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Alcohol and High Blood Pressure
While drinking alcohol in moderation is usually fine, consuming too much can make hypertension worse. Moderate drinking usually means one drink a day for women or two drinks a day for men. People who drink alcohol while taking high blood pressure medicine should check with their doctor, since alcohol can have an adverse impact on the medicine's effectiveness.
People with high blood pressure (hypertension) often wonder if it is okay to drink alcohol. In many cases, drinking alcohol is fine for someone with high blood pressure -- but in moderation. In fact, moderate amounts of alcohol have actually been shown to help protect against heart disease and stroke.
On the other hand, drinking too much alcohol can raise blood pressure even more in those with already high blood pressure or cause a person with normal blood pressure to develop hypertension. Too much alcohol also can harm the:
When healthcare providers recommend "moderate" drinking, they mean one drink a day for women; two drinks a day for men. Because the alcohol content in drinks can vary, what counts as one drink also varies. When healthcare providers talk about one drink, they are referring to one of the following examples:
- 12 ounces of beer
- 5 ounces of wine
- 1½ ounces of 80-proof whiskey or 1 ounce of 100-proof spirits.
If a person is regularly drinking more than a moderate amount of alcohol, reducing consumption will usually lower blood pressure. The amount the blood pressure drops will vary, based on a number of factors, including:
- How much the person drank
- His or her age
- Current blood pressure
- Other medical conditions.
On average, when heavy drinkers reduce their alcohol consumption to a moderate level, systolic blood pressure can drop by 2 to 4 points and diastolic blood pressure by 1 to 2 points. | <urn:uuid:f65e6cff-d837-47f2-af13-193c71b38e41> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://blood-pressure.emedtv.com/high-blood-pressure/alcohol-and-high-blood-pressure.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783394987.40/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154954-00039-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.93884 | 371 | 2.734375 | 3 |
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Silly Putty, one of the classic toys of modern times, was actually invented by accident. As a military tactic during the early years of World War II, the Japanese invaded countries that produced rubber to stop the production of tires, rafts, gas masks, boots, vehicles and aircraft parts for the military. The US government encouraged American companies to invent a synthetic substance that had similar properties to rubber but could be made with non-restricted materials.
In 1943, James Wright, a chemist at General Electric (GE) combined boric acid and silicone oil in a test tube and created a fascinating gob of goo. This stretchy material didn’t decay and bounced even higher than rubber. It could also flow in slow motion, but would break into little pieces when he struck it sharply. The goo also copied any print that it touched. General Electric shared the putty with other chemists around the globe only to find that nobody could think of a practical use for the putty.
Although it wasn’t really practical, the substance was entertaining. The "nutty putty," as it was commonly called, was passed around from person to person to be dropped, stretched, and molded. The putty may have been doomed to remain a local curiosity if it hadn’t reached the hands of Ruth Fallgatter, the owner of the Block Shop Toy Store.
In 1949, Ruth Fallgatter asked Peter Hodgson, an unemployed marketing consultant, to produce her new toy catalog. They decided to place the fun putty in a clear case and sell it for $2 United States Dollars (USD) each. The putty was one of the top sellers, but despite the small fortune it made her, Fallgatter decided not to include the item in her next catalog.
But Peter Hodgson saw the putty’s potential as a novelty item. He borrowed some money, bought the rights from GE, and hired college students to separate the putty into small blobs and put them inside plastic eggs. Since “bouncing putty” didn’t fully describe the goofy goo’s unusual and entertaining qualities, Hodgson decided to name it “Silly Putty."
In 1950, Hodgson pitched his product at the International Toy Fair in New York where he got Silly Putty stocked at both Nieman-Marcus and Doubleday bookstores. Luckily for Hodgson, a reporter for The New Yorker stumbled across Silly Putty that summer. Fascinated with the novelty, the writer raved about the product in the "Talk of the Town" and over 250,000 orders were placed for Silly Putty over the following three days.
Although Silly Putty was originally a novelty item for adults, the market had shifted by 1955 and the toy became a hit with children. Not only could kids bounce, stretch, and mold Silly Putty, but they could also copy images from comics and then distort, bend, and stretch them. By 1957, children were viewing Silly Putty television commercials during The Howdy Doody Show and Captain Kangaroo.
It was only after its success as a toy that practical uses for Silly Putty were finally found. The material's unique properties have found niche use in medical and scientific applications. Physical therapists like the putty for rehabilitative therapy of hand injuries, and patients with ADD and ADHD handle Silly Putty to reduce stress and relieve tension. Silly Putty can even be used in the home to stop up holes, clean keyboard keys, and pick up dirt, lint, and pet hair. Astronauts even used it aboard Apollo 8 on their mission to the moon to secure tools in zero-gravity.
I'm doing a history day project and your site was very helpful. thank you.
wow. and i thought it was just fun goo! and i didn't even know it was so old, like, 1943. | <urn:uuid:b42271e8-cd2f-44cb-9f3c-2e68bfe439b7> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-silly-putty.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783398516.82/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154958-00005-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.967317 | 820 | 2.8125 | 3 |
Many amateur athletes have long suspected what research scientists for the Department of Preventative and Rehabilitative Sports Medicine of the Technische Universitaet Muenchen at Klinikum rechts der Isar have now made official: Documented proof, gathered during the world's largest study of marathons, "Be-MaGIC" (beer, marathons, genetics, inflammation and the cardiovascular system), that the consumption of non-alcoholic weissbier, or wheat beer, has a positive effect on athletes' health. Under the direction of Dr. Johannes Scherr, physicians examined 277 test subjects three weeks before and two weeks after the 2009 Munich Marathon.
The study focuses on the health risks for marathon runners and the potential positive effects of polyphenols. These aromatic compounds occur naturally in plants as pigment, flavor, or tannins, many of which have been credited with health-promoting and cancer-preventative properties. Unique to this study was the combination of different polyphenols that were tested on the large pool of participants. The research team met the scientific requirements of the study by conducting a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial.
Non-alcoholic Erdinger wheat beer was selected as the test beverage, chosen for its rich and varied polyphenol content and its popularity with marathoners and tri-athletes. The "active" group drank up to 1.5 liters of the test beverage per day, while a second group consumed an equal amount of an otherwise indistinguishable placebo beverage that contained no polyphenols and was especially produced for the study.
One result from the study was the discovery that, after running a marathon race, athletes experience intensified inflammatory reactions. The immune system is thrown off balance and runners are much more likely to suffer from upper respiratory infections. This heightened susceptibility to illness following strenuous sport activity has been identified as an "open window." Furthermore it was shown that non-alcoholic wheat beer containing polyphenols has a positive, health promoting effect on the human body: inflammation parameters in the blood were significantly reduced, and there was a lower frequency of infection with milder symptoms.
Reduced Inflammatory Reaction: Dr. Scherr, who also serves as physician to the German National Ski Team, explains: The analysis of the leukocytes, or white blood cells, which constitute one of the most important parameters for inflammation, revealed values in the active group that were 20% lower than in the placebo group."
Support for the Immune System: Compounds in the test drink had a compensatory or balancing effect on the immune system. Dr Scherr: "We were able to prove that it strengthens an immune system that has been weakened by physical stress. It also prevents the system from over-performing."
Prevents Colds: Runners who drank the non-alcoholic wheat beer were up to three times less susceptible to infection than those in the placebo group. Dr. Scherr: "Drinking the non-alcoholic test beverage reduces your risk of developing a cold by one third."
Improvement with Upper Respiratory Infections: People in the active group who did succumb to a cold experienced a milder or briefer infection than those in the placebo group. Dr. Scherr: "Results showed a Number Needed to Treat (NNT) of eight. That means that for every eight people who had the test drink, one of them was prevented from succumbing to a cold."
In summary, Dr. Scherr explains: "The potential for foods containing polyphenols to have a positive effect on athletes' health has already been suggested in several articles. Nevertheless we were ourselves sometimes surprised at how clearly evident this was in the results. We now have scientific confirmation of those assumptions for this test beverage, with its particular combination of polyphenols, vitamins and minerals."
Dr. Scherr presented this study to the approximately 5,000 scientists, physicians, and trainers attending the world's largest congress for sports medicine in Denver (USA) hosted by the American College of Sports (ACSM) at the beginning of June 2011. The study will be published in the January printed edition of the professional journal Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise (MSSE).
Peter Liebert, Managing Director for Technology, Purchasing, Human Resources and Logistics for Erdinger Weissbräu, is pleased about the study results: "In brief, the Be-MaGIC study confirms the benefits for sport athletes and proves new health-promoting effects. Thus, Erdinger alcohol-free is proven to be more than just an isotonic thirst-quencher."
Technische Universitaet Muenchen (TUM) is one of Europe's leading universities. It has roughly 460 professors, 7500 academic and non-academic staff (including those at the university hospital "Rechts der Isar"), and 26,000 students. It focuses on the engineering sciences, natural sciences, life sciences, medicine, and economic sciences. After winning numerous awards, it was selected as an "Elite University" in 2006 by the Science Council (Wissenschaftsrat) and the German Research Foundation (DFG). The university's global network includes an outpost in Singapore. TUM is dedicated to the ideal of a top-level research based entrepreneurial university. http://www. | <urn:uuid:e6ce0650-5fb5-43bd-a487-d4d39d9294fd> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2011-06/tum-sds060811.php | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783397865.91/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154957-00151-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.950035 | 1,091 | 2.96875 | 3 |
Origins 14(1):7-20 (1987).
Related page | IN A FEW WORDS |
The author reviews some of the classical argumentation regarding the spontaneous origin of life and evaluates some of the newer concepts.
Among numerous ideas in currency four or five thousand years ago
about the origin of life was one that is still held dearly by millions. It is summarized
in the fourth commandment: "For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea,
and all that in them is, and rested on the seventh day ..." (1).
Much more recent is a radically different concept of origins which derives the present universe from a hypothetical "big bang" and its evolutionary aftermath. Accordingly, life originated on Earth by random interaction between matter and energy.
Never before has the phenomenon of life been better understood. This is due to intense research effort by tens of thousands of scientists and their often spectacular discoveries over the past 50 to 80 years. The functions of about one-third of all proteins manufactured by the simple cell Escherichia coli are now known, and the total elucidation of the structure of this cell is foreseeable (2).
We are also learning more about structures and workings of other more complex living systems. The recent development of automated DNA sequencing has prompted suggestions that a multi-billion dollar effort be organized to determine the complete nucleotide sequence of the human genome.
Cells are the smallest living independent entities, and nothing less than a cell deserves the adjective "alive." Cells range in complexity from the simple bacterium, such as the common colon organism Escherichia coli, to highly differentiated cells of our nervous system. Numerous features common to all cells are understood by creationists to signify a common designer, but are explained by evolutionists in terms of a common ancestry.
Common constituents of living matter
All cells have similar components. By weight they are 60-70% water,
25-35% biopolymers, and about 5% small organic compounds and minerals. These cellular
ingredients (with the exception of water and minerals) are unique in several ways and
cannot be found in nature except as parts of living or once-living matter.
Our inanimate environment comprises substances made from comparatively simple molecules containing a limited number of atoms. These molecules are rich in oxygen atoms, resistant to heat, and generally stable under a variety of conditions. In contrast to these simple molecules, biological polymers (which constitute most of living matter after water is removed) proteins, nucleic acids, polysaccharides and lipids are molecules made from thousands of atoms. They are rich in carbon and hydrogen atoms and are definitely unstable in the presence of heat and oxygen. Researchers working with proteins, for example, must always be careful not to stir a protein solution too vigorously, and to keep it on ice as long as possible, so as to prevent unraveling their intricate structures.
Protein molecules and nucleic acids are informational macromolecules, i.e., their structures harbor biological information. The gigantic molecules of proteins and nucleic acids are made by linking hundreds (or thousands) of a small number of "building block" molecules: amino acids for proteins and nucleotides for nucleic acids. Biological information resides in the particular sequence in which building blocks are linked.
When letters of the alphabet are linked in particular sequences, meaningful words are created. Likewise, the information content of proteins and nucleic acids depends initially on the order in which their building block components are connected.
The true meaning of biological information contained within the structures of biopolymers is evident only in the context of the entire living cell, because the phenomenon of life depends on harmonious interactions of thousands of kinds of protein and nucleic-acid molecules. If biopolymers are like words, then the living cell is like an extensive monograph.
Biopolymers mixed in test-tubes do not yield living matter
When all biopolymers are removed from a cell and put in a test-tube
with all the other ingredients normally found in cells (small organic molecules and
minerals) in just the right proportions, nothing happens.
The living cell is more than a collection of biologically active molecules. However, the extra quality is not, as many think, a mysterious life-force which departs upon death. This may be demonstrated rather dramatically by freeze-dried bacteria.
If a liquid culture of single-celled organisms is frozen rapidly and placed under vacuum, cellular water in the form of ice gently leaves the cells through sublimation, leaving behind cells as waterless powder. The organisms are in a state of suspended animation, neither alive nor dead. They can remain in this state indefinitely, so long as they are kept dry. If the cells are placed in water along with suitable nutrients, they once again continue living. Therefore, in this instance "life" was manipulated simply by adding or removing water.
Why living matter is more than the sum of its ingredients
In a living cell the thousands of chemical transformations that are
necessary for life to occur must be confined to a comparatively small space. This makes
the products of one reaction available as starting materials for the next reaction along
the necessary biochemical metabolic pathways. Moreover, the ingredients of cells are
frequently assigned spatially, some in the nuclear region, others near the cell envelope.
Without cellular morphology, these components have no meaningful tasks.
The process of life is dynamic, involving the biosynthesis of new substances, degradation of old ones, pumping in fresh food supplies and secreting waste products, as hundreds of chemical changes take place simultaneously every second. A most important property of a living cell which makes it more than just the sum of its ingredients is that the totality of its chemical transformations is not in equilibrium.
A chemical change is the rearrangement of atoms making up various molecules. Such a change may be represented as: A + B Û C + D, where substances A and B interact and form products C and D. After this chemical change runs its course, a certain amount of all four substances will be present. The ratio at equilibrium of (C*D) to (A*B) is an unchanging (constant) number. At that point the reaction is incapable of any further chemical transformation. If all these chemical changes reach equilibrium, the cell dies.
Essentially all chemical reactions in a cell are facilitated by biological catalysts called enzymes. These agents tend to push reactions rapidly toward equilibrium, even though total equilibrium would be fatal to the cell. However, since chemical reactions in the cell are interconnected, the end products of one chemical transformation become the starting material for the next, and thus equilibrium is never reached. As the products are further utilized, more starting materials are manufactured, resulting in constant intracellular concentration of metabolic intermediates. This is called a steady state, non-equilibrium system, because the amounts of metabolic intermediates are relatively unchanging within the cell, and the total system is not at equilibrium. Such is only possible in live, intact cells. If a cell is physically disrupted or if it dies, the steady state changes into equilibrium. Figure 1 illustrates in a simple way the contrast between steady state and equilibrium conditions.
FIGURE 1. A simple illustration of the difference between steady-state and equilibrium conditions. In both cases the volume of liquid in the container is constant. However, in A, liquid is constantly flowing through the system, while in B, the liquid is static.
This situation can actually be approximated in the laboratory by
poking holes in the membranes of live cells (so they will lose their ability to
concentrate nutrients from their environment) and allowing the internal reactions to go to
equilibrium. Such cells are now dead, and even if the holes of their membranes were
repaired, they will not come back to life. For life to recur, non-equilibrium conditions
would have to be established by the selective removal of key metabolite molecules from the
cell. When the strategic reactions are once again restored to non-equilibrium, the system
as a whole will be driven toward a steady state.
Manipulations involving the removal of a few small molecules from a cell containing many other molecules is beyond our present and most likely future capabilities. Such a capacity is tantamount to being able to reverse death to life on the cellular level.
Attempts to discover the origin of life
The earliest historical records indicate that man has recognized the
qualitative difference between living and non-living matter, and since then there never
has been a shortage of theories to explain the presence of life on Earth. Yet the origin
of life remains one of the greatest challenges to naturalistic interpretations. According
to Nobel laureate Max Delbruck, "... there has been an immense conceptual gap between
all present-day life and no life," and the "how" of the transition of earth
from no life to life is "perhaps the fundamental question of biology"
Nevertheless, the immense conceptual gap between life and non-life is neither recognized nor admitted by many evolutionary theorists. A 1978 review entitled "Chemical evolution and the origin of life" begins with these words: "Perhaps the most striking aspect of the evolution of life on earth is that it happened so fast" (4). More recently, the first chapter of a college textbook on the molecular biology of the cell contains this summary statement: "Living cells probably arose on earth by the spontaneous aggregation of molecules about 3.5 billion years ago" (5).
Regardless of their degree of optimism or enthusiasm, evolutionary theorists are forced to propose explanations for the spontaneous generation of life from non-living matter. In order for biological evolution to begin, some starting material is necessary. This need is met by the postulates of chemical evolution.
When the outlines of modern theories of chemical evolution (the natural processes on a "pre-biotic earth" which gave rise to the first living matter) were formulated by A.I. Oparin and J.B.S. Haldane in the 1920s (6), very little was known about the biochemical intricacies of living matter. Consequently, there was plenty of freedom to postulate mechanistic processes by which organisms could come into existence.
Modern theories of chemical evolution found in current monographs and textbooks developed over a span of approximately 60 years. They suggest that early Earth was covered largely with a warm, slightly alkaline ocean. Though rich in carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, ammonia, methane, hydrogen, and nitrogen, the atmosphere definitely did not contain atomic or molecular oxygen. Ultraviolet light from the sun, geothermal energy from volcanoes, shock waves from thunder, and cosmic radiation acted upon gases of the primitive atmosphere causing the formation of biomonomers such as amino acids, sugars, purines, pyrimidines, and fatty acids. These substances polymerized to form the proto-types of more recent proteins, nucleic acids and cell membranes. In time they coalesced to form the first proto-cell, a collection of polymers enclosed in a membrane. Eventually these protocells became increasingly complex, until the first true living cell was born.
Laboratory simulations of chemical evolution
The year 1953 was a banner year for chemical evolution. Stanley
Miller, a graduate student working with Nobel prize winner Dr. Harold Urey, published his
experiments on the synthesis of amino acids in a simulated primitive-earth environment.
He built a glass apparatus, in which circulating ammonia, methane, hydrogen and water vapor were exposed to electrical spark discharges for one week. Molecules forming in the vapor phase were trapped in water and analyzed. Among the 35 diverse substances identified, 9 were amino acids, almost half of the 20 different kinds found in proteins (7)!
Miller's paper signaled an onslaught of experiments by numerous investigators who varied the starting materials, the source of energy and other experimental parameters. Their efforts yielded 19 of the 20 amino acids, all 5 nitrogenous bases which are crucial to nucleic-acid formation, and a number of important sugars as well (8).
These results serve as a pillar on which chemical evolutionists build their theoretical edifices. Apparently it is indeed possible to envision hypothetical situations where at least the most important metabolic biomonomers may come into existence.
The evolutionary scenario requires the continual accumulation of biomonomers in the primordial ocean until it becomes an "organic soup." The next necessary step on the chemical evolutionary ladder is to link biomonomers into polymers, especially proteins and nucleic acids. This involves the removal of a molecule of water from two biomonomers in order to form a chemical bond between them.
One of the postulates proposed for polymerization assumes that high concentrations of various amino acids accumulated at the rim of volcanoes, where the high temperatures drove off the water molecules, leaving proteins behind. Sidney Fox, the chief proponent of this theory, demonstrated that mixtures of amino acids heated at 200ºC for 6 or 7 hours indeed formed protein-life polymers which he called "protenoids." These polymers show weak catalytic activities partially resembling enzymes. When protenoids cool, they form "microspheres" supposedly resembling primitive cells morphologically (9). These structures can "grow" under favorable conditions and "divide" by budding. Interesting as these experiments are, their results reveal serious deficiencies when they are used to support a scenario for chemical evolution.
Deficiencies of laboratory simulations of chemical evolution
The success of the Miller-Urey type experiments depends on the types
of gases introduced into the experimental systems. Early models of chemical evolution
assumed a primordial atmosphere rich in methane, ammonia and molecular hydrogen, and these
gases were used with considerable success. More recent models of the early Earth
atmosphere, based on data from numerous space-probes, see the primordial atmosphere
resulting mainly from the release of volatile materials trapped by solid particles during
the formation of the planet. Thus the composition of an early atmosphere would have
resembled the contents of present-day volcanic fumes. These are rich in carbon dioxide and
water and have minor amounts of nitrogen, hydrogen sulfide and sulfur dioxide. Pre-biotic
simulation experiments using gas mixtures of nitrogen, carbon dioxide and water vapors
produced mostly ammonia and nitric acid in the hands of one investigator and formaldehyde
in another laboratory (10).
Whatever the composition of the primordial atmosphere may have been, evolutionary theorists agree that it could not have contained atomic or molecular oxygen. All postulated processes of chemical evolution would cease in the presence of oxygen, for oxygen would quickly react with organic compounds formed in the atmosphere, oxidizing them to carbon dioxide and formic acid.
Our present-day atmosphere contains 20% oxygen. A small portion of this gas is converted to the ozone layer of the upper atmosphere which shields us from high-energy ultraviolet radiation of the sun. A primordial earth, covered with an oxygenless atmosphere, would have been subject to the sterilizing effect of ultraviolet radiation. If, on the other hand, there was a primordial ozone shield, then oxygen also had to be present at concentrations of at least 1-10% of the current amount.
A potentially important source of pre-biotic oxygen could have been the photo-dissociation of water by ultraviolet rays. Calculations of theoretical levels of oxygen in a primordial atmosphere range from essentially nil to 25% of present levels (11). Support for high rate of oxygen production by dissociation of water vapors comes from data collected during the Apollo 16 mission, where pictures of Earth were taken from the moon, using ultraviolet sensitive films. These pictures showed that a gigantic cloud of hydrogen, extending 40,000 miles into space, surrounded the earth. The source of this hydrogen could only be water vapor, bombarded by high-energy ultraviolet rays above the ozone layer
Scientists have examined uranium and iron-containing minerals from the earliest available sediments, hoping to learn whether the early atmosphere was oxidizing or reducing. The results were equivocal. We now believe that the existence of reduced minerals in sediments does not necessarily signify the existence of a reducing atmosphere and an oxidizing atmosphere does not always produce oxidized minerals. The relationship between a sediment and its environment cannot be established unless the actual rates of oxidation or reduction are known.
Two further observations should be made about the significance of the Miller-Urey type organic-soup-producing experiments. First, a consideration of yields. Even with the removal of products during experimentation by the use of traps, pre-biotic simulation experiments generate fairly small amounts of usable products. Assuming no destruction of molecules in the atmosphere, optimistic estimates ranged as high as 0.001 M concentration in the primitive ocean. However, when the destructive effect of ultraviolet radiation on amino acids is taken into account, the upper limit has been given at one ten millionth molar in the primitive sea, which happens to be the actual concentration of amino acids in the North Atlantic Ocean (12)!
Such low concentrations of biomonomers would have been inadequate to polymerize into macromolecules. Though it has been suggested that chemical evolution could have proceeded in smaller pools where the precursor substances would have been concentrated, there is no geologic evidence for large deposits of organic substances. Moreover, if concentration had occurred, undesirable impurities likely would also accumulate and interfere with polymerization, the next step in chemical evolution.
The second observation is that synthetic reactions outside a cell produce equal amounts of optical isomers of amino acids and sugars. Therefore the primordial ocean would have contained a racemic mixture of biomonomers. Since known biopolymers exclusively utilize only one of the two or more possible isomers in the case of sugars and amino acids, it is totally incomprehensible how such an arrangement could develop from a 50-50 mixture of optical isomers.
Thus it is highly unlikely that chemical evolution could have taken place by the organic-soup mechanism. Among the factors against this mechanism are the great likelihood of substantial oxygen content in the primitive atmosphere and the small yields of biologically significant substances which would be present as equal amounts of optical isomers.
The "volcanic rim" approach of Sidney Fox assumes a primordial earth covered with an organic soup. It addresses the next difficulty the polymerization of biomonomers by splitting out the water in an aqueous environment, which, in terms of thermodynamics, is essentially impossible! However, by postulating a heat source, he dries up the environment and succeeds in the polymerization. But Fox pays for his success dearly.
The resulting protenoids have only a superficial resemblance to true proteins, in that the resulting peptide bonds are predominantly of the beta, gamma and epsilon variety, rather than the naturally occurring alpha bonds. The amino acid sequences are generated entirely by random means, and there is no mechanism to ensure any reproducibility. If by chance a biologically useful molecule is formed, how will its subsequent production be ensured?
When protenoids cool, they form microspheres which, according to Fox, grow and divide. True growth, however, requires numerous metabolic steps and incorporation of small molecules into the polymer structure of the cell. In Fox's experiment, "growth" results from the physical attraction of opposite charges, and "budding" refers to the breaking up of microspheres due to changes in acidity or heat.
Since, according to this theory, all this is taking place on the surface of the earth, one must consider the destructive effect of ultraviolet radiation on any biologically active structure.
Clearly, the volcanic-rim theory does not advance the cause of chemical evolution, for it represents a dead-end approach to the problem.
Which came first, the chicken or the egg?
All chemical evolutionary scenarios require the pre-biotic
production of informational macromolecules. An important question to decide, however, is
which type of information biopolymer evolved first, protein or nucleic acid? Proteins are
the catalysts of biochemical processes, whereas nucleic acids contain the genetic
information for specifying the sequence of amino acids in molecules. In living matter
nucleic-acid formation occurs by enzyme catalysis, and protein synthesis is impossible
without nucleic acids. Therefore, evolutionists have to solve a puzzle which resembles the
question, "Which came first, the chicken or the egg?"
Until recently some theoreticians favored the notion that protein molecules were replicated directly in the absence of nucleic acids, until proteins "invented" nucleic acids. Others felt that nucleic acids were the first biopolymers formed, and they in turn "developed" protein synthesis. A third approach suggested that proteins and nucleic acids co-evolved independent of one another.
These alternatives do not explain satisfactorily the origins of protein and nucleic-acid duplicating systems. For this reason, the discovery that certain types of ribonucleic acids had enzymatic activity was quickly adopted into the chemical evolutionary scenario (13).
In eucaryotic cells, processing of ribonucleic acids often includes the removal of specific intervening nucleotide sequences called "introns" from the RNA molecules. It was found that the intron sequences in the ribosomal RNA of the organism Tetrahymena thermophila spliced themselves without the cooperation of any protein. Moreover, this piece of RNA molecule exhibits true enzymatic activity in that it catalyzed the sequence-specific hydrolysis of certain pieces of other RNA molecules. Introns in fungal mitochondria and in nuclear RNA of higher animals have been also found to self-splice.
Enzymatically active RNAs are called "ribozymes." Their properties combine the most desirable elements of both proteins and nucleic acids. It is not surprising that ribozymes are rapidly taking the center stage among evolutionists as potentially the most likely biomolecules to have been the precursors of living matter, or in other terms, to be both "the chicken and the egg" at the same time.
The difficulties with the ribozyme hypothesis are manifold. Before the existence of RNA in a pre-biotic environment can be postulated, a supply of ribonucleotides the monomers of RNA is needed. Pre-biotic synthesis of ribose can only occur from the polymerization of fairly high concentrations of formaldehyde (0.01 M or greater) in alkaline conditions. This reaction yields a mixture of different sugars, ribose being a minor component.
Condensation of ribose with adenine or guanine in the absence of enzymes yields a mixture of unnatural nucleosides (13). Phosphorylation of nucleosides to nucleotides under pre-biotic conditions has not been demonstrated. Condensation of ribonucleotides to oligoribonucleotides in a pre-biotic environment has difficulties similar to those found for the condensation of amino acids to form peptide bonds, with the added problem of having to form 3' to 5' phosphodiester linkages. (There are nine different ways that two ribonucleotides can be linked by a phosphodiester linkage. Only one of these linkages is 3' to 5'.)
Alternative chemical evolutionary scenarios
Some evolutionists have recognized many of the difficulties
mentioned above. They observe the high degree of complexity of contemporary organisms and
admit the seemingly impossible task of offering a plausible explanation. However, since
life is present on Earth, and some sort of mechanistic explanation for its existence is
demanded, they continue to search for satisfactory theories.
Dr. Cairns-Smith, a proponent of a new approach to the problem of chemical evolution, points to a seemingly impossible formation in nature, such as an arch of stones (Figure 2). How such an arch could have formed one stone at a time requires a great deal of explaining. But if we assume that it was the top layer of stones of a round pile, and somehow the "scaffolding" below the top layer was selectively removed, then we have a reasonable explanation.
FIGURE 2. Two possible ways to form a stone arch. A illustrates an extraordinarily fortuitous set of circumstances. B suggests how such an arch might result from the aggregation of units and subsequent removal of the underlying scaffold. This illustrates how "clay genes" might act as the scaffolding for biomolecules (arch). Figure based on Cairns-Smith (1985).
Attention is called, for example, to crystals of kaolinite (made of
layers of aluminum atoms bound in a network of oxygen and silicon atoms). In any given
region, the aluminum atoms are positioned in one of three possible arrangements. Such a
structure could hold immense amounts of information, which could even be replicated if the
relative position of the aluminum atoms is reproduced in each succeeding layer. These
structures could behave as "clay genes" which carry genetic information and
which, according to Dr. Cairns-Smith, could act as a scaffolding on which present-day
biomolecules of RNA and DNA could form (14).
The scaffold theory bypasses the nitty-gritty details of how a living cell can come into existence. It tries to show a way by which information may be transferred in the absence of a biological transfer system. It does not answer where or how the information originates, neither does it attempt to answer the most obvious question of how the process from inorganic clay to organic polymers occurs. It is essentially an armchair exercise, devoid of experimental support.
A group of evolutionists who cannot envision the evolution of living matter on Earth proposes that life evolved elsewhere in the universe and was imported accidentally or purposefully from outer space. Panspermia was proposed last century as an explanation for life after Pasteur disproved the spontaneous generation of life. It remained quite popular (15), until the organic-soup theory took over in the 1950s. With a fuller appreciation of the difficulties of the organic-soup theory, panspermia is again gaining in popularity.
This theory is essentially an admission of failure to give a convincing naturalistic account for the origin of life on Earth. It pushes the problem out of the realm of experimentation and gives up on suggesting how life could have come about.
Max Delbruck, a confirmed evolutionist, has observed:
In recent years various theories have outlined the possible connections between molecular selection, natural selection, and irreversible thermodynamics in this prebiotic biochemical trial process. While all these theories seem quite plausible and very intelligent, in my opinion they tell us very little about the origin of life. I have made it my rule not to read this literature on prebiotic evolution until someone comes up with a recipe that says 'do this and do that, and in three months, things will crawl in there.' When someone is able to create life in a shorter time than was originally taken by nature, I will once more start reading that literature (16).
Why life cannot arise spontaneously
Some general considerations take the topic of the origin of life
beyond listing various theories of chemical evolution and a discussion of their
inadequacies. First, there is the tacit assumption by evolutionists that matter possesses
some sort of internal drive which pushes it to self-organize into living structures. It is
as if molecules constituting biopolymers would confer some sort of benefit to their
There is no evidence that this is the case. Atoms and molecules respond to only one type of drive; that is, to exist in the lowest possible state of energy. Biomolecules are examples of exactly the opposite; they are complexes of atoms in a high energy state. If atoms had a choice, they would rather get out of being part of the high energy configurations called proteins and nucleic acids.
All mechanistic explanations of origins have two deficiencies. One difficulty is in explaining the source of biological information, which ultimately dictates the structure and function of biopolymers. It is clear that chance cannot provide this information.
A second consideration which renders all mechanistic explanations invalid is that life processes are non-equilibrium events. If by chance all necessary biopolymers and small metabolites could have been produced in the primordial environment, brought together and enclosed in a membrane, a non-living cell would be the result. In the very process of assembly, reactants and their catalysts would be brought together, providing opportunity for individual chemical reactions to reach equilibrium.
There is such a concentration of living organisms on Earth's surface that it is difficult to locate any area that is sterile. Obviously, life had to start somehow. The existence of a supernatural Intelligence who is capable of designing and creating the various living organisms found on Earth is inconceivable to the modern secular mind which is accustomed to explaining all phenomenon by natural processes. But this is precisely the lesson to be learned from our chemical evolutionary efforts. Our inability not only to create living matter but even to suggest how such could come into existence forces us to admit that the existence of life demands the existence of a Creator.
All contents copyright Geoscience Research Institute. All rights reserved.
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Curious about the dyscalculia testing process? Since every child learns differently, some much more adaptable to the classroom environment than others, it sure does seem strange that schools don’t educate parents on learning disabilities. They aren’t diseases, they aren’t restricted to any IQ level or social standard – they are simply differences in the way the brain works.
A simple understanding would surely ease the mind of most parents, and questions like these wouldn’t be filled with trepidation – just academic curiosity.
Fortunately there are some questions to ask that will help you figure out if you need to pursue dyscalculia testing. For instance if the student answers yes to more than half of these questions, then you should consider further testing.
- 1. After seeing a number written down, if I try to copy it I often mix up the numbers.
- 2. I have the hardest time remembering numbers – even phone numbers that I dial often.
- 3. Fractions baffle me. I don’t understand them.
- 4. I understand what odd and even numbers are, but when asked I have to think a long time to figure out which one is odd and which are even.
- 5. I mix up the math symbols quite easily. + – = X /
- 6. I find it difficult to line up math problems and even more difficult to count backwards.
- 7. And I find it hard to switch from adding to subtracting.
- 8. Finally, doing math just makes me tired.
These are the kinds of symptoms that should lead you to professional testing. Your school should be the first place you go to start the process. They may have you go to a psychiatrist or may have you tested by folks in the school system.
Some of the tests that are given include the IQ, the Wechsler and the Woodcock Johnson Scale of Cognitive Abilities. Another test often used is the Keymath Revised test. The first two are quite general and don’t necessarily provide the level of detail needed to help the student.
However, the last two tests cover 15 specific math areas. Many parents find these tests to be an eye-opener for them because they do narrow down the exact skill sets the student is having trouble with.
If you’d like to now more about the kinds of tests your school may offer, the best kinds of tests you need to make educational headway and other great ways to help kids with math troubles, please contact us. | <urn:uuid:087cd8cd-9ebd-4486-b11d-4a30c6af3662> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://drlindasblog.com/dyscalculia-testing/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783395613.65/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154955-00066-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.956033 | 523 | 3.3125 | 3 |
Thomas Seyfried PhD, a brain cancer researcher with over 25 years of experience in the field, gave a groundbreaking presentation about cancer at the Ancestral Health Symposium held at Harvard Law School this past August. The three main take-home points of his talk (spoiler alert!):
1. Cancer is not caused by genetic mutations
2. Cancer is a mitochondrial disease
3. Cancer can be treated with ketogenic diets
After attending his lecture, which challenged everything I thought I knew about cancer, I was inspired to read his new book, entitled Cancer as a Metabolic Disease: On the Origin, Management, and Prevention of Cancer. In it he lays out 400+ pages of dense scientific evidence—complete with 1,740 references, and dozens of charts, graphs and full-color glossy images to make his case. It’s a powerful and compelling argument. The book is expensive, and would be nearly impossible to understand without a strong scientific background, but the secrets inside are so important that I wanted to make them available to everyone—they simply must be shared. This series of articles is dedicated to my friends, family, colleagues, and patients who are battling cancer or who have loved ones suffering with cancer. May this information bring you hope.
This first article will focus on Dr. Seyfried’s first point—that cancer is not caused by genetic mutations.
The Gene Theory of Cancer
In case your basic biology is rusty: our genes are made of DNA; coils of coded information that tell our cells exactly how to build all the proteins they need to conduct their daily business. These blueprints have to be flexible, because cells need different proteins under different circumstances. Cells must be able to adapt to various conditions, such as stress, injury, infection, temperature changes, and food supply. So, genes contain lots of special controls that can be turned on and off, depending on what’s going on in and around the cell.
I was taught in medical school that cancer is about genes going haywire—something evil comes along, like a toxic chemical or a beam of radiation, attacks your DNA, and poof—you’ve got cancer (unless you are a cartoon character, in which case you develop superpowers). Mutant cells start dividing like crazy and taking over your body. I was also taught that the way to get rid of cancer is to flood it with toxic chemicals and radiation…hmmm…
The company line is that cancer is caused by mutations (changes) in DNA that transform healthy, well-behaved cells into reckless, ravenous, immortal renegades. These mutations hijack the set of instructions encoded in the cells’ DNA, and scientists think these mutations cause cells to go wild.
Differences between Healthy Cells and Cancer Cells
Cancer cells are very different from normal cells. They grow independently, ignoring the anti-growth signals and death cues that would normally keep healthy cells from getting out of control. Cancer cells create their own blood supply and can divide forever. Cancer cells lose many of the physical features of their mother cells; they are usually smaller, and may be disfigured or even shapeless. Sometimes they fuse with each other or with neighboring cells, creating strange hybrids. The most aggressive types of cancer cells invade local tissues and/or break loose and travel in the bloodstream to distant parts of the body (metastasize).
Hundreds of thousands of different mutations have been discovered in cancerous cells, but it is actually rare to find genetic mutations in healthy cells because healthy cells have stable DNA. DNA is the most important molecule in the body so evolution has made sure it is well-protected. The DNA of healthy cells is not fragile. It would not have survived all this time if it were. There are even “caretaker genes” that are designed to maintain and repair defects in DNA, because lots of things in the natural environment can injure DNA—even things we think of as healthy, such as sunlight and vegetables.
Cancer cells have unstable DNA, which mutates easily and is therefore constantly changing. This is why there are so many mutations found in cancer cells. This “genomic instability” is viewed as a strong suit by scientists who believe in the mutation theory. They think that the tumor cells keep mutating to improve themselves, and that the ones with the most clever mutations are the ones which survive best and reproduce best (Darwinism—survival of the fittest). They think of cancerous cells as invincible—as stronger, faster, and smarter than healthy cells. But this isn’t true.
Yes, most tumor cells are growing faster than most of their healthy neighboring cells, but this is not because they are speedier. It’s because they are unregulated. All the healthy cells around them are capable of growing just as fast, but there are checks and balances in place to prevent them from growing willy-nilly. When necessary, they can grow just as fast, if not faster than tumor cells do. For example, when the liver is injured and healthy cells need to grow rapidly to replace the injured cells, their growth rate is the same as for liver cancer cells during tumor progression.
Tumor cells are more vulnerable than healthy cells. This is actually how radiation and chemotherapy work. Radiation and chemotherapy are toxic to all cells, cancerous or not, but they are more toxic to tumor cells. If tumor cells were more robust than normal cells, these therapies would kill off all your healthy cells and only the big ugly tumor would survive. Instead, people are treated to the brink of destruction with chemicals and radiation while doctors cross their fingers hoping more tumor cells will die than healthy cells, and that patients will survive the therapy.
Fragile DNA is not flexible enough or coordinated enough to respond to challenges. It is, after all, the stability of healthy DNA that allows our cells to adapt to stressful environments. Tumor cells are also more sensitive to heat (fever) and to starvation. When the body is stressed, the tumor cells are the first ones to go. These are not supervillain clones.
Just because cancer cells have lots of mutations doesn’t necessarily mean that mutations cause cancer. Seyfried argues that mutations are just red herrings (no disrespect to the herring community intended).
Poking Holes in the Mutation Theory
The “oncogenic paradox” refers to this puzzle:
- A huge variety of things in the world—from viruses to radiation to chemicals to oxidation—can damage DNA and cause mutations. Seyfried quotes Nobel-prize winner Albert Szent-Györgyi:“…
“…it is getting more and more difficult to find something that is not carcinogenic.”
- There are hundreds of thousands of unique mutations associated with tumors. A single colon cancer cell can contain 11,000 mutations! The sheer number and type of mutations found in cancer cells are so serious that they would cause a healthy embryo to spontaneously abort, yet cancer cells somehow soldier on.
- The transformation of a healthy cell into a cancerous cell (malignant transformation) happens in the very same specific way every time.
How can all of these different and unpredictable events leading to all of those random mutations always cause exactly the same outcome? That’s like saying no matter how you attack an orc—whether you stab him in the belly with a sword, throw a rock at his head, or push him off a cliff—his left arm always falls off. Preposterous.
No specific mutation is a reliable marker for any one type of cancer.
There is not one example of a mutation that causes the same type of cancer every time. Even those mutations most strongly associated with certain cancers only cause cancer in certain people.
Cancer cells within the very same tumor can have different mutation patterns.
Mutated genes thought to be strongly associated with cancer (“oncogenes”) sometimes do promote tumor growth, but sometimes they inhibit tumor growth, and sometimes they even do both.
Transplant experiments make the strongest case.
Here’s the thing: if you transplant mutated cancer cell DNA into a healthy cell, the healthy cell almost never becomes cancerous. Only 2 out of 24 experiments were successful in transforming normal cells into cancer cells (and scientists couldn’t be sure that viral contamination wasn’t to blame). These results essentially kill the mutation theory dead on the spot.
The War on Cancer
Just think about it: if cancer is a genetic disease, based on hundreds of thousands of mutations, what are we supposed to do, create hundreds of thousands of different drugs to treat it?
President Nixon declared war on cancer 40 years ago. The mutation theory of cancer has been solidly in place and guiding research since 1981, yet despite the enormous amounts of money, time, and energy that have been poured into cancer research since, we continue to lose the war against this killer disease. Fifteen-hundred Americans die every day from cancer. Researchers now place hope in the Cancer Genome Project, which they see as the shining future of cancer treatment. They have already started using the genetic fingerprints of cancer to design expensive, high-tech drugs that specifically target the unique DNA pattern of individual cancer cells. More than 700 of these smart bombs have been developed so far, yet none of them have saved a single life. The vast majority of whatever progress we have made against cancer has been due to identification of and education about lifestyle risk factors (such as smoking), not due to advances based on genetic theories.
Seyfried argues that the reason why we are making so little progress is because we are fighting the wrong enemy. Genes, he argues, are not the enemy, and they are not in the driver’s seat. Instead, they are innocent victims of the cancer. They are damaged, destabilized, and randomly mutated by the cancerous process. But if genetic mutations do not cause cancer, what does? How do cancer cells get by with all of these mutations? What keeps them going? And what causes all of these mutations in the first place?
In the next article in the series, What Causes Cancer: Part II, I explain the role of mitochondria in our cells and the significant link between damaged mitochondria and cancer.
To read my detailed critique of the World Health Organization’s 2015 report claiming that red meat causes cancer: WHO Says Meat Causes Cancer?
Seyfried, Thomas N. Cancer as a Metabolic Disease: On the Origin, Management, and Prevention of Cancer. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley, 2012.
Tripping Over the Truth: The Return of the Metabolic Theory of Cancer Illuminates a New and Hopeful Path to a Cure by Travis Christofferson. Published in 2014. Easier to read and afford than Dr. Seyfried’s book. | <urn:uuid:60249e4d-2a6b-4f96-b5de-f320fddd5a9f> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.diagnosisdiet.com/what-causes-cancer/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783395560.14/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154955-00132-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.956052 | 2,233 | 2.53125 | 3 |
Mutual aid started spontaneously on a local level. It became a custom for groups of men to meet in the local inn for a drink on payday, and to contribute a few pence a week to a common fund. From these simple beginnings, friendly societies, trade unions, housing associations, people's banks and co-operatives were all to develop.
Rose's Act of 1793 required friendly societies to register and laid down rules for their operation. The provision made by friendly societies varied. Some were primarily burial societies, protecting the working classes against the feared pauper's funeral. Some provided for widows and children, or for sick or aged members. Some were 'collecting' societies, pre-cursors of the People's Banks. Some were 'dividing' societies that had a share-out from time to time, often at Christmas. It was almost exclusively a male movement, though there were three 'female' clubs in the villages of Cheddar, Wrington and Shipham in the 1790s. The first housing society was founded in Birmingham in 1781 and by 1874 there were some 2,000. They developed in two rather different ways:
- Housing associations that had a philanthropic element, and built for the working classes.
- Building societies that were mainly a means of investment for the middle classes.
- Many subscribers made quarterly payments -- they were not weekly wage earners. Building societies were not friendly societies and their legal position was obscure until the passing of the Building Societies Act 1836.
People's Banks grew naturally out of the collecting societies. As wages improved for some classes of skilled workers, they needed a safe place to keep their limited reserved. By the second half of the nineteenth century there were village banks and municipal banks among many other forms of savings institutions. The Post Office Savings Bank dates from 1861 -- an innovation by Sir Rowland Hill, who introduced the penny post in 1840.
The co-operative movement had its origins in the eighteenth century and in the pioneering work of Robert Owen. But the idea of linking labour directly to the sale of goods without the intervention of the capitalist class survived until in 1844 a group of flannel weavers in Rochdale set up a shop in a warehouse in Toad Lane to sell their own produce. They sold at market prices but gave members of their society a dividend on their purchases that could be reinvested. This encouraged 'moral buying as well as moral selling'. Co-operative production did not last more than a few decades but co-operative retailing flourished.
'Heaven helps those who help themselves'. Samuel Smiles announced at the beginning of Self-Help published in 1859. An example of his own philosophy, he was apprenticed to a group of medical practitioners at the age of fourteen after his father died of cholera and studied in his spare time gaining a medical diploma from Edinburgh university. He abandoned medicine, first for journalism and then for the exciting world of the developing railway system. From 1854 he managed the South-Eastern Railway from London. His experience provided Smiles with his main theme: 'The spirit of self-help is the root of all genuine growth in the individual.... help from without is often enfeebling, but help from within invariably invigorates.'
Bad luck or lack of opportunity was no excuse. There were many examples of development by men who started from humble beginnings and achieved wealth and fame: Isaac Newton, James Watt, George Stephenson, Isambard Kingdom Brunel. Smiles preached a gospel of social optimism. Self-Help was followed by a series of other books with similarly promising titles: Character , Thrift and Duty . These never achieved the overwhelming success of Self-Help and over the years the message became somewhat repetitive; but it had made its mark.
In Victorian Britain, philanthropy, mutual aid and self-help were contrasting and often competing philosophies. The three voluntary movements were in many respects complementary to one another, providing different pieces of the jigsaw of future social service provision. Philanthropy was tender-minded, stressing the extent of social misery. At worst it was patronising and snobbish, but at best, it had the merit of reaching the poorest and most disadvantaged classes in a divided society and developing a public conscience about conditions. Mutual aid was an intensely practical movement for the better-off sections of the working classes. It was not a way out of poverty, but it was a means for supporting and protecting members of society against sudden financial disaster. Self-help was tough-minded, of greatest use to the individualistic and hardworking who were prepared to strive in order to further their own ambitions.
On Smiles see the chapter in Asa Briggs Victorian People, Penguin, 1975 for a short introduction. Adrian Jarvis Samuel Smiles and the Construction of Victorian Values, Alan Sutton, 1997 considers the issue of respectability from a revisionist perspective | <urn:uuid:d6b0569b-3d50-4f22-9fcd-600b52346c30> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://richardjohnbr.blogspot.com/2008/05/voluntary-action-mutual-aid-and-self.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783393463.1/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154953-00147-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.97889 | 999 | 3.5625 | 4 |
FDA's Office of Minority Health
FDA's Office of Minority Health (OMH) helps identify agency actions that can help reduce disparities in health and health care. Read our OMH Consumer Update series to learn about:
On this page:
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is working to increase the participation of people in racial, ethnic and other minority groups in the clinical trials that test new medical products.
Why is this important?
Ensuring meaningful representation of minorities in clinical trials for regulated medical products is fundamental to FDA’s regulatory mission and public health, says Jonca Bull, M.D., director of the agency’s Office of Minority Health (OMH). Racial and ethnic minorities include African American, American Indian, Alaska Native, Asian American, Hispanic American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander communities.
OMH project manager Christine Merenda, M.P.H., R.N. explains that clinical trials are the proving ground for new drugs, vaccines and devices. They provide the data that will determine whether FDA approves a manufacturer’s application for marketing approval.
"Potential racial, ethnic and other differences in response to drugs are important to FDA’s efforts to help ensure that the safety and effectiveness of drugs are studied in all people who will use the products once they are approved," she says.
Considering Genetic Differences
Bull explains that there are biological differences in how people process drugs. For example, variations in genetic coding can make a cancer treatment more toxic in one ethnic group than it would be in another. These variations can make also make drugs like antidepressants and blood-pressure medications less effective in one group than another.
Getting more data on these differences is essential for FDA to truly know that a medical product will truly work and be safe for all patients, Bull says.
Members of minority groups may be more vulnerable to certain diseases. "We know, for example, that African-Americans and Hispanics have higher rates of diabetes, HIV/AIDS, obesity and cardiovascular disease," says Bull. Native Americans and Asians have been shown to have higher rates of hepatitis, while Hispanics are disproportionately affected by diabetes.
But historically, both women and minorities have been under-represented in clinical trials. For example, according to a 2011 report from the conference "Dialogues on Diversifying Clinical Trials," sponsored by FDA’s Office of Women’ s Health and the Society for Women’s Health Research and supported by OMH:
- African Americans represent 12% of the U.S. population but only 5% of clinical trial participants;
- Hispanics make up 16% of the population but only 1% of clinical trial participants; and
- Men make up more than two-thirds of the participants in clinical tests of cardiovascular (heart and blood vessel) devices.
At the conference, more than 200 representatives from government and industry came together with patient advocates and the scientific community to discuss strategies for increasing the participation of women and minorities in clinical trials.
Why the Disparity?
Bull says there are different reasons why minorities have been under-represented in clinical trials.
One reason may be a lack of trust because of past abuses, Bull says. One notorious example was the Tuskegee Syphilis Study, experiments conducted between 1932 and 1972 by the U.S. Public Health Service. Health officials recruited poor black sharecroppers in Alabama to study the natural progress of syphilis. However, while the study was in progress, penicillin was discovered to treat syphilis. The study was not stopped and the men were not treated with penicillin that could have cured them.
According to a recent university study, however, this attitude seems to be changing. The study was designed to learn the health concerns and research perceptions among under-represented groups. When asked about their overall interest in medical research, 91 percent of African-Americans expressed interest in participating.
Nonetheless, recruiting people to participate in clinical trials—no matter what race or ethnicity—is difficult in general, Bull notes. FDA works to protect participants in clinical trials and to ensure that people have reliable information as they decide whether to join a clinical trial.
There are many benefits to minority participation for researchers that extend, in a larger sense, to society. Minority participation helps researchers find better treatments and better ways to fight such diseases as cancer, diabetes, heart disease and HIV/AIDS. In addition, it uncovers differences by gender, race, and ethnicity that may be important for safe and effective use of therapies.
Safeguards and Resources
Safeguards for clinical trial participants include oversight by institutional review boards (IRBs), composed of at least five members, including scientists, doctors, and lay people. IRBs ensure that appropriate steps are taken to protect the rights and welfare of participants as subjects of research.
Though it’s too soon to tell, Bull says that the FDA Safety and Innovation Act (FDASIA) signed into law by President Obama in July 2012 could have a helpful effect in supporting efforts to enhance minority participation in clinical trials. FDASIA requires that FDA report to Congress by July 9, 2013 on the diversity of participants in clinical trials and the extent to which safety and effectiveness data based on such factors as sex, age, race and ethnicity are included in applications submitted to FDA.
Based on these findings, FDA and others involved in clinical research will be able to identify needs and opportunities to increase minority representation, says Bull.
In the meantime, Bull encourages consumers to take a more proactive approach. If you’re undergoing treatment and your condition is not improving, she says, you may want to talk to your health care professional about the availability of clinical trials that address your condition.
FDA also has information at fda.gov with information about participating in clinical trials and links to an array of resources. And clinicaltrials.gov is another resource from the National Institutes of Health.
This article appears on FDA's Consumer Updates page, which features the latest on all FDA-regulated products.
April 26, 2013 | <urn:uuid:6fd4eade-d247-4556-b635-f0a16f14d34b> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.fda.gov/ForConsumers/ConsumerUpdates/ucm349063.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783402479.21/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624155002-00027-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.950952 | 1,239 | 3.25 | 3 |
Thousands of people have put tiny ice sculptures on display in Birmingham to remember the men and women who made sacrifices in the First World War.
A display of around five thousand ice sculptures were melted at Chamberlain Square. Called "Minimum Monument," it is the work of Brazilian sculptor Nele Azevedo, who is presenting her work in England for the first time.
Artist Nele, seen on the right in the clip below, speaks through an interpreter as she shares her thoughts on the message behind today's event.
A harrowing account of life in the trenches during the First World War has been revealed - 100 years since they were first written.
People across the region have switched their lights off and lit candles, to honour those who fought for our freedom.
Our correspondent Steve Clamp has been researching his great grandfather who was fatally injured just days after reaching the front. | <urn:uuid:a8629ab0-421b-4ba1-a6ee-f82c5312d984> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.itv.com/news/central/update/2014-08-02/video-thousands-take-part-in-tiny-ww1-ice-sculptures-event/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783395621.98/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154955-00066-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.980307 | 177 | 2.6875 | 3 |
The Global Food Crisis
In April 2008 Josette Sheeran, executive director of the UN World Food Program, spoke publicly of a silent tsunami, “that threatens to plunge more than 100 million people on every continent into hunger…. This is the new face of hunger—the millions of people who were not in the urgent hunger category six months ago but now are.” Prices have risen rapidly for grains, rice, and maize, which are the main sustenance of poor people, accounting for 63 percent of caloric intake in low income Asian countries, half of all calories in sub-Saharan Africa, and only somewhat less in Latin America. In a large number of these poor countries, where people subsist on less than 2,200 calories a day, food imports account for a large part of their diet so higher prices and less food aid means starvation. In the U.S. Americans in 2005 spent less than one-seventh of their income on food (down from a quarter of average income in the 1960s, including food eaten out). In poor countries, however, food accounts for over one-half of the consumer price index; in places like Bangladesh and Nigeria, over two-thirds.
In early 2008 the president of the World Bank, Robert Zoellick, warned that there were at least 33 countries at risk of social unrest due to rising food prices. A look at the causes of this crisis and the purported solutions has much to tell us about what is wrong with the economic model of recent decades.
First, as noted, agribusiness globally is organized to maximize profit and there is no profit in providing food to hungry people unless someone else pays you to do it. Second, agribusiness has an incentive to take land which has fed poor people and put it into producing export crops to sell to richer people in the Global North and to the middle class in so-called “emerging markets.” Indeed we are likely to witness a significant expansion in large agribusiness production. Third, it is in the interest of agribusiness transnationals to minimize competition from other producers, including farmers in poor countries who have little economic and political clout. These trans-nationals prevail on their governments to set up favorable rules and procedures at the expense of the majority of the world’s population that strives to make a living producing food. Fourth, industrialization of food production has created an unhealthy commodity consumption pattern as manufactured food is poor in nutritional value.
Globally, food is a far more concentrated sector than one might think. A small number of huge transnationals dominate each stage of the industry, from food retailers like Wal-Mart, Ahold (the Dutch firm which in the United States owns Giant Supermarkets, Stop & Shop, and others), the French giant Carrefour (which operates in Europe, Brazil, Argentina, South America, North Africa and Asia), to the UK’s Tesco and Germany’s Metro Group, which are similarly global. The largest five U.S. food retailers had 24 percent of the market in 1997, 46 percent in 2004, and likely over half the market today. Retail concentration is far higher in Europe and the top grocery retailers are concentrating distribution globally.
Among the oligopolistic food manufacturers is Nestle—maker of Shredded Wheat, Taster’s Choice (in Argentina its coffee is Ecco; in Uruguay, El Chana; in Greece, Loumidis, and so on around the world). The list goes on, as it does for such transnational food giants as Unilever. Even companies we think of as one-trick ponies like PepsiCo own many other familiar brands, such as KFC, Taco Bell, and Pizza Hut.
Moving down the supply chain to the processors who buy and process farm output and livestock are the giants Cargill, Archer Daniels Midland (ADM), Tyson, as well as the seed and chemical companies that dominate pesticide and fertilizers sales—Monsanto, Dow, DuPont. Consider Cargill. It is the largest privately-held company in the U.S., the third largest food company in both Europe and the U.S., as well as the largest in South America and Asia, and the world’s largest grain dealer.
More than 80 percent of the corn exported from the United States is handled by three firms and two-thirds of soy beans are handled by the same three firms. In 1990 the largest 4 beef packers (Tyson, Cargill, Swift, and National Beef Packing) had among them 72 percent of daily slaughtering capacity; in 2005, 83.5 percent. In July 2008 the Brazilian beef packer JBS Swift awaited U.S. Department of Justice permission to buy National Beef Packing and Smithfield Foods beef operations. Bill Bullard of a Montana cattle group, speaking before the Senate Subcommittee on Antitrust, Competition Policy and Consumer Rights, told the legislators such an outcome would all but end competitive beef buying in the U.S. and, thus, the price the consumer pays for beef in the supermarket would grow. Pork packing concentration with 3 of the same firms in the top 4 had 34 percent of daily capacity in 1989, but 64 percent in 2005.
Large corporations such as ADM can leverage their position of power to exert pressure on smaller firms to sell on favorable terms. It can offer its distribution system and its capacity to make patents and other resources available for partnerships with producers in more competitive market segments, helping them grow in exchange for a significant share of the revenues. The strategic partnership between ADM and Novartis is such a strategic partnership, in this case with genetically modified crops. Genetically modified seed has aroused concerns about long-term health effects, impact on plant diversity, and the cost of the agricultural model on which they are premised. But genetic modification is also part of a strategy of claiming more of the growers’ value.
Traditional seed not only produces crops, but more seed of the same variety that can be used. The seed companies work hard to prevent farmers from reproducing seed to plant the following year. The answer they came up with: hybrid seed, which does not reproduce the same hybrid. The second generation loses yield and is more variable, so farmers need to purchase new seed each year. This strategy does not work for all crops and hybrid seed is not always better. Seed genetically modified to produce a crop, but not germinate, conveys something of the companies’ intent. Bioengineered seed contains traceable DNA which allows determination of the origin of a crop and allows for the enforcement of a standard contract in which the farmer signs away all property rights to the next generation. Once farmers go down this road, turning back is difficult.
Seed standardization can be a serious issue in developing countries where it can involve selling inputs suited to industrial agriculture, which are often inappropriate to small scale producers. For example, seed companies’ well-advertised and aggressively distributed products are often not as effective as traditional seed varieties, which can be cheaper and more tolerant of local conditions. But the inferior seeds are nonetheless pushed on farmers. In opposition Oxfam has held seed fairs in poor countries and offered consultation with women’s groups (women are a majority of the farmers in most countries), other farmers’ groups, and civil society organizations. On a large scale such programs could make a big difference.
This brings us to actual farming and the treatment received by farmers and the policies of governments to constrain agriculture in the Global South. The most obvious is the use of tariffs applied to agriculture, food processing, and fishing when the Global South is able to compete effectively with core producers. Some of these protective tariffs are 100 percent and cover products as varied as chocolate, meat, and milk. Developing countries have long faced tariff escalation, so that, for example, coffee, which is not produced in the North, is readily admitted, but coffee in cans faces high tariffs to protect Northern-based producers who have serious political clout with their governments (40 percent of coffee is traded by just 4 companies and 45 percent roasted by only 3 companies). Coffee prices, like most agricultural commodities, are quite volatile and when new supplies come on the market older producers face severe price declines, devastating to small producers. The amount of the supermarket price that goes to producers is a small part of the final price. This is the case for most agricultural commodities. For example, in the case of bananas, producer countries receive 12 percent and plantation workers only 2 percent of the retail price.
Indeed, rural wage workers tend to get forgotten in the discussion of food, as do the landless of the Global South who sell their labor power as best they can in a labor surplus environment. These workers desperately want their own land. In Brazil, for example, despite generations of politicians promising land reform, 1.6 percent of the land owners control close to half of the arable land (46.8 percent). Three percent owns two-thirds. In this reality the Landless Peasants Movement (MST) has peacefully occupied unused land and established cooperative farms. It has won titles for over a third of a million families. Indeed, there is a worldwide movement for a different kind of agriculture from the corporate model, suggesting a two-front conflict between peasant agriculture and agribusiness, between the small-scale producer and the giant transnational food manufacturers, and between the governments of the South and the North.
To be shipped by the huge corporate middlepeople, agricultural commodities need to be standardized and produced in volume. This favors large-scale producers in both the Global South and North. The push to specialize in a few export crops squeezes small growers who lack capital. The pattern of extreme specialization results in the importing of cheap, subsidized food staples, which has a catastrophic impact on local food producers—exacerbating rural poverty and inequality, increasing the need for foreign aid. However, such assistance is far from adequate. In money terms it is a small fraction of the agricultural support rich country governments give their agribusiness corporations to produce the food that is dumped on the markets of poor countries.
Rich countries protect their agriculture from more efficient producers in the Global South even as they offer charity to offset some of the damage their policies impose. For example, the U.S. provides aid to sub-Saharan Africa, but gives 3 times as much to its domestic cotton producers, about 10,000 of them, mostly large businesses. This lowers the global price of cotton, undercutting the incomes of ten million more efficient West African cotton farmers. It is U.S. producers who cannot compete without these enormous subsidies in global cotton markets. Such contradictory policies occur because of competing interests sharp divisions about where discussions of global problems are held. With regard to food, in one set of venues, the United Nations and international fora sponsored by agencies in the UN system, there is agreement that the right to food is inalienable. There is agreement that all people at all times should have access to sufficient, nutritious food to maintain health and activity. These are venues where expressions of high minded solidarity are added to resolutions and agendas for change. Parallel to such fora are the far more powerful global state governing institutions, such as the International Monetary Fund and the World Trade Organization, which set and enforce requirements on weaker countries to conform to the neoliberal agenda and privatization of state functions.
While agriculture was formally part of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade in 1947 (GATT), in the 1950s the United States won protection for its agricultural producers in a waiver from GATT obligations. EU countries also benefitted. They were able to expand a system of production without limit on the subsidies provided. In the new century there was the first serious effort at reforming the gross injustices of an agricultural regime that favored rich countries to the detriment of the South. Agriculture employs 70 percent of the people in the poor counties versus 4 percent in the rich ones. Having been forced to dismantle and defund programs for rural development by neoliberal commands, the expectation that the free market would replace “inefficient government interference” was frustrated. As in other areas, such as the provision of water to poor people, there was no incentive for private enterprise to serve people who could not afford to pay market prices.
The shift from small-scale farming for local markets to export-oriented agriculture favors those with capital. This plantation agriculture, however, did not create enough jobs to meet the need of displaced local producers. Additionally, a significant portion of agribusiness profits flow abroad. “Efficiency” in a labor surplus economy leaves more people worse off. In Mexico after NAFTA, for example, more than a million farmers lost their livelihoods as the country became a net importer of maize.
The rich countries continue to provide over a billion dollars a day in domestic subsidies. The total aid to farmers in developing countries is 3 percent of the direct payments to rich country farmers. A global perspective would question other subsidies that allow food to be transported great distances. It would question the cost in non-replenishable fossil fuel and calculate the costs of global warming being paid in lost agricultural production from flooding and drought. It would tally the cost to millions of Africans from climate change related to water shortages and effects on food security. In some parts of Africa by 2020 it is predicted that crop yields for rain-fed agriculture could decrease by 50 percent as a result of climate change. The legacy of the now rich countries’ past contribution to climate change makes a mockery of calls for China and India to reduce their carbon footprint along with the rich countries. It is like going to after a lavish banquet, but being served only for coffee and dessert, then being told you must pay your share of the bill for the entire meal.
Other policies of rich countries, such as subsidizing biofuels, may account for as much as 75 percent of food price increases, according to a suppressed (and then leaked) World Bank study. The Bush administration’s public figure was that ethanol had increased food prices by 3 percent. Most evaluations were closer to Lester Brown’s: “We are witnessing the beginning of one of the great tragedies of history. The United States, in a misguided effort to reduce its oil insecurity by converting grain into fuel for cars, is generating global food insecurity on a scale never seen before.” The U.S. 2007 Energy Bill mandated a five-fold increase in biofuel production by 2022 (which would then require setting aside as much as half the corn crop to this purpose). Ethanol production seemed a better solution to U.S. politicians than legislation to increase gas mileage. It had the added advantage of currying favor with voters in corn growing districts and collecting large contributions from agribusiness interests through generous subsidies that were said to “level the playing field” for this new source of fuel.
Archer Daniels Midland is the largest beneficiary of the federal ethanol subsidy and was instrumental in getting the legislation passed by contributing millions of dollars in “soft money” to Republicans and Democrats, favoring the former by a two-to-one margin. In the 1992 election cycle, to cement its ethanol subsidies, ADM was the largest donor to the Republican Party. The Gingrich-led historic retaking of the House of Representatives, long in Democratic Party control, had a great deal to do with ADM bankrolling Gingrich’s GOPAC, the nonprofit organization that paid for air travel, mail, and speech writing, among other expenses. In return the company did quite well when the Republicans swept to power. The libertarian Cato Institute declared ADM “the most prominent recipient of corporate welfare in recent U.S. history.” When an outcry at the ethanol subsidy pork barrel giveaway threatened to revoke the program, ADM was credited with bankrolling its survival. The rate of return for this investment in government policymakers was quite high. Between 1980 and 1997 ADM received over $10 billion in subsidies from tax credits. As James Bovard of Cato wrote: “Federal policy is not designed to simply ‘level the playing field,’ or even tilt the playing field in ethanol’s favor. Instead, the program amounts to nothing less than buying the entire playing field and giving the title directly to ethanol producers. Ethanol, as far as it is used for gasoline, is a political concoction.”
Over the years, whenever producers in the Global South threaten U.S. interests, Washington has interceded to protect its own, whether it is the Louisiana catfish industry telling Congress to exclude Vietnamese catfish (endangering the livelihood of 15,000 Vietnamese families who had invested their life savings in buying floating cages needed for production) or U.S. beekeepers restricting Argentina’s honey from entering the country (Argentina has become the world’s leading exporter of honey) or domestic fruit growers demanding Washington reimpose the tariff on imports of canned pears from South Africa (in violation of the African Growth and Opportunity Act). At the same time the U.S. subsidy program has grown more generous, destroying the chances of many farmers in the Global South to compete. In 2007-8, as the world food crisis emerged as a major disaster for 100 million poor people around the world and with food prices at record highs, the U.S. Congress passed what the New York Times called “a disgraceful” farm bill, the editorial writers declaring, “The bill is an inglorious piece of work tailored to the needs of big agriculture.” They noted that the bill included the usual favors like tax breaks for racehorse breeders—pushed by Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY)—costing over $300 billion at a time when net farm income was up by 50 percent.
Around the world the Europeans and Americans have forced open local markets to their heavily subsidized agriculture making life more desperate for local producers. The American Farm Bureau has been calling for trade sanctions against China unless it opens its markets to U.S. agricultural exports. Opening China’s markets to heavily subsidized farm products would have potentially catastrophic impacts on the huge number of farmers there who grow corn and wheat. China has joined the IBSA countries—India, Brazil, and South Africa—demanding an end to the subsidy-agricultural dumping pattern of rich countries, signaling a shift in power relations within the World Trade Organization and bringing the Doha Round to a standstill.
There are a number of issues that get confused in the discussion of such subsidies. Most obviously these subsidies have gone overwhelmingly to the largest agribusiness interests and have not preserved small family farms in the United States, whose number continues to decline.
Demanding the general principle of “free markets” in agriculture is another story. It would mean “accepting the elimination of billions of noncompetitive producers within the short historic time of a few decades,” as Samir Amin writes. “What will become of these billions of human beings among the poor, who feed themselves with great difficulty?” The destruction of peasant agriculture and the harm to already undernourished farm families could be addressed instead by subsidizing seed, fertilizer, extension work geared to local conditions, and addressing the bias favoring agribusiness so as to restore the possibility of food security.
What about the immediate crisis? In the short run emergency aid is needed. As the IMF’s managing director Dominique Strauss-Kahn warned in late June, some countries were at “a tipping point” because of rising food and oil prices where they will no longer be able to feed their people and maintain the stability of their economies. Similarly, Robert Zoellick, World Bank president, has made comparable appeals for greater food aid, saying in early July, “We are entering a dangerous zone” as a result of the “double jeopardy of food and duel prices…[t]hreatening to drive over a hundred million people into extreme poverty.” In June Oxfam estimated 290 million people required immediate assistance in food and cash to survive. In a briefing paper Oxfam estimated that $14.5 billion was needed immediately to help address the food crisis.
In terms of how aid should be used there is a sharp contrast between the usual formula of dumping food on local markets by giving it away, which further undermines local agriculture, and giving money so hungry people can buy food in local markets, which encourages greater production, along with aid for infrastructure to get crops to market and subsidizing fertilizer and seed. CARE has cut back free food from donor nations, which they say would undermine the prospects of countries being able to feed themselves. CARE takes a position that “local purchase is a complex undertaking. A greater understanding of local markets and potential risks and unintended consequences is necessary before engaging in local purchase on a significant scale.” In the long run it will take more than charity, which would have to be on a scale unrealistic to imagine happening.
While there is rightfully concern regarding rich country subsidies, agribusiness, like its peers in other sectors, is moving offshore and globalizing its production venues. Agribusiness looks to Brazil’s savannah where 250 million acres could be brought into export production, with another 200 million acres in Venezuela, Guyana, and Peru. Other potentially available land for major crops includes 100 million acres in the former Soviet Union and 300 million acres in sub-Saharan Africa—land that is often underutilized by subsistence farmers. How much acreage goes to the landless and how much to transnational agribusiness will be the outcome of struggle. Feeding the world will require more production in poorer countries and less food exported to them from rich ones.
The real issue is building the capacity of all countries to feed themselves, to provide food security and slow the growth of dysfunctional mega-cities in the Global South by raising living standards in the countryside, producing a more even pattern of development. It requires rejecting transnational capital’s demand for an extensive division of labor, which produces dependency on volatile international markets and exposes economies, and especially the poor, to dramatic dislocations when prices of necessities rise dramatically as they are now doing. Transnational agribusiness and industrial food producers and distributors are a powerful coalition in favor of extending the existing system.
But real change is possible and necessary. Given the existing system and the current crisis, help is needed to prevent widespread starvation. The current crisis is a human made disaster created by agribusiness’s international food regime. Rich countries need to step up and address this disaster, making good on past aid promises and facing the costs their use of fossil fuel has imposed in the consequences of global warming on the Global South, the damage of ethanol subsidies, and their agricultural policies generally.
This article is based on a talk given at the conference on “The Global Food Crisis” at the Brecht Forum, New York City, July 12, 2008. I am grateful to Fred Magdoff for pointing me to information sources and for helpful comments on earlier drafts of this essay. | <urn:uuid:e7d24f4e-73ba-43f1-874a-b7fa818e28c5> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://zcomm.org/zmagazine/the-global-food-crisis-by-william-tabb/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783395621.98/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154955-00004-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.957461 | 4,742 | 2.796875 | 3 |
Quality Assurance in Teacher Education
National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC), India
Last modified: October 24, 2006
Presentation date: 11/01/2006 2:30 PM in ST Windsor B
The importance of the Quality Indicators and their proper identification and definition assumes the greatest importance in the context of continuous improvement and quality assurance. The key dimensions that reflect quality can be translated into indicators of quality. These serve two main purposes of the institutions
1. To measure the processes and their outcomes for making necessary adjustments and changes for quality improvement of the programme.
2. As an appropriate tool for monitoring the processes for continuous learning and ongoing improvement.
The underlying value is to prompt investigations that in turn provide insights into the quality provision of the institution and its programmes leading to continuous improvement. Some of the aspects necessary for effectively putting to use these quality indicators for ongoing improvement of the teacher education programme such as: how they can be used to measure multiple factors, use multiple techniques, involve people from all levels and units, Integrate the information from related indicators to provide complete picture of the institution, , adequate education and training to the members of the institution for identifying and using indicators are some of the issues which will be covered in this brief session.
The quality indicators are expected to be tools that prompt additional inquiry and data/information for making necessary adjustments for continuous improvement. The approach is not for definitive judgments on quality and student development. The information and data on each indicator would help institution standardize data on relevant areas of improvement, thereby providing a base for future plans through stratification and necessary adjustments in the processes. Comparing and contrasting using the data/information across the institution and with other providers will help in effectively ranking those aspects of teacher education that have a potential for improvement
The tools and approaches to translate the key quality aspects of the teacher education programmes into quality indicators would be discussed. As some of the indicators are interpreted as the areas, activities or processes on which evidence need to be collected through interviews, feedback sessions, interactions or validation of documented information, an orientation for the application and use of multiple techniques for using the quality indicators will be built into one of the sessions.
Finally a feasible approach for carrying out a self-assessment of the teacher education programme would be discussed and evolved for adoption and trying out. | <urn:uuid:4802e795-b90e-49c6-b98e-b92bd3226a51> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://pcf4.dec.uwi.edu/viewabstract.php?id=443 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783395613.65/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154955-00173-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.909626 | 470 | 2.828125 | 3 |
Stedman and Hutchinson, comps. A Library of American Literature: An Anthology in Eleven Volumes. 1891. Vol. IV: Literature of the Republic, Part I., Constitutional period, 17881820
The Grievances Which Led to Shayss Rebellion
By George Richards Minot (17581802)
[Born in Boston, Mass., 1758. Died there, 1802. The History of the Insurrections in Massachusetts in the Year MDCCLXXXVI.1788.]
FROM the short view which we have taken of the affairs of the Commonwealth, sufficient causes appear, to account for the commotions which ensued. A heavy debt lying on the State, added to burdens of the same nature upon almost every incorporation within it; a decline, or rather an extinction, of public credit; a relaxation of manners, and a free use of foreign luxuries; a decay of trade and manufactures, with a prevailing scarcity of money; and, above all, individuals involved in debt to each other, are evils which leave us under no necessity of searching further for the reasons of the insurrections which took place. We ought not to be surprised to find the people, who but a few years before, upon the abolition of royal government among them, exhibited a most striking example of voluntary submission to a feeble authority, now driven into a confusion of affairs, common to all countries, but most so, perhaps, to those who have shown the strongest ardor in pursuit of freedom.
The long restraints, which the confusion of war had laid upon the administration of justice in private cases, occasioned a very rapid increase of civil actions, when those restraints were removed. This circumstance gave employment to the practitioners at the bar, and increased their numbers beyond what had been usual in the State. The profession naturally became a subject of observation; and, at length, was generally spoken of as an object of reform. Advantage was taken of the prevailing jealousy against lawyers; and unfortunately, a prelude to the insurrections was framed out of it. Inflammatory writings were inserted in the newspapers, to excite an idea, in the minds of the people, that the burdens which they labored under were occasioned by the abuses of this profession: and a doctrine was particularly insisted on in one of them, that this class of men ought to be abolished. The electors were therefore conjured to leave them out of public office, and to instruct their representatives, then about to be chosen for the year 1786, to annihilate them. This idea communicated itself from very natural causes. The lawyers were odious to debtors as the legal instruments of their distresses. They were also intimately connected with the courts of justice, and, in a great measure, under their control: a clamor against the one, therefore, was a kind of impeachment of the other. The transition from the servants of the courts, to the courts themselves, being easy and direct, the cry, of course, was received and spread with avidity, by those whose intentions were directed at the administration of justice in general. The flame pervaded the greatest part of the Commonwealth. The lawyers, in most instances, were excluded from the House of Representatives. Among other towns, the capital filled the seat which she had from ancient times reserved for one of this profession,the seat where Pratt, Thacher, Otis, and Adams, had drawn admiration and love from the public eye,with a gentleman of a less unpopular calling. When the assembly met, their zeal was kindled from the people. This was first evidenced by their elections in filling up the vacancies in Senate. Preference was given to some characters, which could not be accounted for on any other grounds, than that of their fellow candidates being practitioners of the law. As soon as business came forward, an emulation was shown to be foremost in correcting abuses which occupied so large a share of the public attention. Various instances were adduced, wherein the principles of the fee bill, from the local circumstances of the parties, operated to distress them; and much was said to convince the House that these distresses had been greatly increased by the exorbitant fees of attorneys. After many warm altercations upon this subject, the House, with a view of reducing the exactions and influence of the regular practitioners, at length passed a bill to admit all persons of a moral character into the practice of the law, before the Judicial Courts; to fix the fees of attorneys; to provide for their taking an oath previously to their pleading, in every cause, that they would not receive more than lawful fees of their employers; and to restrain the practice of champerty. But, when this bill was sent up, the Senate, desirous of a further consideration of the subject, took measures for examining it in the recess, and referred their decision to their next assembling. | <urn:uuid:7fa40e88-ed46-453a-9247-05f517ff87aa> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.bartleby.com/400/prose/642.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783397695.90/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154957-00065-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.982049 | 995 | 2.671875 | 3 |
Doctors, public health experts and women's rights organizations are concerned that the strongly suspected link between the Zika virus and microcephaly, a fetal deformity resulting in a shrunken head and a damaged brain, will cause women in the Americas to seek illegal abortions.
Some countries in Latin America have opted to advise women to delay becoming pregnant, rather than make abortions more readily available.
Poor women in these countries have little access to family planning and many cannot even afford to buy insect repellent to help avoid the mosquito-borne virus.
The virus has mainly hit Brazil, a predominately Catholic country. Botched abortions in clandestine clinics are already a major cause of maternal death in Brazil.
Infographic: Areas With Active Zika Virus Transmission
Daniel Becker, a pediatrician and a public health expert in Rio de Janeiro told Reuters, "Zika is a health catastrophe and a terrifying menace for pregnant women. People will look for an abortion."
The World Health Organization is holding an emergency meeting Monday to to decide whether the Zika threat should be rated a global health crisis.
The link between Zika and microcephaly is strongly suspected but has not been definitively proven. The cause of the deformity is under investigation.
In Brazil, the incidence of the normally rare birth defect is now 10 times higher than normal.
There is no vaccine for Zika.
"The real problem is that trying to develop a vaccine that would have to be tested on pregnant women is a practical and ethical nightmare," Mike Turner, head of infection and immunobiology at the Wellcome Trust, told The Guardian newspaper.
The WHO, U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the Pan American Health Organization warn the Zika virus is spreading rapidly through the Americas and could affect as many as 4 million people.
Dr. Peter Hotez told the Examiner newspaper that the Zika outbreak in Brazil poses a "far greater threat to the United States than Ebola," A Zika outbreak has "never been seen on this scale," Hotez said, despite its prevalence in Africa, Asia and the Pacific islands.
Zika is a viral illness spread from human to human through the bite of a mosquito.
Two species of mosquito are known to carry the virus, the Yellow Fever mosquito and the Asian Tiger mosquito.
Both species are found throughout most of the Americas.
The Yellow Fever mosquito can be found along the Gulf Coast of the United States while the Asian Tiger mosquito can be found as far north as New York City.
Health authorities in several Asian countries have advised travelers, particularly pregnant women, to avoid trips to Central and South America.
A Colombian health worker gives travellers information on how to prevent the spread of the Zika virus, at the main bus terminal in Bogota, Colombia, Jan. 31, 2016.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention also has warned pregnant women against traveling to areas with Zika virus outbreaks.
They have asked people coming or returning from those areas, who display symptoms such as fever and rashes to immediately report to health centers. Doctors are also required to immediately report suspected cases.
Faced with the Zika outbreak, the presidents of the United States and Brazil have agreed on "the importance of collaborative efforts" to combat its spread.
Barack Obama and Dilma Rouseff recognize the significance of working together "to deepen our knowledge, advance research, and accelerate work to develop better vaccines and other technologies to control the virus," the White House said.
In the meantime, Brazil has turned to a British company, Oxitec, for help. According to The New York Times, Brazil recently approved the release of multiple groups of genetically modified Aedes Aegypti mosquitoes, created by Oxitec, throughout the country.
The idea behind the release of the mosquitos is for the mature modified males to mate with females.
Their offspring who inherited the modified gene would die, causing the mosquito population to dwindle and, hopefully, lower the threat of the disease.
The WHO says the virus has grown rapidly to a public-health threat of "alarming proportions."
Julius Lutwana, a virologist at the Uganda Virus Research Institute, told VOA Zika was long thought to pose only a small risk to humans.
The WHO says people with the Zika virus have a mild fever, skin rash and conjunctivitis (red eye), with symptoms lasting between two to seven days. The best prevention against Zika virus, experts say, is protection against mosquito bites.
Outbreaks in Brazil, which reported its first Zika case in 2015, and elsewhere in southern and Central America have led to extensive spraying of insecticides to eradicate mosquitoes.
The WHO's regional office in the Americas said the most effective ways to stop the virus from spreading are to reduce mosquito breeding sites and for people to protect themselves from bites with insect repellent, nets, screens and clothing that covers as much of the body as possible.
WATCH: Related video on Zika virus | <urn:uuid:8b709c0d-06cf-49c2-8238-aabb351c7eee> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.voanews.com/content/zika-virus-could-cause-spike-in-illegal-abortions/3171261.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783404826.94/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624155004-00063-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.955984 | 1,014 | 2.828125 | 3 |
Garden cress also called broadleaf cress–and other cresses: curly cress and watercress–are quick growing cool-weather vegetables. Sow cress in the garden early in spring, as early as 4 or 6 before the last frost, or grow cress indoors year round. Cress is quick growing from seed; it will be ready for harvest 15 to 20 days after sowing. Sow successive crops until mid summer. Sow cress again in early autumn for autumn and winter harvest.
Description. There are several types of cress:
• Garden cress (Lepidium sativum), also called broadleaf cress, has flat, bright green leaves to 4 inches long and 2 inches wide. Garden cress, a biennial, is also called peppergrass, pepper cress, and mustard cress. Golden-leafed broadleaf cress is sometimes called Australian cress. Garden cress is an annual that thrives in damp soil.
• Curly cress (Barbarea vernapraecox), also called cresson, early winter cress, or Upland cress, has finely divided leaves resembling parsley or chervil atop thin, branching stems. Curly cress is dark green and is also called curled cress, curlicress, fine curled cress, moss curled cress, and extra-curled cress. Curly cress is a biennial that thrives in damp soil.
• Watercress (Rorippa nasturtium-aquaticum) is a trailing annual usually grown in water. Grow watercress indoors in pot set in a tray of water or along the side of a stream or watercourse. Watercress is an annual which grows in soil in gently running water.
Cresses grow easily from seed and also can be propagated from stem-pieces or cuttings. Cress will sprout on water-soaked paper towels or cotton.
Yield. Grow 1 plant of each cress per household member. Plant successive crops every 2 weeks for a continuous harvest.
Site. Plant cress in shade or semi shade. Grow garden cress and curly cress in moist but well-drained sandy loam. Grow watercress in a container of compost-rich, sandy soil submerged in running water. Cress prefers a soil pH of 6.0 to 6.8.
Planting time. Cresses are cool-weather annuals. Sow cress in the garden early in spring, as early as 4 or 6 before the last frost, or grow cress indoors year round. Cress will germinate in about 14 days at 45°F. Garden cress is quick growing from seed; it will be ready for harvest 15 to 20 days after sowing. Curly cress requires 40 to 50 days to reach maturity but harvest can begin 15 days after sowing. Watercress requires 55 to 70 days to reach maturity but runner tips can be pinched off for use 15 to 20 days after sowing. Sow cress every 10 days for a continuous harvest through midsummer. Cress can become pungent and inedible in hot weather. Plant cress in late summer for an autumn and winter harvest.
Planting and spacing. Sow garden cress and curly cress seed ¼ inch deep; sow seed thickly in wide rows; thin successful seedlings to 6 inches apart. Space rows 18 to 24 inches apart. Sow successive crops every 10 to 14 days. Grow watercress in submerged containers. Pinch back cress to keep it manageable.
Water and feeding. Cress requires even moisture. Do not let roots dry out. Grow watercress in gently running water. Grow cress in soil rich in aged compost.
Companion plants. Bunching onions, chives, peppermint, spearmint, and wintergreen. Cress can be inter-planted with other small crops.
Care. Keep soil weed free. Avoid growing cress in direct sun. Pinch cress back to promote new foliage.
Container growing. Garden cress and curly can be grown in containers, pots and boxes. Sow seeds thickly; cress is not bothered by overcrowding. Garden cress can be grown indoors on a windowsill. Use a container with good bottom drainage. Keep the soil moist.
Pests. Cress has no serious pest problems.
Diseases. Cress has no serious disease problems.
Harvest. Cut or pinch out cress tips as needed, cut-and-come-again. Begin cutting plants when they reach 3 to 4 inches tall. Plants cut back to ½ inch will quickly regrow. Cress is most tender at the early seed-leaf stage; harvest cress well before it matures. Sprouts can also be used fresh.
Storing and preserving. Cress will keep in the refrigerator up to one week. Seeds can be sprouted.
Common name. Cress, garden cress, broadleaf cress, peppergrass, pepper cress, mustard cress
Botanical name. Lepidium sativum
Common name. Curly cress, cresson, early winter cress, Upland cress, curled cress, curlicress, fine curled cress, moss curled cress, extra-curled cress.
Botanical name. Barbarea vernapraecox
Common name. Watercress
Botanical name. Rorippa nasturtium-aquaticum | <urn:uuid:f2a95acf-11af-46b8-9aab-10311fe0ac55> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.harvesttotable.com/2009/04/how_to_grow_cress/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783398075.47/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154958-00107-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.918781 | 1,156 | 3.25 | 3 |
Sample Camping in Acadia National Park Worksheet
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Camping in Acadia National Park
By Phyllis Naegeli
1 "We're finally here!" exclaimed Sara from the back seat of the car.
2 Michael heaved a sigh of relief. The trip had been a long one, but as he looked around, Michael felt it was worth the drive. The van pulled into the campsite they would call home for the weekend, and the family stepped out of the car and stretched. They breathed in the fresh ocean air and looked up at the tall white pine trees surrounding their campsite.
3 Dad stepped to the back of the van and started to unload the equipment they would need. He handed Michael a rake and said, "Do you see that flat area over there?" Michael looked over to where Dad pointed and nodded his head in agreement. "Please take this rake and go clear off any debris. That's where we will set up the tent."
4 "O.K.," said Michael, and he headed off to his assignment.
5 Dad pulled the tent and tarps out of the back of the van. Heading over to the area he had chosen, he and Michael proceeded to set up the tent. Sara helped Mom take the rest of the camping equipment out of the van. After clearing off the pine needles, they set down the first load and headed back for more. Before long, Dad and Michael had the tent set up and a tarp over the picnic table. Sara and Mom had the rest of the campsite organized and ready for the weekend.
6 Sara sat down and asked, "Now what?"
7 Mom grinned and looked at Dad, who grinned back.
8 Michael looked over at them and asked, "Do you two have something planned?"
9 "As a matter of fact, we do," said Dad.
10 Mom pulled an envelope out of a box on the picnic table. "We have a scavenger hunt for you to do over the next few days. We will be hiking through the park, and we've put together a list of Maine state symbols for you to find. We thought it would be fun and help you complete your school project on Maine," said Mom.
11 Michael and Sara were twins and both in the fourth grade. This year they would have to complete a study of the state of Maine. As usual, Mom and Dad were ready to help!
Paragraphs 12 to 36:
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Copyright © 2016 edHelper | <urn:uuid:c70066ba-0d2f-424f-a45d-d2da28550b14> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.edhelper.com/ReadingComprehension_Geography_16_1.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783408840.13/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624155008-00179-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.963428 | 568 | 3.578125 | 4 |
The PanCareLIFE Project
Survival rates after childhood cancer now reach nearly 80% in developed European countries as a result of more effective therapies and better supportive care, leading to a steady increase in the number of survivors in the population.
Impact of Treatment
However, the treatments that have improved survival are harsh and cause serious side-effects that can greatly impact survivors’ quality of life in the long term.
The Goal of PanCareLIFE
The goal of PanCareLIFE is that survivors of cancer diagnosed before age 25 should enjoy the same quality of life and opportunities as their peers who have not had cancer. | <urn:uuid:db8ba13a-e112-41c0-b875-4a659e1e5f2c> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.pancarelife.eu/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783400572.45/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624155000-00189-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.949525 | 128 | 2.984375 | 3 |
|MadSci Network: Chemistry|
Claire, Thank you for your very good question. As you know, air is a mixture of gases, principally nitrogen and oxygen. Gases, along with liquids, are referred to as 'fluids'. In physics, the study of the pressure exerted by fluids which are not moving is called hydrostatics. As for pressure itself, the definition is fairly straightforward: Pressure is force per unit area, P = F/A. The pressure exerted by the atmosphere is considerable. Standard pressure is 14.7 lbs/in2 (psi). This is equivalent to 1 atmosphere = 760.0 mm Hg = 101, 325 pascals (Pa) = 29.92 in Hg. This pressure would support a column of water 10.3 meters or 33.8 feet in height! Even though I have used this demonstration for years, your question caused me to re-visit the fundamentals of hydrostatics and this particular demonstration. We teachers tend to go on auto-pilot sometimes and don't think! Only when we have a student who is willing to question are we forced back to the "books". In this case, back to the "lab" (my kitchen sink!). I tried several vessels (vial, drinking glass, and an orange juice storage jar) filled with water, somewhere between half-filled and filled, approximately half-filled, less than half-filled and "empty", and "empty". I also used an index card in one set of trials and a cardboard square in a second set (excluding the vial). Further, I turned the vessels mouth downward and slowly through all angles from mouth downward to mouth upward. From my "experiments", I conclude that the pressure in the vessels regardless of the position was always less than the pressure outside the vessels as the index card/cardboard square stayed put [the cardboard square did come off once in the mouthdown position, but it was a water leak problem]. So, it would seem to me that the outside air pressure is greater than the pressure exerted by a vessel [at least up to a liter in volume] filled with water or water and air in any proportion. After the "experiment", I then looked at some references: [Arthur Beiser, Ph. D., APPLIED PHYSICS, 3rd Ed., p. 194, Schaum's Outline Series/McGraw-Hill, Inc., New York, 1995.] Dr. Beiser gives the following summary about the pressure in a fluid: "(1) The forces that a fluid exerts on the walls of its container, and those that the walls exert on the fluid, always act perpendicular to the walls; (2) The force exerted by the pressure in a fluid is the same in all directions at a given depth; (3) An external pressure exerted on a fluid is transmitted uniformly throughout the fluid. This does not mean that pressures in a fluid are the same everywhere, because the weight of the fluid itself exerts pressures that increase with increasing depth. The pressure at a depth h in a fluid of density d due to the weight of fluid above is p = dgh. Hence the total pressure at that depth is p = p (external) + dgh. When a body of fluid is in an OPEN container, that atmosphere exerts an external pressure on it." [Alvin Halpern, Ph. D., BEGINNING PHYSICS I, p. 337, Schaum's Outline Series/McGraw-Hill, Inc., New York, 1995.] Dr. Halpern makes these statements which seem relevant to your question: "The pressure exerted by the air at any given location is directly due to the bombardment of molecules and not directly due to the push of the air from above. This can be seen by considering an empty paper cup sitting on a table. If a steel plate is put across the top of the cup, there is no contact between the air above the cup and the air in the cup. Yet, the pressure of the air in the cup remains the same (otherwise the sides of the cup would get crushed in by the pressure of the air outside)." In summary, I would say continue to question. Use caution in drawing a conclusion from one experiment, but do multiple trials and variations. I hope the answer helped. Keep up the good work!
Try the links in the MadSci Library for more information on Chemistry. | <urn:uuid:b7684f5c-1a3b-48cf-9f51-1248f0ca771f> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.madsci.org/posts/archives/2001-05/989261097.Ch.r.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783396029.85/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154956-00015-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.948382 | 907 | 3.6875 | 4 |
There have been many studies that have demonstrated links between excessive childhood screen time and negative outcomes including attention problems and aggression. Most of them imply causation but generally can’t prove it because the studies don’t measure child behavior before the screen time occurs. Yes playing Minecraft for 6 hours per day might cause problems, but it could also be true that kids whose have attention problems are drawn more to the bells and whistles of video games. A recent study published in the journal Pediatrics examined this question in relation to poor infant self-regulation and media usage at age 2.
The study comes from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study – Birth Cohort and included 7450 children from the community, oversampled for higher rates of ethnic minorities. Infants were assessed for the regulatory abilities at an age of 9 months using a shortened version of the Infant Toddlers Symptom Checklist. Items involving fussiness, needing constant attention, and sleep problems loaded onto the overall score of regulation problems. Media usage was measured at age 2 by simply asking caregivers about average media use. Regression analyses were performed to examine the link between infant regulatory abilities and media use, controlling for other potential confounds. The authors examined the data both quantitatively (i.e. using the actual numbers of media time) and categorically dividing toddlers into groups that watched more or less than 2 hours per day (based on the AAP guidelines of two hours per day maximum of screen time).
Overall, a small but statistically significant link was found between infant regulatory abilities and age-two media use. The analyses showed that children with poorer regulatory skills (which was about 39% of the sample) consumed approximately 14 more minutes (9 minutes when adjusted for other variables) of media per day than those with good regulatory skills. At age 2, children averaged about 2.3 hours of media use per day with 40% of the sample going above the recommended 2 hours per day. The association between dysregulation and media use was stronger for children who remained dysregulated at age 2 and for children from English speaking and lower SES families.
The authors’ conclusions were somewhat unexpected. Despite showing evidence that dsyregulation might be a cause rather than a result of media use, the authors argued that the amount of use associated with infant dysregulation was too small to account for the finding from other studies that excessive screen time is linked to negative child behavior. They cautioned about a cycle in which fussier infants are more likely to be placed in front of screens (to give parents a break or occupy them in a safe place) which then in turn exposes them to the negative effects of increased screen time and thus reinforces the initial problem. While this is certainly a plausible hypothesis, it requires a study that assesses child behavior, parent behavior, and screen time at multiple time points. We are still waiting for that one, as far as I know.
Radesky JS, et al. Infant Self-Regulation and Early Childhood Media Exposure. Pediatric; online publication April 14, 2014 | <urn:uuid:547a3b13-4897-4b81-8545-4f2647ba62d8> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://blog.uvm.edu/drettew/2014/06/02/behavior-problems-and-screen-time-what-causes-what/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783396887.54/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154956-00136-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.95824 | 614 | 3.359375 | 3 |
Merrimack Station is a coal-fired power station owned and operated by Public Service Company of New Hampshire (PSCNH), a subsidiary of Northeast Utilities, near Bow, New Hampshire. One unit of the plant was built in 1960, the other in 1968. In 2008, the future of the plant became the subject of controversy when PSCNH revealed in August that the projected cost of new mercury-control scrubbers had increased from $250 million to $457 million. The scrubbers would reduce mercury emissions by 80 percent.
- 1 Plant Data
- 2 Emissions Data
- 3 Death and disease attributable to fine particle pollution from Merrimack
- 4 Coal Sources
- 5 Reducing Air Pollution Emissions
- 6 EPA requests emission data
- 7 Coal Train Derailment, November 2009
- 8 Citizen Groups
- 9 Articles and Resources
- Owner: Public Service Company of New Hampshire
- Parent Company: Northeast Utilities
- Plant Nameplate Capacity: 459 MW (Megawatts)
- Units and In-Service Dates: 114 MW (1960), 346 MW (1968)
- Location: 97 River Rd., Bow, NH 03304
- GPS Coordinates: 43.140833, -71.46777
- Coal Consumption:
- Coal Source:
- Number of Employees:
- 2006 CO2 Emissions: 3,530,530 tons
- 2006 SO2 Emissions: 32,726 tons
- 2006 SO2 Emissions per MWh:
- 2006 NOx Emissions: 4,966 tons
- 2005 Mercury Emissions: 130 lb.
Death and disease attributable to fine particle pollution from Merrimack
In 2010, Abt Associates issued a study commissioned by the Clean Air Task Force, a nonprofit research and advocacy organization, quantifying the deaths and other health effects attributable to fine particle pollution from coal-fired power plants. Fine particle pollution consists of a complex mixture of soot, heavy metals, sulfur dioxide, and nitrogen oxides. Among these particles, the most dangerous are those less than 2.5 microns in diameter, which are so tiny that they can evade the lung's natural defenses, enter the bloodstream, and be transported to vital organs. Impacts are especially severe among the elderly, children, and those with respiratory disease. The study found that over 13,000 deaths and tens of thousands of cases of chronic bronchitis, acute bronchitis, asthma, congestive heart failure, acute myocardial infarction, dysrhythmia, ischemic heart disease, chronic lung disease, and pneumonia each year are attributable to fine particle pollution from U.S. coal plant emissions. These deaths and illnesses are major examples of coal's external costs, i.e. uncompensated harms inflicted upon the public at large. Low-income and minority populations are disproportionately impacted as well, due to the tendency of companies to avoid locating power plants upwind of affluent communities. To monetize the health impact of fine particle pollution from each coal plant, Abt assigned a value of $7,300,000 to each 2010 mortality, based on a range of government and private studies. Valuations of illnesses ranged from $52 for an asthma episode to $440,000 for a case of chronic bronchitis.
Table 1: Death and disease attributable to fine particle pollution from Merrimack Station
|Type of Impact||Annual Incidence||Valuation|
|Asthma ER visits||2||<$1,000|
Source: "Find Your Risk from Power Plant Pollution," Clean Air Task Force interactive table, accessed March 2011
- Colombia: 157,200 tons, or 28.57% of the coal burned in 2008
- Greene, PA: 232,150 tons, or 43.44%
- Buchanan, VA: 8,030 tons, or 1.5%
- Marion, WV: 49,050 tons, or 9.18%
- McDowell, WV: 31,730 tons, or 5.94%
- Monongalia, WV: 60,760 tons, or 11.37%
- West Virginia total: 141,540 tons, or 26.48%
Colombian Coal and Human Rights Violations
Colombia's coal mines, like many industries in the country, are filled with stories of displacement and terror. A number of entire communities in the coalfields have been displaced, including Tabaco, a 700-person Afro-Colombian village that was razed in 2001. People living near the coalfields have faced malnutrition, diseases such as ringworm, and restricted access to land since the large mines opened up.
The Drummond Company (operator of la Loma mine in Colombia) has been the subject of numerous lawsuits regarding the murders of 70 union miners and railroad workers, collectively. The murdered Colombians were killed by the notorious paramilitary group, United Self Defense Forces of Colombia (AUC), which had been hired by Drummond to act as security. In addition to those killed, a lawsuit against Drummond describes "how hundreds of men, women, and children were terrorized in their homes, on their way to and from work… innocent people killed in or near their homes or kidnapped to never to return home, their spouses and children being beaten and tied up, and people being pulled off buses and summarily executed on the spot."
Reducing Air Pollution Emissions
In 2006, Governor Lynch signed legislation that requires all New Hampshire coal-fired power plants are required to reduce mercury emissions by 80 percent. The legislation states that the Public Service Company of New Hampshire Merrimack station has to reduce mercury using a wet flue gas desulphurization (FGD), or scrubber, system by 2013. The company is not allowed to purchase mercury credits or allowances in place of a scrubbers. The scrubber system is also expected to reduce sulfur dioxide, sulfur trioxide, and small particulate matter, as well as increase area visibility.
PSNH had until June 8, 2007 to file an application for a Temporary Permit for a flue gas desulphurization system with the New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services (DES) Air Resources Division. On June 6, 2007, PSNH filed their application for the Temporary Permit; additional information was added to their application on September 4, 2007, April 17, 2008, October 24, 2008, November 21, 2008, and December 11, 2008. On December 11, 2008, an announcement of a public hearing and request for public comments was published in the "Concord Monitor". The same announcement was published in the New Hampshire "Union Leader". The public hearing was held on January 15, 2009 and public comments were accepted until January 23, 2009.
On March 9, 2009, the Department of Environmental Services issued the final Temporary Permit for the limestone-based FGD system. The permit expires on September 30, 2010. The DES also released a Findings of Fact and Director's decision document, which contains responses to comments submitted during the winter 2008/2009 comment period. The comments are grouped into the following categories: public health, project cost, federal New Sources Review Program Requirements, future state and/or federal rules, proposed sulfur dioxide emission limits and Regional Haze Requirements, alternative operation scenarios, procedural issues on the DES's Review of the Permit Application, and the Title V Permit.
An ad hoc group of 24 businesses, led by Stonyfield Farms CEO Gary Hirshberg and including inventor Dean Kammen and Timberland President Jeffrey Schwartz, petitioned the state to reconsider the scrubbers. The group adopted the name 21st Century New Hampshire.
Energy analyst Symbiotic Strategies LLC made an assessment of the future costs to comply with increased greenhouse gas, mercury and other requirements. It came up with an additional cost of between $864 million and $2.5 billion. The impact on ratepayers would be three to six times higher than PSNH's estimated increase of one-third of a cent per kWh for the scrubber project, according to the analysis.
On March 13, 2009, the New Hampshire Senate Energy, Environment and Economic Development Committee held a hearing on SB-152, the "Mercury Reduction and Ratepayer Protection Act." The bill that would order a review of the scrubbers. About 150 trade union members attended the hearing wearing T-Shirts that said "Don’t scrub my job." Environmentalists supported the study, as did Hirschberg's businesses coalition. Several speakers said Merrimack Station should be closed. Representatives of the Concord and Nashua chambers of commerce testified against the bill, as did labor groups and officials from Bow, Hooksett and Manchester.
In November, 2009, the State Evaluation Committee voted 5-4 against reconsidering its approval of the scrubber retrofit, denying requests from from a group of businesses and power producers - including PSNH competitors, the Conservation Law Foundation, The Union of Concerned Scientists and the Campaign for Ratepayer Rights - that challenged the board's assessment that the 445-foot smokestack was not a "sizable" addition. The committee also rejected by 1 6-3 vote a petition from a citizens group of nearly 160 residents in neighboring towns, including Pembroke, Allenstown, Hopkinton, Dunbarton and Hooksett, which argued that the stack would decrease home values in sight of it, increase rates to the utility's customers and potentially contaminate the Merrimack River with mercury waste.
EPA requests emission data
In May 2009, the Environmental Protection Agency requested emission data on Public Service of New Hampshire's coal-fired power plants in Bow and Newington, NH. The EPA is looking for data on finances on upgrades to the plants since 2000. The request is not related to controversy over the Bow plant's scrubber project, but "part of a national initiative to investigate coal plants and whether they have complied with federal laws that require any new or expanded sources of pollution to be thoroughly reviewed." However, EPA investigator Greg Dain said that "information the agency gathers could answer some of the questions that PSNH's challengers are asking." PSNH was given until July 20, 2009 to submit information on the Bow plant and until September 20, 2009 for the Newington plant.
Coal Train Derailment, November 2009
Late in the morning of November 17, 2009 in Nashua, New Hampshire, seven cars of an 87-car train derailed. Three of the cars toppled over, spilling about 300 tons of coal, while four cars remained standing upright. The train was traveling on Pan Am tracks to deliver coal to the Merrimack Station. According to the Nashua Telegraph, "The trains carrying coal to Merrimack Station make up a significant portion of the state’s freight rail traffic. It takes more than 100 trains similar to the one that derailed Tuesday to provide the power plant with its coal each year, although not all of those run through Nashua."
- 21st Century New Hampshire
- Carbon Action Alliance is a grassroots organization committed to addressing Global Warming by closing coal-fired electricity plants in New England.
- Environment New Hampshire
Articles and Resources
- Stacy Morford, "Survival Strategy for an Aging Coal Plant," Climate Progress, March 5, 2009.
- "The Toll from Coal: An Updated Assessment of Death and Disease from America's Dirtiest Energy Source," Clean Air Task Force, September 2010.
- "Technical Support Document for the Powerplant Impact Estimator Software Tool," Prepared for the Clean Air Task Force by Abt Associates, July 2010
- "New England power plants that use coal and where the coal comes from", Appalachian Voices, accessed March 30, 2009.
- "What's my connection?", ilovemountains.org website, Accessed March 2010.
- Aviva Chomsky, "The dirty story behind local energy", "The Boston Phoenix", October 1, 2007.
- International Rights Advocates, "Juan Aquas Romero, et al. v. Drummond Company Inc., et al.", Plaintiff's Opening Brief, December 11, 2007.
- "Federal lawsuit alleges U.S. mining company Drummond paid millions to Colombian paramilitary terrorists who killed 67; including "execution" of union leaders", "Reuters", May 28, 2009.
- "Children of slain Colombian coal miners sue Drummond Co. in Birmingham federal court", "Birmingham News", March 20, 2009.
- "Title X Public Health Chapter 125-O:11 Multiple Pollutant Reduction Program: Mercury Emissions," New Hampshire, effective June 8, 2006.
- "Findings of fact and Director's decision", State of New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services (DES) Air Resources Division, accessed April 28, 2009.
- "Temporary Permit", State of New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services Air Resources Division, March 9, 2009.
- "DES issues temporary permit for PSNH Merrimack Station flue gas desulphurization system," New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services press release, March 9, 2009.
- Gary Rayno, "Power plant study plan fuels scrubber debate," Union Leader, 3/14/09
- "PSNH Statement – Senate vote on SB152", Public Service Company of New Hampshire press release, April 8, 2009.
- "Mass. tax collectors told stay out of NH", "New Hampshire Business Review", April 9, 2009.
- Amy Augustine, "Scrubber controversy continues," Concord Monitor, 11/26/09
- Chelsea Conaboy, "EPA wants details on coal plants", Concord Monitor, May 7, 2009.
- Karen Lovett, "Derailed train snarls traffic in the city", "Nashua Telegraph", November 18, 2009.
Related SourceWatch Articles
- Existing U.S. Coal Plants
- New Hampshire and coal
- Northeast Utilities
- United States and coal
- Global warming
- Retrofit vs. Phase-Out of Coal-Fired Power Plants
- Existing Electric Generating Units in the United States, 2005, Energy Information Administration, accessed Jan. 2009.
- Environmental Integrity Project, "Dirty Kilowatts: America’s Most Polluting Power Plants", July 2007.
- Facility Registry System, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, accessed Jan. 2009.
- Carbon Monitoring for Action database, accessed Feb. 2009.
- Lisa Shapiro, "The Economic Impacts of Constructing a Scrubber at Merrimack Station," Prepared for Public Service Company of New Hampshire, March 13, 2009
- DE 08-103 Investigation into Merrimack Station Scrubber Project, New Hampshire Office of Consumer Advocate
- Gary Hirshberg, "Do we really want to give Big Coal a blank check with our money?" Huffington Post, 3/13/09
- "Power Past Coal: Citizens look to revamp New Hamp," 3/13/09 | <urn:uuid:223367d4-b1b0-4d51-aac2-55c421243af6> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Merrimack_Station | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783391634.7/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154951-00147-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.925847 | 3,082 | 3.265625 | 3 |
Absolutely, the most necessaries is about money because that in order to pay all fee of life’ demand. For example, medicine, food, beverage, education even raise kids. It contribute significantly to our life, therefore, money plays an important role to job satisfaction.
Actually, there are having good relationship which is a bid advantage, because colleagues are person that they are working with us, so their style of working influence others’ mood too much, even it can make their work becoming effect or opposite that. In fact, in some companies whose staffs defame and conflict with each other. Besides, they are not willing to get help. Thus, many people get stressed easily. In some case some people cease work.
Some people believe that one of the necessary conditions is workplace environment. If any offices are dirty or stuffy, then staffs of it will have a bad influence on their health and emotion, these lead to negative affect at work. Otherwise, nowadays the companies are professional and then they focus on cleaning environmental improvement in offices in order to make a good environment for their staffs.
As for about opportunities for advancement which are not only target but also motivation of many staffs. It is the main reason that some people change their job. Anybody knows that opportunity also expresses mostly on their abilities and their authority even their money that they are earned.
Thus, the discussion above is important factors to job satisfaction. There are base on that companies should consider worker’ expectation. For instance, satisfactory wage, keeping the workplace clean, distribution of suitable job. Besides that every company could build healthy working environment, justice, and organize regular activities for their workers in order to associate with people each other. To do this, they also should support and training their staffs’ professional.
In conclusion, job is indispensable for human life, so all of factors impact jobs has direct effect in our life. So, in order to our life happiness then all people need to make a good working environment to job a
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In fact, any people have to need their own job which they spend most of their time working on their adult. However, each people have different target, but they have general purposes such as earn much money, open relationship, promote opportunity individual, have a good environment. | <urn:uuid:2f01e4e5-4e53-45f3-90c8-bfab060ac864> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://lang-8.com/344772/journals/1259356/Question%253A-As-most-people-spend-a-major-part-of-their-adult-life-at-work%252C-job-satisfaction-is-an-impo | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783399117.38/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154959-00029-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.980023 | 469 | 2.546875 | 3 |
An expert scientific working group of the Monographs Programme of the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) has concluded its review of health effects of static and extremely low frequency (ELF) electric and magnetic fields. Such fields include the earth's magnetic field, and also originate from electrical power transmission lines, electrical wiring in buildings, and electric appliances. Magnetic fields are measured in units of microTesla; the earth's static magnetic field, to which everyone is exposed, varies from 25 microTesla at the equator to 65 microTesla at the poles. Most research on health effects has been done on ELF magnetic fields with frequencies of 50 or 60 Hz.
Reports were first published in 1979 that childhood cancer might be
associated with exposures to residential ELF fields. Numerous studies
in many countries have been undertaken since then of possible increased
cancer risks in children and adults from ELF magnetic field exposures.
Special attention has focussed on leukaemia and on brain tumours, which
early reports had suggested might be increased. IARC has now concluded
that ELF magnetic fields are possibly carcinogenic to humans, based
on consistent statistical associations of high level residential magnetic
fields with a doubling of risk of childhood leukaemia. Children who
are exposed to residential ELF magnetic fields less than 0.4 microTesla
have no increased risk for leukaemia. Because of insufficient data,
static magnetic fields and static and extremely low frequency electric
fields could not be classified as to carcinogenic risk to humans.
However, pooled analyses of data from a number of well-conducted studies
show a fairly consistent statistical association between a doubling
of risk of childhood leukaemia and power-frequency (50 or 60 Hz) residential
ELF magnetic field strengths above 0.4 microTesla. In contrast, no consistent
evidence was found that childhood exposures to ELF electric or magnetic
fields are associated with brain tumours or any other kinds of solid
tumours. No consistent evidence was found that residential or occupational
exposures of adults to ELF magnetic fields increase risk for any kind
Studies in experimental animals have not shown a consistent carcinogenic
or co-carcinogenic effects of exposures to ELF magnetic fields, and
no scientific explanation has been established for the observed association
of increased childhood leukaemia risk with increasing residential ELF
magnetic field exposure.
Health effects of radiofrequency electromagnetic fields, which are produced
by such sources as radio and television transmission towers, portable
telephones, and radar, were not evaluated by the IARC working group.
These exposures will be reviewed by the IARC Monographs Programme when
research that is currently in progress has been published, most likely
For further details of the Monographs evaluation, consult http://monographs.iarc.fr, under "Agents most recently evaluated," or inquire by e-mail to
For further details of current research at IARC on electric and magnetic fields, inquire by e-mail to
For more general information, please contact Dr Nicolas Gaudin, Chief, IARC Communications ( | <urn:uuid:13033c40-c12f-49ff-bba2-9359e103394e> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.iarc.fr/en/media-centre/pr/2001/pr136.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783399428.8/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154959-00183-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.933727 | 632 | 3.25 | 3 |
Access to relevant and usable knowledge is an important prerequisite for successful and cost-effective climate change adaptation actions. The mobilization and sharing of knowledge and experiences is therefore critical to informing adaptation decision-making, planning and practice. However, while much knowledge exists for successful action on adaptation, it is often fragmented and not always accessible to various stakeholders.
To help meet some of these challenges and in particular to enhance the mobilization of knowledge for adaptation UNEP coordinates the organization Adaptation Knowledge Days. The overall goal of these events is to strengthen the sharing of knowledge on adaptation through the promotion and showcasing of innovative adaptation research, policies and actions. Adaptation Knowledge Days are organized on regular basis in the margins of the UNFCCC negotiations. | <urn:uuid:a81fa1c9-27c5-4d04-8eb0-76e48a784a12> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.unep.org/climatechange/adaptation/KnowledgeandPolicy/AdaptationKnowledgeDays/tabid/29581/Default.aspx | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783393518.22/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154953-00072-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.937424 | 144 | 2.828125 | 3 |
by Staff Writers
Rio De Janeiro (AFP) Dec 27, 2012
Hundreds of visitors are flocking daily to a botanical garden in southeastern Brazil to watch the rare blooming of the Titan arum, the world's smelliest and largest tropical flower.
Also known as the "corpse flower" because of a smell likened to rotting flesh, it began blooming on Christmas Day and is already beginning to close, botanist Patricia Oliveira told AFP.
The flower "has a lifespan of 72 hours, during which its stink and meat-coloration attract pollinators: carrion flies and beetles," added Oliveira, who works at the Inhotim garden, about 445 kilometers (275 miles) from Rio de Janeiro, housing the massive flower.
Titan arum, also known by its scientific name, "Amorphophallus titanum," which means misshapen giant penis, is native to the rainforests of western Sumatra. It rarely flowers, is incredibly difficult to cultivate and takes six years to grow.
Thursday, this Brazilian specimen reached 167 centimeters (5 feet 3 inches) in height, but the species can grow up to over three meters (10 feet) tall.
This "is the second time it bloomed. The first time was in December 2010," Oliveira said.
When it flowers, the bloom has the same temperature as that of the human body, which helps spread its pungent smell.
The species was first described in 1878 by Italian natural scientist Odoardo Beccari. Ten years later, it bloomed in a London botanical garden and its next flowering occurred in 1926.
Forestry News - Global and Local News, Science and Application
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Learn something new every day
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A cyberbully is a person who harasses or intimidates people online via message boards, chatrooms, social networks, and instant messages (IM). This may be an extension of offline bullying activities or it may be only related to online activities. People of all ages can experience cyberbullying, not just school children
There are a number of different reasons why cyberbullies act as they do but it often comes down to an attempt to gain power over others. By posting a derogatory message or sending an insulting IM, some bullies hope to establish a pecking order, with themselves at the top. Others may hope to retaliate against someone who caused them offline trouble at school. Sometimes several people may entertain themselves by defaming or mocking more vulnerable classmates together.
If you find yourself the target of a cyberbully, one of the first lines of defense is to block the sender and keep a record of all harassing communications. Never accept a message from a sender you do not recognize, as the sender may use any response against you later. Choose a generic, gender-neutral online nickname whenever possible, to prevent an offline bully from discovering your identity. Run periodic online searches of your name to check for any defamatory websites.
Cyberbullies thrive on the attention they receives from the victim, so it's best to ignore them. If you're a child, you should tell a parent or teacher about the messages you've received and any real-life names you can attach to the sender. Quite often, the online actions of a cyberbully mirror offline events during the day. An unfriendly encounter with someone during the day may lead to the formation of a hateful website or the sending of altered photographs to the victim through email that evening. All of these incidents should be noted for possible legal action by the sender's Internet Service Provider (ISP).
Direct confrontation with a cyberbully, whether online or offline, is not recommended. By ignoring his or her messages and online taunts, the victim takes away much of his or her steam. The person will usually either move on to another victim or escalate the attack until it becomes quite evident that action must be taken by the chatroom or message board moderators. Until the messages specifically mention criminal acts or credible threats of violence, the bully may be protected by the First Amendment. Chatroom and message board moderators can choose to delete inflammatory messages or ban troublemakers, but some people do maneuver around such actions.
Sometimes the best way to handle a cyberbully is to limit your online activities and communications. Use the telephone for casual conversations with friends, rather than a public chatroom or instant messenger service. Be prepared to change your online accounts and nicknames to thwart future attacks. Avoid posting dramatic good-bye messages in public chatrooms or message boards following an attack. This will only send the person a message that his or her methods of intimidation were successful.
Parents should take any reports of cyberbullying as seriously as physical bullying. Children may become severely depressed or even suicidal after encountering ongoing cyberbullying. Derogatory websites created by anonymous classmates should be reported to the domain's host immediately. There is a very good chance that the images and language used on such websites are in violation of the hosting company's Terms Of Service (TOS), which gives the company every right to remove the offensive website.
I hear these sad stories about young teens who were driven to commit suicide by a cyberbully, and I have to wonder if there's really an effective solution out there. I'm sure those poor victims tried a lot of the methods mentioned in this article, but the end result was still tragic. I would love to stop cyberbullying myself, but it seems like as long as there is an Internet, there are going to be people willing to use it for evil purposes.
To my mind, a lot of cyberbullying begins as real life bullying. Once someone becomes a target, the bully is going to use every means at his or her disposal to make that person absolutely miserable
. I would think one solution might be to turn the tables on a known cyberbully.
Use the same Internet sites to take away his or her anonymity. Someone might create a free website called "(John Smith) is a Cyberbully" and repost all of the disturbing messages he has already sent to the victim. Putting a name and a face on an anonymous cyberbully might make him or her less likely to continue the assault.
I'm an adult and I still have to deal with a cyberbully from time to time. There is a website that hosts discussion forums for each major city in my state, and these discussions are supposed to be limited to local issues, not national politics. However, there is no official moderator, so a small group of cyberbullies have banded together and they harass other users all day long.
Ordinarily, I'd just write it off as anonymous Internet trolls who like to cause trouble, but these people have used information found in those discussions to make real life contact. One of these people found my real phone number, my address, my spouse's name and my employer. He called my house
several times, sent threatening letters to my home and even called my employer in order to cause problems for me at work. He was a true cyberbully, and I had no idea how to handle it.
The thing I would tell younger victims of cyberbullies is to avoid providing any kind of personal information during online sessions. All a cyberbully needs is one piece of exploitable information, like a list of friends or personal contact information. If you use a pet's name or whatever as a password, don't mention it online. The cyberbully could use it to hack into your accounts. I'm convinced that's what happened to me.
One of our editors will review your suggestion and make changes if warranted. Note that depending on the number of suggestions we receive, this can take anywhere from a few hours to a few days. Thank you for helping to improve wiseGEEK! | <urn:uuid:55937b80-f7fb-4552-afc1-cb983b9f660a> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.wisegeek.com/how-should-i-handle-a-cyberbully.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783393332.57/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154953-00086-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.960783 | 1,248 | 3.765625 | 4 |
(CNN) -- Dead men tell no tales, but the sea does, as shown Friday when an anchor was recovered from the wreckage of pirate Blackbeard's flagship.
An expedition off the North Carolina coast hoisted the nearly 3,000-pound anchor, one of three belonging to the Queen Anne's Revenge.
Crews were working in just 20 feet of water, according to the North Carolina Department of Cultural Resources.
The Queen Anne's Revenge is believed to have run aground in the shallow waters off Beaufort in 1718. The ship was discovered in 1996, with piecemeal recovery of artifacts intensifying only a few years ago.
Staff from the department's Underwater Archaeology Branch are focused on "conducting a detailed assessment of the main mound to determine strategies for dis-assembly and recovery," according to the Queen Anne's Revenge website.
Conservation of the anchor may take four years.
The expedition is trying to score a trove of 18th-century goods, which will be used to educate the public and raise awareness of underwater preservation efforts. The site has already yielded more than 250,000 artifacts, including cannons, gold, platters, glass, beads, shackles and rope, according to the state.
The largest exhibit of fully conserved artifacts from the shipwreck will open at the N.C. Maritime Museum in Beaufort on June 11, the Department of Cultural Resources said in a statement.
An article published in March on the Smithsonian website said the Queen Anne's Revenge was found to have about 225,000 pieces of lead shot and at least 25 cannons, many of them still loaded.
Romanticized in history books as a notorious ruffian, Blackbeard, born in Britain as Edward Teach, terrorized Atlantic seafarers from the shores of the American colonies to the Caribbean.
In November 1718, the captain, believed to be in his late 30s, died in combat against British naval forces. He was on board another vessel, Adventure. | <urn:uuid:25351da5-ad3f-4ea0-8b68-c7239a89a515> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/americas/06/01/north.carolina.blackbeard/index.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783398628.62/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154958-00179-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.972159 | 405 | 2.890625 | 3 |
Frantisek Wolf's father was a maker of fine furniture. Frank was the eldest of his parents two children, having a sister four year younger. He was born in Prostejov, a town southwest of Olomouc, in the farming region of the fertile Haná Plain. Czechoslovakia did not exist at the time that Frantisek was born, for the declaration of the political union of the Czechs and Slovaks was not made until the Pittsburgh Convention in the United States on 31 May 1918. At this time Frantisek was fourteen years old and he had already become fascinated by science and mathematics. After completing his school education he entered the Charles University in Prague to study physics.
At the Charles University, Wolf excelled in his studies and he was awarded a gold medal and watch by Tomas Masaryk, the President of the new republic of Czechoslovakia. Tomas Masaryk's son, Jan Masaryk, was a personal friend of Wolf who was a strong supporter of the idea behind the new country. After obtaining his first degree in physics Wolf went to Masaryk University, Brno, to undertake research in mathematics. His thesis Contribution à la théorie des series trigonométriques généralisées et des séries à fonctions orthogonales was supervised by Otakar Borvka, and he was awarded the degree Rerum Naturum Doctor in 1928. Wolf then became a secondary school teacher and taught mathematics in schools until 1937 when he was appointed as a Privatdozent at the Charles University in Prague.
Shortly after his appointment, Wolf travelled to England to study at Cambridge University with Hardy and Littlewood. As a result Wolf published two papers in 1939, one in the Journal of the London Mathematical Society and the other in the Proceedings of the London Mathematical Society. The first was An extension of the Phragmén-Lindelöf theorem while the second was On summable trigonometrical series: an extension of uniqueness theorems. After this visit to England Wolf returned to Prague in March 1938 as Germany was annexing Austria. The serious political situation saw Czechoslovakia, whose leaders did not favour a German takeover, begin drafting men into the army and Wolf was among them. He was still in the Czechoslovak army when German troops, essentially with the approval of the leading European powers, marched into the country towards the end of 1938. Wolf's views made it impossible for him to remain under German occupation and he was fortunate to have an invitation from the Mittag-Leffler Institute in Stockholm. The German occupiers allowed him to leave the country for a period of three weeks to give a lecture course at the Mittag-Leffler Institute. However, he did not return after the three weeks, and instead joined the Swedish underground. He remained there until 1941, surviving on a small grant from the Swedish Government.
In 1941 Wolf received an invitation to lecture at Macalester College in Saint Paul, Minnesota, in the United States. Getting from Sweden to the United States looked difficult with World War II at its height, so Wolf set off east travelling on the Trans Siberian Railway, then crossing Japan, before landing on the west coast of the United States. On his way to Saint Paul, he passed through Berkeley where he met Griffith C Evans, the Head of the Mathematics Department. Evans offered Wolf a position at Berkeley, but he felt he had to honour his commitment to Macalester College and duly went there for the one year post before returning to Berkeley as an Instructor in Mathematics in 1942. However, Wolf's first 1941 visit to Berkeley was significant in another way for there he met a young botanist Myrtle Richey; they married in 1945 and their son Thomas Wolf was born two years later. William G Bade, Murray H Protter, and Angus E Taylor write in their obituary of Wolf:-
Frank learned to share Myrtle's love of wild flowers, and as a family they made uncounted trips in the spring and summer to seek them out. A summer cabin at Clipper Mills facilitated these activities. They established their home in the Berkeley hills, where Frank loved to walk. Many friends and former students will remember the hospitality of their home and their kindness and interest toward young people and colleagues.
Wolf's paper The Poisson integral. A study in the uniqueness of harmonic functions had been published by Acta Mathematica in 1941. Evans reviewed the paper:-
It is known that a harmonic function may have zero boundary values on the circumference of a circle (for approach along radii, etc.) and still not vanish within the circle. ... [Wolf's] paper is a study of the restrictions on the order of growth of a harmonic function, as a function of r, which are sufficient to insure uniqueness, and, in particular, uniqueness of representation in terms of the Poisson integral. By means of conformal representation, simply connected domains with rectifiable boundaries are reduced to the circle.
In 1947 Wolf published Contributions to a theory of summability of trigonometric integrals which collected together many of his earlier results in the area:-
There are seven chapters. In Chapter I [Wolf] gives some preliminary results and in Chapter II a theory of generalized integrals required in the sequel. In Chapter III he gives two fundamental theorems. The first gives, under certain rather complex conditions, inversion formulae for trigonometric integrals and the second asserts that under the same conditions the difference between the given trigonometric integral and the trigonometric series of a certain function will be uniformly summable to zero throughout a given interval. Chapter IV deals with trigonometric integrals summable over sets of positive measure and extends Kuttner's theorem and some similar results of Marcinkiewicz and Zygmund. In chapter V he extends some theorems of Hille, Offord and Tamarkin. In Chapter VI he gives some results on the inversion of order of integration in a trigonometric integral equivalent to the integration of trigonometric series term by term. Finally in the last chapter there are some very general inversion theorems which the author asserts will yield every known inversion theorem for trigonometric integrals.
In 1951 Wolf and Beckenbach founded the Pacific Journal of Mathematics, a major international mathematical research journal sponsored by a dozen or more West Coast universities. His efforts contributed to it becoming the major research journal that it is today. William G Bade, Murray H Protter, and Angus E Taylor describe the research conducted by Wolf after establishing himself at Berkeley:-
Soon after he came to Berkeley, Frank's mathematical interests took a change in direction as he began to study the perturbation of linear operators. This is the theory of the behaviour of the spectral properties of an operator under small changes in the operator. Such perturbation results are important, for example, in quantum mechanics where physical phenomena are interpreted through linear operators on Hilbert space. Consideration of the Schrödinger equation leads to perturbation problems for partial differential operators, where the change may occur in the coefficients of the operator or in boundary conditions. Frank's most influential papers were probably those concerned with the analytical perturbation of operators on Banach spaces and his studies on the essential spectrum of certain singular elliptic differential operators.
The obituary also describes Wolf's interests outside mathematics:-
Frank Wolf was a person of personal warmth and charm. He had a great interest in people and in cultural activities. He especially loved music and was accomplished on the piano and violin. For many years he served as a member of the Committee on Arts and Lectures which brought performing artists to the campus. ... Always among his strongest interests was the well-being of Czechoslovakia. He had found many Czech immigrants in Minnesota, and he was a strong supporter of the Czech community in the Bay Area. During the founding of the United Nations in San Francisco in 1945, a dispute arose in the Czechoslovak delegation, and Frank was chosen on one occasion to address the gathering on behalf of his country.
Wolf retired in 1972, and following that he went to the University of Valle in Guatemala where he helped set up a graduate programme. He suffered an accident in his garden, having a fall which badly affected his health. From that time on his health declined leading eventually to his death.
Article by: J J O'Connor and E F Robertson
Click on this link to see a list of the Glossary entries for this page | <urn:uuid:602c2b39-5d14-4bd3-bd5a-239fb57b6c2e> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www-history.mcs.st-andrews.ac.uk/Biographies/Wolf_Frantisek.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783392159.3/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154952-00164-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.967174 | 1,749 | 2.625 | 3 |
Restoration Begins on Saturn V at JSC
It almost launched men to the moon on Apollo 18. Now the Saturn V rocket on display near the entrance of Johnson Space Center is getting some restoration work by the Smithsonian Institution's National Air and Space Museum.
Image left: A Saturn V rocket on display at Johnson Space Center, Houston. Both images were captured during special events. In the top view, the bright streak in the sky is Space Shuttle Columbia returning to Earth at the end of STS-93 in 1999. The bottom photo was taken during the Ballunar Festival at JSC in 2000. The bright dots in the sky are hot-air balloons.
The 363-foot launch vehicle has been on display at JSC since 1977, a year before it formally became part of the Smithsonian collection. The restoration should add many years to the rocket's life.
Some of the rocket's external surfaces need attention, and corrosion has affected parts of the vehicle. Excessive moisture, poor drainage and small animals that have found shelter inside the Saturn V have added to its problems.
Image left: A diagram of the Saturn V rocket.
+ Diagram with details (39 Kb PDF)
A grant from the Save America's Treasures of the National Park Service and the National Trust for historic preservation could provide $1.25 million for the work. If remaining matching funds can be raised, the project is scheduled for completion in December.
| Saturn Specs:|
On the launch pad, a Saturn V rocket with an Apollo spacecraft on top stood more than 36 stories high and weighed about 6.1 million pounds.
The Saturn V took the first humans around the moon in Apollo 8 in 1968. They were used in all lunar landing missions and to carry Skylab into orbit in 1973. Three Saturn Vs survive, but only the one at JSC is made up entirely of rocket stages intended for flight. Three planned moon flights, Apollo 18, 19 and 20, were canceled. | <urn:uuid:317c51ef-19cb-4e8a-ba6e-881a9a05469c> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.nasa.gov/vision/space/features/saturn_V.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783395546.12/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154955-00013-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.935317 | 403 | 3.03125 | 3 |
What does it mean, strictly, for one event to "cause" another? If I throw a ball, does the movement of my arm cause the ball to move, or are they simply correlated events? If you say the arm caused the ball to move, how can you be sure?
I would like to think about this from basic concepts, in slightly less formal and less "according to the great thinkers" terms...
It seems obvious to me that if a set of conditions (C) necessarily came about because of an action (A) then A caused C.
If an event (E) happens after an action (A) (or conditions (C) that it created, as above) then it may have been caused by A. This is the interesting part...
If (E) must necessarily have happened if A (or C), is this sufficient to say A caused E?
Or should we add that E could not have happened without A (or C) as well?
What if E was only one of several possibilities, one (or many, but not all) of which must have happened once A had happened (or C had been created)? A caused something to happen, but not necessarily E: E is just the event that (randomly or by some decision/further event) ended up happening.
These questions have application in law as well as philosophy.
Example: X steals $100 from Y (A). Y can now not pay all their bills (C), fails to pay the rent, and gets evicted (E). A caused C, there's little doubt about that. However, Y chose not to pay the rent, rather than their credit card bill. So did A cause E (the eviction) or was it the decision of what not to pay? In a perfect world, where X gets caught and is forced to repair all damage to Y, should they re-house Y as well, or is the causal relationship broken because of another conscious action (the decision) in between? If Y acted rationally, then we can assume that eviction was the least negative outcome of not paying a bill (maybe all his other services are supplied by the Mafia :P). In this instance, can we say that A caused E? (or "at least" E - not a particularly logical term, but one that has meaning in the legal sense here).
This is a line of thought I often find myself pondering, and I'm interested in people's own inputs and lines of thought, rather than a link to established questions on the matter. (BTW I'm not denying the usefulness of the previous response, just looking for more discourse on this.)
Causation is a very thorny philosophical area, and the literature on it is immense.
The meaning of "cause" is very vague, it is a human term, not a scientific term. It supposes you are talking about a collection of very many analogous events, with a map between them which tells you how they are analogous, and with different attributes. When you say "A causes B", you mean that in those analogous cases where you find the bits describing the initial situation to describe A, you will reliably find the bits in the later state to describe state B, regardless of the other bits in the description. Then we say "A causes B".
It is always an analogy, and it's always complicated. The fundamental description in terms of physics does not include this complex notion of "cause and effect" that we attribute to macroscopic phenomena. It includes other things that are different that are called "causality", and this leads people to think causality is tied into physics more than it is.
This depends on who you're reading and what sort of perspective you want to explore. The four causes of Aristotle are not all the same. What modern scientists do with causality differs. From an empirical perspective, causes are not observable, and thus at best correlations or associations, at worst fictions.
"To cause" means that there is an unbroken chain, ordered in time, that links from cause to effect. To negate this would be to break reality itself (or at least its relationship to human consciousness).
The item which has caused all the confusion, is whether the human mind can be its own agent; other than that, despite what everyone may say, there is no controversy.
A causes B if all the following are true:
-A exists when B exists
-A exist without B
-B does not exist without A.
In in reality though there is hardly ever just A and B, normally there is C,D,etc. which makes it impossible to determine the causes. ie:
-A,B & C exist
-C doesn't exist without A and B
-C exists with either A or B
then we don't know if C is caused by both A and B or if C is caused by either A or B.
that's why only when simulating the 3 variations described in the first example can the causal relationship be understood. | <urn:uuid:e55cf620-99ae-4b9d-a338-119215aadb58> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://philosophy.stackexchange.com/questions/3639/what-does-to-cause-mean | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783395613.65/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154955-00103-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.975147 | 1,038 | 2.875 | 3 |
We're all aware of cute optical illusions. Some play tricks with our perception of color, size, or motion ... This particularly beautiful example plays with our perception of brightness - both turn out to be equally bright inside and out.
Optical illusions are an interesting tool to study how our brain puts together sensory input sent by the eye and there have been some major surprises and there have been revelations that address the question of how much of reality do we sample through our senses as we observe the world. To what degree are we sampling reality?
I stumbled across this example in a PNAS paper by Bruno Laeng and Tor Endestad of the University of Norway in Oslo. The illusion is well known, but they looked at something else - how the pupil responded.
If you look at something bright your pupils constrict to adjust to the new brightness level. This takes place in about a tenth of a second - reasonably fast on our level of perception - and it was thought to be a pure reflex that helps protect the retina from damage. Reflex mechanisms should be fast to prevent as much damage as possible and this one was thought to occur in in a few dedicated cells in lower brain structures.1 What is curious with this illusion is our pupils contract even though there is no real brightness - the reflex is in response to what we think we see rather than what really exists!
This is fantastic. Perceptual errors behave more liked learned phenomena and may be adaptations. Perhaps evolution has made us more adroit at encountering our environment.
A lot of visual information is ambivalent and noisy. Perhaps there is some contextual processing going on to construct a "reality" that is more useful. Maybe the reality our mind assembles is a bit better for our functioning that what really exists in nature.
The same goes for other senses - particularly hearing, but taste also comes to mind.2
As I am writing this it occurs to me that there are many other evolutionary tricks that help us to deal with how we relate to the environment. We read stories of animal athletes - cheetahs that can sprint to 70 mph, our cats and dogs that can make jumps that appear amazing - and sometimes think humans must be unathletic in the scheme of things. But we are amazingly good at endurance running. We probably evolved to this as our ancestors may have had to run down prey in order to get close enough to dispatch it, but whatever the reason we are wonderful aerobic machines.3
Many people report a "runner's high" after exertion. I find it around the sixty minute mark with my rowing and, if I make it that far the resulting rush is enough to encourage me to continue for as long as an extra half hour. It is a feeling of real euphoria.
It turns out the body under heavy aerobic load produces endocannabinoids which are substances that act as neurotransmitters. The name probably rings a bell - endocannabinoids are chemically very similar to the active ingredient in cannabis.
The runner's high is the real thing and the euphoria can be an excellent reward.
Recently it has been learned that a few mammals that are good aerobic athletes(humans and dogs) produce serious amounts of endocannabinoids during aerobic exercise while other mammals that aren't aerobic athletes (ferrets) don't. It may be we have evolved a reward system to encourage this type of activity - I know it is one of the few things that keeps me on the rowing machine for lengthy periods. Colleen is more geared towards bursts of power, but she notes that she loved the feeling of euphoria that came over her after an hour or so of intense training and the reward was enough to encourage her to go on for several hours more.
My niece Magi is a runner. A remarkable runner. She is a single mom with two very little kids and is struggling with raising them, working a couple of jobs and going to nursing school. A few years ago she took up running and found it came naturally. She's done several marathons and does respectable three hour times - not bad for someone who can't run every day and rarely more than an hour at a time and also lacks the money to get coaching - shoes are a major expense for her.
She lives in the Phoenix area and has always been comfortable in the mountains. A few races were in the back country and she found she really liked them. Also she learned that she's good with distance. Her quarter times on the Boston Marathon were all within a minute with the last quarter being the fastest. About a year ago she started trying the longer distances and did very well in several fifty mile runs.
With those under her belt it was time to get serious. Last Saturday she ran the Zane Grey - not a race for the faint of heart. Rather than writing about it, I'll print the email she sent and add a few images. Do read the links from the race director and another runner for more color... like
The course runs along the base of the Mogollon Rim, constantly dropping in and out of the little canyons and crossing multiple creeks and streams. The route is entirely single track trail and is extremely rugged. Despite a ton of work our volunteers have done on the course, entrants will have to navigate over or under fallen trees, through thick wickets of Manzanita bushes, and over very rocky terrain. There are also sections where the trail just disappears and route finding can be challenging. The middle section of the course, known as the “burn area” had the trees burned down from the Dude Fire in the early 90’s. Runners are exposed to the heat of the Arizona sun and have to travel as far as 11 miles between some aid stations. An unprepared runner can sometimes run out of fluids in these long hot stretches.
Not easy terrain down there. The Mogollon Rim is rough, tough and relentlessly difficult
with that, Magi's email:
A Very Simple Simple Pea Soup
° 2 tbl unsalted butter
° 1 diced medium sweet onion
° 1 clove garlic, sliced
° Kosher salt to taste
° 2 c thawed frozen sweet peas (fresh only if picked on the same day!!)
° 1/2 c lightly packed fresh tarragon leaves
° Melt butter over medium low heat. When it foams add onion, garlic and salt. Cover and cook until the onions are soft, but don't brown! Stir frequently - not a walk away and forget it stage
° Add a quart of water and bring to a boil. Add peas and tarragon and cook 'til tender - a few minutes
° take off heat, purée and strain.
° Reheat if necessary and serve. I like to garnish with a few whole raw peas and a bit of plain greek yogurt
After 80 or 90 minutes of hard rowing I'm soaking with perspiration and am in need of something cold with a lot of protein. Here is my current favorite - not vegan friendly though. "Shake" is tongue in cheek - I can make a quality milkshakes. Ask if you visit and we'll do one.
Berry Yogurt "Thickshake" with Nuts and Chocolate
° A good handful (about 100g) of slightly thawed frozen blueberrys or raspberries
° About 200g plain greek yogurt - I like to use 2%
° a half frozen banana - I remove the skins on very ripe bananas and tightly wrap them in plastic wrap and freeze. A great way to deal with ripe bananas
° 2% or whole milk. Start with 100g and adjust
° something sweet - maple syrup, honey, sugar
° 15 to 30g of dark chocolate broken into small bits
° 15 g broken pecans
° Blend banana, fruit, and about 50g of milk.
° Add the yogurt and milk as necessary to get a good enough consistency. Add sweetner if necessary
° Pour into a serving glass or bowl depending on thickness. Stir in pecans and chocolate | <urn:uuid:9fe8ea9d-395e-4b16-b465-51cdc330052b> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://tingilinde.typepad.com/omenti/2012/04/index.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783404405.88/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624155004-00120-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.960784 | 1,651 | 3.515625 | 4 |
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It is presently believed that particle sizes in the 10 to 100 micron range would be suitable for the seeding purposes. Larger particles would tend to settle to the earth more quickly.
The effects of inhaling particulate matter have been widely studied in humans and animals and include asthma, lung cancer, cardiovascular issues, and premature death. The size of the particle is a main determinant of where in the respiratory tract the particle will come to rest when inhaled. Because of the size of the particle, they can penetrate the deepest part of the lungs. Larger particles are generally filtered in the nose and throat and do not cause problems, but particulate matter smaller than about 10 micrometers, referred to as PM10, can settle in the bronchi and lungs and cause health problems. The 10 micrometer size does not represent a strict boundary between respirable and non-respirable particles, but has been agreed upon for monitoring of airborne particulate matter by most regulatory agencies.
Originally posted by notreallyalive
reply to post by AllSeeingI
Congratulations AllSeeingI, you have with a tiny bit of assistance, brought Chemtrails to a whole new level of acceptance! I hope that you throw this thread in your signature links, spread it to other sites, and really share it!
Chemtrail believers have suffered long due to thinking a line in the sky is proof... THIS, what you have just shown, is a significant step toward proving chemicals are in fact being dumped in our skies.
I'd love to see actual verification of jet fuels, analysis of the chem- and contrails, but because of you I will stop ignoring Chemtrails threads!
reduce the amount of Solar radiation and heat and therefore to reduce Global Warming. | <urn:uuid:d08069ab-57a9-4a11-aff3-46847aae4829> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.abovetopsecret.com/forum/thread513525/pg1 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783395548.53/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154955-00002-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.943695 | 412 | 2.9375 | 3 |
Puss in space boots: Iran to launch Persian cat into orbit?
Iran may be considering sending a Persian cat into space as the next animal astronaut after claims the Islamic Republic launched a monkey into space earlier this year.
The effort is part of Iranian dreams to send a human into space by 2018, but questions have been raised about the alleged successes of Iran’s animal missions.
The official IRNA news agency quotes space official Mohammad Ebrahimi as saying the next animal could be the distinctive Persian cat, a long-haired, flat-faced breed named after Iran’s former name of Persia, according to Associated Press.
No other details were given.
Earlier this year, in February, Iran said it successful sent a monkey outside earth’s atmosphere and returned it safely. But photos raised international questions about whether the same animal was shown in pre- and post-launch images, AP reported.
- Monkeying around, Iranian style: second furry friend returns from space after his out-of-this-world mission
- The space race is on: Israel and Iran go head to head with their orbital ambitions
- Iran's secret space program: 'mission monkey' set to go live
- Iran will soon send one of these four lucky animals into outer space
- Iran's space program takes giant leap as monkey lands back on earth | <urn:uuid:dcba2a36-fce1-47dc-b215-db7dce5ffe6c> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.albawaba.com/editorchoice/iran-cat-space-521527?quicktabs_accordion=2 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783397428.37/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154957-00041-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.928855 | 277 | 2.515625 | 3 |
Studies of the molecular underpinnings of the most aggressive type of glioma, glioblastoma multiforme, have revealed promising targets for drug therapy, information that also offers insight into what causes these brain tumors to form and grow.
Gliomas are the most common form of primary brain tumor and the second most common cause of cancer deaths between the ages of 15 and 44. Patients with glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) often have a life expectancy of one year or less. Current treatment may include surgery, chemotherapy, radiation, or a combination.
Scientists once thought the molecular structure of glioblastomas was so patient-specific that identifying drug targets on the cancer cells would prove difficult.
“The dogma was that it was impossible to find anything common among more than 50% of patients with GBM,” said Waldemar Debinski, MD, PhD, Director of the Brain Tumor Center of Excellence at Wake Forest University Medical Center, whose work disproved that conventional wisdom.
In his latest studies, presented at meetings of the World Federation of NeuroOncology and the European Association for NeuroOncology, Dr. Debinski identified a protein involved with tumor malignancy, another protein that plays a role in cancer growth, and a group of proteins that work on a molecule involved in immune system function.
Cytokines Increase Level of Drug Target Receptors
About 10 years ago, Dr. Debinski, then at Pennsylvania State University, discovered that GBM cells have a specific receptor for interleukin 13 (IL-13), a naturally occurring immune-system regulatory protein.
Studies suggest that IL-13 is present in about 70% of GBMs, and since healthy cells lack this receptor, it made a good therapeutic target for novel drugs. Neopharm, a biotechnology company that is developing a drug based on Dr. Debinski's research, is conducting Phase III trials of the drug, which has been granted Fast Track status by the FDA.
In these new studies, Dr. Debinski found that, in cell culture, cytokines regulate the expression of IL-13 receptors, or in the case of brain tumor patients, the overexpression of the receptors. Scientists now are interested in learning more about how the cytokines might be incorporated into a therapeutic regimen.
“We're looking for ways to increase the number of receptors on cancer cells,” Dr. Debinski said. One possibility, he suggested, is to “prime the tumors with cytokines, for up to 24 hours, and then add the cytotoxin.”
Figure. Waldemar Deb...Image Tools
The researchers tried this technique in their studies and demonstrated that this short-term pretreatment increased the number of IL-13 receptors, which could increase the effectiveness of the drug now in clinical trials.
Protein Identified as Drug Target
Dr. Debinski also presented findings on another new study of EphA2, a tyrosine-kinase receptor involved in neural development. EphA2 is expressed at low levels on the surface of healthy cells, but in certain types of cancer, including breast, colon, prostate, and ovarian, EphA2 is overexpressed. The thought is that in cancer cells, EphA2 plays a role in angiogenesis.
To see what role, if any, EphA2 plays in glioblastoma multiforme cells, Dr. Debinski designed a study to examine the protein's activity in healthy brain tissues and GBM cells. Genotyping revealed high levels of EphA2 in GBM tissue. What's more, the researchers also found that if they added the ligand Ephrin-A1, a small molecule that binds to EphA2 on the cell surface, the GBM cells lost some of their cancerous properties.
“Ephrin-A1 caused glioma cells to be less active in forming colonies in an assay that reflects their tumorigenic potential,” Dr. Debinski said. “Thus, activating the EphA2 receptor may slow or stop tumor growth. EphA2 is expressed in so many glioma samples that detecting it may help in the diagnosis of tumors.”
Learning how such molecules behave in normal tissue is an important step toward understanding what happens with the molecules in diseased tissue, said Michael Berens, PhD, Senior Investigator at the Translational Genomics Research Institute in Phoenix, who studies Ephrin-B2 and other members of the ephrin family of molecules, which includes EphA2. Ephrins are among the cell's largest groups of signaling molecules and are unique because of their capacity for two-way communication.
“EphA2 and Ephrin-B2 are both receptors and transmembrane proteins that communicate signals from the outside to the inside of the cell,” Dr. Berens said.
“The ligand that activates that receptor characteristically is also bolted to an adjacent cell. The Ephrin receptor-ligand family signals in both directions, telling the cell that, ‘Hey, I found somebody that's meaningful to us.’”
That makes ephrins very attractive drug targets, Dr. Berens suggests, as well as good vehicles for learning more about how gliomas grow and spread.
“Unlike breast or colon or prostate cancers—which are all very destructive—the invasive behavior of gliomas takes a very benign appearance. You really can't figure out how so many cancer cells got so far away from the mass. The ephrans are going to help us understand how this gentle, malignant invasion takes place by offering us more information about signaling between cancer cells.”
Protein Involved in Tumor Malignancy
In the third study, Dr. Debinski and his colleagues were examining how tumors develop their own blood supply when they came across a transcription factor called Fra-1, a protein highly overexpressed in cancer cells that seemed to regulate transcription of as many as 50 different genes.
When Fra-1 was added to non-cancerous cells, the cells began producing tumors. But when the protein was removed from tumor-producing cells, the cells lost their cancer-making capabilities. The research, which was done in mice, was published in Molecular Cancer Research (2005;3:237–249).
“We didn't suspect that Fra-1 is such a powerful biological factor, but it looks like it is a potent regulator of glioma cells'; morphology,” Dr. Debinski said. “When you add a little more of this factor, the cells start to assume a very different shape. Excess of Fra-1 makes them more elongated, slimmer and with a larger number and longer cellular processes. Diminishing Fra-1 brings about the opposite.”
Fra-1 is overexpressed in 60% of the tumors Dr. Debinski studied. An excess of Fra-1 is also found in other cancers, including colon, thyroid, skin, and breast. In fact, he noted, a French research team recently published findings from a breast cancer study that indicate that Fra-1 is involved in cell proliferation and mobility.
Dr. Debinski's studies suggest that to do its work, Fra-1 joins with nearby molecules. If Fra-1 proves a difficult target for drug development, one of its partner molecules may be a better candidate.
“It's always good to target the molecule that not only has a high expression level but also has a crucial biological role,” said Hideho Okada, MD, PhD, Assistant Professor of Neurosurgery and Surgery at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center.
Dr. Okada will be participating in a clinical trial to study drugs designed to target three molecules, including EphA2 and the IL-13 receptor. “We still need to find out if Fra-1 has an immunological motive,” he said. “A high expression of a protein or antigen doesn't necessarily mean that protein or antigen is immunogenic.”
Still, Fra-1's role as a transcription factor increases the likelihood that it may have a causal role in cancer development, suggests Eric Holland, MD, PhD, of Sloan-Kettering Institute.
“Fra-1 is more likely to be causal than others because Fra-1 is going to be activating a whole lot of genes,” Dr. Holland said.
More study is needed before its exact role in cancer formation and growth can be determined, he added, but Fra-1's potential to be a strong therapeutic target makes that study all the more important.
Teen Smoking Rates Leveling Off
After dropping for the past eight years, teen smoking rates appear to be leveling off, troubling many public health experts, according to a news release from Ohio State University Medical Center.
More than one million teenagers are becoming smokers each year, while the number of teens deciding to quit is decreasing. The trend may partly be due to the likelihood that antismoking campaigns have already prompted the most motivated smokers to quit, leaving behind the smokers who are most strongly addicted, noted Karen Ahijevych, PhD, RN, a smoking-cessation expert at Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center.
“That seems to be the case with adults, but there have been so few studies about what's happening with kids that we're really not sure that's what's going on.” There is also a worry that financial support for antismoking campaigns is scarce. Many states have used millions of dollars from their Master Tobacco Settlement Agreements to offset budget deficits, and money from other sources for antismoking campaigns is also limited.
Dr. Ahijevych also emphasized the danger of tobacco use in teenagers: “People downplay the fact that kids can become addicted just like adults. We already know they need as much help quitting as adults do,” she said.
No one has figured out a single best way to help teenagers quit, but the solution may be a combination of family and school-based interventions, she said. “The best programs help individuals find out what's best for them. And usually that means a combination of tactics combined with a lot of support.”
© 2005 Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, Inc. | <urn:uuid:8a61cde3-9295-4b7a-baf0-2ae6819debc7> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://journals.lww.com/oncology-times/Fulltext/2005/09250/Glioma__Studies_Offer_New_Drug_Targets.15.aspx | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783396949.33/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154956-00071-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.956505 | 2,158 | 2.96875 | 3 |
It's the 20th anniversary of NASA's Hubble telescope and an incredible photo released in honor of the telescope proves that Hubble may be aging, but it's still got it--and how.
This new image of the Carina Nebula shows with stunning clarity a gaseous dust column over 3 light years tall.
NASA says of the stunning image,
This craggy fantasy mountaintop enshrouded by wispy clouds looks like a bizarre landscape from Tolkien's "The Lord of the Rings" or a Dr. Seuss book, depending on your imagination. The NASA Hubble Space Telescope image, which is even more dramatic than fiction, captures the chaotic activity atop a three-light-year-tall pillar of gas and dust that is being eaten away by the brilliant light from nearby bright stars. The pillar is also being assaulted from within, as infant stars buried inside it fire off jets of gas that can be seen streaming from towering peaks.
Scorching radiation and fast winds (streams of charged particles) from super-hot newborn stars in the nebula are shaping and compressing the pillar, causing new stars to form within it. Streamers of hot ionized gas can be seen flowing off the ridges of the structure, and wispy veils of gas and dust, illuminated by starlight, float around its towering peaks. The denser parts of the pillar are resisting being eroded by radiation much like a towering butte in Utah's Monument Valley withstands erosion by water and wind.
We want to hear form you! Click 'Participate' to send us your favorite Hubble telescope image. For inspiration, see here.
Image Credit: NASA, ESA, and M. Livio and the Hubble 20th Anniversary Team (STScI) | <urn:uuid:60c18e0b-9b52-451b-ba20-eb8516c3bd06> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/04/23/carina-nebula-photo-marks_n_549720.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783395546.12/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154955-00055-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.9304 | 360 | 3.109375 | 3 |
GM Plants Spreading Transgenic Contamination Into Nature
GM plants ‘established in the wild’
By Richard Black
Researchers in the US have found new evidence that genetically modified crop plants can survive and thrive in the wild, possibly for decades.
A University of Arkansas team surveyed countryside in North Dakota for canola. Transgenes were present in 80% of the wild canola plants they found.
They suggest GM traits may help the plants survive weedkillers in the wild.
The findings were presented at the annual meeting of the Ecological Society of America in Pittsburgh.
“We just drew 11 lines that crossed the state [of North Dakota] – highways and other roads,” related research team leader Cindy Sagers.
“We drove along them, we made 604 stops in a total distance of over 3,000 miles (5,000km). We found canola in 46% of the locations; and 80% of them contained at least one transgene.”
In some places, the plants were packed as closely together as they are in farmers’ fields.
“We found herbicide resistant canola in roadsides, waste places, ball parks, grocery stores, gas stations and cemeteries,” they related in their Ecological Society presentation. | <urn:uuid:29ec2e3e-3cfc-4d46-9987-017a8ee8586f> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://revolutionradio.org/?p=4185 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783404382.73/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624155004-00030-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.943882 | 269 | 3.375 | 3 |
Adolescent Health Care, Confidentiality
- Adolescent Health Care, Role of the Family Physician
- Adolescent Health Care, Sexuality and Contraception
- Adolescents, Protecting: Ensuring Access to Care and Reporting Sexual Activity and Abuse (Position Paper)
- Child Abuse
- Health Education
- Health Education in Schools
- Certificates of Added Qualification
Concerns about confidentiality may create barriers to open communication between patient and physician and may thus discourage adolescents from seeking necessary medical care and counseling.
When caring for an adolescent patient:
- Privacy should be respected by physicians and their staff. The adolescent should be offered an opportunity for examination and counseling separate from parents/guardians.
- The physician should make a reasonable effort to encourage the adolescent to involve parents or guardians in healthcare decisions.
- Every effort should be made to maintain confidentiality and patients should be made aware that certain situations and circumstances create limitations on guaranteed confidentiality. For example, detailing billing statements and Explanation of Benefits notices may be furnished to a guarantor/parent from a third party. Further, information suggesting someone is in imminenet danger, the suspicion or evidence of abuse, and the diagnosis of certain communicable diseases all must be reported to the proper authorities.
- Family physicians should be aware of their community's standards regarding adolescent confidentiality. State laws vary, but in general, in areas of care where the adolescent has the legal right to give consent, confidentiality must be maintained.
- Family physicians using electronic medical records should consult their vendor to be certain patient portals are properly configured to meet state standards regarding confidentiality for adolescents who parents and guardians have proxy access to their records.
Ultimately, regarding confidentiality, the judgment by the physician regarding the best medical interest and safety of the patient should prevail. (1988) (2013 COD) | <urn:uuid:7ea5976b-e530-4095-a8b7-38ecba586222> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.aafp.org/about/policies/all/adolescent-confidentiality.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783398516.82/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154958-00048-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.914876 | 375 | 3.078125 | 3 |
The Democratic Republic of the Congo, not to be confused for its neighboring country, the Republic of Congo, is often also referred to as DROC, DRC, RDC, DR Congo, and Congo-Kinshasa. The country was first established as a Belgian colony in 1960. The country however managed to gain its independence from the French only to be thrown into what can be described as a period plagued with both social and political instabilities. It all began when Col. Mobutu seized control via a coup in 1965. Mobutu reigned over the Democratic Republic of the Congo for a period of 32 years. His period of rule was scarred with myriad sham elections and the use of force to retain power. Mobutu, with the passing of time, found himself sans power when a rebellion and a civil war replaced him with Laurent Kabila. The rebellion was backed by Democratic Republic of the Congo’s neighbors Rwanda, Uganda, Namibia, and Zimbabwe. The country was named the Democratic Republic of Congo by Laurent Kabila. Unfortunately, however, Laurent Kabila was assassinated in 2001, but was replaced by his son Joseph Kabila. Joseph Kabila continues to be the President of the country now and he is mainly instrumental in restoring peace in the country. Read on to know more on the country of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Image: By Francis Hannaway (Own work) [CC-BY-SA-3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0) or GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html)], via Wikimedia Commons
Interesting And Fun Facts About Democratic Republic Of The Congo
- The Democratic Republic of the Congo is located in Central Africa, in the northeast of the country of Angola.
- The Democratic Republic of the Congo, in terms of size, is slightly smaller than one-fourth the size of the United States of America.
- The country experiences a tropical climate, but is cooler and drier in its southern highlands and is cooler and wetter in its eastern highlands.
- The Democratic Republic of the Congo is blessed with natural resources like copper, niobium, tantalum, industrial diamonds, gold, zinc, silver, tin, timber, uranium, coal, and manganese.
- Did you know that the Democratic Republic of the Congo is the third-largest country in Africa?
- Rwanda, Burundi, Tanzania, Zambia, Angola, the Angolan enclave Cabinda and the Republic of Congo are its neighbouring countries.
- Although the country is one of the largest countries in Africa, it only has a coastline of around 17 miles. The coastline is at the outline of the Congo River, which in turn flows into the Atlantic Ocean.
- The Democratic Republic of the Congo is noted for its varying geographical features. The country has mountain ranges in its north and west, volcanoes and lakes in its Kivu region (a central plain through which the mighty Congo flows).
- French is the official language of the Democratic Republic of the Congo while Lingala, Kikongo, Tshiluba and Swahili are recognized as regional languages.
- The Democratic Republic of the Congo functions under a semi-presidential republic and is currently headed by President Joseph Kabila and Prime Minister Adolphe Muzito.
- The Congolese Franc (CDF) is the official currency of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
- Kinshasa is the capital city of the Democratic Republic of Congo. Kinshasa also enjoys the distinction of being the largest city in the country.
- The Democratic Republic of Congo was formerly known as the Belgian Congo, Congo-Kinshasa, Congo Free State, Congo-Leopoldville, and Zaire. Zaire, out of all the previous names, was arguably the most famous.
- The country celebrates its ‘Independence Day’ on 30th June every year. Democratic Republic of Congo received its independence from Belgium on 30th June, 1960.
- Did you know that the Democratic Republic of the Congo with its strong population of 68 million, is the eighteenth most populous country in the world and most populous country where French is an official language? | <urn:uuid:932eed2d-505a-4321-b096-edcb2a4bbd28> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://lifestyle.iloveindia.com/lounge/facts-about-democratic-republic-of-congo-10368.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783395346.6/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154955-00112-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.949357 | 884 | 2.96875 | 3 |
Apple makes a pretty ballsy claim about the iPhone 4's display: "The pixel density is so high that the human eye is unable to distinguish individual pixels." They're pushing against the limits of the human body. Is it true?
The iPhone 4's 3.5-inch display is the highest resolution screen ever put in a phone. It's stuffed with 614,400 78 micrometer-wide pixels, for a pixel density of 326 pixels per inch. Those are the facts, according to Apple.
What's disputed is whether or not the iPhone 4 possesses a true retina display, one in which the human eye can't see individual pixels.
1. The resolution of the retina is in angular measure - it's 50 Cycles Per Degree. A cycle is a line pair, which is two pixels, so the angular resolution of the eye is 0.6 arc minutes per pixel.
2. So, if you hold an iPhone at the typical 12 inches from your eyes that works out to 477 pixels per inch. At 8 inches it's 716 ppi. You have to hold it out 18 inches before it falls to 318 ppi.
So the iPhone has significantly lower resolution than the retina. It actually needs a resolution significantly higher than the retina in order to deliver an image that appears perfect to the retina.
At 12 inches the 1 dimensional linear difference is 326/477 = 68 percent. But the pixel (area) density for 2 dimensions, which is the actual relevant observable, is that value squared = 0.47, so the iPhone 4 is more than a factor of 2 from being a retina display at the typical 12 inch viewing distance. Stated another way the iPhone display would need to have 1.3 megapixels instead of 0.6 megapixels to be a retina display.
Okay, got all that? On the other hand, William H.A. Beaudot, president of KyberVision tells The Loop that "Apple's claim is not just marketing, it is actually quite accurate based on a 20/20 visual acuity." Here's what he says in detail:
"A visual acuity of 20/20 means that a normal human eye can discriminate two points separated by 1 arc minute (1/60 deg). A visual angle of 1 arc minute seen from a distance of 1 foot corresponds to a dot size of about 89 micrometers or a pixel density of 286.5 dpi. Since the 'retina' display has a pixel density of 326 dpi (14% better than what we would expect from a 20/20 visual acuity at 1 ft), it would seem unfair and misleading to refute Apple's marketing claim on this basis.
Since this display is able to provide a visual input to the retina with a spatial frequency up to 50 cycles per degree when viewed from a distance of 18-inches, it almost matches the retina resolution according to the Nyquist-Shannon sampling theorem."
Popular Mechanics courts the opinion of Ethan Rossi from the Center for Visual Science at the University of Rochester who says the iPhone 4 "surpasses 20/20 human visual capabilities" at 16 inches and 12 inches away.
It's when you get within 3 inches that he says you'll be able to see the pixels. Ethan wrote to clarify: "At about 25 cm (10 inches) is when the pixels will be larger than 1 arcmin, which is the equivalent to 20/20 vision."
Hokay, well. The one thing they all definitely agree on is that it ultimately comes down to how far you hold the iPhone from your face. The further away, the better it's going to look. | <urn:uuid:fa10d9c5-057b-42b5-8c1c-92959f1cb9ae> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://gizmodo.com/5561351/the-iphone-4-retina-display-controversy | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783395992.75/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154955-00037-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.926211 | 748 | 2.609375 | 3 |
Characterization in Novels
Understanding and Evaluating Characterization in Novels
The idea behind this unit is for students to develop a greater understanding of how authors create characters using various categories of character traits and then evaluate how well those representations reflect reality. These traits include physical, identity, and social/moral. Several activities described below were used as part of this unit.
In my case, the students read two different novels, The Secret Life of Bees and The Kite Runner, as the basis for this exploration. We used The Secret Life of Bees to develop our understanding. While reading, the students used an individual wiki in our class Moodle to record their interpretations of the characters as they were introduced in the novel. Those comments helped promote classroom discussions about the characters. Once the novel was completed, students produced a written analysis of a chosen character and how the author developed that character using one of the categories identified.
Once that essay was completed, we moved onto The Kite Runner. The activity supporting this novel involved a well-developed web search using the annotation features of Diigo prior to reading of the novel. Once completed, the students used the knowledge of the geographic, religious, social, and moral characteristics of the region and people of the region to guide their reading. In addition to reading the novel, we also watched the film adaptation to promote a better understanding of how the author and producer of the film developed the various characters. Students were asked to produce an essay evaluating the development of the characters based on their knowledge of the region and understanding of characterization using the above-mentioned traits. In addition to the essays, students were also asked to answer a set of reflection questions for each essay to allow them to better gauge their understanding of these concepts related to characterization. Those reflections provided insight into their thinking and development of their essays. This unit took roughly six weeks to complete.
This unit is designed to engage students more deeply into the development of characters in literature. These characterizations apply to all forms of literature. The purposes of this unit are for students to:
- develop a more critical understanding of characterization
- discover how physical, identity, and moral/social traits influence readers
- practice close reading of two different novels
- understand the importance of research in the development of characters
Common Core Standards for English Language Arts (6-12)
- Analyze the impact of the author’s choices regarding how to develop and relate elements of a story or drama (e.g., where a story is set, how the action is ordered, how the characters are introduced and developed) (Reading, Grades 9-12, Standard 3).
- Produce writing in which the organization, development, substance, and style are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience (Writing, Grades 6-12, Standard 4).
- Write in response to literary or informational sources, drawing evidence from the text to support analysis and reflection as well as to describe what they have learned (Writing, Grades 6-12, Standard 9).
Indiana State Standards
Students read and respond to grade-level-appropriate historically or culturally significant works of literature, such as the selections in the www.doe.in.gov/standards/readinglist.html, which illustrate the quality and complexity of the materials to be read by students. At Grade 12, students read a wide variety of fiction, such as classic and contemporary literature, historical fiction, fantasy, science fiction, folklore, mythology, poetry, short stories, dramas, and other genres (Reading: Comprehension and Analysis of Literary Texts, Standard 12.3).
Students continue to combine the rhetorical strategies of narration, exposition, persuasion, and description; to produce reflective compositions, historical investigation reports, and job applications and resumes; and to deliver multimedia presentations. Student writing demonstrates a command of Standard English and the research, organizational, and drafting strategies outlined in Standard 4 - Writing Processes and Features. Writing demonstrates an awareness of the audience (intended reader) and purpose for writing (Writing: Applications—Different Types of Writing and Their Characteristics, Standard 12.5).
Relevant Big Ideas
The traits an author chooses to develop in a character inform and influence a reader’s response to that character.
As readers, various character analysis’ methods shape our understanding and learning about the characters in film and literature.
Analyzing characters through physical, identity, and social/moral traits requires an awareness of how characters connect to the themes and the broader social, cultural, and political issues represented in film and literature.
Character traits: the qualities exhibited by characters in literature and film to allow readers and viewers to identify with those characters. We use the ideas of Karen Kay, author and teacher, who states:
Character traits fall into three main categories: physical, identity, and social/moral. Physical traits refer to the character's appearance, not only their looks, but also their style of clothing and body language. A character's identity is made up of personality traits, such as habits and quirks, vices, psychological/emotional problems, and behavior. Their identity also includes external things, such as occupation, education, and hobbies. Social/moral traits define how a character interacts with others and his or her code of ethics.
Characterization: the decisions to offer in indirect and direct ways insight into a character and what he or she may represent or believe in.
Character Analysis: identifying what features about a character provides insight into that character. These features can be stated directly (direct characterization) by the author or indirectly through actions, dialogue, and what others say about the character (indirect characterization).
Theme: the topic or issue that the author is promoting through the development of story and character.
This unit involves materials and activities using print and technology resources. As such, you may need to do the following in advance of beginning the unit:
- Setup on online network (I used Moodle) to facilitate online work.
- Purchase or have students purchase these books for use in this unit. We had received classroom sets of these novels in our latest book adoption.
- Reserve or arrange access to the computer lab for online activities.
- Setup individual student wikis to record observations
- Purchase the film adaptation of one or both books. I only used The Kite Runner, but could have used The Secret Life of Bees as well.
Pre-Assessment (pre-reading discussion)—The Secret Life of Bees
Provide students a blank handout that identifies the Relevant Big Ideas and Formalisms (see above). Working in pairs, I asked the students (seniors) to use prior knowledge to define and perhaps give an example from one of our previously read short stories for each term (Adaptation: students could define individually and then we could in our discussion come up with example from either previously read pieces or even film).
Once these were completed, we reconvened as a class to discuss the definitions (and come up universal definitions that could be applied in our class) and offer examples. These collaborative responses were posted in the room and were used throughout the unit as reference.
The Reading Schedule
We started with The Secret Life of Bees. Our reading schedule involved reading at least two chapters each night. The two chapters allowed for a bit slower pace, but promoted a little more thoughtfulness when combined with the activity described below.
Within the Moodle, each student had an individual wiki that allowed for them to record their observations related to character development and characterization as they were reading. A response was expected for minimally every two chapters of the novel, which became the basis for discussions each day. These observations, along with our discussions, centered on characterization and how this was done by the author and its impact on the reader became the basis for the essay they students produced at the end of the novel.
Once the novel was completed, we used the following handouts to guide the production of the essay.
- Writing about the Novel—The Secret Life of Bees
- Rubric for The Secret Life of Bees
- Reflection Questions
(After writing the essays, students were asked to complete the Reflection Questions, which were submitted along with the essays.
Pre-Assessment (pre-reading activity)—The Kite Runner
Because this novel deals with a part of the world that few of my students were familiar, I asked that they do some preliminary web search and annotation of sites using Diigo (www.diigo.com). We started with the websites for the novel and film and worked from there. Students were asked to locate, read, and annotate five websites related to the region’s social, political, religious, and historical background. The purpose of this activity is to help students build schema prior to reading, so that they can better understand the subtle nuances and characterizations within the novel.
Students were given two class periods to work on this individually or in small groups, but were expected to finish the activity outside of class, if needed.
The Reading Schedule
As with TSLoB, we took roughly two weeks to read and discuss this novel. Our discussions were centered on how the author characterized the various characters and how those characters reflected the region, based on the web activity done prior to reading. Students took notes during the discussions as characters and their connections to the region were discussed. These became the basis for the essay produced at the end of the unit. As additional insight into the story and the region, we also watched the film adaptation of The Kite Runner. Students added comments to their notes as we watched and discussed the film.
Once the novel was completed, we used the following handouts to guide the production of the essay.
- Building on the Bees and Characters
- Reflection Questions for Characterization in Novels Rubric 2011.doc
Students were reminded that for this essay I would place more emphasis on the reflection than on the actual essay. Students submitted the essay and reflection questions at their completion, with the essay being completed first.
With these two novels, assessment occurred on several layers. The Pre-Assessment activities (the Wiki and Diigo annotations) were graded for completion only. With the essays and responses to the reflection questions, I graded both, but the primary assessment was done with the essay on TSLoB and the reflection on TKR. The idea being that a thoughtful and well-written reflection should identify not only the student’s understanding of the concepts of characterization, but also show their ability to articulate the process and the main points they made and supported within their essays.
After I have returned their essays and reflections with my comments, we had a sort of debriefing related to the novel and characterization unit. Nearly unanimously, students agreed they developed through this unit a much better understanding of characterization and its importance to the stories. They felt as though the activities helped them, although technical issues for some with the Diigo caused some concerns about it usefulness. Some of these problems may be been an internal network conflict, which has since hopefully been resolved. Some other issues uncovered during our discussions revolved around the timing of the unit—it was the last unit of their senior year, so senioritis was an issue—and also the amount of time allotted. Several students expressed concern as AP exams and the multitude of senior-related activities caused several to miss class during the unit. Another issue surrounding the unit involved the timing of the reflection. I asked that they submit their essays prior to turning in their reflections. In hindsight, it would have been better to have allowed revision of the essays after they had done the reflections. Many of the students saw the areas that needed improvement during their reflecting on the essays and the process, which they could have revised. As stated previously, the timing of the unit did not help in this area as well. We literally did not have time after completing this unit to do the revision. Again, scheduling this unit to allow for this additional step in the writing process would alleviate this concern and allow for the revisions to occur. | <urn:uuid:acf9796d-e97f-41ee-86ae-6c1043ab16f8> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://digitalis.nwp.org/resource/3232 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783402746.23/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624155002-00188-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.965894 | 2,455 | 3.984375 | 4 |
"Sir Gawaine the Son of Lot, King of Orkney" from: The Story of King Arthur and His Knights. Pyle, Howard (1853-1911), New York: Scribner's, 1903.
Credit: Courtesy of The Camelot Project at the University of Rochester.
King Arthur, Camelot, Gawain, a bold challenge, a perilous journey, a beheading, an enchantment, and a shape-shifter are the ingredients of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. For the modern reader, Sir Gawain's tale is riveting even without understanding its symmetry or cultural and historical context. Viewed through the lens of the medieval thinker, reading this Arthurian tale becomes a rich, multi-layered experience.
Gawain and the Green Knight, written in Middle English in the late 1300s, combines two stories familiar to contemporary audiences under the overarching story of Arthur's round table and his feud with his half-sister Morgan le Fay. The first is a beheading tale, which becomes the impetus behind Gawain's quest and frames the second tale, Bertilak's test of Gawain's honor. As Gawain completes his adventures and returns home, the audience is led to consider the true measure of a hero.
This lesson plan explores symmetry in the structure and themes of Gawain, delving into the antagonist's representation of the "duality of nature." In examining knightly virtues, students will measure Gawain's strength as the poem's hero. The lesson explains background information that every medieval thinker listening to a performance of the poem would know, in an effort to put the student into the mind-set of the medieval audience, providing a deeper appreciation and understanding of the work.
Gawain, written in Middle English in the late 1300s, is considered part of the alliterative revival in British literature. Although, because so few manuscripts survive from the time, it is equally likely that the alliterative tradition continued unbroken, complicating the notion of a “revival.” Alliteration is the repetition of the first consonant sound in a series of words ("Pat picks a piece of pie"), a practice in Medieval verse that gained renewed popularity in poems such as Gawain. In alliterative verse, each line of a poem usually contains three or four stressed syllables that repeat the same consonant sound. Here's an example from Gawain in modern English:
The battlements broken down and burnt to brands and ashes.” (Fitt 1, Line 2)
More specifically, lines in alliterative verse are usually divided into two halves. The first half of each line usually contains one or two stressed syllables that repeat the same sound. These two sounds match the first sound in the second half of the line plus that of another stressed syllable. In the example above:
The first half of the line is: “The battlements broken down and.”
The second half of the line is: “burnt to brands and ashes.”
The “b” is alliterated. In the first half of the line it appears twice in two stressed syllables (battlements, broken). In the second half of the line, it appears in the initial, stressed syllable (burnt) and in another stressed syllable (brands).
Besides alliteration, Gawain and the Green Knight uses a poetic form called the “bob and wheel.” A definition of the "bob and wheel," available through the EDSITEment resource Internet Public Library, describes key parts of a stanza in Gawain. The main stanza concludes with five lines that rhyme ababa. The first line, called the "bob," is usually only two syllables; the "bob" serves as the bridge between the long series of alliterative lines and the concluding four rhyming lines, which are the "wheel." The bob maintains both the alliteration of the previous lines while it also begins the rhyme scheme of the concluding "bob and wheel." Review a sample passage from Gawain, which is annotated to highlight the "bob and wheel" structure.
Ask students to practice their knowledge by annotating the passage from Gawain in the Bob and Wheel handout. Ask them to mark examples of alliteration, the bob, and the wheel, including the rhyme scheme.
Have students examine the descriptions of characters and situations in the first 29 stanzas of the poem.
The beheading game the Green Knight proposes has a longstanding place in the oral tradition of the day. Sir Gawain and the Green Knight uses this tale in conjunction with another known tale that appears in later sections—that of sexual pursuit. For now, ask students to consider the following questions:
Have students closely reread Fitt 1, Stanzas 7 through 10 (lines 130 through 231) and consider how the Green Knight is described. The symbolism of the Green Knight's clothing is an example of balance in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. The Green Knight is described as being dressed in green, the color of the land, with embroidery of gold, the color of the sun. In the Middle Ages, people would understand the color symbolism and its ties to the duality of nature. Green can symbolize nature's positive aspects like renewal, protection, fertility, the coming of spring, birth, and regeneration, or its negative aspects like the wild, uncontrolled forces of nature which can dominate or even destroy man.
The duality of the Green Knight is also evident in the items he holds in each hand. The holly bob, an evergreen, is a symbol of peace. The poet devotes only 2 lines the holly bob. The glowing green axe in his other hand, which the poet devotes 14 lines to, demonstrates physical domination, violence and fighting.
The pentangle is a star-shape that, like a Celtic Knot, can be drawn without lifting your pen from the paper. When completed it has no beginning and no end, representing an endless cycle. The poem describes the perfection of the pentangle and how it is a perfect emblem for Gawain's shield:
Right well and worthily it went with the knight And why the pentangle is proper to that prince so noble I intend now to tell you, though it may tarry my story… for it is a figure that in it five points holdeth, and each line overlaps and is linked with another and every way it is endless; and the English, I hear, everywhere name it the Endless Knot." (Stanza 27)
The formal structure of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight represents an endless cycle. The poem is composed of 101 stanzas. The poem begins in the first stanza with the Fall of Troy and ends in poem's "extra" stanza (Stanza 101) with the Fall of Troy, establishing an endless cycle—a closed shape like the pentangle. The poem also begins in Stanza 1 at a Yuletide celebration. The passing of the next three seasons occurs rather quickly at the opening of Fitt 2. The poem then returns to the Yuletide season, which is where it ends in the last stanza, representing the passage of a full year, plus a day, again creating a closed shape, a complete and endless cycle.
As he gets ready to fulfill his promise to find the Green Knight, the poems pays a great deal of attention to Gawain's preparations and attire. The pentangle is an important shape in the poem, representing both the "endless knot" as well as "five fives"—five points of five where Gawain excels—another example of symmetry within the work. Have students read the description of Gawain and his shield in lines 619-669. The Shield Worksheet provides a space for students to list the "five fives" for each point, which represents Gawain's aspirations for balance and symmetry as a true knight. Gawain aspires to all the secular virtues and the virtues of knighthood:
(a) free-giving (or generosity)
(b) friendliness (or brotherhood)
(c) chastity (or purity)
(d) chivalry (or courtesy)
(e) piety (or compassion)
Ask students to consider everyone's behavior to this point in light of the knightly virtues as described through the description of Gawain's shield. How have they behaved, or not behaved, in light of these mandates?
Advise students to keep these issues in mind as they continue with the poem.
As students read Fitt 3, ask them to explore the Aberdeen Bestiary, a collection of short descriptions about all sorts of animals, real and imaginary, accessible through the EDSITEment-reviewed website Labyrinth. The editors of the Bestiary describe the work as follows:
A Bestiary is a collection of short descriptions about all sorts of animals, real and imaginary, birds and even rocks, accompanied by a moralising explanation. Although it deals with the natural world it was never meant to be a scientific text and should not be read as such. Some observations may be quite accurate but they are given the same weight as totally fabulous accounts. The Bestiary appeared in its present form in England in the twelfth century, as a compilation of many earlier sources, principally the Physiologus. A great deal of its charm comes from the humour and imagination of the illustrations, painted partly for pleasure but justified as a didactic tool “to improve the minds of ordinary people, in such a way that the soul will at least perceive physically things which it has difficulty grasping mentally: that what they have difficulty comprehending with their ears, they will perceive with their eyes” (Aberdeen MS 24, f25v).
The online version of the Aberdeen Bestiary shows illustrations of the animals and offers translations of the accompanying text. Knowing what to expect from each animal will help students see the parallel between the actions of the hunted animals (deer, boar, fox) and Gawain's actions when the Lady pursues him. Have students use the Hunt Comparison worksheet to take notes while reading this section.
The Bestiary notes that deer "change their feeding-ground for love of another country, and in doing so, they support each other." They are compared to members of the church.
The boar is wild, untamed, and savage.
The fox "is fleet-footed and never runs in a straight line but twists and turns. It is a clever, crafty animal. When it is hungry and can find nothing to eat, it rolls itself in red earth so that it seems to be stained with blood, lies on the ground and holds it breath, so that it seems scarcely alive. When birds see that it is not breathing, that it is flecked with blood and that its tongue is sticking out of its mouth, they think that it is dead and descend to perch on it. Thus it seizes them and devours them." Its nature is compared to that of the devil.
In the third section of the poem, Bertilak proposes a game to Gawain in which the two men exchange the winnings each man yields: Bertilak in his hunt for "game" outdoors and Gawain in his pursuit of rest indoors. The poet juxtaposes the scenes of the hunt outdoors with scenes of Gawain's temptations by the beautiful lady, Bertilak's wife. Gawain's adherence to courtesy and the rules of courtly love, his devotion to the Madonna, and his oath of knighthood are all tested.
The behavior of the animals and the people in the literal and metaphorical "hunts" are presented symmetrically. On the first day, the deer try to run away and hide (Stanza 47). Gawain was embarrassed and tries to feign sleep (Stanza 48). On the second day, the boar proves to be a formidable opponent alternately confronting, feinting and eluding them for the whole day (Stanza 57, 63, 64). Gawain, now ready for the lady, is also a formidable opponent. He firmly, but courteously, resists her (Stanzas 58-61). On the third day, as the men are tracking the wily fox, he is called "thief" (Stanza 69). This foreshadows Gawain's acceptance of the green girdle, which he should refuse if he is adhering to rules of propriety. The men track the fox (Stanzas 68) vigorously and the lady pursues Gawain vigorously (Stanza 73) offering him a ring, which he refuses. Gawain acts as a fox cunningly avoiding the lady's advances (Stanza 72).
Have students do a close reading of Section 45 for the rules for the exchange of the winnings and all of Fitt 3 (Sections 46-79) for the complete account of the three hunts, the three temptations, and the three exchanges of winnings as they complete the Hunt Comparison worksheet.
The fourth Fitt of Gawain's tale follows the knight as he fulfills his promise to appear at the Green Chapel within a "twelvemonth and a day." Leaving Bertilak's home, Gawain travels to the Chapel, where he once again encounters the Green Knight. Kneeling, Gawain exposes his neck to the axe blow. The Green Knight swings the axe three times. At the first, Gawain flinches; the second is a trial to see if Gawain would flinch again. The third blow draws blood, but is carefully administered to avoid any real harm. Gawain discovers, then, that the tests of the hunt and the beheading game were of the same ilk, created to test the honor and integrity of Arthur's knights. The Green Knight is revealed to be Bertilak, Gawain's earlier host, who had been enchanted by Morgan le Fay in order to administer the test of Arthur's court.
Have students use the PDF worksheet The Beheading Game as they examine the game in light of Gawain's earlier test.
Ask students to consider the reactions of the various participants to the outcome of Gawain's quest.
Ask students to write a brief essay examining Gawain as a hero. Did he succeed or fail? What does the test reveal about Gawain, Arthur, and Arthur's court?
The Gawain-poet frames the poem within a Christian context while drawing on well-known pagan stories. Ask students to consider the role of Christianity within Gawain and the Green Knight. What beliefs seem central to the Gawain-poet's agenda?
3-4 class periods | <urn:uuid:4bc72a11-d2fb-4f54-9666-6c436c92118e> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://edsitement.neh.gov/lesson-plan/symmetry-sir-gawain-and-green-knight | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783393442.26/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154953-00061-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.950125 | 3,037 | 3.84375 | 4 |
The most popular drug for 12-year-old kids is under the sink. U.S. health officials reported last week that the number of children who have inhaled potentially deadly vapors to get high is more than the numbers of those who have tried marijuana, cocaine and hallucinogens combined. According to data from 2006-2008 surveys on drug use conducted by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Service, among the middle school set, the only intoxicant used more than inhalants was alcohol.
What Is Huffing?
Huffing is the process of inhaling the fumes from common household products like gasoline, nail polish, bleach, paint solvents and cleaning spray. The amount of poison that enters the bloodstream can be significant and can cause cardiac arrest, brain, heart, liver and kidney damage. And like other drugs, inhalants can also be addictive. The trouble is that many kids won’t consider inhaling or huffing to be “taking drugs” because the substances are obtained legally in their own homes and are not specifically designated as “drugs.”
"It's frustrating because the danger comes from a variety of very common household products that are legal, they're easy to get, they're laying around the home and it's easy for kids to buy them," Pamela Hyde, of the U.S. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) said. "Kids and parents don't think of these things as dangerous because they were never meant to be used to be intoxicating."
The study reported the following results:
- About 7 percent of 12-year-olds have used an inhalant to get high
- About 5 percent of 12-year-olds have taken prescription drugs for nonmedical use
- About 1.4 percent of 12-year-olds have used marijuana
- Fewer than one percent have used cocaine or hallucinogens
While the rate of inhalant use in this age group has not risen in recent years, officials believe that kids do not understand the risks. Dr. Timothy Condon of the National Institute on Drug Abuse fears the trend.
"Unfortunately between the years 2001 and 2009, 8th graders' perception that inhalants are great risk decreased from about 75 percent to about 58 percent. We know, historically, that when the perception of risk declines we often almost always see an increase in use."
Is Your Child Huffing?
Some common symptoms after a child has been huffing or abusing inhalants include:
- A dazed expression
- Slurred speech
- Loss of appetite
- General drunk-like behavior
- Runny nose
- Sores or rashes around the mouth and nos
- Strong chemical odor on the breath
- An inordinate number of empty cans around the house or in the trash
Inhaling can be deadly, but it's easy enough to know if your kids are huffing if you pay attention.
This topic is something that hasn't received a lot of attention in the past. However, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services is reportedly launching a public service campaign in response to the information. | <urn:uuid:d9e8eed7-211a-4562-b368-c66825a4bad6> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://parentingsquad.com/huffing-inhalants-almost-as-popular-as-drinking | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783396872.10/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154956-00117-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.962424 | 653 | 2.921875 | 3 |
How are calories calculated in food?
Do they sum all the energy in every molecule? By for example, by burning the stuff up and calculating the energy output.
Or is this value supposed to represent the energy that a human body will extract from that food?
Or do they only sum up the elements that we are supposed to digest (Protein, Carbs, Fat) ?
For example, wood contains a lot of energy. We can see that by burning it. But the human body is not able to break done the fibers to extract the enery from wood. We do not eat wood but I suppose there are multiple elements contained in food that we do not digest but that contain energy.
Also, Fat contains a lot of energy compared to carbs or proteins but the human body has a much more difficult time to process fat and extract energy from it (catabolism).
Is it the energy outputed from the catabolism of fat that is calculated or again the theoretical quantity energy in fat (burning it). | <urn:uuid:2ade4254-3774-42fd-ab04-c32fce4edc2a> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://fitness.stackexchange.com/questions/2764/how-are-calories-calculated-in-food | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783396147.66/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154956-00184-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.958481 | 208 | 2.75 | 3 |
Lake Ontario Theater Continued (Part Two)
Sackets Harbor Battlefield
504 West Main Street
Sackets Harbor, New York 13685(315) 646-3634
The Americans had only one useful deepwater harbor on their side of Lake Ontario. That was Sackets Harbor, which unlike Kingston, was remote and barely accessible by land. Even so, Sackets Harbor served as a primary U.S. naval base throughout the war, and all of the key American fighting ships that served on the lake were built here. On May 29, 1813 a powerful British fleet and accompanying ground force attacked Sackets Harbor intending to destroy the base along with its vital shipyards. To defend the base, General Jacob Brown could muster only 400 regulars and a few hundred poorly trained militia. Nonetheless, Brown and his men eventually succeeded in driving off the British. New York maintains Sackets Harbor Battlefield as a state park and historic site. Visitors can tour the restored navy yard and commandant’s house and hike the mile-long history trail. Signs and exhibits along the trail recall the dramatic events that took place here two centuries ago. Especially evocative is the magnificent Memorial Grove and granite 1812 Monument both of which honor the troops and sailors who served here during the war.
304 West Main Street
Sackets Harbor, New York 13685Phone (315) 646-2321 (Sackets Harbor Visitors’ Center)
Built by Augustus Sacket in 1804, the house served as a hospital and headquarters for the U.S. Navy during the war. Located on Main Street at the corner of Bayard Street, it is now the Sackets Harbor Visitors’ Center.
St. Lawrence Market and Medallion
92 Front Street East
Amherstburg, Ontario N9V2A5(416) 392-7219
Established in 1803, the vibrant St. Lawrence Market has played an important role in Canadian commercial history. In the market at the northeast corner of Jarvis and Front Streets is a memorial to the HMS St. Lawrence, the first and only ship of the line to serve on the Great Lakes. Built in 1814, the 112-gun St. Lawrence dominated Lake Ontario toward the end of the war.
Wellington Street east of Bathhurst Street
Toronto, Ontario M5V 1M3(416) 203-2500 (Toronto Visitor’s Bureau)
A burial ground for soldiers and sailors killed during the War of 1812 and other conflicts, Victoria Square was one of Toronto’s first public parks. A monument here is dedicated to those who lost their lives defending Canada during the war. Victoria Square is located northeast of Fort York on Wellington Street east of Bathurst Street.
Fort York National Historic Site
250 Fort York Boulevard
Toronto, Ontario M5V 3K9
The roots of modern Toronto can be traced back 1793 and the establishment of a remote garrison on the present site of Fort York. When war with the United States loomed, the capitol of Upper Canada was moved to York which many decades later would be renamed Toronto. In 1813, York and its fortifications became the target of a large and destructive American raid. The American commander Zebulon Pike warned his men to respect private property, but after Pike was killed in an explosion his orders were no longer heeded. Much of York was burned after British forces retreated eastward. Eventually, British troops returned and built the fortification that stands here today. Fort York opened as an historic site and museum in 1934, and today, it is home to Canada's largest collection of original War of 1812 buildings. The fort is open year round and offers a number of services, including tours, exhibits, and seasonal demonstrations. Among the many attractions of Fort York is the the colorful Fort York Guard. To reach the fort, take Lakeshore Boulevard, turn left at Fort York Boulevard, and then right on Garrison Road and follow it to the parking lot at West Gate. | <urn:uuid:b6c4948d-7d64-4436-99b9-554fc427795c> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.pbs.org/wned/war-of-1812/historic-sites/lake-ontario-theater/lake-ontario-part-2/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783393997.50/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154953-00193-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.958013 | 814 | 2.828125 | 3 |
18 Million Dollars Approved Under UN-REDD Programme
Funds Will Back Forestry Programmes Combating Climate Change and Boosting Local Livelihoods
18 March 2009 - A United Nations programme aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions from forests and boosting livelihoods in tropical nations has approved $18 million in support of five pilot countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America.
The UN-REDD Programme, a collaboration between the Food and Agriculture Organization, the UN Development Programme and the UN Environment Programme was launched to ensure that Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and forest Degradation (REDD) becomes an important component of a future agreement on climate change to be agreed under the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change in December 2009 in Copenhagen, Denmark.
The $18 million-worth of funding, roughly a third of the sums currently available, has been approved by inaugural Policy Board meeting of Programme which met in Panama. The funding will support action plans to assist the countries concerned prepare for the inclusion of REDD in a new climate deal. An additional $6.9 million were approved for global support functions.
During the high level Policy Board meeting, senior government representatives of the Democratic Republic of Congo, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, Tanzania, and Viet Nam, presented their plans for preparing national strategies for a future REDD regime. The presentation of the national programmes served as valuable learning and sharing experiences among participants on the way forward.
"This is a very significant first step for the UN-REDD Programme", said Angela Cropper, UN Assistant Secretary General and UNEP Deputy Executive Director, who chaired the meeting.
"I am heartened to see such a dedicated group of countries, indigenous peoples, civil society, donors and the United Nations come together to reach consensus on this important programme. I am confident that the Programme will have a substantial input to the continuing REDD debate."
Many countries will implement their individual strategies aimed at maintaining their ecosystems through sustainable forest management that provides environmental and economic benefits to their citizens and communities while reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
Activities will include developing the capacity to baselines from which to measure for emissions from deforestation and forest degradation, monitoring programmes, consultative processes for engaging indigenous peoples and civil society, links to other benefits such as biodiversity and the strengthening the capacity of national institutions to address these issues.
In addition to the countries currently engaged in the programme implementation, the Policy Board includes members of indigenous peoples groups and civil society as well as donors and many other interested parties such as the World Bank's Forest Carbon Partnership Facility (FCPF), the UNFCCC secretariat and the Global Environment Facility secretariat.
Ambassador Hans Brattskar, Director of Norway's Forest and Climate Programme whose country is funding the UN-REDD Programme said: "I am pleased with this significant outcome. We are moving in the right direction and I am very happy to see the approval of country programmes that will begin to address REDD at the national level. We are convinced that these countries will help to advance REDD and serve as demonstrations from which others can learn."
Between 1990 and 2005 the rate of deforestation averaged 13 million hectares, mostly in the Tropics.
Greenhouse gas emissions with felling, slash and burn agriculture and other deforestation effects, account for around 17 per cent or more of global emissions-the second largest source after the energy sector.
By 2100 clearing of tropical forests could release 87 to 130 Gigatonnes of carbon to the atmosphere. | <urn:uuid:98c6ff6e-42e2-4584-af64-331ee5f3eef7> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.unep.org/climatechange/News/PressRelease/tabid/416/language/en-US/Default.aspx?DocumentId=573&ArticleId=6102 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783393442.26/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154953-00086-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.930133 | 701 | 2.796875 | 3 |
COPPERAS COVE — Gary Young fiddled with a radio dial, waiting to get a signal from other amateur radio operators across the nation.
About 10 minutes later, Young heard an operator in Indiana through the static.
The exercise was part of a field day Saturday, where amateur radio operators gathered in the community room of the Copperas Cove Police Department to make contact with operators throughout the country and Canada.
“Once a year, the amateur radio community, also known as HAM radio operators, do a preparedness exercise called field day,” said Young, emergency management coordinator for the city. “The purpose of it is for (volunteer) radio operators ... to set up their radio equipment and operate in an environment that simulates a disaster.”
The operators worked throughout the night, trying to make radio contact with other operators across North America.
“By the time we leave, we will have around 30 or 40 contacts,” said Priscilla Beauregard, who has been a amateur radio operator for about five years.
In natural disaster situations, like a hurricane, Beauregard said radios come in handy since they are operated on emergency generators, unlike cellphones, which rely on towers.
“If we have a tornado and everything is wiped out, HAM radio is the only way you’ll have connection (with other people),” she said.
During the event, Young said residents also were educated on the importance of having a plan of action in case of a disaster.
“Citizens should be proactive and prepare for disaster before it strikes,” Young said. “For each person who has an emergency kit, that’s one less person emergency management responders have to worry about.” | <urn:uuid:969a65ba-3356-4c75-965f-33468f75f822> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://kdhnews.com/news/ham-operators-hold-emergency-preparedness-exercise/article_28eb77aa-dbb9-11e2-8131-0019bb30f31a.html?mode=story | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783395613.65/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154955-00160-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.966828 | 367 | 2.53125 | 3 |
Born: September 28, 1887
Avery Brundage was born in Detroit, Michigan on September 28, 1887. He graduated from Chicago English High School in 1905, and went on to earn a B.S. degree in Civil Engineering in 1909 from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. In 1912, Brundage competed for the U.S. track and field teams in the pentathlon and decathlon at the Olympics in Stockholm. In 1914, 1916, and 1918, he was U.S. All-around champion. Brundage promoted amateur athletics throughout his life, and he also became very successful in the business world. He devoted many of his years as a spokesman for all amateur athletics. He served in executive positions, including President, of the Amateur Athletic Unions as well as the U.S. Olympics during a span of leadership that began in 1928 and continued through 1972 and his 20-year reign as President of the International Olympic Committee.
During his career, Brundage tirelessly tried to keep amateur sports from being influenced by money and politics. It was a tough battle. When the United States debated whether to participate in the 1936 Olympics in Berlin, Brundage spoke out in favor of competing, enraging those who believed that a U.S. boycott would be a powerful statement against the Nazis. Brundage stuck to his guns, advocating the separation of politics from amateur sports. And in 1972, he again argued for the continuation of the Olympic Games, even after the tragic massacre of Israeli athletes. In Brundage's view, amateur sports had to be totally removed from political events, no matter how unsavory those events were. Avery Brundage retired from the International Olympic Committee in 1972. He died in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, West Germany, on May 5, 1975.
Find out more about Avery Brundage. Click to purchase The Games Must Go on : Avery Brundage and the Olympic Movement by Allen Guttmann.
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NEW DELHI, INDIA— A new survey indicates Nepal's wild tiger population has risen 63 percent in the last five years. Conservation groups credit a renewed national commitment to protecting the large cat for the increase.
According to government figures released this week, the number of Royal Bengal tigers in Nepal has jumped to 198 from 121 in 2009.
Officials in Kathmandu say Nepal wants to be the first South Asian country to double the number of large cats by 2022, the Year of the Tiger - a global initiative launched to save them from extinction.
World Wildlife Fund Nepal’s Policy Director Santosh Nepal said the country has made significant inroads because the government has taken the issue seriously, working closely with conservation groups and local communities, creating a Wildlife Crime Control Bureau and dispatching the army and police to patrol national parks for poachers.
“With this concentrated effort of the police, the crime investigation bureau [CIB] and the local communities, in two years-time, we have broken that nexus of illegal trade, so we have taken out the supply side - the supply chain has been completely broken down,” he said.
Nepal is a major transit route for illegal wildlife trade, with animal parts trafficked from India and other parts of the world, and smuggled through to China. Tiger bones, in particular, are in high demand for use in traditional Chinese medicine. The pelts often are seen in Tibet.
Conservation officials say Nepal has been able to crack down on poachers and smugglers through greater regional cooperation, including trans-border meetings and intelligence sharing with China and neighboring India. That country is home to more than half of the world’s 3,200 wild Royal Bengal tigers.
New Delhi and Kathmandu in December are set to release the results of a yearlong joint tiger survey of the 965-kilometer Terai Arc Landscape stretching across both countries.
India, Nepal partnership
World Wildlife Fund Nepal’s Conservation Program Director Ghana Gurung said the countries also are working together to target key transit routes.
“We control much better and that’s why we have been able to get much better intelligence of these [illegal wildlife] confiscations. In terms of India, we are not just talking about intelligence and sharing trade [-related] intelligence, but about physically protecting the tigers, because tigers move between India and Nepal,” said Gurung.
Aside from fighting the illegal trade of tiger parts, Nepal is working to increase the large cat’s habitat, creating new national parks and pledging more than $2.5 million over the next five years for tiger conservation.
But with the tiger population - and their habitat - increasing, authorities are becoming more concerned about the potential conflict between humans and the endangered cat. Nepal said the government provides compensation to tiger attack victims and their families, and is working closely with villages near national parks to address residents’ concerns.
“We want to teach or make people learn how to live in harmony with the tiger and other animals in the landscape. This is a critical issue. I don’t have any concrete answer to it,” he said.
Conservation officials say creating this harmony is a new challenge as the number of Bengal tigers increases in the Himalayan nation. | <urn:uuid:cbd523cf-bb03-4119-bd46-5fc41932091e> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.voanews.com/content/tiger-population-soars-as-nepal-targets-poachers-bengal-tigers/1714794.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783398209.20/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154958-00136-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.944983 | 672 | 2.703125 | 3 |
During the early period thousand years ago, the early Filipinos were composed of different groups that came from different part of
They group into different communities composed of 50 to 2,000 individuals and they construct their shelters in different areas according to their lifestyle and source of living. Usually they were situated along the seashores, streams, rivers, forests, fertile land areas and even in caves.
In water areas they look for fish, shells and pearls as their source of living. They also used boat and craft as there means of transportation for an easier travel and carrying their goods for trade from one place to another. For those people located in land areas they cultivate the land and plant rice, bananas and crops. After the harvest they no longer use the area indeed they just move to another place with less grass and fine soil and abundant of trees where they can start farming again. Perhaps this gives an idea that the
At that early period a system of education already exists which accounted by the so-called Alibata- the early Filipino form of writing. This is according to Fr. Pedro Chirino, one of the first Spanish missionaries arrived in the | <urn:uuid:8b7807f2-8efc-4bc7-aea2-7f06ba9efc88> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://reviewphilippines.blogspot.com/2008/07/pre-colonial-culture-system-of_13.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783393533.44/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154953-00109-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.983472 | 232 | 3.171875 | 3 |
Nuns Home PageNext Discourse
8. The Discourse about Sīsupacālā
Thus I have heard:
at one time the Gracious One was dwelling near Sāvatthī at Anāthapiṇḍika's grounds in Jeta's Wood.
Then the nun Sīsupacālā, having dressed in the morning time, after picking up her bowl and robe, was entering Sāvatthī for alms. After walking for alms in Sāvatthī, and returning from the alms-round after the meal, she approached the Blind Man's Wood to pass the day, and having entered Blind Man's Wood, she sat down at the root of a certain tree to pass the day.
Then the Wicked Māra approached the nun Sīsupacālā, and after approaching he said this to the nun Sīsupacālā:
“Which heresy, nun, are you pleased with?”
“I am not pleased, friend, with any heresy.”
“On whose account was your head shaved, as you look like an ascetic, Comm: as you look like an ascetic means you look the same as an ascetic.01
You don't rejoice in heresy, why (then) do you live like a fool?” Comm: why (then) do you live like a fool? means why, for what reason, do you live like a fool?02
“Outside of this Comm: outside of this means outside of this Teaching.03 there are heretics Comm: caught in a snare they are heretics, the meaning is these beings have fallen into a snare of views in their minds. But the (Buddha's) Teaching is free from snares therefore it is not called a heresy, outside of this there are surely heretics. This is a play on words deriving (heresy) from (snare), which hardly works in translation.04 who are stuck fast Comm: stuck fast means sinking down, getting attached.05 in their views,
In their Dhamma I am not pleased, their Dhamma is lacking in skill.
An unmatched Awakened One is born in the Sakya family, Comm: now speaking in answer to “on whose account was your head shaved?” born in the Sakya family and so on was said.06
Lord of all, Comm: herein Lord of all means he stands having overcome all destinations, realms or states involving the constituents, the sense spheres or the elements.07 dispelling Māra, Comm: expelling, driving away Māra as death and so on he is dispelling Māra.08 undefeated in every place. Comm: undefeated in every place means he is undefeated in the war with Māra or (undefeated) by all the passions and so on.09
Free from all things, Comm: free from all things means free from all constituents and so on.10 independent, Comm: independent means independent of the dependence on craving and views.11 the Visionary who sees all,
Attained to the end of all deeds, Comm: attained to the end of all deeds means attained to Worthiness with the complete destruction of all deeds.12 free in the ending of clinging, Comm: in the ending of clinging means free from sense objects by the complete destruction of clinging in Emancipation.13
The Gracious One is my teacher, in his Teaching I am well-pleased.”
Then the Wicked Māra (thought): “The nun Sīsupacālā knows me!” and pained and depressed he vanished right there.
Nuns Home PageNext Discourse
last updated: September 2011 | <urn:uuid:4655cf4c-b46a-40a4-8e1a-225b5dfe8348> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.ancient-buddhist-texts.net/English-Texts/Thematic-Nuns/08-Sisupacala.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783395560.69/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154955-00138-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.955488 | 790 | 2.84375 | 3 |
February is American Heart Month! To help spread the word about heart health, EPA scientists and staff will write each week about the Agency’s Green Heart effort to educate the public about of the connection between air pollution and your heart. Be sure to check back each week to learn more, and for tips on what you can do to stay healthy!
By Wayne E. Cascio, MD
It’s February and Heart Month has arrived and with it a reminder to think about what we can all do to stay well and keep our hearts healthy. As a cardiologist, the month-long focus on the heart gives me a great opportunity to share information with my patients—and now hopefully with anyone who reads this blog—on how they can protect their hearts. It also reminds me to think about the things I do that can hurt or help my heart.
Heart disease remains the number one cause of death in the U.S. for men and women. Less than one percent of Americans have ideal heart health and about 26.5 million have some type of heart disease.
But there are things we can do both individually and collectively to help our hearts. The Global Burden of Disease 2010 study recently published in the medical journal The Lancet describes 67 key factors affecting disability and death in North America. Among the top 20 risk factors, 19 are directly related to individual behavioral or lifestyle choices such as diet, exercise or smoking; or the consequences of those choices.
The remaining risk factor in the top 20 is not associated with individual lifestyle choices, but is more a consequence of our collective actions, namely what we do as a society that leads to air pollution. Air particle pollution (also known as soot) in particular is ranked as the 14th most important.
While in general we have little personal control over air pollution where we live, work and play, there are things we have done as a society that can have lasting positive impacts. The Clean Air Act, for example.
The Act strives to ensure that all Americans are breathing healthy air. Research by EPA and others shows that improved air quality leads to healthier and longer lives. And thanks in large part to that research, the Agency recently strengthened the annual health standard for fine particle pollution (PM2.5) (from 15 to 12 micrograms per cubic meter) to make our air cleaner and healthier.
While EPA continues to work to keep your air clean, there are steps you can take to reduce your personal exposure to air pollutants. For one, don’t smoke and avoid the smoke of others. Second, if you have heart disease consult the Air Quality Index (AQI) as part of your daily routine. The index provides information on air quality and how to avoid unhealthy exposures when air pollutants are high. Simple things like limiting or avoiding exercise outside during high pollution days can help to protect your health and your heart.
So keep in mind during this month of the heart, healthy lifestyle choices including a healthy diet and regular exercise, keeping an eye on your local air quality report, and supporting actions to support clean air are all things we can do for a healthy heart.
About the Author: Cardiologist Wayne E. Cascio, MD is the Director of EPA’s Environmental Public Health Division, a Clinical Professor of Medicine at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and a Fellow of the American Heart Association and the American College of Cardiology. Dr. Cascio’s research explores the effects of air pollution on the heart and blood vessels.
For more Information:
- EPA research: www.epa.gov/airscience/air-cardiovascular.htm
- EPA Green Heart Campaign: http://www.epa.gov/greenheart/
- Million Heart Campaign (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention): http://millionhearts.hhs.gov/index.html | <urn:uuid:04fb9399-d52a-45b6-940d-509613501d88> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://blog.epa.gov/blog/tag/exercise/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783395621.98/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154955-00033-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.936623 | 791 | 3.109375 | 3 |
Personalized Medicine Suggested as Future of Health Care
Pfizer and other industry members are joining a push in favor of personalized medicine, a method of treatment which offers many advantages for clinicians and patients. Personalized medicine reduces health care costs, cuts the time it takes to bring drugs to market, and includes the ability to make more informed medical decisions and a higher probability of desired outcomes through better-targeted therapies.
According to Mace L. Rothenberg, M.D., senior vice president of clinical development and medical affairs for the Oncology Business Unit at Pfizer’s Global Research and Development, personalized medicine is well-suited for the treatment of cancer.
“Personalized medicine is a way to get drugs to market quicker and more efficiently, without the need for giant trials, taking in all comers, that have a high risk for failure,” Rothenberg said.
In the relatively young field of personalized medicine, physicians make the treatment of the disease as individualized as the disease itself, acknowledging that diseases can be as unique as the people who have them. By identifying genetic, genomic, and clinical information, physicians can accurately predict a person's susceptibility of developing disease, the course of disease, and a patient's likely response to treatment.
According to Alison Ayers, executive vice president of commercial development for Pfizer, in the future treatments will be personalized depending on which genetic mutations are found inside tumors.
“Oncology drug development typically takes 12 years from the first time a drug is tested in humans to achieving regulatory approvals. The development of personalized medicines should reduce this timeline by a few years,” said Ayers.
More Specific Trials
Typically, the early stages of drug development are spent searching for the tumor type and patient population where the drug works the best, requiring numerous exploratory trials to determine where the new treatment is going to have the greatest impact. Under personalized medicine, by contrast, researchers start with an idea of which patients the drug is most likely to benefit.
“We know what genetic malfunction we are addressing. Therefore, we should be able to cut down the phase I and phase II process because we will start development focusing on patients who have that specific genetic defect or biomarker,” Ayers said.
Although the early development phase time should be reduced, the phase III time may not necessarily be shorter, Ayers explains.
“We may be able in phase III to have fewer patients because we are expecting to show a much more dramatic effect and we won’t need as many patients for statistical significance,” Ayers said. “But if the biomarker is rare, we will need to screen more patients to find ones who will be eligible to go into the trials.”
Even with those limitations, however, Ayers maintains more targeted therapies for patients who have a specific molecular defect could cut years off the development process.
Adapting to FDA Requirements
Personalized medicine still has to go through the same Food and Drug Administration (FDA) safeguards as any other treatment, with comprehensive preclinical and clinical packages of data, a full safety database, and clinical study results in a significant number of patients.
The patients who have the genetic trait for which the personalized medicine is available will likely be the big winners under this new approach. Personalized medicine enables researchers to go right to the likely best treatment for a particular patient.
“For cancer patients, the first treatment offers the best chance of success. Personalized medicine allows researchers to identify the drug most likely to help them the first time around and that will have the greatest impact on survival,” said Ayers.
FDA Process an Obstacle
Currently there are only about 12 personalized medicines for cancer, but more are expected soon. One barrier is the FDA’s requirement to test a drug on each different type of cancer to obtain an approved indication.
“Development in each tumor individually may be impossible,” said Ayers. “We will need to have an active dialogue with the FDA to address what is the best approach to get these drugs to the patients who need them.”
Wave of the Future?
Grace-Marie Turner, president of the Galen Institute, notes getting a drug approved by the FDA is extraordinarily expensive and time-consuming. She says personalized medicine offers a solution.
“Personalized medicine is the wave of the future, and there's no place where it's more important than cancer care,” says Turner. “Personalized medicine provides the maximum benefit to cancer patients and the minimum of financial loss to drug developers. It's not only humane but it provides huge benefits in terms of effective treatment and reduction of costs.”
Regarding whether there will be a place for personalized medicine under President Obama's health care law, Turner expressed concerns regarding the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute, a new agency modeled after Great Britain’s National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence.
“Public policymakers should be doing everything possible to move personalized medicine forward, instead of setting up barriers,” Turner said. “British ‘clinical excellence’ involves government officials determining whether to allow access to new drugs and treatments for its citizens. But cancer treatment requires more personalized medicine and care than just about any other disease.”
“Will there be a place for personalized medicine and drug development under ObamaCare? It's much less likely that we'll have it,” Turner says.
Kenneth Artz ([email protected]) writes from Dallas, Texas. | <urn:uuid:04c76e51-32ec-48f1-9feb-7ff5485503df> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://news.heartland.org/newspaper-article/personalized-medicine-suggested-future-health-care | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783395548.53/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154955-00031-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.939339 | 1,146 | 2.671875 | 3 |
Anyone interested in the history and development of Western music will welcome this collection of outstanding musical examples illustrating the general course of musical style from the early Middle Ages to the mid-18th century. Included are 50 carefully selected compositions of great historical importance. Each example is accompanied by notes that identify the place of the composition in the history of music. Selections include chants, parts of masses, motets, chansons lute dances and madrigals.
Compiled and Edited by Carl Parrish and John F.Ohl. | <urn:uuid:0bf24070-d643-4ded-99ee-85d4089c1470> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.musicroom.com/se/id_no/019110/details.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783391766.5/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154951-00063-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.927721 | 107 | 2.875 | 3 |
Digital Information Overload Overwhelms and Distracts Students
Publication: Decoded Science
Date: November 4, 2012
Summary: Author Lesley Lanir interviews Lee Rainie, director of the Pew Research Center's Internet & American Life Project, and Joel Malley, an AP Teacher from Cheektowaga, New York, and Western New York Writing Project teacher-leader. They discuss the mixed results from the new study "How Teens Do Research in the Digital World," by the Pew Internet Project, the College Board, and the National Writing Project.
Excerpt from Article
Decoded Science: What is wrong with finding information quickly and easily if the information is reliable and respected?
Lee Rainie: Of course there is nothing wrong with that, in these teachers' eyes. What they worry about is that students aren't necessarily equipped to know if the information is coming from "reliable and respected" sources. They worry that their students' default position is to believe what search engines give them in their query responses.
Joel Malley: Nothing. I think the hard work connoted by outdated perceptions of research is vastly overvalued. Some questions can be answered quickly. Some require deep thought and take time and are best served by reading research shared by other folks who thought deeply and took care and consideration in their thinking/storytelling.
Read the Full Article
Read "Digital Information Overload Overwhelms and Distracts Students" in Decoded Science . | <urn:uuid:68f7040d-62b6-4a57-ae78-57c6ac899161> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.nwp.org/cs/public/print/resource/3994 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783398869.97/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154958-00149-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.940422 | 303 | 2.6875 | 3 |
Lighting for Black Soldier Fly Breeding
Note: Definitions of the various units of measurement used below are shown at the bottom of the page (link). Formal Research I've found very little research on-line about lighting used for rearing BSF indoors. A 2002 study (by Tomberlin et al.) tried 430-watt Pro Ultralight light and 40-watt Sylvania Gro Lux systems but mating was not observed and infertile eggs were oviposited.
A 2010 paper on the Journal of Insect Science website (www.insectscience.org) details successful indoor breeding in China using a 500-watt quartz-iodine lamp. It notes that mating peaked "at a light intensity of approximately 110 µmol m²sı".The study concluded that "... wavelengths from 450 to 700 nm were influencing mating behavior". That matches light from a Compact Fluorescent Light (CFL) according to this FDA (link):
"Since CFLs are designed to provide general illumination, the majority of the light emitted by CFLs is localized to the visible region of the spectrum (approximately 400-700 nm in wavelength). In addition, typical CFLs emit a small amount of UVB (280-315 nm), UVA (315-400 nm) and infrared (> 700 nm) radiation."
Citizen Science It's interesting that a lot of the existing on-line information about rearing BSF indoors comes from herptile (reptiles and amphibians) and permaculture (feed for chickens, fish, etc.) forums. A good example of this is the 'Breeding of the black soldier fly (Hermetia illucens)' topic (link) at the Terrarienbilder.com forum (in German). This information, along with information in the Black Soldier Fly Forums (link) in late 2011, document that mating can be achieved in a fairly small space (storage tote size) using bright artificial lighting rated at 3500 lumens and above. There are further discussions about sunlight and lighting on forums (link and link). Using this information I successfully bred BSF indoors using Compact Fluorescent Lights rated at a total of 4100 lumens (two 1600 lumen 23 watt and one 900 lumen 14 watt) in 2012 (link). The lights were in reflectors immediately over top of a small bin and were on three hours daily on average. Direct sunlight measures between 32,000 and 130,000 lux while full daylight (not direct sun) is between 10,000 and 25,000 lux (link). My bin is about 1/4 square metre and the lights are rated at 4100 lumens which works out to about 17,000 lux or well below the values given for sunlight but within those for daylight. It would also seem logical that bulbs that produce a temperature similar to daylight would work best. Wikipedia (link) lists daylight as between 5000K and 6000K. However I checked the CFLs I used in 2012 and the 14watt 900 lumen bulb is indicated to produce a color temperature of 2700K. I couldn't find a color temperature for the 23watt 1600 lumen bulbs but both types are labelled as 'soft white' so they are probably the same. So it looks like color temperature might not be as important as intensity. One concern with fluorescent lights is "cathode decay" which results in a loss of intensity over time (link).
Lighting Used In Successful Indoor BSF Breeding Systems Below is a short summary of the systems I've found to date. Note that some of the lights used may not be available everywhere.
Units Of Measurement Lumens (link) are a measure of the "amount" of visible light emitted as compared to the more familiar Watts which are actually a measure of the power consumed.
Lux (link) - One lux is equal to one lumen per square metre:
"A flux of 1,000 lumens, concentrated into an area of one square metre, lights up that square metre with an illuminance of 1,000 lux. However, the same 1,000 lumens, spread out over ten square metres, produces a dimmer illuminance of only 100 lux."
Color temperature (link) - daylight is shown as between 5000K and 6000K.
"Color temperature is conventionally stated in the unit of absolute temperature, the kelvin, having the unit symbol K."
Nanometre (link) - (symbol nm) is a unit of length equal to one billionth of a metre.
"The nanometre is commonly used to specify the wavelength of electromagnetic radiation near the visible part of the spectrum: visible light, in particular, ranges from 400 to 700 nm."
Photosynthetic Photon Flux Density (PPFD) - Full Sunlight in Summer @ Noon = 2000 PPFD (link).
Expressed as µmol m²sı (micromoles of photons per meter squared per second)Mole - the basic SI unit of amount of substance; the amount that contains as many elementary entities as there are atoms in 0.012 kilogram of carbon-12. The entity must be specified and may be an atom, a molecule, an ion, a radical, an electron, a photon, etc. Symbol mol [from German Mol, short for Molekül molecule]. A micromole equals one millionth (10-6) of a mole.
My BSF Lighting
Lighting for the Bin
Compact Fluorescent Lights rated at a total of 4100 lumens
(two 1600 lumen 23 watt and one 900 lumen 14 watt)
Temperature At Top Of Cone Reflector Maxed Out at 51°C(123°F)
Compact Fluorescent Lights From Below
Links to information about lighting for raising Black Soldier Flies: 'Breeding of the black soldier fly (Hermetia illucens)' topic at the Terrarienbilder.com Forum (in German)
'Small Scale Indoor Breeding' topic at the Black Soldier Fly Blog Forum
'BSF breeding - lighting requirements' Topic at the Black Soldier Fly Farming Forum | <urn:uuid:c0a373ff-b478-4f78-9c47-a530208008ce> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://members.shaw.ca/borealwormer/BSF_Lighting.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783395613.65/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154955-00081-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.894574 | 1,269 | 2.78125 | 3 |
Book One of Echoes of a Neutron Star
Norma Dawn Kellam
A bullied kid embarks on an unexpected extraterrestrial sojourn and learns to cope with the unexpected.
Through vivid writing and high-tension scenes, Supernova presents a bullied protagonist who visits another planet while he is submerged in a lake. This well-organized first installment of a planned series aimed at middle-grade readers is written by A. J. Salinas, a teacher and fantasy writer. Supernova is his debut novel.
Trevor admires Valerie, the seventh-grade class president, but she, like practically all the other kids, bullies him. On a school field trip, the bus driver has a seizure and causes an accident. The other kids escape, but Trevor and Valerie are in the bus when it submerges in Lake Miyuna. Trevor helps Valerie get out, but he is underwater for at least half an hour. During his submersion, he meets an extraterrestrial named Alix, who explains to Trevor that there are passages to other worlds.
The action starts quickly as the prologue presents the ordeal of Trevor’s birth—eight weeks early—with the power out in the hospital. Trevor’s mom, Nina, had no idea the impact that the supernova was having on the Earth’s magnetic field or on her son at the time of his birth.
Salinas’ writing is engaging. He uses dialogue that effectively moves the story forward and offers vivid descriptions. Regarding water gushing into the sinking bus, he writes, “Like the vent of a volcano, it was exploding upward.” Suspenseful episodes, such as the one of a metal monster chasing Trevor and his only friend in a junkyard, alternate with calmer scenes, including discussions about classmate Bobby’s plan to ask Valerie for a date. There are some minor editing problems, including typos and missing words, but these do not greatly impact the flow of the story.
Some middle-grade readers may have difficulty dealing with the torture and death of underage subjects of scientific experiments. Salinas writes that a machine has tentacles that bore into the skull and wrap “around the entire brain.” Supernova is most appropriate for readers thirteen and up.
Most of the characters have distinctive traits. Trevor suffers from shame and embarrassment due to bullying: “Being younger and shorter than most of his classmates meant that physical abuse was inescapable.” Trevor’s struggles to overcome his feelings of humiliation demonstrate how harmful bullying is. The beautiful cover art depicts Trevor watching the sunrise on the other planet, which represents an important aspect of the novel. Its mysterious appearance will appeal to prospective readers.
In the end, various plot threads remain unresolved, and reading the next two installments will be necessary for readers to be satisfied. Books two and three are as yet unpublished and this may prove frustrating for the target audience.
Coping with experiences that others don’t understand is difficult. Young readers will identify with Trevor as he struggles to decide whether to tell others about his extraterrestrial sojourn.
Disclosure: This article is not an endorsement, but a review. The author of this book provided free copies of the book and paid a small fee to have his/her book reviewed by a professional reviewer. Foreword Reviews and Clarion Review make no guarantee that the author will receive a positive review. Foreword Magazine, Inc. is disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255. | <urn:uuid:cac48307-b609-466c-8aad-6d895cf56798> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | https://www.forewordreviews.com/reviews/supernova/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783394605.61/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154954-00070-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.950457 | 727 | 2.515625 | 3 |
When the U.S. Navy decided it needed to monitor the condition of its aging aircrafts' wings, it tried embedding wireless sensors inside them. Each sensor, attached to energy-harvesting circuitry, periodically checks the wings for damaging stress and strain, says Zoya Popovic, a professor of electrical engineering at the University of Colorado, Boulder, who worked on the project. To recharge or activate the sensors, a technician holds a transmitter a meter away from a wing to create a low-energy electric field within range of the sensors' energy-harvesting circuits.
In solving this problem, engineers dusted off a decades-old idea: radio-frequency energy harvesting, be it from strategically placed transmitters or from the ambient energy emitted by cellphone towers and television stations. The concept was once dismissed as unfeasible because of the rapid dissipation of electromagnetic waves as they travel from their source. But even microwatts, if trickled into a battery or supercapacitor, can be enough to power some sensors for more than a decade. The combination of extremely low-power microprocessors, increasingly affordable supercapacitors for energy storage, and budding markets for sensors that make buildings more energy efficient and monitor inventory has enabled a new generation of energy-harvesting devices.
Typically, wireless sensors are designed to observe environments in a more flexible way than wired ones can--tracking cattle in the middle of a field, generating early warnings of impending earthquakes, and assessing the structural health of bridges, for example. But a sensor's power supply is the most confounding problem. Each option has its limitations: a battery alone has a short lifetime, and solar cells, the most common energy-harvesting technique, can't soak up photons from inside an airplane's wing.
The technology for harvesting wireless power is essentially based on radio-frequency identification, or RFID. Atransmitter sends a burst of radio-frequency energy that both carries information to a chip and can be converted to dc electricity to power it. A tag consisting of an antenna and a microchip responds by sending back data about the object it is attached to.
Turning those simple tags into fancier monitoring devices requires more power, so the RF energy would need to be captured and stored or transmitted continuously. Some food companies, for example, have begun tracking their delivery trucks more closely, according to one RFID technology company. Atruck outfitted with a transmitter can both recharge and query RFID-based sensors that periodically check temperatures inside the truck or perform antitheft surveillance. When the sensors detect a change in their environments, the tags relay that data back to the transmitter.
A key development has been a steady growth in the distances over which the tags can communicate. Power companies hoping to install sensors along electric power lines, for example, would like to gather data from those devices without having to check each one individually. Norman D. McCollough Jr., a director of technology at Hendrix Wire & Cable Inc., a power-distribution systems company in Milford, N.H., anticipates that his remotely located energy-harvesting sensors, which now can transmit data across 100 meters, will soon be able to return information to a transmitter more than a kilometer away. McCollough has been using a chip introduced in January that can both pick up lower-power signals and operate at a higher power to send data back over longer distances, thanks to a redesigned power-amplifying circuit.
With significantly more flexible sensor installations come new applications. For example, using energy-harvesting sensors to control thermostats in office buildings could improve the energy efficiency. To assess whether sensors in an office building could be powered ambiently, Marlin Mickle, an electrical engineering professor at the University of Pittsburgh, mapped the radiated power from the radio stations around his city. ”When we talk about ambient energy, the source is not under our control. But it's still out there, and we're showing that we can make it work,” Mickle says.
But even so, one essential problem remains: a reliable source of RF energy isn't always available. In addition to RF harvesting and attaching solar cells to microprocessors, engineers have explored converting temperature changes or mechanical movements--perhaps from vibrations or the flipping of a light switch--into electrical energy. Greg Durgin, an assistant professor of electromagnetics at the Georgia Institute of Technology, in Atlanta, thinks that ultimately the solution will be more complex.
”A really emerging area is getting hybrid power supplies to work on this,” Durgin says. Linking two energy-harvesting techniques on one sensor might finally make the devices truly independent. | <urn:uuid:a67c24b6-bdcf-4aaa-904a-f74edbc4666e> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://spectrum.ieee.org/energy/renewables/putting-wireless-power-to-work | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783396459.32/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154956-00181-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.936079 | 959 | 3.796875 | 4 |
Over 200 recently excavated objects from Inner Mongolia that reveal the complex cultural and religious legacy of the Khitan and their reign over China during the Liao Dynasty (907–1125).
The nomadic tribe of the Kitan from the Asian steppes referred to themselves as “Liao”. Around the year 1000 they were the first superpower in East Asia and conquered a territory which extended from Manchuria to Mongolia and into what is now the region around Beijing. Its military power terrified the Chinese Song dynasty and it was only by paying considerable tributes to the Liao court that an attack could be averted. The splendour of the Liao dynasty and its high cultural standard has only been brought to light by excavations during the past 20 years. Tombs and pagodas have yielded rich treasures of gold, silver, jade and amber. All subsequent foreign dynasties modelled themselves on the Liao dynasty. Its influence even extended to Europe as the word “China” is derived from Kitan (Chinese Qidan). Among the highlights of this loan exhibition are the burial accoutrements of the Princess of Chen and her consort, which have been completely preserved. Their burial masks and garments, crown, boots and pillows made from gold and silver are among the breathtaking highlights of the exhibition. Glass from Arabia and amber from the Baltic bear witness to flourishing trade links between the Liao and their neighbours to the west to satisfy their demand for luxury articles. The objects from the treasure found in the White Pagoda testify to the great importance of Buddhism for the Liao culture.
The recently excavated objects in Gilded Splendor shed new light on Liao-dynasty culture which, until recently, had generally been considered less sophisticated than the preceding Tang (618 - 907) and parallel Song (960 - 1279) dynasties. Archaeology in China over the last few decades has proven this characterization to be inaccurate as sites of Liao-period temples, tombs and city fortifications reveal spectacular objects that testify to a highly refined and culturally unique empire.
The exhibition was first shown by the Asia Society in New York, and after being on display in Cologne will go to the Rietberg Museum in Zurich.
Museum of East Asian Art Web Site | <urn:uuid:6f330579-e9c9-4ee9-9f12-3c3732ce5e9f> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.culturekiosque.com/travel/item10647.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783395346.72/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154955-00132-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.961695 | 468 | 3.640625 | 4 |
Buy & Sell
Tsuboya is center of Okinawa pottery
By: David Knickerbocker
Date Posted: 2002-12-07
Over the centuries, Okinawa has become quite well-known for its cultural heritage and art. One of Okinawa's most distinct and well-known art forms is pottery, and the center for the pottery movement is Tsuboya. For more than 300 years, Naha's Tsuboya district has been the symbol for Okinawa pottery. It has produced many famous craftsmen who have gained fame and reputation far outside of Okinawa. The pottery made in Tsuboya is known as tsuboya-yaki. Yachimun Dori (Pottery Street) is lined with a number of tsuboya-yaki shops where the finest craftsmen still work and live to this day. Also on this street sits the Tsuboya Pottery Museum. If you would like to see some of the greatest pottery ever produced or learn about the history and manufacturing techniques of this great art form, this is the place to get your feet wet.
Two types of tsuboya-yaki are produced in Tsuboya: Joyachi, and Arayachi. Arayachi is a kind of tsuboya-yaki that is unglazed or coated with mud or manganese glaze. It includes large items such as storage jars for water, bean paste, or awamori (Okinawan liquor), and small items such as masu-bin, a bottle for measuring awamori. Joyachi is another kind of tsuboya-yaki that is glazed and often very colorful. It includes bowls, pots, plates, teapots, awamori hip flasks, and vases.
About 6,600, years ago, earthenware first made its appearance on Okinawa changing the islanders' cooking methods from eating raw and grilling to simmering. Though mainly influenced by the pottery of Kyushu in southern Japan, dark gray kamwi-yaki of Tokunoshima island as well as Chinese ceramics were introduced to Okinawa in the 12th century adding to its future shape and form. Chinese ceramics were imported to Okinawa beginning in the 12th century. This importation reached its peak from the end of the 14th century to the beginning of the 15th century during the time when each of the three kingdoms of Okinawa's Sanzan period-Hokuzan, Chuzan, and Nanzan--were trading with China. In the 15th century, Korea, Thailand, Vietnam, and Japan joined in the trade with Okinawa, and in the 16th century, when the import of foreign ceramics declined, several kilns were built on Okinawa to manufacture various items that were no longer being imported.
The district of Tsuboya got its start in 1682 when Okinawa's three pottery districts--Chibana, Wakuta, and Takaraguchi--were integrated into Tsuboya by royal decree of the Ryukyuan empire. The need for pottery had increased greatly due to busy trading with China and other countries, and a larger production base was needed to satisfy the demand. Also, the manufacturing of tiles had been in great demand, and this policy was designed to promote and encourage increased output. The name Tsuboya was given to the district in this historical event. In the Okinawan dialect, "Tsubo" means pot and "Ya" means specialists.
After Japan abolished Okinawa's feudal government and established prefectures under the new Meiji government, Tsuboya kilns administered by the royal government came to be managed privately. However, ceramics dealers from the mainland brought their trade to Okinawa, gradually replacing joyachi as daily utensils, and arayachi was also negatively affected. As the dealers of Japanese porcelain extended their business to Okinawa, the market for joyachi was depressed. Japanese porcelain was less expensive and sturdier than Tsuboya-yaki, so ceramics from the mainland became more popular than tsuboya-yaki for domestic use. However, during the Taisho and Showa periods a delegation from the Japan Folkcraft Association visited Tsuboya to study and produce pottery. They were greatly impressed by the fact that Tsuboya artisans still cherished the traditional techniques of manufacturing even while the market was being negatively impacted by the importation of Japanese porcelain. This positive reevaluation by the folkcraft movement helped in the regaining of confidence and pride by the Tsuboya potters.
As World War II broke out and the war situation gradually worsened, supplies from the mainland tended to be short. Thus, the Japanese army in Okinawa began to requisition local goods. Tsuboya's craftsmen were commissioned by the Japanese army to make countless saucers and battery cases for the Japanese military. After the war, because of a chronic shortage of necessities, Tsuboya was quickly emancipated from American Occupation to produce items essential to daily life. This enabled the Tsuboya potters to resume production. These craftsmen became the first to restore Naha City after the destruction of World War II had finished. They had a very positive attitude and were very resilient in creating thousands of everyday necessities for the people of Naha City who were at the time in need of everything! After the reconstruction was finished and the city began to grow again, Tsuboya became urbanized and crowded. The Tsuboya kilns became an annoyance for some, and the town's change forced some craftsmen to move out of Naha to other spacious areas where they could fire their kilns without being in the way. Modernization became a threat to the traditional art of Naha. However, a number of craftsmen are still hard at work using electric kilns that do not produce smoke.
Through the years, in spite of the importation of cheaper goods, the total destruction caused by World War II, and modernization, Tsuboya has overcome many obstacles and still remains famous on Okinawa as the center of pottery and tsuboya-yaki is viewed as a quality art form throughout the world. To learn more, you should check out the Tsuboya Pottery Museum. This museum gives great detail on the history of tsuboya-yaki and Okinawan pottery, the manufacturing process of various types of tsuboya-yaki, the decorative and painting techniques, and has many distinctive works on display at all times. To get to Tsuboya's pottery district, drive south on rt.330 into Naha City. Yogi park is on the left just before the Naha Police Headquarters. The Tsuboya pottery district is on the right side of rt.330 right before Yogi Park. Parking is very limited, so it is best if you park in one of Naha's many paid parking lots and take a taxi or walk from Kokusai Street or Heiwadori.
The history of pottery on Okinawa is a very long and fascinating one, and the museum is definitely worth seeing if you would like to learn a bit more about one of Okinawa's most famous forms of art. Tsuboya's Pottery Museum is open from 10 a.m to 6 p.m. and is closed on Mondays and holidays. Admission is ¥300 for adults, ¥200 for college and highschool students, and ¥100 for middle school students and younger children. For more information on, check out the Tsuboya Pottery Museum's website at himawari.naha-okn.ed.jp/~tsuboya/eigo-annai.htm. | <urn:uuid:5b883f66-839d-414d-ba14-ad795a3e6bd7> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.japanupdate.com/archive/index.php?id=1069 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783397695.90/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154957-00037-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.974066 | 1,582 | 2.90625 | 3 |
Workshop for the launch of the World Heritage Education Resource Kit for teachers in the World Heritage Education Project
Masvingo, Zimbabwe, 2-4 February 2000
Event and objectives
A workshop for the launch of the World Heritage Education Resource Kit for teachers in the World Heritage Education Project (WHEP) Pilot Schools.
- Launch the World Heritage in Young Hands project in the 7 pilot secondary schools;
- Introduce the World Heritage Education Kit for teachers in the pilot schools;
- Explore the concepts, issues and activities in the World Heritage Education Resource Kits with the teachers, curriculum developers and the natural and cultural heritage educators
- Equip teachers in the pilot schools with ideas and tools to implement the project; and
- Create a platform for dialogue between teachers, curriculum developers, education administrators, natural and cultural heritage educators/experts.
The participants and the facilitators resolved to recommend the following for the success of the project:
- That the ultimate goal of the project be integration and strengthening of Heritage Education issues and concerns in the formal school curriculum. Thus, the CDU should take note and continue to explore possibilities.
- That all natural and cultural heritage sites be identified with the help of communities. Thus, the NMMZ should continue to lead on this exercise.
- That in-service teacher education programs explore modalities of in-servicing serving teachers in Heritage Education where possible. The relevant Teacher Education main actors were implored to consider this.
- That the relevant bodies and organizations promote tourism to heritage sites for both national and foreign tourists.
- That project stake-holders jointly initiate competitions in schools on World Heritage Education aspects; that such competitions could begin with the pilot schools on their WHEP activities.
- That the Ministry of Education, Sport and Culture Head Office write to heads of pilot schools and Regional Offices pledging commitment and support for the project.
- That the pilot schools and other schools engaged in Heritage Education utilize the services of Heritage Education Officers stationed in the regional centers of the National Museums and Monuments of Zimbabwe nearest to them.
- That the pilot schools network with each other as well as other on-going projects and activities in the board area of natural and cultural heritage.
- That the UNESCO Harare Office be approached to support financially and otherwise a round table discussion of the WHEP trial testing schools no later than June 2000 so as to share experiences before the July 2000 evaluation of the project and plan post-trial testing phase activities. The UNESCO Harare office will be approached for further assistance to ensure a smooth round-up of the project trial testing phase and transition to follow-up activities.
The Zimbabwe National Commission for UNESCO
The UNESCO Harare Office
22 participants, of which
1 person from the Zimbabwe National Commission for UNESCO
1 representative of the Ministry of Higher Education and Technology
2 representatives from the Education, Sport and Culture Head Office (Harare)
10 persons from the National Museums and Monuments of Zimbabwe; and 8 teachers of which 1 observing. | <urn:uuid:ede71f47-cc43-4ac9-a84a-816ad5de2288> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://whc.unesco.org/en/activities/424 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783396459.32/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154956-00041-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.914755 | 612 | 2.609375 | 3 |
Welcome to Spotlight on Strategies Challenge! Our S.O.S series provides help, tips, and tricks for integrating DE media into your curriculum.
Vocabulary Stepping Stones
Thanks to DEN STAR Susan Bowdoin from APS for showing me the great article ‘Using Video and Film in the Classroom’ from Reading.org where I am borrowing this week’s strategy. According to the article, “Vocabulary Steppingstones is easily adapted to any content classroom where longer video clips are being used. This instructional routine also encourages students to apply academic vocabulary orally before they write about the film.”
- Have print out the following words and have students cut and mix them up.
- Science Fiction, Diversity, Organisms, Classification, Related, Domain, Characteristics, Protists, Fungi, Plants, Animals, Kingdom, Taxonomy, Species, Offspring, Binomial Nomenclature, Genus, Hypothesize
- In small groups of 3 have students discuss which words are familar and their understanding of the meaning.
- As a whole group, briefly have students share out and review the words and their meanings.
- Explain to students that as the video segment plays, with a partner they will place the words in order as they are heard in the segment.
- Play video segment Organisms Undersea Discoveries (05:25)
- After segment concludes have students discuss the sequence of topics from the segment, using the order they placed the vocabulary words and discuss how it was used in context.
- As a whole group have each group share one thing they found most interesting.
- Select a video segment that matches your current curriculum.
- Preview the video and select 10-15 vocabulary words from the video that are important to their knowledge of the content.
- Type and print the vocabulary list.
- Have students cut out the vocabulary words.
- In small groups students discuss what they believe the words mean.
- As you play the video segment, students should work in pairs to order the vocabulary words as they are heard.
- After the video is completed, have students discuss the vocabulary in the order they have placed them in and in context to the video.
You can take the challenge by:
- Implementing this strategy and letting us know how it went by posting a comment below.
- Using this strategies in your grade level planning discussions and/or professional development and reporting your events. (Remember we consider an event anytime 3 or more educators gather together… doesn’t have to be in a computer lab… could be sitting around the lunch table)
- Photocopying the flier and distributing it in your colleague’s boxes and/or posting it to your own BulleDEN board. | <urn:uuid:bcdea7a2-acb4-468b-9f32-5a6b4515d428> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://blog.discoveryeducation.com/blog/2013/04/09/s-o-s-vocabulary-stepping-stones/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783395346.72/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154955-00089-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.919052 | 573 | 4.15625 | 4 |
NEW YORK, Dec. 26 (UPI) -- Endangered tigers are making a comeback due to better law enforcement, protection of habitat and strong government partnerships, a U.S. wildlife group says.
In three key regions of the big cats' global range -- India, Thailand and Russia -- there have been successes in conserving and protecting the animals, the Wildlife Conservation Society reported Wednesday.
Twenty-five years of research and conservation efforts have resulted in a major rebound of tigers in the Western Ghats region of India's Karnataka State, the WCS said.
In Thailand, an increase in anti-poaching patrols and enforcement has seen a recovery of tiger numbers in the 1,042-square-mile Huai Kha Khaeng Wildlife Sanctuary, WCS officials said.
Russian government officials are drafting a new law to make transport, sales and possession of endangered animals a criminal offense rather than just a civil crime, the group said.
The WCS said it estimates 3,200 tigers exist in the wild, with poaching, loss of prey, and habitat destruction driving tiger numbers at all-time lows.
"Saving tigers is clearly a team effort," John Robinson, WCS executive vice president of conservation and science said. "Today's victories show that through collaboration with governments, law enforcement, fellow conservationists, and local people, we can save these big cats across their range." | <urn:uuid:922f8d15-317b-457e-b09c-919b7c572018> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.upi.com/Science_News/2012/12/26/Tigers-make-comeback-in-some-global-areas/UPI-18621356555275/?spt=hs&or=sn | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783402746.23/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624155002-00172-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.928093 | 282 | 2.796875 | 3 |
This translation by Ian Johnston of Vancouver Island University, Nanaimo, BC, has certain copyright restrictions. For information please use the following link: Copyright. For comments or question please contact Ian Johnston. To see a list of other translations and lectures by Ian Johnston, use this link: johnstonia
This text is available in the form of a Word or Publisher file for those who would like to print it off as a small book. There is no charge for these files. For details, please use the following link: Publisher files. A printed paperback book of this text is available from Richer Resources Publications.
The translator would like to acknowledge the very valuable help he received from the notes in Alan H. Sommerstein’s edition of The Birds (Warminster: Aris and Phillips, 1987).
This text was first published in 2008. Minor formatting changes were made in 2014.
Note that in the following translation the normal numbers refer to this text, while the numbers in square brackets refer to the Greek text. Links to explanatory endnotes are indicated by an asterisk (*).
The Birds was first produced at the drama festival in 414 BC, where it won second prize. At this period, during the Peloponnesian War, Athens was very powerful and confident, having just launched the expedition to Sicily, fully expecting to triumph in that venture and in the larger war.
EUELPIDES: a middle-aged Athenian
SERVANT-BIRD: a slave serving Tereus, once a man
TEREUS: a hoopoe bird, once a man
A SECOND HOOPOE
GLUTTON-BIRD: a fictitious species
CHORUS: of birds
XANTHIAS: slave serving Pisthetairos
MANODOROS: slave serving Euelpides, also called MANES.
PROCNE: a nightingale with a woman’s body, consort of Tereus.
ORACLE MONGER: a collector and interpreter of oracles
METON: a land surveyor
COMMISSIONER OF COLONIES: an Athenian official
STATUTE SELLER: man who sells laws
FIRST MESSENGER: a construction-worker bird
SECOND MESSENGER: a soldier bird
IRIS: messenger goddess, daughter of Zeus
FIRST HERALD: a bird
YOUNG MAN: young Athenian who wants to beat up his father
CINESIAS: a very bad dithyrambic poet and singer
SYCOPHANT: a common informer
PROMETHEUS: the Titan
POSEIDON: god of the sea, brother of Zeus
HERCULES: the legendary hero, now divine
TRIBALLIAN GOD: an uncouth barbarian god
PRINCESS: a divine young lady
Scene: A rugged, treed wilderness area up in the rocky hills. Enter Pisthetairos and Euelpides, both very tired. They are clambering down from the rocky heights towards the level stage. Pisthetairos has a crow perched on his arm or shoulder, and Euelpides has a jackdaw. Both Pisthetairos and Euelpides are carrying packs on their back. They are followed by two slaves carrying more bags. The slaves stay well out of the way until they get involved in the action later on.
to the bird he is carrying]
Are you telling us to keep going straight ahead?
Over there by that tree?
Blast this bird—
it’s croaking for us to head back, go home.
Why are we wandering up and down like this?
You’re such a fool—this endless weaving round
will kill us both.
I must be an idiot
to keep hiking on along these pathways,
a hundred miles at least, and just because
that’s what this crow keeps telling me to do.
What about me? My poor toe nails are thrashed. 10
I’ve worn them out because I’m following
what this jackdaw says.
I have no idea
where on earth we are.
You mean from here
you couldn’t make it back to your place?
No way—not even Execestides
could manage that.*
We’re in a real mess.
Well, you could try going along that pathway.
[The two men start exploring different paths down to opposite sides of the stage]
We two were conned by that Philokrates,
the crazy vendor in the marketplace
who sells his birds on trays. He claimed these two 20
would take us straight to Tereus the hoopoe,
a man who years ago became a bird.
That’s why we paid an obol for this one,
this jackdaw, son of Tharreleides.*
and three more for the crow. And then what?
The two know nothing, except how to bite.
[The jackdaw with Euelpides begins to get excited about something. Euelpides talks to the bird]
What’s got your attention now? In
those rocks?
You want to take us there? There’s no way through.
across the stage to Euelpides]
By god, the same thing over here, no road.
What’s your crow saying about the pathway? 30
By god, it’s not cawing what it did before.
But what’s it saying about the road?
it’s saying nothing, just keeps on croaking—
something about biting my fingers off.
Don’t you think it’s really odd the two of us,
ready and eager to head off for the birds,*
just can’t find the way. You see, we’re not well.
All you men sitting there to hear our words,
we’re ill with a disease, not like the one
which Sacas suffers,* no—the opposite. 40
He’s no true citizen, yet nonetheless
he’s pushing his way in by force, but we,
both honoured members of our tribe and clan,*
both citizens among you citizens,
with no one trying to drive us from the city,
have winged our way out of our native land
on our two feet. We don’t hate the city
because we think it’s not by nature great
and truly prosperous—open to all,
so they can spend their money paying fines. 50
Cicadas chirp up in the trees a while,
a month or two, but our Athenians
keep chirping over lawsuits all their lives.
That’s why right now we’ve set off on this trip,
with all this stuff—basket, pot, and myrtle boughs.*
We’re looking for a nice relaxing spot,
where we can settle down, live out our lives.
We’re heading for Tereus, that hoopoe bird—
we’d like to know if in his flying around
he’s seen a city like the one we want. 60
My crow keeps cawing upwards—
My jackdaw’s looking up there, too,
as if it wants to show me something.
There must be birds around these rocks. I know—
let’s make noise and then we’ll see for sure.
You know what you should do? Kick that outcrop.
Why not use your head? There’d be twice the noise.
[Pisthetairos and Euelpides start climbing back up the rocky outcrops towards a door in the middle of the rocks]
Pick up a stone and then knock on the door.
All right. Here I go.
[Euelpides knocks very loudly on the door and calls out]
Hey, boy . . . boy!
What are you saying? Why call the hoopoe “boy”? 70
Don’t say that—you should call out
[giving a bird call]
on the door and calling again]
Hoopoe-ho! . . . Should I knock again? . . . Hoopoe-ho!
Who is it? Who’s shouting for my master?
[The door opens and an actor-bird emerges. He has a
huge beak which terrifies Euelpides and Pisthetairos.
They fall back in fear, and the birds they have been carrying disappear]
My lord Apollo, save us! That gaping beak—
Oh, oh, now we’re in for it. You two men,
Don’t act so weird!
Can’t you say something nice?
to scare them off]
You two men will die!
But we’re not men.
What? What are you, then?
Well . . . I’m a chicken-shitter . . . a Libyan bird . . .
No, it’s not—I’ve just dropped my load— 80
down both my legs. Take a look.
And this one here?
What kind of bird is he?
Can you speak?
Me? . . . a crapper-fowl . . . from Phasis.
God knows what kind of animal you are!
I’m a servant bird.
Beaten by some rooster
in a cock fight?
No. It was my master—
when he became a hoopoe, well, I prayed
that I could turn into a bird. That way
he’d still have me to serve and wait on him.
Does a bird need his own butler bird? 90
He does—I think it’s got something to do
with the fact that earlier he was a man.
So if he wants to taste some fish from Phalerum,
I grab a plate and run off for sardines.
If he wants soup, we need pot and ladle,
so I dash off for the spoon.
A runner bird—
that’s what you are. Well, my little runner,
do you know what we’d like to have you do?
Go call your master for us.
But he’s asleep—
for heaven’s sake, his after-dinner snooze— 100
he’s just had gnats and myrtle berries.
Wake him up anyway.
I know for sure
he’ll be annoyed, but I’ll do it, just for you.
[Exit Servant-Bird back through the doors]
Damn that bird—he scared me half to death.
Bloody hell—he frightened off my bird!
You’re such a coward—the worst there is.
Were you so scared you let that jackdaw go?
What about you? Didn’t you collapse
and let your crow escape?
Not me, by god.
Where is it then?
It flew off on its own. 110
You didn’t let go? What a valiant man!
inside, speaking in a grand style]
Throw open this wood, so I may issue forth.
[The doors open. Enter Tereus,
a hoopoe bird, with feathers on his head and wings but none on his body.
He struts and speaks with a ridiculously affected confidence. Euelpides and Pisthetairos are greatly amused
at his appearance]
O Hercules, what kind of beast is this?
What’s that plumage? What sort of triple crest?
Who are the persons here who seek me out?
The twelve gods, it seems, have worked you over.*
Does seeing my feathers make you scoff at me?
Strangers, I was once upon a time a man.
It’s not you we’re laughing at.
Then what is it?
It’s your beak—to us it looks quite funny. 120
It’s how Sophocles distorts Tereus—
that’s me—in his tragedies.
Are you a peacock or a bird?*
I am a bird.
Then where are all your feathers?
They’ve fallen off.
Have you got some disease?
No, it’s not that.
In winter time all birds shed their feathers,
then new ones grow again. But tell me this—
who are the two of you?
Us? We’re human beings.
From what race were you born?
In Athens—which makes the finest warships. 130
Ah, so you’re jury-men, are you?
We’re different—we keep away from juries.
Does that seedling flourish in those parts?
If you go searching in the countryside,
you’ll find a few.
So why have you come here?
What do you need?
To talk to you.
Well, you were once a man, as we are now.
You owed people money, as we do now.
You loved to skip the debt, as we do now.
Then you changed your nature, became a bird. 140
You fly in circles over land and sea.
You’ve learned whatever’s known to birds and men.
That’s why we’ve come as suppliants to you,
to ask if you can tell us of some town,
where life is sheepskin soft, where we can sleep.
Are you looking for a mighty city,
more powerful than what Cranaus built?*
Not one more powerful, no. What we want
is one which better suits the two of us.
You clearly want an aristocracy. 150
Me? No, not at all. The son of Scellias
is someone I detest.*
All right, then,
What kind of city would you like to live in?
I’d like a city where my biggest problem
would be something like this—in the morning
a friend comes to my door and says to me,
“In the name of Olympian Zeus, take a bath,
an early one, you and your children,
then come to my place for the wedding feast
I’m putting on. Don’t disappoint me now. 160
If you do, then don’t come looking for me
when my affairs get difficult for me.”*
By heaven, you poor man, you do love trouble.
What about you?
I’d like the same.
To have the father of some handsome lad
come up to me, as if I’d done him wrong,
and tell me off with some complaint like this—
“A fine thing there between you and my son,
you old spark. You met him coming back
from the gymnasium, after his bath— 170
you didn’t kiss or greet him with a hug,
or even try tickling his testicles—
yet you’re a friend of mine, his father.”
How you yearn for problems, you unhappy man.
There is a happy city by the sea,
the Red Sea, just like the one you mention.*
No, no. Not by the sea! That’s not for us,
not where that ship Salamia can show up
with some man on board to serve a summons
early in the morning. What about Greece? 180
Can you tell us of some city there?*
Why not go and settle down in Elis—
In Leprous? By the gods,
I hate the place—although I’ve never seen it—
it’s all Melanthius’ fault.*
You could go
to the Opuntians—they’re in Locris—
you might settle there.
no way, not for a talent’s weight in gold.*
But what’s it like here, living with the birds?
You must know it well.
It’s not unpleasant. 190
First of all, you have to live without a purse.
So you’re rid of one great source of fraud in life.
In the gardens we enjoy white sesame,
the myrtles, mint, and poppies.
So you live
just like newly-weds.
That’s it! I’ve got it!
I see a great plan for this race of birds—
and power, too, if you’ll trust what I say.
What do you want to get us all to do?
What should you be convinced to do? Well, first,
don’t just fly about in all directions, 200
your beaks wide open—that makes you despised.
With us, you see, if you spoke of men
who always flit about and if you asked,
“Who’s that Teleas” someone would respond,
“The man’s a bird—he’s unreliable,
flighty, vague, never stays in one place long.”*
By Dionysus, that’s a valid point—
the criticism’s fair. What should we do?
Settle down together in one city.
What sort of city could we birds set up? 210
Why ask that? What a stupid thing to say!
Now look up.
I’m looking up.
Turn your head round to the side.
this’ll do me good, if I twist off my neck.
What do you see?
Clouds and sky.
isn’t this a staging area for birds?
A staging area? How come it’s that?
You might say it’s a location for them—
there’s lots of business here, but everything
keeps moving through this zone, so it’s now called 220
a staging place. But if you settled here,
fortified it, and fenced it off with walls,
this staging area could become your state.
Then you’d rule all men as if they’re locusts
and annihilate the gods with famine,
just like in Melos.*
How’d we manage that?
Look, between earth and heaven there’s the air.
Now, with us, when we want to go to Delphi,
we have to ask permission to pass through
from the Boeotians. You should do the same. 230
When men sacrifice, make gods pay you cash.
If not, you don’t grant them rights of passage.
You’ll stop the smell of roasting thigh bones
moving through an empty space and city
which don’t belong to them.
By earth, snares, traps, nets, what a marvellous scheme!
I’ve never heard a neater plan! So now,
with your help, I’m going to found a city,
if other birds agree.
The other birds?
Who’s going to lay this business out to them? 240
You can do it. I’ve taught them how to speak.
Before I came, they could only twitter,
but I’ve been with them here a long, long time.
How do you call to bring them all together?
Easy. I’ll step inside my thicket here,
and wake my nightingale. Then we’ll both call.
Once they hear our voices they’ll come running.
O, you darling bird, now don’t just stand there—
not when I’m begging you to go right now,
get in your thicket, wake your nightingale. 250
[Tereus goes back through the doors]*
Come my queen, don’t sleep so long,
pour forth the sound of sacred song—
lament once more through lips divine
for Itys, your dead child and mine,
the one we’ve cried for all this time.*
out your music’s liquid trill
in that vibrato voice—the thrill
which echoes in those purest tones
through leafy haunts of yew trees roams
and rises up to Zeus’ throne. 260
with the golden hair
sits listening to your music there—
and in response he plucks his string—
his lyre of ivory then brings
the gods themselves to dance and sing.
Then from gods’ mouths in
come sounds of sacred melody.
[A flute starts playing within, in imitation of the nightingale’s song. The melody continues for a few moments]
By lord Zeus, that little birdie’s got a voice!
She pours her honey all through that thicket!
That hoopoe bird— 270
he’s all set to sing another song.
TEREUS [issuing a bird call to all the birds. His song or chant is accompanied by the flute indicating the nightingale’s song]
Io, io, ito, ito, ito, ito.
here to me,
all you with feathers just like mine,
all you who live in country fields
fresh-ploughed, still full of seed,
and all you thousand tribes
who munch on barley corn
who gather up the grain, 280
and fly at such a speed
and utter your sweet cries,
all you who in the furrows there
twitter on the turned-up earth,
and sweetly sing
tio tio tio tio tio tio tio tio—
those of you
who like to scavenge food
from garden ivy shoots,
all you in the hills up there 290
who eat from olive and arbutus trees.
come here as quickly as you can,
fly here in answer to this call—
trio-to trio-to toto-brix!
every one of you
in low-lying marshy ground
who snap sharp-biting gnats,
by regions of well-watered land,
and lovely fields of Marathon,
all you variously coloured birds, 300
godwits and francolins—
I’m calling you.
flocks who fly across the seas
across the waves with halcyons
come here to learn the news.
We’re all assembling here,
all tribes of long-neck birds.
A shrewd old man’s arrived—
he’s here with a new plan,
a man of enterprise, 310
all set to improvise.
So gather all of you
to hear his words.
[The final words gradually change from coherent speech into a bird call]
here, come here,
come here, come here.
Kik-kabau, kik-kabau.
Toro-toro toro-toro li-li-lix
[Euelpides and Pisthetairos start looking up into the sky for birds]
Seen any birds lately?
No, by Apollo, I haven’t—
even though I’m staring up into the sky, 320
not even blinking.
It seems to me
that hoopoe bird was just wasting time
hiding, like a curlew, in that thicket,
and screaming out his bird calls—
[imitating Tereus] po-poi po-poi
[There is an instant response to Pisthetairos’ call from off stage, a loud bird call which really scares Pisthetairos and Euelpides]
Hey, my good man, here comes a bird.
[Enter a flamingo, very tall and flaming red-something Pisthetairos and Euelpides have never seen]
that’s a bird? What kind would you call that?
It couldn’t be a peacock, could it?
[Tereus re-enters from the thicket]
Tereus here will tell us. Hey, my friend, 330
what’s that bird there?
Not your everyday fowl—
the kind you always see. She’s a marsh bird.
My goodness, she’s gorgeous—flaming red!
Naturally, that’s why she’s called Flamingo.
[A second bird enters, a Peacock]
Hey . . .
What is it?
Another bird’s arrived.
You’re right. By god, this one looks really odd.
[To Tereus] Who’s this bizarre bird-prophet of the Muse,
this strutter from the hills?
He’s called the Mede.
He’s a Mede? By lord Hercules, how come
a Mede flew here without his camel? 340
Here’s another one . . .
[The next bird enters, another Hoopoe]
. . what a crest of feathers!
PISTHETAIROS [To Tereus]
What’s this marvel? You’re not the only hoopoe?
This here’s another one?
He’s my grandson—
son of Philocles the Hoopoe—it’s like
those names you pass along, when you call
Hipponicus the son of Callias,
and Callias son of Hipponicus.*
So this bird is Callias. His feathers—
he seems to have lost quite a few.
Yes, that’s true—
being a well-off bird he’s plucked by parasites, 350
and female creatures flock around him, too,
to yank his plumage out.
[Enter the Glutton-bird, an invented species, very fat and brightly coloured]
here’s another bright young bird. What’s it called?
This one’s the Glutton-bird.
Cleonymus is not the only one?*
If this bird were like our Cleonymus,
wouldn’t he have thrown away his crest?
Why do all the birds display such head crests?
Are they going to run a race in armour?
No, my dear fellow, they live up on the crests, 360
because it’s safer, like the Carians.*
Holy Poseidon, do you see those birds!
What a fowl bunch of them—all flocking here!
in the same direction]
Lord Apollo, there’s a huge bird cloud! Wow!
So many feathered wings in there I can’t see
a way through all those feathers to the wings.
[Enter the Chorus of Birds in a dense mass. Pisthetairos and Euelpides clamber up the rock to get a better look at them]
Hey, look at that—
it’s a partridge, and that one over there,
by Zeus, a francolin—there’s a widgeon—
and that’s a halcyon!
What’s the one behind her?
What is it? It’s a spotted shaver.
You mean there’s a bird that cuts our hair?
After all, there’s that barber in the city—
the one we all call Sparrow Sporgilos.*
Here comes an owl.
Well, what about that?
Who brings owls to Athens?*
birds in the crowd]
. . . a turtle dove,
a jay, lark, sedge bird . . .
. . . finch, pigeon . . .
. . . falcon,
hawk, ring dove . . .
. . . cuckoo, red shank . . .
. . . fire-crest . . .
. . . porphyrion, kestrel, dabchick, bunting,
vulture, and that one’s there’s a . . . [he’s stumped]
. . . woodpecker!!
What a crowd of birds! A major flock of fowls! 380
All that twitter as they prance around,
those rival cries! . . . Oh, oh, what’s going on?
Are they a threat? They’re looking straight at us—
their beaks are open!
It looks that way to me.
CHORUS LEADER [starting
with a bird call]
To-toto-to to-toto-to to-to.
Who’s been calling me?
Where’s he keep his nest?
I’m the one. I’ve been waiting here a while.
I’ve not left my bird friends in the lurch.
Ti-tit-ti ti-tit-ti ti-ti-ti-ti 390
tell me as a friend what you have to say.
I have news for all of us—something safe,
judicious, sweet, and profitable.
Two men have just come here to visit me,
two subtle thinkers . . .
CHORUS LEADER [interrupting]
What? What are you saying?
I’m telling you two old men have arrived—
they’ve come from lands where human beings live
and bring the stalk of a stupendous plan.
You fool! This is the most disastrous thing
since I was hatched. What are you telling us? 400
Don’t be afraid of what I have to say.
What have you done to us?
I’ve welcomed here
two men in love with our society.
You dared to do that?
Yes, indeed, I did.
And I’m very pleased I did so.
These two men of yours,
are they among us now?
Yes, as surely as I am.
into a song of indignation]
He’s cheated us,
he’s done us wrong.
That friend of ours, 410
who all along
has fed with us
in fields we share,
now breaks old laws
and doesn’t care.
swore a pact
of all the birds.
He’s now trapped us
with deceitful words—
so power goes 420
to all our foes,
that wicked race
which since its birth
was raised for war
with us on earth.
We’ll have some words with that one later.
These two old men should get their punishment—
I think we should give it now. Let’s do it—
rip ’em to pieces, bit by bit.
We’re done for.
It’s all your fault—getting us into this mess. 430
Why’d you bring me here?
I wanted you to come.
What? So I could weep myself to death?
Now, you’re really talking nonsense—
how do you intend to weep, once these birds
poke out your eyes?
towards Pisthetairos and Euelpides
On, on . . .
let’s move in to attack,
and launch a bloody rush,
come in from front and back,
and break ’em in the crush—
with wings on every side 440
they’ll have no place to hide.
two will start to howl,
when my beak starts to eat
and makes ’em food for fowl.
There’s no well-shaded peak,
no cloud or salt-grey sea
where they can flee from me.
Now let’s bite and tear these two apart!
Where’s the brigadier? Bring up the right wing!
[The birds start to close in on Pisthetairos and Euelpides, cowering up on the rocks]
This is it! I’m done for. Where can I run? 450
Why aren’t you staying put?
Here with you?
I don’t want ’em to rip me into pieces.
How do you intend to get away from them?
I haven’t a clue.
Then I’ll tell you how—
we have to stay right here and fight it out.
So put that cauldron down.
[Pisthetairos takes the cauldron from Euelpides and sets it down on the ground in front of them]
What good’s a cauldron?
It’ll keep the owls away from us.
What about the birds with claws?
in the pack]
Grab this spit—
stick it in the ground in front of you.
How do we protect our eyes?
a couple of tin bowls]
An upturned bowl. 460
Set this on your head.
the tin bowl upside down on his head and holding up the pot, with the spit
stuck in the ground]
What a grand stroke of warlike strategy!
In military matters you’re the best—
already smarter than that Nikias*
[Pisthetairos and Euelpides, with tin bowls on
their heads, await the birds’ charge-with Pisthetairos hiding behind
Euelpides, who is holding up the big pot. Their two slaves cower behind them]
El-el-el-eu . . . Charge!
Keep those beaks level—no holding back now!
Pull ‘em, scratch ’em, hit ’em, rip their skins off!
Go smash that big pot first of all.
[As the Chorus is about to start its charge, Tereus rushes in between the two men and the Chorus and
to stop the Chorus Leader]
Hold on, you wickedest of animals!
Tell me this: Why do you want to kill these men, 470
to tear them both to bits? They’ve done no wrong.
Besides, they’re my wife’s relatives, her clansmen.
Why should we be more merciful to them
than we are to wolves? What other animals
are greater enemies of ours than them?
Have we got better targets for revenge?
Yes, by nature enemies—but what if
they’ve got good intentions? What if they’ve come
to teach you something really valuable?
How could they ever teach us anything, 480
or tell us something useful—they’re enemies,
our feathered forefathers’ fierce foes.
But folks with fine minds find from foemen
they can learn a lot. Caution saves us all.
We don’t learn that from friends. But enemies
can force that truth upon us right away.
That’s why cities learn, not from their allies,
but from enemies, how to build high walls,
assemble fleets of warships—in that way,
their knowledge saves their children, homes, and goods. 490
Well, here’s what seems best to me—first of all,
let’s hear what they have come to say. It’s true—
our enemies can teach us something wise.
I think their anger’s easing off. Let’s retreat.
[Pisthetairos and Euelpides inch their way toward the doors, still bunched together, with Euelpides holding up the pot]
the Chorus Leader]
It’s only fair—and you do owe me a favour,
out of gratitude.
In other things,
before today, we’ve never stood against you.
They’re acting now more peacefully to us—
so put that pot and bowl down on the ground.
But we’d better hang onto the spit, our spear. 500
We’ll use it on patrol inside our camp
right by this cauldron here. Keep your eyes peeled—
don’t even think of flight.
[Euelpides puts down the cauldron, removes his
tin-plate helmet, and marches with the spear back and forth
by the cauldron, on guard]
What happens if we’re killed? Where on earth
will we be buried?
where the potters live—they’ll bury both of us.
We’ll get it done and have the public pay—
I’ll tell the generals we died in battle,
fighting with the troops at Orneai.*
Fall back into the ranks you held before. 510
Bend over, and like well-armed soldier boys,
put your spirit and your anger down.
We’ll look into who these two men may be,
where they come from, what their intentions are.
[The Chorus of Birds breaks up and retreats]
Hey, Hoopoe bird, I’m calling you!
What would you like to hear?
These two men—
where do they come from and who are they?
These strangers are from Greece, font of wisdom.
What accident or words
now brings them to the birds? 520
The two men love your life,
adore the way you live—
they want to share with you
in all there is to give.
What’s that you just said?
What plan is in their head?
Things you’d never think about—
you’ll be amazed—just hear him out.
He thinks it’s good that he
should stay and live with me? 530
Is he trusting in some plan
to help his fellow man
or thump his enemy?
He talks of happiness
too great for thought or words
He claims this emptiness—
all space—is for the birds—
here, there, and everywhere.
You’ll be convinced, I swear.
Is he crazy in the head? 540
He is shrewder than I said.
A brilliant thinking box?
The subtlest, sharpest fox—
he’s been around a lot
knows every scheme and plot.
Ask him to speak to us, to tell us all.
As I listen now to what you’re telling me,
it makes me feel like flying—taking off!
the two slaves]
Take their suits of armour in the house—
hang the stuff up in the kitchen there, 550
beside the cooking stool—may it bring good luck!
[turning to Pisthetairos]
Now you. Lay out your plans—explain to them
the reason why I called them all together.
[Pisthetairos is struggling with the servants, refusing to give up his armour]
No. By Apollo, I won’t do it—
not unless they swear a pact with me
just like one that monkey Panaitios,
who makes our knives, had his wife swear to him—
not to bite or pull my balls or poke me.
You mean up your . . .
No, not there. I mean the eyes.
Oh, I’ll agree to that.
Then swear an oath on it. 560
I swear on this condition—that I get
all the judges’ and spectators’ votes and win.*
Oh, you’ll win!
And if I break the oath
then let me win by just a single vote.
Listen all of you! The armed infantry
can now pick up their weapons and go home.
Keep an eye out for any bulletins
we put up on our notice boards.
Man’s by nature’s born to lie.
But state your case. Give it a try. 570
There’s a chance you have observed
some useful things inside this bird,
some greater power I possess,
which my dull brain has never guessed.
So tell all here just what you see.
If there’s a benefit to me,
we’ll share in it communally.
Tell us the business that’s brings you here.
Persuade us of your views. So speak right up.
No need to be afraid—we’ve made a pact— 580
we won’t be the ones who break it first.
By god, I’m full of words, bursting to speak.
I’ve worked my speech like well-mixed flour—
like kneading dough. There’s nothing stopping me.
[giving instructions to the two slaves]
You, lad, fetch me a speaker’s wreath—and, you,
bring water here, so I can wash my hands.
[The two slaves go into the house and return with a wreath and some water]
You mean it’s time for dinner? What’s going on?
For a long time now I’ve been keen, by god,
to give them a stupendous speech—overstuffed—
something to shake their tiny birdy souls. 590
[Pisthetairos, with the wreath on his head, now turns to the birds and begins his formal oration]
I’m so sorry for you all, who once were kings . . .
Kings? Us? What of?
You were kings indeed,
you ruled over everything there is—
over him and me, first of all, and then
over Zeus himself. You see, your ancestry
goes back before old Kronos and the Titans,
way back before even Earth herself!*
Before the Earth?
Yes, by Apollo.
Well, that’s something I never knew before!
That’s because you’re naturally uninformed— 600
you lack resourcefulness. You’ve not read Aesop.
His story tells us that the lark was born
before the other birds, before the Earth.
Her father then grew sick and died. For five days
he lay there unburied—there was no Earth.
Not knowing what to do, at last the lark,
at her wits’ end, set him in her own head.
So now, the father of the lark lies dead
in a headland plot.
So if they were born
before the Earth, before the gods, well then, 610
as the eldest, don’t they get the right to rule?
By Apollo, yes they do.
[addressing the audience]
So you out there,
look ahead and sprout yourselves a beak—
in good time Zeus will hand his sceptre back
to the birds who peck his sacred oaks.
Way back then it wasn’t gods who ruled.
They didn’t govern men. No. It was the birds.
There’s lots of proof for this. I’ll mention here
example number one—the fighting cock—
first lord and king of all those Persians, 620
well before the time of human kings—
those Dariuses and Megabazuses.
Because he was their king, the cock’s still called
the Persian Bird.
That’s why to this very day
the cock’s the only bird to strut about
like some great Persian king, and on his head
he wears his crown erect.
He was so great,
so mighty and so strong, that even now,
thanks to his power then, when he sings out
his early morning song, all men leap up 630
to head for work—blacksmiths, potters, tanners,
men who deal in corn or supervise the baths,
or make our shields or fabricate our lyres—
they all lace on their shoes and set off in the dark.
I can vouch for that! I had some bad luck,
thanks to that cock—I lost my cloak to thieves,
a soft and warm one, too, of Phrygian wool.
I’d been invited to a festive do,
where some child was going to get his name,
right here in the city. I’d had some drinks— 640
and those drinks, well, they made me fall asleep.
Before the other guests began to eat,
that bird lets rip his cock-a-doodle-doo!
I thought it was the early morning call.
So I run off for Halimus*—but then,
just outside the city walls, I get mugged,
some coat thief hits me square across the back—
he used a cudgel! When I fall down there,
about to cry for help, he steals my cloak!
To resume—way back then the Kite was king. 650
He ruled the Greeks.
King of the Greeks!!
As king he was the first to show us how
to grovel on the ground before a kite.
By Dionysus, I once saw a kite
and rolled along the ground, then, on my back,
my mouth wide open, gulped an obol down.
I had to trudge home with an empty sack.*
Take Egypt and Phoenicia—they were ruled
by Cuckoo kings. And when they cried “Cuckoooo!!”
all those Phoenicians harvested their crop— 660
the wheat and barley in their fields.
if someone’s cock is ploughing your wife’s field,
we call you “Cuckoo!”—you’re being fooled!*
The kingship of the birds was then so strong
that in the cities of the Greeks a king—
an Agamemnon, say, or Menelaus—
had a bird perched on his regal sceptre.
And it got its own share of all the gifts
the king received.
Now, that I didn’t know.
I always get amazed in tragedies 670
when some king Priam comes on with a bird.
I guess it stands on guard there, keeping watch
to see what presents Lysicrates gets.*
Here’s the weirdest proof of all—lord Zeus
who now commands the sky, because he’s king,
carries an eagle on his head. There’s more—
his daughter has an owl, and Apollo,
like a servant, has a hawk.
by Demeter! What’s the reason for those birds?
So when someone makes a sacrifice 680
and then, in accordance with tradition,
puts the guts into god’s hands, the birds
can seize those entrails well before Zeus can.
Back then no man would swear upon the gods—
they swore their oaths on birds. And even now,
our Lampon seals his promises “By Goose,”
when he intends to cheat.* In days gone by,
all men considered you like that—as great
and sacred beings. Now they all think of you
as slaves and fools and useless layabouts. 690
They throw stones at you, as if you’re mad.
And every hunter in the temples there
sets up his traps—all those nooses, gins,
limed sticks and snares, fine mesh and hunting nets,
and cages, too. Then once they’ve got you trapped,
they sell you by the bunch. Those who come to buy
poke and prod your flesh. If you seem good to eat,
they don’t simply roast you by yourself—no!
They grate on cheese, mix oil and silphium
with vinegar—and then whip up a sauce, 700
oily and sweet, which they pour on you hot,
as if you were a chunk of carrion meat.
This human speaks
of our great pain
our fathers’ sins
we mourn again—
born into rule,
they threw away
what they received,
their fathers’ sway. 710
But now you’ve come—
fine stroke of fate—
to save our cause.
Here let me state
I’ll trust myself
and all my chicks
to help promote
You need to stick around to tell us all
what we should do. Our lives won’t be worth living 720
unless by using every scheme there is
we get back what’s ours—our sovereignty.
Then the first point I’d advise you of is this:
there should be one single city of the birds.
Next, you should encircle the entire air,
all this space between the earth and heaven,
with a huge wall of baked brick—like Babylon.
O Kebriones and Porphyrion!
What a mighty place! How well fortified!*
When you’ve completed that, demand from Zeus 730
he give you back your rule. If he says no,
he doesn’t want to and won’t sign on at once,
you then declare a holy war on him.
Tell those gods they can’t come through your space
with cocks erect, the way they used to do,
rushing down to screw another woman—
like Alkmene, Semele, or Alope.*
For if you ever catch them coming down
you’ll stamp your seal right on their swollen pricks—
they won’t be fucking women any more. 740
And I’d advise you send another bird
as herald down to human beings to say
that since the birds from now on will be kings,
they have to offer sacrifice to them.
The offerings to the gods take second place.
Then each of the gods must be closely matched
with an appropriate bird. So if a man
is offering Athena holy sacrifice,
he must first give the Coot some barley corn.
If sacrificing sheep to god Poseidon, 750
let him bring toasted wheat grains to the Duck.
And anyone who’s going to sacrifice
to Hercules must give the Cormorant
some honey cakes. A ram for Zeus the king?
Then first, because the Wren is king of birds,
ahead of Zeus himself, his sacrifice
requires the worshipper to execute
an uncastrated gnat.
I like that bit about
the slaughtered gnat. Now thunder on, great Zan.*
But how will humans think of us as gods 760
and not just jackdaws flying around on wings?
A foolish question. Hermes is a god,
and he has wings and flies—so do others,
all sorts of them. There’s Victory, for one,
with wings of gold. And Eros is the same.
Then there’s Iris—just like a timorous dove,
that’s what Homer says.
But what if Zeus
lets his thunder peal, then fires down on us
his lightning bolt—that’s got wings as well.
Now, if men in their stupidity 770
think nothing of you and keep worshipping
Olympian gods, then a large cloud of birds,
of rooks and sparrows, must attack their farms,
devouring all the seed. And as they starve,
let Demeter then dole out grain to them.
She won’t be willing to do that, by Zeus.
She’ll make excuses—as you’ll see.
Then as a test,
the ravens can peck out their livestock’s eyes,
the ones that pull the ploughs to work the land,
and other creatures, too. Let Apollo 780
make them better—he’s the god of healing.
That’s why he gets paid.
But you can’t do this
’til I’ve sold my two little oxen first.
But if they think of you as god, as life,
as Earth, as Kronos and Poseidon, too,
then all good things will come to them.
what these good things are.
Well, for starters,
locusts won’t eat the blossoms on their vines.
The owls and kestrels in just one platoon
will rid them of those pests. Mites and gall wasps 790
won’t devour the figs. One troop of thrushes
will eradicate them one and all.
But how will we make people wealthy?
That’s what they mostly want.
When people come
petitioning your shrines, the birds can show
the mining sites that pay. They’ll tell the priest
the profitable routes for trade. That way
no captain of a ship will be wiped out.
Why won’t those captains come to grief?
They’ll always ask the birds about the trip. 800
Their seer will say, “A storm is on the way.
Don’t sail just yet” or “Now’s the time to sail—
you’ll turn a tidy profit.”
Hey, that’s for me—
I’ll buy a merchant ship and take command.
I won’t be staying with you.
Birds can show men
the silver treasures of their ancestors,
buried in the ground so long ago.
For birds know where these are. Men always say,
“No one knows where my treasure lies, no one,
except perhaps some bird.”
I’ll sell my boat. 810
I’ll buy a spade and dig up tons of gold.
How will we provide for human health?
Such things dwell with the gods.
If they’re doing well,
is that not giving them good health?
A man whose business isn’t very sound
is never medically well.
but how will they get old? That’s something, too,
Olympian gods bestow. Must they die young?
No, no, by god. The birds will add on years,
three hundred more.
And where will those come from? 820
From the birds’ supply. You know the saying,
“Five human lifetimes lives the cawing crow.”*
My word, these birds are much more qualified
to govern us than Zeus.
Far better qualified!
First, we don’t have to build them holy shrines,
made out of stone, or put up golden doors
to decorate their sanctuaries. They live
beneath the bushes and young growing trees.
As for the prouder birds, an olive grove
will be their temple. When we sacrifice, 830
no need to go to Ammon or to Delphi—
we’ll just stand among arbutus trees
or oleasters with an offering—
barley grains or wheat—uttering our prayers,
our arms outstretched, so from them we receive
our share of benefits. And these we’ll gain
by throwing them a few handfuls of grain.
Old man, how much you’ve been transformed for me—
From my worst enemy into my friend,
my dearest friend. These strategies of yours— 840
I’ll not abandon them, not willingly.
The words you’ve said make us rejoice—
and so we’ll swear with just one voice
an oath that if you stand with me—
our thoughts and aims in unity—
honest, pious, just, sincere,
to go against the gods up there,
if we’re both singing the same song
the gods won’t have my sceptre long.
Whatever can be done with force alone 850
we’re ready to take on—what requires brains
or thinking through, all that stuff’s up to you.
That’s right, by Zeus. No time for dozing now,
or entertaining doubts, like Nikias.*
No—let’s get up and at it fast.
But first, you must come in this nest of mine,
these sticks and twigs assembled here. So now,
both of you, tell us your names.
My name’s Pisthetairos.
And this man here?
I’m Euelpides, from Crioa. 860
Welcome both of you!
PISTHETAIROS and EUELPIDES
Thanks very much.
Won’t you come in?
Let’s go. But you go first—
show us the way.
Come on, then.
[Tereus enters his house]
back, calling into the house]
But . . . it’s strange . . .
Come back a minute.
[Tereus reappears at the door]
Look, tell us both
how me and him can share the place with you
when you can fly but we’re not able to.
I don’t see any problem there.
but in Aesop’s fables there’s a story told
about some fox who hung around an eagle,
with unfortunate results.
Don’t be afraid. 870
We have a little root you nibble on—
and then you’ll grow some wings.
All right then,
let’s go. [To the slaves] Manodorus, Xanthias,
bring in our mattresses.
CHORUS LEADER [to
Hold on a second—
I’m calling you.
Why are you calling me?
Take those two men in—give ‘em a good meal.
But bring your tuneful nightingale out here,
who with the Muses sings such charming songs—
leave her with us so we can play together.
Yes, by god—agree to their request. 880
Bring out your little birdie in the reeds.
For gods’ sake, bring her out, so we can see
this lovely nightingale of yours.
If that’s what you both want, it must be done.
Come here, Procne. Our guests are calling you.
[Enter Procne from the
house. She has a nightingale’s head and wings but the body of a young woman.
She is wearing gold jewellery]
Holy Zeus, that’s one gorgeous little bird!
What a tender chick!
How I’d love to help that birdie
spread her legs, if you catch my drift.
Look at that—
all the gold she’s wearing—just like a girl.
What I’d like to do right now is kiss her. 890
You idiot—look at that beak she’s got,
a pair of skewers.
All right, by god,
we’ll treat her like an egg—peel off the shell,
take it clean off her head, and then we’ll kiss her.
Let’s get inside.
You lead us in—good luck to all!
[Pisthetairos, Euelpides, Tereus, Xanthias, and Manodorus enter the house]
Ah, my tawny throated love,
of all the birds that fly above
you’re dearest to my heart
your sweet melodious voice
in my song plays its part— 900
my lovely Nightingale,
you’ve come,
And now you’re here with me.
Pour forth your melody.
Pipe out the lovely sounds of spring,
a prelude to my rhythmic speech
in every melody you sing.
[Procne plays on the
flute for a few moments as the Chorus Leader prepares to address the audience
He steps forward getting close to the spectators]
Come now, you men out there, who live such dark, sad lives—
you’re frail, just like a race of leaves—you’re shaped from clay,
you tribes of insubstantial shadows without wings,
you creatures of a day, unhappy mortal men,
you figures from a dream, now turn your minds to us,
the eternal, deathless, air-borne, ageless birds,
whose wisdom never dies, so you may hear from us
the truth about celestial things, about the birds—
how they sprang into being, how the gods arose,
how rivers, Chaos, and dark Erebus were formed*—
about all this you’ll learn the truth. And so from me
tell Prodicus in future to depart.* At the start, 920
there was Chaos, and Night, and pitch-black Erebus,
and spacious Tartarus. There was no earth, no heaven,
no atmosphere. Then in the wide womb of Erebus,
that boundless space, black-winged Night, first creature born,
made pregnant by the wind, once laid an egg. It hatched,
when seasons came around, and out of it sprang Love—
the source of all desire, on his back the glitter
of his golden wings, just like the swirling whirlwind.
In broad Tartarus, Love had sex with murky Chaos.
From them our race was born—our first glimpse of the light. 930
Before that there was no immortal race at all,
not before Love mixed all things up. But once they’d bred
and blended in with one another, Heaven was born,
Ocean and Earth—and all that clan of deathless gods.
Thus, we’re by far the oldest of all blessed ones,
for we are born from Love. There’s lots of proof for this.
We fly around the place, assisting those in love—
the handsome lads who swear they’ll never bend for sex,
but who, as their young charms come to an end, agree
to let male lovers bugger them, thanks to the birds, 940
our power as gifts—one man gives a porphyrion,
another man a quail, a third one gives a goose,
and yet another offers up a Persian Fowl.*
All mortals’ greatest benefits come from us birds.
The first is this: we make the season known—springtime,
winter, autumn—it’s time to sow, as soon as Crane
migrates to Lybia with all that noise. He tells
the master mariner to hang his rudder up
and go to sleep awhile. He tells Orestes, too,
to weave himself a winter cloak, so he won’t freeze 950
when he sets out again to rip off people’s clothes.*
Then after that the Kite appears, to let you know
another season’s here—it’s time to shear the sheep.
Then Swallow comes. Now you should sell your winter cloak
and get yourself a light one. So we’re your Ammon,
Delphi and Dodona—we’re your Apollo, too.*
See how, in all your business, you first look to birds—
when you trade, buy goods, or when a man gets married.
Whatever you think matters in a prophecy,
you label that a bird—to you, Rumour’s a bird;
you say a sneeze or a chance meeting is a bird,
a sound’s a bird, a servant’s a bird—and so’s an ass.
It’s clear you look on us as your Apollo.
So you ought to make gods of your birds,
your muses prophetic, whose words
all year round you’ve got,
unless it’s too hot.
Your questions will always be heard.
we won’t run away to a cloud
and sit there like Zeus, who’s so proud— 970
we’re ready to give,
hang out where you live,
and be there for you in the crowd.
Yes, to you, your children, and their children, too,
we’ll grant wealth and health, good life, and happiness,
peace, youth, laughter, dances, festivals of song—
and birds’ milk, too—so much, you’ll find yourself worn out
with our fine gifts—yes, that’s how rich you’ll be.
O woodland Muse
my muse of varied artful song
on trees and from high mountain peaks
to your notes I sing along
in my leafy ash tree seat.
From my tawny throat I fling
my sacred melodies to Pan.
In holy dance I chant and sing
our mother from the mountain land. 990
Here Phrynichus would always sip
ambrosial nectar from our tone
to make sweet music of his own.
If there’s someone out there in the audience
who’d like to spend his future life among the birds
enjoying himself, he should come to us. Here, you see,
whatever is considered shameful by your laws,
is all just fine among us birds. Consider this— 1000
if your tradition says one shouldn’t beat one’s dad,
up here with us it’s all right if some young bird
goes at his father, hits him, cries, “You wanna fight?
Then put up your spur!” If out there among you all
there is, by chance, a tattooed slave who’s run away,
we’ll call him a spotted francolin. Or else,
if someone happens to be Phrygian, as pure
as Spintharos, he’ll be a Philemon-bred finch.
If he’s like Execestides, a Carian slave,
let him act the Cuckoo—steal his kin from us— 1010
some group of citizens will claim him soon enough.
And if the son of Peisias still has in mind
betraying our city gates to worthless men,
let him become his father’s little partridge cock—
for us there’s nothing wrong with crafty partridge stock.
That’s how the swans
massed in a crowd
with rustling wings
once raised aloud 1020
They sat in rows
on river banks
where Hebros flows.
Their song then rose
through cloud and air—
it cast its spell
on mottled tribes 1030
of wild beasts there—
the silent sky
calmed down the sea.
Olympus rang—
its lords and kings.
Then Muses there
and Graces, too,
voiced their response— 1040
There’s nothing sweeter or better than growing wings.
If any of you members of the audience
had wings, well, if you were feeling bored or hungry
with these tragic choruses, you could fly away,
go home for dinner, and then, once you’d had enough,
fly back to us again. Or if, by any chance,
a Patrocleides sits out there among you all,
dying to shit, he wouldn’t have to risk a fart 1050
in his own pants—he could fly off and let ’er rip,
take a deep breath, and fly back down again.
If it should be the case that one of you out there
is having an affair, and you observe her husband
sitting here, in seats reserved for Council men,
well, once again, you could fly off and fuck the wife,
then fly back from her place and take your seat once more.
Don’t you see how having wings to fly beats everything?
Just look at Diitrephes—the only wings he had
were handles on his flasks of wine, but nonetheless, 1060
they chose him to lead a squad of cavalry,
then for a full command, so now, from being nobody,
he carries out our great affairs—he’s now become
a tawny civic horse-cock.*
[Enter Pisthetairos and Euelpides from Tereus’ house. They now have wings on and feathers on their
instead of hair}
Well, that’s that. By Zeus,
I’ve never seen a more ridiculous sight!
What are you laughing at?
At your feathers.
Have you any idea what you look like—
what you most resemble with those feathers on?
A goose painted by some cheap artiste!
And you look like a blackbird—one whose hair 1070
has just been cut using a barber’s bowl.
People will use us as metaphors—
as Aeschlyus would say, “We’re shot by feathers
not from someone else but of our very own.”
All right, then. What do we now need to do?
First, we have to name our city, something
fine and grand. Then after that we sacrifice
an offering to the gods.
That’s my view, too.
So what name shall we give our city?
Well, do you want to use that mighty name 1080
from Lacedaimon—shall we call it Sparta?
By Hercules, would I use that name Sparta
for my city? No. I wouldn’t even try
esparto grass to make my bed, not if
I could use cords of linen.*
All right then, what name
shall we provide?
Some name from around here—
to do with clouds, with high places full of air,
something really extra grand.
how do you like this: Cloudcuckooland?
Yes! That’s good! You’ve come up with a name 1090
that’s really wonderful—it’s great!
is this Cloudcuckooland the very spot
where Theogenes keeps lots of money,
and Aeschines hides all his assets?*
It’s even more than that—it’s Phlegra Plain,
the place where gods beat up on all the giants
in a bragging match.*
This fine metropolis!
O what a glittering thing this city is!
Now who should be the city’s guardian god?
Who gets to wear the sacred robes we weave? 1100
Why not let Athena do the guarding?
But how can we have a finely ordered state
where a female goddess stands there fully armed,
while Cleisthenes still fondles weaving shuttles.*
Well, who will hold our city’s strong Storkade?
A bird among us of a Persian breed—
it’s said to be the fiercest anywhere
of all the war god’s chicks.
Some princely cocks?
They’re just the gods to live among the rocks!
Come now, you must move up into the air, 1110
and help the ones who’re building up the wall—
hoist rubble for ’em, strip and mix the mortar,
haul up the hod, and then fall off the ladder.
Put guards in place, and keep all fires concealed.
Make your inspection rounds holding the bell.*
Go to sleep up there. Then send out heralds—
one to gods above, one down to men below.
And then come back from there to me.
You’ll stay here? Well, to hell with you . . .
Hey, my friend,
you should go where I send you—without you 1120
none of that work I mentioned will get done.
We need a sacrifice to these new gods.
I’ll call a priest to organize the show.
[Euelpides exits. Pisthetairos calls to the slaves through the doors of Tereus’ house]
You, boy, pick up the basket, and you,
my lad, grab up the holy water.
[Pisthetairos enters the house. As the Chorus
sings, the slaves emerge and prepare for the sacrifice.
The Chorus is accompanied by a raven playing the pipes]
I think it’s good and I agree,
your notions here are fine with me,
a great big march with dancing throngs
and to the gods send holy songs,
and then their benefits to keep 1130
we’ll sacrifice a baby sheep—
let go our cry, the Pythian shout,
while Chaeris plays our chorus out.
[The Raven plays erratically on the pipe.
Pisthetairos comes out of the house. He brings a priest with him,
who is leading a small scrawny goat for the sacrifice]
Stop blowing all that noise! By Hercules,
what’s this? I’ve seen some strange things, heaven knows,
but never this—a raven with a pipe
shoved up his nose. Come on, priest, work your spell,
and sacrifice to these new gods as well.
I’ll do it. But where’s the basket-bearing boy?
[The slave appears with the basket]
Let us now pray to Hestia of the birds,* 1140
and to the Kite that watches o’er the hearth,
to all Olympian birds and birdesses . . .
O Hawk of Sunium, all hail to you,
Lord of the Sea . . .
And to the Pythian Swan of Delos—
let’s pray to Leto, mother of the quail
to Artemis the Goldfinch . . .
Ha! No more goddess
of Colaenis now, but goldfinch Artemis . . .
. . . to Sabazdios, Phrygian frigate bird,
to the great ostrich mother of the gods 1150
and of all men . . .
. . . to Cybele, our ostrich queen,
mother of Cleocritos* . . .
. . . may they give
to all Cloudcuckooites security,
good health, as well—and to the Chians, too.*
I do like that—the way those Chians
always get tacked on everywhere—
. . . to Hero birds, and to their chicks,
to Porphyrions and Pelicans,
both white and grey, to Raptor-birds and Pheasants,
Peacocks and Warblers . . .
[The Priest starts to get carried away]
. . Ospreys and Teals
Herons and Gannets, Terns, small Tits, big Tits, and . . . 1160
Hold on, dammit—stop calling all these birds.
You idiot! In what sort of sacrifice
does one call for ospreys and for vultures?
Don’t you see—one kite could snatch this goat,
then carry it away? Get out of here,
you and your garlands, too. I’ll do it myself—
I’ll offer up this beast all on my own.
[Pisthetairos pushes the Priest away. Exit Priest]
Now once again I have to sing
a song to purify you all,
a holy sacred melody. 1170
The Blessed Ones I have to call—
but if you’re in a mood to eat
we just need one and not a score
for here our sacrificial meat
is horns and hair, and nothing more.
Let us pray while we make sacrifice
to our feathery gods . . . [raises his eyes to sky and shuts his eyes]
[A poet suddenly bursts on the scene reciting his verses as he enters]
O Muse, in your songs sing the renown
of Cloudcuckooland—this happy town . . .
Where’d this thing come from? Tell me—who are you? 1180
Me? I’m a sweet tongued warbler of the words—
a nimble servant of the Muse, as Homer says.
You’re a slave and wear your hair that long?
No, but all poets of dramatic songs
are nimble servants of the Muse, as Homer says.
No doubt that’s why your nimble cloak’s so thin.
But, oh poet, why has thou come hither?
I’ve been making up all sorts of splendid songs
to celebrate your fine Cloudcuckoolands—
dithyrambs and virgin songs and other tunes 1190
after the style of that Simonides.*
When did you compose these tunes? Some time ago?
O long long ago—yes, I’ve been singing | <urn:uuid:f2c5ef1c-fc5a-459b-afc4-1a7fb6289b4f> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://records.viu.ca/~johnstoi/aristophanes/birds.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783396887.54/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154956-00110-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.878673 | 16,715 | 2.859375 | 3 |
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|Cut the Knot!, Alexander Bogomolny|
|Dictionary definitions of place value and what they lack; the emphasis on place value in the NCTM Standards; its importance in understanding our numeration system; how it arises from one of several possible representations of grouping in the counting process. Why, in general, does mathematics education shy away from placing our decimal numeration into the framework of positional systems? Three reasons to reconsider the common trend that mostly shuns all bases but 10... An interactive column for MAA Online that uses a Java applet to simulate a puzzle or mathematical problem, one not stated directly since the applet is intended to be such that the right answer to an as yet unstated problem should be easy to surmise.|
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One of the most remarkable facts about the well-known ten or fourteen "unexplained points" (avyaak.rta vastuuni), which occur in numerous places in the Sutta Pi.taka, is the quantity of learned discussion that they have engendered, not only among classical Buddhist writers but also among modern scholars. This testifies to the general appeal of mysteries, puzzles, riddles, paradoxes and nonsense. Zeno's paradoxes and the doctrine of the Trinity have exercised a similar effect upon the minds of thinkers. If a literary critic were to happen to read the volumes of scholarly prose devoted to the unexplained points, he might well see the history of the problem as a variant of the romantic quest, dogged by the failure preordained for all quests after the unattainable. A dialectical theologian might seize upon this case as an. instance of the paradoxical character of man's relation to being, a viewpoint that shows through Hermann Oldenberg's rather poetic conclusion to his discussion of the unexplained points:
There is a path out of the world of the created into unfathomable infinity. Does it lead to the highest being? Does it lead into nothingness? The Buddhist creed maintains itself on the knife-edge between the two. The longing of the heart that aspires to the eternal does not have nothingness, and yet thought has no something which it might hold onto. The thought of the endless, the eternal, could not disappear into a distance more remote from belief than here, where, a gentle breath on the point of merging into nothingness, it threatens to evade the gaze.
A more prosaic reason for the continuing investigation of the unexplained points is that no explanation to date has succeeded in fitting them tidily into the conventional schema of philosophical classification. Does early Buddhism have a concept of the absolute? Is it agnostic? Is it nihilistic? Is it pragmatic? Is it metaphysical? Inquiries of this sort spring not from attraction to an elusive answer shimmering, like Brahman in the Kena Upani.sad, on the boundaries of the visible, but from the mundane motives of scholarly housekeeping.
The aim of this article is not to explain the unexplained points, but rather to work out a critique of the methods and techniques by which their significance has been and may be investigated. This is not going to be a historical critique of "Avyaak.rta vastuuni-Forschungen," but a theoretical approach in which particular scholars' work is adduced to illustrate principles. Nevertheless, a study of methods presupposes a concern with the nature of the subject matter to which the methods are applied. Consequently, my questions are: 1. What did the unexplained points mean to early Buddhists? 2. What methods facilitate the best answer to this question? 3. What postulates validly support answers to this question?
1. Buddha: His Life, His Doctrine, His Order (London: Williams and Nogent, 1882), pp. 283-284 (German edition, p. 328).
Before elaborating on an explanation of these questions, let us consider what questions have been asked by Buddhologists hitherto. The principle that the questions tend to prejudice the conclusions is no less important for being obvious. Oldenberg asked, "Is Nirvana nothingness, annihilation?" Thus the dominant theme of his discussion is the relation between the Highest Goal and being and nonbeing. Henry C. Warren asked, "What was the Buddha's precise attitude towards these questions " This question involves the problem whether or not the canonical accounts represent the ideas of Gautama, a point which Warren passes over lightly. Warren's discussion, in keeping with his question, deals chiefly with Gautama's motives rather than his philosophy. Louis de La Vallée Poussin asked: "Was Gautama agnostic about these questions?" This question was imposed on him by the fact that he was writing an encyclopedia article on Buddhist agnosticism, and the article conveys the impression that he was really more interested in several other aspects of the problem. E. J. Thomas says: "The only real question is what conclusion did the Buddhists draw and what for them was the logical inference." His inquiry is directed scrupulously and exclusively to the place of the unexplained points in early Buddhist thought. This is necessary and commendable, yet Thomas's account, for all its reasonableness and objectivity, fails to achieve a clear representation of the early Buddhist thought-world. It may be suggested that his question is not the only real question, and that though necessary, it is not a sufficient starting point for inquiry. Other questions must be asked, too. Shooson Miyamoto asked, "Is it true that the Buddha himself did not come to any definite conclusions about the truth of such questions?" This question, unlike some of the preceding ones, calls for a yes-or-no answer. Miyamoto's subsequent discussion is, however, not a mere answer to this initial question, but a full-dress study of the whole problem of the unexplained points. Troy Organ asked: "Why was the Buddha silent on these metaphysical issues?" This question incorporates a factual error; the canonical accounts say that Gautama remained silent in answer to these questions on certain occasions, but in the majority of instances he did speak, and answered at some length. He simply refused to answer "yes" or "no." The question can be rephrased, "Why did Gautama, as represented in the Nikaayas and the AAgamas, refuse to affirm or deny the unexplained points?" This question, like Warren's, concerns Gautama's motives and his inner attitude. Such things are
2. Ibid., p. 271 (German edition p. 312).
3. Buddhism in Translations (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1896), p. 111.
4. "Agnosticism (Buddhist)," ed. James Hastings Encyclopaedia of Religion and Ethics (ERE) 13vols. (New York: Charles Scribner's Sons), 1:220b-225a (see also "Scepticism [Buddhist]." ERE Vol. 11, 231b-232b).
5. The History of Buddhist Thought (London: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1933), p. 128.
6. Chuudo-shisoo oyobi sono Hattatsu (Kyoto, 1944), p. 194.
7. "The Silence of the Buddha." Philosophy East and West 4 (no. 2, 1954): 127.
difficult to investigate because they are so subjective. The question, though, has the merit of not prejudging any philosophical issue. Franklin Edgerton asks: "Did the Buddha have a system of metaphysics?" This clearly presupposes some definition of "system," and a classificatory slot labeled "metaphysics." It is a question of the philosophical housekeeping class, as the subsequent argumentation confirms. It should be noted that Edgerton took the question from Glasenapp, whose views he was criticizing. Nonetheless, the question is invidious, since it structures investigation as a process of selecting between alternatives proper to the problematic of Western, and particularly modern, philosophy.
The first methodological problem to be broached is whether typological categories are the best means of dealing with early Buddhist conceptual articulations of doctrine. One outstanding detect of the typological approach is that its objective is to classify rather than to explain. It aims at attaching descriptive labels to a system on the basis of theses, which it maintains on a limited number of diagnostic topics. It ignores structural differences, the relative importance of different aspects of the system, the problematic that the system attempts to deal with, and the routes by which conclusions are derived or proven. In classifying a. system, it eliminates almost everything that is of interest in it. Another defect is that typology assumes the commensurability of philosophical systems. This is as suspect as the now generally repudiated assumption that there is such a thing as universal grammar. Just as each term -- noun, sentence, vowel, for instance -- has to be defined anew for every language -- so each philosophical term -- being, cognition, virtue, for example -- has to be defined in terms of the system under description.
One result of this assumption that common terms and categories underlie all philosophies is to obscure the lines of historical development. The standard labels are non historical -- they do not provide designations for systems in which no distinction is made between subjective and objective phenomena, for systems where causality is not distinguished from inherence, for those which classify cognition and motor activities and physiological processes together, or for the many other salient features of sundry early Indian philosophies. A further defect in typologies is that they are often redundant if clearly defined and misleading when not. For instance, Schweitzer's distinction between world-affirming and world-denying, which says nothing factual except that philosophies that find the highest good in certain kinds of mundane experience find the highest good in that kind of experience, but which emotively has the added meaning, "and right-thinking people like Schweitzer, prefer world-affirmation to its opposite." The factual sense of such characterizations tells
8. "Did the Buddha Have a System of Metaphysics?", Journal of the American Oriental Society 79 (no. 2, 1959): 81ff.
little about the system; the emotive meaning is alien to scholarly purpose.
Typologies generally rest on a series of binary selections. Is the system optimistic or pessimistic? Is it nihilistic or not? Is it realistic or idealistic? Is it monistic or pluralistic? Is it rationalist or intuitionist? Is it positive or negative? These dichotomies have value connotations which cannot help prejudicing the inquiry. Equally bad, they contain presuppositions about the structure and problems of philosophy which cause too much trouble to warrant their use in the description of early Indian thought.
A preferable method for handling early Buddhism is to investigate the texts inductively, allowing their own problems and concepts and relational structures to appear, and shaping the description in the systems themselves. The resulting description may perhaps afford an answer to questions drawn from the history of Western philosophy, but the former will certainly not be dependent on the latter. In this process, the first operation is to work out a text-critical approach.
The unexplained points occur in each of the five Nikaayas of the Paali Sutta Pi.taka, with the greatest concentration of occurrences in the Diigha, Majjhima, and Sa^myutta Nikaayas. Most of the suttas also occur in the Chinese AAgamas, though they are grouped somewhat differently, and there are some variations in content between the Chinese suttas and their Paali counterparts. The three Diigha suttantas in which the unexplained points occur -- the Brahmajaala (DN.1), the Mahaali (DN.6), and the Po.t.thapaada (DN.9) -- are all late in composition but contain early materials, according to current ideas on stratification in the canonical literature. This means that the lists of views and points are probably early, while the expanded explanations of them are perhaps later. Majjhima 63 is classed as early and Majjhima 72 as composite, according to G. C. Pande. The supposed later part of No. 72 is a set piece on the skandhas, and this judgment rests on the view that the skandha is a late development. Similarly, in the Sa^myutta, Pande picks out the skandha doctrine as a hallmark of late suttas in the Avyaakata Sa^myutta. This may be right, but there are reasons for skepticism about Mrs. Rhys-Davids's theories about the development of skandhavaada, so that if possible it will be expedient to dispense with this criterion of age. Even by Mrs. Rhys-Davids's own theories, the skandha passages might well be later editors' insertions into older texts. Thus the stratification theory as it now stands confirms that the unexplained points are early, but leaves in doubt the age of the material in the suttas in which they occur.
Another critical procedure for separating early from later is to study the variations and interpret their patterns. Two principles that apply here are:
1. When the framework narratives reveal a variety of interlocutors and places, at least some of them infrequent names (for example, Uttiya and Koka-
9. Studies in the Origins of Buddhism, Ancient History Research Series, no. 1 (Allahabad: University of Allahabad, 1957), pp. 81-90.
10. Ibid., pp. 179, 127, 156.
11. Ibid., p. 223.
nuda), then the framework belongs to an early period. Conversely, if all the locales and speakers are favorites, then there is no guarantee that the nidaanas are primitive (e.g., the Squirrels' Feeding Ground, Vacchagotta, and AAnanda).
2. In the doctrinal core of the suttas, the part that is common to several suttas is more certain to be early than the parts that differ from sutta to sutta, though this in itself does not prove the variant parts to be later.
A further principle is that a doctrine which occurs in numerous variations is likely to be early, and was probably important at an early stage. It is not legitimate to hold that a standardized exposition is less ancient than one that exhibits variants; it may simply have been better preserved or have received rigorous formulation earlier.
Applying these principles to the suttas concerning the unexplained points, one discovers that only one group of suttas -- those concerning Vacchagotta -- shows a common denominator in their nidaanas. Majjhima 72, the Aggivacchagotta and M.73, the Mahaavacchagotta are placed in the Chinese AAgamas in the Sa^myutta, together with the other Vacchagotta-suttas, which altogether constitute a cycle. This cycle will be examined shortly, but first it should be pointed out that the primitiveness of the introductory settings of the suttas outside the Vacchagotta series is clearly established because of their diversity and because of the rarity of some of the persons and places. The common core of these suttas is a general concern with the unexplained points. However, the number of points and the way in which they are stated varies considerably. Thus the common denominator is the problem underlying the unexplained points rather than the specific propositions themselves. Another common factor in many of the suttas is the tetralemma (catu.sko.ti) construction -- for example, "the tathaagata exists ... does not ... both exists and does not ... neither exists nor does not..."
Coming now to the Vacchagotta cycle, we find that in suttas 957 to 964 in Gu.nabhadra's Chinese translation of the Sa^myukta-aagama, the questioner is Vacchagotta, and the place is the Ve.luvana, in the Kalandaka-nivaapa at Raajagaha. But the respondents vary -- Gotama in 957; Moggallaana in 958; Gotama again in 959, 960, 961, 962, 963 and 964; Kaccaayana in the second part of 959; and AAnanda as second respondent in 961. This last sutta belongs to a set which extends beyond the Vacchagotta series. When Gotama remains silent in 961, AAnanda, who has been fanning him, asks Gotama for an explanation. In 965, when Gotama declines to say anything further, AAnanda, who has been fanning Gotama, offers a parable to Uttiya. In 967, Kokanuda meets AAnanda at a bathing place and asks him to explain the unexplained points. The common theme here -- AAnanda in the role of personal attendant and privileged confidant of Gotama -- looks rather like a literary stereotype but might well be simply a historical fact preserved as a stock literary motif.
Returning to the Vacchagotta cycle, we can observe a story line that continues throughout the series as arranged in the Chinese Sa^myukta. In 957, Vaccha's concern is with the sameness or difference of soul and body, and the problem underlying his concern is how Gotama can reveal (vyaakaroti) that his disciples after death are born in such and such places. At the end of the sutta, Vacchagotta is converted. In 958, Vaccha asks Moggallaana why, unlike other teachers, Gotama does not assert (vyaakaroti) one of the four propositions about the existence of the tathaagata after death. He is told that Gotama understands the skandhas yathaabhuutam, while the other teachers do not. The tathaagata, being unattached to such propositions, is profound and immeasurable. Vaccha reportedly was satisfied. In 959, Vaccha asks Gotama the same questions that he had asked Moggallaana in 958 and marvels that he gets exactly the same answer. This looks as if an editor was confronted with two suttas differing only in that Moggallaana was the respondent in one and Gotama in the other, and that the editor put his own astonishment into Vaccha's mouth. In the second half of 959 and in 960, the same questions and the same routine recur. Vaccha first asks Kaccaayana, then asks Gotama, then marvels that the two answers agree exactly.
So far, Vaccha's questions have all concerned survival after death, either for the ordinary soul or for the tathaagata. In 961, Vaccha asks Gotama whether there is an aatman. He asks three times, and each time Gotama remains silent. The question is asked simply in the affirmative, not in doublet or tetradic form. Vaccha goes away unsatisfied, whereupon AAnanda receives an explanation why Gotama remained silent. Here, it is to be noted, Gotama explains his own silence, and does so on the grounds that to affirm an aatman would only confirm Vaccha in his false views, while to deny the aatman would increase his perplexity. One alternative would have confirmed Vaccha in eternalism and the other in annihilism. But Gotama abides in the Middle Path and teaches dependent coarising. An exposition of the twelve nidaanas follows.
Oldenberg in translating the first part of this dialogue, disregards the concluding exposition of pa.ticcasamuppaada, then says, "Through the shirking of the question ... is heard the answer, to which the premises of the Buddhist teaching tended: The ego does not exist. Or, what is equivalent: Nirvaa.na is annihilation." Thomas objects: "It is certain, however, that this is a conclusion which the Buddhists never drew. In this very sutta annihilationism is rejected. It is not really to the point to say that the Buddhist premises tended to this conclusion." There will be occasion to consider this sutta again shortly in connection with philosophical approaches to the unexplained points.
Sutta 962 in the Gu.nabhadra Sa^myukta-aagama corresponds to the Paali
12. Oldenberg, op. cit., pp. 272-273 (cf. German edition, p. 314-315, which differs slightly).
13. Thomas, op. cit., p. 128.
Aggi-Vacchagotta, Majjhima 72. For the first time in the Vacchagotta series, the unexplained points are fully listed. Fourteen points are given in 962 as against the ten of the Paali tradition. It should be noted that the only proposition not given in tetralemma form is that concerning the relation between soul and body. This is stated with two alternatives. In fact, it is noteworthy that this proposition never, throughout the canon, occurs with four alternatives. This fact, too, will be noted later among the philosophical considerations. Sutta 963 begins much the same as 962 -- the same place and people, the same fourteen points. But Vaccha asks, "Through ignorance of what do people hold such views?" The reply is that it is through ignorance of the skandhas. The whole sutta looks like a mere mechanical expansion of one fragment of the materials constituting the Aggi-Vacchagotta. We may refuse to consider the skandha doctrine a mark of lateness, but there is nothing whatever to guarantee the earliness of this sutta, and here are strong grounds for suspecting it to be quite late.
Returning for a moment to 962, we should note that the locale of this sutta differs from that of its Pali counterpart, the Ve.luvana at Raajagaha versus the Jetavana at Saavatthi. The two Chinese versions (T. 100, 444c ff) agree with each other. The Paali, though, is almost certainly the more authentic, since it is more likely that the editors of the Sa^myukta would have brought the locale of this sutta into line with that of the others in the series than that the editors of the Pali Majjhima would have changer the locale so that it differs from that of the Mahaavacchagotta which follows immediately after, Majjhima 73.
Sa^myukta 964, the Mahaavacchagotta, does not deal with the unexplained points at all, but it must be considered in a study of the points because it is the climax and conclusion of the Vacchagotta cycle. The introduction to the two Chinese versions seems to be a late patch-up, since it has Gotama thinking, "I will now teach him according to the Abhidharma and the Vinaya." It lacks the reference to previous conversations, a long time before, with which Vaccha opens conversation in the Pali version. It is most likely that his allusion belonged to the earliest recensions, since the Paali has less reason to invent a "continuity" piece like this; but if this utterance is early, it must have fallen out of the Sa^myukta version before the Sa^myukta was arranged in its present order. Reference to previous conversations would have added a great deal to the literary unity of the cycle, and a compiler would not have excised it.
The main feature of this sutta, in contrast with the others in the cycle, is that Vaccha asks questions for which he receives explicit answers. He is told unequivocally that certain actions are good and their opposites are evil. He is told that large numbers of Gotama's followers have achieved each of the ariyaphalaani, sotaapanna, sakadaagaamin, opapaatika (e.g. anaagaamin), and arahan. And thus by implication it is affirmed that there is karman, that rebirth takes place for all except the arahan, and that these truths, their metaphysical char-
acter notwithstanding, can be expressed plainly in mundane language. Vaccha practices the teaching and becomes an arahan. Thus, success rewards his quest when he stops asking the wrong questions and asks the right ones.
This sutta consists largely of rigmarole permutations of stock items within a framework of categories. It gives a decidedly inflated impression, and in its present form is more likely the words of a sutta-reciter than those of Gotama and Vaccha. But the basic lines of the story seem credible enough, and the declaration that Vaccha became an arahan is probably based on a sound tradition. The question then arises, to what extent is the Vacchagotta cycle history and to what extent literary invention? The most highly structured, intricate, and complete of the suttas dealing with the unexplained points is the Aggi-Vacchagotta (MN. 72). Possibly this is the most faithful and complete record of an actual dialogue, but more probably it is a synthetic composition made out of fragments that occur in the Sa^myutta and A^nguttara suttas and Vaccha. There are counterparts in simpler suttas for all the constituents of Majjhima 72, but the wording is generally different. This indicates that the materials are early, but tends to throw doubt on their form. We must assume a good deal of literary invention in the composition and wording of Majjhima 72. This assumption is confirmed by the considerable variations in wording between the Chinese and the Paali versions. Even allowing for rather free translation, the Chinese must repose on an Indic original worded rather differently from the Paali text.
Some, but not all, of the suttas concerning the unexplained points contain parables. The Aggivacchagotta has the famous fire parable, another version of which is to be found in Sa^myutta 44.9 (Sa^myukta no. 957). From the text-critical standpoint, these two fire similes should be compared with the various other fire illustrations, and the theme interpreted in terms of its variants and their textual locations. The Cula-Maalu^nkyaputta-sutta, Majjhima 63, is roughly the same as the Aggi-Vacchagotta, except for the simile of the arrow, and this account has made it a perennial favorite of those who contend that Gotama condemned theoretical inquiry and espoused a purely pragmatic viewpoint. The original parts of this sutta are the introduction -- Maalu^nkya does not figure elsewhere in the suttas concerning the unexplained points -- and the parable. It is fairly certain, then, that Maalu^nkya and this parable belong together in the early tradition. But it is by no means certain that the parable originally applied to the ten unexplained points If, as the comparative study of the Vacchagotta cycle suggests, there is a direct correlation between degree of literary invention and the number of unexplained points listed, then the composition (not necessarily the materials) of the Maalu^nkya includes a good deal of artifice and embellishment. On the other hand, the parable applies well to its purpose of elucidating Gotama's refusal to affirm or deny the ten propositions, therefore, the connection between the unexplained points and the parable could be authen-
tic and early. However, we cannot assume that in its early form all ten points were listed. Consequently we cannot be sure whether the parable applied to the cosmological points -- whether the world is eternal, whether the world is finite -- to the points on human destiny -- whether soul and body are different, whether the tathaagata exists after death, or to both classes of points. The net result is that one cannot lean too hard on the specific content of this sutta, though, as Pande says, "The nature of the problem, which Buddha must have had to face often enough, the simple and practical character of the answer, the centrality of the parable, all these support the impression of earliness which the sutta as a whole carries."
The Udaana treatment of the unexplained points (Udaana iv. 6, pp. 66-69) not previously mentioned, gives the parable of the blind men and the elephant. The story is told with an abundance of literary embellishment, indicating that the form is not primitive, but of course the story itself is sufficiently timeless in character that it could easily have been told by Gotama. The views listed in this are the standard ten unexplained points. The following section (vi. 5), gives a variant list: the self and the world are eternal, not, both, neither.
the self and world are self-made, etc.
sukha and du.hkha, self and world are eternal, etc.
sukha and du.hkha, self and world are self-made, etc.
Neither of these lists is simple, and both are probably marks of an advanced stage in systematizing. Pande says of this sutta, "It expresses Buddha's opposition to Ekaa.m`savaada so well, correlating it with his Avyaakatavaada, that it is difficult to resist considering it as old as Buddha himself. It stands on the same level as the parable of the poisoned arrow, to which it is a valuable supplement." This argument, though, presupposes that something well said was probably said by the Buddha; it is an argument from doctrine rather than a strictly textual and formal argument. Consequently, conclusions based on it cannot be used to support philosophical reasoning without the danger of circularity.
That several different parables are used to illustrate the unexplained points indicates that the points themselves were important in early Buddhism but this fact also shows that the interpretation of these points was not fixed in detail. In the suttas, even in that stratification which the experts consider early, there is evidence of composition, systematizing, expansion, and interpretation. Furthermore, this is the sort of artifice that a redactor rather than an original preacher would employ. Consequently, we must resign ourselves to not considering the suttas the very words of Gotama, though the problems and themes are likely to be his. What we can now proceed to investigate from
14. Pande, op. cit., p. 127.
15. Pande, op. cit., p. 75.
the philosophical point of view is fairly certainly the early Buddhist tradition, and from this we can perhaps project to what Gotama's own position may have been. Thus the outcome of these text-critical considerations is both cautionary and reassuring. We must beware of taking the word of the text to be the word of the Buddha, but we need not despair of getting behind the textual formulations to some appreciation of primitive Buddhism.
The philosophical approach begins with an examination of the texts as they stand, with a view to determining what they mean. This approach is not dependent on the form-criticism approach outlined in the preceding: pages, a fact which will prove convenient when it comes to combining the results of the two approaches.
At the outset, we should try to determine what each of the propositions means in the standard list of ten unexplained points. The fullest explanation in the canon is in the Brahmajaala-sutta, D.N. 1. Here, the first point, "soul and world are eternal" is interpreted to mean, "soul is eternal, and world, giving birth to nothing new, is steadfast as a mountain peak, as a pillar firmly fixed, and though these living beings transmigrate and pass away, fall from one state of existence and spring up in another, yet they exist for ever and ever" (SSB, 2:28). This view is not an idle speculation, but an inference from the `srama.na or braahma.na's recollection of past lives. Point three of the fourteen point list, "Soul and world are both eternal and noneternal," is interpreted as meaning, "Some things are eternal, and other things are noneternal." Brahma, the Creator, is eternal, while created beings are noneternal (SSB, 30-32). The body and senses are impermanent, but the soul is eternal, (SSB, 34). The fifth point in the list of fourteen, namely, "world is finite," is taken to mean, "This world is finite, circumscribed" (antavaa aya^m loko pariva.tumo). Those who maintain this believe that in samaadhi they have touched the limits of the world. Thus rejection of this view by Gotama is as much a repudiation of the testimony of the yogin (yogipratyak.sa) as of metaphysics. The proposition "the world is infinite" is interpreted as simply the denial of the preceding point, because the experience of another yogin and samaadhi shows no limits to the world. The proposition, "This world is both finite and infinite" means that the world is limited up-and-down but unlimited sideways, in other words, that it is limited in one sense and unlimited in another. The proposition "This world is neither finite nor infinite" is explained only as a denial of the preceding three propositions, based on the reasoning and argumentation of the denier. But the formal structure is the same as that of the eel-wriggler's case (SSB, 38) "I don't take it thus. I don't take it the other way. But I advance no different opinion. And I don't deny your position. And I don't say it is neither the one, nor the other." This position is branded as equivocation and is attributed to fear of being found out in one's errors. Not knowing the answer and knowing that they do not know, they do not make assertions (Paali verb:
vyaakaroti) on the subject. Thus the fourth lemma seems to have meant equivocation to early Buddhists. The rejection of this lemma, together with the explicit statements attributed to Gotama and his disciples to the effect that he knew what was to be known, should dispel the view that Gotama refused to assert the unexplained points because he was agnostic about them.
The Brahmajaala account reveals why Gotama is said to have disapproved of the points on which he refused to declare an answer. "The Tathaagata knows that these view-points (di.t.thi.t.thaanaa) ... will have such and such a result, such and such an effect on the future condition of those, who trust in them" (SBB, 40). Thus the question is not whether these views are true or false, but whether they lead to good or evil rebirth, or to freedom from rebirth. The underlying principle, one often overlooked by modern investigators, is that you become what you know, that what happens in thought affects what happens in existence. These di.t.thi are not mere speculations for those who hold them, but vidyaa, gnosis. He who knows the secret attains the goal, because knowing gives him control over the laws of destiny. It is not a question of metaphysics versus pragmatic wisdom, but rather one of which metaphysics is the most efficacious in attaining an existential objective.
At this place another method ought to be discussed, namely, that of historical bracketing. The principle is that an idea is not likely to be less sophisticated than its prototype in an earlier period within the same intellectual community, nor more sophisticated than the views of later commentators on the idea itself. Thus the primitive Buddhist view on the relation between knowledge and existential events is fairly sure to be at least as sophisticated as that of the early and middle Upani.sads, but not as advanced as that of Naagaarjuna, Buddhaghosa, or Candrakiirti.
Upani.sadic texts on vidyaa are numerous indeed. One example will have to suffice. Kena iv.9: "Whoever knows this (secret upani.sad), having overcome sin, in the end becomes established in the supreme heaven-world." The vidyaa (upani.sad) in question is that brahman is the moving force behind the cognitive and vital processes. But knowing this arcanum is not to be a matter of mere factual recognition. "Tad-vanam ity upaasitavyam," "That brahman is the prize is to be meditated upon, ritually pondered over" (Kena iv.6). Thought is still something of an adjunct to ritual -- the idea and the act are not divorced. Przyluski drew attention to the deep significance of the terms derived from upa-aas: "Upaas, upaasana, upaasaka, bears witness to a fund of common ideas, of an ancient teaching in which deliverance is the fruit of the act.)" In primitive Buddhism, upaasaka seems to have meant a devotee or adherent either in the household life or in the homeless life. This is why
16. Jean Przyluski and Etienne Lamotte. "Bouddhisme et Upani.sad," Bulletin de l'Ecole Francaise d'Extreme Orient 32 (1932): 147.
Vacchagotta, at the end of the Aggi-vacchagotta, can be said to have become an upaasaka. Upaasakam-ma.m bhava.m Gotamo dhaaretu..., Horner's translation, "May the revered Gotama accept me as a lay-follower," would mean that Vaccha ceased to be a wanderer. His upasampadaa (full ordination) is recounted in the Mahaavacchagotta (Majjhima 73), and so would have been later than his taking refuge. But his becoming an upaasaka involved a commitment to a teaching which he accepted. His goal, according to the Vaccha cycle, was arhatship, and he eventually attained it by a process of combined moral and mental cultivation, which is essentially the Upani.sadic upaasana, except that it concentrated on a different gnosis -- the fourfold truth and the twelvefold dependent coarising, rather than the identity of Brahman. As Przyluski says: "Buddhist gnosis and Vedaanta have for a foundation the same substratum of magic beliefs."
Another philosophical approach that clarifies the problem of the unexplained points is to ascertain from texts in the Buddhist canon and from other texts that bracket the canon temporally what basic concepts such as being (bhaava, sat) and nonbeing (abhaava, asat) meant to early Indians. The Hymn of Creation (.Rgveda x.129), which we may safely consider pre-Buddhist, says "There was not the non-existent nor the existent then... Was there water, unfathomable, profound? (gahana^m gambhiiram)." The two things to note here are: first, that the existent (sat) and the nonexistent (asat) do not jointly constitute the totality of the cosmos. Both are evidently determinate, limited. Second, the primal something, antecedent to sat and asat, is conceived as an ocean, and described in a manner reminiscent of the Aggi-Vacchagotta-sutta: "Freed from denotion by form (ruupasa^nkhaavimutto) is the Tathaagata, Vaccha, he is deep (gambhiira), immeasurable (appameyya), unfathomable (duppariyogaaho) as is the great ocean" (MN.i.487, trans. 166).
The stock canonical passage on being and nonbeing is the Kaccaayana-ovaada, Sa^myutta 12.2.15: "This world, Kaccaayana, usually bases (its view) on two things: on existence and on non-existence. Now he, who with right insight sees the uprising of the world as it really is, does not hold with the non-existence of the world. But he, who with right insight sees the passing away of the world as it really is, does not hold with the existence of the world... Everything exists: this is one extreme. Nothing exists: this is the other extreme. Not approaching either extreme, the Tathaagata teaches you a doctrine by the middle (way): Conditioned by ignorance activities come to pass, etc., etc."
This sutta is referred to by Naagaarjuna, MMK 15.7: "In the Instruction of Katyaayana the Blessed One denied the proposition that (things) exist, that (things) do not exist, and that (they) both (exist and do not) and thus explains being and non-being."
The Kaccaayana introduces the problem of change versus identity which does not appear in the creation hymn. It also defines existence and nonexistence as absolute -- what passes away does not exist in the real sense. But there is no evidence of a dual theory of truth -- an apparent versus a real truth, laukika versus paramaartha. The early teaching seems to have been monosystemic and free from the epistemological dualism of later `Suunyavaada.
Thomas observes that for the early Buddhists bhaava is something perceptible to the senses. This should be taken together with Schayer's point that in ancient Indian discussions existence is always spatial. Thus the question "Does the tathaagata exist (hoti or atthi) after death?" means "Does the deceased tathaagata have a spatial location, and is he perceptible to the senses?" Early Upani.sadic asseverations place the realm of the immortal, the liberated variously in the brahmaloka, svargaloka, or the trans-solar region. It is quite literally and spatially the highest cosmic plane. In cosmological suttas such as the Devaddha (DN), however, the paradise of the god Brahma is merely a devaloka, and devaloka is not the abode of immortality. The question in the Devaddha is "Where do the great elements -- earth, water, fire, etc. -- not occur?" The answer -- in the vi~n~naa.na, the spirit of the liberated man -- in effect answers the question about the destination of the tathaagata after death. It is the nirodhadhaatu (DN 111.215), otherwise called dhammadhaatu (dhamma.t.thiti), which transcends the triple world (tiloka). Przyluski maintains that in original Buddhism the three dhaatus were (1) ruupadhaatu, (2) aruupadhaatu, (3) nirodhadhaatu, but that later the kaamadhaatu was inserted as the lowest plane, when the numerical basis shifted from three's to four's ("Canonical Buddhism adds a supplementary dhaatu," p. 159). I am skeptical about so rigid an application of the numerical theory, and furthermore, it is hard to explain away the fact that the formula continued to be called the three dhaatus. It seems preferable to assume that in primitive Buddhism the nirodhadhaatu was nonspatial, that kaamadhaatu is earth, ruupadhaatu is atmosphere (antarik.sa, antalikkha), and aruupadhaatu is sky. Since the atmosphere is the domain of the visible, this explains the otherwise puzzling name, "ruupadhaatu", "ruupa" here is not 'solid object' but 'visible object'.
I also believe that Przyluski has overlooked the metaphysical usage which words for "place" take on in canonical Buddhism, and the latish Upani.sads such as the Ka.tha and `Svetaa`svatara. 'Pada,' 'aalambana,' 'sthaana,' 'sthiti' and 'dhaatu' acquire, with the growth of Upani.sadic notions of a nonspatial Absolute, a nonspatial meaning. Thus there is no need to fit 'nirodhadhaatu' into a
17. Thomas, op. cit.
18. S. Schayer, "Das mahaayaanistiche Absolutum nach der Lehre der Maadhyamikas," Orientalische Literaturzeitung (1935): 401-415.
19. Przyluski, op. cit.
spatial cosmology; in fact, the whole puzzle as to whether it exists or does not exist can be solved simply and plausibly by assuming that it is nonspatial, "aprati.s.thita."
La Vallée Poussin and Przyluski both maintained that the early Buddhist nirvaa.na was eternal bliss in a paradise, and certainly brahmaloka is sometimes used with the apparent meaning of 'nirvaa.na dhaatu.' Here we may suppose, though, that brahmaloka is "loka of brahman" rather than "loka of Brahmaa." The equation brahman and dhamma/dharma is established by the frequent epithet of the arahan, brahmabhuuta, dhammabhuuta, "having become/realized brahman, having become/realized dhamma."
This leads on to a reconsideration, of the parables in suttas dealing with the unexplained points. These are: the fire (MN 72 and SN), the blind men and the elephant (Udaana), and the arrow (MN 63).
Well, where does a fire go when it goes out? The answer depends on what one thinks that fire is. Neither Vaccha nor Gotama thought that it was a particular kind of oxidization. For them, it was one of the four material elements (mahaabhuuta). For many of their contemporaries it was the god Agni, dwelling in fuel, latent in the fire-sticks, sometimes unmanifested, and sometimes manifested. As the `Svetaa`svatara Upani.sad (almost certainly post-Gotama) says:
As the form of fire when latent in its source is not seen and yet its seed (li^nga) is not destroyed, but may be seized again and again in its source by means of the drill, so it is in both cases. The self (s.b. brahman) has to be seized in the body by means of the syllable aum (I. 13).
By making one's body the lower friction stick and the syllable aum the upper friction stick, by practising the drill (or friction) of meditation one may see the God, hidden as it were (I. 14).
As oil in sesamum seeds, as butter in curds, as water in riverbeds, as fire in friction sticks, so is the Self seized in one's own soul if one looks for Him with truthfulness and austerity (I. 15).
Thus the answer is, "When Agni goes out, he goes home (asta^m gacchati), returns to his abode in the unmanifested state. When the tathaagata goes out, he casts off spatial limitations, and 'goes' to the aayatana dhaatu where there is neither earth, water, fire, air nor aakaa`sa."
Now, how about that favorite of the pragmatists, the Parable of the Arrows? Here one must apply yet another well-known principle of method: the rule of the minimum hypothesis. The seemingly simple pragmatist interpretation makes several complex and unwarranted assumptions: (a) that an opposition between theory and practice was formulated by Gautama; (b) that the d.r.s.ti
20. Przyluski, op. cit., p. 154.
are "metaphysical"; (c) that Gotama's teaching (four truths, twelve nidaanas) is not metaphysical.
None of these is so.
Simple answer: Gotama objected to the d.r.s.ti because they were ineffectual.
Sammaad.r.s.ti are effective. | <urn:uuid:ff4aee77-915b-4c27-865a-afdc180fa97c> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://ccbs.ntu.edu.tw/FULLTEXT/JR-PHIL/ew26991.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783400031.51/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624155000-00167-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.942836 | 10,097 | 2.765625 | 3 |
New Imaging Vehicle Maps Coral Reefs to Determine Health of Reef and Fisheries
Deepwater coral reefs in the US Virgin Islands may occupy a much larger area and be in better health than previously thought, based on evidence gathered by a new autonomous underwater vehicle which flies through the sea like a helicopter.
Scientists and engineers used an autonomous underwater vehicle and imaging platform called SeaBED during a first-of-its-kind study to determine the health of deepwater coral reefs and related spawning areas for commercial fisheries. While recent reports indicate shallow reefs in the Caribbean and around the world are threatened, this new study found well-developed deeper water coral reefs with nearly 100 percent living coral cover, highly unusual in the Caribbean where disease, pollution, land run-off and other factors have caused widespread coral mortality in shallower reefs in the past few decades. Until now, little information was available on the structure and composition of the deeper coral reefs due to the depths of these insular shelf reefs, which are beyond the safe range of SCUBA diving at 90 to 200 feet deep and some 10 miles from land.
Two reef areas, the Marine Conservation District Hind Bank and the South Drop, were surveyed in June south of St. Thomas and St. John in the US Virgin Islands by Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) scientist Hanumant Singh, graduate students Chris Roman and Ryan Eustice, and postdoctoral investigator Ali Can in collaboration with Roy Armstrong of the University of Puerto Rico and observer Liane Guild of NASA Ames Research Center. Scientists from the University of the Virgin Islands (USVI), the Department of Planning and Natural Resources of the USVI, and the Caribbean Fishery Management Council (CFMC) also assisted with the study.
The project was funded by the National Science Foundation with additional support from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and CFMC, which is responsible for protecting marine habitats in waters beyond three nautical miles from shore.
The team used SeaBED, developed by Singh and his WHOI colleagues, to take a series of 7,000 digital still images of the coral reef habitats. SeaBED conducted nine successful missions at night, when it is easier to image the reefs using strobe lights, on the Marine Conservation District Hind Bank near St. Thomas and the South Drop near St. John. Both reefs are 30 to 80 meters (90 to 265 feet) below the surface, deeper than normally reachable by divers. The vehicle "flew" seven lines, or transects, each several miles long over the banks, collecting color images every three seconds during the week-long project. The banks had never been mapped or imaged before, so the diversity and abundance of coral species and the health of the corals was a major surprise.
Hind Bank Marine Conservation District (MCD), the first no-take fishery conservation zone in US federal waters, had been a key commercial fishing ground for years. On the recommendation of fishers, scientists and government officials the MCD was closed to fishing and to the taking of coral in 1999 to protect both the reef and the related fishery. Red hind, a type of grouper, is one of the most valuable commercial fisheries in the Caribbean and is still fished in other areas. Seasonal closings in the Caribbean are common to help protect the fisheries, and studies by Rick Nemeth of the University of the Virgin Islands indicate that the size and the quantity of fish in the closed areas on the banks are increasing.
Graciela Garcia-Moliner of the CFMC scientific staff said the management council did not know what kind of corals were present or what kind of fish spawned on the reefs other than grouper because so little information has been available. "Until this survey, we did not know what kind of corals we have, how healthy they are, how deep the reefs extend or how large the reefs actually are and what marine life lives there because no one had ever seen them. We had only nautical charts of the area, but no maps or images. SeaBED has opened a whole new world to us, and we are surprised at how healthy and abundant the corals are."
Garcia-Moliner says only a fraction of the deep water reefs has been mapped and imaged since SeaBED spent only a week there. Most corals that need light to survive do not grow at depths greater than 90 meters (300 feet), so much of it may be in intermediate water depths, beyond the range of most divers and too risky for remotely operated or tethered vehicles to work in due to the risk of getting their cables snagged on the rugged terrain.
Singh said SeaBED is a perfect tool for this type of project because it is inexpensive to operate, can be deployed from a small boat and operated by one or two people, and can follow the rugged terrain of a coral reef and work to depths of 500 meters (about 1,500 feet). The recent study was conducted aboard the Research Vessel Chapman from the University of Puerto Rico.
Singh and the Woods Hole Oceanographic team plan to return to the reefs with SeaBED in October 2004. New sensors may be added and the survey area expanded. Annual surveys are now planned to determine changes over time in the health of the reef and its inhabitants.
WHOI is a private, independent marine research and engineering, and higher education organization located in Falmouth, MA. Its primary mission is to understand the oceans and their interaction with the Earth as a whole, and to communicate a basic understanding of the ocean's role in the changing global environment. Established in 1930 on a recommendation from the National Academy of Sciences, the Institution is organized into five departments, interdisciplinary institutes and a marine policy center, and conducts a joint graduate education program with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. | <urn:uuid:45ed7ff6-b4c4-458f-ae20-48e6ca63a149> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.whoi.edu/page.do?pid=83501&tid=3622&cid=906&c=2 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783403826.29/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624155003-00043-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.953323 | 1,192 | 3.203125 | 3 |
Plankton patchiness: biology in the physical vernacular
Abstract:Using examples drawn primarily from productive continental shelf systems (the southern British Columbia coast and the North Sea) we describe some important features of the horizontal patchiness of phytoplankton and zooplankton biomass and community patterns. At least in these systems, the intensity, morphology, and scale dependence of the plankton spatial pattern are strongly regulated by and spatially correlated with physical oceanographic processes (turbulent advection, upwelling, convergence, and vertical mixing) and the interaction of these processes with bathymetry. Although frequently considered in theoretical studies, purely biological forcing mechanisms such as predator-prey oscillations do not appear to be as important as biological–physical interactions. The development and persistence of biological spatial pattern in the ocean is dependent on the existence of spatial gradients in the local rate of population increase or decrease. The approximate proportionality between spatial extent and temporal persistence of physical features in the ocean provides a basis for estimating the relative effectiveness of the biological rates (competition coefficients, population growth rates, motility) responsible for patch generation.
Document Type: Research Article
Publication date: September 1, 1985
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Indianhead Peak, a component of the San Ysidro Mountain Range, dominates the western skyline over the desert oasis of Borrego Springs.
The peak derives its politically incorrect moniker from its profile view from the East, which closely resembles an upward looking face, undoubtedly inspiring long forgotten tales pre-dating the so-called civilized society which now dominates the Northern Hemisphere.
Indianhead is located within the boundaries of the Anza-Borrego Desert State Park. Established in 1933, the park is California's largest at 60 miles long by 35 miles wide and containing 600,000 acres. The parks composite name honors that of Juan Bautista de Anza, who gets the credit for initiating a trail from old Mexico to present-day San Francisco via Coyote Canyon (also within the park); Borrego is the spanish word for the desert Bighorn Sheep who hover on the verge of extinction within the park and can be seen occasionally on the flanks of this and many other peaks in the park.
The mountains composition is that of the Peninsular Batholith which dominates much of Southern California. The park was endowed with the good fortune of encompasssing the San Jacinto and Elsinore fault lines (with the San Andreas showing up just north of the park boundary) along with many, many, MANY other sub-parallel seismic belts which have mashed, folded, stapled and mutilated the majority of the park and provides a geological potpourri of surface expressions. For the professional or amateur geologist the park contains countless examples of textbook geological phenomena encompassing the spectrum of intrusive and extrusive volcanics, metamorphosed mushies and sedimentary sautee'
One of Indianhead's most notable and delightful features is that it provides NO EASY ACCESS to the summit. Looking for a nice peak to bag on a pleasant Sunday stroll? Forget it - if you want to add this one to your pebble collection put on your armor and get ready to rumble! The parks Visitors Center is about 800 feet above sea level which when subtracted from the peaks 3960ft elevation gives you nice 3160 feet of pure climbing joy. Expect heavy-duty class two and lots of loose rock accentuated by the occasional dessicated remains of a fallen bighorn sheep.
Borrego Springs California is the target destination (and the closest town); it is located about 2 hours east of San Diego California. Type it into your MapBlast engine or GPS and press GO -or- : Directions
The closest and easiest access to the peak is via Palm Canyon Campground, operated under the auspices of the park. Day parking is available (along with overnite camping - see "Camping" section below.)
See also the accompanying Route Info for variations.
Red Tape/Camping Fees
As of the time of this writing, no permits or seasonal closures are/were in effect. The "borrego" bighorn sheep do frequent this area so if you do see any, please give them a very wide berth.
When To Climb
Winter and spring are the optimal times to climb; springtime being the best due to the extravagent blooms witnessed in the park. A truly
Palm Canyon, Tamarisk Grove, Pegleg Smith, Clark Dry Lakebed, etc, etc, etc.
There are too many opportunities to camp to list here. Suffice to say that you can easily find a multitude of campsites away from the pay camps and in a beautiful setting to boot. Consult a trail map or a ranger for details on backcountry camping. Backcounty is free as of this writing. Developed campgrounds prices vary. There are also a few hotels in town ranging from pricey to modest, along with many other restaurants and bars
The usual suspects here:
The Weather Channel - Borrego Springs California
Conditions and Contact Information
Indianhead is one of the Sierra Club's Desert Peaks, along with (in the San Diego/Imperial/SoCal region) Jacumba, Picacho and Sombrero Peaks
Verizon Wireless customers have pretty coverage here in and around town (in case of emergency.)
- Anza Borrego Statepark Website
good link providing local weather, camping and wildflower updates, among other things. Their Visitors Center is worth visiting when in the area
- ABDSP - State of California Website link
another source for directions to the area; also has some limited map capability | <urn:uuid:41060652-a00b-4e06-8b39-2989abcaa022> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.summitpost.org/indianhead-peak/153696 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783395346.72/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154955-00084-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.908596 | 924 | 2.515625 | 3 |
One might argue that honey contains 75% sugar and 25% water, and hence it’s very calorie intensive. In fact, 1 tsp of honey contains 25 calories while 1 tsp of table sugar contains 16 calories, so mathematically honey should be more fattening than table sugar. But the reality is contrary to the mathematical conclusion. Honey is seen to help people lose excess weight and is known to combat cholesterol issues in the body. So how does lemon and honey help weight loss in spite of being more calorie intensive than table sugar?
Honey is a Whole Food
What does whole food mean? Any food that is not packed with empty calories, in the form of sugar, but contains essential vitamins and minerals, that aid in the digestion of the carbohydrates, is a whole food. Examples of other whole foods are cheese, eggs, meat, fruits and vegetables.
Table sugar is not a whole food, it is packed with empty calories in the form of carbohydrates but it does not contain any vitamins or minerals to digest it. So in order to digest table sugar your body needs to extract from its reserves of vitamins and minerals, hence causing depletion of these nutrients in the body. When your body lacks essential minerals and vitamins, it finds it difficult to metabolize fat and this leads to weight gain. Honey being rich in vitamins and minerals enhances your body’s ability to burn fat and hence helps in weight loss. So honey is not fattening like table sugar.
Honey Speeds Up Your metabolism
People who gain weight fast are usually the ones who have a slow metabolism. When you have a sluggish or slow metabolism you tend to gain weight even when you curb your diet, this is because your body is slow in burning off excess calories and hence most of it gets stored as fat.
Honey is known to speed up the body’s metabolism. The presence of various naturally occurring plant chemicals called flavonoids, in honey, helps spruce up the rate of metabolism. In fact studies have shown that honey helps mobilize the stored fat in the body and hence helps burn off fat from areas like the hips, thighs and arms. Honey has been known to help people with cellulite condition.
Lemon Juice and Honey for Weight Loss
The most traditional method of achieving fast weight loss is to drink a solution of honey and lemon juice in warm water. Many people have achieved successful results from this method and hence it can be taken to be tried and tested. You can also add a tablespoon of cinnamon to this solution to get better results.
The combination of citric acid present in lemon, flavonoids present in honey, and increased metabolism created by the ingestion of honey, seems to produce the beneficial effect of fat reduction.
In conclusion, honey helps in weight loss and is a wholesome, healthy food. It has been favored by many cultures around the world for its medicinal and therapeutic properties. Honey is calorie intensive for sure, so don’t over-do your intake, restrict yourself to 1-1.5 oz of honey on daily basis, but feel free to replace honey in the place of table sugar in most of your recipes – it’s more healthy and not harmful in any way compared to table sugar.
Also find out how honey and cinnamon can help in losing weight. | <urn:uuid:eac5413b-71b5-4500-989b-7bef442554ed> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.outofstress.com/honey-weight-loss/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783395346.72/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154955-00174-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.943996 | 671 | 2.53125 | 3 |
What's new in low-voltage power circuit breakers
The trend toward higher reliability requirements in plant electric power systems is raising demand for economical and effective protection for those systems.
The trend toward higher reliability requirements in plant electric power systems is raising demand for economical and effective protection for those systems. Specifiers are seeking products that meet ANSI standards, simplify maintenance, and reduce the overall number of system components.
Much of the electric power in a typical plant is distributed at low voltage (up to 1000 V). The circuit breaker, a familiar protective device, plays a pivotal role in the movement and use of electric power. This article discusses the basics of a particular type of breaker -- the low-voltage power circuit breaker (LVPCB), explains advances in technology, and presents an example application for which newer breakers are well suited.
Circuit breaker basics
A circuit breaker has two functions: It serves as a switch to turn electric power on and off, and provides protection against various overcurrent conditions. Sounds simple enough. But defining the switching and overcurrent conditions often turns out to be a complex undertaking.
The common 120-V breaker found in household and office panel boards provides a good example. A 20-A breaker doesn't simply trip whenever more than 20 A flows through it. It must be able to pass, without tripping, brief (but sizable) current surges such as occur during motor starting.
On the other hand, if a short circuit occurs, the breaker must open the circuit quickly. Even so, before the breaker can trip (open), the short-circuit current can build to a very high level. The breaker must be capable of interrupting this current. Breakers used in 120/240-V panelboards are commonly rated to interrupt currents up to 10,000 A.
Industrial power systems are considerably more complicated. A 2500-A breaker may feed various 800-A breakers, which feed 200-A breakers, which feed 50-A breakers. Through the process of selective coordination, the time-vs-tripping current characteristics of each breaker must be examined to be sure that there is no overlap.
If there is overlap, some faults can trip not only the nearest breaker, but one or more upstream breakers as well. That condition is undesirable because it causes blackout of areas that shouldn't be involved with the fault.
Low-voltage circuit breakers are available in three types:
- Molded case circuit breakers (MCCBs)
- Low-voltage power circuit breakers (LVPCBs)
- Insulated case circuit breakers (ICCBs).
ICCBs contain features of both MCCBs and LVPCBs, but are less often used than either. In the preceding paragraph, the 50-A and 200-A breakers would likely be MCCBs and the 800-A and 2500-A breakers would likely be LVPCBs.
Although molded case breakers offer the fastest trip times, they are UL tested for a specific number of operating cycles per unit and are not field maintainable. LVPCBs are the most rugged and in several regards the most versatile devices.
Several characteristics distinguish power breakers from other types.
- Continuity of service. LVPCBs are able to withstand the stresses of faults for up to 30 cycles (1/2 sec) instead of opening immediately. This ability to delay opening allows for a breaker nearer the fault to clear the fault, preventing unnecessary outages.
- Maintainability. LVPCBs are field maintainable for long service life. The ability to inspect and replace parts onsite is especially attractive for heavy, repetitive-duty applications.
- Safety. LVPCBs are typically "drawout" devices mounted in an enclosure. As a power breaker is withdrawn (by cranking a racking mechanism) from its connected position, the power connections are broken. The racking out cannot be done unless the breaker is open. An intermediate position with power only to the breaker's control circuits allows for testing, and the fully withdrawn position permits inspection and maintenance.
- Reliability. LVPCBs must meet high electrical and mechanical endurance ratings required by ANSI and UL.
- Remote operation. LVPCBs are designed for both opening and closing by remote control. This feature allows rapid reclosing after a fault.
The characteristic above labeled "continuity of service" is the primary differentiating feature between a power breaker and molded case breaker. Two parameters are required to characterize this feature: short delay current and short delay time.
Short delay current is the maximum current the breaker can handle safely for a period of time up to the short delay time.
Short delay time is a period of time up to 30 cycles (1/2 sec) during which the breaker can handle current up to the short delay current value.
Short delay current and time ratings are the maximum values for a circuit breaker. The breaker's trip unit can be set for lesser values as needed.
Another parameter of concern is the interrupting rating. This rating is the highest current that a breaker is intended to interrupt, with or without delay. If the amount of fault current available to flow through a breaker exceeds its interrupting rating, current-limiting fuses must be installed ahead of the breaker.
Advances in technology
Several trends are influencing LVPCB technology. Distribution transformer size is increasing, resulting in demand for higher interrupting and short time ratings. Communication with breakers is sought for both control and information gathering. Reduction of maintenance requirements (staff or outsourced) is a goal. Space is often at a premium, so smaller footprint equipment is desirable.
New circuit breaker technology has increased short time and interrupting ratings to levels that previously required the use of fuses. Nonmetallic case materials are partly responsible for the higher electrical ratings. These materials also allow a product that is smaller, lighter, and easier to install and maintain than traditional LVPCBs.
Traditional power breakers are built by assembling components to a welded steel frame; therefore, they are often referred to as metal-frame breakers. Newer multimaterial units blur this distinction, but it should be noted that LVPCBs are breakers that meet ANSI Standard C37.50, regardless of the materials of construction.
Interchangeable, microprocessor-controlled, plug-in trip units make power breakers into "smart" devices. These trip units greatly facilitate coordination with downstream breakers and offer monitoring, control, and diagnostic capabilities. The monitoring functions can include power quality parameters as sophisticated as total harmonic distortion and waveform capture. Other modern features include the ability to make all accessory changes in the field, and simple, visual, contact-wear indicators.
A typical industrial application requiring a higher-than-normal short-delay current rating is double-ended switchgear with two main service lines and tie, with tie breaker normally open (closed transition retransfer) or tie breaker normally closed. (See diagram.)
Tie breaker normally open
This system is normally operated with tie breaker T open, and a closed transition retransfer is used. Both 480-V sources must be suitable for parallel operation, and properly protected. The available fault current on the load side of each 2000-kVA transformer to each main breaker, M1 and M2, is 39,100-A symmetrical rms.
Under fault conditions, motors, driven by their loads, can briefly act as generators that contribute to the fault current. The worst-case motor contribution to fault current can be estimated from ANSI standards at four times the transformer secondary rated full-load current. Based on kVA and voltage ratings, the transformer secondary rated full-load current is 2406 A. Thus, 4 X 2406 A, or approximately 9600 A, would be added at Bus 1 and Bus 2 for a total available fault current at each bus of 48,700 A.
If voltage to Line 1 is lost, M1 automatically opens. Since the tie breaker T is open, the loads on Bus 1 experience a complete voltage loss. When the tie breaker closes, voltage is returned to Bus 1, and motor circuits on the bus typically have to be restarted in sequential order.
Many industrial users do not want to lose the loads to Bus 1 a second time by making an open transition retransfer (opening the tie breaker and then closing the main breaker M1) when voltage is restored to Line 1. A closed transition retransfer is achieved by first closing the main breaker M1 and then, a few cycles to a few seconds later, opening the tie breaker. During the time of retransfer when both mains and the tie breaker are closed, if a fault occurs on the load side of one of the feeder breakers -- such as location A near the load side terminals -- then feeder breaker F2 is required to interrupt approximately (2 X 39,100) + (2 X 9600) A, or 97,400 A.
NEC 110-9 requires, "Equipment intended to break current at fault levels shall have an interrupting rating sufficient for the nominal circuit voltage and the current that is available at the line terminals of the equipment." In order to avoid an NEC violation, the feeder breakers need an interrupting capacity of 97,400 A, or nominally 100,000 A. This amount is beyond the ratings of traditional LVPCBs. (If a full short-circuit study were performed, the motor contribution at point A would likely be somewhat less than the 2 X 9600 A utilized in the above calculation. This reduction is due to the cable impedance between the motors and point A, and the fact that the motor contribution from MCC-2 does not pass through breaker F2.)
To ensure a coordinated system, if a fault occurs at point B on the load side of a combination starter in MCC-2 during the closed transition retransfer, breaker F2 must have a short time rating equal to the available fault current at point B. The fault current flowing through breaker F2 during a fault at point B is the available fault current at point A reduced by the cable and combination starter impedance from A to B.
For increased coordination, a high short-delay current rating of 85,000-A rms symmetrical is desired for the feeder breakers. At a minimum, all feeder breakers and equipment downstream from the main switchgear should have interrupting capacity ratings for the higher fault current available when the sources are paralleled with the tie closed. Since the mains do not experience fault currents higher than the current provided by one source, they can have interrupting capacity and short-time ratings the same as for a single-feed source.
The tie breaker experiences only the fault current from one source and motor contribution from one side, and can have a rating equal to the highest combination of one source, plus motor contribution on that bus. It is also recommended that reverse current protection be provided at the main breakers.
Tie breaker normally closed
This system could be operated with the tie breaker normally closed -- a configuration that creates paralleling sources. Many industrial systems are operated with both sources paralleled due to the critical natures of processes, where even a few cycles of lost power to the load could have expensive consequences. Systems supplying welding equipment are also often operated with two or more sources in parallel in order to generate adequate voltage and current during the welding process.
Reverse current and reverse power relaying, as well as a synchronism check, must be included with the main LVPCBs M1 and M2. It is recommended under this continuous parallel operation to consider replacing M1 and M2 with network protectors equipped with forward-phase and ground-fault time overcurrent protection, in addition to network relaying.
Recent advances in performance and physical size of low-voltage power circuit breakers are giving plant engineers more protection and coordination capabilities, with a resulting decrease in electrical distribution problems and plant downtime. -- Edited by Gary Weidner, Senior Editor, 847-390-2689, [email protected]
Plant electrical distribution system protection is imperative for safety, and can be a crucial factor in operating costs.
New-generation power circuit breakers pack more performance into less space.
Breakers can be programmed for system coordination.
Technical questions concerning this article can be directed to the author at 630-789-4999; e-mail nochucj@ ch.etn.com. The company web site is www.cutlerhammer.eaton.com. | <urn:uuid:5270a77f-683f-4c2a-ac11-116e0366f34f> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.controleng.com/single-article/what-s-new-in-low-voltage-power-circuit-breakers/1f1e3a0710d4f40c21aa804eca19e522.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783396459.32/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154956-00050-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.924795 | 2,590 | 3.8125 | 4 |
A small builder is a contractor and includes sub-contractors or any individual self-employed worker. Small builders will usually carry out construction work on:
Small builders are those at most risk of injury and ill health on construction sites and suffer the majority of construction fatal accidents each year. Most deaths involve falls from height including: ladders, scaffolds, working platforms, roof edges, and falls through fragile roofs or rooflights. Because they have first-hand experience in doing the actual work, they are in a good position to ensure the work is carried out in a way which secures their own health and safety and that of others.
The duties for a small builder start as soon as they are appointed by the client to carry out the construction work. The client should appoint the builder early in the project so that the builder has sufficient time to plan the work and identify any risks to health and safety. Details of any planning must be recorded as a construction phase plan. The effort devoted to planning should be proportionate to the complexity of the project and the risks involved.
A small builder must be able to show that they have the skills, knowledge, experience and, where an organisation, the organisational capability to carry out the work safely and without risk to health.
Similarly, when a small builder employs or appoints an individual to carry out construction work, they must make sure the individual has the skills, knowledge, experience and training to carry out the work in a way that secures health and safety, or is in the process of obtaining them.
The required level of skills, knowledge and experience (and training where required) should be proportionate to the complexity of the work and the range and nature of the risks involved.
Examples of demonstrating skills, knowledge and experience (and training where required) might include:
Examples of demonstrating organisational capability might involve:
Guidance on what a small builder needs to do to carry out their duties on both commercial and domestic projects under the CDM 2015 is available on the roles and responsibilities of a contractor page. | <urn:uuid:9812ad40-0c29-4508-a838-53ec3f128672> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.hse.gov.uk/construction/areyou/builder.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783398216.41/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154958-00005-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.957191 | 417 | 2.71875 | 3 |
by John Steven McGroarty
Frederick V. Carpenter
[1929, no renewal]
The author of this book, John Steven McGroarty (1862-1944) was poet laureate of California, an author, journalist, dramatist, and unabashed booster for the preservation and celebration of the California Missions. He also served in Congress from 1935 to 1938. His drama, The Mission Play, a three hour pageant spanning the entire history of the California Missions, ran for twenty years at mission San Gabriel.
The real strength of this book is the illustrations. There is one major drawing for each of the twenty one missions, plus a map showing their locations. I'm not so thrilled about the introduction, which trivializes the native people and presents Mission life as utopian. My policy is to leave these texts intact as a witness to the historical context in which they were written. That said, it should be noted that when McGoarty got to Congress, he sponsored legislation to abolish the Bureau of Indian Affairs, angered over the treatment of Native Americans. So he wasn't exactly blind to the realities of the situation, nor unsympathetic.
The Missions had a dark side, none of which is hinted at in this book. The native Californians had lived a sustainable, rich life for thousands of years. They were herded into the Missions, stripped of their cultures and languages, and worked into exhaustion. The Missions, European diseases, and eventually the arrival of the Americans decimated the Native Californian population. | <urn:uuid:7b39be02-9207-420f-adea-28221c94e50b> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://sacred-texts.com/nam/ca/mm/index.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783402699.36/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624155002-00160-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.963715 | 310 | 2.78125 | 3 |
In the United States, a person dies in a fire or from a fire related injury every two hours. According to National Fire Protection Association data, most people who survived house fires were able to do so because the building was fitted with working smoke detectors. According to a related NFPA study, close to 1,000 lives could be saved each year if all home owners would use and properly maintain smoke detectors.
A smoke detector can be used either in an industrial setting, usually hooked up to a larger fire alarm system, or as an independent device in your residence. There are two types: the photoelectric detector, and the ionization detector.
The Photoelectric Smoke Detector
Inside this circular device is an enclosed space where, on one end, a beam of infrared light (or light from a LED) travels unblocked toward the other end of the enclosure where a photodiode (a tiny, tubular component that turns light into electric current) is mounted. The light beam does not hit the photodiode; it is directed slightly away from it. However, when smoke is present in the area, it enters the smoke detector and gets into the space where the light beam and light detector (the photodiode) are mounted. Smoke particles scatter the previously straight light beam and cause some of it to hit the photodiode. The photodiode will then convert the light into an electrical pulse that sounds the alarm. This type of smoke detector is effective in detecting smoke coming from smouldering fires, but some reports show that it may need substantial amounts of smoke particles to disturb the light beam before the alarm mechanism is activated.
The Ionization Detector
Ionization refers to the process where molecules become either positively or negatively charged. Inside an ionization detector is an air-filled compartment where two electrodes — in this case, small, thin wires that conduct electricity — are installed. A constant electric current passes between these two electrodes in the absence of smoke. When smoke enters the compartment, however, its particles become ionized, disrupting the constant electrical current between the two electrodes. This sudden change triggers the alarm mechanism in the device. This type of detector does a good job in detecting flames, but one drawback is that it's prone to triggering false alarms because of its sensitive smoke detection process.
New smoke detector designs that combine both technologies are in development, ensuring more accuracy and reliability in these very important devices. Fire safety experts around the nation encourage users to follow strictly the recommended usage and maintenance guidelines from smoke detector manufacturers. The usual causes of faulty (and therefore useless) smoke detectors are dead or disconnected batteries, dirt accumulation, and malfunction due to the device's old age. Most manufacturers advise replacing a smoke detector unit after ten years. | <urn:uuid:1ae78d27-f786-491f-b338-e0fb0cd7fce0> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.livescience.com/33788-smoke-detectors-work-llmmp.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783395620.9/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154955-00153-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.936266 | 555 | 3.84375 | 4 |
The 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami was one of the deadliest natural disasters in history, devastating parts of Indonesia, Sri Lanka, India and Thailand. It killed some 230,000 people and caused billions of dollars in environmental and economic damage.
There were many tales of heartbreaking loss ... and some remarkable tales of survival. Some people were saved not by technologically advanced early detection systems, but by simple observation and even reliance on folk wisdom.
Tilly Smith, a 10-year-old vacationing with her parents and sister on Thailand's Phuket Island, noticed that the sea was swelling and frothy on the morning of Dec. 26. The schoolgirl from Surrey, England, had learned two weeks earlier in a geography lesson that those were signs of an impending tsunami. She warned her parents, who alerted other vacationers on Maikhao Beach and the beach was safely evacuated. Though the island was hit hard, no one who had been on the beach that day was killed or seriously injured.
All but seven of the 83,000 people who lived on Simeulue, an Indonesian island, were spared from the tsunami because islanders recognized the same signs and fled to higher ground.
The United Nations decided in 2005 to set up a tsunami warning system covering the Indian Ocean. The system, a sophisticated network of seismographs designed to collect data and feed it into analysis centers, has been running since 2006. But the tsunami survival stories convinced disaster-prevention experts that ancient wisdom also remains important in protecting people from the ravages of natural disaster.
The Wall Street Journal recently reported that the United Nations has asked anthropologists across Asia and the Pacific to collect and record the kind of indigenous knowledge that was key to the Simeulue islanders' survival. That type of knowledge also helps residents of the Philippines' Batanes Islands to ride out the 15 typhoons they endure in a typical year. Villagers in northwest India construct earthquake-resistant homes with simple, timber-framed masonry -- a technique considered to be archaic and unsophisticated, but a lifesaver there.
Such knowledge will become even more important as more of the world's poor cluster in mega-cities. The United Nations estimates that 3.9 billion people will live in urban areas of developing countries by 2015. The poorest of those people, living in shanties in cities that lack basic infrastructure, will be most vulnerable to natural disasters. Preserving and passing on knowledge such as how to build safer homes and how to anticipate dangerous weather could save millions of lives.
"We don't have to replace everything with computers and satellites," Jerry Velasquez, a regional coordinator for the United Nations disaster reduction programs in the Asia-Pacific region, told the Journal. "We can also look back into the past."
What an interesting notion. Technology can take us so far, but local detection and survival strategies learned over centuries can be true lifesavers. | <urn:uuid:bdbf9b89-3d59-4e18-ae34-a02ff4ba3ccd> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2010-01-02/news/1001010120_1_indian-ocean-tsunami-natural-disasters-simeulue | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783393533.44/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154953-00012-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.960322 | 592 | 3.578125 | 4 |
The Hineni Messianic Fellowship celebrated a complete Seder, reading of the Passover story and teaching explaining Yeshua/Jesus in the Passover feast April 19.
During the celebration Jews and Christians remember the event by eating special foods associated with the bitterness of slavery and the sweetness of freedom.
The name Passover is derived from the Hebrew word pesach and is generally translated to mean "to pass over."
According to Jewish history, it is a commemoration of the time the Hebrews were captives in Egypt and the Angel of Death passed over their homes, instead of entering, because, as Moses had instructed them, they had painted blood from the paschal lamb on their door posts. The celebration was lead by Pastors John and Joyce Beaird, using the Haggadah, a book that contains Passover songs, readings and prayers.
The highlight of the celebration is the Passover Seder, a meal that uses symbolism to recount the event.
Other symbolic food is used, songs are sung and the Passover story is read.
The Seder concluded with songs of worship, special dances as well as dance including the Passover participants.
© 2016. All Rights Reserved. Contact Us | <urn:uuid:51cab3dd-47ef-4475-a283-decbf39c2d94> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://staugustine.com/stories/050208/religion_050208072.shtml | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783391766.5/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154951-00035-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.961422 | 246 | 2.578125 | 3 |
A 90-gram per day increase in dietary fiber from whole grains -- the amount a person would consume from three servings -- was associated with a risk reduction of 17% (95% CI 11% to 22%) for colorectal cancer, Teresa Norat, PhD, of Imperial College London, and colleagues reported online in BMJ.
The finding emerged from a meta-analysis of 25 case-control or prospective cohort studies of diet and colorectal cancer risk, with millions of participants in total.
The researchers also found that "high" versus "low" intake of total dietary fiber was associated with a significant reduction in risk (12%, 95% CI 6% to 18%).
For each 10-gram increase in total daily fiber intake among two million participants in 16 studies, the risk was lowered by 10% (95% CI 6% to 14%), with the benefit more apparent for colon versus rectal cancer.
But fiber sources other than cereals and whole grains appeared to have less impact on risk. Norat and colleagues reported the following relative risks associated with fiber intake from fruits, vegetables, and legumes:
- Fruits: RR 0.93 per 10-g daily increment (95% CI 0.82 to 1.05); nine studies, 1.5 million participants
- Vegetables: RR 0.98 per 10-g daily increment (95% CI 0.91 to 1.06, nine studies, 1.5 million participants
- Legumes: RR 0.62 per 10-g daily increment (95% CI 0.27 to 1.42), four studies, 1.1 million participants
"Our results provide further support for public health recommendations to increase the intake of dietary fiber in the prevention of colorectal cancer. However, they suggest a particular benefit of increasing cereal fiber and whole grain intake," Norat and colleagues wrote.
They added that, on the basis of other past studies, public adoption of such recommendations would also have a range of other health benefits, including lower rates of cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, obesity, "and possibly overall mortality."
In an accompanying editorial, two Danish researchers concurred, and argued as well that the associations probably do represent causality.
"Many of the specific mechanisms involved in the health benefits of whole grains still need to be explored and explained in detail," wrote Anne Tjonneland, PhD, and Anja Olsen, PhD, of the Danish Cancer Society.
"But factors such as increased satiety, stabilized glucose homoeostasis and insulin response, and the fermentation of fiber and resistant starch in the colon to produce short chain fatty acids are probably important."
They added that additional research could shed light on whether specific types of grains vary in their effects on reducing cancer risk, noting that some studies had pointed to whole grain rye as possibly better than others.
Perhaps more important, the editorialists also recommended more investigation of the barriers to consumption of whole grains, which largely have to do with consumer preference.
In conducting the meta-analysis, Norat and colleagues searched for studies with prospective cohort, case-cohort, or nested case-control designs that specifically examined associations between dietary fiber and colorectal cancer. Cross-sectional or retrospective case-control studies were not considered.
The 25 they came up with had enrollments ranging from 8,000 to 520,000. All the individual study results were adjusted for age, with most also accounting for other major risk factors such as sex, smoking status, education level, and physical activity.
Follow-up continued for 3.5 to 17 years.
The two largest studies included in the analysis -- the NIH-AARP Diet and Health Study, with 292,000 participants, and the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition, with 520,000 -- had medians of 4.5 and 6.2 years of follow-up, respectively.
These and five other of the larger studies quantified intake of different sources of dietary fiber, which Tjonneland and Olsen indicated was especially important.
However, a major limitation to the meta-analysis was that many of the studies examined diet composition only at enrollment, and the definition of fiber may have varied considerably among the studies. In most cases, the individual study investigators relied on participants to report their dietary composition.
Also, not all studies adjusted for every major confounder, Norat and colleagues noted.
The meta-analysis was supported by the World Cancer Research Fund.
All study authors and the editorialists declared they had no conflicts of interest.
- Reviewed by Dori F. Zaleznik, MD Associate Clinical Professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School, Boston and Dorothy Caputo, MA, RN, BC-ADM, CDE, Nurse Planner
BMJSource Reference: Aune D, et al "Dietary fibre, whole grains, and risk of colorectal cancer: Systematic review and dose-response meta-analysis of prospective studies" BMJ 2011; DOI: 10.1136/bmj.d6617.
BMJSource Reference: Tjønneland A, et al "Fibre and prevention of chronic diseases" BMJ 2011; DOI: 10.1136/bmj.d6938. | <urn:uuid:e4d7d02d-1807-4b10-b7db-f5e50d116c4f> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.medpagetoday.com/PrimaryCare/DietNutrition/29593 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783395621.98/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154955-00175-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.947154 | 1,085 | 2.84375 | 3 |
How it works
First, a few rectangles are calculated (route_calc_selection):
- One that does include the position and destination point with an additional 25% at the ends with an order of 4
- One square-shaped of about 80 km edge length around each waypoint with an order of 8
- One square-shaped of about 20 km edge length around each waypoint with an order of 18
Waypoints are the position, destination and any waypoints in between (if routing with waypoints. The "order" of a road depends on which tile level it is placed in. Refer to binfile, specifically the How An object Is placed in a tile section, for details.
Then the map is queried with this rectangles and from the result a graph is built, consisting of points and segments. Then the graph gets flooded, beginning with the destination. This makes the graph re-useable when the position changes. The used algorithm is Dijkstra together with Fibonacci-Heaps to quickly get the lowest value point. When no points are left (this could be optimized, because once the position is reached flooding the graph could stop) the graph is followed from the position back to the destination and a route path is build. This route path will be displayed just like a map.
Diagnosing Routing Problems
Turn on the route graph map in the Settings/Maps menu (Or from the Map menu in GTK). You will see lots of arrows and numbers. The numbers indicate the estimate of time in 10ths of seconds to reach your destination. The arrows will show the direction to the destination. If two very different numbers are close together but there should be a connection, there is most likely none. | <urn:uuid:9d941a23-8470-42ff-9a1f-297fbce63dc0> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://wiki.navit-project.org/index.php/Routing | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783395346.72/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154955-00173-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.93811 | 356 | 3 | 3 |
This article contains a free Women of the Bible Study resource on the subject of Eve. It provides facts, a biography and information about this famous woman of the Bible for bible study. There is also reference to where Eve is mentioned in the Holy Bible.
Bible Dictionary Definition - Who was Eve?
The definition and outline of Eve is as follows: Adam's wife, the first woman and mother of the human race; God created Eve from Adam's rib and placed Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. They were banished from the Garden of Eden for eating forbidden fruit.
Adam and Eve Bible Story
Biography, Facts and Information about Eve
The following info provides a concise biography with facts and information about Eve: the name given by Adam to his wife (Genesis 3:20; 4:1). The account of her creation is given in Genesis 2:21,22. The Creator, by declaring that it was not good for man to be alone, and by creating for him a suitable companion, gave sanction to monogamy. The commentator Matthew Henry says: "This companion was taken from his side to signify that she was to be dear unto him as his own flesh. Not from his head, lest she should rule over him; nor from his feet, lest he should tyrannize over her; but from his side, to denote that species of equality which is to subsist in the marriage state." And again, "That wife that is of God's making by special grace, and of God's bringing by special providence, is likely to prove a helpmeet to her husband." Through the subtle temptation of the serpent she violated the commandment of God by taking of the forbidden fruit, which she gave also unto her husband (1 Timothy 2:13-15; 2co 11:3). When she gave birth to her first son, she said, "I have gotten a man from the Lord" (RSV, "I have gotten a man with the help of the Lord," Genesis 4:1). Thus she welcomed Cain, as some think, as if he had been the Promised One the "See d of the woman."
We have selected Eve as one of the most important women from the Bible and provided a biography and character outline of this famous woman. Much of the information is taken from the classic reference books including Matthew George Easton "Easton's Bible Dictionary" and Ashley S Johnson "Condensed Biblical Cyclopedia".
Eve - A Free Christian Bible Study Resource
We hope that this Eve article from our Women of the Bible Study section will provide useful information and ideas for those following a Bible Study plan. This article about Eve, together with other tools, activities, aids and materials and are designed to be used by an individual or a Christian Bible study group. This biography of Eve may prove useful as the basis for fun Sunday School lessons for Christian children and kids other topics will prove a useful asset to teens, youth or adults taking a Bible Study course or Biblical degree. All information on this Eve page is free to be used as an educational Christian Bible Study resource. | <urn:uuid:99d01038-e956-49da-8dd0-dde8950ea6f7> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.learningscriptures.info/women-of-the-bible-study/eve.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783399425.79/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154959-00100-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.971102 | 629 | 2.71875 | 3 |
Potamogeton vaseyi J.W. Robbins
Click to enlarge
Basis for Former Listing
Potamogeton vaseyi is an aquatic macrophyte that inhabits small, softwater lakes in the northeastern portion of North America. It is reported to be an uncommon species across its range (Haynes and Hellquist 2000), but it seems to be especially uncommon in Minnesota, where it reaches the very western edge of its range. Several threats to the species' habitat have been identified including declining water quality, which seems to be a statewide trend, and the accelerating invasion of non-native species, which seems to be a worldwide trend. Potamogeton vaseyi was listed as a special concern species in Minnesota in 1984.
Basis for Delisting
Recent botanical searches by the Minnesota Biological Survey discovered P. vaseyi in just over 100 lakes of more than 1,500 lakes that were surveyed. It is now known to be more common and widespread than once thought to be. Special concern status is no longer necessary, and Potamogeton vaseyi was delisted in 2013.
Potamogeton vaseyi is a rooted, aquatic plant that produces small floating leaves when fertile, but remains submerged if sterile. The blades of the submerged leaves are linear-filiform in shape, 2-8 cm (0.8-3.1 in.) long, and 0.1-1 mm (0.004-0.04 in.) wide. The margins are entire, and the apex is acute to almost bristle-tipped. Lacunae (apparently empty or transparent cells) are usually present in 1 or 2 rows on each side of the midvein. The stipules are persistent but inconspicuous; the margins are convolute, free from the blade, and 0.4-1.2 cm (0.2-0.5 in.) long. The petiole of the floating leaves is 5-25 mm (0.20-0.98 in.) long; the blade is elliptic, spatulate or obovate in shape, 0.6-1.5 cm (0.2-0.6 in.) long, and 3-8 mm (0.12-0.31 in.) wide. The base of the blade is acute, and the apex is obtuse; there are 5-9 veins on the surface. Turions (winter buds) are common in the axils, and are 0.5-2 cm (0.25-0.75 in.) long and 0.5-1.2 mm (0.020-0.047 in.) wide. The inflorescence is 5-30 mm (0.20-1.18 in.) long; it is held above the surface in flower and becomes recurved in fruit. The fruits are sessile, obliquely round-obovoid in shape, keeled abaxially, 1.5-2.5 mm (0.06-0.10 in.) long, and 1.2-1.6 mm (0.05-0.06 in.) wide, with an erect beak 0.3-0.5 mm (0.012-0.020 in.) long. The submerged leaves of P. vaseyi are very similar to those of P. pusillus (very small pondweed), a common species, and the two plants often grow intermixed. The leaves of P. vaseyi tend to be slightly narrower or finer than those of P. pusillus, but sterile specimens of either species can easily be mistaken for each other.
Water chemistry data are available for 74 of the Minnesota lakes where P. vaseyi has been found. The total alkalinity of these lakes ranges from 1-84 ppm, with a mean value of 30 ppm. The pH ranges from 5.9-9.2 for a mean of 7.5. The size of the lakes (excluding 2 very large reservoirs) averages 22 ha (54 ac.). The most common aquatic plant species associated with P. vaseyi include Nuphar variegata (bullhead pond-lily), Nymphaea odorata (American white waterlily), Najas flexilis (flexuous naiad), P. pusillus, Utricularia vulgaris (common bladderwort), Eleocharis palustris (marsh spikerush), P. amplifolius (largeleaf pondweed), P. epihydrus (ribbonleaf pondweed), P. spirillus (coiled pondweed), Brasenia schreberi (watershield), and Vallisneria americana (American eelgrass).
Biology / Life History
Very little is known about the biology and life history of P. vaseyi, or why it is rare. It is a rooted, aquatic plant that reproduces by seeds and turions (winter buds). Turions are excellent modes of vegetative reproduction. The structures are produced at the stem tips and eventually fall to the substrate, either by a portion of the stem breaking off or by the stem itself falling to the substrate. The turions survive an unfavorable season, germinate, and then grow into new plants during the next growing season. Because the unfavorable season is usually winter in North America, turions have been called "winter buds" (Haynes and Barre Hellquist 2000).
Conservation / Management
Established populations of P. vaseyi should have no trouble maintaining themselves as long as the lake habitats that support them remain unimpaired. Impairment, of the type that could threaten aquatic plant populations, usually results from contamination by agricultural or industrial chemicals, faulty or poorly designed septic systems, poor municipal storm water management, and/or loss of filtering capacity when native shoreline vegetation is removed. The harmful consequences of impairment usually include reduced water clarity, warming, and increased competition from non-native, invasive species.
Conservation Efforts in Minnesota
No known conservation efforts have been undertaken specifically on behalf of P. vaseyi. However, the DNR's Shoreland Habitat Restoration Program is working to expand the diversity and abundance of native aquatic and shoreland plants, to improve and protect the quality of shoreline habitat, and to enhance and protect water quality in Minnesota's lakes and streams. To achieve this goal, the program conducts site visits, provides planting, restoration, and management recommendations, and offers cost share funding to watershed districts, conservation organizations, lake associations, private citizens, and local units of government.
Adams, J. W. 1929. Potamogeton vaseyi in southwestern Pennsylvania. Bartonia 10:28-29.
Fernald, M. L. 1932. The linear-leaved North American species of Potamogeton section Axillares in Memoirs of the Gray Herbarium of Harvard University 3:1-183.
Haynes, R. R., and C. B. Hellquist. 2000. Potamogeton. Pages 48-70 in Flora of North America Editorial Committee, editors. Flora of North America north of Mexico. Volume 22. Oxford University Press, New York, New York.
Hellquist, C. B. 1977. Observations on some uncommon vascular aquatic plants in New England. Rhodora 79:445-452.
Minnesota Department of Natural Resources. 2012. Statement of need and reasonableness. Minnesota Department of Natural Resources. Division of Ecological and Water Resources. St. Paul, Minnesota. 337 pp.
Pip, E. 1987. The ecology of Potamogeton species in central North America. Hydrobiologia 153:203-216. | <urn:uuid:6f4109fb-ee5f-49ce-879c-f71ec1f6dd3b> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.dnr.state.mn.us/rsg/profile.html?action=elementDetail&selectedElement=PMPOT03150 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783396106.71/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154956-00036-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.910516 | 1,592 | 2.828125 | 3 |
November 1, 2012
The Effect Of Prehistoric Nocturnal Life On Mammalian Vision
April Flowers for redOrbit.com - Your Universe Online
Most species of diurnal mammals have retained the imprint of nocturnal life in their eye structures since the age of dinosaurs. According to a new study from The University of Texas at Austin and Midwestern University, anthropoid primates - including humans, monkeys and apes - are the only groups that deviate from this pattern.This study is the first to provide a large-scale body of evidence for the "nocturnal bottleneck theory," suggesting that mammalian sensory traits have been profoundly influenced by an extended period of adaptation to nocturnality during the Mesozoic Era. The Mesozoic lasted from 250 million years ago to 65 million years ago.
The study, published in an upcoming issues of Proceedings of the Royal Society B, explains that to survive in the night, mammals had a host of visual capabilities which were lost as they passed through the nocturnal bottleneck. Some of these visual traits include good color vision and high acuity.
“The fact that nearly all living mammals have eye shapes that appear ℠nocturnal´ by comparison with other amniotes [mammals, reptiles and birds] is a testament to the strong influence that evolutionary history can have on modern anatomy,” says Chris Kirk, associate professor of anthropology at The University of Texas at Austin.
Early mammals were predominantly nocturnal during the Mesozoic, according to Kirk, partly as a strategy for avoiding predation by day-active dinosaurs.
“It´s a bit surprising to still see the effects of this long period of nocturnality on living mammals more than 65 million years after non-avian dinosaurs went extinct, but that´s exactly what we found,” Kirk says.
Margaret Hall, an evolutionary biologist at Midwestern University´s Arizona College of Osteopathic Medicine, led the team as they analyzed one of the largest datasets on eye morphology ever assembled. With eyeball samples from 266 mammalian species, the team showed that mammals active by day or night show only minor differences in eye morphology using a multivariate statistical method.
Then, the team compared the eyes of mammals, birds and lizards by using the ratio of cornea size and eye length. These are two functionally important measures of the eye's ability to admit light and form sharp images. Diurnal — only active during the day — and cathemeral — active during both day and night — animals don't differ in their eye shapes, the study found. Both groups also have eye shapes very similar to those of nocturnal birds and lizards. However, when compared with other vertebrates, the study found that most day-active mammals have eye shapes that appear nocturnal.
Kirk says that one possible reason for these findings is that after the extinction of non-avian dinosaurs, some nocturnal mammals became day-active. This put less pressure on them to evolve eye shapes for acute diurnal vision such as other day-active vertebrates.
The only mammalian group that re-evolved eye shape for fine detailed daytime vision, anthropoid primates have small corneas relative to eye length. Like in diurnal birds and lizards, this is an adaptation for enhanced visual acuity.
The findings of this study provides a deeper understanding of human sensory systems and our connection with monkeys and apes, our closest living primate relatives.
“Humans and other anthropoid primates are so dependent on vision for everything that they do,” Kirk says. “In this case, we are radically different from other mammals. We found that the distinctive eye shapes that set humans apart from most other mammals evolved a long time ago – way back with the origin of anthropoid primates.” | <urn:uuid:042d59df-dd2d-4ea6-8efe-6e561fc41964> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.redorbit.com/news/science/1112724063/vision-nocturnal-mammals-110112/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783396222.11/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154956-00030-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.939105 | 786 | 3.875 | 4 |
Alexander the Great
A young Macedonian prince by the name of Alexander was taught for four years by his teacher, Aristotle. Aristotle instructed Alexander in politics, war, and in critical thinking.
Then, at the age of 16, Alexander was made a captain in the Macedonian armies where he gained the respect of his soldiers for his bravery and battle strategies. When Alexander was 20 years old his father was murdered. After the death of his father, Alexander became the king of Macedonia. The capital of Macedonia was the city of Babylon.
Having been tutored by Aristotle, Alexander admired the Greeks. He thought that their culture was refined and that it had many things to offer. Alexander also admired the Persian culture, seeing many things that he thought were noteworthy.
Alexander determined to conquer both Greece and Persia, and combine them into an empire that would rival any other empire anywhere in the world. For the next 13 years Alexander, now known as Alexander the Great, marched his troops from battle to battle, conquering more and more territory.
At the age of 33, Alexander the Great contracted a fever which quickly took his life. The empire he had worked so hard to build was divided among three of his generals whose decedents ruled these three territories as separate empires. | <urn:uuid:3a2c0e02-7125-4269-971d-0dae66d519b8> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.kidspast.com/world-history/0074-alexander-the-great.php | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783392527.68/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154952-00087-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.992217 | 254 | 3.890625 | 4 |
In my previous article, Use getmail to get e-mail simply and securely, I mentioned two opposing approaches to handling e-mail. On one side is the use of monolithic, fancy, massively multi-function ("feature rich"), GUI-fied mail clients like Microsoft's "personal information manager," Outlook. On the other is the computer user like me, who prefers daily e-mail dealings to be quick, simple, and devoid of distractions. We tend to use a collection of small, separate tools to fulfill each of the critical functions of dealing with e-mail — one for retrieving incoming mail from the server; another for reading, managing, and composing e-mail; one more for sending it.
I have previously covered using mutt with GnuPG, thus covering both the reading/managing/composing and privacy functionalities in a single article, and getmail in my last article for retrieving e-mail from a POP server. This time, I'll address sending e-mail with a simple SMTP client called sSMTP on Unix and Linux systems — specifically, how to use it with a secure encrypted connection to your SMTP server.
Secure SMTP server authentication:
Not only is sSMTP a simple, straightforward tool for handling outgoing mail, but it is a secure tool as well — when used properly. An important component of e-mail security, in addition to use of digital signatures and e-mail encryption, is protecting your authentication exchanges for connections to SMTP and incoming mail servers. Whenever you connect to any kind of mail server, you should be using a username and password to authenticate yourself:
- On a POP or IMAP server, authentication is used to ensure that only the "owner" of a given e-mail account can access the e-mails intended for that person.
- On an SMTP server, authentication is used to ensure that unauthorized people are not sending e-mail through that server. Among other important reasons for this, there's the concern that spammers might use an SMTP server to spam others, and ultimately get the server blacklisted by spam filtering services.
That authentication process needs to be encrypted. Strong encryption for your e-mail account authentication keeps malicious security crackers from capturing your username and password by eavesdropping on network traffic. When people can acquire your usernames and passwords, the privacy and resource protection that authentication is meant to provide is ineffective, because others can then invade your privacy and misuse your resources.
I use TLS encryption to protect my mail server sessions from eavesdropping malicious security crackers. TLS is, as I mentioned in an article about basic Web security, effectively the next version of SSL. The sSMTP tool provides functionality for using TLS/SSL to secure your connections with your SMTP server.
Your SMTP server has to support encrypted sessions if you wish to establish a secure connection with it. Check with your ISP, hosting provider, network administrator, or whoever manages the server to see if encrypted sessions are supported. If the SMTP server does not support some form of encrypted authentication, get a different service provider if at all possible. As I pointed out in the article Basic e-mail security tips, it's always a good idea to make sure your e-mail authentication process is encrypted.
I am providing my own sSMTP configuration file — with syntax modifications to protect my privacy, of course — called
ssmtp.conf, to illustrate how you might use sSMTP to secure connections with your SMTP server when sending e-mail. The file is located at
/usr/local/etc/ssmtp/ssmtp.conf on FreeBSD systems by default, and
/etc/ssmtp/ssmtp.conf on Debian GNU/Linux. Other systems may vary.
The contents of the file on my laptop, modified as indicated above, are:
I'll explain each line in the file in turn:
[email protected]: This identifies what user account receives all mail for userid under 1000 on the local system. That basically means system accounts, such as the root user account. In other words, if your computer is trying to send your root account an e-mail message, it will send it to whatever e-mail address you specify her. This should normally be your primary e-mail account — probably the account for which you're configuring sSMTP to send e-mails.
AuthUser=username: The username indicated here should be the username used to log into the remote SMTP server. In many cases, this is the part of the e-mail address that comes before the
@sign in your e-mail address. In some cases, it may be the entire e-mail address, possibly with the
@replaced by a plus sign. Using the
[email protected] above, this means it the username entry might be
user+example.com, depending on the SMTP server configuration.
AuthPass=password: When authenticating, this is the password used with the username above. Because my e-mail password is stored in the file, I make sure the
ssmtp.conffile permissions are set to 640 using the
chmodcommand. This ensures that the ssmtp and system administrator accounts can access the file as needed (both to make sure the ssmtp process works properly and that I can edit the file as root when needed), but no unprivileged accounts have access to the contents of the file. For this to work, you will also need to ensure that you create an ssmtp user (with a command like
pw useradd ssmtp -g nogroup -h - -s /sbin/nologin -d /nonexistent -c "sSMTP pseudo-user") and set ownership of
ssmtp.confto that user (with a command like
chown ssmtp ssmtp.conf).
mailhub=mail.example.com: Set the mailhub option to the fully qualified hostname for the SMTP server you will be using, so that sSMTP knows where to send outgoing e-mails. This option may actually take the form
mailhub=mail.example.com:465, which sets the port number to use when contacting the SMTP server to 465. This allows unencrypted connections to use 25 (the default port number for SMTP traffic), and 465 is the standard alternate port number for TLS- and SSL-protected SMTP connections.
rewriteDomain=example.com: This tells sSMTP that your mail headers need to be edited to say that the domain name you use for your e-mail address will be listed as the source of your e-mail address. Failing to rewrite the source domain name in this manner may cause problems at the receiving end when your e-mail address arrives at its intended destination.
hostname=hostname.domain: The hostname indicated here is the hostname of the computer you are using to compose and send e-mails. The
.domainpart may or may not be present. On Unix and Linux systems, you can find the hostname for your computer by entering the command
hostnameat the shell prompt.
From:header in an e-mail handled by sSMTP can be overwritten at this point. Setting this to
YESjust uses the
From:value provided by the program that sent the e-mail to sSMTP to be forwarded to the SMTP server in the first place. In my case, since I use mutt as my mail user agent, this means that setting
FromLineOverride=YESwill cause sSMTP to use whatever
From:header line mutt provides.
UseTLS=YES: At last, we've struck gold. This is the configuration line that tells sSMTP to encrypt its connection to the SMTP server, protecting your authentication username and password as well as the rest of the session.
For more information about sSMTP configuration, the program's manpage (which you can access with the command
man ssmtp) should provide more useful information, as can a Google search for
ssmtp.conf. Most of the time, when you install sSMTP using the native software management system of a major free Unix-like system such as a BSD Unix or Linux-based system, an example configuration file will be provided with comment lines explaining the available options.
Securing the other tools:
In addition to sSMTP, of course, you should also secure the other e-mail tools you use. You can use GnuPG and Mutt to encrypt e-mail, and tools for handling incoming mail like getmail and fetchmail can be configured to use TLS/SSL encryption as well.
Chad Perrin is an IT consultant, developer, and freelance professional writer. He holds both Microsoft and CompTIA certifications and is a graduate of two IT industry trade schools. | <urn:uuid:6c47926f-9d18-48ec-8c69-d72c6c42b415> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.techrepublic.com/blog/it-security/use-ssmtp-to-send-e-mail-simply-and-securely/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783396224.52/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154956-00169-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.882597 | 1,859 | 2.671875 | 3 |
The phrases "point of sale" and "transaction processing system" represent two different, yet closely related concepts having to do with the sales function. Each term represents a distinct and vital link connecting consumers to businesses. Understanding the differences and correlation between point of sale and transaction processing systems is vital for all business owners and managers.
Point of Sale
The point of sale is the place and time at which a transaction takes place. Whenever a buyer and seller come together for the purpose of conducting a transaction, a point of sale is created. Also called a point of purchase, a point of sale can take a wide variety of forms. The cash register line in a gasoline fueling station is a point of sale, for example, as is the checkout page in an online store. The point of sale can be a salesperson's desk in an auto dealership, as another example, as can someone's front porch in a door-to-door sales transaction.
Transaction Processing System
A transaction processing system can be defined as a set of policies, procedures, equipment and technology designed to facilitate transactions at the point of sale. Transaction processing systems have evolved alongside advances in technology to add convenience, reliability and security to business transactions. Just like the point of sale itself, transaction processing systems can take a variety of forms. A cash box and a pad of paper at a lemonade stand is considered a transaction processing system, for example, as is a complex software package that connects digital cash registers, credit card processors, inventory databases and accounting software.
For every point of sale there must be a transaction processing system to accompany it. The correlation is so close that software-driven transaction processing systems are often referred to as POS (point of sale) terminals. Different point of sale situations call for different transaction processing systems, and new transaction processing systems emerge to facilitate new point of sale types. An online retailer, for example, would be unwise to use a hand-operated cash register to process transactions over the phone; instead, online retailers often rely on software transaction processing systems.
The point of purchase is an important concept for other marketing disciplines in addition to sales. Point of purchase displays in retail outlets use advertising or sales promotions to encourage impulse purchases while customers stand in line, for example. The 21st century has seen the rise of mobile points of sale and transaction processing systems, bypassing traditional cash-register sales models for face-to-face selling situations. In Apple's retail stores, for example, salespeople use smartphone credit-card readers and mobile transaction processing systems to ring customers up wherever they stand.
- Comstock/Comstock/Getty Images | <urn:uuid:2d4728f6-7a82-4999-b6cf-0acf027b7753> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://smallbusiness.chron.com/point-sale-vs-transaction-processing-systems-17548.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783396945.81/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154956-00041-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.916393 | 531 | 2.90625 | 3 |
Mathematical proof is one of the topics that students find very difficult. Many of them assume what they are trying to prove, end up with a true statement and then think they have proved the result. Studying truth tables, particularly the implication operator may well help. See Logical Operations and Truth Tables
On a mathematics forum a student wanted to use its facilities (provided by LatexRender of course 😎 ) to help a friend show how to prove
This is the original ‘proof’ they gave. Although they have now changed it I get the impression that I failed to convince them of the faulty logic; how would you explain what is wrong?
For this problem you need to know the addition formulas:
Using these formulas in the problem we can turn it into:
Then we use the fact that and
This changes it to:
Here we cancelled out the terms that equals zero and then adding together what we have we end up with: | <urn:uuid:fc6e019e-38bc-474e-914a-a280117faa1a> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.sixthform.info/maths/?p=41 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783397864.87/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154957-00132-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.953191 | 195 | 3.203125 | 3 |
Young readers need to acquire good comprehension skills. In order to do this, they need strategies that help them fully understand what they read.
Here are four simple strategies to help your young reader understand and appreciate stories.
- Build on prior knowledge
- Attempt to sound out words (decoding)
- Make predictions
- Visualize what is happening in the story
Prior knowledge involves helping a child recall what she has seen or heard. When reading a story about zoo animals, for example, a child should know that zebras have stripes and elephants have trunks.
Sounding out words starts with practicing consonant and vowel sounds. Then help her blend letter sounds, from left to right, to make words.
Making predictions is guessing or inferring what might happen next. For example, if someone left the cage at the zoo open, what might the animal do? What might happen next?
Visualizing helps readers make mental pictures of what they are reading. These visualizations make the reading more personal and easier to remember.
As a parent, you can support these four strategies many ways. Here are some examples:
- Give her opportunities to build prior knowledge. Visit a farm, pick strawberries, go to the beach or lake, cook together, plant a garden, visit your library, go on nature walks together, etc. Then talk about what you saw and how the day went.
- Help her practice consonant and vowel sounds, then help her blend those sounds to make words. Have a “word of the week” at your house. Help her practice saying and spelling it. Talk about what it means. When she can easily say and spell it, let her write it on an index card and hang it in his room to create a “word wall.”
- Ask questions, such as “What do you think will happen next?” Or, “Why do you think that happened?” when reading stories together.
- Play a visualization game. “I spy something that is little, flies, makes a buzzing sound and can sting. What do you think it is?” Have her lead the “I spy” and give you clues!
Good readers read much and often! Combining these strategies, with many opportunities to read, helps your child make connections to stories…and these connections increase reading comprehension and enjoyment. | <urn:uuid:6c6f5eeb-f242-4759-a99e-ab895c38f2e7> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | https://www.schoolfamily.com/blog/2014/07/10/four-simple-strategies-to-build-reading-comprehension | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783392099.27/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154952-00130-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.944753 | 489 | 4.15625 | 4 |
The Agriculture Program provides agricultural policy makers and other key users of agricultural statistics with reliable, relevant and timely information on the social, economic and environmental characteristics of agriculture, including: commodity production; economic performance; farm management; land use and land management practices; natural resource management practices including water management; and foreign ownership of agricultural land, businesses and water entitlements. The main collections include an annual survey of agricultural commodities and land management practices, a five-yearly Agricultural Census, and a range of other surveys covering specific aspects of agriculture and related activity.
The main clients of the program include a range of Australian, State and Territory government agencies, industry organisations, financial institutions, academic institutions, and private sector organisations providing services to the agricultural sector. Government agencies use the data to formulate and monitor policies on agriculture and land management practices, and industry organisations use agricultural data to assess the relative performance of the various industries and for the development of marketing and export strategies. The data also informs decision-making by farmers, land managers and the wider community relating to agricultural and land management practices.
Preliminary estimates on the production and value of selected commodities for the preceding financial year are released annually in November in Principal Agricultural Commodities, Australia, Preliminary (ABS cat. no. 7111.0) and Value of Principal Agricultural Commodities Produced, Australia, Preliminary (ABS cat. no. 7501.0). Estimates are at the national and state levels. Final estimates for major agricultural outputs and activity are published the following June in Agricultural Commodities, Australia (ABS cat. no. 7121.0), including data for finer levels of geography (below state-level) which are released subsequently in data cubes. Final data related to the value of agricultural commodities is published in Value of Agricultural Commodities Produced, Australia (ABS cat. no. 7503.0). The values of irrigated agricultural commodities are published in Gross Value of Irrigated Agricultural Production (ABS cat. no. 4610.0.55.008).
Details of agricultural land management practices are available in Land Management and Farming in Australia (ABS cat. no. 4627.0). An expanded suite of land management practices data will be released biennially starting in 2013.
Details from the first Agricultural Land and Water Ownership Survey (ALWOS) were released in Agricultural Land and Water Ownership, December 2010, (ABS cat. no. 7127.0). The ABS will continue to release information on the foreign ownership of agricultural businesses, land and water entitlements in coming years. Data will be collected via stand-alone sample surveys in 2013 and 2018, and through supplementary surveys to the 2016 and 2021 Agricultural Census.
Details of agricultural water use and management are available annually in Water Use on Australian Farms (ABS cat. no. 4618.0). Agricultural water use information is also included in the environmental-economic Water Account, Australia (ABS cat. no. 4610.0) which is produced every year.
Details of the number of livestock slaughtered for human consumption and meat produced are available on a monthly basis in Livestock and Meat, Australia (ABS cat. no. 7218.0.55.001). Details of other livestock products including poultry, meat and wool are published quarterly in Livestock Products, Australia (ABS cat. no. 7215.0).
Information about the Australian wheat industry is released monthly in two publications. National and State stocks of wheat held by grain handlers are released in Stocks of Grain Held by Bulk Grain Handling Companies and Grain Traders, Australia (cat. no. 7122.0.55.001). Additionally, wheat exports information including planned exports of wheat grain are published in Wheat Stocks and Exports, Australia (ABS cat. no. 7307.0)
The main medium-term developments in the program are to:
- release the 2010–11 Agricultural Census results, including small area data – due June-October 2012
- deliver high-quality data on agricultural land management practices and agricultural land and water ownership to support government and other user needs – ongoing over 2013–2021
- investigate ways to further improve outputs from ABS’ agricultural statistics collections, including improvements to data capture, data delivery systems and data visualisation – ongoing over 2012–2016
- complete a review of the ABS’ rural environment and agricultural statistics program to ensure it remains relevant and responsive to emerging data needs – forward work program to 2016 due June 2012; proposed work plan for 2016–2022 due April 2013.
(A/g) Assistant Statistician
Agriculture and Rural Environment | <urn:uuid:f155c453-beeb-4c11-81ce-537500a91514> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://abs.gov.au/ausstats/[email protected]/Latestproducts/8803D8A2A98B0A98CA257A4B0083AF1C?opendocument | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783397695.90/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154957-00012-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.914005 | 954 | 2.5625 | 3 |
The face of hunger is changing in Georgia.
18.7% of Georgians – 1 in 5 Georgians – are food insecure, meaning they don’t always know where they will find their next meal. This is well above the national average of 15.8%.
28.2% of children in Georgia – 1 in 4 children – live in food insecure households. This is well above the national average of 21.4% This means that more than 700,780 children in Georgia have been hungry without access to food in one of the the wealthiest nations in the world.
29% of food insecure children in Georgia live in households above 185% of poverty and likely ineligible for any federal food nutrition programs. These are the children of working families. The term “working poor” is a reality in today’s economy. Unemployment and underemployment continue to drive increases in demand for food in Georgia.
Hunger in Georgia impacts seniors, children and working families. Learn more at Feeding America’s Map the Meal Gap site, with new data released in April 2014 (2012 data).
You can help. Donate time, food and funds to the regional food bank serving your county. | <urn:uuid:cd1b3265-352b-4cec-98f6-7d9b0d6a604e> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://georgiafoodbankassociation.org/make-a-difference/surprising-facts-about-hunger-in-georgia/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783398216.41/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154958-00124-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.947804 | 249 | 3.09375 | 3 |
The Glassy-winged Sharpshooter: It Carries Pierce's Disease
This is the VOA Special English AGRICULTURE REPORT.
Farmers in the American state of California are guarding against an insect called the glassy-winged sharpshooter. It carries Pierce's disease, a bacterial disease that attacks grape plants and other crops. Government and industry are working to fight the sharpshooter and the deadly disease.
California is a leading producer of wine, the alcoholic drink made from grapes. The California wine industry provides thirty-three-thousand-million dollars for the state's economy.
For more than a century, California grape growers have battled Pierce's disease. It has caused major damage to Los Angeles area farmers several times.
A new, more threatening glassy-winged sharpshooter arrived in southern California twelve years ago. Scientists believe this insect came from the southern United States. Officials estimate it has caused fourteen-million dollars in damage over the past several years. Experts say it is now ready to attack other parts of California.
The glassy-winged sharpshooter feeds on hundreds of different kinds of plants. The small insect spreads Pierce's disease as it moves from plant to plant. The bacterial disease slowly kills the plants. There is no known treatment. In addition, the insect carries diseases that can harm peaches, oranges and other crops.
American scientists are studying ways to stop the sharpshooter. One method involves covering grapevines with particles of kaolin, a fine white clay. The particles stick to the insects when they land on treated grapevines. The insects do not eat the plants, and are unlikely to leave their eggs there. A similar treatment has successfully protected other kinds of fruit from insects.
Other scientists are studying ways to safely kill sharpshooters. They found that some chemicals were very effective. Some of the chemicals were still killing sharpshooters four weeks after the plants were treated.
However, scientists want to guarantee that the chemicals do not kill helpful insects, such as egg parasitoids. They are a leading natural enemy of sharpshooters. Scientists have already released one kind of egg parasitoid in California. Other scientists are studying parasitoids that eat the eggs of a native South American sharpshooter.
This VOA Special English AGRICULTURE REPORT was written by George Grow. | <urn:uuid:04e27e42-7f89-4066-b6ed-bfef22d054d0> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.manythings.org/voa/0/10607.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783403502.46/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624155003-00066-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.963444 | 495 | 3.078125 | 3 |
by Steven D. Blatt, MD
“It’s no big deal.”
“Everybody gets the flu.”
“The flu shot will make me sick.”
“I got it once. Why do I need it again?”
These are just a few of the responses that people say when offered a flu vaccine. What are the facts and how does one decide if they should get the vaccine?
First, what is the “flu?” Patients often use “flu” interchangeably with “viral infection.” For example, someone will say, “I was home sick for three days with a stomach flu.” That is not the type of flu we are discussing. Flu vaccine protects against Influenza. There are many different varieties of Influenza and ways of categorizing them. There are Influenza A and Influenza B. Influenza A has different subtypes based on two proteins “H” and “N.” For example, the strain that caused “swine flu” in 2009 was a strain of H1N1.
The flu vaccine comes in two forms, the “shot” and the nasal spray or “mist.” The shot is an inactivated or killed vaccine. During the manufacturing process, the virus is killed and purified. It is impossible to get Influenza from the shot. This formulation is approved for anyone older than 6 months of age. The nasal spray vaccine is made from a live virus that is weakened. This vaccine is only approved for healthy people, aged 2-49 who are not pregnant. Individuals with respiratory illnesses, such as asthma, or who have diabetes should not receive this vaccine. Since flu vaccine manufacturing process involves chicken eggs, those with a severe allergy to eggs should not be vaccinated. If your child has an egg allergy, tell your doctor before receiving the vaccine. Both vaccines are safe and both work well. Surprisingly, the one without the needle, the nasal spray, works a little bit better.
Each year, scientists review surveillance data to predict which influenza strains are likely for the coming year. This information is used to determine the components of that year’s flu vaccine. For 2011-2012, the strains in the vaccines are an H1N1 virus that emerged in 2009, an H3N2 virus, and a B virus. This year’s vaccine is made specifically for this flu season. Manufacturers try to make just enough for the year. Unused vaccine will be discarded at the end of the year. Flu vaccines are available from your physician, flu clinics, and more recently, pharmacies. They become available in September, but early on, the supply may be variable. For those that delay, there is still value in getting the vaccine as long as flu is in the community. There was still significant flu activity in New York State in April 2011. Getting the flu vaccine in February still provided protection.
When you’re done reading this, please schedule your flu vaccine, for you and your children. We don’t know when flu season will begin, so the earlier the better. The more people in your family who are immunized, the less likely you can spread the flu to someone else. Remember, the primary way to prevent the spread of any infection, including the flu, is with good hand washing, covering one’s mouth and nose when coughing and sneezing, and staying home from daycare, school or work for 24 hours after a fever is gone. An excellent website to learn more about the flu is from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention or CDC website at http://www.cdc.gov/flu/ | <urn:uuid:96f8c18a-b1de-47aa-a477-b2d8962b08f1> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://blogs.upstate.edu/pedstoparents/2011/10/05/flu-vaccine-is-it-really-worth-it/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783396222.11/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154956-00031-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.964676 | 768 | 3.453125 | 3 |
|This animation demonstrates how stony corals grow vertically. In the first frame we see a coral polyp resting on its base, which is called the basal plate. In the next frame we see the polyps tissues begin to lift up off the basal plate, leaving an empty space beneath it (shown by dashed lines). In the next frame, the polyp rises even higher, expanding the space between it and the basal plate. In the final frame the polyp has created a new basal plate to rest on, leaving an empty space between it and the old basal plate. Using this method, a coral polyp can grow anywhere from 1 to 10 millimeters per year, depending on the species and surrounding environmental conditions. | <urn:uuid:c542be5b-4b88-493e-8e50-c20ea3e02eab> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://oceanservice.noaa.gov/education/kits/corals/media/supp_coral03a.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783404382.73/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624155004-00022-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.908947 | 145 | 3.796875 | 4 |
Translation of equality in Spanish:
- Example sentences
- We also know that the labour movement has to work very hard to ensure that same equality of access and opportunity in the union.
- Moreover, not everything is done to ensure equality of opportunity.
- All the evidence shows, that if you want to promote social mobility and equality of opportunity, you have to start early.
What do you find interesting about this word or phrase?
Comments that don't adhere to our Community Guidelines may be moderated or removed. | <urn:uuid:9132cb8c-6336-4c29-ab44-4ed2c607dc08> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/translate/english-spanish/equality | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783396106.71/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154956-00151-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.942332 | 106 | 3.171875 | 3 |
For Norris McDonald, saving the environment couldn’t be more personal. Suffering from chronic acute asthma, he’s come close to death on two occasions: in the ’90s he spent several days in the intensive care unit of a Maryland hospital suffering from respiratory failure. And McDonald says pollution is a key reason his asthma worsened to a now chronic and life threatening state. “Smog has greatly contributed to my condition and has made me much more committed to the cause,” says McDonald.
The founder of the African American Environmentalist Association, a Maryland based nonprofit organization, McDonald is passionate about increasing the participation of African Americans in the environmental movement. An essential component of that is focusing on environmental policy matters from an African American perspective, which often means putting a spotlight on environmental racism.
It was while working as a researcher for Friends of the Earth, an environmental advocacy group on Capitol Hill, that McDonald was struck by the lack of blacks in the field. “I saw how the environment touches every aspect of our lives,” says McDonald, “and that African Americans are often the ones affected the most when it goes bad.” In response to the lack of diversity in the environmental movement, McDonald started the AAEA in 1985 in hopes of addressing environmental issues as well as educating African Americans.
McDonald believes that it’s important to reach the African American community in relatable ways. “I’m trying to break the stigma and stereotypes of what an environmentalist is, and repackage it to reach our community,” he says. And the Internet is an essential tool. “Young African Americans are Internet savvy and it serves as a vehicle to educate,” he explains. The group’s Website, www.aaenvironment.com, which has 10,000 registered users, includes a blog in which McDonald discusses environmental news and showcases the group’s stance on various issues.
The organization also reaches its target audience through various programs including an internship that pairs black youth with environmental groups in Washington, D.C., and volunteer efforts to clean up area creeks and replace furnaces in public housing buildings.
McDonald hopes that the group will hit home with African Americans when it comes to issues that they can relate to, one being asthma. In 2004, 3.5 million African Americans suffered from asthma, the highest prevalence for any other ethnic group according to the American Lung Association.
“Asthma is an environmental issue that affects everyone, especially inner-city children who don’t have air conditioning and are forced to ride a smog-polluted bus with their mother,” says McDonald. “Black people have the power to influence policy issues just as long as they are educated and aware of the issues.” He says exercising their rights is especially important given that environmental racism is still prevalent in many inner-city neighborhoods. According to the American Lung Association, 71% of African Americans live in counties that have violated federal air pollution standards. “Our communities are often the path of least resistance for waste,” he explains. McDonald | <urn:uuid:c65666f1-6be4-4b96-a480-9dab48fff301> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.blackenterprise.com/lifestyle/environmental-group-strives-to-educate/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783394414.43/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154954-00054-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.962796 | 640 | 2.96875 | 3 |
The Two Envelope Paradox:
A Simple Version of Our
Eric Schwitzgebel and Josh Dever
The Paradox. You are presented with a choice between two envelopes. You know one envelope contains twice as much money as the other, but you donít know which contains more. You arbitrarily choose one envelope -- call it Envelope A -- but do not open it. Call the amount of money in that envelope X. Since your choice was arbitrary, Envelope B is 50% likely to be the envelope with more and 50% likely to be the envelope with less. Applying the standard expectation formula, you then calculate the expected value of switching to Envelope B as .50 * 1/2 X + .50 * 2X = 1.25X. This is essentially the same calculation as you would perform for a coin flip that gave you a 50% chance of doubling your money and a 50% chance of halving it. Since double or nothing is a fair bet on a coin flip, double or half is more than fair. You ought to switch to Envelope B. But obviously that is absurd: A symmetrical calculation could persuade you to switch back to Envelope A. Hence the paradox.
But why is it absurd? Where has your calculation gone wrong?
An Analogously Absurd Case. Our solution to this paradox essentially analogizes the reasoning above to the following reasoning, where the source of the problem is more obvious: You are presented with an envelope containing either $1, $2, $10, or $20 with equal probability. You are given the choice between two wagers. On the first, you receive twice the amount of money in the envelope, if the amount in the envelope is $1 or $2, or just the amount of money in the envelope if the amount in the envelope is $10 or $20. The second wager is the reverse: You receive twice the amount of money in the envelope if the envelope contains $10 or $20 and just the amount of money in the envelope if it contains $1 or $2. Assigning X to the amount in the envelope, you reason that on either bet there is a 50% chance you will receive X and a 50% chance you will receive 2X, so you are indifferent between the two bets.
Wager 1 Wager 2
$1 * 2 $1
$2 * 2 $2
Clearly, however, the second wager is preferable. It's much better to have the chance to double $10 or $20 than to have the chance to double $1 or $2. The proposed fallacious calculation is fallacious because it does not take that into account. (The actual expectation, which can be calculated on a case-by-case basis, is $9 for the first wager and $15.75 for the second.) In Wager 1, the expected value of X in the "2X" part of the formula is much lower than the expected value of X in the "X" part of the formula; in Wager 2, the reverse is the case.
The Solution. Analogously, in the Two Envelope Paradox, the expected value of X in the "2X" part of the formula (where Envelope A is the envelope with less) is less than the expected value in the "1/2 X" part of the formula (where Envelope A is the envelope with more). You would expect less in Envelope A if you knew that it was the envelope with less than you would if you knew it was the envelope with more. Allowing X to have different expectations in different parts of the formula in this way is like comparing apples and oranges. The "X" in the "2X" just isn't the same as the "X" in the "1/2 X" part.
The better calculation in the Two Envelope Paradox involves setting X to the amount in the envelope with less and calculating the expected value of Envelope B as (.5)X + (.5)2X = 3/2 X -- and the expected value Envelope A likewise as (.5)X + (.5)2X = 3/2 X. In these calculations the expectation of X in the first term of each equation is identical to its expectation in the second term: The expected amount of money in the envelope with less does not change depending on whether Envelope A is the envelope with more or Envelope B is.
In general, we propose as a constraint on the use of variables within the expectation formula that their expected value be the same at each occurrence in the formula. For a more technical paper on this matter see our "The Two Envelope Paradox and Using Variables Within the Expectation Formula".
Email me with comments, if you like, at eschwitz at domain- ucr.edu.
Return to Eric Schwitzgebel's homepage. | <urn:uuid:f6eb4a25-6fa6-4ff0-898c-603d7bdfb87c> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.faculty.ucr.edu/~eschwitz/SchwitzAbs/TwoEnvelopeSimple.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783395560.14/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154955-00113-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.951223 | 1,018 | 2.8125 | 3 |
Artichokes Hearts Organic
It appears that the artichoke was first developed in Sicily, Italy. There is mention of the plant in Greek and Roman literature as far back as 77AD. Artichokes were cultivated by the North African Moors near Granada Spain about 800AD. The choke made to England in about 1548 but was not well received. The Spanish settlers brought artichokes to California in the 1600's. They did not become widely grown or used in California until the 1920's. "In 1922 Andrew Molera, a landowner in the Salinas Valley of Monterey County, California, just south of San Francisco, decided to lease land previously dedicated to the growing of sugar beets to farmers willing to try the “new� vegetable. His reasons were economic—already artichokes were fetching high prices and farmers could pay Molera triple what the sugar company did for the same land. By 1929 artichokes were the third largest cash crop in the Valley The Artichoke Heart Once you've eaten all the leaves you'll see the heart or flower of the choke. By the way, the leaves closest to the heart of the choke are very tender and depending on the size and age of the choke you can frequently eat the whole cluster of leaves. Once you see a bed of fuzzy or hair like strands you've hit the heart. Scoop out the fuzz with a spoon and discard. The rest of the base of the choke is edible, referred to as the heart. This is the favorite part of the artichoke for some people. Organic food is produced by farmers who emphasize the use of renewable resources and the conservation of soil and water to enhance environmental quality for future generations. Organic meat, poultry, eggs, and dairy products come from animals that are given no antibiotics or growth hormones. Organic food is produced without using most conventional pesticides; fertilizers made with synthetic ingredients or sewage sludge; bioengineering; or ionizing radiation. Before a product can be labeled "organic," a Government-approved certifier inspects the farm where the food is grown to make sure the farmer is following all the rules necessary to meet USDA organic standards. Companies that handle or process organic food before it gets to your local supermarket or restaurant must be certified. | <urn:uuid:7dc3ce6b-f113-4d4a-8579-f33001ae7f3a> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.foodfacts.com/ci/ingredientsoverlay/artichokes-hearts-organic/14197 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783395560.69/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154955-00095-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.964116 | 467 | 2.828125 | 3 |
As we stated yesterday, June and July are slated as “National Fireworks Safety Month.” Probably there are many “eager beavers” out there that are already stocking up on fireworks. Because of drought conditions in many parts of the country, fireworks will be banned. Please observe warnings from county/city officials.
Judy Comoletti, National Fire Protection Association’s Division Manager of Public Education, states: “Fireworks are dangerous and unpredictable, especially in the hands of amateurs. The few seconds of pleasure those fireworks may bring are not worth risking injury, permanent scarring, or even death.” Wooded areas, homes, and even automobiles have become engulfed in flames because of fireworks. (Haven’t we had enough wildfires already?) Fireworks-related fires have typically caused at least $20 million in property loss each year for recent years. Bottle rockets or other types of rockets are some of the main causes of structure fire property loss.
Dr. John Hall, NFPA’s Division Manager of Fire Analysis and Research says, “when things go wrong with fireworks, they go very wrong, very fast, far faster than any fire protective provisions can reliably respond.”
We mentioned yesterday that more than 8,000 Americans spent part of the July 4th in emergency rooms because of fireworks injuries. Contusions, lacerations and foreign bodies in the eye, in addition to permanent loss of vision are just part of the injuries caused by fireworks. However, 1,600 eye injuries tells us that the sight of shooting off fireworks for a few minutes’ thrill is not worth gambling on your vision, or hurting any other part of the body.
Fireworks must be treated with respect, if you plan to shoot them off. Read all the warnings and cautions and use common sense. As we said earlier, if there is a burn ban, forget it. If you should see someone misusing fireworks, stop them. Do not let children under 12 handle sparklers. Fireworks and alcohol don’t mix; have a “designated shooter.”
Most people do not want to risk losing a home that they have worked their life for by playing around with fireworks. Public fireworks displays are one of the safest alternatives to using fireworks on the Fourth of July. Conducted by trained professionals, these displays are the safest and smartest fireworks alternative for anyone, because they are established under controlled settings and regulations. After these displays or any other time, children should never pick up fireworks that may be left over, because they could discharge by still being active. Children should always tell an adult if they find fireworks.
Facts worth repeating (in case they haven’t all been mentioned):
- More fires are reported in the U.S. on July 4th than any other day of the year, and fireworks account for more than half of those fires, more than any other cause of fire.
- In 2009, fireworks caused an estimated 18,000 reported fires, including 1,300 total structure fires, 400 vehicle fires, and 16,300 outside and other fires. These fires resulted in no reported civilian deaths, 30 civilian injuries, and $38 million in direct property damage.
- In 2009, U.S. hospital emergency rooms treated an estimated 8,800 for fireworks related injuries; 53% of 2009 emergency room fireworks-related injuries were to the extremities and 42% were to the head.
- The risk of fireworks injuries was highest for children ages 10-14, with more than twice the risk for the general population.
- Few people understand the associated risks – devastating burns, other injuries, fires, and even death, permanent scarring, loss of vision, dismemberment that could result.
- Amateur fireworks use endangers not only the users, but also bystanders and surrounding property and structures.
One look at all the wildfires that are happening throughout the country easily displays the devastation that one spark can cause. How about giving our firefighters a break this year? There are some spectacular live fireworks shows on television, and with the HD quality of the pictures you see, pop some popcorn and watch it at home. That way you won’t have to fight the mosquitoes or traffic! Have a safe one! P.S. Please keep Fido in a safe place (on the couch with you), or in a room where the noise won’t frighten him. Animals are more sensitive to noise, so keep that in mind. For all they know, the popping sounds could be guns. Thanks.
Source: NFPA, Firewise.org | <urn:uuid:293f7f0c-8ee8-4240-b121-c7e9dc49db6a> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.blog4safety.com/2011/06/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783397865.91/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154957-00070-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.954194 | 947 | 2.84375 | 3 |
4.6. Narrative embedding
We have already introduced the general notion of enunicative level, relative to the use of direct speech in a text. Narrative levels are simply enunciative levels where the quoted speech is a narrative. A character in a story tells a story (about his past, for instance, or a fictional story) and that story is situated at a narrative level which is secondary with respect to the main story.
What Genette calls intradiegetic story is a story within a story,
not only in the sense that the first frames it with a preamble and a conclusion . . . but also in the sense that the narrator of the second narrative is already a character in the first one, and that the act of narrating which produces the second narrative is an event recounted in the first one. (Narrative Discourse 228).
Although the identity of the intradiegetic narrator and his status as a character need not always be that clear, this might be taken to represent the standard situation. It should be kept in mind, however, that many other types of embedded enunciations can be found, in which the embedded element is not a narrative. It may be a poem or a piece of statistics, and even if it is a narrative it can be very different from the main one: for instance, a piece of news report, or a letter, embedded in a novel.
An intradiegetic story can contain another story which is intradiegetic with respect to it. In absolute terms, from the point of view of the complete structure of the work, this story will therefore be intradiegetic in the second degree (metadiegetic, according to Genette). The "main" narrator, the one who introduces the hierarchically superior level, is situated in an extradiegetic position--insofar as he is a narrator; he may, of course, be at the same time a character inside the story and be inside the diegesis in that sense, but Genette will use there the term homodiegetic. There is always an extradiegetic narrator of some kind or other in a narrative work, though there need not be any intradiegetic narrators. It is important to separate this issue of narrative level from the question of narrative person we have mentioned before: an extradiegetic narrator may tell the story in the first or in the third person; in Genette's terms, he may be either homodiegetic or heterodiegetic. The same goes for intradietetic narrators. That is, the opposition intradiegetic / extradiegetic situates the narrator with respect to the whole narrative hierarchy of the work, whereas the opposition homodiegetic / heterodiegetic defines the narrator in terms of his own narration--which need not encompass the whole work.
Genette observes the peculiar use of intradiegetic stories in a whole tradition of narrative writing, and proceeds then to an exasmination of the main relationships between the embedded narratives and the main text. In his Nouveau discours, he adds some indications by John Barth to distinguish five main types:
1) Causal relationship: when both narratives refer to the same fabula, the intradiegetic narrative may be analeptic and explicative of the events in the main fabula.
2) When we find an intradiegetic proleptic narrative, the function is of prediction.
3) The third type of relationship is purely thematic. This often happens in the case of fictional embedded stories. An extreme form, in Genette's view (Narrative Discourse 233) is the structure of mise en abyme.
4) Sometimes the thematic relationship is made explicit by one of the characters, and the story acquires an explicit exemplary, persuasive value. This is the case, for instance, of exempla in medieval narrative.
5) Sometimes it is not the story but its narrating which establishes the significant connection with the main story: Genette's favourite example is the Thousand and One Nights, where only the narrating keeps the intradiegetic narrator alive. In other cases, the function of the narrating may be purely distractive (as in the Decameron).
These five types are classified according to a greater importance of the narrative act itself. And all of these values may be mixed in a variety of degrees in concrete narratives.
Embedding, Metalepsis and Mise en abyme
We have said that by definition the barrier between reality and fiction cannot be crossed. This is also the case for the other kinds of barriers that we have studied, deriving mainly from the difference between the sign and the referent. The sign cannot suddenly become its referent--in those cases when it comes, we feel that it should not.
But we have also witnessed the prolifereation of barriers and distinctions within those fictional, represented or quoted worlds. And these barriers, intradiegetic or fictional in the second degree, are no longer impassable. Although they lay a claim to the same logical status as the border between the first and the second level, they are in fact very different: they are textual constructions which can be modified and transgressed at will--as long as we do not care so much about verisimilitude. Genette uses the term metalepsis to refer to the transition from one narrative level to another. In spite of this definition, he seems to include there the transitions from one semiotic level to another and from a fictional level to another as well. But we could divide these "metalepses" into as many kinds as the barriers they overstep. So, if an intradiegetic narrator suddenly becomes extradiegetic (as it happens at one moment in Marguerite de Navarre's Heptaméron) the phenomenon is analogous to, but not to be confused with an illegal mixture of fictional worlds--for instance, in Marguerite Yourcenar's "Comment Wang-Fô fut sauvé", where a painter avoids execution by painting a picture and escaping through that fictional landscape.
Thanks to the rich development of narrative theory the analysis of literary texts has prodigiously advanced in the latest twenty years. The basic threefold division of fiction into fabula, story and text have helped the narratologist carry out a much more systematic and accurate analysis of particular texts.
For the critic who approaches a novel, the establishment of boundaries between this particular novel and other novels written by the same or a different author is easily made. A novel easily meets Bal's requirements to be called a "text", for, to all probability it possesses 1) temporal continuity; has 2) textual coherence and, although this is not a sine qua non requirement, usually is 3) the product of a unique narrative instance.
However, the establishment of textual unity becomes more problematic when the critic has to deal, not with a novel, but with a collection of short stories: although the collection appears as a unique object, a single book you can buy, one is tempted, as Mieke Bal (1985:?) points out, to consider it as a group of texts.
Within a collection of short stories considered as a whole Bal (Narratology 142) distinguishes: the narrator's text, which she terms "primary" text; and the actor's text, which is the "secondary" text embedded in the primary text:
The dependence of the actor's text with regard to the narrator's text should be seen as the dependence of a subordinate clause to a main clause. According to this principle, narrator's text and actor's text are not of equal status. The hierarchical position of the texts is indicated by the fundamental principle of level. (Narratology 143)
Thus, in the case of Bal's chosen example, The Arabian Nights, we find a primary text (Sheherazade's own story) which engulfs the other actors' texts (the tales told by Sheherazade) like a frame. The tales told by Sheherazade and Sheherazade's own story are related to each other by a double binding: the development of the action of the main story is determined by the continuation of the secondary stories as these are by the development of the main story within which they are framed. Bal (Narratologie 61-2) calls this kind of double subordination enchâssement (enchaining).
If the subordination functions only in one direction, that is to say, if the fact of telling the secondary story or stories does not affect the development of the main story, as happens in The Decameron and in The Canterbury Tales, we can speak with Bal of encadrement (framing). Corregir
Enchaining and framing are, then, the two basic ways in which different short stories belonging to the same collection are related to each other. Another possible relationship between the two texts presents itself when the two fabulas of these embedded texts are related to each other: the embedded story, then, can explain the primary story, or it may resemble the primary story.
In the first case the relationship is made explicit by the actor narrating the embedded story, as happens in the following example: A primary narrator tells the story of a boy who asks a girl to marry him. She loves him, and would rise on the social scale by marrying him. Still she cannot accept him. The reason is (the girl herself narrates: that in the past, she has been seduced by a ruthless villain with the usual consequences. Since that time she carries the stain of her contact with a perfidious man who took advantage of her innocence. He seduced her in the following manner...). The girl retires to a nunnery, and the boy soon forgets her. Citar
In other cases, however, an explanation of the starting situation may also lead to change. For instance, if the young man had been very moved by the sad account of his beloved's past, and recognized her innocence, he might have come to the conclusion that he wished to forget the past. Thus he would "give her a second chance". In this case the embedded fabula not only explains the primary fabula, but also determines it.
Resemblance between the main text and the embedded narrative leads us to a form of textual self-reference, mise en abyme, which we shall study under the heading of reflexivity.
The original use of metalepsis, as defined by Genette's source Pierre Fontanier, covers a range of rhetorical phenomena much wider than the one Genette implies. | <urn:uuid:fd528707-7ab5-4c13-a7e1-59ba7be3e9e6> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.unizar.es/departamentos/filologia_inglesa/garciala/publicaciones/structuralnarratology/4.Narration/4.6.Embedding.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783404405.88/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624155004-00121-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.948633 | 2,194 | 3.5625 | 4 |
Profile: Margaret Rouse
|First a little background to help explain some of the terms, etc. “Python” is a language, similar to how “Java” is a language; unlike Java wherein the language is also relatively synonymous with the actual implementation of that language, Python has multiple implementations. If you’ve run python(1) from the command line, you’re most likely running the CPython implementation of the Python language, in effect, Python implemented in C. Other implementations of Python exist, like Jython (implemented on top of the Java virtual machine), PyPy (Python implemented in Python), and IronPython (Python implemented on top of the .NET CLR).
R. Tyler Ballance, Comparing IronPython and CPython | <urn:uuid:66cbb0b9-06ff-4e66-80be-4afb83d0f595> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://itknowledgeexchange.techtarget.com/overheard/overheard-the-multiple-implementations-of-python/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783392099.27/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154952-00068-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.812519 | 159 | 2.625 | 3 |
Linked Data Explorer
Physical activity and obesity
- "Physical Activity and Obesity, Second Edition, addresses an array of topics that explore and divulge the links between physical activity (or inactivity) and obesity. Leading scientists from various backgrounds team up to provide an unrivaled resource examining the latest research and developments in the field. Each chapter provides researchers and practitioners with a clear explanation of the concepts, research techniques, and results of studies critical to understanding physical activity and the obesity epidemic. In the 10 years since the first edition of this book was published, the field of physical activity and obesity has mushroomed with new research, sparking the need for not only a new edition but an innovative and refreshing approach to the contents. Editors Bouchard and Katzmarzyk create a go-to resource with 89 succinct, authoritative chapters that may be used independently or as a complete text. Packed with the most up-to-date information linking obesity and physical activity, this comprehensive book delves into areas of uncertainty and controversy instead of avoiding them or skirting the issues; emphasizes, where appropriate, the underlying mechanisms between physical activity and obesity; and points to research areas that need further exploration and attention. The unique format, expert contributors, and complete references make Physical Activity and Obesity, Second Edition, indispensable for all readers studying the ever-expanding topic of obesity as it relates to physical activity."
- "Electronic books"
- "Electronic books"@en
- "Physical Activity and Obesity"
- "Physical activity and obesity"
- "Physical activity and obesity"@en | <urn:uuid:25d92eef-1ae9-4c42-a514-3c7add200427> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://experiment.worldcat.org/entity/work/data/353036177 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783399106.96/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154959-00089-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.908148 | 321 | 2.515625 | 3 |
Today's Media Influences on Young Children
- Grades: PreK–K
Children's Books to Share
The Bionic Bunny Show by Marc Brown. Children learn that what is seen on television is not what it appears to be in this behind-the-scenes look at an unlikely superhero.
Click, Clack, Moo: Cows That Type by Doreen Cronin. After the farmer's hens acquire a typewriter, they use the power of the press to communicate and make demands for better working conditions.
Fix-it by David McPhail. What can a child find to do when the family television set is broken - maybe share a book?
One Tough Turkey: A Thanksgiving Story by Steven Kroll. At Thanksgiving time, a group of turkeys launch a media campaign to persuade the hunters that a vegan meal is a better alternative.
The Wretched Stone by Chris Van Allsburg
In this allegory that seems to parallel the effects of mindless TV viewing, a group of sailors become mesmerized by watching a glowing stone and turn into primates, with nearly disastrous results for the operation of the ship.
Five-year-old Claire's family is home to Hobbes, a new "designer" cat that looks like a miniature tiger. As the kindergartner explained, "Mommy named him Hobbes, you know, like the cartoon Calvin and Hobbes. If you want to see pictures of what he looks like, just Google ‘Toygers.' He can't have babies 'cause he's been neutralized." Claire's comment touches upon three major types of popular media: the newspaper, the Internet, and television (she was familiar with a television commercial in which a spray "neutralizes odors" and substituted that word for the less familiar "neutered"). As Claire's experience illustrates, children are inundated with messages from the popular media, and may interpret them differently than adults.
Given the proliferation of media messages in today's world, it stands to reason that these messages may have the potential to shape what children know, think, and do. Research on the human brain suggests that powerful visual images grab our attention and stay in our memories, and these images are the mainstay of the media. Unfortunately, media portrayals of diversity, acceptance, and inclusion often are severely limited, and the potential for this to impact the world view of children is troubling. As educators, we have a unique opportunity to help young children navigate the media messages that surround them and help them to accept and celebrate differences - a perspective that isn't often found in the popular media. To do this, we must realize that:
Children are exposed to stereotypical portrayals of race, gender, ethnicity, and social relationships in the media. When a four-year-old child was asked what her mother would do now that she had earned her doctorate, the boy replied, "I don't know - I don't think she can be a doctor. I think she has to be a nurse." The child's answer had been shaped by his babysitter's daily habit of watching soap operas in which the men were the doctors and the women, the nurses. In addition, studies have shown that more often than not, the villains in children's programming are of indeterminate (but not Caucasian) race, are older women, speak English with an accent, or do not have families. Viewing these messages for many hours can exert a strong influence over what children expect and accept as "normal."
There often is a discrepancy between children's direct experience and what they see in the media. For example, statistically speaking, a classroom would include children from various minority groups, children from low-income families, and children with disabilities. Yet media depictions of classrooms typically concentrate on white, upper middle class children and a few highly stereotyped minorities. Teachers can point out and discuss the discrepancies between the child's own classroom and the relatively homogenous classrooms depicted in the media. Another type of misleading information is evident in advertising directed at children. Most young children have seen captivating toys in a television commercial and later been disappointed to discover that these items require complicated assembly, quickly drain batteries, or that each item pictured is "sold separately." The identification of these misleading or false messages is a way to begin teaching young children to become more media literate.
Certain media messages directly contradict the messages of kindness and compassion we want children to embrace. Although we may be well aware of the "isms," there are other types of stereotyping and prejudice that are everywhere in the media. Overweight individuals, for example, are portrayed as eating constantly or consuming huge portions of food. Most comedies include at least one sight gag to reinforce the message that those who are overweight deserve to be ridiculed. It is not surprising, then, that overweight children are a primary target for teasing and bullying, and, in studies of children's responses to different body types, the ones who were overweight had cruel labels heaped upon them, such as "ugly," "stupid," and "lazy." We can't assume that all children's programs are equally acceptable. If time allows, watch some popular children's programs and look at them thoughtfully for the subtle and the sometimes not-so-subtle lessons that are conveyed.
Children often imitate what they see in the media, with media messages coming through in their play. A preschool teacher was surprised to overhear three girls begging one of their classmates to "play Emeril Live again!" The boy would stand at the wooden stove, manipulate the various plastic food replicas around, and then add imaginary spices with a flourish and call out, "BAM!" At other times, children may imitate what they see with less acceptable results. Matthew, for example, had watched several Pirates of the Caribbean videos and decided to act just like Jack Sparrow. In the process, he knocked over a block structure that three children had worked on throughout the free play period. His teacher wisely decided that it was not enough to say "sorry" and move on; rather, Matthew had to cease swashbuckling long enough to help rebuild the block structure in addition to making his apologies.
Without a doubt, the popular media affect children's perceptions, not only of others, but of themselves. A first step is to accept the fact that the media are not "neutral"; rather, they may have a potent and pervasive influence on children. Therefore, the best approach is to work with families to monitor - and when possible, take steps to counteract - the messages allowed into children's homes and schools, hearts and minds. | <urn:uuid:0701e69c-210a-4ceb-8270-4aa4fd9caaab> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.scholastic.com/teachers/article/todays-media-influences-young-children | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783393518.22/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154953-00079-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.971139 | 1,344 | 3.328125 | 3 |
- now (adv.)
- Old English nu "now, at present, immediately; now that," also used as an interjection and as an introductory word; common Germanic (Old Norse nu, Dutch nu, Old Frisian nu, German nun, Gothic nu "now"), from PIE *nu "now" (source also of Sanskrit and Avestan nu, Old Persian nuram, Hittite nuwa, Greek nu, nun, Latin nunc, Old Church Slavonic nyne, Lithuanian nu, Old Irish nu-). Perhaps originally "newly, recently," and related to the root of new.
Often merely emphatic; non-temporal usage (as in Now, then) was in Old English. The adjective meaning "up to date" first recorded 1967, but the word was used also as an adjective in Middle English with the sense "current" from late 14c. Now and then "occasionally" is from 1530s; now or never attested from 1550s. | <urn:uuid:3cdaeb77-0b1a-406b-8e93-40f71edd1fc0> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://etymonline.com/index.php?term=now&allowed_in_frame=0 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783397111.67/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154957-00112-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.966014 | 211 | 3.046875 | 3 |
Monitoring their children is one way mothers use new technology. The survey
published in the September issue of Parenting Magazine found that 88 per cent of the 1,032 moms surveyed monitor what their kids are doing and most use parental controls. Most kids know that their moms are keeping an eye on them.
Today's kids are very likely to have mom saying that they have a certain amount of time on the computer and where they surf is allowed within the controls that have been pre-set.
While moms do know that there are threats out there most don't see it happening to their kids. Only 5 percent believe that their kid engages in addictive online behaviour like excessive gaming, fewer (4%) think that their kid has seen out porn online and a mere 1 percent think that their kid has been involved with cyber-bullying, sexting or inappropriate online communication with adults.
"The results of this survey were very encouraging," said Nancy Hallberg, chief strategy officer of The Parenting Group in a press release. "Today's moms are not fearful of technology and its growing role in their family's lives – they view it not only as a tool to connect with other moms, but as a way to communicate with their children and teach them responsible ways to interact online. This mindset provides marketers and content developers with an enormous opportunity to help educate moms about the ways to use technology to their advantage as parents."
While the moms are confident that their kids are safe from some of the dangers online they may be wrong.
79% of youth unwanted exposure to pornography occurs in the home according to Enough.org.
Over half of the world-wide child porn domains are housed in the United States.
In the United States alone there are over 644,000 registered sex offenders. When sexual predators go on the web they generally let kids know that they are adults. In 73 percent of crimes involving youth and offenders the youth went to meet the offender on multiple occasions.
Teens are savvy when it comes to their internet use. Almost half of teen users clear their history to hide where they surf from their parents. Often teens close or minimize their browser when they hear footsteps coming. Eleven percent have admitted to unlocking those parental controls.
Over half of teens have given out personal information online. Girls are more likely to share photos or descriptions of themselves than boys.
Twenty percent of teens have engaged in cyber-bulling.
About a quarter of teens would give betrayed by their parents if they knew that their parents were checking their online activity.
Almost all Canadian male students aged 13 to 14 and 70% of girls in the same age group have viewed porn online at least once.
While parents can have protections in place they need to be aware that teens are likely to break the rules at some point. Letting your kids know that you are aware of the dangers and warning them often of those dangers tend to have kids who are more concerned about sharing personal info than kids whose parents aren't as involved. The kids with involved parents are less likely to meet someone face to face with those meet on the internet. | <urn:uuid:5c119b8a-56f4-45ad-88d8-7d436da92808> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/296030 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783394937.4/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154954-00058-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.976122 | 627 | 2.53125 | 3 |
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