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Montefiore News Releases
News ReleasesMontefiore Steps Up To Strike Out Stroke During May's Stroke Awareness Month
Community Education Defines Risk Factors and Signs of Stroke
NEW YORK (April 30, 2013) – In recognition of Stroke Awareness Month in May, Montefiore Medical Center’s Stern Stroke Center is increasing its efforts to save lives by educating people about the risks and warning signs of stroke, which kills more than 130,000 Americans each year. Throughout the month, Montefiore’s stroke experts will participate in screenings and educational activities in support of the American Stroke Association’s (ASA) “Strike Out Stroke” campaign.
A stroke occurs when a blood clot blocks the blood vessels to the brain or when a blood vessel bursts in the brain, which is called an aneurysm. More than 800,000 Americans suffer strokes each year. A stroke can result in paralysis, difficulty speaking or even death if not treated quickly, usually within three hours.
“Stroke is the fourth largest cause of death and the leading cause of disability in the United States, and most people who are at risk for stroke aren’t even aware of it,” said Daniel Labovitz, M.D., director, Stern Stroke Center, Montefiore Medical Center. “Educating the public about the risk factors and warning signs of stroke will save many lives and prevent many more from being permanently changed by disability. Increased awareness is a passion of every member of the Montefiore team and we hope our efforts during Stroke Awareness Month will impact our patients and their families.”
Conditions that increase the risk of stroke include hypertension, high cholesterol, diabetes and obesity. Having a family history of stroke increases the risk, and some ethnic groups also have a higher risk, including African Americans and Hispanics. Other risk factors include tobacco and alcohol use, and physical inactivity.
Knowing risk factors and recognizing the signs of stroke are key. The ASA promotes the F.A.S.T. system to help witnesses recognize the signs of a stroke and act quickly. F.A.S.T. stands for:
Face - does one side of the face droop?
Arms - does an arm drift downward listlessly when the person tries to raise it?
Speech - is the person’s speech slurred or strange?
Time - if you recognize any of these signs, it’s important to call 911 immediately.
To help spread the word, the Montefiore stroke team is participating in a number of screenings and educational activities, including a class to teach elementary school children to recognize the signs of stroke using F.A.S.T., a Twitter Chat and daily tweets about stroke. Community events scheduled to date are:
May 4 Stroke Education
10 AM to 3 PM
St. Luke’s Episcopal Church Health Fair, 777 E. 222nd St., Bronx, NY
May 17 Hypertension Screening and Stroke Education
Bronx Week Health Fair
1 PM to 4 PM
Hostos Community College, 500 Grand Concourse, Bronx, NY
May 20 Twitter Chat: Stroke Risks and Warning Signs
1 – 2 PM
Follow us at @MontefioreNYC
“Montefiore’s patient population faces a greater-than-average risk for stroke due to high rates of hypertension, diabetes and obesity in the Bronx,” said Steven M. Safyer, M.D., president and chief executive officer, Montefiore Medical Center. “As an academic medical center committed to improving the health of the community we serve, Stroke Month provides a great opportunity to increase awareness through education and screenings. We want to start a conversation about health that extends beyond our walls, to kitchen tables and places of worship.”
The Stern Stroke Center at Montefiore Medical Center, founded in 1988, is named in honor of the late Fred and Lotte Stern. As a primary stroke center designated by the New York State Department of Health, Montefiore has the ability to identify and treat victims of stroke rapidly and efficiently, with immediate access to specialty neurological care, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The Center treats more than 1,000 patients annually, making it the second busiest stroke center in the state.
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Magnetic 'Spin Battery' Could Someday Power Electric Cars
Researchers at the University of Miami and at the Universities of Tokyo and Tohoku, Japan, have been able to prove the existence of a "spin battery," a battery that is "charged" by applying a large magnetic field to nano-magnets in a device called a magnetic tunnel junction (MTJ).
The new technology is a step towards the creation of computer hard drives with no moving parts, which would be much faster, less expensive and use less energy than current ones. In the future, the new battery could be developed to power cars. The study will be published in an upcoming issue of Nature and is available in an online advance publication of the journal.
The device created by University of Miami Physicist Stewart E. Barnes, of the College of Arts and Sciences and his collaborators can store energy in magnets rather than through chemical reactions. Like a winding up toy car, the spin battery is "wound up" by applying a large magnetic field --no chemistry involved. The device is potentially better than anything found so far, said Barnes.
"We had anticipated the effect, but the device produced a voltage over a hundred times too big and for tens of minutes, rather than for milliseconds as we had expected," Barnes said. "That this was counterintuitive is what lead to our theoretical understanding of what was really going on."
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Multiple personality disorder is a condition in which two or more distinct identities or personalities alternately take control in the same person. Each personality is unaware of any others.
The symptoms of multiple personality disorder can be sudden, gradual, fleeting, or chronic. Each personality has full range of mental functions. Certain identities may emerge in certain circumstances. The personalities often have different names and characteristics. The personalities may be quite different from the primary one.
The cause of multiple personality disorder is thought to be psychological trauma, such as chronic physical abuse or sexual abuse, in childhood. The disorder is more common in females than males.
The following symptoms may indicate multiple personality disorder:
The symptoms of multiple personality disorder usually begin in childhood. However, they may not become noticeable to others until many years later. The diagnosis should be made only after complete medical, psychological, and psychiatric assessments are done. Usually, psychological testing is done to confirm the presence of two or more distinct personalities.
If trauma occurs, especially in childhood, the healthcare provider should be consulted. Psychotherapy may be helpful to the child, to minimize risk of future problems such as multiple personality disorder.
A multiple personality disorder is usually chronic, and the person's ability to function can be severely impaired.
Aggressive or hostile identities in a person with multiple personality disorder may place others at risk for violence.
Treatment of a multiple personality diorder usually involves long-term therapy or counseling. Individual psychotherapy is most often the treatment of choice. Therapy focuses on helping the person to:
Antidepressant medications may be used to control moods or symptoms.
Side effects depend on the medications used, but may include drowsiness or allergic reactions.
The rate of relapse for a person with multiple personality disorder is fairly high. It is more likely when the person is under stress, or when an incident triggers childhood memories.
Multiple personality disorder is monitored by the person and the family. If the episodes become more frequent or more intense, the healthcare provider should be consulted.
Author:Ann Reyes, Ph.D.
Editor:Duff, Ellen, BA
Reviewer:Gail Hendrickson, RN, BS
Principles and Practice of Psychiatric Nursing, Stuart and Sundeen, 1991
Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders IV, 1994
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04 January 2012
There could be light at the end of the tunnel for the 50 million people worldwide who suffer from epilepsy.
An innovative new research project to develop a system that will electronically detect epileptic seizures and halt them has got the go-ahead following funding from the Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET) as part of its A F Harvey Engineering Research Prize.
The neuroscientist behind the project, Prof Edward S Boyden, proposes to create an implantable prosthetic that will detect electrical activity associated with seizures, and then use light to rapidly drive or silence key neurons, halting the seizure.
It is hoped that Prof Boyden’s research will identify a treatment which will make specific neurons in the brain sensitive to being driven or silenced by light, taking advantage of “optogenetic” modular technologies that have already been developed. A wirelessly-powered implant and controlled light source could be triggered externally, enabling the precise activation of silencing of specific neurons in the brain.
Prof Boyden, from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, has been named as the inaugural recipient of the IET’s A F Harvey Engineering Research Prize. It is worth £300,000 and is awarded in recognition of his outstanding contributions to research in medical engineering.
Prof Boyden said: "Over the last several years, we've developed a suite of molecular tools that make neurons activatable or silenceable by pulses of light. These tools are in widespread use in science, because they let you turn brain cells on or off, thus revealing what the cells do in the brain. We're eager to keep expanding this toolbox, and also to help figure out clinical uses for the tools as novel therapeutics."
Nigel Fine, IET Chief Executive, said: “Prof Boyden’s outstanding research into technologies that enable the electrical activity of brain cells to be controlled by light, has opened up the possibility of new kinds of treatments for otherwise untreatable brain disorders.
“Prof Boyden is a worthy recipient of the first ever IET A F Harvey Engineering Research Prize. I am confident that the funding will accelerate his work and the results will be of great use to medical science and those who have epilepsy. I am delighted that this award has gone to such a worthy cause.”
Prof Boyden has been awarded the prize for his pioneering research contributions to, and development of, the field of optogenetics, which has the potential to enable new approaches to therapy. The research he proposes to undertake, making use of the prize fund, is focused on exploiting his advances in optogenetics to detect and suppress epileptic seizures.
Additional quotes from Prof Boyden:
About the Prize: "I am very honoured to be the first recipient of the A F Harvey Prize from the IET. I am excited about the award because it not only celebrates our prior work on inventing methods for controlling brain cells with light, but will help us support further research in our laboratory. This is a truly unique award and I'm very excited that our work is having impact on the world of science."
More detail on the research: "These ‘optogenetic’ tools are proteins known as opsins, found in organisms throughout the tree of life, that serve photosynthetic or photosensory roles, transforming light into electrical signals.
“When the genes encoding for these opsins are delivered to specific neurons via conventional gene delivery methods, then the electrical activity of those targeted neurons becomes controllable by light. Many groups around the world use these tools to turn on and off neurons in animal models of brain disorders, revealing the neurons that, when controlled, can most powerfully remedy the disorder.
“These neural targets, as they are found, can serve as future targets for drug discovery. We have also developed wireless, miniature, implantable 3-D light delivery devices that enable control of complex circuits in the brain. Our optical neural control technologies are beginning to enable new kinds of prototype neural control prosthetic– cell-targetable analogues to the implanted electrical neuromodulation devices that help hundreds of thousands of people sense and move."
About the IET AF Harvey Engineering Research Prize:
The award, worth £300,000, is named after Dr A F Harvey who bequeathed a generous sum of money to the IET for a trust fund to be set up in his name after his death. The terms of the trust specify that the money is to be used for the furtherance of scientific research into the fields of medical, microwave, laser or radar engineering. This award is made for the first time in 2011.
The IET will celebrate this inaugural prize with a high-profile event in London on 19 June 2012. At this event, Prof Boyden will give a talk on his research to an audience of leading engineers, scientists and business leaders.
About the IET:
The IET, a not-for-profit organisation, is a world-leading multi-disciplinary society and a trusted source of essential engineering intelligence. Part of its remit is promoting, recognising and rewarding excellence through its awards programmes, such as the IET A F Harvey Engineering Research Prize.
Interview opportunities are available with IET spokespersons.
For more information, please visit: www.theiet.org.
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A wider appreciation of the distinctive environmental character of the Watershed of Scotland will most surely appeal to those who love and value the best of our precious landscapes. Ribbon of Wildness – An Introduction and Guide to the Watershed of Scotland is due to be published in 2010; it will help to waken this sleeping giant. It will bring to a wider public, an eclectic mix of the Watersheds` key place in the geography of Scotland, evidence of its largely intact and continuous wildness throughout, outline many literary and historical references, and provide a wealth of both incident and interest on or around it. Finally, it will connect those who would `put their boots` on with a tantalizing physical, emotional and spiritual experience. More, much more to follow . . .
The Watershed of Scotland is a line that separates east from west; that divides those river catchment areas which drain towards the North Sea on the one hand, and those which flow west into the Atlantic Ocean on the other. It’s a line that meanders from Peel Fell on the English border all the way to the top at Duncansby Head, near John O` Groats – over twelve hundred kilometers, through almost every kind of terrain; hill and mountain, field, bog and forest. The Watershed follows the high ground, and offers wide vistas down almost every major river valley, across moor and loch, towards towns and communities, into the heartlands of Scotland. Read more...
To help to protect and promote the Watershed and its` wildness.
Contact Peter Wright MBE
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A Jesuit/Mercy Education
Detroit Mercy is Mercy and Jesuit
Detroit Mercy’s Catholic identity also reflects the tradition of our religious sponsors: the Society of Jesus (Jesuits) and the Sisters of Mercy of the Americas.
Ignatius Loyola founded the Society of Jesus in 1540 to "go anywhere in the world for the help of souls."
Jesuit schools recognized that teaching young people in urban areas served "the greater good," which led to an extraordinary global committment. In a half century, Jesuits had traveled to many parts of Latin America and Asia, seeking to learn what their faith might look like in non-European contexts. Jesuit schools grew in numbers as Jesuits traveled the world. Jesuits hoped that through their schools, students would develop virtue, critical thinking and love for the wide world as sacred to God.
Characteristics of a Jesuit education include:
- A passion for quality
- A study of the humanities and sciences, no matter the major
- An emphasis on ethics and values, personal and professional
- A religious experience inviting students to integrate knowledge and faith
- A student-centered focus
Beginning particularly with General Congregation 32 (1974), Jesuits have increasingly recognized the world-famous call of Superior General Pedro Arrupe that Jesuit schools train "Men and Women for Others."
Catherine McAuley began teaching young women and tending to the sick in Dublin, Ireland, in the early 1800s. To further her work, she founded the House of Mercy in 1827.
As Sisters of Mercy traveled from Ireland to other parts of the world to establish new foundations, they started schools and hospitals in response to local needs. Today, 17 colleges and universities form the Conference for Mercy Higher Education in the U.S.
Characteristics of a Mercy education include:
- Regard for the dignity of the person
- Academic excellence and life-long learning
- Education of the whole person — body, mind and spirit
- Compassion and justice for those in need, especially women and children
A hallmark of a Mercy education, reflective of Catherine McAuley and an expression of the Mercy mission, is a commitment to service that transforms society.
Fr. Joseph Daoust, S.J.,“Of Kingfishers and Dragonflies: Faith and Justice at the Core of Jesuit Education,” The Berkley Electronic Press, 2001.
Maryanne Stevens, RSM, Ph.D., “Mercy Higher Education: Culture and Characteristics,” Discussion Paper, Conference of Mercy Higher Education, Winter 2004.
Catholic Identity in Mercy: http://www.mercyhighered.org/identity.html
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Banning Trans Fats: Good for Health or Overly Cautious?
If the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has its way, artificial trans fats will soon be disappearing from the American diet. And for good reason. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, reducing trans fat consumption by avoiding artificial trans fats could prevent 10,000 to 20,000 heart attacks and 3,000 to 7,000 coronary heart disease deaths each year in the United States.
JOIN THE CONVERSATION!
What do you think? Is banning artificial trans fats good policy for good health or an intrusion into Americans' rights? Let us know your thoughts in the comment section below.
Trans fats are made by adding hydrogen to vegetable oils. “The hydrogenation of oils increase their shelf life and makes them behave more like butter,” explains metabolic disease expert Henry Pownall, Ph.D. “But we have much better storage conditions in the U.S. now, so this once-useful property is no longer needed. Also, a ban would be a relatively low burden on the companies that manufacture them.”
Pownall says that while some people consume too many trans fatty acids, the evidence is unclear about whether moderate consumption is safe. A ban on artificial trans fatty acids wouldn't necessarily mean the chemicals will disappear from our diets. A small amount of natural trans fatty acids can be found in the tissues of cows, sheep and goats.
It will be very difficult for food manufacturers to make the claim that trans fats are “Generally Recognized As Safe” (or GRAS) and taking it out of our food supply would be a great step toward a healthier America.
Standing Up for Americans’ Health
“I completely agree with the FDA’s decision,” says Dr. Joshua Septimus, an internist and clinical lipidologist with Houston Methodist Hospital, who doesn’t believe the FDA is being overly cautious. “I applaud the government for making a tough choice and standing up for Americans’ health rather than the vested interests of the processed food industry. Previous labeling of partially hydrogenated oils as ‘presumed to be safe’ is simply false. We know they cause heart disease, [which is] the leading cause of death in the United States. In fact, this is no different from banning a poison from food. Individuals may not die right away from trans fats, but as our understanding of the compounds has expanded, so has our realization that they slowly poison our arteries.”
Artificial trans fats, which are found in a wide range of foods including donuts, processed and packaged baked goods, microwavable popcorn and canned frosting, have been well documented to do only bad things in the body and are strongly linked to poor lipid levels and poor cardiovascular outcomes, explains Kristen Van Sickel, a registered dietician based in Houston, Texas. “In light of what we already know of trans fats and their clearly documented detrimental effects, I think the FDA’s ban would be a positive step towards changing the face of obesity,” she said.
Trans fatty acids have similar properties as saturated fats in that they both increase LDL “bad” cholesterol if consumed in excessive quantities. High LDL can be associated with increased risk for cardiovascular disease.
"While there is some debate about whether saturated fats are as bad as once was believed," says Dr. Natalie Digate Muth, Senior Health Strategist for the American Council on Exercise, "everyone agrees that consumption of trans fats provides zero health benefits and serious health risks." She also notes that people are unlikely to notice the absence of trans fats from their diets.
“The FDA's ban on trans fat is a perfect example of how a public health intervention can help save lives,” Digate Muth says. "By decreasing availability of such a clearly dangerous food, the health of all Americans benefits."
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Literature in the Media—Semester A
Literature is the media.
Literature is everywhere in media—in fact, it's actually a type of media itself. That's why we're starting this course with a deep dive into literature: everything from bestsellers to comics to Shakespeare. And of course, we'll spice it up with other types of media along the way. Our lessons will walk you through intros, readings, and Common Core-aligned activities designed to
- heighten your senses when it comes to reading. You'll never read the same way again.
- demonstrate the common patterns that run throughout all literature—and really, all media.
- make you think about the connections between bestselling literature and pop culture. In case you somehow missed 'em.
- teach you about the art of novel-to-film adaptations through everyone's favorite, Frankenstein.
- shake your brain with how much Shakespeare is in the media.
P.S. This is the first semester of a two-semester course. You can find Semester B here.
Unit 1. How to Read Well
If there's one takeaway from this unit, it should be this: in literature, everything matters. From the title of the book to the way an author describes his protagonist (and everything in between), reading well means looking at a text from all angles. By the end of the unit, you'll be analyzing everything you see…which is good, because it'll get you ready to actually analyze everything you see. That's right, Shmoopers: welcome to Literature in the Media.
Unit 2. One Myth to Rule Them All
This unit will walk you through the stages of the Hero's Journey, using a boatload of different texts (literature, TV shows, movies…the list goes on) to analyze the function and validity of the monomyth across all media.
Unit 3. Bestsellers: More Than Just the Text
No books fit more snugly in a Literature in the Media course than Bestsellers. These books are just made to be adapted into all forms—and in this unit, we'll scratch the surface of just why that is. And if you stick around (which you will), you'll read one for yourself. Break out the tissues, folks: it's The Fault in Our Stars.
Unit 4. From Novel to Film: the Art of the Adaptation
What's everyone's favorite medium? Say it with us: movies. In this unit, we'll look at movies right alongside books, by reading Mary Shelley's Frankenstein and then breaking out the popcorn as we take in the film.
Unit 5. The Return of The Tempest
Bring on the Shakespeare, folks. In this unit, we'll read The Tempest, focusing on all the ways it's been adapted into different media. Yeah, we're traveling back in time a bit, but Shakespeare's ideas couldn't be any more contemporary.
Unit 6. Worth a Thousand Words: Intro to Photography and Comics
In this unit, you'll swing by photography before learning some fancypants sequential art lingo, reading a few long-form comics, and thinking about comics as literature. Then you can decide for yourself: is a picture worth a thousand words?
Sample Lesson - Introduction
Lesson 8: Obi-Wan Kenobi is Dumbledore
If every myth has the same stages—like the call to adventure and montaging it up—then that means the same types of characters have to appear in those stages, right?
You'd better believe it.
For the monomyth to be "the only story you'll ever need," it must also feature the same characters at each step. And those reoccurring character types are called archetypes.
An archetype, in The Hero with a Thousand Faces sense, isn't a personality type, per se. It refers more to what to what a character does and how they function in a story. Just like every bank-robbing crew has the brain, the muscle, the beauty, and the wild card, every myth has similarly basic, functional archetypes. And by the end of the initiation phase, you're likely to have met all your archetypes. They appear when the story demands it—and the story almost always demands it during initiation.
This lesson will briefly draw your attention away from the monomyth to pore over character archetypes. You'll identify the different archetypes, think about how they function in the story, and ponder the age-old question:
If myths are reflective of culture, are archetypes, too?
We know—you've been dying to get the answer to that one.
Sample Lesson - Reading
Reading 2.8: "Archetypes in The Hero's Journey"
So the journey isn't just about steps—it's also about specific types of characters. These characters, called archetypes, are necessary to get the hero's rear in gear.
Step One: Head on over to our lit glossary definition of archetype.
Step Two: Now head back to Carl Jung's profile (remember that one?) and read his definition of archetype. Since he and JC were buds, we might as well confer with him, too.
Step Three: Now watch and marvel as puppets explain the seven archetypes of the monomyth.
It's like Sesame Street had a baby with J. Campbell.
Sample Lesson - Activity
Activity 2.8a: Examples
"I know what an archetype is!"
Hey, that's great. But can you pull the archetypes out of their stories and identify them?
Choose a character archetype—any of the seven from the puppet rendition. Now head over to the discussion board, and list 3 characters from contemporary fiction that fit your chosen archetype. And of course, explain why they fit. We're just looking for 100 words, but be specific.
Once you're done, peruse your classmates' responses and see if they came up with anything different. If you find any that you don't agree with, kindly tell them why.
Sample Lesson - Activity
Activity 2.8b: Arch-Typical
Joseph Campbell and Carl Jung conveniently made archetypes easily adaptable to any era. Your "frenemy?" Same archetype as that two-timing hunchback in the movie 300, the shape-shifter who complicates the plot.
Choose five characters. Any characters. From anything. The only requirement? Make sure each one represents a different archetype.
- Course Length: 18 weeks
- Grade Levels: 9, 10, 11, 12
- Course Type: Honors
- High School
Just what the heck is a Shmoop Online Course?
Common Core Standards
The following Common Core Standards are covered in this course:CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.L.1.1
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Most back injuries are caused by lifting or twisting and are not
serious. Minor injuries can also result from overuse of the muscles and
ligaments in the back. Back pain caused by a minor injury will usually go away
by itself within 1 to 4 weeks.
Moderate back injuries may result from tripping or falling short
distances. They frequently involve excessive twisting of the spine.
Severe back injuries are more likely to cause more serious problems.
Severe back injuries may be caused by:
- High-energy injuries, such as motor vehicle
accidents, falls from significant heights, and major sports-related
- Direct blows to the spine from moving
- Blows that transmit significant force to the spine, such
as being struck on top of the head or falling on the
- Penetrating injuries, such as gunshot wounds or stab
Severe back injuries must be checked by a doctor right away.
Back Problems and Injuries
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The Final Report (final written summary project report) is a complete summary of the project’s results and accomplishments. It conveys important information about the project including successes, lessons learned, and how grant funds were spent. Project sponsors should keep the Final Report development in mind throughout the duration of the project. Two electronic copies (on CD) of the report must be submitted by the end date of the project grant agreement. IDEM keeps one report for the project file and sends one to U.S. EPA; which uses it to help gauge the success of the project. There is no specific format required for the Final Report; however it must include the following information, if applicable:
Introduction and Project Goals and Objectives: Provide an overview of the project and the project goals and objectives. Discuss how the project goals relate to the watershed management plan (WMP) goals, if applicable.
Evaluation of Goal Achievement: Provide an evaluation of how well the project goals were achieved. Include an evaluation of how the project achieved the Project Outcomes described in the Grantee’s application to IDEM. Also discuss progress made toward meeting the WMP goals, if applicable.
Completion of Tasks: Provide a narrative summary and documentation of the completion of all tasks in the project grant agreement. Include supporting documentation and products produced with grant funds or match, such as newspaper articles, brochures, videos, survey results, etc.
Best Management Practices: Describe the BMPs (plus quantities) implemented, such as the number of acres converted to no-till. Include an estimate of the pollutant load reductions achieved by the BMPs implemented.
Monitoring Results: Provide a brief discussion of the monitoring strategy, and an analysis and summary of the data collected. Submit the data in an electronic format. FFY 2010 projects and forward must submit data in the Excel spreadsheet templates provided by IDEM when the QAPP was approved.
Public Participation: Describe public participation and the effectiveness of education and outreach efforts.
Partnerships: Discuss the partnerships, cooperating agencies and programs, and coordination efforts that were needed to make the project successful.
Successes, Challenges and Lessons Learned: Discuss elements of the project that were particularly successful, elements that did not work out as planned (and why), and key lessons learned from the project. This can help others avoid similar problems in the future.
Future Activity: Describe any programs, activities, and/or assessments that are planned or should be planned for the area of concern based on the results of the project. Discuss any anticipated future Section 319 funding to continue to address NPS problems in the watershed.
At least ten (10), and up to fifteen (15) percent of the total grant funds will be withheld until a complete Final Report is received. This report is a great opportunity for projects to showcase to the public, IDEM and EPA the accomplishments and successes of the project and the efforts at the local level to improve water quality. These reports can also be used to help gain support for future projects. Take advantage of it!
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| 0.934818 | 628 | 2.625 | 3 |
(Udalricus Babenbergensis), a cleric of the cathedral church of Bamberg, of whom nothing more is known than that he lived about 1100 at Bamberg. He is probably identical with the priest of Bamberg of the same name (d. 7 July, 1127), who is often mentioned in official documents and who bestowed large benefits on the monastery of Michelsberg. Ulrich's work is called "Codex epistolaris, continens variorum pontificum et imperatorum Romanorum, ut et S.R.E. cardinalium et S.R.I. principum e cclesiasticorum seculariumque epistolas". This collection of documents was completed in 1125 and dedicated to Bishop Gebhard of Würzburg. It contains letters from the year 900 on and was undoubtedly intended for the training of chancellors and statesmen, giving examples as models for the form of letters and public documents. Numerous important letters and charters of that period, which are preserved in it, offer rich material for the history of the relations between the emperors and popes ; in particular the letters exchanged by Emperor Lothair, Henry the Proud, and Innocent I give an animated and instructive picture of conditions at that time. These letters also show how the statesmen at the episcopal courts and probably also the bishops were trained. After the collection had been closed by Ulrich several supplements were added that extend to 1134; these additional documents are generally addressed to Bishop Otto of Bamberg.
The Catholic Encyclopedia is the most comprehensive resource on Catholic teaching, history, and information ever gathered in all of human history. This easy-to-search online version was originally printed between 1907 and 1912 in fifteen hard copy volumes.
Designed to present its readers with the full body of Catholic teaching, the Encyclopedia contains not only precise statements of what the Church has defined, but also an impartial record of different views of acknowledged authority on all disputed questions, national, political or factional. In the determination of the truth the most recent and acknowledged scientific methods are employed, and the results of the latest research in theology, philosophy, history, apologetics, archaeology, and other sciences are given careful consideration.
No one who is interested in human history, past and present, can ignore the Catholic Church, either as an institution which has been the central figure in the civilized world for nearly two thousand years, decisively affecting its destinies, religious, literary, scientific, social and political, or as an existing power whose influence and activity extend to every part of the globe. In the past century the Church has grown both extensively and intensively among English-speaking peoples. Their living interests demand that they should have the means of informing themselves about this vast institution, which, whether they are Catholics or not, affects their fortunes and their destiny.
Copyright © Catholic Encyclopedia. Robert Appleton Company New York, NY. Volume 1: 1907; Volume 2: 1907; Volume 3: 1908; Volume 4: 1908; Volume 5: 1909; Volume 6: 1909; Volume 7: 1910; Volume 8: 1910; Volume 9: 1910; Volume 10: 1911; Volume 11: - 1911; Volume 12: - 1911; Volume 13: - 1912; Volume 14: 1912; Volume 15: 1912
Catholic Online Catholic Encyclopedia Digital version Compiled and Copyright © Catholic Online
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Evaluate your specific family needs. Research indicates that the everyday activity of opening and closing lead-base painted windows creates friction that then allows microscopic lead dust to enter the air. This is of special concern in households built prior to 1978, with young children who crawl on the floor. Toddlers put their hands in their mouths, and after playing on the floor near a window, they can easily transfer the lead dust into their mouths. The ingested lead can travel through the bloodstream to a child’s developing brain, potentially causing neurobehavioral damage.
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| 0.959567 | 111 | 3.078125 | 3 |
Researchers at four of the country’s leading universities are embarking on a low carbon engineering project that could transform the way cities are built, as well as the way we live in them, by taking a novel ‘back-casting’ approach to their study.
Led by the University of Birmingham, the study will create visions of an alternative urban future with drastically reduced CO2 emissions then develop realistic and radical engineering solutions to achieve them in a socially acceptable way. Research will closely link people’s social aspirations and wellbeing with the engineering of cities.
This project represents a multi disciplinary challenge, and the research team comprises scientists, engineers, socials scientists and designers.
Lancaster University's contribution comes from Design led by Professor Rachel Cooper at ImaginationLancaster and Sociology led by Professor John Urry.
They said: “'We will be addressing the social implications of low carbon living, we will be evaluating how you can design low carbon cities and what effect that has on our wellbeing, quality of life and behavior. One of our case study sites is Lancaster, where we plan to test ideas and collect data with the city and the community.”
The project is led by Professor Chris Rogers of the University of Birmingham’s School of Civil Engineering who said: “Engineering of our cities has traditionally been a ‘top-down exercise, mainly because it’s so very difficult to create a ‘bottom-up’ approach: solutions are created and society must learn to work and live with them, or choose to resist them.
“Our research is novel in that we start by imagining the future that we want for our cities, for example what does an 80 per cent carbon reduced Lancaster look like? We then work backwards to find out what combinations of engineering solutions, behavioural changes and technological developments are needed to make these alternative futures possible, while at the same time ensuring that the planet can still provide us with the resources we need. The ambition of our research programme is necessary to deal with the global challenges that we face.”
Professor Rogers’ research experience encompasses the Mapping the Underworld project to create a prototype multi-sensor device to detect and map the pipes that lie beneath our city’s streets without the need for excavation. Such technical advances will make utility service provision and streetworks more sustainable.
As the world undergoes the largest wave of urban growth in history, research that can provide visions of an alternative economically viable future for low carbon, sustainable development is crucial.
In 2008, for the first time in history, more than half of the world’s population was living in towns and cities. The UK was the first country in the world in which this happened. By the 2001 census almost 80 per cent of the UK population lived in cities, today this figure has risen to 90 per cent.
The UK government is committed to meeting its 2050 climate change target to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 80 per cent from 1990 levels.
By using focus groups, case studies, a city analysis methodology and other approaches in pioneering futures research, the researchers will create a roadmap that aims to drive future engineering thinking for decades to come. Its goal is to influence policy and be used by urban designers in the UK with the potential to be applied anywhere in the world.
The study has been made possible by a £6 million programme grant from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC). Programme grants are flexible grants made available to world-leading research teams aiming to address major research challenges.
University College London and the University of Southampton are also part of the five-year multidisciplinary research team.
Commercial partners include power and gas company E-ON, global engineering consultancy Halcrow, international engineering and construction company Costain, and the UK’s rail operator Network Rail.
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| 0.933926 | 784 | 3.171875 | 3 |
The Impact of the Invisible
Nanotechnology will shape society, but scientists and the public have a say in just how much.
Susan Hassler: Whatever the future holds for us in 2030, I think it’s safe to say that nanotechnology will play a huge role.
Dave Guston: As it evolves, it is going to be anywhere and everywhere, the same way that computer chips are not just in computers but they’re in toys, they’re in automobiles, they’re in pens
Phil Ross: Dave Guston is not an engineer working on some new nanomaterial. He’s actually a political scientist, head of the Center for Nanotechnology in Society at Arizona State.
Susan Hassler: We wanted to know how nanotechnology is going to change society over the next 20 years, but as Glenn Zorpette found out, it may be society that changes nanotechnology
Glenn Zorpette: Right—because nanotechnology will be shaped by society—just how much is partly up to its citizens.
Dave Guston: If they want to have a say in what their socio-technical environment looks like in 2030, they’ve still got the opportunity to do that. They don’t have to wait until the nanotechnology product is on the shelf, until the nanotechnology system is entirely embedded in the world that they live.
Glenn Zorpette: So, here’s how it works: Nanotechnology researchers study and manipulate matter smaller than the size of individual atoms and molecules. Nanometers are so small that one sheet of paper is 100 thousand nanometers thick. And at that scale, matter behaves differently, opening the door to amazing nanomaterials and nanosystems—from futuristic sounding concepts like a cloaking device that can render objects invisible to innovations that could very well be on the market before 2030, like more effective cancer therapies, more efficient batteries, and cheaper solar cells
Mark Wiesner: I mean the benefits are tremendous, right? They’re going to give us better, cleaner sources of energy. They’re going to improve nanomedicine. They’re going to really revolutionize the way we live.
Glenn Zorpette: Because the behavior of nanomaterials and systems is new territory, it’s been important to study their potential risks and secondary implications along with their special capabilities
Like Dave Guston, environmental engineer Mark Wiesner runs a center working on future scenarios—Duke University’s Center for the Environmental Implications of Nanotechnology, or CEINT for short
Mark Wiesner: This is the CEINT mesocosm facility. And it simulates a freshwater wetland. So, you have some of these plants, which were selected….
Glenn Zorpette: Wiesner and his team are studying how nanomaterials—in this experiment, silver nanomaterials—interact with plants, microbes, and fish in an ecosystem
Mark Wiesner: We do all these experiments in a lab and the nanomaterials that really will be seen in the environment, the nanomaterials that people and organisms will see, are going to be very different from the ones that come out of the lab. They change. Nature changes them.
Helen Hsu-Kim: We’re now realizing that really looking at transformations of these nanomaterials in the environment is one of the key things that we have to be able to understand to be able to say something about their potential risks.
Glenn Zorpette: Geochemist Helen Hsu-Kim and the other researchers are designing better ways to evaluate nanomaterials. Their goal is to map potential risks and develop a framework for decisions that society will have to make in the future.
Helen Hsu-Kim: That’s what’s exciting about this new approach we’re taking in terms of being proactive about trying to look at unintended consequences of a new industry, a new technology.
Mark Wiesner: What we’re doing are developing methods that allow us to take the most recent information we have, incorporate it mathematically into these descriptions of risk and give us an understanding of not only what our best guess of the risk might be but really, perhaps more importantly, what’s the uncertainty of the risk.
Glenn Zorpette: Back in Arizona, at the Center for Nanotechnology in Society, one of their projects places social scientists in the lab with researchers. Here’s Dave Guston again.
Dave Guston: And it starts off very simply where the social scientist will ask, “What are you doing? Why are you doing that? Could you do it any differently? What do you hope to get out of it?” And those very simple questions create this Socratic dialogue through which the scientists and engineers begin to reconceptualize some of what they’re doing in their research and understand that their research and the decisions that they make in the laboratory have different kinds of consequences for people who are outside of the laboratory, for the rest of us in society.
Glenn Zorpette: Cynthia Selin runs the center’s Anticipation and Deliberation program.
Cynthia Selin: Much of what I’m doing when I’m creating spaces for reflection about futures with scientists, with policymakers, with businesspeople is really to try to make explicit their expectations of the future, to lay out on the table what kind of changes they think are on the horizon and what they’re working towards, and it’s really that making more real and tangible the future that’s of great value and that I hope will maximize the positive benefits of nanotechnology and minimize the negative ones.
Glenn Zorpette: Because no one can say for certain what the future holds, these scientists and engineers prefer to…anticipate
Dave Guston: Which is looking toward the future, not looking at the future as a thing, as if one thing is going to happen in the future that we can predict, but looking toward a variety of plausible futures that we can begin to act around and toward in things that we do today.
Glenn Zorpette: I’m Glenn Zorpette.
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The Bottomless Suitcase
It was first discovered in 1855, but many scientists debated its existence for another 50 years. Once its existence was finally proven to everyone's satisfaction, it was another 50 years before science had any tools to begin studying it. Finally, in the late 1980s, scientists began to learn a little about the secrets of one of the tiniest, yet most amazing structures in the body.
At the back of the eye, between the deepest layer of the retina and the cells beneath it, lies a tiny moat made up of about 10 drops of a mysterious fluid. The entire moat is thinner than a sheet of cellophane.
It seems that the clear fluid in the moat serves the surrounding light-sensing tissues of the eye in place of blood, bringing in nutrients and carrying away waste. It also transports light-sensitive chemicals needed by the light-detecting cells in the eye. In addition, it seems to glue the retina in place. More than that, the moat is rich in a growth factor. This fact makes scientists believe that the gel may also be important to repairing injuries to the retina, keeping the cells of the retina young and active, as well as helping in the growth of new cells. As one researcher said, the more they study this tiny structure, the more unexpected abilities they find – something like a bottomless suitcase.
Charles Darwin, who didn't even know about the moat, was right when he said that it was impossible to believe that natural selection could have produced the eye.
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| 0.977851 | 317 | 3.859375 | 4 |
An avalanche of rock and mud buried 83 miners at the Gyama mine in central Tibet last Friday. Thousands of rescuers have slowly been pulling out their bodies in hazardous, freezing conditions. They have sprayed 1,000 kilograms of disinfectant on more than 20,000 square meters of land on the Tibetan plateau that had been home to nomads and their herds for centuries.
The Gyama mine is one of the largest in Tibet; it is controlled by Vancouver-based China Gold, a company that is a unit of the China National Gold Group (which is owned by China). Chinese authorities have hailed the mine as a “flagship project” (in the words of the New York Times) that can meet the country’s insatiable demand for heavy metals and help to maintain its economic growth.
China produces the most copper in the world and is on track to exceed other countries (including the European Union and Japan) in consuming it, copper being necessary to produce the cars, household appliances and power cables that China’s increasingly wealthy population wants. Gold (which China is the world’s second biggest consumer of) and molybdenum (which has a number of industrial uses) are also produced from the mine.
Tibetan Hatred of the Mine
The Gyama mine has been part of a wide-scale expansion of mining in Tibet by China. Tibetans have fervently objected to it and other mines. Mountains are seen as sacred sites among Tibetans so the creation of the mine was simply a desecration of the land. Even more, Gyama Valley was the birthplace of Songtsen Gampo, the first king of the Tibetan empire in the seventh century; pilgrims can no longer visit its holy sites, including caves and rock paintings, due to the mining operations.
In addition, the Gyama mine is the likely cause of environmental damage in the form of water supplies contaminated with heavy metals, including those for Tibet’s most sacred city, Lhasa. Via his blog, Tibetan Plateau, Tashi Tsering (a Tibetan environmental scholar who lives in Canada) has charted the changes to the Gyama Valley’s landscape by posting images from Google Earth. The plateau now features “huge open-pit mines, a processing plant at the confluence of two major rivers and mountainsides marred by webs of dirt roads.”
The mine has also added to every-simmering ethnic tensions. Only two of the miners buried in the avalanche were Tibetan; all the rest (including, certainly, managers) were ethnic Han brought in from China itself.
A Natural or Human-made Disaster?
Chinese authorities and scientists are seeking to characterize the recent avalanche as a natural disaster, the result of “loose rocks” that had once been hidden under large glaciers that used to cover the area. Rain, snow and “thermal expansion and contraction” have resulted in the rocks “collect[ing] together and snowball[ing] into a massive landslide that was incredibly destructive,” according to Dorje, an academic from the Chinese Academy of Engineering.
But as Tibetan social critic Woeser, who has previously written about the mine, tells the New York Times that “this was not a natural but a man-made disaster. For locals, it says loud and clear how crazy the mining has become there.”
What Beijing has proclaimed a “mining miracle” has been, plain and simple, a nightmare.
Related Care2 Coverage
Photo of Tibetans protesting a mine via SFTHQ/Flickr
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Terms and Definitions: S
This page is under perpetual
construction! It was last updated June 8th, 2016.
This list is meant to assist,
not intimidate. Use it as a touchstone for important concepts
and vocabulary that we will cover during the term. Vocabulary
terms are listed alphabetically.
The word comes from the Old Norse term for a "saw" or a "saying."
Sagas are Scandinavian and Icelandic prose narratives about
famous historical heroes, notable families, or the exploits
of kings and warriors. Until the 12th century, most sagas were
and they passed from person to person by oral transmission.
Thereafter, scribes wrote them down. The Icelandic sagas take
place when Iceland was first settled by Vikings (930-1030 AD).
Examples include Grettir's Saga, Njál's Saga,
Egil's Saga, and the Saga of Eric the Red. The
saga is marked by literary and social conventions including
warriors who stop in the midst of combat to recite extemporaneous
poetry, individuals wearing dark blue cloaks when they are about
to kill someone, elaborate genealogies and "back-story"
before the main plot, casual violence, and recitations of the
names and features of magical swords and weapons. Later sagas
show signs of being influenced by continental literature--particularly
French tales of chivalry and knighthood. For modern readers,
the appearance of these traits often seems to sit uneasily with
the surrounding material. In common usage, the term saga
has been erroneously applied to any exciting, long narrative.
See cycle and
See discussion under vita.
LIFE: Another term for the medieval genre called
See discussion under vita.
LAW: French law stating that
the right of a king's son to inherit the French throne passes
only patrilineally rather than matrilineally. In England, however,
the English Queen Consort (a queen married to a ruling husband)
can become the Queen Regnant (a queen ruling in her own right)
if her husband dies and there are no other male relatives in
line to inherit the throne. Likewise, in French Salic Law, if
the queen remarries after the king dies, any children she has
from the new husband cannot claim the throne. Likewise, if a
male king dies without heirs, only his brothers and their male
offspring can claim the throne. This right does not pass to
male children of the queen that she might have later. However,
under English law, a male descended from the English Queen can
ascend to the throne. The differences between Salic and English
Law regarding inheritance play a key part in Shakespeare's Henry V,
in which King Henry must determine whether he can justly claim
the throne of France.
A non-Indo-European branch of Uralic languages spoken in northern
METER:Typically, this meter is found in quatrains in
which the first three lines consist of eleven syllables and
the fourth line contains five. The metrical pattern is as follows
in the first three lines: (foot #1)
/ u (foot #2) /
x (foot #3) /
u u (foot #4) /
u (and foot #5) /
x. The "x"
in each case indicates a syllaba
anceps--a syllable that may be either heavily or
lightly stressed. In the last line, the pattern is (foot #1)
/ u u and (foot #2)
The pattern is notoriously
difficult in English, but more common in Greek. The term Sapphic
comes from the name of the female Greek poet Sappho.
ODE: Virtually identical with a Horatian ode, a Sapphic
ode consists of quatrains in which the first three lines consist
of eleven syllables and the fourth line contains five. The metrical
pattern is described under Sapphic
Verses written in Sapphic
VERSE: Verse written in Sapphic
Another term for verbal irony--the act of ostensibly
saying one thing but meaning another. See further discussion
LANGUAGE (from Satem, Avestan for "one hundred"): Pronounced, "SHAH-tem," the term refers to one of the two main branches of Indo-European
languages. These languages are generally associated with Middle-Eastern
and eastern European Indo-European languages and they often have an unvoiced alveopalal sound
rather than the palatal /k/ found
in equivalent centum
words. Click here for more information.
An attack on or criticism of any stupidity or vice in the form
of scathing humor, or a critique of what the author sees as
dangerous religious, political, moral, or social standards.
Satire became an especially popular technique used during the
Enlightenment, in which it was believed that an artist could
correct folly by using art as a mirror to reflect society. When
people viewed the satire and saw their faults magnified in a
distorted reflection, they could see how ridiculous their behavior
was and then correct that tendency in themselves. The tradition
of satire continues today. Popular cartoons such as The
Simpsons and televised comedies like The Daily Show
make use of it in modern media. Conventionally, formal
satire involves a direct, first-person-address, either
to the audience or to a listener mentioned within the work.
An example of formal satire is Alexander Pope's Moral Essays.
Indirect satire conventionally employs the
form of a fictional narrative--such as Byron's Don Juan
or Swift's Gulliver's Travels. Ridicule, irony, exaggeration,
and similar tools are almost always used in satire. Horatian
satire tends to focus lightly on laughter and ridicule,
but it maintains a playful tone. Generally, the tone is sympathetic
and good humored, somewhat tolerant of imperfection and folly
even while expressing amusement at it. The name comes from the
Roman poet Horace (65 BCE-8 CE), who preferred to ridicule human
folly in general rather than condemn specific persons. In contrast,
Juvenalian satire also uses withering invective,
insults, and a slashing attack. The name comes from the Roman
poet Juvenal (60-140 CE), who frequently employed the device,
but the label is applied to British writers such as Swift and
Pope as well. Compare with medieval
estates satire and spoof.
COMEDY: Any drama or comic poem involving humor as a means
PLAY: A burlesque play submitted by Athenian playwrights
along with their tragic trilogies. On each day of the Dionysia,
one tragedy was performed, followed by one satyr play. The term should not be confused with satire.
The act of "scanning" a poem to determine its meter.
To perform scansion, the student breaks down each line into
individual metrical feet and determines which syllables have
heavy stress and which have lighter stress. According to the
early conventions of English poetry, each foot should have at
least one stressed syllable, though feet with all unstressed
syllables are found occasionally in Greek and other poetic traditions.
Not to be confused with eschatology,
scatology refers to so-called "potty-humor"--jokes
or stories dealing with feces designed to elicit either laughter
or disgust. Anthropologists have noted that scatological humor
occurs in nearly every human culture. In some cultures and time
periods, scatology is treated as vulgar or low-brow (for instance,
the Victorian period in England). At other times, scatological
elements appear in stories that are not necessarily meant to
be low-brow. For instance, many serious medieval legends of
demons link them to excrement, and the audience of French fabliaux
appear to be noblemen and aristocrats rather than bourgeois
rabble. Scatology also appears in medieval plays such as Mankind
and in works associated various French fabliaux (singular
fabliau). Chaucer relies heavily on scatological humor
in "The Summoner's Tale." See fabliau.
This popular grammatical construction appears in ancient
Attic Greek (and it is later mimicked in New Testament
Greek). It is a specific type of enallage in
which a neuter plural subject takes a singular verb (Smith
9). Normally, this construction would be considered a grammatical
error in Greek, but if poets, playwrights, or prophets do
it intentionally, it becomes high art. The device leads
to some interesting translation decisions in modern English
of the Bible or Greek literature. Should the translator
"normalize" the grammar so it doesn't look odd to English
should the translator bravely insert his own English grammatical
the intentional "error" in the original Greek text? See schema
This popular grammatical construction appears in the ancient
Attic Greek of Pindar and later in New Testament
Greek. It is a general type of enallage in
which any compound subject takes a singular verb (Smith 9).
Normally, that would be considered a grammatical error, but
if the poet
does it, it is high art. This general term contrasts with the
more specific schema
A dramatic sequence taking place within a single locale
on stage. Often scenes serve as the subdivision of an act within
a play. Note that when we use the word scene generically
or in the text of a paper (for example, "there are three
scenes in the play"), we do not capitalize the word. See
The MLA Handbook, 7th edition, section 3.6.5 and 6.4.8 for further
information involving citations of scenes in English papers.
SCEOP (A-S, "shaper," also
spelled scop): An Anglo-Saxon
singer or musician who would perform in a mead hall. Cf.
The visual environment created onstage using a backdrop and
props. The purpose of scenery is either to suggest vaguely a
specific setting or produce the illusion of actually watching
events in that specific setting.
A schism is a split or division in the church concerning religious
belief or organizational structure--one in which a single church
splits into two or more separate denominations--often hostile
to each other. Click here for more information.
In medieval universities, scholasticism was the philosophy
in which all
branches of educaton were developed and ordered by theological
principles or schemata.
While common parlance uses the word school to refer
to a specific institute of learning, literary scholars use this
term to refer to groups of writers or poets who share similar
styles, literary techniques, or social concerns regardless of
their educational backgrounds. In some rare cases, the group's
members recognize that they share these concerns while they
are alive, and they purposely name themselves or their movement
to reflect their characteristics. For instance, the American
Beat poets, the French Imagists, and the English Pre-Raphaelites
recognized and named themselves as being part of their respective
movements. It is far more common, however, for later generations
of scholars and critics to look back and lump groups of artists
or thinkers into specific schools. For instance, the Romantic
poets, the Spenserians, the Pushkin Pleiad, the Cavalier poets, the Metaphysical
poets, and the Gothic novelists are specific schools of literature,
but these labels did not appear for the particular groups until
years after the writers lived. Art historians make similar distinctions
about the Bauhaus school, the Expressionist movement, the Fauves,
the Cubists, and so on. Shared intellectual or philosophical
tendencies mark schools of philosophy as well--such as the Epicureans,
the Stoics, the Skeptics, the Sophists, the Platonists, and
the Neo-platonists--and these terms are often applied in a general
way to writers who existed in later centuries. Accordingly,
we might speak of both Marcus Aurelius and Hemingway as part
of the Stoic school, even though the two lived two thousand
years apart from each other on different continents, and one
was a meditative Roman Emperor who outlawed gladiatorial
combat and the other an American ambulance driver obsessed with
machisimo and bull-fighting. Keep in mind, divisions
into such artificial schools of thought are often arbitrary,
contradictory, and murky. They work best at pointing out general
similarities rather than creating sharp, clear categorical labels.
The mid-central vowel or the phonetic symbol for it. This
symbol is typically an upside down e.
The schwa vowel appears in words like putt
The same sound appears blended with an /r/
in words like pert, shirt,
and motor. See also
FICTION (originally "scientifiction," a neologism
coined by editor Hugo Gernsback in his pulp magazine Amazing
Stories): Literature in which speculative technology,
time travel, alien races,
space travel, experimental medicine, psionic abilities, dimensional
portals, or altered scientific principles contribute
plot or background. Many purists make a distinction between
"hard" science fiction (in which
the story attempts to follow accepted scientific realism and
extrapolates the outcomes
or consequences of scientific discovery in a hard-headed manner)
and "soft" science fiction (which
often involves looser adherence to scientific knowledge and
The basic premise is usually built on a "what if"
scenario--i.e., the story explores what might occur if a certain technology
or event occurred. Examples include Arthur C. Clarke's 2001:
A Space Odyssey, Robert Heinlein's Stranger in a
Strange Land, Isaac Asimov's Foundation, Octavia
Dawn, H. G. Wells' The Invisible Man,
Ursula LeGuin's The Left Hand of Darkness, Lois McMaster
Bujold's Ethan of Athos, Aldous Huxley's Brave
New World, Ray Bradbury's The Martian Chronicles,
Neal Stephenson's Snow Crash, and William Gibson's
Neuromancer. See also space
and Cthulhu mythos.
like "shop"): An alternative spelling of sceop.
CORRUPTION: A general term referring to errors in a text
made by later scribes rather than the original authors. In many
cases, these mistakes are obviously the result of human error
while copying, such as accidentally repeating or leaving out
a word or line(s) from the original manuscript. "Eye skips,"
for instance, are errors that result when a scribe's eye drops
from the original word or line he was copying to a different
word or line that begins with the same letter or word, causing
him to leave out the intermediary material. Other scribal errors
come about when a scribe attempts to "correct" or
"simplify" a text he doesn't understand well. One
of the more amusing examples of scribal corruption comes from
the Anglo-Saxon monks of medieval Britain. There, a monk was
copying a text that referred to heaven as the "Isle of
Joy." The word joy in Anglo-Saxon was gliw.
(It's the word that gives us the modern word glee.) Unfortunately,
an Anglo-Saxon monk misread the final letter. This final letter
was wynn--an Anglo-Saxon letter that looks sort of like
the modern letter p, but
which represents a /w/ sound.
You can see samples of the letters by clicking
here. The scribe mistakenly thought he was viewing the letter
thorn, which represents a -th
sound. Thus, he miswrote the word as Glith in an Anglo-Saxon
educational poem called "Adrian and Ritheus." The
error had its consequences. Hundreds of this scribe's newly
Christianized and newly literate students therefore diligently
learned that heaven was located on "The Isle of Glith."
This no doubt caused some confusion initially among the early
Christian converts. The problem of scribal corruption was still
prevalent five hundred years later in Chaucer's day. Chaucer
complains about the "negligence and rape" done to
his poetry at the hands of his own scribe, Adam, in his short
poem, "Chaucer's Wordes Unto Adam, His Owne Scrivyen."
-E: When a scribe adds an unpronounced -e
to words for reasons of manuscript spacing, this is called a
scribal -e. This practice was common
in the days before English orthography became standardized.
Note that this practice should not be confused with the Middle
English final -e, which
often is pronounced as an unstressed syllable at the end of
words in Chaucer and writings of the fourteenth century. The opposite term is an organic -e, in which the final -e might be silent today, but at one point historically was pronounced and usually descends grammatically from a now defunct declension.
A literate individual who reproduces the works of other authors
by copying them from older texts or from a dictating author.
In many parts of the ancient world, such as Classical Rome and
Classical Greece, a large number of scribes were slaves who
belonged to wealthy government officials and to poets or authors.
In other cultures such as Egypt or Tibet, scribes have been
seen as priestly or semi-magical individuals. In the medieval
period, many monks were given the task of copying classics from
the earlier period along with Bibles and patristic writings.
Their efforts preserved much of Greco-Roman philosophy and history
that might otherwise have been lost. See also auctor,
In drama, a flimsy curtain that becomes transparent when backlit,
permitting action to take place under varying lighting.
SCRIPTA CONTINUA: In classical and medieval manuscripts, continuous handwriting that leaves no space between words. For instance, a modern writer would type or write "this is a sample sentence," but in scripta continua, "thisisasamplesentence" or "THISISASAMPLESENTENCE" would be the normal version, creating huge blocks of unbroken text. Scripta continua is particularly common in older manuscripts before the seventh-century A.D. The use of space between words to keep them separate did not become widespread until Irish monks popularized the practice.
An area set aside in a monastery for monks to work as scribes
and copy books.
Another term for a scribe.
The term scrivener became especially common during the 1700s
and 1800s for legal copyists, as evidenced in works such as
Melville's "Bartleby the Scrivener." See scribe
Literary scholars distinguish between primary
sources, secondary sources, and educational
resources. Students should also. To understand
the difference, click
STRESS: A stress less prominent than the primary stress--often
indicated by a grave accent mark. See chart of common
diacritical markings for more information.
In addition to a first language (i.e., a native language), a
second language is any language used frequently for communication,
trade, diplomacy, scholarship, or other important purposes.
SECOND-PERSON POINT OF
VIEW: See discussion under point
SECOND SOUND SHIFT:
Another term for the High
Writing has self-reflexivity if it somehow refers to itself.
(Critics also call this being self-referential.) For instance,
the following sentence has self-reflexive traits:
is not a sentence.
Here, the demonstrative
pronoun this refers to the larger sentence that
contains it--the sentence's subject-matter is its own structure
sentence. Postmodern writing has become especially fond of
this artistic technique, employing metafiction and metapoetry.
calls attention to its own artifice, violates verisimilitude,
or breaks the boundaries between sign, signifier
process by which a word loses all its original meaning--a
phenomenon quite common in toponyms and personal names. For
instance, few English speakers think of "Red
People" when they hear the toponym Oklahoma,
even though this is what Oklahoma means in the
original Choctaw; the loanword has undergone semantic bleaching.
CHANGE: A change in what a word or phrase means.
CONTAMINATION: Change of meaning that occurs when two
words sound alike. Because the words are so similar, often the
meaning of one becomes attached to the other. This is especially
likely with foreign loan words. For example, the Old English
word dream originally meant "joy." However,
the Scandinavian loan word draumr meant "vision
while asleep." Through semantic contamination via
the Viking invasions, the English word dream gained
its current meaning, as Algeo points out (277).
MARKING: When the meaning
of a word is limited semantically, that word is said to possess
a semantic marking. See marked
word and unmarked word.
The study of actual meaning in languages--especially the meanings
of individual words and word combinations in phrases and sentences--as
opposed to other linguistic aspects like grammar, morphology,
etymology, and syntax.
SEMIOLOGY: Another term
The study of both verbal and nonverbal signs. In Charles Sanders
Peirce's thinking, a sign may fall into several possible categories:
bear some natural resemblance to what they signify. For
instance, a map of Tennessee is an iconic representation
of a "real world" geography.
signs show some causal connection with what they
signify. For instance, a stylized image of smoke as a sign
indicating "fire" would be an indexical sign.
have an arbitrary or conventional relationship with what
they signify. Note that in linguistics, almost all verbal
sounds and written letters fall in the category of symbolic
signs. Using the sounds /c/
and /a/ and /t/
to represent a furred quadroped that hunts mice, or the
graphemes <c>, <a>,
and <t> as a visual representation
of those sounds, is purely arbitrary.
A non-Indo-European family of languages including Arabic and
A sound articulated in the same way as a vowel sound, but which
functions like a consonant typically. Examples include [w]
and [y]. In some languages such
as Welsh, these can function as graphemes for pure vowels.
SENECAN TRAGEDY: A tragedy following the conventions of the Roman writer Lucius Anneaus Seneca Minor (Seneca the Younger), a first-century CE stoic philosopher and philosopher who dabbled as a playwright and wrote ten surviving tragedies. Humanist scholars in the Renaissance rediscovered his lost works, and they became influential in Elizabethan and Neoclassical drama. Senecan tragedies tend to focus on gruesome, bloodthirsty revenge. They are unusual in that the violence takes place on stage before the audience, as opposed to the classical Greek tradition, in which murders and suicides typically took place off-stage while the on-stage characters reacted to the news or to what they hear nearby. Examples of Renaissance tragedies influenced by the Senecan mode include Shakespeare's Hamlet, Thomas Kydd's The Spanish Tragedy and John Webster's The Duchess of Malfi.
AMANS (from Latin "ancient lover";
senex amanz in Old French): A stock
character in medieval fabliaux, courtly
romances, and classical comedies, the senex amans is
an old, ugly, jealous man who is married to a younger, attractive
but unhappy woman (the latter known as the mal mariée in French scholarship). The senex is often a poor lover (or even impotent)
with bad breath, wrinkled skin, and grey hair. He is frequently
cuckolded by a younger, handsome, virile man who secretly
his wife. We find examples of the senex amans in Chaucer's
"Miller's Tale" and "The Merchant's Tale,"
and in various other fabliaux.
Likewise, the motif
also appears in the medieval French lais
such as Marie de France's "Guigemar" and "Laustic" and similar
works such as Tristan and Iseult. The motif of the senex
amans often becomes useful for fast characterization,
since it often can quickly cast a predatory light on an elderly
antagonist. An example of such use would be the old king of
Ghana pursuing the young Imoinda in Aphra Behn's Oronooko,
or any of the aging aristocrats sadistically pursuing young
virtuous peasant girls in gothic novels.
The senryu is a satirical form of the haiku.
The form originates in Edo with the poet Karai Senryu (1718-1790).
While the haiku attempt to avoid excessive "cleverness,"
vulgarity, humor, or explicit moralizing on the poet's part,
the senryu embraces these elements. The genre
allows a greater liberty of diction. Its tone is less lofty
than the Zen-like tone found in many haiku, and it often
focuses on the distortions and failings of human nature rather
than the beauty of nature. Conventional topics include mothers-in-law,
shrewish wives, women of disrepute, the antics of bachelors,
and misbehavior among the clergy. Here is an example of a senryu:
At the top of her voice,
The husband gives in.
As Joan Giroux suggests
in The Haiku Form, the humor and implicit lesson in
such senryu are very appealing to European and American
writers. It is a genre
much more accessible to the Western poet, accustomed as we
are to logic rather than Zen. She writes:
writers of English haiku are often dismayed to have their
Japanese friends remark, "Your poem is more like senryu.
It is too philosophical." It is not surprising, therefore,
that senryu appeals strongly to Western readers. The
Western tradition of logic rather than intuition makes senryu
in some respects easier [for Western poets] to
write than haiku.
See also kigo,
OF: Eighteenth-century literature that values emotionalism
over rationalism. This literature tends to perceive feelings
as more reliable guides to morality and truth than abstract
principles, and thus it tends to view human beings as essentially
benevolent--a sharp contrast with the idea of Original Sin and
total depravity in Calvinist writings.
NOVEL: An eighteenth-century or early nineteenth-century
novel emphasizing pathos
rather than reason and focusing on an optimistic view of the
essential goodness of human nature. Examples include Laurence
Sterne's A Sentimental Journey, Oliver Goldsmith's
The Vicar of Wakefield, and Henry Mackenzie's The
Man of Feeling.
Another term for heptameter--a line consisting of seven
(Latin, septuaginta, "seventy"): A Greek
translation of the Hebrew Bible (Old Testament) produced in
the third century BCE. According to an apocryphal legend found
in the "Letter of Aristeas," seventy-two Jewish scribes
were asked to translate the Torah into Greek for inclusion in
the Ptolemaic library. The legend states that they all finished
at exactly the same time (seventy-two days) and produced exactly
identical translations with no transcription errors or corrections.
Although most Biblical scholars dismiss this legend today as
implausible and see the story as originating much later than
the actual translation, the Septuagint provides an important
manuscript comparison with the Masoretic
texts. The Septuagint is still used in the Eastern Orthodox
Church as the basis of its liturgy. In
medieval writing, the Septuagint is often referred to only as
the Roman numerals LXX (i.e., "seventy").
(from Latin sequi, to follow): A literary work complete
in itself, but continuing the narrative of an earlier work.
It is a new story that extends or develops characters and situations
found in an earlier work. Two sequels following an original
work (together) are called a trilogy.
Three sequels following an original work together are called
sequels have a reputation for inferior artistry compared to
the original publication since they are often hastily written
from the desire to capitalize on earlier financial success.
Examples include Mark Twain's Tom Sawyer Abroad, which
is a sequel to The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, and Alexandra
Ripley's Scarlett, which is a sequel to Mitchell's
Gone With the Wind. In the late twentieth century,
it became common retroactively to write "prequels,"
a later book with the same geographic setting or characters,
but which takes place in an earlier time.
A medieval peasant tied to a specific plot of land in the feudal
system of government. He was allowed to work this land in exchange
for services to his lord. In the early medieval period, probably
90% of the European population was a part of this group of agricultural
laborers. In the late medieval period, increasing numbers of
these peasants became freemen who owned their own land or worked
as craftsmen in city guilds.
See discussion under feudalism.
A number of novels related to each other by plot, setting, character,
or some combination of these traits. Examples include The
Leatherstocking Tales of James Fenimore Cooper, C. S. Lewis's
Chronicles of Narnia, J. K. Rowling's Harry Potter
books, and cheap pulp fiction collections like The Executioner
or the Longarm westerns are all examples of series.
Contrast with prequel,
See discussion under homily.
JOLI: Another term for a sermon joyeaux.
See discussion under mock
JOYEUX (also sermon joli): See discussion
(1) The last part of an Italian or Petrarchan
sonnet, it consists of six lines that rhyme with a varying pattern.
Common rhyme patterns include CDECDE
or CDCCDC. See sonnet,
below. (2) Any six-line stanza or a six-line
unit of poetry.
SEVEN DEADLY SINS: Wrath, Envy, Lust, Gluttony, Avarice, Pride, and Sloth were commonly considered the primary temptations afflicting humanity in medieval sermons and iconography, with Pride being the worst. These seven often functioned as allegorical characters in medieval morality plays, but they also appear in many Renaissance plays such as Marlowe's Faustus. Some models of the sins saw them as contrasts to the seven holy virtues (i.e., the four cardinal or pagan virtues and the three spiritual virtues). Click here for more detailed discussion.
The physical objects and props necessary as scenery in a play
(if they are left on-stage rather than in a character's possession).
SETSUWA TALE: A Japanese tale dating to the10th-14th centuries, typically sharing a grotesque mode of representation, especially a tendency to depict the body and bodily functions in bizarre or fantastic ways.
The general locale, historical time, and social circumstances
in which the action of a fictional or dramatic work occurs;
the setting of an episode or scene within a work is the particular
physical location in which it takes place. For example, the
general setting of Joyce's "The Dead," is a quay named Usher's
Island, west of central Dublin in the early 1900s, and the initial
setting is the second floor apartment of the Misses Morkan.
Setting can be a central or peripheral factor in the meaning
of a work. The setting is usually established through description--but
sometimes narration or dialogue also reveals the location and
SONNET: See discussion under sonnet.
A religious practice first identified by anthropologists
tribes in Siberia, Alaska, and northern Canada in which a
shaman would serve as a mediator between his tribal community
and the spirit world. The shaman would bridge this gap through
spiritual exercises (such as chanting to induce trances)
or through symbolic journeys (like descending into a cave
or climbing a mountain) or through magical transformations
(such as donning an elk skin or a mask to become one with
the Spirit of
All Elk). In these shamanistic religions, the shaman was
thought either to
soul magically out of
reach the spirit world or else to physically enter it through
his journey. Once in the spirit world, he would communicate
with the spirits to ensure a good hunt or good weather, to
seek spiritual advice, or to ask for assistance with curing
a disease. The spirits were typically animistic or
totemic in nature rather than anthropomorphic.
strictest original sense, shamanism applies only to the
practices of a half-dozen or so tribes in the far north around
the Arctic Circle,
but some scholars in comparative religion have popularized
term and applied it to similar beliefs among South American,
African, Australian, and Polynesian ethnic groups. Some
go so far as to argue that hunter-gatherer societies naturally
tend to form shamanistic religions, or that shamanism is
humanity's "original" or "default" religious belief before
the rise of agriculture caused vegetationsdämons to
complicate the pantheon. In classical mythology
and sacrificial rites, many features of individual
appear to originate in shamanistic hunting rituals, as scholars
like Walter Burkert have argued.
POETRY: See concrete
In the Renaissance, these were senior actors holding business
shares in the stock of a theatrical company. In such a joint-stock
arrangement, the shareholders would pool their funds to buy
supplies, make costumes and props, hire works, and write new
plays. They would share profits (and losses!) equally. Greenblatt
notes that, "Shakespeare
was not only a longtime 'sharer' of the Lord Chamberlain's Men
but, from 1599, a 'housekeeper,' the holder of a one-eighth
share in the Globe playhouse" (1141).
Among linguists, the term refers to any language use that distinguishes
between one "in"-group and another "out"-group.
The term comes from the biblical account of how Israelites would
ask suspicious foreigners to say the word "shibboleth";
if the speaker pronounced it "sibboleth,"
marking the talker as an enemy, he or she would be seized and
killed. The term often appears in the phrase, "to speak
A general term in linguistics for any slight alteration in a
word's meaning, or the creation of an entirely new word by changing
the use of an expression.
POETRY: Shih is Chinese for "songs." There
is no general word for "poetry" specifically in Chinese,
but there are exact words for different genres
of poetry. Shih is the basic or common Chinese verse.
The term encompassed folksongs, hymns, and libretti.
The earliest extant shih in five-word lines may date
back to 100 BCE. Contrast with fu
In linguistics, the word has two meanings: (1)
creating a new word by omitting part of a longer expression,
and (2) changing a long vowel to a short one.
STORY: "A brief prose tale," as Edgar Allan Poe
labeled it. This work of narrative fiction may contain description,
dialogue and commentary, but usually plot functions as the engine
driving the art. The best short stories, according to Poe, seek
to achieve a single, major, unified impact. See single
effect theory, below.
SYLLABLE: In linguistics,
any syllable containing a short vowel, but followed by only
one consonant or no consonant at all. Do not confuse this term
with a short vowel
VOWEL: As Algeo defines it, "A
vowel of lesser duration than a corresponding long vowel"
In linguistics, any hissing sound made with a groove down the
center of the tongue.
SIGN: In linguistics, Ferdinand de Saussure bases
his theory of signification (semiology) upon the sign, i.e., an
arbitrary mark, sound, or gesture that becomes imbued with
meaning because it is
of a larger, more complex system of other marks or sounds with
their own meanings. The linguistic sign is the union of the signifier (a
collection of sounds that distinguishes this sign from others)
and the signified
(a concept or meaning arbitrarily and conventionally assigned
to this collection of sounds). Note that the signified exists
only in the head of a language user as an image or thought--de Saussure's model is careful to distinguish between it and the material object, which exists independently of the human mind. The referent
in linguistics is the "real world" equivalent, the
extralinguistic object the signified points to in the physical
universe. Saussure, however, deliberately ignores the referent
as something existing outside the realm of linguistics proper,
prefering to treat language as a system of arbitrary distinctions
without any positive terms.
See also parole and langue.
An analogy or comparison implied by using an adverbial preposition such as
like or as,
in contrast with a metaphor, which figuratively makes the comparison
by stating outright that one thing is another thing. This figure
of speech is of great antiquity, common in both prose
and verse works.
A poetic example comes from
John Milton's Paradise Lost:
out of the earth a Fabrick huge
Rose like an Exhalation, with the sound
Dulcet Symphony and voices sweet.
Even more famously, Robert
my luve is like a red, red rose
That's newly sprung in June:
O, my luve is like the melodie
That's sweetly played in tune.
A simile is an example of
a trope. Contrast
with epic simile
EFFECT" THEORY: Edgar Allan Poe's theory about what
constituted a good short story. According to Poe, a good short
story achieved its unity by achieving a single emotional effect
on the reader. He writes of it in his review of Hawthorne's
Twice-Told Tales and describes it as "a certain
unique single effect to be wrought out" (Quoted in Thomas
Woodson, ed., Twentieth-Century Interpretations of "The
Fall of the House of Usher" from Englewood Cliffs:
Prentice Hall, 1969.)
A group of languages spoken in China, Tibet, and Burma, including
SIRVENTE: A satirical Provençal poem that focuses on the flaws of individuals or on public concerns such as the folly of a war, or the abuses of the Church.
IRONY: Another term for universal irony.
See discussion under irony.
The Old Norse or Scandinavian equivalent of a bard
or court singer. Most of the surviving skaldic poetry deals
with contemporary Viking chieftains and kings--usually making
extensive use of kennings.
Medieval skalds included Bragi Boddason (c. 825), Eyvindr
Finnson (c. 950), Egill Skallagrimsson (c. 850), and Gunnlaugr
Ormstunga Illugason (c. 990-1020?). The skalds faded
in importance after 1000 CE.
SKAZ (plural skazka,
from the Russian verb skazat, "to tell"): A Russian
tall tale in which the author dons the voice or persona of
a fictitious narrator (typically an uneducated peasant, a monk, an Old Believer, or a regional farmer) who recounts something he has supposedly witnessed. The genre
thus allows the author to characterize the speaker through
speech peculiarities (dialect pronunciation, malapropisms,
non-standard grammar, slang,
and regional neologisms). See Harkins 204 and 360 for more information. The most famous example is probably Leskov's The Enchanted Wanderer of 1873.
SKELTONIC VERSE: Also called tumbling verse or Skeltonics, the term refers to an irregular verse used principally by John Skelton, the tutor of young Henry VIII. Skelton disregarded the number of syllables in each line and often experimented with short lines using only two or three stresses; he emphasized the stresses by alliteration and rhyme. The example below comes from his poem, "Colin Clout":
And if ye stand in doubt
Who brought this about,
My name is Colin Clout.
I purpose to shake out
All my conning bag.
Like a clerkly hag.
For though my rhyme be ragged,
Tatteréd and jaggéd,
If ye takewell therewith,
It hath in it some pith. (qtd. in Deutsche 161-62)
Many later poets and critics disdained Skeltonic verse. James VI, for instance, declared it fit only for satirical poems, and the Romantic poets considered it ungraceful.
SKELTONICS: See Skeltonic verse.
(Greek "tent"): In classical Greek theaters, the skene
was a building in the front of the orchestra
that contained front and side doors from which actors could
quickly enter and exit. The skene probably also served as an
area for storing costumes and props.
Informal diction or the use of vocabulary considered inconsistent
with the preferred formal wording common among the educated
or elite in a culture. For instance, formal wording might require
a message such as this one: "Greetings. How are my people
doing?" The slang version might be as follows: "Yo.
Whassup with my peeps?"
RHYME (also called inexact rhyme): Rhymes created out of
words with similar but not identical sounds. In most of these
instances, either the vowel segments are different while the
consonants are identical, or vice versa. This type of rhyme
is also called approximate rhyme, inexact rhyme,
near rhyme, half rhyme, off rhyme, analyzed
rhyme, or suspended rhyme. The example below comes
from William Butler Yeats:
with emotion I sink down
My heart recovering with covered eyes;
Wherever I had looked I had looked upon
My permanent or impermanent images.
Slant rhyme has also
been used for splendid intentional effect in poems such as
Philip Larkins' "Toads" and "Toads Revisited,"
and has been increasingly popular with postmodern British
poets after World War II. Contrast with eye-rhyme
COMEDY: Low comedy in which humor depends almost entirely
on physical actions and sight gags. The antics of the three
stooges and the modern fourth stooge, Adam Sandler, often fall
into this category.
NARRATIVE: A narrative, often autobiographical in origin,
about a slave's life, perhaps including his original capture,
his punishments and daily labor, and his eventual escape to
freedom. Examples include Olaudah Equiano's Interesting
Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, Aphra Behn's
Oroonoko, and Frederick Douglass's abolitionist
writings and speeches. Contrast with captivity
An eastern European sub-branch of Indo-European containing languages such as Slovenian, Slovakian, and Slavonian. Geographically, the speakers of the various slavic languages primarily reside in eastern Europe, much of the Balkans, parts of Central Eruope, and the northern regions of Asia, and linguists categorize the slavic languages into three smaller "leaf" branches: Eastern Slavic (Old East Slavic, Old Novgorod, Ruthenian, Belarusian, Russian, Ukrainian, and Rusyn); West Slavic (Czech, Slovak, Lechitic, Old Polish, Middle Polish, Polish, Pomeranian, Kashubian, Slovincian, Polabian, Sorbian, Knaanic), and South Slavic (Old Church Slavonic, Bulgarian, Macedonian, Church Slavonic, Serbo-Croatian, and Slovenian).
In linguistics, the monophthongization
of several Old English diphthongs.
A soft shoe worn by actors in Latin comedies, in contrast with
or kothorni worn in tragedies. Our modern English word
sock comes from this term. Often, the word sock
is used a metonym
for comedy in contrast with buskin as a metonym for
tragedy. Hence, Harry Shaw explains John Milton's reference
in L'Allegro to "the buskin'd stage" and
to Ben Jonson's "learned sock"--i.e., tragedy and
DIALECT: In linguistics, a dialect used by a special
social group rather than through an entire ethnicity or region.
REALISM: In literature, a branch of realism, especially
significant in Russian writing, that focuses on the lives of
middle and lower class characters (see realism).
At its worst, the movement becomes mere propaganda
to highlight bourgeois evils, proletariat virtues,
and glorifies the Soviet Union under the Stalinist regime. At
its best, this movement exposes ideological mystification and
presents accurate depictions of incipient class conflict.
SATIRE: Satire aimed specifically at the general foibles
of society rather than an attack on an individual. See discussion
DIALOGUE: An attempt to explore a philosophical problem
by presenting a series of speakers who argue about an issue
and ask each other questions. These various individuals hash
out their ideas, accepting some and dismissing others, to arrive
at a conclusion (or sometimes merely arrive nearer a conclusion).
This model is opposed to the "lecture" model of teaching
in which single authoritative experts present their conclusions
before students who accept and memorize the experts' judgment,
or the "treatise" model in which an author summarizes
his or her thinking in an essay for the reader. In the case
of Greek writings of Plato, Plato often presents the material
as a recorded debate between Socrates and his pupils, or between
Socrates and intellectuals of differing opinions, such as Gorgias
or Diogenes. Examples of Socratic dialogue can be found in The
Symposium, in which a number of dinner guests define the
nature of love, and in The Republic, in which a group
of thinkers speculate about what constitutes ideal government.
See also socratic
IRONY: Adapting a form of ironic false modesty in which
a speaker claims ignorance regarding a question or philosophical
problem. The speaker then turns to another "authority"
and raises the question humbly, asking for the expert's answer.
When the "authority," presents an answer, the "modest"
original speaker continues to ask pointed questions, eventually
revealing the limitations or inadequacies of the supposed expert--all
the while protesting his or her own inferior knowledge. The
irony comes from the speaker's continuing presentation of himself
as stupid even as he demolishes inferior ideas others present
to him. This is the method Socrates supposedly took regarding
philosophical inquiry, and it is named socratic irony in his
honor. See also irony
SOFT SCIENCE FICTION: See
discussion under science fiction.
Alvin Boyd Kuhn and Max Müller were philologists who attempted
to explain the origin of a number of myths and religious
practices by linking them to the animistic worship
of various celestial phenomena including meteorological events
gods), sky gods (e.g. Ouranos), and astronomical bodies (stars,
planets, moon, and most especially the sun). The name
"Solar Deity" refers to such a god generally, and "Solar
Myth" is thus the term most often linked with this school
to trace multiple deities or heroes (even in a single narrative)
back to primitive sun worship and identify analogues in various
legends of sun gods. Some medievalists like Roger S. Loomis
have gone so far as to trace various Arthurian characters
back to Celtic Solar Deities. The theory fell into
disfavor in late twentieth-century scholarship partly because
of its reductive "one-size-fits-all" approach to mythology,
and partly because some of the claims of Kuhn and Müller
proven false. For instance,
while Solar Myth theorists first argued that various
tribal deities and heros in Homeric and Hindu mythology
were later incarnations of early sun deities, later archeological
or philological evidence showed some of these local gods
were real historical figures who were later elevated to
godhood in the belief of future generations. An example of
this was Alfred Lyall's demonstration that the names of certain
Rajasthan deities could be linked to historical Rajput clan
leaders who lived only a century or two before their "apotheosis"
the Greek city Soloi): The area around the city
of Soloi in ancient Cilicia had a population who spoke a
nonstandard form of Attic Greek. Accordingly, the dominant
tended to make fun of them, parody them in plays, beat them
lunch money, etc. The term soloikos thus came to
connote grammatical mistakes, blunders in declension, errors
whatnot. This gives rise to our equivalent modern English
term, solecism. David Smith notes solecisms can
be helpful. In the original koine Greek,
the New Testament book of Revelation has a
large number of solecisms, a fact quite annoying to Saint
Augustine, but which has been very useful to modern biblical
John of Patmos (the author
of Revelation) from earlier church fathers like the disciple
John (who lived too early and spoke a different dialect).
spoken by an actor at a point in the play when the character
believes himself to be alone. The technique frequently reveals
a character's innermost thoughts, including his feelings, state
of mind, motives or intentions. The soliloquy often provides
necessary but otherwise inaccessible information to the audience.
The dramatic convention is that whatever a character says in
a soliloquy to the audience must be true, or at least true in
the eyes of the character speaking (i.e., the character may
tell lies to mislead other characters in the play, but whatever
he states in a soliloquy is a true reflection of what the speaker
believes or feels). The soliloquy was rare in Classical drama,
but Elizabethan and Jacobean playwrights used it extensively,
especially for their villains. Well-known examples include speeches
by the title characters of Macbeth, Richard III,
and Hamlet and also Iago in Othello. (Contrast
with an aside.)
Unlike the aside, a soliloquy is not usually indicated by specific
A lyric poem with a number of repeating stanzas (called refrains),
written to be set to music in either vocal performance or with
accompaniment of musical instruments. See dawn
song and lyric,
above and stanza,
A lyric poem of fourteen lines, usually in iambic pentameter,
with rhymes arranged according to certain definite patterns.
It usually expresses a single, complete idea or thought with
a reversal, twist, or change of direction in the concluding
lines. There are three common forms:
The Petrarchan sonnet
has an eight line stanza (called an octave) followed by a
six line stanza (called a sestet). The octave has two quatrains
rhyming abba, abba,
the first of which presents the theme, the second further
develops it. In the sestet, the first three lines reflect
on or exemplify the theme, while the last three bring the
poem to a unified end. The sestet may be arranged cdecde,
cdcdcd, or cdedce.
The Shakespearean sonnet
uses three quatrains; each rhymed differently, with a final,
independently rhymed couplet that makes an effective, unifying
climax to the whole. Its rhyme scheme is abab,
gg. Typically, the final
two lines follow a "turn" or a "volta," (sometimes spelled
volte, like volte-face) because they reverse,
undercut, or turn from the original line of thought to take
the idea in a new direction.
The Miltonic sonnet
is similar to the Petrarchan sonnet, but it does not divide
its thought between the octave and the sestet--the sense or
line of thinking runs straight from the eighth to ninth line.
Also, Milton expands the sonnet's repertoire to deal not only
with love as the earlier sonnets did, but also to include
politics, religion, and personal matters.
CYCLE: Another term for
sequence. See discussion below.
SEQUENCE: Also called
a sonnet cycle, this term refers to a gathering or arrangement
of sonnets by a single author so that the sonnets in that group
or arrangement deal with a single theme, situation, a particular
lady, or alternatively deal with what appears to be a sequential
story. Petrarch, Sidney, Spenser, and Shakespeare all engaged
in this practice, or at least the early editors of their works
did. The first major sonnet cycle in English was Sir Philip
Sidney's Astrophil and Stella (written
in the early 1580s, published in 1591). Others include Daniel's
Delia, Lodge's Phillis, Drayton's Idea's
Mirror, Constable's Diana, and Spenser's Amoretti.
Shakespeare's 154 sonnets, however, are best known of any sonnet
sequences today. See also discussion under Crown of Sonnets.
OF BEN: A school
of literature consisting mostly of cavalier
poets who were admirers/imitators of Ben Jonson. The Sons of
Ben focused on "lyrics of love and gallant compliment,"
as M. H. Abrams phrases it (213). The Sons of Ben include Sir
John Suckling, Thomas Carew, Robert Herrick, and Richard Lovelace.
SORTES VIRGILIANAE: (also spelled Sortes Vergiliana) Much as how Saint Augustine famously performed a sort of bibliomancy by randomly flipping to a scriptural passage from the Bible in the Garden at Milan when he sought spiritual advice, many Romans sought advice or predictions of the future by flipping through the works of the poet Virgil and reading the random passage for occult advice. Many Roman leaders purportedly used this technique, including Hadrian, Alexander Severus, Gordian II, and Claudius II.
A maidservant of independent and saucy temperament in the Italian
commedia dell'arte. This stock character helps two or
more young lovers overcome the blocking
agent that prevents their happy union.
Often, several words with similar meaning may coincidentally
a similar phoneme- combination in them. Because this particular
sound occurs in this pattern of words, the sound itself may
strongly associated with some quality in the words' connotation.
accident can become
a building block in poetry, allowing literary artists to
choose words that convey
some additional indirect meaning or create a line in which
the sound symbolism echoes or mirrors or contrasts with the
in that line.
For example, Denning and Leben point out how the phoneme
combination /sl/ indicates a
certain slippery nature in English words (43):
The connotations associated
with this sound mean a poet can use several /sl/ sounds
in a specific line to convey that slipperiness indirectly.
coining a new neologism, the creator of a new lubricant might
use the phoneme combination /sl/ in
the new product name to convey that quality. Poets describing
a sword-fight might want to convey swishing and clattering
sounds indirectly through alliteration, describing how the
"swaggering swain swung
his sword in answer" or the "clever
cut came close to carving
him as he jerked back blocking
Because the alliteration not
only borders on onomatopoeia but
actually connects with
of the lines--i.e., the sword-fight--it enters the realm
of sound symbolism. See also tone color.
(1) An earlier work of literature or folklore
used as the basis of a later work. Scholars use the term source
only when it is clear that one of the manuscripts or one piece
of oral transmission influenced a specific later work. If that
relationship is not clear, two works sharing similar material
or subject-matter are said to be analogues
if it is uncertain which one influenced the other or if both
might originate from some third, lost source. See also stemma
(2) When students write a research paper, their
sources are the original places where they found facts, ideas,
and quotations. Primary sources are the main
work of literature the students are citing and analyzing (such
as Shakespeare's Macbeth or Hemingway's The Sun
Also Rises). A secondary source comes
from all other materials--especially those later writings scholars
produce about Macbeth or Hemingway (or whatever the
topic is). Secondary sources might include articles in peer-reviewed
journals, biographies of the author, books analyzing or discussing
a particular work of literature, and so on. All literary analyses
should use quotations or references to the primary text as the
main componant of an argument--especially in the case of a close-reading.
Longer literary assignments such as research papers should also
make use of appropriate secondary research. See also peer-reviewed
OPERA: A subgenre of "soft" science
fiction especially popular between 1930-1960,
often used in a derogatory sense. These space
novels or short stories set in the distant future
after humanity has spent centuries or millenia colonizing
entire galaxy--or sometimes multiple galaxies. The narratives
typically feature some form of easy space travel via
technologies such as "hyperspace drives" or "warp
nacelles." This easy method of travel and colonization
allows the formation of huge space fleets to fight
each other using laser cannons and nuclear missiles. Behind
aramadas, vast interstellar empires compete with each other
(or with rebel forces, or with alien species) for territorial
control or political power. The governments imagined in these
books are often feudal in nature or else they are based
on empires from Earth's past history--i.e., the Roman Empire,
the British Empire of the 19th century, the Caliphates of
Middle East, the Samauri Shogunates of 16th century Japan,
and so on. In other cases, seeking models for future history,
the authors frequently rely upon parallels with the American
West or the exploration of Africa, and they create parallels
between sailing ships and spaceships, even going so far as
pirates. They frequently present readers with stark contrasts
in social and geographic
ice-worlds with desert worlds, or technologically wealthy
space-merchants with impoverished barbarians, and so on.
The stories often focus on characterization,
and (most especially)
than theme, symbolism
The first example is probably
Edison's Conquest of Mars (published 1898). The
editor Brian Aldiss later amassed a two-volume collection
to 1979 in
Galactic Empires. Other famous space operas include
E.E. Smith's Lensman series, and the genre's
literary grandchildren include Frank Herbert's Dune series,
Lois McMaster Bujold's
"Miles Vorkosigan" saga, Isaac Asimov's Foundation series,
Catherine Asaro's Saga of the Skolian Empire, and pop culture
films and television series like Star
Wars and Star
both of which have spawned literally hundreds of spinoffs
fiction novels in
their own rights.
SPATIAL ORGANIZATION: The arrangement of details or description in an easy-to-follow manner based on their location. For instance, an author might organize materials from left-to-right, front-to-back, east-to-west, near-to-far, inside-to-outside, etc. This method contrasts with chronological organization (i.e, arrangement in terms of time), or order of importance (i.e., arrangement in terms of least important to most important, or vice-versa). The method has been popular in composition partly because it was a traditional tool among classical rhetoricians. Such rhetoricians would encourage public speakers to memorize lengthy speeches by mentally constructing a "palace of memory," an imagined walking tour of a familiar place like a building, with the various points to be covered in the speech corresponding to different objects or locations in this imaginary structure. The 6th-century poet Simonides of Crete is one of the oldest classical figures to use the method.
POETIC: See poetic
A semantic change restricting the referents of a word--i.e.,
a linguistic movement from a more general to a more specific
meaning for a word. For instance, the Old English word wif (Modern
English wife) once meant merely "woman." However,
through linguistic specialization it has come to mean "married
woman" more specifically. In Middle English, a single
French loanword might be adopted twice over different centuries--once
from early Anglo-Norman French, and afterward from Central
French. They would have slight differences from each other
in spelling and pronunciation--so English speakers would give
each one a slightly specialized meaning--even though the two
originally meant the same thing in French. Examples include chief (leader
of a war band) and chef (leader of a kitchen). Both
were once the same word more or less meaning "leader" generally.
Also called "alternative history," speculative
fiction is science fiction that explores
how the "real world" we live in today might be
different if historic events had unfolded with slight changes.
For instance, Robert Harris' novel Fatherland asks,
what would Germany look like three decades later if
Nazi Germany had won World War II? Margaret Atwood's The
Handmaid's Tale asks, what would the U.S. look
like if a reproductive crisis (widespread sterility) allowed
regime to come to power and control women's reproduction?
ACT THEORY: An idea set forth by J. L. Austin's How
to Do Things with Words, which argues that language is often
a mode of action rather than a means of communication or conveying
information. Language-use that conveys information is called
constative, and constative sentences by their very nature are
either true or false in the sense that they are accurate or
inaccurate. Language-use that serves as a mode of action is
called performative. Performative language causes something
to happen merely by making assertion. Examples include the "I
do" statement in a wedding ceremony. Here, the act of making
the assertion is the same as the action itself. Other examples
include the following ones:
("I bet ten dollars that he drops the ball.")
a will ("To my beloved daughter, I leave my house and
my second-best bed.")
("Strike three! You are out!")
sentence ("This court finds you guilty of negligent
("You are christened John.")
("I dub thee Sir Lancelot.")
("In nomine patri, filii, et spiritu sancti, benedicite")
("I bid ten dollars.")
("I baptize you in the name of the father and the son
and the holy ghost.")
these examples above, the act of making the assertion
is the same as performing the act. Thus, these are examples
of performative language.
PREFIX: Often abbreviated "s.p.," this term
in drama refers to a character's name or an abbreviated version
of a character's name which indicates what actor is speaking
subsequent words in the text of a play. Conventionally, in modern
drama a colon or period separates the speech prefix from the
lines to be read. Here is an example with the prefixes indicated
Dost thou hear, my honest friend?
CLOWN: No, I hear not your honest friend,
I hear you.
Here, the first speech prefix
(Cass:) indicates Cassio is speaking the subsequent lines. Cassio's
words end when the next speech prefix indicates the Clown is
responding to his question.
SPÉIRBHEAN (Irish Gaelic, "sky-woman," pronounced like the English words "spare van"): A stock character in aisling poetry, the Spéirbhean is a female figure, either young and beautiful or aged and withered, who appears before the poet in a vision. She is similar to the supernatural female characters appearing in the French poetic genre of the reverdie. In aisling poetry, she usually represents the Irish people or the Irish nation.
PRONUNCIATION: An unhistorical way of pronouncing a
word based on the spelling of a word.
REFORM: Any effort to make spelling closer to actual
STANZA: A nine-line stanza rhyming in an ababbcbcc
pattern in which the first eight lines are pentameter and the
last line is an alexandrine.
The name spenserian comes from the form's most famous
user, Spenser, who used it in The Fairie Queene. Other
examples include Keat's "Eve of Saint Agnes" and Shelley's
"Adonais." The Spenserian stanza is probably the longest
and most intricate stanza generally employed in narrative poetry.
Another term in linguistics for a fricative.
GUIDE: A conventional figure in mythology,
in the medieval visio
and in shamanistic myths that serves as (1)
a guide to a lost or wandering soul or to (2)
a guide to the dreaming psyche of another character. The Greeks,
for instance, referred to Hermes Mercury as a psychopompos,
a soul-carrier to direct the deceased through the caverns of
Avernus to the edge of the River Styx, where Charon would ferry
the souls of the dead across the water into Hades. The figure
of Anubis guided Egyptian spirits to the afterlife, and so on.
In the medieval tradition of the visio,
the spirit guide would serve as a commentator for the confused
soul of a sleeping individual. Thus, we have a grandfatherly figure
guiding our narrator in the Somnium Scipionis, or Virgil
and Beatrice steering Dante through the Inferno and
upwards toward Paradiso, or the ghost of Pearl explaining
to her grieving father the nature of heaven. Chaucer gleefully
throws this medieval convention on its head in The Book
of the Duchess by making the narrator slip out of bed naked
to follow his spirit-guide (a puppy) for a short while during
a hunt--only to get lost and bumble on without it until he finds
the grieving Knight in Black. Non-medieval examples of the spirit
guide include the ghost of Marley who chastizes Ebeneezer Scrooge
in Dickens' A Christmas Carol, the totemic spirits
prominent in the vision-quests of Amerindian tribes, or even
the ebon bird guiding the rock-n-roll revenant seeking revenge
in Brandon Lee's film, The Crow.
An autobiography (usually Christian) that focuses on an individual's
spiritual growth. The plot is typically chronological in
structure, and it usually focuses on inner struggles within
the narrator, moving from pre-religious life, to a psychological
by a conversion narrative, to labor within the church or
within evangelical missions. The work often concludes with
an implied (or explicit) call to readers to convert. Examples
Patrick's Confession and Saint Augustine's Confessions.
The adjective spondaic describes a line of poetry in
which the feet are composed of successive spondees. See spondee,
a spondee is a metrical foot consisting of two successive strong
beats. The spondee typically is "slower" and "heavier"
to read than an iamb
or a dactyl.
Some words and phrases in English naturally form spondees when
they alone constitute a poetic foot.
Examples of such spondees include football,
Mayday, shortcake, plop-plop, fizz-fizz, dumbbell, drop-dead,
goof-off, race track, bathrobe, breakdown, dead man,
black hole, and love
song. See meter
for extended discussion, or click
here to download a PDF handout that contrasts spondees with
other types of poetic feet.
A comic piece of film or literature that ostensibly presents
itself as a "genre"
piece, but actually pokes fun at the clichés
of the genre through imitative satire.
Examples from the twentieth century include the novel Bloodsucking
Fiends: A Love Story, which is a postmodern spoof of those
literary conventions found in Gothic horror novels about vampires
and modern Harlequin romances about boy-meets-girl narratives.
Examples from medieval literature include Chaucer's "Sir
Thopas," which mocks the popular meter and conventions
of medieval romance. Late twentieth-century films have proven
especially prone to being spoofed in the last three decades,
as witnessed by Scary Music, Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid, The Naked
Gun 33 and 1/3, Blazing Saddles, and Young Frankenstein,
which spoof popular genres such as film noire,
police dramas, the western film, and 1930s black and white classic
horror movies, respectively.
The comic (and usually unintentional) transposition of two initial
consonants or other sounds. For example, saying "the queer
old dean" when one means to say, "the dear old queen,"
or speaking of "beery wenches" when one means "weary
benches" would be spoonerisms. The word comes from the
flustered English clergyman and Oxford don, Reverend W. A.
Spooner (1844-1930), who was famous for such slips of the tongue.
Spooner, in an apocryphal account,
once supposedly told a negligent student, "You have tasted
two worms, hissed my mystery lectures, and you must leave Oxford
by the first town drain." He of course meant to say, "You
have wasted two terms, missed my history lectures, and you must
leave Oxford by the first down-train."
(Ger. "speech bond"): A group of languages--often
technically unrelated to each other otherwise--that are spoken
in the same geographic area or shared by members of the same
occupation. Since they tend to share many bilingual speakers,
they tend to influence each other through loanwords and linguistic
VOWEL: Also called an unrounded vowel, in linguistics,
a vowel made with the corners of the lips retracted so the lips
are against the teeth. See unrounding.
(German, "saying, epigram"): This charming alliterative
term refers to a short lyrical poem set to music common among
the German Minnesingers. The term is usually used in contrast
with the Spruch (the original gnomic verse meant
to be spoken and read), while the Sprechspruch is meant
to be sung. The first examples appear in the 1100s, and the
most famous collection is the Bescheidenheit ("Modesty"),
which was a popular anthology until the 1500s.
(Italian, "recklessness"): An Italian term that doesn't
translate well into English, the word embodies both the appearance
of reckless spontaneity and its opposite quality, careful and
practiced preparation. Sprezzatura is carefully practicing
witticisms, cultured eloquence, and feats of athletic prowess
in private, and then later, when other viewers are present,
pretending to make the witticism, the eloquent speech, or the
athletic feat "off-the-cuff," i.e., spontaneously
and effortlessly. It would appear to viewers that the courtier's
superior performance was one triggered by superior creativity,
wit, and athleticism, and the performance would elide the hours
of preparation that the courtier took in developing the skill.
The Italian writer Baldessare Castiglione argues in his treatise,
The Book of the Courtier (1528), that sprezzatura
is one of the defining requirements for a young nobleman. Sir
Thomas Hoby translated Castiglione's treatise into English in
1561, where the treatise had a profound influence on courtly
manners in the Renaissance.
RHYTHM: Also called "accentual rhythm,"
sprung rhythm is a term invented by the poet-priest Gerard Manley
Hopkins to describe his personal metrical system in which the
major stresses are "sprung" from each line of poetry.
The accent falls on the first syllable of every foot and a varying
number of unaccented syllables following the accented one, but
all feet last an equal amount of time when being pronounced.
Hopkins wrote in his Preface to Poems (1918) the following
is measured by feet of from one to four syllables, regularly,
and for particular effects any number of weak or slack syllables
may be used. It has one stress, which falls on the only syllable,
if there is only one, or, if there are more, then scanning
as above, on the first, and so gives rise to four sorts of
feet, a monosyllable and the so-called accentual Trochee,
Dactyl, and the First Paeon [q.v.] And there will be four
corresponding natural rhythms; but nominally the three are
mixed and any one may follow any other. And hence Sprung Rhythm
differs from Running Rhythm [q.v.] in having or being only
one nominal rhythm, a mixed or "logaoedic" one,
instead of three, but on the other hand in having twice the
flexibility of foot, so that any two stresses may either follow
one another running or be divided by one, two, or three slack
syllables. [. . .] It is natural in Sprung Rhythm
for the lines to be rove over, that is for the scanning
of each line immediately to take up that of the one before,
so that if the first has one or more syllables at its end
the other must have so many the less at its beginning. [. . .]
Two licenses are natural to Sprung Rhythm. The one is rests,
as in music. [. . .] The other is hangers or
outrides, that is one, two, or three slack syllables
added to a foot and not counted in the nominal scanning. They
are so called because they seem to hang below the line or
ride forward or backward from it in another dimension than
the line itself.
The result of this technique
is unusual metrical irregularity, but Hopkins claimed that sprung
rhythm is found in most speech and in prose and music. This
poetic method actually predates Hopkins, as it was not unknown
in Old English and Middle English alliterative verse. However,
Hopkins' poetry helped revitalize interest in accentual rhythm,
and sprung rhythm has had a profound influence on T. S. Eliot,
Dylan Thomas, and Ted Hughes, as well other modernists. See
above. To read through a poem written in sprung rhythm, click
SQUIRE: A knight-in-training, a young boy who has
spent several years as a page to learn humility, patience, and
the manners of polite society and who is now acting as the servant
of a knight while he perfects his combat and riding skills.
In older medieval times, the offices of page and squire were
limited to the children of aristocrats. By the fourteenth century,
wealthy middle class or bourgeois
parents began making arrangements for their children to be trained
as pages in noble households. Chaucer himself served as a page
when he was young, for instance, even though he was of common
birth. In Chaucer's Canterbury Tales, Chaucer depicts
a young squire as primarily concerned with romance and good
manners, while the older generation, represented by his father,
the pilgrim Knight, appears more concerned with important military
matters. This depiction might reveal something of medieval attitudes
toward knights, i.e., that "real" knights were a dying
breed, and these noble warriors were being replaced by younger
An area set aside or deliberately constructed as a place for
actors, dancers, musicians, or singers to perform. Often (but
not always) a stage is located in an indoor theater or a large
outdoor arena. It often has seating provided for an audience.
in the round, and scrim.
Probably the most famous stage in English history is the Globe
Theater in Shakespeare's London.
DIRECTION: Sometimes abbreviated "s.d.,"
the term in drama refers to part of the printed text in a play
that is not actually spoken by actors on stage, but which instead
indicates actions or activity for the actors to engage in. In
Shakespeare's day, these instructions were often given in Latin.
/ exuent and manet
ENGLISH: The more prestigious variety of English
described in prescriptivist dictionaries and grammars,
taught by instructors,
and used for public affairs. Typically the standard version
of a language has no regional limitations, but it instead
geographic area. It typically "does not tolerate variation,"
as Horobin phrases it (193), and is more resistant to
change than slang or jargon.
An arrangement of lines of verse in a pattern usually repeated
throughout the poem. Typically, each stanza has a fixed number
of verses or lines, a prevailing meter, and a consistent rhyme
scheme. A stanza may be a subdivision of a poem, or it may constitute
the entire poem. Early English terms for a stanza were "batch,"
"stave," and "fit." (Contrast with verse
paragraph and couplet
as alternative units of poetry, and contrast with genres
such as ballad,
STARINA: Another term in Russian literature for a bylina. See bylina for further discussion.
(plural stasima): From Greek "stationary song,"
a stasimon is an ode
sung by the chorus
in a Greek play after the chorus takes its position in the orchestra and remains standing motionless, instead of dancing.
The stasima also serve as dividing segments separating
of dialogue spoken by the actors. Structurally, a tragedy involves
a balanced alternation between the episodia and the
stasimon. See also chorus,
CHARACTER: A static character is a simplified character
who does not change or alter his or her personality over the
course of a narrative. Such static characters are also called
if they have little visible personality or if the author provides
little characterization for them. The term is used in contrast
with a round
character. See character,
REGISTER: Stephen Greenblatt provides the following
account books of the Company of Stationers (of which all printers
were legally required to be members), recording the fees paid
for permission to print new works as well as the fines exacted
for printing without permission. The Stationers' Register
thus provides a valuable if incomplete record of publication
Another term for stanza. See stanza.
In linguistics, a form consisting of a base and an affix to
which other affixes can be attached.
(plural stemmata): A record or diagram similar to a
family tree showing the connections between manuscripts of a
given literary work. See discussion under Ur-text.
A character who is so ordinary or unoriginal that the character
seems like an oversimplified representation of a type, gender,
class, religious group, or occupation. Cf. stock
Dialogue consisting of one-line speeches designed for rapid
delivery and snappy exchanges. Usually, the verbal parrying
is accompanied by the rhetorical device of antithesis
(see under schemes) and repetitive
patterns. The result is highly effective in creating verbal
tension and conflict. The earliest examples come from Greek
tragedy, where the technique was quite common. Examples also
appear in Hamlet (III, iv), Richard III (IV, iv),
and Love's Labour's Lost. Molière was fond of
it as well in Les femmes savantes. Stichomythy has become
increasingly rare in modern drama, however.
(Italian, "New Style"): See discussion
CHARACTER: A character type that appears repeatedly in
a particular literary genre,
one with certain conventional attributes or attitudes.
In the Old Comedy
of Greek drama, common stock characters included the alazon
(the imposter or self-deceiving braggart), the bomolochos
(the buffoon); and the eiron, the self-derogatory
and understating character. Stock characters in Elizabethan
drama include the miles gloriosus (the
braggart soldier), the melancholic man, the heroine disguised
as a handsome young man, the gullible country bumpkin, and the
machievelle as a villain. Stock characters
in medieval romances include the damsel in distress, the contemptuous
dwarf, the handsome young knight, the wild man of
the woods, and the senex
amans (the ugly old man married to a younger
girl). In modern detective fiction, the prostitute-with-a-heart-of-gold,
the hard-drinking P.I., and the corrupt police-officer are stereotypical
stock characters. Stock characters in western films might include
the noble sheriff, the whorehouse madam, the town drunkard,
See discussion under Roman
Also called a plosive, in linguistics, a stop
is any sound made by rapidly opening and closing airflow.
Italian flower songs--often interspersed within a larger work.
Robert Browning adapts many of these into English variants for
his poem, "Fra Lippo Lippi."
OF CONSCIOUSNESS: Writing in which a character's perceptions,
thoughts, and memories are presented in an apparently random
form, without regard for logical sequence, chronology, or syntax.
Often such writing makes no distinction between various levels
of reality--such as dreams, memories, imaginative thoughts or
real sensory perception. William James coined the phrase "stream
of consciousness" in his Principles of Psychology
(1890). The technique has been used by several authors and poets:
Katherine Anne Porter, Dorothy Richardson, James Joyce, Virginia
Woolf, Dorothy Richardson, T. S. Eliot, and William Faulkner.
Some critics treat the interior
a subset of the more general category, stream of consciousness.
Although interior monologues by earlier writers share some similarities
with stream of consciousness, the first clear appearance is
in Edouard Dujardin's Les lauriers sont coupés
(The Laurels Have Been Cut, 1888). Perhaps the most famous
example is the stream of consciousness section in James Joyce's
Ulysses, which climaxes in a forty-odd page interior
monologue of Molly Bloom, an extended passage with only one
punctuation mark. Cf. interior
In linguistics, the emphasis, length and loudness that mark
one syllable as more pronounced than another. In poetry, see
discussion under meter
LETTER: In paleography, a stroke letter was one made
mostly from minims (i.e., straight vertical lines). These included
the letters i, m,
and v. Such stroke letters in medieval
handwriting are often hard to distinguish from one another when
written in close proximity to each other. This led to scribes
inventing modifications like the dotted i
and the "descender" letters j
and y to help distinguish them
DECLENSION: In Germanic languages, any noun or adjective
declension in which the stem originally ended in a vowel.
VERB: In Germanic languages, a strong verb is one whose
linguistic principal parts were formed by ablaut of the stem
vowel, as opposed to a weak verb, which forms its parts by adding
a dental suffix such as -d
or -t to th end of the
stem. Examples of a strong verb surviving into modern English
would be the verb swim, with forms like swim,
swam, swum, as opposed to a weak
indicate, indicated, or have indicated.
In classical Greek literature like the play Antigonê
and the Pindaric Odes, the strophe and the
antistrophe were alternating stanzas sung aloud.
In drama, the chorus would sing the strophe, probably with rhythmic
pantomine or dance involved, and then the chorus would switch
to the antistrophe. It is possible the dance or pantomine would
then change directions or focus, alternating from the left or
right side of the stage depending upon the strophe movement
or the contrasting antistrophe movement.
GRAMMAR: Also called structuralism, this term refers
to a descriptivist
approach to grammar associated with mid-twentieth-century linguists
such as Franz Boas, Edward Sapir, and Leonard Bloomfield. The
purpose of this approach is to describe how language is actually
used rather than prescribing a "correct" version for
students to learn.
asked why so much of science fiction consisted of "crap"
(junk literature), science fiction author Theodore Sturgeon,
reportedly responded that "90% of everything was
crap." His point was that, yes, most science fiction
was poorly written, but the vast bulk of all writing everywhere
is also poorly written, so there's no surprise that a similar
ratio of quality to crud appears in any particular genre. Science
fiction fans have called this adage "Sturgeon's Law."
The author's words and the characteristic way that writer uses
language to achieve certain effects. An important part of interpreting
and understanding fiction is being attentive to the way the
author uses words. What effects, for instance, do word choice
and sentence structure have on a story and its meaning? How
does the author use imagery, figurative devices, repetition,
or allusion? In what ways does
the style seem appropriate or discordant with the work's subject
and theme? Some common styles might be labeled ornate, plain,
emotive, scientific, or whatnot. Most writers have their own
particular styles, thus we speak of the "Hemingway style"
or "Dickensian style." Click
here for more information.
Aspects of form or style
in contrast with aspects of content, i.e., stylistics are those
features that distinguish how certain writers write
rather than what they write about--such as sentence
length, preferred rhetorical devices, tendencies in diction,
SUBDUED METAPHOR: An implied metaphor rather than one directly stated. For instance, consider a simple metaphor: "His job was a dark shadow over his life." We have directly asserted that one thing (his job) was another (a dark shadow). We could turn that into a subdued metaphor by removing the verb was, and writing something like "He faced the dark shadow of his job." Here, the comparison between job and shadow persists, but the comparison is no longer directly stated, but is rather subdued.
A genitive case common in Greek grammar in which the genitive
functions as the origin or source (or subject) of the entire
grammatical construction. David Smith notes that in such
cases the substantive
modified by the genitives acts like the object;
he points to Philippians 4:7 as an example of a subjective genitive: "the peace
of [from] God" (Smith 9). In such cases, the Greek
indicates that the peace comes from God, not that
the peace belongs to God, and this distinction is
hard to convey in English without tweaking the preposition
of by replacing it with from.
Technically, of is a grammatically accurate choice
but it inaccurately suggests a purely possessive genitive in
English; from conveys the sense of origin more
accurately, but it falsely suggests a dative/ablative construction.
Philippians 3:14 is another example.
Click here for more information.
THE: The Greek rhetorician Longinus wrote a treatise
On the Sublime, which argued that sublimity ("loftiness")
is the most important quality of fine literature. The sublime
caused the reader to experience elestasis ("transport").
Edmund Burke developed this line of thought further in his influential
essay, "The Sublime and the Beautiful" (1757). Here,
he distinguished the sublime from the beautiful by suggesting
that the sublime was not a stylistic quality but the powerful
depiction of subjects that were vast, obscure, and powerful.
These sublime topics or subjects evoked "delightful horror"
in the viewer or reader, a combination of terror and amazed
pleasure. To illustrate the difference between beauty and sublimity,
we might say that gazing thoughtfully into a rosebud merely
involves the beautiful; gazing in awe into the Grand Canyon
from its edge involves the sublime--particularly if the viewer
is about to fall in. Contrast with bathos.
The area of the cosmos inside the orbit of the moon, including
the earth. In medieval and Renaissance theology, this area was
thought to be imperfect and subject to decay, death and mutability,
while the stars, planets, heavenly bodies, and celestial realms
were "fixed," i.e., perfect, unchanging, and immune to death
and decay. In early Christian cosmology, it was believed that
the earth was similarly perfect and unchanging until Adam's
fall from grace, after which old age, erosion, unstable weather,
decay, and mutability appeared in the sublunary realm.
A minor or subordinate secondary plot, often involving a deuteragonist's
struggles, which takes place simultaneously with a larger plot,
usually involving the protagonist.
The subplot often echoes or comments upon the direct plot either
directly or obliquely. Sometimes two opening subplots merge
into a single storyline later in a play or narrative.
A substantive word or phrase is one that can functoin as
a noun within a
sentence or clause. See especially substantive adjective,
ADJECTIVE: An adjective that stands by itself in the
place of an implied noun--a type of rhetorical ellipsis.
In the beatitudes, for instance, Christ says "Blessed are
the meek." Here, the word meek
is a substantive adjective for the implied meek
people. We talk of the "wails of the damned"
or the "troubles of the dispossessed."
One spaghetti Western confronts the audience with The Good,
the Bad, and the Ugly.
Karen Elizabeth Gordon writes that her grammar handbook is designed
"for the Innocent,
the Eager, and the Doomed."
These are all substantive adjectives that gleefully cast their
nouns aside and stand alone.
TEXT: A text based upon access to an original manuscript
as opposed to a text derived only from an earlier edition.
METRICAL: See metrical
RHETORICAL: The manipulation of the caesura
to create the effect of a series of different feet in a line
of poetry. Contrast with metrical
THEORY: The idea that an original language in a region
alters or affects later languages introduced there. Contrast
with the superstratum
SUCCESSION MYTH: A common motif in mythology in which a regime of older gods suffers defeat and replacement--often at the hands of a younger generation of divinities. An example would be Zeus leading an uprising against his cannibal father, Kronos, in Hesiod's Theogony. Two theories to explain this very common mythological idea are, (1) because the normal human life sequence involves the young replacing the old, this cycle asserts such a powerful archetypal significance that we re-create it in our supernatural accounts; or (2) such myths are actually echoes of much older (possibly even prehistoric) cultural clashes in which a newer invading people displace an indigenous people and its older religious practices. As the invaders bring their new gods, they assimilate into their stories the older legends of the original race in the area, but depict the old gods as "falling" or being replaced by the new gods they bring. This perhaps can account for redundant deities in Greco-Roman mythology--so we might have two similar divinities appearing in a single pantheon. Examples might be the Titan Hyperion and the god Apollo (both associated with the sun), or the Titan Oceanus and the god Poseidon (both associated with the sea).
(plural succubi): A demon-lover in feminine shape,
as opposed to an incubus (plural incubi),
the same sort of demon-lover in masculine shape. The term
comes from medieval demonology, which was probably influenced
by the Hebrew Zohar and its legends of lilitu
(the demonic daughters of Lilith that seduced men and killed
human infants). By the time the Maleus Maleficarum
was written in the fifteenth-century, late medieval writers
had posited an elaborate reproductive cycle for the succubus/incubus,
in which the demon would alternately seduce sleeping men in
its female shape, store the man's nocturnal emissions within
its body, then take on a masculine shape, seduce a woman, and
impregnate her with the stolen sperm.
The incubus/succubus became
a powerful image in literature. Chaucer's Wife of Bath,
for instance, claims in her tale that depraved friars are in
her day even more common and persistant than the incubi.
"Kubla Khan," Coleridge writes of a "woman wailing
for her demon lover" in a haunted grove, an image adapted
from legends of the demon-knight who seduces and destroys
In linguistics, an affix that comes after the base of a word.
(Latin, "highest" or "all", cf. Modern English
summation and summit): A treatise, essay,
or book that attempts to deal comprehensively with its topic,
especially one that is meant to be the "final word"
on a subject. Although it may seem like hubris to modern
readers to think a single book could answer every possible question
that could arise about a topic, medieval theologians were not
cowed from making the attempt. Probably the most famous summa
is Peter Abelard's Sic et Non, a book that attempts to
list every major argument about church doctrine. With atypical
political reserve, Abelard does not attempt to solve each debate,
but instead he merely lists all the "pro-" arguments
and authorities under the Sic column and all the "con-"
arguments and authorities under the Non column of each
entry. (Such tact is definitely not typical of the fiery scholar.)
Likewise Thomas Aquinas' Summa Theologica is probably
the most influential intellectual document in Christian theology
for its thorough attempt at completeness and its intricate,
Art historians have suggested
that the summa represents a typically medieval drive
to encapsulate and summarize the entire world, an urge that
also reveals itself in the architecture of gothic cathedrals.
Here, the artwork is carefully hierarchical, from outside to
inside and top to bottom, often with typological figures from
the Old Testament placed comprehensively next to their anti-typological
figure in the New Testament in stained glass and sculpture,
but still leaving room for even the demonic in the form of gargoyles
on the outside. A similar type of summa-like influence
might appear in the mystery
cycles of medieval drama, which attempt in three days
to portray the entirety of human history, from Creation to Judgment
Day. This idea that the universe can be accurately summarized
and portrayed in art may have also influenced Chaucer's ambitious
plans for his Canterbury Tales, in which Chaucer attempts
to encapsulate the entire human race by creating a humanly-faced
gallery of medieval occupations, and he attempts to encapsulate
the spiritual journey of human life from materialism to the
divine by using the artistic metaphor of a pilgrimage from a
sleazy bar in Southwerk to the grandeurs of Canterbury Cathedral.
Medieval law courts were divided into civil courts that tried
public offenses and ecclesiastical courts that tried offenses
against the church. Summoners were minor church officials whose
duties included summoning offenders to appear before the church
and receive sentence. By the fourteenth century, the job became
synonymous with extortion and corruption because many summoners
would take bribes from the individuals summoned to court. Chaucer
satirized a summoner in The Canterbury Tales.
LAWS: Laws that regulate the sort of clothing an individual
may wear. Classical Rome restricted certain types of garb to
the senatorial classes and equestrian classes, for instance.
In Classical China, only the Emperor was allowed to wear the
emblem of a five-fingered dragon on his garb or have it depicted
on personal possessions. In ancient Rome, only male citizens could wear the toga, with a plain white toga (toga virilis) worn by young teenage men, and other types of toga worn by particular government officials, while women had to wear a stola after the second century BCE. By the time of Emperor Augustus, it was illegal for Roman citizens to wear Greek clothing in the forum, so strict were the dress requirements.
Later, in medieval Europe and Britain through
the late Renaissance, the nobility enacted a series of sumptuary
laws to maintain distinctions between themselves and the rising bourgeois class. The bourgeoisie
were often quite wealthy, especially after the economic upheaval
of the Black Death (1348) caused labor shortages that forced
landowners to pay skilled laborers extra money. The newly wealthy
could afford to mimic the styles and fashions of the nobility,
and they did. This trend caused the nobility to enact laws stating
that non-noblity could no longer wear, for instance, silver
jewelry, or certain styles of footwear. We can see the guildsmen
in Chaucer's Canterbury Tales attempting to "push
the boundaries" of the sumptuary laws. For instance, the
five guildsmen all carry silver knives with them. (The law prohibits
silver jewelry, but says nothing about fine silver cutlery,
for instance.) Many of the sumptuary laws were anti-Semitic
in origin. For instance, in Britain, France, and Germany, sumptuary
laws required that all Jews wear on their clothing a yellow
circle to distinguish the wearers from their Christian neighbors.
Thus, the authorities could enforce more easily those laws that
stated Jews could not work at certain occupations, or hold land,
or whatnot. (That particular sumptuary law was revived during
Hitler's regime of World War II, except Hitler required a yellow
star of David instead of a yellow circle.)
In fourteenth-century Britain, sumptuary laws also indicated sexual status. For instance, only virgins were allowed to wear white in public--a fact that gets Margery Kempe of The Book of Margery Kempe into trouble when, after giving birth to fourteen children, she undergoes a spiritual revelation and begins wearing white as she travels to York preaching.
THEORY: The idea that a new language introduced into
a region alters or affects the language spoken there previously. Contrast
with the substratum
A supine verb form is one that is not fully conjugated. For
instance, the subjunctive
mood is often supine in modern English ("Had
he been dancing, he would have tripped"),
and thus easily confused with the pluperfect indicative ("He had
been dancing when he tripped.") Other languages
would express the distinction with markedly different verb
forms between the subjunctive and the indicative.
FORM: An inflectional form in which a common word has
its current inflection come from a completely different word
that later grew to be associated with it. For instance, the
preterite form of go is the suppletive form went.
In the past, these came from two different Old English verbs
entirely, but they have now blurred together to be considered
a single verb.
SURA: A section or chapter in the Koran consisting of varying numbers of verses (Cuddon 936). Not to be confused with sutra, below.
SURFACE STRUCTURE: In linguistics, Noam Chomsky distinguishes
between superficial "surface structure" and "deep
structure." Surface structure is a particular speech act
(parole) as distinct from the biological hardwiring
that generates individual speech acts.
ENDING: Another term for an O.
SURREALISM: An artistic movement doing away with the
restrictions of realism
that might be imposed on an artist. In this movement, the artist
sought to do away with conscious control and instead respond
to the irrational urges of the subconscious mind. From this
results the hallucinatory, bizarre, often nightmarish quality
of surrealistic paintings and writings. Sample surrealist painters
include Salvador Dalí and Joan Miró. Sample
surrealist writers include Frank O'Hara, John Ashberry, and
SUSPENSE (from Latin suspendere, "to leave hanging"): In literary works with a plot, suspense is "a state of uncertainty, anticipation, and curiosity as to the outcome of a story or play, or any kind of narrative in verse or prose" (Cuddon 937), i.e., emotional tension resulting from the reader's desire to know "what will happen next?" or "what is actually happening now"? Frequently, the greatest moment of suspension occurs at the climax of the plot in Freytag's Pyramid.
As T. A. Shipley notes, the two main types of suspense (uncertainty and anticipation) appear in the earliest surviving literary works in Greece (563). While Euripides and Sophocles usually wrote about mythological materials already familiar to their audiences (and thus could not create suspense by making the audience guess what would happen next), Euripides created suspense by mixing false or misleading foreshadowing with real foreshadowing alluding to upcoming events (563). Such playwrights were also fond of creating suspense by dramatic irony in which the characters on stage would make statements or take actions ironically incongruous with what the audience would know is about to happen. A good example here would be the dialogue between Oedipus and the prophet Teiresias in Sophocles' Oedipus Rex.
In more recent examples, in Richard Connell's short story, "The Most Dangerous Game," the reader is in suspense regarding whether or not the hero or the villainous hunter will survive as the two face off in a final battle. In Hamlet, much of the suspense arises from the protagonist's continuing procrastination--will he or won't he take up the task of killing his uncle? The more Hamlet delays, the more bodies pile up until the final climactic scene in which swordfights, poison, and invading foreign army all collide on stage practically simultaneously. Other authors might frustrate the reader's desires deliberately, as in Frank Stockton's "The Lady or the Tiger," in which a somewhat sadistic narrator describes a thought-provoking scenario. In this scenario, a young man is to be put to death. He is locked in an arena with two adjourning gates, and his young lover must decide his fate. This jealous young girl must choose whether to open a gate releasing a starving tiger into the arena from one gate, or instead open a second gate that would release a beautiful girl into the arena with him, a sexual competitor for the young man's attentions. The narrator describes at length why she might open one gate or the other, either saving her lover but throwing him in the arms of another woman, or killing her lover but blocking the advances of her rival. In the final lines, however, the narrator declares he is not a position to know what happened "historically," and thus leaves it to the reader to determine, "which came out of the open door--the lady, or the tiger?"
Often writers will use suspense to manipulate the reader by terminating a section of the narrative at a dramatic point. The idea here is often to lure the reader or audience back to the story at some future date. Examples of this would be cliffhangers that deliberately (and sometimes literally) leave the hero hanging off the edge of a cliff at the end of a chapter or scene, or the strategy of Scherazhade in the 1001 Arabian Nights, who continually whets the Sultan's appetite to hear the rest of a story, so he spares her life for another night rather than executing her.
Suspense is typically a vital component in genres such as mystery novels, penny dreadfuls, ghost stories, creepypastas, and action-adventure novels.
OF DISBELIEF: See willing
suspension of disbelief.
SUTRA: (1) A Sanskrit term for a poetic treatise or essay written in verse. (2) A Sanskrit phrase or saying (often educational or spiritual) designed for easy memorization. In the history of printing, one of the early experimental attempts at print was The Diamond Sutras. Not to be confused with sura, above.
VOWEL: See discussion under intrusive
ANCEPS: Also called a syllable anceps,
the term refers to a syllable that may optionally be read as either long
or short--especially a syllable at the end of a line. See discussion
under sapphic meter.
A writing system in which each symbol represents a syllable
such as in Japanese kana (hiragana and katakana)
scripts or in Sequoia's writing system for Amerindian readers.
A specialized form of zeugma in which the meaning of a verb
cleverly changes halfway through a sentence but remains grammatically correct. See discussion
A word, place, character, or object that means something beyond
what it is on a literal level. For instance, consider the stop
sign. It is literally a metal octagon painted red with white
streaks. However, everyone on American roads will be safer if
we understand that this object also represents the act of coming
to a complete stop--an idea hard to encompass briefly without
some sort of symbolic substitute. In literature, symbols can
be cultural, contextual, or personal. (See cultural
symbol, and personal
symbol.) An object, a setting, or even a character can
represent another more general idea. Allegories are narratives
read in such a way that nearly every element serves as an interrelated
symbol, and the narrative's meaning can be read either literally
or as a symbolic statement about a political, spiritual, or
psychological truth. See also allegory,
or click here to download
a pdf handout contrasting allegory and symbolism in greater
characters are characters whose primary literary function is
symbolic, even though the character may retain normal or realistic
qualities. For instance, in Ellison's Invisible Man,
the character Ras is on a literal level an angry young black
man who leads rioters in an urban rampage. However, the character
Ras is a symbol of "race" (as his name phonetically
suggests), and he represents the frustration and violence inherent
in people who are denied equality. Cf. allegory.
WORD: In linguistics, this is a new word created because
it sounds similar to another word with strong semantic associations.
Algeo lists examples such as gleam,
and glow, where the gl-
suggests light (331).
Frequent use of words, places, characters, or objects that mean
something beyond what they are on a literal level. Often the
may be ambiguous in meaning. When multiple objects or characters
each seem to have a restricted symbolic meaning, what often
results is an allegory.
Contrast with allegory,
Click here to download
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Repeating words at both the beginning and the ending of
a phrase. In St. Paul's letters, he seeks symploce to reinforce
in the reader the fact that his opponents are no better than
he is: "Are they Hebrews? So am I. Are they Israelites? So am
I. Are they of the seed of Abraham? So am I" (2 Cor. 11:22-23).
anadiplosis. Symploce is an example of a
SYMPOSIUM (plural symposia):
An after-dinner speech contest or informal debate, often marked by dancing girls, drinking games, sexual activity, and philosophical argument. Such spontaneous
talks were popular in classical Athens as evening entertainment.
Probably the most famous is that one depicted in Plato's
When two vowels appear side-by-side within a single word, and
the poet blurs them together into a single syllable to make
his meter fit. Contrast with elision,
The examination of a subject such as literature, linguistics,
or history when focusing on a single point of time--but perhaps
across a wide geographic area, a variety of economic situations
or through comparison and contrast of that subject with related
ones in the same time period. Synchronic studies are, however,
not concerned with historical change. This term contrasts with
study--one that focuses on historical change across time and
examines that single topic over a period of years or centuries.
A syncopated word has lost a sound or letter. This syncopation
because of contractions, linguistic erosion over time, or
intentional poetic artifice. See syncope.
The use of syncope.
When a desperate poet drops a vowel sound between two consonants
to make the meter match in each line. It can also be used as
a rhetorical device any time a writer deletes a syllable or
letter from the middle of a word. For instance, in Cymbeline,
Shakespeare writes of how, "Thou
thy worldy task hast done, / Home art gone, and ta'en thy wages"
(4.2.258). In 2 Henry IV, we hear a flatterer say, "Your
lordship, though not clean past your youth, hath yet some smack
of age in you, some relish of the saltness of time"
(1.2.112). Here, the -i- in saltiness has vanished
to create a new word. Syncope is an example of a rhetorical
A rhetorical trope involving a part of an object representing
the whole, or the whole of an object representing a part. For
instance, a writer might state, "Twenty eyes watched our every
move." Rather than implying that twenty disembodied eyes are
swiveling to follow him as he walks by, she means that ten people
watched the group's every move. When a captain calls out, "All
hands on deck," he wants the whole sailors, not just their
hands. When a cowboy talks about owning "forty head of
cattle," he isn't talking about stuffed cowskulls hanging
in his trophy room, but rather forty live cows and their bovine
bodies. When La Fontaine states, "A hungry stomach has no ears,"
he uses synecdoche and metonymy
simultaneously to refer to the way that starving people do not
want to listen to arguments. In the New Testament, a similar
synecdoche about the stomach appears. Here, the stomach represents
all the physical appetites, and the heart represents the entire
set of personal beliefs. Paul writes:
I beseech you, brethren, mark them which cause divisions and
offenses contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned; and
avoid them. For they that are such serve not our Lord Jesus
Christ, but their own belly; and by good words and fair speeches
deceive the hearts of the simple.
Likewise, when Christians
pray, "Give us this day our daily bread," they
aren't asking God for bread alone, but rather they use
the word as
a synecdoche for all the mundane necessities of food and shelter.
In the demonic play Faust, Marlowe writes of Helen
of Troy, "Was this the face that launched a thousand
ships, / And burnt the topless towers of Ilium?" The thousand
ships is a synecdoche for the entire Greek
army: i.e., men, horses, weapons, and all. Likewise,
are a synecdoche; they are one part of the doomed city's architecture
that represents the entire city and its way of life. Helen's
face is a decorous synecdoche
for Helen's entire sexy body, since her suitors were presumably
in more than her visage alone. Eliot writes in "The Love
Song of J. Alfred Prufrock" that Prufrock "should
have been a pair of ragged claws / Scuttling across the floor
of silent seas." Here, the synecdoche implies the incompleteness
of the poetic speaker. Prufrock is so futile and helpless,
shouldn't even be a complete crab, only the crab's claws scuttling
along without a complete body, brain, or sense of direction.
Henry IV implies that the city of Paris deserves some honorable
ceremony when he claims, "Paris is well worth a mass,"
and so on.
Synecdoche is often similar
to and overlaps with metonymy,
above. It is an example of a rhetorical trope.
(also spelled synesthesia, from Grk. "perceiving
together"): A rhetorical trope involving shifts in imagery or sensory metaphors.
It involves taking one type of sensory input (sight, sound,
smell, touch, taste) and comingling it with another separate
sense in what seems an impossible way. In the resulting figure of speech,
we end up talking about how a color sounds, or how a smell looks.
When we say a musician hits a "blue note" while playing
a sad song, we engage in synaesthesia. When we talk about a
certain shade of color as a "cool green," we mix tactile
or thermal imagery with visual imagery the same way. When we
talk about a "heavy silence," we also use synaesthesia.
Examples abound: "The scent of the rose rang like a bell through
the garden." "I caressed the darkness with cool fingers." French
poets, especially Baudelaire in Les fleurs du mal,
have proven especially eager to use synaesthesia. The term itself
is a fairly late addition to rhetoric and literary terminology,
first coined in 1892, though examples of this figure of speech
can be found in Homer, Aeschylus, Donne, Shelley, Crashaw, and
scores of other writers and poets. Neurologists also have identified certain rare individuals who experience such blending of the senses, often associating a color with a number or letter. See examples under tropes.
SYNCHRONIC: A synchronic study is one that provides
an overview of a subject at a particular moment in time, as
opposed to a diachronic study, which traces
changes from one time period to the next across many years or
centuries. For example, in linguistics, etymology is a diachronic
study--one concerned with where words came from in the past
and how their meanings have changed from century to century.
Saussurian linguistics, on the other hand, studies language
synchronically as a functioning system of signs existing at
the present moment without studying developmental changes across
An alternative spelling of synaesthesia,
The three first gospels (Matthew Mark, Luke), which share
several textual similarities. Biblical scholars think
they might be adaptations from a single lost source known
Q-Text. This contrasts with the fourth gospel, John, which
does not share these traits. Thus, Matthew, Mark and Luke
are synoptic, but John is non-synoptic.
CHANGE: Any change in language resulting from the influence
of nearby sounds or words. Examples include linguistic assimilation
Greek syntaxis): As David Smith puts it, "the orderly
arrangement of words into sentences to express ideas," i.e.,
the standard word order and sentence structure of a language,
as opposed to diction
(the actual choice of words) or content (the
meaning of individual words). Standard English syntax prefers
pattern, but poets may tweak syntax to achieve rhetorical or
poetic effects. Intentionally disrupting word order for a
effect is called anastrophe.
Syntax is often distinguished from morphology and grammar.
that syntax is what allows us to produce sequential grammatical
units such as phrases, clauses, and sentences. See also analytic language and synthetic language.
(also called a declined
language): Not to be confused with an artificial
or made-up language like Esperanto or Tolkien's Elvish, a synthetic
language is one in which word order is irrelevant for determining
meaning. Instead of using word order (i.e., Subject-Verb-Object
or some similar pattern), a synthetic language uses special
endings attached to the ends of nouns. These patterned endings,
indicate what noun in the sentence is a subject, what noun
is a direct
or indirect object, and so on, generally establishing the relationship
between different parts of speech. Synthetic languages allow
a great degree of poetic freedom in word order. Examples of
synthetic languages include Latin, German, koine Greek,
Welsh, and Anglo-Saxon. The opposite type of language is
language such as Modern English, Spanish, or French. See also
sentence. Click here for
(from Greek "yoke"): In classical prosody, syzygy
describes the combination of any two feet into another single metrical
unit. It is often used interchangeably with the more precise
which refers more specifically to the metrical substitution
of two normal feet, usually iambs or trochees, under a more
powerful beat, so that a "galloping" or "rolling"
rhythm results. See meter,
I consulted the following works
while preparing this list. I have tried to give credit to specific sources when
feasible, but in many cases multiple reference works use the same examples or
provide the same dates for common information. Students should examine these
resources for more information than these humble webpages provide:
Abrams, M. H. A
Glossary of Literary Terms. 6th edition. Fort Worth: Harcourt
Brace College Pub., 1993. [Now superseded by later editions.]
---. "Poetic Forms
and Literary Terminology." The Norton Anthology of English Literature.
7th edition. Volume 1. New York: Norton, 2000. 2944-61. 2 Vols.
Algeo, John and Thomas Pyles.
The Origin and Development of the English Language. 5th edition.
Baugh, A. C. and
Thomas Cable. A History of
the English Language. 6th edition. Boston: Pearson Publishing, 2013.
Brown, Michelle P. Understanding
Illuminated Manuscripts: A Guide to Technical Terms. London: The British
Library and the J. Paul Getty Museum, 1994.
Burkert, Walter. Greek Religion.
[Originally published 1977 as Griechische Religion der archaischen
und klassischen Epoche.] Trans. John Raffan. Cambridge: Harvard UP,
Carrick, Jake. E-mail interview. 28 April 2016.
Catholic University of America
Editorial Staff. The New Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: McGraw-Hill.
Corbett, Edward P. J. Classical
Rhetoric for the Modern Student. 3rd edition. Oxford: Oxford UP, 1990.
Crow, Martin and
Virginia E. Leland. "A Chronology
of Chaucer's Life and Times." As condensed and reproduced
in Larry Benson's The Canterbury Tales, Complete. Boston: Houghton
Mifflin Company, 2000. xxiii-xxv.
Cuddon, J. A. The
Penguin Dictionary of Literary Terms and Literary Theory. London: Penguin
Damrosch, David, gen. ed. The Longman Anthology of British Literature. 2nd Compact Edition. Volume A. New York: Pearson, 2004. 3 Vols.
Deutsch, Babette. Poetry
Handbook: A Dictionary of Terms. Fourth Edition. New York: Harper and
Row, 1974. Reprint as Barnes and Noble Edition, 1981.
Drout, Michael D. C. J.R.R. Tolkien
Encyclopedia: Scholarship and Critical Assessment. New York: Routledge, 2007.
Duffy, Seán. Medieval
Ireland: An Encyclopedia. New York: Routledge, 2005.
Eagleton, Terry. Literary
Theory: An Introduction. Minneapolis: U of Minnesota P,
Elkhadem, Saad. The York Dictionary Literary Terms and Their Origin: English, French, German, Spanish. York P, 1976.
Feeney, Denis. "Introduction." Ovid: Metamorphóses Trans. David Raeburn. London: Penguin Books, 2004.
Gabel, John B. and Charles B. Wheeler. The
Bible as Literature: An Introduction. New York: Oxford U P, 1986.
Giroux, Joan. The Haiku
Form. New York: Charles E. Tuttle Company, 1974. Reprinted New York:
Barnes and Noble, 1999.
Greenblatt, Stephen. "Glossary."
The Norton Shakespeare: Tragedies. New York: Norton, 1997. 1139-43.
Guerin, Wilfred L., et
al. "Glossary." A Handbook of Critical Approaches to
Literature. 2nd ed. New York: Harper and Row, 1979. 317-29.
Harkins, Williams E. Dictionary
of Russian Literature. The New Students Outline Series. Patterson, New
Jersey: Littlefield, Adams, and Co., 1959.
Harvey, Sir Paul and Dorothy
Eagle, eds. The Oxford Companion to English Literature. 4th ed.
Oxford: Oxford UP, 1969.
Holman, C. Hugh. A
Handbook to Literature. 3rd edition. New York: The Odyssey Press,
Hopper, Vincent Foster.
Medieval Number Symbolism: Its Sources, Meaning, and Influence on Thought
and Expression. 1938. Republished Mineola, NY: Dover Publications,
Horobin, Simon. Chaucer's Language. New
York: Palgrave McMillan, 2007.
Kane, George. The Autobiographical Fallacy in Chaucer and Langland Studies. London: H. K. Lewis, 1965.
Lacy, Norris J. The New Arthurian Encyclopedia.
New York: Garland Publishing, 1996.
Lanham, Richard A. A
Handlist of Rhetorical Terms. 2nd edition. Berkeley: U of California
Marshall, Jeremy and Fred
McDonald. Questions of English. Oxford: Oxford UP, 1995.
Mawson, C. O. Sylvester
and Charles Berlitz. Dictionary of Foreign Terms. New York: Thomas
Y. Crowell Company, 2nd ed. 1975.
McManus, Damian. Ogam Stones At University
College Cork. Cork: Cork U P, 2004.
Metzger, Bruce M. and Michael D. Coogan,
eds. The Oxford Companion to the Bible. New York: Oxford U P,
O'Donoghue, Heather. Old Norse-Icelandic
Literature: A Short Introduction. Malden, MA:Blackwell Publishing, 2004.
Page, P.K. "Forward." Hologram. Brick Books, London, Ontario: 1994.
Palmer, Donald. Looking
At Philosophy: The Unbearable Heaviness of Philosophy Made Lighter. 2nd
edition. Mountain View, California: Mayfield Publishing Company, 1994.
Peck, Harry Thurston. Harper's Dictionary of Clasical Literature and Antiquities. New York: The American Book Company, 1923. 2 vols.
Preminger, Alex, and T.V.F. Brogan, et al. The New Princeton Encyclopedia of Poetry and Poetics. New York: MJF Books for Princeton University Press, 1993.
Perelman, Ch. and L. Olbrechts-Tyteca.
The New Rhetoric: A Treatise on Argumentation. Notre Dame, U of Notre
Dame P, 2000.
Pound, Ezra. ABC of Reading. New York: Laughlin, 1960..
The Oxford English Dictionary.
2nd ed. 1989.
Quinn, Arthur. Figures
of Speech: 60 Ways to Turn a Phrase. Davis, California: Hermagoras P,
Rae, Gail. Guide to Literary
Terms. Staten Island, New York: Research and Educational Association,
Roberts, Edgar V. and Henry
E. Jacobs. "Glossary of Literary Terms." Literature: An Introduction
to Reading and Writing. 6th edition. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice
Hall, 2001. 2028-50.
Scott, Kathleen L. Later
Gothic Manuscripts, 1390-1490. A Survey of Manuscripts Illuminated in
the British Isles 6. London: Harvey Miller Publishers, 1996. 2 Vols.
Shaw, Harry. Concise
Dictionary of Literary Terms. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1976.
Shipley, Joseph T. Dictionary
of World Literature: Criticism, Forms, Technique. The Philosophical
Library. New York: Philosophical Library, 1943.
Smith, Richard Upsher, Jr. A Glossary of Terms in Grammar, Rhetoric, and Prosody for Readers of Greek and Latin. Mundelein, Illinois: Bolchazy-Caducci Publishers, Inc., 2011.
Supplement to the Oxford
English Dictionary. 1989.
Smith, David P. "Glossary of Grammar Terms." [Miscellaneous
handouts made available to students in Basic Greek at Carson-Newman University
in the Fall Term of 2006.]
Swain, Dwight V. Creating
Characters. The Elements of Fiction Writing. Cincinnati: Writer's Digest
Velásquez, Lito. E-mail communication. 26 October 2015.
Williams, Jerri. "Schemes
and Tropes." [Miscellaneous handouts made available to her graduate
students at West Texas A & M University in the Fall Term of 1993.]
Yasuda, Kenneth. The
Japanese Haiku: Its Essential Nature, History, and Possibilities in
English. Rutland, Vermont and Tokyo, Japan: Charles E. Tuttle Co.,
Zenkovsky, Serge A. Medieval Russia's Epics, Chronicles, and Tales. Rev Ed. New York: Meridian Books, 1974.
Zireaux, Paul. E-mail Interview. 21 June 2012.
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Let’s cover rendering in AutoCAD.
The product has a very powerful rendering engine, which can produce photoreal renderings of your 3D models. Of course, if you are looking for the ultimate quality and power in rendering, it will be smarter to import the dwg into 3ds Max, but for a certain amount of users, AutoCAD’s quality may be enough, or may choose to only move to Max for the final renderings, and spend some more time visualizing the development of the design in AutoCAD. Remember, it’s never about one tool or the other, but about when to use a specific product.
I will divide this document in different parts, which will cover varied aspects of rendering in AutoCAD:
· Creation and editing of materials
· Creation and editing of lights
· Creation and editing of cameras
· Animations in AutoCAD
But first of all, I’d like to make sure that we are all in the same page on something: the purpose for rendering a still image or an animation is to communicate a concept. So you are actually telling a story, even if it is only an image.
For example, a camera targeting a building from the ground level, looking up, and with a very wide angle (first image below), will convey a sense of drama and scale very different to the same building captured from a bigger distance and with a narrow angle (second image below), which will almost produce no deformations at all. But the latter may be better to explain a master plan, or the position of the building in a specific context.
The use of a wide angle in a room will make it look bigger. There are many of these tricks that probably any photographer or film director know, and they are really important for you to understand. It is always a good idea to check photographs that you like, and try to understand which type of camera was used, understand the lighting, how you can introduce an object in the scene without really showing it.
I hope this is getting interesting.
There will be several postings about this topic, so stay tuned!
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LEXINGTON, Ky. (Aug. 27, 2013) - The following column appeared in the Lexington Herald-Leader on sunday, Aug. 25.
When you think summer in the Bluegrass, you think of heat and humidity that drives many of us to seek shelter in the cool indoors. For some, outdoor activities can trigger a phenomenon known as vocal cord dysfunction.
Vocal cord dysfunction is a condition that impacts drawing in a breath. It occurs when the airway shuts or constricts when taking a breath. The vocal cords, or “folds,” are responsible for producing voice, and are housed in the larynx or “voice box.” Vocal cord dysfunction events cause difficulty breathing in, wheezing, coughing, a feeling of tightness in the throat, or stridor - a high-pitched wheezing sound.
In severe cases VCD can result in loss of consciousness.
Episodes of breathing difficulty caused by vocal cord dysfunction may be sudden and unexpected or progress gradually, and they often occur during periods of activity such as climbing the stairs, athletic competition or exercise.
Vocal cord dysfunction is often mistaken for asthma, or other upper respiratory disorders. Very often vocal cord dysfunction is initially diagnosed as exercise induced asthma; although the treatments are very different for the two. Patients will often see multiple doctors before this is correctly diagnosed.
Any person, young or old, can be at risk. In adolescents, vocal cord dysfunction is often seen in those who compete in sports or seek high levels of achievement and often affects more females than males. The exact cause of vocal cord dysfunction is not completely known, but it often includes irritants such as chemical exposure, acid reflux and changes in the temperature in your environment. Secondary factors may include physical stress or a tendency to breathe using muscles in the neck and shoulders rather than the belly.
For a reliable diagnosis, a team approach is essential. A speech language pathologist with a specialty in voice and airway disorders is key for correct diagnosis and management; which may include medications, or breathing therapy. Treatment is generally effective and can greatly improve a person’s quality of life and return to an activity that previously caused them difficulty. Treatment includes teaching behavioral breathing techniques and vocal hygiene to reduce irritation, and normally takes 3-4 sessions.
If you, or anyone you know is experiencing symptoms of difficulty breathing in, strongly consider seeking assessment for a potential case of vocal cord dysfunction, and get the appropriate treatment. Difficulty breathing can affect every aspect of your life and have a major effect on what you do and when you do it.
Rebecca L. Hancock is a senior speech pathologist at the UK Clinical Voice Center.
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LAKEWOOD - Today's seven pieces of equipment that are housed in Lakewood's modern fire hall are a far cry from what was used by the Lakewood Bucket Brigade (established 1893), the only fire protection the village had just before the turn of the century.
On April 4, 1899, the bucket brigade became known as the Lakewood Hook and Ladder Co. No. 1, and in 1905, headquarters were established in the basement of the Odd Fellows Building on Chautauqua Avenue.
After reorganizing as the Lakewood Hose Co. in May 1906, Ellsworth Daugherty was appointed fire chief. During this year, a high-wheeled hose cart was donated to the fire department by the late J.W. Packard, and a group of lakefront residents donated a hose cart. During those days, alarms were sounded by pulling a bell on top of the Rue building at the corner of Third Street and Chautauqua Avenue in the village.
In 1915, Packard donated a parcel of land at the corner of Summit Avenue and Owana Way and $1,500 to the village firemen. On Aug. 25 of that year, ceremonies were held to lay the cornerstone of a new fire hall. At those ceremonies, the firemen were presented with a 1915 Model T Ford Chemical fire engine, a gift of James Packard, the key planner and developer of the village. That truck was the first motorized fire truck in this county. It is on display in the Chief George V. Blackstone Fire Museum at the fire station.
The Lakewood Chemical Co. Inc., the village's second fire company, was formed in 1924 after authorization by the village board. For the next 40 years, the village was served by the two companies. Two years after its formation, the chemical company purchased a fire engine from the Buffalo Fire Appliance Co. A three-bay addition was completed in 1949, with another bay built on to the fire hall in 1971 providing additional space. This building now houses the Village Hall and the Lakewood-Busti Police.
With the many people taking advantage of recreation provided by Chautauqua Lake, a rescue boat was put in to service by the department in 1938 to answer calls of distress anywhere on the lake. In June 1941, a newer boat known as The Garwood, was put into service and in 1942, the fire company purchased the Chautauqua Lake Marine Works on Packard Alley for $1,800. The building, which is the present day beach house, served as a boat house and rescue station.
Greg Osman, president
Tom Brown, vice president
Laura Gilbert, secretary
Dave Allen, treasurer
Kurt Hallberg, chief
first assistant chief
second assistant chief
Tom Danielson, captain
David Joy, captain
Jack Knowlton, lieutenant
Rich Jensen, lieutenant
Ed Nelson Jr.
In 1951, a heavy-rescue vehicle was purchased, which had been designed by Lakewood fireman George Blackstone and built by Jamestown's JNK Corp. It was the first rescue vehicle of its kind in Western New York and served as a model for the many that followed. Also in 1951, a custom-built rescue boat, The Eddy, was purchased.
The first fire engine in the United States to use pre-connected Maddydale hose lay was purchased by the Lakewood department in 1954. This vehicle was also designed by Blackstone and built by JNK Corp.
Other notable dates in the fire department's history are:
The department was the first in Chautauqua County to use mobile radio equipment, in the early 1950s;
In 1958, Richard Lattimore was elected fire chief, becoming one of the first black chiefs in New York state;
In 1961, the rescue boat service provided by the department was discontinued after 23 years;
Chief George Blackstone was the first of several chiefs from Chautauqua County to serve as President of the New York State Association of Fire Chiefs
In 1995 the current Fire Station was built
In September 2001 members Dan Imfeld and Donna Bryant responded with the Chautauqua County Contingent to the World Trade Center in NYC.
The Lakewood Hose Co. No. 1 and the Lakewood. Chemical Co., merged to become the present Lakewood Volunteer Fire Company Inc.
Department members are very active on the county and state levels with; two deputy fire coordinators, chairman of the Fire Advisory board, Chief's Association chaplain, five Hazmat team members, five Technical Rescue team members, six Fire Police team members, one Star Flight flight nurse, one Emergency Medical Services Council member, one member of the Regional EMS Council and a member of the state Chief's Special Operations committee.
Like all fire departments, the training requirements are mandated by the state and federal governments and upheld by the department itself. Lakewood's maintenance of high training standards has long been a major part of its proud tradition in the fire service. Anyone interested in becoming part of that tradition or learning more about it is encouraged to drop in at the Lakewood Fire Station on a Tuesday evening around 7 or leave a message for the fire department membership committee with the village clerk's office at 763-8557.
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Create an apparatus for viewing sunspots, Search for extraterrestrial life, and see a live web cam of Mars.
The Space Place
Be able to name trees from space, find out why the sky is blue and discover how to shrink a building three different ways. Lots of online space Games, activities, and fun facts.
Exactly how hot is the sun? Can astronauts sleep standing up? And is it possible to escape the Event Horizon of a black hole?
The Nine Planets
Take a self-guided tour through our solar system. Explore the satellites of Saturn, the moons of Jupiter, and the canals and canyons of Mars.
Young Astronomers' Learning Center
What is a Brown Dwarf? What's the difference between a meteor and a falling star? What are solar winds? The Learning Center provides all the answers you need.
NASA – Be a Spacecraft Engineer
Your mission: Help scientists plan a mission to a comet. Design your own spacecraft. And protect the international Space Station from space debris.
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NTDs debilitate and dramatically reduce the quality of life for more than one billion people living in developing countries around the world. As a result, these diseases cause great suffering and obstruct socioeconomic development in these countries. Eliminating these diseases will require effective action and strong sustained global commitment. Effective action can only come from a connected community of individuals in different sectors and from many countries working closely together. The combined voice of this community is essential to sustain global commitment over time. An open international meeting dedicated to eliminating NTDs will serve to nucleate this community and provide a podium from which its voice can be heard.
Due to increased awareness of NTDs worldwide, the number of donors supporting the fight against neglected diseases has increased. Highlights among them include the 2010 US announcement to commit 450 million USD for Neglected Tropical Disease Control, the Department for International Development (DFID) pledge of 50 million GBP to combat NTDs in Africa, and a grant of 34 million USD from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation in 2009 to reduce the global burden of the most prevalent NTDs. Together with other financial and pharmaceutical donations these new contributions are adding great force to ongoing efforts in countries most affected by these diseases. Increased efforts against NTDs have generated a need for an international meeting that is open to any and all individuals involved in these essential efforts. The meeting will create a unifying space for sharing of experience and exchange of ideas between program partners, donors, public health workers, country representatives, innovators, investigators and others from all over the world. The meeting will promote the spirit of an intersectorial and interprogrammatic approach to the complex problem of NTDs as described in the WHO Global Plan to Combat Neglected Tropical Diseases 2008-2015.
An international meeting that is open and focused exclusively on NTDs will serve stakeholders, partners, donors, investigators and the global community in several ways. The meeting will provide a shared time to focus attention on the root causes and impact of NTDs, on current efforts to deliver treatments and on the work in progress to develop needed diagnostics and therapeutics. Importantly, the dedicated meeting will also provide an undiluted opportunity to raise awareness about NTDs in the eyes of the public and amongst policy makers. Additionally, the gathering will be an opportunity for partners to convene working groups in conjunction with the meeting.
The ISID-NTD meeting will be held in Cambridge, Massachusetts on July 8-10,
2011. The meeting will be open to all and will provide space for dialogue and
communication between individuals and organizations involved in efforts to eliminate
NTDs around the world. The meeting will focus on ideas and actions related to
achieving the goals of the WHO Global Plan to Combat Neglected Tropical Diseases
2008-2015. It is expected that representatives from affected countries,
donors, international agencies, government organizations, academic institutions,
pharmaceutical industry, NGOs, among others will participate in a dynamic exchange
of ideas and in the formation and maintenance of strategic partnerships dedicated
to this cause.
- To maintain political and civil commitment at all levels to combat NTDs.
- To reinforce the fight against global NTDs and its link to achieving the Millennium Development Goals.
- To enable dialogue and exchange between partners working against NTDs.
- To create opportunities for dialogue, analysis and discussion between individuals from all sectors and working in different areas to combat NTDs.
- To promote the creation and sustainability of networks among partners to facilitate integrated programs against NTDs.
The ISID-NTD Program Committee will be responsible for proposing the agenda for the meeting.
The agenda will include:
- Plenary sessions to address issues of common interest to all partners and participants.
- Symposia/round tables for presentation and discussion about key topics relevant to the fight against NTDs. Several general topic areas might include:
- Root causes and prevention of NTDs
- Social and health impacts of NTDs
- Treatment programs: Success and challenges
- Raising public awareness and mobilizing commitment against NTDs
- Tools needed and tools in development to treat NTDs
- Health system development and treatment integration
- Disease-specific challenges
For the meeting to fully succeed, it will be important to identify agencies, organizations, corporations and institutions that can provide financial support for the purpose of enabling participation of some people from affected regions who cannot otherwise attend. In particular, encouraging participation by young investigators and care providers who wish to present their own work at the meeting is a high priority.
Certain organizations may join ISID as "Collaborating Organizations" for the purpose of promoting the success of the NTD meeting. ISID requests that collaborating organizations disseminate information about the meeting and also help ISID to identify financial sponsorship for the meeting to both support the event and to enable individuals from affected countries to attend the meeting.
ISID will create and maintain a web page on the ISID site (ntd.isid.org) to provide complete information about the meeting including contact information, important dates, committees, schedule, program details, registration information and abstract submissions. Following the meeting, ISID will post a meeting archive that will include slide presentations pending permission by presenters.
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Kharadhar - Oldest Jamat in Karachi
KARACHI, the biggest city of Pakistan is the Alexander’s haven, the Liverpool of Sub-continent or the Croydon of the East. It is the only city in the world, which became known over thirty times. Crochey, Krotchey Bay, Carnjee, Koratchey, Currachee, Kurrachee and Karachi are its notable appellations, the last however being an official according to The Imperial Gazetteer of India. When Iran did the Greeks under Alexander conquer in the 4th century B.C., the whole Sind came under his supremacy. Alexander returned via Lahore, while his naval force under Nearchus had to halt for one day on October 8, 326 B.C. due to the onslaught of the monsoon, somewhere near Karachi, a place which is spoken as Alexander’s haven. Krokala is another Greek name, with which Karachi is also identified.
Karachi came under the British occupation in 1839 and annexed with the British Empire in 1843. Sir Charles Napier, the then governor of Sind (1843-1847) visualized the development potential of Karachi, and contemplated a number of measures for making it a first-rate port and city. Karachi earned thus the grade of a city in 1925.
The Old Town is an oldest location of Karachi, spreading over 35 acres on a lofty place, between the Kharadhar and Mithadhar areas. It is listed as 1st quarter out of 26 quarters since 1842. Kharadhar and Mithadhar are originally the names of the two gates of the wall fortified around the town in 1729. This was a fishing village known as Kalachi’jo Goath. The fortified enclosure contained about 30 to 35 acres. Its one gate faced west towards the sea was known as Kharadhar (the gate of saltiest water). The other faced the north-east towards the Lyari River was Mithadhar (the gate of sweet water). The wall was broken down in 1860 to enlarge the town, but the locations of Kharadhar and Mithadhar are still existed, representing the oldest sites of the town. Since the existence of KMC in 1852, the location of Kharadhar also became known as Ghulam Hussain Kassim quarter, the 2nd out of 26 quarters of Karachi, spreading in 24.37 acres.
The origin of early Ismaili settlers in Karachi may be traced from Kutchh, Kathiawar, Muscat, Gwadar and lower and upper Sind during 16th and 17th century. They used to launch their mercantile trips in Karachi, and some of them resided in the town without having any community significance. Syed Ghulam Ali Shah or Ghulmali Shah from the Kadiwala family was a prominent missionary in Sind, Kutchh and Kathiawar. He died in Karachi in 1792 when there was handful Ismailis. His body was transported to Kera in Kutchh for burial.
Kutchh is reported to have gripped in a dust bowl, followed by a terrible famine, and as a result, a retinue of ten thousand Ismailis trekked down in Sind and settled in Mulla Katiar and Rehari. In 1820, a caravan of Alleno Jiand, also called Lutf Ali Alleno migrated to Karachi from Rehari and settled at the edge of the town near the sea, called the Kharadhar.
These 200 to 250 Ismailis, who formed a small community in Karachi, evolved a well-defined institutional framework through which they made a far-reaching progress. They owned a plot no. G.T. 9/83 at Old Town in Kagzi Bazar in 1825 for the Jamatkhana. It was flat-roofed, and built of mud, mixed up with a large quantity of chopped grass, plastered over a framework of wood. The water was procured daily from Mithadhar.
In the period of Mukhi Ramzan Ismail, a plot of 2500 sq. yards was acquired for the new Jamatkhana between Harris Road and Imamwada Street, Kharadhar, Karachi. The new Jamatkhana was built into five phases, therefore, the old Jamatkhana of Kagzi Bazar temporarily shifted at plot no. 3/40-41 (now Rahmatullah Manzil) at the junction of Kasssim Street and Khalikdina Street, then at Khalikdina Street (now Mahfil-e-Masumeen Street) for few months. The new Jamatkhana came to be used soon after the completion of its first phase in November 2, 1882.
This Jamatkhana was called as the Karachi Jamatkhana, Main Jamatkhana or Chief Jamatkhana in India. The Imam however referred to it for the first time as Karachi Jamatkhana on January 1, 1912 in view of the fact that the Ismailis of the Garden area used to call Kharadhar as Karachi.
When Imam Aga Ali Shah expired in Poona on August 17, 1885, his holy body transported from Bombay to Najaf for burial. The coffin was boarded in a ship on October 28, 1885 and anchored at Karachi. The cortege procession brought it safely in the town and kept in the new Jamatkhana for three days. Mukhi Kassim Musa (d. 1901), the estate agent of Bombay was consigned its responsibilities. He writes in his handwritten book, “Bombay to Najaf†that, “The Ismailis reside thickly at the edge of the town in Kharadhar. They have just built a big Jamatkhana and presented to the Imam, where the coffin of Imam Aga Ali Shah was kept for three days, where the people were flocking through the day. The food of niaz was cooked at Kharadhar Jamatkhana for the jamat.â€
In the period of Mukhi Mohammad Ali Ghulamani, the hon’ble title of the Chief Mukhi began to be governed by the Mukhi of Kharadhar Jamatkhana according to an expressed guidance of Imam Sultan Muhammad Shah in 1902.
Imam Sultan Muhammad Shah visited the Panjibhai Club at Wadi (now the Aga Khan Gymkhana, Karachi) on January 17, 1912, where Alijah Alidina Ali Muhammad Asani (1884-1952) reported that the plan for raising the chamber for Baitual Khiyal in the Jamatkhana had been ready. When its design was presented, the Imam said, “Is its foundation strong enough?†To this, he replied in affirmative. The Imam asked, “Who are the persons who shared in the expenses of its construction?†The Imam was told that Rs. 1000/- was donated by Alijah Alidina Ali Muhammad Asani, Rs. 1000/- by Rahmatullah Lalji of Bombay, Rs. 1000/- by Mohammad Jaffar Karamani, Rs. 500/- by Varas Muhammad Remu of Gwadar and Rs. 500/- by Mohammad Abdullah of Gwadar. The Imam was also informed that Mohammad Jaffar Karmani had offered to pay the deficit amount of Rs. 1000/- to Rs. 1500/- if required. The Imam blessed them.
The Imam visited in the Jamatkhana next day on January 18, 1912 and laid the foundation of the chamber of Baitul Khiyal by putting concrete with his own hands. The Imam also took a big stone and inserted into the foundation and blessed the jamat.
Alijah Alidina Ali Muhammad also started a campaign of building the 2nd floor of the Jamatkhana on May 15, 1916. It cost Rs. 45000/- in which he contributed Rs. 15000/- He was assigned to supervise its construction.
Merali Kassim had also built a chamber of Baitul Khiyal for ladies in 1918, costing Rs. 30000/- Dr. Datoo Mukhi Ramzan Ismail (d. 1939) also donated Rs. 10000/- for constructing another chamber of Baitul Khiyal for gents, whose opening ceremony was performed by Varas Basaria Fadhu (1818-1918) on August 3, 1918. The Imam blessed them during the next visit in Karachi on April 11, 1920.
It was announced on April 11, 1920 in presence of the Imam that the expenses of extension of the Jamatkhana with a school at ground floor would cost Rs. 51,000/- in which Rs. 34,000/- was donated by Varas Bandali Kassim (1875-1956) and Rs. 17,000/- by Alijah Alidina Ali Muhammad. The Imam showered best blessings upon the donors.
The premises of the Jamatkhana further underwent renovation and repairing. It was inaugurated by Prince Aly Khan on January 28, 1934.
For extending the ladies site in the Jamatkhana, Seith Khatau Keshav presented Rs. 10,000/- to the Imam on January 16, 1934 in Bombay. The Imam summoned his estate agent, Senior Wazir Karim (1881-1968) and Kamadia Ghulam Hussain Varas Vali to start its construction, and then said for Seith Khatau Keshav that, “HE IS A MOMIN AND HAS OFFERED THE FUNDS FOR THE RIGHTEOUS WORK. CONGRATULATION.†Chief Mukhi Hussaini Mukhi Mamu performed its foundation ceremony on June 23, 1934. The Council sent its report to the Imam in London. In his telegraphic message of July 7, 1934, the Imam said, “BEST BLESSINGS HAPPY OCCASION AND ENTERTAINMENT. CONVEY SAME KHATAU KESHAV.â€
In the period of Chief Mukhi Wazir Chagla Vali Mohammad, the Imam sent a telegraphic message from Europe on December 6, 1946, declaring the Kharadhar Jamatkhana as a Dharkhana. The message reads, “LOVING PATERNAL MATERNAL BLESSINGS SPIRITUAL CHILDREN NOW IN DARKHANA KARACHI.â€
The coveted title of “Chief Mukhi†also came to an end with the retirement of Chief Mukhi Wazir Chagla Vali Mohammad on March 21, 1960. It means that it remained in force for 58 years among the six Mukhis.
The Imam appointed Mukhi Wazir Chagla Vali Mohammad as the President of the Jamatkhana Construction Advisory Committee to raise funds for the new Jamatkhana in Kharadhar as well as the new Jamatkhana in Garden.
The meritorious services of Chief Mukhi Wazir Chagla Vali Mohammad (1885-1966) shall be ever remained in the history of Ismailis of Karachi. In his message of March 7, 1966, the Imam said, “THE LATE MUKHI RENDERED UNIQUE SERVICES TO MY JAMAT AND MYSELF AND HE HAD AND ALWAYS WILL HAVE A UNIQUE PLACE IN MY HEART AND AFFECTION. HE WILL ALWAYS BE IN MY THOUGHTS AND PRAYERS.â€
A tragic incident of the out-worn three-storied Nanji Kurji building’s collapse took place in Kassim Hamir Street, Kharadhar on March 31, 1963 at 11.00 a.m., in which three Ismailis in the ration shop at ground floor were killed in the debris, viz. Rehmatullah Devji (72 years), Ahmed Rehmatullah (50 years) and Hakam Ali Aziz Rehmatullah ( 18 years). Being alarmed with it and in view of the depilatory condition of the old Jamatkhana at Harris Road, Mukhi Wazir Rahmatullah Bashir took a resolute measure, and immediately decided to vacate and shift it to the ground floor of the new Jamatkhana, which was yet under construction. Besides, the KDA also declared old Jamatkhana building as dangerous and unsuitable for use on April 2, 1963.
The shifting took place on Friday, April 5, 1963. It also required to shift the Imam’s holy gadi with due reverence. Chief Mukhi Wazir Chagla Vali Muhammad was assigned to conduct the traditional ceremony. Attired in golden robe, he took the gadi in his hands at 6.48 p.m. from the old Jamatkhana with Varasiani Gul Shakar Wazir Rahim Basaria. Taking the gadi in hands, he walked down to the entrance of the Harris Road, where a huge crowd assembled. With the slow recitation of the Chogadia Ginan, the small procession trekked down towards the new Jamatkhana. He alone entered the premises at first, where the jamat stood with due respect. He walked towards Mukhi Wazir Rahmatullah Bashir and handed over him the holy gadi amidst the recitation of Hai Zinda and Qaim Paya. The first Dua over here was offered at 7.02 p.m. This was a ceremony not to establish the gadi, but to transfer the established gadi from one to another place.
On December 13, 1986, the office of the Dharkhana shifted from Kharadhar to Garden, Karachi. Thus, the Kharadhar Jamatkhana officiated as the Dharkhana for 40 years (1946-1986) in Pakistan.
MUKHIS/KAMADIAS OF THE KHARADHAR JAMATKHANA
Between the year 1825 and 1855, the justi (traditional council) of the elders selected following Mukhis for the Kagzi Bazar Jamatkhana, Karachi.
1. Mukhi Datoo Chandu Varind 1825 - 1838
2. Mukhi Alarakhia Sajan 1838 - 1844
3. Mukhi Mohib Ali Jiand 1844 - 1855
When Mukhi Mohib Ali Jiand died in 1855, Juma Vali, the estate agent in Bombay brought a farman of the Imam written on parchment, indicating an official appointment of Alidina, the son of Assa (d. 1843), also called Alidina Asani as the Mukhi. The jamat hailed the news in jubilation and celebrated the occasion for three days. Henceforward, the tradition of the following appointments of the Mukhi by the Imam started in Karachi.
1. Mukhi Alidina Asani 1855 - 1873
2. Mukhi Alleno Jiand 1873 - 1882
3. Mukhi Ramzan Ismail Baledina 1882 - 1900
4. Chief Mukhi Mohammad Ali Ghulamani 1900 - 1910
5. Chief Mukhi Rahmatullah Ramzan Ismail 1910 - 1914
6. Chief Mukhi Rahmatullah Lutf Ali 1914 - 1928
7. Chief Mukhi Hussaini Mukhi Mamu 1928 - 1934
8. Chief Mukhi Ghulam Hussain Varoo 1934 - 1937
9. Chief Mukhi Mehr Ali Alarakhia 1937 - 1942
10. Chief Mukhi Khimji Lawji 1942 - 1946
11. Chief Mukhi Wazir Chagla Vali Mohammad 1946 - 1960
Kamadia Wazir Hussain Jan Mohammad
Joint Kamadia Itmadi Nazarali Nanji
12. Mukhi Wazir Rahmatullah Bashir 1960 - 1969
Kamadia Itmadi Essac Alijah Musa
Joint Mukhi Alijah Hassanali Ramji Rudani
13. Mukhi Itmadi Essac Alijah Musa 1969 - 1972
Kamadia Alijah Shamsuddin Lakhani
Joint Mukhi Alijah Noorali Itmadi Kassim Jaffar
14. Mukhi Rai Mohammad Rai Shahban Datoo 1972 - 1976
Kamadia Rai Mohammad Wazir A.J. Chunara
Joint Kamadia Ashraf A.M. Jiven
15. Mukhi Rai Mohammad Rai Shahban Datoo 1976 - 1980
Kamadia Alijah Abdul Rahim Itmadi K. Allana
Joint Kamadia Ghulam Hussain Lalani
16. Mukhi Rai Sherali Jaffarali Valliani 1980 - 1983
Kamadia Alijah Anwarali Rai Rajab Ali Boolani
Joint Kamadia Alijah Abdul Malik Varas A. Aziz
17. Mukhi Alijah Anwarali Rai Rajab Ali Boolani 1983 - 1987
Kamadia Alijah Abdul Malik Varas A. Aziz
Joint Kamadia Abdul Rehman Itmadi Kassim Jafar
18. Mukhi Rai Ahmed Ali Alijah Essa Valliani 1987 - 1996
Kamadia Alijah Najmuddin E. Gowani
19. Mukhi Alijah Najmuddin E. Gowani 1996 - 2002
Kamadia Saleem Sher Ali Ahmed
20. Mukhi Huzur Mukhi Akhtar Shamsuddin Shirazi since 2002
Kamadia Zulfikar Ashiq Ali Hussaini
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Ellen Swallow Richards (1842-1911)
Environmentalist Ellen Swallow Richards introduced the word ecology to the United States in 1892. Richards was home-schooled by her parents, both teachers, and studied at Vassar College, where she became interested in chemistry. She was particularly interested in environmental problems caused by urbanization. She was the first woman admitted to Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), where she earned a second bachelor’s degree. She attempted to obtain her graduate degree, but was not allowed to do so because she was a woman. At her request in 1875, the Women's Education Association of Boston helped establish a laboratory at MIT for the instruction of women in chemistry. The new laboratory opened the following year and Richards worked as an instructor in chemistry and mineralogy in the Women's Laboratory until it closed in 1883. The following year she became an instructor in sanitary chemistry at MIT.
In addition to her work at MIT, Richards analyzed water and sewage systems for the Massachusetts Board of Health. Her research demonstrated the need for Massachusetts factory and food inspection laws, which became the first in the nation. She was also involved in the development of sanitary sewer treatment systems. Richards was the first scientist to conduct stream by stream water surveys in the United States, and she was recognized worldwide for her analyses of minerals in the earth. Her long list of achievements also includes founding the study of home economics and starting the work on the Pure Food Acts.
Although not an outspoken activist for woman suffrage, Richards viewed improvements in scientific education as a key to the progress of women and the country. Her environmental work led to an increase in women's involvement in the budding conservation movement at the turn of the twentieth century.
She taught at MIT until her death in 1911.
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology
- National Park Service
- National Women's Hall of Fame
- Radford University
- The article is excerpted from a NWHM newsletter
- Image is from Massachusetts Institution of Technology
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Find over 200 print-friendly fact sheets about heart disease and related health topics.
Check Your Symptoms
Minor leg problems, such as sore muscles, are common. Leg problems
commonly occur during sports or recreational activities, work-related tasks,
and work or projects around the home. Leg problems also can be caused by
injuries. If you think your leg problem is related to an injury, see the topic
Leg problems may be minor or serious and may
include symptoms such as pain, swelling, cramps, numbness, tingling, weakness,
or changes in temperature or color. Symptoms often develop from exercise,
everyday wear and tear, or overuse.
Older adults have a higher risk
for leg problems because they lose muscle mass as they age. Children may have
leg problems for the same reasons as adults or for reasons specific to
children. Problems are often caused by overactivity or the rapid growth of bone
and muscle that occurs in children.
It may be helpful to know what the bones of the thigh and lower leg look like as well as the muscles and tendons to better understand leg problems. Leg problems that are not related to a specific injury have
Some leg problems are seen only in children, such as swelling
at the top of the shinbone (Osgood-Schlatter disease) and swelling
and pain in the knee joint (juvenile idiopathic arthritis).
Growing pains are common among rapidly growing
children and teens and are probably caused by differences in growth rates
of muscle, bone, and soft tissue. These pains often last for 1 or 2 hours at a
time and can wake a child from sleep.
Swollen feet are common
after you have been sitting or standing for long periods of time or during hot
or humid weather. Sitting or lying down and elevating your legs will often
relieve this type of swelling. Conditions that put increased pressure on the
belly and pelvis, such as
obesity and pregnancy, also can cause swelling in the
feet and ankles and
medicines can cause problems in the legs. For example,
birth control pills and other hormones can increase your risk of blood clots,
while water pills (diuretics), heart medicines, and cholesterol-lowering
medicines (statins) can cause muscle cramps.
Some leg problems are
only present at night:
Most minor leg problems will heal on their own, and home
treatment may be all that is needed to relieve symptoms and promote healing.
But serious leg problems also may occur and require prompt evaluation by a
Check your symptoms to decide if and when
you should see a doctor.
This site requires ActiveX controls and plug-ins to be enabled. If not already installed, the Free Adobe Flash Plugin is available for download.
If your leg problem does not
require an evaluation by a doctor, you may be able to use home treatment to
help relieve pain, swelling, stiffness or muscle cramps.
Drink plenty of fluids. Sports drinks, such as Gatorade, will
often help leg cramps. For more information about the home treatment of muscle
cramps that are often caused by dehydration from exercise or heat, see the
If you think your child is
growing pains, try warmth and massage to relieve
discomfort in the legs. Do not rub or massage a calf that is swollen.
For leg cramps, consider wearing support stockings during the day, and
take frequent rest periods (with your feet up). If leg cramps occur during
pregnancy, make sure you are eating a diet rich in
magnesium. Talk with your doctor about taking a
calcium supplement. He or she may recommend a calcium supplement that does not
Do not smoke. Smoking slows healing because it
decreases blood supply and delays tissue repair. For more information, see the
Reduce stress on your leg (until you can get advice from your
For more information about the home treatment of problems
varicose veins, see the topic
Call your doctor if any of the following occur during home
The following tips may prevent leg
For information on how to prevent
blood clots from developing in the legs, see the topic
Deep Vein Thrombosis.
To prepare for your appointment, see the topic Making the Most of Your Appointment.
You can help your
doctor diagnose and treat your condition by being prepared to answer the
February 6, 2013
William H. Blahd, Jr., MD, FACEP - Emergency Medicine & H. Michael O'Connor, MD - Emergency Medicine
To learn more visit Healthwise.org
© 1995-2012 Healthwise, Incorporated. Healthwise, Healthwise for every health decision, and the Healthwise logo are trademarks of Healthwise, Incorporated.
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is the city of the inimitable Taj Mahal. The story of agra beigns much earlier then the
Taj, However it finds mention in the epic Mahabharata when it was called Agrabana are
Paradise. Ptolemy, the famous second century A.D. geographer, marked it on his map of the
world as Agra. Tradition and legend ascribe the present city of Raja Badal Singh (around
1475 A.D.) whose Fort, Badalgarh, Stood on or near the site of the present Fort. However,
the 12th century A.D. persian poet Salman, too, Speaks of a desperate assault on the
forrtress of Agra, then held by one King Jaipal, by sultan Mahmud of Ghazni. It was
Mughals who finally nurtured Agra with the finest monuments architects could design : The
Taj Mahal of Shah Jhan, Agra Fort of Akbar, Itmad-Ud-Daulah and neighbouring
Sikandra are but few of the many that spangle the city, each of which stands in mute
testimony to the city's grandur over the ages.
Boundaries and Wheather
district is situated in western U.P., between 27.11' degree Latitude North and
78.0' degree to 78.2' degree Longitute East. Its Altitude is 169 meters above sea level.
On the North it is bounded by Mathura District, On the South it is bounded by Dhaulpur
District, On the East it is bounded by Firozabad District and On the West it
is bounded by Bharatpur. Agra is situated on the bank of Yamuna river.
In Agra Maximum
Temperature in Summer is 45D.C. and minimum temperature is about 21.9D.C. and in Winter
maximum temperature in131.7D.C. and minimum temp. in about 4.2D.C.. Best
season for tourist in from October to March.
Census 1991, the are of Agra district is 4027.00 sqr. km., Where Rural area is 3838.60
sqr. km. and Urban area is 188.40 sqr. km.. Its Total Population is 27,51,021 out of which
Males are 15,01,927 and Females are 12,49,094. Of the Total Population, 16,39,935
constitute the Rural Population and 11,11,086 are makes the Urban Population.
district is divided into Six Tehsils and 15 Blocks. Total number of Nayay Panchayats in
the district are 114 while Gram Sabhas stands at 636. The total populated villages are
904. The total number of police stations in the district are 41 out of which 16 are in
Urban area and 25 are in Rural area. The total number of Railway Stations (including
Halts) are 29 and Bus Stands/Bus Stops are 144. Total number of Broad Guage lines is 196
K.M. and Meter Guage is 35 K.M..
the Economy of the Agra district is agriculture based while the economy base of Agra city
is Small Scale Industries, Commerce and Trade. Major crops are Wheat, Paddy, Bajra,
Mustard, Patato etc. About 40% of the total economy of Agra depend on industry (Directly
or Indirectly). Over 7200 Small Scale Industrial Units are spared all over the district.
Agra city is famous for the Leather Goods, Handicrafts, Zari Zardozi, Marvel and Stone
carving & inlay work. Agra is also welknown for eats sweets (PETHA) and Snaks (DALMOTH
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The Atlas of Living Australia added its 30 millionth species occurrence record last week, making it the largest collection of rich information on Australia's plants, animals and fungi.
The Atlas, a collaboration between all Australian museums, herbaria and biological collections, CSIRO, Adelaide and Southern Cross Universities and the Commonwealth Government, reached this milestone when over half a million records from Birdlife Australia were incorporated. Some of these records come from the diaries of 17th Century Dutch navigators, such as the record for a Brush Bronzewing dated 1629.
"The Atlas is a unique national repository for rich data on all Australian life forms from bacteria to kangaroos, land-based to marine, native and non-native," says Dr John La Salle, Director of the Atlas of Living Australia.
"Together with information about the whole range of Australian species, the Atlas contains many different types of data, including photos, distribution, maps and mapping tools, DNA sequences, scientific and common names, conservation status, identification keys and heritage literature."
The Atlas provides access to over 350 large and small datasets, from the NSW Government's Atlas of Wildlife to the records of a community group who look after a local creek.
Dr John Hooper from the Queensland Museum, Chair of the Atlas Management Committee and Chair of the Council of Heads of Australian Faunal Collections (CHAFC), noted: "This is a substantial milestone for the Atlas community. The array of records and tools now available are providing value to researchers, teachers, students, natural resource managers and anyone who would like to know more about the living world, identify species or understand their distribution."
One of the applications in the Atlas, 'Explore Your Area', allows you to enter an address or location to find the recorded species nearby. At the click of a button you can create a list and map of species that have been found in your local area and photos of most of them.
"Local and traditional knowledge is invaluable for tracking where Australian animals and plants are distributed across the country. Even if a plant or animal is common in your area, it may never have been officially recorded there, only because no-one has conducted a technical survey of what's there. If the species list is incomplete, it only takes a few minutes to add your own sightings and photos of Australian species." said Dr John La Salle.
|Contact: Lynne Sealie|
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The first two growing seasons are the most critical for the live oak. Don't allow a tree to show stress before you start watering it.
You may believe that the next generation will be the only people who benefit from a live oak tree planted now, however, that's not really true. With proper care, a live oak will grow faster and will provide more benefits than you may think in only five years.
Fertilize and water
Fertilizer and water are the keys to whether a live oak grows as rapidly as it can. At least one major feeding in late winter or early spring is essential for this rapid growth. Apply a complete fertilizer at the rate of one and a half pounds for each year of the tree's age. A complete fertilizer is one such as 8-8-8 or 10-10-10. You should put the fertilizer in small holes under the canopy of the tree.
The second feeding should come in mid-summer and this will help young trees because under good conditions, a second spurt of growth is likely at this time. Nitrogen is especially important for this second growth stage.
Large, well-established trees should have only one application of fertilizer a year. In fact, trees which have become as large as they need to be, probably shouldn't be fertilized more than once every other year. When the tree gets large, you should be more concerned with keeping it healthy than helping it grow larger.
The first two growing seasons are the most critical for the live oak. Don't allow a tree to show stress before you start watering it. Maintain moist soil at all times.
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HENDAY (Hendey, Hendry), ANTHONY, HBC labourer and net-maker, explorer; fl. 1750–62.
Anthony Henday was one of the first white men to probe the vast distances of the Canadian west. There had been journeys to the interior before his time: Henry Kelsey* had travelled to the prairies in 1690–92; William Stuart* had crossed the Barrens to the country southeast of Great Slave Lake in 1715–16; but generally the Hudson’s Bay Company had not taken much interest in the all-but-unknown lands beyond Hudson Bay. As Pierre Gaultier de Varennes et de La Vérendrye and his successors began to tap the western trade during the 1740s, however, the HBC became more concerned with what was occurring out in the vast territory its charter claimed for it. So when James Isham, chief at York Fort (York Factory, Man.), suggested that “if a proper Person were sent a great way up into the Country with presents to the Indians it may be a means of drawing down many of the Natives to Trade,” the company’s London committee agreed.
Henday volunteered to undertake the expedition. A native of the Isle of Wight, he had been a fisherman before joining the HBC in 1750 as a net-maker and labourer. According to Andrew Graham*, who knew him at York, he had been outlawed as a smuggler in 1748, a fact unknown to the HBC officials who hired him. After coming to the bay Henday had gained some experience in inland travel, having journeyed with a party of Indians as far as Split Lake in February and March 1754 to collect information on distances from York.
On 26 June 1754 he set out with some Plains Crees who were returning to the interior. Following a route several miles north of the one that was to be used by the York-boat brigades of the 19th century, they left the Hayes River at the mouth of the Fox and travelled through Utik and Moose lakes to the Paskoya (Saskatchewan) River. Having been informed that in three days’ time they would pass a French post, Henday recorded apprehensively, “I dont very well like it, having nothing to Satisfy Them on what account I am going up the Country and Very possibly they may expect Me to be a Spy. . . .” When the party reached Paskoya (The Pas, Man.) on 22 July the French traders (one of whom may have been Louis de La Corne) did threaten to seize Henday and send him to France, but awed perhaps by the number of Indians with whom he was travelling they allowed him to proceed.
He and his companions soon abandoned their canoes and struck out on foot over the immense prairies. After a few miles the Indians joined company with the members of their families who had not made the long journey by water to the bay. Henday was already travelling with a Cree woman whose assistance as food-gatherer, cook, and interpreter was invaluable. He does not mention her name in his journal, calling her only his “bed-fellow.” Reference to his relationship with her is excluded from the official version of the journal that Isham sent to London, for the committee’s disapproval of such arrangements was well known.
The augmented party continued westwards, crossing the South Saskatchewan River north of present Saskatoon and passing south of the future site of Battleford. Its route, especially after it left the Battleford area, is a matter of some controversy. Henday’s original journal is not extant, and there are serious contradictions among the four copies that have survived. In any case, his brief entries lend themselves to various interpretations and, as the London committee later observed, “We apprehend Henday is not very expert in making Drafts with Accuracy or keeping a just Reckoning of distance other than by guess. . . .” The most recent and convincing attempt to trace his wanderings is in J. G. MacGregor, Behold the Shining Mountains. According to MacGregor, the travellers continued northwest and west along the southern edge of the Battle River valley.
On 6 September they met a group of Eagle Indians, an Assiniboin band who had never traded with white men. Henday’s diplomacy was apparently effective, for thereafter groups of Eagles went down to York annually. The Indians whom Henday had come seeking, however, were those the HBC men knew vaguely as the “Archithinues” – either Atsinas (Gros Ventres) or Siksikas (Blackfeet). Attickasish, the Cree leader of Henday’s party, had met two Archithinues on 4 September, but the others were farther west following the main buffalo herds. On 15 September Henday recorded, “the Buffalo so numerous obliged to make them sheer out of our way.” As he and his companions proceeded they encountered numerous groups of Assiniboins hunting buffalo. On 14 October, when they were about 18 miles southeast of present Red Deer, Alta., they finally came to the great camp of the Archithinues – some 200 teepees pitched in two rows. At one end stood the buffalo-hide lodge of the head chief, capable of seating about 50 people. Attended by 20 elders, the chief received Henday, seating the visitor at his right hand on a newly dressed buffalo hide. Several pipes were lit and passed around without a word to break the silence; then boiled buffalo meat was circulated in baskets of woven grass, and the honoured guest was presented with 12 tongues – the greatest delicacy known to the Archithinues.
The next day Henday met the chief again and, in keeping with the company’s instructions, requested that some of the young men be allowed to return to York with him. The chief replied that they could not live without buffalo meat or leave their horses, and that they did not know how to use canoes. He had heard, moreover, that the people who went down to the settlements on the bay often starved on the journey. “Such remarks I thought exceeding true,” noted Henday, who had only half-completed the gruelling journey after 16 weeks of travel by river, lake, and prairie.
Henday and some of the Crees moved along to the area west of present Innisfail and Red Deer, where they spent the early winter. In this region they were within sight of the Rocky Mountains, but there is no clearly identifiable mention of this imposing range in the surviving versions of Henday’s journal. In mid-January they began making their way north-northeast, past the present Sylvan Lake towards the point where the Sturgeon River empties into the North Saskatchewan River (about 20 miles downstream from modern Edmonton). There they camped from 5 March to 28 April, building canoes for the long journey east.
As they paddled down the North Saskatchewan they were met by bands of Indians who joined them or traded their furs to the Crees for English goods. Henday’s companions had promised him that they would try to persuade the Archithinues to come down to the bay, but although they encountered many of that tribe the shrewd Crees made no attempt to keep their word. Instead, as Henday observed, “there are scarce a Gun, Kettle, Hatchet, or Knife amongst us, having traded them with the Archithinue Natives.” It became clear to him that the Indian economy was more complex than the HBC had realized. Many of the Indians who traded at Hudson Bay had given up trapping and hunting, and had become middlemen for the rest of their own tribe or for the tribes of the interior who did not use canoes.
When the flotilla, by then numbering 60 canoes, arrived at Fort Saint-Louis, some ten miles below the forks of the Saskatchewan, the French traders there began by offering their customers brandy and then traded from them about a thousand prime skins. The process was repeated farther down the river at Paskoya, and Henday reported “The French talk several Languages to perfection: they have the advantage of us in every shape; and if they had Brazile tobacco . . . would entirely cut off our trade.” After four days at Paskoya, with only the heavy skins remaining, Henday and the Crees started once more for Hudson Bay, following the same route as on their outward trip. On 23 June their astonishing journey ended at York. They had been absent nearly a full year. Henday had been farther into the western interior than any other European, and he had made valuable discoveries about the Indian economy and the nature of the company’s French competition. Some of his tales seemed so strange to the stay-at-homes at the bay that they were met with considerable disbelief. His claim that the Archithinues rode horses provoked particular scepticism and much laughter.
After less than a week at York, Henday went inland again, accompanied this time by William Grover. Grover, however, was unable to stand the strain of the journey, and by 2 July they had returned to the bay. Henday had also apparently been affected by the hardships of his trips, for when Isham sent him inland in 1756 “to take a true and Exact acct. of the place he entemates, for a Settlement, computed 500 miles up,” ill-health obliged him to return to York without completing the mission. In 1758 he wintered at Ship River, an outpost of York, but became so ill “of a cold” that a party was sent out in March to bring him back to the main factory. He recovered and in June 1759 went to the Archithinue country once more. No journal of this trip exists. He travelled with a few Archithinues who had come to trade at Hudson Bay as a result of his previous expedition, and with Joseph Smith, who had already made several long inland journeys. Henday, Smith, and 61 canoes of Indians reappeared at York in June 1760.
In 1762 Henday left the company’s service. According to Andrew Graham, who was at York at the time, he was disappointed at not being promoted and angry at being abused by the supply-ships’ companies for not buying luxuries from them. Thus ended the career of a “bold and enterprising” explorer who had contributed so much to the company’s knowledge of the lands it claimed and the people who inhabited them.
[Henday’s original journal is not extant, and the four different copies that survive in the HBC Archives seriously contradict one another on some points. B.239/a/40 contains the copy sent from York by James Isham in 1755, inaccurate in some respects but ending with a powerful plea for inland expansion. In the manuscripts composing Andrew Graham’s “Observations” are three copies: E.2/4, ff.35–60, misdated 1755–56 and actually made about 1768–69; E.2/6, ff.10d–38d, written about 1767–69; and E.2/11, ff. 1–40d, possibly written as late as 1790 and including some valuable annotations by Graham. This version, the only one that has been published, appears as “York Factory to the Blackfeet country – the journal of Anthony Hendry, 1754–55,” ed. L. J. Burpee, in RSCT, 3rd ser., I (1907), sect.ii, 307–64.
Other sources of information on Henday are: Morton, History of the Canadian west. J. G. MacGregor, Behold the Shining Mountains, being an account of the travels of Anthony Henday, 1754–55, the first white man to enter Alberta (Edmonton, 1954). Glyndwr Williams, “Highlights in the history of the first two hundred years of the Hudson’s Bay Company,” Beaver (Winnipeg), outfit 301 (autumn 1970), 4–63. C. P. Wilson, “Across the prairies two centuries ago,” CHA Report, 1954, 29–35. c.w.]
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Domestic Violence is a Crime
Under the law, no one has the right to abuse another. Domestic violence, also known as spousal or partner abuse, is usually violence or threats of violence, and includes physical, sexual, emotional or psychological abuse. If you need help or you want to help in breaking the cycle of domestic violence, there are resources available to assist you. Victim Services - Domestic Violence Unit is a free service that helps individuals who are victims of domestic violence where criminal charges have been, or may be laid against their partner. For information contact the Victim Services - Domestic Violence Unit or call the toll-free province-wide domestic abuse crisis line (24 hours) at 1-877-977-0007.
Protection Under the Law
If a spouse, a partner or a child is being abused, both criminal law and civil law offer assistance and protection. Each branch of the law provides different remedies. Criminal law is intended to deter offences from being committed and deal with offenders. Civil law is used to settle disputes between individuals and can also provide protection for an individual. It may be necessary to use both systems for the best available protection.
Domestic Violence and Stalking Act
Manitoba's Domestic Violence and Stalking Act and the Domestic Violence and Stalking Regulation (211Kb PDF) which came into force on September 30, 1999, (The Act was originally called The Domestic Violence and Stalking Prevention, Protection and Compensation Act. The name was shortened in 2005.) provides persons subjected to stalking and domestic violence with the ability to seek a wide range of civil remedies to address their individual needs. Interested in learning more about this powerful law? Stalking is a Crime
Protection and Prevention Orders
You can ask for special protective orders if you have been subjected to either domestic violence or stalking. Protection orders can be obtained from designated Justices of the Peace quickly, simply and inexpensively, without notice to the person who is abusing you. Prevention orders can be obtained from the Court of Queen's Bench by making an application in front of a Judge. Even though these orders may not be as easy to obtain quickly in emergency situations, they can contain a greater number of conditions.
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The status of Australian mammals in 1922 - Collections and field notes of museum collector Charles Hoy
Short, J. and Calaby, J.H. (2001) The status of Australian mammals in 1922 - Collections and field notes of museum collector Charles Hoy. Australian Zoologist, 31 (4). pp. 533-560.
Charles Hoy, a collector for the US Museum of Natural History, spent three years in Australia (1919-1922) collecting at more than a dozen locations around Australia. He collected over one thousand specimens of mammals of more than 100 species. This paper collates the species collected by location and provides detailed quotes from his field notes and letters. Typically, his field notes and letters describe his collecting localities, detail what fauna he was able to collect, detail what additional fauna he had expected to collect, and speculate on the major land use changes impacting on the fauna. His letters and field notes provide valuable insights into the status of the Australian fauna and the perceived threats to its persistence at that time. He recorded a range of threats to mammals in temperate Australia, and singled out the desert fauna as being particularly vulnerable. In contrast, he recorded few threats in tropical Australia. Introduced foxes and cats, poisoning and trapping techniques to control rabbits, land clearing and hunting in localized areas, and regular burning of the forests were important factors in temperate Australia. He provides information of the timing of decline of mammals, distinguishing animals in the size category of the larger native rodents (the first to decline) and those the size of small wallabies (a subsequent decline). His fieldwork indicated an approximate synchrony in decline of medium-sized mammals at two distant locations (Eyre Peninsula in South Australia and Tamworth in New South Wales) in the period 1915-1918, which coincided with the eruptive wave of the fox invasion. In addition, he recorded the decline of specific species that he attributes to a combination of disease and predation from feral cats (the native cats Dasyurus spp.) or predominantly to disease (koala Phascolarctos cinereus).
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|Publisher:||Royal Zoological Society of New South Wales|
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CAUSE: Patent ductus arteriosus (also called PDA) is a birth defect in the heart. It is caused by incomplete changes in the heart's circulation when a dog or cat is born. The ductus arteriosus is an important blood vessel that ensures that blood does not go to the lungs unnecessarily as the fetus is developing in the uterus. During the first few hours after birth, this blood vessel naturally closes off. This allows blood to travel normally through the lungs for oxygenation as the lungs begin to function when the puppy or kitten takes its first breath. In some puppies and kittens, the ductus arteriosus remains open (patent). This results in serious, life-threatening changes in the way that the heart pumps blood through the heart and to the rest of the body
CLINICAL SIGNS: As the disease process progresses heart failure can ensue which include sings of shortness of breath, coughing, weakness, and exercise intolerance.
DIAGNOSIS: Most cases of patent ductus arteriosus are found when a perfectly healthy-looking puppy or kitten is brought to the veterinarian for a routine examination, and a heart murmur is detected. A heart murmur is the sound produced by blood moving through the heart in a turbulent fashion and can be heard by the veterinarian by using a stethoscope. If there is a concern that the murmur may indicate a patent ductus arteriosus (these PDA murmurs produce a very distinctive sound), then tests are warranted to evaluate the possibility of patent ductus arteriosus. Usually, x-rays are taken of the chest to evaluate the size and shape of the heart and to evaluate the lungs. An electrocardiogram (ECG) depicts the pattern of electrical activity in the heart and any irregularities in the heart's rhythm (arrhythmias). The ECG may show changes that support a diagnosis of a PDA. An echocardiogram, (cardiac ultrasound), is the test of choice for a PDA. An image of the inside of the heart is displayed on a monitor in real time and allows the cardiologist to observe the abnormal communication between the aorta and pulmonary artery.
PROGNOSIS: Having a patent ductus arteriosus is not usually compatible with a normal life span unless the patent ductus arteriosus is corrected (closed).
TREATMENT/PROCEDURE: The goal of treatment is to close the ductus arteriosus. This can be accomplished through thoracotomy (an open-chest surgery) or through cardiac catheter-based (minimally-invasive surgery) occlusion. Thoracotomy is more invasive because the chest is opened, but unlike humans, most dogs lose all outward signs of pain in 1 or 2 days after chest surgery. Catheter based occlusion (closing the duct with coils or a ductal cclude) is a minimally-invasive alternative and the patients usually go home the following day. It requires specialized equipment, and may not be appropriate for cats and smaller dogs. It is important that one of these two procedures is performed as soon as possible after the diagnosis is made. In some cases, waiting too long allows other very serious complications to develop and creates the need for even more extensive treatment. Your veterinarian will recommend a veterinary cardiologist or surgeon to perform either of these procedures.
FOLLOW UP EXAMINATIONS: This will depend on the procedure that was used to correct the PDA. If a thoracotomy is performed the sutures will have to be removed in 7-10 days. Make sure bandages, chest wraps, and stitched incisions (sutures) stay clean and dry after surgery. If they become wet, are chewed at or damaged by the pet, or otherwise seem abnormal, contact your veterinarian for a recheck to reduce the risk of infection or other problems. If catheter based occlusion is performed, sutures will also have to be removed in 7-10 days. Usually, a repeat echocardiogram is acquired 1-3 months post PDA closure. Long-term follow-up appointments may occasionally be needed if there was any possibility of long-standing effects (permanent damage) to the heart or if your animal is taking any cardiac medication.
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Switzerland holds a parliamentary election on Sunday, October 18, 2015. An overview of the proportional representation system used to choose members of the lower chamber of the Swiss Parliament - the Nationalrat or National Council - is presented here.
Switzerland's Federal Statistical Office will have live 2015 election results in German, French and Italian; the Federal Chancellery will also have 2015 election results in German, French, Italian, Romansh and English. Federal- and cantonal-level results are available here (and also in CSV format) for the following National Council elections:
The election statistics presented in this space are derived from official reports issued by the Federal Chancellery. However, in order to present election results that reflect party strength in a meaningful manner, lists have been grouped according to classifications issued by the Swiss Federal Statistical Office. Moreover, since Swiss voters may choose as many National Council candidates as there are constituency seats to be filled (see below), party vote totals for multi-member cantons were obtained by dividing list results by the total number of seats (with fractions rounded to obtain whole number figures), and the results were then aggregated for each political party. Finally, it should be noted that in multi-member constituencies the sum of votes cast for parties will not equal the total number of valid votes due to the fact that some electors vote for fewer candidates than the number of available seats.
The Parliament of the Swiss Confederation, the Federal Assembly, is composed of a lower house, the Nationalrat or National Council, and an upper house, the Standerat or Council of States. Both houses, which have the same powers, are directly elected by universal adult suffrage.
The National Council is composed of 200 members elected for a four-year term of office in twenty-six constituencies - the cantons of Switzerland. National Council seats are allocated among the cantons in proportion to their population, although each canton is entitled to at least one seat. Since 1919, elections to the National Council have been carried out by proportional representation; nonetheless, seats in single-member cantons are filled by the plurality or first-past-the-post method, under which the candidate obtaining the largest number of votes is elected to office.
Electors in multi-member constituencies choose among lists of candidates. Two or more lists may form an electoral alliance, and two or more lists within an alliance may form an electoral sub-alliance. Political parties often present multiple, allied lists representing male and female sections, youth and senior citizen wings, or geographical areas within a canton; electors vote for as many candidates as there are seats to be filled. Electors may select a single list, and in this manner vote for every candidate on the list, but they may also drop a candidate from the list, and either put another candidate from the same list a second time, thus casting an additional vote for that candidate (a procedure known as cumulation), or write in the name of a candidate from another list (a practice known in French as panachage); in fact, electors may even compose their own lists by combining candidates from different lists. Meanwhile, electors in single-seat cantons cast a vote for only one candidate.
Seats in multi-member cantons are allocated by the Hagenbach-Bischoff method, in which an electoral quota is calculated by dividing the total number of valid votes by the number of seats to be allocated plus one. The number of votes polled by each list or electoral alliance is then divided by the electoral quota, and the result, disregarding fractions, is the initial number of mandates allocated to the list or combination of lists. Unfilled seats are then allocated in each canton according to the largest average method, also known as the d'Hondt rule. Seats won by electoral alliances are also apportioned among constituent lists and sub-alliances by the Hagenbach-Bischoff method and the d'Hondt rule, and the same procedure is repeated for the allocation of sub-alliance seats among constituent lists. Finally, list seats are assigned to the candidates with the largest vote totals within each list.
While the cumulative effect of the application of the d'Hondt rule over a substantial number of small-sized constituencies tends to favor the larger parties, smaller parties often overcome this limitation by forming electoral alliances and sub-alliances. Consequently, the overall distribution of National Council seats is fairly proportional to the parties' voting strength.
Elections to the Council of States, which are held at the same time as elections to the National Council (except in the cantons of Zug and Appenzell Innerrhoden), are carried out by majority vote, save for the canton of Jura, where the election takes place under proportional representation. Each canton is assigned two seats in the Council of States, except the cantons of Obwalden, Nidwalden, Basel-Stadt, Basel-Landschaft, Appenzell Ausserrhoden and Appenzell Innerrhoden, which are assigned one seat each, for a total of 46 seats.
Unlike other European countries, Switzerland has a collegiate executive, the Federal Council, whose seven members are elected every four years in a plenary session of both houses of the Federal Assembly. The presidency of the Confederation rotates on a yearly basis among Federal Council members, each one of which heads a federal department.
From 1959 to 2007, Switzerland was ruled by a grand coalition of the country's four major parties: the conservative Swiss People's Party/Democratic Center Union (SVP/UDC), the Social Democratic Party of Switzerland (SPS/PSS), the centrist Radical Democratic Party (FDP/PRD) and the Christian Democratic People's Party (CVP/PDC). Under the so-called "magic formula," from 1959 to 2003 the Social Democrats, the Radical Democrats and the Christian Democrats had two seats each in the Federal Council, while the smaller Swiss People's Party had one. However, between 1991 and 2007 the Swiss People's Party more than doubled its share of the vote, while the Social Democrats, the Radical Democrats and the Christian Democrats experienced a noticeable decline. In the 2003 federal election, SVP/UDC ran on an anti-immigration, anti-European Union campaign and won the largest number of seats in the National Council. As a result, the party demanded and secured an additional seat in the Federal Council at the expense of CVP/PDC, which had slipped to fourth place in the 1999 general election.
SVP/UDC scored further gains in the 2007 federal election, and consolidated its position as Switzerland's largest single party. However, in December of that year, a joint session of the National Council and the Council of States unexpectedly failed to re-elect Swiss People's Party leader and Justice Minister Christoph Blocher to the Federal Council. Although the Federal Assembly chose Eveline Widmer-Schlumpf of SVP/UDC to replace the controversial Blocher, she was disowned by the party, which subsequently went into opposition. In 2008, both Widmer-Schlumpf and Defense Minister Samuel Schmid - until then the other SVP/UDC representative in the Federal Council - left the party to join the Conservative Democratic Party of Switzerland (BDP/PBD); the new party is a Swiss People's Party breakaway established by moderate SVP/UDC members after the party voted to ban Widmer-Schlumpf as well as its section in Graubünden canton, which had previously refused to expel Widmer-Schlumpf. However, Schmid stepped down from office the following November, and he was subsequently replaced by Ueli Maurer of SVP/UDC.
In addition to the five parties currently represented in the Federal Council, Switzerland has a number of smaller parties spanning the entire political spectrum. Since 1987 the environmentalist Green Party of Switzerland (GPS/PES) has been the largest party outside government, displacing the Independents' Alliance (LdU/AdI), which disappeared after the 1999 federal election. In recent years, the right-wing Swiss Democrats (SD/DS; previously National Action) and the Freedom Party of Switzerland (FPS/PSL; previously the Automobile Party) have lost ground to SVP/UDC - as has the Liberal Party of Switzerland (LPS/PLS), traditionally strong in the cantons of western Switzerland; in 2009 the latter merged with the Radical Democrats to form the Radical Liberal Party (FDP/PLR).
Other political parties represented in the National Council include the Federal Democratic Union (EDU/UDF) and the Ticino League (Lega) on the right; the Swiss Labour Party (PdA/PST), the Alternative List (FGA/AVF) and Solidarities (Sol.) on the left; the Evangelical People's Party (EVP/PEV); the Christian Social Party (CSP/PCS); and (since 2007) the Green Liberal Party (GLP/PVL).
Copyright © 2007-2015 Manuel
Álvarez-Rivera. All Rights Reserved.
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(1912 - )
Washington, D.C. - November 13, 1979
Dorothy Height was one of the most powerful women in the long civil rights struggle. Through her leadership in the Young Women's Christian Association (YWCA), the Delta Sigma Theta sorority and the National Council of Negro Women, along with countless other councils and committees, Height spent most of the 20th century fighting poverty, racism and sexism. Her work ranged from leading fair wage battles in the 1930s, to organizing voter registration drives in the 1960s, to initiating nationwide black family reunions in the 1980s and '90s. Height has pursued her ambitions with the vigor of a missionary, deeply believing that her duty as a Christian is to help people who suffer from discrimination and poverty.
Height was born in 1912 and raised in Rankin, Pennsylvania, a small steel town near Pittsburgh. Her father was a successful building contractor and painter, her mother a nurse and housekeeper. Her parents were marginally active in Republican politics, but as Height notes in her 2003 memoir, Open Wide the Freedom Gates, the major political parties had little to offer African Americans during a time when "lynching and unemployment were realities of everyday life." Rather, Height writes, "Negro Americans gained ground through the kind of self-help that had characterized our struggle since slavery – by creating our own organizations to meet our needs."1 According to Cornel West and Henry Louis Gates Jr., Height epitomized the middle-class "club women" who ran these crucial organizations. "White-gloved, wearing hats and pearls, these women cut an exemplary, no-nonsense figure for the community. Through their organizations they could provide for the sick and the destitute, care for orphaned children, [and] establish beneficiary societies when no one else could."2
Height inherited the role of "club woman" from her mother, who belonged to the Pennsylvania Federation of Colored Women's Clubs and brought young Dorothy to every meeting. "There I saw women working, organizing, teaching themselves." What she observed left Height with a deep and lasting impression of how to get things done, as well as a profound sense of belonging. "Since those early days," she writes, "I've never doubted my place in the sisterhood."3
Height was a talented student and exemplary orator. She graduated from high school in 1929 and won a national public speaking contest that earned her a four-year scholarship to college. Height applied to Barnard College in New York but was turned away because the school had reached its quota of two black students per year. Instead, Height enrolled at New York University, where she earned a B.A. in three years. She used the fourth year of her scholarship to earn a master's degree in educational psychology.
Once out of school, Height took various jobs serving poor communities around New York City. During the dark years of the Depression, Height's skills as a savvy and effective organizer were much in demand. She was hired, at age 23, as a personnel supervisor in New York's Welfare Administration and soon found herself in charge of several thousand workers and an array of special projects. During this time, Height was also an active member of many different local and national youth councils. By 1937, she was an officer of the United Christian Youth Movement of North America, president of the New York State Christian Youth Council, chair of the Harlem Youth Council and an officer of the National Youth Congress.
Height recalls the 1930s as the most politically vibrant era of the 20th century for young people. "We really believed," she says, "that we were building a new world."4 Her goals were ambitious: "Laws to prevent lynching, the breakdown of segregation in the armed forces, free access to public accommodations, equal opportunity in education and employment, security for the aged and infirm, protection for children, reform of the criminal justice system, an end to bias and discrimination in housing, and recognition of women's rights," she writes. Height worked for decades to try to achieve these goals. Looking back, she wrote, "I was determined to make America worthy of her stated ideals."5
In the fall of 1937, when Height was 25, she met the most powerful black woman of the New Deal era, Mary McLeod Bethune. The daughter of former slaves, Bethune managed to get an education, start a college for African American women, and become an influential adviser to President Franklin D. Roosevelt. In 1935, Bethune launched the National Council of Negro Women (NCNW). The new organization aimed to unite disparate black women's groups into one powerful entity devoted to ending racial and gender discrimination and improving the lives of black women and their families. Bethune was hosting a meeting of the NCNW at the Harlem YWCA, where Height had just taken a job. Bethune's friend, First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt, was on hand to address the group. Bethune noticed Height's poise and ability and recruited her on the spot to the NCNW.
The meeting changed Height's life. "On that fall day, the redoubtable Mary McLeod Bethune put her hand on me," Height recalls. "She drew me into her dazzling orbit of people in power and people in poverty. I remember how she made her fingers into a fist to illustrate for the women the significance of working together to eliminate injustice. 'The freedom gates are half ajar,' she said. 'We must pry them fully open.'"6
Height worked closely with Bethune for nearly two decades, helping to build the NCNW into "one of the most vocal and visible organizations advocating the rights of black women."7 In 1957, two years after her mentor died, Height was elected president of the organization. She served in that role until she retired in 1998. As of 2010, she remained chair and president emeritus of the NCNW.
As head of the NCNW, Height was the only woman chosen to serve on an elite committee of civil rights leaders formed in 1960. The group met on a regular basis in New York City to discuss issues in the movement and generate philanthropic support. Eventually calling itself the Council for United Civil Rights Leadership, the group included Martin Luther King Jr., Roy Wilkins and A. Philip Randolph. Despite Height's inclusion in the "Big Six," as it became known, women were treated as junior members in the movement.
During the planning stage of the 1963 March on Washington, the male organizers refused to appoint a woman to speak at the massive rally. According to Height, organizer Bayard Rustin said that women were well represented in all the groups that would be attending the rally and therefore didn't need to have their own speaker. Height protested the decision, but lost. "I've never seen a more immovable force," Height recalled. "We could not get women's participation taken seriously."8 Height and her peers learned a crucial lesson: "If we did not demand our rights, we were not going to get them," she writes. After the March on Washington, Height says, "women became much more aware and much more aggressive in facing up to sexism in our dealings with the male leadership in the movement."9
Dorothy Height holds numerous honors and awards for her achievements. They include 36 honorary degrees from universities, ranging from Howard to Harvard, as well as the Presidential Medal of Freedom, which President Bill Clinton awarded her in 1994. A decade later, President George W. Bush presented Dorothy Height the Congressional Gold Medal, the highest civilian award given by the United States Congress. At the award ceremony, former labor secretary Alexis Herman observed that Height can often been seen in historic civil rights photographs, standing alongside icons like Martin Luther King Jr., Robert F. Kennedy, and the activist John Lewis. When Height was asked why she appears in so many of these images, Height said "I learned to stand in the center so I wouldn't be elbowed out of the picture."10
Height gave this speech at a 1979 symposium on the legacy of the NCNW. She recounts the organization's achievements under her leadership, and argues that women formed the backbone of the civil rights movement even when, she says, "our story has not been told." Some 1,000 people attended the conference, which marked the official opening of the Bethune Museum and Archives for Black Women in Washington, D.C. It is the first institution devoted exclusively to black women's history.
Height ends her speech by urging audience members to rededicate themselves to community service because, she says, "What we did in '79 is not going to be good enough in the '80s." For Height, that meant launching a major new initiative in the 1980s that focused on strengthening black families. In 1986, the NCNW organized the first Black Family Reunion celebration, a massive day-long festival on the Mall in Washington, D.C. that brought together multiple generations of black families to celebrate their heritage. The event drew more than 200,000 people and soon there were reunions in major cities from Los Angeles to Philadelphia. By 1992, more than 10 million people had attended one of the celebrations. Height's idea was to remind African Americans of the traditional values that had enabled them to overcome historic discrimination, and to share practical information for getting ahead. "We are not a problem people," she explained in her 2003 memoir, "we are a people with problems." The Black Family Reunions were meant to "awaken people to their rights, responsibilities, and opportunities…I know we have black people – though some people may not yet know this themselves - who are leaders. With the right kind of encouragement, these people could show their brothers and sisters the way."11
I came into office at a time when we were struggling very hard as black women in this country, seeking to get hold of our organization and to hold our heads high in the society around us. One of the things that had confronted us was that we were the inheritors of a great organization headed by Mrs. Bethune, and we did not have tax-exempt status. And, I think there are people in this room who remember as I do, how we stood on the floor and said, "If it means we have to give up political action, let's not worry about it." And we struggled on. We could not get any contributions based upon the person's being exempt.
So, one of the first things that we did was to seek a way to give us the chance to expand our program so that the political activity that we can never give up would not –would somehow be in balance with the rest of it. And I think the educational foundation that was established – and Daisy Lampkin served as its chair and Dorothy Ferebee followed her – was a means through which we were able to initiate some kind – new kinds of program activities. And one of the first of these was the Bethune House here in Washington, the first 221-D.C. housing program sponsored by a non-governmental organization.
But it was very shortly thereafter that the country was caught up in something else. It was moving towards what we had said in the NAACP, we would be "free by '63." But little did we know the events that would somehow step up around us. [Previous speaker] Mrs. Mason has referred to Rosa Parks and you know the story of Montgomery. And you know what that did to the whole nation and what it set in motion; the sit-ins, the pray-ins, all the different kind of things that were happening. And in the middle of all of that as the things began to move, the Taconic Foundation, under the leadership of Stephen Currier, wanted to know what could be done to help deal with the problems of the black community, and the black family. And they called together Roy Wilkins and Whitney Young, and Martin Luther King Jr., James Farmer, C. Eric Lincoln – who had written a book on the black Muslims – A. Phillip Randolph, Jack Greenberg – who was with the NAACP Legal Defense Fund – and me. And made us pledge that we would somehow stay together, never send a substitute but come ourselves to each meeting, and that we would dedicate one day every six weeks to thinking together about where we were.
And I remember that each one took an assignment. I took the assignment of organizations because I was interested in organizations. And one of the significant things that I think we often forget is that black people and black women have been as shut out of volunteer opportunities on boards and committees and organizations outside of their own [communities] - they've been just as shut out there as we are out of jobs. And so I began to work with that kind of study. And someone else took housing and away we went. And then suddenly something happened: Medgar Evers was assassinated. And, on the morning after his assassination, Stephen Currier called us all back together again and he said, "We've been thinking of ourselves as a kind of united civil rights leadership." But he said, "What we need to do now is to see how this country can be brought to a realization, that it cannot exist with this kind of thing happening, and what all this signifies."
He sent out telegrams to a hundred people to meet at the Carlisle Hotel the next morning. Ninety-some persons appeared, and he had each of us tell the story of the organization and its driving. Roy Wilkins had to leave for the funeral of Medgar Evers. And, then after that, the rest of us all had a chance to talk. I had to say what it meant to black women that we were a part of the whole civil rights movement, that we were a civil rights organization, really, under the leadership of women. And that we had had a major hand in that whole beginning with the significant male leadership, to point out that we had to add to that great group that started, the Student Non-violent Coordinating Committee, no matter what it was doing or who agreed with its tactics or not. Because as women, we could not see our children and our youth struggling and have them on the outside of our effort.
And after we had each told the stories, Stephen Currier made an appeal. He received pledges of some $800,000 for the civil rights movement. Those organizations that were tax-exempt could reap the full benefits. We were not tax-exempt, but we did have the educational arm, which was the educational foundation. So that as contributions were made, we received $50,000 from that civil rights pot. And I think I have to add there that another piece of money that came to us through the civil rights effort was from Martin Luther King Jr., who when he received the Nobel Peace Prize, came back and he said to all of us around the table, "I have to give every organization its piece." I think we know a lot about Dr. King, but I think that's a little known story of how he shared with each of those organizations.
From that little spark, we were asked also to perform another function, because we did have an educational foundation. We were asked to become the trustees for the funds the NAACP – which was not tax-exempt – gathered for the Evers children. And I'll always remember how Mrs. Lampkin, when the time came, said to us, "It is good that we did this because those were lean days at many points." But we held that money and the interest and it all went to that family and those children, because it was what people who had expressed their concern wanted them to have.
So that in a sense, the civil rights movement and our role in it shaped the task of anyone carrying leadership in the organization. It meant – and I look over here and I see Arnetta Wallace – that on a certain day after the four little girls were murdered in Birmingham, that we descended into Birmingham, 14 heads of national women's organizations, members of the National Council of Negro Women. And we were there, we marched through the bayonets and we felt the tension in the city.
Dr. Ferebee and I were there in Selma long before the Selma march. We went down at the time that Prathia Wynn and James Forman called us and said, "Three hundred children are in jail here and nobody knows where they are. We need some outside voice that will come in and help us to get that story out." And we got there just as the 300 children were released from jail, and some of their pictures looked like the children in Cambodia because they were bare bones; they had been denied food and services. And when we asked them, "What have you been having?" one little boy said, "We've been eating boll weevil gravy." And when I looked at some of the children and I said to them, "You say so many bad things about people here. Don't you think there are some good white people?" And the little boy who had said the most looked up and he said - he looked at Dr. Ferebee and me - and he said, "Well, there must be some." [laughter] But you know, it was a driving thing to think that you live in a country where a child of one race would say, "There must be somebody of the other race who's decent."
And all of that kept pushing us. We went to Atlanta and brought together representatives – young women – who had been the victims of law enforcement officers in the jails. We heard them tell about the vaginal searches by orderlies who dipped their gloves in Lysol. We heard them tell about how they banned together, so that they would not be raped by the officers all around them. And we found ourselves, little by little, pulling together all our forces to say, "What is there we can do?" And I remember the meeting that we had in Atlanta, when we were talking about this, because we brought together white women's groups also, that they might know what was happening, as well.
And I'll never forget; we called it the Women's Inter-organizational Committee, because we didn't know what to call it. We didn't want to say it was a civil rights meeting. And when the meeting was over, one of the women said, "Well, you know, the initials of what we call [ourselves] is WIC. And it if means that if each one of us, no matter whether we are black or white, should go back into her community and be like a wick, lighted, that could be – that little bit of light, that could make a difference. And, out of that, the whole concept of WICS was developed.
And when we were called upon to reach young women in poverty, the very coalition we had put together became the one that Sargent Shriver could call upon to help recruit young women for the Job Corps. And someone said, "What shall we call it?" And I remember Helen Racklin saying, "Well we already have WIC," so we called it Women in Community Service.
In other words, the National Council of Negro Women has been there even when our story has not been told. You may remember that in the summer of 1963, there was a great march on Washington. We were there. We did something that we were asked not to do, but it was too late when we heard they were asking that no one meet after the march on Washington. We held a meeting called "After the March, What?" And out of that meeting, there came a molding of some new spirits and new interests. So that by 1964, when Bob Moses called for the summer in Mississippi, the freedom schools, we had a coalition of women already working together, and those women went down into Mississippi on Wednesdays. Etta Barnett is one of them, who is here tonight.
And we went in interracial teams with an idea that was designed by Polly Cowan, that we would go in to see what was happening to young people in the freedom schools. But that we would always carry our talents and we would always do something that would be significant. So out of Wednesdays in Mississippi, we began to build bridges of understanding between black and white women in the South and black and white women in communities across the country. And one of the significant things that had happened in that Atlanta meeting I mentioned was that we asked the women who were there, because so much was being said about, you know, "Yankees stay home; don't interfere with what's going on in the South." We asked them a question: "Does it help you or does it hinder you to have a national organization come in?" And, the women, Clarice Harvey, speaking for one group of women said, "We're from Jackson, Miss. We are black and white women. We are seeing each other here and knowing each other for the first time. But we know one thing, we will never be apart again." And then she said, "Don't give up. A national organization is like a long-handled spoon: you can come in and stir us up and get us moving."
I always thought that that was a good demonstration of what Mrs. Bethune had in mind, in saying that when you think about it, there is no such thing as just being local when you're part of a national movement. And that that sense of being a part of a national movement came through in some very real ways. We had after that, workshops in Mississippi, which got us into housing – into housing with low-income families. We were working with hunger, pig banks – we established pig banks and pig agreements with families. Because the people we saw in the workshops in Mississippi said to us, "We are concerned about our rights, but we have no jobs and our children have to eat." And so we helped them to see how to plant gardens, how to – I don't know, you don't grow pigs – (laughter) raise pigs, I guess; how to deal with pigs and we taught them how to feed them. And some of those people said to us afterwards, "We learned through those pigs that it makes a difference what you eat. And many of us have never had the food that we needed."
Today, the National Council of Negro Women is able to report that we have assets that are some four to five million dollars. But we could not have even thought about this before 1965 when we got our tax exemption. December 1, 1965. There's a recent report just released on philanthropy to women's organizations. And it cites five organizations and we rank third in terms of organizations who have received substantial support from foundations. In 1966, when the Ford Foundation made us a grant of $300,000, that was the most that it or any other foundation had given to a women's organization. 1966. Just think of that. So it shows you where women's groups were.
Out of that experience, we learned one thing: that the Council, in order to do the job, had to have the supporting services of staff. We had to have staff who could understand that they were part of an organization that is essentially volunteer, but that their job was to be a part of a partnership and to be supportive. And so today across this country, in some 20 locations, we have moved to the point where we have staff working at many different levels. There are some 146 of them. There are 72 who will be in this convention. But the important thing is not their numbers, nor that there are jobs, but it is the realization that where black women are in a society requires that we have the capability to work at our needs not after hours but all through the day. That some of that continuity has to come through the kind of devoted, skilled work that staff give: disciplined and directed, but responsive to the interests and concerns of the volunteers and the membership of the National Council of Negro Women.
I think another piece of movement I'd like to mention that I think has affected us over these years, came because we were working to put [a statue of] Mrs. Bethune in Lincoln Park. When we started out in 1960, people said this was, you know, just something that we were discussing. But how could we stand to see Abraham Lincoln with a slave at his knee, put there by the emancipated group in 1874 with the funds raised by the newly emancipated citizens, and not try to place on the other end of that park a memorial that would say black people have made a contribution in American life? Charlotte Scott gave the first five dollars she earned in her freedom to start the Emancipation Group. And, so we called upon people across the country to respond.
In the course of things Abraham Lincoln was turned around so that his back would not face Mrs. Bethune. [laughter] Every time we say that, the Interior Department corrects us and says, "He was not turned around; he was repositioned." [laughter and applause]
Another movement that hit us very hard was the movement of women. And when you ask me the question that you've asked us all about [which was worse], racism or sexism, I have to say that the International Women's Year found itself with a unique contribution because, not only of our domestic work, but of our international interests and the things that we have tried to do. Because it was at that time, at the 100th anniversary of Mrs. Bethune's birth, that we were determined that we would make and expand on the international interests. There's so many things. Mrs. Mason and I were in Haiti working in the name of the National Council of Negro Women to get the vote for women there. I thought for the moment it was Mrs. Bethune's administration and I asked Vivian today and she said no, it was Dr. Ferebee's administration. But they all used the same techniques. I was then president of Delta Sigma Theta, and we were called and asked to go. Vivian represented the Council; Laura Lovely, [inaudible] Kappa Alpha, and I, Delta Sigma Theta, and when we said, "Where are the funds?" They said, "Oh, well of course we know your groups will see that you get there." [laughter] And they did, but that's the way the Council was represented for years and years. For we went into our pockets and when you got there you said, "I represent the National Council of Negro Women." [laughter and applause] And, you were proud to do it!
So it was to be understood that in International Women's Year, we would get support to have at Mexico City, a group of women from Africa and from the Caribbean. And then we had the chance to bring them back with us to let them see the pig banks; to go to visit the housing; to visit people; and then to join us for the 100th birthday celebration of Mary McLeod Bethune at Bethune-Cookman College. And, I tell you, that is an occasion that we will never forget.
But it also heightened the fact that we are part of a whole women's movement. I think very strongly that no group has more right to say that than we. Bill Trent tells a story that's a favorite of mine. He says that Mrs. Bethune once had a meeting in Memphis, and she'd asked a nationally known black male to make the keynote address. And as he stood, he looked at the women and he said, "If you women would be as concerned about what you put in your heads, as what you are about what you have on heads, our race would be better off." And, he said at that point, Mrs. Bethune rose and said, "Thank you sir, you have said quite enough." [laughter and applause] "The women will decide what they have on their heads and what they put in their heads." [laughter and applause]
Now, I think any organization that follows that has to be concerned about women. But when you ask me the question about race and sex, I want to add something else that I saw recently in a poster. And that poster was a woman who had two chains; she was chained down with two very heavy pieces of stone, with chains on her legs. And the heading underneath was "Double Trouble." And the idea that it reflected was, take one away – one said "racism" and the other said "sexism" – take one away and she is still tied down. Take the other away and leave that one, she's still tied down. The only way she will make it: they both have to be eliminated. [applause] And I think that as we move into our convention with an idea of imperatives for the '80s, we need to work very hard to eliminate both racism and sexism.
Two things I want to say about our internal life. One is that the spirit of collaboration and cooperation that has been expressed in the wider society has also touched us. In 1969, we had a meeting at Nassau, in which the national organizations comprising the National Council of Negro Women said, "It is so important to build this power that we must get every member we can in our organizations to become a direct member. And that small amount that each one contributes each year, can help us to build our strength." We're far from achieving that goal, but seven of our national organizations, even this year, have called upon their members to do this and it is coming in steadily. Because you know, as I think it was Billie Holiday [who] said it, "Mama may have and Papa may have, but God bless the child that's got his own." [applause]
Now, because as proud as we are of what we have achieved, the fact is that today we have about a 99 percent batting average in our request for government and foundation support. But we are concerned that we also keep building that internal support, because those funds come but they're earmarked, you're not free to use them. It is what we do ourselves that makes the difference. Now the other thing that is a characteristic we've been working on, is the realization that with revenue sharing, with the new federalism, with everything moving to the states, black women had better learn to get themselves together in those states, because [applause] decisions are being made in the states. And while we considered clustering areas and regions, we now are trying to see that we look at the status as the black women in each of the states and try to amass our power there.
So, you see, we are in the state of still becoming. We have so far to go. But I remember two things that were said this morning, that have kind of stayed with me all day. It was what Jeanetta Welch Brown said when she said, [there's been] a lot of talk about some of the early days – and each of us could tell you a whole lot of things – but what she said came through to me: "There's been a lot of suffering that has gone into building the National Council of Negro Women." A lot of people in many places have put a lot into it. And then Sue Bailey Thurman, remember what she said in her message: "This is an organization of women with caring hearts." I look back and realize that I've been a part of the Council since 1937. And I don't think that outside of my mother and my church, there's been anything, any person of greater influence than Mary McLeod Bethune. And I think the thing that I'm sure if we could all say it as a trio, we would want to say, is that the thing about the National Council of Negro Women that is its greatest source of strength, is the depth of the vision of the dream that Mrs. Bethune left with us.
Who, except a great dreamer could be born of slave parents, could struggle in the fields of South Carolina, and leave a legacy that begins with the words, "I leave you love?" And if you take this message, it seems to me, that when we look to what's to happen in the future, it isn't going to be just by, you know, designating this post, or that post, or this staff or that volunteer, or this whatever. It's going to be the extent to which all of us rededicate ourselves – whether we are members of Council or not – to the idea of seeing how caring hearts take hold of a mission and keep it relevant, because what we did in '79 is not going to be good enough in the '80s. Thank you.
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- "Sir, the temperature's dropping too rapidly."
- ―A Rebel lieutenant
Temperature was a measure of the warmth or coldness of an environment or object. Its zero point was defined by the freezing point of water.
On the planet of Hoth, the temperature in summer, the hottest season, only crawled up to about 10 degrees below freezing. On the contrary, the temperatures on Tatooine were so high that only a small part of the planet's northern hemisphere could sustain intelligent life. The boiling surface of Bespin, a gas giant, bubbled at a constant six thousand degrees.
Frequent orbital bombardments and beam-weapon assaults could affect the atmosphere of a planet to the point of increasing the temperature of that world's seas, potentially killing many of the organisms they contained.
- Star Wars: Episode V The Empire Strikes Back (First mentioned)
- The Empire Strikes Back: So You Want to Be a Jedi? (Mentioned only)
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In the past, Japanese women were kept in doors and solely existed for their Lord’s pleasure, they were treasured too and woe betide anyone, who wished them ill but there were some group of women, who were a break from the norm, these wore courage on their sleeves and flew into the face of danger, they were skilled in the use of various weapons and fought in wars just like the regular Samurai, these Japanese women were a major force in some great japanese wars, they Japanese women were heroes in their own right.
Knowledge of these women has being greatly overshadowed, by their male counterparts but the roles they played can not be so easily forgotten, these Japanese women were mostly wives of Samurais but were also warriors themselves.
It was during the Kamakura Period, that the roles of women in Japan changed, they were now given more responsibilities, especially Samurai wives who were expected to support their husbands, both in and out of wars by training their children in the Samurai way. With the men at war the women were now allowed, to control the home as well as family finances, they were given rights to inheritance but most importantly, they were expected to defend their homes, in the event of an invasion by the enemy.
But after the
But roles such as child bearing "especially of healthy males" was very much expected as well as demanded, teaching the children the proper Samurai ways and defense of their homes, still remained a priority for Japanese women.
Tomoe Gozen was the wife, of a prominent warrior called
History has it that Hojo Masako planned with her father and son, to usurp ruling power from her husband's Minamoto clan, at that time the Minamoto clan was the ruling house of Japan.
Hojo Masako took power and transferred it to her own Hojo clan. If not for Hojo Masako’s efforts, the Hojo clan would never have become a ruling house in Japan, it was said that they held
History has it that when Wakamatsu Castle was besieged, by enemies which outnumbered the Samurais of the Aizu clan by 20,00 to 3,000. The Samurais had to quickly organize, every able bodied person who could use a weapon, to help defend the castle.
A small band of women which included Nakano Takeko, was said to have defended the Castle and Nakano Takeko was said to be at the forefront of the battle, she kept charging through enemy lines with her Naginata and felled so many enemies, she couldn't be stopped ... until a shot hit her chest.
The story continues that in other not to be captured by the enemy, Nakano Takeko’s sister called Yuko had a pre-agreement with Nakano Takeko, to remove her head so that she would not be identified by the enemy, Yuko tearfully performed her sister's wishes and took it back home to be honored.
Today, there is a monument to honor Nakano Takeko, at a temple in Aizu Bangemachi, also the women of Japan are still very active, in various skills such as martial arts, which they have gained a lot of recognition, especially by winning gold in Judo at the 2004 Olympics.
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Differences Between Audio Lingual and Communicative language teaching Methods
The audio lingual method, or the Army method, or also the New key, is the mode of language instruction based on behaviourist ideology, which professes that certain traits of living things could be trained through a system of reinforcement. The instructor would present the correct model of a sentence and the students would have to repeat it. The teacher would then continue by presenting new words for the students to sample in the same structure. There is no explicit grammar instruction everything is simply memorized in form. The idea is for the students to practice the particular construction untill they can use it spontaneously. In this manner, the lessons are built on static drills in which the students have little or no control on their own output.
The communicative language teaching is am approach to the teaching of second and foreign languages that emphasizes communication or interaction as both the means and the ultimate goal of learning a language. The clt was the product of educators and linguists who had grown dissatisfied with earlier Grammer Translation and Audio Lingual Methods, where students were nott learning enough realistic, socially necessary language. Therefore they became interested in the development of communicative style teaching in the 1970s, focussing on authentic language use and classroom exchanges where students engaged in real communication with one another. The goal of clt is of creating communicative competence in the learners. It makes use of real life situations.
The CLT and ALM differ from various aspects. Basic differences as presented by Finocchiaro and Brumfit(1983) are given below:
Meaning and structure
CLT: Meaning is paramount.
ALM: Attends to structure and form more than meaning.
CLT: Contextualization is a basic premise.
ALM: Language items are not necessarily contextualized.
CLT: Language learning is learning to communicate.
ALM: Language Learning is learning structures, sounds or words.
CLT: Effective communication is sought.
ALM: Mastery or "overlearning" is sought.
CLT: Drilling may occur, but peripherially.
ALM: Drilling is a central technique.
CLT: Comprehensible pronunciation is sought.
ALM: Native-speaker-like pronunciation is sought.
CLT: Any device which helps the learners is accepted - varying according to their age, interest, etc.
ALM: Grammatical explanation is avoided.
STAGE OF COMMUNICATIVE ACTIVITIES
CLT: Attempts to communicate may be encouraged from the very beginning.
ALM: Communicative activities only come after a long process of rigid drills and exercises.
CLT: Judicious use of native language is accepted where feasible.
ALM: The use of the learners' native language is forbidden.
CLT: Translation may be used where learners need or benefit from it.
ALM: Translation is forbidden at early levels.
Reading and writing
CLT: Reading and writing can start from the first day, if desired.
ALM: Reading and writing are deferred until speech is mastered.
CLT: The target linguistic system will be learned best through the process of struggling to communicate.
ALM: The target linguistic system will be learned through the overt teaching of the patterns of the system.
CLT: Communicative competence is the desired goal.
ALM: Linguistic competence is the desired goal.
CLT: Linguistic variation is a central concept in materials and methods.
ALM: Varieties of language are recognized but not emphasized.
CLT: Sequencing is determined by any consideration of content function, or meaning which maintains interest.
ALM: The sequence of units is determined solely on principles of linguistic complexity.
CLT: Language is created by the individual often through trial and error.
ALM: "Language is habit" so error must be prevented at all costs.
CLT: Fluency and acceptable language is the primary goal: accuracy is judged not in the abstract but in context.
ALM: Accuracy, in terms of formal correctness, is a primary goal.
CLT: Intrinsic motivation will spring from an interest in what is being communicated by the language.
ALM: Intrinsic motivation will spring from an interest in the structure of the language.
CLT: Teachers help learners in any way that motivates them to work with the language.
ALM: The teacher controls the learners and prevents them from doing anything that conflict with the theory.
CLT: Learners are expected to interact with other people, either in the flesh, through pair and group work, or in their writings.
ALM: Learners are expected to interact with the language system, embodied in machines or controlled materials.
CLT: The teacher cannot know exactly what language the learners will use.
ALM: The teacher is expected to specify the language that learners are to use.
CLT: The teachers assume a responsibility for determining and responding to learner's language need.
ALM: The teachers have no responsibility to determine learner's language need.
Communicative language teaching often uses a functional-notional syllabus. A notional-functional syllabus is more a way of organizing a language learning curriculum than a method or an approach to teaching. On the other hand, Audiolingualism is a linguistic, or structure based approach to language teaching. The starting point is a linguistic syllabus which contains the key items of phonology, morphology, and syntax of the language arranged according to their order of presentation.
In communicative language teaching, instructional materials have the primary role of promoting communicative language use. In audio-lingual method, instructional materials assist the teacher to develop language mastery in the learner.
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| 0.93748 | 1,194 | 3.65625 | 4 |
Misdiagnosis of Toxocariasis
Alternative diagnoses list for Toxocariasis:
For a diagnosis of Toxocariasis,
the following list of conditions
have been mentioned in sources
as possible alternative diagnoses
to consider during the diagnostic process for Toxocariasis:
Diseases for which Toxocariasis may be an alternative diagnosis
The other diseases for which Toxocariasis
is listed as a possible alternative
diagnosis in their lists include:
Common Misdiagnoses and Toxocariasis
Antibiotics often causes diarrhea: The use of antibiotics are very likely
to cause some level of diarrhea in patients.
The reason is that antibiotics kill off not only "bad" bacteria,
but can also kill the "good" bacteria in the gut.
This leads to "digestive imbalance" where there are too few remaining "good"
bacteria in the digestive system.
The treatment is typically to use "probiotics", such as by eating yoghurt cultures
containing more of the good bacteria.
See digestive imbalance and probiotics.
General Misdiagnosis Articles
Read these general articles with an overview of misdiagnosis issues.
When checking for a misdiagnosis of Toxocariasis
or confirming a diagnosis of Toxocariasis,
it is useful to consider what other
medical conditions might be possible misdiagnoses or other alternative
conditions relevant to diagnosis.
These alternate diagnoses of Toxocariasis may already have
been considered by your doctor or may need to be considered as possible
alternative diagnoses or candidates for misdiagnosis of Toxocariasis.
For a general overview of misdiagnosis issues for all diseases,
see Overview of Misdiagnosis.
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| 0.875545 | 379 | 2.71875 | 3 |
Campbell’s Johnson publishes article on big labor strike
May 16, 2005 | Leave a Comment
In 1958, International Nickel Company (INCO), a major employer in Canada went on strike with crippling effects on the regional economy. The local churches even led food drives for the company's 15,000 employees. Dr. Lloyd Johnson, associate professor of history at Campbell University, examined the strike in an article that appears in "The Fifties in America," a three-volume publication surveying the events and people of North America during the 1950s, published by Salem Press. During the late 1950s unemployment in Canada had reached levels previously reached only during the 1930s with more than 600,000 people out of work. Increases in the cost of living led some major industries to go on strike, threatening Canada's railroads, shipping, brewing and mining industries. Among the largest of those industries was INCO. The INCO strike remained unresolved throughout the fall, causing the government and local residents to take emergency action. An agreement was finally reached in December 1958, resulting in a 10 percent pay increase in hourly wages for INCO employees. Johnson, who is an associate professor of history and director of historical studies at Campbell, received a bachelor's degree in history and a master's degree in counselor education from Campbell University. He went on to obtain a master's degree in American history from East Carolina University and earned a doctorate from the University of South Carolina. A resident of Erwin, N.C., he is the author of a book on Welsh settlers in the South, "The Frontier in the Colonial South: South Carolina Backcountry, 1736-1800," and has made numerous presentations on his research in Wales, Britain and the U.S. He has also appeared in the BBC documentary, "Roots in Wales." In addition he has published entries in the "Encyclopedia of North Carolina History," the "African-American Encyclopedia of History," and the "Encyclopedia of South Carolina History." He has been a book review contributor for scholarly publications, including the "Journal of Southern History," "North Carolina Historical Review," the "William & Mary Quarterly," "Baptist History and Heritage" and the "Georgia Historical Quarterly" His article on Welsh in the Carolinas was published in "Western Mail," a national newspaper of Cardiff, Wales. In addition, Johnson recently received the Archie K. Davis Fellowship from the North Carolinian Society, a private nonprofit corporation dedicated to the promotion of increased knowledge and appreciation of North Carolina heritage through the encouragement of scholarly research, writing and teaching and other means. Johnson will use the fellowship to continue researching the Upper Cape Fear Valley in the 18th century.
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|Rome history||Sleeping||Contact Us|
Ancient Rome Geography | the tiber river | Tiber River tributary | Climate in Rome Italy |
Ancient Rome's geography was in many ways the secret of its future success so much so that even Roman writers, including Cicero, recognized how fortunate the choice had been.
What is particularly interesting is that Rome, at odds with most other Italian cities, is built on a relatively low ground rather than on a dominating high ground. The lowest point of the city is at the Pantheon (approx 13m above sea level). The highest is Monte Mario hill (120 m asl).
An interesting comparison may be had with the geography of ancient Pompeii which although close to the sea was essentially built on the side of a mountain on a spur of lava flow with a dominant position over the sea and the river Sarno.
Perhaps Rome's location has more in common with ancient Etruscan cities which, like Rome, relied on their access to the sea for international trade. It is Rome's proximity to the sea which explains the relatively low height above sea level, the Tiber river's meandering bends and the marshy nature of the land.
The marshes meant that the first inhabitants tended to congregate on the steep hills which had been cut out by erosion.
Being an area of volcanic origins the soil is naturally rich in water springs and minerals. The hills themselves were (are) largely made up of tufa rock - a sort of hardened rocky sponge.
This type of stone was widely used for ancient Roman building and construction for example to build foundations, the earliest walls of the city or even as part of wall construction - opus reticulatum. It is still widely used in modern day construction.
This type of rock is particularly prevalent on the north side of the city. A quick glimpse at a map soon reveals the existence of several lakes both to the north and south of the city: these are actually of volcanic origin and have filled with water. Lake Bolsena is one of the biggest volcanic lakes in Europe.
View Larger Map
|As well as the lakes it is worth noting the roads leading out of
Rome: by-and-large these still follow the
ancient Roman roads.
The city's low-lying position partly explains the general lack of high defense towers -the surrounding hills are higher anyway. The towers which were built through late antiquity and middle ages were later substituted by religious domes which, at least in spirit, bring the heavens down to earth or the spirit up to the heavens depending on your pov!
The Geography of Ancient Rome was characterized by relatively steep hills on the left bank of the river Tiber, at the point where the river flowed around a small island (16m asl) as well as branching out into marshy areas between the hills. In a sense, the Tiber island itself is a hill.
The marsh areas were drained and developed into the Forum Boarium - the meat market and first port of ancient Rome. At that time the river was still navigable by Roman ships. Other parts of the marshes were drained to allow the city to grow between the hills. The most notable examples were the marsh between the Palatine and Aventine which became the Circus Maximus, with wooden seats along the hill sides of what was the marsh.
The extent of the marshes and the tendency to flood was at the root of the Roman ability for hydraulic engineering which actually they learned from the Etruscans who's kings ruled the city and area for some time. Flooding of the river (and city) was only put to a stop after high banks were built during the 19th and 20th century.
The marshy nature of Rome is largely hidden to the visitor's eye although modern day Romans who own a cellar are well used to extremely damp conditions. The marshes are also clearly remembered as an integral part of the myth of Rome's foundation. This particular marsh was known as the Velabrum.
The cloaca maxima and other drainage systems are still in function and the flowing water within them can still be heard by those visiting subterranean Rome.
In the early days the hills were really hills, with time and continuous building works they've tended to blend in to one another….See a simplified map.
The first two hills to be populated were the Palatine and Capitoline but the city soon extended to include the Aventine, Caelius, Oppius, Viminalis and Quirinalis and others. The move across the river was largely prompted by military defence needs. Some of these hills were actually made up of a couple hills each with their own name. The most renowned across the river are the Janiculum and Vatican.
A curious hill is "Testaccio" which in reality is a man-made hill entirely made of carefully laid out broken amphora pieces (the amphorae were the ceramic containers used for commerce). This hill per se gives a pretty good idea of the extent to which man has come to alter the original geography.
Other hills have come to be virtually dug out or eliminated as part of continuous urban development, for example the Velia hill.
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Ancient Rome Geography | the tiber river | Tiber River tributary | Climate in Rome Italy | Ancient Pompeii's Geography |
Please email us if you feel a correction is required to the Rome information provided. Please read the disclaimer
"Ancient Rome Geography" was written by Giovanni Milani-Santarpia for www.mariamilani.com - Rome apartments
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When Fluffy goes crazy for laser pointers, shiny objects and people's ankles, just what is she seeing?
Cats' fondness for pouncing on feet and feathery toys may be rooted in their hunting instinct, but it also has a lot to do with their unique vision. And, as it turns out, scientists know a lot about what cats see.
Now, a new set of images, by artist Nickolay Lamm, tries to capture the differences between cat vision and human vision. Whereas humans are able to see more vibrant colors during the day, their feline companions have the edge when it comes to peripheral vision and night vision. [Images: See What a Cat Sees]
Cats have a wider field of view — about 200 degrees, compared with humans' 180-degree view. Cats also have a greater range of peripheral vision, all the better to spot that mouse (or toy) wriggling in the corner.
Cats are crepuscular, meaning they are active at dawn and dusk. That may be why they need such good night vision. Their eyes have six to eight times more rod cells, which are more sensitive to low light, than humans do.
In addition, cats' elliptical eye shape and larger corneas and tapetum, a layer of tissue that may reflect light back to the retina, help gather more light as well. The tapetum may also shift the wavelengths of light that cats see, making prey or other objects silhouetted against a night sky more prominent, Kerry Ketring, a veterinarian with the All Animal Eye Clinic in Whitehall, Mich., wrote in an email. [10 Surprising Facts About Cats]
Their extra rod cells also allow cats to sense motion in the dark much better than their human companions can.
But felines don't have the edge in all areas. The human retina has about 10 times more cones, the light receptors that function best in bright light, than cats' eyes have.
"Humans have 10 to 12 times better motion detection in bright light than the cat or dog, since bright-light vision is a cone function," Ketring said.
Humans also have three types of cones, allowing them to see a broad spectrum of colors, with sensitivity peaks at red, green and blue. While cats may have three types of cones, the number and distribution of each type varies. In behavioral tests, cats don't seem to see the full range of colors that most humans do.
Some experts believe cats' "color vision is limited to blue and grays, while others believe it is similar to dogs', but with less richness of hues and saturation of the colors," Ketring said. Dogs see the world in fewer hues than humans do and cannot distinguish between red, yellow, green and orange objects. Fish, in contrast, can see ultraviolet wavelengths that humans can't see.
Humans also can see with much greater resolution, with a greater range of vibrant colors, thanks to their eyes' many cones.
Humans can see objects clearly at 100 to 200 feet (30 to 60 meters) away, but cats need to be no more than about 20 feet (6 m) away to see those same things sharply.
Because cats lack the muscles necessary to change the shape of their eye lenses, they can't see things clearly quite as close as humans can and need to be further away, Ketring said.
And though Fluffy may be better at picking up the darting and scurrying of a frightened mouse, there are many slow-moving objects that humans can detect with their eyesight that look stationary to cats.
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Mount Pinatubo is a volcano located on the island of Luzon in the Philippines. Nestled in the central part of the Zambales mountain range, the volcano lies 55 miles northwest of the capital city of Manila.
After lying dormant for almost 500 years, the volcano’s eruption in June 1991 resulted in one of the most destructive volcanic eruptions of the 20th century.
Thick deposits of tephra, streams of pyroclastic flow, and lahars caused significant damage to the economy and infrastructure of surrounding cities.
The volcano also ejected millions of tons of sulfur dioxide into the atmosphere, which contributed to ozone depletion and caused a worldwide decrease in temperature.
Before the eruption, Mount Pinatubo was covered with tropical vegetation and was home to more than 30,000 people who lived in villages on its slopes. Thousands of other people lived in the valleys surrounding the volcano, including US military personnel stationed at Clark Air Base and Subic Bay Naval Station. Scientists from the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (PHIVOLCS) and the United States Geological Survey (USGS) were able to accurately predict the timing of the eruption and its effects. As a result, the Philippine government and the American military were able to carry out a timely evacuation of the population, saving thousands of lives and millions of dollars in property damage. However, the eruption killed up to 800 people and displaced thousands more by burying the surrounding land with thick layers of ash. Dams were built to control destructive lahars that followed the eruption, and recovery costs totaled billions of Philippine pesos.
The volcano’s eruption also had significant global environmental effects. Mount Pinatubo ejected millions of tons of sulfur dioxide gas into the atmosphere, forming a cloud over the earth and decreasing average worldwide temperatures by almost 1 degree Fahrenheit for several years after the eruption. The sulfur dioxide, which mixed with water and oxygen in the atmosphere to create sulfuric acid, also contributed to a rapid destruction of ozone. The ozone layer hole over Antarctica reached its largest size when observed the year following the eruption.
The volcano today is a safe place to visit. The crater of the volcano is a beautiful lake that is 2.7 kilometers wide and the water is crystal clear. However it is advised not to swim in the water of the lake.
Trekking Mount Pinatubo is a popular activity among locals and foreigners alike. The mountain is located only about 3 hours away from Manila. It is easy to get there by oneself but it is best advised to join a tour.
Although the volcano is still active, it is very closely monitored and any activity will most likely be predicted, thus trekking there is a safe activity, especially when it is done in the presence of local guides who know the area.
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| 0.961498 | 572 | 3.859375 | 4 |
In the United Kingdom, the "nice decade" is over. When Bank of England governor Mervyn King announced recently that "the nice decade is behind us," he didn't mean that British pleasantness was at an end. Rather, he was using an acronym, NICE, which stands for "Non-Inflationary Consistent Expansion," a condition that King says has characterized the last ten years of British economic prosperity. One economist says the country is now heading into VILE years, playing off NICE with his own readymade acronym for "Volatile Inflation, Less Expansionary," while another says things are going to be EVIL ("Exacting period of Volatile Inflation and Low growth").
BBC News greets the end of the NICE decade with the question, "What's the point of niceness?" Was the acronym an appropriate one to label Britain's sustained economic boom, or is nice just too... nice?
Nice has seen a lot of changes over the last seven centuries. As Oxford English Dictionary etymologist Philip Durkin told the BBC, the word has "one of the most complicated semantic histories in English." When it first began appearing in English texts around 1300 (arriving from a French word with its roots in the Latin word nescius "ignorant"), it meant "foolish" or "absurd." Soon it began mutating through a number of different senses: from "wanton, dissolute" to "showy, ostentatious" to "finely dressed, elegant" to "precise, fastidious." This early association with refinement and precision survives in some modern meanings of nice, as illustrated by senses in the VT wordmap such as "done with delicacy and skill" and "exhibiting courtesy and politeness." And we still speak of subtle points of propriety as niceties.
By the late eighteenth century, the "refined" sense of nice had become extended to a more general term of approval: "pleasant, agreeable." In Jane Austen's Northanger Abbey (1817) the character Henry Tilney mocks the way everything good had suddenly become nice:
"And this is a very nice day, and we are taking a very nice walk, and you are two very nice young ladies. Oh! It is a very nice word indeed! — It does for everything. Originally perhaps it was applied only to express neatness, propriety, delicacy, or refinement; — people were nice in their dress, in their sentiments, or their choice. But now every commendation on every subject is comprised in that one word."
Henry Watson Fowler didn't think much of this extension of nice either, and in his Dictionary of Modern English Usage (1926) he blamed "the ladies":
"Nice has been spoilt, like clever, by its bonnes fortunes; it has been too great a favorite with the ladies, who have charmed out of it all its individuality and converted it into a mere diffuse of vague and mild agreeableness. Everyone who uses it in its more proper senses, which fill most of the space given to it in any dictionary, and avoids the modern one that tends to oust them all, does a real if small service to the language."
The BBC News article quotes some contemporary voices who also disapprove of the word's overuse. "When you describe something as nice," philosopher Mark Vernon says, "it suggests that you can't think of anything good or bad. It's lukewarm, neither hot nor cold. To say something is terrible is better: at least it shows you have invested thought or energy."
Personally, I think nice has gotten a bit of a bad rap over the years. When used in moderation, it's perfectly nice. So, Visual Thesaurus readers, have a nice day, unless you'd rather have an enjoyable, pleasurable, or gratifying one.
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| 0.972177 | 799 | 2.515625 | 3 |
Summary for Anyphaena accentuata (Araneae)
Explore Regional Distribution
Please log on and add a note on this species
About this speciesRecorded altitude range
0m to 609m
The species is widespread in most of southern Britain, becoming more scattered as far north as central Scotland. It is widespread in western and central Europe.
Habitat and ecology
This species is found in woodland and bushy areas. It is easily recognisable by the distinctive arrow-like markings on the abdomen quite unlike any other British species. The spiders hunt and mate on the leaves of trees and bushes. During courtship the male is known to emit a high pitched buzzing sound by vibrating its abdomen on a leaf. This sound may be inaudible to older people. Adults of both sexes are mostly found in early to mid-summer with females sometimes surviving through to the autumn. Immatures can be found in ground vegetation, leaf litter and under bark in the autumn and winter.
Common and locally abundant especially in the south of England.
Original author of profile: D. Marriott
Text based on Harvey, P.R., Nellist, D.R. & Telfer, M.G. (eds) 2002. Provisional atlas of British spiders (Arachnida, Araneae), Volumes 1 & 2. Huntingdon: Biological Records Centre. References
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One of the most important centers in Cappadocia is Ürgüp, 20km to the east of Nevsehir. Like Göreme, Ürgüp also had different names in history; Osiana (Assiana) in the Byzantine Period, Bashisar during the Seljuk Peroid, Burgut Castle in the Ottoman Period and Ürgüp as of the early years of the Republic.
The earliest known settlement in the area was on the skirts of Mount Avla, to the north of Damsa river called as “Tomissos” in the antiquety. Though, the most important remains belonging to the later period are the Roman tombs found in the towns and villages near Ürgüp. Also an important religious center during the Byzantine Period, Ürgüp was a bishopric of the rock-cut churches and monasteries found in the villages, towns and valleys cut churches and monastreies found in the villages, towns and valleys around Ürgüp.
In the 11th century, Ürgüp was an important citadel connecting with Nigde and Konya, important towns of Seljuks. The two buildings from this period are the Altikapili (Six Gates) and Temenni Tepesi (Wish Hill) tombs found in the town center. The 13th century Altikapili tomb, housing the remains of a mother and her two daughters, has six sides each with an arched window and no roof. Although researchers think that this is unlikely, one of the two tombs on the Temenni Hill is believed to belong to Seljuk Sultan Rüknettin Kiliçarslan Iv, built by Vecihi Pasha in 1268 and is known as “Kiliçarsalan Tomb” by the locals. The other one is believed to belong to Alaaddin Keykubat III.
Ürgüp became a part of the Ottoman empire in 1515. It was the first time in the 18th century when Damat Ibrahim Pasha, the Ottoman Grand Vezier, established the governorship in Nevsehir (Muskara). Ürgüp was then administered by the governorship making Ürgüp secondary in importance.
In his history and geography book “Kamus-ül Alam” written between 1888 and 1890, Semseddin Sami mentions 70 mosques, 5 churches and 11 libraries in Ürgüp.
Fairy Chimneys in Cappadocia The interesting rock formations, known as “fairy chimneys”, have been formed as the result of the erosion of this tufa layer, sculpted by wind and flood water, running down on the slopes of the vallyes. Water has fonud its way through the valleys creating cracks and ruptures in the hard rock. The softer, easily erodable material underneath has been gradually swept away receding the slopes and in this way, conical formations protected with basalt caps have been created. The fairy chimneys with caps, mainly found in the vicinity of Ürgüp, have a conical shaped body and a boulder on top of it. The cone is constructed from tufa and volcanic ash, while the cap is of hard, more resistant rock such as lahar or ignimbrite. Various types of fairy chimneys, are found in Cappadocia. Among these are those with caps, cones, mushroom like forms, columns and pointed rocks.
Fairy chimneys are generally found in the valleys of the Uçhisar-Ürgüp-Avanos triangle, between Ürgüp and Sahinefendi, around the town of Çat in Nevsehir, in the Soganli valley in Kayseri, and in the village of Selime in Aksaray.
Another characteristic feature of the area are the sweeping curves and patterns on the sides of the valleys, formed by rainwater. These lines of sedimentation exposed by erosion display a range of hues. The array of color seen on some of the valleys is due to the difference in heat of the lava layers. Such patterns can be seen in Uçhisar, Çavusin/Güllüdere, Göreme/Meskendir, Ortahisar/Kizilçukur and Pancarlik valleys.
Göreme situated 10km from Nevsehir, is fonud in the area surrounded with valleys, within the Nevsehir-Ürgüp-Avanos triangle. The old names for Göreme are Korama, Matiana, Maccan and Avcilar. Since Göreme was referred as Korama in the earliest written document known from the 6th century, it is thought that that is the oldest name given to the place. In that document, it is said that St Hieron was born in Korama at the end of the 3rd century, was martyred in Melitene (modern Malatya) with his 30 friends and his hand was cut off and sent to his mother in Korama. A very big depiction of St.Hieron of Korama is found in the Tokali (Buckle) Church in Göreme Open Air Museum.
It is believed that Göreme and its surroundings were used as a necropolis by the people of Vanessa (Avanos) in the Roman Periods. Both the monumental twin pillared Roman tomb hollowed out into a fairy chimney in the centre of Göreme and the presence of numerous tombs in the vicinity support that idea.
Göreme an important Christian centre in the early years of the Middle Ages, was a bishopric administered by Mokissos near Aksaray in the 11th and 13th centuries. Despite the vast numer of monasteries, churches and chapels in the vicinity of Göreme, there are not many inscriptions bearing dates. For this reason, these religious buildings are mainly dated according to the iconography or architectural features.
Goreme Open Air Museum
By the end of the 2nd century a large Christian community had formed in Cappadocia. It is known that there were two bishoprics at that time; one in Kayseri, which, for a long time, continued to be a Christian center in the regon and the other in Malatya.
In the 3rd century, priests with good character changed theregion into a lively centre of Christian activity. In the 4th century Cappadocia became known as the land of the three saints; The Great St.Basil, Bishop of Kayseri; his brother St.Gregory of Nyssa, and St. George of Nazianus. These three men created a new unity in Christian thought, and many of St.Basil's thoughts and actions are still important dotay. An example of his doctrine is the advice to Christian with one piece of bread in a famine. He said that the Christians should give half of the bread to a fellow believer and trust in God to take care of him. St.Basil founded small, secluded settlements far away from villages and towns. Daily worship was carried out under the supervision of a preacher. These groups were not, however, priveleged gropus seperated from the community like similar communities in Egypt and Syria. St .Basil is important in that he introdued worship within the community in the churches of Cappadocia.
Goreme open Air Museum is the place where this kind of religious education was started. The same model was then introduced in Soganli, Ihlara and Açiksaray.
Karanlik Kilise, Dark Church
Karanlik (Dark) Church To the north, a winding stairway leads into the rectangular, barrel vaulted narthex of the Dark Church. This church has a cruciform plan, the arms of which are cross vaulted. There is a center dome, with four columns and three apses. This church gets its name from the tiny window in the narthex which only allows a small amount of light in. Due to the absence of light the colours of the frescoes are still vivid.
The church and the narthex are richly decorated in scenes from teh Bible and the story of Jesus. As in Elmali (Apple) and Çarikli churches there are also scenes from the old Testament. The church dates back to the end of the 12th and beginning of the 13th centuries.
Scenes : Deesis, Annunciation, Journey to Bethlehem, Tativity, Adoration of the Magi, Baptism, Raising of Lazarus, Transfiguration, Entry into Jerusalem, Last Supper, betrayal of Judas, Crucifixion, Anastasis, Women at the Tomb, Blessing and Mission of the Apostles, Ascension, Hospitality of Prophet abraham, Three Young Men in the Fiery Furnace and protraits of the saints.
Tokali (Buckle) Church
This is the oldest known rock-cut church in the region, and cmoprises of four sections: The Old Church with one nave; the New Church; the Lower Church under the Old Church; and the Parecclesion to the north of the New Church.
The single-naved, barrel-vaulted Old Church, built in the 10th century, today acts as the entrance to the New Church. Its apse collapsed when the New Church was added to the east wing. Frescoes are to be found on the vault and at the top of the walls. The life o Jesus is told on separate panels on the vault, running from left to right.
Uçhisar is situated at the highest point in the region, on the Nevsehir-Göreme road, just 7km from Nevsehir. It is not known when Uçhisar was first inhabited, however, in style, it resembles Ortahisar and the Selime Kalesi (castle) in the Ihlara Region.
Uchisar CastleThe top of the citadel provides a magnificent panorama of the surronuding area. Many rooms hollowed out into the rock are connected to each other with stairs, tunnels and passages. At the entrances of the rooms, there are millstone doors, just like the ones in the underground settlements, used to control access to these places. Due to the erosion in places of this multi-leveled castle, it is unfortunately not possible to reach all the rooms. The fairy chimneys to the west, east and north of Uçhisar were hollowed out and used as graves during the Roman period. Inside these rock cut tombs, the entrances of which generally fac qest, are klines or stone slabs on which the bodies were laid. Many rock cut churches have been discovered not only on the skirts of the castle but also inside it. The reason for this may be the fact that Göreme, having numoreus churches and monasteries, is very close to Uçhisar. The simple Byzantine graves on top of the castle are not very interesting due to the fact that they have been eroded and ransacked. It is said that in towns with citadels, e.g. Uçhisar, Ortahisar and Ürgüp (Bashisar), long defence tunnels reached far into the surrounding areas. However, since the tunnels have collapsed in places, this theory cannot be confirmed, but is a popular myth as to the great distances they cover.
Beside toms, many dove-cotes were hollowed out into the castle, fairy chimneys around it and on the clifffaces. The local farmers, although they did not have much land,were in need of goods crops. Knowing that dove excrement could help them with this problem and increase the amount of crop they would get, farmers hollowed out dove-cotes into the sides of fairy chimneys and on the cliff gaces. Later the fertilizer was gathered and used in the fields.
Under Ground City in Cappadocia
Some of the most interesting cultural riches in the Cappadocia Region are the 150-200 known undergruond settlements of varying sizes. However, since there are cliff settlements of different sizes, in all the towns and villages in the region covering an area of 25 000 square km., this number maybe underestimated. Most of the rock settlements of this kind were built by hollowing out the tufa from the ground. Except the traces made by tools while hollowing, we do not have much information about the techniques they used.
The name “undergronud city” is widely used, however, only some of them were big enough to accommodate 30000 people and can be called “underground cities” but it is possible to call other small ones as “underground villages.”
Kaymakli Underground City
Even though the whole city has not been completely opened, and since only 4 floors have been uncovered, it is certain that Kaymakli is one of the largest underground settlements in the region. The number of the storage rooms in sucn a small area supports the idea that a great number of people resided here.
Kaymakli underground city is built under the hill known as the Citadel of Kaymakli, in the centre of the town 19km from Nevsehir, on the Nevsehir-Nigde road. It was opened to vsitors in 1964. In the village of Kaymakli, the ancient name of which was Enegup, the people have constructed their houses around nearly one hundred tunnels of the underground city. The inhabitants of the region still use the most convenient places in the tunnels as cellars, storage areas and stables, which they access through their courtyards. Kaymali Underground City is different from Derinkuyu Underground City in terms of both form and organization. The passages are low, narrow and sloping. Only 4 floors are open to the public, in which the spaces are organized around the ventilation shafts.
Derinkuyu Underground CityDerinkuyu Underground City
Derinkuyu is situated 29km from Nevsehir, on the road to Nigde. The city is approximately 85m deep. It contains all the usual rooms found in an underground city (stables, cellars, storage rooms, refectories, churhes, wineries etc.) Apart from these, a large room with a barrel vaulted ceiling on the second floor was a missionary school, the rooms to the left being study rooms.
From the 3rd and 4th floors onwards the descent is by way of vertical staircases which lead to a cruciform plan church on the lowest floor.
The 55m deep ventilatino shaft was also used as a well. Not every floorwas provided with the surface in order to protect the dwellers from poisoning during raids.
Derinkuyu Underground City was opened to visitors in 1965 but so far only 10% can be visited.
Mustafa Paşa, Sinasos
Mustafa Pasa (Sinasos) Mustafapasa 6km to the south of Ürgüp, was inhabited by Greek Orthodox families until the beginning of the 20th century. The houses dating back to the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th centuries display fine examples of stonework. The Gömede valley, to the west of Mustafapasa, resembles a small version of the Ihlara valley. As at Ihlara, the walls of the valley house churches and shelters carved from the rock, and a river runs through the valley.
The important churches and monastreies around Mustafapasa are, the church of Aios Vasilos, the Church of Constantine-HNelene, churches in the Monastery Valley and, the Church of St.Basil in the Gömede valley.
There is also a caravanserai built during the Ottoman period and displaying fine examples of stone masonry and woodcraft.
Ortahisar Kalesi Castle Ortahisar
Ortahisar citadel, built both as a defence and as a settlement, is situated 6km from Ürgüp, on the road to Nevsehir. Typical examples of the raea's civilian architecture can be found among the houses skirting the citadel. The sides of the valleys are littered with carved out storage areas used for preserving local products such as apples and potatoes, as well as oranges and lemons brought from the Mediterranean.
Very interesting churches and monastreies can be fonud in the surrounding valleys. Among these are, Sarica Church, Cambazli Church, Tavsanli Church, Balkan Deresi Churches and Hallaç Dere Monastery.
Zelve Open Air Museum
The Zelve monastery complex is situated about 10 km out from Goreme on the road to Avanos . Although the churches here lack the elaborate frescoes of Goreme and other sites there's still plenty here to see. The series of valleys can provide you with a couple of hours walking, climbing and crawling about and in addition to the marked highlights (the Fish and Grape churches) there are innumerable rooms and passages to look at.
Zelve was inhabited until quite recently but you can almost see the place crumbling before your very eyes. There's probably an element of risk involved in exploring too enthusiastically but a guide should be able to balance the thrill of stumbling through pitch black tunnels by torchlight with an element of safety.
Avanos - Venessa
Avanos is the pottery centre of Cappadocia. The city is set on the banks of the Kizilirmak, meaning the Red River. The river gets its name from the clay that it deposits - the caly that is used for the pottery Avanos is famous for.
The main street of town has numerous shops and workshops selling plain and decorated pots and plates and you can watch the potters at work using kick wheels, the design of which has remained unchanged for generations. Many of the workshops will encourage you to have a go yourself. Groups of tourists are shipped in the whole time and there are always a few people willing to give it a go - always good for a few laughs.
Sights in town include the Caravanserai, a restored Han (travellers 'service station'), and the Ozkanak Underground city, a smaller version of those at Derinkuyu and Kaymakli.
Cavusin - Çavuşin
One of the oldest settlements in the area, Çavusin is sutiated 2km from Göreme, on the Göreme-Avanos road. The Church of St.John the Baptist offers a panoramic view of the village. This church and its paintigs date back to the 5th century, making the oldest church in the region. It had a large courtyard which is unusual for Cappadocia, this has been eroded away however.
Christian missionaries and communities once lived in the old Çausin valley, now in ruins. There are 5 churches at Gluludere, close to Çavusin. The Haçli Church (with the Cross), near the valley, was also used for defence against the Arab raiders.
Soganli Valley, Soğanlı Vadisi
This valley is situated near Yesilhisar in the province of Kayseri, 40 km southeast of Urgup, and 25 km to the east of Derinkuyu. Fractures and collapses during earthquakes hav added to erosion resulting in deep valleys and canyons. Soganli valley,which is divided into two has been occupied since the Roman period. The rock cones fonud on the sides of the valley were used a graves by the Romans, and later as churches by the Byzantines. The frescoes in the church date back to the 9th and 13 th centuries. Impartont churches in the valley are Karabas, Yilanli, Kubbeli and the Church of St.Barbara (Tahtali).
Ihlara Valley, Ihlara Vadisi
The Ihlara valley is number one in Cappadocia when it coems to spectacular scenery. It's removed a little from the rest of the Cappadocian sites it can be a little tricky to get to but it's worth a full day if you can spare one.
The gorge is 16 km long and both sides are lined with rock carved churches, about 100 in all. You can look at the more important of these in a couple of hours but it's very pleasant to spend an afternoon following the river down the valley and exploring on your own.
The climb down to and especially up from the gorge can be demanding and probably shouldn't be attempted if you're feeling frail. To make the most of your time here a full day and a picnic is a good idea and will repay the effort in terms of a relaxed days pottering about admiring the churches and the valley's beautiful scenery.
Guzelyurt, Güzelyurt Aksaray
Guzelyurt is 45 km from Aksaray and 15 km from Ihlara. With its beautiful nature and 19th century architecture it is an important place for visitors to Cappadocia.
Gregory of Nazianzus, who worked hard to spread Christianity in the area, turned Guzelyurt into an important center.
Churches found in guzelyurt are, Yuksek, Kizil, Silvisli, Ahmatli and Koc. Guzelyurt also boasts a church built in 1891, now used as a mosque.
Doves are the symbol of peace and devotion to family in Islan whereas regarded as a symbol of the “Holy Spirit” in Christianity.
Dove-cotes, hollowed out into the upper parts of almost all the valleys and fairy chimneys, generally face east or south sides of the valleys. Since doves are in need of water to digest the grains they hava already stocked in their craws, they are also named “the guarding birds of the fountains”. For this reason dove-cotes were hollowed out near the water sources. Although most of the dove-cotes in the region of Cappodocia date back to the end of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th centuries, there are few examples dating to the 18th century. These small buildings do not attract our attention much but are important in terms of showing us Islamic painting art which is rarely fonud in Cappadocia region.
The reason behind hollowing out dowe-cotes was not to catch and eat pigeons but to use their excrement as fertilizer. The locla farmers used pigeon droppings as fertilizers for generations, and for this reason, a great number of dovecotes were hollowed out.
were built along roads running from Antalya-Konya-Kayseri to the land of Turkomans passing through Erzurum and Tabriz and from the Black Sea region to Irak via Amasya-Tokat-Sivas-Malatya-Diyarbakir at a distance of 30-0 km, one day camel trek.
It is possible to see some of the most beautiful examples of caravanserais in the region of Cappadocia, especially between Aksaray and Kayseri, since it is an intersection, east to west and sout to north.
It is located in the valley of Damsa, 5km southeast of the town of Avanos in the vicinity of Nevsehir and 6km east of Urgup. The han is on the Aksaray-Kayseri route in the East-West connection.
Sarihan, build during the reign of Izzettin Keykavus 1-upon his orders- in 1249, covers an area of 2000 m square.
Sarıhan KervansarayıYellow, reddish pink and light brown regular sotne blocks were used as building material in Sarihan. A decorative look was achieved by using stone of two different colors in the arches of both the monumental portal and the inner portal.
Cappadocian Civil Architecture, Kapadokya Evleri
19th century Cappadocian houses were built on hill sides, either carved out of the rock or built from large cut stones. Volcanic stone is the only architectural material in the region, used for building as it is soft when extracted and can therefore easily be cut and shaped. It hardens on contact with air to form a very resistant material. The abundance of stone in the area, and the ease of use have created a buliding technique unique to the area.
Wood is used for courtyard gates and the houses'doors. Rosette and ivypattens are used as decorations above the arched doors.
The areas between floors are decorated in up to three rows of rosettes, fans, stars, palmet, weather vanes and stylised plant patterns.
Windows are grouped in twos and threes and stylised plant patterns are also used as decorative borders. Two types of window are used, either two panes opening separately or guillotine style.
In both types of house there are numerous living rooms, a kitchen,c ellar, store room, an oven (tandir), wine vat etc. Niches found in the guest rooms are decorated with paintings of vases full of flowers under silk, tasseled curtains, scenes from nature or women filling, or carrying water vessels. These scenes ara painted on plaster.
The most interesting examples of local architecture belong to the end of the 19th and begining of the 20th centuries. Examples can be fonud all over the region, but partiularly in urgup, Ortahisar, Mustafapasa, Uchisar, Goreme, Avanos, in Guzeloz and nearby Baskoy in the province of Kayseri and Guzelyurt near the region of Ihlara.
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These websites are about the author and illustrator David Shannon and his books. Find out which books he has written and illustrated. Look at pictures from his books and read his biography. Also includes interviews and teaching ideas. There are some links that will give students tips on writing their own children’s books.
This detailed lesson plan describes the writing process for students to follow when writing a book in the style of David Shannon.
Find out about the books Shannon has written and illustrated. Click on "No David" or "David Goes to School" at the bottom of the page to learn more about these popular books.
Read this biography of the author, David Shannon. Click on "Interview Transcript" to read an interview with him. Some of the books included in the "Booklist" have teaching ideas.
Before you begin writing your own story, read these ten tips for young writers. NOTE: This site has links lead to external websites.
Find out what makes a good story, and then begin writing your own story.
This printable one-page PDF file will help you plan your own children's book.
Watch short video interviews with David Shannon to learn more about his life and works. Note: This site includes ads and links to external websites.
Request State Standards
March 01, 2005 at 01:49 |
Updated: February 07, 2012 at 20:26
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Oventic, Mexico - January 1, 2014 marks 20 years since the Zapatista rebels rose up in arms and drew the world's attention to the plight of Mexico's impoverished indigenous population.
A rag-tag army of masked Mayan farmers named after Emiliano Zapata, a hero of Mexico's 1910 revolution, the Zapatistas briefly seized control of several cities in Chiapas, one of Mexico's poorest states with one of its biggest indigenous populations.
The rebellion was timed to coincide with the launch of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), a treaty intended to strengthen Mexico's economic ties with the United States and Canada by eliminating trade tariffs.
The enigmatic Zapatista spokesman known only as "Subcomandante Marcos" proclaimed NAFTA a "death certificate" for Mexico's indigenous farmers, noting it would force them to compete with a wave of cheap US imports, while under the terms of the agreement the Mexican government had revoked their constitutional right to communal land.
A charismatic figure forever hidden behind his trademark pipe and balaclava, Marcos helped galvanise support from civil society groups, even as the Mexican army forced the Zapatistas back into the jungles and mountains of Chiapas. A peace agreement was signed in 1996, but the Zapatistas later broke off all dialogue with the government after it reneged on the treaty.
|Fighters of the Zapatista National Liberation Army [AFP]
20 years on
Today the rebellion remains a work in progress. Having established complete political and economic autonomy, the Zapatistas govern and police their own communities across five regions of Chiapas. Relations with the state remain strained, and Zapatistas complain of regular harassment by the military and paramilitary forces that surround their territory.
Although wary of outsiders and especially the media, the Zapatistas sometimes allow sympathisers and even curious tourists to visit Oventic, a tranquil community in the pine-clad highlands. If allowed entrance by the masked but unarmed guards, visitors may be allowed to speak with the governing council, buy local produce and view a school where children are taught in both Spanish and their native Tzotzil language. Guests who become ill are cared for at the Zapatista-run clinic.
Life in Oventic may appear idyllic, but a visit to nearby Magdalena de la Paz, whose inhabitants live on a basic diet of beans and tortillas, shows poverty remains a real problem. The Zapatistas reject all government handouts, but rely on aid from sympathisers and are vulnerable to "the economic pressures that push the poor from all over Mexico into migrating to the cities", said John Holloway, a professor of sociology at the Autonomous University of Puebla.
With Marcos having kept a low profile in recent years, speculation has mounted that the Zapatistas are a spent force. Mexican journalist Jose Gil Olmos told Al Jazeera they have "stagnated" and "fallen into a natural decline".
Their most recent initiatives, such as a 2006 campaign to unite disaffected groups across the country, "have not had the same impact, at least in Mexico, because the national agenda has changed and there are a much wider number of concerns now", Olmos said. With the drug war and an underperforming economy, the primary concerns of most Mexicans, "the Zapatistas are no longer a priority", he added.
But the Zapatistas remain popular at the local level, as was demonstrated in December 2012, when some 40,000 supporters marched in silence across Chiapas. Supporters say the movement has restored a sense of pride in the area, saying the Zapatistas have empowered women by passing a law prohibiting forced marriage or any form of sexual discrimination, and have kept their communities free from violence and addiction by outlawing drugs and alcohol.
With a new generation of Zapatistas having grown up since the uprising, education has become increasingly important to the survival of what is now more of a non-violent social movement than a guerrilla insurgency.
In August 2013, the Zapatistas launched La Escuelita - "The Little School" - a series of coordinated classes that drew about 1,500 academics, activists and sympathisers from Mexico and abroad to the autonomous communities. "This is really about the younger generation taking the initiative of the movement," Holloway said.
As soon as I arrived I saw that many of the principles, language, themes and ways of organising Occupy Wall Street had been taken straight from Zapatista philosophy.
Participants included Alejandra, a young woman from Guadalajara. "We were there for a week. We stayed with local families and tried to live like them and understand their way of life," she told Al Jazeera. "We went from discovering them and reading about their struggle to smelling and tasting it. That was the idea."
Sergio Tischler, a Guatemalan sociologist and historian who also attended the inaugural Escuelita, told Al Jazeera the initiative showcased the Zapatistas' "extraordinary organisational achievements", with the classes mainly focused on their experiences of self-governance.
Although colourful murals of Che Guevara adorn the wooden huts in their communities, the Zapatistas - unlike Guevara - have never sought to overthrow the government and take over the state. Instead, they aimed to build an entirely new system from the bottom up - one where "the people give the orders and the government obeys", according to the popular Zapatista refrain.
"After the fall of the Soviet Union ... and the collapse of so many revolutionary movements, it's really become clear that the old, 20th-century model of revolution by building up the party and capturing control of the state just didn't work," explained Holloway, author of Change the World Without Taking Power.
The Zapatistas realised this and sought to develop a new organisational structure that has evolved over the years and is now centred around five councils. Membership in these rotates between different members of the community every two weeks, so that everyone is directly involved in local governance.
Beyond the local struggle for autonomy, the Zapatistas have also influenced numerous international protest movements. At a time of widespread economic crisis and disillusionment with representative democracy, their rejection of capitalism and conventional party politics lies at the heart of their continued global appeal.
Rebecca Manski of Occupy Wall Street - a movement that sprang up in New York in 2011 to oppose social and economic inequality, financial greed and corruption - acknowledged the Zapatista influence after visiting Oventic last summer. "As soon as I arrived I saw that many of the principles, language, themes and ways of organising Occupy Wall Street had been taken straight from Zapatista philosophy," Manski told Al Jazeera.
But beyond the "romantic imagery" of the Zapatistas, their most "powerful contribution" to global politics has been the example they set by working outside of the state and the electoral system to form their own, more democratic society, Manksi argued.
"Without building direct links with other movements they've become a source of inspiration" and spurred "a complete rethinking of what radical left-wing organisation and action means", Holloway said.
In terms of ideology and organisation, Holloway said the Zapatistas have strongly influenced not only Occupy, but also Spain's Indignados and Greece's Direct Democracy Now, whose members have demanded radical political change because they do not feel represented by the parties and politicians in their countries.
"All around the world these movements are a backlash against the crisis of representation - and I think that can be definitely be traced directly back to the Zapatistas," Manski said.
Follow Duncan Tucker on Twitter: @DuncanTucker
Source: Al Jazeera
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Over the course of 30 years, we've possibly increased mature size of our beef cows by more than 3000 lbs.
Just how big are our beef cows? Answering this question requires a journey back to what I like to refer to as the beginning of the “genetic revolution” in the U.S. cattle business.
In 1975, a weaned 400-lb. calf was considered a good calf. Today, it wouldn't generate a positive net return in most operations. With today's increased production costs, it takes calves nearer to 600 lbs. to generate a positive net return. Technology has led the way to improved production.
The first is genetics. Since 1975, the influence of European breeds has substantially impacted calf weaning weight. Crossbreeding and the exploitation of complementarity and heterosis have contributed, as well. And the development of EPD technology as a selection tool for growth facilitated further advancements in weaning weights.
Improvements in our health programs — vaccinations, parasite control and antibiotics — are other contributors. Meanwhile, the management of breeding systems and more controlled calving seasons helped producers wean more uniform and heavier calves.
Nutrition programs in general have improved. Despite declines in species diversity, quantity and overall quality in our native range country, we've had some success in improving forage varieties and incorporating legumes into tame pastures. In addition, supplementation strategies have improved based on a better understanding of the nutrient gaps that exist between requirements and what is supplied in the forage. This is especially true for the cow as she progresses through the four phases of production.
The 200-lb. increase in weaning weight over the last 30 years has coincided with substantially increased carcass weights of fed steers and heifers, as well as slaughter bulls and cows.
That's because we selected for growth — more specifically average daily gain and yearling weight — and it worked, to the point that carcasses that yield cuts too large to “fit the box” are now a concern. Animal breeders warned against focusing too intently on direct growth traits, which would lead to an increase in mature size of our cattle due to the high genetic correlation between growth and mature size.
As shown in Figure 1, cow carcass weights have increased by nearly an identical amount as steers; bull carcass weights increased even more, simply because we focused our selection efforts on the sires. The additional 50-lb. increase in the heifers at first seems questionable, until one considers the improvement in implant programs for heifers and the increasing use of MGA. Our efforts to get feeder heifers to perform more like steers appear effective.
Figure 2 states the average carcass weight for slaughter cows in 1975 was 475 lbs.; by 2005, it was 621 lbs. If cow carcass weights have increased 146 lbs., just how much has the mature weight of our cows increased?
To calculate the increase in live weight at slaughter, we must know the average dressing percent for cows at slaughter. One of the major factors impacting dressing percent is the amount of fatness at the time of slaughter. Body condition scoring (BCS) can give us a range estimate of dressing percent. Given the average BCS of our cows at harvest time, we can approximate their average dressing percent, especially when the sample size is large.
According to the “National Market Cow and Bull Beef Quality Audit — 2007,” a survey of 23 packing plants, the average BCS for 2,800 head of cows was 4.53. Based on a BCS of 4.53, the expected range in dressing percent is 45-49%, with the average at 47%. Using .47 as the average dressing percent, we can calculate the live-weight change at slaughter of those cows by dividing the carcass-weight difference by the dressing percent (146 lbs./0.47 = 311 lbs.). Based on these assumptions, the increase in cow live weights at slaughter from 1975 to 2005 has a range of 298-324 lbs., with an expected average of 311 lbs.
So if we've increased cow slaughter weights by 311 lbs., what is the average live slaughter weight of those cows? By dividing the cows' average carcass weight — 475 lbs. in 1975 and 621 lbs. in 2005 — by 47%, we approximate the live weights at slaughter, which is 1,010 lbs. and 1,321 lbs., respectively.
A 1,321-lb. cow at slaughter is a big cow, but that's not her mature weight. The mature weight for cows is established at a constant BCS of 5.0. Because the BCS was estimated at 4.5, the average slaughter weight must be adjusted to a BCS of 5.0 to determine her mature weight. According to National Research Council guidelines, the factor we use to make that calculation is .965. Therefore, the cows slaughtered in 2005 with a BCS 5, on average, would have a mature weight of 1,369 lbs. (1,321 lbs. / .965 = 1,369). Assuming the BCS and dressing percent averages were the same for the 1975 cows, that's a mature weight of 1,047 lbs.
Thus, over the course of 30 years, we've increased mature size of our cows by more than 300 lbs. While some of our assumptions can be challenged, and reasonable challenges may impact the outcome by up to 30 lbs., it's possible that the average mature weight of cows in the U.S. today is about 1,350 lbs.
This is important because a 1,300-lb. cow can be a productive cow in some environments, but not in all environments. The more important issue isn't so much the average itself but the distribution around that average.
If the mature weight of our cows is a normal distribution around the average, then by definition half weigh more than 1,350 lbs. That's where the problem lies in terms of production efficiency.
That leads us to an even more important question. How has this increase in mature weight impacted production efficiency for cow-calf producers?
Bryan McMurry, Ph.D., is beef brand manager for Cargill Animal Nutrition, Minnetonka, MN.
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Science and technology, we can always notice these words together though they both don’t have the same meaning but they are still connected with each other. Science and technology contributes good things in our lives but at the same time, they also do have disadvantages.
The great contribute of science in our lives is to explain how things came to existence. Just like how the universe started. Science could tell us how it came from nothing to something. The magic of science did not end yet. It can also explain to us how things behave and the characteristics and properties that they have.
On the other hand, science has its disadvantages. Due to science’ explanations, people lose faith in God. They don’t believe anymore on what was written on the Bible. They only focus themselves on finding ways to explain things scientifically. Most likely, scientists only believe in the things if they can see it.
Next is technology. Nowadays, technology almost ruled everything in this world. People use technology to satisfy their needs. They use it to make things to easier for them. Like computer which can be used on office works to make the burdens of the employees be lighter.
Just like science, technology also has its disadvantages. Above all, technology causes people to be lazy. They just depend their works to technology. They just focus themselves on the saying, “technology could make things easier.” Lastly, is the misuse of technology which causes the destruction of our nature.
As time moves forward, the more the science and technology influenced our lives. As long as science can discover more things, technology also became more advance and find more ways to make life easier that we’ve ever expected.
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| 0.968082 | 344 | 2.640625 | 3 |
Date: Jan 22, 2009 1:50 PM
Subject: Re: -1 x -1 ?
On Jan 22, 11:21 am, David R Tribble <[email protected]> wrote:
> Tay wrote:
> >> -1 *-1 = 1 huh?
> >> It's so simple.
> Mensanator wrote:
> > If North is positive and you're facing South,
> > what's your displacement if you take a step backwards?
> One step? ;-)
> Perhaps you meant: if I'm standing at -1, the South pole,
> and I move -1, one step backwards, what is my new location?
Nope, didn't mean that at all. I said "displacement",
> I guess that would depend on how large the world is.
Nope, not dependent on that at all.
> If half a step gets me to the North pole, then a full
> step gets me back to the South Pole.
The displacement is still +1 even if you are returned to
your starting point. When you take drive and eventually
return, have you used any gas?
> But why are you taking steps, which are additive instead of
I was under the impression that multiplication was related
to addition. How was I wrong?
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| 0.948906 | 285 | 2.6875 | 3 |
The term embryo applies to the earliest form of life, produced when an egg (female reproductive cell) is fertilized by a sperm (male reproductive cell; semen). The fertilized egg is called a zygote. Shortly after fertilization, the zygote begins to grow and develop. It divides to form two cells, then four, then eight, and so on. As the zygote and its daughter cells divide, they start to become specialized, meaning they begin to take on characteristic structures and functions that will be needed in the adult plant or animal.
An embryo is a living organism, like a full-grown rose bush, frog, or human. It has the same needs—food, oxygen, warmth, and protection—that the adult organism has. These needs are provided for in a variety of ways by different kinds of organisms.
The study of changes that take place in the embryo is known as embryology. As one might imagine, the subject of embryology has fascinated humans since the dawn of time. Every culture has had its own theories and beliefs as to how the young of any species are created and born. The earliest formal writings on embryology can be traced to about 1416 B.C. in India. A document in Sanskrit (an ancient Indian language) describes the origin of the embryo being the union of the blood from the mother and semen from the father. Although this is not completly accurate, the document goes on to describe various stages of embryo development.
Differentiation: The process by which cells mature into specialized cell types, such as blood cells, muscle cells, brain cells, and sex cells.
Ectoderm: The outer layer or cells in the multilayered embryo.
Endoderm: The innermost wall of a multilayered embryo.
Fetus: In the higher vertebrates, the complex stage of development that follows the completion of the embryonic stage until hatching or birth.
Mesoderm: The central layer of cells in an embryo covered by three walls.
Ultrasonography: A process used to obtain "pictures" of the developing embryo using ultrasound.
Zygote: A fertilized egg.
Our modern understanding of changes that take place within the embryo can be traced to the rise of the cell theory in about 1838. Scientists finally discovered the process by which sperm cells from a male and egg cells from a female combine to form a zygote. Studies by the Austrian monk Gregor Mendel (1822–1884) opened a way to explain how genetic characteristics were transmitted from one generation to the next. Finally, in 1953, the discovery of the molecular structure of DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid) by the American biologist James Watson (1928– ) and the English chemist Francis Crick (1916– ) provided a chemical explanation of changes that take place during fertilization and development.
The term embryonic development refers to changes that take place as an embryo matures. Those changes differ from plants to animals and from species to species. The discussion that follows focuses on embryonic development in humans.
The zygote forms in one of the mother's fallopian tubes, the tubes that connect the ovaries with the uterus. It then travels to the uterus, where it becomes affixed to the uterine lining. Along the way, the zygote divides a number of times. By the time it reaches the uterus, it consists of about 100 cells and is called an embryoblast.
The exact day on which the embryoblast implants on the uterine wall varies, but is usually about the sixth day after fertilization. By the end of the first week, a protective sac, the amniotic cavity, begins to form around the embryoblast. Changes now begin to take place at a rapid rate.
During week two of embryonic development, embryonic cells have begun the process of differentiation. The identical cells formed by the early divisions of the zygote are beginning to take on the different characteristic of muscle, blood, nerve, bone, and other kinds of cells. The embryo has burrowed deep into the uterine wall and is visible as a bump on the inner uterine surface. This position permits the embryo to receive oxygen and nutrients from the mother's blood and to excrete waste products into her bloodstream.
Miscarriages are not uncommon at this stage of pregnancy. The mother's immune system may react to cells from the embryo that it classifies as "foreign" and will begin to attack those cells. The embryo may die and be expelled.
During week three the embryo grows to a length of about 0.08 inches (2 millimeters) long and has become pear-shaped with a rounded head and a tapered tail end. Three distinct types of cells can be distinguished. Ectoderm cells will form the embryo's skin; mesoderm cells its bones, muscles, and organs; and endoderm cells its digestive tract.
Blood vessels have begun to form and, by day 20, the embryo has developed its own arteries and veins. Cells begin to collect along the embryo's back in a formation known as the neural tube, a structure that will eventually develop into the brain and spinal cord.
During the fourth week, the embryo becomes C-shaped with an enlarged forebrain and a visible tail. Eye stalks and ear pits appear. Upper and lower limb buds are observable. Lung, liver, pancreatic, and gall bladder buds emerge. The umbilical cord and early facial areas also form. By the end of this week, the embryo is comprised of millions of cells and is about 0.12 to 0.16 inches (3 to 4 millimeters) long. To the naked eye, the embryo looks like a small oval.
Extensive neural (nerve) and cardiac (heart) development takes place this week. Early bone formations, that will later be the vertebrae, appear along the neural tube. Nerves, muscle, and connective tissues emerge around the primitive bone formations.
By the end of fifth week, the embryo is almost 0.5 inch (about 7 to 9 millimeters) long and has all of its internal organs. The external ears emerge, and upper limb buds extend to form paddlelike hands. The mouth, stomach, and urinary bladder are present. Nose pits and eye lenses are visible. A few days after upper limb bud extension, the lower limb buds evolve further. Much more brain development occurs at this time, and the head enlarges, causing it to bend forward and appear large compared to the body. The umbilical cord becomes more clearly defined.
During the sixth week, the trunk straightens and upper limb development continues. The neck, elbows, and wrists form. Mammary and pituitary gland buds appear. Bone, cartilage, and muscles become defined around the spinal cord and in the embryonic chest. Early in this week, tooth buds appear. These buds will become the "baby" teeth that are lost in childhood. Rib cells line up horizontally along the trunk sides, and skin
layers that will hold sweat glands develop. The regions of the brain that will become the cerebral hemispheres are very prominent at this time. The embryo appears more human by this point. It is about 0.44 to 0.56 inch (11 to 14 millimeters) long, and its heart is beating at the rate of 140 to 150 beats per minute.
During the seventh week, future fingers and thumbs are clearly visible on the hands. The torso lengthens, the tail begins to disappear, and the primitive organs continue to evolve. The heart has become divided into chambers. The cornea of the eye is also present. By the end of this week, the embryo is about 0.8 inch (20 millimeters) long and about the size of a quarter.
During the eighth week, remarkable development occurs. Nerve cells in the brain form at a rate of about 100,000 a minute. The top of the head becomes more rounded and erect. Between day 52 and day 56, the fanshaped toes go from being webbed to separated. The fingers are entirely distinct. The eyelids close over the eyes and become fused shut until about the twenty-sixth week. External genital (sex organ) differences begin to develop. All appearances of the tail are gone. By day 56, the embryo is roughly 1 to 1.25 inches (27 to 31 millimeters) long.
The first three months of embryonic development are known as the first trimester, that is, the first three-month period of growth. At the end of the first trimester, the embryo looks like an adult, with all major organs having been formed. It is about 3 inches (7.5 centimeters) long. Still, an embryo born during this period trimester will not survive. Additional time in the mother's womb is needed to permit further development of the organs.
At the beginning of the second trimester, the growing organism is no longer called an embryo, but a fetus. Fetal development continues through the second and third trimesters until it is ready for birth at the end of the ninth month.
A number of techniques have been developed to study the development of the embryo. These techniques can be used to determine the presence of problems in the growing embryo.
An ultrasound diagnosis can be performed at any time during pregnancy. Ultrasound diagnosis is a type of technology that uses high-pitched sounds that cannot be heard by the human ear. The sound is bounced off of the embryo and the echoes received are used to identify embryonic size. The technique is similar to the one used by submarines to locate underwater structures. By 18 weeks of pregnancy, ultrasound technology can detect structural abnormalities such as spina bifida (various defects of the spine), hydrocephaly (water on the brain), anencephaly (no brain), heart and kidney defects, and harelip (in which the upper lip is divided into two or more parts).
Imagine a baby with two mothers! At one time, that idea may have seemed absurd. Today, the practice is common. It is accomplished by a procedure known as embryonic transfer. Embryonic transfer is carried out by removing the eggs from one female and transferring them into the body of another female. The embryos have, in effect, two mothers: the one that provided the egg necessary for fertilization and the one that provided the uterus during pregnancy.
Embryonic transfer has been widely used among animal breeders to increase the number of offspring from a valuable cow, sheep, or horse. Some endangered species have benefitted from zoo breeding programs that use embryonic transfer. In humans, embryonic transfer is sometimes used as part of a fertility program. Egg donation or the use of a surrogate uterus offers hope to infertile women who have healthy eggs but lack either normal ovaries or a normal uterus.
The technique used in embryonic transfer is typified in the procedure used with domestic animals. A prize female is stimulated with hormones (organic chemicals) to produce many eggs. These eggs are then fertilized, either through normal breeding or artificial insemination, with the sperm of a champion male. Next the embryos are flushed from the uterus with a saline (salt-water) solution. Scientists use a microscope to search for the tiny clump of cells that signify an embryo at this stage. Once found, the embryos are ready for transfer. They can also be frozen for future thawing and use, if desired. When the embryos are implanted, a syringelike device delivers them into the uterus of the foster mother. If multiple embryos exist, multiple foster mothers are needed.
Breeders can typically produce six calves from one embryonic transfer. In this manner, a single prized cow can produce many calves each year. With proper training and equipment, embryonic transfer can be mastered by cattle farmers themselves.
A similar procedure is used in humans when a woman who is not able to produce eggs wishes to have a baby. Another woman is found to serve as an egg donor. The egg donor may be a close relative or may be anonymous, just as the men who donate to sperm banks are anonymous.
Several donor eggs are retrieved through a minor operation. The egg from the donor and the sperm from the male are combined in the lab in a procedure known as in vitro fertilization. The fertilized egg is then implanted in the infertile woman's uterus for a normal pregnancy and birth. Three months of hormone treatment are needed to establish the pregnancy. After that, the hormones produced normally by the woman are enough to maintain the pregnancy. Nine months later, the infertile woman gives birth to a baby to whom she bears no genetic relationship. Although much less common than in vitro fertilization, embryonic transfer offers couples a higher success rate.
Chorionic villus sampling (CVS) is the most sophisticated modern technique used to assess possible inherited, genetic defects. This test is usually performed between the sixth and eighth week of embryonic development. During the test, a narrow tube is passed through the vagina or the abdomen, and a sample of the chorionic villi is removed while the physician views the baby via an ultrasound. Chorionic villi are small hairlike projections on the covering of the embryonic sac. They are rich in both embryonic and maternal blood cells. By studying these embryonic cells, genetic counselors can determine whether the baby will have any of several defects, including Down syndrome (characterized by mental retardation, short stature, and a broadened face), cystic fibrosis (which affects the digestive and respiratory systems), and the blood diseases hemophilia, sickle-cell anemia, and thalassemia. It can also show the baby's gender.
[ See also Fertilization ]
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A Big, Bike-Parking Robot? Only in Japan.
Rows and rows of bikes parked on the sidewalk can make any greenie's heart swell with pride. But what happens when there are too many bikes and not enough parking spots? A Japanese company has come up with a phenomenal solution: the robotic bike tree.
The bike tree is a mechanical system that stores bikes in a large shed. Commuters place a tag on their bike and the machine sucks it into the storage system. When the person returns, the machine retrieves the bike. All bicyclists have to do is pay the monthly fee. The company has installed several storage systems throughout Japan that hold anywhere from 600 to 6,000 bikes.
The bike tree has prevented bicycle theft, diminished clutter in the street, and protected bikes from weather. However, it can be costly to rent a space each month and it requires a bit of infrastructure because the facility is underground.
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| 0.9626 | 190 | 2.75 | 3 |
Diagnosis of zinc deficiency in canola by plant analysis
*Subscription may be required
Canola plants (Brassica napus cv. Eureka) were grown in soil culture with seven levels of zinc (Zn) supply (0, 67, 133, 200, 267, 533, and 1,067 μg Zn/kg soil) for 39 days. Critical Zn concentrations in young leaf blades and petioles were established for the diagnosis of Zn deficiency in canola plants during vegetative growth by assessing the relationship between the Zn concentration in the leaves and shoot dry matter on 22 and 39 days after sowing (DAS). Zinc concentrations in leaf blades and petioles increased with increasing Zn supply, but Zn concentrations were always 50% higher in the youngest open leaf (YOL) than in the youngest mature leaf (YML). The relationship between shoot dry matter and Zn concentrations in leaf petioles exhibited Piper‐Steenbjerg curvature, indicating their unsuitability for Zn‐deficiency diagnosis either alone or by inclusion with leaf blades. By contrast, inclusion of leaf mid‐ribs with leaf blades did not alter the relationship between shoot dry matter and Zn concentrations, nor the critical Zn concentration. Critical Zn concentrations in the YOL, YOL+1, and YOL+2 blade on 39 DAS, corresponding with the stem elongation stage, were 15–17, 9–10, and 7–8 mg Zn/kg dry matter, respectvely. In comparison, the critical Zn concentration in the YOL+2 leaf blades with mid‐ribs was 7–8 mg Zn/kg dry matter. In conclusion, during the vegetative stage up to stem elongation, YOL+2 leaf blades which are also the YML are recommended for the diagnosis of Zn deficiency in canola plants with the critical Zn concentration being 7–8 mg Zn/kg dry matter.
|Publication Type:||Journal Article|
|Murdoch Affiliation:||School of Biological and Environmental Sciences|
|Publisher:||Marcel Dekker Inc.|
|Copyright:||1995 Marcel Dekker Inc.|
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Each year our terrestrial biosphere absorbs about a quarter of all the carbon dioxide emissions that humans produce.
This a very good thing; it helps to moderate the warming produced by human activities such as burning fossil fuels and cutting down forests.
But in a paper published in Nature today, we show that emissions from other human activities, particularly food production, are overwhelming this cooling effect. This is a worrying trend, at a time when CO₂ emissions from fossil fuels are slowing down, and is clearly not consistent with efforts to stabilise global warming well below 2℃ as agreed at the Paris climate conference.
To explain why, we need to look at two other greenhouse gases: methane and nitrous oxide.
The other greenhouse gases
Each year, people produce about 40 billion tonnes of CO₂ emissions, largely from burning fossil fuels and deforestation. This has produced about 82% of the growth in warming due to greenhouses gases over the past decade.
The planet, through plant growth, removes about a quarter of this each year (another quarter goes into the oceans and the rest stays in the atmosphere and heats the planet). If it didn’t, the world would warm much faster.
If we had to remove this CO₂ ourselves, it would cost hundreds of billions of dollars each year, so we should be very grateful that the Earth does it for free.
Apart from CO₂, there are two other main greenhouse gases that contribute to global warming, methane (CH₄) and nitrous oxide (N₂O). In fact, they are both more potent greenhouse gases than CO₂. The global warming potential of methane and nitrous oxide is 28 and 265 times greater than that of CO₂, respectively.
The human emissions of these gases are largely associated with food production. Methane is produced by ruminants (livestock), rice cultivation, landfills and manure, among others.
Other human-induced emissions of methane come from changes to land use and the effects of climate change on wetlands, which are major producers of global methane.
Nitrous oxide emissions are associated with excessive use of fertilisers and burning plant and animal waste. To understand how much excess nitrogen we are adding to our crops, consider that only 17 of 100 units of nitrogen applied to the crop system ends up in the food we eat.
Sinks and sources
Just as humans pump greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, the land also produces and absorbs them. If the land absorbs more of a gas than it produces, we think of it as a “sink”. If it produces more than it absorbs, we call it a “source”. The ability of the land to absorb and produce greenhouse gases is affected by human activity.
We wanted to know how human activities on the land are affecting these sinks and sources. Globally, the land currently absorbs more CO₂ than it produces (we don’t include fossil fuels in this), so it is considered a carbon sink. But we found that this is overwhelmed by production of methane and nitrous oxide, so overall the land is a source of greenhouse gases.
This study highlights the importance of including all three major greenhouse gases in global and regional climate impact assessments, mitigation options and climate policy development.
Another recent study calculated that the size of this combined greenhouse gas source is about equivalent to the total fossil fuel emissions of CO₂ in the 2000s. Looking at the chart below, if you add up the carbon emissions from the “LUC gross source” (emissions from deforestation) and the emissions from methane and nitrous oxide (in blue and green), then you can see they are roughly equivalent to those from the combustion of fossil fuels.
So it’s a huge part of our contribution to climate change.
Importantly, CO₂ emissions from deforestation together with methane and nitrous oxide emissions are mainly associated with the process of making land available for food production and the growing of food in croplands and rangelands.
Unfortunately, there has been limited discussion about major commitments to decarbonise the food production system, as there has been about decarbonising the energy system.
Countries, particularly emerging and developing economies, have shown little interest in placing the food system at the forefront of climate negotiations. One reason is what’s at stake: feeding their people.
A continuation of the current growth trends in methane and nitrous oxide emissions, at a time when growth of CO₂ fossil fuel emissions is slowing, constitutes a worrying trend. The greenhouse gas footprint of food is growing while the role of the food system in climate mitigation is not receiving the attention that it urgently needs.
Opportunities for mitigation in this sector are plentiful, but they can only be realised with a concerted focus.
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In June, 1861, Lord Canning sent out a memorandum to every provincial administrator in country, containing a list of interesting tribes, with the request to enlist photographers to document each tribe. He also asked for a "brief written description of the tribe represented, their origin, physical characteristics, and general habits." Even in these early stages, the project quickly took on a much more official bearing than Canning had originally intended. In fact, within a few months it was decided that the collection would be displayed at the International Exhibition, held in London the following year. The project was so poorly managed, however, that only a few prints ever ended up being sent, and even fewer arrived in time to be put on public display. This lack of efficiency was consistent throughout the years spent working on POI. It took seven years to publish the first volume, and an additional eight to publish the next seven. This had partly to do with the slowness of the photographers themselves, and partly with the high cost of printing. At any rate, such a tremendous gap had much to do with the collection's failure. According to Falconer, "public interest in India may have been high in the years immediately after the Mutiny, but by the time the final volume appeared in the mid 1870s, popular interest in an arcane topic had no doubt largely dissipated." Another factor may have been the quality of the photographs. The artists employed were, for the most part, not artists at all. They were amateur photographs, government employees, and soldiers. As such, they had great difficulty coping with the trying climate, unwilling subjects, and geographical obstacles that a classically trained photographer might have been able to overcome. One might think that any and all aesthetic shortcomings would be compensated for by scientific merit, but with POI, this was not so. One of the editors himself, John Forbes Watson, admitted that the work lacked the "scientific character, such as would attend a similar collection of an Ethnological Survey were carried out." This lack manifested itself in two ways. First, the descriptions of the tribes themselves were often far from scientific. Many dealt with the character of the individual represented. For instance, volume seven contains "over forty portraits from Central India by James Waterhouse, with the Begum of Bhopal, her family and her court, represented by no fewer than eight studies." This surplus of portraits corresponds with the second manifestation: the coverage of the subcontinent was by no means proportional, with particular attention given to particular regions for the sake of convenience and available materials. Because the Mutiny took place largely in the north, that's where most of the photographers operated, the end result being a seriously imbalanced representation of the country.
Despite all its failures, Falconer maintains that "the work remains a landmark of nineteenth century Indian photography and its interface with ethnology and issues of colonial control." And this has certainly proved to be POI's legacy. Now more than ever, it would be preposterous to attempt to glean scientific knowledge from the collection. It was racist, considerably inaccurate, and infected by the biases of the times. But, it does tell us quite a bit about the development of photography as a tool of science and an instrument of art. It also sheds some light on the science of ethnology as it was in the 19th century. In the end, I believe that The People of India has proved to be a tremendous success. It just didn't seem that way at the time.
The People of India series will be published once a month highlighting the various tribes as they're covered in the People of India.
Cal Berer, Intern
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| 0.98193 | 740 | 3.46875 | 3 |
Visual Insights: A Practical Guide to Making Sense of Data
Katy Börner & David E. Polley
Published by MIT Press
Order via Amazon, Barnes & Noble, or MIT Press (enter coupon code "BVI20" on MIT web site for 20% discount).
7.5 x 9, 292 pp.
This textbook offers a gentle introduction to the design of insightful visualizations. It seamlessly blends theory and practice, giving readers both the theoretical foundation and the practical skills necessary to render data into insights.
The first chapter introduces a theoretical framework that covers temporal, geospatial, topical, and network data analyses and visualizations. It is followed by chapters that detail visualizations and workflows that aim to answer “when” (temporal data), “where” (geospatial data), “what” (topical data), and “with whom” (trees and networks) questions. The design and deployment of interactive online visualizations is discussed. Each chapter has a hands-on part that demonstrates how plug-and-play macroscope tools can be used to run advanced data mining and visualization algorithms. The final two chapters present exemplary case studies and discuss future developments.
The book accompanies the Information Visualization MOOC that attracted students, scholars, and practitioners from many fields of science and more than 100 different countries.
Quotes by Experts
“In the world of visualization and information graphics, the bibliography about thematic maps and statistical graphs is becoming abundant, little by little. However, studies of how to design network diagrams and conceptual maps are rare, and usually available only through scientific publications. Katy Börner’s and David Polley’s book is the first serious attempt at offering a theoretical and practical introduction to this discipline, aimed not just at specialists but at any reader, regardless of her or his background. I foresee that it’ll become the textbook of choice for many instructors.”
—Alberto Cairo, Professor of the Professional Practice at the School of Communication of the University of Miami and author of The Functional Art: an Introduction to Information Graphics and Visualization
“A good visualization is never easy-beesy done; good visualization is a science, a craft, and an art at once. If you want to become a visual data explorer and learn to produce meaningful visualizations, this book is a good guide for such a journey. It is a must-read for students at iSchools and those in the Digital Humanities, and a recommendation for inhabitants of the various interdisciplinary valleys in the science landscape.”
—Andrea Scharnhorst, Head of Research at Data Archiving and Networked Services and member of the e-humanities group at the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences in Amsterdam, Netherlands.
“In this age of knowledge abundance, policymakers and the public need to quickly understand complex information, and this book takes a giant leap forward in this arena. The knowledge system has become a global enterprise, and it is one that involves collaboration and interdisciplinary linkages. These trans-boundary links require new metrics and the use of new methods of examination and explanation. Katy Börner’s and David Polley’s book creates a map into the new knowledge terrain that we will all be transiting soon.”
—Caroline S. Wagner, Milton and Roslyn Wolf Chair in International Affairs; Director, Battelle Center for Science & Technology Policy, John Glenn School of Public Affairs, Ohio State University
“Following in the footsteps of the richly illustrated and highly informative book “The Atlas of Science: Visualizing What We Know”, Professor Katy Borner’s new book Visual Insights: A practical Guide to Making Sense of Data brings theory and practice in seven manageable chapters to both new initiate and engaged user, giving an insightful overview of the field, and making accessible the methods and techniques to empower the reader to become a visualization practitioner.”
—George Legrady, Director of the Experimental Visualization Lab and Chair of the Media Arts & Technology doctoral program at the University of California, Santa Barbara
London School of Economics and Political Science [PDF]
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The Romans were by nature practical people -- simple farmers raising crops to sell or eat. Isolated from the rest of the world because they lacked a port, the Romans used their unique character to build a great culture. What was it is that made them aspire to greatness when their neighbors were happy in a tribal existence? There is no doubt they were driven by a passion for organization and a spirit determined to move forward and make life more efficient.
Romans were not idealistic. They admired the Greeks, but didn’t want to be like them. They looked at philosophy with disdain because it had no practical value, and were also practical about religion. They started, as all early peoples, with the belief that gods live in nature and animal form. Later they came under the influence of the Etruscans who controlled them for a couple of centuries. The Etruscan list of gods was extensive, and the Romans borrowed it almost completely.
In one important respect, however, the Romans did not borrow from the Etruscans. They would not accept the concept of predestination and its consequent fatalism. The Etruscans employed a book of fates, called the Libri Rituales which was divided into three parts: Fatales which predicted the lifespan of peoples and individuals, Acherontici which described the rituals needed for salvation, and Ostentaria which gave rules for the interpretation of portents and omens. In the Fatales the Etruscans predicted the demise of their own culture. They defined an interval of time called a saecula which spanned about eighty years. According to their tradition, the Etruscan people were allocated ten saecula by the gods, and when the endpoint was reached the Etruscan civilization would come to an end. Each year at a festival the Etruscan priests would note the number of years they had left. This fatalism was too depressing for the Romans who adopted the Ostentaria and discarded the rest.
As the Romans moved away from the Etruscans, they carried on their adoption of gods. Following the military victory over the Latins at Lake Regullus in 496 B.C, they brought home the Latin gods Castor and Pollux and built temple to them in the Forum. Below is a picture of the remains of the Temple of Castor & Pollux standing behind the ruins of the Temple of Vesta.
The Roman Kings had been political and religious leaders, but under the Republic, the new position of religious leader, the Pontifex Maximus, was separated from the offices of government. The Pontifex was responsible for divining the wishes of the gods and making sure those wishes were satisfied.
His staff included Haruspices, Flamines, and Vestels. The Haruspices were responsible for the interpretation of signs from nature, the Flamines caretakers to the state supported gods, and the Vestals were responsible for keeping the eternal flame lit in the Temple of Vesta. This odd view of authoritative religion separated the people from the beliefs of the state, leaving only family worship to be practiced by the people.
As time went on during the period of the Republic, the Greek and Roman gods began to merge. The educated Romans had become tired of their old religious forms and were looking for something new. Although a combined Roman-Greek mythology would open the door for religious skepticism, it provided a pathway to Greek Philosophy which eventually became interesting to the upper classes. The Plebs never gave up their historical connection to the old religion.
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WEEK XIV: ASSESSMENT
This week we will "assess" our work in this course. The purpose of assessment is NOT to review the professor or to do a ‘course evaluation'’ Those tasks are carried out by other means at other times. The purpose of this effort is to find out how well each student learned in this course, in other words, how well you achieved the goals
of the course. In assessment. We are interested in:
- the various tools we used to learn: did they work? how well did each work?
- the various methods we used in handling the tools: did they work? how well?
- what can be done to improve the learning process?
Using the email system, please write the professor an e-mail message (Put the words CLAS 315 ASSESS in the subject line), answering each of the following questions as best you can. This is NOT an optional assignment. An email answer is expected from each and every person registered in the course.
- (1) What is your academic level? (Fresh / Soph / Jun / Sen / Grad / Extended Learning / Other)?
- (2) What is your major? What is your minor (if you have one)?
- (3) Methodology: Did you find the lectures and readings on "Myth Tools" useful? Should there be more of this? Less?
- (4) Did you find the various pages of handouts and lecture notes on the Web Site useful? Are there things which should be added in this category? Things changed?
- (5) Internet Assignments:
- Did you think that the internet work led to you useful and interesting material?
- Did you think that the internet assignments helped you in a significant way to learn the course material?
- Would you prefer more, fewer, or the same number of internet assignments (assuming that each assignment replaced a lecture)?
- (6) Did you think that the idea of the Newsgroup for the course [Yahoo Groups] was a useful tool? Should it be continued? How could its USE be improved?*
- (7) Do you think that the course, as structured, helped you to reach the GOALS for this course? How well?
- (8) What was the most important thing that you learned during the course?
- (9) What do you think you will most remember and use in the future from the course?
- (10) Communication:
- Did you use "Virtual Office Hours"? (Sending the Professor email questions)? Did you find it useful?
- Did you use regular-style office hours (in-person interviews)? How many times? Which did you prefer?
- Did you find useful the emails the Professor sent you about internet materials and about upcoming quizzes and exams?
- (11) Is there any specific thing or things that you think the Professor could do to make the course better?
Revised: 08/19/2003, 07/31/2006
January 28, 2010 10:46 AM
John Paul Adams, CSUN
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For years, ever since they escaped from catfish farms in Arkansas, two species of Asian carp have been migrating up the Mississippi River.
Bighead carp, which can weigh as much as 100 pounds, are voracious eaters, reducing or eliminating native species by gobbling up all the food in sight. Silver carp are not quite as large, but are jumpers that have damaged boats and severely injured people.
If either species gets established in the Great Lakes, that could ruin the lakes’ fishing, recreational, and boating industries and cost the economy billions of dollars. Last month, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers released a report on the carp problem that disappointed virtually everybody. Asked by Congress to come up with solutions, the corps listed eight options but recommended none of them.
U.S. Rep. Candice Miller (R., Mich.) has introduced a bill that would require the corps to take immediate action to close off the series of canals that connect the Mississippi River with the Great Lakes, which were dug more than a century ago. Illinois and Indiana politicians oppose the measure, instead defending barge and shipping interests whose bottom line could be hurt if they had to move their cargo overland.
They have a point. But their inconvenience would be minor compared to the economic loss the nation would suffer — forever — if Asian carp establish themselves in the world’s most important supply of freshwater.
U.S. Rep. Marcy Kaptur, a Toledo Democrat, hasn’t formally endorsed Representative Miller’s bill. But Miss Kaptur has repeatedly urged faster action, saying separation of the lakes from the Mississippi River “would be the most effective method to keep the carp out of the Great Lakes.”
Both lawmakers are right. Ms. Miller’s bill deserves swift consideration before it really is too late.
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‘‘Désirée's Baby,’’ which for decades was the only piece of writing for which Chopin was known, was first published in the inaugural issue of Vogue in 1893. The following year, it was reprinted in Bayou Folk, Chopin's first collection of short stories. Chopin's publisher marketed it as ‘‘several tales drawn from life among the Acadians and Creoles of Louisiana.’’ The collection included character sketches, stories about domestic dramas, stories about defiant women, as well as children's tales.
The original print run of Bayou Folk was a respectable 1,250 and over the next sixteen years, it was reprinted several times. That the land about which Chopin wrote intrigued Americans was immediately obvious from the first review to appear in the New York Times (reprinted in Emily Toth's biography). Under the heading, ‘‘Living Tales From Acadian Life,'' the reviewer devoted all but two sentences of the review to an often-erroneous discussion of Louisiana life and culture. The review, however, was the first national critique of Chopin as a short story writer:
A writer needs only the art to let these stories tell themselves. It is not an art easily acquired, but Kate Chopin has practiced it with force and charm in the several stories of her agreeable book.
The word charming was to appear in many of the some one hundred press notices that followed publication of Bayou Folk, which established Chopin as a new and important writer. Laudatory reviewers from national magazines commented on Chopin's artistry. The Atlantic Monthly reviewer asserted, ‘‘In this work we have a genuine and delightful addition to the ranks of our storytellers.'' Nation wrote, ‘‘Her pen is an artist's in choice of subject, in touch, and in forbearance.’’ The Review of Reviews as stated in Toth's biography, Kate Chopin, A Life of the Author of 'The...
(The entire section is 810 words.)
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Science fiction is a genre like no other. It takes our reality as it is and imagines what possibilities the future might hold — time travel, parallel universes, teleportation, ray guns — they’re all part science, part imagination, and all fiction. Or are they?
Could these imaginings of the future actually be driving science forward? Absolutely. Science fiction writers have long inspired “real” science to catch up and create functioning, real-world versions of the technology found in their books, TV shows, and movies. For some writers, their visions of the future have literally become the technologies we all know and love today .
Here’s part 1 in the top 10 list of technologies that have made the leap from science fiction to science fact :
1. Facial Recognition/Personalized Ad Delivery
The Fiction: Tom Cruise’s character in Minority Report is on the run and trying to blend into the crowd at a local mall. As he approaches a store, he is scanned and identified. Suddenly, the holographic salesperson calls him by name and has an exclusive offer just for him based on his likes and dislikes from past shopping experiences.
The Fact: It’s here. New York’s immersive labs recently introduced CARA, a powerful computer platform that can read a person’s face, determine that customer’s gender, age, etc., and instantly analyze that information to deliver targeted offers–all in real-time.
2. Self-Driving Cars
The Fiction: In i-Robot, Will Smith is a cop in the not too distant future who longs for simpler times before everybody had their own robot–and when people actually still drove their own cars. While being pursued by some “evil” robots, Will, in his typical, heroic fashion, simply switches his self-driving vehicle from ‘auto’ to ‘manual’ and takes the wheel–just like old times.
The Fact: Earlier this year, Nevada’s Department of Motor Vehicles gave Google the country’s very first license to test drive driverless cars on public streets. With an impressive laser radar array mounted on the roof and in the grill, the Google car detects pedestrians, cyclists and other vehicles, creating a virtual buffer zone around any obstacles. The DMV stated that the self-driving car is “as safe–or perhaps safer–than a human.”
3. Interactive “Big Screen” Television
The Fiction: In Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451, Bradbury envisioned a floor-to-ceiling interactive TV screen with programming personalized to the viewer .
The Fact: Samsung and Yahoo just signed a deal to provide interactive TV that will deliver content during your favorite shows and commercials. Imagine being able to order a product, get more information, or play a game that’s a spin-off from a TV show. Combine that content with the new Sharp TV that is 4 feet tall by 6 feet, 8 inches wide, and what was once only science fiction is now science fact.
4. Iron Man Armor
The Fiction: When billionaire, playboy, philanthropist Tony Stark isn’t hobnobbing with the rich and famous, he dons his high-tech, flying suit of armor and fights bad guys as the unstoppable Iron Man.
The Fact: A Japanese company, Cyberdyne, has developed, and will soon mass market, Robot Suit Hal® (Hybrid Assistive Limb®). Through a series of sensors, the suit is not only able to mimic the wearer’s movements, but it also enhances their strength by ten times. And the flying part can’t be too far behind. Evildoers beware!
5. Cloaking Device/Invisibility
The Fiction: Whether you want to hide a Klingon Bird of Prey from the prying eyes of the Federation, or maybe just disappear for a while, there is nothing better than good old invisibility .
The Fact: In photothermal deflection experiments done at the University of Texas at Dallas, scientists have created a material that turns invisible. Basically, by using some carbon nanotubes, and a little electricity, they were able to bend light around the material to make it invisible.
What do you think — what technology really amazes or inspires you with all that is possible? Leave us a comment below, and stay tuned for part 2 of our list of top 10 technologies from science-fiction to science-fact.
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SOLAR AND LUNAR ECLIPSES AND THEIR EFFECTS
The effects of nodes are most pronounced during the time of eclipses. It is not only the duration of the eclipse that is curial. It is from sometimes (nearly six months) earlier and later than the eclipses that they become effective. This is so because in all astrological calculations the position of earth vis-a-visa the luminaries, that is, the Sun and Moon is taken into account. In the west they give due importance to the Sun sign only. The Hindus regard Moon sign also as equally important.
The question is how do these eclipses occur. It is necessary that Sun. Moon and the earth are all in one straight line. According to Surya Siddhanta the shadow of earth is exactly 180 degrees away from the Sun. When Moon entres this shadow of the earth there is a lunar eclipse. This happens only on full Moon day because Moon is 180 degrees away from Sun only on this occasion. Solar eclipse falls when Moon is between the earth and Sun and Suns rays are intercepted by Moon. This happens when the Moon and Sun are almost conjunct. It is the last day of the dark fortnight called Amavasya according to the Hindu calendar. The eclipses however, do not fall on each of these occasions. In the case of solar eclipse any of the node (Rahu or Ketu) is within 15 degrees of the Sun’s longitude. If this difference is within 15 degree (less than 15 degrees) the eclipse is assured. If the degrees are between 15 and 18 there is a possibility of eclipse. If the difference is more than 18 degrees there are no chances of eclipse. In case of lunar eclipse Rahu or Ketu should be 9 degrees or less away from Sun. Eclipse is sure to take place in such cases. In case the distance is between 9 and 13 degrees there are chances of an eclipse. If this distance is beyond 13 degrees there is no likelihood of lunar eclipse.
The sages says that the effect of solar eclipse lasts for several years if it fall in the fixed sign of the zodiac that is in Taurus Leo. Scorpio or Aquarius. If the eclipse fall in mutable signs that is Gemini. Virgo, Sagittarious or Pisces the effects starts earlier and continue for long periods. If it occurs in cardinal signs the effect lasts for short term. The eclipses affect the entire society. In Brihat Samhita, Varaha Mihira has given the results on countries. We are here concerned more with natal charts and hence we discuss them with reference to the natal charts. Followings effects may be expected in general according to the occurrence of the eclipse in terms of the natal charts subject to the placement and position of the planets in them.
1. If the eclipse falls in the 19th asterism from the birth asterism of the native, causes bad effects.
Significations of planet for this purpose are :-
Mercury- intellectual, discriminating and mental faculties, business and aunts etc.
Eclipse in the First House
The eclipse in the first house makes one prone to accidents of various sorts in quick succession. Though not very serious yet more than enough for causing. Crippledness, anxieties and worries.
Eclipse in the Second House
Under favorable aspects the eclipse in the 2nd house favours the individual in the enhancement of the acquisitions or his bank balance and additional sources of income. Adverse aspects and transits of planet through the eclipse point may mean financial losses and failures of ventures. All squares or oppositions in such conditions mean adverse effect. The trines prove favorable.
Eclipse in Third House
Under favourable aspects there is all round happiness and harmony. The relatives are helpful and the communications will always bear good news. The adverse aspects cause sorrows and irritations. The communications are either not received or they are received late and bear bad news. The close relations are sources of worry. They are always demanding.
Lunar eclipse in the third house is almost fatal to female natives. Either they die or they may become widow. If nothing of this kind happens there are family discord. In case of male native, they are calm and quiet workers. They are learned also.
Eclipse in the Fourth House
The eclipse occurring in the fourth house under auspicious aspects brings all round joy, peace and happiness. Family members and parents are often sources of joy and happiness. Under unfavourable aspects the effects are just the opposite of it. Domestic life is already affected. There is all round discord. Worries and misery. The parents and other close relatives become burden and a source of anxiety.
If solar eclipse falls under favourable aspects the native has either no ancestral property or the same is liquidated. He has to work hard for his earnings and progress in his business and wins the trust of others. He earns well and spends in alms and charities.
Eclipse in the Fifth House
The good or bad result s of eclipse on the fifth house depends upon the favourable aspects the native gets pleasant family circumstances and society. The children are affectionate and loving. Some sort of recognition or elevation to children will bestow joy and pleasure. Under the unfavourable aspects children become the cause of anxiety and worry. Family may be a drag on him. Disappointment in emotional life may tell upon his health and mental peace. Investments bring about losses and speculaltions prove fatal. Lunar eclipse in this house under favourable aspects makes the person intelligent, research minded and a quiet worker. He wants a sublime love and delivers the same to his wife. He is not very much interested in sexual affection. Either he has no sons or they are short lived. His mother dies early. In unfavourable aspects the person becomes corrupt and loose moral. The solar eclipse under good aspect in this house becomes a yoga, a combination of planets for fame. He is interested in big profitable enterprises. On account of his learning, he goes abroad and establishes worthy organizations. He himself is a quiet, social and kind hearted person. Under unfavourable aspects the same eclipse makes him arrogant with little care of others. He is lethargic, inert emotionally, short tempered and loves to create hurdles for others. He is a rumour mongerer and of loose character. There is a likehood of stomach ailments.
Eclipse in the Sixth House
Sixth house stands for enemies, general health, service and employment. Under good aspect the eclipse favour a healthy body but creates many enemies. The enmity, however, does not last long. His service employement continue without any obstacle or hindrance, attains promotions and the pensionable status easily. The person is interested in Yoga. He is well behaved. If the eclipse falls under unfavourable aspects the person’s health remains a problem. He suffers from recurrent diseases. The doctors usually fail to restore his health. He is interested in Yoga but mistakes in the practice often create problem. Whatever he does for his improvement in any field he proves an utter failure. People start criticizing him and make him an object of unnecessary controversy, as a result he becomes quarrelsome and creates many enemies.
Solar eclipse also in this house under favourable aspects proves beneficial. His hard work brings due rewards to him. He makes progress in his career He gains by opposing his superiors in service. His enemies are vanquished and he maintains good health. The same solar eclipse under evil aspects proves harmful. In matters of health he always suffers from one or the other trouble. Enemies are many. Suffers losses in business. If in employment he, suffers misfortunes and has no take premature retirement. He is selfish and crooked by nature.
Eclipse in the Seventh House
The seventh house stands for the life partner, business partner co-professionals etc. If under favourable aspects the eclipse may cause co-operative spirit and mutual good understanding. Harmony in mutual relations is visible. Under unfavourable aspects there may be mutual misunderstandings or discords. The individual should be very careful and cautious in such matters. He may get involved even in litigations. The business partners and co-professionals may be insincere or even deceitful.
Lunar eclipse under favourable aspects takes its toll of either the life partner or the business partner. If the seventh house fall in an evern sign the effects are normal. Business or life partners go on peacefully. There is no perceptible improvement in professional matters or luck. The wife dies earliear but in an advanced age after lingering ill health. If the eclipse falls in an odd sign under unfavourable combinations there is much disturbance in the affairs concerning life partner and profession. There are more than one marriage. There is no stability in service. Misfortunes and miseries become the part of life. One often thinks of renouncing the world or even committing suicide.
Solar eclipse in the seventh house under favourable aspects brings about nothing of imprtnace in life. Marital relations are normal and pleasant. The person gets recognition in society. He is busy in social service and undertakings much beyond his means. Under unfavourable aspects everything is upset. Relationship with the life partner is discordant and there may be more than one marriage. Employment is not stable. It is hard to get even a house to live in.
Eclipse in the Eight House
Eighth house inter alia stands for longevity , legacy and the hidden side of life etc. The eighth and ninth houses are generally the houses which influence the native in non-physical manner. Occults studies are included in the subjects of the eight house.
Lunar eclipse here under favourable combinations indicates the life of the native upto 38-40 years but in this short period he earns a good name and recognition. Under unfavourable combinations the eclipse shows adverse effects. The native is short lived and the life’s journey becomes quite painful. The solar eclipse under favourable aspects grants life upto 50 years. Early marriage is stipulated. There is only one male child. The native on an average leads a healthy life but there are some throubles in the ealier period. In case the eclipse happens to fall under unfavourable combinations there are all round worries. There is difficulty in marriage, loss of money and illness. Asthma and T.B. are the likely disease that increase worries and anxieties.
Eclipse in the Ninth House
The house stands for poorva Punyas, that is, the meritorious deeds done in the previous lives. It covers religious outlook, father, long journeys, pilgrimages and luck. Unfavourable influence on this house disbalance the entire life. As the factors are non physical in nature, it is generally difficult to foresee the results.
Lunar eclipse in the house under favourable aspects denotes long journeys and pilgrimages, It gives a fillip to spiritualism. One has to work hard in the earliear life but later on his employment is stable. One of the parents dies early. One gets some anscestral property which is later increased by him. The eclipse under favourable aspects also indicates more than one marriage and gives female progeny generally. Under unfavourable aspects the eclipse may make the individual a man of loose marals. The individual is sexually involved with women of lower class. He has to depend upon others for his maintenance. He is wayward and boasting in disposition. He brings ill name to the family.
The solar eclipse in this house under favourable aspects brings about good name to the individual. He gets lucky children. He rises by his own struggles, without external help. He is learned, well behaved, social and kind hearted. He goes in for a love marriage. There is always a discord between the brothers and sisters. He is away form his birth place both for education and vocation. He earns more good will, name and recognition than money. If the eclipse falls under undesirable aspects, misfortunes surrounds the native. The parents die in his early age. Either he has no co-borns and if they are, there are quarrels, discord and disputes only. The person is passpassionate and sexually corrupt. He either has no means of living or if they are there, they are very unstable.
Eclipse in Tenth House
Tenths house is the Karmasthana of the individual. This shows how the person exposes himself to the outside world and the recognition/ depreciation etc. he receives. The house inter alia refers to the occupation. Profession, means of livelihood, temporal honours, dignity etc. Lunar eclipse under favourable aspects indicates that the person has no ancestral property. He does not utilize his education or learning for his own financial benefits. Quite a good portion of his income is used in works of social welfare. Quite a good portion of his income is used in works of social welfare. He has keen intellect and loves justice. In case of unfavourable aspects, the eclipse make the person extremely selfish and waste his time in gossips. To cause hurdles in useful works is his chief characterstics nature. He squanders away his ancestral property. He never sticks to any one job and is quarrelsome.
Solar eclipse in the tenth house is if under auspicious combinations, the person has no ancestral property. Parents die early. It is only after enduring many hardships that the person gets his education. He becomes either a very senior officer or an unexpectedly rising star in business. If solar eclipse is in unfavorable aspects, the native suffers from want in many shapers of life. The native does not have any ancestral property to fall back. He gets no benefits from parents. He has no children. He either adopts a child or he is himself adopted by some body. The life goes on without any perceptible improvement or change for the better. Under normal circumstances, that is, without afflictions or support, solar eclipse in the tenth house is indicative of some progress or improvement in life.
Eclipse in the Eleventh House
The eleventh house mainly refers to gains and hopes. It includes the friends and elder co-borns. Lunar eclipse under favourable aspect is indicative of gains. The person may get elected to the lower house of the legislature. He has more number of female children than the not create any problem to him. The eclipse under unfavourable aspects indicates that the native remains without any progeny. The disease the native suffers from are those of ears and eyes.
Solar eclipse under favourable planetary aspects means sudden great profits, honour and fame in the 36th year of age. In the forst half of his life, he is successful in his undertakings. He has many daughters and only one son who is well placed and quite fortunate in life. Under unfavourable aspects the individual has no children. His wife suffers from menstruation and other problems. There are frequent abortions and if there are children, they are short lived. There are always losses in his business and he is subject to humiliation and financial problems.
Eclipse in the Twelfth House
The house refers among other things to losses, life after death and the residual karmas of the past which are yet to fructify. Lunar eclipse in this house under good aspects means fame and honours. There is much travelling for earning a living in the early life. In later life things get stabilized. Marital relations between the partners are good. The person does not renounce the world but being in the world he actually is not a man of material world. He is well versed in his business affairs. There are sometimes some controversies but they pass off easily.
With lunar eclipse under unfavourable planetary aspects the person becomes corrupt, is subject of controversy, and unexpected miseries. The male children a few in number are opposed to him. There may be separation from wife. Imprisonment may also not be ruled out in certain cases.
Solar eclipse under favourable aspects brings fame to the person. He is popular in society and in society and in the place of work. If in service he gets a high status, and if in business he has a big business. He is liberal in charities and donations to good institutions or societies. He takes part in social and political agitation and faces wrath of the rulers, may be imprisoned or exiled for the same. If the eclips is under unfavourable circumstances or aspects the person is corrupt morally and squanders money on undesirable things. For his living he has to go for various jobs. Sometimes he is in service while at other occasions in business. He is never trustworthy and reliable. He is also never engaged in good works.
In the end, however, it may be pointed out that the eclipse has its effects only when it is in the house 8 to 1. In houses 2 to 7 it has virtually no effects. The results here for the houses 2 to 7 it has virtually no effects. The results here for the houses 2 to 7 have simply been given because classical writers like Varahamihir, Vashisht and others have included these in respective Samhitas etc.
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Canners and Canning Methods that are Not Recommended
Steam canning guidelines have been updated (June 2015). The University of Wisconsin has published research which indicates that an Atmospheric Steam Canner may be safely used for canning naturally acid foods such as peaches, pears, and apples, or acidified-foods such as salsa or pickles, as long as specific criteria are met.
The heat generated from captured sunlight is not a reliable method to process acid foods and should never be used to can low-acid foods.
Oven Canning is extremely hazardous. The oven canning method involves placing jars in an oven and heating. In oven canning, product temperatures never exceed the boiling point because the jars are not covered. It is, therefore, not safe to use for low-acid products (e.g. meats, most vegetables) which require temperatures higher than 212°F.
Oven canning is not a recommend process. The glass jars are not designed to withstand the intense dry heat and may shatter in the oven. There is also the danger of breakage and burns while removing them from the oven.
Also, and most importantly, the transfer of heat into the jars is much slower through air in an oven than in a water bath or a pressurized steam canner. The recipes that we recommend have been scientifically tested using a water bath or pressure canner and should be followed exactly as written. Otherwise there is a heightened risk of spoilage, or worse, survival of Clostridium botulinum spores, the source of deadly botulism poisoning.
Open Kettle Canning
The open-kettle method involves placing hot food in jars and sealing with no further heat treatment. This method is not recommended for home canning because the amount of heat applied may not be sufficient to destroy bacteria and the product may spoil quickly or cause illness when consumed.
Microwave oven cannot be used for home canning. Microwaved food reaches 212°F but heating is not uniform. There is also a danger of explosion of the jars within the microwave oven or as food is being removed from the oven.
Micro-Dome Food Preserver
Micro-Dome Food Preserver Recalled Washington, DC--The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) in cooperation with Micro-Dome of San Ramon, CA, has warned consumers of certain safety hazards associated with the use of the "Micro-Dome Food Preserver" manufactured by Micro-Dome and sold and distributed to consumers after August 1987. The CPSC has also urged consumers to destroy all food that has been preserved using a Micro-Dome Food Preserver
Processing canned foods during a dishwasher cycle can be dangerous. The temperature of the water during the cleaning and rinsing cycle is far below that required to kill harmful microorganisms. Thus the product will be under-processed and unsafe to eat.
TitleCanners and Canning Methods that are Not Recommended
This publication is available in alternative media on request.
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Posted 05 March 2006 - 07:42 AM
Opium is the name for the latex produced within the seed pods of the opium poppy, Papaver somniferum. The plant is believed to have evolved from a wild strain, Papaver setigerum, which grows in coastal areas of the Mediterranean Sea. Through centuries of cultivation and breeding for opium, the species somniferum evolved. Today, P. somniferum is the only species of Papaver used to produce opium. Opium contains morphine, codeine, noscapine, papaverine, and thebaine. All but thebaine are used clinically as analgesics to reduce pain without a loss of consciousness. Thebaine is without analgesic effect but is of great pharmaceutical value due to its use in the production of semisynthetic opioid morphine analogues such as oxycodone (Percodan), dihydromorphenone (Dilaudid), and hydrocodone (Vicodin).
The psychological effects of opium may have been known to the ancient Sumerians (circa 4,000 B.C.) whose symbol for poppy was hul, "joy" and gil, "plant". The plant was known in Europe at least 4,000 years ago as evidenced by fossil remains of poppy seed cake and poppy pods found in the Neolithic Swiss Lake Dwellings. Opium was probably consumed by the ancient Egyptians and was known to the Greeks as well. Our word opium is derived from the Greek. The poppy is also referred to in Homer's works the Iliad and the Odyssey (850 B.C.). Hippocrates (460-357 B.C.) prescribed drinking the juice of the white poppy mixed with the seed of nettle.
The opium poppy probably reached China about the fourth century A.D. through Arab traders who advocated its use for medicinal purposes. In Chinese literature, there are earlier references to its use. The noted Chinese surgeon Hua To of the Three Kingdoms (220-264 A.D.) used opium preparations and Cannabis indica for his patients to swallow before undergoing major surgery.
The beginning of widespread opium use in China is associated with the introduction of tobacco smoking in pipes by Dutch from Java in the 17th century. The Chinese mixed Indian opium with the tobacco, two products that were being traded by the Dutch. This practice was adopted throughout the region and predictably resulted in increased opium smoking, both with and without tobacco.
By the late-1700s the British East India Company controlled the prime Indian poppy growing regions and dominated the Asian opium trade. By 1800, they had a monopoly on opium; controlling supply and setting prices.
In 1805, the German pharmacist Friedrich W. Serturner isolated and described the principal alkaloid and powerful active ingredient in opium. He named it morphium after Morpheus, the Greek god of dreams. We know it today as morphine. This event was soon followed by the discovery of other alkaloids of opium: codeine in 1832 and papaverine in 1848. By the 1850s these pure alkaloids, rather than the earlier crude opium preparations, were being commonly prescribed for the relief of pain, cough, and diarrhea. This period also saw the invention and introduction of the hypodermic syringe.
By the late eighteenth century opium was being heavily used in China as a recreational drug. The Imperial court had banned its use and importation but large quantities were still being smuggled into China. In 1839 the Qing Emperor ordered his minister Lin Zexu to address the opium problem. Lin petitioned Queen Victoria for help but was ignored. In reaction, the emperor confiscated 20,000 barrels of opium and detained some foreign traders. The British retaliated by attacking the port city of Canton. Thus the First Opium War began. The Chinese were defeated and the Treaty of Nanjing was signed in 1842. The British required that the opium trade be allowed to continue, that the Chinese pay a large settlement, and that the Chinese cede Hongkong to the British Empire. The Second Opium War began and ended in 1856 over western demands that opium markets be expanded. The Chinese were again defeated and opium importation to China was legalized.
In the United States during the 19th century, opium preparations and 'patent medicines' containing opium extract such as paregoric (camphorated tincture of opium) and laudanum (deodorized opium tincture) became widely available and quite popular. In the 1860s morphine was used extensively pre- and post-operatively as a painkiller for wounded soldiers during the Civil War. Civil War physicians frequently dispensed opiates. In 1866 the Secretary of War stated that during the war the Union Army was issued 10 million opium pills, over 2,840,000 ounces of other opiate preparations (such as laudanum or paregoric), and almost 30,000 ounces of morphine sulphate. The inevitable result was opium addiction, called the 'army disease' or the 'soldier's disease.' These opium and morphine addiction problems prompted a scientific search for potent but nonaddictive painkillers. In the 1870s, chemists synthesized a supposedly non-addictive, substitute for morphine by acetylating morphine. In 1898 the Bayer pharmaceutical company of Germany was the first to make available this new drug, 3,6-diacetylmorphine, in large quantities under the trademarked brand name Heroin. 3,6-diacetylmorphine is two to three times more potent than morphine. Most of the increase is due to its increased lipid solubility, which provides enhanced and rapid central nervous system penetration.
In December 1914, the United States Congress passed the Harrison Narcotics Act which called for control of each phase of the preparation and distribution of medicinal opium, morphine, heroin, cocaine, and any new derivative that could be shown to have similar properties. It made illegal the possession of these controlled substances. The restrictions in the Harrison Act were most recently redefined by the Federal Controlled Substances Act of 1970. The Act lists as a Schedule II Controlled Substance opium and its derivatives and all parts of the P. somniferum plant except the seed.
In 1997, Southeast Asia still accounts for well over half of the world's opium production. It is estimated that the region has the capacity to produce over 2 kT (2.000 metric tons) of Opium annually.
The chemical structure of opiates is very similar to that of naturally produced compounds called endorphins and enkephalins. These compounds are derived from an amino acid pituitary hormone called beta-lipotropin which when released is cleaved to form met-enkephalin, gamma-endorphin, and beta-endorphin. Opiate molecules, due to their similar structure, engage many of the endorphins' nerve-receptor sites in the brain's pleasure centers and bring about similar analgesic effects. In the human body, a pain stimulus usually exites an immediate protective reaction followed by the release of endorphins to relieve discomfort and reward the mental learning process. Opiates mimic high levels of endorphins to produce intense euphoria and a heightened state of well-being. Regular use results in increased tolerance and the need for greater quantities of the drug. Profound physical and psychological dependence results from regular use and rapid cessation brings about withdrawal sickness.
In addition to the pleasure/pain centers, there is also a concentration of opiate receptors in the respiratory center of the brain. Opiates have an inhibiting effect on these cells and in the case of an overdose, respiration can come to a complete halt. Opiates also inhibit sensitivity to the impulse to cough.
A third location for these receptors is in the brain's vomiting center. Opiate use causes nausea and vomiting. Tolerance for this effect is built up very quickly. Opiates effect the digestive system by inhibiting intestinal peristalsis. Long before they were used as painkillers, opiates were used to control diarrhea.
The opium poppy, Papaver somniferum, is an annual plant. From a very small round seed, it grows, flowers, and bears fruit (seed pods) only once. The entire growth cycle for most varieties of this plant takes about 120 days. The seeds of P. somniferum can be distinguished from other species by the appearance of a fine secondary fishnet reticulation within the spaces of the coarse reticulation found all over their surface. When compared with other Papaver species, P. somniferum plants will have their leaves arranged along the stem of the plant, rather than basal leaves, and the leaves and stem will be 'glabrous' (hairless). The tiny seeds germinate quickly, given warmth and sufficient moisture. Sprouts appear in fourteen to twenty-one days. In less than six weeks the young plant has grown four large leaves and resembles a small cabbage in appearance. The lobed, dentate leaves are glaucous green with a dull gray or blue tint.
Within sixty days, the plant will grow from one to two feet in height, with one primary, long, smooth stem. The upper portion of this stem is without leaves and is the 'peduncle'. One or more secondary stems, called 'tillers', may grow from the main stem of the plant. Single poppy plants in Southeast Asia often have one or more tillers.
As the plant grows tall, the main stem and each tiller terminates in a flower bud. During the development of the bud, the peduncle portion of the stem elongates and forms a distinctive 'hook' which causes the bud to be turned upside down. As the flower develops, the peduncle straightens and the buds point upward. A day or two after the buds first point upward, the two outer segments of the bud, called 'sepals,' fall away, exposing the flower petals.
Opium poppies generally flower after about ninety days of growth and continue to flower for two to three weeks. The exposed flower blossom is at first crushed and crinkled, but the petals soon expand and become smooth in the sun. Opium poppy flowers have four petals. The petals may be single or double and may be white, pink, reddish purple, crimson red, or variegated. The petals last for two to four days and then drop to reveal a small, round, green fruit which continues to develop. These fruits or pods (also called 'seedpods', 'capsules,' 'bulbs,' or 'poppy heads') are either oblate, elongated, or globular and mature to about the size of a chicken egg. The oblate-shaped pods are more common in Southeast Asia.
The main stem of a fully-matured P. somniferum plant can range between two to five feet in height. The green leaves are oblong, toothed and lobed and are between four to fifteen inches in diameter at maturity. The mature leaves have no commercial value except for use as animal fodder.
Only the pod portion of the plant can produce opium alkaloids. The skin of the poppy pod encloses the wall of the pod ovary. The ovary wall consists of an outer, middle, and inner layer. The plant's latex (opium) is produced within the ovary wall and drains into the middle layer through a system of vessels and tubes within the pod. The cells of the middle layer secrete more than 95 percent of the opium when the pod is scored and harvested.
Cultivators in Mainland Southeast Asia tap the opium from each pod while it remains on the plant. After the opium is scraped, the pods are cut from the stem and allowed to dry. Once dry, the pods are cut open and the seeds are removed and dried in the sun before storing for the following year's planting. An alternative method of collecting planting seeds is to collect them from intentionally unscored pods, because scoring may diminish the quality of the seeds. Aside from being used as planting seed, the poppy seeds may also be used in cooking and in the manufacture of paints and perfumes. Poppy seed oil is straw-yellow in color, odorless, and has a pleasant, almond-like taste. The opium poppy grows best in temperate, warm climates with low humidity. It requires only a moderate amount of water before and during the early stages of growth. In addition, it is a 'long day' photo-responsive plant. As such, it requires long days and short nights before it will develop flowers.
The opium poppy plant can be grown in a variety of soils; clay, sandy loam, sandy, and sandy clay, but it responds best to sandy loam soil. This type of soil has good moisture-retentive and nutrient-retentive properties, is easily cultivated, and has a favorable structure for root development. Clay soil types are hard and difficult to pulverize into a good soil texture. The roots of a young poppy plant cannot readily penetrate clay soils, and growth is inhibited. Sandy soil, by contrast, does not retain sufficient water or nutrients for proper growth of the plant.
Excessive moisture or extremely arid conditions will adversely affect the poppy plant's growth and reduce the alkaloid content. Poppy plants can become waterlogged and die after a heavy rainfall in poorly drained soil. Heavy rainfall in the second and third months of growth can leach alkaloids from the plant and spoil the opium harvest. Dull, rainy, or cloudy weather during this critical growth period may reduce both the quantity and the quality of the alkaloid content.
Opium poppies were widely grown as an ornamental plant and for seeds in the United States until the possession of this plant was declared illegal in the Opium Poppy Control Act of 1942. New generations of plants from the self-sown seed of these original poppies can still be seen in many old ornamental gardens.
The major legal opium poppy growing areas in the world today are in govemment-regulated opium farms in lndia, Turkey and Tasmania, Australia. The major illegal growing areas are in the highlands of Mainland Southeast Asia, specifically Burma (Myanmar), Laos, and Thailand, as well as the adjacent areas of southern China and northwestern Vietnam. The area is known as the 'Golden Triangle'. In Southwest Asia, opium poppies are grown in Pakistan, Iran, and Afghanistan. Opium poppy is also grown in Lebanon, Guatemala, Colombia and Mexico.
The highlands of Mainland Southeast Asia, at elevations of 800 meters or more above sea level, are prime poppy growing areas. Generally speaking, these poppy-farming areas do not require irrigation, fertilizer, or insecticides for successful opium yields.
Most of the opium poppies of Southeast Asia are grown in Burma (Myamnar), specifically in the Wa and Kokang areas which are in the northeastern quadrant of the Shan State of Burma. Laos is the second-largest illicit opium-producing country in Southeast Asia and third-largest in the world.
In Laos, poppy is cultivated extensively in Houaphan and Xiangkhoang Provinces, as well as the six other northern provinces: Bokeo, Louangnamtha, Louangphabang, Oudomxai, Phongsali and Xaignabouli. Poppy is also grown in many of the remote, mountainous areas of northern Thailand, particularly in Chiang Mai, Chiang Rai, Mae Hong Son, Nan and Tak Provinces.
In China, opium poppies are cultivated by ethnic minority groups in the mountainous frontier regions of Yunnan Province, particularly along the border area with Burma's Kachin and Shan States. Son La Province, situated between China and Laos, is a major opium poppy cultivation area in Vietnam, as are Lai Chau and Nghe An Provinces.
It is noteworthy that the dominant ethnic groups of Mainland Southeast Asia are not poppy cultivators. The Burmans and Shan of Burma, the Lao of Laos, the Thai of Thailand, the Han Chinese of Yunnan, China, and the Vietnamese of Vietnam are lowlanders and do not traditionally cultivate opium poppies. Rather, it is the ethnic minority highlander groups, such as the Wa, Pa-0, Palaung, Lahu, Lisu, Hmong, and Akha who grow poppies in the highlands of the countries of Southeast Asia.
A typical nuclear family of Mainland Southeast Asian highlanders ranges between five and ten persons, including two to five adults. An average household of poppy farmers can cultivate and harvest about one acre of opium poppy per year. Most of the better fields can support opium poppy cultivation for ten years or more without fertilization, irrigation, or insecticides, before the soil is depleted and new fields must be cleared. In choosing a field to grow opium poppy, soil quality and acidity are critical factors and experienced poppy farmers choose their fields carefully. In Southeast Asia, westerly orientations are typically preferred to optimize sun exposure. Most fields are on mountain slopes at elevations of 1,000 meters (3,000 feet) or more above sea level. Slope gradients of 20 degrees to 40 degrees are considered best for drainage of rain water.
In Mainland Southeast Asia, virgin land is prepared by cutting and piling all brush, vines and small trees in the field during March, at the end of the dry season. After allowing the brush to dry in the hot sun for several days, the field is set afire. This method, called 'slash-and burn' or 'swidden' agriculture, is commonly practiced by dry field farmers - both highland and lowland - throughout Mainland Southeast Asia in order to ready the land for a variety of field crops. The slash-and-burn method is also used to clear fields for poppy cultivation. Before the rainy season in April, fields by the hundreds of thousands all over the region are set ablaze. A fog-like yellow haze hangs over the area for weeks, reducing visibility for hundreds of miles. In the mountains, the dense haze blocks out the sun and stings the eyes.
A typical highlander family will plant an area of two or three rai in opium poppy (2.53 rai is equivalent to one acre). In August or September, toward the end of the rainy season, highland farmers in Southeast Asia prepare fields selected for opium poppy planting. By this time, the ash resulting from the burn-off of the previous dry season has settled into the soil, providing additional nutrients, especially potash. The soil is turned with long-handled hoes after it is softened by the rains. The farmers then break up the large clumps of soil. Weeds and stones are tossed aside and the ground is leveled off.
Traditionally, most highland and upland farmers in Southeast Asia do not use fertilizer for any of their crops, including the opium poppy, but in recent years opium poppy farmers have started using both natural and chemical fertilizers to increase opium poppy yields. Chicken manure, human feces or the regions' abundant bat droppings are often mixed into the planting soil before the opium poppy seed is planted.
The planting must be completed by the end of October in order to take advantage of the region's 'long days' in November and December.
The opium poppy seed can be sown several ways: broadcast (tossed by hand); or fix-dropped by hand into shallow holes dug with a metal-tipped dibble stick. About one pound of opium poppy seed is needed to sow one acre of land. The seeds may be white, yellow, coffee-color, gray, black, or blue. Seed color is not related to the color of the flower petals. Beans, cabbages, cotton, parsley, spinach, squash and tobacco are crops typically planted with the opium poppy. These crops neither help nor hinder the cultivation of the opium poppy, but are planted for personal consumption or as a cash crop.
In the highlands of Southeast Asia, it is a common practice to plant maize and opium poppies in the same fields each year. The maize keeps down excessive weeds and provides feed for the farmer's pigs and ponies. It is grown from April to August. After harvesting the maize, and with the stalks still standing in the fields, the ground is weeded and pulverized. Just before the end of the rainy season, in successive sowings throughout September and October, the poppy seed is broadcast among the maize stalks. These stalks can protect young opium poppy plants from heavy rains.
The opium poppy plants form leaves in the first growth stage, called the 'cabbage' or 'lettuce' stage. After a month of growth, when the opium poppy is about a foot high, some of the plants are removed (called 'thinning') to allow the other plants more room to grow. The ideal spacing between plants is believed to be 20 to 40 centimeters, or about eight to twelve plants per square meter, although some researchers in northern Thailand have reported as many as 18 plants per square meter.
During the first two months, the opium poppies may be damaged or stunted by nature through the lack of adequate sunshine, excessive rainfall, insects, worms, hail storms, early frost, or trampling by animals. The third month of growth does not require as much care as the first two months. Three to four months after planting, from late December to early February, the opium poppies are in full bloom.
Mature plants range between three to five feet in height. Most opium poppy varieties in Southeast Asia produce three to five mature pods per plant. A typical opium poppy field has 60,000 to 120,000 poppy plants per hectare, with a range of 120,000 to 275,000 opium-producing pods. The actual opium yield will depend largely on weather conditions and the precautions taken by individual farmers to safeguard the crop. The farmer and his family generally move into the field for the final two weeks, setting up a small field hut on the edge of the opium poppy field.
The scoring of the pods (also called 'lancing,' 'incising,' or 'tapping') begins about two weeks after the flower petals fall from the pods. The farmer examines the pod and the tiny crown portion on the top of the pod very carefully before scoring.
The grayish-green pod will become a dark green color as it matures and it will swell in size. If the points of the pod's crown are standing straight out or are curved upward, the pod is ready to be scored. If the crown's points turn downward, the pod is not yet fully matured. Not all the plants in a field will be ready for scoring at the same time and each pod can be tapped more than once.
A set of three or four small blades of iron, glass, or glass splinters bound tightly together on a wooden handle is used to score two or three sides of the pod in a vertical direction. If the blades cut too deep into the wall of the pod, the opium will flow too quickly and will drip to the ground. If the incisions are too shallow, the flow will be too slow and the opium will harden in the pods. A depth of about one millimeter is desired for the incision.
Using a blade-tool designed to cut to that depth, scoring ideally starts in late afternoon so the white raw opium latex can ooze out and slowly coagulate on the surface of the pod overnight. If the scoring begins too early in the afternoon, the sun will cause the opium to coagulate over the incision and block the flow. Raw opium oxidizes, darkens and thickens in the cool night air. Early the next morning, the opium gum is scraped from the surface of the pods with a short-handled, flat, iron blade three to four inches wide.
Opium harvesters work their way backwards across the field scoring the lower, mature pods before the taller pods, in order to avoid brushing up against the sticky pods. The pods continue to produce opium for several days. Farmers will return to these plants - sometimes up to five or six times - to gather additional opium until the pod is totally depleted. The opium is collected in a container which hangs from the farmer's neck or waist.
The opium yield from a single pod varies greatly, ranging from 10 to 100 milligrams of opium per pod. The average yield per pod is about 80 milligrams. The dried opium weight yield per hectare of poppies ranges from eight to fifteen kilograms.
As the farmers gather the opium, they will commonly tag the larger or more productive pods with colored string or yarn. These pods will later be cut from their stems, cut open, dried in the sun and their seeds used for the following year's planting.
The wet opium gum collected from the pods contains a relatively high percentage of water and needs to be dried for several days. High-quality raw opium will be brown (rather than black) in color and will retain its sticky texture. Experienced opium traders can quickly determine if the opium has been adulterated with tree sap, sand, or other such materials. Raw opium in Burma, Laos and Thailand is usually sun-dried, weighed in a standard 1.6 kilogram quantity (called a 'viss' in Burma; a 'choi' in Laos and Thailand), wrapped in banana leaf or plastic and then stored until ready to sell, trade, or smoke. While opium smoking is common among most adult opium poppy farmers, heavy addiction is generally limited to the older, male farmers. The average yearly consumption of cooked opium per smoker is estimated to be 1.6 kilograms.
A typical opium poppy farmer household in Southeast Asia will collect 2 to 5 choi or viss (3 to 9 kilograms) of opium from a year's harvest of a one-acre field. That opium will be dried, wrapped and stacked on a shelf by February or March. If the opium has been properly dried, it can be stored indefinitely. Excessive moisture and heat can cause the opium to deteriorate but, once dried, opium is relatively stable. In fact, as opium dries and becomes less pliable, its value increases due to the decrease in water weight per kilogram.
Before opium is smoked, it is usually 'cooked'. Uncooked opium contains moisture, as well as soil, leaves, twigs, and other impurities which diminish the quality of the final product.
The raw opium collected from the opium poppy pods is placed in an open cooking pot of boiling water where the sticky globs of opium alkaloids quickly dissolve. Soil, twigs, plant scrapings, etc., remain undissolved. The solution is then strained through cheesecloth to remove these impurities. The clear brown liquid that remains is opium in solution, sometimes called 'liquid opium'. This liquid is then re-heated over a low flame until the water is driven off into the air as steam leaving a thick dark brown paste. This paste is called 'prepared', 'cooked', or 'smoking' opium. It is dried in the sun until it has a putty-like consistency. The net weight of the cooked opium is generally only eighty percent that of the original raw opium. Thus, cooked opium is more pure than its original, raw form, and has a higher monetary value.
Cooked opium is suitable for smoking or eating by opium users. Traditionally there is only one group of opium poppy farmers, the Hmong, who prefer not to cook their opium before smoking. Most other ethnic groups, including Chinese opium addicts, prefer smoking cooked opium. Raw or cooked opium contains more than thirty-five different alkaloids, including morphine, which accounts for approximately ten percent of the total raw opium weight.
Posted 05 March 2006 - 07:45 AM
An informational article by Wiccan_Seeker
The Dutch have got a tradition of commercial Poppy cultivation on their own soil. They are among the few nations that are furthest from the equator, yet still manage to commercially compete in the international poppyseed trade. During the second World War and in the 1950s Holland experimented with extracting Opium alkaloids from harvested Poppy capsules but this has not proven to be economically viable.
Holland has significantly taken part in the “East Indies” (Asian) Opium trade until the 1800s but on its own soil has not engaged in Opium production due to the high cost of labor. Dutch Poppies can produce Opium that is as high in quality as Turkish Opium, the world quality standard, but in significantly lesser amounts per Poppy capsule leading to an overall far smaller yield.
In Holland Poppies are either grown on farmlands of many acres for production of poppyseed, in small patches for semi-commercial production of poppyseed and dried Poppy capsules for floral arrangements and finally in personal garden patches for the beauty of their flowers and capsules as well as for private use of collected Opium and Poppy capsule infusions for inebriating and medicinal uses.
This article will outline the cultivation and harvest characteristics of Papaver somniferum var. “nigrum” when sown in a cool, temperate climate and will focus on the semi-commercial and private cultivation of smaller patches of Poppies. The information density of this article is unusually high so please read carefully.
This article is written for informational purposes only and the author cannot be held responsible to anything directly or indirectly related or assumed to be related to this text, it’s content or assumed meaning thereof. The information contained herein is a consolidation of multiple offline and online information sources and by no means advocates the breaking of any law. Be warned that many things and acts surrounding the Poppy plant are illegal in many countries and that misuse of Poppy products may cause injury or death, and carries the high probability of physical and psychological addiction. The Poppy has been a grace to many, but the damnation of many more.
THE DUTCH CLIMATE
Dutch Poppies are generally cultivated in the province of Zeeland and the adjacent west part of Brabant, which lie close to the cost and tend to be more moderate in climate then the rest of Holland, as well as one of the major agricultural areas of the small country. Poppies tend to be sown in spring after the last frosts have passed, which is in March to April. As an “emergency crop” it can be sown as late as early May but then will yield far less poppyseed than is economically viable.
Given the life cycle of 120 days the Dutch Poppy-growing season thus stretches out from March until August. If you look at the climatologic statistics for those months in that region you will notice a steady progression from an average temperature of 6’C/43’F at sowing time to 18’C/65’F monthly average temperature at harvest time.
During this time this area experiences an even 60-75mm precipitation, which after subtraction of evaporation yields a positive precipitation balance of 10-25mm/month.
From March onward the local sun exposure is 110-125-200-200-200-200-125 hours per month respectively. Holland lies in Climate Zone 8 (average annual minimum temperature -12 to -7’C = 10-20’F) while Papaver somniferum is hardy until Hardiness Zone 7 (AAMT -18 to -12’C = 0-10’F) which means that seeds shed in summer and fall will survive the Dutch winters and sprout in spring.
All this paints the picture of a cool, wet climate that has little sun exposure but despite this the tough Poppy thrives in Holland to the extent of allowing commercial poppyseed cultivation.
PREPARING THE SOIL AND FERTILIZING
Holland grows annual crops of between 500-10.000 hectares of Poppies, mostly in Zeeland province and western Brabant. Poppies can be grown after many kinds of crops in “crop rotation” and can be regarded as universal in that respect. The soil needs to be prepared to yield a very fine sowing bed, as the seed is very small and slow to germinate. Many Poppy patches fail because of bad soil structure (crumbly clay) as Poppies prefer a fine, loose soil that drains well. It has been general practice to start out with 8-12 grams of Nitrogen fertilizer per square meter, given at the time of sowing, with Potassium and Phosphorus being added to meet soil analysis. Of particular importance are Nitrogen and Phosphorus.
A convenient way to fertilize small personal patches as practiced in the Third World which is endorsed by the FAO is the use of human urine, which weds the advantages of biological fertilizer with the rapid assimilation and availability of chemical fertilizer. In this virtually odorless practice one adult’s urine of one day is diluted with 5-10 volumes of water and used to fertilize one sq meter for the entire growing season. Trivial as it may seem this corresponds to 14gr of Nitrogen, 1.5gr of Potassium and 1gr of Phosphorus plus trace minerals which is sufficient for an entire season, fully biologic and incapable of harming crops if properly applied. The Nitrogen will be fully bio-available in 1-2 weeks. Urine is acidifying and said fertilization spends 1.5 ounce of lime (calcium carbonate) per sq meter from either the soil or through addition to balance pH.
Recently there has been experimentation to split the fertilization in two doses, one given at sowing time and the second at the onset of flowering. This increases yield and the likeliness of a good crop. For the small patch farmer it can be advantageous to continuously fertilize, but over-fertilization harms and in extreme cases kills the plant.
SEED AND SOWING
The seed is very fine and if fresh it can yield 1.000 seedlings per gram of seed. It is usually treated with TMTD to decontaminate it as fungal diseases are the Poppy’s only serious plagues. Old seed often germinates poorly and seed of poor quality ought to be treated in any case to assure a well-planted field.
The goal is to end up with 30-60 healthy plants per square meter, This tends to lead to smaller plants and smaller capsules then in tropical countries but a greater certainty of a good crop as the space of weak or dying plants is immediately claimed by it’s stronger neighbors which leads to strong Darwinian selection while at the same time it allows for greater cultivation setbacks: the fewer plants will produce more and bigger capsules and the cost of sowing seed is entirely unimportant compared to the yield of a successful crop.
In theory one kilo of poppyseed is entirely sufficient to yield a million poppies on two hectares of farmland, but in practice this amount is impossible to sow out commercially. Therefore commercial growers usually use 2-3 kilos of poppyseed per hectare (0.2-0.3gr/sq meter) and some even go to 0.5gr/sq meter, but in that case thinning is required to avoid yield reduction due to overcrowding. Often the seed is mixed with an inert material (such as white sand) to bulk up the volume for convenient sowing. A particularly advantageous mixture is that of one ounce of poppyseed with five ounces of White Clover. White Clover will shield the germinating Poppies from weeds and in fact fixates Nitrogen from the air to enrich the soil.
Poppies are sown when the frost has passed, usually in mid-April but it can even be sowed in early May. The earlier Poppies are sown, the greater the yield will be as optimal sun exposure is preferable. Poppies can take a bit of frost but are fragile to it in the seedling stage. Poppyseed is to be sown very shallowly, if covered at all.
Poppies can be sown in three ways.
The most convenient commercial way is to sow it in rows. Per meter there are three rows and the goal is to get ten to twenty healthy plants per row per square meter to end up with the desired 30-60 plants. This is accomplished by sowing more seeds and once they have come up using a 5-inch wide hoe to isolate plants by weeding perpendicular to the rows. Sowing in rows is the standard commercial way of poppy-farming as all stages in the growth cycle from sowing to harvest can be done with common farming machines instead of the far more expensive manual labor.
Sowing in rows is the technique used for the vast commercial multi-hectare poppyfields.
The semi-commercial smaller grower with a substantial patch tends to favor broadcast sowing, where the seed is tossed about widely by hand from a pouch worn around the waist. Broadcast sowing is the technique most often used in the tropical poppyfields and is favored by “guerilla farmers”, being people who sow in the wild as it is done on the slash-and-burn Opium Poppy fields of Asia.
The third method is highly labor intensive and favored only by private cultivators of very small patches. It basically consists of poking 30-60 shallow holes evenly across a square meter and dropping a few seeds in each hole, sprinkled between the fingers like salt. If you divide a sq meter up into squares of 5x5 or 6x6 inch and sow some seeds in the middle, to leave one plant per square, you have created the ideal growing space for the Commercial Dutch Poppy, the seed of which is the often praised Dutch culinary poppyseed used mostly in baking bread and rolls. Poppies can be grown in pots, indoors or outdoors, as well, it can thrive in throwaway plastic 5oz coffee-cups with a draining hole but best results are obtained from 5-6 inch pots which have the added benefit of measuring out the optimal growing space if put side-by-side in squares.
Poppies thrive on disturbed soil and are hardy up to Climate Zone 7, strongly re-seed and on most soils require no fertilizer or watering. This makes them excellently suitable for guerilla farming in most parts of the world. If you look at Guerilla Farming as it is done in western countries (without slash-and-burn methods) then this usually is done in one of two ways.
Broadcast-Prepared is the way most commercial Opium fields and garden patches are created. This is a successful technique that entails raking a piece of soil that supports weeds to both remove the weeds and loosen the soil, and then sowing poppyseed on the seedbed, treading it and leaving to create the next patch. The energy spent in this method is the manual labor of raking, but it yields a high certainty of successful germination. The other method can be called:
Broadcast-Unprepared. This method consists of broadcast-sowing Poppyseed on unraked soil which has not been worked in any way. If the areas are well-colonized (such as grassy meadows) the successful germination rate can shrink to almost zero but on semi-bare ground, sowing before most weeds have come up, germination rates can be quite good. The energy spent in this method is the cost of the additional sowing seed that is required because a successful germination rate of 1% can be considered high. Sowing upon worked farmland or ground disturbed for road construction etc. falls under “Broadcast-Prepared” and successful germination rates can be very high. Broadcasting and not treading the seed, in the proximity of an ant-hill, often constitutes to feeding the ants because the seeds are 45% oil and high in protein, and the perfect size for an ant to haul off to it’s hill.
A curious device used for poppyseed guerilla farming is the “poppy-gun”. The “poppy-gun” consists of a short wide tube (like the inner roll of toiletpaper) closed off on one end with the loose rubber skin of a balloon. Some seed is dropped into it (10 grams still account for 10.000+ viable seeds) the bunch of seeds is grabbed and drawn back through the balloon like a rock in a catapult, and released, so that the seed is flung through the air up to 25 yards like fine buckshot, spreading out more efficiently then can be accomplished through broadcasting.
Be aware that guerilla farming changes the ecosystem where the seeds are introduced and that, unless confined to designated patches, it is disruptive to the local flora which means Broadcast-Unprepared techniques are to be discouraged according to common environmentalist ethics.
Poppyseed should be allowed to ripen on the plant, which results in the plant wilting and drying while standing in the field. Totally unripe poppyseed of the Nigrum variety is white, then turns purple-red and ripens to a steel-blue color. At this time birds will start to take interest in the capsules and may break them to get to the nutritious seed. Poppyseed “runs” easily, which means that if a bag or Poppy capsule has a small hole, most or all the seed will run out of it like sand through an hourglass. Bird pecking is detrimental to the harvesting of Poppy capsules as well, and spilled seed will come up as a weed in next year’s crop, causing over-seeding or growing like a weed among the species then planted in the crop rotation program.
The seed should be dried well and kept in the dark on a well-ventilated dry place, preferably in bags of fine cloth, semi-commercial growers often use pillowcases for the purpose awaiting purchase by bakers and herbalist shops.
The Dutch harvest around 80-300 grams of poppyseed per square meter, with a good yield being about 120 grams.
Poppy capsules from Dutch culinary poppies tend to be walnut-sized.
For florist purposes the prettiest poppies are selected and typically there will be 50-200 poppy capsules per square meter, with 100 poppy capsules being average. The poppy capsules are picked when they are dried and bound to bouquets that typically hold 100 capsules. The poppy capsules are picked with stem and sold intact with seeds to not damage the capsule.
For apothecary purposes poppy capsules were gathered in the distant past, and the pharmacopeia dictated they should be gathered with 4 inches/10 cm of stem below the knots and freed of seeds to yield the “drogery” called Fructus Papaveris Sine Semine (Poppy Capsules without Seeds). The yield of Poppy capsules from Dutch Culinary Poppies lies between 50-200 grams with 100 grams from 100 capsules being typical. If standardized Opium of 10% Morphine content is taken as the standard, then the ripened unincised Poppy capsules contain 0.5-10gr Opium per square meter within them, with 2-4 grams of contained Opium being typical.
The poppy straw without the capsules contains one-tenth the concentration of Opium within them, so they are usually discarded.
The alkaloid content of poppy capsules increases as the capsule ripens, then diminishes somewhat as the poppyhead dries out on the stem. Snapping the dried poppy capsules off of their stems is the preferred method of harvesting Poppy products for apothecary purposes in guerilla farming as one can rapidly harvest far more opium equivalents by stem-snapping then through pod-lancing even though gum Opium would be the preferred product.
If for apothecary purposes the poppy capsules are lanced they will yield an Opium which can be as strong as Turkish Opium, but far lesser quantities of it. While the Tropical Poppies on average yield 80mg of Opium per Poppy capsule the Dutch Poppy, mostly because of the poor weather stays far behind that and produces, on average a mere 20mg. Even though far more labor intensive the high density of Poppy capsules per square meter of Dutch Poppies might still yield 1-4 grams of Opium per square meter, two grams on average, which rivals the best poppyfields were it not that the smaller stature of Dutch Poppies and their high sowing density makes it near impossible to lance within a field of them, as treading and brushing against them becomes unavoidable. The resulting lanced poppy capsules still contain significant amounts of Opium but are mostly depleted by the lancing.
HARVESTING SUPERIOR SEED
Poppies both cross-pollinate and self-pollinate to yield capsules and seed. The improvement of Dutch Poppies until now has not been intensive and mostly is done by selection from populations, even though selective pollination has been performed in the past. The Dutch Poppies are not GM because genetic manipulation bears great stigma in especially the health food sector where Dutch poppyseed is highly esteemed for it’s flavor, texture and culinary oil production.
Selection from population is a practice that is even commanded by the Bible as “saving the best grain for next year’s planting”. Selection criteria vary for the purpose for which they are cultivated. A florist lays emphasis on more, prettier, bigger flowers and an esthetic plant. An Opium gatherer often lays emphasis on fewer but bigger capsules which yield more Opium with less labor involved. A Poppy capsule collector (for florist or apothecary purposes) would lay emphasis on the number of poppies and wants them as well-shaped as possible.
Dutch Culinary Poppies are improved upon criteria that meet the demands of the poppyseed trade. A smaller, tougher plant of reduced biomass which is more resistant to molds and plagues and has superior growth characteristics aimed at providing a healthy crop that yields the highest reliable yield of poppyseed, and it does so by the strategy of more plants with more somewhat smaller capsules, instead of fewer larger plants with fewer but larger capsules.
Dutch Culinary Poppies are ideal for those who are looking for a superior producer strain of poppyseed and walnut sized poppy capsules for florist or apothecary purposes that is improved to give reliably high yields in cooler, less sunny climates.
Posted 05 March 2006 - 07:53 AM
by Ab Strak
fresh pods were freezed, then ground in a blender, with 3 volume equivalents of cold water,
and allowed to stand for 1 hour.
The resulting goo was stirred, then sifted crudely, to retain the biggest pieces.
The filtrate was allowed to stand for 1 hour at room temperature, after which the fairly clear,
light brown top layer was decanted into a bottle, which was not to be filled completely.
The filter residue was extracted again with water, fractions were combined.
The closed bottle was kept still, in a freezer at -5 centigrade until 2/3 of the solution was frozen.
The freezing solution was filtrated, after which the ice was discarded.
The filtrate was put back in the bottle, and the freezing procedure was repeated.
The resulting brown solution was allowed to evaporate on a hot water bath,
yielding a brittle brown substance which was potent and tasteful enough to smoke pleasurably.
Hypothesis of the success of the procedure:
The active ingredient, a morphine salt, is highly soluble, even in cold water.
Acid or base addition is unnecessary and unwanted because of possible decomposition of the salt,
into possibly less soluble constituents.
Heating is unnecessary and unwanted because of possible degradation of saccharides and peptides (inflicted effect explained below),
and additional dissolving other unwanted materials, like lipids.
The crystallization of water in the solution forces other molecules than water out of the matrix.
Small molecules, like morphine maleate move easily to stay in the liquid phase.
Large molecules, like (poly)saccharides and (poly)peptides can not move easily enough, and are included in the ice.
An additional effect may be that plant saccharides have a high affinity to water.
So, may be, small saccharides are included in the ice as well.
The freezing therefore accomplishes a separation between alkaloids and "nutritional" materials.
This statement is confirmed by direct evaporation of cold water extract.
It is important not to break the ice crystals during formation, because cavities will form, enclosing active ingredients.
This is experimentally confirmed.
The extraction can be accomplished from dried pods also, however, a third extraction step is required,
and more time to allow for dissolving.
Posted 05 March 2006 - 07:56 AM
1. Take pods, dried or fresh, and freeze them
2. Add 4 parts water for each 1 part pod material into a blender and grind it up good
3. Pour it over in a mug or similar, stirr it well for some minutes, then let it sit for about 1 hour in room temp.
4. Strain it to discard the biggest chunks, use a strainer with fairly big holes.
5. Fill the upper brown and most clear layer over into a bottle, let the rest stay in the mug
6. Extract the goo and particles left in the mug with more water, like was done with the pods in step 2 and 3.
7. Strain and pour this solution also over into the bottle
8. Shake bottle and put in a freezer (Dont cap the bottle, could explode if pressure expands it while freezing)
9. When half the solution in the bottle has frozen filtrate it with a cloth (t-shirts work fine) and discard the ice.
10. Put the solution back into bottle, shake it well, freeze it down again like in step 8 and 9.
11. Take this second filtrated solution and evaporate it in a pot placed in a larger pot with cooking water (warm bath)
12. The brown substance left in the smaller pot when evaporated, sometimes a bit like mexican tar, can be smoked.
Posted 05 March 2006 - 08:00 AM
The seeds of P. somniferum can be distinguished from other species by the appearance of a fine secondary fishnet reticulation within the spaces of the coarse reticulation found all over their surface. When compared with other Papaver species, P. somniferum plants will have their leaves arranged along the stem of the plant, rather than basal leaves, and the leaves and stem will be 'glabrous' (hairless).
Opium is the name for the latex produced within the seed pods of the opium poppy, Papaver somniferum. Cultivation Prior to and during sowing apply a high phosphorus 'P' soil amendment, the use of superphosphate or other phosphate fertilizers has an extremely favorable effect on opium yield. Experience has shown that the addition of superphosphate when sowing increases the crop of opium by 15-20%.
Small amounts of additional potash 'K' are okay to add at this point. However, high nitrogen 'N' levels need be avoided until the later stages of development, otherwise yield and alkaloid content will suffer. The plant can tolerate a wide range of pH although 6.75 - 7.5 is said to be ideal. Avoid adjusting the pH with 'dolomite' since elevated magnesium 'Mg' will adversely effect alkaloid content.
In open soil, winter frosts are harmful to autumn-sown poppies, and this means that the crop must be sown in spring. However autumn sowings invariably give opium with a higher morphine content. The conclusion is that wherever the danger of the crop's freezing is small, because of the presence of snow cover or of the absence of low temperatures as a rule during the winter, it is always better to sow during the autumn.
Once poppies have survived the winter, they are unharmed by late spring frosts. Given successful wintering, autumn sowing always ensures a very high opium yield, in comparison with spring sowing. If, however, spring sowing is practiced, the earlier it is done, the better the harvest. Seeds should be sown to a depth of 1- 2cm. The poppy requires a temperature of at least 3 to 4°C in order to germinate; the optimum temperature for germination is 10 to 11°C and the germination time will take from 14 to 21 days.
The young plants prefer a temperature of 4 to 7°C. The young seedlings can not tolerate harsh rain or severe frost therefore, it may prove beneficial to lightly cover the area with straw or hay as a protective measure. In less than six weeks the young plant will grow four large leaves and resembles a small cabbage in appearance. The lobed, dentate leaves are glaucous green with a dull gray or blue tint.
After the first four leaves have developed the plants should be thinned to 20 x 20cm apart or approximately 15 plants per sq. meter. Provide supplemental nitrogen during the growth, rosette & budding stages. In general apply 2-3wks after thinning re-apply in 3-4wks then after another 3wks a double strength dose should be applied for the final application. The level of potassium is insignificant and elevated levels will result in decreased alkaloid content.
Furthermore, additional phosphorus feeding should be avoided. Despite the potential beneficial effect on vegetative growth and bud size, it decreases the overall alkaloid content. A large quantity of water is also particularly necessary from the first stages of the plant's growth until flowering begins. Water as needed (when the soil moisture content falls below 65-70 % saturation) for the first 17wks but not thereafter unless extremely arid conditions exist.
After flowering is over, a dry soil is required for the cultivation of the poppy for opium. Under these circumstances, high-quality crude opium is obtained, with a high morphine content. Within sixty days, the plant will grow from one to two feet in height, with one primary, long, smooth stem. The upper portion of this stem is without leaves and is the 'peduncle'. One or more secondary stems, called 'tillers', may grow from the main stem of the plant.
As the plant grows tall, the main stem and each tiller terminates in a flower bud. During the development of the bud, the peduncle portion of the stem elongates and forms a distinctive 'hook' which causes the bud to be turned upside down.
As the flower develops, the peduncle straightens and the buds point upward. A day or two after the buds first point upward, the two outer segments of the bud, called 'sepals,' fall away, exposing the flower petals. Fewer large capsules are easier to manage and give better yields than multiple small ones. Therefore, the plants should be pruned of excess tillers leaving only 3 to 4 capsules per plant to mature. Poppies generally flower after about ninety days of growth and continue to flower for two to three weeks.
The exposed flower blossom is at first crushed and crinkled, but the petals soon expand and become smooth in the sun. Poppy flowers have four petals. The petals may be single or double and may be white, pink, reddish purple, crimson red, or variegated. The petals last for two to four days and then drop to reveal a small, round, green fruit which continues to develop. These fruits or pods also called 'capsules' are either oblate, elongated, or globular and mature to about the size of a chicken egg.
The latex is harvested after the capsules have flowered and the petals have dropped from the plant. The exact time of harvest varies from 14-25 days depending on the sub-species of poppy and geographical growing region. In general the capsules are observed for physical changes to determine ripeness. Ripening capsules usually swell, darken in color, develop a colored ring at the base of the pod and are covered with light chaff. Capsules are incised only once to yield opium high in morphine content or multiple times for a larger quantity of opium with a lower morphine content.
Harvesting details from several different geographical locations: Harvesting raw opium in Southeast Asia: Traditionally, most highland and upland farmers in Southeast Asia begin scoring of the pods about two weeks after the flower petals fall from the pods. The farmer examines the pod and the tiny crown portion on the top of the pod very carefully before scoring.
The grayish-green pod will become a dark green color as it matures and it will swell in size. If the points of the pod's crown are standing straight out or are curved upward, the pod is ready to be scored. If the crown's points turn downward, the pod is not yet fully matured. Not all the plants will be ready for scoring at the same time and each pod can be tapped more than once.
A set of three or four small blades of iron, glass, or glass splinters bound tightly together on a wooden handle is used to score two or three sides of the pod in a vertical direction. If the blades cut too deep into the wall of the pod, the latex will flow too quickly and will drip to the ground. If the incisions are too shallow, the flow will be too slow and the latex will harden in the pods.
A depth of about one millimeter is desired for the incision. Using a blade-tool designed to cut to that depth, scoring ideally starts in late afternoon so the white raw opium latex can ooze out and slowly coagulate on the surface of the pod overnight. If the scoring begins too early in the afternoon, the sun will cause the opium to coagulate over the incision and block the flow. Raw opium oxidizes, darkens and thickens in the cool night air.
Early the next morning, the opium gum is scraped from the surface of the pods with a short-handled, flat, iron blade three to four inches wide. The opium yield from a single pod varies greatly, ranging from 10 to 100 milligrams of opium per pod. The average yield per pod is about 80 milligrams.
Harvesting raw opium in Bulgaria: In Bulgaria, the poppy capsules are incised only once, usually with a single-bladed knife, but in most other opium-producing countries the capsules are incised repeatedly, often four or five times on different days, until they will yield no more latex. It is worthy to note that the quantity of latex falls off rapidly with later incisions, and so does the morphine content.
The collection of the opium is done in Bulgaria by incising the poppy-heads during the period of what is known as industrial maturity. The poppy capsules themselves undergo visible changes during the days around June 26, and these changes make it possible to determine the most favorable moment for making the incision.
The poppy capsules acquire a gray color with a bronze luster, and the "sides" of the capsule become stronger, showing a very characteristic whitish-coffee-colored ring under the capsule itself. This occurs about twenty-five days after the flowering of the greater part of the plant is over, at the beginning of June in the plains of Southern Bulgaria, and at the end of that month in the more northern and higher parts of the country.
When the plant reaches industrial maturity, the poppy capsules gradually change their greenish color for one with steely-blue tints, and become covered with a light down. With light pressure the inner sides can be felt, while in the uppermost part of the spathe under the pericarp itself, a light coffee-colored ring appears.
On incision of the pericarp, when only the epidermis and the milky ducts are touched, droplets of milky juice separate out on the surface of the walls. The incision is almost invariably made with a special sharp-edged knife, which penetrates 1 to 2 mm deep. About three-quarters of the capsule is incised horizontally, and the operation stops a little below the broadest part of the capsule.
In calm weather, the droplets of milky juice form a string of beads like a pearl necklace. Strong winds, and especially rains, prevent normal collection of the opium.
The incision is usually begun after midday, and finished before sunset. Early on the following day, immediately after the dew has evaporated, a milky juice exuding from above the capsule has already collected, dried, and from being white (occasionally pink) has become coffee-colored and hard.
Making the incision during the period of industrial maturity ensures the maximum opium yield and the minimum reduction in seed yield, as compared with later incision. Making the incision either before or after industrial maturity leads to a noticeable reduction in the opium yield. Premature incision causes a 25% reduction in opium yield, while if the incision is made after industrial maturity, the yield is reduced by 12.5% if four days have elapsed, and by 50% if eight days have elapsed.
A certain increase in the quantity of opium is observed when the incision of the poppy is made during the hottest hours of the day (the optimum quantity is obtained at 2 p.m.), and a certain diminution when it is made during the earlier and later hours of the day. The quantity is lowest when the incision is made early in the day.
The time of day at which the incision is made also affects the percentage of morphine content in the opium. During the early hours of the day (8 a.m. to 10 a.m.), the opium obtained has a low percentage content in morphine, while the quantity increases during the hotter hours (noon to 4 p.m.).
Harvesting raw opium in the USSR: The gathering of opium begins during the technical ripeness period of the capsules, which sets in 16-18 days after mass flowering (July-August). Technically-ripe capsules are elastic to the touch and have a light gray-blue waxy coating. During this period the seed is in the stage of milky ripeness. Incisions are made first in the capsules on the main stem and later in those on lateral stems.
In the USSR — unlike India — the capsules are incised horizontally, ensuring abundant exudation of milky latex. On an average three incisions are made in every technically-ripe capsule at intervals of one or two days. Capsules are incised by day, from 12 - 1 till 5 - 6 p.m., and the milky latex which drips out of them, already in the form of congealed opium, is removed from them with scrapers on the morning of the following day from 5 to 10 a.m. Two days' delay in starting to incise technically-ripe capsules results in a loss of 7 %, and six days' delay of 30 %, of the latex. In cloudy, rainy weather the capsules are incised and the opium is collected on the same day, with an interval of 4-5 hours.
The first incision is made towards the top of the capsules on the south side; the second (somewhat lower) on the north side; and the third (still lower) again on the south side. The capsules are incised with a special three-bladed knife with limited depth of cut (figure 1). The distance between the blades of the knife should not exceed 3-4 mm. Experiments have shown that a large number of blades on the knife does not increase the exudation of milky latex or the amount of opium collected.
Position of hands & Position of incisions for incising capsule on capsule When removing the raw opium from the capsules, the collectors take care not to scrape epidermis off them as well, since that would lower the opium's commercial quality. Experience has shown that with three incisions practically the whole possible yield of opium is collected, and that to expend much labor on a fourth incision, let alone a fifth, is uneconomic.
Harvesting raw opium in Turkey: 1.The right time. Opium is collected by cutting slashes on the poppy capsules before the seeds are ripe. The latex comes out in little drops. After it coagulates this latex constitutes raw opium. The incision period varies according to climatic conditions. Normally it occurs towards the second half of June or the first fortnight of July.
In extreme conditions incision may begin as early as May (in the valleys of Aydin) or it may be deferred until the beginning of August in higher areas. A rainy, cool summer prolongs the period of growth, whereas a warm, dry summer curtails it. The right times for incising winter- and spring-grown poppies are only about a week apart.
The best time for collecting opium is about a fortnight after the petals have fallen. The upper part of the stalk then begins to darken, the capsules grow hard, and the lower leaves begin to turn yellow.
The capsules change in color from a light to a brownish green and become covered with a kind of film of moisture. In the case of some varieties of poppy, however, such as those grown in the Isparta area, the capsules do not change color but remain light green and are not covered with a film of moisture, so that it is difficult in that region to determine the right time for making the incision. Capsules that are still soft are not ripe.
The duration of the right time for harvesting depends on the climate. In hot, dry years it is from four to seven days, and in normal years from seven to ten days. After that the capsules begin to get soft again. They lose their bloom, turn yellow and finally dry up.
2. The latex. When properly incised the stalks and leaves also provide latex, but incision of the capsule draws the juice upwards. The latex is between the epicarp and the mesocarp. The juice channels go from below, upwards. In order to gather as much juice as possible a great many channels must be cut.
If incisions are made too deeply, however, the wall of the capsule will be cut right through and some of the juice will run down inside and be lost. The latex accumulated on the outside of the capsules is white and liquid, but the moisture begins to evaporate immediately and the latex becomes more and more solid and its color more and more brown.
On warm, humid, calm nights, the latex emits such a strong odor that it is quite impossible to remain near a poppy field without contracting a headache or dizziness. The peasants who live near the fields often have to remain confined in their houses, even when it is excessively hot.
3. Incision. The incision of the poppy capsule is a very delicate and expert operation. Incisions which are too deep or too shallow or which are made too early or too late give bad results. The cut must be a shallow one but it must also be deep enough to allow the drops of latex to flow down outside. Incisions made in the middle of the day when the sun is shining give bad results and there will be hardly any flow of juice.
It is therefore preferable to make the incisions either in the morning or in the evening. When the incision is made in the morning, the opium is gathered in the evening. In such cases the opium is clear-colored and its qualities are regarded as superior by drug addicts who attach great importance to clear-colored opium.
On the other hand, incisions made in the morning give a smaller yield. It is, therefore, now considered preferable in Turkey to make incisions in the evening, since color is of little importance in the case of opium intended for medical purposes. In such cases the opium is gathered the following morning.
For this purpose, it is necessary to wait until the morning dew has disappeared. If the capsules are incised in the evening, the yield will be more abundant. The latex takes from eight to fourteen hours, according to atmospheric conditions, before it solidifies and is ready for collection. In case prolonged bad weather makes it impossible to observe these conditions, the grower will take advantage of a fine interval to incise the capsules and gather the latex in its liquid form.
The incisions are usually made with knives of various shapes, but there are also special instruments which are now increasingly employed. The best known of them is the so-called "Amasya" type. It has a broad end terminating in four to six lancet points, which have the advantage of not penetrating deeply and not piercing the capsule.
The cuts made in the middle of the capsule produce most latex. In a pamphlet published and distributed free by the Turkish Soil Products Office, the following advice is given to growers with regard to the incision:
1. The capsule must never be cut all round. Spaces should be left unslashed between the extremities of the cuts in order that the capsule may continue to grow and the seeds ripen normally;
2. In order to obtain more latex, it is advisable to make several incisions (each covering a third or quarter of the capsule) at intervals of one day;
3. Incisions made on clear, sunny, calm days give the best results. In warm districts it is preferable to make the incision in the evening, and in cool districts in the morning. It should be borne in mind that rain washes away the juice and that wind makes it fall to the ground;
4. Care must be taken to incise only the ripe capsules. This is why the farmer must go to the fields every day to select them. Harvesting raw opium in Yugoslavia: The incisions are made before the capsules are quite ripe, ten to fifteen days after the flowers fall off, at the end of May or the beginning of June.
The best time for making the incisions is determined by the color and hardness of the capsules and by the appearance of a blue-brown ring at the bottom of the capsule. The period during which the capsules can be incised and the latex successfully collected does not exceed four to six days. If the right moment is missed, the capsules take on a yellowish shade and give less latex, finally yielding nothing at all.
Cutting is usually done between 11 a.m. and 5 p.m., with a horizontal incision which covers about three-quarters of the capsule. A quarter of the capsule is always left uncut, to allow a further circulation of nutritious substances at the top of the capsule. Small drops of white, milky juice then begin to flow from the incision, and exposed to the air solidify and grow darker. The incision must be neither too shallow nor too deep. If it is too shallow, the number of latex vessels affected may be too small and too little juice will drip out; if the incision is too deep, so that the capsule is entirely cut through, the latex will flow into the capsule and the whole yield will be lost.
The incisions are made with special knives or with special tools, consisting of wooden handles fitted with sharp pieces of iron (often razor blades). The size of the blade automatically regulates the depth of the incision. Tools with two or more blades are also used, to allow two or three cuts with a single motion.
As soon as the incision is made, the latex begins to drip. In order to avoid brushing against the capsules, the harvesters making incisions must walk backwards. Unlike the procedure in certain Far Eastern countries the incisions are never repeated. It has been proved that two, three or more incisions yield more opium, but each subsequent incision produces opium with a lower morphine content. In countries which used to supply the opium smoking market, manifold incisions of the capsules were profitable, since more opium could thus be obtained.
This opium is at the same time more suitable for smoking because of its lower morphine content. Yugoslav opium has an unpleasant taste and a high morphine content and has therefore never been in demand on the smokers' market nor exported for this purpose. It is intended only for the Western market, where morphine content is in demand. Accordingly, manifold incision of capsules is not profitable.
The fact that the capsules are cut only once accounts for the considerably greater output of opium per hectare in Far Eastern countries than in Yugoslavia.
Posted 05 March 2006 - 08:18 AM
Posted 06 March 2006 - 03:32 PM
Posted 06 March 2006 - 10:45 PM
Also tagged with one or more of these keywords: opium, poppies, seed
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The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention held a teleconference Monday to announce that flu cases are on the rise around the U.S. CDC Director Thomas Frieden called this start of the 2012-2013 flu season “the earliest regular flu season in nearly a decade,” adding, “This could be a bad flu year.”
The conference call was held to kick off the start of the 2012 National Influenza Vaccination Week, observed the first week of December every year. National Influenza Vaccination Week was established in 2005 to highlight the importance of continuing influenza vaccination in December and beyond.
The most recent CDC FluView surveillance shows high levels of influenza-like illness activity in five U.S. states: Tennessee, Alabama, Louisiana., Mississippi and Texas. Frieden added that he expects it is “just a matter of time” before activity increases in other states.
In the past, flu seasons have been more severe when the influenza A virus subtype H3N2 is in wide circulation. Melinda Wharton, acting director of CDC’s National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases, reported that so far this year there has been a predominance of this influenza strain.
However, Frieden suggested that there is some good news: “This year’s strains look to be a great match for the influenza vaccine.” Based on early testing of flu specimens, the composition of the 2012-2013 seasonal influenza vaccine is a 98 percent match for the flu viruses that are circulating in the population. “The vaccine is still the best tool to protect against the flu,” he said.
During the teleconference, CDC also announced that flu vaccination rates have been increasing over the past few years, especially among vulnerable populations such as pregnant women, children and health care workers. Newly-released mid-season influenza immunization rates indicate that between 80-90 percent of pharmacists, doctors and nurses have received the flu vaccine this year.
CDC officials stated that there is plenty of influenza vaccine still available for those who have not been vaccinated yet, and that it’s not too late to get the seasonal flu shot. Frieden encouraged people to get vaccinated before holiday get-togethers, adding: “Spread good cheer and give presents; don’t spread infections and give the flu.”
For more information about CDC’s seasonal influenza surveillance, visit: www.cdc.gov/flu/weekly/fluactivitysurv.htm.
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The effects of the Indian Ocean tsunami of December 2004 are only too well known: It knocked the hell out of Aceh Province on the Indonesian island of Sumatra, leveling buildings, scattering palm trees, and wiping out entire villages. It killed more than 160,000 people in Aceh alone and displaced millions more. Similar scenes of destruction were repeated along the coasts of Southeast Asia, India, and as far west as Africa. The magnitude of the disaster shocked the world.
What the world did not know was that the 2004 tsunami—seemingly so unprecedented in scale—would yield specific clues to one of the great mysteries of archaeology: What or who brought down the Minoans, the remarkable Bronze Age civilization that played a central role in the development of Western culture?
Europe’s first great culture sprang up on the island of Crete, in the Aegean Sea, and rose to prominence some 4,000 years ago, flourishing for at least five centuries. It was a civilization of sophisticated art and architecture, with vast trading routes that spread Minoan goods—and culture—to the neighboring Greek islands. But then, around 1500 B.C., the Minoan world went into a tailspin, and no one knows why.
In 1939, leading Greek archaeologist Spyridon Marinatos pinned the blame on a colossal volcanic eruption on the island of Thera, about 70 miles north of Crete, that occurred about 1600 B.C. The event hurled a plume of ash and rock 20 miles into the stratosphere, turning daylight into pitch darkness over much of the Mediterranean. The explosion was recently estimated to be 10 times as powerful as the 1883 eruption of Krakatau in Indonesia, which obliterated 300 towns and villages and killed at least 36,000 people. So extreme was the Thera eruption that many writers linked it to Plato’s legend of Atlantis, the magnificent island city swallowed up by the sea. Marinatos’s theory was bolstered in 1967 when he dug up the ruins of Akrotiri, a prosperous Minoan town on Thera that had been buried in volcanic ash. Akrotiri became famous as a Bronze Age Pompeii because the ash preserved two-story dwellings, exquisite frescoes, and winding streets almost intact.
On further examination, though, the ruins did not confirm the theory. It turned out that the pottery on Akrotiri was not from the final phase of Minoan culture; in fact, many Minoan settlements on Crete continued to exist for at least a generation or two after the Thera cataclysm. Archaeologists concluded that the Minoans had not only survived but thrived after the eruption, expanding their culture until they were hit by some other, unknown disaster—perhaps some combination of fire, earthquake, or foreign invader. Thera’s impact, it seemed, had been overestimated. But startling new evidence is forcing archaeologists to rethink the full fury of the Thera explosion, the natural disaster it may have triggered, and the nature of the final blow to the once-great Minoan civilization.
Each summer, thousands of tourists encounter the Minoans at the spectacularly restored ruins of Knossos, an 11-acre complex four miles south of Crete’s capital, Heraklion. Late-19th-century excavations by Sir Arthur Evans revealed Knossos to be a vast, intricately engineered, multistory building, complete with flushing toilets, statuettes of bare-breasted priestesses, and frescoes of athletes vaulting over bulls. In 1900, Evans discovered an impressive stone throne, from which he believed the legendary King Minos and his descendants had presided over Bronze Age Crete. In the 1980s, however, a new generation of archaeologists, including Joseph Alexander “Sandy” MacGillivray, a Montreal-born scholar at the British School at Athens, began questioning many of Evans’s assumptions. Smaller-scale versions of Knossos have turned up at nearly every Minoan settlement across Crete, and scholars now suspect there was no single king but rather many independent polities.
MacGillivray also became interested in how the civilization ended. At Palaikastro, in the island’s far northeastern corner, MacGillivray and his colleague Hugh Sackett have excavated seven blocks of a Minoan town of perhaps 5,000 inhabitants, their plastered and painted houses arranged in a network of tidy paved and drained streets. One striking find was the foundations of a fine mansion, paved with fancy purple schist and white limestone and designed around an airy central courtyard “of Knossian pretensions,” as MacGillivray puts it. “But after the house was destroyed by an earthquake, it was abandoned and never rebuilt, and that preserved some things we had a hard time explaining.”
The house was dusted with a powdery gray ash, so irritating that the diggers had to wear face masks. Chemical analysis showed that the ash was volcanic fallout from the Thera eruption, but instead of resting in neat layers, the ash had washed into peculiar places: a broken, upside-down pot; the courtyard’s drain; and one long, continuous film in the main street outside. It was as if a flash flood had hosed most of the ash away, leaving these remnants behind. Some powerful force had also flipped over several of the house’s paving slabs and dumped fine gravel over the walls—but this part of the site lies a quarter of a mile from the sea and far from any stream or river.
That wasn’t the only oddity. Another building “looked like it had been flattened, the whole frontage facing the sea had been torn off, and it made no sense. And we asked ourselves, could a wave have done this?” MacGillivray says.
The strangest and most significant find, however, was a soil layer down by the beach that looked like nothing MacGillivray had ever seen in four decades as a field archaeologist. A horizontal band of gravel about a foot thick was stuffed with a mad jumble of broken pottery, rocks, lumps of powdery gray ash, and mashed-up animal teeth and bones. Perhaps an exceptionally violent storm had inflicted this chaos, MacGillivray considered, but he began to suspect that a tsunami was the more likely culprit.
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Catharism was a complicated mix of non-Christian religions reworked with Christian terminology. The Cathars had many different sects; they had in common a teaching that the world was created by an evil deity (so matter was evil) and we must worship the good deity instead.
The Albigensians formed one of the largest Cathar sects. They taught that the spirit was created by God, and was good, while the body was created by an evil god, and the spirit must be freed from the body. Having children was one of the greatest evils, since it entailed imprisoning another "spirit" in flesh. Logically, marriage was forbidden, though fornication was permitted. Tremendous fasts and severe mortifications of all kinds were practiced, and their leaders went about in voluntary poverty.
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Felicia filifolia when in flower is an eye-catching mass of mauve flowers with pretty yellow centres that will create a stunning splash of colour in your garden.
A well-branched, rounded, twiggy shrub that grows moderately fast and reaches a height of 0.6–1 m. The characteristic foliage consists of tufted clusters of fine, needle-like leaves from which the plant derives its name. In spring (October to December), the plant bears masses of daisy-like flowers which, from plant to plant, can range in colour from purple to mauve to white. The seedheads are fluffy and creamy white in colour. There are three other subspecies of Felicia filifolia.
Distribution and Habitat
The natural distribution of Felicia filifolia occurs in both summer and winter rainfall areas, from Namibia to Namaqualand, throughout the Karoo and the Cape region, the Free State, and as far as the northern provinces. It is most often found in rocky places on hillsides or mountainsides.
This Felicia is frost hardy and will tolerate a wide range of temperatures and watering regimes.
Derivation of name and historical aspects
Felicia is named after Herr Felix, a German official who died in 1846; the generic name could also be derived from the Latin felix meaning cheerful, a reference to the bright flowers. The species name filifolia means leaves like fern fronds, referring to the fineness of the foliage. Other noteworthy members are Felicia echinata, F. elongata, F. heterophylla, F. bergerana, F. erigeroides.
There are more than 85 species of Felicia, both annuals and small herbaceous shrubs, found from Africa to Arabia.
The masses of slightly aromatic daisy-like flowers will attract butterflies, bees and many other pollen-seeking insects to your garden, which in turn will lure the insectivorous birds. For wind dispersal the seeds are small and light, each with a tuft of hairs that assist with floating.
Uses and cultural aspects
In rural areas Felicia filifolia is often used as firewood. It makes a beautiful, hardy, water-wise garden plant. It is poisonous to sheep.
Growing Felicia filifolia
This is a moderately fast-growing, water-wise plant requiring only moderate watering.
Plant it anywhere in the garden and it will grow in almost any light, well-drained soil—always add compost for best results. Although it will tolerate light shade for part of the day, flowering will be at its best if it receives full sun all day long.
It can be massed for best effect in a large bed, but individual plants make striking accent plants when in flower. Plant it in groups in an informal border, on terraces, or in a rockery, or use it to line the front of a shrub border, or as a low informal hedge for spring and summer displays. Felicia filifolia is easy to care for. Prune back lightly anytime but usually to best effect after the main flush of flowering, removing old flowers and nipping back growth tips to keep neat, to encourage new growth and a further batch of flowers. Compost regularly. If damaged by frost, the plant will grow again in spring, with only a slight delay in the flowering time.
Felicia filifolia is easily propagated from seed sown in March/April (late summer to early autumn) or September; it usually seeds itself freely and young plants can often be found nearby. It can also be propagated from cuttings or by root division in autumn.
References and further reading
- Eliovson, S. 1957. South African flowers for the garden. Howard Timmins, Cape Town.
- Joffe, P. 2001. Creative gardening with indigenous plants. A South African guide. Briza Publications, Pretoria.
- Joffe, P. 1993. The gardeners guide to South African plants. Tafelberg, Cape Town.
- Leistner, O.A. (ed.). 2000. Seed plants of southern Africa: families and genera. Strelitzia 10. National Botanical Institute, Pretoria.
- Pienaar, K. 1985. Grow South African plants. Struik, Cape Town.
- Pienaar, K. 1984. The South African what flower is that?. Struik, Cape Town.
- Pooley, E. 1998. A field guide to wild flowers of KwaZulu-Natal and the Eastern Region. Natal Flora Publications Trust, Durban.
- Powrie, F. 1998. Grow South African plants. National Botanical Institute, Cape Town.
- Van der Spuy, U. 1953. Gardening in South Africa. The flower garden. Rutica Press, Wynberg.
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A soluble gelatinous polysaccharide that is present in ripe fruits and is extracted for use as a setting agent in jams and jellies.
- In the ripening stage of strawberry fruit development the vascular tissue comprises long fibres composed of cellulose, protein, pectin, and lignin.
- Apples are also rich in the soluble fibre pectin, which helps to lower blood cholesterol.
- Proteins, pectins, polysaccharides and glycolipids, organized in a three-dimensional polygonal frame are part of the structural elements.
- Example sentences
- Plant cell walls are composed primarily of cellulose microfibrils, hemicelluloses, pectic polysaccharides, and small amounts of structural proteins.
- Then add 1 teaspoonful each of pectic enzyme and yeast nutrient per 5 litres, plus some wine yeast.
- It also contains carotene, ethereal oils, sugar, and pectic substances, which help prevent moisture loss.
Mid 19th century: from Greek pektos 'congealed' (from pēgnuein 'make solid') + -in1.
Words that rhyme with pectinpecten
For editors and proofreaders
Definition of pectin in:
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P. Scott Rubin: The 1852 Proof Large Berries Half Cent is one of the rarest and most desirable coins in the Half Cent denomination. With a believed population of only five coins, one of which was heavily circulated puts this coin in the high Rarity 7 class on the Sheldon rarity scale.
What makes this coin even more interesting is all other Proof Half Cents starting in 1840 thru 1849 with Large Berry reverses are considered Original, meaning struck in the in the year they are dated. Yet when it comes to the 1852 specimens many experts, Walter Breen included, believe that the Original 1852 Half Cents should have a reverse with Small Berries. The main reason for this belief is that while there were no circulation issues of Half Cents from 1840 to 1848, by 1849 circulated issues were struck with Small Berries as were Proofs of 1850 and 1851.
It appears that the only way we will ever know what the 1852 Original Half Cent reverse looked like is if we were to have an Original untouched Proof Set of the year 1852 turn up from some long forgotten collection. I for one believe it is just as possible that in 1852 the Half Cent was struck with Large Berries as Small Berries. It should be remembered that the minting of Restrike Half Cents of 1840 and later did not begin until probably 1858.
While all of this is interesting the fact is that it is much easier to obtain an 1852 Half Cent with Small Berries than it is to own one of only five 1852 Large Berry Half Cents. The record price for this coin as of 2014 is the PCGS graded Proof(65) Red specimen sold by the Goldberg’s with Grellman and McCawley in the January 26, 2014 sale of the Missouri Cabinet Collection for $603,750. This collection was unique in that it contained a specimen of every known variety of Half Cent, including many finest known specimens; this was a combined collection of R. Tettenhorst and the Eric P. Newman Numismatic Education Society.
R. C. W. Brock Collection - University of Pennsylvania - Phillip H. Ward, Jr. - C. J. Dochkus - Harry J. Foreman - R. L. Miles, Jr. Colledction - Stack's 4/1969:69, $6,000 - Hathaway & Bowers Galleries - Spink & Son, Ltd. - Norweb Collection - Bowers & Merena 10/1987:128 - James R. McGuigan, traded 10/1987as part of a multi-coin exchange - R. Tettenhorst - Eric P. Newman Education Society/Missouri Cabinet (Mocab 52.1.1) - Goldbergs 1/2014:204, $603,750
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Glaude: King Day is a reminder of democracy's unfinished experiment
Posted January 20, 2003; 05:50 p.m.
Commemorating the birthday of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. is an opportunity not just to celebrate past triumphs of the civil rights movement, but also to address America's lingering struggles with racism, poverty and arrogance, Eddie Glaude Jr. said Jan. 20 in the keynote address of Princeton University's annual King Day tribute.
"This holiday can remind us that our democracy is incomplete -- that our form of associated living stands as an ideal toward which we strive and, perhaps, will never achieve," said Glaude, an associate professor of religion who joined the Princeton faculty last year. "What better way to celebrate King's prophetic witness than to remember that hubris darkens the soul and blinds us to a world in need?"
Glaude's rousing speech followed the presentation of awards for area students in the University's annual King Day essay and poster contests, as well as a performance by CASYM Steel Orchestra, a group of students from New York appearing at its third King Day event.
Before Glaude's address, Princeton President Shirley M. Tilghman said of King: "In addition to remembering the man, we also remember his message and rededicate ourselves to the values and the goals that he so eloquently articulated and for which he so passionately fought."
In his remarks, Glaude noted that "too often this holiday and King's legacy are thought of as simply a moment in our past -- as a time when the nation had not quite gotten it right." But today, amid economic uncertainty, the looming specter of war and continuing battles with racism in America, King's legacy serves as a notice that the nation remains "an unfinished experiment in democracy," he said.
"A national holiday in his honor ought to be a reminder of the incompleteness and fragility of our democracy, not a celebration of American triumphalism," Glaude noted. "And in these times of war and hubris, Americans need to be reminded of just how fragile and fallen we are."
Several hundred members of the University and local communities attended the event, offering a standing ovation at its conclusion.
Contact: Eric Quinones (609) 258-3601
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|Cato the Younger|
AKA Marcus Porcius Cato
Born: 95 BC
Died: 45 BC
Location of death: Utica, Tunisia
Cause of death: Suicide
Race or Ethnicity: White
Occupation: Philosopher, Military
Nationality: Ancient Rome
Executive summary: Foe of Julius Caesar
Roman philosopher surnamed "the Younger" and also called Uticensis to distinguish him from his greatgrandfather Cato the Elder, "the Censor." On the death of his parents he was brought up in the house of his uncle M. Livius Drusus. After fighting with distinction in the ranks against Spartacus (72 BC) he became a military tribune (67 BC) and served a campaign in Macedonia but he never had any enthusiasm for the military profession. On his return he became quaestor and showed so much zeal and integrity in the management of the public accounts that he obtained a provincial appointment in Asia, where he strengthened his reputation. Though filled with disgust at the corruption of the public men with whom he came in contact, he saw much to admire in the discipline which Lucullus had enforced in his own eastern command, and he supported his claims to a triumph while he opposed the inordinate pretensions of Pompey. When the favor of the nobles gained him the tribuneship, he exerted himself unsuccessfully to convict L. Licinius Murena, one of their chief men, of bribery. Cicero, who defended Murena, was glad to have Cato's aid when he urged the execution of the Catilinarian conspirators. Cato's vote on this matter drew upon him the bitter resentment of Julius Caesar, who did his utmost to save them.
Cato had now become a great power in the state. Though possessed of little wealth and no family influence his unfiinching resolution in the cause of the ancient free state rendered him a valuable instrument in the hands of the nobles. He vainly opposed Caesar's candidature for the consulship in 59, and his attempt in conjunction with Bibulus, to prevent the passing of Caesar's proposed agrarian law for distributing lands amongst the Asiatic veterans, proved unsuccessful. Nevertheless, although his efforts were ineffectual he was still an obstacle of sufficient importance for the triumvirs to desire to get rid of him. At the instigation of Caesar he was sent to Cyprus (58 BC) with a mission to depose its king, Ptolemy (brother of Ptolemy Auletes) and annex the island. On his return two years later he continued to struggle against the combined powers of the triumvirs in the city, and became involved in scenes of violence and riot. He succeeded in obtaining the praetorship in 54, and strenuously exerted himself in the hopeless and thankless task of suppressing bribery, in which all parties were equally interested. He failed to attain the consulship and had made up his mind to retire from the arena of civic ambition when the civil war broke out in 49. Feeling that the sole chance for the free state lay in conceding an actual supremacy to Pompey, whom he had formerly vigorously opposed, he did not scruple to support the unjust measures of the nobles against Caesar. At the outset of the war he was entrusted with the defense of Sicily, but finding it impossible to resist the superior forces of C. Scribonius Curio, who had landed on the island, he joined Pompey at Dyrrhachium. When his chief followed Caesar to Thessaly he was left behind in charge of the camp, and thus was not present at the battle of Pharsalus. After the battle, when Pompey abandoned his party, he separated himself from the main body of the republicans and conducted a small remnant of their forces into Africa. After his famous march through the Libyan deserts, he shut himself up in Utica and even after the decisive defeat at Thapsus (46), in spite ofthe wishes of his followers, he determined to keep the gates closed until he had sent off his adherents by sea. While the embarkation was in progress he continued calm and dignified; when the last of the transports had left the port he cheerfully dismissed his attendants and soon afterwards stabbed himself.
He had been reading, we are told, in his last moments Plato's dialogue on the immortality of the soul, but his own philosophy had taught him to act upon a narrow sense of immediate duty without regard to the future. He conceived that he was placed in the world to play an active part, and when disabled from carrying out his principles, to retire gravely from it. He had lived for the free state, and it now seemed his duty to perish with it. In politics he was a typical doctrinaire, abhorring compromise and obstinately blind to the fact that his national ideal was a hopeless anachronism. From the circumstances of his life and of his death, he has come to be regarded as one of the most distinguished of Roman philosophers, but he composed no works, and bequeathed to posterity no other instruction than that of his example. The only composition by him which we possess is a letter to Cicero, a polite refusal of the orator's request that he would endeavor to procure him the honour of a triumph. The school of the Stoics, which took a leading part in the history of Rome under the earlier emperors, looked to him as its saint and patron. It continued to wage war against the empire, hardly less openly than Cato himself had done, for two centuries, until at last it became actually seated on the imperial throne in the person of Marcus Aurelius. Immediately after his death Cato's character became the subject of discussion; Cicero's panegyric Cato was answered by Caesar in his Anticato. Brutus, dissatisfied with Cicero's work, produced another on the same subject; in Lucan Cato is represented as a model of virtue and disinterestedness.
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Heart palpitations - part 11
Palpitations are defined as a conscious awareness of the beating of ones own heart. Most of the time we are completely unaware of the beating of the heart but sometimes that unawareness is punctured by a sensation of skipped beats that can be felt in the chest or sometimes in the throat. The palpitation may be experienced either as a fleeting sensation or it may be more persistent.
In that latter situation the person may be conscious of either a regular or irregular pounding in the chest. In a previous article on the subject of palpitations I wrote about the palpitation as a common event that is experienced by all of us. In this article I will address the subject of the palpitation as a pathological event and will describe the various abnormal conditions that give rise to palpitations.
However, before we consider these various conditions it would be useful to first describe the electrical circuitry of the heart. The rate and rhythm of the heartbeat is controlled by its own intrinsic pacemaker, which is called the SA (sinoatrial) node. The SA node is a small bundle of tissue situated in the right atrium, which is one of the four chambers of the heart. This highly specialised bundle of tissue discharges electricity spontaneously, which is then conducted throughout the heart muscle through a special conduction circuit. These electrical impulses are intermittent and rhythmic and stimulate the heart muscle to contract.
When an electrical impulse is discharged from the SA node it then spreads throughout both the right and left atrium causing the muscle in the wall of these chambers to contract thereby pumping the blood into the ventricles. The electrical impulse then passes through the AV (atrioventricular) node, which acts as an electrical relay station that relays the electrical signal into the right and left ventricle. The impulse must pass through the AV node in order to reach the two ventricles. When the electrical impulse reaches the ventricles the muscle in these chambers contracts and blood is pumped into the lungs via the pulmonary artery and into the general circulation via the aorta.
If the SA node discharges in a chaotic fashion the heart muscle contracts irregularly. Rhythm disturbances are referred to as arrhythmias. Arrhythmias frequently produce the sensation we describe as a palpitation. Arrhythmias can be slow, fast or irregular. The symptom of palpitation associated with this abnormal rhythm can similarly be slow, fast or irregular; although the person may not be aware of the arrhythmia for all the time that it is present. It is also important to stress that arrhythmias can be intermittent, which means that the heartbeat can return to a normal rhythm and rate between bursts of arrhythmia. That is the reason why arrhythmias can be missed because the person may have presented to their doctor for evaluation at a time when the heart has reverted to a normal pattern of beating.
A rapid arrhythmia is called a tachycardia (heart rate greater than 100 beats per minute) whereas a slow arrhythmia is called a bradycardia (less than 60 beats per minute). Sometimes a single heartbeat occurs a split second earlier than normal and this is referred to as a premature contraction. The term fibrillation is used to describe rhythms that are irregular and these irregularities can occur in either the atria or ventricles. All of these various types of rhythm disturbance can arise from disorders anywhere along the electrical circuitry of the heart. Therefore abnormalities in the SA node, the atria, the AV node or the ventricles can lead to arrhythmias, which may be manifest to the person as palpitations.
Feeling the pulse
If we use the preceding terms in conjunction with the site of origin of the rhythm disturbance we can give a descriptive label to virtually any arrhythmia. Thus we can have atrial tachycardias and premature atrial contractions. Similarly we can have ventricular tachycardias and premature ventricular contractions. Fibrillations can be either atrial or ventricular. Atrial fibrillation is the commonest arrhythmia that we encounter in general practice. Also, if a bradycardia arises because of slow electrical discharge from the SA node we refer to this rhythm disturbance as a sinus bradycardia.
Feeling the pulse may identify many of the rhythm disturbances I have described but they all have their own individual electrical pattern that is usually readily identifiable on a standard ECG. If the arrhythmia has reverted to normal rhythm at the time of the ECG it may be necessary to proceed to Holter monitoring, which is a special form of continuous ECG that is conducted over a 24-hour period of time.
So, what causes these various disturbances of rhythm? Arrhythmias can be caused by coronary artery disease, diseases of the heart muscle or even by diseases affecting the heart valves. Sometimes the cardiac muscle, valves and coronary arteries may be relatively healthy but the conduction system may be at fault. Such situations can be considered as being a form of electrical fault in the heart.
Sometimes medication can give rise to arrhythmias. Paradoxically, digoxin, which is frequently used for treating certain arrhythmias, can cause an irregular heartbeat. This occurs if the level of digoxin in the bloodstream is too high, a situation that is referred to as 'dig toxicity'. Disorders of the thyroid gland can also change the rate and rhythm of the heartbeat. For example, people with hyperthyroidism (over activity of the thyroid gland) often experience palpitations before presenting for treatment and subsequent stabilisation of their condition. People with chronic lung disease can also develop arrhythmias because of the low levels of oxygen circulating in their blood, which in turn can impact on the activity is the SA node.
It is worth noting that excessive alcohol consumption can cause arrhythmias and the heart muscle and electrical conducting system can be permanently damaged by excessive consumption that takes place over an extended period of time. In other words the alcohol slowly poisons the heart. It is not too strong a statement to say that this situation is like pickling the heart in alcohol.
Symptoms to watch out for
Some people can be totally unaware of the presence of an arrhythmia because not every person with an arrhythmia experiences palpitations. However, if a person is experiencing palpitations there are some additional symptoms that should prompt the person to seek medical assistance. Palpitations accompanied by tightness in the chest or throat should not be ignored, even if the discomfort is slight. Shortness of breath is another significant accompanying symptom. A history of fainting or even dizziness at the time of a burst of palpitations may also be very significant. Weakness is a vague symptom but if it occurs in association with palpitations this should not be ignored and shrugged off.
As mentioned in my previous article on palpitations most people experience palpitations from time to time and such experiences are not indicative of underlying disease. However, for some people this common symptom can be a harbinger of more serious trouble especially if it is accompanied by any of the symptoms mentioned in the preceding paragraph. In such situations it would be sensible to attend your GP for medical assessment.
Dr Leonard Condren is the medical editor of irishhealth.com
Thank you for your article on Palpitations, it was most interesting. Tom Burke
I'm in my early 30's and drink and smoke alot at weekends but Mon - Fri I'm active swimming and playing football and generally live a healthy week, I have palpitations alot, should I consult a GP?
I am in my late 20's and regularly get palpitations when I lie down. It effects me in that I get short of breath but do not feel tightness in the chest or throat. Should I seek medical advice.
I have a condition called SVT (supraventricular tachycardia) I get palpitations a lot and have to go to Hospital to get them stoped. Is there any medicine available to prevent these attacks from coming on?
I have been getting palpitations for several years now. Recently I need to cough while getting them. Is this anything to worry about?
i often have 'missed heartbeats' or fast heartbeats but they feel as if they are in my tummy do you think I hve a heart problem I was told I had a heart murmer but nothing to worry about?
Palpitations should always be investigated. After putting my episodes down to the menopause i was found to have paroxysmal atrial fibrillation which is now controlled with Rhythmodan. It is a particular type of AF which is callled Vagal AF and only occurs at night etc. It took a lot of trial and error with medication before it settled but now it has thank God because it was so scary.
my doctor just brushed off my palpitations because I dont smoke and not overweight. But I think I will ask to be refered to a specialist.I will go privately and have a thorough check up for a cost of about 185.00 euro. I feel that if I wait for the public health specialist I could be waiting years. It would be money well spent!
i have been asked if i have palpitations?because i am being investagated for a pheo and an not sure if i do have palpitions
I do suffer from time to time with palpitations, but for the past two days I have had a most uncomfortable feeling in my throat. It feels as if there is something stuck there and I'm constantly swallowing to try to remove it but without any success. Should I be concerned about this, and would it be advisable to see my G.P. Anxious
Miriam of course you should go and see your doctor. What is it that stops you from going. Palpitations should be investigated. Your heart is trying to tell you something.
I used to get very bad palpatations called SVTs and used to have to go to hospital to get them reverted to normal. Many a time i spent in CCU with this condition until I was referred to St James Hospital, Dublin where I had electrophysiology studies and an AV NOde ablation done. Everything has been great since then but I got another attack last week and needed to be hospitalised but I was put on a new tablet called Emcor and everything seems ok for the moment. I need to get a holter monitor done and then I have an appt to see my consultant in limerick. Hopefully I wont need to go to James again even though the irony of the story is I got the ablation done to stop medication and now I\'m back on it. Its a funny world
I was delighted to read your article on heart palpitations and to see that i'm not the only one that suffers from this annoying and sore problem. I'm nearly 28 and have had palpitations since I was at least 13. my doc said I'd grow out of it and put me on medication for a brief period of time. Then as I got older they got more frequent and stayed for longer periods, it's like a load of heavy bricks are crushing my chest and my whole body shakes with the force of the beat. Howver I've figured out a way of curing them..I just put me head between my legs and hold my breath and most of all try to relax and NOT think about it! Usually they stop as abruptly as they start..it just gets a bit scary when they take longer than ususal to go. I've recently statred to drastically imporve my fitness and am enjoyng a comfortably low resting heart rate now. My advice to fellow sufferers is to not get too stressed and to exercise vigorously 3/4 times a week.
I have palpitations occasionally. They feel like my blood has been aerated and is fizzing through my chest. It only lasts for a few seconds and sometimes I feel a little light headed as you feel when you hear something shocking or frightening. I guess you would say it feels as if the blood has drained from you. I had a holter test some 10 years ago and, typically, absolutely nothing happened for the 24 hours I was wearing it. I was very anaemic at the time and think that this didn't help. In the last six years I have taken up road running, run the London Marathon and had a baby. It's usually when I'm doing nothing that my palpitations are present. Any comments?
I am in my early forties and have began to notice palpatations over the last number of weeks - It's similar to a thump in my stomach. I've also noticed that when I drink red wine they disappear and sometimes if I eat a lot of salad food. Is there any other food/drink that would be recommended? Would aspirin help (given the connection with some of the ingredients of red wine)?
I have been having palpitations for several months now. I mentioned to my GP in January, but he dismissed them. I was put on medication (protium)at this time for stomach problems ( after anti-inflammatories)and my GP said that my stomach problems could be affecting by heart? I had to stop taking the medication after 6 weeks as I am now pregnant. I am getting paplitations more regularly not-for 6 hrs yesterday. I also have a strange churling sensation at the top of my stomach.What should I do as I am getting very uncomfortable and worried?
I get palpitations but it is related to a thyroid problem I have, there is a goiter in my neck and this is effecting alot of functions in my body of which one is my heart, I dont get them regularly but when I do they are quite worrying. If someone is suffering from a feeling of food stuck in there throat get it checked out it most likely is a goiter.
I noticed a lump on my neck but thought nothing of it. My body temperature was very high and I had heart palpitation so bad that I couldn't sleep at night. I probably had 2 hours sleep the most. After having a physical check-up, I was sent to the endocrinologist for the Thyroid. There I was told that I also had Goiter. I was in a hospital a couple of months ago for heart palpitation and dissiness. The doctor prescribed me the two kinds of medication and both of them cause cause me to have rapid heartbeat and dizziness. I don't know why he bothered to give me something that had caused me to be in the hospital in the first place.
hi,i am 5 weeks pregaint and i am getting a lot of hearth palpitations,i have had them before but not as bad as now,it is doing as i wright this,i went to my doctor before but it did not happen while i was their,couild you give me some advice on what it couild be and what i shouild do,my doc will do nothing unless ithappenswhile he is checkingme,thank you
Hi all I am a 46 year old male a little over weight, ex smoker, who recently visited my GP after experiencing feelings of nervouseness, anxiety and palpitations he ordered an ECG which was abnormal I wore a monitor for 3 days which did not work and I have to wear again. Oh I visit the gym 3 - 4 times per week jogging 8 -12 miles per week, cycle, swim and do various other cardio activities, my resting hr is around 56.......what puzzels me is when I have had no explanation of what is going on and no dialogue regarding the emotional issues I was facing and it making things worse.
I suppose the thing that strikes me most about the last number of entries here is the lack of communication between GP and patient. A serious issue like an abnormal ECG or feelings of faintness and dizzy spells must be investigated and referred on to a cardiologist if necessary. Palpitations are common in pregnancy but if persistent must be investigated also. Why do people let their GP get away with not giving a proper explanation for what tests they are doing and what may be the possible causes etc. God knows we pay them enough. Always write down your questions before you go in and don't be fobbed off. You only have one heart. Margaret
Thanks for your article I just had my mother in hospital with palpitations and found your article very interesting
I found your information helpful. I have been suffering from heart palpitations and skipped beats for a few years now. I get it at night and when I do, I can't get to sleep, sometimes I get only a couple of hours just before I have to get up. It seems to coincide with digestive problems, I have IBS and get a lot of gas problems and reflux/heartburn at night. I have been checked out, even been to the cardiologist and had a 24 holter moniter, which did show some irregularities, but my doctor tried to assure me that they were nothing to worry about. It still bugs me alot and it is a problem when it interrupts my sleep. I stopped eating red meat at the start of the year to try and help my digestive problems, and interestingly I have experienced less sleepless nights from heart palpitations etc.
I am writing this note for the benefit of those who might have been as frightened as I was when I first began to get palpitiations. In August of 2003 I was returning a moving van back to the rental agency when suddenly at an intersection I began to feel a very rapid heart beat. I got dizzy. I put the truck into "Park" in case I passed out. By the time the light changed to green, I started to come out of it. I managed to get the truck back to the shop and then started to drive my car home. I got the palpitations again. I drove straight to the hospital this time. They admitted me immediately with a heart rate of 220! My blood pressure was way up too! After two hours in the hospital they pumped a drug, Lanoxin, into me and the heart rate came down. They gave me a prescription for it. I was referred to a heart specialist who ran me through all the tests. Normal heart he says. I don't smoke or drink much. For the next year, I got these attacks, though not quite as bad as the first one, each week or two. I was determined to find out why. I cut out all caffeine and began to walk forty minutes a day. I reduced all stressors in my life. 8 months later... I am still getting the rapid pulses ... but only every three weeks to a month now. I researched the internet and this topic completely consumed me. I am a healthy 49 year old male. I read dozens of journals and articles on the heart and the electrical activity in it. I also monitored what I was eating to see if any foods might be causing it. In October 2004 I put myself on this plan: No wheat (bread) I use rye bread now. No peanut butter No home made red wine - the agent, sodium metabisulphate, has been know to cause rapid heart rates in some people. I take one Coenzyme Q10 150 mg. per day (one softgel in the morning) Note - the greatest concentration of CoQ10 in the system is in one's heart. I have found that amounts less than 120 mg are NOT effective. Why? I do not know. I take one Oil of Oregano capsule - very powerful antioxidant and bronchial cleaner - especially for molds and such. I take one aspirin every two days. I take one multiple vitamin. I cannot say for sure which of the above has stopped my problem... or that it has fully stopped. But I can tell you that my heart feels very good these past few months. If I have not had any more palps by late January, I will declare my self fully cured. I know that as we get older, we lose some chemical ability in our bodies. I suspect for me at least, the problem was the CoQ10 deficiency. I am walking an hour a day now and lifting weights. I feel so relaxed at the end of a good walk. I hope any of you who were as fearful as I was can get something out of this for yourselves. I just has to share it because I thought I was dying. I really didn't like that! I live in British Columbia Canada. (Though my roots are in county Sligo back to 1504) Nick Walsh
I am a thin average height female age 39 and doctor is concerned about heart murmer. I've had a heart murmer my whole life but doctor commented that it should have been outgrown. My mother survived a surprise aortic aneurysm 10 years ago. Should I be concerned?
47year old fit male stopped smoking since 6 months, experience erratic heart beats on days next to a night drinking viz., either whisky or brandy.Does alchohol not agree with my system? I play badminton regularly too
I'm a 34 year old woman and I've had heart palpitations on and off for two years now, I also suffer from alopecia. My G.P had prescribed Inderal which I beleive is a beta-blocker. I'm a bit concerned about the this medication. Does anyone out there know more about it?
Im a 45yr old woman have been havin palpations and skipped beat for last 4 months.have murmer but was told its harmless,iv had a lot of tests done and was told all is ok.still dont know wat the cause is and find it very scary.
hi i had heart palps and i cut out all of my caffenine and sugar and they went away. In the beginning i just cut out caffenine and i was still getting them!!! Then i relized maybe it was sugar. I tried to cut out as much sugar as possible and the palps have gone almost away. I reccomend everyone who gets palps to just try cutting out caffenine and sugar and u might be surprized they go AWAY!!! :D
Just found this website & find it reassuring so many others have my condition. I've been getting palpitations for 12 years since pregnant with my 2nd child. I've had numerous ECGs (all normal), an echocardiogram (normal), worn a 24 hour holster twice (normal) & seen 4 cardiologists-2 NHS & 2 private. Do I sound paranoid? There is apparently nothing physiologically wrong with my heart. Over the years I've had tachycardia, skipped beats & ectopic beats. I can be fine for months then they will start up for no reason. Christmas usually sets them off, probably extra stress. Triggers can be caffeine (never touch it), sudden exercise, stress, alcohol, a large meal, wearing tight clothing round the waist(why?), even laughing. Sometimes these things do not trigger it at all. For years I did no regular exercise in case it caused me to have palpitations then a cardiologist said the lack of exercise was doing me more harm than the palpitations. I am a worrier & I am a very slight build which I was told makes me more susceptible (why?). At present I have been prescribed beta blockers to take for 2 or 3 days when I have symptoms, in my opinion these simply have a placebo effect because I want to feel I am in control of my palpitations not the other way round. I was interested to hear that gas in the stomach can make it worse, I always associate this with having palpitations. My palpitations are a horrible condition because there is no cure, no treatment, no explanation for why it happens, you just have to live with it. I find it very scary & it always makes me feel panicky - it is not a good condition for someone of a worrying disposition! I shall try the hawthorn tea, I'm interested in anything that might help alleviate the symptoms.
I started haveing ectopic heartbeats around this time last year. They started atound the time of a family wedding. I visisted my GP who assured me that they were normal and not to worry about them. A few weeks later they got really bad, sometimes with no normal beat between the ectopics. My GP referred me to the hospital where I had a 48 hour monitor. The results showed that I had nine ectopic heartbeats in the 48 hour period. They were described as low grade and treatment wasnt necessary. The ectopics settled down but started up again in July of this year. I could have up to 40 a day and at the begining I had a tight feeling in my chest and throat. My GP has referred me to a cardiologist but I havent received a call yet. I used to smoke 5-6 cigarettes per day, but I gave them up two weeks ago, i, determined to stay off them. I dont drink very much, but Im over weight. I am worried and this is on my mind all the time.
i'm a 15 year old girl and i did somehing that will probably ruin my life forever, i went on a diet and i was really weak and started getting heart palpitations. I thought i was dying it was horrifying.Well, that was in February, and i will never go on another diet as long as i live, no joke. So now it's December, and i was actually doing fine and stuff and i thought they would go away. this is because my mom's friend had them when she was pregnant. once she started eating more she didnt get them anymore and hasn't had them since--over 20 years! i relly want to get rid of them and im not sure why i still get them even though im trying to eat normally now.
Hi, Just read your message and I feel very sorry for you to be so worried about the palpations. Have you discussed this with your parents? If you havent I suggest you do so and perhaps get them to arrange an appointment with your GP and have this checked out. I have done a little research on palpations and ectopic heartbeats and they are usually nothing to worry about. Anxiety and worry makes them worse. I know this is true because when I worry about them i get alot more. Try not to worry and please tell your parents. Take Care.
These things are scary but probably 95% of all palpitations are benign, and almost everyone has skipped beats, some notice them and some don't. Most arrythmias wont kill you either. The only ones which pose any threat to your life are those which arise from the ventricles and those are very very rare in people with structurally normal hearts. Skipped beats are probably PVC's - premature ventricular contractions or PAC's (the same thing arising from the atria) - they are made worse by stress, worrying, caffeine and tiredness. They wont kill you so quit worrying about them!! Medical research has found a whole host of arrhythmias and complex beats in even the most healthy subjects. If your palpitations are accompanied by fainting, dizziness or chest pain then get them checked out - otherwise try not to focus too much on each heartbeat and you will probably find they will go away
I used to suffer from palpitations when my diet was bad. Too much caffeine will cause them as can smoking & even tirdness. Apparently on the other side of the coin, people who do vigorous excercise can also experience them. Normally they are nothing to worry about & are more annoying than anything else.
Reply to Anne(annemat) I too have been having palpitations and just wore a holter monitor, still waiting for the results. It is really scary I have four kids, and when this happens I think I panic, because my mind starts going a 100 mph and I feel like I am going to pass out at the time of the palpitation. the doctors are telling me its stress so far. I went and seen another doctor and she ordered the holter. Now she wants to check and see if it is paroxysmal ventricular tachycardia. Something like that. She says it is benign but sure doesn't feel like it. My symptoms were also dminished when I wore the holter, she has me taking klonopin half in the morning and half at night, I am supposed to be taking a whole at night but I want to be able to wake up for my kids. I use to have up to 15-20 a day, but since the klonopin I am down to 3-6 a day. They are mostly at night now, when I go to lay down they start doing it. I hate that because I get scared. What is going on with our hearts?? Any comments
I don't see my message up here am I doing something wrong.
hi i have lived with heart palpitations for years. when i was in my teens they called it anxiety. in my 20's pms, now that i am 41 its been happening very often. i have diabetes and high blood pressure. i started to experience palpitations everyday 6-8 times a day in the last 6mos. i got so scared i couldn't funtion. I have seen 3 different cardiologits, had an echo done, a stress test done, and an event monitor put on for 30 days. Its a recorder, when you feel the symtoms you press the bottom and it records the pervious 2-3 minutes of heart beats. I know that they recorder the palpitations, they said they did but nothing really came out of the test. The doctor stated that the recording was skipped or missed beats followed by rapid heart beats that he felt I caused by getting scared. He stated they weren't life threatening and put me on Toprol XL 50mg once a day. Toprol is a beta blocker and is suppose to block some rhythem, but it does not work for me. If anything it made it worst. I hear that there are different types of palpitations. I have the kind that you heart skips beats and what I feel is it catching up. It feels like fluttering, it almost feels like when your eye twitches, my heart twitches, its the worst feeling in the world. I perfer to have a tooth ache for weeks then to have my heart twitch. Sometimes it happens once and sometimes it happens 3-4 in a row. Its almost like my heart is going in to convulsions. All I know is that when it happens my whole entire day falls apart. This has changed my life. I am starting to develop phobias because of it. I feel like I can't work, or go to far from home.I have changed my schedule at work because of it, I refuse to stay home alone because of it. At night I make my husband check on me while I sleep.(since he goes to bed later than I do) This has destroyed my life. I am so tired of hearing the same thing over and over again. Its not life threatening, you've lived with it this long and it hasn't killed you so what makes you think it will.One cardiologist said he reviewed my records and if the medication isn't working (toprol) there isn't much more they can do, he felt it may be PSYCHOSAMATIC,(someone please tell me what that meant)and there really wasn't a need for me to see a cardiologist anymore. Wasn't that nice! I stiil get them and I can't get no answers. If someone has any information on any other tests that I can request please let me know. Maybe different medications that might of helped someone. My kids got me this computer because they new thagt I would find people like me on line and they thought it would help. You have no clue how reading everyones viewas has made me feel a little better. Knowing that I am not the only one out there with this problem eases my mind a little.
I GOT RID OF HEART PALPITATIONS, let me tell you how. I have suffered from hypertension for 15 years and taken medication for it. For the past five years (until March) I have suffered from heart palpitations which started at a very low level and gradually increased in severity. In March I ended up with stomach problems due to another medication for another problem. In order to combat the stomach problem, I began taking aloe vera soft gels, two per day. Within 48 hours I was astonished to discover that my palpitations (20 to 40 minutes each time I would lay down) had ceased completely. A month later, I stopped the aloe vera and the palpitations immediately returned. Seven months later I stopped the aloe vera again and this time it took a full week for the palpitations to return. As long as I take the aloe vera I am mostly palpitation free. The few times I experienced palpitations with the aloe vera, I found that by taking one dose of calcium/magnesium suppliment, the palpitations would be gone. I have since encountered a stranger with similar palpitations and the aloe vera worked for her too AND she was able to stop her medication (metoperol) which was making her feel 'lousy'. Over the past months, I have suggested aloe vera to a number of people with various heart issues ALWAYS advising them to discuss it with there personal physician first. In every case they have come back to me telling me that their physician had given them the green light. So my advice here is the same. Talk to your physician about this and also refer him or her to a study on aloe vera and heart disease by Dr. OP Agarwal in 1980-1985 which is a smoking gun that has never received adequate follow up.
I have suffered from palpitations for over a year now and I just recently started taking Omega 3 tablets..your basic fish oil. I have noticed that they help my heart a lot and when i dont take it for a few days the palpitations return. Just thought I would throw that out there
For all you thirty something women out there (who don't have a heart problem and whose doctors are looking at you like you're a lunatic), and all of you who've been put on beta blockers for this stuff... I read a lot of these posts and haven't really seen anyone mention the endocrine system. If you do search on the internet you will rarely find the fact that hormone imbalances can cause palpitations. I've seen hundreds of posts from women around our age experiencing this nightmare, myself included and who have had all the heart tests in existence to no avail. Just to figure out that it's menopause related, on their own. I've been to an internest, the ER, the regular doc, and a regular OB/GYN. All of whom have told me there's absolutely nothing wrong with me, much as alot of you. I then referred myself off to a holistic M.D. , someone who does standard and alternative medicine. I have been alerted to the fact that many women can begin having pre-menopause symptoms up to 15 years before the actual event. One of the hallmarks of menopause is hormone imbalance. Also, when your endocrine system is off the least little bit, hyper or hypothyroid (these can affect your heart rate and blood pressure directly), and your adrenal glands can get tired, it's like a row of dominos. If one falls just a bit the rest react. I wanted to post, because this effect is not mentioned on alot of the general medicine websites I've seen, but endocrinologists know it to be true. If you are a woman, get your heart checked, get everything checked, then get all of your hormones checked, and your thyroid. I'll bet you come up with a better answer (unless your really have a heart problem related to disease) than being on beta blockers for the rest of your life. Also, women with endometriosis or PCOS tend to develop insulin resistance which is an issue that can cause this. Look it up on the internet, you'll see the cascade of events that precede full blown diabetes (ie. insulin resistance, can cause hypoglycemia symptoms, (palpitations)as the body reacts violently to adjust your sugar levels and the adrenal response to this can easily trigger palpitations. Go see an endocrinologist! I beg you! (after you rule out a serious heart problem of course, or even if you're not satisfied with the answer you've been given...that's it's just a nuisance - it's horrifying for anyone experiencing it!-fight for your health. Also all the mentions of taking away caffeine, and sugar and alcohol...- sensitivity to these things are indicators that you're body is no longer handling sugar as it should, insulin resistance...this is one of the first steps towards Diabetes Type II. This is why taking these things away will make the palps go away, because you are affectively lowering your insulin levels by taking away the stimulants. Caffeine also drains your systems magnesium levels, that's why magnesium helps some people normalize. It's all interconnected and it's all out there on the internet. I hope this helps someone out there as I've been through hell! Good luck to everyone!
I'm in my late 20's and first noticed irregular beats and palpitations a few years ago. but now they're becoming a lot more frequent. when they occur it feels like a heavy thump from within and I get breathless and light-headed. I've been to my GP on numerous occasions and he keeps telling me that they're panic attacks and prescribes anti depressants and tranquilizers. I've also gone to the hospital after collapsing a couple of times and was told everything is fine. The ECG which lasts only about 10 seconds failed to detect any missed beats and even the 24 hr Holter monitor also conveniently showed nothing which was probably the only day when nothing actually happened. This whole thing has me very worried as I know that there's something wrong and can't seem to get the medical attention I need. I drink but don't smoke and take regular exercise and eat quite healthily
For 5 years I had these mad so-called "oanic attacks". The weird thing was, they were rarely panic-related - one occurred upon waking up, one after "my" team had just won, etc. After years of traipsing from shrink to shrink, I was FINALLY diagnosed with Wolfe-Parkinson-White syndrome. I strongly recommend you ALL pursue this avenue while researching the cause of your palpitations.
how serious is missed heartbeat? I am 54 years have undergone by pass,hyper tensive ,diabetic .I am getting palpataions and feel missed heartbeats some times.
i am 54 year old woman who has every cardio workup and test available in the U.S. I have a GOOD, healthy heart with NO problems EXCEPT horrible palipitations most of the time; they are frightening and are sometimes brought on by nothing; however, they are brought on and worsened simply by getting up from a chair; taking a walk or going up a stairway causes these palpitations to worsen so badly that I fear I will have a heart attack...yete, my heart is healty. I DO have hypothyroid, fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue and scleroderma as well as diabetes and lichen sclerosis and a few other illnesses....NONE of them which are blamed for the palps....any suggestions at all? I dont' know how it is in Ireland, but here in the U.S. it is difficult to find a doctor to take me seriuosly regarding my fibro...I have bulging discs as well and have chronic pain from the fms and cfs and the bulding discs and do take medication for the pain....have been in the pain for ten years now.
Oh my god, thank goodness for this website.. Its so nice to know I am not alone. I have been having heart palpitations for years now and my first doctor started me on toporol xl 25mg for a couple of months.. The heart palpitations kept getting worse and worse and each time good old doc would simply up my medicene. So here I am a 25 year old female on 100mg of toporol.. Finally I went to see another doctor in the same practice.. She did all the usual tests. She immediately started weaning me off the 100mg and I was eventually on 25mg of a diuretic and 25mg of toporol.. Well that didn't do the trick either. I was starting to get really scared. These palpitations would mostly take place at night and I feel like I might die in my sleep.. I'm a nurse and I know how serious heart problems can be but no one seemed to think I should be having heart problems at 25.. Anyway I went back again with the same symptoms and she did the whole EKG and holter test, still nothing.. And of course she looked at me with that knowing eye and said its just anxiety... ANXIETY lasts for years??? Okay so she took all kinds of blood which eventually after weeks of waiting for results showed an insulin level of 91.. Doc said highest she had ever seen.. So now the heart problems are on the back burner errrr.. I mean ANXIETY.... I am now on glucophage and waiting to see what happens.. She also has thrown around the whole PCOS diagnosis, saying that all my symptoms run congruent with that disease.. And that's not all she also thinks I have a bit of sleep apnea so went and got tested last week for that.. Anyway here it is 2am and I am wide awake.. Just surfing the web to hopefully somehow diagnosis myself and maybe get a good nights sleep.. TO be continued.......
Hey Jennifee(cvc49440) How did the test come back? I am 42 and for years the doctor told me that my palpitations was Anxiety Too. I hope that things have gotten better for you. Remember you are not alone.
Follow up to my last post: I continute to follow the diet routine that I outlined. I have added one ingredient.. Mangosteen juice. I take 1.5 ounces three times a day. I have noticed that I am more relaxed and have more energy and feel pretty much normal 99% of the time. Since that last posting I have lost 50 lbs. and my blood pressure has gone from 145/105 to 115/66. I feel very good. I continue to eliminate sugars and other hi glycemic foods. The only time I feel palps now is if I get overwhelmed with stressful work... ie all piled up on me at once. For that I have learned to relax and meditate. Cheers, Nick.
Hi, thank god i saw this website, its made me feel a lot better to know that i am not alone......I am 37, i started getting palpitations a few months ago, i get them at night, but at that time, i was on a realy unhealthy diet, lots of salt etc, and eating late at night about 9.30pm and going straight to bed, tne palpitations really un nerved me and i saw the doctor the next day, pulse etc heart was fine....but my bp was about 140/90 which they said is high.....i am trying to lose weight, have changed my diet to a healthy one, now they are saying i might have diabetes, i am going for a glucose tolerance test next week, if i do have it, they'll prob say its coz of that......since i changed my lifestyle a bit, i didnt get them as much but each night i get anxious and worry about going to sleep in case i get them, i researched the net and found all my symptoms under PANIC ATTACKS too, but its still scary, i went to my doc again and he said he'll refer me to a cardiologist and they can do a 24hr ecg coz i get it at night.....can i ask anyone, i heard taking black seed oil capsules are beneficial for all health...any truth in that? also i am taking cetirizine the antihistamine for chronic urticaria 10mg a day i have been taking this for 5 years, i heard this can cause palpitations but my doc said, if it was fine for 5 years why would it cause palps now? i am soo confused, i asked him if me thinking about it all the time and being worried would cause palps and he said no, anyway gonna wait for my glucose tolerance test now....this site has helped though.....
Last week was very scary, I had constant palpitations for 4 days, and all of a sudden one morning I found they had gone! I had taken 3 tablets of a herbal supplement called Amoryn for a while, when I increased it to 4 tablets a day, after the third day I got these palpitations. So I instantly went back down to taking 3 a day again. I don't know if it had anything to do with Amoryn, but after 4 days of my heart constantly missing every fourth beat, I got quite scared. I didn't go to the gp because I thought like the rest of us it's anxiety related? I contacted the manufacturer of Amoryn twice, but didn't get a reply yet. Palpitations are not mentioned among the side effects, which are rare anyway on this stuff. So I definitely put it down to stress and anxiety.
Can anyone tell me if they have had the following symptons. I have had Ectopic Beats for years but the last 6 weeks I have had them continuosly. Spent 16hrs in hospital with every regular beat followed by an ectopic. Sent home to take propanalol, I am no better & am worried sick as I am to the States in 3 weeks. Hospital say to go but I feel terrible. As I type this my heart is all over the place. PLEASE HELP
Hi Jen, I did the propanolol medication back in 2003. Ectopics are a nuisance and are very frightening when you first get them. I moved Propafenone (Rhythmol) in 2005 and improved substantially. I continued to explore all avenues for this problem. Here is a clip from my last post: ------------------ I continute to follow the diet routine that I outlined. I have added one ingredient.. Mangosteen juice. I take 1.5 ounces three times a day. I have noticed that I am more relaxed and have....my blood pressure has gone from 145/105 to 115/66. I feel very good. ------------------ Lately, I have been feeling fantastic! My BP is holding at 115/66. My increased sense of relaxation is due to the juice (Xango) that I drink. This fact made me curious. I have studied the juice to see why this is happening. Many studies at Pubmed.com and in the New England Journal of Medicine are now pointing to Mangosteen's intense anti-inflammatory properties. When you eliminate inflammation, you eliminate the root cause of many health problems. I feel like I did when I was 20 years old. And I'm never going back! Nick.
Hello Jen and all, Your question on ectopic beats caught my interest. First of all, it is helpful to know what ectopic beats are and what causes them. I suggest you check out the following references: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cardiac_ectopy http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arrythmia#Origin_of_impulse http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sympathetic_nervous_system http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hypoxia_%28medical%29 What worked for me with PVC type palpitations was aloe vera softgels (do NOT use the dry form in capsules - it can be dangerous). What might make them worth a try is that if you take a couple a day, you should know within a few days whether they are going to work or not. They can have an extremely beneficial effect on the heart, some panic syndromes, and are dirt cheap. The second thing you might try is CoQ10 that has also been mentioned a number of times on this forum. It is extremely expensive, so you might want to get a small quantity of low potency to try and take about 150mg a day for a few days and see if that helps. I view both of these as extremely safe supplements, but you might want to run them by your physician. Another supplement that might prove helpful to try is Korean Red Ginseng, simply because it can increase the supply of nitric oxide to the heart. Also try to take the time to read through all the other posts here AND on the original heart palpitations thread: http://www.irishhealth.com/index.html?level=4§ion=&7&id=4144 You never know where you might find just the helpful information you are looking for. I am convinced that widespread heart palpitations, like metabolic syndrome, are unique to our modern age and have their roots in contemporary stress situations which are unlike man has ever faced in the past coupled with the unique array of neurotoxins and vascular irritants that are ubiquitous in our modern day environment. Fortunately action is being taken to eliminate or at least reduce some of these toxins (mercury, lead, and tobacco emmissions to name a few.) Thus our children may escape some of the health nightmares that our own generation has had to cope with. In any case, I wish all of you the best and pray that you all find solutions to the palpitation issues you are dealing with. -George
I would be cautious about using red ginseng at this point. The danger is that is that we don't know the cause of Jen's palps. As George suggests, palps could be caused by a range of different things. It could be different for each one of us. If Jen's palps are inflammation-related, then adding ginseng could worsen the problem. Recent studies at NEJM suggest that one of the syndroms causing this is that with inflammation rampant in our systems, the heart muscle is altered... allowing the flood of calcium ions through the muscle barrier. When this happens, you are bound to get a disturbance in the electrical activity. This is why doctors sometimes prescribe calcium channel blockers! But think of logic our medical system uses. Their paradigm is so entrenched in "symptom suppression" that they would seek to block the calcium channel AS OPPOSED TO STOPPING THE CONDITION THAT CREATED THE EXCESS FLOW OF CALCIUM!!! It is in no one's best interest that your condtion is fixed.....EXCEPT YOURS!! Remember, the pharmaceutical industry is the brother devil to oil industry. The only way they survive is if you are dependent upon them. Think it though folks... Nick.
Hello Nick, Now you REALLY have me interested in Mangosteen. I have heard good things about it and not much negative in the past. But I really have not looked over the studies on Pubmed. I absolutely agree with you concerning inflammation. There are two rather interesting substances in the body that can contribute to a whole range of ailments if their balance gets out of wack. They are PDE-4 and PDE-5. PDE-4 is a mediator of inflammation. If you inhibit PDE-4, which it sounds like mangosteen might do, you literally break the inflammation process. PDE-5 is a mediator of nitric oxide, a transient but essential substance in the body. If you inhibit PDE-5, you increase nitric oxide activity which nourishes tissue, softens hardened arteries in the process and lowers blood pressure. It really sounds like mangosteen might be working on that level as well. This is all very interesting. I have to look into it!
Hi Nick & George, I am very grateful for your comments & suggestions. I have long since thought that the root cause of palps are ignored as we are pumped full of beta blockers etc. I intend to try the juice & already have the aloe vera. One thing that has greatly interested me is youspeak of inflammation. i suffer from Sjogrens Syndrome with a touch of Lupus for which I take 200mg of hydroxychloroquine daily. I am now wondering if this disease is causing me inflammation. Any thoughts? Jen
Hi Jen, You are wise to follow this tact. I've only just got here after nearly four years of suffering and researching all available information. My personal doctor here even takes research from me as he can't possible keep up the pace with all he has to do. Inflammation and lupus and fybromyalgia are absolutely related. Here are some research clips: "As scientists delve deeper into the fundamental causes of illnesses, they are starting to see links to an age-old immunological defense mechanism called inflammation... Hardly a week goes by without the publication of yet another study uncovering a new way that chronic inflammation does harm to the body..." - Time Magazine, February 2004 . Mangosteen: Natural Remedy for Chronic Inflammatory Diseases Natural herbal remedies can effectively inhibit the inflammatory process safely and powerfully and offer alternatives to synthetic, anti-inflammatory drugs. Mangosteen is one of these natural, powerful and safe remedies. Mangosteen is a potent, selective COX-2 inhibitor with none of the side effects that come with typical anti-inflammatory synthetic drugs. The Xanthones in the Mangosteen act as powerful anti-inflammatory agents that do not cause liver or kidney damage. The Mangosteen Xanthone, gamma-mangostin, found in the pericarp of the fruit, acts as a selective COX-2 inhibitor. Mangosteen reduces inflammation in every cell in the body, and each of the trillions of cells in the human body will be positively affected in a powerful way by the Xanthones in the Mangosteen. Chronic diseases evolve slowly and often silently over relatively long periods of time. By the time physical symptoms or signs are felt or seen, serious and sometimes irreparable tissue damage may already have occurred. Immediate or short-term benefits will rarely be seen in these chronic conditions when Mangosteen is used. But relief from symptoms may occur in a few days when inflammation is the principal causative factor as in most types of arthritis, muscle pains or stomach conditions. In chronic illnesses, significant changes can occur in two to three months of Mangosteen use. Many Mangosteen users, however, can experience benefits in two to three weeks. And here's a great story on Lupus: http://22.214.171.124/lupus.htm Beware that not all mangosteen juices are created equal. The real value in the juice is from the ride. The juice must be from the whole fruit, and it must be sufficiently ground so that it can enter the human digestive system. If you want more research.. contact me. [email protected] Nick.
Alright, so here's my situation, and it SUCKS by the way!! I'm 29, yep, TWENTY-NINE, and this stuff started at the end of this past January (still 28 for several more months at that time). I was driving home late one night after visiting a friend 3 hours away from me - drove there, we had a few beers and chicken wings, then I made the drive back home. Drank a lot of caffeine on the way back home to keep myself awake as it was 1 a.m. when I left my friend (note - I'd never had a problem w/ caffeine or alcohol before). When I got into the edge of town, ALMOST home, my heart started pounding & racing out of nowhere! I thought I was in major trouble! After it was over, I felt exhausted when I got home. Many people told me it was a "panic attack". Anyway, between then and the beginning of March, it happened 2 more times. After the 3rd one, I shut down! Quit work, quit school, and basically my functioning as a normal person continued to diminish. I went for all kinds of tests, & supposedly I'm alright (although I still question the "normal" abnormal ekg I have). Doctors keep telling me not to worry, but ever since a few days after that last episode, I've been getting those stupid skips. They've diagnosed it as infrequent pvc's, infrequent pac's, rare ventricular couplets, and occasional atrial couplets. Oh, & frequent sinus tachycardia. But they're telling me "not to worry", "it's anxiety", "you just need to learn to live with it", "ignore it", etc. Of course, I'm sure many of you can sympathize with the fact that I find it completely inacceptable when they say it's a benign annoyance. Annoyance is grossly understated. Anyway, because I am so small (5'7", and varying between a little over 100 lbs. to 115 lbs.) and have such low bp (100/60 to 90/60 on a pretty constant basis), they don't want to try beta blockers. I'd gotten so desperate that I actually requested this be tried, but they don't want to. In my quest for things I can do to help msyelf, I ran across someone who said that he described his experience as very similar to mine (with the exception that the depression didn't really set in for him like it did for me when these things started and persisted). He told me that after his doctor reassured him that his skips weren't a problem, he decided to do research on things he could do to ease or eliminate them. He said that he started on daily use of vitamin C & fish oil, and that within days he noticed an improvement from the vitamin C & within weeks he noticed improvement from the fish oil. He went on to explain that he's been almost totally free of the skips (one or two here and there if he forgets the vitamin C) for months now. I was wondering if anyone else has heard any new positive information on the use of fish oil &/or vitamin C for these things? I'm desperate, & would like to get more information & try some things like this if they are PROVEN safe or have a very good track record, & aren't likely to make things worse. I'm very skeptical because my trust has been knocked down continually since all of this began, due to doctors & others urging me that the anxiety & depression is the cause of this instead of the other way around & convincing me to try antidepressants. That was a joke, because they all made things WORSE & made me feel other awful stuff in addition to this nightmarish stuff. I don't want to just arbitrarily start taking many different supplements without knowing enough about them &/or running it by doctors who have information about it (although I won't listen to them now about antidepressants, those things just seem more like antagonists of all sorts of trouble rather than relief for anything). Anyway, long story short, if anyone has anymore information on fish oil & vitamin C, please PLEASE by all means post away! I've been told that supplements of magnesium &/or calcium work great for some people, but don't you have to be deficient in one or the other (or both) before you start taking those specific supplements? I'm very cautious, maybe overly cautious sometimes, I guess because I've also been told that too much of a good thing can be a bad thing (like vitamins &/or herbs), but I've always been a worrier ever since I was a little girl so what can I say?
April, We all know exactly what you are going through. It sucks! Once you get that first or second attack it becomes paralyzing. If you are like I was, you can think of nothing else! I was afraid to go to sleep at night. I have beaten it though. After nearly four years of research and experimentation (no thanks to the doctors!) I have pretty much eliminated all signs of it. I might get the odd skip ... maybe once a month. I am not saying your causes are the same as mine. I can only relate to what I found. Fish oil and vitamin C help... but .. they are help only because they are addressing some of the underlying causal factors. I believe the main cause of this syndrome to be INFLAMMATION in the body. We all have it in one degree or another. Vitamin C and Fish oil work to reduce inflammation. They are fairly strong anti-oxidants and will act to remove free radicals from your system. Free radicals cause the inflammation. Inflammantion in your chest and in or around the cardiac muscle does a couple of things. First it puts pressure on the vagus nerve. You might find that if you twist a certain way, you can trigger palps. Secondly it changes the properties of the calcium channel, allowing calcium ions to flood in. Normally this is regulated by your body's natural processes. When calcilum floods into the heart muscle you will get arythmia and possible AFib or PVCs. The typical approach of Allopathic Physicians (traditional doctors) is to treat the symptom. Hence, they will prescribe something to make the symptom go away. Ie... blood thinners, anxiety drugs, heart regulators... etc... This should concern you. It means that the underlying condition that created the symptom is still there. My ultimate conclusion was to relieve the inmflammantion. My research lead me to the fruit of the Mangosteen plant. Xanthones found in the fruit are the most potent natural anti-inflammatory agents anywhere. There are many mangosteen juices on the market, but there is only one that uses the entire mangosteen plant .. including the pericarp of the fruit where all of the xanthones are located. This juice is called Xango. I highly recommend you find a distributor of the stuff in your area and try it for two months. Print this message off and take it to your doctor. He/she will understand and explain in medical terms what is possible. Nick [email protected]
Hello April. First of all, my advice is to quit both the alchoholic stuff and the caffinated stuff since both can contribute to your problem. The racing heart is known as tachycardia and is not usually dangerous. There are actually other drugs than beta blockers that tend to stabilize the heartbeat that do not tend to lower blood pressure as much (I am thinking of certain classes of calcium channel blockers), so I am surprised that option wasn't considered. But in answer to your questions, both Vitamin C and fish oil are quite safe in my opinion for use as long term supplements, but I am not a medical doctor, so I would advise you to consult you doc on this. Cod liver oil is NOT the same as fish oil and is not safe as a long term supplement. In any case do try to find a fish oil supplement that is guaranteed free of any heavy metal contamination as that would simply make matters worse. Also very healthy for the heart are aloe vera soft gels (they also help your stomach handle the extra vitamin C), Coenzyme Q10, and Lysine, all of which I believe to be safe for most otherwise healthy people. Aloe vera softgels alone killed my heart palpitations within 24hrs and I have been taking two a day for the past 18 months. I am just starting with 4g a day of vitamin C and 3g a day of Lysine which were highly recommended by Linus Pauling for all sorts of cardiovascular problems. He personally believed vitamin C to be the most important cardiovascular nutrient and he believed large amounts of lysine capable of disolving vascular plaque. Well, in any case, best of health to you!
George, I believe that Linus was partially right about Vitamin C ... but for the wrong reasons. He did not have the benifit of the vast research we now have. It was the potent anit-oxidant properties of C that was getting the results. In his day, there was no other available source known that was is such concentrated quantities. The ascorbic acid content would also be very high... and this could cause other problems... including high blood/urea content and higher propesity to arthritic joints. This is why I am more comfortable with mangosteen (garcinia mangostana) and it's xanthones. You get the anti-oxidant effects...and anti-inflammatory effects at the same time. I genuinely beleive that this botanical is going to become the most importan health discovery of this century. Nick.
Nick, while you are certainly correct that Vitamin C is a powerful antioxidant, and that, in fact, there are now known to be better and safer antioxidants, the reality is, antioxication capabilities are only part of the vitamin C story. The relationship between Vitamin C and vascular health is rather complicated, involving nitric oxide issues and other more exotic degenerative processes. I think one of the biggest challenges in control of vitamin C therapy is the fact that it is readily absorbed into the bloodstream and then just as readily excreted in the urine. I think the solution to that problem lies in the new time release vitamin C products just now coming online, and I would recommend them for this purpose. I am using Mangosteen and highly value its benefits. I also will continue to use vitamin C.
I have noticed a great deal of difference when I take fish oils. But to comment on Nick's reply about Inflammation..I have asthma and when something triggers it, i get palpitaions. Though once in a while it just seems to happen on its own. I just try and relax, not thinkg about it and it eventually goes away after about and hour or so.
Here's the kicker, everyone. I DO NOT drink consume ANY caffeine anymore, stopped that back in January. DO NOT consume ANY alcohol, stopped that back in March. Take in relatively little sugar, although maybe I'm still consuming more of it than I should without my awareness just because of the natural content of it in different foods. I don't smoke, and don't do drugs. I made the STUPID mistake of experimenting with ecstasy back in my earlier 20's, but the last time I touched it was over 4 years ago, and all of the doctors are telling me that that supposedly has nothing to do with what's going on now. I'm more inclined to believe them a little bit more at least on that aspect since I had a short run of this stuff when I was 13. But doctors at that time attributed it to growth spurts and changing hormones of puberty, and it went away rather fast. But they never said anything about an abnormal ekg either! I got so upset about them telling me my ekg is abnormal now, that I requested a copy of it to be sent to me so that I could see exactly what they meant by abnormal. It says "nonspecific ST-T wave abnormalities", which SUPPOSEDLY isn't a concern or problem. But still, I hear the word "abnormal" about a screening tool for the heart, and it sends me into space with worry. On top of them teling me about the premature beats AND the couplets! And I'm terrified now that because they found couplets, that makes me more likely to get vent. tachycardia. All of this is terrifying to me, like some nightmare that I can't get out of. I want to try the fish oil, but I'm half scared to because supposedly people who've experienced or who are likely to experience vent. tachycardia probably shouldn't use it. That's what I've read from af few different websites. But then I read all these other sites about how helpful it is at regulating rhythm and DECREASING likelihood of developing that kind of tachycardia. I just don't know, but I desperately need some kind of help in all of this. It has me seriously depressed. And I refuse to take anymore antidepressants for the depression it's caused, because those stupid drugs made it worse. They're wretched drugs!!
Fact: Omega-6 fatty acids are pro-inflammatory. Fact: Omega-3 fatty acids found in fish oils are anti-inflamatory.
April, you are wise to reason it out like you are. You are right on with your idea about fish oil. It tiggered me terribly in 2004 when I was really suffering. You should go to your doctor and ask for a CRP (C Reactive protein) test. It is cheap and easy to do. Get them to tell you what your score is. I am guessing that your score will be in excess of 10. Normal would be 2. Some people go as high as 90. the test should take only a day or two. CRP will determin if you have inflammation. I drink my Xango Juice every day now and I don't get any problems. I've actually never felt better. Nick [email protected]
I have found that losing a bit of weight and giving up caffeine has helped, I see people talking about vitamin c....how about having natural vitamin c ie like a kiwi fruit a day (one kiwi fruit exceeds the daily requirement of vitamin c) would that not help better than taking supplements?
George, You are exactly right on. And that is what I experience back in 2004.... before I knew that. I am convinced that at least MY condition is related to inflammation. Others may differ. Nick.
The important thing to remember about Vitamin C is that taking conventional Vitamin C supplements results in momentarily saturating the blood with Vitamin C. That may not be a totally good thing. I think it is far safer to go for one of the new 8hr time release Vitamin C formulas (I found one at Walgreens) and that way you can take a gram or two and have the does spread over an 8hr period, giving the body plenty of time to process it, and not overloading the kidneys with it. It has also been suggested that traditional mega doses of Vitamin C might have a rebound effect, in other words they might trigger the body to actually dump Vitamin C resulting in an even more severe deficiency of vitamin C in the body. The time release approach more closely approximates what happens when the body absorbs C gradually as food is digested and thus seems a far better approach to me if one decides to take C.
RE: 26/3. After fighting to get the proper medical attention for almost 2 years, abnormalities were detected during an overnight stay in hospital. I'm now on Bisoprolol (B blockers) for the past couple of months but find find that while the symptoms are continuing, they're not quite as bad as before. Yet I'm still living in fear and discomfort most of the time, and STILL getting told it's just anxiety by many people. It causes anxiety, not the other way around
HI..I am a 33 yr old mom of 3, I am healthy, 5"2' and weigh 155lbs. I guess I am slightly overweight but not fat. My heart palps started when I was in my last month of pregnancy with kid #3. When I went to the OBGYN she gave me some Iron becasue I was slightly anemic (sp?). That helped some but they were still accurring and they would only happen when I was asleep. I would wake up w at around 2AM with my heart racing like I was having a night mare or something and it felt like every nerve in my body was shaking.... It was very scary. After my 3rd was finaly born they did not happen for almost a month or two and them bam! here they came again ...at least 4 to 5 nights a week. And of course I couldn't get any sleep both due to the baby waking at night and the heart palps scaring me awake. My son is now 8 months old and I continue to have the heart "poundings" as I call it. They stilll only happen when I'm asleep and they wake me anywhere between 1:30AM and 3:00 AM. I went to my regualr GP and told her what was happening. She asked me if I had ever suffered from Anxiety...I told her yes but many years ago and it was from an abusive ex- husband. It has now been 7 years and I no longer get these feelings that coused the anxiety. So she scuffed it off as depression and or anxiety. ( I knew that she might do that) So went to another doctor and he too gave the the ol depression test and said I was on the boarder of being depressed ( how else are you going to feel if you can't sleep for days because your heart wont quit waking you up) But he also recomended I take some anti- depressents...Of course I know what depression is...I went thru it before I know what the signs and symtoms feel like. I This is my body you know. I did not get on antidepressants.... But any ways I really get tired of Doctors who streight away think your mental if you have heart palps and no tests show them anything different. I mean if a man complians of heart papls they assume heartattack or heart problems...with women they think depression or panic attacks...why is that? Needless to say I have yet to find a cure...but I have redused stressors.... and my diet has improved over the past few months.The papls only happen a couple times a week and more often at times. I have kept a journal to try to figure out the triggers... I know that being tired seems to make them happen more often and also right before my period. I Don't know what tests to ask another Doctor for... can any one suggest a test or blood work that might help if it's hormone related??? By the way I have low blood pressure and my doctor says to eat more salt....can low blood pressure cause the Palps??? Sleepy Girl, U.S. V.I.
Hi everyone, just to update you on my situation. My GP thinks that my palps are related to a problem with the vagus nerve as I have more than one sympton that can be connected to this very important nerve. He has referred me to a neurologist but I will have to wait a while. My symptoms apart from the palps are severe sweating, teeth grinding, nausea, larynx sounds a bit funny on occasions. Apparently these symptoms may suggest a vagus nerve probelm. Anyone else out there had a similar experience?
Well I have had palpitations off an on for years...but they seem to come and go under stress !!...I get an EKG's every year from my Dr and they always come back ok !! I have noticed that when my back is giving me problems or a sudden back pain from lefting...which back problems run in my family....this will bring on the palps...somedays I don't have any but when I do,,,the biggest thing is it runs my Anxiety level up...then I feel weak and very tired...my Dr has me on zanax...and this really seems to help....I will uasally take 1/2 of a zanax twice a day and this will really help keep my stress level down and usally stop the pulps. Bottom line from reading other acticles..STRESS STRESS STRESS doesn't help...and for years now I drink only decaf coffee, sugar free drinks...and about 3 to 4 bottles of water a day...and last but not least plenty of SLEEP !! I just hate the way it make you feels after a palp attack...if its in the morning...im usally tired and weak for the rest of the day...but I guess we just have to learn how to deal with it and not keep thinking of it all the time...that is the biggest problem with most people worring about the next one which my not acure for days !!
hi i'm lachlan i'm only 15 i've had palpitations for a less than a month my doctor says i have arythmia but it seems more serious to me he said it was anxiety but i have trouble breathing chest pain dizziness paklpitations and i was wondering if other suffers of arythmia also have these symtoms there very uncomfotable and i dont no if i shpuld be worried thanx Lachlan
George I have searched for Aloe Vera softgels but can't seem to find any. There is liquid, there is powdered aloe in capsules but I can't find any softgels. Can you point me in the right direction? also, why is the dry from dangerous? thanks
Paul, I don't know where you would find Aloe Soft Gels in Ireland, but if you have the type of store where they sell supplements, you should be able to find someone knowledgeable thereabouts who can help you out. It is important to use the soft gel form because the liquid form has many of the beneficial substances removed due to their foul taste. The capsules containing the dry stuff are made from a different part of the plant. Their contents consist of the latex portion of the plant which has the effect of being an extremely harsh laxative which I am sure is not what you are looking for. Here in the US the soft gels are made by a number of competing manufacturers and are actually standardized so that they are all the same and are interchangeable. If you can find them, try to get a small amount, because you should know within a few days whether they will help you or not. One possibility for obtaining them if all else fails might be to attempt to order them from the US. I would recommend iherb in Los Angeles California. Here are the relavent links: http://www.iherb.com/store/Info/Shipping/Ireland.aspx http://www.iherb.com/store/ProductDetails.aspx?c=Herbs&pid=NOW-03036 - George
i recently just started having palpitations after exercising every day, but before that i did like nothing. is it true that my body is adjusting and that this will pass
Wow. I can't tell you how much better I feel reading these posts. I have felt so alone and so scared, I can't even tell you. I've been suffering from random palpitations since April 2005, and they occur mostly at night. Of course I am completely terrified to sleep, because I'm afraid of dying! It seriously feels like I'm having a heart attack. I have a Dr. appt tomorrow to check it out. I dismissed them initially as anxiety, but as they are becoming more frequent, I just need to know what is going on (though it sounds like the Dr's haven't exactly been helpful). I am going to look for those aloe vera gels. I hope to god they work, because I truly feel like I am losing my mind. I am irritable and exhausted from not sleeping due to this problem. I am so scared for my life. - Oh yeah, and it doesn't help that yesterday i heard on the radio an ad for organ donors where the recepient was saying how he suffered from arrhythmia and needed a heart transplant!!!!!!! But thanks for all the tips, Nick & George. I hope something works for me! (I hope the gels are availale in Canada).
when i was 12yrs old the doctor prescribed me a tablet called verapamil as he said i had heart palpitations through the years my body must have got used to them and when i was 26yrs old i had to go back and tell them that they were not working ,that i was taking palpitations about 4 times a day it didnt worry me as i could stop them myself .today i am 36 and i am on rythmedan retard but the only trouble is that when i take my palpitations i have to go to hospital as they dont stop by themself.since my last episode which was a couple of months ago my left arm has been very week .ive made an appointment with my doctor.so thats my story so far . x
I have been reading all the posts on this page and still have yet to find anyone with my symptoms, I feel like I am all alone or crazy. Im 32 years old and have had heart palpitations for years but in the last 2 weeks I have had them several times a day and it seems to be followed by burping which makes it feel better for a few mins but then they continue. Its driving me crazy! I am on Nexium for GERD but I am not sure if indigestion or gas can cause heart palpitations. I just recently had a Test done on my heart and was told it was normal but I really feel something is wrong. The palpitations feel like a thump in my chest and its very scary. Has anyone heard of Palpitations caused by indigestion or gas? Thanks Sandy
Sahndra, You might be surprised to find out how may folks experience palpitations as a result of gas. My research indicates that with a significant amount of silent inflammation inside our bodies, any increased pressure will stress the heart. You can easily find out if you are in this category by going to you health care clinic or doctor and asking for a CRP blood test. This is a test for \"C-Reactive Protein\". It should normally come back in the range of 2 - 3. If your CRP is 40 or 50 or higher, then you have an inflammation problem. Sleep experts will tell you that if you lay on your left side at night an then experience palpitations it is because the lungs are pressuring the heart. This is true, but it is exacerbated by the fact that there is inflammation in the system. Go find out if you even have a problem with inflammation. Get the CRP test done. Its cheap and fast. Nick.
Nick, is this what the Aloe Vera gels help with? Went to my Dr yesterday...told me it's anxiety. I'm still going to try those gels though. I hope they work! Steph
Steph, The aloe Soft gels are much as George describes. They seem to act to calm the stomach. I suspect they reduce inflammation in the lower bowels as well. As for anxiety... that is a difficult condition to study. I know that as I got older I tended to have more anxiety. I know that in recent years I moved jobs and this required me to commute over a very busy bridge. I don't consider myself claustrophobic and I don't see myself as one who would have anxiety. However, the doctor told me that I show all of the symptoms of anxiety. This prompted me to study it, along with other things, that might lead to palpitations. Again, I found that once I started consuming mangosteen juice my anxiety vanished. I attended a meeting in Seattle, WA where a Doctor Stone gave a testimonial session on the use of mangosteen. I am convinced that this juice has some pretty amazing properties. Dr. Stone specializes in Post Traumatic Stress disorders and now uses the juice on his patients. There is only one brand of mangosteen that seems to be effective though, so you need to do your research. Nick.
For those posting who are struggling with palpitations, there are a number of us out here who have managed to get rid of the palpitations through the use of supplements. Obviously there are a number of things that can cause palpitations and no one supplement is going to work for everybody. So I really encourage all of you to carefully read down these heart palp threads and observe the sorts of things that have worked for different people and 1) make a list of those things, 2) check with your doctor as to any risks that might be associated with using those things, especially if you are on any prescription medication, and 3) buy as small a quantity as possible of each in sequence and give it a try. Most of these things are simple and inexpensive, beware of 'patent'' 'elixers' that promise 'miracle' cures and cost a king's ransom. Also, be aware that in terms of inflammation, there is a lot of new research going on. I would highly recommend a book entitled "You and your diet" by Dr. Michael F. Roizen of University of Chicago and Cleveland Clinic and Dr. Mehmet C. Oz of New York Presbyterian Hospital - Columbia Medical Center. I deals with understanding and overcoming systemic inflammation caused by diet and exercise issues that end up causing damage to all of the organs including the heart. It is an exciting presentation of cutting edge research written in a way that is easily digested and practical. - George
Oops! The name of that book is "You: On a Diet", I think I got it wrong in my previous post. PS- Editors, feel free to simply correct the previous post and delete this one.
Hello... I had the scariest thing happen to my heart a few nights ago... Out of nowhere, my heart started skipping beats for long periods of time. I experienced lightheadedness and thought I was going to pass out. The entire episode lasted for about 5 minutes straight... and in moments I thought I was going to die. During that time, my heart would beat normally for 3-5 beats and then, suddenly my heart wouldn't beat at all for 2-3 seconds. Rather than call 911, I called a friend (she has a set of keys to my appartment and so I thought if anything happened to me while I was on the phone with her, she could always come to my rescue). Anyway, she told me that she experienced the same thing several years ago when visiting family in Denmark. Like me, the entire incident lasted about 5 minutes. She was a cigarette smoker at the time and after speaking with her doctor about it, he mentioned that her smoking was the cause of the palpitations. Anyway, I, too, am a smoker, and have recently smoked more cigarettes than I usually do. No, I'm not under any sort of stress and know for sure that I wasn't having an anxiety/panic attack (I used to get them years ago, and this definately wasn't one of them). Luckily, I see my doctor tomorrow... I'm sure she will tell me to quit smoking. I've cut down immensely since the incident with my heart a few days ago - which I know isn't good enough - I need to quit altogether! At any rate, over these last few days following the incident, my heart will occassionally skip a beat or two, but nothing severe compared to 3 nights ago. I am 45 years old, and always pass my general physical exams with flying colors. Anyway, I will let you all know what happens after my visit with the doctor tomorrow. All the very best to you all!
Naima, You absolutely MUST quite smoking. If you are 45 and have smoked for two years or more your arteries and your heart is at risk. The free radical damage done by the smoke is what enables cholesterol to mix with other things... like calcium ... to form plaque and stick to the artery walls. Without the free radical damage cholesterol is harmless. In fact, you need cholesterol to lubricate the joints. If you don't consume it, your body will make it. I suspect that your body, at 45, is beginning to show signs of this accumulation of plaque. You can treat this. First you must realize that cholesterol is not the problem. Doctors like to target cholesterol with statin drugs because they do fix the issue... but a a great expense. The harmful component related to this situation is a factor called homocystein. Do your research on homocystein. You will soon find out that it is the component that enables cholesterol to become harmful. You can lower your homocystein levels by taking folic acid. That is a heck of a lot cheaper and less harmful than the statin drugs. Secondly, you can clean out your arteries of the plaque with Serrapeptase and Nattokinase. Do your due dilligence on these two. Available at all health food stores. European doctors used them to clean arteries prior to heart operations. Exercise, eat properly, don't smoke and take supplements. Take this information to your doctor, he will have to acknowledge its correctness. Nick.
Thank you Nick, for your comments... Well, yesterday I saw the doctor and had an EKG done. The results revealed some abnormal activity. I had blood tests done (one of which was a troponin test) and won't be getting the results until Thurday when I will be seeing my family doctor. Like you said, Nick, I have definately got to quit smoking (oddly, the doctor I saw yesterday said nothing about that). Well, I will let you all know what my blood tests reveal. Please wish me the best!... And thanks, again, Nick, for your advise!!! Cleaning out my arteries sounds like a great idea!
Naima, Troponin tests are primarily ordered for people who have chest pain to see if they have had a heart attack or other damage to their heart. Either a troponin I or a troponin T can be performed; usually a laboratory will offer one test or the other. The troponin test may be ordered by itself or along with other cardiac biomarkers, tests for substances such as CK, CK–MB, and myoglobin. Troponin I and troponin T tests have begun to replace CK and CK-MB tests because they are more specific for heart injury (versus skeletal muscle injury) and are elevated for a longer period of time, but many doctors still prefer to have the additional information they get by ordering more than one cardiac biomarker. The troponin test will usually be ordered when a patient first comes into the emergency room and then may be ordered again at 6 and 12 hours. The troponin test is used to help diagnose a heart attack, to detect and evaluate mild to severe heart injury, and to separate it from chest pain that may be due to other causes. In patients who have delayed getting treatment and have been having heart-related chest pain, discomfort, or other symptoms such as sweating, radiating pain in the arms, shoulders, jaw, neck, nausea, and/or lightheadedness for more than a day, the troponin test is the test of choice. This is because it will still be elevated in the blood if the symptoms were/are due to heart damage. The doctor clearly believes that the damage due to smoking has already happened. I pray that you are healthy and ok. If the news is good news, then your work begins. You must quite smoking NOW. Do your research on Serrapeptase and then start on the stuff ASAP. I hope to hear good news from you Naima. Take care... Nick.
I am not sure if anyone is aware of this, But I thought I would put it out there, When you are having palpitations COUGH! It regulates your heartbeat, sometimes you have to do it more then once but it works. Other then that, I went to the Hospital because my Palpitations got out of hand, I was given a ekg a chest x-ray and had blood work done. everything came out normal. The doctor said I was stressed, and I should follow up with my doctor. Well, I finally visited my doctor and was put On Atenolol 50 Mg. It is a medicine for blood pressure. even though I don't have high blood presure. My palpitations have almost completley stopped! I did some research on Palpitation Therapy and found that Atenolol Helps Palpitations. So I asked he to put me on it. I guess sometimes you are your own best doctor.
Hi I posted this message under another feature called Heart Palpitations (topic 2222, id 4144) and as a new poster I'm not sure how this works, there seems to be a number of people who post on both so here goes, apologies to those who saw this on the other thread. I was responding to a post by Steve on the other thread. Steve - i have just seen your post dated 20/1/2007. I am 48 years old and I have had palps for some time now, occasionally. Recently however I have begun to experience them more often and sometimes I get the momentary flutter, skipped a beat type but more frequently now I get the regular pounding in the chest type. Sometimes I get this during sex and my heart seems to pound uncontrollably. The blood must be rushing around my body and it's not going to the right place! It doesn't happen every time I have sex but more frequently recently. Do the beta blockers you take stop the palps during sex? I have a lot of anxiety and stress to deal with at the moment and I'm sure that is part of the problem. I am thinking of going to the doc to get checked again but when I mentioned the palps in the past he took my BP and listened to my heart, said it was all fine and it was all down to the anxiety. As well as during sex I get the same beating chest in confrontation situations as well. Its beginning to bug me a lot especially when it happens during sex. Does anyone else have similar experiences?
Sahndra, Be careful with Atenolol. Atenolol is used alone or in combination with other medications to treat high blood pressure. It also is used to prevent angina (chest pain) and treat heart attacks. Atenolol is in a class of medications called beta blockers. It works by slowing the heart rate and relaxing the blood vessels so the heart does not have to pump as hard. The warnings on the drug say, "Do not stop taking atenolol without talking to your doctor. Suddenly stopping atenolol may cause chest pain, heart attack, or irregular heartbeat. Your doctor will probably decrease your dose gradually." That being the case... it is used to address a problem whereby the arteries are not as relaxed and elastic as they need to be. This should be a major red flag for you. You are consuming something, and/or behaving in a way that is allowing you body to accumulate plaque. You must reverse this. See notes on Nattokinase in the above posts. Discuss this in depth with your doctor. Nick.
Just to bounce this off of some of Nick's recent posts. Re: Smoking - Smoking just does huge amounts of damage in major ways. Why all docs don't encourage smokers to quit is a mystery to me, other than perhaps that they think it is useless to try. For anybody concerned about their health in any way, smoking or rather stopping smoking, should be at the very top of the agenda. On the other hand if long term, slow suicide appeals to you then you might just be on the right track. There are lots of products out there these days to assist one in their quest to stop smoking. ASK YOUR DOCTOR DIRECTLY. SAY I NEED HELP .... etc. If he/she refuses, find another doctor. Re: Beta blockers - I have a long list of good medicines/bad medicines, and beta blockers happen to be on the bad medicine list. If that is what it takes to knock down the palps, you may have to take it. But you need to know that beta blockers do a lot of BAD things to your body. Like redistributing your bloodflow in an artificial and not necessarily healthy way. Beta blockers have been implicated in causing diabetes and a number of other health problems. I, myself, had a very bad experience with Metoprolol. another beta blocker. It caused me physical damage to my body, some of which abated when I quit the drug and some of which I carry with me to this day. So I am no fan of beta blockers. - George
I appreciate the information Nick. I will discus this with my doctor, I am only the lowest dosage so It shouldn't be to hard to get off of it, If I need to.
Hello Nick, and everybody else in the discussion group. My doctor had me have some additional tests made: A Stress test and a 24 Hour Holter Monitor. I won't find out the results for a couple of weeks. In the meantime, I have set a quit date for stopping smoking (which is the 16 of February). I had to wait that long, because I will be taking a non-nicotine medication starting one week before. I will get the prescription for that medication when I see my doctor this Thursday. Wearing the 24 hr. holter monitor made me realize how often I experience palpitations... I logged over 60 in a twenty-four hour period. It might not sound like that many, but usually they came back to back when they occured... about 5 in a row over a 5 minute period. Meanwhile, I learned that my doctor thinks I might have an arrythmias due to my EKG's being abnormal ( I have inverted T-Waves). The good thing, though, is that my blood tests turned out normal (I did them twice). So that's my update on the tests I've been taking for the incident I experienced with my heart 2 weeks ago. I'll update you again when I learn something more from my doctor. Meanwhile, I wish everybody in this discussion group the very best!
At last I have found a support group and company in this hell. Thank you all for sharing esp. Nick and George. My life has been disrupted for over a year now and I am sick of it. I too am terrified and have burnt out my many friends to stand by just in case. Many trips to the ER. Out of alot of money because of high deductible. Latest episode Jan 2 ran to local emer clinic (Dr. is my neighbor and we share horse interest) So he knows me and my situation. Get this -talk about covering all the bases. Gives me RX for hormones -Nexium- Atenolol 25mg. My heart settled down for about a week then i got chest pain and made an appt with cardiologist.Ekg shows heart is beating too slow. He said to cut the atenolol in half. Also said to have the work up done monitor stress test etc. Last year i had just recovered and was feeling wonderful after being on antidepressants zanex and talking to a counselor after having major panic attacks due to a broken relationship -death of my mother of whom i took care of for 7 years- and a hostile sibling dispute. Stress hell yeah - I would not wish panic attacks or this heart stopping and skipping and pounding on anyone except maybe the guy who posted about calling us hypochrondriacs and pschycos. Yes FEAR is our enemy and it is winning.Plus i have been widowed at 44 and i am now 57 . Living alone is not fun and i am ready to find a roomate. You all saying try not to worry about it takes a strong mind and I dont have any strength left - I pray alot and take 2 aspirin and walk at least a mile a day -sometimes it helps - also talking to my body when i lay down to relax and deep breathe one body part at a time helps at bedtime when it is the worst. BTW my mom was on atenolol for years and smoked and drank coffee and boubon and had AF and lived to 90. Genetics??? I am going to try the Aloe Vera gel caps as I believe in this miracle plant. Also i wish NICK would mention the brand of MANGOSTEEN and i will try that also. and the magnesium. Something has to give me peace. Thanks all and good luck.
Chris, I bought Mangosteen juice (I believe Nick recommended Xango) that is not Xango (it wasn't available), and believe me, it works. Within a week I noticed a difference. Interestingly, I was very sick with the flu last week and wasn't able to swallow anything more than broth or water, so wasn't able to take it. Within 3 days, the palps were back. The first day I was able, I took the Mangosteen juice, and by the 2nd day back to taking it, they had disappeared again. I feel like Nick has given my some peace in my life again, because I never would have known to try something like this. I swear it has been a miracle. I'm not saying I'll never have palps again, but it has been a month without (which is a big deal, considering I suffered to some degree EVERY day for over a year). Nick, thanks so much. Chris, try to find some at a health food store - it could very well change your life! Good luck everyone - I am so glad I found this website for the support!!! Steph
Hi Chris, I am certainly sorry to hear your predicament you are going through. One thing that helped me was the fact that this problem is NOT FATAL. I had so many episodes that after a while I was no longer scared... but rather ANGRY. I got into the phase where I decided if it's not going to kill me, then I'm going to kill it... because we just can live together! They won't let me mention commercial brands online but if you email me I'll tell you which mangosteen I found to be the best. Also, go to your health food store and get some Natokinase. It not only cleans your arteries, but also acts like aspirin to prevent clotting. Don't get overly tired. Go to bed when you still have some energy. I found that being overly tired made the night time problem worse. And most of all .. stay completely away from fish and fish oils! Get your omegas from flax. My resting pulse is 44 so I wonder if there is some connection to heart rate. I've never really databased this element of it. Nick.
Chris, I forgot to mention... be careful with the magnesium. Have you had blood work done? Magnesium and potassium much be in the proper balance. Palps are often triggered by low potassium. The western diet does not provide near enough potassium for heart health. Just google "potassium and heart palpitations" and see what you find! I found the ideal balance is available again at the health food stores in the form a mineral whey. Goat whey to be exact. Again, if you email me I will provide the supplier's name. I used to order it by the case, but so many of my friends and family are using it, my brother and I now order it by the 15 lb. bag! It's actually quite cheap. Balanced electrolytes are very important. Stress, as you probably know really knocks out your electrolytes. Nick.
I have found both Mangosteen and Nattokinase to be extremely beneficial. I use a number of different brands of Mangosteen since they all contain a different combination of peripheral ingredients. I have also found fish oil to be very beneficial as long as one checks for heavy metal contamination. So, I am wondering Nick, what is your issue with fish oil. I am also intrigued by your caution on magnesium. Are you saying that magnesium depletes potassium? If so, that would certainly change my view of magnesium. - George
Hi George, Regarding the fish oil. A friend of mine emailed me yesterday. He had visited me a month ago and we discussed many health issues. He went back to work and found two guys that he works with also had palpitations. they had been suffering palps for just over a year. He questioned them regarding their diets. He found that both of them had started on fish oil supplements that they bought from the local Costco store. He told them about my suspicions and prescribed to them my cocktail to deal with my issues. Yesterday he informed me that he was a hero around work because of the information he had given them. They both stopped fish oil immediately and because using the other stuff (aloe vera gel caps and mangosteen) primarily. Their four time a week palp episodes were gone! This is significant data in my estimation. It is two more cases that I can tie directly to the fish oil. I do not know if it is the heavy metals i the oil or the oil itself. That is the problem. I need to contract a lab to do some long term tests. In the mean time, all that is lost due to fish oil consumption can be replaced with flax. Regarding the magnesium, it is vital to your system. What is important though is its RATIO of mag to potassium. If you have too much magnesium it will inhibit the ability of potassium to transverse the fine cardiac muscle which causes the contractions... or heart beats. There is plenty of info on the net regarding ratios. So when I see people taking just magnesium, I would caution them to see their doctors, get a good blood test and find out what their ratios are. There are other factors too. Blood tests are done on an empty stomach. And not everyone absorbs nutrients at the same rate. So what if you are consuming the right stuff but your absorption is inhibited? I think it is prudent to get two blood tests. One on an empty stomach and one 2 hours after a good meal. Nick.
Nick, thanks for the speedy reply. A couple of thoughts. 1) I am wondering, specifically what brand of fish oil your friend was getting from Costco. They actually sell several different brands. I have had a palpitation problem in the past and have been using the Kirkland brand all that time. The Aloe soft gels which I have been off of for three months now stopped my palpitations and they haven't come back. Kirkland supposedly 'guarantees' their fish oil product to be free of noxious contaminants. I DON'T know about the other brands of fish oil they sell. But I DO know that some of their nutrition products have gotten an OK from Consumer Labs and/or USP and some have failed Consumer Labs testing. So I am very choosy about what I buy at Costco. But thanks anyway for the great information. 2) Great advice on the blood tests. I am currently taking a huge number of supplements in an attempt to get control on my blood pressure and working on weight loss at the same time. My doctor is concurrently doing blood work on my and follow up consults every three months. This is working out well for me. My weight is down from 185 to 160 over a couple of months and BP is dropping nicely as well. But it is interesting that you note the magnesium potassium connection. I have both, but have been neglecting the potassium, perhaps it is time to reconsider that.
George, My fish oil was definitely Kirkland brand. I will email my friend, Brad tomorrow and ask him to find out from his buddies what their brand was. In my regime I\'ve dropped my blood pressure from 145/105 to 115/66 in the past year. Potassium has a lot to do with it. I am going to paste a clip from some research I did on the stuff: Potassium is fundamentally involved in a massive amount of body processes, such as fluid balance, protein synthesis, nerve conduction, energy production, muscle contraction, sunthesis of nucleic acids and control of heartbeat. In many of its roles, potassium is opposed by sodium, and the two positive ions are jointly balanced by the negative ion, chloride. Functions of Potassium in the body * Regulates heart function * Reduces blood pressure * Essential for protein and nucleid acid synthesis * Required for normal fluid balance * Fundamental for normal nerve and muscle function * Converts glucose into glycogen (muscle fuel) * Important role in kidney function * Helps lungs eliminate carbon dioxide * Needed to maintain acid/alkali balance Potassium is an essentially \"intracellular\", positively charged ion, which is actively \"pumped\" in to the cell from surrounding extracellular fluid, whilst its opponent, sodium, is pumped out. This is not only necessary for proper fluid balance, and creates an electrical charge across the cell membrane. This is also the fundamental principle which allows nerves to conduct \"electrical\" impulses and so communicate between cells and muscles to contract. As the heart is a large muscle that is continually, rhythmically contracting, potassium is extremely important to proper heart function. Since it also controls the creation of glycogen (used by muscles for fuel) from glucose (blood sugar), it also controls the muscular fuel supply. Potassium Deficiency The first signs of potassium deficiency are tiredness and muscle weakness. Whilst these are relatively unthreateneing consequences, things can quickly get a lot worse. Severe potassium deficiency quickly leads to electrolyte imbalance which affects all muscles, nerves and numerous key body functions. Symptoms of Potassium deficiency Nerve and muscle dysfunction Water retention Heart arrythmias (rhythm disturbances, palpitations) Muscle weakness Confusion Poor kidney function Continual thirst Low blood pressure Vomiting (also increases rate of potassium loss) (End of clip.) Do a google search on Potassium magnesium balance. You will find much more. Nick.
Nick, interesting discussion! Actually I went through a bought of thirst and continual urination and I'm very convinced that it was potassium deficiency related. My blood pressure was shooting up at the same time. I was then put on a very low dose of clonazepam, a CNS depressant, which seemingly resolved the problem. A subsequent blood test indicated my potassium levels to be at the extreme low end of 'normal'. But the doctors are extremely reluctant to suggest potassium supplements because when serum potassium levels go over the high end of the normal range the consequences can be dire in terms of affect on the heart. So they are really gun shy when it comes to potassium. But I really am watching myself now and if I see even a hint of water retention, I am taking the potassium, but in my case, I could probably take more safely and be benefited by it. So thanks for the input on that. At this point I plan on taking my weight down to the 140 range since that seems to be the optimum for me at 6' according to the latest research. At that point I look for my blood pressure to drop markedly and hopefully will be able to discontinue at least some of the medications. - George
Hi everyone, I ran into a bit of research this morning that I though some of you might be interested in. Here is the story published by the BBC regarding antibiotics and heart function. Take particular note about their discussion of INFLAMMATION! They talk about inflammation and C-Reactive protein. The article confirms what I have been saying for over a year now. There is a specific link between what many of us are experiencing and inflammation. Since I have my inflammation under control, my palps are gone as well. Anyway.. it is a rather lengthy article but worth the read when you put it in context with what we've been discussion here. Here is the link: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/1840255.stm Nick.
Nick, I'm interested in what supplements you take to control your palps?
I am glad to have found this website. I am suffering with palpitations that are life altering. As I'm writing this post my heart feels as if it's coming out of my chest. I take Toprol-XL, Lipitor, Vitamin Centrum, Magnesium and Fish Oil Gel Caps. I am at my wit's end. I have been through a series of tests in the last 2 years and they come back benign. My doctors say not to worry about it--how can I not worry feeling the way that I do? I tried to email Nick to get the brand of the Xango Juice but my emails are not going through for some reason-- they are being returned as "undeliverable". When I googled Xango Juice- many websites come up. Thanks ahead for your comments.
Maria -- I've emailed Nick as well w/no response. I think Xango is just a top of the line brand name for mangosteen juice. Just FYI - I started taking Aloe Vera gel caps, 1 in the am and 1 in the pm (you can take up to 3 a day) with great results. I also take lots of magnesium and calcium and of course CoQ10. Hope this helps.
starrynights, I did get an email from Nick and he also suggested Aloe Vera capsules that I started taking. I plan to buy the XanGo Juice from their website but my daughter heard me talking about it an picked one up for me at the local health food store-- it's not the exact brand but I am already trying it. I'm guessing that it will take awhile for this to work. I am a desperate woman and trying very much to get this under control. No one understands the palpitations unless you have them yourself. These message boards are helpful to me for just the fact that other people have them too and how it effects their lives. Thanks for your reply. Maria
Hi folks, I am sorry for not getting back to you sooner. I have been working on some research projects and trying to learn UML programming at the same time. I have answered several private emails regarding this matter. My email address is [email protected] for anyone who wishes to discuss things privately. I've been researching this matter since 2003 when I first got palps and thought I was going to die! It wasn't until about a year and a half ago that I met George here online and connected with some very valuable information. As a result of all of my interactions with people over the past four years, and due to my findings and analysis of the individual circumstances surrounding people who experience palps.. I have come to some conclusions. The results that people report after they follow my personal regime, have been very encouraging. First off, I am most concerned about fish and fish products. I find a very high correlation to fish oil, tuna, salmon, mock crab, pike, halibut, sole, and a few other fishes. I find a very high correlation to fish oil supplements. Omega 3,6,9 supplements especially. The health industry won't like my opinion, but until I can prove otherwise, I am recommending to my friends that they drop all fish products immediately. Next, I have noticed a high correlation to Coral Calcium supplements. And finally, I find a high correlation to gluten rich carbohydrates. How does all this work? I researched electrolyte balances in the human body. Potassium plays a huge role in regulating the heart rhythm. Very few people get the RDA of potassium. Many folks take magnesium to stay regular. The body needs the proper balance between calcium and magnesium. And not everyone needs that same ratio. That is why multiple vitamins are NOT the answer. In fact, I found a high correlation to a particular brand of mult-vits but I won't specify here because they would be very upset. In the meantime here is my own personal regime. I cannot say it will be right for you. Everyone is different. All I can say is it stopped my palps. 1. Stop all seafood for now! 2. Stop all fish oil ASAP!! 3. Ground Flax meal - Rich in omega 3 4. Aloe Vera Gel caps. Take one three times a day. 5. Mt. Capra Mineral Whey - Perfect balance of potassium and magnesium and other electrolytes that a body needs. Most health food stores will have it or order it. You can also order it directly online. they have a website. 6. When you go to bed a night, start out on your back. Sleeping on the right side often triggers palps. 7. Use spices that reduce inflammation. Ginger, tumeric, curry. 8. Watch gluten rich carbohydrates. They cause inflammation. Balance them out over the day. 9. No red wine! Only white wine. 10. Decaf coffee only. 11. Discontinue Multi-vitamins 12. Don't get over tired. Finally, we need to deal with inflammation. If you can get your doctor to do a CRP test (C-Reactive Protein) on you, then do it. It is a very inexpensive test and can measure your propensity for inflammation. It is not the only measure and perhaps not the best measure, but it is reliable. Eat foods that reduce inflammation. The very best inflammation reducer that I have ever found is the juice that everyone has talked about. I have tried all of the brands over the past two years and the only one that works is the one I use now. I don't like the way it is sold (ie... not at health food stores... but rather by network marketers) but I have to give them they due. It works fantastically. I don't like the cost of it either, but it helped to normalize my body so that my palps would go away and it appears to have stopped my wife's arthritis as well as that of my brother. I won't push the stuff, but if anyone wants to go that route, I will provide more details in private. Over all though, I'd say most of you can beat this thing with if you follow the 12 step program above. As a side note, I have been getting reports back from a friend of mine who lives on Vancouver Island. His two friends at work both had palps for years. After Brad and I talked one weekend, he gave them my regime and they both report significant improvements in a very short time. As always, this is not meant to be medical advice and does not replace the sound advice given to you by doctors. At the same time... doctors (general practitioners) are inhibited by their lack of access to research. Unless they are Harvard researchers, they are simply not going to have the time to do the research that I do, and as a result they will not be up to speed on the latest developments in this issue. I urge each of you to do your due diligence and to learn all you can about how you body reacts to foods and to stress. Take reasoned steps toward reducing and finally eliminating your health problems. I will try very hard to respond within 24 hours to anyone who writes. Nick.
Nick, You're awesome...thanks for sharing! God Bless!
Maria, Sorry I missed your call. It got erased with all my network traffic this morning. I have called the company and cleared the way for you to order. You can call me again if you wish... I keep the line open. 604-308-5561 Nick.
Hi All, I have been doing some research this week on Aloe Vera Gel. Two years ago I was all over the inflammation connection when I discovered its effects on my palps. I would not have found this so soon if it were not for George. We owe a huge "thank you" to George! It is collaborative innovative networks like this that allow us to solve problem in the open source model. We are now closing in on the acute causes of palpitations. Doctors don't seem much interested in finding solutions since palps don't kill you or leave you disfigured. They prefer to mask the symptoms. And really, we can't blame doctors. In the big picture, the few that get palps are insignificant in the scheme of things. We are not enough in numbers to warrant tossing a lot of research money at. We, in this group, of course, see things very differently. We all just want to beat the problem. In searching the medical journals today, I found these three bits of information on Pubmed (www.pubmed.com "search Aloe Vera Gel") - and I am sifting through volumes more. Two of the articles are published clinical studies. Note the connections to both blood sugar and inflammation. ----------------------------------------------------- Antioxidant properties and PC12 cell protective effects of APS-1, a polysaccharide from Aloe vera var. chinensis. Through a combination of anion-exchange and repeated gel chromatographies, APS-1 was isolated from fresh leaves of Aloe vera L. var. chinensis (Haw.) Berger (an edible and medicinal plant widely cultivated and consumed in China) as a principal polysaccharide composed of mannose and glucose (ca. 18:5) with its molecular weight around 2.1 x 10(5). In a dose-dependent manner, APS-1 was demonstrated to be free radical scavenging in superoxide and hydroxyl radical assays, inhibitory to the copper-mediated oxidation of human low density lipoprotein (LDL), and protective against hydrogen peroxide ...could be of considerable preventive and therapeutic significance to some free radical associated health problems such as coronary heart ailments ------------------------- Abstract: Background: The herbal preparation, aloe vera, has been claimed to have anti-inflammatory effects ... Conclusion: Oral aloe vera taken for 4 weeks produced a clinical response more often than placebo; it also reduced the histological disease activity and appeared to be safe. Further evaluation of the therapeutic potential of aloe vera gel in inflammatory bowel disease is needed. ------------------------- Aloe Vera Gel and blood sugar... The genus Aloe in the family Liliaceae is a group of plants including Aloe vera (Aloe barbadensis...) ... we evaluated the anti-hyperglycemic effect of Aloe vera gel and isolated a number of compounds from the gel. On the basis of spectroscopic data, these compounds were identified as lophenol, 24-methyl-lophenol, 24-ethyl-lophenol, cycloartanol, and 24-methylene-cycloartanol. These five phytosterols were evaluated for their anti-hyperglycemic effects in type 2 diabetics. Considering the ability to reduce blood glucose in vivo, there were no differences between the five phytosterol! ...Aloe vera gel (could) have a long-term blood glucose level control effect and would be useful for the treatment of type 2 diabetes mellitus. PMID: 16819181 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE] Nick.
I WORK AT A CLINIC WHERE RECORDINGS FROM PEOPLE WEARING EVENT MONITORS ARE SENT TO, AND EVALUATED BOTH LIVE AND POST EVENT, BOTH HOLTERS, LOOPING EVENT MONITORS, AND NONLOOPING EVENT MONITORS. i SEE THOUSANDS OF THEM WEEKLY. ANY QUESTIONS ? PATRICK
Hi Patrick, This is good to know. I'd be interested in how many of the total numbers that come in to get hooked up are there due to palpitations. Of the ones who come in for palpitations, how many don't get a recorded event during the hooked up period? (Sometimes these events are quite sporadic) Of the captured events, how many went into AFIB? Did any of the AFIB people go directly to hospital? Have you noticed any patterns among the palpitation group? ie.. diet, gender, age, personal habits, stress levels etc.... AND above all... is anyone databasing this group? Nick.
Hello, I am so glad that I have found this board. I started having palps about 1 1/2 months ago and have had and EKG- normal, wore the holter monitor for 24 hours- of course I don't think I had any events while wearing it, and doctor said reported symptoms did not correspond with holter readings so he is putting me on Toprol Xl 50 mg for a couple months to see if it helps. I am also on Benicar HCT 40 for high blood pressure. I am 46, I'll admit I am overweight, but am trying to lose it via weight watchers, but frankly these palpitations are really scaring me and I am scared to do things I normally did, go to the grocery, go shopping, go up and down our stairs to do laundry, walk. I have been sleeping a lot just so I don't have to feel them and so I am not exerting my heart as I am afraid that I am going to have a heart attack. My cholesterol is and has been fine for as long as I can remember-I have it checked every year and my EKG's were normal, but I am still scared. I have read only a few of the posts in here, but it is so nice to know I am not alone. I plan to read more so I can see how you all are dealing with the palpitations. I am in hopes the Toprol will take care of it, my mom is on it because of palps she had in the hospital and she does not have them anymore, but I took my first one last nite and felt a palp this AM when I got out of bed and was so discouraged.
Hi Mary! Welcome to the group. You will find lots of support here because we have all experience what you are going through. Several of us have managed to stop the attacks. Over the years we have compared notes and talked to everyone we could find who had the same issues. Over time, one begins to see patterns. Right off the top I would ask you this: 1. Do you eat fish or fish products? 2. Do you consume fish oil supplements? 3. Do you have a diet that is more filled with refined foods than organic foods? 4. Do you take a mulit vitamin? 5. Do you drink a lot of coffee? 6. Do you take supplemental pottasium? 7. Do you take magnesium? Inflammation is, in my view, the trigger that kicks off palpitations in many people who do not have physical defects such as prolapsed mitral valve or leaky valves. You can get y our inflammation under control and you can beat this. You need to do certain things to make that happen though. If all the doctor is doing is masking your symptoms by prescribing medication, then he is not working your best interest (unless he feels that you are incabable of changing your habits - in which case he would be making the right decision). Tell us more about your situation. Nick
This is a wonderful site, thank you so much. I am needing to vent and possibly have some feed back. I am at my wits end, I have heart palpitations, fainting, and now am on a beta blocker. My doc has come to the conclusion it is "panic disorder". I can't see that, I can't go into a hot bath, when I eat too much I have palpitations, I faint mostly upon standing but if I am having what I call an episode I can be laying sitting or standing and still faint. I saw a natural path dr. he read me my blood test results and said I was low on potassium and magnesium, he read my 3 ECG's which all say abnormal sinus tachycardia with Ischemia. I was in the hospital on two different occasions with palpitations that lasted 3 or more hours. This is what happens, my hands and feet feel like someone is blowing cold air on them, then I feel a tightness/crushing feeling in my chest, still able to breath, almost like someone really strong is wrapping their arms around my chest, then or at the same time I feel nauseated, maybe abit of indigestion feeling, my back is really sore near and under my shoulder blade. then the ECG machine alarms, this all happens within seconds. My heart rate at one point dropped to 30 and then spiked to 189 BPM. They gave me a double dose of Ativan with no avail, finally gave me a beta blocker which took my HR down to 110. My blood pressure was low, it is already low normal at 110/70. when I stand from lying it drops to 70/70. I slept for 3 days after each episode. My doctor is convinced that it is panic disorder and is so sure didn't check my blood for epinephrine. (which I was told is something all Chest pain patients get this test) So with all this the beta blockers seem to have controlled the palpitations but not the faintness, I actually get dizzy now (I think it is the meds). My Natural path Dr. suspects Adrenals and took his own blood samples and hormone saliva tests. I just want to know what is wrong and fix the cause not the symptoms, I don't want to be on antidepressants as suggested by the doc. Anyone with any suggestions or ..... thanks :) PS one thing I just don't get is I am a very fit woman. I jog every day 30-45 mins... which by the way I am having a very hard time doing now, I get so exhausted! I am also soo fatigued, lost weight and have no appetite.
bkabe, You've come to the right place. What you are experiencing, many of us have experienced. Now we know what happens, tell us the details of how you got there. Lets find out what you are doing to bring this on. Read the posts from the last page or two. Tell us all about what you eat, what your lifestyle habits are. Do you have sisters or brothers? Do any of them have it? But mostly ... describe your diet ... including any supplements you take. Nick.
Nic, thank you so much. I have been having palp at night for the last few weeks or so. Regarding to your 12 steps, I have a few questions, if you can kindly answer I will appreciate. You said when you go to bed you should start out on your back. I found this difficult because on my right seem to be only position I can bear. Any other position make me feel my heart beating. I would normally start out on my right and end up palpitation and finding out I am on my back. Another thing is does this set of sugestion apply to someone with low to normal blood pressure? BTW, I have had mild aoritc valve regurgitation but doctor said it shouldn't be a problem.
Thanks for the response Nick, I am going to answer your questions to the best of my knowledge and provide some additional information. 1. Do you eat fish or fish products? Rarely, meaning perhaps eat fish once or twice per month at most. 2. Do you consume fish oil supplements? Never 3. Do you have a diet that is more filled with refined foods than organic foods? I don't eat white bread, only whole wheat, don't consume any soft drinks unless sweetened with Splenda and no caffeine, eat whole wheat pasta, do use organic sauces and veggies when I can find them and afford them. I consume a lot of Lean cuisine or Weight Watcher frozen meals since on WW and am usually by myself for most meals so cook rarely. 4. Do you take a mulit vitamin? No, only iron supplement as I am anemic 5. Do you drink a lot of coffee? Not since being on Toprol, but before, perhaps 2-4 cups per week 6. Do you take supplemental pottasium? No, potassium is checked regularly since on benicar hct so do not take a supplement, but do eat bananas and cantelope regularly. 7. Do you take magnesium? NO, just bought a bottle though! All of this started about 2 months ago and trying to remember what might have triggered it, and all I can come up with is 2 things, one I was having some severe teeth problems and was in significant pain and was trying to control it with Ibuprofen- probably consuming about 3000 mg per day for over a month and a half and I just got all my oral work completed, I had one bad abcess and a lot of gingivitus and periodontal disease- all has been taken care of in that area. The other thing is that I am perimenopausal and my hormone levels are low, but I cannot go on a hormone replacement as my mother had breast cancer at my age. As for routine and noticing the palps, well I notice them quite a bit when I first awake in the morning and after I walk or move around a lot. I get light headed as well after moving around a lot- we're not talking running, we are talking walking around the house or the local store- but this is usually only after I take my BP medicine( I have been on it for 5+ years) my family has a history or hypertension. I notice them when I lay down at night, usually more when laying on my left side or on my back- really bad when laying on my back. I did read some of the information on this board and I bought magnesium at our health store and they were out of Aloe Vera Caps, and I forgot the third one when I was there so need to go back and get the CQ10. I guess my question is, since he does have me on Toprol and I cannot just go off it because of so called effects, will the Magnesium, Aloe Vera, and CQ10 cause any problems with the benicar and the Toprol? Oh, also I do have IBS, I have read alot about digestion problems and palpitations, and since I do have IBS, of course I have digestive issues. I do use a Fiber supplement. Thanks for your help and this board.
Hi Nick, Well, to answer your questions: I have 1 sister who also experiences some palpitations, she was diagnosed with Hashimoto's disease(thyroid problems). My Mum died in her early 40's from Pulmonary Hypertension. I notice that when I eat spicy foods, refined sugar, caffeine (well any stimulants for that matter) brings on palpitations.. and I am suspecting Stevia, but all the research I did on it says it is good for you and your heart. I eat a very, clean, green, living healthy diet, I also am hypoglycemic. So I eat accordingly. I eat organic fresh fruits and veggies, I drink soy milk vs. cows milk, (anything to do with cows doesn't agree with me) I supplement my protein with Hemp protein. I also have taken Traumeel for a back injury and I think that may be a trigger as well. It is getting harder to exercise as well... I am an avid runner. I usually run every day for 30-45 mins with ease, at the same speed, same distance I am out of breath, exhausted and faint feeling. I have started walking instead of running. I had a stress test and I could barely finish it. The dr. says to me, " maybe you just need to exercise more, someone your age (34) should be able to do this with ease". "Your Heart rate is a bit hight though." ( this was after I started the beta blockers. That was devastating for me to hear, he also said that maybe I need to relax more. "maybe your and anxious person? Maybe a bit of worrier? I said that I only worry when I feel as though I am dieing! My pre med resting HR was 80-100. Post meds 60 BPM When I exercised pre meds my working out HR was 159 (I had lactic acid testing done) I was so angry that the dr. had me "pegged" as though he knew everything about me, only that was the first time I met him! I have researched and searched and and and.. I agree with the natural path dr. about adrenals and possibly anemia. I have serious PMS as well, I think that while I am ovulating is when I get the more serious, longer palpitations that end me in hospital with heart attack like symptoms. My mom also finished menopause at age 36. I am telling everything I can think, with the intention that someone out there can relate and to give hope and encouragement, not to give up, to persevere and be assertive with your health, you know your body best. Oh one more thing that the Natural path Dr. put me on: Oral EDTA Chelation therapy, it has really helped with the palpitations! The beta blockers only "controlled" them. Thanks again :)
PS..... I am not sure if I mentioned that I can not eat anything that expands in my stomach quickly IE: soluble fiber in pill form. I get palpitations then. I actually pass out as well. I have to eat little amounts every couple of hours to avoid palpitations when eating "too" much or getting too full.
I find it really a frustration when people who are experiencing physical symptoms get diagnosed by their docs with things like 'panic disorder'. Its like when the doctor can't find anything else they blame it on the patient's psyche. I know one thing for sure, a little bit of potassium supplement has really been helpful to me. I am taking about 350mg per day. RDA is around 4 grams, so this amount should be quit safe if one's potassium is low. So if you suspect you might have low potassium, ask your doc for your latest potassium numbers. Normal is 3.5 to 5.0. You NEVER want it to go into the high range, since the consequences of high potassium levels tend to be more dire than low levels, but low levels are not good either. But with supplemental potassium, you need to treat it like a drug and be very careful how much you take. This is why doctors are scared to death to suggest to anyone that they take potassium. Mine was right on 3.5 when I started taking the small amount of potassium supplement, but I suspect it was dropping at times due to other health issues.
Hi Mary Your story is so similar to mine. It was 2001 when mine started. I thought it was due to the menopause setting in as i was 48 at the time. I too am overweight had been on antihypertensives for about 4 years. So so scary. They usually lasted about an hour or 2 and then stop suddenly. I noticed that mine always happened at night especially when I was winding down or when I was asleep. Other triggers were full tummy, eating late or rich food, too much tea and of course alcohol. Also yawning , lying on my left side or bending down. To cut a long story short I went to an arrhythmia specialist and he diagnosed periods of atrial fibrillation called vagally induced paroxysmal atrial fibrillation. These were caught on an event monitor which are great things and also on holter. There is a website dedicated to vagal af and it restored my sanity. Just google vagal af portal and it very good. If you have this type of palpitation it very important not to take betablockers as they make matters worse. Eventually the tablet Rhymodan R stopped them completely. But i dont like taking medication and I am employing all the measures recommended by Nick and George. They are marvellous to keep this going and reassure people and I am particularly delighted that they recommend you consult your doctor or cardiologist. I found that definitely oily fish triggered attacks and I have my suspicions about mercury fillings. I have now had 2 replaced. I drink plenty water and I never eat a big meal or drink alcohol before going to bed. I dont know enough about the vagus nerve and its functions to understand why it triggers af but I am now off the medication and only take it at night if I get warnings like skipped beats or slowing pulse rate. Potassium was an issue for me as well because there was a diuretic in the bloodpressure tablet which depletes the potassium. So he change that to a different one. I hope this helps a little bit. Mags
BKabe, When you consume food that "fills" you, your are essentially taking up room in your abdominal cavity. If you have significant inflammation issues, this could be part of the problem. I highly recommend you see your doctor and demand a CRP test. I recommend you watch this video from pbs: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/takeonestep/heart/video-ch_09_vid.html?tos=vid&filetype=wmv&bandwidth=_hi I suspect that your CRP levels will be high. This is nothing to panic about because you can bring them down. But first you have to take the step to your doctor to find out. Nick.
I want to repeat my warning on Aloe Vera because some of you may not be getting it. There are TWO very different forms of Aloe Vera pills that are commonly available. One is the dry form which comes in capsules. This is by far the most common and well known of the two. It is a very powerful laxative. It is not helpful for palpitations, but if taken over a long term period, it will give you problems that will be so severe they will probably make you forget about your palpitations. It is actually considered by many in the medical community to be dangerous and that concern is justified. The SECOND is the wet form that comes in SOFT GELS. This is made from a completely different part of the plant than the dry form previously mentioned. This is the kind you want for palpitations. It is the only one of the two that will help palpitations and the only one of the two that is safe to take over an extended period of time. It is essentially stripped of the plants latex material which is very irritating to the bowels. It still contains a very small amount and you will likely notice its effect as a very mild laxative. But it is nothing like the abrasive dry form. So be very careful in selecting your aloe. - George
Hi again all, George: My potassium level at the time my blood was taken was 3.7, conventional doc says normal, naturopathic doctor says low, I say low for my body, that is why I like the N doc because he sees everyone as an individual. Nick: What is a CRP test? And the video link I can't see. would you be willing to provide the name for it and I will Google search it. :) Oh and getting any sorts of "patient" requested tests is like nailing jello to a tree! Thanks all for your support, I really need to hear someone else's frustrations around the passing off of diagnosis :)
George, I am a bit confused about the Aloe Vera supplement. I am taking Aloe Vera capsules-- the bottle reads: Aloe (Aloe vera) (inner gel) (200 X) (Equivalent to 2 grams of fresh aloe vera gel) Amount Per Srving - 10mg. Proprietary Blend (Ginger (Zingiber officinale) (root) Peppermint (Mentha x piperita) (leaf) Parsley (Petroselinum crispum) (aerial) 440 mg The capsule itself is "Gelatin Capsule". I just cut open a capsule and there was a powdery substance in it. I take it this is the wrong one to take? Can you give me the brand name of the one that you suggest? Thank you. Maria
Hi bkabe, CRP is short for "C-Reactive Protein". It is a very cheap and easy test. Here in Canada it costs $25. In the US its probably $15 to $20. In North America clinics are privately run businesses. You can get any test you want, provided you can pay for it. They are just used to having doctors interpret the results. Well that is changing now as doctors are unable to keep up with the rapidly changing environment. Citizens are educating themselves and using doctors as "sounding boards". Of course this is not true of specialists. It is just GPs or MDs I am talking about. What country are you in? This is a very important test for you at this time. Google C-Reactive Protein and Inflammation. Nick.
Hello again, How much Magnesium, and CQ10 do I need to take each day and how many of those Aloe Vera Soft Gels should I take to help with the palps? Also strange thing yesterday, schedule was way off and morning was hectic so forgot to take my Benicar HCT. Did not realize that until it was too late to take it(I'd be up all nite!) and I did not have as many palps as usual. Also had none last nite while laying down. Going to speak to my doc about that too.
Hi Nick, I live in Canada as well. Thanks for suggesting CRP testing, I looked it up and you know possibly... it seems to fit .... The symptoms I am having can fit into so many diagnoses and some times it is all overwhelming. I do pay for some blood tests as they are ordered by my natrualpathic dr. I actually see him tomorrow and will suggest that to him. They may even have taken that blood test.. who knows, my GP hasn't told me anything about which tests nor the results, I had to get the N.Dr to request a copy (I can't get my own records as easily as he could.. go figure eh... the PIPA act says so???) (PIPA= Personal information Privacy Act) You know I still think I had a heart attack... the doctor was so sure I have panic disorder that he didn't order the appropriate tests for such. All the blood tests showed is a very low oxygen level, the ECG suggested Ischemia (3 hours worth) Ativan 2 doses didn't do anything with my heart rate only made me numb and not care what was going on, the beta blockers was the ticket! Last night I had a horrible pain in my mid back that radiated to my chest and spread over my ribs, I felt very faint, my fingers and toes and mouth went blue (again), my heart wasn't sure if it wanted to race and palpitate, but decided not too. (I think the beta blockers prevented my heart from going out of control) I haven't had one of these forever (at least a couple of weeks, to me that is forever considering before ... all day long mostly in morning and night but short ones in day.) Messages take a long time to get posted, I would like to see them go up sooner.. :) Or is there another way of communicating??? Anyways, have a great day everyone... Kristine
bkabe, While 3.7 on potassium is in the normal range, it is definitely on the the low side. Mine was 3.5 and my doc told me that was just fine. But I was getting very acute symptoms that pointed directly at potassium deficiency. Just because you were 3.7 when they did the blood test does not necessarily mean that you are 3.7 all the time. That measurement reflects a snapshot in time and the actual level may be drifting up and down. I would try to increase it a bit with some supplemental potassium. But if you are on any kind of blood pressure medication, be very careful not to take very much supplemental potassium, as it can easily raise your level too high which is worse than too low. And I agree with Nick on the CRP test. It can be very revealing. Its well worth the cost. - George
Maria, It certainly sounds to me like you have the right stuff with the aloe vera. This is not one of the two popular forms. It is a newer approach were the gel, instead of being packaged in a soft gel, is actually freeze dried and packaged in capsules instead. The key description is: "Equivalent to 2 grams of fresh aloe vera gel" and "inner gel". That IS the stuff you want. What you DO NOT want is the dried latex from the plant which is also packaged in the hard capsules. It can be rather confusing, but it sounds to me like you have the right stuff. - George
Mary, I'll defer to Nick on the magnesium and CoQ10, but for the aloe vera I can tell you what worked for me. I took two softgels, one a lunch and one just before bedtime. That knocked out my palpitations is less than 48 hours. So if you take that much for say, a week, you should pretty much know whether they are going to help you or not. Palpitations can be caused by different things so not everybody responds to the same substances. You just have to try the various things that people have reported helpful and hopefully something will work for you. I am still free of palpitations now many months after aloe vera did the trick for me. I stopped taking the aloe for some time due to a possible conflict with the thiazide I had begun taking for blood pressure issues. The palpitations never came back, but recently I have started taking the aloe again simply because I believe that it is good for me. So I wish you the best and hope that something will work for you! - George
Hi Kristine, Your original post certainly described all of the symptoms normally associated with a heart attack. However, if the doctors have run the usual tests to determine if it was an attack, then I would not rule out some sore of serious allergic reaction to a food substance that triggered a sympathetic panic attack. You see, it could be a number of things playing together. You talk about PIPA... . here in BC it is FOI (Freedom of Information Act). We are entitled to any data related to ourselves. But having to use that forum to access your own information is just plain stupid. Give me the name of any doctor in Canada that won't give you your own test results and I will sick a lawyer on him so fast and furiously that he will break in a day. I've never hears of such nonsense. I book a time with my doctor so that he gets paid, then I tell him what I want in terms of tests. If I want something serious like an MRI, I just go to Bellingham, Washington and pay for one. By the end of 2009 you will be able to walk into any US Wal-Mart and get an MRI or blood test. You haven't mentioned your food intake yet. I would really like to know what you are consuming ... back 30 days or more. Did you catch the news today in Canada? Health Canada has issued a health warning for FISH and Fish products. They are recommending no more than 150 grams per week! We will hear more about this, I'm certain. If you are facing issues related to heart attack, you need to reduce your inflammation FAST. Get that CRP test ASAP. Also, you might consider Nattokinase right away. It is a natural enzyme that cleans your arteries. Google Natto or Nattokinase and you will see what it does. This stuff has been around for years and is totally safe. Its a food enzyme. Regarding communication, I have published my email address and I am always willing to carry on a conversation that way. I currently communicate with a half dozen Irish Health bloggers. I can be reached at [email protected] All the best Nick.
Hi Mary, CoQ10 is not as critical as some of the other supplements. It will help strengthen the heart and give the ability to contract fully. I think that science has pretty much determined that any amounts less than 75 mg. are not effective. To do its work, most naturopaths will tell you that 75 to 100mg of CoQ10 is necessary. It is very expensive though. I've recently dropped the CoQ10 and switched to Hawethorne. I exercise regulary so I am not concerned about a weak heart. Benicar is an angiotensin II receptor antagonist and prevents the narrowing of the blood vessels. The list of side effects scare me. THAT alone would give me anxiety attacks! You might wish to research Nattokinase or Serrapeptase and find a way to lower your inflammation. It is always best to do your own personal research on these things. You will feel more comfortable AND it will keep your doctor in his/her toes! As for the Aloe Gel Caps... I often take six a day. There is zero side effect. It calms the stomache and is generally a great supplement. I also bought some bottle of the liquid gel which I "swig" from the bottle! (Don't tell my wife!) Nick
Mary, while Nick is correct in saying that Benicar is an Angiotensin II Receptor Antagonist (commonly referred to as an 'ARB' or Angiotensin Receptor Blocker), Benicar HCT which you are taking also contains Thiazide, a diuretic. The side effects of diuretics actually are more frightening to me than the side effects of ARBs which are actually not bad when compared to the alternatives. And the side effects of walking around with untreated hypertension are not attractive either. And I speak from experience. I spent 18 years taking increasing amounts of medication for hypertension, but am now off all medication WITH THE BLESSING OF MY DOCTOR and my blood pressure is normal. The way I achieved this is not only by leveraging key supplements and herbs, but also by fine tuning diet and exercise. It CAN be done. The root causes of classic essential hypertension are fairly well known today thanks to all of the recent in depth research that has been done on the whole metabolic syndrome thing. So I would, more than anything else, recommend to you one book. That would be 'You: On a Diet' by Dr. Mehmet Oz and Dr. Michael F. Roizen. The publisher is free press. The authors are renowned physicians here in the US and this book represents the culmination of much in depth research on the whole metabolic syndrome phenomenon, with United Heathcare, a major US health insurer being a key sponsor. It is also important to note that substances should not be judged only by the side effects they can potentially cause. ALL worthwhile medications and supplements carry the risk of potential side effects. If you indeed have hypertension, you need to be on medication, and Benicar HCT is one of the better choices. Aloe vera is a great supplement. But I cannot take more than two a day without having undesirable side effects. Nick might be able to take six. I can't. People react differently to different things. Nick is scared to death of fish oil and so advising people. I have taken tons of it for a long time now and have only seen benefits. But not everybody reacts the same way. What may be deliverance for one person may kill someone else. That is the way it is with most things. Medicine and health are really much more complicated than you can imagine and many tend to oversimplify things which only brings confusion. I wish you the best. - George
Hi all, Nick and George, a quick note I am off to N doctor soon. I will request the CRP test. Thanks for that! I will also ask about Aloe Vera. He has put me on an oral chelation therapy that contains Calcium and Mag. That is suppose to be helpful for clearing up arteries and such. Google EDTA Oral Chelation. As far as PIPA that is here in BC that is where I am from. Google PIPA BC I think it is the second one down. PIPA legislates how organizations in BC use and disclose employee/customer personal information ...thus the hospital, quite ridiculous on some levels if you ask me. I understand it from where I work but for a person trying to get their OWN information it really needs to be looked at again! That's my two cents worth and I have to run, take care everyone, Kristine. PS I'll post later to let you know what N doctor said... till then :)
Hi all, I got back from the Natural Path Dr's. He gave me a copy of my blood test results, quite amazing my other dr's didn't pick any of this up arggg! Potassium: 3.7 mmol/L (low) Calcium (here's the kicker!) 2.77 mmol/L (HIGH) Cholesterol: 3.84mmol/L (LOW) Ferritin (another kicker): 17 (VERY LOW) GGT: 3 U/L (LOW) I am still waiting my female hormone testing, which tests adrenal. Also he will check if I had CRT test done. If not he'll get me one. He is also trying to find my thyroid test results which apparently I had two of them one month apart! So I can understand why I get heart palpitations! First anemia, second the spasms in my arteries from too much calcium! So I was put on iron, and still taking oral EDTA chelation therapy. The chelation should take out excess calcium through my kidneys. Which are functioning quiet fine! My liver seems to be having troubles, which could be thyroid....Oh and he figures angina or at the very least angina like symptoms which most likely are caused by the "calcium excess"! fewf! I have some sort of idea. So as far as going to the emerg room with "heart attack" like symptoms to be told it was "panic disorder" was hog wash... the calcium excess most likely caused a spasm which caused Ischemia which turned out to be heart attack, I can not confirm this because the dr. didn't take appropriate blood tests to confirm heart attack because he was so sure that I had a "panic attack"! Any thoughts anyone???? Have a good day, Kristine
Hi, great thread and lots of very useful information for a fellow sufferer. I've had these since being a child on and off and now at 44 they have started to become much more prominent - fluttering and skipping occurring for days on end though mostly in the evenings, this curiously really started again about a year ago once i decided to get fit....and eat oily fish 3 times a week. I have only just discontinued this as a test to see if it impacts and will let you know, otherwise I am on decaff, dont smoke, and limited alcohol - which always gave me a day or two of problems after a session. I am trying the aloe vera but again not sure its the right sort "ach of our high strength vegetarian capsules contains 50mg of aloe vera extract, equivalent to 10,000mg of fresh aloe vera juice and concentrated to produce a high level of the natural constituents found in the aloe vera gel." or so the sales blurb goes! Any advice ? Once again, great thread and input, cheers all.
Bkabe- not sure how they determined it, but my sister was having some heart issues and went to a cardiologist and he did a 3 D Echo cardiogram and EKG and told her that those results indicated she had had a heart attack sometime. She had no idea she had ever had one. I did know that there was a way to tell if you have ever had one, just did not know how til she had the tests. George, thanks for all the information. I agree, there are many side effects to all types of medications and that right now I need to remain on the Benicar at least until we figure everything out and I am able to get my blood pressure under control another way. I will look into that book you spoke of, I have heard of Dr. Oz on the Oprah shows. I wish my grandmother was still alive, she knew all the natural ways to "cure and ailment" and am sure she'd have answers for me, I failed to write down all her recipes and recommendations for things. Thanks for the information.
Hi Chris, You are on the right track. George is right when he says everyone reacts differently. I am merely giving my experiences. Others may experience different results. I have never been allergic to anything in my life, but anything fish seems to increase my palps. Regarding the Aloe.. it is the GEL CAPS that you need. The extract will not do anything for you in this way. Nick.
Ok, any clue as to where to get the Gel Caps or a manufacturer of them? I went to our two local "health food stores" and they have a pretty expansive array of supplements and natural medicines, but the only Aloe Vera was capsules that did say on the label contains whole plant and "latex." The only other thing was liquid, which I don't think I could stomach well. She said they would order anything as long as they knew what to order and the manufacturer.
Thanks for the info Mary, I am actually scheduled to go to the cardiologist at the end of June. I am going to have yet another resting ECG, Stress Echo, and an Echocardiography done. Good night everyone. Kristine
Hi Nick, thanks for that, could I trouble you to check this link and see if these are the correct gel caps, otherwise I'll have to order from the States as there seem to be nothing equivalent here in the UK I can find or is descriptive enough to ensure i buy the right ones. http://www.naturesbest.co.uk/product.asp?pf_id=146 ps since I stopped the fish they have fallen right back, could be in my head though !
Hi Mary, I went to Google and searched "aloe vera gel caps". A couple of good sites come up. There is "Vitacost.com" and "Vitamin World". At vita cost they have one by "Natures Herbs" that I use. Also Prairie Naturals makes a good one. And GNC makes one. GNC is the first one I used before switching to Natures Herbs. At Natures Herbs, they are $4.99 US. Nick.
Ah, they don\'t allow you to post links here, fair enough, I have ordered some from the States but the current ones I\'m using seem so far to have done the trick - I even had a good few glasses of wine last night and a number of pints of Adnams with no palps the next day. I won\'t tempt fate though!
I had a dream last night... long story short, I woke up with the inclination to Google "fish oils and heart palps" I came up with all sorts of sites claiming that it is good, that it is used for heart palps. Where is the info that it is not good for palps? BTW I stopped using it a while back. So anyways just curious :) have a good day everyone, Kristine
If you have the wrong type of aloe caps you will know it fairly quickly. The right ones will cause SOME intestinal upset as a side effect. This will tend to go away over time as your body adjusts. The wrong kind will cause major diarrhea. You won't miss it! So if you get a persistent and nasty diarrhea, stop the aloe right away.
I'm a 24 year old male who is underweight, doesn't smoke, but drinks on occasion. For around 3 months now I've been experiencing what seems to be heart palpitations. As they started, it felt more like I'd have what felt like wheezing, around the area where my heart is. These episodes would only last for a second or so but would cause me to cough at times when they occured. As I continued to experience this, I came to think that it might be heart palpitations as they occur several times a day and it feels at times like a brief fluttering in that area and at other times, like it could be a skipped beat. I don't have any symptoms of discomfort or pain, and I never feel weak or dizzy when these occur. Is it common for palpitations to cause coughing and does this just sound like common palpitations, or something more?
Note to anonymous, The first thing to do when you experience what seem to be heart palpitations is to get yourself checked out by a qualified physician. 99% of the time these kinds of things are not serious, but you want to get yourself checked out just to make sure. THEN it is OK to come to forums like this one and ask questions. - George
anonymous - this sounds exactly like my symptoms - I have been having them since I was a kid (now 44), they come and go, sometimes occuring for a day or so, other times for weeks on end and then gone for months - or more likely still there but not noticeable. I dont worry about it anymore though I do watch my caffeine intake, I expect them after a drink and do try and keep generally fit.
Hi, I am a 35 year old Aussie guy who is 6ft and about 90kgs. I am reasonably fit, don\'t smoke and only have 1-2 alcoholic drinks a week. I don\'t drink coffee or tea and my diet is pretty good. I have had Heart Palpitations since I was about 9 or 10 years old. Although at the time I didn\'t know what they were nor did I tell my parents as I was scared. Since then I have had them on or off about 5 times a year but on some years they have been much more frequent. I have always been an anxious sort of person and worry alot. It wasn\'t until I was about 20 that I told my doctor and tests were done. Everything fine. My doctor has always said that it is normal and that nothing is wrong with me. I have visited my doctor a lot since I was about 20 with various complaints but nothing as concerning as palpitations (although I do know what a Panic attack is and if you suffer from them I can relate to you). I love the gym but am scared to go. I am trying to stay alot more relaxed but its hard. Today I had a bout of Palpitations. They just start by me sometimes standing then bending down to say maybe get something from under my bed. Its weird Hey? Anyway they sort of just come on and my heart goes from resting beats to very fast and fairly hard. There seems to be no other symptoms that I suffer while having Pulpitaions other than me trying not to have a Panic attack as well. They last anwhere from 30 seconds to about 10 mins. I find that if I crouch down into a standing ball and hold my breath tight I can make my heart go back to normal beating rhythm. I hate them, they scare me and my Cardioligist has done all sorts of tests. ECG, heart ultrasound, Holter Monitor, stress test on a treadmill etc. He did catch a small section of them while I did the stress test. I was hooked up to an ECG at the time. My heart went up to 230 beats a min. Very high. He didnt seem to concerned about his. He seems to think its all stress related and so does my doc. Maybe they are but it doesnt help the fact that I still get them every now and again. Anyway as a 35 year old that has had Heart Palpitations for 25 years and seen the Doctors many times, I am still alive. Maybe thay are right and I should do some Yoga or something. If I can help anyone with my experiences and share some information between us I am sure we can help each other and get some closure on this anoying health problem we suffer.
This was very helpful to read everyone's experiences and suggestions. I've been to all kinds of doctors for my heart palpitations which I have on a consistent basis, all day, every day..... not the racing that some of you experience. Most docs have said it's not a problem and the general practitioner only had his prescription pad as a solution, which I refuse to do. I'm trying the aloe vera gel caps and will try some of the other suggestions. I have gotten some temporary relief through adjustments from an osteopathic doctor here in Colorado, US. Her theory is that a skiing accident caused issues with the nerves in my back that go to my heart. In her words, this is what she did: "the goal was to reduce any irritation of nerves that go to and from the pacemaker of the heart, called the SA node. These nerves lie in the back, under the ribs. This area was most likely injured in that fall you had." When I walk out of her office the palpitations are gone....unfortunately, with my active lifestyle they eventually come back. Anyway, thanks for sharing. Some day I would love to be palpitation free!!
This is Mark, from St. Paul area of Minnesota in the USA. I'm very encouraged I'm not alone with this PVC business as your experiences can help me learn to cope with my own...PVCs and the general anxiety disorder they have caused have almost ruined my quality of life as well. I too have been diag'd more than I can remember, for well over 20 years, ECG's, Stress Test, Holter monitor, the whole enchilada...nothing there. The doctor I've been seeing for years has me on 10mg BusSpar for the anxiety, and now I realize I may need to look at the adrenal/endo side of it as well...which I am going to do. I'm also linking suddenly to a dropoff I am aware of in my Fruits and Veggies intake, especially Fruits...loaded with Potassium of course and Magnesium is something I'm going to get serious about as well. I am consciously aware there is no problem, especially since I don't generally get PVCs while relaxing, sitting down or sleeping...hardly any at all, often not even one! This encourages me and has me believing it really is a combo of mind control and more careful monitoring of my diet. I'm going to get back on my Vit C kick, not just supplements either. Also gonna talk to a shrink to learn techniques of relaxation and try to deal with it any way necessary. I'm convinced I can beat this, I've made it this far haven't I? I believe I can reduce the frequency through better dieting, and once I stop angering my ticker perhaps we'll get along better. Keep hope alive...we WILL survive this!
hi im a young guy and developed a terrible bout of heart palpitations known as pvc's. they were in the hundreds a day, almost drove me insane. i have been thoroughly checked by all heart tests and cleared as having an extremely strong healthy heart and have been told these palpitations are harmless pvc's. to attempt a cure ive taken fish oil. vit c. co q10, magnesium etc. ive found much relief but they still flare up at times. ive read about aloe vera gel on this site now for pvc's and will try it tomorrow. george, is the aloe vera also helpful for irritable bowel? i sometimes get that and dont want the aloe vera to worsen it. im hoping it will help it. and is it safe to take the aloe with those other supplements? thanks a billion this site about aloe vera has me excited about a cure for the pvcs.
can someone tell if i have gotten the correct type of aloe vera capsules? mine are made by NOW brand. it says 200:1 concentrate aloe vera extract. equivalent to 1 tablespoon of pure aloe vera gel(15 000mg). can someone please let me know if this sounds like the right stuff? thanks
Just to say I have been getting skipped heartbeats on and off for years I have a Hiatus Hernia and am convinced that is causing it. When I get palpitations I usually have reflux and acid I don't really worry about it anymore as I had it checked out
i noticed when i was about 8 my first flutters, but over the yrs they are more powerful flutters...My father has had them but now he is in his 50s he gets them very few and far bettween.I realise that certain foods triger mine especialy bread and chocolate,i get them if i eat a big meal or if my stomachs empty.Often if i am lying on my back at night i will get one, or lying on my side..Sitting slouched over, or bending down ill get them.This has ruined my life, ive had ecgs in the past but never had a flutter whilst having one (typical) I have been pregnant twice and given birth, strangley enough i was in labour for 26 hours and lay down due to epidural and i never had one!!! I never get used to this feeling, i do know i could do with losing a stone and watching what i eat more, as im convinced mine are digestivley related, i allways have to belch after as i have wind...Bizarre you might think, is there anyone else out there who can relate to my symptoms..
Dan, I am currently taking the same NOW aloe softgels that you are taking. I am taking one of them at lunch time and another before bed. At this point I really don't know how effective they are since my palpitations went away completely a long time ago after taking other brands. But essentially they seem to be the same product with exception of the fact that NOW packages them in a rice bran oil base instead of the more common soy oil base. This is actually a good thing since many people can't tolerate soy. IF they are going to work for you, you should notice the effect within at least a few weeks. In my case they stopped my palpitations within 24 to 48 hours. Like you, I also had problems with my bowel. These initially worsened with the aloe vera, but then went away to the point that I have very few 'attacks' now and the ones I have are extremely minor compared to before. I used to have really extreme bowel pain that sent me to the doctor, but no more. Also, I used to have a problem with panic attacks which has also gone away completely since using the aloe. I have talked with several people who had the same spectacular success with the aloe that I had and others who got little or no benefit from it. I sincerely hope that it does work for you and I wish you the best. It certainly has done wonders for me. Sincerely, George
Dan, one additional note. The aloe softgels I took originally were three times the potency of the NOW softgels. They had a serving size of ONE. The NOW softgels have a serving size of THREE. So you may want to take three of them two times a day instead of just one. - George
Hi, i'm a 29 yr old female. 12 months ago i was diagnosed with wolfe parkinson white syndrome. At the time i was diagnosed i was having heart palpitations and my heart would start racing for no reason at all. 6 months ago i had an ablation done to get rid of the extra electrical pathways, which is what causes the racing heart. But since then i was still having palpitations now and again, but the last couple of weeks i've been getting them every day! Does anyone know if this is normal?! I also suffer from anxiety but the palpitations still come even when i'm not anxious or worrying. My doc put me on anti depressants, but they made me feel worse. I also have fibromyalgia, does anyone know if this causes palpitations? Please give me some advice, i feel like i'm going crazy!
Hi Rascall, You need to go way back in this group and read all of the posts. I don't want to bore everyone by posting it all over again. Especially, you should read George's posts and mine. We have both beat palpitations. Aloe vera gel helped both of us. It is different for many but I know it helped me. I find the aloe gel from a bottle (as opposed to capsules) to be better. Also, I found fish products made mine worse. I cut out all salmon, tuna and other fish products. Especially I cut out fish oil! It made my palps worse. It would certainly not hurt to try it out. Nick.
Hi Nick, Thanks for replying. Where do i get aloe gel from, Health food shop or chemist? Rascal.
Hi Rascal, Most people are finding it at the health food stores. It must be Aloe Gel though and not the juice. I have it in both gel capsules and bottled gel. I like the bottled gel. I chug it a couple of times a day. Works great! Nick.
Just a comment on the fish oil issue. Although fish oil has worked fine for me, I am increasingly impressed with flax seed oil and am planning to switch from fish oil to the newer high lignan flax seed oil in the near future. Nick has recommended flax products over fish oil products on a number of occasions and I am seeing more and more indications that he is correct on that point. As for the aloe gel, neither form will do you any harm as long as it is not the dry high latex form or the high latex juice form. I does need to be the gel. In my case it worked very quickly, so give what ever happens to be your first choice a try, and if that doesn't work, or causes you unpleasant side effects (as long as they are not indications of allergic reaction), try the other. As for panic attacks, many of us have found that there is a relationship between palpitations and anxiety/panic attacks. - George
Rascal I would be concerned that you are trying to cure the palpitations yourself . Most of the people on this site have no known cause for the palps but you have Wolfe Parkinson Whyte which you know is a conduction disorder which leads to arrhythmias. It would be very important for you to talk to your cardiologist about the palps and about what treatment you need. Please do that. You have a different scenario to most of us. Best regards to you . Mags
Rascal, Mags has good advice and you should follow it to be certain. However, my experience with Doctors is that they are sometimes too quick to label the condition. No one has extensively studied palpitations. Perhaps reasons for the palps are widely divergent. It would do you NO HARM at the same time to be taking aloe gel three or four times a day to see what happens. If it stops your palps, then you can take the evidence to your doctor for his/her education. I am buying gel by the 4 liter container now. I take one ounce 4 times per day and it works for me. Nick.
Mags Thanks for your input. I had an ablation done 7 months ago which got rid of the extra electrical pathways, there for rid of wolfe parkinson white, so they told me. Anyway, I had an ECG done last week and it was all clear. No return of the wolfe parkinson white, thank god! I think the doctor is just putting my palpitations down to anxiety because i have had that since i was first diagnosed with wpw. Is there any blood tests that you know of the can show up reasons for palpitations? I don't have them constantly all day, maybe about 20 a day, sometimes they are thumps in the chest or other times flutters/flip flops. No matter how big or small they are, they scare the hell out of me. I especially worry because i have 3 children, 2 at school and one still at home. Afternoons seem to be the main time i get them, night time is usually ok. I do suffer from fibromyalgia and costochondritis, i have read that these can cause palpitations, but i really dont know? Also, i think the doctors just think it's in my head, they have given me Alprazolam for when i get too anxious, that doesn't stop the palpitations, just makes me not worry about them so much. Anyway, i hope i can find something to help me because its wearing me out with all the worry..
Hi guys, me again. Had not posted in some time as my palpitations had really gotten to the point I thought they had all but stopped these past few months...but they started back yesterday and I am convinced more than ever that mine have something to do with hormones. The reason I say that is the palpitations became less and less noticeable to the point I believe they may have subsided( I was not aware of them) over the last 2 months, but I also was not experiencing a monthly cycle during the last 2 months. Yesterday I started and the palpitations began again too- strong and noticeable. So I am in a real quandry here. I have been taking the Aloe vera and I thought that was the thing stopping them, but now am not so sure since they started back up the same time I started and I don't know at this point if I go back to my GP and talk to him about it or go see a GYN and talk to him/her about it. Could they be related to lack of hormones or out of whack hormones?
Hi Mary, Palpitations are indeed related to hormonal changes. I experience more or less palps depending on the time of the month. They usually coincide with ovulation or if you miss a cycle all together. Palps are a symptom of perimenopause in some women. There's lots of websites that address this, however, lots of doctors believe it or not are totally ignorant to the connection. One source is womentowomen.com Having said this and after all other possible causes for the palps have been ruled out; by all means take whatever supplements work for you such as the aloe gel or magnesium. Nick and George have done lots of research on this. Aloe has worked for them and it works for me too!! Hopefully, for us women, once menopause sets in maybe these awful things will be gone once and for all!!!!
Hi all... same story here as most of you. Funny things starting to happen with my heart and its scaring the bejesus outta me. I get dizzy, light headed or both and this is followed by rapid heart beat for about a minute. Should I see a doctor about this?
Hi Rascal. Good that the ablation was successful. Have you had a holter monitor on continuously for 48 hrs or an event monitor. These will record your heart tracing if a palpitation occurs and will help your doctors to find a cause. Maybe its just ectopic beats you are getting. My palpitations were caused by a particular type of atrial fibrillation called vagal af which is very much influenced by what i eat and when i eat. alcohol tea etc all can start it off. I am on medication which has stopped them mainly but i would prefer not to have to use it. Have a full biochemical profile of your blood because low levels of potassium and magnesium are known causes of palpitations. I have read a lot about UDOs oil and its benefits to the whole body. Its wonderful. If you google it you will find out all about it. I like it because it contains all the omega 3s and 6s in the right combinations without using any fish oil. Fish oil is no friend of mine having started my palps off many times before i cottoned on. I suppose Rascal the best bit of advice I can give you is try to relax a bit. I know its not easy. I was terrified too in the beginning and spent many a night petrified that my daughter would have no mother. But I am still here 6 years laterand if one happens now i just say GO AWAY YOU NUISANCE. Because that is what it is ....a nuisance. It wont kill you. I would also suggest maybe hypnosis to change your thinking rather than pills. Hang in there girl. You will be fine. Because of your history of wpw syndrome do stay in touch with your docs. Best of luck Mags
Hi Mags. No i haven't had a 24hr monitor on since i've had the ablation done. I've got an appointment with the doctor in a week's time, so i will ask to have all relavent blood tests done. At the moment, all i am taking is Xango juice (have been for 2 weeks) and have just started taking magnesium tablets because i had read about magnesium defficeny causing palps. I havent taken aloe vera gel yet (as Nick suggested), as i havent been able to get onto any as yet. Today and yesterday I have hardly had any palps, (touch wood!), only a few funny feelings in my chest. Hopefully thats a good sign. I'm from Australia by the way, and I'd just like to say how informative this site has been for me. Anyway, I will let you know how I get on at the docs next week. Thanks
Hi JJ, I am pretty new here too, but wanted to reassure you that you are not alone and I fully understand those feeling scarying the "bejesus" out of you, they did me too when mine first started. As for your question, yes I would say you definitely need to see your doctor and tell him/her what is going on and try to have as much information as possible- when they occur, how often, what you were doing right before one occurred, what you'd been eating, drinking, etc., it helps them to see better what might be going on. I know when mine started, I was afraid to eat, sleep, drive, move, for fear it was my heart getting ready to stop, so I understand your panic.
JJ, LOTS OF THINGS can cause heart anomalies and that is why you should ALWAYS see a doctor about them before ever trying any sort of self treatment. In the vast majority of cases they are more bothersome than dangerous, but there are exceptions, so you need to be thoroughly checked out by a qualified professional as soon as possible. - George
Hi, all you fellow sufferers of the palps! I just thought I would throw in my two cents concerning how to stop or reduce this terribly scary affliction. I can sometimes feel one starting because it feels like a little bubble in my heart growing larger and then it feels like it bursts like bubble gum. If I feel this "bubble" growing I quickly strain as if I were on the toilet with a bad case of constipation, or I can cough, hold my nose shut and blow hard or if all else fails gag myself with a soup spoon. Any one of these methods sometimes works and appears at least to stop a long series of one palp after another. I have been doing this manoeuvre for about 25 years. I believe this raises the pressure in the heart which helps keep the palps reined in. I have done the same as the rest of you...doctor after doctor..."don't worry, stress is the answer, this won't kill you' quit drinking so much, and on and on". I've worn the Holter recorder, had every test and picture known to man of my heart. ("your heart is just fine...you have a healthy heart!) What I want is a heart surgeon with a terrible case of the palps so she will understand what fear it causes! Not long ago I tried taking fish oil capsules and not long out of the bottle I my heart jumped into a tachacardia. I started off to the hospital with my heart muscle racing like a tommy gun. It stopped after a couple or three minutes but I thought I would die of fright! Several days later I heard that that is a rare side effect of fish oil caps. I quit taking them right away, but I still eat fish three times a week. A couple of months ago I woke up in the early morning hours with my heart fluttering madly. It did not hurt, but it felt like static electricity inside my whole left chest area. I stood up and got dizzy so called an ambulance. I stayed in arterial fibrolation for several hours before reverting to normal synus rythem (spelling) on my own. They had to slow down my heart with drugs though because it was beating well over 230 beats per minute while I lay on the bed. They kept me in the hospital for five days and I slept almost the entire time. I remember little of my stay. I'm from California, USA, and here the hospitals even kick women with new born babes out within a day. The cardiologist told me not to worry, that my heart is normal according to all the work-up they did...He didn't even want me to have a follow up appointment with him!!! No medication for heart rhythm either. I have excellent health insurance. A few weeks later I attended a hospital lecture about ablation to stop any future a-fibs. The price is $100,000.00!! I about fell off my chair when I heard that...I wonder if my insurance company would go for that big bag of money!! Anyway, I'll keep watching this site in order to learn from the rest of you. Cheers! By the way, the cardiologist told me that When I got to the hospital my blood calcium way bottomed out off the charts and they pumped me full of stuff to bring my electrolites back into ballance. He told me to stay off of the wine drinking, salt, anything with caffeine in it, and quit worrying....Sounds like the usual!!
Hi there, me again. Went to doctor today, did another ECG and all was normal. He didnt do any blood work, he said there wasnt really anything he could check for! So it looks like its up to me to try and get through this. I just wish i didn't have them! As soon as i wake up, thats all i'm thinking about, just waiting for one to hit me! Then boom, and I'm anxious for the rest of the day just thinking that something bad is going to happen. Does everyone else suffer with anxiety as well?
im starting the aloe vera gel tomorrow. im gonna take the gel instead of capsules. can someone please tell me how many ounces of the liquid gel i need to take a day?? im waiting a reply anxiously. i want to start as soon as possible but need to know how much to take daily.
Hi all - The detailed outline Nick provides on 3.7, I find to be most complete. For nearly the past year I have take fish oils and have seen a steady increase in the volume of palps (multiple per hr). I began to notice on business trips, that my palps would all but stop ('stop' being a relative statement). Note: I am not sure Cod Liver Oil, which is different, causes the same volume or severity -- in my experience. What I soon realized was the fish supplement were not apart of my travels. Its taken a lot of trial and error and I know everyone is different but I am all but certain there is a correlation. The other day I tried taking just 2, 3-6-9 Fish Oil Capsules. That night was not only restless, but filled with palps. This is when I searched google and came across this thread. I do take Aloe and would highly recommend it. I am in the States, but in researching I think I've found some very good products. First, you don't want Whole Leaf Aloe Gel or Powders. If you do, you best have plenty of reading material. There is a company called Good Cause Wellness. They use a low temp. drying process to capture the highest quality gel and offer it alongside Blueberry (which is great for you period) or Rasberry. If you google Good Cause Wellness, you'll find it. This crystal like powder mixes well in water and is like eating and entire Aloe leaf (gel only). There is another liquid formula called Lily of the Desert, which is also very good. Again do not get the whole leaf version. Someone else mentioned Stevia. I do workout and compete as a cyclist...so I am very dialed into my heart. I look to minimize sugar in all forms, but I do need electrolyte and recovery fluids. The products I choose do use Stevia. At this point, I can't say for sure if there is a correlation but I am monitoring. As an addendum, I have had palps for as long as I can remember, I am 35. Typically they come and go, and have just become a part of life.
Hi all. It's nice to find some postings that aren't a few years old! I'm a 32 year old Pacific Island female, and have had palpitations constantly these last few years. Like most mothers in this discussion they popped up suddenly and constantly while I was pregnant second time around. After baby 2 was born, my heart was normal again, well there wasn't anything to worry about, until couple of years later when they started up again just out of the blue. I must admit I was a little overweight, but still into sport. I had the tests done as well, all to hear that everything's normal, try not to worry about it. I haven't read all the posts on here (just glad that posts are so recent!), but how can a doctor tell someone that it's normal for your heart to skip every 3 beats and try not to worry about it too much??!! I'm currently on metoprolol. I was on 95 but found my blood pressure was too low and that the dizzy spells weren't too nice, so have halved that dose, but find I have the palpitations more now than I have before. I'm also on a diet and part of the diet was to take some vitamin supplements. These were just your normal women's vitamins but I found that I couldn't take them for more than 3 days because my chest really hurt and the palpitation also worsened. Has anyone else had this problem? Before I started this diet I also tried supplements with magnesium and had the same problem. So how many skipped beats do we need to have before I should start worrying about them? I don't have anxiety attacks, I exercise daily, I'm on a sensible eating plan and I get enough rest/sleep at night. I know that others may have asked the same questions, but it would be really reassuring to hear/read that others are in the same situation and are doing xx to relieve symptoms. Sorry for rattling on, I'm starting to worry where I wasn't before.
Just a note. I just discovered in reviewing some research abstracts that the high levels of Omega-9 fatty acids contained in Olive Oil can cause "heart arrhythmias". I would imagine that this could include palpitations. In my case I have consumed significant amounts of Olive Oil for years. After learning this information I have now switched to a mixture of Grapeseed, Canola, Olive and Sesame oils. So if you have palps and are using Olive Oil, you might want to try cutting back on the Olive Oil. - George
Hi all, I'm new to the site and would like some advice on how to rid myself of these PVC's.I had the odd one as a child,but about six months ago they came on pretty strong.I'm 33 now. Currently i have them every 4th beat almost continuously.They did go away for about 2 months but came back with a vengeance 3 months ago. I've had the tests done ECG,ECHO,stress.They all came back o.k. Doctor says its benign.My wife actually works for a top cardiologist in Dublin so he saw me pretty quickly. I have read about Xango and magosteen if thats the correct spelling.Where can you get this stuff.I've tried the potassium and magnesium and calcium tabs.Also Co q 10.Nothing really works.I would like to try this Xango though.Any info is welcome.
I experience them too. Because of them, I've now become so aware of my heartbeat. I think sometimes that everyone else can hear it. Sometimes, it's beating away at 80-90 beats per minute and sometimes its in the 70's, but I am overweight so I think maybe it has to work harder to accommodate. This may be a crazy thought, but I think sometimes that wind causes my heart rate beat out of time, because when the wind/gas comes out, everything returns to normal. My missed heart beats don't last very long but when they do, I feel so scared. I feel them in my throat also and I have a goiter but my GP has never put these 2 things together?? Maybe it's time I mentioned that to her. Can wind/gas cause this? Anyone feel this before?
Hi Neevers, I havent posted here for a while, but my heart rate is always in the 80-90bpm and I'm not over weight. I have finally put my heart rate and palps down to anxiety. I don't get them no where near as much since treating my anxiety symptoms. I've had several ECG's and they always come out fine, thats how I know it's deffinately anxiety. I am anxious pretty much 24/7..
I am a 55 year old American living in Japan . I began having heart palpitations about 6 years ago ( skipping beats ) . Until 6 months ago I would get them on and off during the day for a couple of weeks and then they would go away for months before returning . I did have EKG tests and wore the 24 hour holter on three seperate occasions and the doctors found nothing to worry about . Suddenly , two months ago , I began having palpatations that occurred , on average , of about one every 5 minutes or so . Also , when I would wake up in the middle of the night , or when I woke up in the morning , they also occurred . Again I had an EKG and wore the 24 hour holter . The doctor told me that the type of arrythmia I was experiencing was not life threatening and that I should not worry . He prescribed Rhythmodan and told me to take it only when I could not endure the palps . Well , for the past month I have been taking one pill a day because the palpitations have gotten worse occuring every couple of minutes lasting virtually all day long . Again , the skipping beat sensation is what I am experiencing . My heart beat is never slower than 60 beats per minute , and never higher than 80 . I eat a very balanced diet and no red meat . I do drink daily , mostly beer . I do not smoke . I ride a mountain bike daily for exercise . I do have a cholesterol problem which I believe is hereditary in nature . Last examination ( two months ago ) it was was up around 278 . I have been doing some heavy breathing exercises that seem to help a little but only temporarily . I know that if I see the doctor again he will tell me not to worry and probably prescribe more Rythmodan . The palps are the worst they have ever been in my life and are increasing my anxiety . I just had to share this with someone besides my wife who believes the Doc that says there is absolutely nothing for me to worry about .
John, My symptoms and lifestyle are similar to yours. Thanks to Nick and George, I've been taking the aloe vera gel caps which have greatly controlled my palpitations. I suggest you read more of this thread for more information.
I've enjoyed reading these posts. I have had palpitations (mainly PVCs and PACs) on and off for several years now. I wanted to share an important trigger I have found. The one thing which virtually guarantees that I will get palpitations is MSG (monosodium glutamate). It is present in many junk foods and very prevalent in Asian cookery. If I have it in the evening, I usually experience the worst palpitations the next day, strangely enough. Avoid it at all costs. I now eat mainly freshly prepared foods - no premade sauces, soups, dressings, or junk foods - and I have minimized the number of "attacks" substantially. Caffeine is also a big trigger, I avoid it completely. Minor triggers are stress and lack of sleep. I hope this is helpful.
Well , I saw my physician last Thursday , and wouldn't you know , after weeks of palpitations which I experienced virtually all day long ( see 9/20 post ) that day I had none ! And I've had virtually none since and today is Monday . As expected , he did give me another prescription for Rythmodan .
I have had palpitations for one week. Had them previously but they went away do not remember how. Live a healthy lifestyle, organic foods, do not drink/smoke/drug/no caffeine/no red meat/I exercise. Usually when I lay down, after meals and at night when I go to bed is when they are the worst. Saw a post regarding Aloe Vera Soft Gels, purchased the, a warning on the label says do not take if you have gallstones, I have some dormant ones. Does anyone know what this means? I attempted to research on the internet with no input. Also any other solutions will be much appreciated.
Starrynights - Thanks for the info. I, too, had increased palps on fish oil. I have been taking one aloe vera gel cap a day, but will increase to two after reading the notes by Nick and George. Are you using the mangosteen juice? If so, please tell me more about it. I have been considering the flax seed caps as well. Thank you so much for your help.
Brindl, I have never heard of or seen any warnings on or off labels regarding gall stones and aloe vera gel. I just did a web search and failed to find anything interesting on reputable sites. So this is a mystery to me. I can tell you that aloe vera gel does have an effect on the gastrointestinal tract and on the liver especially, but whether that would be "bad" for a gallstone situation or the other way around, I would not know. But if it is known to incite gall stone problems, I am surprised there are not any clear warnings in that regard on major medical web sites.
Hi Sandy, I tried Mangosteen and it didn't work for me. After some more research found that it can work for some ailments for some people but mostly it's just a very expensive good tasting juice!! I found that magnesium and the aloe vera did the trick for me. Hope this helps!
A question on the fish oil - I thought I had read, perhaps on the other Heart Palpitations board, that some people reduced the palps on fish oil, while now it seems it might increase the palps. Is there a majority of thought on fish oil, one way or another? Does anyone else live in California that has found the Aloe Vera Soft Gels? Is GNC a source?
I too can't find the soft gels, and I'm in the Toronto, Canada area. If anyone is in the Toronto area, can you recommend where to get them? Also, how much magnesium did you take, "starrynights"?
Marlene - I found the aloe vera soft gels at Wal-Mart. I live in NY - don't know if you have Wal-marts in California. I found it in the vitamin aisle! But, I'm sure GNC would also be a source. I tried fish oil and had heart palps. Stopped it for a couple of weeks, tried it again and they returned. Did it one more time just to make sure and I got them again. I'm going to try flaxseed oil for the omega three.
Starrynights - How much magnesium are you taking? Have you used flaxseed oil - the fish oil DEFINITELY gave me palps. (See my post to Marlene) Thanks - think I'll forego the mangosteen!!!
Hi All. I'm here in not so sunny Ireland! Hope ur all well. I had more palps last Mon & mine don't come very often, maybe a couple of times every 2 or 3 months. I called the doc totally stressed cause I thought my heart was gonna stop. I had a good few one after another. My doc checked me & my heart was beating at 90+ beats per minute. She sent me in to A&E where they attached me to a heart monitor, did an ECG, bloods, chest x-ray but of course they all came back clear & I didn't experience one palp when I was there! It is so frustrating because I am just so nervous when I get them. My partner works away from home, so it's just me & my little 4yr old at home alone. I'm so scared that my heart will stop when he's there. I've taught him how to ring my mom & my sister in case he can't wake mommy up. I wish I had a reason for them whether they are harmless or not. I'm going to go to my local health food store & ask for the Aloe Gel. It is comforting to know though that all of you experience the same because as many of you have said, sometimes our partners, parents and friends think you've gone a bit MENTAL!! Thanks
Forgot to mention, that my GP put me on Lexapro to deal with the anxiety and it decreased my heart rate to under 60 beats per minute which makes me Sinus Bradycardia! So, I had to come off those then! It's a nightmare isn't it. I really do want to see a cardiologist as I'm scared all the time that my heart will just decide some day that it's going to stop and I'm only 35yrs old!!
Hi Sandy, I take up to 1000mg of magnesium when I feel them coming on. I don't recall the type but please get the mag that doesn't cause diarrhea. If you'd like to email me I can forward you some great info from the naturopath (sp) which I have found to be extremely helpful. [email protected] I do use flaxseed that I use for over all health. I no longer use fish oil caps at all -- believe it or not they used to cause my palps!! Marlene - I get my aloe gel caps at GNC.
Hi, I have just joined. I have had palps for most of my adult life. They got pretty bad about 3 years ago for a few weeks and then subsided. My doctor was not concerned after an ECG. They pretty much disappeared for a long period of time. Lately, I have been getting a few and now, more regularly. They are showing up every few weeks on my blood pressure monitor when I take my blood pressure. That has been spiking, also. Normally I have quite normal blood pressure. I do suffer from anxiety and that makes things worse. However, I often think there are other things going on. I have been taking magnesium but not potassium rich foods or supplements. I have also been taking a very large dose of fish oil for about a year. I didn't think there was a connection because they seemed to stop but now I am wondering if I have been taking too much for too long. I am going to stop for now. I, too, take Mangosteen Xango. I thought that had helped so much. How much do you take? Apparently my 3oz per day is not doing the trick any longer. Also, I have ordered the NOW Aloe Gels. I hope I am one of the fortunate ones. This is a great group. Years ago I subscribed to another on-line group for PVC's. It was just not useful. There was one poor soul who tried to offer advice as Nick does but they weren't really interested in help. Thanks for being here.
"I have palpitations a lot, should I consult a GP?" YES! They are probably nothing serious, but you should ALWAYS let your GP know about these things, since they can indicate a serious underlying problem. Your GP is trained to be able to detect these things.
Hi again - I've kept on the Omega oils, but have cut out caffeine & sugar & chocolate after 7pm and that has made a huge difference. Was doing good for a couple of days then went to visit a cousin and we had some Kahlua (contains coffee & sugar etc) into the evening, plus a couple of chocolate cookies. OOPS! That brought the palps back. It took me several hours to fall asleep. The next night, I had no palps. For me, it may very well be what I eat and how late. I'm sure if I took my Ambien, I'd sleep well through the night but I really don't want to take those. I'd rather use them for a very extreme/rare situations.
I had some palps again all weekend but I had been out on Fri night and consumed 'some' alcohol (beer). They woke me up on Sat night out of my sleep & was so frightened that they might never go away! They did and I've been palp free since Monday! What I don't understand and maybe someone might explain is how can food & drink upset the electric going on's of your heart?? I've just had my appointment through to wear the 24 hr holster heart monitor, which knowing my luck nothing will show up on it but should I maybe drink alcohol or eat choclate the night before so that the palps will show?? Or is that cheating?? Help x
Hi everone, It makes me feel quite a bit better to know that I am not alone with these palpitations. I really do feel as though I am a prisioner of my own body. I am just 23 and have had palps for about 3 years now. I have been to my doctor a good 30 times in the last 3 years............I have had a holter monitor, 2 ekg's, been to a cardiologist twice and several different doctors and no one can find anything wrong. It's so annoying though bc it's like this...you feel theres something wrong, u have physical sensations, but there's no cause...just doesnt make sense to m,e. Maybe if I understood how the heart works it would possibly make it better for me to grasp that they are benign. I have been asked to go to PEI this weekend but am deathly afraid as i am scared i will need to go to the hospital or no one will know what to do etc. I have always been a nervous person, this is on my mind when i wake and when i go to sleep. Its horrible. I used to have panic attacks but not but not so much anymore, yet the palps still remain. Its hard to talk to people about them who have never had them because they just dont get it until theyve felt them personally. Its easy to say oh theres nothing wrong just relax....easier said than done. I just want them to go away, I want to have fun, i want to RELAX!! My psychologist says that I am self inducing them bc i am constantly worried about getting them. Could this be possible sort of like a self fulfulling prophecy?? Am I just too anxious? I cant relax because Im so afraid to let my guard down bc then i think something really bad will happen. Any advice??? Thanks guys :)
Thank you guys so much for this discussion. I have had palps for about 15 years. I am 35 years old and it drives me crazy. I have been to many doctors and have been told the same as the rest of you. People who do not experience this do not understand how horrible it is. I am on a dose of 50 mg a day of Toprol XL. It seemed to be working for a while but in the last two weeks the palps have returned. I followed the advice on the Aloe and have not had any palps since 30 minutes after I took the first dose. I am doing two tablespoon of 100% pure, organic inner leaf aloe gel three times a day. I can not be positive that this is why I have not experienced any since last week but I am going to continue to take it. I even had a few drinks on Friday night and did not experience any palps on Saturday!
i am a 56 year old female who suddenly 3 months ago developed multiple palpitations / pounding heartbeats, up to thousands per day. i have gone through all the usual cardio tests and am now being evaluated by an electrophysiologist; it appears there is an bundle branch block in my heart's electrical system that may or may not be a contributing factor. i eat well, exercise, don't drink or smoke, no caffeine. the suggestions regarding aloe vera gel are somewhat confusing [nick? george?] .... i purchased Lily of the Desert Aloe Vera Gel, for ingestion [not a topical product]. but someone here seemed to indicate that the whole leaf version was not a good idea. what's the reasoning? and it there a downside to taking aloe vera gel over the long haul? also, i had my first acupuncture treatment yesterday which seems to have been extremely helpful in alleviating the associated anxiety. thanks for the great info i've found here.
Just an update. I wore my heart monitor for 24 hrs, of course I didn't get one palp while wearing it. They did bloods again, ECG again, and sent me home with the old age story of some people are just more aware of their's than others!! I've had an appointment through for a ultrasound scan of my heart, and then if that comes back clear I'll be told it's all in my head or not to worry about them. I can't help worrying about them, they are just so scary. I've been talking the Aloe Vera soft gel tab's every day for a month or so now but I still do get the old palp but I do seriously think mine are caused by food and drink I consume and wind! Maybe I'm mad to think this, but I think it's definitely related!! Thanks for listening!!
Hi fellow palpers, I have not posted here since August. The news now is that I was diagnosed this week with autonomic dysfunction. This I believe is a vagus nerve problem. My symptoms are palpitations on & off all day everyday plus horrendous racing heart after food & drink. These last for several hours. I take propanalol for this condition but can only take 20mg three times a day as any higher dose gives me low blood pressure. The hospital have given me no hope or guidance.They merely suggested I do not eat normal meals but graze instead. They also said to have no alcohol( I do not drink much anyway) Can any of you help me.Is there a cure? I feel alone & depressed. Happy Christmas!
I usually have eczema and skin irritation but since I started using aloe Vera Gold Gel that I bought from www.euroNaturalhealth.com my skin is looking good and healthy. what will happen if I stop using this product? please help
Jen -- might want to google adrenal fatigue. Read on. I've stumbled upon a few things that are helping my palpitations that I wanted to share with others. All palps are not the same, so I better describe to you what kind I have. I have had PVC palpitations most of my life but only very rarely and then just a few (almost 50 - female). But in the last two years they've gotten much worse all day with bouts of sinus tach in the middle of the night. All completely investigated - heart is great, no problems. For the last month, I have been taking really complete supplements with Magnesium plus everything but the kitchen sink thinking this might help, and it has somewhat. I'm gluten and caffeine free and eat many low glycemic small meals and avoid large ones as they trigger more palps. I also walk 30 minutes 5 days a week and that also helps. BUT what's really been helping me is sea salt. I kid you not. I was reading about adrenal fatigue and it all started to sound like me. Adrenal fatigue flushes sodium from your body (which your body needs to beat normally), and just by consuming a bit more sea salt every day to compensate while you heal , it helps stabilize your electrolytes, hormones and palpitations. Now for some people, salt can be a trigger -- so I think this might only work in cases of Adrenal Fatigue which actually is quite common, Google Adrenal Fatigue and Sea Salt. My Dr agrees and feels I do have adrenal fatigue and we're working on healing it. So if any one else is prone to anxiety, worry, frequent urination, low blood pressure, general fatigue with palps, you may want to read about Adrenal Fatigue and see if this might be you too. There are ways to test for it. Start slowly if you do this over a week or two, but I've worked up to 1/4 teaspoon of sea salt (NOT Table salt) in a shot glass of warm water first thing, with a bit of OJ as a chaser then I eat breakfast and consume water normally. I drink around 7 to 8 8 oz. glasses of water a day. Again, before my afternoon lull, I repeat the salt and at bedtime. It may sound like a lot of salt, but it's only around 1500 mg (about as much salt as is in one BigMac but healthier since it's sea salt). I don't eat junk food and always ate a low salt diet. Big mistake. So enjoy those salty soups, crackers, and meats if you have adrenal fatigue. ALSO animal fat as in whole milk, whole yogurt, and butter all help to heal the adrenals. Sort of counter to everything we're taught to eat. Obviously if you don't have adrenal fatigue don't follow this advice! But this is sure helping me. There is a lot of info online. There's one more thing. Many of us with these issues don't sleep well. I have learned a few tips for a better night's sleep. Exercise during the day. Get sunshine on your skin for 15-30 minutes without sunscreen or sunglasses and then sleep in a really pitch black bedroom. This all helps to set your internal clock. If you wake to go to the bathroom, keep the lights off. I'm actually sleeping through the night for the first time ever. So this really works IMHO. Hope this helps someone.
I have just been diagnosed as having supraventricular tachycardia. I was twice rushed by ambulance with a heart rate of 240 per minute. Then I had all the usual tests etc. All clear, but I was put into the care of a very good cardiologist. He told me what I was suffering from and I am now awaiting a cardiac ablation in Beaumont Hospital, which I am told will cure me and mean that I no longer have to take beta blockers. Can't wait for it to be over.
Hi, I've had them for about 3 years now, and had a holter monitor and EKG test done, which came back normal. I am being sent to a cardiologist next week though, just to put my mind at ease. Since the tests, I've cut back on my red wine intake considerably, and stopped caffeine completely. I haven't had them in weeks (maybe a small flutter here and there). While it's not to say that I'm "cured", I must say that stopping caffeine made a difference right away, and then cutting down on weekend red wine drinking made the biggest difference. Try it, and see what happens - particularly the caffeine.
Hi Everyone. Since I last posted, I had my ultrasound and I was delighted to know that the workings of my heart are normal "but" of course the ultrasound doesn't show up any blocked arteries so my mind isn't completely at ease yet. I'm slowly but surely beginning to understand what gives me the palps, it's definitely wine number one suspect and large meals, when I lie down I get a couple, when I raise my arms above my head is another reason. My palps only happen very ramdomly, I do not have any pattern and could go months without any, though I do get flutters quite often. I've been taking one Aloe Soft Gel tablet a day and I'm not sure if it's helped the palps although I've been palp free for a couple of months now but it's making my skin look fab! So thanks for that little tip. In the back of my mind and I'm sure all of yours too, we feel there must be something wrong with our hearts for these palps to happen to us, they are scary and seem to happen to me when I'm doing nothing, relaxing which is scarier than if I was doing exercise when they happen, at least i'd now what brings them on. It's something I have to learn to live with!
Hi, Ive just come across this website for the first time, so glad to see others have been going through what i have been going through. I have been having palpitations for a few months now but they only got worse before x mas, so i went to my doctor and he gave me some kind of tablets to take when i do get the palpitations. They always seem to come at night time also. The tabs the doctor gave me were useless and did not stop the palpitations, and the longer they last the more panicky i become. This weekend i got palpitations on Saturday in the morning,which has never happened to me before, i will admit though that i did not get much sleep the night before as as had a tummy bug, so was really pee'd off when i got the palpitations so early in the day. The tabs didnt help so i ended up having to go to the doctor, my friend had to drive me, the doctor i saw was a different doctor than i usually see, and he gave me xanax to take, the medium strength dose, he advised that your better off taking some thing that can just "Zap" the palpitations when they start instead of waiting for them to get worse and get more panicky. I totally agree with him, i got palpitations last night again and took one of the tablets, the new ones, and it worked. Am feeling a bit tired to day though as it was one in the morning when i took the tablet. I would like to know if anyone can recommend any exercises or any quick help techniques besides using tablets, i have done all the ones my first doctor told me to do such as massaging the carothid(not sure of spelling) gland very slowly, ive tried the paper bag effect and i have also tried the slow breathing relaxation technique and none of them work so would seriously appreciate if any one could help me out here.
Hi, I have been suffering with SVA for a lot of years. I was to go into hosp last Tuesday for cardiac ablation, but there was no bed available. Now have to wait to be called again. I have been told by my cardiologist that it is nothing to do with lifestyle or what you eat or not eat. It is an extra electrical impulse that can trigger the palps. In my case it gets to about 250 per minute and the only thing so far is to get to A&E and have my heart stopped and restarted with an IV drug.
Those of you who are here for the first time may notice that some people here are getting relief from Aloe Vera Gel. At least one of these posts looks like just a spam. Beware of those posts that aggressively try to direct you to a specific supplier and are designed to evade irishhealth's built in spam detection. I have not visited this board for some months now and am just noticing that there is a question from November of last year regarding what type of Aloe Vera one should choose for palpitations. Let me note that Aloe Vera comes in two distinct oral/internal formulations, each based on using different parts of the plant. One is a rather harsh laxative form. That is NOT the one you want to use. The other is more diffuse in its affect. While it may cause some initial intestinal cramping which usually goes away when you adjust to it, you shouldn't experience a true laxative effect. THIS is the one you want. It may come as a bulk gel, soft gel or perhaps in other forms, but you will know by the effect whether you have the right one. In any case, if you have a rigorous laxative effect, stop, because you have the wrong product. If you are not sure, it is best to inquire about this with the vendor before you buy. - George
Just want to say a big THANK YOU for all the info. I have had palps on and off since my 20's but they only happened very infrequently and didn't bother me that much. Then in the last few years they started to get worse, I was having them nearly every day and they were worse when I was being still and just sitting. Anyway I started researching on the internet, most of the info I found at first suggested Magnesium, which I tried. It did help initially but after 2 weeks the palps would return, I would stop the manesium and then restart it with the same result. Anyway I did more searching and found this post. Just before Christmas I started taking CoQ10, 100mg a day and now I hardly get any palps. I have noticed that if I do start to get them taking CoQ10 makes them go away in an hour or 2.
George, I am using the GNC aloe vera gel. The label says one soft gel contains: Aloe Vera Gel 200:1 25.00 mg. How many of these am I supposed to take at one time and how many times per day? Thanks, Mark
George or Nick, I am taking Aloe Vera Gel Caps that are lebeled 200:1 25mg. How many of these caps should I take at one time and how many times a day should I take them. Thanks, Mark
I take one 25mg aloe a day and it works for me. I have been on these for months and still no major palps. Well, I do have some minor ones on occasion but I am 98% better - the only thing I changed was adding that one aloe pill every day.
Amazing.... I've found this site and Sooo many people are just like me. I've had palpitations for two years now.But i'd like to say that it's not tachycardic . its more like a missed beat or perhaps two in a row. i'm in my mid forties and they started out off the blue. However thats not strictly true. All through my life i've had the feeling that my heart has missed a beat once in a while but it was a low level 'hardly noticed it' sort of thing until two years ago when it suddenly became 'OMG my hearts stopped !! '(you've all bin there !) then a fraction of a second later all was well.At least with my heart- the rest of me was a stressed wreck ! However this developed in to a flutter where my heart would feel like like it wriggled ( best description i can find) scared me witless and after having a bloods(thyroid etc and an ecg (x2)) I discovered.... there was nothing wrong. Well sorry doc thats not what it feels like here ! I've noticed somethings that are puzzling though. Generally they happen when i'm not doing anything.Keep busy and it doesnt happen They seem to coincide with a bout of gastritis/reflux- read that this can be the case.(whether taking antacids affects blood chemistry and throws things out i dont know but it was quite coincidental) Cant blame caffiene cutting it out made no difference. Cant pinpoint a food either.I've been on 100mg/day of CoQ10 and multivitamins (general a-z type)for the last month and they have been less both in intensity and frequency.Also been drinking more water - dehydration will certainly affect blood chemistry which i feel could be at the bottom of this. Hope this helps someone if only to reassure that this isn't a heart condition but a condition that affects your heart. BTW my doctor tried to reassure me by saying 'Any one in their forties who has a serious heart problem usually has a massive heart attack- there's none of these 'warning signs' like you get in your 70's or 80's' - i had to laugh . I knew what he meant but it doesnt come much blunter than that !!!
I'm not alone! I have had palps for probably 20+ years. I'm 55 and on BP meds. Sometimes I have them all day long, just sitting at my desk and I sort of do a cough thing or some sort of expelling of breath that sort of sounds like a wheeze. Of course, I too, have worn a holter monitor two times over the years, had an echocardiogram too several years ago. Doctors look at me like i'm krazy, saying my heart is fine. I do have a weakness for chardonnay and I'm beginning to believe there is a connection. But, I can go for days w/o palps even after having my glass of chard with supper. Then they start up again. Lately, I've been taking a potassium supplement and I don't know if it is a placebo effect or not, but it seems to calm those little buggers down. Mine are like skipped beats. Another way it feels sometimes is like there is an elevator in my chest and it is at the top floor and then the elevator drops down in my chest. I used to be so scared, but now i'm plain annoyed! I notice I do not get them when I'm on my stationary cycle, but more so when I'm sitting or lying still.
I have been suffering from palpitations on and off now for the last 10 years. I've tried all the herbs etc and some medications but the only thing that seems to be helping is the Buteyko breathing method. The theory is to reduce the amount you breath and thereby increase your CO2 tolerance. CO2 is a vasodilator which opens up little blood vessels. Anxiety can cause these vessels to contract leading to palps. You'll feel your energy levels rise quickly in the first month, I've been doing it for 5 months now and I've found the palps seem to be greatly reduced. It takes a year to build up high CO2 tolerances.
Im still very young but when ever i go to lay down or relax for the night i can feel in my chest and throat a pounding, as if my heart stopped or races,and it gets me scared. Ive had a montitor b4 but they said i was fine. I'm still scared though,
Hello phililind, You may be hypoglycemic... or even borderline diabetic. You are on the right track. Inflammation in your system is made worse when you add sugars that are broken down into polypeptides which fuel the fermentation of other food products inside your intestines. You must reduce your inflammation. It is a precursor to many other diseases anyway... so get on it! First cut out all fish products. No fish oils and no fish of any kind. Next cut out sugars except fructose or natural fruit sugars. Forget the aloe gel caps... they are not enough. You'd have to eat ten at a time. Gel Aloe Gel by the gallon container and drink two ounce three times a day until the palps are gone. Then maintain it with one or two ounces twice in a day ... three times a week. Home made wine is also out.. as well as hard liquor. Only good wine will be made without the chemicals that help aggravate the condition. I've checked this formula with dozens of folks all over the world who suffer this condition. It works! I surfed into this group in 2003 suffering four or five attacks a week. Each time I though I was dying. I know the anxiety it creates. Check out my article collection on this and other topics at phytoscience.ca. Good luck. Nick
Hi Nick and George, 3 weeks ago I developed PACs (probably because of the crazy economic environment we are at), that wouldn't go away, and when I did some research, I found this thread. Thank god I did! So 5 days ago I bought Aloe Vera soft gels and a bottle of Mangosteen and started taking them. Today is the 2nd day my PACs (or PVCs) are completely gone. Like a miracle. I do not believe it was all in my brain. Maybe stress did start an inflamation process, but I continue to be stressed (just look at the new on the economy... things are getting worse, not better). But the palps are gone. So how? Well, I trully believe one of those 2 items did the trick. Or maybe a combination of both. Either way, I am 1) EXTREMELLY thankful for your posts and care for others, and 2) I am EXTREMELLY puzzled about Mangosteen. Nick, If possible I would like to get an update from you if anything new showed up in your researches. Hope all is well. Regards, Vanderlei Silva [email protected]
I'm new to this, so just a little info. I've had palps since childhood when at the age of 10 my mother passed away. Plenty of stress there and as a child I focused on them more than was healthy. Spent most of my young adult life sure I would die at any moment and looking for a doctor who would at least explain these to me. Mine are mostly PACs which are considered benign but they do give me the fluttering sensation, and from time to time were very disheartening. The medical community may understand that these are harmless, but they need to do more to educate the rest of us. It is difficult to focus on life when you're constantly plagued by the thought that your next heartbeat might be your last! Eventually, when I woke up every morning, I decided that what hadn't killed me yet, probably wasn't going to soon. Enter the internet, suddenly thru sites like this and others I realize that I am not so unusual in my affliction, and that there are ways to make the palps better, if not dissappear completely. Its great that people can share their ideas about what helps. I just wish the medical community would take it more seriously, and if nothing else, tell people about such sites. I have tried Magnesium and Potasium supplements which help, staying away from caffeine and booze are obvious, though not a lot of fun, sleep aids get me too. Recently I tried something new and it seems crazy that it works, I can't imagine why. I eat about a cup of raisans every day! I went from dozens of palps every day to practically none. I don't think its mind over matter, I've been at this too long. Does anyone have a logical explanation? Is there some terrific mineral in raisans that could make such a difference? Thanks again for this site, any thoughts are appreciated. tj
having suddenly developed palpitations 18 months ago (my word was that scary) I found this forum by accident and made a couple of posts.
Since then I've had very few and at least I'd like to share what i've done.
1. got an ECG done and thyroid tests both normal - so there isnt anything actually wrong with my heart. If you havent then do the same ,it can at least aleviate the worry to some extent.
2. Sorted out my gastro-oesphageal reflux- believe me this made a difference and I dont know why- I'd read about this being a cause of heart palps so got my self on PPI's ( -esomeprazole -antiacid drug) .
3. I never drink caffiene now and when I do - guess what ?? palps ++
4. I do get palps occasionally some quite strong but I KNOW this is nothing- and that is a VERY important point with dealing with them.They are an inconvenience.
Always remember your are not alone -millions of people have this world wide and if it were dangerous there would be a screening program -wouldn't there ??
Have a good christmas all
Hi, I'm 39 and have been getting heart palpitations on and off for 6 or so years this stage. I've had my worse ever episode that have continued for the last 4 days - I get them mostly when I am standing up after a period of rest. I haven't been to the doc yet as I was hoping they would disappear. I previously had a Holter monitor attached for 24 hours but of course I had no problems that day! Today I bought Solgar Magnesium and Homocystine along with New Era Tissue Salts Mag. supplement. I'll post back if the supplements work. I might get the Aloe Vera gel caps too...do they really work?
Everyone!!! My palpitations gone.
Well first of all, I tried aloe vera and it worked but I started the anti-yeast/parasite therapy and realized that my body was full of yeast/parasites(in the intestines)
Yeast/parasites release toxins which causes you to have anxiety attacks/heart palpitations/random sweating/unstable homeostasis. etc.
Try it out.
There is a natural herb called Oil of Oregano. NOT just oregano. it's called OIL of Oregano.
It kills yeast/parasties in your body and very potent. First three says I became nauseous and I thought I was dying and thought this herb wasn't working but it was due to parasites/yeast dying off and the toxins were getting cleansed by our liver.
I have been on it for more than a week now and I feel so energetic. and living the greatest life ever. email me at [email protected]
I will get more specific about. I'm not here to sell anything but tell you guys that I had anxiety attacks and was afraid even drive around due to anxiety attacks. Trust me this works.
Just like every first timer I feel much happier knowing that there are so many of you out there that experience the same symptoms as I do. I thought I was the only one.
Im 33 and a father of 2. Since my teens I recall not being comfortable with my heart and what it does. I suffered panic attacks for years which turned me into a bit of an agoraphobic/hypochondriac (not travelling far from home etc - def not flying). After years of various therapies to counter the panic attacks I have managed a couple of family holidays last year (saved my marriage im sure and I really loved them) which is great, however.... since doing this the palpitations and flutters have greatly increased....(just when I thought things were going my way in life)
In 2001 I was told by the Cardiologist that I had a slightly floppy Mitral Valve but that it was nothing to worry about. I am 6ft 2 and slim build and always been fairly sporty even upto a year ago I was playing 5 a side football 3 x a week. Since the middle of 2008 my chest flutters have become so annoying and unbearable, lasting for days leaving me feeling weak and jittery.
I spoke to the Doc who said my BP was high and after a few return visits he was happy that it was ok as it fluctuated back to a normal level for my age etc. However the flutters have driven me crazy so I we to see the Cardiologist, My ECG with Doc had shown abnormalities, but they were not that concerned at the hospital only that my BP was high (prob due to the worry), so a 48hr ambulatory test, 24hr BP test, heart Echo and Blood tests later and they are still only concerned with my BP. They say the electrics of my heart are ok, I had to tell the Cardiologist that I had MVP (Mitral Valve Prolapse) and then he prescribed Bisoprolol 5mg (Beta Blockers). They seem to do the job for a few days heart seemed more at rest, but now the placebo has worn off 1 month later and here I sit after 5 hours and counting of flutters and skipped beats driving me up the wall. I get so moody and stressed out with my wife and kids when I feel like this as I am on edge and feel detached.
I truly can not stand it any longer.... I need to find a solution or be totally convinced that these are just an ugly symptom of something that is not life threatening. MVP can allow the heart to regurgitate blood which can cause heart attacks....I have to go back for another Echo in a years time to see how the MVP is....
Full of despair
Your story is quite common. Have you read the postings in the other discusssion in this website? The topic we are on now is #2489. The other one is #2222 I think. Anyway... go back to the discussions forum and find the other heart palpitations discussion. It is where most of the useful information is. I am in touch with dozens of sufferers around the world and through this group, many have beaten this monster. Perhaps you can too?
Contact me any time if you wish. nick at lucidboomer dot com.
All the best,
For palpitations.. try COQ10... 30mgs daily. Helped me a bit.
I am 73 years old and suffer from atrial fibrolation. I am taking minimum dose of Sotacor (Beta Blocher) but this is driving me insane. I want to sleep all day and every day. any similar side affects in our area.
Thought I'd update since my last post in January. The Solgar Magnesium and Homocystine did the trick - about 2-3 days later the palps were gone. I have had intermittent palpitations since then but nothing out of the ordinary. For some odd reason summer time is always better for me.
SO Ross 09..being summer is your good time.. you can't be sure if it's the supplements doing it or the weather? Is that right?
I just hope everyone is off Aspartame because that is such a cause of the heart palps...it's hidden in everything so you have to be vigilant. If anyone missed chewing gum..you can still get Teaberry, Clove and Beemans gum and it's just sugar which to me, pales in comparison to the other culprit!
Hello all, I haven't had a chance to post on this forum in ages. Since using the aloe, my palps have been gone for years now. At this point I have other health issues to worry about so I really don't follow this particular thread that well. But there are certainly a lot of good suggestions here. I can tell you that there are probably a number of different things that can cause palpitations. That means that some methods will work for some people and other methods for others, and some people may not be able to find anything that helps them. For me the aloe vera soft gels did the trick and the effect was permanent. I am really intrigued by the report regarding oil of oregano. Oil of oregano is really a good broad spectrum pathogen killer and I would not be surprised to find that it would kill off some nasty things in the human gut. And of course Mangosteen is good stuff as well in terms of lowering systemic inflammation. The whole root of palpitations, like a lot of other maladies out there, lies, I believe, in the realm of inflammation and low level autoimmune processes. There is just a lot of good and useful stuff out there in the supplement market that can be helpful and one just has to try some things and hope for the best. But anyone with a new case of palpitations should also get thoroughly examined by their GP initially to rule out any dangerous condition that might be causing them BEFORE trying supplements.
Welcome back. It's been a long time! I always credit you for shorting my research on this topic. You saved me years of work I suspect. I too got rid of palps a couple of years back now.
I'll only say this once... but ANYTHING I discuss here ALWAYS assumes the reader had done what George suggests and that is to see your doctor FIRST!!! It cannot be overstated the importance of ruling out stuff like prolapsed mitral valve or scar tissue on the heart or any one of a number of other factors that can trigger palpitations.
But after you have done that... then what we talk about here could be of use to you. I've been corresponding with about a dozen folks who emailed me from this group over the years. I send each of them my "regimen" to beat palps and every one of them has experienced relief. Some fully, and some only partially... but enought that they are very happy with the results.
One of the writers recently triggered another research round by writing to me about his experiences with a drug his doctor had given him. At first the drug stopped the palps, but after a few weeks they came back even stronger. After he started my program he reports that he is about 70% better. One fact he is stuck with for a while though is mercury in he teeth. You only need to google "effects of mercury" to see the horrible things that mercury does to you... and how easy it leeches out of the teeth.
But the reason for my post today is to highlight what my friend pointed out about his medication. His doctor told him it had a negative effect on the release of histamine in his system! RED FLAGS!!!! Histamine! I put my research group to work on histamine. There is some major implications here that I believe go hand in hand with inflammation. Its all connected. I will be releasing the reports on this as we test subjects and get a more complete set of data.
I don't know where to start, but I think some health history might help. I'm 45, a single mom, with alot of stress on me, but who doesn't have that ? The only thing that is NOT stressful in my life are my kids ( they are older) I couldn't ask for better. In the past 4 years I've been eating healthier and have lost 87 lbs so far. I need to lose 50 more. After losing the 87 lbs I was able to drop 4 prescribed medications, one for high blood pressure, acid reflux, etc. We ( I say we because everyone in the house eats this way ), don't eat red meat, anything at ALL fried, or fatty foods. We eat chicken, turkey, low fat, high fiber foods. And yeah we have pizza night one night a week, and if we want chocolate, my daughter and I will share a 3 Muskateer bar ( lowest in fat ). I don't drink, I don't smoke ( pretty boring huh ?). I dont' drink softdrinks and I only drink de-caff iced tea.Ok so 4 weeks ago I woke up one morning having heart palpitations that I could feel. I have always been able to feel these, maybe once a month, maybe not even that...but this was constant, all day, on and off, and when it happens, it would suck the energy right out of me, and take my breath away.Well my doctor did blood tests...and let me say I am disgusted with my doctor right now, but I do not have medical insurance, and I've been with them a long time and they give me a sliding rate. I work from home which means no insurance. The nurses tell the doctor they have called me back when I call in ( when they havn't), and they forget to take enough blood for my blood work, etc. I suggested to the doctor that it was peri menopause symptoms, because of my age, and the fact that I have about 12 more of those symptoms. They did a test for menopause, but that won't show up the peri-menopausal stuff, so she ignored that suggestion. I went two days ago and wore a 24 heart monitor. I am now experiencing some discomfort in my chest..kind of feel like i have indigestion .I wore the 24 hour heart monitor until yesterday morning. For that day my heart didn't act up as much as normal ( go figure )...but they took it off yesterday morning and told me they would send it right in to my doctor. I waited until this morning and called my doctor, and they said they never received it, that I will have to wait until Monday for my results. An hour later they called me....they found the results back on their desk, the doctor said that yes I am having some occassional heart palpitations, but I don't have anything to worry about, I just need to calm down and try and 'take it easy'. After thinking on this for 10 minutes I called them back and told them I can't live like this...that this sucks all my energy, that I feel bad all the time, and this is NEW to my body, that I can't imagine just 'living' with this. That it even happens when I'm just sitting and relaxing ! So they call me back and tell me they have called in a medicine ' Metaprolol'. Ok I do not want to be on a medication that will effect my heart, just because I told the doctor I can't live with heart palpitations. I've been reading what you all have said...I found some Mangosteen Juice at a local asian food market, but it is a different brand than what you suggested. The only thing in my diet I can see has changed in the past month, is that I am drinking about a half gallon of de-caff sweet tea a day, and i use three packets of sweet in low in each glass I drink. I'm determined to fix my problem, any suggestions ?Cheryl
Hear are some things that may help with the palpitations:
1) Aloe vera softgels. Make sure they are NOT the laxitive or colon cleanse kind! These virtually eliminated my palps in only 24hrs. I have been pretty much palp free in the years since. Probably a good place to start.
2) Also it would be good to get your vitamin D levels checked and optimized to 50ng/ml+, but that would require help from a doctor.
3) Based on recent research I also would recommend high quality omega-3 supplement like Nordic Naturals Fish Oil or Lyprinol.
I don't think the Mangosteen brand matters so much, but I would read the label carefully. It should provide plenty of actual mangosteen, most products are a blend of juices. I would also check to make sure that it includes the pericarp or rind which is the actual beneficial part of the fruit. I believe that Nick recommends Xango, I have used the Agro Foods product successfully. If what you have doesn't help, I would try to get some Xango and see if that is helpful. You will probably have to experiment a bit. All the best to you. - George
This forum has been invaluable to me in dealing with what became a real problem. I have found a solution that works for me but I know it won't work for everyone and that the causes of palpitations are varied. We all know how distressing and frightening this can be too. So firstly you are amongst friends.
Lets looks at the good points from your post.
It would appear that although you didn't have any raging palpitations whilst being monitored you did show something and it was not indicative of a serious heart problem or indeed any heart problem. If it were serious i'm sure something would show in 24 hrs.
You have tried and admirably succeeded with weight reduction.This is important as although i have never been overweight I did suffer from reflux and In my opinion this can cause some palpitations. I don't know why but they seemed related. My GP siad 'you are stressed so you get reflux but it is the stress not the reflux that causes the palpitations' However I proved him wrong as having been put on anti acid medication(PPI's) i am still stressed but do not get as many palpitations. 1-0 to me I think.
O.K the thing that screamed at me from your post is the sweet n low. This is NOT a good thing at least for me.It took a while to realise that artificial sweeteners can cause heart palpitations, so I think this is the most important thing to kick . O.K don't drop it all at once reduce it especially in drinks like tea and coffee once you are down to zero -It can be done. Then change your soft drinks to non-diet . At least give this a go for a month to see if it makes any difference. Its cleared very quickly so you should notice something within a couple of weeks
I've found low potassium is an issue so I eat at least a banana every other day- I like bananas so its no sweat.They have about 467 mg of Potassium its a qucik way to do it. Be careful if you have a kidney problem though.
Magnesium is also an issue and i take 250mg once a day.
It took about three months before i was aware of not having as many and then another three months since they became sporadic. Yes I still get them BUT i can cope with them. some days 2 episodes then nothng for days. This forum has helped though this particular thread does not get too many posting i get mailed if anyone responds.
BTW i'm not too impressed by your GP. I live in the UK and moving GPs is difficult but most GP's here take heart issues seriously. Mine certainly did However some hospital doctors have a more blaise view. Having been admitted to A&E (ER) and been put on a monitor the consultant said . 'Everythings O.K , beside which people of your age just have a huge heart attack and die' What he meant was that in your forties you don't get these symptoms prior to a heart attack so what i'd felt was nothing to worry about . Just what a way to put it !!!!! I actually laughed
Anyway first step ---sweet and lo GOTTA GO.
Hope this helps.
Hello my name is danielle!! Thanks for all this info on palpitations!! Its great that i find people that are going through the same thing as me! I actually have trachicardia(spelling) and brachicardia (sinus) so it sucks! So wut im gona do is try the whole aloe vera thing out and see if that works! Has anyone been on that and has it for sure worked!! How many people have used this aloe vera and it was successful!! Let me know thanks!!
There have been a few posts here advocating aloe vera although personally it didnt do much.If you've had an ECG , which from the fact you say you have Bradycardia ( slow heart rate ) and Tachycardia( high heart rate) ,suggests you have ,then presumeably you have not been diagnosed with any actual heart problem. I've said before that it's really important not to treat the symptom without having some idea of the cause.
If your hearts O.K then its a matter of initially adjusting to the situation which can be really hard .Everyone here has thought 'My heart should not have stopped for that long' or ' how long can it beat at this rate' This is usually followed by great anxiety over the whole thing and anxiety tends to make it worse..........catch 22
Read my post to Cheryl which outlines what works for me ( in your case plan B if the aloe vera doesnt ) I really found this forum helpful and get mailed when someone posts .
After four years I still get them but I am used to it and try to forget it as soon as possible - now they are an inconvenience like hiccups. I hope this reassures you.
BTW also check any medication you are on incase this has caused it - simple but often overlooked.
Please allow me to weigh in on this. I've been lurking off and on for the past couple of years. There is only so much that can be said about palps.
I first got them in 2002 and my drive to cure them ended up with me finding Irish Health and this group... and my friend George... who's keen observation skills picked up an early affector in the control of these things.
I finally beat my palpitations and I am sure you all know how good that must feel. As I read the posts, though I see discussion going around in circles and I see language that is too lose. Vespuccio [sp?], you just talked about aloe vera possibly having some effect. That statement is way too vague. If you go to the Duke Medical database you will see there are many derivatives of aloe vera. I had so many conversations with people over the years who continually get aloe vera mixed up with aloe vera - the juice! When we talk about aloe vera, we are talking about aloe gel. Not aloe vera. ALOE GEL. Please every one get this right. Do not refer to it as aloe vera. It is not aloe vera. And if you go to your health food store and ask for aloe vera, it will do nothing for you.. except keep you running to the bathroom. Aloe Gel, on the other hand is a potent anti-inflammatory.
My researc studies over the past 8 years have given me a ton of expereince with this issue. The first thing anyone must do is see their own doctor and rule out any physical defect whith the heart. After that... it is a matter of address your internal inflammation issues. You can choose to believe me or not, but I beat them myself and I have discussed this with at least two dozen others over the past 8 years who have also beaten palpitations.
It is a very complicated set of risk factors that trigger them and it all has to do with your diet and your level of acidity or alkalinity. I've developed a full time career around this single issue. You need to start doing some reading about alkalinity and ph levels. Aloe Gel taken three times a day will help to start, but there are other adjustments you need to make in your diet. If go search for hunzana ph drops in the search engines, you will find me and I will give you whatever literature you need.
Like anything else in life, you are either going just sit there talking about it, or you are going to do something about it.
I wish you all the best!
I am intrigued by your posting.Iam aware that the Gel is important and I apologise for this error. So Aloe Gel is a potent anti-inflammatory so presumeably this implies that its success is due to this property .
However Inflammation of what ? Stomach... Oesophagus ....Cardiac muscle ???? . You refer to research so i am curious whether this is patient based or literature based from Hunzana web site you do not appear to be medically qualified If you published any papers I am interested to reading them.
If inflammation were involved I would expect patients to present with high CRP or ESR for instance.
You also speak of acidity/alkalinity please clarify, stomach??... blood ??? . Blood has an extremely narrow safe pH range and is extremely tightly controlled I find it hard to visualise aloe gel making any impact - infact altering it would be positively dangerous.
As for Hunzana pH drops I am concerned as this appears to be a commercial company for which you have a vested interest and have advocated it's use but the science behind the claims is not substantiated.The tap water in my area is pH 7.9, i live on chalk, so I dont think I will be needing them.
As for the constant re-run of topics surely this is inevitable as new people join and ask the same questions as previously.I don't have a problem with this at all.The importance of replying reasonably quickly to new posts - who are obviously not having the best of months I feel is important,less they decide no one's listening
One thing we do agree on is that you have to rule out any possiblility of a heart problem from the outset.
Perhaps you are in Europe? Over here in North America there is a war going on between Alopaths and Naturopaths. We could talk for days about this topic! At the root of this issue is the battle for your wallet. My assertion is that there is no money in either dead people or healthy people. The forces that control the entire economy over here are used to having a strangle hold on both the system and any messages about it. Thankfully the internet has taken that away from them.
I now have at my finger tips such resources as "Harrison's Principles of Internal Medicine", and the various compendiums on internal medicine. When you read them, one glaring bias becomes evident. There is no talk of curing or fixing ailments. They talk only of "treatments". You see... treatments are lucrative. Any time you can get the client to pay you on a regular monthly basis, you will be much better off in the long run. All of the treatment discussion in these manuals is centered around pharmaceutical drugs!
The industry is so powerful that they have managed to propagandize even the discussion around medicine. They call themselves - "Traditional Medicine" and everything else is called "alternative medicine." They do this purposely because they understand human nature to reject "alternatives." In reality, what most people think of as traditional medicine is actually ALTERNATIVE MEDICINE! This stuff only came around in the last 100 years. Whereas... Chinese medicine has been around for 2000 years! So who's the rookie here?
You say, "inflammation of what...". Inflammation can happen anywhere. It does not necessarily happen in a uniform fashion all over your body. For example, depending upon the minerals or enzymes that are deficient in your system, you might have inflammation of the pericardial membrane around yoru heart. Pericarditis is inflammation of the pericardium. The pericardium has an inner and outer layer with a small amount of lubricating fluid between them. When the pericardium becomes inflamed, the amount of fluid between the two layers increases. This squeezes the heart and restricts its action.
In most cases, why pericarditis occurs is unknown. However, it can result from one or more of these: Sometimes it accompanies rheumatoid arthritis, lupus (systemic lupus erythematosus) and kidney failure. How is pericarditis treated? Analgesics or anti-inflammatory drugs are given to relieve pain. Antibiotics are also prescribed if the pericarditis is due to a bacterial infection. If excess fluid is seriously affecting the heart's action, a needle may be used to draw it off. In some cases surgery may be required. Some of the palpitation issues that we have discussed here over the years may be related to paricarditis in one degree or another. Next you bring up medical qualification. Limited thinking will never solve problems. Was Einstein qualified to be Professor at Princeton? No... he was, under your standards, not qualified. Qualification is a barrier used by those seeking to protect proprietary vehicles. One cannot practice medicine if one does not hold a certificate issued by the grandest of "old boys" clubs around. I don't care about that stuff. I have a career.. and this is not it. This is only a passion I enjoy since it is always changing and it is challenging. I don't offer advice, I offer observation. People can make their own minds up. When you start talking about pH levels in different parts of the body, I realize you don't really know this stuff well. The blood tries to normaize itself at 7.365. It is very tightly controlled by our bodies. Too low or too high and you die. The body is an amazing machine though. If you keep feeding it acidic materials, it will take minerals from your bones to buffer the acid. It will do it until your bones are riddled with arthritis and become easily broken. Why do so many old people fall and break their hips? If you have a pH of 7.9 in your area, you are a very lucky person! You should consider setting up a bottled water company there! Most of the water here is in the range of 5.5 to 6.4. Regarding re-runs... People are lazy. They want a fix in 7 seconds or less. Most will not take the time to read enough to help themselves. I am cynical I know. I'm 57 and I am entitled to draw some conclusions about life. Perhaps this is why doctors gave up long ago trying to help people. Just give them their drugs and drag them into old age without too much pain. It may be just too much work to get people to do the right things. I do a lot of internet marketing. The pH drops are just one of many products I am a representative for. At 57 I will retire eventually and I just love working and love the internet and technology. So... I've been building sites and developing a niche market approach. It only generates a couple of thousand dollars a month at the moment, but you have to remember.. there is NO overhead. We do agree that doctors are good mechanics. I want a doctor when I break a bone... or when I need to have an organ removed or repaired. But I want them to be my mechanic and NOT my medical advisor. My best friend is .. or was a doctor. We graduted from high school together so I got to see an inside view that many wouldn't see. And it is not a pleasant story. N.
In most cases, why pericarditis occurs is unknown. However, it can result from one or more of these:
Sometimes it accompanies rheumatoid arthritis, lupus (systemic lupus erythematosus) and kidney failure.
How is pericarditis treated?
Analgesics or anti-inflammatory drugs are given to relieve pain. Antibiotics are also prescribed if the pericarditis is due to a bacterial infection. If excess fluid is seriously affecting the heart's action, a needle may be used to draw it off. In some cases surgery may be required.
Some of the palpitation issues that we have discussed here over the years may be related to paricarditis in one degree or another.
Next you bring up medical qualification. Limited thinking will never solve problems. Was Einstein qualified to be Professor at Princeton? No... he was, under your standards, not qualified. Qualification is a barrier used by those seeking to protect proprietary vehicles. One cannot practice medicine if one does not hold a certificate issued by the grandest of "old boys" clubs around.
I don't care about that stuff. I have a career.. and this is not it. This is only a passion I enjoy since it is always changing and it is challenging. I don't offer advice, I offer observation. People can make their own minds up.
When you start talking about pH levels in different parts of the body, I realize you don't really know this stuff well. The blood tries to normaize itself at 7.365. It is very tightly controlled by our bodies. Too low or too high and you die. The body is an amazing machine though. If you keep feeding it acidic materials, it will take minerals from your bones to buffer the acid. It will do it until your bones are riddled with arthritis and become easily broken. Why do so many old people fall and break their hips?
If you have a pH of 7.9 in your area, you are a very lucky person! You should consider setting up a bottled water company there! Most of the water here is in the range of 5.5 to 6.4.
Regarding re-runs... People are lazy. They want a fix in 7 seconds or less. Most will not take the time to read enough to help themselves. I am cynical I know. I'm 57 and I am entitled to draw some conclusions about life. Perhaps this is why doctors gave up long ago trying to help people. Just give them their drugs and drag them into old age without too much pain. It may be just too much work to get people to do the right things.
I do a lot of internet marketing. The pH drops are just one of many products I am a representative for. At 57 I will retire eventually and I just love working and love the internet and technology. So... I've been building sites and developing a niche market approach. It only generates a couple of thousand dollars a month at the moment, but you have to remember.. there is NO overhead.
We do agree that doctors are good mechanics. I want a doctor when I break a bone... or when I need to have an organ removed or repaired. But I want them to be my mechanic and NOT my medical advisor. My best friend is .. or was a doctor. We graduted from high school together so I got to see an inside view that many wouldn't see. And it is not a pleasant story.
I am the "George" that Nick was referring to. I found Aloe Vera Soft Gels to be effective for my palpitations quite by accident. I had very severe palpitations that my doctor had attempted to treat with Metoprolol, but they didn't respond to the Metoprolol and progressively worsened. It got to the point that I was waking up at night with nausea due to the palpitations. At some point I began taking the aloe vera in an attempt to sooth my stomach. When I did that, within 24hrs the palpitations went away. And they stayed away as long as I kept taking the aloe vera. That was years ago. At this point the whole thing seems to be completely resolved as I no longer have to take aloe vera. And the palpitation problem has never returned. That is my own personal experience. I actually talked to someone at the US National Institutes of Health regarding this and from him discovered that there is research indicating that aloe vera may be useful in treating heart problems. There was a large study in India in the 1980's by a Dr Agarwal that treated 5,000 angina patients with aloe vera. After five years all were alive and healthy with no other medical intervention other than the aloe vera. This study was never followed up due to the difficulty in finding funding to study a complex commodity product which presents little opportunity for profit. Since then I have found that SOME, but not all palpitation suffers respond to aloe vera softgels. As Nick pointed out quite correctly, it is EXTREMELY important to get a complete cardiovascular evaluation before pursuing any alternative approach to dealing with palpitations. Also, as Nick correctly points out, there are multiple aloe vera products that have completely different medical effects, and in fact some of them are potentially dangerous, so be sure of what you are taking. Be especially careful to avoid the Aloe Latex products as their only effect is that of an extremely harsh laxative which is NOT what you need if you have palpitations and you should NEVER use that one three times a day on an ongoing basis. Bottom line is aloe soft gels work for some and not for others. When I discussed this with a heart palp researcher, his take was that the aloe soft gel product must have some targeted anti-inflammatory effect if it was effectively treating the root of a certain heart palp problem.
Perfectly said George. You are so much more tolerant than me. Wish I had your patience! I tend to be a cranky old guy. My experience is the same as yours.
I used Aloe Gel and they went away. I stopped for a while (ie.. after about three weeks...) and they came back. So I used them off and on for about 6 months and they are now gone for good.
I continue to research the issue of inflammation. I suspect that there is something in the aloe gel that specifically targets an inflammed pericardium. But as you so correctly pointed out... there is just no money in this stuff since it is so readily available. Texas sells it by the gallon!
I find that aspect of our health care system sad. They won't work on a cure if there is no money in it.
You summise correctly I am in Europe with an excellent G.P who refused to put me on any medication for palp's because there is nothing fundamentally wrong with my heart.Unlike the U.S there is no incentive to treat unneccessarily although 'preventative' medicine is worryingly creeping in.
I do fully understand pH homeostasis , what I was doing was giving areas where aloe gel could affect pH if it were ingested as you had not specified - hence the sites I chose oesophagus first , stomach or eventually blood. I wasnt implying varying pH around the body if this is how it came over.
What i would like to see is an aloe gel randomised double blind trial.
This would ascertain if there was an effect. None of the patients would know if thay had aloe or an inert substance , none of the people running the trial would know either. The preparation and result collection would be a third party.
Run statistics for chi squared and if it's significant it's real .......then the drugs companies will isolate the substance and make millions ...'Palpadex 250mg ' I can see it now.
As you are stating that pericarditis can be the cause of palpitations.This is also certainly testable via ultrasound and ecg also esr and crp would be raised .But many sufferers have normal values of both including myself.I am not convinced of this.
Good to throw ideas about
The problem with drug companies trying to market an aloe derived drug is that if it becomes common knowledge that plain old dirt cheap aloe gel will do the job, who will buy that expensive drug? That is why drug companies are unwilling to gamble the huge amount of money required for trials. But the preliminary Indian study certainly argue that more definitive trials *should* be done on aloe products since it clearly indicates that such products would have the potential to save lives. But it is just not going to happen in a capitalist setting, because in a capitalist setting things are not driven by potential public health benefit, but rather by potential profit. That is not intended to be a criticism, but rather a reflection of the reality of life.
The other issue of course is that even the aloe soft gels don't work for everybody. The reason for that is fairly easy to figure out. Heart palpitations are a generalized symptom with multiple root causes. Some of those causes ARE potentially deadly which is why anyone with palpitations should have a complete cardio evaluation before pursuing any attempt at self medication. But aloe vera is one of many intriguing plant based substances that certainly deserves more scientific investigation. And if ones palps have been fully investigated by a medical professional and nothing else helps, its worth a shot. If it is going to work it should work quickly so there is not a lot of money to be lost trying either.
George Many Many Thanks I took the Aloa Vera gel and my Palps went. In My case I think the following all contributed to myself getting them. A really bad diet consisting of biscuits and more biscuits tea and coffee. Stress and more Stress. Playing sports and not hydrating properly before/during/afterwards. In summer time the covers on my bed being too heavy making myself sweat at night time.In relation to the gel being an anti inflamatory I can say that once when I had the palps and I was quite relaxed nearly asleep I was aware of a slight throbbing inside me ( something inflamed )which would start the palps. Im now aware of the sodium/potassium balance the importance of sleep and diet. George thank you again I have half an idea I might have an ulcer and the gel helped that. To anyone who now has palps do some research tho skip over the negative stuff ( its NOT easy as I found they really stressd me) you may have a food allergy (peanuts and any type of coffee even decaf gives me palps ). I was getting them all the time the only relief was when I lay on my right hand side tho some days were better than others. I cut out coffee chocolate and as much sugar as possible but be careful with new foods.Check out the Dash diet. I now eat 2 banannas a day (potassium) and drink a reasonable amount of water. Its possible my palps started when i ate the spiciest food in the world stay away from spicy food. I believe I am responsible for my own health Im not one to put my health in the hands of others who may or may not be competent or care. Try everything you will find something tho Rest both Body and mind...George thx again
Congratulations Sam! You nailed it! I wish others were as keen as you to solve their issues. What you did would help a large number of them out there.
omg thank god i found this website with good info on heart palpitation.
i don't know if i'm abnormal but my heart palpitation is like this.
it only starts when i'm lying down (on sofa, on bed, etc.)
my chest vibrate and i can feel the arteries blood moving on my back. all this happens only when i'm lying down.
hopefully the aloe vera gel will solve this problem.
As you cansee this thread is barely,if ever updated now and I believe there are other threads running on this forum for this topic.
Your symptoms sound odd in so much as you say ' vibrate' which suggests a rapid movement.
Rapid heart beat is tachycardia which is usually quite obvious what it is.
Most importnatly I suggest that you get a doctors appointment and run a ECG. if you are in the UK most GP's have an ECG machine , if it commonly happens when you lie down you may catch it in the surgery or clinic that would be a definitive answer as to whether it is your heart.Even if it proves to be your heart it may not be significant. Also consider if you are on other meds and see if they can cause this too.
I've replied because I have an email notification on this thread but the last post was 2010.
It is possible it is a muscular spasm which can cause 'vibration' these are called 'benign fasciculations ' and occur usually in the legs and arms but any muscle can do it and usually when you are relaxed. Sometimes these are like a vibrating mobile phone.
I agree. The first step BEFORE trying self treatment is ALWAYS a medical evaluation. I am a major advocate of Aloe Vera Gel. It solved my problem completely. But never try to treat cardio issues without first getting screened by a doctor to make sure there is not a serious life threatening problem going on. Once the doctor verifies the problem is not life threatening, THEN go ahead and give the Aloe a try. - George
I've had irregular heartbeat/flutters on and off over the last few years. Had ECG and 24 hour halter and nothing showed up. Printed out your 12 steps to beating palps a few years ago Nick and found it helpful. Then I was grand for ages!
The last 2 months have been mad - through Lent I gave up all choc/sweets/cakes etc - and the irregular heart beats (a gap and then catching up) were there most days. So it was not down to sugar rushes.
I think my trigger might be soya beans? Previously I drank a lot of soya milk (I'm vegetarian 20 years - but have been eating some fish regularly over the last year or so) and when I gave the soya milk up they seemed to lessen. But many breads seem to use soya flour in them - so it's hard enough to completely rule it out.
I recently had another ECG - and I have to go to discuss the results tomorrow with my GP. I've had palps pretty much for the last 3 weeks - and two migraines in the last 3 months (usually only have 2 a year max.) Also have postural vertigo - arrggghhh!
Anyway - my query is - have others found that Calcium supplements cause irregular heartbeats? I started taking Osteocare about a month ago - my mother and brother were recently diagnosed with Osteoporosis. The last 3 weeks I have been in a bit of a haze and the palpitations are nearly every day. As I write my poor heart is fairly jumping out of my chest.
I am on not any medication - except for the Osteocare supplements.
Thanks all! Love this discussion group.
I know how distressing Palpations are. I had severe Palps for about a year on and off the worst being for about 3 months but thankfully Im ok now. Here is my advice on this problem. 1/ Go get an ECG let a doctor look and check all is ok there then see what they can offer more than likely Beta blockers because you are more than likely extremely distressed and the doctor more than likely will say you are suffering from stress which is causing the palps and not the other way around. 2/ Water Water Water……dehydration creates the conditions for palps ie inflammation. Get into a routine of 2 glasses in the morning 2 at lunch time and 2 at night. Keep an eye on the colour of your urine and drink water to keep a clear colour. This is a must in getting
your heart back to normal 2/ In my opinion Palps are caused by a Stomach ulcer or other inflammation in that area. If you note the thump ship then the beats catching up it is very like the way the heart reacts to a sharp pain. I believe due to inflammation inside there is “sharp pain” that does not register with the brain as pain i.e. where the inflammation is there are no pain nerves so the heart reacts via the vagus nerve
to this inflammation. Accepting the fact you have inflammation you need to look on your stomach area as being severely inflamed due to food chemicals ect. So cut out all foods that irritate….All coffee…ice cream …..all acidic foods like tomatoes ….. chocolate…… any food loaded with chemicals…..mint tea…spices..ect. Sort out this inflammation and you sort out your palps. Your stomach acid if you have a stomach ulcer can be eased by aloe vera gel or by a tablet which
cuts the production of stomach acid ask your doctor re this (proton pump inhibitor). Ask yourself do you have any pain in the stomach area especially at night this is an indication of a stomach ulcer. 3/ Consider the fact you may have a sugar/ diabetic problem reduce sugar as a good thing anyways. 4/ Try to reduce stress easier said than done 5/ Take
a magnesium/calcium/vit D supplement this can ease things a bit. Take a least one Bananna a day for the potassium. 5/ Consider a gall bladder clense I did this I think it did help cant do any harm….if that is inflammed it could be causing the problem. So to cap. Drink more water….Cut out all foods that irritates the digestive tract……. Cut out all food laced with chemicals..…cut out coffee and all acidic drinks and caffeine……get a supply of aloe vera gel or a stomach acid inhibitor…..try to reduce stress…..take magnesium/calcium/vit d supplements.…..reduce sugar maybe check your blood sugar levels…..low blood sugar can cause palps…….research anti inflammatory supplements ……… you may have a virus/bacteria causing the inflammation check antibiotics natural antibiotics…you may have a stomach hernia..(hiatus hernia)…eased by proper hydration... Palps will take a while to sort if it’s a stomach ulcer with the aloe vera/ mups maybe 2 to 3 days if not concentrate on inflammation and supplements to reduce eliminate….. treat your stomach area like you would treat a nasty inflamed ulcer on your arm/leg………..I hope this helps……..there are others here who can help in a major way they are the best of people …….. best of luck you will clear them….
Ps Soya increases estrogen levels have you checked this out??? Can mess up hormone Balances in men/women do your research Mary…….myself I would stay well away why would you keep taking it if you think it causes you problems ??...I doubt calcium would
Cause palps…..maybe the major people in here might know better
Thanks to Nick George others again for their help/time/ support to people with palps or those who have had them...thx
Hi, I am so glad to see this heart palpitation topic, I had same problem, I had in hospital for 3 days for doing a complete check up of my heart, as I had minor chest pain, fatigue, heart beating hard. After, blood tests, ECG, stress test and heart scan, ultra sound scan. The cardio concluded my heart is normal and good, but they don't know what cause the symptoms that I have, suggest me to further investigate with my GP.
after I left hospital, around 4 weeks now, my heart palpitation is getting worse and intense, the doctor just saying my symptoms are from stress/anxiety., the heart had been beating non stop, Around 5 days ago, feb 4, my heart beat to 100bpm, it had been like this non-stop. That day a natural path doctor told me to take magnesium biglycinate pills, I took about 800mg a day, plus Epsom salt bath for an hour each day for the last few days, my heart beat intensity calm down a lot, but u still can feel my heart beat around in 90-99bpm, only it doesn't thump very hard. I can't sleep much.
I read about bout you guys mention the Aloe Gel, I want to know more about it, when you guys mention eating the gel, do you mean buying fresh Aloe and eat the gel in the leave? Or there is aloe gel product that is for eating?
i hope anyone of you who had use the Aloe gel can help me out on this or other information, , I feel really horrible. I have to do things slow and rest quite often. I will see my GP next week.
I have been reading this forum for weeks and weeks. I am 40 years old and have suffered palpitations like all of you. I have had them and chest pain since I was 17 years old. Over the past 3 months I got extremely ill. I was having palpitations 24/7 and extremely nauseated. I could not function and was all of a sudden totally debilitated. I went to the A&E and had every test you can imagine. Bloods,ecg,echo,MRI,cat scan,telemetry monitors and endoscopy. My telemetry monitor showed tachycardia AND bradycardia. It one go from one extreme to the other in a split second. I also had pauses while sleeping. One cardiologist wanted to send me to a city hospital to have a pacemaker. Another put that on hold and wanted to do a tilt table test and loop recorder first. So in the meantime while I'm waiting on my next test (tilt table), i am really really ill and constantly in and out of the a&e. They do all the tests again keep me over night or a few nights. All comes back clear again and all doctors are totally puzzled. They send me home again with another new tablet. Eventually I get called for the tilt table test which I thought would never come quick enough. I was soooo ill and wanted and needed answers.
So i go to the hospital outpatients and have the tilt table test done. I was very ill that morning as usual and my palpitations were rampant.
I passed out when table was tilted to standing position. My heart rate would just not come back to normal for ages after they took me back down and I came around.
The doctor sat me on a chair. Called my husband into the room. Was circling things on her notes and then told us her diagnosis.
I was diagnosed with a very rare chronic illness called POTS (postural Orthostatic tachycardia syndrome). There is NO cure but there is treatment. I am now again on a waiting list to the big city hospital to get treated, as there is only 1 hospital in Ireland that have 1 consultant that deals with POTS.
I have been back to my a&e since once as I really needed a saline drip as I could not keep my fluids in. And that is one of the major things I have to have with this.
Anyway I agree with Jeff from way back, who was the only persons here I can see mentioned a tilt table test.
I recommend you guys if you are not getting any better or get better for just a little time and then worse again. Ask for a tilt table test.
I hope this helps someone. I am now trying to raise awareness for POTS as not many doctors or nurses or people in general have heard of it. It's real and needs awareness.
God bless you all I hope ye find answers.
Recommended for those who have already done thorough testing of the heart. use finger touch of salt before and after meal + 0.25 mg of Lorazepam nightly + stop heavy jobs + stay away from heat + try good sleep + Tranquility + healthy nutrition+ quit smoking completely.good luck
I had palpitations not more than one minute. I have done thorough testing of the my heart (ECG at rest and while exercising (stress ECG), 48 hours Holter monitoring and Echocardiogram, the results all were normal. But still I had heart palpitations. I have monitored my heart palpitations for the past 2 years, and the following are the results:0.25 mg of Lorazepam nightly (only for two weeks) + stop heavy jobs + stop bending + stay away from heat + try good sleep + tranquility + healthy nutrition + quit smoking completely (I was smoking only 2-3 cigarette/week). But still I had palpitations while I was walking uphill. Accidentally I found out adding salt to my food specially using finger touch of salt before and after the meals. Now I can walk uphill for 2 hours and everything is OK. good luck
Hi everyone, here it is 5 years later and I wanted to come repost. I havn't had heart palpitations in years now...so long, that I can't remember exactly when they stopped. I am now 51 years old. I didn't do anymore testing, just figured that at my particular age, for me, being a woman, it was part of peri menopause and apparently I was right. Just wanted to come back and post in case others in my particular stage of life would come looking. Best of luck to all of you.
Magnesium. Magnesium. Magnesium.
Google Carolyn Dean. The Miracles of Magnesium.
My palps gone in 30 days. Been 5 years.
I had Heart palpitations for 2 years. I have finally found out that is due to no salt diet. since I have added salt to my diet it seems I am OK. salt could keep blood pressure from falling, I think low blood pressure could cause Heart palpitations.
Hi Its been quite a while since I posted back in 2012. I was palp free for quite a long time but following a stressful peroid they returned in force. I will try to be brief. Probably due to a bad diet ( too much sugar ) and a stressful period they returned quite badly around xmas 2015. The usual heavy beating the skipping. I noticed before that when I lay on my left side they were bad and could get some relief if I lay on my right hand side. I also noticed I would get a few mins of relief then I would get a feeling below my rib cage and they were back. Some days were better than others which I could not understand. I also had a bad stomach but I had that before, I put that down to spicy food in my past probably a stomach ulcer. Anyways did some more reasearch came across a post on zinc and strangely enough had white speckles in my nails which is a visible indication of zinc deficiency. taking zinc reduced the heavyness of the skipped beat it really healped me. There is a very good heart specialist/doctor on youtube who gave/gives very good advice on palps and i picked up on his quoted study on magnesium so I upped my doseage on that too. Here is where it gets a bit unreal. During all this severe unwellness around my bum/anus was getting a bit itchy not all time just a little bit. I put it down to getting a bit older (bigger bum) or sweating or washing powder or a sugar diet whatever. I researched it and it was possibly a fungal infection or a parasite infection. I did the usual checking for parasites nothing but looked up medication on line one day for this problem. Meanwhile my palps was an issue as was my stomach I was quite unwell but having survived this before I held onto the belief I would be ok again. I upped my magnesium my calcium and my zinc supplements that certainly helped. One day out shopping I found myself in a large chemist and by chance bought 2 packets of parasite/deworming medication. I got home will I take them will I not take them anyways plucked up the courage and took 2 went to bed. next morning took another 2..............3/4 days later all stomach pain was gone as were my palps the belief a bad choice of food in younger years stays with you as in a bad stomach is wrong. My stomach now is like when i was 20 and strangely enough the foods that would bring on palps no longer do. My palps have gone I am now palp free again. It was quite a transformation for me to say the least. My skin is not as dry my hair Im told has more life to it and my energy levels are so much better ( I put loss of energy levels down to getting older as my stomach probs ) I thought my stomach probs was just my/an ulcer coming back but obviously not. My opinion is zinc magnesiun calcium were not there in enough quantities because of issues with my stomach and the palps was my heart complaining about that but did the best it could.. so stranger than fiction throw parasites ( possibly hookworms) into the mix for causing severe heart palps. Looking back I was quite physically stressed by this physical problem. Sorry about any bad spelling I hope this helps a few sufferers out there otherwise I would not be posting this.. keep trying...thanks bye for now
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The way you spell the name (over 270 ways to date) matters little! It is more important that the same Scottish Clan has existed for more than ten centuries and continues today; historic in its contribution to the nation of Scotland; central to the Scottish “Plantation of Ireland”; and impressive in the importation of culture and strength to the American colonies by the Scots and the Scots-Irish. The line reaches back to the High Kings of Ulster (Ireland) and has come unbroken to this day.
Starting in the eighteenth century we migrated to North America, the Indies and later Australia and New Zealand. Members of our clan were prominent in the Revolutionary War and have fought for their country in every war since.
Recognizing the social value of our cultural heritage and its importance as a foundation for the future, an “Irvine Society” was formed about 1910 and lasted into the 1930's, disappearing at about the time of World War II. A re-birth occurred on 21 March 1976 when the 'CLAN IRWIN ASSOCIATION' was initiated by our Founding President, Ralph Irwin, to carry forward our historic cultural objectives. History teaches, genealogy enlightens, our tartan and heraldic insignia engender solidarity, and the Clan Association makes use of them all. There are more than fifty Coats of Arms in the clan.
The choice of the Association name reflects its appearance in clan history and its larger population numbers in North America. In the year 1184 the historian Hovedon wrote of the Castle Irwin in Scotland.
The immediate purpose of the C.I.A. (Clan Irwin Association) is to promote identification and fellowship among those “of the name”; to gather genealogical information through research and exchange; and to record and disseminate the proud and long history of the clan. Membership is open to anyone.
To this end, members receive a quarterly publication, 'The Holly Leaf Chronicle' (holly being the clan flower), consisting of historic matters, current events, and genealogical information and queries. Clan information and hospitality tents are sponsored and hosted at many Scottish Highland Games and other such events. Members have access to free family history search assistance. Tartan fabric, kilts and skirts, books, photos of Coat of Arms and castles suitable for framing, pewter clan badges, embroidered clan crests, ladies tartan wallets, tartan blankets, golf and tee shirts, ball caps and tartan tams, neckties, sashes and scarves are just some of the items available for purchase.
Now in 2010, the Association is in its thirty-second year with 1200 members. All who share in these interests and objectives are invited, (and urged), to join the Clan Irwin Association.
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Most people, especially those largely inexperienced in writing, prefer to write essays in the first person. How do you know when you’re doing this? Take a glance at a few of these essays you’ve turned and check how much you’ve used “I” within its pages. If you see yourself writing frequently in that manner, you may want to read through what we have to say about it below.
If your class professor has no issue with students writing in the first person, then by all means do so. However, it isn’t unusual for most school instructors (especially in college) to prefer seeing your essays in another voice instead. Know your professor and get a good idea of how he responds to essays written in this manner and adjust accordingly (i.e. change your writing style if you’ll get a bad grade for it).
Some essays are actually better written speaking from the first person. A film review, for instance, is a take on your personal opinion about a movie, which makes referring to yourself in the text a sensible idea. On a historical essay, on the other hand, it may just end up looking awkward, since the focus of your essay is on factual research.
If you’re unsure about whether a first-person style is good for your essay, try consulting the advice, style or templates section of your all-in-one writing software. Many of them count essay writing among the most important uses of such technology and frequently come with resources you can use towards it. If you can’t find a conclusive answer there, either, just remove it. The rule of “I” is that, if you’re in doubt about its usefulness, just take it out and play it safe.
Good luck writing!
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The dust can be found at the torus of the black hole. The torus, which resembles a three dimensional donut (as seen on the image on the left), surrounds the black hole and is believed to be the source of high energy objects called active galactic nuclei (AGN). The supermassive black hole pulls in material from the surrounding region but it seems that the resulting radiation and energy that this produces also blows it away.
The hotter dust was mapped using the AMBER VLTI instrument at near-infrared wavelengths and the newer observations reported here used the MIDI instrument at wavelengths between 8 and 13 microns in the mid-infrared.
Black holes are regions in space where gravity is so strong that even light cannot escape its pull. Black holes are formed from stars that have exploded into a supernova and collapses into itself.
Black holes vary in size with some being 20 times more massive that the sun. Supermassive Black holes can reach a mass more than a million times than that of the Sun. Each galaxy has a supermassive black hole in its center.
The VLTI used to observe the black hole is made up of a combination of four VLT Unit Telescopes and four moveable 1.8-metre VLT Auxiliary Telescopes. It combines the light from several of these telescopes to form one observation through a process called interferometry. This process does not actually produce images but the generated measurements can be used to increase the level of detail of resulting observations.
Cool Dust at the Torus of a Black Hole
ESO’s Very Large Telescope Interferometer has gathered the most detailed observations ever of the dust around the huge black hole at the centre of an active galaxy. Rather than finding all of the glowing dust in a doughnut-shaped torus around the black hole, as expected, the astronomers find that much of it is located above and below the torus. These observations show that dust is being pushed away from the black hole as a cool wind — a surprising finding that challenges current theories and tells us how supermassive black holes evolve and interact with their surroundings.
Over the last twenty years, astronomers have found that almost all galaxies have a huge black hole at their centre. Some of these black holes are growing by drawing in matter from their surroundings, creating in the process the most energetic objects in the Universe: active galactic nuclei (AGN). The central regions of these brilliant powerhouses are ringed by doughnuts of cosmic dust dragged from the surrounding space, similar to how water forms a small whirlpool around the plughole of a sink. It was thought that most of the strong infrared radiation coming from AGN originated in these doughnuts.
But new observations of a nearby active galaxy called NGC 3783, harnessing the power of the Very Large Telescope Interferometer (VLTI) at ESO’s Paranal Observatory in Chile, have given a team of astronomers a surprise. Although the hot dust — at some 700 to 1000 degrees Celsius — is indeed in a torus as expected, they found huge amounts of cooler dust above and below this main torus.
Video: Blackhole Outflow at Galaxy NGC 3783
As Sebastian Hönig (University of California Santa Barbara, USA and Christian-Albrechts-Universität zu Kiel, Germany), lead author of the paper presenting the new results, explains, “This is the first time we’ve been able to combine detailed mid-infrared observations of the cool, room-temperature dust around an AGN with similarly detailed observations of the very hot dust. This also represents the largest set of infrared interferometry for an AGN published yet.”
The newly-discovered dust forms a cool wind streaming outwards from the black hole. This wind must play an important role in the complex relationship between the black hole and its environment. The black hole feeds its insatiable appetite from the surrounding material, but the intense radiation this produces also seems to be blowing the material away. It is still unclear how these two processes work together and allow supermassive black holes to grow and evolve within galaxies, but the presence of a dusty wind adds a new piece to this picture.
In order to investigate the central regions of NGC 3783, the astronomers needed to use the combined power of the Unit Telescopes of ESO’s Very Large Telescope. Using these units together forms an interferometer that can obtain a resolution equivalent to that of a 130-metre telescope.
Another team member, Gerd Weigelt (Max-Planck-Institut für Radioastronomie, Bonn, Germany), explains, “By combining the world-class sensitivity of the large mirrors of the VLT with interferometry we are able to collect enough light to observe faint objects. This lets us study a region as small as the distance from our Sun to its closest neighbouring star, in a galaxy tens of millions of light-years away. No other optical or infrared system in the world is currently capable of this.”
These new observations may lead to a paradigm shift in the understanding of AGN. They are direct evidence that dust is being pushed out by the intense radiation. Models of how the dust is distributed and how supermassive black holes grow and evolve must now take into account this newly-discovered effect.
Hönig concludes, “I am now really looking forward to MATISSE, which will allow us to combine all four VLT Unit Telescopes at once and observe simultaneously in the near- and mid-infrared — giving us much more detailed data.” MATISSE, a second generation instrument for the VLTI, is currently under construction.
European Southern Observatory
ESO’s Paranal Observatory
University of California Santa Barbara
DUST IN THE POLAR REGION AS A MAJOR CONTRIBUTOR TO THE INFRARED EMISSION OF ACTIVE GALACTIC NUCLEI
New Class of Galaxy-Black Hole System With Black Hole Of Mass Equal To 11 Billion Suns Discovered
Rare Galaxy Class Identified - Green Bean Galaxy J2240
Biggest Quasar Blast From A Super Massive Black Hole Discovered
Two Black Holes Discovered Inside Globular Star Cluster M22
APEX Space Telescope Linked To Two Others For Sharpest Observation of Quasar 3C 279
New Type of Gamma Ray Bursts That Can Destroy Stars Discovered
Starburst Galaxies Effect Far Into The Universe Than Initially Believed
Hubble Space Telescope Captures Image of LHC 120-N 11 in the Large Magellanic Cloud
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By now most of you know that last year I completed my observation of everything in the so-called Herschel 400 deep sky observing list. But what exactly is the Herschel 400? Did William Herschel himself create the list, or was it his son John? Don’t you need a huge telescope and pristine skies to see most of them? Does it make observing all the Messier objects seem like a walk in the park? To help dispel all the mystery surrounding the Herschel 400, I thought I would try to explain what it is, and describe my own personal experience in pursuing it. Perhaps after reading this you might want to give it a try.
The first thing we have to do is to travel back to the late 1700’s. Amateur astronomer William Herschel (who was actually born Friedrich Wilhelm Herschel in Germany, but moved to England when he was a teenager to study music) was undertaking the world’s first systematic survey of the heavens using his large telescope. By the time he finished, he had compiled observations of 2,477 deep sky objects (including a small number of observations made by his sister Caroline), arguably making him the father of deep sky visual astronomy. Later, his son John took his father’s telescope to South Africa to study the southern sky, logging another 2,153 objects. In 1888, when J. L. E. Dreyer published the New General Catalogue of Nebulae and Clusters of Stars, his compilation of 7840 objects included the 4,630 observations of the Herschels. The catalog, usually referred to as the New General Catalogue, or simply the NGC, was later revised, expanded to over eight thousand objects, and renamed to the Revised New General Catalogue of Nonstellar Astronomical Objects. But objects in the catalog still bear the original NGC designation to this day.
In more modern times, in the late 1970’s, about the only deep sky catalogs from which amateurs could develop an observing program were the well-known Messier catalog of around 110 objects, and the NGC’s more than 8,000 objects. But the NGC was not very convenient, as a large majority of objects are beyond the reach of amateur sized instruments, particularly when used visually. It was then that members of the Ancient City Astronomy Club, of St. Augustine, Florida, created an observing program that they considered a bridge between the Messiers and the NGC. They pulled out 400 objects from the NGC, which would provide a bit of a challenge to experienced observers, yet not be overwhelming. They selected objects that should be within reach of a six inch telescope, when observing under slightly light polluted skies. The founders observed all the objects under skies with a limiting magnitude at the zenith of about 5.5. Surprisingly, some of the objects in the Herschel 400 are also in the Messier catalog, and some are quite large and bright, such as the Double Cluster which is even visible naked eye. But the majority are relatively faint and inconspicuous.
The best place to find the Herschel 400 list is on the Astronomical League’s web site, namely http://www.astroleague.org/al/obsclubs/herschel/hers400.html . There you will find the list, and rules and additional information on the award they offer to those who observe all of the objects. The nice thing about this award is that you do not have to be associated with the Astronomical League to receive it. This was accomplished through a special arrangement with the Ancient City Astronomy Club. (With all other Astronomical League observing clubs, you must either belong to a member society, or be a member at large.) One of the goals of the Astronomical League’s observing clubs is to develop good observation and record keeping techniques on the part of the observer. So, if you intend to apply for the award, then you will have to keep good records of all your observations. At a minimum, for each object you must provide the date and time of the observation, seeing conditions, telescope aperture, magnification used, and a short note describing your observation.
Okay, let’s get to the nitty-gritty. Intentions of the creators of the list aside, what does it really take to observe everything on the list? Today, nearly twenty-five years after the Herschel 400 list was compiled, light pollution has become much more of a problem for deep sky observers. Finding even magnitude 5.5 skies can be something of a challenge for many city dwellers. My guess is that most observers will be severely challenged to observe them all with a six inch telescope. My recommendation is that for most observing sites in southeast Michigan you’ll need a scope with at least eight, or maybe even ten inches of aperture. And of course, you should observe under the darkest skies available to you.
What kind of charts do you need? The ubiquitous Sky Atlas 2000 will let you find a large number of the objects. But in crowded fields such as the Virgo or Coma galaxy clusters, Sky Atlas 2000 often does not provide enough detail to distinguish your target from other objects that may lie nearby. Same goes for objects in fields devoid of enough bright nearby stars for star hopping. Since one of the goals of the program is to develop your observing and record keeping skills, positive identification of your target is essential. So for some of these objects, you’ll need more detailed charts, such as those found in Uranometria 2000 or Millennium Star Atlas. Or, you can print up detailed charts using popular computer star charting programs, such as Guide. Of course, you could use a go-to mount or computer assist, but that would take all the fun and personal satisfaction out of it wouldn’t it? There are also guidebooks for observing the Herschel 400. I’ve not used any, but one example is Observe the Herschel Objects (Astronomical League, 1980). I believe that there are other titles that may be useful.
The obvious question is, how difficult was it? Not as difficult as you might think. I used my 13.1-inch f/4.5 Dobsonian exclusively, so tracking down the objects themselves was pretty easy. The majority of the objects are not very remarkable, but with a few exceptions they have high enough surface brightness to make them relatively easy to find. I did most of my observing at Peach Mountain, Lake Hudson State Recreation Area, at star parties such as the now defunct SMURFS, the Texas Star Party and the Black Forest star Party, and other locations. I did not find sky darkness to be much of a factor except at “The Hill,” which seems to be getting more and more light polluted and higher horizons every year. Light pollution aside, the more difficult problem to overcome was getting enough clear, transparent nights in which to observe. Mid-spring through mid-fall we get decent enough weather here in southeast Michigan, but the rest of the year the clouds are pretty stubborn about letting us see much of the heavens. Plus, during the winter months when it does manage to be clear, it is cold - it often takes a concerted effort to get up the gumption to brave sometimes sub-zero temperatures and pack up all your equipment and drive out to a dark sky site.
I did all my observations the old fashioned way - finder scope and star charts, and telescope drive system by “armstrong.” As I stated earlier, Sky Atlas 2000 was adequate for most objects, but sometimes I had to resort to Uranometria 2000, or even Millennium Star Atlas. The nice thing about Millennium Star Atlas, besides its huge scale, is that it shows the orientation of all galaxies - something Sky Atlas 2000 and the older edition of Uranometria 2000 do not. Knowing how a galaxy is oriented relative to field stars is a big help in crowded galaxy fields to get a positive ID. The new edition of Uranometria 2000, which has been totally redone, does indeed show galaxy orientation, and I suspect it would work fine when Sky Atlas 2000 doesn’t quite cut it. Sky charting software such as Guide also prints galaxies in their correct orientations.
At the 2004 Black Forest Star Party, I finally finished the list. It took several years, but now it was done. Yeah! At first I did not intend to apply for the award, because of the Astronomical League membership and attending monetary requirements I believed I needed to satisfy. It was only after a bit of investigation and running down some blind alleys that I discovered that there are no such requirements for the Herschel 400 award. So late last year I gathered up all my observation records and sent them in to the Herschel club chair. She acknowledged receipt of my application right away, but it took a few months for her to finalize everything and send me the award. But by late March I received a nice certificate (suitable for framing) and lapel pin, and a congratulatory letter. I’m now official!
So in the end what should one make of this observing “feat” of mine? Perhaps a comparison with the list’s namesake will put it into proper perspective. William Herschel had to make his own telescope at a time when one could hardly consider it a hobby. It was state of the art engineering, where much had to be invented. No Dobsonian mountings, no wide-field, well-corrected oculars, no unit power reflex finders, no enhanced mirror coatings (his mirrors were made of solid speculum metal, an alloy of copper and tin, which tarnished easily). In fact, Herschel could not even track objects as we do. His favorite telescope, with a 20 foot focal length, was so large and unwieldy that its alt-azimuth mounting looked more like an enormous hangman’s gallows than a telescope. While he stood at the top of the tube, facing the primary mirror with his back turned to the sky, he had an assistant turn hand wheels, pull ropes, and work levers to keep objects in the eyepiece. He would dictate his observation notes to his wife Caroline who would then write them down. Remember that he had no charts or handbooks to work from - he was exploring what was then the astronomical frontier, meaning nearly every new object he observed, to the tune of nearly 2500 objects, was a new discovery. Compare that to the modern day amateur, with large, stable, trackable telescopes, highly accurate and reflective metal-on-glass mirrors, super-corrected, multi-coated, wide-field eyepieces, detailed star charts, computer databases, and oh, yes, the NGC catalog that Herschel himself started. When I consider all that, I am forced to humbly admit that I have done my observations while standing on the shoulders of a true giant. And I didn’t have to stand on my tippy-toes either!
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CHEYENNE, Wyo. (AP) — The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced Thursday for the first time that fracking — a controversial method of improving the productivity of oil and gas wells — may be to blame for causing groundwater pollution.
The draft finding could have significant implications while states try to determine how to regulate the process. Environmentalists characterized the report as a significant development though it met immediate criticism from the oil and gas industry and a U.S. senator.
The practice is called hydraulic fracturing and involves pumping pressurized water, sand and chemicals underground to open fissures and improve the flow of oil or gas to the surface.
The EPA found that compounds likely associated with fracking chemicals had been detected in the groundwater beneath Pavillion, a small community in central Wyoming where residents say their well water reeks of chemicals. Health officials last year advised them not to drink their water after the EPA found low levels hydrocarbons in their wells.
The EPA announcement could add to the controversy over fracking, which has played a large role in opening up many gas reserves, including the Marcellus Shale in the eastern U.S. in recent years.
The industry has long contended that fracking is safe, but environmentalists and some residents who live near drilling sites say it has poisoned groundwater.
The EPA said its announcement is the first step in a process of opening up its findings for review by the public and other scientists.
“EPA’s highest priority remains ensuring that Pavillion residents have access to safe drinking water,” said Jim Martin, EPA regional administrator in Denver. “We look forward to having these findings in the draft report informed by a transparent and public review process.”
The EPA also emphasized that the findings are specific to the Pavillion area. The agency said the fracking that occurred in Pavillion differed from fracking methods used elsewhere in regions with different geological characteristics.
The fracking occurred below the level of the drinking water aquifer and close to water wells, the EPA said. Elsewhere, drilling is more remote and fracking occurs much deeper than the level of groundwater that would normally be used.
Environmentalists welcomed the news of the EPA report, calling it an important turning point in the fracking debate.
“This is an important first indication there are potential problems with fracking that can impact domestic water wells. It’s I think a clarion call to industry to make sure they take a great deal of care in their drilling practices,” said Steve Jones with the Wyoming Outdoor Council.
Pavillion resident John Fenton, chairman of the group Pavillion Area Concerned Citizens, applauded the EPA for listening to the homeowners with contaminated water.
“Those of us who suffer the impacts from the unchecked development in our community are extremely happy the contamination source is being identified,” Fenton said.
Calgary, Alberta-based Encana Corp. owns the Pavillion gas field. An announced $45 million sale to Midland, Texas-based Legacy Reserves LP fell through last month amid what Encana said were Legacy’s concerns about the EPA investigation.
Encana spokesman Doug Hock said there was much to question about the draft study.
The compounds EPA said could be associated with fracking, he said, could have had other origins not related to gas development.
“Those could just have likely been brought about by contamination in their sampling process or construction of their well,” Hock said.
The low levels of hydrocarbons found in local water wells likewise haven’t been linked to gas development and substances such as methane itself are naturally occurring in the area.
“There are still a lot of questions that need to be answered. This is a probability and it is one we believe is incorrect,” Hock said.
Sen. James Inhofe said the study was “not based on sound science but rather on political science.”
“Its findings are premature, given that the Agency has not gone through the necessary peer-review process, and there are still serious outstanding questions regarding EPA’s data and methodology,” the Oklahoma Republican said in a statement.
Wyoming last year became one of the first states to require oil and gas companies to publicly disclose the chemicals used in fracking. Colorado regulators are considering doing the same.
The public and industry representatives packed an 11-hour hearing on the issue in Denver on Monday. They all generally supported the proposal but the sticking point is whether trade secrets would have to be disclosed and how quickly the information would have to be turned over.
And while the EPA emphasized the Wyoming findings were highly localized, the report is likely to reverberate.
The issue has been highly contentious in New York, where some upstate residents and politicians argue that the gas industry will bring desperately needed jobs while others demand a ban on fracking to protect water supplies. New York regulators haven’t issued permits for gas drilling with high-volume hydraulic fracturing in the Marcellus Shale since they began an extensive environmental review in 2008.
In Pennsylvania, where thousands of gas wells have been drilled and fracked over the past three years, some residents say their water wells have been contaminated with methane and drilling fluids.
Kate Sinding, an attorney with the Natural Resources Defense Council in New York City, said in an email Thursday that the EPA in Wyoming is now recognizing what other experts and families in fracking communities have known for some time: “Fracking poses serious threats to safe drinking water.”
David Neslin, director of the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission, said the Wyoming case is being watched.
“Protection of drinking water in Colorado is of the highest importance to us and therefore we look forward to reviewing EPA’s draft analysis, as well as feedback from other parties, including Wyoming, on this matter,” he said.
Associated Press writers Colleen Slevin in Denver and Mary Esch in Albany, N.Y., contributed to this report.
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There’s helpful news if you have high blood pressure. By taking a few simple, practical steps, you can have a better chance of keeping your blood pressure under control. Data have shown that many Americans with high blood pressure do not have their blood pressure controlled to a healthy level.
An estimated 78 million adults in the U.S. have high blood pressure. The National Center for Health Statistics reported that from 2007–2010, more than 80 percent of people with high blood pressure were aware they had it, but only about half had their blood pressure under control.
Collaboration Is Key
According to the American Heart Association, people being treated but still not reaching their target blood pressure — typically, a level less than 140/90 millimeters of mercury — should be a health care priority. A key to better control is a good doctor-patient partnership.
If you’re one of the millions of Americans battling high blood pressure, here are some solutions to help you collaborate with your healthcare provider and get your blood pressure under control:
- Ask about your blood pressure at your annual check-up. If it’s high, check your blood pressure regularly between appointments — at home, a pharmacy or another facility. Follow up with your doctor based on his or her recommendations.
- Become a tracker. Keep a log of your medication, blood pressure levels, and questions to ask your doctor as they come to mind. Online tools, such as Heart360, can help.
- Be flexible. It may take a while to get to your blood pressure goal, and it may take more than one medicine in addition to lifestyle changes to get you there. Keep in close touch with your healthcare provider along the way to create the best plan for yourself. Here's a handy list of questions to ask your doctor about blood pressure.
- Know yourself. What keeps you from keeping up with your medicines? Eating healthy? Losing weight? Be aware of your barriers to better health and talk with your doctor about them. Your provider or clinic may have suggestions or know programs that can help.
|Infographic: 5 Simple Steps to Control Your Blood Pressure|
This content was last reviewed on 08/04/2014.
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Recognizing Distressed Concrete Tank Walls
"The Key to Preventative Maintenance and Longevity"
Visual inspection of any concrete surface will evidence signs of deleterious conditions that shorten the life cycle of the structure and require unscheduled maintenance. It is imperative to note obvious surface defects and bring them to the attention of the party responsible for their upkeep. This document is designed to familiarize personnel with basic information concerning degradation of concrete in this environment and offer an understanding of the cause of some of the observed conditions.
The tank pictured in this article is only nine years old and is a two million gallon clarifier vessel in service at a waste water treatment plant in the Southeastern U.S. The conditions observed require immediate attention to correct these deficiencies before they become a more serious problem to the owner. Brief explanations and comments are included to identify the causes of the defects noted. This particular tank was constructed using pneumatically applied concrete; however these same conditions are experienced in pump and pour structures as well.
The first and moat apparent sign of a problem is the brownish discoloration to the painted white surface of the tank indicating that contaminates on the surface are either leaching through the coating or being deposited on the surface from atmospheric sources. Note that the discoloration is most prevalent on the lower 1/2 to 2/3rds of the wall. This is an indication that a high moisture content of this concrete matrix exist in the lower wall levels due to gravity causing the moisture to wick down the wall interior and migrate out through the coating to discolor the surfaces. Another confirmation of this condition is a more pronounced concentration of stain at Micro-Crack locations at these lower wall levels.
No information was available concerning ASTM C642 Testing (Boiled Water Absorption) that may have been accomplished when this tank was constructed, however it is noted the applied coating is allowing moisture migration out to the atmosphere and conversely permitting contaminates to enter the matrix in the same manner. The tank wall substrate is not waterproofed and is responsible for contaminates and chemistry to migrate in and out of the structure. This is evident by noting that the wall surface facing to the East is more discolored than others. The rising sun and associated heat promote a cyclic wet-dry condition every day. As the surface heats, moisture within the wall evaporates from the surface and as it cools down humidity and rains are being absorbed back into the substrate. This free transfer of moisture allows airborne contaminates to migrate inward and internal chemistry of the concrete to migrate out where it reacts to form a host of unwanted surface conditions.
Efflorescence formations at several locations demonstrate a more active outward migration at Micro-Crack or Hydraulic Stress Fractures. Hydraulic action of filling a tank such as this will result in larger voids than shrinkage or curing cracks and offer an easier path for this outward migration if the substrate has not been waterproofed. A photograph of the tank wall top surface demonstrates vapor emissions to the vertical surfaces below. A larger crack or void carries more internal chemistry and moisture to these cracks where it is able to react freely with the atmosphere.
Embedded steel has begun to corrode at several locations causing spalling activity and rust stains to bleed through the coating creating a clear picture of the exact wire placement and areas of more advanced corrosion cell activity. In some areas the corrosion has advanced to the point that the volume of rust has pushed the concrete away from the steel to the extent a complete disbondment of the concrete has occurred. These “Pop-Out” areas are readily visible to the untrained eye whereas the other horizontal stained areas are showing the early stages of rust bleed through. A concrete surface without waterproofing and or a reliable coating will allow this stain pattern to give an early on indication of the corrosion taking place inside the matrix. A prescription for a mitigation or repair strategy should be implemented at the first sign of these conditions.
Another Coat of Paint is Not the Answer!
Samples of spalled concrete taken from the “Pop-Out” areas revealed severe carbonation at the depth of the steel and a pH of 5 at these levels. The Passivating layer on this steel has been compromised with these low pH levels allowing corrosion cells to form on the steel surfaces. Left untreated the corrosion, at this stage will advance rapidly requiring a more extensive repair/mitigation program. To compound these problems, pulverized samples from the “Pop-Out” areas also indicated unmeasured amounts of Sulfuric Acid in the samples. (Samples Not of a Volume to Allow Quantified Testing parameters)
It is believed that that Sulfuric Acid contaminates have been induced to these porous surfaces that were not waterproofed prior to a cosmetic coating being applied. Two digesters are located upwind of this tank allowing Hydrogen Sulfide to be wind driven to the tank wall where it is absorbed into this substrate exacerbating an already low pH caused by carbonation. Depth of cover issues, pervious substrate and the lack of a protective waterproofing system all play a role in the premature corrosion of the tank.
Early recognition of conditions such as this will allow for preventative steps to halt the corrosion and restore the concrete to a near new condition, thus avoiding a more complex and expensive repair. In this case, the concrete in the obvious areas of corrosion of steel will require removal. Steps to restore pH levels to above 12 should be taken in order to reestablish the Passivating layer on the embedded steel members. Realkalization could be in the form of electrochemical treatment or a wash to the surface. Post treatment pH testing should be accomplished prior to further work on the surface profiles. Patching or placement of shotcrete should be accomplished to allow sufficient depth of cover to offer protection against future corrosion cell formation.
Waterproofing this tank wall should be a priority after the repairs are complete. This will serve to reduce moisture and oxygen available to the concrete matrix. [Two of the essentials for corrosion cell formation]. A waterproofed surface will not show signs of chemical migration out to the surface and will prevent moisture/contaminate intrusion as well as Carbonation of the restored surface.
Protection of concrete surfaces by waterproofing them is the most Cost Effective means of corrosion control. If we expect to obtain maximum design life of a concrete structure, an understanding of the degradation process is a must.
VOC Test Documentation Now Available
ASTM D 3960 test for Volatile Organic Compounds (VOC).
StableCrete has completed the most recent testing for VOC content of the product that we have been recommending for years. This is the third and final test we have performed to insure unquestionable accuracy of the test regimen.
Test results have ranged from 11.67, 12.03, to a high of 13.00 g/Liter. We have chosen to publish the “Extremely Low” VOC Content of 13.00 g/L in all of our future test data and MSDS materials.
In addition to continuing to provide your customers with the same quality product you have known for years, you will now be able to offer yet another benefit to preserving a concrete structure using StableCrete.
A StableCrete treated concrete will continue to have, Extended Service Life, Improved Coating Adhesion and a Lower Life Cycle Cost. This has not changed!
This testing will allow for inclusion of a project for L.E.E.D Certification. Points may be obtained in MR [Material Resources] and I.E.Q. [Indoor Environmental Quality] with proper documentation and submittal. Additional points may be awarded in the I.D. [Innovation in Design] category. This is applicable to New Construction, Existing Building, Core & Shell as well as Commercial Interior in the Rating Systems.
We recognize the complexities in preparing the “Credit Interpretation Request” (CIR), when utilizing an Innovation in Design submittal. ConselcoR Inc. is available for consults to assist in drafting your CIR documents. This FREE consult will remain available until project volumes exceed our capacity.
As in the past, ConselcoR Inc. will continue to consult with estimators and specifiers of StableCrete for all product uses, LEED or otherwise.
In the coming weeks you will begin to see changes to our web site www.StableCrete.com as we begin to post additional information for all applications. This will enhance obtaining the necessary credits for a concretes “GREEN“ features in years to come!
You may also visit http://www.floridagreenbuilding.org to view our StableCrete listing on the Florida Green Building Coalition, Green Products page. Search CSI Section 03-05-00 Concrete Waterproofing Compound.
Our Motto “We Stand Behind the Product, We’ll Stand Behind You” also, has not changed! Please feel free to contact us with any questions you may have.
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GAILLARD, MATHIEU, commissary in ordinary to the navy and subdelegate for the intendant at Montreal; fl. 1683–94.
Gaillard arrived at Quebec 9 Oct. 1686, preceded, according to Governor Jacques-René Brisay* de Denonville, by a good reputation. He was commissioned to take charge of “His Majesty’s affairs in the region of Montreal.” Denonville, Bochart* de Champigny, and Buade de Frontenac unanimously praised his integrity, exactness, and loyalty. In 1687 he took part in Denonville’s expedition, which went to crush the Iroquois in their own territory. He was one of those who signed the act when Niagara was taken over on 31 July 1687.
On 7 June 1689 the king sent instructions to Frontenac about a plan for attacking New York; he enjoined him to take along the commissary Gaillard to draw up an inventory of the enemies’ possessions. For reasons of health, Gaillard could not remain in the colony. On 10 July 1690 the king appointed him commissary in ordinary to the navy at the port and arsenal of Rochefort. Frontenac regretted losing this official since, according to him, it was difficult to find a man “who was as zealous in the King’s service.” Gaillard did not leave until the spring of 1691 and he was still at his post in Rochefort in February 1694.
AN, Col., B, 12, ff. 20, 39, 40 1/2; 15, f. 6 1/2; C11A, 8, pp. 192, 220, 320 (copies in PAC); 10, pp. 147, 291, 371, 411 (copies in PAC); 11, pp. 205, 391 (copies in PAC). Coll. de manuscrits relatifs à la Nouv.-France. P.-G. Roy, “Mathieu Gaillard,” BRH, XXI (1915); 87–89.
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STANTON, Tenn.— Tennessee has cut the ribbon on the state’s largest solar power array. DOE Deputy Secretary Poneman, Deputy Governor Ramsey and University of Tennessee President Dr. DiPietro joined a crowd of almost 200 to celebrate the opening of the West Tennessee Solar Farm. The Farm officially began generating power today.
The Haywood County facility is capable of generating 5 megawatts of electricity, enough to power 500 homes and offset 250 tons of coal each month. That makes it the largest solar-energy array connected to the Tennessee Valley Authority’s grid.
“The West Tennessee Solar Farm opens a new chapter in the history of American solar power, tying together economic development, public education, and future research capabilities that will cement Tennessee’s leading role in this fast-growing, high-tech sector,” said Dr. Joe DiPietro, president of the University of Tennessee.
The Farm features 21,000 photovoltaic solar panels spread across more than 25 acres. The generated electricity is being distributed through purchase agreements with Chickasaw Electric Cooperative and Tennessee Valley Authority. Signal Energy designed and built the Solar Farm.
In addition to producing power, the Farm is designed to educate the public about solar power. The Farm will be home to a future public information center, accessible to some 10 million motorists who drive by the Interstate-40 site every year. Scheduled for completion in late 2013, entrance and exit ramps from the interstate will be included, as well as an interactive renewable-energy exhibit that will be housed in the center. Information about the energy generated by the solar array will be available at the Solar Farm’s website.
“The University of Tennessee owns and operates the Solar Farm, and looks forward to using it as a great teaching tool,” said Dr. David Millhorn, executive vice president of the University of Tennessee. “ It’s exciting that the Farm will serve as a proving ground for the generation of new solar energy technologies. A utility-scale test site is a game changer in the solar energy field.”
“We are excited the West Tennessee Solar Farm has become a reality after years of hard work and planning,” Molly Cripps, director, ECD Energy Division said. “The Solar Farm will serve as a visible reminder of the possibilities the advanced manufacturing and energy technologies sector hold for Tennessee.”
The solar-energy industry is a rapidly growing sector of the state’s economy. Tennessee has 180 for-profit companies in its solar value chain, employs more than 6,400 people in solar-related industries, and has installed approximately 27 megawatts of solar power. Recent reports by Bloomberg New Energy Finance show solar represents a $137 billion global market that grew by more than a third last year alone.
More than 100,000 job hours were worked during design, build, installation and connection of the West Tennessee Solar Farm. In excess of 20 vendors supplied American-made parts and skilled labor.
“Signal Energy’s work as the design/build firm on the West Tennessee Solar Farm underscores our commitment to help institutions like the University of Tennessee and the State of Tennessee bring large-scale, innovative renewable energy projects to market and employ a skilled workforce to build our nation’s clean energy future,” said Ben Fischer, president of Signal Energy a leading design/build firm for the North American renewable energy industry.
The West Tennessee Solar Farm is part of the Volunteer State Solar Initiative (VSSI), created to benefit the Tennessee economy by using federal dollars to create jobs and provide support to a growing solar industry. Under the VSSI, $31 million in ARRA funds were allocated for the West Tennessee Solar Farm and the Tennessee Solar Institute received $23.5 million to issue grants from the Solar Opportunity Fund, a program to encourage the installation of next-generation solar energy systems by Tennessee businesses, and to provide training, technology and technical assistance to companies in the solar industry value chain. The VSSI has assisted in the installation of more than 10 megawatts of renewable energy generating capacity in Tennessee. In addition to broadening the adoption of new clean energy technologies, the VSSI also is designed to facilitate the training of Tennesseans in new skills and the sharing of “best business practices” across Tennessee’s burgeoning renewable energy industry.
About the Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development
The Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development’s mission is to create higher skilled, better paying jobs for all Tennesseans. The department seeks to attract new corporate investment in Tennessee and works with Tennessee companies to facilitate expansion and economic growth. To find out more, go to tn.gov/ecd or investtennessee.org.
About University of Tennessee Research Foundation
The University of Tennessee Research Foundation is an independent 501(c)3 organization that provides the commercialization of University of Tennessee technologies, helping UT inventors turn their ideas and discoveries into products and services that benefit society. UTRF supports university research, entrepreneurship, and state and regional economic development. With offices in Knoxville and Memphis, UTRF serves all of UT’s statewide campuses and institutes.
This material is based upon work supported by the Department of Energy under Award Number DE-EE0000160. CDFA 81.041
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Rev. Alban Butler (171173). Volume VI: June. The Lives of the Saints. 1866.
St. Alban, Protomartyr of Britain
From Bede, Ushers Collections, &c., his Ancient Life, and the English-Saxon abstract of it, in Bibl. Cotton. Julius, A. x.
THE CHRISTIAN faith had penetrated into England in the times of the apostles, and had received an increase by the conversion of King Lucius, in the year 180. But the first persecutions seem not to have reached this island, where, perhaps, the Christians, in times of danger, retired to places distant from the Roman colonies; or the mildness of their governors, in a province so remote as to seem another world, might sometimes shelter them. But the rage of Dioclesian penetrated into these recesses, and many of both sexes here received, by unheard of torments, the crown of martyrdom, as Gildas and Bede testify. The first and most renowned of these Christian heroes was St. Alban, whose death was rendered more illustrious by many miracles and other extraordinary circumstances, and whose blood was an agreeable sacrifice to God, a glorious testimony to the honour of his name, and to his holy faith, and a fruitful seed of divine blessings on his country. So great was the glory of his triumph, that his name was most famous over the whole Church, as Fortunatus assures us.1 A copy of the ancient Acts of his Martyrdom was published by Bishop Usher, and the principal circumstances are mentioned by St. Gildas, and recorded by venerable Bede.2
Alban3 seems to have been a Roman name, and this saint seems to have been a person of note, as some ancient monuments quoted by Leland, Usher, Alford, and Cressy affirm. He was a native of Verulam,4 which was for many ages one of the strongest and most populous cities in Britain, till having suffered much by sieges under the Saxon conquest it fell to decay, and the present town of St. Albans rose up close by its ruins, of which no vestiges are now to be seen, except some broken foundations of walls and chequered pavements; and Roman coins have been often dug up there.5 The river Werlame ran on the east, and the great Roman highway, called Watlingstreet, lay on the west side of the town. Alban travelled to Rome in his youth to improve himself in learning and in all the polite arts, as appears by authorities which the judicious Leland produces. Being returned home he settled at Verulam, and lived there with some dignity; for he seems to have been one of the principal citizens of the place. Though a stranger to the Christian faith he was hospitable and compassionate, and in recompense of his charitable disposition God was pleased to conduct him to the light of the gospel, and to discover to him the inestimable jewel of immortal life. He was yet a Pagan when the edicts of the emperors against the Christians began to be put rigorously in execution in Britain. A certain clergyman, called by some writers Amphibalus, sought by flight to escape the fury of the persecutors, and Alban afforded him a shelter, and kindly entertained him in his house. Our saint was much edified by the holy deportment of this stranger, and admired his faith and piety, and in particular his assiduity in prayer, in which the faithful servant of God watched night and day. Alban was soon engaged to listen to his wholesome admonitions and instructions, and in a short time became a Christian. And with such ardour did he open his heart to the divine grace, that he was at once filled with the perfect spirit of this holy religion, and rejoicing that he had found so precious a treasure he no longer regarded anything else, despising for it the whole world and life itself. He had harboured this apostolic man some days when an information was given in to the governor, that the preacher of the Christian religion, after whom the strictest inquiry was making, lay hid at Albans house. Soldiers were despatched thither to make diligent search after the man of God; but he was then secretly fled. Christ promises that he who receives a prophet, in the name of a prophet, shall meet with the recompense of a prophet. This was fulfilled in Alban, who, by entertaining a confessor of Christ, received the grace of faith, and the crown of martyrdom. He exchanged clothes with his guest, that the preacher might more easily escape in that disguise to carry the news of salvation to others; and himself put on the strangers long robe, called Caracalla.6 Alban earnestly desiring to shed his blood for Christ, whom he had but just learned to know, presented himself boldly in this habit to the soldiers, and was by them bound and led to the judge, who happened at that very time to be standing at the altar, and offering sacrifice to his idols. When he saw Alban he was highly provoked at the cheat which the saint had put upon him by substituting himself for his guest, and ordering him to be dragged before the images of his gods, he said: As you have chosen to conceal a sacrilegious person and a blasphemer, the punishment which he should have suffered shall fall upon you, in case you refuse to comply with the worship of our religion. The saint answered with a noble courage, that he would never obey such an order. The magistrate then asked him of what family he was? Alban replied: To what purpose do you inquire of my family? If you would know my religion, I am a Christian. The judge asked his name? To which he answered: My name is Alban, and I worship the only true and living God, who created all things. The magistrate said: If you would enjoy the happiness of life, sacrifice instantly to the great gods. Alban replied: The sacrifices you offer are made to devils, who neither help their votaries nor grant their petitions. Whoever shall sacrifice to these idols, shall receive for his reward the everlasting pains of hell. The judge, enraged beyond measure at these words, commanded the holy confessor to be scourged; and seeing him bear with an unshaken constancy, and even with joy, the most cruel tortures, he at last condemned him to be beheaded. An exceeding great multitude of people went out to behold his execution, and the judge remained almost alone in the city without attendance. In the road was a river, and the stream in that part, which was pent up by a wall and sand, was exceedingly rapid. So numerous was the crowd that was gone out before, that the martyr could scarcely have passed the bridge that evening had he waited for them to go before him. Therefore, being impatient to arrive at his crown, he went to the bank, and lifting up his eyes to heaven made a short prayer. Upon this the stream was miraculously divided, and the river dried up in that part, so as to afford a passage to the martyr and a thousand persons.
This river must have been the Coln, which runs between Old Verulam and new St. Albans. The executioner was converted at the sight of this miracle, and of the saintly behaviour of the martyr, and throwing away his naked sword, he fell at the feet of the saint, begging to die with him, or rather in his place. The sudden conversion of the headsman occasioned a delay in the execution. In the mean time the holy confessor, with the crowd, went up the hill, which was a most pleasant spot, covered with several sorts of flowers, about five hundred paces from the river. There Alban falling on his knees, at his prayer a fountain sprung up, with the water whereof he refreshed his thirst. A new executioner being found, he struck off the head of the martyr, but miraculously lost his eyes, which fell to the ground at the same time. Together with St. Alban, the soldier, who had refused to imbrue his hands in his blood, and had declared himself a Christian, was also beheaded, being baptized in his own blood. This soldier is mentioned in the Roman Martyrology. Capgrave calls him Heraclius; some others Araclius. Many of the spectators were converted to the faith, and following the holy priest, who had converted St. Alban, into Wales, to the number of one thousand, received the sacrament of baptism at his hands, as Harpsfields memoirs relate; but these converts were all cut to pieces by the idolaters for their faith. The priest was brought back and stoned to death at Radburn, three miles from St. Albans, as Thomas Radburn, who was born in that place, Matthew Paris, and others affirm, from ancient records kept in St. Albans abbey. This priest is called by Geoffrey of Monmouth, and others, St. Amphibalus, though Bishop Usher conjectures that Greek name to have been borrowed from his garment, the Caracalla. Bede testifies, that St. Alban suffered martyrdom on the 22nd of June, some say in the year 286, but most in 303, when Dioclesian began his great persecution; to which Constantius put a stop in Britain the year following. Some moderns are offended at the above-mentioned miracles; but the ingenious Mr. Collier writes thus concerning them: As for St. Albans miracles, being attested by authors of such credit, I do not see why they should be questioned. That miracles were wrought in the church at that time of day, is clear from the writings of the ancients. To imagine that God should exert his omnipotence, and appear supernaturally for his servants, in no age since the apostles, is an unreasonable fancy; for since the world was not all converted by the apostles, why should we not believe that God should honour his servants with the most undisputed credentials? Why then should St. Albans miracles be disbelieved, the occasion being great enough for so extraordinary an interposition? &c. These miracles of stopping the river, and of the spring rising in the place where St. Alban was beheaded, are expressly mentioned by Gildas, Bede, and others. The place was called in the Anglo-Saxon language, Holm-hurst, Hurst signifying a wood; and this place was once overgrown with trees, as Bishop Usher proves. In aftertimes it obtained the name of Derswoldwood, and was the spot on which the present town of St. Albans is built. In the time of Constantine the Great, a magnificent church of admirable workmanship was erected on the place where the martyr suffered, and was rendered illustrious by frequent great miracles, as Bede testifies.7 The pagan Saxons destroyed this edifice; but Offa, king of the Mercians, raised another in 793, with a great monastery, on which, he bestowed most ample possessions.8 Several popes honoured it with the most singular privileges and exemptions, and all the lands possessed by it were freed from the payment of the Romescot or Peterpence. The church is still standing, having been redeemed from destruction when the abbey was suppressed under Henry VIII. It was purchased by the townsmen to be their parochial church, for the sum of four hundred pounds, which, according to the present value of money, would be above seven times as much.9 Our island for many ages had recourse to St. Alban as its glorious protomartyr and powerful patron with God, and acknowledged many great favours received from God, through his intercession. By it St. Germanus procured a triumph without Christian blood, and gained a complete victory both over the spiritual and corporal enemies of this country. Of the rich shrine of St. Alban, most munificently adorned by Offa, by his son Egfrig, and many succeeding kings and others, nothing is now remaining, as Weever writes,10 but a marble stone to cover the place where the dust of the sacred remains lies. Over against which, on a wall, some verses are lately painted, says the same author, to tell us there was formerly a shrine in that place.11 A village in Forez in France, a league and a half from Rouanne, bears the name of St. Alban, famous for mineral waters, abounding with nitrous salt, described by Mr. Spon and Piganiol, t. 2. p. 9. ed. 3. ann. 1754.
Note 4. Verulam was called in the English-Saxon, Watlinga Ceaster. [back]
Note 5. See the map and description of the ancient Verulamium, published by Dr. Will. Stukelie in 1720, among the prints of the Society of Antiquaries. [back]
Note 6. The Caracalla was a long garment like the habit of a modern monk, sometimes with and sometimes without a hood or cowl. It was originally Gaulish; Antoninus Basianus, son of the Emperor Severus, was surnamed Caracalla, because he introduced the frequent use of this kind of garment at Rome. See Aurelius Victor, Ferrarius de Re Vestiaria Rom. Hoffman Lexic. Univ. Thomas Walsingham assures us, that this large woollen garment of St. Alban was kept in the church of Ely, in a great chest: which was opened in the reign of Edward II. in 1314. The upper part appeared yet stained with the martyrs blood, which looked as fresh as if it had been but just spilt. [back]
Note 7. See Analecta Henschenii de S. Albano, and Papebroke, t. 4, Junij. [back]
Note 8. Offa, king of Mercia, founded the monastery of St. Albans in the year 793, of his reign thirty-three; and in a council held at Celchyth in his dominions, in which were present fifteen bishops, with several kings, governors, and noblemen, he endowed the same with very large estates. (See Stows Chronicle.) In the journey of devotion which he made after this to Rome, he excepted the lands of this abbey from paying the Peterpence, when he engaged each family in his kingdom which enjoyed the yearly revenue of above thirty silver pence, to pay one silver penny a year to the see of Rome, Adrian I. being then pope. His dominions then comprised the counties of Hereford, Worcester, Gloucester, Warwick, Stafford, Derby, Chester, Salop, Nottingham, Northampton, Oxford, Buckingham, Leicester, Bedford, Huntingdon, Cambridge, Norfolk, Suffolk, Essex, Middlesex, and half Hertfordshire. See the MS. life of King Offa, quoted by Spelman and Wilkins, p. 159. [back]
Note 9. The abbot of St. Albans took the first place among the mitred abbots in the parliament: the others sat according to the seniority of their summons. This precedency was granted to St. Alban by Pope Adrian IV. in 1154. Sicut B. Albanus protomartyr est Anglorum, ita et Abbas, sui monasterii sedem primam habet in parliamento, which was confirmed by several kings. See Reyner, Stevens, vol. 1, p. 170, and Monast, Angl. vol. 1, p. 80. Dr. Brown Williss Hist. of Mitred Abbeys, vol. 1, p. 13. Before the dissolution of monasteries in England, twenty-seven abbots, sometimes twenty-nine, and two priors, almost all Benedictins, held baronies, and sat in parliament. The abbeys which enjoyed this privilege were, 1. St. Albans, valued at the dissolution, according to the kings books in Dugdale, at £2102 per ann. according to vulgar computation; in Speed, at £2510 per ann. 2. Glastenbury, dedicated to the B. Virgin, valued at £3311 in Dugdale; at £3500 in Speed. 3. St. Austins at Canterbury, which was returned into the exchequer to be endowed with £1413 per ann. the cathedral priory of Christs-church in that city being valued at £2387. 4. Westminster-abbey, valued at £3471 in Dugdale; at £3977 in Speed. Maitland, (Hist. of London and Westminster, p. 391,) observes, that £3977 at the time of the dissolution was a sum equal to £20,000 at present; and that Westminster-abbey was with this yearly income far the richest in all England. It also surpassed all the other abbeys by the surprising treasure of rich plate and precious ornaments. 5. Winchester-abbey, founded by St. Byrinus and Kynegilse, the first Christian king of the West-Saxons, dedicated to the Holy Trinity, but in later ages called St. Swithins, was valued at £1507. 6. St. Edmunds-bury, built by King Canutus. valued at £1659, in Dugdale; at £2336 in Speed. 7. Ely, where the valuation of the abbey restored by St. Ethelwold was £1084, that of the bishopric £2134. 8. Abingdon, founded by Cedwalla and Ina, kings of the West-Saxons, in honour of the B. Virgin, valued at £1876. 9. Reading-abbey, built by King Henry I. valued at £1938. 10. Thorney, in Cambridgeshire, refounded by St. Ethelwold, in honour of the B. Virgin Mary, valued at £508. 11. Waltham, which was founded a noble collegiate church by Earl Harold, in 1062, and made by Henry II. a royal abbey of regular canons of St. Austin, under the title of the Holy Cross, was valued at £900 in Dugdale; at £1079 in Speed. 12. St. Peters in Gloucester, founded by Wulfere and Ethelred, kings of Mercia, valued at £1550, made a cathedral by Henry VIII. 13. Tewksbury, valued at £1598. It was founded in 715 by Doddo, a prime nobleman of Mercia, who became a monk at Pershore. 14. Winchelcomb in Gloucestershire, valued at £759. It was founded by Offa and Kenulph, kings of Mercia. 15. Ramsay in Huntingdonshire, founded by Ailwyne, alderman of England, and earl of the East-Angles, in honour of the B. Virgin and St. Bennet, rated at £1716. 16. Bardney in Lincolnshire. After being demolished by the Danes in 870, who slew there three hundred monks, it was rebuilt by William the Conqueror. 17. Crowland, valued at £1087 in Dugdale; at £1217 in Speed. 18. St. Bennets in Hulm, in Norfolk, founded about the year 800, valued at £585. This abbacy was given by Henry VIII. to the bishops of Norwich, in exchange for the estates formerly belonging to that see, then valued at the yearly income of £1050. From which time the bishops of Norwich remain the only abbots in England. The great monastery of the Holy Trinity in Norwich was valued at £1061 per ann. 19. Peterburgh-abbey, begun by Peada, king of Mercia, in 665; rebuilt by Adulf, chancellor to King Edgar, who became himself a monk, and died abbot of this house. The revenues of this abbey were rated, in the twenty-sixth year of Henry VIII. at £1921, according to the clear value, in Dugdale, and at £1972, according to the computed value. Henry VIII. spared this church, out of regard to the ashes of his injured queen Catherine, and converted the abbey into an episcopal see, which is now charged in the kings books, worth £414. 20. Battel-abbey in Sussex, founded by William the Conqueror, in honour of St. Martin, valued at £880. 21. Malmesbury in Wiltshire, valued at £803. 22. Whitby, anciently called Streaneshalch, founded by King Oswy in favour of St. Hilda in 657. It was destroyed by the Danes; but rebuilt for monks after the Conquest, in honour of St. Peter and St. Hilda. 23. Selby in Yorkshire, begun by William the Conqueror, in honour of St. Peter and St. Germanus, rated at £729. 24. St. Marys at York, built in the reign of William Rufus, valued at £2085 in Speed. The other mitred abbeys were those of Shrewsbury, Cirencester, Evesham, Tavistock, and Hide at Winchester. (See Brown Williss History of Mitred Abbeys.) Also two priors had seats in the House of Lords, namely, of Coventry, and of the knights of St. John of Jerusalem. This last was styled Primus Angliæ Baro, and was the first lay baron, though a religious man. See Bishop Tanners Notitia Monastica, according to whose most exact calculation, at the suppression of religious houses in England, the sum total of the revenues of the greater monasteries amounted to £104,919. Of the lesser, £29,702. Of the head house of the knights hospitallers, or of Malta, in London, £2385. Of twenty-eight other houses of that Order, £3026. Of seven houses of Trinitarians, (which are all we find the valuation of, the rest probably having no real foundations,) £287. By an act which was passed in the parliament in March, 1535, by the suppression of one hundred and eighty-one lesser monasteries, a revenue of £32,000 per ann. came to the crown, besides £100,000 in plate and jewels. By the greater houses, suppressed in 1539, the king obtained a revenue of £100,000 per ann. besides plate and jewels. The houses of the knights of Malta were seized by the king in 1540. Afterwards, in 1548, were granted to King Edward VI. and suppressed, ninety colleges, one hundred and ten hospitals, and two thousand three hundred and seventy-four chantries and free chapels. The churches in all the northern kingdoms, as Denmark, Sweden, &c. were stripped much more naked by the change of religion. The revenues of the clergy were laid only at a fourth part of the revenues of the kingdom in the twenty-seventh of Henry VIII. as may be seen in Compl. Hist. vol. 2, p. 185. And Mr. Collier, in his Eccl. Hist. vol. 2, p. 108, saith the revenues of the monks never did exceed a fifth part; and considering the leases they granted upon small rents, and easy fines, it may truly be affirmed their revenues did not exceed a tenth part of the nation. Thus Bishop Tanner, pref. p. 7. Monasteries in England are no more; yet justice is due to an order of men which was formerly an illustrious part of this nation, and abounded with persons eminent for birth, learning, and piety. The veil which death throws over the ashes of good and great men is sacred; and to cast dirt upon their shrine is shocking to the most savage barbarians. Yet this some have made a point of merit. Bishop Burnet says the monks were become lewd and dissolute when their Order was suppressed among us. But Mr. Henry Wharton, under the name of Anthony Harmer, in his Specimen of Errors in Burnets History of the Reformation, answers this slander in the following words. (p. 42.) God forbid that any professors of Christianity, much less the greatest pretenders to it, should be guilty of such monstrous wickedness, or that any others should believe it of them without evident proof. Surely if the monks had been guilty of any such thing, it could not have escaped the knowledge of their visiters, who searched and divulged all their faults with the utmost industry. Nor would it have been unknown to Bale, brought up among them; nor omitted by him in his English Votaries, wherein he hath set himself to defame the monastic order, and the unmarried clergy with insatiable malice. The same learned Protestant divine and historian, in answer to another charge of Bishop Burnet, importing, that the monks about the end of the eighth century had possessed themselves of the greatest part of the riches of the nation, shows (p. 40,) that the monks had not then probably gained possession of the hundredth part of the riches of the nation, though they afterwards, in the tenth, eleventh, and twelfth centuries, increased exceedingly in number and possessions. But, after all, says he, they will never be found to have possessed above a fifth part of the nation: and considering they were wont to lease out their lands to laymen for easy fines and small rents, they did not in reality possess the tenth part of the riches of the nation. Then for that other charge, that the best part of the soil being in such ill hands, it was the interest of the nation to have it put to better uses, it is altogether erroneous. From the beginning to the end, none ever improved their lands and possessions to better advantage than the monks, by building, cultivation, and all other methods, while they kept them in their own hands. Of this Croyland is to this day a manifest instance. And when they leased them out to others, it was the interest of the nation to have such easy tenures continued to great numbers of persons who enjoyed them. To this it may be added, that they contributed to the public charges of the nation equally with the other clergy; and the clergy did always contribute in proportion above the laity. So that we cannot find to what better uses these possessions have been since put. &c. Bishop Tanner also observes, that the church lands, after the Conquest, contributed to all public burdens equally with the laity. Walsingham (p. 180,) and Patrick (in Ms addit. to Gunton, p. 321,) say, that 2 Richard II. A. D. 1379, every mitred abbot paid as much to the tax as an earl; and 6s. 8d. for every monk in his monastery. In 18 Edward II. A. D. 1289, the abbot of St. Edmonds-bury paid £666 13s. 4d. to the fifteenth. See Cowells interpreter, sub voce Quinsieme. Also Rymer, vol. 2, p. 75, and Stevens, App. p. 108. See a justification and apology for monks and monastic Orders in Monasticon Favershamense, or a survey of the monastery of Feversham, by Tho. Southouse, of Grays-Inn, Lond. 1634. Of the Benedictin Order were all our cathedral priories, except Carlisle, and most of the richest abbeys in England. Reyner (vol. 1, p. 217,) says, that the revenues of the Benedictins were almost equal to those of all the other Orders. Sir Robert Atkyns says, there were in England before the Reformation, 45,009 churches and 55,000 chapels; now only about 10,000. Dr. Bentley, under the name of Philoleutherus Lipsiensis, in Remarks upon a late Discourse of Free-Thinking, says, that out of 10,000 parish churches there are 6000, the yearly income of which does not exceed £50 each. On the present state of the church revenues in England, see that treatise, and Dean Prideaux, on the Original and Right of Tithes. [back]
Nought but this marble stone of Albans shrine is left:
The work of all form else hath changing tune bereft.
Papebroke mentions another St. Alban, martyr, whose relics are honourably preserved at Burano near Venice. Some have thought St. Alban of Mentz, who is much honoured in a famous church and monastery founded in 804, which bear his name at Mentz, to be our English protomartyr, as appears from Sir Thomas Mores book against Tindal; and from Ruinarts Notes on the History of the Vandalic Persecution. But Rabanus Maurus, in his Martyrology says, he was an African bishop, who being banished by Huneric for the faith, coming to Mentz, there fell into the hands of the Huns, and was by them put to death for the faith. Mabillon, Annal. Ben. l. 28, and Papebroke, Junij, t. 4, p. 68, upon this authority of Rabanus, take St. Alban of Mentz to have been an African; but Ruinart, the most judicious scholar of Mabillon, justly calls it in question. Monsignor Georgi, in his Notes on Usuards Martyrology, inclines to the opinion of Ruinart. The great collegiate church of Namur was founded in honour of St. Alban by Albert II. earl of Namur, in 1047. The abbot of St. Albans near Mentz, enriched it with precious relics; and it is possessed of a large portion of the cross, which was sent by Henry, emperor of Constantinople, to his brother Philip, earl of Namur, in 1205. This church was made an episcopal cathedral by Paul IV. in 1559. St. Alban of Mentz is honoured on the 21st of June. See Papebroke, t. 4, Junij, p. 86, and Serarius, Rerum Mogunt. cum annotationibus et Supplemento a Georgio Christiano Joannis, pp. 176, 177, printed at Francfort, in 1722. [back]
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Intersecting Circles in 3 Space
Date: 04/19/2006 at 18:23:10 From: Tilak Subject: Intersecting circles in 3 space. Hi Dr. Math, I have 2 circles in 3 space, P1 = C1 + R1cos(t)U + R1sin(t)V P2 = C2 + R2cos(s)U + R2sin(s)V where C = centre R1 and R2 = the respective radii U = a unit vector from C to the circle V = NxU N = a vector normal to the plane both circles are in Where do the circles intersect (assuming they do at 1 or 2 points)? Since both variables are "stuck" inside the cos and sin terms, I can't solve the equations even though I do have 2 equations and 2 unknowns. I'm actually trying to find the coordinates of the knee given locations of toe, ankle and hip. I just can't solve the non-linear equations. Thanks for your help.
Date: 04/20/2006 at 08:30:20 From: Doctor George Subject: Re: Intersecting circles in 3 space. Hi Tilak, Thanks for writing to Doctor Math. Here are two approaches to this problem. First Solution -------------- We need the points where P1 = P2. C1 + R1cos(t)U + R1sin(t)V = C2 + R2cos(s)U + R2sin(s)V R1cos(t)U + R1sin(t)V = C2 - C1 + R2cos(s)U + R2sin(s)V I will assume that N, and therefore V, are also unit vectors. If we take the dot product of both sides with U we get R1cos(t) = (C2 - C1).U + R2cos(s) (1) If we take the dot product of both sides with V we get R1sin(t) = (C2 - C1).V + R2sin(s) (2) If we square both sides of (1) and (2) and add them we can get t to drop out, leaving us with an equation to solve for s. With a little rearranging we could use the same technique to find an equation to solve for t, but you only need s or t to get the intersection points. Second Solution --------------- I had written this solution earlier for someone else. It uses different notation. Let C1 and C2 be the centers of the circles with radii r1 and r2, and let d be the distance between C1 and C2. Now let V1 be the unit vector from C1 to C2, and let V2 be a unit vector perpendicular to V1. Also let V3 be the vector from C1 to one of the intersection points. Finally, let A be the angle between V1 and V3. From the law of cosines we know that r2^2 = r1^2 + d^2 - 2*r1*d*cos(A) With this equation we can solve for 'A'. The intersection points will be C1 + [r1*cos(A)]*V1 + [r1*sin(A)]*V2 C1 + [r1*cos(A)]*V1 - [r1*sin(A)]*V2 I hope this helps. It looks like your actual problem might be more complex than the intersection of two circles. If you can describe it I would be glad to give it some thought. - Doctor George, The Math Forum http://mathforum.org/dr.math/
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NICMOS HgCdTe detectors are subject to image persistence resulting from overexposure of bright sources or to cosmic ray hits. The persistence signal is an excess dark current which is an additional source of noise during data reduction. In addition, the detectors are bombarded by charge particles during passage of HST through the SAA which deposit energy in nearly every pixel of the arrays. Starting with the activation of NICMOS following installation of the NICMOS Cooling System (NCS) during HST Servicing Mission 3B, a pair of ACCUM mode darks will automatically be scheduled following SAA passage and before the first science observation. These darks can be used to map the persistent afterglow and be used during data reduction to remove a significant fraction of the persistence signal for observations obtained close in time to the SAA passage.
Persistence is the residual image (signal) in images subsequent to overexposures of bright sources or cosmic ray hits. This excess dark current decays exponentially with a time scale of about 160 +/- 60 seconds. However, there is also a long, roughly linear tail to the decay such that persistence from very bright sources remains detectable for as much as 30 to 40 minutes after the initial exposure.
Cosmic ray persistence adds non-Gaussian, spatially correlated noise to images. During Cycle 7 and 7N, observations obtained following passage of HST through the South Atlantic Anomaly (SAA) were severely impacted by persistence from charge particles which mimic cosmic ray persistence. Excess charge was deposited into nearly every pixel of the arrays. This spatially correlated noise significantly degraded the quality of NICMOS data taken less than 30 minutes after an SAA passage (Najita, Dickinson, and Holfeltz 1998).
Placed into a low-earth orbit by the space shuttle, HST orbital period is about 96 min. with an orbital inclination of 28.5° and eccentricity of 0.00172. There are 8-9 SAA passages every day in consecutive orbits. This means there are 8-9 SAA impacted orbits in a row followed by 5 to 6 orbits in a row that are not SAA impacted. Normally no science is obtained during SAA passage; i.e., the NICMOS cameras are transitioned from OPERATE (on) to SAAOPR (off). Each instrument is assigned its own SAA contour to allow scheduling of power on and off during SAA passage. The STScI Instrument Teams can change the contour for their respective instrument without affecting other instruments. Analysis of data obtained during SMOV (June 1997) was used to define SAA contour Model 23 as the most appropriate for NICMOS observations (Daou and Calzetti 1997).
NICMOS observations are obtained outside of contour Model 23.
During normal operation at the start of an exposure, the NICMOS detectors are commanded to drop out of autoflush mode and to run the pixel reset pattern three times. It takes ~0.6 seconds to complete this task. No data is saved and this task is transparent to the user. The array is then read out to determine the amount of remaining charge on the array, a bias frame. This read is the first read in a MULTIACCUM exposure and is saved. It is called the "zeroth-read". For MULTIACCUM mode, each successive read of the camera is saved. During OPUS pipeline processing, the zeroth-read is subtracted from each MULTIACCUM readout and the difference images are individually calibrated. For ACCUM mode, the NREAD parameter determines the number of reads (N) that are read and averaged. The detector is read N times, and these reads are averaged to form the initial read. The process is repeated to form the final read. The initial read is subtracted from the final read, and the resulting image is sent to the ground. The initial and final reads are not sent to the ground.
The HST schedulers normally resume scheduling observations as soon as the instruments exit their respective SAA contour. Following SAA passage, the NICMOS cameras are transitioned from SAAOPR to OPERATE. Depending upon the orbit, whether or not the SAA passage occurred during bright Earth or Earth occultation (shadow), science observations could resume almost immediately following transition to OPERATE. The detectors are commanded to autoflush mode upon transition to OPERATE mode.
Charge particle induced persistence decays pseudo-exponentially. Therefore, the longer the time since exiting the SAA, the greater is the decrease in the residual noise. To facilitate the reduction in the residual noise, a series of post-SAA dark exposures will be automatically scheduled following SAA passage and before any NICMOS science observations.
A software tool was created that will automatically schedule six ACCUM darks, two per camera, following every SAA passage for which there is an NICMOS observation before the next SAA passage. These ACCUM darks will have proposal ID's of 8790-8795. The scheduling of the six SAA ACCUM darks is transparent to the NICMOS observer.
Post-SAA Dark Product:
Post-SAA darks an be identified by the target name "POST-SAA-DARK". The dark exposures will complete OPUS pipeline processing with a minimum of calibration switches set to perform. calnicb will generate a product that is currently a simple average of the two dark exposures and the product filename will be ipppssoot_saa.fits. The associated post-SAA dark exposures to an observation will be automatically retrieved with the science data whenever a post-SM3B NICMOS science observation is retrieved from the HST Archive.
New NICMOS Keywords:
Four new keywords have been added to the headers of the science data. These keywords contain information about the last exit from the NICMOS SAA contour (SAA-EXIT, SAA_TIME) and the product filename of the post-SAA dark exposures closest in time to the science exposures (SAA_DARK, SAACRMAP). The values of the SAA_EXIT and SAA_TIME keywords will be used by the OPUS pipeline to identify the filenames of the post-SAA darks closest in time to the respective NICMOS observation, and these filenames are written into the header keywords. If no post-SAA dark is appropriate for a science observation, the value of these respective keywords will be set to `N/A'. The new keywords are presented in the following example:
/ POST-SAA DARK KEYWORDS SAA_EXIT='2000.171:12:34:49'/time of last exit from SAA contour level 23 SAA_TIME= 1529 / seconds since last exit from SAA contour level SAA_DARK= 'N/A ' / association name for post-SAA dark exposures SAACRMAP= 'N/A ' / SAA cosmic ray map file
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User talk:GregG/Early voting and voter ID
Good start on voting law analysis. Some comments are below:
Tennessee does not have no-excuse absentee voting nor early voting.
- In fact, Tennessee has expansive early voting over a 20-day period. It was one of the first states to adopt early voting in substantial numbers.
Mississippi does not have early voting, and Mississippi requires an excuse to cast an absentee ballot.
- Perhaps, but absentee voting is immense in some states even though they require an excuse, such as Virginia and South Carolina.
Pennsylvania requires an excuse to vote absentee. Additionally, Pennsylvania's voter ID law requires absentee voters to include a copy of their voter ID, a Pennsylvania driver's license number, or the last four digits of their Social Security Number.
- Pennsylvania has been a leader in protecting traditional voting. One newspaper in Pennsylvania (Lancaster) publicly opposed early voting.
Absentee-by-mail and absentee-in-person voting require an excuse.
- A high-ranking public official openly admitted that far more people were voting by absentee ballots than appeared to be legitimate based on the excuse requirement. But he's doing nothing about the obvious flouting of the law.
Texas requires an excuse to vote absentee. During legislative debates on Texas's voter ID law, the sponsor of the law cited the availability of absentee ballots (which do not require ID) to defeat amendments that would have reduced the ID requirements for some voters.
- Texas has broad early voting, but most of it is in-person, rather than by mail.
Wisconsin has no-excuse absentee voting. Wisconsin's voter ID law would have required absentee voters to include a copy of valid voter ID with their application or completed ballot; however, this only needs to be done once until the voter re-registers.
- Wisconsin trimmed its early voting period for 2012.
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Researchers at the University of Maine are working to determine which ticks are dangerous to humans.
The insects can carry potentially life threatening illnesses, such as Lyme disease.
Recently, the cooperative extension program adopted the state’s tick identification lab.
Portland’s Maine Medical Center cut the program because of funding issues in December.
Orono’s Plant and Insect Diagnostic Lab is expanding their services to help clients, exposed to the bugs, know if they should seek medical help.
Jim Dill, a pest management specialist, says, “If we actually go ahead and find out it is one of the ticks that could cause a problem for your health then, you know, our recommendation is to go back and talk to your medical doctor.”
Researchers hope the lab can provided peace of mind for people exposed to ticks.
You can find a link to information here.
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*Selections from the Munir Report (1954)*
1) An Islamic State
a.) It has been repeatedly said before us that implicit in the demand for Pakistan was the demand for an Islamic State. Some speeches of important leaders who were striving for Pakistan undoubtedly lend themselves to this construction. These leaders while referring to an Islamic State or to a State governed by Islamic laws perhaps had in their minds the pattern of a legal structure based on or mixed up with Islamic dogma, personal law, ethics, and institutions. No one who has given serious thought to the introduction of a religious State in Pakistan has failed to notice the tremendous difficulties with which any such scheme must be confronted.
Even Dr. Muhammad Iqbal, who must be considered to be the first thinker who conceived of the possibility of a consolidated North Western Indian Muslim State, in the course of his presidential address to the Muslim League in 1930 said:
"Nor should the Hindus fear that the creation of autonomous Muslim States will mean the introduction of a kind of religious rule in such States. The principle that each group is entitled to free development on its own lines is not inspired by any feeling of narrow communalism."
When we come to deal with the question of responsibility we shall have the occasion to point out that the most important of the parties who are now clamouring for the enforcement of the three [anti-Ahmadi] demands on religious grounds were all against the idea of an Islamic State. Even Maulana Abul Ala. Maudoodi of Jama'at-i-Islami was of the view that the form of Government in the new Muslim State, if it ever came into existence, could only be secular.
b.) Before the Partition, the first public picture of Pakistan that the Quaid-i-Azam gave to the world was in the course of an interview in New Delhi with Mr. Doon Campbell, Reuter's Correspondent. The Quaid-i-Azam said that the new State would be a modern democratic State, with sovereignty resting in the people, and the members of the new nation having equal rights of citizenship regardless of their religion, caste or creed. When Pakistan formally appeared on the map, the Quaid-i-Azam in his memorable speech of 11th August 1947 to the Constituent Assembly of Pakistan, while stating the principle on which the new State was to be founded, said: --
"All the same, in this division it was impossible to avoid the question of minorities being in one Dominion or the other. Now that was unavoidable. There is no other solution. Now what shall we do? Now, if we want to make this great State of Pakistan happy and prosperous, we should wholly and solely concentrate on the well-being of the people, and especially of the masses and the poor. If you will work in co-operation, forgetting the past, burying the hatchet, you are bound to succeed. If you change your past and work together in a spirit that every one of you, no matter to what community he belongs, no matter what relations he had with you in the past, no matter what is his colour, caste, or creed, is first, second, and last a citizen of this State with equal rights, privileges, and obligations, there will be no end to the progress you will make.
I cannot emphasize it too much. We should begin to work in that spirit, and in course of time all these angularities of the majority and minority communities, the Hindu community and the Muslim community -- because even as regards Muslims you have Pathans, Punjabis, Shias, Sunnis and so on, and among the Hindus you have Brahmins, Vashnavas, Khatris, also Bengalees, Madrasis and so on -- will vanish. Indeed if you ask me, this has been the biggest hindrance in the way of India to attain the freedom and independence, and but for this we would have been free people long long ago. No power can hold another nation, and specially a nation of 400 million souls, in subjection; nobody could have conquered you, and even if it had happened, nobody could have continued its hold on you for any length of time, but for this. Therefore, we must learn a lesson from this. You are free; you are free to go to your temples, you are free to go to your mosques or to any other place or worship in this State of Pakistan. You may belong to any religion or caste or creed -- that has nothing to do with the business of the State. (Hear, hear!) As you know, history shows that in England conditions, some time ago, were much worse than those prevailing in India today. The Roman Catholics and the Protestants persecuted each other. Even now there are some States in existence where there are discriminations made and bars imposed against a particular class. Thank God, we are not starting in those days. We are starting in the days where there is no discrimination, no distinction between one community and another, no discrimination between one caste or creed and another. We are starting with this fundamental principle: that we are all citizens, and equal citizens, of one State. (Loud applause.) The people of England in [the] course of time had to face the realities of the situation, and had to discharge the responsibilities and burdens placed upon them by the government of their country; and they went through that fire step by step. Today, you might say with justice that Roman Catholics and Protestants do not exist; what exists now is that every man is a citizen, an equal citizen of Great Britain, and they are all members of the Nation.
Now I think we should keep that in front of us as our ideal, and you will find that in course of time Hindus would cease to be Hindus, and Muslims would cease to be Muslims, not in the religious sense, because that is the personal faith of each individual, but in the political sense as citizens of the State."
The Quaid-i-Azam was the founder of Pakistan. and the occasion on which he thus spoke was the first landmark in the history of Pakistan. The speech was intended both for his own people. including non-Muslims. and the world' and its object was to define as clearly as possible the ideal to the attainment of which the new State was to devote all its energies. There are repeated references in this speech to the bitterness of the past, and an appeal to forget and [to] change the past and to bury the hatchet. The future subject of the State is to be a citizen with equal rights, privileges, and obligations, irrespective of colour, caste, creed, or community. The word 'nation' is used more than once, and religion is stated to have nothing to do with the business of the State and to be merely a matter of personal faith for the individual.
c.) We asked the ulama whether this conception of a State was acceptable to them, and every one of them replied in an unhesitating negative, including the Ahrar, and erstwhile Congressites with whom before the Partition this conception was almost a part of their faith. If Maulana Amin Ahsan Islahi's evidence correctly represents the view of Jama'at-i-Islami, a State based on this idea is the creature of the devil, and he is confirmed in this by several writings of his chief, Maulana Abul Ala Maudoodi, the founder of the Jama'at. None of the ulama can tolerate a State which is based on nationalism and all that it implies; with them millat and all that it connotes can alone be the determining factor in State activity.
d.) The Quaid-i-Azam's conception of a modern national State, it is alleged,became obsolete with the passing of the Objectives Resolution on 12th March 1949; but it has been freely admitted that this Resolution, though grandiloquent in words, phrases, and clauses, is nothing but a hoax, and that not only does it not contain even a semblance of the embryo of an Islamic State but its provisions, particularly those relating to fundamental rights, are directly opposed to the principles of an Islamic State.
On to: *2) Foundations of an Islamic State*
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How to Be a Better Listener: 15 Tips to help you Stay Connected
Distractions. Inattention. Boredom.
A woman with ADHD once told me that when she is in a conversation with someone and if the topic at hand isn't of much interest to her, she - like many with ADHD - zones out. As she put it, "I see their mouth moving but don't seem to hear the words. My inner world is much more interesting."
We miss so much- teachers' lectures, lovers' murmurings, children's innocent wonderings and questions, driving directions, movie plots...all due to our distractibility. How can we improve our listening skills so we're connected with our loved ones, bosses, friends and others?
1. Become aware of your tendency to mentally roam.
2. Stay in the here and now. Remind yourself that you can think about other things later.
3. Find ways to stay connected. For some, it's watching the person's mouth or eyes.
4. When your mind wanders, mentally repeat what the person is saying.
5. Become more interactive in the conversation. If you tend to be a passive listener, practice interjecting your thoughts and ideas.
6. People love to talk about themselves. Ask questions; you'll be more likely to listen if you are more active in the conversation.
7. If you're in a class, business meeting or other type of lecture, bring fidgets to help you stay focused. Or doodle on a piece of paper. Some find it easier to listen if they take copious notes.
8. Sit in the front of the room at meetings, classes and presentations. You'll be less likely to get distracted by others around you.
9. Many with ADHD have a tendency to take over a conversation. Remind yourself to take a break and allow others to have a chance to talk.
10. Don't be afraid to ask the person to repeat himself. If you let the conversation go too long when your mind is elsewhere, it will only get tougher to re-connect. No explanations are needed other than, "can you say that again?"
11. Pretend that you'll be tested on the information/conversation you're hearing.
12. Practice not interrupting (very hard when you have ADHD!). Wear a rubber band on your wrist and pluck it when you get the urge to speak out of turn.
13. Repeat (some!) of the words the speaker is saying so that it "sticks." For example, if a person is giving you directions, re-state them verbally.
14. Be aware of distractions and eliminate them if at all possible, i.e. turn off the TV or radio. Move to a different room that is quieter. Sit away from doors and windows.
15. Think of how you can learn from this person- what is their message? How will you better understand her? Think of the conversation as a learning experience.
Listening is an art form. Having ADHD and learning to listen is a skill that you can hone with practice and patience.
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en
| 0.947544 | 648 | 2.71875 | 3 |
Sources of Protein
My doctor says I need to add more protein to my diet. What are the best sources for protein that are low in calories and fat? —M.W., Springfield, Missouri
Excellent sources of lean protein are beef or pork cuts (round, loin or tenderloin), skinless chicken or turkey, seafood, legumes, egg whites and fat-free dairy products. Three ounces (a serving the size of a deck of cards) of cooked sirloin steak, pork loin chop, tuna, chicken or turkey breast provides about 25 grams of protein. Legumes, such as dried beans and lentils, are also good sources of lean protein. A half cup cooked provides 9 grams of protein (the same amount found in three egg whites), without any fat. And don't forget fat-free dairy products such as milk and yogurt. A cup of either contains 8 grams protein and plenty of bone-building calcium. Protein plays many roles in the body, including building and repairing tissue and providing the building blocks for the over 11,000 proteins, enzymes and hormones that help regulate the body. That's a big job! Your body depends on dietary protein to provide the essential amino acids that keep it running smoothly. The recommended daily protein intake is about .4 grams per pound of body weight (60 grams for a person weighing 150 pounds).
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en
| 0.939193 | 276 | 2.59375 | 3 |
Magnolia macrophylla Michx. - Big-leaf Magnolia
Family - Magnoliaceae
Stems - Woody, from taproot. A tree to +12m but typically smaller in our area, with single trunk or few smaller trunks, to +/-40cm in diameter. Branches glabrous, lower branches spreading at almost 90 degrees to main stem.
Leaves - Alternate, mostly near apex of branches, petiolate, deciduous, larger than any other native U.S. tree. Petiole to -15cm, pubescent, thick. Blade to 75cm long, 35cm broad, glaucous (especially below), glabrous above, pubescent below, entire, obovate, blunt to subacute at apex, with two rounded auricles at base.
Leaf and the author's left hand.
Abaxial surface of leaf.
Inflorescence - Single terminal flower on short peduncle.
Flower - To +/-25cm broad, +/-15cm tall, with six petals, fragrant. Petals in two ranks. Inner rank slightly larger than outer, to +/-15cm long, +/-7cm broad, glabrous, with purple blotch base. Stamens many, densely whorled around receptacle. Filaments curved, to +1.2cm long, yellow-tan, glabrous, falling easily and early. Anthers yellow-tan, 2-3mm long. Carpels many at apex of receptacle, pubescent, yellow-tan with purplish tips. Apex of carpels slightly spreading. Sepals 3, typically falling early, smaller and more broad than petals, greenish, with tips recurved, glabrous internally, glabrous to pubescent externally. Flowers larger than any other native U.S. species.
Flowering - April - May.
Habitat - Cultivated in our area but prefers moist shaded area.
Origin - Native to southeast U.S.
Other info. - This is a fine plant. The big leaves and flowers make it a very desirable ornamental. The tree is planted throughout the eastern U.S. as far north as New England but is native only to small portions of Alabama, Mississippi, Georgia, Tennessee, Kentucky, and the Carolinas. The species name means "big leaf". The members of the Magnoliaceae are the most primitive of the flowering plants.
Photographs taken in Athens, GA., 5-28-05.
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| 0.87321 | 523 | 2.78125 | 3 |
While ocean ship operators were digesting news of a pending major rule from the Environmental Protection Agency on vessel air emissions, another vision of the future occurred at the Port of Long Beach, CA.
A Toyota car carrier partially powered by solar energy docked at the port. The Auriga Leader is the first such green-technology-equipped car carrier to ply the high seas and it’s about time.
The vessel is outfitted with 328 solar panels that can generate up to 40 kilowatts, decreasing demand on the ship’s diesel-powered auxiliary engines for electricity, thus cutting down pollution, the port says.
The ship’s photovoltaic panels are part of a technology demonstration project by port customer Toyota Motor Corporation and NYK Line, the ship’s owner and operator. The 656-foot, 60,000-ton vessel can carry up to 6,200 cars and is used to transport Toyota, Lexus and Scion vehicles from Toyota factories in Japan to Long Beach. The solar panels made their debut at Japan’s Port of Kobe last December.
“The Auriga Leader is a perfect example of how the maritime industry is voluntarily finding new and innovative ways to be responsible stewards of the environment,” said Port of Long Beach Executive Director Richard D. Steinke. “Our port is a regional economic engine and in order to stay competitive, we must ensure that our growth is sustainable. That means minimizing the impact of shipping operations on the environment.”
But while that was happening, the EPA was proposing rules designed to slash harmful air emissions from ocean going cargo vessels, which are the among largest category of polluters in port and coastal regions. It likely will make emission controls a lot less voluntary.
The agency says the rule under the Clean Air Act will set “tough engine and fuel standards” for U.S. vessels that will “harmonize with international standards and lead to significant air quality improvements throughout the country.”
“These emissions are contributing to health, environmental and economic challenges for port communities and others that are miles inland,” says EPA Administrator Lisa P. Jackson. “Lowering emissions from American ships will help safeguard our port communities, and demonstrate American leadership in protecting our health and the environment around the globe.”
The rule follows another part of EPA’s strategy, a proposal last March by the U.S. and Canada to designate thousands of miles of the two countries’ coasts as an Emission Control Area (ECA). The International Maritime Organization (IMO), a United Nations agency, begins consideration of the ECA plan later this month, which would result in stringent standards for large ships operating within 200 nautical miles of the coasts of Canada and the United States.
Air pollution from large ships, such as oil tankers, cargo and passenger ships, is expected to grow rapidly as port traffic increases. By 2030, the domestic and international strategies are expected to reduce annual emissions of nitrogen oxides (NOx) from large marine diesel engines by about 1.2 million tons and particulate matter (PM) emissions by about 143,000 tons.
When fully implemented, EPA says the coordinated effort would reduce NOx emissions by 80 percent and PM emissions by 85 percent compared to current emissions.
It also says the emission reductions from the proposal would yield “significant health and welfare benefits” that would span beyond U.S. ports and coastlines, reaching inland areas.
EPA estimates that by 2030, this effort would prevent between 13,000 and 33,000 premature deaths, 1.5 million workdays lost, and 10 million minor restricted-activity days. The estimated annual health benefits in 2030 as a result of reduced air pollution are valued between $110 and $280 billion at an annual projected cost of approximately $3.1 billion – as high as a 90-to-1 benefit-to-cost ratio.
The proposed rule is designed to reflect the IMO’s stringent ECA standards and broader worldwide program. The rule adds two new tiers of NOX standards and strengthens EPA’s existing diesel fuel program for these ships. It represents another milestone in EPA’s decade-long effort to reduce pollution from both new and existing diesel engines under the National Clean Diesel Campaign.
Information on the components of the coordinated strategy, including the proposed Clean Air Act standards and the ECA designation are posted on the EPA website here.
The pace to clean up vessel emissions and clear port air just got much faster.
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| 0.948509 | 930 | 2.578125 | 3 |
Malnutrition in industrialized countries
Supermarkets stock fresh fruit and vegetables in the middle of winter. Meats and canned and processed goods of all sorts line the aisles. Food is abundant and readily available in most industrialized countries. As a result, the general feeling is that whatever problems industrialized countries may have, malnutrition is surely not one of them.
Yet, readily available and sufficient food does not automatically bring about good nutrition. On the contrary, obesity is one major nutrition-related problem in the United States. According to the most recent government statistics, over half the American population today is obese, and of children between the ages of 6 and 17, nearly one fourth are obese.
Obesity carries with it increased general health risks, including a higher incidence of cardiovascular disease, hypertension, non-insulin dependent diabetes, certain kinds of cancer, gall bladder disease, menstrual abnormalities and complications of arthritis and gout.
Obese children face traumatic social and psychological difficulties and increased risk for high blood pressure, high blood cholesterol, abnormal glucose tolerance and possible orthopaedic problems, such as difficulty with walking. Obese children tend to become obese adolescents, who tend to become obese adults.
A number of factors bring about this disorder and can interact with one another. Besides nutrition, both genetic make-up and cultural behaviour patterns can predispose a person to obesity. Endocrinological and metabolical factors are also involved.
A long-time researcher in the field, Dr. William H. Dietz, noting the increased frequency with which, paradoxically, both hunger and obesity occur in poorer populations in the United States, has suggested that one cause of obesity might well be hunger.
Without question, the poor in the United States do suffer 'episodic food insufficiency'. One recent study concluded that there are more than 13 million poor children under the age of 12 in the United States who are hungry, or at risk of being hungry, during some part of one or more months of the year.
Clear signs of nutrient deficiencies have also emerged, according to one recent study, among one- to five-year-olds in poor families as well as in those better off. Defining deficiency as receiving less than 70 per cent of the recommended daily allowance of the 16 standard nutrients measured in the survey, the study found that 6 per cent of one- to five-year-olds from families not considered poor did not receive enough food energy, folate or vitamin C. Over 15 per cent did not receive enough calcium and nearly 20 per cent not enough vitamin E. Fully one quarter did not get enough iron, and over a third failed to receive enough zinc.
For poor children, the findings were even more disheartening: Substantially higher proportions were deficient in 14 of the 16 nutrients. For example, in 40 per cent of poor children iron intake was inadequate, and 18 per cent received inadequate vitamin C.
The very abundance and availability of the wrong kinds of food, eaten with little moderation or balance, is another culprit. Nutritionally deficient foods such as soft drinks, chips, candy and fast foods tend to crowd out nutritionally beneficial ones.
And the increasingly sedentary pattern of life in the modern industrialized world is yet another suspect. A study published last year found that 10- to 15-year-olds who watched more than five hours of television a day were 4.6 times more likely to be overweight than youngsters who watched two hours or less.
Other industrialized countries show similar patterns, particularly among less well-off groups. One British study describes the diet of lower socio-economic groups as providing simply "cheap energy," comprising mainly foods such as full cream milk, fat, sugars, jams, potatoes, cereals and meat products. The diet includes few vegetables, fruit or wholewheat bread and is low in essential nutrients: calcium, iron, magnesium, vitamin C and folate. The study also shows a correlation between the diet and poor health.
In France, recent reports say that the poorest people spend over one fourth of their income on food, yet what they buy is similar to the inadequate diet of the British poor: bread and other starches, coffee, milk, sugar, processed meats and hardly any fruit or vegetables. Not surprisingly, a field study of one of the poorer suburbs of Paris found that the children who lived there were at risk nutritionally. Significantly, a study of newborns in France found that fully 63 per cent showed iron deficiency and 55 per cent suffered from anaemia.
Ways need to be found to change these nutritional patterns since plentiful food alone is clearly not a solution. Taking care in what is eaten and when is as necessary a step in industrialized countries as it is in the developing world.
Previous | Contents | Continue
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http://www.unicef.org/sowc98/feat03.htm
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| 0.96086 | 970 | 3.171875 | 3 |
Friction can set off fireworks, so don’t walk around with them in your pocket.
That advice is among a list of safety tips offered by the S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control. About 200 people visit South Carolina emergency rooms each year to receive treatment for fireworks injuries, which include burns and contusions.
Other tips to stay safe on the Fourth of July:
Comply with local laws, which ban fireworks in some cases.
- Don't light fireworks indoors, and keep a hose or bucket of water handy.
- Don’t alter them or light more than one at a time. Also, never use “homemade” fireworks.
- Wear safety glasses.
- Onlookers should stay at a safe distance from those who are lighting the fireworks.
- Don’t hold fireworks by hand or allow any body part to hang over them while lighting.
- Point fireworks away from homes, and keep them from brush, leaves and other flammable substances.
- Choose a "designated" fireworks handler. Only non-drinkers should light fireworks.
- Sparklers should be used by only those 12 and older.
- Report illegal explosives to the fire or police authorities.
- Soak all fireworks in a bucket of water before disposing of them, since they may still catch fire.
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| 0.913522 | 281 | 3.1875 | 3 |
Ramachandra Pandurang Tope (1814 - 1859), also known as Tatya Tope (pronounced Toh-pey), was an Indian leader in the Indian Rebellion of 1857. Born in village Yeola in Maharashtra, he was the only son of Pandurang Rao Tope and his wife Rukhmabai, an important noble at the court of the Maratha Peshwa Baji Rao II. His father shifted his family with the Peshwa to Bithur where his son became the most intimate friend of the Peshwa's adopted son, Nana Dhondu Pant (known as Nana Sahib) and Maharaja Madhav Singhji. In 1851, when Lord Dalhousie deprived Nana Sahib of his father's pension, Tatya Tope also became a sworn enemy of the British. In May 1857, when the political storm was gaining momentum, he won over the Indian troops of the East India Company, stationed at Kanpur (Cawnpore), established Nana Sahib's authority and became the Commander-in-Chief of his forces. When Nana Sahib's forces attacked the British entrenchment in June, 1857, General Wheeler's contingent incurred heavy losses as a result of successive bombardments, sniper fire, and assault. Also slow supplies of food, water and medicine added to their misery and they decided to surrender, in return for a safe passage to Allahabad. But despite Nana Sahib's arrangements, some confusion at the Satichaura ghat led to attacks on the departing British by the rebel sepoys, and were either killed or captured.The surviving British women and children were moved from the Savada House to Bibighar ("the House of the Ladies"), a villa-type house in Kanpur. Retaliation occurred as Company forces started approaching Kanpur, and Nana Sahib's bargaining attempts had failed(in exchange for hostages). Nana Sahib was informed that the British troops led by Havelock and Neill were indulging in violence against the Indian villagers.Nana Sahib, and his associates, including Tatya Tope and Azimullah Khan, debated about what to do with the captives at Bibighar. Some of Nana Sahib's advisors had already decided to kill the captives at Bibighar, as revenge for the murders of Indians by the advancing British forces. The details of the incident, such as who ordered the massacre, are not clear. Hearing the screams and groans inside after the first fire, the rebel soldiers declared that they were not going to kill any women and children. An angry Begum Hussaini Khanum, the Bibighar in charge, termed the sepoys' act as cowardice, and asked her lover Sarvur Khan to finish the job of killing the captives. Sarvur Khan hired some butchers, who murdered the surviving women and children with cleavers. After losing Gwalior to the British, Tope launched a successful guerrilla campaign in the Sagar and Narmada regions and in Khandesh and Rajasthan. The British forces failed to subdue him for over a year. He was, however, betrayed into the hands of the British by his trusted friend Man Singh, Chief of Narwar, while asleep in his camp in the Paron forest. He was defeated and captured on 7 April 1859 by British General Richard John Meade's troops and taken to Shivpuri where he was tried by a military court. Tope admitted the charges brought before him saying that he was answerable to his master Peshwa alone. He was executed at the gallows on April 18, 1859. There is a statue of Tatya Tope at the site of his execution near the present collectorate in Shivpuri town in Madhya Pradesh. Tope is considered a hero in India. Writes Colonel G.B. Malleson , eloquently in The Indian Mutiny of 1857- "Tántiá Topí was a marvellous guerilla warrior. In pursuit of him, Brigadier Parke had marched, consecutively, 240 miles in nine days; Brigadier Somerset, 230 in nine days, and, again, seventy miles in forty-eight hours; Colonel Holmes, through a sandy desert, fifty-four miles in little over twenty-four hours; Brigadier Honner, 145 miles in four days. Yet he slipped through them all--through enemies watching every issue of the jungles in which he lay concealed, only to fall at last through the treachery of a trusted friend. His capture, and the surrender of Mán Singh, finished the war in Central India. Thenceforth his name only survived" On 19 June 2007 the Times of India reported that in response to a request from the NGO Bismillah: the Beginning Foundation, 1 lakh Rupees of financial aid was to be provided to his descendants who live in Kanpur.
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| 0.980148 | 1,010 | 3.03125 | 3 |
Harris says Gansus shares many skeletal features with modern birds, including the knobby knees characteristic of underwater swimmers like loons and grebes.
Moreover, he says, the preserved skin of the webbed feet shows the same microscopic structure seen in aquatic birds today.
"It was unexpected to find a bird this advanced in rocks this old," Harris said. "It tells us that the anatomical features we use to characterize modern birds evolved very quickly."
According to the researchers, Gansus is the oldest clearly established member of the subclass Ornithurae, the group most closely related to modern birds.
The Gansus fossils are only 10 to 15 million years younger than the "feathered dinosaurs" discovered a decade ago at Liaoning, in western China. (See feathered-dinosaur pictures.)
Most fossil birds dating so far back belong to a different evolutionary lineage called opposite birds. The name stems from the fact that bones in their shoulders and feet fit together opposite from the way seen in birds today.
Opposite birds made up the dominant bird group of the Cretaceous Period (145.5 to 65.5 million years ago). They disappeared along with the dinosaurs when that period ended, leaving no modern descendants.
The study authors say the fossil bed that yielded Gansus may be the earliest Cretaceous site dominated by ornithurans rather than opposite birds.
Experts differ in their assessments of how much light the Gansus fossils shed on the origins of modern-day bird groups such as ducks and other waterfowl.
The authors of the Science paper argue that, since Gansus and other ancestral species were water specialists, modern birds probably originated in an aquatic environment.
Their theory is that aquatic ornithurans like Gansus first evolved from earlier, land-based species early in the Cretaceous.
These water-based ornithurans gave rise to modern birds, which quickly spread back into nonaquatic habitats as the once dominant opposite birds declined.
But paleontologist Julia Clarke, of North Carolina State University in Raleigh, disagrees.
She says Gansus and other early fossils don't necessarily imply such a back-and-forth evolutionary shift between habitat types.
Rather, Clarke says, the findings illustrate that there was a wide range of bird types during the period that preceded the emergence of truly modern birds.
"The new findings contribute importantly to our understanding of the ecological diversity present in these close cousins of our existing birds," Clarke said. "They speak to the evolution of shape and form."
While the Gansus discoveries seem likely to fuel debate among paleontologists, experts agree that the excavation site may have even more to offer.
Luis Chiappe is a co-author of the Science paper and director of the Dinosaur Institute at the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, California.
Chiappe says the potential of this and other fossil localities in Gansu Province is enormous.
"I expect that 'feathered dinosaurs' and other key fossils for understanding vertebrate evolution will be unearthed from this site in the near future," Chiappe said.
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SOURCES AND RELATED WEB SITES
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| 0.942489 | 697 | 4.03125 | 4 |
Heard Island: baseline vegetation data for monitoring longterm change. (d) 35mm photos (terrestrial) used for vegetation mapping.Entry ID: HI_VEG_PHOTOS_VEGMAP
Abstract: These photos consist of 581 scanned 35mm colour slides (each approximately 2.2 MB) taken on Heard Island by Dr Jenny Scott (JJS) between December 1986 and February 2004. Areas covered are Gilchrist Beach in the northeast, to Spit Bay in the east, to Long Beach in the south, to Cape Gazert in the west, to Atlas Cove and Laurens Peninsula in the northwest. An equivalent set of 35mm photos for the ... remaining areas along the north coast is included in metadata record HI_VEG_NON_ORTHO_VEGMAP. Photos are either oblique aerial (taken from helicopter), terrestrial or ship-based. Although they were taken specifically to use for interpretation when finalising the vegetation mapping (HI_VEG_ORTHO_VEGMAP), they can also be useful for fieldwork planning of any sort, as they give an overview of terrain and topography covering most of the coastal and near-coastal areas of the island.
Shapefile - photo locations
One shapefile shows the approximate location and direction of the camera for each image. The location pointers were digitised as vectors with the start of the line being the approximate location of the camera and the end of the line providing the direction (hint: convert to arrows for ease of reference). Attributes include image name and file source, location, date of capture, where photo was taken from (aerial, ground, ship offshore), ID of original JJS slide, and comments (re quality of image, whether location approximate, etc).
Data Set Citation
Dataset Originator/Creator: Scott, J. and Harris, U.
Dataset Title: Heard Island: baseline vegetation data for monitoring longterm change. (d) 35mm photos (terrestrial) used for vegetation mapping.
Dataset Series Name: CAASM Metadata
Dataset Release Date: 2003-04-02
Dataset Publisher: Australian Antarctic Data Centre
Dataset DOI: doi:10.4225/15/55CAA6999274COnline Resource: https://data.aad.gov.au/aadc/metadata/metadata_redirect.cfm?md=/AMD...
This description is a member of a collection. The collection is described in
Start Date: 1986-01-01Stop Date: 2004-02-01
ISO Topic Category
Quality Oblique aerial 35mm photos
These were taken in January 1987 when the Linhof aerial photography was flown (HI_VEG_ORTHOPHOTOS_VEGMAP). Wherever possible, a panoramic set of slides was taken of each ice-free coastal and near-coastal area from a helicopter. Slide quality is sometimes poor, as the slides were taken through a plexiglass helicopter window. Despite this, they are an ... extremely useful interpretive adjunct to the 1987 aerial photography and the digitised vegetation boundaries. Although they were taken specifically to use for interpretation when finalising the vegetation mapping (HI_VEG_ORTHO_VEGMAP), they can also be useful for fieldwork planning of any sort, as they give an overview of terrain and topography covering most of the coastal and near-coastal areas of the island.
Other 35mm photos - terrestrial and ship-based
Additional slides were taken at various viewpoints on the ground for each area during the 1986-87 and 1987-88 summers, and these are useful for checking vegetation detail at specific locations. Several series of slides taken in October 2000 and February 2004 are also included, as they show coastal areas poorly covered by aerial photography (e.g. NE coast of Laurens Peninsula). Note that vegetation detail, landslips etc on the 2004 slides of NE Laurens Peninsula may have changed in the 17 years between the date of these slides and the flying date of the airphotos on which the vegetation map is based.
Location of 35mm photos
The photo location shapefile shows the approximate location and direction of the camera for each image. None of the images are geo-referenced. Attribute data includes comments on individual image quality and whether location was 'approximate' or 'very approximate' (the latter applies especially to images taken from a helicopter offshore).
Access Constraints A shapefile of the location of the photos is available for download at the provided URL.
The data are available via FTP.
Use Constraints This data set conforms to the PICCCBY Attribution License
Please follow instructions listed in the citation reference provided at http://data.aad.gov.au/aadc/metadata/citation.cfm?entry_id=HI_VEG_P... when using these data.
Data Set Progress
Distribution Media: FTP
Distribution Size: 750 MB
Distribution Format: tiff
Distribution Media: HTTP
Distribution Size: 16 kb
Distribution Format: shapefile
Role: TECHNICAL CONTACT
Role: DIF AUTHOR
Phone: +61 3 6226 2205
Fax: +61 3 6226 2989
Email: jenny.scott at utas.edu.au
SCHOOL OF GEOGRAPHY AND ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES University of Tasmania PRIVATE BAG 78
Province or State: Tasmania
Postal Code: 7001
Role: TECHNICAL CONTACT
Phone: +61 3 6232 3519
Fax: +61 3 6232 3351
Email: gis at aad.gov.au
Australian Antarctic Division 203 Channel Highway
Province or State: Tasmania
Postal Code: 7050
Extended Metadata Properties
(Click to view more)
Creation and Review Dates
DIF Creation Date: 2003-04-02
Last DIF Revision Date: 2016-01-27
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NASA Chief Scientist Ellen Stofan visited NASA's Langley Research Center Nov. 13 to hold a Town Hall and get a first-hand look at some of the research taking place at the center.
During the Town Hall, Stofan, who was appointed chief scientist in August, talked about the value of NASA science. "To me, you can really encapsulate the science that we do here with this phrase," she said, calling attention to the title of her program, "Looking Outward, Inward and Homeward."
Further clarifying, Stofan said she thinks most NASA science falls into three categories — the study of the universe, the human body or the Earth. As she's been settling into her new role, Stofan has been sifting through the many missions and research projects that fall into those categories and looking for connective tissue. It's a search that's led her to three questions:
- Are we alone?
- How did we get here?
- How does our universe work?
"If you take those three questions, which are sort of the fundamental three questions that drive us here at NASA," she said, "I can think of two overall themes that connect what we do, and those two themes are origin and evolution."
At the agency level, Stofan specifically mentioned studies into colliding galaxies, the icy moons of Saturn, polar ice caps and solar flares as projects that will help determine how we got here and how things have changed over time.
She also cited the atmospheric research and Entry, Descent and Landing (EDL) work taking place at NASA Langley:
"Langley's atmospheric research plays such a key role in making the measurements needed to show how and why our atmosphere is changing — without good data we won't have good models. Langley's entry, descent and landing work will help us to land larger and larger amounts to the surface of Mars — critical to delivering the robotic and then human scientists who will help us to understand whether life ever developed on Mars."
In addition to the Town Hall, Stofan's visit included a stop at the hangar, where researchers briefed her some of NASA Langley's airborne missions. She also attended briefings on nanomaterials, computational materials and the nondestructive evaluation of structures and materials.
Stofan came away from the briefings impressed.
"I was amazed at the depth of research taking place in areas that are critical to our future exploration goals," she said. "From developing the science and technologies for future Mars landings, to better techniques for studying Earth's changing atmosphere, to the research needed to build the safe fuel-efficient aircraft of the future, Langley has the skilled scientists and engineers that are critical to NASA's and the country's future."
NASA Langley Research Center
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Just published this month in the journal Osteoporosis International, a new study revealed that bone health was similar between vegan Buddhist nuns and omnivore women even though the vegans had much lower intakes of calcium and protein.
The study involved 105 vegan nuns and 105 omnivore women in Viet Nam. Average calcium intake was 375 mg per day for the vegans and 682 mg for the omnivores. (Some of the vegan women did use very small amounts of milk in meals.) Vegan women also had low protein intakes averaging around 35 grams per day compared to more moderate intakes of 62 grams for the omnivores.
Bone density between the two groups was similar—slightly lower in the vegans, but not to an extent that was statistically significant. Prevalence of osteoporosis was slightly higher among the vegans. Overall, there was little difference between the two groups.
Before you toss your calcium supplements out the window, though, there are a few things to keep in mind. Many factors—diet, lifestyle, and genetics—affect bone health. We can’t automatically make recommendations for western vegans based on this study. Other studies have shown bone density to be lower in vegans compared to omnivores when calcium intakes were different.
This study adds to the pile of interesting—but confusing—data we have on bone health and diet. Personally, I am still aiming for 1,000 mg of calcium per day along with lots of exercise, plenty of vitamin D and a moderate sodium intake. At least until the data are more clear and more compelling. What is clear however, is that bone health is complex; it’s not all about calcium.
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Britain will drift into the Digital Doldrums if we can't excite a whole new generation of kids to get involved with learning the skills of computer programming and making - which we learned in our bedrooms back in the early 80's with our Sinclair Spectrums and BBC Micros.
I built my first computer from a kit, when I should have been revising for my A Levels, and I made a Turtle robot in the Easter holidays before the exams. What seemed normal for a geeky 17 year-old back then, when there wasn't the easy access to low cost technology, meant that you had to go out and make your own. What I learnt in the last few summers of my schooldays set me up for life as an electronics design engineer.Nanode RF - an Arduino Compatible Clone with Ethernet and low power wireless connectivity for £30
Now in my mid-40s, I am one of a generation of technology professionals who learned their craft on simple 8-bit machines - often in the late nights and early mornings - with school the next day. However, lack of sleep to a 17 year old is the last thing on your mind when you are programming a new game, or in my case a floor-roaming robot controlled by a ZX81 and half a kilo of NiCad batteries.
In the last few months, I have been alerted to the fact that some of my contemporaries are now forming a movement to campaign for a return to the teaching of real computer science in schools, as the years of the very much lesser ICT has left students bored and disinterested.
David Braben, Emma Mulqueeny and Dr. Sue Black - to name but a few, are most vociferous in this field. David is spearheading Raspberry-Pi, a £15 computer to excite youngsters in learning real programming. Emma is running a campaign to get Parliament to reintroduce computer science in schools, and Sue has just announced the goto
Making computer science more meaningful to the public, generating public excitement in the creation of software, and helping to build a tech savvy workforce
More strength to their bows, I say, and in these depressing times we live in, it good to see people take on a challenge like they have and really pick it up and run with it.
So, ask not what your country can do for you - but what y
Well in the last 8 months I have released a couple of low cost 8-bit computing platforms, based on the ever-popular Arduino, but take Arduino into the re
However, these are going against the Arduino gr
Over 1600 Nanode kits have been sold, and there have been very few failures. Part of this high success rate is a very easy to follow pictorial build guide - which bypasses the more traditional methods of component identification and placement, and
Nanode was conceived in a hotel room in China in June of 2010 as the lowest cost Arduino like board which could connect to the internet - a simple pcb with all through hole construction which can be made by anyone with the most rudimentary soldering experience.
December 6th marks the arrival of a completely updated version: Nanode RF. The same basic philosophy of a low cost board with ethernet connectivity - but now with low power wireless as well.
Nanode RF can form the gateway between the ethernet and remote wireless devices offering up exciting possibilities of wireless connected sensors and even robots - controlled remotely from a web browser.
To give Nanode RF a paired device to talk to- so we have created our own
WiNode is essentially an Arduino with a low cost wireless transceiver attached. But we have thrown in some analogue sensor channels, a two channel bi-directional driver circuit for controlling dc motors or relays and fitted it out with easy to use screw terminals.
But best of all - the basic WiNode will only cost you £15 - when bought in pairs. I remember that my first ZX81 kit cost me £39.99 in the early 1980s - so WiNode at 2 for £30, is clearly a good buy.
Solderpad.com is a repository for open source hardware designs - here's how they sum up Nanode and WiNode:
Nanode starts with a kit of parts - within a couple of hours you have built your own web connected computer.
In supplying the Nanode as a kit, it not only keeps costs down but provides a sense of achievement for hobbyists and experimenters that are new to electronics. Use of through-hole components means that assembly, and repair, is within the grasp of those without experience of working with surface-mount technology (SMT).
Projects such as Open Energy Monitor have employed Nanode extended with wireless capabilities, to act as a wired-wireless bridge or hub for remote wireless devices. A common Internet of Things (IoT) use case for Nanode, this has led to the development of the Nanode RF- a variant that can directly accommodate an RFM12B wireless module, with additional features that include a microSD card socket, real-time clock (RTC) and SRAM.
The WiNode is the third member of the Nanode family and is intended to be used as an end node in a wireless network. It employs the same RFM12B module as the Nanode RF, but drops support for Ethernet in favour of enhanced I/O capabilities. In addition to acting as a remote sensor and actuator control node, it can also serve as a shield to a classic Nanode, thereby extending it with support for wireless, a RTC and increased I/O capability.
All three are fully Arduino-compatible and make use of the same IDE and libraries etc. However, to keep costs down a USB controller has been omitted and programming requires use of a USB to serial adaptor cable. Traditionally this would be a FTDI cable - costing nearly as much WiNode. But a chance find on Taobao - the Chinese equivalent of Ebay, and Nanode now has it's own customised programming lead for just £5. Only one cable is required for programming - regardless of how many Nanodes you have.
Creating useful open source hardware building blocks - at the lowest possible price - that people have a need for. Through the Power of Making - electronics becomes accessible again to education and enthusiasts.
Contact nanodenanode at gmail dot com for more details of the Nanode products, pricing and availabilty.
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