|Format:||Paperback, 80 pages|
|Published In: ||Australia, 31 May 2006|
This workbook for Year 5 is part of the whole-school spelling program that helps every student become a good speller. The activities help develop different forms of spelling knowledge that enable spelling to move from working memory into long-term memory making spelling stickThese forms of knowledge include: kinaesthetic - the physical feeling when saying sounds or writing wordsphonological - the sound of spellingvisual - the look and patterns of spellingmorphemic - the meaning o
|Publisher: ||Macmillan Education Australia|
|Dimensions: ||30.0 x 23.0 x 0.0 centimeters (0.27 kg)|
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The former Duchy of Lothringen (Lorraine) became a French province in 1766. Later the German-speaking area of Lorraine became part of Elsass-Lothringen, German Reichsland after the Franco-German war of 1870-1871 until 1918 when it reverted to France.
Today, the region of Lorraine is divided into the four departements of:
This region has it's borders to the north with Belgium, Luxembourg and the German states of Saar and Rhineland-Palatine, to the east with the region of Alsace, to the south with the region of Franche-Comté and to the west with the region of Champagne.
- Before 1648:
Since the 12th Century, Lorraine was divided into many states among which the Duchy of Lothringen, the Republic of Metz and the Bishoprics of Metz, Toul and Verdun were the most important ones. All these states belonged to the Holy Roman Empire. In 1648, according to Treaty of Westphalia, Metz, Toul and Verdun became French cities.
The Duchy of Lothringen, then surrounded by French territories, was repeatedly occupied by the French troups. When the Duke Stanislas Leszcynski died in 1766, the Duchy of Lorraine became a French province.
After the French Revolution of 1789, France was divided into départements and Lorraine was made of the four départements of Meurthe, Meuse, Moselle, and Vosges. Nancy, Verdun, Metz and Epinal became the capitals of these départements.
At the time of the French defeat of 1871, the German-speaking parts of the département of Meurthe and of the département of Moselle were merged to build one of the 3 districts of the Alsace-Lorraine Reichsland:
- Bezirk (district) of Lothringen with capital Metz and (8) Kreise (counties):
- Bezirk (district) of Lothringen with capital Metz and (8) Kreise (counties):
At this time, the remaining French-speaking parts of the départements of Meurthe and of Moselle were linked together and became what is still the present département of Meurthe-et-Moselle.
- Meurthe-et-Moselle: département 54; capital: Nancy
- Meuse: département 55; capital: Bar-le-Duc
- Moselle: département 57; capital: Metz
- Vosges: département 88; capital: Epinal
Before 1802, five dioceses existed in Lorraine:
(Nancy and Saint-Dié were created in 1777). All of them belonged to the ecclesiastical province of Trier. The diocese of Toul was suppressed in 1802 and its parishes were shared out among the dioceses of Nancy, Verdun and Saint-Dié. Since then, these dioceses belong to the archdiocese of Besancon (today called the apostolical region of Besancon).
The communities of Lorraine were subordinated to the Parliaments of Metz, Nancy or Paris until the French Revolution. In 1900, during the Alsace-Lorraine period, the highest court was the Oberlandesgericht in Kolmar.
The lower courts were:
- Landgericht Metz with (12) Amtsgerichte:
- Landgericht Saargemuend with (11) Amtsgerichte:
Associations and Societies
Genealogical and historical Societies
- Union des Cercles Généalogiques de Lorraine B.P. 8, 54131 Saint Max Cedex, France
federates the following societies:
- Cercle Généalogique de Briey, 4 rue Emile Gentil, 54150 Briey
- Cercle Généalogique de Blénod-les-Pont-à-Mousson, 2 rue de la gendarmerie, B.P. 34, 54140 Jarville
- Cercle Généalogique de Charmes, 16 rue des Capucins, 88130 Charmes
- Cercle Lorrain d'Ile de France, 20 avenue de Vorges, 94300 Vincennes
- Cercle Généalogique de Liffol, 20 route d'Haréville, 88500 Liffol-le-Grand
- Cercle Généalogique de Liverdun, Rés. Toulair, 54460 Liverdun
- Cercle Généalogique de Longwy, 3, rue du 22 Août 1914, 54620 Baslieux
- Cercle Généalogique du Lunévillois, 5 rue Lahalle, 54300 Jolivet
- Cercle Généalogique de Meurthe et Moselle, 4 rue Emile Gentil, 54150 Briey
- Cercle Généalogique de la Meuse, B.P. 271, 55006 Bar-le-Duc Cedex
- Cercle Généalogique de la Moselle, 1 allée du Château, 57070 St-Julien-les-Metz
- Cercle Généalogique de Moselle-Est, Centre social D. Balavoine, 57800 Cocheren
- Cercle Généalogique de Nancy, 46 rue du Général Patton, 54410 Laneuveville devant Nancy
- Cercle Généalogique du Pays Messin, 1 allée du Château, 57070 St-Julien-les-Metz
- Cercle Généalogique du Pays de Nied, Foyer culturel, 57320 Filstroff
- Cercle Généalogique de Saint Avold, 2 rue Chapelle, 57500 Saint-Avold
- Cercle Généalogique de Saint Dié, 13 rue St Charles, 88100 Saint-Dié
- Cercle Généalogique de Sarrebourg, 29 rue de la Montagne, 57220 Boulay
- Cercle Généalogique de Thionville, 3 rue Mozart, 57330 Hettange-Grande
- Cercle Généalogique de Vittel, 187 quai Joffre, B.P. 128, 88804 Vittel Cedex
- Cercle Généalogique des Vosges, B.P. 128, 88804 Vittel Cedex
Historical Associations and Societies
- Société d'Histoire et d'Archéologie de Lorraine, Archives Départementales de Metz
Genealogical und historical Documents
Church registers are sometimes available from 1648 when the Thirty Years War ended. Some few registers go back to 1600, but most of them begin before 1690. The region has always been predominantly Catholic with only a few well known Protestant strongholds like Metz and Courcelles-Chaussy, Badonviller, Fenétrange, Ogéviller, Bayon, Neuviller, Phalsbourg, Lixheim and Saint-Mihiel. Priests were in charge of the recording of baptisms, marriages and burials until the French Revolution. Parish registers are usually available until 1792. All the Church records of the départements of Meurthe-et-Moselle, Meuse and Vosges were put on microfilms which you can consult at the Family History Library. The département of Moselle was only partly microfilmed.
Civil Registration Records
Births, marriages and deaths registers begin in 1793. Convenient indexes called tables décennales exist for each category of records and each index always covers a period of 10 years. A yearly index which appears after the records of each year, was usually made. Like the Church registers, all the civil records and the indexes of the départements of Meurthe-et-Moselle, Meuse and Vosges are available on microfilms which you can consult at the Family History Library. The département of Moselle was only partly microfilmed.
Census Records and Polling Lists
- Every 5 years a national census was made in France between 1836 and 1936. One was deferred from 1871 to 1872 and those of 1916 and of 1941 were cancelled because of wartime. The following censuses occurred in 1946, 1954, 1962 and 1968.
A census list of names usually displays the following information:
- Family and given names
- Age or year of birth
- Position in household (since 1881)
- Since 1848, when the law which established the universal male suffrage in France was passed, polling lists are useful to genealogists. They are available either in town halls or at the Départemental Archives. In France the vote was given to women only in 1945.
- Options of Alsatians and Lorrainers
In 1871, many people desired to leave Alsace-Lorraine and their names were recorded in these records of 523,000 persons, arranged in 395 alphabetical lists which the French government published in supplements to the Bulletin Des Lois [Bulletin of Laws]. They list birth dates, place of birth and some list destination. Family History Library microfilm numbers are: 787154 (middle) to 787166. (Note: The last two films also give information on persons emigrating to the USA and Canada.)
- Options in hardcopy.
These records have also been transcribed into book form. They are collected in 11 volumes organized by destination. See Publishers for information on availability from the Centre départemental d'Histoire des Familles.
- See also a number of more specialized books on emigration in the Bibliography section.
Conscription lists and personal notices are available at the Départemental Archives. The covered period is 1798-nowadays. Most of the French military records are stored at the Service historique de l'armée. No answer is made to any written request, but this center welcomes searchers who notify of their visit a few days before their arrival. Information about officers and other ranks can be retrieved since 1791 and sometimes even since 1715.
A search of these records is a rather difficult and time-consuming task but exploring this source is worth the trouble. Notarial records usually begin before the Church records and they are available at the Départemental Archives.
The most frequent records found are:
- sales (often contain useful information)
- loans (lenders and borrowers are sometimes relatives)
- leases (usually of little genealogical interest)
- marriage settlements (give an approximate date of the marriage and list parents and other relatives. Many are for marriages of widows or widowers)
- exchanges (often of land or buildings between coheirs)
- wills (contain interesting information but most are from the well-to-do)
- inventories after death (very interesting documents with detailed information about the dead person like her possessions, her way of living and a list of other official records she made).
Note: the web page Genealogy in France by Denis Beauregard contains a nice summary of records available in France, which is partly applicable to Lorraine.
Bibliography and Literature
note: listings in [brackets] indicate libraries holding the work.
- Brasseaux, Carl A., "Foreign French", Nineteenth-century French immigration into Louisiana, 1990-92, Lafayette, Louisiana, Center for Louisiana Studies, University of Southwestern Louisiana; vol. 1: 1820-1839; vol. 2: 1840-48.
- Castro, Lorenzo, Immigration from Alsace and Lorraine: A Brief Sketch of Castro's Colony in Western Texas 1871, San Antonio.
- Chevalier, Tracy, The Virgin Blue, Penguin Books (historical novel of an American woman tracing her roots in 16th-century France).
- Putnam, Ruth, Alsace and Lorraine from Caesar to Kaiser: 58 B.C.-1871 A.D., 1915, New York and London: G.P Putnam's and Sons. Reprinted 1971, Freeport, NY, Books for Libraries.
- The Thirty Years War, Geoffrey Parker (ed.), 1984, 1991, New York and London: Routledge.
- Fouché, Nicole, "Un épisode du peuplement du Texas: Henri Castro et les émigrants alsaciens 1842-1856", Revue d'Alsace, vol. 114, fasc. 592 (1988), p. 93-112
- Laybourn, Norman, L'émigration des Alsaciens et des Lorrains du XVIIIe au XXe siècle, 1986, Strasbourg, Association des Publications près les Universités de Strasbourg. [26 libraries in the US, one in Canada; two in Japan, four in Europe]
- Valloton, Benjamin, "Alsaciens et Lorrains aux Etats-Unis d'Amérique", L'Alsace française, no. 21, 21 May 1927, pp. 401-422.
- Neu, Heinrich, "Elsässer und Lothringer als Ansiedler in Nordamerika", Jahrbuch der Elsass-Lothringischen Wissenschaftlichen Gesellschaft zu Strassburg, 1930, Heidelberg, vol. 3, pp. 98-129 [FHL microfilm 1071428, item 4; Southern Illinois University, Carbondale; University of Notre Dame; Indiana University; Harvard; University of Missouri, Columbia]
- "Auswanderung in Elsass-Lothringen in den Jahren 1871-1905", EMGV 1:182
- University of Nancy II, Annales de l'Est, a quarterly of historical articles about artistic, intellectual and economical subjects in eastern France. A yearly booklet Bibliographie lorraine is also published. It lists every new book published about arts, history, archeology and literature in Lorraine.
- Académie nationale de Metz and University of Metz, Cahiers lorrains, a quarterly devoted to the regional research.
- Société d'archéologie lorraine and Musée historique lorrain, Le Pays Lorrain, articles about literature, arts, history and popular traditions.
- Association pour l'étude et la sauvegarde de l'habitat rural, Villages lorrains, articles about patrimony and rural housing.
- Baxter, Angus, In search of Your European Roots, Genealogical Publishing, Baltimore, 1985
- Bernard, Gildas, Guide des recherches sur l'histoire des familles [Guide for Family History Research], Archives Nationales, Paris, 1981
- Law, Hugh T., "Locating the Ancestral Home in Elsass-Lothringen", German Genealogical Digest, Vol VI, Number 3, 1990, $8.
- Marianne Doyle, French Ancestors (since 1987), 2923 Tara Trail, Beavercreek, OH, 45434-6252, USA. Yearly subscription $8 (6 issues)
French Ancestors is a bimonthly newsletter dedicated to a better understanding of the French heritage of western Ohio. Its purpose is to explore the historical, cultural and genealogical background of ancestors from northeast France (Alsace, Lorraine, Franche-Comté) and bordering areas, who settled primarily in Darke and Shelby Counties in the mid 1800's.
- U.C.G.L., Généalogie Lorraine, a quarterly published by the local genealogical society for Lorraine.
Gazetteers, Atlases and Maps
- "Alsace-Lorraine: Atlantic Bridge to Germany"
The first book to be completed in the new "Atlantic Bridge to Germany" series is "Alsace-Lorraine". It has been completely revamped with new maps (from 1876-1898 era) showing the majority of the more than 5,600 places named in the book. Each place is identified by German and French names, Kreis (county), Bezirk (government district), and what years there are records available at the Family History Library. The first sixteen pages contain Alsace-Lorraine information dealing with history, geography, websites, books of interest, several mpas showing historical divisions, and more.
Compiled by Linda Herrick and Wendy Uncapher. 192 pages, paperback, 8.5" x 11". Cost $20.00 plus $3.00 shipping and handling for the first book and $1.00 for each additional book. WI residents add appropriate sales tax.
Order from: Origins, 1521 E. Racine St., Janesville, WI 53545
- Thode, Ernest, Genealogical Gazetteer of Alsace-Lorraine, 1986, Indianapolis, Heritage House (PO Box 39128, Indianapolis, IN, 46239, USA), 137 pp., maps. [Also available from Ernest Thode, RR 7, Box 306, Kern Road, Marietta, OH 45750-9437, USA. Cost $17.50 postpaid, $18.64 postpaid in Ohio (state sales tax)]
The gazetteer (place-name dictionary) portion of this book is arranged alphabetically, with French, German, and a few Latin and English place-names, including rivers, streams, mountains, castles, and the like, all arranged in a single list. It assumes no special knowledge of French or German diacritical marks and symbols. Listings show some records availability -- town archives, Catholic records, Jewish records, LDS records, military vital records, Protestant records, university records, and civil vital records.
- Les communes de l'Alsace-Lorraine. Répertoire alphabétique avec l'indication de la dépendance administrative. I. Nomenclature française avant 1871. II. Nomenclature allemande de 1871-1915. III. Nomenclature allemande de 1915-1918. [Communities of Alsace-Lorraine - Alphabetical directory with administrative dependency. - French placenames before 1871. German placenames from 1871 to 1915. German placenames from 1915 to 1918] re-printed and available from UCGL, B.P. 8, F-54131 Saint-Max, France
- Sittler, Lucien, L'Alsace: Terre d'histoire [Alsace: a historical land, contains very good maps about the territorial history of Alsace from the Middle Ages to modern times]
- Wolfram, Georg and Werner Gley, Elsass-Lothringischer Atlas, 1931, Frankfurt am Main: Selbstverlag des Elsass-Lothringen-Instituts, series: Veröffentlichungen des wissenschaftlichen Instituts der Elsass-Lothringer im Reich an der Universität Frankfurt [of especial interest for showing the distribution of Catholic and Protestant parishes]
- On-line Map of Alsace (21K) presented by Évariste
- Road and tourist map of "Alsace-Lorraine", map #242 of the yellow series by Michelin, scale 1:200000
- FHL microfilm 068814, Karte des Deutschen Reiches, scale 1:100000, 1km = 1cm covers Germany during 1914-1917.
Map Publishers for the Lorraine region
- Editions Christian
14, rue Littré 75006 Paris, FRANCE
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- As winter has come to an end and temperatures have warmed the pesky fire ant has returned, which brings up numerous questions about best management practices to deal with this pest.
- Fire ants can injure or kill livestock, wildlife, domestic animals and humans. Their large mounds (as many as 300 per acre) are unsightly and often damage mowers and other equipment. Fire ants cost Americans $6 billion a year, including the cost of insecticides.
As winter has come to an end and temperatures have warmed the pesky fire ant has returned, which brings up numerous questions about best management practices to deal with this pest.
Red and black imported fire ants (Solenopsis invicta and Solenopsis richteri) are invasive species and their painful bites can injure or kill livestock, wildlife, domestic animals and humans. Their large mounds (as many as 300 per acre) are unsightly and often damage mowers and other equipment. Fire ants also infest buildings and can damage electrical equipment by chewing on wire insulation. Fire ants cost Americans $6 billion a year, including the cost of insecticides.
If you have ant problems, first identify the species. There are hundreds of ant species in the southern United States, including some native fire ant species, and most of them are considered beneficial insects. Collectively, ants till more earth than earthworms and some prey on other insect pests.
Fire ants will build their mounds almost anywhere—in the open or next to a building, tree, sidewalk or electrical box. A fire ant mound does not have a central opening and when the mound is disturbed, they emerge quickly and begin biting and stinging. Worker fire ants are dark reddish-brown with shiny black abdomens, and are about 1/16-inch to ¼-inch long.
Fire ants can’t be eliminated entirely because it’s not possible to treat all infested areas. The goal of current integrated pest management (IPM) programs is to suppress fire ants as much as possible with biological control methods and use insecticides only where it is economically and environmentally justifiable to do so.
There may not be one “best” method for fire ant control, especially in large areas. Your objective should be to find the method or methods that are most cost-effective and environmentally sound. In areas where fire ants do not present problems, doing nothing is certainly one option.
The Two-Step Method can lower the cost while reducing environmental damage and improving fire ant control. Step one is to broadcast an insecticide bait once or twice a year, which reduces fire ant colonies by 80 to 90 percent. Step two would be to treat nuisance mounds or colonies that move into the bait-treated areas. Step 2 may not be needed.
This Two-Step Method is likely the most cost-effective and environmentally sound approach to treating medium-size to large landscape areas. A list of products labeled to control fire ants can be found at http://fireant.tamu.edu/controlmethods/products/index.php.
When using baits, consider several factors so the baits work properly. To broadcast bait products correctly, you will need a standard lawn spreader or a hand-held spreader. To cover larger areas, use a vehicle-mounted spreader such as the Herd GT-77.
Most baits are applied at very low rates—1 to 2 pounds of product per acre. Calculate the area to be treated and use the smallest spreader setting that allows bait to flow. Apply the bait in swaths, and crisscrossing swaths if needed, until the specified amount is applied. The agitators in some spreaders may cause bait to cake up so that it does not flow properly. Always read and follow the application instructions on the label of the product you are using.
The time of bait application is very important as the ants must be actively foraging. Fire ants search for food (forage) at a wide range of temperatures and can be found foraging in almost any season. However, they may be searching for only certain kinds of food, which might not be the oil of a particular bait. The only reliable wayto confirm whether ants are feeding on bait is to offer them a small amount and see if they pick up the particles.
Use fresh bait. The soybean oil in baits becomes rancid over time, making it unattractive to ants. Unfortunately, bait product labels do not list a manufacture or expiration date. Rancid bait smells somewhat like latex paint, unlike the fresh, toasted corn smell of fresh bait.
Because bait can spoil sitting on store shelves, it is important to check its freshness and return it if it is rancid.
Do not allow baits to come into contact with water. Water ruins baits. In favorable conditions, most bait is picked up overnight or even within a few hours, but for best results, do not apply a bait if rain is expected within 24 hours and do not irrigate the area for at least 24 hours. Avoid application when there is a heavy dew.
With any broadcast bait, you should expect 80 percent to 95 percent maximum control lasting three to 12 months, though the reinvasion rate depends on several factors, such as weather and season.No product gives 100 percent control overnight or lasts forever.
It is important to remember that a bait is an insecticide that insects sense to be food. In the case of ants, workers find the bait and carry it back to the colony where it is fed to the larvae, workers and queens. Foraging workers may consume some of the liquid portion of the bait before returning the particle to the colony.
For more information go to the web site http://fireant.tamu.edu/
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CC-MAIN-2013-20
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http://westernfarmpress.com/management/fire-ants-storming-back-farm-fields
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2013-05-18T18:33:48Z
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s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696382705/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092622-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
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en
| 0.932052
| 1,190
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As everybody knows the amount of sunlight varies seasonally, both in intensity and duration. Summer brings long days and at any given time of day, the sun is higher in the sky and hence more powerful than in winter. The maximum sunlight intensity on a bright summer day may be around 1400 W/m2 whereas it may be less than half that amount in winter.
In any given year, monthly sunshine hours and hence PV output will vary, but on average output dips in winter and rises in summer. A factor to consider is cloudiness. Subtropical areas, like Brisbane, often have more cloud cover in summer than in winter due the development of the monsoon. This factor can counteract the tendency towards increased sun duration and intensity in summer. During the first six month’s operation of the Live Data Display, that is, the second half of 2011, these seasonal factors can be seen at work. The month by month output graph for June to December 2011 is shown in the left most thumb nail screenshot below. Choose “Pick a Year” and “2011” on the RHS of the Live Data Feed to obtain this graph. The sunlight measure shown on the graph is the average intensity for each month (W/m²) on a whole day or 24 hour basis rather than just during daylight hours. It therefore is a proxy for the amount of solar energy potentially available in each month for PV conversion to electricity.
To get the most energy production over a year, solar panels are usually oriented north and tilted at an angle to the horizontal approximately equal to the site’s latitude – in the case of Brisbane this is about 27°30" south – panels are typically tilted at 30° as this angle is easy to set out. In the subtropics, the sun in winter is not as low as say in Sydney or Melbourne. This means that in Brisbane and places further north, panel orientation and tilt is not so critical. Quite often, satisfactory output can be achieved at least cost by simply placing panels flat on low angle roofs, even if this means they do not face north.
On a clear day, the output from a flat fixed panel will rise and fall in line with the movement of the sun across the sky. This results in a typical bell shaped power curve as shown in the middle thumb nail screenshot below. The screenshot shows the power output from the UQ Centre Array at St Lucia on 26 December 2011. This day was the best energy day for UQ Centre during 2011. Interestingly, this day was not the best day for peak power production. The reasons for this are discussed in the section below on temperature. Even though the 26 December was fairly hot, over 30°C (which tends to reduce PV output), the duration and power of the sun made this a perfect day overall for PV production.
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2013-05-21T11:03:05Z
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Organism of the Day
|August 01, 2012||Yellow Buckeye / Aesculus flava|
|July 27, 2012||Eastern Hay-Scented vs. New York Fern /|
|July 25, 2012||Leaf-footed Bug Nymph / Acanthocephala terminalis|
|July 23, 2012||Timber Rattlesnake / Crotalus horridus|
|July 20, 2012||Smooth Chanterelle / Cantharellus lateritius|
|July 19, 2012||Black Rat Snake / Pantherophis obsoletus|
American Chestnut, Castanea dentata
July 15, 2011
The American Chestnut was once the giant of the Appalachian forest canopy. Their native range encompasses most of the Appalachian mountain range, as far north as southern Maine and south as far as Alabama. These trees once reached the height of 30.5 m (100 ft), and diameters as great as 20 ft were not uncommon. They grew especially robustly in prime habitats such as mountainous and hilly regions. Their greatest size was reached in the Southern Appalachian Mountains.
The American Chestnut is easy to identify. Its alternate, simple leaves are 13-20 cm long (5-8 in) and are characteristically deeply toothed (thus the name dentata). The leaves are darker green above and paler below; both sides are hairless. The leaves grow on twigs and stems that are chestnut- to orange-brown and similarly hairless. These monoecious trees produce small, pale-green-to-white male flowers tightly packed along catkins 15-20 cm (6-8 in) long. The female flowers occur singly in June-July at the base of the catkins. In the fall, the fruits ripen as spiny husks 5-6 cm in diameter, which enclose 2-3 shiny, brown chestnut nuts. These nuts are primarily round, but are often flattened on several sides. The nuts can be 1.3-5 cm in diameter.
These nuts used to be highly desired by squirrels, chipmunks, deer, and people. Indeed, many Appalachian families gathered chestnuts by the bushel to sell for extra money. Tannins produced by the chestnut trees once made up half of the vegetable tannins used by the American leather industry. Furthermore, chestnut wood was high-quality and durable. The importance of the Chestnut tree to the ecosystem was also great as a dominant and pervasive canopy tree. It was once said that a squirrel could travel from Georgia to Maine by jumping from Chestnut tree to Chestnut tree—without ever touching the ground. (Above, male flowers or catkins of the Chestnut tree)
In 1904, a fungus known as Endothia parasitica was discovered in Chestnut trees on the grounds of the New York Zoological Garden. It is believed that a shipment of Asian Chestnut trees, imported to North America as nursery stock, was carrying the fungus that would soon become known as the Chestnut Blight. The blight spread slowly and deliberately throughout the range of the American Chestnut from its original place of discovery in New York. By the 1960s, most American Chestnut trees in the Eastern U.S. were completely destroyed. (Below, Endothia parasitica on the bark of a chestnut tree)
The Chestnut Blight attacks Chestnut trees through cracks and wounds in their bark. From there, it spreads to the inner portion of the tree and encircles the stem, killing all growth above the point of infection. The leaves die first, followed gradually by the stems and trunk. This process can two to ten years, and leaves behind a dead, but erect, Chestnut tree. However, the rootstock survives. Chestnuts are present in our forests today, not as the giants of old, but as the stump-sprouts of those trees. They are continuously attacked by the blight, and rarely grow large enough to reproduce.
Following unsuccessful attempts to combat the fungus, the people of the Appalachians were left with a large amount of high-quality lumber. Stands of dead Chestnut that were left standing became infested with small borers, which drilled holes in the wood. When the wood was later harvested for lumber, the resulting timber was called “wormy chestnut.”
Mountain Lake was a prime Chestnut area. When the station was constructed in the 1920s and 30s, wormy chestnut was used for the interior of several cabins, including Clayton and Reed. Stump-sprouts can be found throughout the forest understory and continue to play an important, but different, role in the forest ecosystem. This specimen was collected near Wilbur Lab.
Article by Hazel Galloway
- Sources: www.appalachianwoods.com/appalachianwoods/history_of_the_american_chestnut.htm
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As an imposing fortress, Alcatraz island isolated inmates and imprisoned the most dangerous criminals like mob boss Al Capone. Yet after its closure in 1963, Alcatraz became the scene of occupying Freedom as Native Americans tried to take back land under a treaty with the US. How did an uninhabitable rock become the gateway to a bastion of freedom for American Indians?
Further Reading Troy R Johnson, The American Indian Occupation of Alcatraz: Red Power and Self-Determination. University of Nebraska Press: 2008. Eagle Adam Fortunate. Alcatraz! Alcatraz!: the Indian Occupation of 1969-1971. Heyday Books, 1992
Paul Chaat Smith and Robert Allen Warrior. Like a Hurricane: The Indian Movement from Alcatraz to Wounded Knee. New York: New York Press, 1996
Dean J Kotlowsi, "Alcatraz, Wounded Knee, and Beyond: The Nixon and Ford Administrations Respond to Native American Protest." Pacific Historical Review
Vol. 72, no. 2 (May 2002), pp. 201-227 Jack D Forbes, Native Americans and Nixon: Presidential Politics and Minority Self-Determination, 1969-1972. Native American Politics Series, No 2 Los Angeles: American Indian Studies Center, 1981
In 430 BCE, a plague swept through ancient Athens, killing thousands. It eventually claimed even the great Pericles. But what was it? In 1994, a group of historians and scientists banded together to find out, starting with the skull of one little girl.
From Marie Antoinette's fake peasant village to Robespierre's botched suicide, the French Revolution is full of fascinating stories that are often omitted from textbooks. Join Nathan and Christine for Part I of a two-part countdown of their favorite stories and events from this vibrant period.
Authors: Nathan and Christine
Further ReadingMcDougall, Christopher. Born to Run: A Hidden Tribe, Superathletes, and the Greatest Race the World Has Never Seen. New York: Knopf, 2009.
Sears, Edward S. Running Through the Ages. Jefferson, NC: McFarland, 2001.
Zimmer, Carl. "Faster than a Hyena? Running May Make Humans Special." Science
306: 5700 (Nov., 19, 2004): p. 1283.
Further ReadingJudith Bennett, Ale, Beer and Brewsters in England: Women’s Work in a
Changing World, 1300-1600 (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1996).
Peter Clark, The English Alehouse: A Social History, 1200-1830 (London:
Barbara Hanawalt. “The Host, the Law and the Ambiguous Space of
Medieval London Taverns,” in Medieval Crime and Social Control, ed.
Barbara Hanawalt and David Walace (Minneapolis: University of
Minnesota Press, 1999), pp. 204-223.
A. Lynn Martin, Alcohol, Sex and Gender in Late Medieval and Early
Modern Europe (New York: Palgrave, 2001).
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CC-MAIN-2013-20
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http://www.footnotinghistory.com/index.html
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2013-05-21T11:15:10Z
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| 0.826448
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Linux Articles & Tutorials
SEARCH : Home : Unix Flavors
- IBM has put together a nice section for developing Linux Skills.
- System administration resources (mostly for ISPs running Linux/Un*x) -- gathered at one site and classified for easy reference. A very comprehensive system administration site.
Firewall and Proxy Server HOWTO (Linux)
- This document is designed to teach the basics of setting up a firewall on a Linux based PC. Also covered is the installation and use of Proxy Servers to allow greater access to the Internet from behind a firewall.
Installing the Operating System
- HP, Solaris, IRIX and Linux installation and boot-up from USAIL.
Linux DNS Howto
- It describes how to set up a simple DNS name server.
- Linux in Portuguese
Linux Installation and Getting Started [unc.edu]
Linux Installation and Getting Started [union.edu]
Linux NIS(YP)/NIS+/NYS HOWTO
Shadow Password HOW-TO on Linux
- This document aims to describe how to obtain, install, and configure the Linux password Shadow Suite. It also discusses obtaining, and reinstalling other software and network daemons that require access to user passwords.
Add Link |
Copyright © 1994-2005 Unix Guru Universe
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This is a link to a site full of teaching resources. Anything that I do not know I can find here. It has examples from a multitude of sources that provide explanation to the most challenging questions. For students who are struggling with their writing techniques. It is not a very interactive site, and looks like it is from the Stone Age, but the information is what is important about this website. Any questions that I have about format or templates, I refer to this site for answers.
Merriam-Webster’s Learner’s Dictionary
Want to improve your vocabulary and pronunciation of words? Reading and need to look up a word really quick? This website provides learners with the ability to learn a word of the day, practice using words, and look up definition and pronunciation all in one place. Improving vocabulary is a must for students if they want to be able to read and comprehend high readability literature. This website is a must for a developing reader. (Even I use it to look up words!)
Oral English Assessments and ESL speaking English Activities
For our ESL learners, this site is built for teachers to help these students learn. Many ESL students will find the activities that teachers use from this site very helpful as they learn a new language. With vowel and consonant sounds, pronunciation, to whatever an ESL learner needs is on this site. There are rules and appropriate words for all sorts of everyday and business speaking. This website will help students learn English as well as give teachers a variety of activities to keep class interesting.
Fun English Games for Kids – Free Teaching Resources
This site is meant for younger kids. There are games that students can play to help make learning fun. These are not just for entertainment; they make the player think about reading, writing, spelling, grammar, and words as they play their way to learning more and more about English language arts. Along with the games, there are activities, worksheets, videos, and other interactive fun that can be used in the classroom.
Literary Terms and Definitions
This is the ultimate glossary for literary terms and definitions. A professor from Carson-Newman University by the name of Dr. L. Kip Wheeler put together this wonderful list. Never again should there be a question of a literary term definition if students are aware of this website.
OneLook Dictionary Search
This site provides students an opportunity to look up words that they have questions about. The search bar will take students to a page that will give them multiple sources to find a definition. Students can search for different uses of a word as well. Students will also find synonyms and antonyms of words. This site would come in handy to look up a quick definition of a troubling word.
Interactive Websites - Reading and Language Arts
Students have the opportunity to play these educational games. Learning sentence structure, grammar, and vocabulary can be dry, but these games help make the learning fun. Learning grammar and vocabulary takes a lot of time and patience, but with these games, students can make the learning more interesting.
High School English
This site offers a place for students to practice grammar, spelling, composition, and access certain literature. This site is a gateway for interactive student learning, in and out of the classroom. With access to important literature, students can expand their reading horizons, and appreciate the classics. Students can keep active with all the interactive software that the site provides.
Purdue Online Writing Guide
If there is a question of citation, this site will provide students with answers to all their questions. If students are at home and cannot reach a teacher, or anyone who can answer their question, this website will help them out. College professors across the nation send their students to this site for help with citations.
This website will help students come up with citations. MLA and APA citations are available for free. This citation tool may help students come up with citations, but it is just a start. Students would be advised that the citations may be a little off and fine tuning may be needed. Although this may be the case, students will still be learning what to look for in order to write a citation. Knowing what to look for is the first building block to learning how to cite properly.
Grammar with Interactive Games
This website offers students an opportunity to review the rules of grammar. It also offers students a “quiz” section to test their abilities concerning the rules of grammar. These quizzes offer an explanation if a wrong answer is given to cue the student towards the correct response. It is important to practice the rules of grammar to keep them sharp and this site offers students plenty of opportunity for that practice.
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http://student.plattsburgh.edu/tcarl002/resourses.html
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2013-05-24T02:11:29Z
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s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704132729/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113532-00052-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
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The latest news from academia, regulators
research labs and other things of interest
Posted: Nov 14, 2012
X-ray laser observes molecular explosion
(Nanowerk News) Using DESY´s X-ray laser FLASH, a team of scientists from Hamburg has traced the ultrafast explosion of iodine molecules. The group headed by Markus Drescher from the Center for Free-Electron Laser Science (CFEL) used the X-ray laser as a kind of high-speed camera -the observed molecular explosion took place within a millionth of a billionth of a second (i.e. within femtoseconds). The scientists presented their measurements in the scientific journal Physical Review A ("Strong-field ionization of molecular iodine traced with XUV pulses from a free-electron laser").
"Thanks to the ultra-short X-ray pulses of FLASH we are able to trace the time sequence in detail without disturbing the process,"said first author Maria Krikunova, who currently works at Technische Universität Berlin.
To start the explosion, the team around Drescher and Krikunova shot an infrared laser beam into a gas consisting of diatomic iodine molecules (I2). At 120 femtoseconds, this infrared flash was relatively long compared to the X-ray flashes from the free-electron laser FLASH which last only 35 femtoseconds. "With the X-ray pulse, we are able to look into the much longer infrared pulse,"Krikunova explains. "However, this requires the exact synchronisation of the pulses, which is only possible with a special experimental setup by Theo Maltezopoulos from the University of Hamburg and CFEL."
With its ultra-short pulses, DESY's X-ray laser FLASH can record different phases of the molecular explosion and the rearrangement of electrons between the two atoms.
It turned out that the infrared pulse strips two outer (valence) electrons from the molecule within the central 75 femtoseconds around the pulse maximum. The chemical bond is disrupted and the now ionised molecule explodes. With FLASH, the scientists were able to record in real time how the remaining valence electrons that were not localised are distributed anew between both iodine atoms.
The repulsion of the two atoms which are now electrically charged finally causes the explosion of the molecule. This explosion also produces asymmetric states of charge in which an iodine molecule is separated into a neutral and a twice electrically charged iodine atom. After a total of about 120 femtoseconds, the molecules break up. Since the X-ray flashes are absorbed from a completely different part of the atom than the infrared pulses, FLASH is able to observe the system without disturbing the process.
"We can immediately see how charges reallocate dynamically when molecules are exposed to a strong light field,"said Drescher, who is professor at the University of Hamburg. "With the short-wave flashes of FLASH, we have a probe for the local electrons density at our disposal. This means that we know whether there is more electrical charge in one or the other atom at a certain time."
These observation possibilities are also the working basis of the successful Hamburg Center for Ultrafast Imaging (CUI), a new federal excellence initiative, with the university and DESY as partners. CFEL too is a cooperation of the University of Hamburg and DESY, with the participation of the Max Planck Society.
DESY´s FLASH (Free-electron LASer in Hamburg) was the first free-electron laser worldwide for soft X-ray radiation. Free-electron lasers generate laser-like light flashes by sending fast electrons from a powerful particle accelerator through a tight slalom course. In each curve, the electrons emit radiation which amplifies to a laser-like flash. The short wavelengths of only a millionth of a millimeter (nanometres) allow scientists to observe details on a molecular level. With the short flashes with a duration of no more than some billionths of a second (femtoseconds), it is possible to take pictures of ultra-fast processes.
The European XFEL, currently under construction in the Hamburg area with DESY as its main shareholder, will be the world´s best X-ray laser. DESY is the leading accelerator centre in Germany and one of the leading ones worldwide.
Translate this article:
Check out these other trending stories on Nanowerk:
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