text
stringlengths 199
648k
| id
stringlengths 47
47
| dump
stringclasses 1
value | url
stringlengths 14
419
| file_path
stringlengths 139
140
| language
stringclasses 1
value | language_score
float64 0.65
1
| token_count
int64 50
235k
| score
float64 2.52
5.34
| int_score
int64 3
5
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
How Mary went blind: A 'Little House on the Prairie' investigation
The Little House on the Prairie books by Laura Ingalls Wilder have entertained kids for almost seventy five years, while teaching them a little about what life was like for pioneers during the late 1800s. While the books were published as fiction, most of the story was taken from Wilder’s own childhood. One of the biggest turning points in the books is when Laura’s older sister Mary goes blind after getting scarlet fever. But an article recently published in the American Academy of Pediatrics argues that scarlet fever did not cause Mary’s blindness at all.
One of the authors of the study was Kalamazoo College graduate and first-year University of Colorado medical student Sarah Allexan.
“We consulted an ophthalmologist on our paper, Jerry, and he told us that he looked through a lot of things and it’s hard to find an ocular manifestation of scarlet fever," says Allexan. "If it were to somehow get into the eye, it would have caused a lot of external damage and you would be able to tell that that person had had scarlet fever. But I mean, needless to say there’s no recorded things of this actually happening. A lot of things we were able to rule out due to the fact that in Laura’s book she wrote that Mary’s eyes were still beautiful, they were blue, and you couldn’t tell anything from the outside that her eyes had had this problem.”
Allexan says even the smallest clues helped the research team narrow down what caused Mary to go blind.
“We found this photo that had been taken relatively close to the time that she had gone blind. And we could see that the folds around her nose—the nasal labial folds—were both intact and so we could presume from that that it hadn’t been a stroke since those muscles weren’t still paralyzed," she says. "That was just a useful visual for us since there isn’t much that we could actually see.”
But if it wasn't scarlet fever, what was it? Allexan has the answer:
"We think the most likely possibility is meningoencephalitis, which is just an inflammation or infection of the tissues surrounding the brain and spinal cord. And due to the eye and the optic nerve being so closely intertwined with that, is what led us to believe that that would be the most near association. And there’s many different ways you can acquire a viral meningitis. You can get it from a virus. You can get it from the herpes simplex virus which is just anything simple as cold sores…if the virus happens to get into your eye. Or you could get it from Lyme disease, ticks, mosquitos—different vectors that will bear a virus.”
Allexan says the brain infection was one of the four leading causes of blindness listed on the 1890 Census, as was scarlet fever. Though we’ll never truly know why Little House on the Prairie misdiagnosed Mary, Allexan says scarlet fever also played a large role in other 19th century literature—like Little Women by Louisa May Alcott and Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein.
“We don’t want it to come across as ‘Laura was wrong’ or anything like that," says Allexan. "I think it was a really important literary device that she used, because when we look back through stuff she…all of her memoirs didn’t say scarlet fever until the very end. So, what we’re guessing is that it was really and editing thing because she had sent it to the editors about three times. There’s three different copies that we looked through of Pioneer Girl. And then they decided towards the end ‘Oh, we’re going to make this a children’s book. We’re not going to make this an autobiographical book.’ And so we’re kind of guessing that it seemed like a much more popular disease. Many people had people that they knew that had gone through that or had died from scarlet fever in the recent past. And so, it seemed like an almost poetic way of making Mary go blind.”
Sarah Allexan is a medical student at the University of Colorado and a Kalamazoo College alum. She’s one of the authors of the medical article “Blindness in Walnut Grove: How Did Mary Ingalls Lose Her Sight.”
|
<urn:uuid:205f5626-331e-464e-884c-bcc171b403d5>
|
CC-MAIN-2016-26
|
http://wmuk.org/post/how-mary-went-blind-little-house-prairie-investigation
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783399106.96/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154959-00016-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.984986 | 959 | 3.34375 | 3 |
Tree stumps to step over and drum circles to join. Slate easels to draw on and animals to meet. Hollow logs to climb through and dirt to dig in.
What kid wouldn’t love it here?
Image courtesy Irvine Nature Center/Facebook
The Irvine Nature Center in Owings Mills, Md., has joined a growing list of nature-inspired organizations that encourage kids to explore, respect and protect the environment. Thanks to a growing body of research that supports the benefits of unstructured play and child-nature interaction, places like the Irvine Center—with its trails, garden and outdoor classroom—are popping up all over, getting kids to play in fields and forests instead of on plastic and asphalt.
The idea? When given the chance to roam and run in natural places, kids will learn about and come to love the outdoors, becoming curious environmentalists and new stewards of our watershed.
Image courtesy Irvine Nature Center/Facebook
The Irvine Center’s exhibit hall, green building and 116 acres of woods and meadows are open to the public; the Irvine Center’s outdoor classroom is open to members and to those who participate in the organization’s programs.
More from Irvine:
Three Delaware towns have received grant funding and technical assistance to create habitat and improve water quality in Delaware's tributaries to the Chesapeake Bay.
The towns of Greenwood, Laurel and Bethel, located along the Route 13 corridor in Sussex County, have set their sights on curbing stormwater runoff to reduce the flow of nutrients and sediment into the Nanticoke River and Broad Creek.
When rainfall runs across paved roads, parking lots, lawns and golf courses, it can pick up pollutants before washing down storm drains and into local waterways. By using best management practices—think rain barrels, green roofs or forested buffers along the shores of streams and rivers—to target the fastest growing source of pollution into the Bay, these Delaware towns can help position the state to meet its pollution reduction goals.
The Town of Greenwood, for instance, will restore a buffer of native vegetation along a tax ditch that drains into the Nanticoke River, establishing habitat and reducing stormwater runoff from two industrial buildings in the heart of the community.
The neighboring towns of Laurel and Bethel will develop plans to bring green infrastructure to Broad Creek, stabilizing stream banks, reducing stormwater discharge and eliminating local flooding. Bethel might even implement innovative practices in the oldest part of town, bringing permeable pavement and living shorelines to the town's historic district.
"The projects in Greenwood, Laurel and Bethel will improve the water quality of our local streams and rivers, reduce flooding and enhance the quality of life for local communities," said Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control (DNREC) Secretary Collin O'Mara. "By ... working together, we are securing resources necessary to ensure that our waterways are safe, swimmable and fishable for current and future generations."
Funding for the Greenwood project, totaling $35,000, was awarded through the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation's (NFWF) Chesapeake Bay Stewardship Fund.Technical assistance for the initiatives in Laurel and Bethel, valued at $100,000, was awarded through NFWF's Local Government Capacity Building Initiative. To learn more about the projects, visit the DNREC website.
The University of Maryland has received close to $700,000 in federal funding to help communities reduce stormwater runoff.
Using a software program to pinpoint pollution hot spots and an innovative brand of social marketing to boost citizen engagement, the university will embark on a multi-year project to increase the adoption of conservation practices in two watershed communities: the Wilde Lake watershed in Howard County, Md., and the Watts Branch watershed in Washington, D.C., whose waters flow into the Patuxent and Anacostia rivers, respectively.
Stormwater runoff, or rainfall that picks up pollutants as it flows across paved roads, parking lots, lawns and golf courses, is the fastest growing source of pollution into the Chesapeake Bay. Best management practices can reduce the flow of stormwater into creeks, streams and rivers, from the green roofs that trap and filter stormwater to the permeable pavement that allows stormwater to trickle underground rather than rush into storm drains.
But best management practices cannot work without the citizens who put them into action.
"We need to work with communities, rather than take a top-down approach [to stormwater management]," said project lead and assistant professor Paul Leisnham. "For the long-term successful implementation of these practices ... we need communities to be involved."
The university has partnered with local schools, religious organizations and grassroots associations (among them the Maryland Sea Grant, the Anacostia Watershed Society and Groundwork Anacostia) in hopes of breaking down barriers to the adoption of best management practices and increasing community involvement—and thus, investment—in local, long-term environmental conservation.
From left, U.S. Senator Ben Cardin, University of Maryland assistant professor Paul Leisnham and U.S. EPA Region 3 Administrator Shawn M. Garvin
U.S. Senator Ben Cardin commended the project at a Bladensburg Waterfront Park event as a creative and results-driven way to reduce stormwater runoff.
"It's going to allow us to make a difference in our [local] watershed, which will make a difference in the Chesapeake Bay," Cardin said.
The funding, which totaled $691,674, was awarded through the Sustainable Chesapeake Grant program administered by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
In the Chesapeake Bay, the river meets the sea. Freshwater and saltwater mix. Countless fish, birds and mammals find a home, a rest stop or a place to raise their young. All in one of the most productive ecosystems on earth—and the largest estuary in the United States!
Celebrate National Estuaries Day, held this year on Saturday, September 29, with this list of eight reasons the Chesapeake Bay is exceptional.
Image courtesy U.S. Geological Survey Landsat/Flickr
8. Its size. The Bay is the largest estuary in the United States and the third largest in the world. It is about 200 miles long and holds more than 18 trillion gallons of water, some from the Atlantic Ocean and some from the 150 streams, creeks and rivers that drain into its watershed. This fresh and saltwater mix supports more than 2,700 species of plants and animals.
7. Its shorelines. The Bay and its tidal tributaries have 11,684 miles of shoreline—more than the entire U.S. west coast! Shorelines support a number of unique critters, like the diamondback terrapins that dig shallow nests in the sand, the horseshoe crabs that spawn on Bay beaches or the shorebirds that have long legs and an appetite for fish, clams and other aquatic snacks. Shorelines also allow people to reach the water to swim, fish and walk on the sand. There are close to 800 existing access sites along the shorelines of the Bay and its tributaries, and groups like the National Park Service are working to add more.
Image courtesy U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Northeast Region/Flickr
6. Its geology. While the Bay itself lies within the Atlantic Coastal Plain, the watershed spans two more geologic regions: the Piedmont Plateau and the Appalachian Province. This means watershed residents don’t have to travel far to spot plants, insects and animals that inhabit different landscapes, whether it is the Delmarva fox squirrel that favors the flat lowlands of the Delmarva Peninsula or the black bear that prefers the mountains and valleys of the Appalachian foothills.
5. Its wetlands. About 284,000 acres of tidal wetlands grow in the Bay region. These wetlands provide critical habitat for fish and shellfish, who use the protected areas as nurseries or spawning grounds, and for birds, who use wetlands to find food, cover and, in the case of migrating waterfowl, a winter home. Wetlands also slow the flow of pollutants into the Bay and its tributaries, stabilize shorelines and protect properties from flooding.
4. Its forests. Forests cover 55 percent of the Bay watershed and provide critters on land and in the water with food and shelter. Bald eagles, for instance, build two-ton treetop nests near the water, while brook trout depend on the shade of streamside trees to cool their underwater habitat. Forests also support the economies of watershed states. Forestry is the second largest industry in the Pennsylvania and Virginia and the fifth largest in Maryland.
Image courtesy Becky Gregory/Flickr
3. Its waterfowl. Close to one million ducks, geese and swans spend their winters on the Bay. The birds, which make up about one-third of the Atlantic coast’s migratory population, stop here to feed and rest during their annual migration along the Atlantic Flyway.
2. Its seafood. The Bay produces about 500 million pounds of seafood each year. The watershed’s well-known catches include the blue crab, which is popular steamed or picked and turned into a crab-cake, and the eastern oyster, which is harvested in colder months and eaten raw, fried or even baked with spinach and bacon. Striped bass and Atlantic menhaden are also important catches for commercial markets.
1. Its people. The Bay watershed is home to more than 17 million people, with 150,000 moving into the watershed each year. There are watermen, fishermen and farmers. There are hikers, bikers and boaters. There are teachers, beach-goers and seafood-eaters. And many of them work to restore the natural resources in the watershed. Whether you take a tip from us to make Bay-friendly changes at home or attend an event to clean up your local waterway, you, too, can help restore the Bay—and celebrate National Estuaries Day! Learn more here.
|
<urn:uuid:3a4e4b76-ba11-475e-b77f-3ce0d703d76a>
|
CC-MAIN-2016-26
|
http://www.chesapeakebay.net/blog/2012/09/P0
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783394605.61/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154954-00127-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.933105 | 2,079 | 3.109375 | 3 |
THE U.S. AND CANADIAN EXPERIENCE
12 September 2000
HISTORY OF HOMELESSNESS IN THE UNITED STATES
AND "NEW" HOMELESSNESS
STRUCTURAL ASPECTS OF HOMELESSNESS
A. The Decline of
Affordable Housing Stock
Rent Control and Other Regulatory Constraints on Housing Markets
1. Rent Controls
Other Regulatory Constraints
C. The Disappearance
of the Casual Labour Market
E. The Crack Cocaine Epidemic
AND POVERTY THE CANADIAN EXPERIENCE
HOMELESSNESS IN CANADA TODAY
THE U.S. AND CANADIAN EXPERIENCE
Although homelessness is a persistent manifestation
of urban poverty, in recent years it has become the focus of increased
attention by politicians, social scientists, urban planners and activists.
What are the forces that promote homelessness and why this sudden interest
This paper will attempt
to identify the root causes of homelessness by comparing the U.S. and
Canadian experiences, especially from the perspective of prominent Canadian
and U.S. experts on homelessness and housing. It will suggest several
of the influences that may have contributed to the rise of homelessness
and brought it into current prominence. Differences between the characteristics
of earlier and contemporary homeless populations will also be described.
A BRIEF HISTORY
OF HOMELESSNESS IN THE UNITED STATES
Throughout U.S. history,
the population has contained a sizeable segment of homeless persons. During
colonial times, the homeless and destitute received very little sympathy
and were sometimes driven out of towns and villages or shunted from community
to community, lest they become a serious burden on the relief rolls.
At the end of the U.S. Civil
War, released war veterans joined migrant workers to swell the homeless
population. Migrant groups of hoboes drifted from town to town in search
of shelter and employment. Like homeless people today, they were often
treated with suspicion and distrust. Public policy, where any existed,
often consisted of warning them to leave town or putting them temporarily
The consequences of such
societal attitudes were severe, given the absence in those days of a "safety
net" to protect families against unemployment. In the nineteenth
century, the loss of a job or the death or incapacitation of the
households wage earner introduced a real risk of destitution.
Peter Rossi(1) notes that communities
made a distinction between local homelessness, where families and individuals
known to the community fell upon hard times, and transient homelessness,
usually involving single persons believed to be homeless as a result of
their irresponsible lifestyle. Unattached homeless individuals attracted
scorn, while destitute families received more sympathetic treatment.
In the late nineteenth century,
homelessness became institutionalized and concentrated in the poorer sections
of industrial cities, known as Skid Row. These areas with their
collection of cheap hotels, religious missions and flop houses
were integral components of the urban economy, providing cheap, unskilled
manual labour to factories, lumber mills and railroad yards.
The Skid Row population
continued to grow until the early decades of the twentieth century, when
mechanization of industrial processes particularly in earth moving
and materials handling reduced the demand for unskilled labour,
leaving the Skid Row population without a market for its services.
The Great Depression in
the 1930s saw the collapse of economic activity and a substantial jump
in unemployment, which lasted for more than a decade and at one point
affected 25% of the workforce.(2) Many were compelled to leave their homes and communities
in search of job opportunities elsewhere; as a result, the number of the
homeless swelled. Attempts were made to enumerate its size during the
Depression years: according to these estimates, the homeless population
ranged between 200,000 to more than 1.5 million individuals. Rossi
notes that this figure is very similar to contemporary estimates of todays
homeless (between 350,000 and several million).(3)
The U.S. population was smaller then, however, so the homeless population
represented a larger fraction of the total population than it does today.
Urban centres acted as magnets
to people seeking employment. Many cities were swamped as a result of
this migration, and poorer neighbourhoods saw their populations grow substantially.
Because the homeless were often too numerous to be properly housed, authorities
had to resort to various types of emergency housing, sometimes even jails.
Some cities simply moved the homeless into camps in rural areas; many
transients themselves built improvised shanty-towns on the outskirts of
During the Second World
War, as the homeless were absorbed into the armed forces and war industries,
the problem virtually disappeared. In certain quarters there were fears
that economic stagnation would return by the end of the war, and with
it unemployment and homelessness. However, the accumulated private savings,
the rapid conversion of military industries into civilian production,
and a pent-up demand for private goods and services led to a post-war
economic boom that kept the rates of unemployment and homelessness very
In the following decades,
Skid Row areas with their collection of establishments and businesses
catering to a poor and aging population slowly contracted, and
their role in a modern urbanized economy became progressively marginalized.
Many social scientists believed that these areas would eventually disappear
completely from the urban landscape.
In the late 1950s, academic
interest in Skid Row areas and their inhabitants resumed as the renewal
of city centres compelled many urban planners and municipal authorities
to confront the problems of older and poorer neighbourhoods. The focus
was on finding out as much as possible about Skid Row areas and how their
populations would fare once the areas were demolished to make way for
During the late 1950s and
1960s, many attempts were made to estimate the size of the homeless population
in various urban centres. Rossi mentions a 1963 study by Donald Bogue(4)
which used 1958 census data to count some 12,000 homeless persons in Chicago
alone; he estimated that approximately 200,000 homeless, mostly elderly
men, lived in the 41 largest U.S. cities. Another study done in 1960
by Bahr and Caplow(5) listed about 8,000 homeless men living in New Yorks
Bowery, and 30,000 additional homeless persons living elsewhere in the
city. Another homeless count(6) listed 2,000 homeless persons in Philadelphia.(7)
Despite the economic expansion
of the period, homelessness persisted. As Rossi stated:
Skid Rows may well have been dying out; indeed, given the advanced age
of the residual Skid Row population, the impending demise of Skid Row
was widely and confidently predicted. But it was obvious that the final
death throes would be neither merciful nor swift.(8)
In the 1950s, the notion
of homelessness differed considerably from the one used today. At that
time, homelessness implied more the lack of support, whereas today the
term implies deprivation of shelter. In fact, most of the homeless men
in Bogues study had stable shelter of one sort or another. Four-fifths
rented windowless cubicles in flophouse hotels on a daily (or nightly)
basis. These cubicles were small, partitioned spaces sometimes just large
enough to accommodate a cot. The remaining fifth lived in private rooms
in inexpensive single-room-occupancy (SRO) hotels or in mission dormitories.
According to Bogue, only a small minority of homeless men actually lived
on the street. Other studies made the same observation.
The studies were also remarkably
similar in their other findings. They described the Skid Row population
as very homogeneous, consisting mostly of white men whose median age was
50. Of these men, one-quarter were Social Security pensioners stretching
their meagre benefits by renting the cheapest accommodation available.
Another one-quarter suffered from chronic alcoholism. The remaining half
of the Skid Row population was composed of the physically disabled (20%),
chronically mentally ill persons (20%), and those suffering from what
was then called "social maladjustment" (10%).
With the exception of the
pensioners, most Skid Row residents earned their living through menial
low-paid employment. Those without work could find shelter and food in
municipal shelters and mission dormitories, considered to be the least
desirable forms of housing.
Finally, Bogues study
noted the social isolation of Skid Row inhabitants. Virtually all of the
men were unmarried and most had never been married. Though many had families,
the study noted that the ties of kinship were very tenuous. Some claimed
to have friends but these relationships were very superficial.
Other studies confirmed
that the Skid Row population was characterized by:
poverty, arising from unemployment or sporadic employment, chronically
low earnings and low levels of government assistance;
arising from advanced age, alcoholism, and physical or mental illness;
and tenuous ties to family and kin, with few and no friends.(9)
Many social scientists noted
the disappearance of the casual labour market and the end of the economic
function of Skid Row along with the progressive mechanization of low-skilled
jobs. However, Skid Row areas did not disappear altogether, as many academics
had predicted. In most cities, smaller versions of them grew up near areas
with SRO hotels and rooming houses.
In the late 1960s and early
1970s, many U.S. cities underwent considerable physical transformation
and renewal in which much of the older and cheaper housing stock was being
torn down or converted into more profitable structures/uses such as office
buildings and parking lots. At the same time, the U.S. federal government
passed legislation improving the amount and coverage of social security
benefits for the elderly and the physically and mentally handicapped.
These expanded benefits, together with the provision of subsidized public
housing, enabled some of the Skid Row population to move into more adequate
In the 1980s and 1990s,
important modifications to the urban economy, housing markets, public
policy, and demographic trends acted to transform the nature and characteristics
of homelessness as described in the preceding section of this paper. Rossi
has identified the differences and similarities in the old and new homeless
The most striking difference
is the visibility and number of the homeless today. No longer confined
to poor neighbourhoods, people living and sleeping on the street or in
public places such as bus terminals and railroad stations have become
a commonplace sight in most cities. In the past, the "homeless"
managed in one way or another to find nightly shelter; the new homeless
clearly suffer more severely from housing deprivation.
Another difference is that
todays homeless population is on average considerably younger and
more varied in terms of gender and ethnic representation. In Bogues
1958 study of the homeless in Chicago, women accounted for about 3% of
Skid Row residents. In a 1985-1986 study carried out in the same city,
women made up almost one-quarter of the homeless population, a statistic
confirmed by other recent surveys.
The racial composition of
the homeless has also changed considerably over time, from being predominantly
white 82% on Chicagos old Skid Row to being more racially
mixed. Among the new homeless, racial and ethnic minorities are heavily
represented. In one study of Chicago, 54% of the homeless were black.
In most cities, other ethnic minorities principally Hispanics and
Native Americans are also represented disproportionately among
the homeless, with the precise ethnic mix apparently determined by the
ethnic composition of the local poor.
In the past, most Skid Row
inhabitants (other than pensioners) could find enough sporadic employment
to give them enough income to secure some kind of accommodation. However,
the new homeless are largely unemployed (97%, according to one study),
and much poorer as a result.
In spite of all these differences
between the old and new homeless populations, the similarities are even
more striking. Both groups demonstrate extreme poverty, intermittent and
unpredictable income (if any), inability to afford stable and adequate
housing, a high percentage of mental and/or physical disabilities, and
a higher likelihood of alcoholism and drug abuse.
Finally, Rossi makes an
interesting comparison between the homeless and those who are extremely
poor but domiciled. Although some estimates of the total number of homeless
people barely exceed one million individuals, the number of the poor stands
at around 35 million; thus, the number of poor exceeds the number of homeless
by a very wide margin.
In attempting to explain
this finding, Rossi goes on to define what he calls the extremely poor:
those whose household annual income is equal to or less than the median
income of poverty households (52% of the official U.S. poverty level).
In 1980, the U.S. federal government defined the poverty line as $8,414
per year; the extremely poor family of four had an annual income of $4,396,
or $3 per person per day. According to this criterion, the number of the
extremely poor was around 17 million in 1980 still far more than
the number of the homeless. The question, according to Rossi, is not why
there were so many homeless people, but rather why there were so few,
compared to the number of the extremely poor, whose financial situation
is so similar.
Using the 1984 survey of
General Assistance (GA) recipients as a database, Rossi compares the extremely
poor with the homeless. The GA is a welfare program for poor people who
are not eligible for such support programs as Social Security, Assistance
for Families with Dependent Children (AFDC), or any other disability program.
GA recipients must be able-bodied, single adults whose annual income does
not exceed $1,800 and who possess no significant assets. He notes that
the GA clientele and the homeless were socio-economically very similar
except that the overwhelming majority of GA beneficiaries (92%) lived
in conventional housing and in households, usually with their parents.
Of the third who lived alone, more than half were receiving financial
support from friends or family.
Thus, the principal difference
between the homeless and the vast majority of the extremely poor GA recipients
is that the latter either live with family or can rely on financial support
from friends or relatives.
above results make it apparent that the network of kith and kin is the
last line of defence against homelessness; the homeless, in turn, are
apparently those for whom this network has been destroyed in a process
no doubt strongly tied to disabilities such as alcoholism or mental
ASPECTS OF HOMELESSNESS
Of the many possible reasons
for the recent rise in homelessness, the most often cited are: the decline
of affordable housing stock; rent controls and other regulatory constraints
on housing markets; the decline in the casual labour market; deinstitutionalization;
and the crack cocaine epidemic.
A. The Decline of Affordable
As Rossi stated in Without
must remember that homelessness is a housing problem. Homelessness on
the scale seen today is in large part an outcome of the shortage of
inexpensive housing for the poor, a shortage that began in the 1970s,
and has accelerated in the 1980s.(12)
Using the U.S. Census Bureaus
Annual Housing Surveys (AHS), Rossi observed sharp declines in the stock
of affordable housing in many urban centres. For example, between 1977
and 1981, the survey reported declines in the supply of affordable multi-room
housing units (i.e., housing that rents for 40% or less of poverty-level
incomes) ranging from a low of 12% (Baltimore, Maryland) to as high as
58% (Anaheim, California). In 12 large cities surveyed between 1978 and
1983, the supply of inexpensive rental housing available to low-income
families dropped by an average 30%.(13)
The stock of single-room-occupancy
(SRO) units ordinarily rented by low-income single adults declined even
more precipitously. Chicagos Planning Department reported the demolition
or conversion of about 18,000 single-person dwelling units between 1973
and 1984. Seattle, Boston, New York, Nashville, Philadelphia and many
other cities reported the same trend; Los Angeles reported losing more
than 50% of its single-occupancy rental units between 1970 and 1985.
Rossi partly attributes
the decline in affordable housing stock to funding cuts in federal housing
programs that had supported the construction of public housing or provided
housing subsidies to poor households during the 1980s. At the same time,
the number of poor urban households increased by 36%.(14) The combined effects of these two trends
resulted in a severe shortage of affordable rental housing for low-income
The diminishing stock at
the lower end of the urban housing market limits the options available
to low-income households; they must either allocate a greater portion
of their income for housing, leaving less for other necessities, or leave
the housing market altogether.
U.S. sociologist Christopher
Jencks takes a slightly different view.(15)
First, he notes the difficulty of identifying and counting SRO units.
Although the term is typically used for older buildings divided into single
rooms that do not meet a citys current standards for new construction,
the definition varies from city to city and over time. According to Jencks,
in the simplest approach, the U.S. Census data can be used to trace changes
in the supply of single rooms. The best survey on single rooms
the American Housing Survey (AHS), initiated in 1973 suffers from
three major limitations:
not survey many one-room units in any given year;
not cover tenants in hotels patronized mainly by transients staying
there for at least six months; and
it changed the way it counted rooms. From 1973 to 1983, the AHS let
the tenants determine the number of rooms they had; after 1985, the
AHS defined this number, thereby re-classifying one-quarter of the
single-room population into two-room units.
In response to the AHS report
that the number of SRO units declined nationwide between 1973 and 1989
from 1.1 million one-room rental units to about 789,000, Jencks notes
that the number was more or less stable between 1973 and 1983 and between
1985 and 1989. He concludes that the decline observed between 1983 and
1985 was a statistical phantom resulting from problems in counting SROs
and the 1985 changes to the AHS survey design.
Although the number of one-room
units remained more or less stable over the sample period, according to
the Census the population living in them declined appreciably, from 314,000
in 1973 to 162,000 in 1989.
Most SROs were being demolished
in the 1960s and 1970s, but there was still a sufficient supply of these
units for rents to remain stable. Supply of and demand for SROs stayed
mostly in balance during the 1970s. Moreover, both real wages and government
benefits continued to rise until the early 1970s, permitting even irregularly
employed individuals to gain access to better-quality housing and lowering
demand for lower-quality SROs.
Although real wages and
government benefits to the poor stopped rising and the demand for the
lower end of the housing market stopped declining after 1973, homelessness
became visible only during the 1980s. Jencks attributes this lag to the
steadily declining purchasing power of the poor over the same period.
He argues that the shortage of accommodation for the poor resulted not
just from an insufficient supply of cheap rooms, but also from excess
demand driven by the rise of long-term male joblessness and lagging government
benefits for the unemployed. The imbalance between low housing supply
and high demand caused SRO rents to rise faster than the general level
One would have expected
the excess demand for cheap accommodation to be temporary and to have
been absorbed as rising rents and profits provided incentives for entrepreneurs
to increase the supply. Jencks suggests, however, that the prevailing
municipal housing regulations and policies (e.g., rent controls) in many
major cities prevented adjustment to the new market conditions, i.e.,
by building new units or converting conventional housing into cheaper
Once their incomes began
stagnating, a growing proportion of the poor could no longer afford their
existing accommodation, yet they were being deprived of alternative shelter.
The extremely poor either resorted in greater numbers to emergency shelters
or were compelled to live on the streets.
In summary, Jencks does
not believe that the destruction of Skid Row areas provides an adequate
explanation of the rise in homelessness. He concludes from the statistical
evidence that homelessness was the result of increasing poverty and regulatory
constraints imposed on the low-cost housing market in the late 1970s and
Rent Control and Other Regulatory Constraints on Housing Markets
Certain social researchers
attribute homelessness to public policy initiatives and urban housing
regulations. This is an extension of the argument in the section above
that suggests homelessness results from the erosion of the low-cost rental
Housing markets are not
really national in scale but are rather the sum of many regional and local
markets; thus, the municipal regulatory environment can have a tremendous
impact on the kinds and availability of low-cost rental housing. These
regulations can take the form of price ceilings on rental units (rent
controls), restraints on the type of construction permitted (zoning regulations),
or growth control ordinances that limit or prevent certain activities
or businesses from being conducted in order to impose more "orderly"
1. Rent Controls
Usually enacted during periods
of rapid urban expansion when rental housing is scarce, rent controls
are essentially ceilings on the price level or price increases of rental
units. Rents are set below what the market would allow in the absence
Rent control has been in
force in a number of North American cities for many decades. For example,
the City of New York retains rent controls imposed under temporary wartime
price rationing during World War II.
Many U.S. and Canadian cities
adopted rent controls in the 1970s, in response to high inflation. In
1971, the Nixon administration imposed a nationwide system of wage and
price controls, which was later repealed; however, many cities retained
the controls on rents. By the mid-1980s, more than 200 separate municipalities
in the U.S. encompassing about 20% of the population were
living under rent control.(16) In Canada,
a majority of provinces enacted rent controls at the request of the federal
government in October 1975, as part of the federal Anti-Inflation Programme.(17)
Standard supply and demand
theory predicts that any price ceilings, including rent controls, will
produce an excess of demand over supply in other words, an economic
"shortage."(18) Although the stated goal of rent control is to make
rental housing more affordable, its principal result is an overall shortage
of reasonably priced rental units.
Because the mandated rents
are set below the market rate, a wedge is driven between the quantity
demanded by consumers and the quantity supplied by producers. Consumers
will demand more rental units at the artificially cheaper mandated price.
Entrepreneurs, on the other hand, will be less willing to supply rental
units because of the low return on their investment. In the absence of
alternatives, a portion of the demand will remain unsatisfied.(19)
This is the textbook way
of describing rent controls, or price ceilings. In real life, however,
it is very onerous for governments to control the entire supply of a commodity;
controls or price ceilings are usually applied to a portion of any market.
Depending on the degree to which the authorities are willing to tolerate
it, the uncontrolled portion serves to absorb or mop up the excess demand
resulting from the controlled market, and the uncontrolled market may
be considered legal, semi-legal or illegal.
Unlike the rent for controlled
units, which are set at a mandated level, the rents in the uncontrolled
segment of the market are determined by the interaction of supply and
demand. The unsatisfied demand from the controlled segment will spill
over to the unregulated segment, pushing rent levels even higher as more
tenants compete for the limited unregulated supply and creating a widening
price gap between the controlled and the uncontrolled portion of the market.
The result is a redistribution of income that benefits the tenants living
in controlled units at the expense of tenants whose rents are uncontrolled.
Once controls are imposed,
the tenants in regulated units have a strong incentive to remain there
for as long as possible, even for a lifetime, perhaps in some cases passing
on the tenancy to descendants. In this way, rent controls reduce tenant
turnover and, given the lack of affordable alternatives, further restrict
the supply of housing.
Some rent control regulations
permit landlords to charge higher rents when the original occupants move
out. In order to avoid forced eviction, rent control legislation has often
included strong anti-eviction provisions. The inclusion of this provision,
however, makes it virtually impossible to evict tenants of rent-controlled
units, even if they are delinquent or destructive.
Thus, unable to evict delinquent
tenants and seeing their revenues fall, landlords of rent-controlled buildings
may curtail expenditure on maintenance and let the controlled units deteriorate.
Rent controls thus remove any incentive for entrepreneurs to expand supply
through building new units or maintaining the existing stock (e.g., rental
Although the effects of
rent controls on the quantity and quality of the rental housing supply
are well known and documented, the causal link between homelessness and
rent controls is not as apparent. As Jencks points out: "Even if
rent control really is correlated with homelessness, it does not follow
that one causes the other."(20)
For example, rent controls have been in place for decades in many North
American cities, yet homelessness became more visible only during the
1980s and 1990s.
What can be affirmed, however,
is that rent control has exacerbated the problem of homelessness by restricting
the supply of affordable housing. Those who truly benefit from rent controls
are the tenants who occupied the units at the time rent ceilings were
imposed. The rent for such a unit is very affordable but obtaining a unit
is next to impossible, because existing tenants have the incentive to
maintain occupancy at all costs. Moreover, under a rent control regime,
entrepreneurs have little or no incentive either to provide new housing
or to maintain existing housing. Thus, poor individuals or households
are virtually excluded from the private rental market; they must take
more expensive accommodation they can barely afford, seek other forms
of public shelter, or be forced to live on the streets.
Other Regulatory Constraints
In the past, homeowners
could rent out basements, attics, or spare bedrooms and in this way extend
the supply of low-cost accommodation for individuals. Now, through restrictive
municipal regulations, many cities prevent such practices and permit only
high-priced single-family homes, thereby depriving consumers of cheap
William Tucker argues that
a communitys regulatory regime may be the most critical reason for
the rise of homelessness and has a tremendous impact on the housing supply.
According to him, "Housing shortages are local problems created by
local regulation, which is the work of local municipal governments."(21)
In attempts to overcome
the effects of rent controls, homeowners and landlords often resorted
to demolishing or renovating their rental property or converting it for
higher-value uses such as condominiums or co-operatives. In response,
to prevent a substantial portion of the housing stock from being excluded
from rent controls, local governments often enacted new provisions that
prohibited or restrained these demolitions, renovations or conversions.
As Lawrence B. Smith has
economic consequences of these prohibitions on demolition, conversion,
and major renovations are to reduce the economic value of the rental
units and accelerate the deterioration of buildings by reducing their
value, by constraining and by reducing incentives to maintain their
quality. Controls thus generate behaviour that induces additional regulations
that may exacerbate many of the deleterious consequences of the controls.(22)
Building codes designed
to drive out "undesirable housing" in local jurisdictions have
also prevented or inhibited the building of low-cost housing.
Through regulation, most
cities and towns hold a tight rein on their housing markets. Tucker points
out that suburbs are particularly exclusionary, zoning out everything
but high-priced single-family homes and prohibiting the rental of rooms
In addition, efforts in
the name of "urban renewal," and municipal campaigns to "clean
up downtown," often led to the tearing down of Skid Row areas with
their vast supply of tenements, single-room-occupancy (SRO) hotels, sub-standard
shelters, and other cheap accommodation.(23) Unfortunately, these urban renewal efforts
were not often accompanied by efforts to provide cheap alternatives to
offset the loss of the rental housing stock.
C. The Disappearance
of the Casual Labour Market
A market for casual labour
is important for unskilled persons who, for various reasons, cannot hold
down a regular full-time job. For example, alcoholics or schizophrenics
may work effectively only on an intermittent basis. The presence of a
casual labour market thus enables marginally skilled persons to have some
income and to pay for some type of shelter.
In the past, poor neighbourhoods
played an integral role in the urban economy by providing local industries
with a ready supply of unskilled labour. According to Rossi, a major factor
in the decline of the Skid Row areas was the disappearance of the casual
labour market. He cites a 1980 study by Barrett Lee, which analyzed the
Skid Row populations in 41 U.S. cities between the 1950s and the 1970s.
This demonstrated that, as the proportion of each citys labour force
employed in the unskilled and service occupations declined, so did the
Skid Row population.
the earlier decade of the analysis, urban employers [who] needed muscle
power to wrestle with cargo apparently put up with the low productivity
of Skid Row men because they could be hired as needed and at low wages.
The advent of forklift tractors and other highly efficient materials-handling
technology meant that casual labourers were no longer cost-effective;
the declining demand for casual labour put the homeless and Skid Row
out of business. The continuing lack of demand for unskilled labour
still contributes to todays homelessness. But there is another
element involved, one that also helps us to understand the declining
average age of homeless persons. The past decade has seen a bulge in
the proportion of persons between the ages of twenty and thirty-five,
a direct outcome of the post-war baby boom. The consequence of this
"excess" of young persons, especially males, was a depressed
earning level for young adults, and an elevated unemployment rate.(24)
Between the mid-1960s and
the mid-1980s, as the earning profiles and employment opportunities for
U.S. workers aged under 35 deteriorated, the numbers of the homeless increased
and their average age declined. These developments in demographic and
labour market trends had serious consequences for the formation of households
and families. The observed rise in recent decades of single-parent households,
particularly those headed by females, partly results from the deterioration
of the economic prospects of young men. In these circumstances, young
men are less willing or able to form households and take on the economic
role of husband and father.
Jencks notes that, although
there is no clear consensus on the root causes of the rise in long-term
joblessness among mature men in the U.S., it is evident that the demand
for unskilled labour fell faster than the supply during the 1970s and
early 1980s. This had two consequences: unskilled workers wages
fell, and the least desirable workers had trouble finding work at any
wage. Both were factors in the increased risk of homelessness among mature
One commonly held view is
that the observed numbers of the homeless rose at the same time as psychiatric
hospitals instituted a policy of "deinstitutionalization," in
which mentally ill patients were released from long-term care.
Although Rossi agrees that
the policy of deinstitutionalization may have contributed to homelessness,
he points out that this initiative started as far back as the late 1940s;
most patients destined to be released from mental hospitals had already
left them when the rise of homelessness began in the early 1980s.
On the other hand, Christopher
Jencks believes that deinstitutionalization, originally intended to improve
the life of mentally ill patients, did have the unexpected effect of increasing
the homeless population. He points out that deinstitutionalization should
not be considered as one policy, but rather as a series of policies; although
each had the goal of reducing the number of residential patients, carrying
out these policies proceeded at varying rates and for different reasons.
In a sense, the policy was intended to move patients from one type of
institution to another, by moving them out of mental hospitals. The aim
was originally to move patients from long-term incarceration to more community-based
The policy was based on
the idea that long-term hospitalization is more harmful than helpful to
mentally handicapped patients. It was thought that many of these people
could be better cared for on an out-patient basis, while patients with
histories of episodic mental illness could be admitted and then released
The first wave of deinstitutionalization
in the U.S. started in the late 1940s and was completed by 1965. By that
time, the population of institutionalized patients had dropped from 513,000
to 475,000.(25) The policy gathered momentum in the 1950s,
with the advent of new psychotropic drugs, which enabled the efficient
treatment of patients suffering from depression and schizophrenia.
during the mid-1960s and early 1970s, when the federal government voted
improved public assistance benefits to former mental hospital patients
in the form of Medicaid, food stamps and other types of income support.
This provided former patients with enough financial means to support themselves,
and helped poor families to provide shelter for and take care of
their disturbed relatives. At this point in time, deinstitutionalization
was still accompanied by certain provisions to take care of these individuals.
The more seriously mentally ill remained in institutions, as did some
patients who had nowhere else to go or whose repeated admission and discharge
incurred too great an administrative or financial burden.
According to Jencks, the
process of deinstitutionalization began to go awry after the mid-1970s,
when social reformers, concerned about the civil rights of mental patients,
succeeded in curtailing the ability of mental health professionals to
commit severely disturbed patients to institutions. Although this may
have improved the quality of life inside the mental hospitals, it reduced
the quality of life outside them. Once they had lost the power to commit
mental patients without their consent, psychiatric institutions began
to release many seriously disturbed patients. Some of these were incapable
of taking care of themselves, or soon alienated themselves from friends
and families who might have given them support. Thus, many of these recently
released and severely disturbed patients found themselves without any
means of shelter or professional care.
Jencks argues that in society
someone has to be held responsible for every individuals actions.
Usually this means that an individual is responsible for his or her own
actions; however, if the individual is incapable of this, society has
to intervene, if necessary by isolating that individual. According to
Jencks, when families are unable or unwilling to take care of family members
who are mentally incompetent and constitute a danger to themselves and
others, mental hospitals should have the power to commit those members.
During the late 1970s and
early 1980s, federal and state governments were encountering greater public
resistance to tax increases; fiscal austerity became the order of the
day. Governments were pressured to find ways to control public expenditures
and urged mental hospitals to trim their budgets. As a consequence, some
psychiatric wards were closed and many chronic mental patients, even those
unwilling to leave, were discharged. According to Jencks, state governments
could have made arrangements to provide their former wards with some form
of shelter but they felt that endowing mental patients with rights included
endowing them with responsibility to fend for themselves. Unfortunately,
the chronically mentally ill are seldom able to assume this responsibility.
The prevailing political
climate was sympathetic to the idea of deinstitutionalization, and especially
to any savings that might result from it. In reality, these expected savings
proved to be elusive. As Jencks points out, "Deinstitutionalization
saves big money only when it is followed by gross neglect. That is why
neglect became common during the 1980s."(26)
Operating mental institutions
is very costly; they must have all the medical, support and administrative
services needed to offer patients continuous treatment, as well as the
staff and facilities to provide custodial care for those who are disruptive
or dangerous. In short, mental hospitals provide three basic but very
expensive services: subsistence, supervision and treatment. All attempts
by state hospital planners to economize by curtailing one or more of these
types of service proved unsuccessful or even counter-productive. In most
cases, they merely shifted the financial burden from one institution to
another, at considerable cost to society.
In the early 1980s, a U.S.
government administration sympathetic to the notion of deinstitutionalization
raised the criteria for receiving federal disability benefits and undertook
a periodic review of eligibility rolls that purged some 300,000 persons
judged to be capable of working. Of these, almost one-third (100,000 persons)
were considered to be mentally ill. According to Jencks, few of the reclassified
persons found work and presumably some became homeless. At the same time,
however, states reduced the adult population in mental hospitals and cut
their own welfare rolls by making their former wards eligible for U.S.
federal assistance. As a result, by the mid-1980s, the federal government
was compelled to reverse its own welfare policy and the disability rolls
grew back to roughly the same levels as had prevailed in the 1980s. Indeed,
the percentage of working-age adults receiving federal benefits for mental
disability was higher at the end of the 1980s than ever before in U.S.
According to Jencks, if
the policy of deinstitutionalization and the courts curtailment
of the power of mental health professionals to commit patients had not
occurred, the adult population of state mental hospitals would have stood
at 234,000 in 1990, instead of at 92,000. It follows that 142,000 persons
who under the pre-1975 rules would have been sheltered in mental institutions
were now sleeping somewhere else.
any given night, some of these people were in psychiatric wards of general
hospitals, a few were in private psychiatric hospitals, but many were
in shelters or on the streets.(27)
The Crack Cocaine Epidemic
Before the mid-1980s, alcohol
was the drug of choice for many of the poor, because the other available
forms of oblivion were far more expensive. Alcoholism is still a significant
problem among the homeless; however, Jencks does not think that it offers
a satisfactory explanation of the recent rise in homelessness, because
the proportion of alcohol abuse among the homeless population has remained
more or less stable over time.
Introduced in the mid-1980s,
crack cocaine was much cheaper than alcohol and other "hard"
drugs and offered an intense but short "high." Its low price
and easy availability soon made it the most popular drug of the homeless.
Jencks relies primarily
on urine sample tests to estimate the frequency of crack cocaine use among
the homeless. In 1991, New York City used a large sample of shelter users
for voluntary anonymous urine tests. Of the sample of single adults using
general-purpose shelters, 66% tested positive for cocaine use. Of adults
living in family shelters, only 16% did so. Jencks then compares these
results with New York crime statistics to infer the prevalence of use
of cocaine across the country. In 1990, of men arrested in Manhattan,
65% tested positive for cocaine use. In a similar survey of men arrested
in seven large U.S. cities in 1990, 49% did so.(28) Jencks concludes that the prevalence
of cocaine use is about the same among single adults living in shelters
as among arrested individuals. He suggests that if the result is valid
for metropolitan centres, about half of all individuals using shelters
in New York City during 1991 had used crack cocaine within a few days
of being tested.
a reasonable guess might be that a third of all homeless single adults
use crack fairly regularly. If so, crack is now as big a problem among
the homeless as alcohol.(29)
Jencks believes that use
of crack cocaine may explain why homelessness increased even at a time
when the overall level of unemployment declined.
Although there is no unequivocal
proof of its contribution to homelessness, drug dependency whether
it causes homelessness or is merely the result of it certainly
keeps the homeless on the streets. Increased drug use makes an unskilled
worker even less employable, further reducing disposable income and eroding
the ability to secure shelter. Drug dependency can also alienate friends
and family who might otherwise provide support and shelter, making it
more likely that the individual will become homeless.
Although information on
how the homeless obtain and dispose of their income is very sketchy, Jencks
assumes that many of them would rather spend it by seeking temporary oblivion
through drugs or alcohol than on paying for accommodation in a dangerous
shelter. He estimates that between one-third and two-thirds of the homeless
population may engage in some form of substance abuse.
AND POVERTY THE CANADIAN EXPERIENCE
The Canadian experience
with homelessness closely parallels that of the United Kingdom and the
United States. In the nineteenth century, homelessness was usually regarded
as the result of a failure of character on the part of the homeless individual.
Aid to the destitute was dispensed mostly by private charitable or philanthropic
organizations on an emergency or dire need basis and usually in the form
of food, clothing, heating fuel (wood or coal) rather than cash. It was
felt that if assistance was dispensed too freely it would create dependency
and erode the self-sufficiency of the beneficiary, thereby aggravating
the problem. There was virtually no role for the public sector in the
distribution of aid, although during periods of stagnant economic activity
in Canada, social reformers and public officials would rely on the relocation
of itinerants and the unemployed to unsettled lands in the North and West
of the country.
In the latter part of the
nineteenth century, the combined effects of rapid industrialization, urbanization
and immigration gave rise to greater interest in urban poverty and its
underlying causes and possible cures. Voluntary philanthropic organizations
on both sides of the Atlantic influenced each other and experimented with
model homes for the deserving poor; this activity led to the establishment
of sanitary codes and public health regulations to deal with overcrowded
and unsanitary housing.
Social problems brought
about by uncontrolled immigration to the United States and Canada led
to proposals for settlement housing to facilitate the assimilation of
immigrants. Social unrest resulting from economic depressions and deplorable
housing and working conditions highlighted the need for reforms aimed
at improving public health, housing, and working environments.
Canada after the passage of the Municipal Corporations Act of 1849,
local governments began to assume social welfare responsibilities. From
1870 to 1900 the provinces had a far greater role, principally in establishing
prisons and asylums, but also regulating the work of publicly subsidised
private charities. This system focused on urban areas, mainly older
cores of major cities, where the very poor people and relief institutions
From 1900 to 1930, continued
population growth and rapid industrialization and urbanization led social
reformers to ponder the linkages between industrial growth, urban expansion,
housing, sanitation and public health. Social initiatives designed to
improve the urban populations living and working conditions were
eventually implemented, and social benefits such as workers compensation
were introduced in Quebec (1909) and Ontario (1914).
The years following the
First World War were also marked by social unrest resulting from stagnant
economic activity and rising unemployment. Residential construction had
been put on hold during the war years and the housing stock had deteriorated.
In response, the federal government instituted a modest housing program
to stimulate economic activity and foster employment in the construction
During the 1920s, public
spending on welfare grew by 130% in response to public clamour to improve
the conditions of the poor. However, little thought had been devoted to
housing and public welfare reform.
When the Great Depression
struck Canada, its severity and duration overwhelmed the countrys
political leadership and social institutions. Public policy responses,
if any, were most often uncoordinated, inadequate and ineffective. In
the absence of any organized public welfare system, people in need were
often left to fend for themselves or rely on private charities. During
this period, Canadas Gross National Product dropped by 42% and official
unemployment levels peaked at 26.6% in 1933. Massive job losses occurred
in shipping, manufacturing and railway transportation industries; as well,
agricultural activity stagnated.
There was little response
from the public sector as a result of the social attitudes towards public
relief and the lack of adequate financial resources. Local and provincial
governments were unable to provide much aid because their tax revenues
had declined so precipitously that a number of them had defaulted on their
debts. Moreover, the federal government urged local governments to reduce
Continued economic stagnation
contributed to social unrest and eventually culminated in the Regina Riots
of 1935. In the same year, endemic unemployment, homelessness and the
resulting social dislocation eventually prompted the federal government
to pass the Dominion Housing Act authorizing $20 million in loans
and financing the construction of 4,900 housing units over three years.
This initiative, designed to stimulate employment and economic activity
in the construction trades, was followed by the federal Home Improvement
Plan (1937) and the National Housing Act (1938) which provided
funds to assist people to purchase their homes and for the construction
of low-rent housing.
During the Second World
War, the war effort and the armed forces quickly absorbed the idle workforce.
Unemployment and homelessness practically disappeared as war production
in 1944 the Canadian government appointed Emergency Shelter Administrators
to monitor overcrowded housing markets: migration to these areas was
restricted. Municipalities used federal funding to build temporary shelters
for homeless people which were intended to keep families "warm
[with] sufficient space and essential facilities so that
a good standard of health and morale [was] maintained.(32)
During this period, government
involvement in economic and social spheres became commonplace as a result
of the centralized wartime planning of industrial production, food rationing
and the rise of Keynesian economics in academic circles and among government
policy-makers. One result was a gradual change of attitude towards government
intervention in general which laid the foundation of the modern welfare
state during the post-war period. At this time, many of the components
of the Canadian welfare state were introduced: unemployment insurance
(1941), family allowances (1945), Old Age Security (1952), and the Canadian
Pension Plan (1966).
Although it contained a
number of provisions directed to the working poor, the housing legislation
passed in the late 1940s was primarily designed as a macro-economic stabilization
tool to support employment and activity in the construction industries.
Further, because housing assistance was mostly directed to the middle
classes, it was also a means of gathering political support for the government.
In 1945, the federal government
created the Central Mortgage and Housing Corporation or CMHC (renamed
the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation in 1969). The National
Housing Act was amended in 1949 to provide funding to support the
construction of public housing for low-income families, disabled persons
and senior citizens. In 1954, the federal government began insuring mortgage
loans to facilitate home ownership. In 1964, CMHC was authorized to provide
loans to municipal and private non-profit corporations. Starting in 1973,
legislation introduced the notion of "income mix" to avoid large
public housing ghettos. In more recent years, municipal governments have
taken more initiatives to address the shelter and income security needs
of low-income residents. Not until the mid-1980s, however, did municipal
officials acknowledge the growing problem of homelessness.
IN CANADA TODAY
Homelessness and poverty
in Canada continue to parallel the experience of the United States. Unlike
the U.S., however, Canada has only recently attempted to determine the
scale and scope of the problem and to discuss what defines homelessness
and to measure its extent.
How homelessness is defined
is a critical factor in estimating the size of the homeless population.
The narrower or more exclusive the definition, the smaller the estimate
will be, and vice versa.(33) The United Nations uses a very broad definition that
includes two types of individuals:
have no homes and who live outdoors or in emergency shelters or hostels;
homes do not meet basic UN standards of providing adequate protection
from the elements, access to safe water and sanitation, affordable
prices, secure tenure and personal safety, and access to employment,
education and health care.(34)
Canada uses a very similar
concept "core housing need" to measure the adequacy
of housing. To establish whether a household is in "core housing
need" is a two-step process. First, one must determine whether households
suffer from a lack of one or more of the three basic housing needs: adequate
repair, adequate plumbing, and adequate space. Second, it must be asked
if the household has the financial wherewithal to resolve its housing
problems (affordability). A household is defined as being in core need
if it is unable to rent a unit of suitable size and with adequate conditions
in its community without spending more than 30% of its income.
In 1985, the CMHC estimated
the number of Canadian households experiencing one or more housing problems
and the incidence of core housing need among these households. Of a total
population of 8.75 million private households, 33.8% experienced
housing problems of one sort or another. Of those households, 44% met
CMHCs criteria for core need. Of these, 28% owned accommodation
and 61% rented accommodation.
Core need households do
have shelter, although it is inadequate, and thus are not defined as homeless.
Nevertheless, the homeless are most likely to come from the core need
population. These households are in a precarious housing situation and
constitute an "at risk" group; the slightest deterioration in
income or family circumstances may push them towards homelessness. Thus,
the size and circumstances of the core need household can indicate the
potential scale of homelessness.
The population at the lowest
end of the housing spectrum, i.e., people without a fixed address and
with no shelter, are transient and elusive and thus hard to count. The
first serious attempt at enumerating the homeless on a national basis
was carried out on 22 January 1987 by the Canadian Council on Social Development
(CCSD) with the objective of identifying the causes of homelessness and
developing strategies to eliminate the problem.
Enumeration was carried
out through a survey in which agencies that provided temporary or emergency
shelters or services to the homeless were asked to fill out a questionnaire.
Of 472 questionnaires distributed, 283 were completed and returned.(35)
The results placed the nightly shelter capacity at 13,797 available places.
The overall occupancy rate averaged 77%. In total, it was estimated that
259,384 individuals spent at least one night in a shelter in 1986 and
the average length of stay was 19.4 days. The largest group using shelters
were men residing in men-only hostels (61%), followed by women (27.5%)
and children under the age of 15 (ll.5%). The CCSD estimated that the
total homeless population in 1987 varied between 130,000 and 250,000 individuals,
representing between 0.5% to 1.0% of the Canadian population.(36)
The surveys methodology
suggests that the total population of the homeless was probably underestimated.
Only 283 of 472 agencies provided completed questionnaires, a response
rate of only 66%. Moreover, four categories of persons were not covered:
persons who slept in shelters that did not participate in the survey,
including about half the emergency homes for battered women and children
in Canada; (b) persons who that night were out on the streets, sleeping
in abandoned buildings, stairwells, parking garages, and public buildings
or doubled up with friends or acquaintances; (c) persons in detoxification
centres, maternity homes, or other special-needs centres that frequently
assist people who have nowhere to go; and (d) persons sent to hotels
or motels by social-service providers or accommodated in local jails
because no other shelter beds were available.(37)
Many criticized this methodology
as inadequate or ineffective for measuring the homeless population.
A second attempt to count
the number of homeless in the country was carried out by Statistics Canada
in 1991. Using the 1991 Census, Statistics Canada used a survey strategy
very similar to that used by CCSD in 1987 and that had been criticized
as inadequate. Essentially, census enumerators based in 90 soup kitchens
asked the clients where they had spent the previous night. Unlike the
CCSD, Statistics Canada has never published its findings because of the
mediocre quality of the data.
No further attempt has been
made to enumerate the number of homeless individuals on a national basis.
Given the lack of reliable and representative data, the federal government
has instructed its housing agency, Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation
(CMHC), to make homelessness a research priority. The agency is currently
developing computerized research tools that will standardize the collection
and management of data for admission to services for the homeless.
Only a few provinces have
assembled relatively dependable databases on the homeless. So far, Alberta,
Manitoba and Ontario and their capital cities have taken the initiative
in gathering information on the size of their homeless populations; unfortunately,
every provincial and municipal survey suffers from the same problems as
the two national surveys. However, all confirm the greater variation in
terms of gender, age and ethnic composition of todays homeless population,
compared with that of earlier times.
Homelessness remains a persistent
phenomenon, but its characteristics have changed considerably over the
years. Controversies continue regarding how the homeless should be defined
and their numbers, but the changing composition of the homeless population
is not in doubt. The most striking feature about current homelessness
is its divorce from the urban economy and society.
In the past, people without
shelter residing in the Skid Row areas of the city were rare in the urban
landscape. These areas, with their populations of predominantly white
and elderly men, actually formed an integral part of the urban economy,
supplying a pool of cheap unskilled labour. With the mechanization and
computerization of productive processes, however, Skid Row progressively
lost this economic role. Deprived of even low-paying job opportunities,
the inhabitants of Skid Row found themselves in a progressively precarious
situation with respect to stable shelter.
With the anticipated decline
in the elderly population, improvements in government entitlements, provision
of public housing, and the continuing economic boom, many social scientists
expected to see the gradual decline and eventual disappearance of homelessness.
Circumstances have clouded this rosy scenario, however. The dearth of
affordable housing, the poorly implemented policy of releasing mental
patients, and the crack cocaine epidemic have all contributed to changing
the nature and prevalence of urban homelessness, but it still exists.
Indeed, it has become more visible and widespread and a more severe possibility
for a wider range of individuals.
Although homelessness is
essentially a problem linked to poverty among individuals or families,
the multiplicity of factors involved make it difficult to overcome. No
single strategy will be successful. The search for a solution must address
issues as diverse as the supply of affordable housing, opportunities for
employment, income distribution, mental and physical health, drug addiction,
crime prevention, and law enforcement.
(1) Peter H. Rossi, Without Shelter: Homelessness
in the 1980s, New York: Priority Press Publications, 1989.
(2) Michael Parkin, Economics, Addison-Wesley,
1980, p. 573.
(3) Rossi (1989), p. 7.
(4) Donald Bogue, Skid Row in American Cities, Chicago:
Community and Family Studies Centre, University of Chicago, 1963.
(5) Howard Bahr and Theodore Caplow, Old Men Drunk and
Sober, New York: New York University Press, 1974.
(6) Leonard Blumberg, Thomas Shipley, and Irving Shandler,
Skid Row and its Alternatives, Philadelphia: Temple University
(7) Given the methodological difficulties and opposing
viewpoints involved, it is a very difficult and often controversial exercise
to establish an accurate count of the homeless population (see Lyne Casavants
"Counting the Homeless," Module on Homelessness, PRB 99-1E,
Parliamentary Research Branch, 8 January 1999). Nevertheless, it
is interesting to contrast the above studies with more recent attempts
at enumerating the nationwide homeless population. A 1984 report put the
U.S. homeless population at between 250,000 and 300,000 (U.S. Department
of Housing and Urban Development, "A Report to the Secretary on the
Homeless and Emergency Shelters," Washington, D.C., H.U.D., 1984).
A 1986 study set the nationwide count at 350,000 persons (Richard Freeman
and Brian Hall, "Permanent Homelessness in America," Cambridge,
Massachusetts: National Bureau of Economic Research, August 1986). At
the other end of the spectrum of population estimates, the National Coalition
for the Homeless puts the figure somewhere between 1.5 to 3 million individuals.
(8) Ibid., p. 9.
(9) Ibid., p. 11.
(10) Ibid., pp. 13-29.
(11) Ibid., p. 29.
(12) Ibid., p. 31.
(14) Households whose income is equal to or
below the poverty level.
(15) Christopher Jencks, The Homeless,
Boston: Harvard University Press, 1994.
(16) W. Tucker, "How Rent Control Drives
out Affordable Housing," Cato Policy Analysis, No. 274,
(17) Lawrence B. Smith, Anatomy of a Crisis:
Canadian Housing Policy in the Seventies, Fraser Institute, 1977.
(19) James D. Gwartney and Richard L. Stroup,
Economics: Private and Public Choice, 6th ed., Harcourt Brace Jovanovich,
1992, pp. 72-73.
(20) Jencks (1994).
(21) W. Tucker, "How Regulations Cause
Homelessness," Public Interest, Winter 1991, Issue 102, p.
(22) Lawrence B. Smith, "Ontario Housing
Policy: the Unlearned Lessons," in Home Remedies: Rethinking Canadian
Housing Policy, C.D. Howe Institute, 1995.
(23) Tucker (1991), p. 78.
(24) Rossi (1989), p. 35.
(25) Jencks (1994), p. 20.
(26) Jencks (1994), p. 34.
(27) Ibid., p. 39.
(28) The cities are: Los Angeles, Chicago,
Houston, Philadelphia, San Diego, Detroit and Dallas.
(29) Jencks (1994), p. 43.
(30) Gerard Daly, Homeless: Policies, Strategies,
and Lives on the Street, Routledge, 1996, pp. 51-88.
(31) Ibid., p. 57.
(32) Ibid., p. 77.
(33) Lyne Casavant, "Definition of Homelessness"
Module on Homelessness, PRB 99-1E, Ottawa: Parliamentary Research Branch,
(34) Alex Murray, "Homelessness: The
People" in Fallis and Murray, ed., Housing the Homeless and the
Poor: New Partnerships among the Private, Public, and Third Sector,
University of Toronto Press, 1990.
(35) Lyne Casavant, "Counting the Homeless,"
Module on Homelessness, PRB 99-1E, Ottawa: Parliamentary Research Branch,
8 January 1999.
(36) Murray (1990).
(37) Ibid. (1990), p. 21.
|
<urn:uuid:5954cac3-fbf0-417a-b463-d40c971073ba>
|
CC-MAIN-2016-26
|
http://publications.gc.ca/collections/Collection-R/LoPBdP/BP/prb0002-e.htm
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783394414.43/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154954-00201-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.943072 | 13,106 | 3 | 3 |
Provides selected full text, scholarly, and peer reviewed articles in the humanities, social sciences, and sciences.
Includes current newspapers, magazines, newsletters, and community publications of the ethnic, minority, and native presses. Includes scholarly journals on ethnicities and ethnic studies. Provides full text in English and Spanish.
Contains full text articles from major research journals in the humanities, social sciences, and sciences. Coverage of most journals starts from the beginning of a journal's publication and typically excludes the most recent three to five years.
This principal resource for citations of articles and books on the history and culture of the United States, Mexico, and Canada includes some full text.
Contains manuscripts, books, maps, photos, and other materials focusing on the American West.
Provides topic and citation searching and identifies articles published in high impact arts and humanities journals.
Provides the Cambridge Histories series online that covers ancient to modern history.
Includes citations and full text articles from education research journals, books, and conference papers.
Covers Spanish language scholarly, academic journals. Offers full text, multidisciplinary content.
Indexes citations to articles from scholarly social science and humanities journals from 1907 to 1984.
Indexes article citations, full text articles, and images from popular Hispanic magazines.
Includes full text sources for regional, national, and international newspapers as well as business, legal, and medical publications, and also, government documents.
Provides reference, literary timelines, and articles on authors, journalists, and critics from all literary periods. Covers literary genres such as fiction, nonfiction, poetry, drama, history, and journalism.
Maintains controversial contemporary topic summaries and overviews of current issues that include aspects of the issues along with pro and con arguments and opinions.
Indexes citations to journal articles, book chapters, dissertations, and conference proceedings in the field of sociology and related disciplines in the social and behavioral sciences.
|
<urn:uuid:cb0d8adf-5bb6-44d8-be44-66011c5b2a45>
|
CC-MAIN-2016-26
|
http://library.pdx.edu/dofd/subjects/8
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783396459.32/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154956-00011-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.892846 | 398 | 2.515625 | 3 |
[T]here is no promise in God’s Word for a miraculous, immediate, divine working in the copyists or translators. Such a promise would necessitate continuous miracles each time the Bible was copied or translated. Claiming such a promise would be adding a new doctrine to God’s Word. A biblically defined miracle is the direct application of God’s power into the universe. A work of providence, however, is indirect, as opposed to miraculous intervention. God has promised to preserve His Word through secondary causation (Ps 119:152), but not through a miraculous transmission of the text.According to Harding, no errors in the originals because of inspiration is a miracle, but errors in our Bible because of preservation is providence. Why is it so important to differentiate these two? I've never heard providence and miracle picked at so much. This is a vital differentiation to him and others like him because they think it directly connects "providential preservation" (as seen in the Westminster Confession) and "textual criticism." Notice that Harding says, "biblically defined miracle." Where does the Bible define "miracle?" Of course, it doesn't anywhere, but Harding wants you to believe that. Harding's contention, really invented out of thin air, is that providence allows mistakes into Scripture, while a miracle would keep out any errors from God's Word.
If you read Henry Morris' book on miracles (I think it's called Miracles---I read it at my father-in-law's last Christmas vacation), he says that providence is a miracle. On the other hand, in Martin Lloyd-Jones' book, God the Father, God the Son, he says that miracles are a sub-category of providence. In the Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament (T & T Clark, 1867, p. 331), Keil and Delitzch write the terminology, "the miracle of divine providence." Cotton Mather in 1631 called Urian Oakes a "Miracle of Divine Providence." Herbert Lockyer in his All the Miracles of the Bible writes concerning Elijah that "his daily prayer of faith was answered by a daily miracle of God's providence in the unfailing supply of meal and oil" (p. 111). In 1882 in his biography, Oliver Cromwell: His Man and His Mission, James Picton writes that in the mid-17th century Cromwell believed that "peace preserved amidst the perservering efforts of faction was a miracle of God's providence" (p. 484).
Many say that Divine providence is a miracle. It even reads like historic doctrine. When we read Scripture, we don't see what might be termed "providence," such as the events of the book of Esther, to be a lesser miracle than the so-called immediately caused hand of God. These events of providence, such as the raising up of Cyrus by God to deliver Judah from Babylon, are not relegated to a second class act of the Lord. I know of nowhere historically that providence is separated from miracle.
Apparently, in order to keep textual criticism within the confines of the historic theology of believing confessions (Westminster, London Baptist, etc.), modern textual critics and their supporters must reinvent the providence of God. By doing so, they can fabricate their own history. This isn't unique to Biblical criticism. We have the miracle of God's creation attacked by theistic evolutionists who say that evolution can explain how God providentially brought the world into existence. As a result, among others, Mike Harding writes:
A miracle is the direct application of God's power to this time, space, mass continuum. Providence is God working through secondary causation. Inspiration is a miracle resulting in an inerrant manuscript. Providence is not a miracle. This is why there are differences in the manuscript copies. Textual Criticism examines the mss differences in order to discern the original text when there are important differences in the textual data.We don't believe that God failed in inspiration. We don't believe that God failed in preservation. Martin Lloyd-Jones, in his essay on providence, writes concerning God's preservation:
The Bible teaches that God preserves everything that He has made. It is a continuous work. Some have tried to say that this doctrine of preservation simply means that God does not destroy the work He once made, but that is not preservation. It means more than that; it means that He keeps everything in being. . . . [E]verything that has been created by God has a real and permanent existence of its own, apart from the being of God, but that must never be taken to mean that it is self-existent, which belongs to God alone. If things were self-existent they would not need God in order to keep going. That is the difference. God has created a thing, and He keeps it alive. He upholds all things, and they continue to exist as the result of a positive and continued exercise of His divine power.Lloyd-Jones sees preservation as providence and it is the continued exercise of God's power, which is by nature supernatural.
God has supernaturally preserved His Word. He has providentially preserved His Word. God has done a miracle of providence. Since it is a miracle, I can't explain the details of how He did it any more than I can decipher how Jesus fed the five thousand. I just know He did, and I know God kept every Word because He promised He would. With that faith, we can understand how God perfectly collated His Words into one perfect book. We comprehend by faith that God brought together sixty-six books, despite the fact that the Lord never promised a certain number. That is a miracle. That is providence.
Mike Harding and others don't mind throwing providence under the bus in order to keep intact their particular view of textual criticism. Ironically, Harding and others find it quite easy to call anyone who believes in the perfect preservation of Scripture to be guilty of some kind of heresy or perversion of historic doctrine of Scripture. In reality, it is so much the opposite. They posit the new view that can't be traced before the late 19th century and the work of Benjamin Warfield. I actually like Harding when I read him, but he's all wrong here and I wish he and others could see it. He and others like him not only do great damage to a Scriptural view of preservation, but now to what the Bible teaches about God's supernatural workings to fulfill His promises through history.
|
<urn:uuid:7736d970-4732-4078-92ae-defd4766b54a>
|
CC-MAIN-2016-26
|
http://kentbrandenburg.blogspot.com/2007/12/can-we-separate-miracle-of-inspiration.html?showComment=1197045780000
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783392099.27/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154952-00078-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.966402 | 1,353 | 2.640625 | 3 |
Seeking answers to a hairy question
It's long been known that some of the most influential discoveries in science are the product of serendipity. But, as the 1st century Roman philosopher Seneca observed, "Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity."
Recently, a team of researchers from the University of California, Los Angeles, and the Veterans Administration made an unexpected discovery that was grounded in earlier work by Salk researchers Jean Rivier and Catherine Rivier. The investigators, who were originally studying brain-gut interactions in stress, stumbled on unanticipated effects of a chemical compound the Riviers had developed called astressin-B, which blocks a stress hormone called corticotrophin- releasing factor, or CRF. In mice, as in humans, stress can cause hair loss, and as mice engineered to overexpress CRF age, they lose hair and eventually become bald on their backs, making them visually distinct from their unaltered counterparts.
The UCLA and VA researchers injected astressin-B into the bald mice to observe how its CRF-blocking ability affected gastrointestinal tract function. The initial single injection had no effect, so the investigators continued the injections over five days to give the peptide a better chance of blocking the CRF receptors. They measured the inhibitory effects of this regimen on the stress-induced response in the colons of the mice and placed the animals back in their cages with their hairy counterparts.
About three months later, the investigators returned to these mice to conduct further gastrointestinal studies and found they couldn't distinguish them from their unaltered brethren. They had regrown hair on their previously bald backs.
The serendipitous discovery, which so far has been observed only in mice, is described in an article published in PLoS ONE. Whether it also happens in humans remains to be seen, say the researchers, who also treated the bald mice with minoxidil alone, which resulted in mild hair growth, as it does in humans. This suggests that astressin-B could also translate for use in human hair growth.
UCLA and the Salk Institute have applied for a patent on the use of the astressin-B peptide for hair growth.
|
<urn:uuid:7bd038c0-6ee2-487b-bc61-9b1736fe626c>
|
CC-MAIN-2016-26
|
http://www.salk.edu/insidesalk/articlenph.php?id=246
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783399428.8/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154959-00063-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.969787 | 453 | 3.125 | 3 |
Argonne in the marketplace: Ultrananocrystalline diamondBy Louise Lerner • July 1, 2012
Even as royalty set diamonds into crowns and rings, engineers lusted after the gems for different reasons: diamonds are stronger than any other natural material and are excellent electrical insulators and heat conductors. Today they are widely used in industry and factories. But the diamond supply is limited, and while you can make artificial diamonds in gem form, they have been hard to synthesize in thin films.
A technique invented at Argonne National Laboratory creates thin films of diamond with grains so small they're called ultrananocrystalline diamond (UNCD®) films. The films can be applied to an astounding array of surfaces and uses, ranging from better seals on pumps to heart pump walls so smooth that dangerous blood clots don't form. The grains of diamond in the film are just five nanometers across—about a billion of them would fit inside one red blood cell.
UNCD captures most of the natural properties of diamond. The films are harder than any other diamond film demonstrated today; they are extremely smooth and chemically inert—so they don’t interact with other substances—and they are good electrical conductors when doped with nitrogen or boron. Each film can be precisely tailored.
Advanced Diamond Technologies Inc., in Romeoville, Illinois, formed as a start-up company spun out of Argonne in order to manufacture UNCD products. For example, if you coat mechanical pump seals with UNCD, the film is so smooth that it reduces friction and saves up to 20% of the energy used to run the pump. The coating has also been successfully used to develop atomic force microscope tips and on bearings in industrial mixers.
The U.S. Department of Defense is working with the company to use the films in sensors that would take quick readings to detect chemical and biological threats in water. Diamond, unlike most other materials, can bond with biomolecules like E. coli, Salmonella, Listeria and other pathogens in water to detect their presence. The goal is to miniaturize the detectors so that anyone, including soldiers, police, or public health officers, could carry them.
Finally, because diamond is chemically inert, it doesn't react with biological human tissue or body fluids—and the body doesn't reject the diamond as a foreign material. For this reason, UNCD can be used in implants, including artificial retinas and heart pumps to treat heart failure.
|
<urn:uuid:e4b77bcb-617c-4c8a-8331-1bd50d8b6fb0>
|
CC-MAIN-2016-26
|
http://www.anl.gov/articles/argonne-marketplace-ultrananocrystalline-diamond
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783398869.97/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154958-00114-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.935873 | 509 | 3.40625 | 3 |
|On September 25, 2009, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced a series of steps that building owners and school administrators should take to reduce exposure to PCBs that may be found in caulk in hospitals constructed or renovated between 1950 and 1978. More.
Polychlorinated biphenyls, or PCBs, are a class of highly stable organic compounds with good electrical insulating and dielectric properties. PCBs were used for many years in heavy duty electrical equipment, and for many other applications. Eventually, their health and environmental effects began to be understood, and their use was banned by Federal law in 1979. However, PCB-containing equipment can still be found in many facilities. Healthcare facilities managers need to be aware of the rules that apply to any PCBs that may exist on their sites, particularly during renovations.
This page contains a brief summary of the federal rules, with links to additional information.
For decades, PCBs were widely used in hundreds of industrial and commercial applications, including:
- dielectric fluids in electrical equipment like transformers and capacitors
- heat transfer fluids
- hydraulic fluids
- plasticizers in paints, plastics and rubber products
- “vehicles” in pigments, dyes and carbonless copy paper
and in many other applications. PCBs were valued for their non-flammability, chemical stability, high boiling point and electrical insulating properties. More than 1.5 billion pounds of PCBs were manufactured in the United States prior to cessation of production in 1977.
Unfortunately, PCBs were later found to have a number of harmful effects. They were also so stable that, once released into the environment, they could persist for decades. Once ingested by organisms, they were found to accumulate in tissues (being fat soluble, they could pass into fatty tissue, but being non-water soluble, they could not readily be excreted again). They would then become more concentrated as material from lower organisms moved up the food chain, ultimately causing deleterious health effects in humans.
TSCA Regulations for PCBs
As of July 2, 1979, federal law banned U.S. production of PCBs. However, it remains a potential legacy problem. PCB-containing materials may be present at facilities, and PCB-laden wastes may be generated during renovations.
Note that federal PCB regulations and requirements apply both to PCB waste materials and to PCBs still in use.
Items with a PCB concentration of 50 ppm or greater are regulated for disposal under 40 CFR Part 761. Some potential sources of PCBs in healthcare facilities include:
- Mineral-oil filled electrical equipment such as motors or pumps manufactured prior to July 2, 1979;
- Capacitors or transformers manufactured prior to July 2, 1979;
- Plastics, molded rubber parts, applied dried paints, coatings or sealants, caulking, adhesives, paper, Galbestos, sound-deadening materials, insulation, or felt or fabric products such as gaskets manufactured prior to July 2, 1979;
- Fluorescent light ballasts manufactured prior to July 2, 1979;
- Waste or debris from the demolition of buildings and equipment manufactured, serviced, or coated with PCBs; and
- Waste containing PCBs from spills, such as floors or walls contaminated by a leaking transformer.
The general requirements for handling PCB materials and equipment include:
- Identifying and labeling the material. Marking is required for all PCB items, containers, storage units or areas. Follow EPA established marking requirements, including size, color, and location of the marks. You can find an example of the two approved PCB labels in 40 CFR Part 761.45.
- Notifying EPA. If you are storing or disposing of PCB waste, complete a Notification of PCB Activity Form and mail it to the Fibers and Organics Branch of the National Program Chemicals Division in EPA’s Office of Pollution Prevention and Toxics (OPPT). EPA will assign an identification number (ID number) to the healthcare facility for handling PCBs. This ID number is for activities involving PCBs and may not be used for any other waste activities. If the healthcare facility has already received an ID number for other regulated wastes (e.g., RCRA), EPA will verify the number and assign the same ID number for the site's PCB activities.
- Properly store the material. Items must be stored in accordance with EPA requirements. Storage requirements for PCB-containing materials depend on the end use of those materials. You can store approved materials for reuse for up to five years in an approved, permanent, PCB storage area. PCB articles and containers must be dated and properly labeled when placed into storage for disposal requirements. Temporary storage areas may be used for up to 30 days.
- Properly disposing of the material. EPA specifies requirements for disposal of all PCB wastes with PCB levels >50 ppm. Rules for disposal are found at 40 CFR 761.60.
- PCB cleanup. Must follow PCB Spill Cleanup Policy.
- Record Keeping and Reporting. EPA requires that records be maintained for the storage, transportation, and disposal of PCBs for at lest three years. Rules for recordkeeping and reporting are found at 40 CFR 761.398.
EPA’s PCB webpage. EPA provides various paths for the public to access information about PCBs.
TSCA Disposal Requirements for Fluorescent Light Ballasts. Disposal requirements vary depending on the type of capacitor and plotting material.
|
<urn:uuid:e572affa-835d-403d-8abd-8c24e81f5192>
|
CC-MAIN-2016-26
|
http://hercenter.org/facilitiesandgrounds/pcbs.cfm
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783402516.86/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624155002-00165-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.95144 | 1,129 | 3.234375 | 3 |
This week marks an important milestone in American military history: the 150th anniversary of the Battle of Antietam. Staged among the rolling cornfields of western Maryland, Antietam remains the bloodiest one-day battle in American history with more than 23,000 men killed, wounded or missing in the skirmish. Antietam was the culmination of Confederate General Robert E. Lee’s first push into Union territory. As Lee remarked two weeks prior to the battle, “The present seems to be the most propitious time since the commencement of the war for the Confederate army to enter Maryland.”
Antietam was also a turning point for the war. Emboldened by victories earlier in 1862, the Army of Northern Virginia crossed the Potomac River into Maryland. Both England and France were on the verge of recognizing the Confederacy as an independent nation. Unknown to many, President Abraham Lincoln had also placed a special symbolic weight on the impending battle.
As Lincoln told his cabinet, “I made the promise to myself that if God gave us the victory in the approaching battle, I would consider it an indication of divine will in favor of emancipation.”
Once across the river, Lee dispatched Gen. Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson to take the Union garrison at Harper’s Ferry. Lee divided the rest of his forces into flanks moving north and west toward South Mountain and Hagerstown, Maryland. Lincoln countered by sending Gen. George McClellan to meet the Confederate forces. Beyond Lee and McClellan, the leaders of the respective armies reads like a Who’s Who of military heroism: Generals Longstreet; Mansfield; Hooker; Burnside; Hill.
The ensuing pitch lasted 12 hours. Blood literally flowed into the wagon furrows of the Maryland countryside. Whether the men involved knew it, this battle held much in its balance. While exacting losses greater than we had ever known, the battle itself was inconclusive. Even so, it obliged Lee to make retreat into Virginia. It also spurred Lincoln to issue the preliminary Emancipation Proclamation. Moreover, it solidified the dual purpose of the war: preservation of the union and putting an end to slavery.
The battlefields of Antietam also play a historically significant part in changing the nation’s perception of bravery. It was decidedly no longer the exclusive purview of men. Dr. James Dunn, an Army surgeon at Antietam, said, “In my feeble estimation, General McClellan, with all his laurels, sinks into insignificance beside the true heroine of the age, the angel of the battlefield.”
He was speaking of Clara Barton. The National Parks Service webpage devoted to Barton reads in part, “Then Miss Barton got down to work. As bullets whizzed overhead and artillery boomed in the distance, Miss Barton cradled the heads of suffering soldiers, prepared food for them in a local farm house, and brought water to the wounded men. As she knelt down to give one man a drink, she felt her sleeve quiver. She looked down, noticed a bullet hole in her sleeve, and then discovered that the bullet had killed the man she was helping.”
This focused, selfless action is idiomatic of Barton’s deeds that day. Her heroic acts of compassion were also observed at other notable battles of 1862: Cedar Mountain, Second Manassas and Fredericksburg. As such, Antietam stands as a place of enduring lessons. It demands we find the courage to do what needs done. It extols the virtues of selflessness and charity. It admonishes that great nations are built upon honor and sacrifice.
|
<urn:uuid:5b847a92-6eef-4303-9a9f-688a7ce4cdb6>
|
CC-MAIN-2016-26
|
http://pbcommercial.com/sections/opinion/editorials/bloody-cornfields-free-race.html
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783391519.2/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154951-00183-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.952743 | 764 | 3.59375 | 4 |
Praia is the capital and largest city of Cape Verde. Praia is Cape Verde’s largest city, a commercial centre, and a port that ships coffee, sugar cane, and tropical fruits. Praia also has a fishing industry and there are resort beaches nearby. Cape Verde is in Western Africa, it is a group of islands in the North Atlantic Ocean, west of Senegal. The climate is temperate with a warm, dry summer. Rainfall is meagre and very erratic. The official language is Portuguese which is the main business language, a patois known as Crioulo is spoken colloquially. Visitors should check in advance whether interpretation will be necessary. All correspondence should be in Portuguese, English or French. The main religion is Christianity. The economy of Cape Verde is service-oriented, with commerce, transport, and public services accounting for more than 70% of GDP. Although nearly 70% of the population lives in rural areas, agriculture and fishing contribute only about 9% of GDP. Light manufacturing accounts for most of the remainder. Expatriate Cape Verdeans contribute an amount estimated at about 20% of GDP to the domestic economy through remittances. Cape Verdeans are generally generous and hospitable. Business culture reflects that of Portugal. Expatriate business dress is smart rather than formal. The security risk for expatriates in Cape Verde is low. Risks include petty street crime and theft in crowded areas such as markets, as well as violent crime usually related to drug trafficking. The currency of Cape Verde is the Cape Verde Escudo (CVE) which is fixed to the Euro. Generally Banks will exchange hard currencies and the major hotels and restaurants will accept credit cards. Medical facilities are limited, and some medicines are generally not available. Cases of Zika virus have been reported. The population of Praia is 138,000 (2016 est.), while the inflation rate is -1% (2016 est.).
Cost Of Living
The cost of living for expatriates / professional migrants in In Praia, the cost of each basket, based on local prices, compared to the international average, is categorized follows (Exact cost of living percentages only available in personalised reports): Praia as at 1 July 2016 is low in comparison to other places in the world. 1) Alcohol (where available) & Tobacco: Very High 2) Clothing: Very Low 3) Communication: Low 4) Education: Average 5) Furniture & Appliances: High 6) Groceries: Very Low 7) Healthcare: Very Low 8) Household Accommodation: Average 9) Miscellaneous: Very High 10) Personal Care: Very Low 11) Recreation & Culture: High 12) Restaurants Meals Out and Hotels: High 13) Transport: Very Low Praia is for example -40.9% cheaper than Beijing for groceries, -16.9% cheaper for household costs than Dalian, and -0.8% cheaper for transport costs than Guangzhou. The hardship premium for Praia for an expat from Democratic Republic of the Congo, is for example -10%, i.e. host location (Praia) premium of 30% minus home (Democratic Republic of the Congo) location premium of 40%. Praia is ranked as a high degree of hardship location. Want to know more about cost of living, hardship (quality of living) or expat salary in Praia? Register subscribe to your home location and Praia and run your personalised reports.
|
<urn:uuid:75e7a825-3837-4f72-930f-6f293c9608cc>
|
CC-MAIN-2016-26
|
http://www.xpatulator.com/cost-of-living-review/Cape-Verde-Praia_43.cfm
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783403825.35/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624155003-00093-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.92479 | 716 | 2.546875 | 3 |
Joseph Quincy Adams (1881-1946). Adams was a professor at Cornell University and the director of the Folger Shakespeare Library from 1931 to 1946.
A. C. Bradley (1851-1935). Bradley was a professor of literature at several institutions: the University of Liverpool (1882-90), the University of Glasgow (1890-1900), and Oxford University (1901-06). Bradley published Oxford Lectures on Poetry (1909), which includes an essay on Shakespeare's Antony and Cleopatra and an essay entitled Shakespeare the Man. Below is an excerpt from Shakespeare the Man, discussing the Sonnets and, in particular, the poet's relationship with the young man:
The sonnets to the friend are, so far as we know, unique in Renaissance literature in being a prolonged and varied record of the intense affection of an older friend for a younger, and of other feelings arising from their relations. They have no real parallel in any series imitative of Virgil's second Eclogue, or in occasional sonnets to patrons or patron-friends couched in the high-flown language of the time. The intensity of the feelings expressed, however, ought not, by itself, to convince us that they are personal. The author of the plays could, I make no doubt, have written the most intimate of these poems to a mere creature of his imagination and without ever having felt them except in imagination. Nor is there any but an aesthetic reason why he could not have done so if he had wished. But an aesthetic reason there is; and this is the decisive point. No capable poet, much less a Shakespeare, intending to produce a merely 'dramatic' series of poems, would dream of inventing a story that of the sonnets, or, even if he did, of treating it as they treat it. The story is very odd and unattractive. Such capabilities as it has are but slightly developed. It is left obscure, and some of the poems are unintelligible to us because they contain allusions of which we can make nothing....It is all unnatural, well-nigh incredibly unnatural, if, with the most skeptical critics, we regard the sonnets as a free product of mere imagination.
However, Bradley is probably best known for his work, Shakespearean Tragedy (1904), which centers on Shakespeare's four great plays, King Lear, Othello, Hamlet, and Macbeth. Bradley's analyses have lost some popularity in the late 20th century, but they remain a cornerstone of Shakespearean criticism nonetheless.
If then there is, as it appears, no obstacle of any magnitude to our taking the sonnets as substantially what they purport to be, we may naturally look in them for personal traits (and, indeed, to repeat a remark made earlier, we might still expect to find such traits even if we knew the sonnets to be purely dramatic). But in drawn inferences we have to bear in mind what is implied by the qualification "substantially". We have to remember that some of these poems may be mere exercises of art; that all of them are poems, and not letters, much less affidavits; that they are Elizabethan poems; that the Elizabethan language of deference, and also of affection, is to our minds habitually extravagant and fantastic; and that in Elizabethan plays friends openly express their love for one another as Englishmen now rarely do. Allowance being made, however, on account of these facts, the sonnets will still leave two strong impressions - that the poet was exceedingly sensitive to the charm of beauty, and that his love for his friend was, at least at one time, a feeling amounting almost to adoration, and so intense as to be absorbing.
Most of us, I suppose, love any human being, of either sex and off any age, the better for being beautiful, and are not the least ashamed of the fact. It is further the case that men who are beginning, like the writer of the sonnets, to feel tired and old, are apt to feel an increased and special pleasure in the beauty of the young. (Mr. Beeching's illustration of the friendship of the sonnets from the friendship of Gray and Bonstetten is worth pages of argument). If we remember, in addition, what some critics appear constantly to forget, that Shakespeare was a particularly poetical being, we shall hardly be surprised that the beginning of this friendship seems to have been something like a falling in love; and, if we must needs praise and blame, we should also remeber that it became a 'marriage of true minds'. And as to the intensity of the feeling expressed in the sonnets, we can easily believe it to be characteristic of the man who made Valentine and Proteus, Brutus and Cassius, Horatio and Hamlet; who painted that strangely moving portrait of Antonio, middle-aged, sad, and almost indifferent to life and death, but devoted to the young, brilliant spendthrift Bassanio; and who portrayed the sudden compelling enchantment exercise by the young Sebastian over the Antonio of T.N..
(Shakespeare the Man. Oxford Lectures on Poetry, 330-34)
Frederick Boas (1862-1957). Boas, a British scholar, was a prolific author who wrote many groundbreaking books about Shakespeare. He originated the term "Problem Play" and studied the works of other noted writers of the day, including Marlowe and Sidney.
Edmund Kerchever Chambers (1866-1954). Chambers was a scholar and civil servant who wrote extensively on Shakespeare and the Elizabethan theatre in general. Some of his more important works include The Elizabethan Stage (1923), and William Shakespeare: A Study of the Facts and Problems (1930). He also edited the Shakespeare Allusion Book (1932).
Samuel Taylor Coleridge (1772-1834). Coleridge is best known for his work as a poet, but he also was a literary critic, who lectured extensively on Shakespeare, between the years 1802 and 1818. His lectures on Richard II, which were published sometime after, contain some of the most profound ideas yet written on the subject. These lectures are available in two volumes from Princeton University Press.
John Payne Collier (1789-1883). Certainly the most infamous of all Shakespearean scholars, Collier published books on his theories between 1835 and 1850. He was respected highly amongst the literary community until his most heinous crime was discovered -- that of forging documents to support his theories. He claimed to own original business records from the London theatres, the source for the Tempest, and an annotated copy of Shakespeare's second folio. There are those who believe that Collier forged even more documents than were discovered at the time, and that they still might be in circulation, and regarded as authentic.
Hardin Craig (1875-1968). Craig was a professor at the University of Missouri and believed that Shakespeare's work could best be analyzed by concentrating on Tudor society and practices. He wrote The Enchanted Glass: The Elizabethan Mind in Literature in 1935.
Edward Dowden (1843-1913). One of the great Irish literary critics, Dowden taught at Trinity College in Dublin. In 1875 he wrote Shakespeare: A Critical Study of his Mind and Art, which launched his scholarly career and paved the way for other Shakespeare biographers. Dowden's comments on King Lear, in particular, are to this day quoted regularly:
[On the plot and structure of King Lear]
(From Shakespeare, His Mind and Art, 1875).
Of the secondary plot of this tragedy--the story of Gloucester and his sons--Schlegel has explained one chief significance: 'Were Lear alone to suffer from his daughters, the impression would be limited to the powerful compassion felt by us for his private misfortune. But two such unheard-of examples taking place at the same time have the appearance of a great commotion in the moral world; the picture becomes gigantic, and fills us with such alarm as we should entertain at the idea that the heavenly bodies might one day fall from their appointed orbits.' The treachery of Edmund, and the torture to which Gloucester is subjected, are out of the course of familiar experience; but they are commonplace and prosaic in comparison with the inhumanity of the sisters, and the agony of Lear. When we have climbed the steep ascent of Gloucester's mount of passion, we see still above us another via dolorosa leading to that "Wall of eagle-baffling mountain/Black, wintry, dead, unmeasured" to which Lear is chained. Thus the one story of horror serves as a means of approach to the other, and helps us to conceive its magnitude. The two, as Schlegel observes, produce the impression of a great commotion in the moral world. The thunder which breaks over our head does not suddenly cease to resound, but is reduplicated, multiplied, and magnified, and rolls away with long reverberation.
John Dryden (1631-1700).
Dryden is a towering figure in the history of English literature. He was a poet, playwright, essayist, translator, and a critic of many of his fellow writers. He was passionate about Shakespeare, but did not worship the dramatist as others did. Dryden's confidence in his own poetic abilities prompted him to actually rewrite some of Shakespeare's works, including The Tempest (his version is called The Enchanted Island), Antony and Cleopatra (which he renamed All for Love), and Troilus and Cressida. He found Shakespeare's tale of Troilus to be particularly bad, referring to it as "a heap of rubbish". Despite his criticisms, Dryden recognized the brilliance of Shakespeare, as we can see in the following quote, taken from the Prologue to Aureng-zebe:
But in spite of all [the poet's] pride, a secret shame
T.S. Eliot (1888-1965). Eliot, a major literary figure of the early 20th century, is best known for his poetry, and, in particular, The Waste Land, which propelled him to stardom. But Eliot was also a critic, and he wrote many essays on Shakespeare, his plays, and the Elizabethan era in general. In 1920, Eliot came out with The Sacred Wood: Essays on Poetry and Criticism, which contains a discussion of Hamlet. Although his conclusions about the merit of Shakespeare's play were negative, Eliot's analysis is considered to be an important critical work. In the essay, Eliot used the term "objective correlative", which is now a standard phrase in literary theory. He also published a collection of essays entitled Elizabethan Essays, in 1934, and wrote two poems under the collective title Coriolan, in honor of Shakespeare's play Coriolanus.
Invades his breast at Shakespeare's sacred name:
Aw'd when he hears his Godlike Romans rage,
He in a just despair would quit the Stage;
And to an Age less polish'd, more unskill'd,
Does with disdain the foremost Honours yield.
Georg Gottfried Gervinus (1805-1871). Gervinus, a German professor and scholar, had a major impact on the progression of literary theory and criticism in his homeland. He published his thoughts on the plays and sonnets of Shakespeare in 1849, in a collection called Shakespeare Commentaries. The following is an excerpt from his analysis of the Sonnets:
What a living picture would our poet have left behind if, when prompted by his love, he had sung the union of soul with his
sweet youth in the free forms suggested by the moment and by the nature of the circumstances! But as he moulded all into this one angular form, which admits of no distinctness and which spreads a dim mist over each tangible meaning, we can readily understand how it was that for so long a time the bare
actual circumstances could be misunderstood or overlooked. This one drawback is followed by another, arising equally naturally from the style. The want of reality in these indistinct poems was to be supplied by poetic brilliancy; the relation between the means and the object, between cause and effect, disappears; far-fetched thoughts, strange exaggerated images, and hyperbolic
phrases, mislead the understanding; profound conceits and epigrammatic
fancies, sparkling for their own sake, cast the subject in question on this very
account into the shade. This intensely poetic language does not prevent even
the repetition of matter and expression in the same monotonous form, so that the tautology is constant. And as in Lucrece the poet involuntarily experienced surprise at the peculiarities of that conceit-style of the Marinists, here also in the midst of his work he acknowledges (Sonnet 76) that his verse is "barren of new pride, so far from variation or quick change," that he writes "all one, ever
the same," and keeps his "invention in a noted weed." In this weed it is not
easy to recognize the true and real purport; tact and comparison must teach
us not to accept it all too much as simple truth, and yet also not unthinkingly
to lose the certain meaning.
We are of opinion, with Cunningham and others, that the sonnets of our
poet, aesthetically considered, have been overestimated. With respect to their psychological tenor, they appear to us, with the total lack of all other sources for the history of Sh.'s inner life, to be of inestimable value. They exhibit the poet to us just in the most interesting period of his mental development, when he passed from dependent to independent art, from foreign to national taste, from subserviency and distress to prosperity and happiness; aye, even from
loose morality to inner reformation. And in addition to the gigantic, scarcely comprehensible picture of his mental development which is presented to us in his dramas of this period, we here receive a small intelligible painting of his inner life, which brings us more closely to the poet himself.... [The friendship treated of in the Sonnets] is a connection in itself of no great importance; nay, in the way in which it is poetically expressed, it is not without distortion. But it testifies to a strength of feeling and passion in our poet, to a childlike nature and a candid mind, to a simple ingenuousness, to a perfect inability to veil his thoughts or to dissemble, to an innate capacity for allowing circumstances to act upon his mind in all their force and for re-acting upon them - in a word, it testifies to a nature as truthful, genuine, and straightforward as we imagine the poet from his dramatic works to have possessed.
Harley Granville-Barker (1877-1946). Granville-Barker began his career in the arts as an actor at the age of 14. He soon became a director, and from 1904-1907 he produced plays at the Royal Court Theatre. Although he was primarily interested in staging the plays of modern writers such as Ibsen and Galsworthy, and only produced three of Shakespeare's dramas, his style and interpretation of the Bard's plays revolutionized the way Shakespeare is presented in the theatre. In 1923, Granville-Barker started writing his Prefaces to Shakespeare's plays. His focus was the analysis of Shakespeare from the vantage point of a producer rather than a scholar -- the latter having previously dominated discussions of Shakespeare's work. He continued to write his Prefaces until his death in 1946, and his writings have been a cornerstone of Shakespearean criticism ever since. Here is a sample of his writing on King Lear, taken from his Prefaces to Shakespeare (First Series, 1927):
(Shakespeare Commentaries, Bunnet trans., 451-52, 463.)
King Lear was meant to be acted. Inadequate and misdirected acting of it there may be, by which we must not judge it; and no perfect performance of any play by imperfect human beings can there ever be. Shakespeare may have been wrong to make a play of it. Nor, if he did strain his medium of expression beyond endurance, would he be the first great artist to do so. But he put his purpose to the proof; and so should we -- to every proof, before we ignore this for the sake of disparate gains beyond.
William Hazlitt (1778-1830). "Prosperity is a great teacher; adversity a greater". These are the words of William Hazlitt, the English critic, essayist, lecturer, and journalist. Hazlitt wrote a landmark work called Character's of Shakespeare's Plays, in 1817. The focus of his text is Shakespeare's poetic style, which had previously been overlooked by literary critics and scholars. Hazlitt had his share of personal problems, including a temporary descent into madness over the all-consuming passion for his mistress, Sara Walker. By 1823, Hazlitt was divorced and penniless, and even spent a short time in jail for his inability to pay his debts. Before his death he managed to turn his life around and remarried (although his second marriage ended in separation). He resumed his writing career and composed a wonderful yet underrated work entitled Life of Napoleon in 1828.
Gotthold Ephraim Lessing (1729-1781). Lessing was a German philosopher, critic, and dramatist. His critical essays, Hamburgische Dramaturgie (1767-69), denounced French classical theater and argued that Shakespeare and the Greek dramatists should be the primary models for German playwrights. Click here to read an essay about Hamburgische Dramaturgie. His own plays include Miss Sara Sampson (1755), Minna von Barnhelm (1763), Emilia Galotti (1772), and Nathan the Wise (1779).
Edmund Malone (1741-1812). Hailed by many as England's greatest Shakespearean scholar of the eighteenth-century and possibly one of the greatest of all time. Malone's An Attempt to Ascertain the Order in Which the Plays of Shakespeare Were Written (1778) was the first attempted chronology of Shakespeare's work, and his Historical Account of the Rise and Progress of the English Stage, and of the Economy and Usages of the Ancient Theatres in England (1800) was a groundbreaking work on English drama. The following excerpt from The Historical Account is Malone's description of Shakespeare, prompted by some facts relayed by a writer named John Aubrey:
[According to John Aubrey] "William Shakespeare's father was a butcher, and I have been told heretofore by some of the neighbours, that when he was a boy, he exercised his father's trade; but when he killed a calfe, he would do it in a high style, and make a speech. This William, being inclined naturally to poetry and acting, came to London, I guesse about 18. and was an actor at one of the playhouses, and did act exceedingly well. Now Ben Jonson was never a good actor, but an excellent instructor. He began early to make essays in dramatique poetry, which at that time was very lowe, and his plays took well. He was a handsome well shaped man; verie good company, and of a very ready, and pleasant, and smooth witt. The humour of the constable in A Midsommer-night Dreame he happened to take at Crendon in Bucks, (I think it was Midsommer-night that he happened to be there;) which is the road from London to Stratford; and there was living that constable about 1642. when I came first to Oxon. Mr. Jos. Howe is of the parish, and knew him. Ben Jonson and he did gather humours of men wherever they came. One time as he was at the taverne at Stratford, Mr. Combes, an old usurer, was to be buryed; he makes then this extemporary epitaph upon him:
A.L. Rowse (1903-1997). Rowse was an English historian and author who became one of the best-known Shakespearean scholars in recent times. He studied modern history at Oxford and, after his graduation in 1925, he was elected a fellow of All Souls College at Oxford. His finest accomplishment is the historical trilogy The Elizabethan Age (1950-72), made up of the three volumes entitled The England of Elizabeth (1950), The Expansion of Elizabethan England (1955), and The Elizabethan Renaissance (1971-72). His final book was Historians I Have Known, published in 1995.
Ten in the hundred the Devill allowes,
He was wont to go to his native country once a yeare, I think I have been told that he left near 300 pounds to a sister. He understood latin pretty well; for he had been in his younger yeares a schoolmaster in the country."
But Combes will have twelve, he sweares and he vowes:
If any one aske who lies in this tomb,
Hoh! quoth the Devill, 'tis my John o'Comb.
Let us now proceed to examine the several parts of this account.
The first assertion, that our poet's father was a butcher, has been thought unworthy of credit, because "not only contrary to all other tradition, but, as it may seem, to the instrument in the heralds-office," But for my own part, I think, this assertion, (which it should be observed is positively affirmed on the information of his neighbours, procured probably at an early period,) and the received account of his having been a wool-stapler, by no means inconsistent. Dr. Farmer has illustrated a passage in Hamlet from information derived from a person who was at once a wool-man and butcher; and, I believe, few occupations can be named, which are more naturally connected with each other. Mr. Rowe first mentioned the tradition that our poet's father was a dealer in wool, and his account is corroborated by a circumstance which I have just now learned. In one of the windows of a building in Stratford which belonged to the Shakspeare family, are the arms of the merchants of the staple;--Nebule, on a chief gules, a lion passant, or; and the same arms, I am told, may be observed in the church at Stratford, in the fret-work over the arch which covers the tomb of John de Clopton, who was a merchant of the staple, and father of Sir Hugh Clopton, lord-mayor of London, by whom the bridge over the Avon was built. But it should seem from the records of Stratford that John Shakspeare, about the year 1579. at which time his son was fifteen years old, was by no means in affluent circumstances; and why may we not suppose that at that period he endeavoured to support his numerous family by adding the trade of a butcher to that of his principal business; though at a subsequent period he was enabled, perhaps by his son's bounty, to discontinue the less respectable of these occupations? I do not, however, think it at all probable, that a person who had been once bailiff of Stratford should have suffered any of his children to have been employed in the servile office of killing calves.
Mr. Aubrey proceeds to tell us, that William Shakspeare came to London and began his theatrical career, according to his conjecture, when he was about eighteen years old;--but as his merit as an actor is the principal object of our present disquisition, I shall postpone my observations on this paragraph, till the remaining part of these anecdotes has been considered.
We are next told, that "he began early to make essays in dramatique poetry, which at that time was very lowe, and his playes took well."
On these points, I imagine, there cannot be much variety of opinion. Mr. Aubrey was undoubtedly mistaken in his conjecture, (for he gives it only as conjecture,) that our poet came to London at eighteen; for as he had three children born at Stratford in 1583 and 1584. it is very improbable that he should have left his native town before the latter year. I think it most probable that he did not come to London before the year 1586. when he was twenty-two years old. When he produced his first play, has not been ascertained; but if Spenser alludes to him in his Tears of the Muses, Shakspeare must have exhibited some piece in or before 1590. at which time he was twenty-six years old; and though many have written for the publick before. they had attained that time of life, any theatrical performance produced at that age, would, I think, sufficiently justify Mr. Aubrey in saying that he began early to make essays in dramatick poetry. In a word, we have no proof that he did not woo the dramatick Muse, even so early as in the year 1587 or 1588. in the first of which years he was but twenty-three: and therefore till such proof shall be produced, Mr. Aubrey's assertion founded apparently on the information of those who lived very near the time, is entitled to some weight.
"He was a handsome well-shaped man, verie good company, and of a very ready, and pleasant, and smooth witt."
I suppose none of my readers will find any difficulty in giving full credit to this part of the account. Mr. Aubrey, I believe, is the only writer, who has particularly mentioned the beauty of our poet's person; and there being no contradictory testimony on the subject, he may here be safely relied on. All his contemporaries who have spoken of him, concur in celebrating the gentleness of his manners, and the readiness of his wit. "As he was a happy imitator of nature, (say his fellow comedians,) so was he a most gentle expresser of it. His mind and hand went together; and what he thought he uttered with that easiness, that we have scarce received from him a blot in his papers." "My gentle Shakspeare," is the compellation used to him by Ben Jonson. "He was indeed (says his old antagonist) honest, and of an open and free nature; had an excellent fancy, brave notions, and gentle expressions; wherein he flowed with that facility, that sometimes it was necessary he should be stopped. Sufflaminandus erat, as Augstus said of Haterius." So also in his verses on our poet:
Look how the father's face
Lives in his issue, even so the race
Of Shakspeare's mind and manners brightly shines
In his well-torned and true-filed lines.
In like manner he is represented by Spenser (if in The Tears of the Muses he is alluded to, which, it must be acknowledged, is extremely probable,) under the endearing description of "our pleasant Willy," and "that same gentle spirit, from whose pen flow copious streams of honey and nectar." In a subsequent page I shall have occasion to quote another of his contemporaries, who is equally lavish in praising the uprightness of his conduct and the gentleness and civility of his demeanour. And conformable to all these ancient testimonies is that of Mr. Rowe, who informs us, from the traditional accounts received from his native town, that our poet's "pleasurable wit and good-nature engaged him in the acquaintance and entitled him to the friendship of the gentlemen of his neighbourhood at Stratford."
A man, whose manners were thus engaging, whose wit was thus ready, and whose mind was stored with such a plenitude of ideas and such a copious assemblage of images as his writings exhibit, could not but have been what he is represented by Mr. Aubrey, a delightful companion.
"The humour of the constable in A Midsommer-night-Dreame he happened to take at Crendon in Bucks, (I think it was Midsomer-night that he happened to be there:) which is the road from London to Stratford; and there was living that constable about 1642 when I came first to Oxon. Mr. Jos. Howe is of the parish, and knew him."
It must be acknowledged that there is here a slight mistake, there being no such character as a constable in A Midsummer-Night's Dream. The person in contemplation undoubtedly was Dogberry in Much Ado about Nothing. But this mistake of a name does not, in my apprehension, detract in the smallest degree from the credit of the fact itself; namely, that our poet in his admirable character of a foolish constable had in view an individual who lived in Crendon or Grendon, (for it is written both ways,) a town in Buckinghamshire, about thirteen miles from Oxford. Leonard Digges, who was Shakspeare's contemporary, has fallen into a similar errour; for in his eulogy on our poet, he has supposed the character of Malvolio, which is found in Twelfth Night, to be in Much Ado about Nothing.
As some account of the person from whom Mr. Aubrey derived this anecdote, who was of the same college with him at Oxford, may tend to establish its credit, I shall transcribe from Mr. Warton's preface to his Life of Sir Thomas Pope, such notices of Mr. Josias Howe, as he has been able to recover.
"He was born at Crendon in Bucks, [about the year 1611] and elected a scholar of Trinity College June 12. 1632. admitted a fellow, being then bachelor of arts, May 26. 1637. By Hearne he is called a great cavalier and loyalist, and a most ingenious man. He appears to have been a general and accomplished scholar, and in polite literature one of the ornaments of the university. In 1644 he preached before King Charles the First, at Christ Church cathedral, Oxford. The sermon was printed, and in red letters, by his majesty's special command -- soon after 1646. he was ejected from his fellowship by the presbyterians; and restored in 1660. He lived forty-two years, greatly respected, after his restitution, and arriving at the age of ninety, died fellow of the college where he constantly resided, August 28. 1701."
Mr. Thomas Howe, the father of this Mr. Josias Howe, (as I learn from Wood) was minister of Crendon, and contemporary with Shakspeare; and from him his son perhaps derived some information concerning our poet, which he might have communicated to his fellow-collegian, Aubrey. The anecdote relative to the constable of Crendon, however, does not stand on this ground, for we find that Mr. Josias Howe personally knew him, and that he was living in 1642.
(Malone's Historical Account of the Rise and Progress of the English Stage, 1800).
Dover Wilson (1881-1969). Wilson was professor of education at King's College, London (1924-35), and professor of English literature at the University of Edinburgh (1935-45). He served as editor of the New Cambridge edition of William Shakespeare's plays (from 1921) and was a trustee of Shakespeare's birthplace. His works include, What Happens in Hamlet (1959); Shakespeare's England: A Book of Elizabethan Prose (1911); The Essential Shakespeare: A Biographical Adventure (1932); The Fortunes of Falstaff (1943), Shakespeare's Happy Comedies (1962); and Shakespeare's Sonnets (1963).
How to cite this article:
Mabillard, Amanda. Shakespearean Scholars. Shakespeare Online. 20 Aug. 2000. < http://shakespeare-online.com/scholars/index.html >.
The First Critical Editions of Shakespeare's Works
How Many Plays Did Shakespeare Write?
Shakespeare's First Folio
Just what is a quarto?
Why Shakespeare is so Important
Shakespeare's Influence on Other Writers
Shakespeare's Boss: The Master of Revels
Shakespeare Quotations (by Play)
Shakespeare Quotations (by Theme)
Quotations About William Shakespeare
|
<urn:uuid:f44240dd-9c13-4796-8e3b-c9c50d1ded74>
|
CC-MAIN-2016-26
|
http://shakespeare-online.com/scholars/
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783396106.71/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154956-00055-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.978588 | 6,764 | 2.625 | 3 |
Parents may lament the fact that junk food packaging is so often adorned with well-loved cartoon characters while fruits and veggie packages are generally dull. But parents can help overcome this clever marketing, according to a new study – although it will take some work.
The researchers behind the study had 75 children, ages 3-5, watch cartoons which were interrupted by ads either for French fries or apples and dipping sauce. They were then allowed to choose coupons for either of the two foods – but half of the parents in each group remained neutral with the other half encouraged the kids to make the healthy choice.
It’s not easy to compete with Scooby Doo packaging, but as Ferguson says, 'parents are not powerless.'
If parents said nothing, about 71% of the children who had watched french fry ads chose that coupon. But when parents urged their kids to make the healthy choice, only 55% of the kids chose French fries. For the kids who had seen the apples and dipping sauce ad, only 46% made the unhealthy French fry choice, when the parents remained neutral.
While there’s a clear trend in the results of the study, it wasn’t as great as had been expected. Lead author Christopher Ferguson says, "Parental encouragement to eat healthy was somewhat able to help undo the message of commercials, although the effects of parents were smaller than we had anticipated.”
But small or not, the effect was there, so parents should not feel that they don’t play an important role in their kids’ food choices. It’s not easy to compete with Scooby Doo packaging, but as Ferguson says, “parents are not powerless."
The authors point out that there’s been some talk of banning child-directed advertising, but a better way might be simply to encourage advocates, food producers, and politicians to focus on the other end of the equation – ways of promoting healthy food choices to kids as well. Ferguson underlines that "[a]dvertisement effects can work both for and against healthy eating."
The study is published online ahead of print in The Journal of Pediatrics. Dr. Ferguson is a researcher at Texas A&M International University.
|
<urn:uuid:2d000825-7e74-4b0a-9544-f4f04de0095e>
|
CC-MAIN-2016-26
|
http://www.thedoctorwillseeyounow.com/content/kids/art3462.html
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783395992.75/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154955-00043-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.977116 | 453 | 2.75 | 3 |
From Uncyclopedia, the content-free encyclopedia
- You may be looking for Pwn (disambiguation) and not even know it!
- You may be looking for Served and not even know it!
What is pwned?
Pwned, also typed as Pwnd or Pwnd! is a phrase accidentally made up by a young child playing online world of warcraft who had just defeated an army of over 100 others and was attempting to describe to them what he had just done. Many people mistook Pwned for a real word although the child was in reality reaching for the "O" and instead found the "P"
More about Pwned
Variations of how Pwned came to be
Some people believe that pwned was not first used on world of warcraft but was made up by Al Gore when he invented the internet. Due to unfortunate circumstances Al Gore had broken his keyboard and there was no "O" on it so after he sent Will Smith into outerspace to take out the aliens he sent a message to the mothership and rather than telling the aliens that they were about to be OWNED he told them they would be PWNED, Will Smith overhearing this phrase decided he liked it and would promote it. He then saw to it that Wikipedia added a definition for it and even went as far as making t-shirts and sending the sponsors of the word "OWNED" hate mail stating that "PWNED" was way better
Still others believe that it was not world of warcraft or Al Gore that invented Pwned but a prison guard with no teeth attempting to say that the prisoners were "Boning" one another. Instead the warden heard "PWNING" so he assumed they were beating rather than engaging in sexual behaviors. The warden then... (insert here everything written above that Will Smith supposedly did)..
Difference between Pwned and Owned according to Will Smith... maybe
Pwned according to defintions should be used when Owned just isn't strong enough. For example if you were kicked in the balls you were Owned. Now say instead of getting kicked in the balls with just an ordinary shoe, there were spikes on it and instead of it just hurting they were actually torn open, now you have been PWNED!
What you should do when you are PWND
Follow these steps and everything should be okay
See above that the word "SHOULD" is used and not "WILL" the reason for this is that we are not gurateeing that you will be okay. If you have been PWNED this is a very serious, non-laughing matter.
- Pretend you didn't hear the word at all.
- If you've been obviously PWNED, and you can't pretend to not hear it hang your head in shame and immediately walk towards the nearest dark place.
- Once you've arrived in the dark place and are well out of the sight of anyone you should begin to figure out how it was that you managed to let yourself get PWNED
- Contemplate suicide momentarily
- Decide suicide is not worth it and that you will make a come back
- To come back from being PWNED you will need to do something Super awesome, like invent the internet-- which incase you wondered you cannot do because it has already been done.
Edit:There is only one way to prevent being laughed at post-pwned. Get Laid. None of your friends have scored on anything but that FPS or RPG you play in your bedroom with the curtains closed. If you have a female/male then your friends will bow down to you and you will technically pwn them in the real world.
- Al Gore
- The Queen famous for pwning French president Nicolas Sarkozy at WWE Smackdown 2008 during his recent state visit to the UK.
|
<urn:uuid:5de800ea-9e91-440e-8e2f-c14d07083479>
|
CC-MAIN-2016-26
|
http://uncyclopedia.wikia.com/wiki/%E2%99%99
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783396945.81/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154956-00067-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.983822 | 812 | 3.109375 | 3 |
Innovative 20th-century theater designer Alexandra Exter also made cultural contributions as a painter and book illustrator.
Born Alexandra Alexandrovna Grigorovich, she attended the Kiev Art Institute and married Nikolai Eugenovitch Exter. As a member of Russia’s pre-Revolutionary artistic avant-garde, Exter was close to other progressive artists, writers, and composers.
She traveled within Russia and throughout Western Europe, especially Paris, where she began exhibiting her work in 1912. She opened her own studio in Kiev and taught noted artists, including Pavel Tchelitchew. In 1916, when nonobjective art was still extremely rare, Exter created her first purely abstract paintings. Her set designs and costumes for a Moscow play won critical acclaim and launched her theatrical career.
For the next several decades, Exter produced innovative and influential stage designs for plays, ballets, and experimental films. Like many radical artists, Exter eventually left Russia, settling in Paris in 1924.
Exter continued experimenting with Constructivism and sometimes incorporated modern industrial materials such as celluloid and sheet metal into her futuristic designs. She remained an important influence through exhibitions, stage work, and teaching at Fernand Léger’s Académie d’Art Moderne.
|
<urn:uuid:f7836ccf-fd35-450e-9b8c-17b1ed959eed>
|
CC-MAIN-2016-26
|
http://nmwa.org/explore/artist-profiles/alexandra-exter
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783403823.74/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624155003-00077-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.959435 | 266 | 3.015625 | 3 |
The years immediately following World War I saw a resurgence in political corruption and one of the most notorious scandals in presidential history. The Teapot Dome scandal
during Warren G. Harding's
presidency began in 1921 when Harding, in a move subsequently deemed illegal by the Supreme Court, transferred responsibility for naval oil reserve lands to the Department of the Interior. The Secretary of the Interior, Albert B. Fall
, went on to exploit those rights for his own gain. In 1922 he secretly granted exclusive rights to the Teapot Dome reserve in Wyoming to the Mammoth Oil Company in exchange for cash and no interest "loans." He granted rights to the Elk Hills and Buena Vista Hills reserves in California to the Pan American Petroleum Company in 1921–1922 for similar compensation.
No secret is kept for long in Washington, however, and the scandal soon came to light with congressional demands that the leases be abrogated. Subsequent investigations led to the arrest, trial, and conviction of Fall, the first ever for an active cabinet member. Though it was determined that Harding himself had not benefited from the bribery, the spotlight on his administration soon revealed it to be the most corrupt collection of officials since the Grant administration, and it was later dubbed the "Ohio Gang."
Harding died before the extent of the corruption was known, but congressional investigations into the scandals and corruption that characterized his administration eventually sent two of his cabinet members to jail for bribery, while a third was tried and acquitted of conspiracy charges. Harding's most lasting legacy is the addition of "teapot dome" to the American political vernacular as a synonym for public corruption.
|
<urn:uuid:b83c345b-d058-46e1-a736-4f3b0bb3e098>
|
CC-MAIN-2016-26
|
http://www.factmonster.com/spot/scandal3.html
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783396106.71/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154956-00113-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.973713 | 334 | 3.484375 | 3 |
(Price doesn't include high voltage PSU)
We describe a very simple laser: no special gas, no chemical products, no vacuum and no glass work!
This Nitrogen laser uses normal air at atmospheric pressure. All you need is some metal parts and an about 10 kV 1 mA adjustable High tension DC source.
(All dimensions in mm)
The whole air laser is based on a rectangular A4 aluminium plate on which is disposed a rectangular A4 plastic sheet (European standard paper A4 dimensions 210 x 297 mm). 2 aluminium plates act as capacitors and 2 other pieces of metal (L) are used as electrodes for plasma channel. 2 U aluminium parts screwed on the main plate can hold all that with Nylon screws.
Nylon screws get electrical insulation and allow user to very easily change, modify or adjust plates, electrodes or plastic film.
A4 plastic film is a low cost very easy to find/repair dielectric solution.
In fact, this air laser is a Nitrogen laser which use Nitrogen molecules in air to lase. Ordinary Nitrogen laser uses low pressure wide channel nitrogen like the old very well known "American Scientist" Nitrogen laser project: http://www.montagar.com/~patj/n2lmnu.htm
When a high current electric discharge passes through Nitrogen gas at low pressure, it can generate a coherent radiation at the wavelength of 337.1 nm (UV). The laser action begins when a molecule of Nitrogen absorbs energy by colliding with an electron that moves in the discharge. Molecule becomes in an unstable state and spontaneously falls to a state of lower energy by emitting a photon of radiation at 337.1 nm. The emitted photon may encounter another excited molecule of Nitrogen and merely by its proximity stimulate the molecule to emit an identical photon. The two particles of radiation proceed in the same direction with their waves lockstep. This is the laser action. It will continue as long as the growing pulse encounters more excited molecules of Nitrogen along its path that it does absorbing molecules. In the case of Nitrogen, the molecules on the average linger at a lower level longer that at the upper one before moving on to still lower states. The number of molecules at the lower laser level builds up rapidly, exceeding the number at the upper level and terminating the amplification. In fact, the gas quickly becomes strongly absorbing to 337.1 nm emission. The laser turns off even thought there are still excited molecules left. The turn off time is usually less than 10 ns.
That means that the maximum of energy must arrive in the very first ns. The laser structure must be very fast, avoiding parasitic resistors and mainly parasitic inductance. Using air at normal pressure is more difficult: Oxygen atoms tend to prevent laser emission. Normal pressure means low impedance and low width laser channel. That means that the laser structure must be faster.
Most Nitrogen lasers use Blumlein structure (this one also): 2 high tension capacitors (almost identical), one pole connected to ground and the other pole to an electrode. The 2 electrodes are connected together through a self and charged at a high tension. A spark gap is installed on an electrode: when tension is high enough, an arc occurs: a conductive plasma discharges very quickly one capacitor. One capacitor is about to ground, the other is still at a high potential. The huge tension difference between the 2 electrodes produces a plasma which induce laser beam. Then laser beam turns off, plasma stops and, later, other capacitor is discharged through the self. Then all that is charged again though high tension PSU (Power Supply Unit) and the process start again. That means that the structure must be fast enough to be able to deliver most of the energy in the very first ns: The spark gap capacitor fall time must be very low: parasitic resistors and inductors must be at the minimum.
(Here, we are just looking for orders of magnitude, not precise results)
On this prototype, we can consider that high tension is about 10 kV, each capacitor is about 2 nF (measured), "measured" spark capacitor fall time is about 11 ns, probably a little bit less.
CV=it: i=CV/t: 10 000 x 2 10-9 / 10 10-9 = 2000 A : a 2000 A current sink through spark gap for a few ns !
Total parasitic resistors must induce less than 1 kV to be negligible (compared with 10 kV): U=RI: R=U/I: 5 ohms which is easy to realise: parasitic resistors are not a problem (using copper, aluminium or iron isn't very important)
Total parasitic inductors V=Ldi/dt: L=V/(di/dt): 5 nH which is very little, L=u S n2/ l : S= L l / u n2, l=5 mm, u(air)=4 PI 10-7, n=1, =>20 10-6m2 => 20 mm2 is about 5 x 5 mm
That means that a conductor (spark gap connection for example) 5 mm width and 5 mm length to return to ground has an inductor that is not negligible! Parasitic inductors ARE a problem.
Global Nitrogen structure must be very flat and must keep spark gap connection to ground and capacitor, electrode connection to capacitor parasitic selfs at the minimum: loops area must be minimum.
One says there is a "travelling wave" in the capacitor during discharge. In those little amateur lasers, I don't think so. Anyway, accurately and safely measuring such high-tension very fast phenomena is difficult. You must own a fast oscilloscope and a very fast HT probe or using the ILS low-tension trick or a one turn self safely coupled to the Blumlein self
We choose a structure simple to build, with very low parasitic inductor, easy to change and adjust: changing the plastic film, a capacitor plate, electrode or adjusting electrode distance is very easy. We use an A4 (210 x 297 mm European standard) main aluminium plate on which we dispose an A4 plastic film, and the 2 capacitor plates. We also install 2 U aluminium rules with nylon screws to press capacitors and electrodes that are L aluminium rules. The 2 electrodes are attached with 2 pull springs that act also as self. 2 nylon screws set distance.
To adjust electrodes distance, simply unscrew a little bit 2 U rules corresponding nylon screws, then adjust distance with the 2 horizontal screws. Once distance OK, screw again the 2 U rules corresponding screws.
A hole in each U rule allows laser to output on one side and to install a 3 screws + springs adjustable mirror on the other side.
Even if this project seems very simple, dimensions has been optimised: I recommend to build the project "as this" before trying to modify parameters.
Bill of material:
- One 210 x 297 aluminium plate (1.5, 2 or 2.5 mm thick)
- One 210 x 297 A4 plastic film (those for printer slide)
- Two 135 x 190 aluminium plates (1.5, 2 or 2.5 mm thick)
- Two 20 x 20 x 250 U aluminium extruded rules
- Two 10 x 20 x 250 L aluminium extruded rules
- Twelve M5 x 20 (or 25 or 30) Nylon screws (or M4 x 20)
- Four metal M3 x 10 screws (chamfered head) with corresponding nuts
- Some M3 metal screws and springs (4 push springs and 2 pull springs)
- Four rubber feet
- One Red + one Black ordinary connectors
- Some 1 Mohms 1W resistors (depending from PSU)
Picture: (CD is just for the scale, these temporary M3 plastic screws are not strong enough)
Construction: (timing is for best understood, not for best efficiency ;-)
- Drill 4 holes d = 3.2 in the main 210 x 297 plate: 2 along one 297 side, 2 along the other 297 side at 10 from side, chamfer it for chamfered screws (screw heads must disappear in the plate to avoid disturb plastic sheet)
- Drill 2 holes d = 3.2 in each U rule and attach U rules on the big side of the main plate with the 4 rubber feet
- Drill 1 hole d = 10 in the middle (vertical face) of each U rule for laser outputs
- Drill 8 holes d = 4.0 on the upper side of each U rule and screw it for M5 screw
- Dispose the A4: 210 x 297 plastic film on the main plate
- Round (r = 5) the two 135 x 190 other plates corners and install it on main plate at 10 from all borders
- Dispose the 2 10 x 20 L rules on the plates in a symmetrical way: ( |__ __| ). Distance: 1 mm
- Install 8 M5 x 20 Nylon screws in each U rule and screw it to press plates and L electrodes
- Chamfer L rules side at 10 to increase distance between L rule and U rule at minimum 10 mm
- In a U rule, drill a 2.3 hole and screw it for M3, install a M3 x 20 screw with a push spring: that's the spark gap. Set it at 5 mm
- In a U rule, drill two d = 6.0 holes, install the Black connector without insulation: the ground connection
- Drill 4 d = 4.0 holes and 1 d = 6.0 in one electrode (and screw 2 holes at M5) and 3 d = 6.0 in the other.
- Install 2 pull springs, 2 M5 x 20 plastic screws and 1 Red connector on electrodes (Nota: pull springs act also as electrical self)
- Connect 5 x R 1 Mohm 1 W resistors between Red connector and electrode (in a clear plastic tube)
-You can also add three M3 holes in a U rules around one hole output and install a little plate with a glued mirror and 3 M3 x 10 screws and 3 push springs. Adjust screws to align mirror optical axis and plasma channel (with you eye or a little red laser pointer)
Nota: How to align mirror: take a white paper sheet, make a 1 mm hole in the middle. Disconnect and discharge laser. Look through the paper hole to the mirror through the laser output hole. Align your eye with electrodes and adjust mirror screws until paper hole is just centred between the 2 electrodes.
Picture: (CD is just for the scale, at left: mirror with 3 screws and 3 springs to adjust it, electrodes with 2 pull springs, nylon screws and Red HT connector, on the right: spark gap screw with a Black plastic disc)
Preliminary low tension tests:
On that prototype, capacitors are about 2 x 2 nF.
Safely powered with 10 VDC (only), spark gap "replaced" with an ILS switch triggered with a magnet, measured fall time on spark electrode is about 11 ns, fall time on self electrode (other) is about 60 ns. Self electrode fall time and period depends only from capacitor and self value. Here self is made with the 2 electrodes springs, anyway self value isn't very critical.
Picture: In grey the 2 electrodes tension, in black the difference between the two electrodes. Laser will work only during the first ns: between cursors. Sine wave is due to C capacitor and L inductor combination.
HT (High tension) test:
Your laser is now ready to operate! You must connect HT supply set at 10 kV. Now, be very careful; take care to high tension and laser emission. Once laser disconnected, capacitors can keep high tension for a long time. Safely discharge it (with an insulated screwdriver first connect to ground and then to electrode) before touching anything. Or better, take the habit to short-circuit the Black and Red connectors when not powering. (Black connected first then Red)
Once distance between electrodes set to 1.3 mm, spark gap distance set to 3 mm and tension set to 10 kV for a first test. Install a white paper sheet aligned with the laser output at some 500 mm from the output. Put a plastic blackbox on the spark gap, keep away and power on.
If anything is correct, spark gap occurs several times a second (10 Hz for example), you can see a purple plasma band between electrodes without (too much) white sparks. And a white point (about 4 x 1 mm ellipse) appears on the white paper.
Picture: Here laser power is low: this is preliminary HT test, HT is low and everything must be adjust. HT is only an old photocopier 5.5 kV module, electrodes distance is set to 1.25 mm, rear mirror is installed, it has been adjust with the eye though a 1 mm hole in a paper sheet disposed at the laser output hole (when laser was disconnected of course!)
Laser works also without mirror but at lower output power
Of course, you can't see the UV 337.1 nm laser output but you can see the corresponding fluorescence on the white paper.
Once adjusted, any electrical sparks make a spot.
When paper sheet is disposed at 1 m from laser output, characteristic laser interference fringes are visible in the spot.
In this picture, sheet is at 2 m from laser and spot is about 10 x 30 mm, tension is about 10 kV
You can now modify parameters trying to get the strongest light.
In case of problem:
- Be very careful with L electrode side used for plasma: shape must be round and surface must be perfectly line and smooth.
- The 2 electrodes must be perfectly // and at the right distance. I recommend using calliper or car spark plugs adjustment tools: those little iron plates from various thickness. You can also use a CD that is 1.2 mm thin. If electrodes are not //, you see more white sparks at the end where there are nearest: you must then adjust nylon screw to correct it.
Comments and improvements:
- The same laser can be realised bigger to improve output power
- Of course, using Nitrogen instead air will also increase laser output power (far more boring and expensive too :-)
- At atmospheric pressure, air (Nitrogen laser) channel width is little and pumping a dye with it (for visible laser) may be difficult. (I will try soon)
- Adding an insulated plate or wire // and just upper laser channel that acts as a Corona can perhaps stabilise plasma, decrease white sparks and increase efficiency.
- Adding a probe made with and old CD player phototransistor connected to the scope will help to improve laser and increase output power. Of course, phototransistor isn't fast enough to show optical output pulses but stronger the displayed pulse is and stronger the optical output is. (With my CD player phototransistor sample, short wave bandwidth phototransistor is enough to measure 337 nm Nitrogen pulse laser).
This probe use an old CD player phototransistor, all outputs are connected in // and to a 22 ohms resistor: a fluorescent yellow paper with a little hole in front of the phototransistor make position adjustment easy.
Then probe is installed in front of the laser output (well, a luxurious 150$ PSU for a poor 10$ laser!)
Measurement: Of course, probe isn't fast enough: probe rise time is low: about 300 ns and fall time very low: some us. But higher is the electrical pulse and higher is the optical pulse: we are now able to precisely optimise laser!
- I think that a fast high tension simple and safe probe (capacitor divider) can be built to allow user to measure real capacitors tension without burning the scope. A 50 x 50 mm rectangular aluminium plate which will act as a capacitor with ground. Adding a very little well insulated plate against one electrode, connect the little plate to the 50 x 50. One will make a high tension capacitor attenuator that we can connect to a scope probe.
|
<urn:uuid:ba3d1ad3-38c7-469a-b706-449e1ce9f7ec>
|
CC-MAIN-2016-26
|
http://spt06.chez-alice.fr/00/air.htm
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783392527.68/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154952-00118-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.905851 | 3,348 | 3.078125 | 3 |
Weekly topics include:
- Exploring our historical roots and the philosophical purposes for natal chart interpretation
- Comparing house systems to select one for regular use and others that are more situation specific, such as a client without a birth time, or from an extreme latitude
- Knowing how lunation phase suggests a psychological base for chart specifics and how the lunar nodes suggest habit patterns and what needs to be developed
- Learning harmonics as the foundation of all aspects, including the minor aspects
- Exploring major life themes through close aspect networks, aspect configurations and declination aspects
- Personalizing interpretations with sensitive points such as: the nodes, the vertex, part of fortune, solstice points, pre-natal eclipse, decans and dwads, the Aries point and more
- Clarifying chart interpretation with major asteroids, dwarf planets and fixed stars
- Identifying major life themes in the natal chart through guided practice
By the end of W102, students will know the important areas of practice and controversy in the course topics and will be able to understand the basis of many specialized interpretive techniques. Most lessons are “must know” supplements to the basics; however, some lessons introduce less used topics as “good to know” to provide a broad range for students to learn independently beyond Kepler at conferences and through major astrological publications.
Students will be able to critically question and/or evaluate the rationale of authors and workshop or conference presenters on their methods for natal chart interpretation.
|
<urn:uuid:8e2a4968-3b30-4e5b-b506-d7afbc941572>
|
CC-MAIN-2016-26
|
http://kepler.edu/home/index.php/resources/library/item/464-w102
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783397213.30/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154957-00101-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.91557 | 309 | 2.828125 | 3 |
Excerpt from Universal Design of Instruction: Definition, Principles, and Examples by Sheryl Burgstahler:
Universal design principals can apply to lectures, classroom discussions, group work, handouts, web-based instruction, labs, field work, and other academic activities and materials. They give each student meaningful access to the curriculum by assuring access to the environment as well as multiple means of representation, expression, and engagement (Center for Applied Special Technology). Listed below are examples of instructional methods that employ principles of universal design. They make course content and activities accessible to people with a wide range of abilities, disabilities, ethnic backgrounds, language skills, and learning styles.
- Class Climate. Create a classroom environment that values both diversity and inclusiveness. Put a statement on your syllabus inviting students to meet with you to discuss disability-related accommodations and other special learning needs. Avoid segregating or stigmatizing any student. Respect the privacy of all students.
- Physical Access, Usability, and Safety. Assure that classrooms, labs, and field work are accessible to individuals with a wide range of abilities and disabilities. Make sure equipment and activities minimize sustained physical effort, provide options for operation, and accommodate right- and left-handed students as well as those with limited physical abilities. Assure the physical safety of all students.
- Delivery Methods. Alternate delivery methods, including lecture, discussion, hands-on activities, Internet-based interaction, and field work. Make sure each is accessible to students with a wide range of abilities, disabilities, interests, and previous experiences. Face the class and speak clearly in an environment that is comfortable and free from distractions. Use multiple modes to deliver content. Provide printed materials that summarize content that is delivered orally.
- Information Resources. Use captioned videotapes. Make printed materials available in electronic format. Provide text descriptions of graphics presented on web pages. Provide printed materials early to allow students to prepare for the topic to be presented. Create printed and web-based materials in simple, intuitive, and consistent formats. Arrange content in order of importance.
- Interaction. Encourage different ways for students to interact with each other and with you. These methods may include in-class questions and discussion, group work, and Internet-based communications. Strive to make them accessible to everyone, without accommodations.
- Feedback. Provide effective prompting during an activity and feedback after the assignment is complete.
- Assessment. Provide multiple ways for students to demonstrate knowledge. For example, besides traditional tests and papers, consider group work, demonstrations, portfolios, and presentations as options for demonstrating knowledge.
For more information on universal design, explore The Center for Universal Design in Education.
|
<urn:uuid:cf54b051-7f9e-4b8f-863c-2bb6d1e3b5b2>
|
CC-MAIN-2016-26
|
http://www.washington.edu/accesscomputing/how-can-universal-design-be-applied-instruction
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783395548.53/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154955-00029-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.919663 | 549 | 4.0625 | 4 |
Robert (Alexander) Schumann (1810-1856), was a German composer and music critic, and one of the leading musical lights of the early romantic era. He was the son of a bookseller/publisher and grew up engrossed in the romances of Sir Walter Scott, and ‘Jean Paul’, and the poetry of Byron and others. As a composer, much of his music was inspired by works of literature, the German countryside, and his own romantic proclivities. As a critic and writer on music, and an editor of a music magazine, he did much to introduce and further the careers of aspiring composers, notably Frederic Chopin and Johannes Brahms.
Young Schumann was sent to study law, but managed to study music on the quiet. He was a more than capable pianist, and in 1830, (the date of his first published work – the Abegg Variations for solo piano) with his family’s consent, he moved into the home of his piano teacher, Friedrich Vieck. Problems appeared with his hands; however he continued composing.
He also started a relationship with Wieck’s daughter, Clara, a virtuoso pianist and capable composer. The family was against their union and it was not until 1840 that they were able to marry. Schumann that year began composing songs, many of which – like those in the cycles, “Frauenliebe und –lieben” and “Dichterliebe” – are ranked with those of Franz Schubert and Brahms. They are true partnerships of voice and piano.
During the 1840s he wrote most of his symphonic works, chamber music, choral music, his only opera and more songs. He had started suffering bouts of depression which affected his creativity, however between times he wrote some of his finest works, particularly the Piano Concerto, and Piano Quintet – the latter, one of the finest in the repertoire.
Two major works appeared in 1850: the Third Symphony (“Rhenish”) and the Cello Concerto – positive works frequently enjoyed today. By 1852, however he had started to deteriorate, and had to leave his post as music director at Dusseldorf. By 1854 he attempted suicide, and entered an asylum. He died in 1856, almost certainly from the effects of syphilis, from which he had suffered all his adult life. (Grove’s Dictionary of Music states that the injuries to his hands that had halted his career as a pianist was more likely to have been caused by remedies for a syphilitic sore than any finger-strengthening machine.)
His music covered nearly all the genres, although there is almost no sacred music. His major works are as follow:
- Piano Works – although he wrote 2 sonatas, it is his shorter pieces, or works consisting of miniatures that are popular today. “Scenes of Childhood”, “Papillons”, “Carnaval”, “Kreisleriana” are the most well known.
- Orchestral – 4 symphonies, all of which are popular; Piano Concerto, Cello Concerto, various shorter pieces (eg Manfred Overture)
- Chamber Music. The Piano Quintet is the most well known, but he also wrote 3 string quartets, piano trios, violin sonatas, and other works for a variety of instruments: cello, viola, oboe, clarinet, horn.
- Drama – an opera (“Genoveva”, successful at the time but now not performed), and the "Manfred" incidental music.
- Vocal - Over 300 songs, plus numerous duets and partsongs.
- Choral – An oratorio: “Das Paradies und die Peri”, still performed, plus others.
"Traumerei", from "Scenes of Childhood" is one of his most beautiful pieces.
"The Grove Concise Dictionary of Music"
|
<urn:uuid:6ee0774e-dec1-47ca-ac1c-d61309703b0e>
|
CC-MAIN-2016-26
|
http://www.conservapedia.com/Robert_Schumann
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783395548.53/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154955-00012-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.984328 | 856 | 2.921875 | 3 |
China's enormous Three Gorges dam remains on high alert as waters from the flooded Yangtze river continue to pour into the reservoir behind it.
Life in Chongqing has been badly disrupted
Water levels were expected to peak on Wednesday, but officials insist the massive dam is able to cope.
Floods and landslides caused by heavy rains upstream from the Three Gorges have already killed 160 people.
Navigation through the dam's locks has been suspended for the first time since operations began earlier this year.
The Chinese authorities are reinforcing the structure's outlying bulwarks to deal with the fast-rising waters.
The massive dam project, built at a cost of $25bn, is supposed to help control China's annual flooding.
But it continues to be highly controversial, even though China desperately needs the power it is designed to generate, says the BBC's Francis Markus in Shanghai.
THREE GORGES DAM
World's largest water control project
Designed to produce hydroelectric power and curb flooding
Dam has 26 generators, which will eventually produce 18.2m kilowatts of energy
When fully completed, it will create a reservoir 600 km long
More than 600,000 people forced to relocate from the area
According to Ute Collier, the dams initiative leader for the World Wildlife Fund, the main danger concerns people living below the dam.
As water fills the reservoir from the swollen rivers above, the level has to be reduced by releasing extra water downstream to alleviate pressure on the walls of the dam.
"This could become a serious problem if the rains continue," Ms Collier told BBC News Online.
Villages in Hubei province, downstream on the Yangtze
River, are said to be braced for a possible surge in water levels.
Ms Collier says part of the reason China suffers such acute flooding on the Yangtze is because huge areas of land have been deforested, leading to run-off water filling the rivers, which are then unable to cope when there is heavy rainfall.
"There needs to be an effort to allow natural flood plains to do their work," she said. "Artificial dams have trouble dealing with extreme events like this."
Once a century
Upstream from the Three Gorges, floods and landslides unleashed by torrential rain have already left 160 people dead.
Many others are missing and thousands are reported to be injured or sick, following five days of incessant rain that has swamped rivers in a wide area of south-west China.
In some areas of Sichuan province and Chongqing municipality, the flood waters have been so deep that they have submerged four-storey buildings. Entire communities have been marooned.
More than 450,000 people have been evacuated and 127,000 homes destroyed or damaged, the China Daily newspaper reported.
The worst-affected area is said to be the city of Dazhou, which was hit with 360mm (14.4 inches) of rain.
Thousands of military personnel, police and other rescue workers are helping to distribute food and medicine in the area.
The official Xinhua news agency described the situation as a "catastrophe which is not likely to happen in a century".
Meteorologists warn that at more
major storms will strike the region in the coming weeks.
|
<urn:uuid:933de118-5b85-4ca3-b732-1dc5ea8d398b>
|
CC-MAIN-2016-26
|
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/3636426.stm
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783400572.45/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624155000-00014-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.960719 | 690 | 2.78125 | 3 |
Key words :
Mosquito Immunity ? Combating the Resurgence of Malaria and Dengue
17 Aug, 2007 11:41 am
The sequencing of the second mosquito genome, that of the dengue and yellow fever transmitting mosquito, Aedes aegypti, has enabled comprehensive comparative genomic studies with the malaria transmitting mosquito, Anopheles gambiae, whose genome was sequenced in 2002. In a three-way comparison with the well studied fruitfly, Drosophila melanogaster, our analysis of genes and gene families thought to be involved in insect immune responses revealed intriguing patterns which help to understand how immune systems may have evolved in response to varied challenges.
Why study mosquito immune systems?
Recent years have shown a global resurgence of human diseases transmitted by mosquitoes including malaria, dengue fever, lymphatic filariasis and arboviral encephalitides. This is due in part to the development of insecticide resistance in the vector mosquitoes and drug resistance in the pathogens, but also to changing socioeconomic conditions in disease-endemic countries which can disrupt disease control programmes. It has become increasingly acknowledged that new strategies must employ many different tactics to combat these devastating diseases – from physical interventions such as using bed nets to large-scale mosquito population control schemes. The fact that the parasites and viruses must pass through the mosquitoes in order to be transmitted to humans presents an additional opportunity for manipulation of the system, aiming to block this transmission step. Although insects do not possess an adaptive immune system as found in vertebrates, the versatility of the mechanisms of innate immunity in fighting infections is impressive. The development of new tools to study mosquito immunity has helped improve the understanding of these mechanisms and the results show that natural resistance to infection is mostly attributable to the action of components of the mosquito’s immune system. Thus the global battle against these diseases will be greatly strengthened by a comprehensive understanding of what makes some mosquitoes able to fight off infections while others remain susceptible and hence continue the cycle of disease transmission.
How similar/different are these mosquitoes?
To the casual observer most mosquitoes look very similar, and although several morphological differences between Anopheles and Aedes mosquitoes could be identified by a non-expert using a simple magnifying lens, they are in fact very different at the DNA level. These mosquitoes are believed to have diverged some 150 million years ago, but with insects evolving faster than vertebrates, they are by some genomic measures even more different than humans and chickens, which diverged about 300 million years ago. Focussing on genes and gene families implicated in insect immunity, our study aimed to identify related components in each of the two mosquitoes and the fruitfly, and to a more limited extent in other insect species such as the honeybee and the silkmoth. This involved a large collaborative effort with scientists from all over the world using their expertise to examine particular genes and gene families. For each gene family, our study examined the numbers of genes in each species, their phylogenetic relationships (which genes correspond to which among the three insects), and levels of divergence or conservation. The results from the analysis of insect immune signalling pathways and response modules revealed contrasting features evolving rapidly or conservatively which are related to different functional categories of genes and characteristics of immune reactions.
How do insect immune systems evolve?
On average, when looking at genes which have corresponding members in each of the three insects (orthologues), we found that immunity genes were significantly more divergent in terms of the protein sequences they encode than the rest of the genes in the genome. The most divergent of these were proteins involved in signalling pathways which effectively communicate the fact that a pathogen has been recognised and the immune system must respond. These signalling genes nevertheless, are strictly conserved in numbers with only one copy in each genome – unlike other categories of immunity genes which appear to have evolved through duplication events to produce multiple copies in each genome (paralogues), which nevertheless remain similar between species. This most likely reflects their different modes of action in the processes of recognition and producing effector responses. A collection of different recognition proteins is beneficial in terms of increasing the ability to recognise infectious agents. In a similar manner, a large selection of effector proteins means that when the immune response is switched on, the invaders can be quickly targeted for destruction. Another important class of immunity genes is that of the response modulators – they must ensure tight regulation so that the immune system is only triggered when needed. From large families of genes, evolution appears to have selected distinct modules in each species in a ‘mix and match’ manner which means that while the overall functions of modulation mechanisms are broadly maintained, employing phylogenetics to identify genes which may perform the same or very similar functions between species is very difficult. The appreciation of the diverse evolutionary modes that have shaped insect immune systems will help to guide future studies on the evolution of innate immune mechanisms in vertebrates and other animals.
Progress in the battle against devastating diseases.
Our study has highlighted important similarities and differences between two mosquitoes which together transmit some of the most devastating infectious diseases of humankind, and the insights gained will facilitate future studies of mosquito immunity. More generally, a better understanding of the evolution of innate immunity will assist research into other disease vector species such as the blood-sucking bug that transmits Chagas disease, or the Tsetse fly that transmits sleeping sickness.
Waterhouse M., Robert, et al , Evolutionary Dynamics of Immune-Related Genes and Pathways in Disease-Vector Mosquitoes, Science, 2007 Jun 22;316(5832):1738-43. PMID: 17588928
|
<urn:uuid:884d06b5-4c85-42a6-b5a5-72a70cf8f775>
|
CC-MAIN-2016-26
|
http://scitizen.com/biotechnology/mosquito-immunity-combating-the-resurgence-of-malaria-and-dengue_a-28-961.html
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783397797.77/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154957-00120-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.931995 | 1,149 | 3.40625 | 3 |
November is National American Indian Heritage Month, a time to recognize the contributions of native peoples to our culture and our history.
Tragically, relations between Europeans and native peoples have been far from perfect. In fact, they have often been abhorring. From the beginning, native people were at best vastly misunderstood. At worst, they were victims of genocide.
Our colonial history is replete with the horrid subjugation of the native peoples and European historians often used the phrase "heathen savage" to describe the people they found here.
In reality, the people who were here before the Europeans had a very complex religion that came to terms with every aspect of a person's life. Death was not something to be avoided but to be embraced, a return of a loan, if you will, of one's corporal body to the Mother Earth which had given it life.
The patriotism of native people in our nation's history is without equal. As former President Bush noted in a 2001 proclamation, "Almost half of America's Native American tribal leaders have served in the United States Armed Forces, following in the footsteps of their forebears who distinguished themselves during the World Wars and the conflicts in Korea, Vietnam, and the Persian Gulf."
Most, if not all, American Indian tribes embrace the concept of a warrior society, making military service a rite of passage. Indeed, Ira Hayes was one of five Marines and a Navy corpsman immortalized in the Marine Corps Memorial depicting the raising of the American flag on Iwo Jima.
The native peoples of the Americas have much to teach us. If we return to their core beliefs, these are some of the lessons we could learn:
n Education - Elders acting as storytellers could be a model for the 21st century classroom.
n Respect for the elderly - The elders were held in high esteem. As we face the inevitability of a large number of Americans in elder care, perhaps we could learn something from their example.
n Religion - Everything is sacred. This would generate a greater respect for the religions of others around us.
n Environment - The earth is our mother, and by defacing the earth we are defacing the person who bore us.
n Health - Native people who follow their traditional diet have a much lower incidence of cancer than other populations.
So, as you can see, we have much to learn from the traditional ways of our native peoples - not just this month, but always.
Just as they have given us place names that dot the landscape, so have our native peoples left certain values that many of us are only starting to discover.
So let's give them the respect and attention they deserve.
|
<urn:uuid:ff90df75-5a0f-41ad-8d42-14f93b39c58d>
|
CC-MAIN-2016-26
|
http://www.esthervillenews.net/page/content.detail/id/516887/November-National-American-Indian-Heritage-Month.html?nav=5061
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783403826.29/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624155003-00060-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.974395 | 548 | 3.328125 | 3 |
Electronics Components: Parallel Resistors
So how do you calculate the total resistance for resistors in parallel on your electronic circuit? Put on your thinking cap and follow along. Here are the rules:
First, the simplest case: Resistors of equal value in parallel. In this case, you can calculate the total resistance by dividing the value of one of the individual resistors by the number of resistors in parallel. For example, the total resistance of two, 1 kΩ resistors in parallel is 500 Ω and the total resistance of four, 1 kΩ resistors is 250 Ω.
Unfortunately, this is the only case that's simple. The math when resistors in parallel have unequal values is more complicated.
If only two resistors of different values are involved, the calculation isn't too bad:
In this formula, R1 and R2 are the values of the two resistors.
Here's an example, based on a 2 kΩ and a 3 kΩ resistor in parallel:
For three or more resistors in parallel, the calculation begins to look like rocket science:
The dots at the end of the expression indicate that you keep adding up the reciprocals of the resistances for as many resistors as you have.
In case you're crazy enough to actually want to do this kind of math, here's an example for three resistors whose values are 2 kΩ, 4 kΩ, and 8 kΩ:
As you can see, the final result is 1,142.857 Ω. That's more precision than you could possibly want, so you can probably safely round it off to 1,142 Ω, or maybe even 1,150 Ω.
The parallel resistance formula makes more sense if you think about it in terms of the opposite of resistance, which is called conductance. Resistance is the ability of a conductor to block current; conductance is the ability of a conductor to pass current. Conductance has an inverse relationship with resistance: When you increase resistance, you decrease conductance, and vice versa.
Because the pioneers of electrical theory had a nerdy sense of humor, they named the unit of measure for conductance the mho, which is ohm spelled backward. The mho is the reciprocal (also known as inverse) of the ohm.
To calculate the conductance of any circuit or component (including a single resistor), you just divide the resistance of the circuit or component (in ohms) into 1. Thus, a 100 Ω resistor has 1/100 mho of conductance.
When circuits are connected in parallel, current has multiple pathways it can travel through. It turns out that the total conductance of a parallel network of resistors is simple to calculate: You just add up the conductances of each individual resistor.
For example, suppose you have three resistors in parallel whose conductances are 0.1 mho, 0.02 mho, and 0.005 mho. (These are the conductances of 10 Ω, 50 Ω, and 200 Ω resistors, respectively.) The total conductance of this circuit is 0.125 mho (0.1 + 0.02 + 0.005 = 0.125).
One of the basic rules of doing math with reciprocals is that if one number is the reciprocal of a second number, the second number is also the reciprocal of the first number. Thus, since mhos are the reciprocal of ohms, ohms are the reciprocal of mhos.
To convert conductance to resistance, you just divide the conductance into 1. Thus, the resistance equivalent to 0.125 mho is 8 Ω (1 ÷ 0.125 = 8).
It may help you remember how the parallel resistance formula works when you realize that what you're really doing is converting each individual resistance to conductance, adding them up, and then converting the result back to resistance. In other words, convert the ohms to mhos, add them up, and then convert them back to ohms. That's how — and why — the resistance formula actually works.
|
<urn:uuid:f6225092-7ebb-4155-8a57-d1fb1dbca2db>
|
CC-MAIN-2016-26
|
http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/electronics-components-parallel-resistors.navId-810951.html
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783397695.90/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154957-00080-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.932903 | 857 | 4.03125 | 4 |
Test model of James Webb Space Telescope instrument ready
The Near-Infrared Spectrograph will be sensitive to wavelengths from distant galaxies and will be capable of simultaneously analyzing the chemical composition of more than 100 objects.
Provided by ESA, Noordwijk, Netherlands
October 14, 2009
While engineers press on at full speed with building the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), a test model of one of the telescope's major scientific instruments has gone on display today at its manufacturer in Germany, ready for shipping to NASA later this year.
The JWST, the Hubble Space Telescope's successor, is a powerful optical and near-infrared observatory due for launch in 2014. The European Space Agency (ESA), a key partner in this cutting-edge mission, has responsibility for two of the four instruments and will provide the Ariane 5 for launch.
The Engineering Test Unit (ETU), now on display at the facilities of Astrium in Ottobrunn, Germany, is a test model of ESA's Near-Infrared Spectrograph (NIRSpec) for JWST. The instrument will be sensitive to wavelengths from the most distant galaxies and will be capable of simultaneously analyzing the chemical composition of more than 100 objects.
Along with the other instruments, NIRSpec will be fitted into the Integrated Science Instrument Module (ISIM). To save time, engineers will use the ETU for pre-integration tests with the ISIM before the actual instrument is delivered. The structure of the ISIM was delivered to NASA September 15 for integration tests.
The completed JWST will be about 69 feet (21 meters) in width and about three stories high. The main telescope mirror will measure 21 feet (6.5 meters) in diameter — too large to launch in one piece. It will consist of 17 individual mirror segments mounted on a frame that will be folded inside the fairing of the Ariane 5 at launch. These mirror segments are being tested in cryogenic chambers to ensure they can withstand the extreme temperatures of space.
At launch, the sunshield will also be folded, much like a cocoon, around the front and back of the telescope.
The NIRSpec ETU will be delivered to NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, later this year along with a test model of the other European instrument, the Mid-Infrared Instrument.
|
<urn:uuid:20e50b5e-6d1c-45f4-a261-4e582b64e231>
|
CC-MAIN-2016-26
|
http://www.astronomy.com/news/2009/10/test-model-of-james-webb-space-telescope-instrument-ready
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783397565.80/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154957-00062-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.908073 | 488 | 2.796875 | 3 |
Introduction: In Part 1 of this feature, three interchanges were shown depicting various reasons for the upgrading of rural intersections into grade-separated interchanges. This week's examples share a common element, in that they all divide streams of traffic into two major paths. In other words, they are essentially high-powered forks in the road.
Orientation: NY 14 runs top to bottom, while NY 14A branches off toward the left. At top, the two are connected by reference route 962C.
The interchange: At this point, northbound traffic out of
Watkins Glen may choose between two routes to Geneva. NY 14 remains
close by the shore of Seneca Lake, while NY 14A is a more local option,
serving Penn Yan and other communities in eastern Yates and Ontario
Counties. A simple two-way grade-separated split provides the
connection. Note that this is a semi-directional split: the left-hand
fork is reached via a right-hand exit. For those few vehicles requiring
the south-to-north U-turn movement, a short state highway (reference
route 962C) serves the purpose. There is even a single property having
access from the connector.
Orientation: NY 5S runs from left to right, and NY 162 splits off toward bottom right. The New York State Thruway (I-90) is at top. The hamlet of Sprakers is to the right of this photo.
The interchange: Here, NY 162 descends the side of the Mohawk River valley to merge into NY 5S. NY 162 was moved off of local streets in Sprakers and provided with a higher-powered interchange connection. The split is grade-separated more because of topography than traffic volume. In this case, the interchange replaces a T-style junction rather than a fork, and so the U-turn movement through the split is more widely used. Both possible U-turns make use of a single ramp within the spread median of NY 5S at the west end of the interchange. Moreover, this example is fully directional, in that the left hand fork merges from the left into NY 5S, and the right-hand fork diverges to the right.
Orientation: NY 374 is the straight diagonal highway from bottom left to top right. NY 3 is the more local road to the south.
The interchange: At this interchange west of Plattsburgh,
traffic patterns are more complex. NY 374 is a two-lane express highway
west from Plattsburgh, and serves northwestern points such as Dannemora
and Malone. NY 3 brings in traffic from Saranac Lake and the northern
Adirondacks. Motorists approaching Plattsburgh on NY 3 are instructed
to move onto NY 374 for faster access. A two-way split similar to that
at Reading Center handles this traffic. Also
similar to that junction, a short connector (reference route 970F)
serves the lower-volume U-turn movements. However, NY 3 also continues
eastward to serve local communities and, as is discernible above,
carries no small share of the traffic load. A crossroads intersection
therefore carries NY 3 through a right angle, with reference route 970F
opposite one leg of NY 3 and the ramps to and from NY 374 opposite the
other. A peculiarity here is that the ramps have each their own
reference route numbers: the eastbound ramp is route 970G and the
westbound is route 970F.
|
<urn:uuid:990d7afc-a500-49bf-8b5d-3dc80da2f104>
|
CC-MAIN-2016-26
|
http://www.empirestateroads.com/week/week35.html
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783404826.94/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624155004-00040-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.942772 | 743 | 2.578125 | 3 |
- freely available
Sensors 2012, 12(5), 6685-6694; doi:10.3390/s120506685
Abstract: We demonstrate novel graphite-on-paper piezoresistive devices. The graphite was used as sensing component. The fabrication process can be finished in a short time with simple tools (e.g., a scissor and a pencil). A small array of six paper-based piezoresistive devices is made. The whole device is flexible. The test results showed that the change of resistance was proportional to the applied force. A paper-based weighing balance was also made as an example of applications. This novel array of paper-based piezoresistive devices will open wide applications in force and acceleration sensing areas.
Flexible sensors and actuators are the cutting edge technology [1–17], which can interface well with humans and have wide applications in the medicine and biology areas. Conventional CMOS technology uses silicon as the substrate, but the original silicon substrate can't be flexible. In order to be flexible, chemical-mechanical polishing is used to reduce the silicon substrate to submicron thickness , however this method is challenging and high cost. Despite recent attempts at utilizing polymer materials as flexible substrates [20–24], the cost of these materials is still relatively high. In addition, the fabrication process needs to be done in clean room and takes several days. The high cost and complex process are the main drawbacks which have limited the applications and markets for flexible devices, so it is desirable to find a new low cost substrate material and develop a new process to easily fabricate flexible devices.
Due to the softness, lost cost and lightweight properties of paper materials, flexible devices can be made from them easily, such as paper-based sound source devices , microfluidics systems , etc. This may open a new venue of technologies. In particular Liu et al. have made pioneering contributions making paper-based sensors to be inexpensive, simple to fabricate, lightweight, and disposable. Inspired by the work of the reference , we decide to conduct an in-depth study to improve the device performance to become more inexpensive, simpler to fabricate, more lightweight, and more disposable.
Here, we chose A4 paper (88 μm thick) as the substrate and developed a new process to fabricate flexible piezoresistive devices in a short time. Graphite is used as the sensing component. In order to realize good control of the shape of carbon resistor, pencil marks are directly drawn on the paper. In order to realize good electrical connections and shaped electrodes, copper foil was used as the electrode material. The fabrication process was reduced into less than half an hour of work with simple tools. The cost is just $0.01 per device. A small array of six paper-based force sensors is made. The whole device is flexible. A paper-based weighting balance is also made based on the same idea.
2. Experimental Section
2.1. Working Principle
The working principle of the paper-based force sensor is based on the piezoresistive effect. The conventional silicon-based force sensor usually uses a cantilever beam inducing strain/stress. Based on the piezoresistive effect, the strain/stress can be converted into a resistance change by the sensing component, which is easily detected by the electrical instrument. In order to realize a flexible system, a paper substrate is used instead. The paper cantilever beam is made to let the force apply on it. The graphite located on the cantilever beam functions as the sensing component. When force is applied on the cantilever beam, the stress of the beam will change sensitively.
2.2. Device Structure
The schematic structure of the paper-based force sensor is shown in Figure 1. In this structure, a graphite resistor is located at the root of the cantilever beam. When a force is applied to the beam structure, the graphite resistor will experience a mechanical strain/stress, which then induces a change in the resistance of the resistor. Measuring the change in resistance can reflect the magnitude of the applied force.
2.3. Fabrication Process
The fabrication process of the paper-based force sensors is shown in Figure 2. Firstly, A4 paper (88 μm thick) is used as the original substrate material. We fabricated paper cantilever beams by cutting the paper using scissors. We manually drew graphite resistors using B2 pencil, and applied contact pads using low-resistivity copper foil. Silver ink is used to enhance the electrical connection between the graphite resistors and the copper foil. The paper device was baked at 80 °C for 30 minutes. Fabricating a small array of six paper-based force sensors (Figure 3) typically takes less than one hour.
2.4. Test Platform
In order to apply force, we attach a wire to the cantilever beam. As shown in Figure 4, the wire connects with a plastic box, which can support weights. In order to detect the change in resistance of the sensor, a Keithley 2400 source meter is used for signal processing in our piezoresistive sensing systems.
3. Results and Discussion
3.1. Mechanical Properties of the Paper Cantilever Beam
The dimensions of the paper cantilever beam are 45 mm long, 8 mm wide and 88 μm thick. As shown in Figure 5, forces applied to the free end of a paper cantilever are measured as a function of the beam deflections. The stiffness of the paper cantilever was calculated to be 0.5 mN/mm. The Young's modulus of the paper material can also be calculated by using the beam equation :
3.2. Electrical Properties of the Carbon Resistor
The current-voltage (I-V) characteristic of the carbon resistors was measured using the Keithley 2400 source meter under ambient conditions (25 °C temperature and 50% relative humidity). As shown in Figure 6, the measured resistors reveal a linear, ohmic I-V behavior, and the resistance of the resistors is 500 Ω.
3.3. Paper-Based Force Sensor
Figure 7(a) shows a sensitivity curve of resistance as a function of the applied force. The range of force measurement was 50 mN, and the resolution of force measurement was 500 μN. In order to convert the change in resistance of the sensor into a more readable electrical signal (voltage), a Wheatstone bridge circuit is commonly used for signal processing in MEMS piezoresistive sensing systems. Figure 7(b) illustrates a calibration curve of the paper-based sensor with an integrated Wheatstone bridge circuit. The operate voltage of the Wheatstone bridge circuit is 5 V. The sensitivity of the sensor was 0.9 mV/mN.
3.4. Paper-Based Weighting Balance
A paper-based weighting balance is also developed using the same working principle. As shown in Figure 8(a), four sides of paper-based force sensing beams can combine together to form a weighing balance. When an object was placed on the top of the weighting plate, its gravity will induce stress/stain on the sensing beams. Figure 8(b) is the top view photograph of a balance prototype, where four force sensing beams are combined together. An actual image of this prototype is shown in Figure 8(c).
We calibrated the balance by measuring the change in resistance of the graphite resistor from one sensing beam as a function of the applied weight (Figure 9(a)). As shown in Figure 9(b), the measurement range of the balance was 20 g, and the measurement resolution was 50 mg.
3.5. Comparison of Our Paper-Based Sensor with Other's Work
Compared with the Liu's pioneering work using paper in reference , we have made in-depth work to improve the device to become more inexpensive, simpler to fabricate, more lightweight, and more disposable. We have listed the originality of this work compared with the previous studies in Table 1.
In this work, we have demonstrated flexible paper-based force sensors. A4 paper (88 μm thick) was used as the substrate. Graphite was used as the sensing component. In order to realize good control of the shape of carbon resistor, pencil traces were directly drawn on the paper. In order to realize good electrical connection and shaped electrodes, copper foil was used. The fabrication process can be finished in a short time with simple tools (e.g., scissors and a pencil), without the need of a clean room. The cost is just $0.01 per device. A small array of six paper-based piezoresistive devices was made. The whole device was flexible. The test results show that the change of resistance was proportional to the force applied. A paper-based weighting balance was also made as an example of applications. This novel array of paper-based piezoresistive devices should open wide applications in the force and acceleration sensing areas.
This work is supported by National Natural Science Foundation (61025021, 60936002, 51072089), and National Key Project of Science and Technology (2009ZX02023-001-3, 2011ZX02403-002).
- Cochrane, C.; Koncar, V.; Lewandowski, M.; Dufour, C. Design and development of a flexible strain sensor for textile structures based on a conductive polymer composite. Sensors 2007, 7, 473–492. [Google Scholar]
- Cochrane, C.; Lewandowski, M.; Koncar, V. A flexible strain sensor based on a conductive polymer composite for in situ measurement of parachute canopy deformation. Sensors 2010, 10, 8291–8303. [Google Scholar]
- Desai, M.M.; Aron, M.; Gill, I.S.; Pascal-Haber, G.; Ukimura, O.; Kaouk, J.H.; Stahler, G.; Barbagli, F.; Carlson, C.; Moll, F. Flexible robotic retrograde renoscopy: Description of novel robotic device and preliminary laboratory experience. Urology 2008, 72, 42–46. [Google Scholar]
- Deutsch, F. Flexible coupling and overload safety device. J. Sci. Instrum. 1961. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Duarte, J.; del Canizo, J.F.; Antoranz, J.C. Flexible input cannula in ventricular assist device. Ann. Thorac. Surg. 2000, 69, 976–976. [Google Scholar]
- Glette, K.; Torresen, J. A flexible on-chip evolution system implemented on a xilinx virtex-ii pro device. Lect. Notes Comput. Sci. 2005, 3637, 66–75. [Google Scholar]
- Glynne-Jones, P.; Boltryk, R.J.; Hill, M.; Zhang, F.; Dong, L.Q.; Wilkinson, J.S.; Melvin, T.; Harris, N.R.; Brown, T. Flexible acoustic particle manipulation device with integrated optical waveguide for enhanced microbead assays. Anal. Sci. 2009, 25, 285–291. [Google Scholar]
- Hohne, D.N.; Younger, J.G.; Solomon, M.J. Flexible microfluidic device for mechanical property characterization of soft viscoelastic solids such as bacterial biofilms. Langmuir 2009, 25, 7743–7751. [Google Scholar]
- Hong, S.K.; Kim, J.E.; Kim, S.O.; Choi, S.Y.; Cho, B.J. Flexible resistive switching memory device based on graphene oxide. IEEE Electron. Dev. Lett. 2010, 31, 1005–1007. [Google Scholar]
- Hwang, E.S.; Yoon, Y.R.; Yoon, H.R.; Shin, T.M.; Kim, Y.J. Flexible contact force sensing device using metal/polymer multilayer structure for robotic applications. Sens. Mater. 2008, 20, 55–69. [Google Scholar]
- Iftikhar, N.; Pedersen, T.B. Flexible exchange of farming device data. Comput. Electron. Agric. 2011, 75, 52–63. [Google Scholar]
- Jeong, H.Y.; Kim, Y.I.; Lee, J.Y.; Choi, S.Y. A low-temperature-grown tio(2)-based device for the flexible stacked rram application. Nanotechnology 2010. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Kawamura, M.; Tanaka, Y.; Kita, T.; Wada, O.; Nakamura, H.; Yanagi, H.; Magario, A.; Noguchi, T. Flexible field emission device using carbon nanofiber nanocomposite sheet. Appl. Phys. Express 2008, 1, 074004:1–074004:3. [Google Scholar]
- Kim, G.; Kim, K.I.; Yang, S.S.; Oh, S.G. A micromachined flexible hollow cathode discharge device. Jpn. J. Appl. Phys. 2009, 48, 06FK07:1–06FK07:4. [Google Scholar]
- Kim, J.M.; Nam, T.; Lim, S.J.; Seol, Y.G.; Lee, N.E.; Kim, D.; Kim, H. Atomic layer deposition zno:N flexible thin film transistors and the effects of bending on device properties. Appl. Phys. Lett. 2011, 98. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Kim, M.J.; Shin, D.W.; Kim, J.Y.; Park, S.H.; Han, I.T.; Yoo, J.B. The production of a flexible electroluminescent device on polyethylene terephthalate films using transparent conducting carbon nanotube electrode. Carbon 2009, 47, 3461–3465. [Google Scholar]
- Kim, S.; Kwon, H.J.; Lee, S.; Shim, H.; Chun, Y.; Choi, W.; Kwack, J.; Han, D.; Song, M.; Kim, S.; Mohammadi, S.; Kee, I.; Lee, S.Y. Low-power flexible organic light-emitting diode display device. Adv. Mater. 2011, 23, 3511–3516. [Google Scholar]
- Fedder, G.K.; Santhanam, S.; Reed, M.L.; Eagle, S.C.; Guillou, D.F.; Lu, M.S.C.; Carley, L.R. Laminated high-aspect-ratio microstructures in a conventional cmos process. Sens. Actuators A 1996, 57, 103–110. [Google Scholar]
- Ju, Y.S.; Goodson, K.E. Phonon scattering in silicon films with thickness of order 100 nm. Appl. Phys. Lett. 1999, 74, 3005–3007. [Google Scholar]
- Vo, D.Q.; Shin, E.W.; Kim, J.S.; Kim, S. Low-temperature preparation of highly conductive thin films from acrylic acid-stabilized silver nanoparticles prepared through ligand exchange. Langmuir 2010, 26, 17435–17443. [Google Scholar]
- Ferrell, N.; Yang, Y.Y.; Hansford, D.J. Micropatterning of sulfonated polyaniline using a soft lithography based lift-off process. Microsyst. Technol. 2010, 16, 1951–1956. [Google Scholar]
- He, Y.; Wang, J.A.; Zhang, W.F.; Song, J.Z.; Pei, C.L.; Chen, X.B. Zno-nanowires/pani inorganic/organic heterostructure light-emitting diode. J. Nanosci. Nanotechnol. 2010, 10, 7254–7257. [Google Scholar]
- Hong, S.H.; Bae, B.J.; Lee, H.; Jeong, J.H. Fabrication of high density nano-pillar type phase change memory devices using flexible aao shaped template. Microelectron. Eng. 2010, 87, 2081–2084. [Google Scholar]
- Kondo, Y.; Tanabe, H.; Otake, T. Novel electrochromic polymer for electronic paper. IEICE Trans. Electron. 2010, E93–C, 1602–1606. [Google Scholar]
- Tian, H.; Ren, T.L.; Xie, D.; Wang, Y.F.; Zhou, C.J.; Feng, T.T.; Fu, D.; Yang, Y.; Peng, P.G.; Wang, L.G.; Liu, L.T. Graphene-on-paper sound source devices. ACS Nano 2011, 5, 4878–4885. [Google Scholar]
- Martinez, A.W.; Phillips, S.T.; Whitesides, G.M. Three-dimensional microfluidic devices fabricated in layered paper and tape. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 2008, 105, 19606–19611. [Google Scholar]
- Liu, X.Y.; Mwangi, M.; Li, X.J.; O'Brien, M.; Whitesides, G.M. Paper-based piezoresistive mems sensors. Lab Chip 2011, 11, 2189–2196. [Google Scholar]
|Specifications||Paper-Based MEMS Sensor (This Work)||Paper-Based MEMS Sensor (Reference )|
|Substrate||A4 paper (88 μm thick)||Whatman 3MM chromatography paper (340 mm thick)|
|Parrten method for substrate||Scissor||Laser equipment|
|Beam size (L × W × H)||45 mm × 8 mm × 0.088 mm||44.5 mm × 7.7 mm × 0.34 mm|
|Beam stiffness||0.5 mN·mm−1||2 mN·mm−1|
|Natural frequency||∼15 Hz||∼25 Hz|
|Force range||50 mN||16 mN|
|Force resolution||500 μN||120 μN|
|Sensitivity||0.9 mV/mN||0.84 mV/mN|
|Sensing material||Graphite pencil||Graphite ink|
|Parrten method for sensing material||Directly draw carbon resistor by using pencil||Screen print carbon resistor by using stencil|
|Electrode material||Copper foil||Silver ink|
|Fabrication process||<half an hour in any place||<1 hour in laboratory|
|Device cost||$0.01 per device||$0.04 per device|
© 2012 by the authors; licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/).
|
<urn:uuid:c68210b1-625d-4522-89da-7e0398008123>
|
CC-MAIN-2016-26
|
http://www.mdpi.com/1424-8220/12/5/6685/htm
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783399425.79/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154959-00124-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.824692 | 4,093 | 2.65625 | 3 |
Lemuel W. Oakes. Under
terms of the Treaty of 1866 the Choctaws were compelled to grant land
or its equivalent to negroes who had been their slaves before the
Civil war. This class of negroes were termed Freedmen. Allotments
were made in due time, but in the early ’80s new claimants for land
or money arose among negroes of Arkansas, Texas, Mississippi, and
probably some other Southern states, to the number of several
hundred. It was a demand for enrollment similar to that which has
been made insistently during recent years by members of the Choctaw
Tribe in Mississippi. The principal chief of the Choctaw Nation
appointed a commission to hear and pass upon these claims. The
commission was composed of Lemuel W. Oakes, now of Hugo; R. J. Ward,
now of Spiro; and the late Ben Wat kins, an intermarried citizen and
educator. Cole E. Nelson, a prominent fullblood minister, educator,
merchant and lawyer, was at that time attorney general and he
counseled with and advised the commission. The result of the
commission’s labors was that only twenty-one of the negro applicants
were given their demands. Under the law an applicant whose claim was
valid had a choice of forty acres of land or one hundred dollars in
money, the money to satisfy in full all claims the applicant
possessed. Some of the successful ones took land and others the money
and left the territory.
This was not the
only public service rendered by Lemuel W. Oakes as a Choctaw citizen.
For ten years he was a member of the Senate of the Choctaw Nation,
serving under the administration of
Principal Chief Jackson McCurtain and J. M. Smallwood. He was a
member of the McCurtain faction in one of the heated contests
provoked by Victor M. Locke, a leader of the full blood element.
While he was a member of the Senate Henry Ward and Joe Bryant
occupied the position of President of the Senate, and Senator Oakes
was filling his scat at the death of Chief Jackson McCurtain. At one
time he also held the office of revenue collector of the Third
Judicial District of the Nation.
Lemuel W. Oakes was
born at the old town of Goodwater, situated twelve miles east of the
present site of Hugo. His parents were Thomas W. and Harriet N.
(Everidge) Oakes. His father was a native of North Carolina, but came
to the Choctaw Nation shortly after the removal of the tribe from
Mississippi. He was a carpenter, and among his early activities was
the erection of the first council house of the Choctaw Nation at
Tuskahoma. The building was constructed of large pine logs, about
1850. He was also employed in the building of houses for chiefs,
Indian agents and others during the establishment of permanent
settlement. He built the Goodwater Mission School, which was one of
the earliest small schools of the Nation. A white man himself he
gained Choctaw citizenship by marriage into a prominent Choctaw
family. His wife’s brother was Joel W. Everidge, for many years chief
justice of the Supreme Court of the Choctaw Nation. Judge Everidge is
buried in the Everidge private burying ground near old Goodwater.
The first school
attended by Lemuel W. Oakes was the Goodwater Mission, when it was
taught by the Rev. Theodore Jones, a Presbyterian missionary, who
came into the nation before the Civil war from Wisconsin. Later, and
in another school, Mr. Oakes was a schoolmate of Peter J. Hudson, now
of Tuskahoma, who has been one of the leading men of the Nation for a
number of years. Farming has been the principal occupation of Mr.
Oakes. He moved to Hugo a few years ago, and for six years has been
justice of the peace, having been elected on the democratic ticket.
He has taken an active and important part in politics since
statehood, and has been one of the real factors in the agricultural
development of the county. He is a member of the Methodist Episcopal
Church South. Fraternally he belongs to the Masonic Lodge at Grant,
which originally was Lodge No. 2, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons,
of Indian Territory.
In 1879 he married
Miss Lucy E. Smith at Goodwater. They are the parents of seven
children: Mrs. Bessie Bearden, wife of a farmer near Hugo; Mrs.
Lillie Spring, wife of a farmer near Hugo; Clarence A. Oakes, deputy
treasurer of Choctaw County; Frank Oakes, who lives at home with his
parents; Mrs. Mattie Collins and Mrs. Nola Tibbett, wives of farmers
near Hugo; Mrs. Nona Baird, wife of a laundryman at Hugo. Mr. Oakes
has five brothers and two sisters: Charles Oakes, a farmer living
eight miles east of Hugo; Thomas E., whose farm is near Soper and he
is president of the bank of that place; George, a farmer near Hugo;
Samuel, a farmer, ginner, merchant, justice of the peace and
postmaster at Frogville; J. E. Oakes, a farmer near Hugo; Mrs. Sarah
Jeter, wife of a farmer living near Soper; and Mrs. Mary Hibben, wife
of a farmer living near Frogville.
|
<urn:uuid:58c106cc-3ef9-4c56-bc77-bc82da9ea6dc>
|
CC-MAIN-2016-26
|
http://rootsweb.ancestry.com/~oktttp/history/volume_4/lemuel_w_oakes.htm
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783397795.31/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154957-00064-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.969664 | 1,203 | 3.40625 | 3 |
Difference between revisions of "Regional coding"
Revision as of 14:27, 16 February 2008
This article is a travel topic
Ever thought of buying a game or television programme not available in your home country when overseas? Ever learnt a foreign language and thought of buying a show in its original language when travelling in its country of origin? While these may sound attractive, it may get more complicated than it seems as many companies use regional coding, in other words DVD's bought overseas may not work on your DVD player. Why this phenomenon? It's all about money spinning. A French video game usually sells for a higher price in France than in Canada, so by using regional coding, developers can ensure that French gamers would not import games from Canada as they would not be able to play the Canadian version on their French consoles, thus ensuring that they would buy the higher priced French version.
Video games typically have one of four regional codes. The list below shows the areas covered by each code:
DVDs are divided into 8 different regions, labelled 1-8. In addition, there are region code "0" DVD's which would work in regions 1-6 and region "ALL" DVD's which work in all regions. For more details, see this website.
Blu-ray discs have 3 different region codes. For more information see this website
Circumventing regional coding
Some shops can modify your player or console such that it would support all region codes. The legality of this varies from country to country. Most notably, such modifications are illegal in the United States. However, in other places like Hong Kong and Australia, such practices are encouraged as long as they are for the purpose of playing original media from overseas. In fact, Australian law requires all DVD players sold to be either region free or modified to circumvent regional locking. For the rest of the world, check your own local laws.
|
<urn:uuid:6f35d6ee-a258-4441-a52c-9b11d5796b14>
|
CC-MAIN-2016-26
|
http://wikitravel.org/wiki/en/index.php?title=Regional_coding&diff=766953&oldid=766849
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783393997.50/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154953-00148-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.960067 | 387 | 2.796875 | 3 |
A team of Japanese scientists has discovered a bacteria that’s evolved to break down and consume PET—one of the world’s most environmentally damaging plastics.
The team discovered the bacteria living on plastic items found in wastewater samples it was collecting. Called Ideonella sakaiensis, it appears to consume a diet made up exclusively of PET, which it breaks down using a pair of enzymes. The bacteria cling to the plastic, then break the plastic down into terephthalic acid and ethylene glycol in a two-step process. They then digest those two substances. PET was only invented about 70 years ago. That means the bacteria must have evolved the ability to consume the plastic over the intervening decades. The results are published in Science.
The team is obviously excited about the prospect of using the bacteria to clean up the planet. There are, after all, millions of tons of waste PET on the surface of our planet—on landfills and in our seas. But right now, the bacteria are inefficient: New Scientist reports that it takes “6 weeks at 30°C to fully degrade a thumb-nail-sized piece of PET.” That’s because the bacteria multiplies relatively slowly, so it may be possible to genetically engineer a bacterium that combines the speed of multiplication of something like E.coli with the plastic-chomping abilities of Ideonella sakaiensis.
It’s not the first natural organism to consume plastic. In 2012, there were reports of an Amazonian fungus that was able to break down polyurethane. But in terms of cleaning the planet, bacteria could be far more efficient. Let’s see if the team can speed the process up.
|
<urn:uuid:281dd250-34a4-4fb1-abfd-59ee99f8a326>
|
CC-MAIN-2016-26
|
http://gizmodo.com/scientists-have-discovered-a-bacteria-thats-evolved-to-1764242517
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783393332.57/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154953-00162-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.930403 | 357 | 3.71875 | 4 |
Working at Taronga Zoo teaches each and every one of us about life and how precious it is.
Several months ago the Primate Keepers were very sad to lose their oldest chimpanzee, the beautiful Lulu. But life does indeed come full circle, and not quite a year after the arrival of young Fumo, we are extremely excited to welcome to another baby chimpanzee, this time to three-time mother, Shiba.
The young male was born overnight on Friday and discovered by Keepers early on Saturday morning. Later that morning Shiba took her little bundle out into the exhibit for the very first time, confidently swinging from the ropes and up to the platforms on the climbing structures!
We held our breath as she scaled to the highest of heights, but we needn’t have worried. The grip of a young chimpanzee is instinctively extremely strong, and the first lesson it must learn is how to hang on tight!
Shiba knows what it takes to raise her young. She has a juvenile daughter, Sembe, and two adult male sons, Shabani and Samaki – also known as the ‘S’ brothers.
These two big, strong chimps have shown their softer side these past few days, staying very close to their mother, and monitoring the visits of the rest of the community, ensuring that mum and bub enjoy these first weeks together in relative peace and quiet.
Over the coming months it will be interesting to monitor the behaviour of Sembe, Shiba’s only daughter.
Sembe’s relationship with her mother is extremely close and now that Shiba’s attention is diverted, Sembe must learn to fend for herself, and socialise more with the rest of the community, if she is to successfully transition from clingy juvenile to independent adolescent.
- Primate Keeper, Simon Hersee
CHIMP FACT #9
In the wild, a young chimpanzee is completely reliant on its mother for the first years of its life.
It will need nourishment, protection, warmth, and of course, transportation. As it becomes increasingly aware of its surroundings, the infant will begin the steep learning curve of life in a chimpanzee community.
Certain skills demonstrated by older chimps will be observed, practised, and eventually perfected, and mum will be there to correct any mistakes the youngster may make. Some skills, such as ‘termite fishing’, can take up to 10 years to perfect!
|
<urn:uuid:d91dea2f-1b14-4bc8-bcee-ebe216891cff>
|
CC-MAIN-2016-26
|
https://taronga.org.au/news/2014-08-13/shiba%E2%80%99s-little-bundle-arrives
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783393997.50/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154953-00104-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.96831 | 509 | 2.578125 | 3 |
Henry Gray (18211865). Anatomy of the Human Body. 1918.
4. The Kind of Movement Admitted in Joints
The movements admissible in joints may be divided into four kinds: gliding and angular movements, circumduction, and rotation. These movements are often, however, more or less combined in the various joints, so as to produce an infinite variety, and it is seldom that only one kind of motion is found in any particular joint.
Gliding Movement.Gliding movement is the simplest kind of motion that can take place in a joint, one surface gliding or moving over another without any angular or rotatory movement. It is common to all movable joints; but in some, as in most of the articulations of the carpus and tarsus, it is the only motion permitted. This movement is not confined to plane surfaces, but may exist between any two contiguous surfaces, of whatever form.
Angular Movement.Angular movement occurs only between the long bones, and by it the angle between the two bones is increased or diminished. It may take place: (1) forward and backward, constituting flexion and extension; or (2) toward and from the median plane of the body, or, in the case of the fingers or toes, from the middle line of the hand or foot, constituting adduction and abduction. The strictly ginglymoid or hinge-joints admit of flexion and extension only. Abduction and adduction, combined with flexion and extension, are met with in the more movable joints; as in the hip, the shoulder, the wrist, and the carpometacarpal joint of the thumb.
Circumduction.Circumduction is that form of motion which takes place between the head of a bone and its articular cavity, when the bone is made to circumscribe a conical space; the base of the cone is described by the distal end of the bone,
the apex is in the articular cavity; this kind of motion is best seen in the shoulder and hip-joints.
Rotation.Rotation is a form of movement in which a bone moves around a central axis without undergoing any displacement from this axis; the axis of rotation may lie in a separate bone, as in the case of the pivot formed by the odontoid process of the axis vertebræ around which the atlas turns; or a bone may rotate around its own longitudinal axis, as in the rotation of the humerus at the shoulder-joint; or the axis of rotation may not be quite parallel to the long axis of the bone, as in the movement of the radius on the ulna during pronation and supination of the hand, where it is represented by a line connecting the center of the head of the radius above with the center of the head of the ulna below.
Ligamentous Action of Muscles.The movements of the different joints of a limb are combined by means of the long muscles passing over more than one joint. These, when relaxed and stretched to their greatest extent, act as elastic ligaments in restraining certain movements of one joint, except when combined with corresponding movements of the otherthe latter movements being usually in the opposite direction. Thus the shortness of the hamstring muscles prevents complete flexion of the hip, unless the knee-joint is also flexed so as to bring their attachments nearer together. The uses of this arrangement are threefold: (1) It coördinates the kinds of movements which are the most habitual and necessary, and enables them to be performed with the least expenditure of power. (2) It enables the short muscles which pass over only one joint to act upon more than one. (3) It provides the joints with ligaments which, while they are of very great power in resisting movements to an extent incompatible with the mechanism of the joint, at the same time spontaneously yield when necessary.
|
<urn:uuid:4806935c-e104-4c2b-a950-d3ddc683457d>
|
CC-MAIN-2016-26
|
http://www2.bartleby.com/107/71.html
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783395613.65/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154955-00145-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.951165 | 809 | 3.5625 | 4 |
Winter Snow Depth
"Sierra Nevada" is Spanish for "Snowy Range" and the Sierra Nevada lives up to it's name, recording some of the heaviest snow falls in the world. Some interesting records include:
- 1 day snowfall: 67 inches (5.6 ft.) at Echo Summit, Jan 4, 1982 (2nd in US)
- Single storm snowfall: 186.6 inches (15.6 ft.) at Donner Summit, 1982 (2nd in US)
- 1 month snowfall: 390 inches (32.5 ft.) at Tamarack, Jan. 1991 (US record)
- Total winter snowfall: 884 inches (73.7 ft.) Tamarack, 1906-07
- Greatest snow depth: 451 inches (37.6 ft.) at Tamarack, Mar. 11, 1911 (US record)
- Highest average March snow depth: 108 inches (9 ft.) at Echo Summit
As you would expect, snowfall in the Sierra increases with elevation. The lower foothills only rarely receive any measurable snow. Middle elevations receive a mix of snow and rain during the winter. Above about 6000 ft., the majority of precipitation falls as snow. It is not unusual, in some locations, to have ten feet of snow on the ground for extended periods.
However, snow accumulation does not directly follow precipitation in the Sierra. While the greatest total precipitation occurs in the northern part of the range, the greatest snow accumulation occurs in the central and high southern parts of the range, due to higher elevations and colder temperatures which inhibit snow melt. As expected, snow depths drop dramatically on the east side of the range due to the rain shadow effect (view comparative east side/west side snow depth chart).
The map below shows the average maximum measured snow depth in the Sierra Nevada for the month of March (the month the the greatest average snow depths).
- Average annual precipitation in the Sierra Nevada (map)
- Climates of the Sierra Nevada (map)
- Natural vegetation of the Sierra Nevada (map)
- East side - west side snow depth comparison (chart)
Source: Raw U.S. Climatological Data for California, 1966-1996.
|
<urn:uuid:2096b97d-e977-4888-8c72-3349eec955c4>
|
CC-MAIN-2016-26
|
http://www.sierranevadaphotos.com/geography/snow_depth.asp
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783393093.59/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154953-00080-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.890063 | 457 | 3.5 | 4 |
April 12, 2011
Louisiana, Florida Residents Differ On Views Of Long-Term Effects Of Oil Spill
One year after the BP Deepwater Horizon oil rig explosion on the Gulf Coast, new research from the Carsey Institute at the University of New Hampshire shows that despite the roughly equivalent economic compensation, Louisiana and Florida residents differ in perceptions about the current and long-term effects of the largest marine oil spill in U.S. history.
"Louisiana residents were more likely than Floridians to say their family suffered major economic setbacks because of the spill, to expect compensation by BP, and plan to leave the region as a result of the spill. Louisianans also were more likely to think their state and local governments were doing an excellent job responding to the spill and to trust newspapers as a source of information regarding the spill," said Jessica Ulrich, a doctoral student in sociology at UNH and research assistant at the Carsey Institute.The research is part of the Carsey Institute's Community and Environment in Rural America (CERA) initiative. Since 2007, Carsey Institute researchers have conducted nearly 19,000 telephone surveys with randomly selected adult Americans (age 18 and above) from 12 diverse rural locations.
Carsey researchers surveyed 2,023 residents of the Gulf Coast following the BP Deepwater Horizon oil rig explosion in April 2010. During the late summer, while oil was still gushing into the Gulf of Mexico, researchers conducted telephone interviews with 1,017 residents of Louisiana's Plaquemines and Terrebonne parishes and 1,006 residents of Florida's Bay, Gulf, and Franklin counties.
Respondents were asked how they perceived the oil spill to be affecting their families, communities, and the environment, their levels of trust in sources of information about the spill, and whether they perceived institutional responses to the spill as effective.
The key findings show:
* Nearly one-half of all Gulf Coast residents (48 percent) perceived damage to the environment and wildlife as the most serious result of the oil spill.
* Perceptions regarding the impact of the spill reflect the economic differences in the two states"”Floridians are most concerned about effects on tourism and Louisianans on the fishing and oil industries.
* The majority of Gulf Coast residents thought that the economy, fishing industry, beaches, and wildlife would recover within a few years after the spill.
* Gulf Coast residents had little faith in BP to rectify the situation after the oil spill. Fifty-nine percent did not trust the information BP provided about the spill, and 69 percent thought BP was doing a poor or fair job responding effectively to the spill.
* Although more than one-half of the respondents from both states experienced either major or minor economic effects from the Gulf oil spill, only 16 percent of Floridians and 18 percent of Louisianans have been compensated or expect that BP will compensate them for the losses.
* Louisianans were more than twice as likely as Floridians to think that their state and local governments were doing an excellent job responding to the spill. Approximately three-fourths (77 percent) of Gulf Coast residents thought that the federal government was doing a poor or fair job responding.
* Nine out of 10 Gulf Coast residents plan to remain in the region despite the economic and environmental impacts of the spill. Those planning to move because of the spill are more likely to be Louisianans than Floridians.
"CERA surveys, such as the one conducted in the Gulf in the wake of the BP spill, can gather important subjective information about perceptions of changes occurring in rural America. The findings can be utilized by local leaders, policy makers, and disaster response teams to help foster healthy and sustainable communities that can rebound from -- and perhaps prevent -- even large-scale disasters like the BP oil spill," Ulrich said.
On the Net:
|
<urn:uuid:cc8b9035-374f-4992-a06e-94aa093d2886>
|
CC-MAIN-2016-26
|
http://www.redorbit.com/news/science/2028657/louisiana_florida_residents_differ_on_views_of_longterm_effects_of/
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783397873.63/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154957-00013-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.960928 | 788 | 2.859375 | 3 |
|James Couzens (Library of Congress)|
In early 1924, James Couzens was a Republican Senator from Michigan and reportedly the richest member of Congress. Andrew Mellon was beginning his fourth year as Secretary of the Treasury — a service that would eventually span 11 years under three Republican Administrations — and one of the wealthiest persons in the entire country. This article describes how a feud between these two men, an ensuing investigation led by Couzens of the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) (predecessor to the modern-day IRS), and a tax case against Couzens that was described as the “greatest tax suit in the history of the world,” helped lead to creation of the U.S. Joint Committee on Taxation (JCT) and its staff. Drawing upon many previously unreported key details, the article reveals a fascinating tale filled with political intrigue, backstabbing (real or imagined), and unintended consequences. The article shows how the events antagonized Congress’s relationship with the executive branch, but improved cooperation between the House and Senate, and both were instrumental in the JCT’s creation. The article also provides insight on the unique role the JCT has played in Congress for over 85 years. Finally, the article explains how creation of the JCT became entangled with two of the most contentious tax issues of the day — the publicity of tax return information and the depletion allowance for oil and gas production — and played a role in changing the law in both areas.
|
<urn:uuid:ed5efbf9-dc6f-4af5-af2e-d26e082a3ab5>
|
CC-MAIN-2016-26
|
http://legalhistoryblog.blogspot.com/2012/09/yin-on-couzens-tax-suit-and-joint.html?m=0
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783398516.82/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154958-00073-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.971019 | 304 | 3.015625 | 3 |
Recently I attended a geological walk lead by Mike Allen from the South Peak Estate of the National Trust to have a look at a new geological section that has been opened upon the side of Ossum’s Hill above the Manifold Valley in the Staffordshire part of the Peak District. The geology of the area is shown in Figure 1.
The walk departed from the car park opposite Wetton Mill which was the site of the shaft, dressing floor and smelter for the Botstone Lead Mine that operated until around 1850. Machinery was driven by a waterwheel from the River Manifold. The assent of Ossum’s Hill was via the footpath that follows the path of the Hoo Brook, a small misfit river in a wide valley carved by meltwater at the end of the last Ice Age. Part way up, a large Ash tree on the right marks the site of one of the entrances to the Botstone Mine (Figure 2).
The Hoo Brook valley sides show evidence of landslipage, probably the result of over-steepening of slopes by meltwater undercutting them. On the climb up the valley, many of the pauses for breath were used to discuss different facets of global climate change, both during the Ice Age and during the Carboniferous Period. The route then took us up a side valley to the left up beyond Ossum’s Hill Farm and then left again to the top of Ossum’s Hill where the depressions from numerous old mine shafts can be seen. The local farmer estimates the shaft of one of them to be at over 50 metres deep.
Over the hillcrest, the path then follows a farm track slanting down the hillside back towards Wetton Mill. It is here that the farmer, in widening the track, has opened up some new exposures of the Carboniferous Limestone. The upper part of the section displays the mid-grey coarse bioclastic crinoidal Ecton Limestone (Figure 3). This was deposited on the lower part of the shelf slope as turbidites from the shallower shelf areas.
As the path descends the hillside the transition can be seen to the underlying finer bedded and laminated micritic Milldale Limestone with thin beds of chert deposited under quieter conditions. Here is also displayed some tectonic deformation with a small fault and some local small-scale folding, probably related to the fault (Figure 4).
The view across the Manifold Valley clearly displays the reef-knolls within the Carboniferous Limestones as upstanding mounds in the topography (Figure 5), but, with the light fading fast, we didn’t linger too long and descended the hillside back to the Manifold Valley floor and returned to Wetton Mill.
Thanks go to the National Trust for organising the walk and Mike Allen leading it.
Upcoming National Trust events, including guided walks can be found here: Peak District National Trust Events.
The Hamps and Manifold Self Guided Geotrail leaflet is available from local tourist venues and downloadable from the Staffordshire RIGS website.
|
<urn:uuid:6603df5b-9de2-4d9c-880b-fa945016b9ff>
|
CC-MAIN-2016-26
|
http://hypocentral.com/blog/2009/08/26/
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783393332.57/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154953-00095-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.929506 | 647 | 3 | 3 |
Young People's Concerts
Overview | Letters & Telegrams | Publications | Scripts
Young People's Concert: Folk Music in the Concert Hall [back to script index]
This script and many others are included in the Young People's Concert book, available here.
[ORCH: Mozart - Minuet in E-flat:Trio]
Now that's what you call a pretty tune, isn't it? Perhaps it makes you think of a song you learned in school, or at camp. Somehow it has that folk-song flavor, like something a lot of people might sing together, in a bus, or on a hike, or around the campfire. But it's not sung in any of those places: it's not even sung at all; it's played by a clarinet, as you just heard, and it comes from a symphony by Mozart, Maybe that surprises you because it seems so simple and natural, not like the kind of complicated and grand stuff we usually think of as being in a symphony. But folk-songs and folk-dances are really the heart of all music, the very beginning of music; and you'd be amazed at how much of the big, complicated concert music we hear grows right out of them.
What is folk-music, anyway? Well you see, folk music expresses the nature of a people you can almost always tell something about a certain people by simply listening to their folk-songs. Of course, most of the folk-songs we know belong to the past, when the different peoples of the earth were more separate from one another, and their characters and different natures were easier to tell apart. Sometimes these songs reflect the climate of a certain country; or they may tell us something about the geography of a country; or even tell us something about what the people do mostly, like being shepherds or cowboys, or miners, or whatever.
But most important of all, folk-songs reflect the rhythms and accents and speeds of the way a people talk, a particular people talks: in other words, their language especially the language of their poetry sort of grows into musical sounds. And those speaking rhythms and accents finally pass from folk-music into what we call the art-music, or opera or concert-music of a particular people; and that is what makes Tchaikovsky sound Russian or what makes Verdi sound Italian, or what makes Gershwin sound American.
It all comes from the folk-music, which in turn comes first of all from the way we speak. And that's the important thing we have to learn about today.
For instance, take a Hungarian folk-song that begins like this.
[SING: Hungarian folk-song]
Why do we know immediately that that's a Hungarian tune. (I mean, besides the fact that it's got Hungarian words.) It's because the Hungarian language has a strange thing about it: almost all the words in it are accented on the first syllable. Yoyon Hazak Edes Anyam. That's how you can always tell a Hungarian speaking English: he always says: "I don't UNderstand, BEcause I am HUNgarian." And that same accent naturally pops up in the music;
[PLAY: Hungarian folk-song]
all the stresses BElong at the BEginning. And so it's just natural, when a great Hungarian composer like Bela Bartok writes his music, that he should compose in that same accent. Just listen to this tune from Bartok's beautiful "Music for Strings, and Percussion and Celeste.
[VIOLINS :Bartok - Music for Strings, Percussion and Celeste]
Do you see how that tune is like a string of words in a sentence, each one with a big accent at the BEginning on the first syllable? And that's not even folk-music anymore; it's already moved into the concert-hall.
But the same thing is true of all music; it grows out of a people's folk-music, which first grew out of their language. Look at French, for instance. French is a language that has almost no strong accents at all: almost every syllable is equal not in length, but in stress, in accent. "Permettez-moi de vous presenter M. Bernstein." Now the minute you hear somebody say "PerMETtez-MOI de vous PREsenTER M. BERNstein" then you know he's no Frenchman. All the syllables have to be alike in stress. And these equal stresses show up just as clearly in French folk-music. Do you know this charming French folk-song.
[SING: Il etait un petit navire]
Do you see how equal all these syllables are? Just the opposite of the Hungarian song. Because it's all smooth and even.
[SING: Il etait un petit navire]
and that's exactly the smoothness and evenness that we hear in French concert-music, like this phrase from Ravel's "Daphnis and Chloe":
[ORCH: Ravel - Daphnis and Chloe]
And so it goes, through all the languages, Italian, for instance, is famous for its long beautiful vowels Volare, cantare, oh, oh, ho, ho. And so Italian music lingers on the vowels. But Spanish, on the other hand, doesn't linger so much on the vowels; the consonants are more important: "Para bailar la bamba se necesita una poca di gracia y otra cosita"; and so the folk music comes out crisp and rhythmic, like the language:
[SING: La Bamba]
German, of course, is a very heavy language, with long words, and very long combinations of sounds: "Soll ich schlurfen, untertauchen, suss in duften mich verhauchen?" and so German music tends to be heavier and longer and more well, self-important than, say French or Spanish music. And as for English well, that depends what kind of English you're talking about. English English is on thing; and the folk-songs from England are unmistakable tripping and light, and quick with the tongue, just the way the British speak:
[SING: Strawberry Fair]
But now what kind of English is this?
[SING: Lone Prairie]
What is that? What kind of English is that? American. But what kind of American? Western. Right. Cowboy. And you see how different, how lazy and drawling the music is, too; completely different from the British. And just as different is the English of New York City, with its slap-dash syncopations, and its kind of tough charm:
That's another kind of English, so it's another kind of music.
Well, all this is fascinating, but it still doesn't explain that Mozart tune we started out with. But that's easily explained. It's the middle part of the Minuet the 3rd Movement of Mozart's Symphony in E-flat; and the thing that makes that tune so enchanting is not that it's a folk-tune, but that it's like a folk tune. And Austrian this time. The melody has all the clean sweetness of Austrian Speech. And what's more, in the first part of the minuet you will also hear some of those Tyrolean hup-tsa-tsas that makes that folk-music so famous. You know those thigh slapping things that you get in the mountainous music of Austria. And so here is the whole Minuet now, real high-brow concert-music by Mozart, which could never have been written if the simple Austrian folk music hadn't come first.
[ORCH: Mozart - Symphony in E-flat - Minuet]
Now we're going to take a big jump, from Austria all the way to Mexico. And this will bring us even closer to real folk music not just music that's sort of like folk music, as we heard in the Mozart minuet, but music that is really based on the old melodies and rhythms of the Mexican Indians. This is a short symphony, in one movement only, by the famous Mexican composer Carlos Chavez, and it's called Indian Symphony, or in Spanish, Sinfonia India. Perhaps the most wonderful thing about this exciting piece is the rhythms you'll hear in it all kinds of rhythms, regular, irregular, in 2's and 3's and 5's and 7's and every combination. We're not dealing anymore with little French songs or British ditties or cowboy laments; this stuff goes way, way back to a very old Indian civilization which we now call primitive. Of course, we have very little idea of what their language sounded like way back then, but we can almost tell by listening to this music: choppy, unemotional, almost wooden-like, Indian, in other words, primitive. But primitive music can be very thrilling, even if it's also quite limited. You see, it's usually just five notes sometimes six over and over again, the same five notes. Usually these.
[PLAY: pentatonic scale]
I'm sure you've heard all kinds of old folk music from all over the world that use those five notes:
Old Chinese music
Scotch bagpipe music
only those five notes. You can find it in African music or certain Hindu music, Malayan music, all over the place, and that's called a pentatonic scale. And here are the same five notes again, only this time they are Mexican Indian
[PLAY: Carlos Chavez - Sinfonia India]
That's the first tune from this Indian Symphony we're going to hear; and at first you might just say, so what? How boring to have to listen to the same five notes all the time, never changing! But that's just the wonderful part; Chavez takes these simple primitive scales and makes them not just interesting, but so exciting you want to jump out of your seat. And he does it through his imagination, by the way he puts the notes together, and by the marvelous rhythms he uses. Like this section at the beginning.
[PLAY: Carlos Chavez - Sinfonia India]
Of course a lot of the excitement comes from the way he uses the orchestra; he has a whole gang of Indian drums and rattles and strings and things. Like this:
[ORCH: Carlos Chavez - Sinfonia India]
And in addition to that he has a xylophone that seems to have a primitive life of its own, which keeps going on no matter what the rest of the orchestra is playing with this:
[XYLOPHONE: Carlos Chavez - Sinfonia India]
And then there are very strange shrieks and whistles that occur in the woodwinds:
[FLUTE & PICCOLO: Carlos Chavez - Sinfonia India]
Of course, there are also some lovely melodies that Chavez makes out of his five or six notes: in fact there's one you may all go out whistling. And there's a dance at the very end that builds up to such a pitch of excitement by repeating and repeating, that I wouldn't be surprised to turn around at the end and find you all swinging in the aisles. Her is the Sinfonia India by Carlos Chavez.
[ORCH: Carlos Chavez - Sinfonia India]
So far we have heard a Mozart Minuet that is not folk-music, but has a family resemblance to it; and a Mexican symphony that uses real folk music rhythms and notes, but no actual folk melodies; Chavez wrote all those tunes himself. But now, at last, we are going to hear real folk songs, preserved just as fresh as the day they were born in that ancient region of France called the Auvergne. Even the language they are sung in is the same old dialect, part French, part Spanish, part who knows what, that the shepherds and peasants spoke in those mountains there centuries ago. These songs from the Auvergne have been collected for almost 40 years by a French composer named Canteloube, who has a special passion for the folk music of his country, and who has arranged orchestra accompaniments for them that are as beautiful and touching as the folk songs themselves, Now I have the great pleasure of presenting to you Miss Marni Nixon, a beautiful young soprano, who will sing three of these songs for you.
[ORCH: Canteloube - Chansons d'Auvergne L'antoueno]
MARNI NIXON -
That last song was a love song sung by a young farm girl to her lover. In the next song, the same girl sits down to her spinning wheel and spins and she says, "When I was a little girl I used to watch the sheep." And then she spins a little and she makes fast, little spinning sounds: Ti lirou lirou lirou lirou. Then she says, "There was a shepherd who helped me watch the sheep. He asked me for a kiss and out of gratitude, I gave him two." Then she spins again and says, "Ti lirou lirou lirou lirou."
[ORCH: Canteloube - Chansons d'Auvergne Lo fiolaire]
And the last song is a bit of carefree philosophy. It says:
Unhappy is the man who has a woman,
Unhappy is the man who doesn't have a woman,
And he who has a woman, doesn't want one
And he who doesn't have one, wants one.
[ORCH: Canteloube - Chansons d'Auvergne Malurous qu'o uno fenno]
And now we're going to hear a marvelous piece that sums up all the things we've been talking about a piece with the folk-spirit of the Mozart Minuet, the folk-material of the Chavez Symphony, but also real folk-tunes quoted as exactly as those folk songs of the Auvergne that we've just heard. It's an American piece this time by a salty old Yankee named Charles Ives, who lived, up to his death a few years ago, in Danbury, Connecticut. He was one of the first American composers to use folk songs and folk dances in his concert music. It was his way of being American to take marching tunes and hymns and patriotic songs and popular country fiddle music and develop them all together into big symphonic works. The piece we are going to hear is the last movement of his Second Symphony and before it is finished you will have heard tunes that sound like barn dance music, and tunes that sound like Stephen Foster melodies, Swannee River, tunes that sound like fife and drum music; but more than all this, you also hear real barn dance tunes like "Turkey in the Straw" which you all know
[PLAY: Turkey in the Straw]
and real folk songs such as "Long Long Ago"
[PLAY: Long Long Ago]
and a real Stephen foster tune - "Campton Races"
[PLAY: Campton Races]
and a real bugle call - "Reveille"
and to top it all off, a long quotation from that grand old American tune "Columbia the Gem of the Ocean"
[PLAY: Columbia the Gem of the Ocean]
which I guess you know too.
It all adds up to a rousing sort of jamboree, like a Fourth of July celebration, finished off at the very end by a wild yelp of laughter by the whole orchestra made by playing a chord of all the notes in the rainbow at once like this:
That's the finish, as if to say Wow! It's a perfect piece for ending this series of programs which have been very exciting for us to present to you. We hope you found them exciting too, and we're happy to say we'll be back with you for another series next year. And now ... Here's the final movement of the Second Symphony of Charles Ives.
[ORCH: Charles Ives - Second Symphony]
|
<urn:uuid:2e3264e6-afaf-47d2-af5e-8609298e6866>
|
CC-MAIN-2016-26
|
http://www.leonardbernstein.com/ypc_script_folk_music_in_the_concert_hall.htm
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783404405.88/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624155004-00152-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.957238 | 3,429 | 2.75 | 3 |
3 Answers | Add Yours
If one is asking about the boys' tentative attemts at forming a society on the island and not society at large, there are plenty of examples: physically the boys' hair along with their clothes have become ragged and dirty, their toilet habits have come carelessly close to their bathing area, they have stopped almost all work on their living quarters and the schedule that Ralph has set up for maintaining the rescue fire is not being followed.
Mentally, the best example to give would be the rock throwing incident between the littleun and Roger. The line between civilization and anarchy- good vs evil - is getting thinner. The old rules of Mr. Policeman and Misses Teacher are becoming fainter. Thus, the rule of "Don't throw rocks at people!" is barely remembered, but still there. As that rule and others that keep the inner beast at bay are forgotten, and as more time passes by on the island, beware, the rocks will start to strike the bodies.
You want the early signs only? Well, these start on the first page: the fact that the boys are stranded alone on the island, without adults. Almost as soon, you get the fact that they heard rumors of war, perhaps atomic. This is followed by the world seeming to turn upside down—Ralph standing on his head—and then by almost all the first details. (Things fall apart very quickly.) To list just a few of them, Ralph, Jack, and Simon follow a trail made by animals as they explore the island (following in the footsteps of animals). Ralph establishes the rule that only the boy holding the conch may speak—but immediately violates it. They start a fire to signal ships—but can't maintain group focus long enough, and it gets out of control, much as the entire situation and their less civilized drives will.
They possessed some good and bad qualities about them throughout their ordeal in the island. When they were left abandoned in the deserted island after the crashing of the airplane, Piggy, Simon, Ralph, the main protagonist and many other boys show elements of goodness in them. Ralph is "good" as he was really concerned about his clan's welfare and was really sociable with different kinds of people. What defines good? According to dictionary definition, good is:
(having desirable or positive qualities especially those suitable for a thing specified).
Piggy is good as he is a intelligent and witty boy, his "voice of reason" supported by his scientific approach to problems that help substained Ralph's leadership and control over the whole clan. Simon is always lending a helping hand to others and unafraid to stand up to any danger.
But, of course, they will ultimately fall victim to "sin" in their quest for survival, represented strongly by Jack and Roger. Something that is controlled by the force of reason, like fire is used to cook chicken or to keep themselves warm, but if it lands on other devious creatures, it could be a element for terror, destruction and mayhem. Everybody who was in the island was later on destroyed by Jack's evil and devious schemes and they could not withstand the evil influence pervading the entire island.
We’ve answered 327,551 questions. We can answer yours, too.Ask a question
|
<urn:uuid:1b58f22e-7c71-469c-b99a-21d847cc435e>
|
CC-MAIN-2016-26
|
http://www.enotes.com/homework-help/what-early-signs-does-reader-see-that-society-383
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783393463.1/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154953-00138-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.976808 | 678 | 2.875 | 3 |
Archbishop of Canterbury, fifth in succession from St. Augustine, elected 627; consecrated at Lincoln by St. Paulinus of York ; 628l d. 30 Sept., 653 (the last date alone is certain the others are those usually accepted); commemorated, by decree of the Sacred Congregation of Rites (1883) in the Supplement to the Breviary for England on 30 Sept. Little is known about the history of the this saint before his elevation, and not much more of his long episcopate. From Bede we gather that he was a Roman monk, a disciple of St. Gregory , and probably a Benedictine. he either accompanied St. Augustine in 596 or was one of the second band of missionaries sent in 601. As a member of that apostolic company, he must have led that life of fervent piety, which, we are told, had so much effect in converting the inhabitants of Kent. When Honorius's predecessor, Justus, died, Paulinus, fresh from the conversion of Northumbria, was the only English bishop left to consecrate him. From two letter of Pope Honorius I, preserved in Bede, it appears that Honorius and his consecrator, in applying to Rome from their pallia, asked that, in order to avoid the delays and uncertainties then involved in a journey to Italy, whenever the occupant of one of the metropolitan sees should die, the survivor should have power to consecrate the successor, a request which the pope granted. The chief act of Honorius's episcopate was the mission of St. Felix, whom he consecrated and sent to convert the East Angles, an expedition which was crowned with complete success. He administered his own diocese with great zeal and energy. The pope's letter to him shows that his life was spent in the vigorous exercise of the duties of his office and in the faithful observance of the rule of his master, St. Gregory. On the overthrow of the flourishing Kingdom and Church of Northumbria by Cadwalla of Wales and Penda of Mercia in 633, he received Paulinus and appointed him to the vacant See of Rochester . On the death of Paulinus in 644, Honorius consecrated Ithamar, a native of Kent, as his successor. And some years later, he consecrated a deacon of Mercia, Thomas, to succeed Felix in East Anglia, and in or about 652 Beretgils or Boniface, a native of Kent, to succeed Thomas. Next year the archbishop himself died and was buried with his predecessors in the church of Saints Peter and Paul, founded by Saint Augustine.
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
|
<urn:uuid:b88c48e9-11d2-47d7-9007-08b7621fcb3d>
|
CC-MAIN-2016-26
|
http://www.catholic.org/encyclopedia/view.php?id=5877
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783393442.26/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154953-00174-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.966116 | 922 | 2.609375 | 3 |
Nylon is one of the most widely used engineering thermoplastics. It offers an excellent combination of mechanical performance and cost. There are many nylon grades available today, the most common being nylon 6/6 and nylon 6. The properties of both nylon products are very similar; and typically, they can be used interchangeably. However, there are some advantages and limitations to each material both nylon 6/6 and nylon 6.
Cast nylon 6 (polycaprolactam) has similar mechanical properties to extruded nylon 6/6; however, it cast nylon 6 has some distinct advantages. Cast nylon 6 is often less expensive to produce, especially for large geometries, large cross-sections, etc. The casting process of cast nylon 6 results in less stress than the extrusion process, thus providing better dimensional stability. Custom irregularly shaped parts can be cast to "near-net" geometries thereby reducing machining time.
Cast Nylon (Tecast®)
|
<urn:uuid:1bcbb779-bee3-4554-a739-1124a4b54b62>
|
CC-MAIN-2016-26
|
http://www.plasticsintl.com/nylon_cast.htm
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783397748.48/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154957-00127-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.95721 | 199 | 2.578125 | 3 |
Navy Ensign Joseph Alexander anticipated an farily uneventful mission on June 6, 1944, dropping off jeeps, a Sherman tank and several soldiers on Omaha Beach.
The 21-year-old Alexander had been assured in a briefing that the beach would be secured by the time he was to lead a group of 10 landing craft delivering support vehicles for the troops who had begun hitting the beach more than two hours earlier on D-Day.
But as Alexander piloted his cargo toward the shore, German artillery shells whizzing past, and the sight of Allied troops pinned down in the sand made it clear the mission was not going to go as planned.
"It is something I will never forget," says Alexander, 91, "even if I lived to be 1,000 years old."
Alexander, fresh out of the University of Notre Dame, was one of a group of junior officers referred to as "90-day wonders" because they crammed four years of officer training into three months. He shipped out to England in early 1944 and was given command of a Landing Craft, Tank (LCT). The boxy boats were capable of landing up to three medium-size tanks and dozens of men right to the beach.
Alexander's LCT could travel at only 5 knots and took 26 hours to cross the English Channel.
As he approached the beach, smoke from shells filled the air, making it hard to see. The officer in charge of the troops the LCT was carrying rushed up to the conning tower where Alexander was standing. "You can't go in there," he told Alexander. "Look at our boys."
The young ensign ordered the lieutenant colonel off the conning tower and pushed on toward the beach according to his orders.
Moments later, the hulking LCT came under fire from German machine guns and cannons. In the confusion, the crewman in charge of the anchor dropped it into the surf. Alexander decided to drop off the tank there, then retreat.
But the shells began to find their mark, wounding crewmen on the boat.
"I got the craft turned around and headed out to sea but couldn't make any headway," Alexander recalls.
The LCT continued to take enemy fire. The engine rooms flooded. Blood was everywhere. At least two men on board had been killed as the now-powerless boat drifted toward the beach.
The LCT finally ran aground under the cliffs, where it was out of the line of fire
Seeing the beach beneath the cliffs jammed with wounded troops, Alexander waded to shore and warned them that the tide was rising. He got a medic to shepherd the wounded back to his LCT, where they spent the night packed "shoulder to shoulder and head to feet."
The next morning, Alexander waded back to the beach in search of a radio operator to report his position, and to call for help for the wounded.
"I walked through 50 yards of dead soldiers," he says.
His role in the D-Day invasion was Alexander's only combat duty, and when he left the Navy in 1947, he returned home to Indianapolis and started a family. He and his wife, Mary, were married 32 years before she died. The couple had four sons and a daughter, and he has 11 grandchildren. Alexander went into the hardware business, eventually owning a group of Ace Hardware stores in Indianapolis.
He retired in 1988 and now splits his time between Florida and Indiana.
"All those years, and I still feel bad about those injured and killed on my boat," he says. "At the same time, I don't know what else I could have done. I was so dedicated to carrying out my orders. I thought it was going to be a slam dunk."
Evans also reports for The Indianapolis Star
|
<urn:uuid:6963537a-726b-4300-99f7-ed1dc69e13be>
|
CC-MAIN-2016-26
|
http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2014/05/28/d-day-landing-craft-adrift-in-lethal-waters/9697193/
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783399522.99/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154959-00168-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.986277 | 780 | 2.9375 | 3 |
Common Names: (Callaway, 1990)
Higher Taxa: (Takhtajan, 1997)
Kral desribes briefly the discovery of the species triloba, stating, "The genus Asimina was proposed by Adanson in 1763. Ten years prior to this date, Linneaus had published the type species, Asimina triloba, as Anona triloba, basing his descriptions upon an illustration of Mark Catesby (Nat. Hist. 2: 85, t. 85)"(Kral, 1959).
The species triloba has many distinguishing features to aid in recognition. The flowers are a dark maroon color and grow up to 1.5 inches across (Chapman, 1872). They have six leathery petals, with three on the the inside surrounded by the other three. The flowers tend to droop along with the fruit and leaves. Normal bloom period lasts from March to May (Chapman, 1872). The fruit is "oblong in shape and a banana-like, yellow-brown berry, very pulpy" (Dean, 1968). Fruits are usually 3-5 inches long, occcuring in clusters, "sweet and very fragrant" (Dean, 1968). Fruits are a yellow-green to brownish color when ripe, and are edible when ripe in October (Duncan and Duncan, 1988). The Pawpaw (species A. triloba) is the largest fruit native to the United States and is well known for its "delicious, custard-like fruit" (Callaway, 1990). Layne then comments, "As the public continues to gain interest in exotic tropical fruits, the Pawpaw will not be overlooked" (Layne, 1996). The leaves are broad, flat, simple, and are arranged alternately along the branches. "They are widest at the apex and tipped with a needle-like bristle" (Moore, 1998). They resemble the leaves of the umbrella tree, but smaller, 4-12 inches long (Coker and Totten, 1937). When bruised, the leaves give off "a distinctive odor, similar to very strong green peppers (Moore, 1998).
Click here forSpecies Identification Key.
A. triloba is common over central and northern Alabama, growing in rich woods from Florida to Texas, Nabraska, and Michigan, native to eastern United States (Gorer, 1976). Pawpaws "flourish in the deep, rich, fertile soils of river bottom lands from as far north as Ontario to as far south as Florida" (Layne, 1996).
Continental United States; Canada
|Eastern North America:
United States east of Mississippi;
Ontario and eastern Canada
|Southeastern United States:
AL AR DE DC FL GA KY MD NC SC TN VA WV
AL GA KY MD NC SC TN VA WV
|Yes||Duncan and Duncan, 1988|
|Coastal Plain||Yes||Dean, 1968|
|Blue Ridge Mountains||Widespread||Duncan and Duncan, 1988|
|Great Smoky Mountains National Park||Widespread||Callaway, 1990|
|Ridge and Valley||Yes||Callaway, 1990|
|Cumberland Plateau||Yes: Kentucky||Callaway, 1990|
|Central Arch||Yes: Ohio||Callaway, 1990|
|Clarke County, Georgia||Yes: Lake Herrick||Amanda Jones, Pers. Ob.|
|Sams Farm||No||Amanda Jones, Pers. Ob.|
|Old Field||No||Amanda Jones, Pers. Ob.|
|Woods||No||Amanda Jones, Pers. Ob.|
|1-Hectare Plot||No||Amanda Jones, Pers. Ob.|
Pawpaws are deciduous trees which prefer warm, dry climates with plenty of sunshine. The are predominant in many flatwoods, old fields, and sandy ridges (Callaway, 1990). Flowers appear with or before the leaves between March and May (Chapman, 1872). Fruits usually do not appear until August and are ripe in October (Dean, 1968). Pawpaws may be planted in either spring or fall. Also, it is a popular fruit among wildlife (Duncan and Duncan, 1988). Click here to view pictures of Fruits and Flowers.
How to Encounter:
Pawpaws (A. triloba) grow in low woods, typically in sandy areas near water. They have a tendency to be close to the edges of forests and live in clusters, similar to a shrub-like environment (Layne, 1996). Locally: The species A. triloba is abundant at Stone Mountain Park, existing at forest edges near nature trails and also near the Riverboat Marina and the catfish pond (Jones, 1998; pers.ob.). Also, the species exists in the Oconee National Forest near the edge of Lake Herrick (Jones, 1998; pers.ob.).
Return to Genus page
|
<urn:uuid:57d421a4-48e8-4984-ba5c-011405929387>
|
CC-MAIN-2016-26
|
http://www.discoverlife.org/nh/tx/Plantae/Dicotyledoneae/Annonaceae/Asimina/triloba/
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783396959.83/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154956-00175-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.890154 | 1,055 | 3.625 | 4 |
Experts said the Texas drought could last through 2020, so what would this mean for Big Country agriculture?
The State Climatologist, John Nielsen-Gammon, said the Texas drought could be the start of a dry spell lasting until 2020!
Texas has dealt with dry periods before, but even then farmers were able to produce a crop.
But the farming community would need to adjust if this dry weather scenario plays out.
If the drought persists, farmers may have to change when they plant or how much fertilizer they use to control costs.
Taylor County Extension Agent Robert Pritz told us when it comes to wheat, changing to a variety that consistently produces a harvest may be wise.
?We're not going to be chasing the high yields and then get into a variety that crashes on us,? said Pritz.
Dry fields will mean farmers should leave residue on top to conserve moisture and help stop wind erosion.
Those who irrigate will have to do it more intensively.
?We're going to see those that have access to irrigation using it more as a full time tool rather than just using it as supplemental,? said Pritz.
Even with making changes to their farming practices, making a lucrative crop will be that much harder for farmers in a drier climate.
?Our goal is that we can still maintain making a crop, but we are going to expect that our yields and production will be lower, which will be an economic impact to the region,? said Pritz.
Climate experts and weather forecasters met today in Fort Worth to discuss the historic drought in Texas and plan for the future.
|
<urn:uuid:c6219551-6fd5-4b76-8985-2a3d8c8e427d>
|
CC-MAIN-2016-26
|
http://m.ktxs.com/Texas-Drought-May-Persist-Through-2020/14674212
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783396222.11/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154956-00023-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.95812 | 332 | 3.25 | 3 |
- Remains of a man matching Richard III's description were found in England last August
- Scientists say DNA tests show "beyond reasonable doubt" that the bones are the monarch's
- Supporters of Richard III hope the finding of his remains will open up debate about the king
- Dr. Phil Stone writes that the Tudor representation of Richard III "just doesn't stand up"
We can assume that when Richard III was interred by the monks in the church of the Greyfriars, possibly with a few of Henry Tudor's henchmen present to see that it was done, it would not have been the burial a king of England could have expected. The confirmation that the remains found in Leicester are those of King Richard means that, at last, this can be put right and he can be laid to rest with the solemnity and dignity that is appropriate for an anointed king.
Even more significantly, the finding and reinterment of Richard III's remains will, we hope, open up the debate about the king and his reputation. It would make such a difference if people would start to look into the history of this much maligned monarch without the old prejudices. Perhaps, then, they will see past the myth and innuendo that has blackened his name and find the truth. No one is going to suggest that he was a saint - I have said on many occasions that we are not the Richard III Adoration Society - but even a cursory reading of the known facts will show that the Tudor representation of Richard III, especially that in Shakespeare's well known play, just doesn't stand up.
Shakespeare wrote a great play but even he must have been aware that he was twisting the facts in order to make it more dramatic. After all, he called it a "tragedy" not a "history." His Richard III is a villain and a superb villain at that, but Shakespeare was not writing history, no matter what the Duke of Marlborough might have thought. There are many instances where the portrayal just does not fit the historical record. For instance, in one of his three plays about Henry VI, Shakespeare has Richard of Gloucester, later Richard III, killing the Duke of Somerset at the first battle of St Albans. At the time of that fight, Richard Plantagenet wasn't Duke of Gloucester and, more cogently, he wasn't yet three years old!
The Richard III Society was founded as the Fellowship of the White Boar almost 90 years ago. It was re-founded in 1956 and changed its name three years later, as a result of which, it took on a more missionary approach to its aims of securing a reassessment of the material relating to the life and times of this king. This was not new, of course, as reassessment had begun in the 17th century after the death of the last Tudor monarch and it has continued ever since. Over the centuries, the approach to Richard III's reputation has swung like a pendulum.
If, as a result of the finding of Richard III and all the publicity it has engendered, people can be encouraged to read the facts for themselves, it will be a truly great event and all who have been involved in the project are to be congratulated. I have followed its progress from an early stage when Philippa Langley, a member of the Richard III Society whose idea it was, first came to me to ask if she thought it was viable and would the society be willing to back it. I have tried to encourage her at times when doors were being shut and when there were setbacks and together we appealed for money when there was a shortfall. It is a great testament to Philippa's tenacity and bloody-mindedness that the project has been so successful.
Richard III was no saint but neither was he a criminal. All but one of the so-called crimes laid at his door can be refuted by the facts. The one that cannot is the disappearance of his nephews, the "Princes in the Tower" and the answer to that question is simply that no-one knows what happened to them. All that follows is conjecture - they just disappeared. Richard had no need to kill them; they had been declared bastards. Henry VII needed them out of the way, but he got so scared whenever a pretender appeared that it is likely that he knew they were alive at the time Richard died at Bosworth. Did they die in 1483 or 1485 or were they spirited out of the country to their aunt, the Dowager Duchess of Burgundy? We will probably never know.
To return to the question of what will the finding of Richard III's remains mean? Let us hope it means more clear thinking, a wider debate, greater seeking of the truth and above all, may it set the record straight for Good King Richard!
|
<urn:uuid:cf3cbb8e-e283-48e8-9909-90127703f5bf>
|
CC-MAIN-2016-26
|
http://www.cnn.com/2013/02/04/opinion/richard-iii-phil-stone-oped/index.html?hpt=op_bn4
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783397213.30/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154957-00099-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.985745 | 990 | 2.671875 | 3 |
Just found some network mathematics notes online but they don't really help with the question above
Anyone out there able to give me any hints or do a part of the question so I can better understand the question?
Have to do this question fairly soon in an exam. This is pretty much the exact same question that will be on it.
What sort of maths is this and how the hell do I do it??!? I don't have any notes on it.
The following network (Figure 1 below) represents the road system in the town A-Town, with streets being edges and street junctions being vertices. The number on each street represents the length of the street in metres. Traffic can travel in either direction along any street: there are no one-way streets in the town.
1. Use an appropriate algorithm to find, for each vertex, the shortest path (and its length) from vertex 1 to that vertex. Include workings with your solution.
• Draw the resulting shortest path spanning tree rooted at vertex 1.
• Which are the vertices in the shortest path between vertices 1 and 13?
Discuss other examples of where a model/problem like this could arise.
2. The Post Office is located at the junction marked 1 in Figure 1. Postman Pat is starting on his round. He wants to start from the Post Office, deliver the post along each street, and return to the Post Office at the end of the round. What tour should Pat take, and what is its length? Use an appropriate graph algorithm to find your answer. [Hint: your work in Question 1 will be useful here.]
3. The A-Town town council wish to resurface certain streets in the town, so that it will be possible to get from any junction to any other junction using only the newly-resurfaced streets. Using an appropriate graph algorithm, find which streets should be resurfaced so as to minimise the total length of street resurfaced.
|
<urn:uuid:465d0e88-20c8-4845-9675-0735900eaaa1>
|
CC-MAIN-2016-26
|
http://mathhelpforum.com/discrete-math/77382-network-problem.html
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783396945.81/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154956-00199-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.94833 | 404 | 2.796875 | 3 |
SA astronomers help discover hidden galaxies behind Milky Way
Two South African astronomers are part of an international team of scientists that has helped to make a groundbreaking discovery by peering through the stars and dust of the Milky Way with a radio telescope to discover galaxies beyond it.
The study involved researchers from Australia‚ South Africa‚ the USA and the Netherlands.
Professor Renée C Kraan-Korteweg‚ Chair of Astronomy at the University of Cape Town‚ and her close collaborator‚ Dr Anja Schröder‚ who is working with the South African Astronomical Observatory (SAAO)‚ are among the lead authors of “The Parkes HI Zone of Avoidance Survey”. The paper was published in the Astronomical Journal on Tuesday.
They are working with first author Professor Lister Staveley-Smith‚ from the University of Western Australia node of the International Centre for Radio Astronomy Research (ICRAR).
Hundreds of hidden nearby galaxies have been discovered for the first time‚ shedding light‚ among others‚ on a mysterious gravitational anomaly dubbed the Great Attractor. Despite being just 250 million light years from Earth – very close in astronomical terms – the new galaxies had been hidden from view until now by our own Galaxy‚ the Milky Way.
Thanks to the 64m Parkes Radio Telescope (Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation)‚ which was equipped with an innovative receiver that can scan the sky 13 times faster than before‚ the scientists were able to survey this hidden part of the universe much more efficiently.
“Even so‚ the data gathering went on for various years‚” said Prof Kraan-Korteweg.
The discovery may help to explain the Great Attractor region‚ which appears to be drawing the Milky Way and hundreds of thousands of other galaxies towards it with a gravitational force suggesting it contains a mass of the order of one million billion suns: our whole Milky Way is moving towards the Great Attractor at two million kilometres per hour.
Prof Staveley-Smith said: “The Milky Way is very beautiful‚ of course‚ and it’s very interesting to study our own Galaxy‚ but it completely blocks out the view of the more distant galaxies behind it.”
Scientists have been trying to get to the bottom of the mysterious Great Attractor since major deviations from universal expansion were first discovered in the 1970s and 1980s. They don’t actually understand what’s causing this gravitational acceleration on the Milky Way or where it’s coming from.
The team found 883 galaxies‚ “about half of which had never been seen before‚” said Dr Schröder‚ who scrutinised all available multi-wavelength imaging data for possible counterparts.
Prof Kraan-Korteweg said that the newly identified galaxies provide evidence that the mass overdensity called the Great Attractor is due to the existence of a major nearby supercluster – a large collection of galaxies and clusters of galaxies – that crosses the Milky Way diagonally.
The research identified several new structures that could help to explain the movement of the Milky Way‚ including three galaxy concentrations (named NW1‚ NW2 and NW3) and two new clusters (named CW1 and CW2).
Prof Kraan-Korteweg‚ who is internationally recognised as leader in unveiling the galaxy and mass distribution behind the Plane of the Milky Way‚ said astronomers have been trying to map the galaxy distribution hidden behind the Milky Way for decades. It has been a focus of her research over the last 25 years‚ and she has involved numerous students (notably at UCT) in this type of research.
“We’ve used a range of techniques‚ including telescopes at the SAAO‚ but only radio observations have really succeeded in allowing us to see through the thickest foreground layer of dust and stars in the inner Milky Way. An average galaxy contains 100 billion stars‚ so finding hundreds of new galaxies hidden behind the Milky Way points to a lot of mass we didn't know about until now‚” she said.
Prof Kraan-Korteweg mentions that such systematic surveys with radio telescopes are in a sense precursors to the much deeper surveys for neutral gas planned with the Square Kilometre Array precursors‚ such as MeerKAT.
Both Prof Kraan-Korteweg and Dr Schröder have been involved in this project since its inception in 1997. This included regular observing runs over many years with the Parkes Radio Telescope in Australia‚ data reduction‚ the actual search for signatures of the galaxies in the data‚ and presenting preliminary results at international conferences. Both were in charge of preparing major parts of the paper and are working on follow-up analysis‚ in particular using near-infrared data obtained with the SAAO IRSF (Infrared Survey Facility) using the motions of the detected galaxies to get better estimates of the overall mass density in the nearby universe.
|
<urn:uuid:2849f773-44c1-4616-a587-db53c8b40624>
|
CC-MAIN-2016-26
|
http://www.timeslive.co.za/scitech/2016/02/09/SA-astronomers-help-discover-hidden-galaxies-behind-Milky-Way
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783396147.66/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154956-00149-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.924115 | 1,051 | 3.15625 | 3 |
Roles of PDGF in animal development.
Recent advances in genetic manipulation have greatly expanded our understanding of cellular responses to platelet-derived growth factors (PDGFs) during animal development. In addition to driving mesenchymal proliferation, PDGFs have been shown to direct the migration, differentiation and function of a variety of specialized mesenchymal and migratory cell types, both during development and in the adult animal. Furthermore, the availability of genomic sequence data has facilitated the identification of novel PDGF and PDGF receptor (PDGFR) family members in C. elegans, Drosophila, Xenopus, zebrafish and mouse. Early data from these different systems suggest that some functions of PDGFs have been evolutionarily conserved.
PubMed ID: 12952899
Article link: Development.
Genes referenced: pdgfa
|
<urn:uuid:7ece9e20-558c-4fab-a7e2-c1262c1aee40>
|
CC-MAIN-2016-26
|
http://www.xenbase.org/literature/article.do?method=display&articleId=4752
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783397865.91/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154957-00059-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.932143 | 179 | 2.828125 | 3 |
The Pali word, upekkhā, which is generally translated in English as equanimity does not quite capture the full meaning of this ancient and important word.
Upekkhā is encountered throughout the Pali canon being associated with the four immeasurables or divine abodes of Brahma and as an important element of the fourth jhana which is considered in the scriptures to be the jumping point to Nirvana.
By examining the word’s construction, we can get a better idea of its meaning.
Upekkhā is formed from the prefix upa and the root ikh meaning, “to see.” The prefix upa generally means unto, to, towards, near, with; it has the notion of bringing towards or with.
Putting these two elements together the meaning of upekkhā can be understood as bringing towards what is one seeing, or a type of seeing which is characterized as bringing into one’s vision or bringing with one’s vision. In short, an inclusive sort of seeing that takes in things.
When we contrast this idea with apekkha the meaning of upekkhā becomes a lot clearer. Apekkha which is translated as longing for or desire has the same root as upekkhā (ikh) but with a different prefix, apa. The prefix apa is in some senses opposed to the prefix upa in that the prefix signifies away from, forth, down or on. Apekkha can thus be understood as looking away or a type of seeing that is characterized by looking forth towards something. This can be interpreted as a form of seeing which goes away from what is one currently seeing to the thing looked upon; a form of vision which leaves or excludes all except the thing desired.
Upekkhā being in a sense the opposite of apekkha, can now be undetstood as a form of seeing that gracefully includes whatever comes into the field of vision.
Unlike apekkha that is characterized by the exclusive movement of the mind away to something, upekkhā is characterized by the inclusive movement of the mind that brings in something. While the desire expressed in apekkha is discriminatory in that it distinguishes and focuses on one aspect of reality, upekkhā is nondiscriminatory in that it does not break up reality but includes all in it.
It is important to not get confused at this point and understand upekkhā as indifference. Indifference is not upekkhā because indifference is discriminatory while upekkhā is not. Unlike apekkha that focuses on one thing at the expense of other things, indifference excludes by focusing away from some things (generally things not considered important). As such indifference always involves value judgments unlike upekkhā that does not.
Hopefully at this point, upekkhā can be seen as a far richer word than the English word of equanimity. From this analysis, upekkhā can be better understood as a noncritical quality that embraces reality and the totality of existence.
I am looking for some comments on my interpretation of the word. Do you think it is sound?
|
<urn:uuid:4f42a7bc-f530-41ab-904c-ddfcfaf88c2b>
|
CC-MAIN-2016-26
|
http://www.dhammawheel.com/viewtopic.php?p=9041
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783396887.54/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154956-00173-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.963444 | 665 | 2.890625 | 3 |
Emily C. Walton
The family as a social institution. Historical changes and societal variation in family patterns. Changes over the life cycle. Alternative family forms.
In this course, we will transform our personal knowledge about families into a sociological understanding of family life. The sociological study of the family involves our ability to take a step back to assess structures that pattern our personal experiences and how the private decisions that happen in families matter to society as a whole. The course is structured to allow you to further develop your writing, critical thinking, and communication skills. We will spend class time on debates, discussions, group exercises, in-class writing, films, guest speakers, and lectures.
Student learning goals
General method of instruction
Class assignments and grading
1) Class Participation. This portion of your grade will be based upon your completion of preparatory writings for class discussions, quizzes, and in-class writing assignments and exercises.
2) Response Papers. I will assign 3 brief response papers throughout the quarter.
3) Mid-term Exam
4) Final Exam
|
<urn:uuid:b7e73770-32ba-4239-9de7-3431c6ff02fa>
|
CC-MAIN-2016-26
|
http://www.washington.edu/students/icd/S/soc/352waltone.html
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783402746.23/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624155002-00168-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.908591 | 218 | 3.234375 | 3 |
China's announcement today that it would ratify the Cartegena Biosafety Protocol [i] is likely to have long-term impacts on global agricultural trade, Greenpeace said today.
Greenpeace activists today occupy the cranes of the "Winner" to prevent its cargo of GMO soya from Argentina, reaching Spain. In the foreground Hungarian activist Atilla Soos.
China is now one of the world's largest importers of GM crops. Once China's ratification enters into force, [ii] international traders will have to inform and secure approval from Chinese authorities before exporting GM crops to China. "China is sending a strong message to the world that it is no dumping ground of GM crops. China's ratification will add immense weight to the protocol as it is one of the largest importers of GM crops as well as a major producing country," Greenpeace Campaigner Sze Pang Cheung said.
China is the fourth largest producer of GM crops, after the US, Argentina and Canada. China imported almost 20 million tons of soybean in 2003/04, and Chinese experts speculate that more than 70% of the imported soybean are GM. Countries like USA and Argentina which are exporting GM soybean to China would have to meet the requirements specified in the Biosafety Protocol, even though they are not parties to the international agreement.
Greenpeace has warned that huge imports of GM soybean pose a threat to China's biodiversity of soybean. Sze said: "We have witnessed Mexican maize contaminated by imported GM maize from the USA, and we need to make sure the same does not happen to the soybean in China, which is the center of origin and biodiversity of soybean."
China announced ratification of the Biosafety Protocol today in a press conference held by the State Environmental Protection Administration. The international agreement now has 119 parties, and the second meeting of the parties will be held in 30 May-3 June in Montreal, Canada.
China's capacity to regulate GM crops was cast in doubt recently after illegal GM rice was found to be sold and planted without official approval. If illegal GM rice contaminates rice export from China, it would be a violation of the Biosafety Protocol. Greenpeace urges Chinese government to recall and destroy all illegal GM rice, and to review its biosafety regulation to prevent similar contamination from happening.
SZE Pang Cheung, Campaigner, Greenpeace China, +86 10 6554 6931 ext. 110
May ZHOU, Media Officer, Greenpeace China, +86 10 6554 6931 ext. 105
[i] The first legally binding international agreement governing the transboundary movement of genetically modified organisms (GMOs)
[ii] China’s ratification will be effective 90 days after the Secretary-General of the United Nations UN receives its ratification instrument.
|
<urn:uuid:0ee6d650-df97-4f0d-8700-0bf47ca64dc4>
|
CC-MAIN-2016-26
|
http://www.greenpeace.org/eastasia/press/releases/food-agriculture/2005/china-s-new-agreement-to-impac_html/
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783398516.82/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154958-00153-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.934295 | 571 | 2.5625 | 3 |
The Constitution and various laws provide for freedom of association, public assembly, and worship so long as these freedoms are exercised in a manner consistent with requirements and standards of public order and morality. Government policies continued to contribute to the generally free practice of religion. The law prohibits proselytizing by non-Muslims and places some restrictions on public worship. The state religion is Islam.
The Government generally respected religious freedom in practice. There was no change in the status of respect for religious freedom by the Government during the period covered by this report. During the reporting period, notable progress was made including the public opening of a new Roman Catholic church facility.
There were no reports of societal abuses based on religious affiliation, belief, or practice, and prominent societal leaders took positive steps to promote religious freedom.
The U.S. Government discusses religious freedom with the Government as part of its overall policy to promote human rights.
Section I. Religious Demography
The country has an area of 4,254 square miles and a population of more than 1.5 million, of whom 225,000 are citizens. Of the citizen population, Sunni Muslims constitute the vast majority, while Shi'a Muslims account for less than 5 percent. There are a very small number of Baha'i and Christian citizens.
The preponderance of noncitizens are from South and Southeast Asia and Arab countries and are in the country on temporary employment contracts, in some cases accompanied by family members. Most noncitizens are Sunni or Shi'a Muslims, Christians, Hindus, or Buddhists. Most foreign workers and their families live near the major employment centers of Doha, Al Khor, Mesaieed, and Dukhan.
While the Government does not release figures regarding religious affiliation, some membership estimates for noncitizens, available from Christian community groups are as follows: Roman Catholics (80,000), Eastern and Greek Orthodox, and Anglicans (10,000), Copts (3,000). The Hindu community is almost exclusively from India, while Buddhists come from South, Southeast, and East Asia. There are 500 Baha'is of Iranian origin.
Section II. Status of Religious Freedom
The Constitution and various laws provide for freedom of association, public assembly, and worship so long as these freedoms are exercised in a manner consistent with requirements and standards of public order and morality. The law prohibits proselytizing by non-Muslims and places some restrictions on public worship. The state religion is Islam.
The Government and ruling family are strongly linked to Islam. Non-Muslims, however, serve in government posts. The Ministry of Islamic Affairs controls the construction of mosques, clerical affairs, and Islamic education for adults and new converts. The Amir participates in public prayers during both Eid holiday periods and personally finances the Hajj for citizen and noncitizen pilgrims who cannot otherwise afford to travel to Mecca.
Converting to another religion from Islam is considered apostasy and is technically a capital offense; however, since the country gained independence in 1971, there has been no recorded punishment for such an act.
The Government observes the Islamic holy days of Eid al-Fitr and Eid al-Adha as national holidays.
Both Muslims and non-Muslims are tried under the unified court system, incorporating both secular law and Shari'a (Islamic law). Convicted Muslims may earn a sentence reduction of a few months by memorizing the Qur'an. Litigants in civil cases may request the Shari'a courts to assume jurisdiction. In 2005 a panel for the Shi'a was established in the courts. The panel decides cases regarding marriage, divorce, inheritance, and other domestic matters. In other religious matters, the new Family Law applies across branches of Islam.
According to the Criminal Code, individuals caught proselytizing on behalf of an organization, society, or foundation of any religion other than Islam may be sentenced to a prison term of up to 10 years. Proselytizing on one's own accord for any religion other than Islam can result in a sentence of up to 5 years. Individuals who possess written or recorded materials or items that support or promote missionary activity can be imprisoned for up to 2 years.
Religious groups must register with the Government for legal recognition. The Government has granted legal status to Catholic, Anglican, Greek and other Eastern Orthodox, Coptic, and Indian Christian churches. It maintains an official register of approved religious groups. To be recognized, each group must have at least 1,500 members in the country. While evangelical congregations are not legally recognized because they individually lack the required membership, they organize worship and are provided physical security for their congregations by the Ministry of Interior when required.
The Government was designing a permanent intergovernmental committee to address issues concerning non-Muslim religious groups, including legal incorporation and sponsorship of religious leaders.
Islamic instruction is compulsory for Muslims attending state-sponsored schools. While there were no restrictions on non-Muslims providing private religious instruction for children, most foreign children attended secular private schools. Muslim children were allowed to go to secular and coeducational private schools.
The Government regulates the publication, importation, and distribution of all religious books and materials. However, in practice, individuals and religious institutions were not prevented from importing holy books and other religious items for personal or congregational use.
Restrictions on Religious Freedom
Government policy and practice contributed to the generally free practice of religion, although there were some restrictions.
The Government prohibited Christian congregations from advertising religious services or using religious symbols visible to the public, such as outdoor crosses; the Government has claimed, however, this was done to protect the congregations from attack by Muslim extremists. Nonetheless, the March 2008 public opening of the new Roman Catholic church was attended by the Deputy Prime Minister.
Hindus, Buddhists, Baha'is, and members of other eastern religious groups do not have authorized facilities in which to practice their religions. The Government generally considers members of these religious groups as transient members of the community not requiring permanent religious facilities or clergy; however, worship by these groups in private homes and workplaces is tolerated.
While discrimination against expatriates in the areas of employment, education, housing, and health services occurred, nationality was usually the determinant rather than religion.
There were no reports of religious prisoners or detainees in the country.
Forced Religious Conversion
There were no reports of forced religious conversion, including of minor U.S. citizens who had been abducted or illegally removed from the United States, or of the refusal to allow such citizens to be returned to the United States.
Improvements and Positive Developments in Respect for Religious Freedom
The new Roman Catholic church opened March 14, 2008, was the first church to be completed in Doha. The opening was attended by government officials, including the country's Deputy Prime Minister.
so continued on six other churches near Doha, fulfilling an agreement signed by the Government and Christian representatives in May 2005. Three other churches (two orthodox and one Indian Christian) are expected to be completed in 2008.
The Sixth Conference of Inter-Faith Dialogue took place in Doha May 13-14, 2008. Christian, Muslim, and Jewish representatives were invited. Invitations were extended to Muslim representatives, Roman Catholic, Anglican, Coptic, and Orthodox Churches, the Middle East Churches Council, the Vatican, and rabbis, among others. Rabbis from the United States and other countries participated. At the conclusion of the conference, the Government officially opened the "Doha International Center for Inter-Faith Dialogue" (DICID). The Government claims that although it finances the DICID, the center will function as an independent entity. The stated goal of the DICID is to promote interfaith dialogue and find common ground for understanding among Islam, Judaism, and Christianity, by following up on conference resolutions, papers, studies, and engaging local and international research centers and universities.
Section III. Societal Abuses and Discrimination
There were no reports of societal abuses based on religious affiliation, belief, or practice, and prominent societal leaders took positive steps to promote religious freedom. Discrimination was largely absent; however, there were a few reports of anti-Semitism in the media.
On occasion, in response to political events and developments in the region, some privately owned newspapers carried editorials and cartoons depicting caricatures of Jews and Jewish symbols that compared Israeli leaders and Israel to Hitler and the Nazis. These occurred primarily in the Arabic daily newspapers, Al-Watan, Al-Sharq, and Al-Raya, and drew no government response.
In an October 2007 editorial in Ash-Sharq, titled "Israel Is Using the Media to Mislead and Delude the Western Nations," the newspaper referred to the anti-Semitic Protocols of the Elders of Zion.
Section IV. U.S. Government Policy
The U.S. Government discusses religious freedom with the Government as part of its overall policy to promote human rights. The Embassy facilitated contacts between religious leaders and the Government and coordinated initiatives with other foreign embassies to increase their impact.
U.S. embassy officials also met with representatives of religious communities to discuss religious freedom issues, including protection of the interests of minority congregations. The Embassy brought these concerns to the attention of the National Human Rights Committee and other appropriate officials in the Government.
|
<urn:uuid:8e542b5d-79be-4b28-9e62-f1b1dcafd487>
|
CC-MAIN-2016-26
|
http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/anti-semitism/relqatar08.html
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783397749.89/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154957-00019-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.959196 | 1,902 | 2.828125 | 3 |
The purpose of this article is to explain the potential problems in installing every package that comes included in any given Linux distribution. For the most part, this is a bad practice and is not conducive to becoming proficient in Linux for either a seasoned professional or a newcomer (ie. “newbie”). It is my hope that this will help educate people on this subject matter.
There are some abundancy arguments that are commonly used and overstated. Specifically: Disk space, memory and bandwidth are all “cheap”. Technically none of these are always true. In fact these are almost always entirely false in third world countries.
There are some minimal advantages to installing everything. There will not be any dependency issues among software packages included in the software distribution. All software will be immediately available for use to try and test. Other advantages are possible, but these are the most relevant.
The problems I see are as follows:
- Most software will never be used and is redundant. Many of these applications are designed for experienced users who know how to install them even though they are not included in the default install. Examples: Most newbies do not use ‘vi’ or ’emacs’. Most
develpackages are only used for compilation.
- Every software whether used or not must be maintained if they may be accessed by multiple users whether remotely or locally. A typical problem would be for security updates or bugs that you would not normally encounter with default settings.
- Updates take longer and consume more resources. Everytime a system wide update is done (ex:
yum update) it needs to download updates for every single package on the system. Even though you may not pay for your bandwidth, there is some cost to the provider and could serve someone else who could use it more appropriately.
- (For new comers) You really do not learn anything. It is beneficial at times to understand how software dependancies work and to learn how to install software when needed. Needs change and are not the same for everyone.
- There is more immediate drain on local resources. Most distributions package enough software to run as either a server and/or a desktop. It does not make sense to run multiple server applications on a desktop machine. Furthermore, most distributions package some packages with the knowledge that some should not run at the same time, i.e. the installer should know what they are doing. Additionally many services and daemons perform redundant tasks, i.e. multiple FTP servers are not typically required or recommended.
- Although rare, some distributions may include conflicting versions of packages with the intention of the user selecting only one. This is typical of a distribution which may provide a new less popular version in addition to a widely used version. An example in past I’ve seen is (SuSE?) shipping both Apache 1.x as well as Apache 2.x.
- There are hardware specific options that should not be on every machine and require extra steps to update. In the case of Fedora Core, some kernel packages (which a small population require) are not updated on the same frequency as more common packages. This has lead to some confusion and difficulty.
- An additional note to Fedora Core users: Fedora Core has always been “bleeding edge” distribution, which basically means it will typically ship with the absolute latest (sometimes not adequately tested) software versions. Also there will always be some software included that may not make it into the next version or update.
Given these points, it is still entirely up to the end user as to what software they should install and use. However, it is very unlikely that anyone could potentially use every single included application. It is better to choose less than more and install as needed. Furthermore it is best to understand why something is needed as opposed to foolish assumptions that more unknown software is beneficial.
|
<urn:uuid:55c400e8-806c-4fc6-962e-01b01d6764b7>
|
CC-MAIN-2016-26
|
http://www.mjmwired.net/linux/2005/10/31/pitfalls-to-installing-everything/
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783400572.45/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624155000-00175-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.953203 | 791 | 2.625 | 3 |
This ball world contains green, red, and blue balls.
Watch the program execute and study it so you can replicate what it does.
Every time a ball collides with another, it loses some integrity. When that integrity becomes negative the ball splits into two.
Green balls are 'neutral', and splits into a red and blue ball. Occasionally a ball will get enraged and turn orange and speed up a lot. Red balls are aggressive and will 'chase' blue balls. Blue balls are defensive and will run away from red balls. Sometimes balls of the same color will merge into a larger ball of the same color.
|
<urn:uuid:796da0e1-29bc-4273-b3ca-fc6fd00399b6>
|
CC-MAIN-2016-26
|
http://www.openprocessing.org/user/16509
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783393093.59/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154953-00089-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.932364 | 127 | 3.03125 | 3 |
Organisms (animals, plants, parasites, viruses etc) not native to a region that when introduced, either intentionally or accidentally, out-compete native species for available resources. Invasive species become successful in their new environments due to their high reproductive rates and absence of native predators and diseases. Invasive species can have negative economic, social, environmental and human health implications.
An aquatic invasive species (AIS) can either live in freshwater or marine environments. The majority of the species of concern to Manitoba, such as Zebra and Quagga mussels, Spiny Waterflea, Rusty Crayfish and Asian Carp are freshwater species. Manitoba currently has 15 aquatic invasive species. This number is small compared to the number of aquatic invasive species found in the Great Lakes (>200) and Mississippi (> 120) drainage basins.
Zebra Mussels were confirmed in Lake Winnipeg in the fall of 2013 and the Red River and Cedar Lake 2015.
Zebra Mussels are small (1 - 3 cm), clam-like aquatic animals that are a significant environmental and economic concern to Manitoba. Native to Eastern Europe and Western Asia, Zebra Mussels have caused millions of dollars in damage to the Laurentian Great Lakes area and have cost the North American economy billions of dollars to control. Despite the successful eradication of Zebra Mussels in the four treated harbours in Lake Winnipeg in 2014, Zebra Mussels were found elsewhere in the south basin and are successfully reproducing. Lake Winnipeg is in the early stages of invasion by Zebra Mussels – eradication is no longer an option.
Adult Zebra Mussels have a shell and can strongly attach to water-based conveyances such as watercraft, trailers, water-based aircraft, ORVs and other water-related equipment. They can survive out of water for 7 to 30 days depending on temperature and humidity.
Larval Zebra Mussels, called veligers, passively move downstream by water movement and are invisible to the naked eye. Veligers rely on water to survive thus they can be inadvertently carried in small amounts of water transported by un-drained watercraft, water-based aircraft, ORVs and water-based equipment such as bait buckets.
Once Zebra Mussels become established they cannot be eradicated, so it is extremely important to stop their spread.
An adult Zebra Mussel
Microscopic Zebra Mussel veligers found in a small sample of water
All Water Users – Stop the Spread of Zebra Mussels
CLEAN + DRAIN + DRY your watercraft, trailer and all water-related equipment and
|
<urn:uuid:e1b92388-f58f-456c-a18c-be77d8d26cdd>
|
CC-MAIN-2016-26
|
http://www.gov.mb.ca/conservation/waterstewardship/stopais/
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783404405.88/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624155004-00140-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.936425 | 535 | 3.59375 | 4 |
September 24, 2008
Physicists Discover ‘Dark Flow’ Motion
Scientists using data from the U.S. space agency's Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe have identified an unexpected motion in distant galaxy clusters.
National Aeronautics and Space Administration researchers say the cause of the motion might be the gravitational attraction of matter that lies beyond the observable universe."The clusters show a small but measurable velocity that is independent of the universe's expansion and does not change as distances increase," said lead researcher Alexander Kashlinsky at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md. "We never expected to find anything like this."
Kashlinsky calls the collective motion "dark flow" in the vein of more familiar cosmological mysteries such as dark energy and dark matter. "The distribution of matter in the observed universe cannot account for this motion," he said.
|
<urn:uuid:29de6180-26b4-4bbe-9d9f-b5d1f87a6c6b>
|
CC-MAIN-2016-26
|
http://www.redorbit.com/news/space/1566641/physicists_discover_dark_flow_motion/
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783395621.98/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154955-00191-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.918221 | 181 | 3.3125 | 3 |
Every year all over the world, 10 million girls under 18 are married, often to much older men. That is more people than live in London. In a decade, 100 million underage girls become brides, almost twice the population of the entire United Kingdom. It’s been years since this practice was determined to violate international human rights agreements, yet even today one-third of the girls in the developing world are wives.
Yesterday some of the world’s adults have put their collective foot down. Members of The Elders, a group of eminent global leaders including Archbishop Desmond Tutu and Mary Robinson, former President of Ireland, gathered at the 2011 meeting of the Clinton Global Initiative to announce the launch of an international campaign, Girls Not Brides, aimed at ending child marriage in a generation.
The effort will focus on supporting activists who are already on the front lines of change in their countries. For example, a program called Berhane Hewan in Ethiopia’s Amhara region, where the half of all girls are married by age 15, helps unmarried girls gain the knowledge, skills, and resources they need to remain independent. Similarly, the Development Initiative Supporting Healthy Adolescents (DISHA) program in India focuses on building girls skills, creating community support for the cause, and encouraging youth-friendly health services.
Getting married so young is profoundly damaging, both for the girls themselves and to their societies. Girls under 15 are five times as likely to die in childbirth than women in their twenties. Those that survive may face traumatic birthing-related injuries like fistula. Meanwhile, lacking power to refuse sex, these girls are at great danger for HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases.
The damage goes beyond that done to the children. The societies in which they live suffer for the girls’ illiteracy and lack of independence. Studies (here, here) show that countries whose women are educated and empowered make better progress in improving standards of living, health, and opportunity for their populations.
“There’s a correlation between having child marriage and really bad development outcomes—on health, on maternal mortality, on education, on poverty, on the generational transmission of poverty.” said Anju Malhotra, a leading expert on the issue at the International Center for Research on Women, Monday on a panel about the campaign.
While defenders of the practice hold up religion, culture, or tradition as justification, the campaign’s supporters are out of patience with that reasoning. “There is no religion whose fundamental principles and values promote child marriage,” writes Mozambican social and political activist and member of The Elders Graça Machel. And as for traditions, they “are made by us, and we can decide to change them.”
|
<urn:uuid:41f71dbf-5c1e-4ca7-8bc6-3cb42fc2064c>
|
CC-MAIN-2016-26
|
http://www.slate.com/blogs/xx_factor/2011/09/21/clinton_global_initiative_girls_not_brides_campaign_aims_to_end_.html
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783391634.7/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154951-00187-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.954978 | 568 | 2.90625 | 3 |
Episode 22: Virtual Classrooms
Image courtesy of flickr user dullhunk
Blogs, YouTube, Facebook, and wikis are just a few of so-called Web 2.0 technologies that are transforming the look and feel of science on the Web. Last week a group of leading science educators met at CHF during the annual Leadership in Science Education Conference to discuss how these new media technologies are affecting science education. To find out more about how students are using the internet, we spoke with John Horrigan, an expert on broadband and associate director for research at the Pew Internet and American Life Project. We also take a look at popular internet science videos, like the oscillating reaction shown above. Finally, Abigail Paske, a science teacher in Oakland, California, shares her experiences dealing with No Child Left Behind. Element of the Week: Iodine.
00:00 Opening Credits
01:04 Conversation with John Horrigan
05:00 Element of the Week
08:01 Science Education in the Era of No Child Left Behind
10:58 Quote: Mary Shelley
11:16 Closing Credits
Resources and References
On the Riggs Brauscher reaction: Instructions and an explanation from the University of Leeds Chemistry Department.
For surveys of internet users, analysis of current Web trends, and more: The Pew Internet and American Life Project.
White papers summarizing LISE 5 and LISE 4 are available online.
Special thanks to Audra Wolfe for researching the show.
Our theme music is composed by Dave Kaufman. Additional music was provided by the Podsafe Music Network. The music at the end of the interview is “Upbeat for Cable TV,” by Andrew Chalfen. In the Element of the Week, you’re hearing “Stopped Time,” by 37Hz. The music at the end of the show is “The Land of Candy,” by Chris Resu.
|
<urn:uuid:af6ed14a-c4f4-4bde-b713-45c1e35c7da2>
|
CC-MAIN-2016-26
|
http://www.chemheritage.org/discover/media/distillations/022-virtual-classrooms.aspx
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783396147.66/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154956-00073-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.892101 | 399 | 2.5625 | 3 |
A new study shows that the use of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) like ibuprofen during pregnancy does not lead to an increased risk of miscarriage, possibly offering mothers-to-be a safe and reliable way to quell pain, fever, and inflammation.
Dr. Amalia Levy, researcher at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev and Soroka Medical Center in Israel and co-author of the new study, said in a press release that over-the counter drugs like ibuprofen, naprozen, and diclofenac are not associated with a higher rate of spontaneous abortion, or miscarriage. Despite inconsistent results from previous studies, the fast-acting pain-relievers appear to be perfectly safe for expectant women and their developing children. “We found no important associations between exposure to NSAIDs, either by group or for most specific NSAID drugs, and risk of spontaneous abortion," she said.
The study, which is published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal, examined data on 65,457 pregnant women admitted to Soroka Medical Center in Beer-Shava, Israel between 2003 and 2009. Ninety percent of the sample gave birth to a healthy baby, and the remaining 10 percent miscarried. About 7 percent of the group had taken NSAIDs during their first trimester of pregnancy.
Levy and colleagues found that about 8.2 percent of women exposed to NSAID suffered a miscarriage. For women who didn’t take the anti-inflammatories, the figure was 10 percent. "The fact that the study was based on large proportion of the district population, was adjusted to nearly all known risk factors for miscarriages (tobacco use, obesity, IVF, uterine malformations, hypercoagulable conditions, intrauterine contraceptive device etc.) and used advanced statistical methods strengthens the validity of the results," Levy explained.
Ibuprofen During Pregnancy
The current study comes in response to the public confusion surrounding the safety of anti-inflammatory drugs like ibuprofen during pregnancy. According to Levy, this confusion is likely the result of previous research efforts, which have yielded conflicting results. Although two studies have found a connection between NSAID exposure and an elevated risk for miscarriage, the apparent association can also be attributed to flawed methodology, she said in an email to Medical Daily.
“The first study that found an association was performed in the United States, but only part of the women agreed to participate. That exposes the results to a bias, because the sample does not necessarily represent the population,” she explained. “Our study, on the other hand, used 70% of the population on the southern district of Israel.”
Similarly, the second study may have misrepresented the number of women taking NSAIDs, as it measured exposure by drugs prescribed rather than drugs sold. “Filling a prescription does not represent actual use of the drug prescribed,” Levy continued. “In our study, exposure was measured by a dispensation of the drugs, which means the women actually bought it.”
Source: Daniel S, Koren G, Lunenfeld E, Levy A. Fetal exposure to nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs and spontaneous abortions. Canadian Medical Association Journal. 2014.
|
<urn:uuid:a2bbb5a8-303f-4857-9aca-11218f73096d>
|
CC-MAIN-2016-26
|
http://www.medicaldaily.com/ibuprofen-nsaids-during-pregnancy-do-not-increase-risk-miscarriage-previous-research-identifying
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783391766.5/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154951-00071-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.959922 | 678 | 2.71875 | 3 |
Children's Ukulele Method
This ukulele method was written for children and beginners of all ages. Beginning with simple chords and songs this method is perfect for all beginners. Students are also taught to play and read single note lines on the ukulele. Proper holding, strumming and picking techniques are taught through text and pictures. Large text, notes and diagrams make this an easy book to use. The songs used in this method are well-known tunes for players of any age. Accompanying CD contains all examples and songs in the book. Standard notation only.
This item is no longer available for purchase.
|
<urn:uuid:11c80a85-8678-4636-b477-491e0403a7c4>
|
CC-MAIN-2016-26
|
http://www.swstrings.com/product/music/folk/GP-SH-21138BCD
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783395613.65/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154955-00191-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.946276 | 130 | 3.453125 | 3 |
The Deepwater Horizon oil spill, a BP project in the Gulf of Mexico, began in April of 2010. The oil rig collapsed and it took some three months to cap the gusher. During that, concern was also on how to clean up the over four million barrels of oil in the environment
Among other approaches, the government used the Corexit oil dispersant, which emulsifies oil into balls and microbes, such as the genetically modified marine bacterium Alcanivorax borkumensis and the Colwellia species of bacteria, to consume it. And it worked, but a new paper says some of the more toxic components still remain.
Deepwater Horizon fire. Credit: Bennington.edu
In two new studies conducted in a deep sea plume, researchers found that Colwellia likely consumed gaseous hydrocarbons and perhaps benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene and xylene compounds that were released as part of the oil spill but toxic parts of the oil spill in the water column plume and the oil that settled on the seafloor remain. The toxic contaminants are called polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons or PAHs, a group of semi-volatile organic compounds that are present in crude oil and are linked to long-term health problems, including cancer.
The scientists investigated the oil deposits on 64 sediment samples in different areas around the oil wellhead. To understand the functional capacity of the microorganisms to degrade oil, microbial DNA was sequenced in 14 of those samples. Of those 14, seven of the samples exceeded the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's water quality benchmarks for aquatic life due to PAHs.
"Those PAHs could persist for a long time, particularly if they are buried in the ocean floor where lack of oxygen would slow PAH degradation by microorganisms," said Florida State University Assistant Professor Olivia Mason, a biological oceanographer. "They're going to persist in the environment and have deleterious effects on whatever is living in the sediment."
Four years after the Deepwater Horizon spill occurred, it's still unclear how many barrels of oil spilled into the Gulf of Mexico and if that oil has been accounted for, which means it could be having unknown environmental consequences for the region.
Citation: Olivia U. Mason, James Han, Tanja Woyke, Janet K. Jansson, 'Single-cell genomics reveals features of a Colwellia species that was dominant during the Deepwater Horizon oil spill', Front. Microbiol., 07 July 2014 doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2014.00332. Source: Florida State University
|
<urn:uuid:d44e533d-dc36-4b3f-99b3-201debc0d6e8>
|
CC-MAIN-2016-26
|
http://www.science20.com/news_articles/gulf_oil_spill_microbiology_approach_worked_but_toxic_contaminants_remain-141674
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783402479.21/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624155002-00157-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.959022 | 541 | 3.671875 | 4 |
Unsustainable and destructive mining practices have had a serious impact on the environment, ecosystems, and human health since the industry’s inception. Hardrock mining releases more toxic substances — such as mercury, arsenic, lead, and cyanide — than any other industry in the United States. And here are just a few other “side effects” of mining on public lands in the West: cyanide spills; wildlife habitat destruction and fish kills caused by poisoned waters; and water pollution caused by acid mine drainage, which leaches potentially toxic heavy metals like lead, copper, and zinc from rocks.
In 1998, Nevada mines — which topped the Toxics Release Inventory's polluter list — released about 1.3 billion pounds of toxics into the environment; one Nevada mine alone reported that it had spewed out 80,000 pounds of mercury, with over 9,000 of those pounds released directly into the air. In Arizona in that same year, the Cyprus Miami copper mine unloaded twice as much toxic waste (123 million pounds) as that released by all of New York state (60 million pounds).
According to the Mineral Policy Center, damaging effluents from mines have polluted more than 12,000 miles of American rivers and streams and 180,000 acres of lakes and reservoirs, destroying drinking water supplies and crucial wildlife habitat and presenting a burgeoning threat to already overtaxed underground aquifers. Surging energy markets magnify these threats as the pressure to increase uranium exploration and mining mounts throughout the West.
The law that governs mining on public lands in the United States hasn’t changed in more than a century — a century that has seen the development of a massive multinational mining industry and modern technologies that could not have been foreseen when the law was originally written. When the General Mining Law of 1872 (“the 1872 law”) was passed, the federal government was pushing hard for white settlement of the West; the law was intended to facilitate prospecting and thereby encourage colonial expansion into arid, "empty" lands.
The 1872 law grants an absolute right to mine but sets no standards for prudent mine operations, mine site cleanup, reclamation or restoration, or financial responsibility. Despite being the largest U.S. producers of hazardous waste, mining companies have used their political clout to exempt themselves from most federal hazardous-waste laws. Also, unless Congress specifically exempts a certain wilderness, national park, or wildlife refuge from new mineral claims, mining is permitted on these lands as well. Claims predating the withdrawal of land from mineral claims can be developed and mined if a valuable mineral deposit can be proven.
Mining companies, whether domestic or foreign, pay the federal government nothing for the more than $4 billion in minerals removed from public lands each year. Corporations claim that the payment of royalties for minerals removed from federal public land would create such a financial burden that they'd be put out of business. While making this claim, of course, hardrock mining companies routinely pay royalties to mine on private and state lands, and they even pay to sellers of federal-land mining claims. By contrast with hardrock miners, coal miners do pay a royalty to the federal government; yet coal production has increased by 40 percent since 1977.
The ecological cost of mining is far greater than any benefits that might accrue for the American people. Large corporations can legally steal minerals from public lands, sticking taxpayers with the ecological and health impacts associated with mining pollution — in addition to the bill for cleaning it up. Given the tragic history of mining for people and the environment, the time for reforming the 1872 law is long overdue.
The Center has been working for years to combat harmful public lands mining in the western United States by challenging public-land trades and other actions facilitating mining on federal property. As we monitor and review proposed mining projects on western public lands, we strategically target and oppose those projects that stand to do the most damage to species and the ecosystems they depend on.Most recently, in January 2010, an appeal by the Center and a coalition of groups and individuals halted the expansion of the massive Black Mesa Coal Complex in Arizona. We also compelled the Environmental Protection Agency to withdraw a controversial water permit for the Black Mesa coal mine, which had been discharging toxic heavy metal and pollutants.
Also in 2009, we won a grand victory for the Grand Canyon when Interior Secretary Salazar announced a two-year halt on new uranium-mining claims and exploration on 1 million acres of land near Grand Canyon National Park, with potential for a 20-year withdrawal of those lands from most uranium mining. The announcement came after we sued Interior for authorizing uranium exploration on the same 1 million acres, despite a Congressional resolution explicitly calling for the withdrawal of those lands from new uranium development. Unfortunately, despite the Obama administration’s halt, the Bureau of Land Management approved the reopening of the defunct Arizona 1 mine within the specified 1 million acres. The Center sued the Bureau in November 2009.
In earlier anti-uranium action, in 2008 we sued the Forest Service for illegally approving up to 39 new uranium-exploration drilling sites near Grand Canyon National Park, reaching a settlement in September that required the Forest Service and the mining firm involved to withdraw drilling approval and undergo a full environmental impact statement process before making any effort to drill. In the summer of the same year, we filed suit against the Department of Energy over its decision to vastly expand its uranium mining program on 42 square miles of public land near Colorado’s spectacular Dolores River Canyon.
But the Center’s active opposition to destructive mining practices goes back much further than 2008. In 1997, for instance, we won an appeal of a Bureau of Land Management plan to sell 460 acres of land to Phelps Dodge for $400 an acre. The sale would have allowed the company to reopen its Lavender Mine outside Bisbee, Arizona. Also that year, along with the San Carlos Apache tribe, we appealed the trade of 3,600 acres of Bureau of Land Management land for 1,000 acres of Phelps Dodge land to the mining giant. The agency had refused to analyze the effects of future mining on the property.
Early 2000 saw an important victory for the Center, its allies, and the Mojave National Preserve when the National Park Service rejected an appeal by the operators of the Cima Cinder Mine to an order to cease all mining operations within the new Mojave National Preserve. The Park Service ordered a halt to all mining in August 1999 after the Center, Friends of Mojave National Park, and the National Parks and Conservation Association filed a formal notice of intent to sue on behalf of the Preserve. The mine had been operating illegally and without a permit since 1995.
In August 2003, we won a key victory at Zuni Salt Lake after 10 years of diligence. In a big win for environmental protection and preservation of sacred sites, the Phoenix-based utility Salt River Project announced that it was abandoning its plans to develop the proposed Fence Lake coal strip mine in western New Mexico, which would have provided electricity for the utility’s customers in the Phoenix metropolitan area.
|Photo courtesy Wikimedia commons/Stephen Codrington||HOME / DONATE NOW / SIGN UP FOR E-NETWORK / CONTACT US / PHOTO USE /|
|
<urn:uuid:014e600e-0847-44d8-ba7f-011cb12cfad4>
|
CC-MAIN-2016-26
|
http://www.biologicaldiversity.org/programs/public_lands/mining/index.html
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783392099.27/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154952-00174-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.94126 | 1,480 | 3.84375 | 4 |
Mitad del Mundo Half of the World
First Geodesic Mission
The First Geodesic Mission arrived to Ecuador in 1736 conformed by the French Pedro Bouger, Luis Godin and Carlos Maria de la Condamine, the Spanish Jorge Juan and Antonio de Ulloa and the Ecuadorian Pedro Vicente Maldonado to verify of scientific way the Earth roundness. The studies mission lasted nine years and after this long period of time, it began to call the territory of Quito "Territories of Ecuador" taking the reference to the parallel that divides the planet in two hemispheres. One second mission arrived to Quito in 1802, headed by the French Charles Perrier and it settles down in the country and it corroborated the data collected by the first group of investigators.
In 1836, the Ecuadorian geographer Luis Tufiño, located the landmarks left by the First Mission and to commemorate the visit of the scientific expedition, an obelisk of 10 meters high in San Antonio de Pichincha was erected, which was later transferred to Calacalí by the Provincial Council.
The City Half of the World
The Honorable Provincial Advice of Pichincha, HCPP, initiated in 1979 the construction of the present monument of 30 meters high, to emphasize the importance of the work of the First Geodesic Mission. Next to this block, the tourist villa was built "City Half of the World", using classic colonial architectonic outlines: the church, the greater park and the town hall. Surrounding to these constructions is a bullring, several artisan warehouses, restaurants, cafeterias, post office.
The location of the Half of the World is city is 13 kilometers to the north of Quito. Equinoctial or parallel imaginary line zero (0°0 ' 0") crosses east valley, dividing the planet Earth in two hemispheres: North and the South.
From the terrace of the monument reminder to the scientific expedition of century XVIII the Andean surroundings of Half of the World can be contemplated. And in their interior are nine levels that conform the Ethnographic Museum, where the variety of ethnic groups that live in the four regions of Ecuador are displayed. At the entrance of the City Half of the World, the tourists can find the 13 busts that represent the scientific members of the French Geodesic Mission. This street is called the Geodesic Avenue
Towards the north, the City Half of the World is the sample characteristic of the colonial style, tourist can appreciate the Central park, scene of the cultural and artistic programming which happen every weekend. The only church in the world furrowed by the Equatorial Line, residences of colonial architecture where the national art are exhibit, crafts, textiles and jewelry shops.
The following route is in the South hemisphere where is the Planetarium, the Solar Museum, installed in the Germany Pavilion; this is an exhibition of the archaeological sites and investigations that are taking place in the Equinoctial Valley.
In the France's Pavilion is the exhibition of the history of the exact measurements of the Earth, through instruments, photographers, illustrations and scale models are showing in detailed to the tourists.
The Philatelic Museum is another attraction that City has. Here are exposed thematic educational, ecological, sports, culture; philatelic, numismatic presentations and currency and paper money.
The Foundation "Quito Colonial" presents and displays in its rooms the Scale models of the Historical Center of Quito, Guayaquil, and in the future it will be present Galapagos Island and Cuenca City.
|
<urn:uuid:528d9ad5-111a-43ab-9d21-66b4e98b5048>
|
CC-MAIN-2016-26
|
http://www.ecuadorsbest.com/mitaddelmundo.html
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783399106.96/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154959-00028-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.919139 | 749 | 3.125 | 3 |
Skip to Main Content
This report describes a network mesh analysis technique which can be used to calculate transient or steady-state eddy current distributions on a conducting surface. In general, the surface may have any continuous three-dimensional shape, may vary in surface resistivity, and may include holes. The surface is divided into a network of branches for each of which are calculated a resistance, a self-inductance, and a set of mutual inductances to all other branches. The resulting branch resistance and branch inductance matrices are transformed into mesh matrices using a conventional network procedure. A set of simultaneous differential equations can then be established to solve for eddy currents. The set of equations is generally solved for a time series of eddy currents caused by an external source of excitation. Various initial conditions can be used to find other solutions of interest such as the self decay of an arbitrary current distribution. Great simplification is possible by imposing boundary conditions to take advantage of symmetry. In addition, the set of equations needs to be solved one time only for the special cases of pure inductance, pure resistance, or steady-state.
|
<urn:uuid:005f59ce-b8cf-4b1c-a3f3-b1e7b33c8c01>
|
CC-MAIN-2016-26
|
http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/xpl/articleDetails.jsp?reload=true&arnumber=1061879&sortType%3Dasc_p_Sequence%26filter%3DAND(p_IS_Number%3A22852)
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783399425.79/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154959-00006-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.930548 | 228 | 2.71875 | 3 |
Unix/Linux SystemI do a huge amount of testing in Linux and Unix environments, mostly through tools available in the command shell. There are a wealth of tools and tricks to help testers to understand what is happening with both the software and the machine while testing.
- drop_caches Not strictly a "tool" however this addition to the Linux 2.6 kernel, giving the ability to clear the Linux buffer cache by writing to the /proc/sys/vm/drop_caches virtual file, is an essential in ensuring your performance testing is not giving you misleading results due to loading files from memory, a subject I wrote about in this post. To use simply echo a code out to the file
- gdb Allows either attaching to a process to analyse the call stack of the processing threads, or attaching to a core dump from a system crash. I only touch the surface using gdb, mainly getting thread backtraces - my programmer colleagues can examine memory addresses and values of crash files to identify the exact cause of application crashes. The most useful options are
- lsof lsof provides a list of open files on the system, with the option of narrowing to files for a specific user or process using the appropriate parameters. In Linux/Unix environments a "file" actually includes not only disk files but also pipes and network sockets.
- netstat Lists network connections. Despite the availability of the tool on Windows I've included in the Unix/Linux section as I don't tend to use the Windows version, preferring the tools I've listed there. I use netstat occasionally when examining client server connections e.g. when testing odbc/jdbc driver connectivity to ensure there are no connection leaks. I tend to stick to the following command
- $RANDOM While not exactly a tool, the $RANDOM variable can be very useful for quickly randomising a sequence of tests. Take a file of inputs, create a list of $RANDOM values the same length and combine the two using paste. Sort the result and you have a randomised list.
- ps Incredibly useful little tool that allows you to examine details on the processes running on the machine. Using various output flags it is possible to examine process id, session id, simple memory and cpu usage and other characteristics of the server processes. I tend to use this in a scripting loop to gather information over time and analyse the behaviour of my application's processes over the course of an event, e.g
- pmap Pmap provides a memory map of an active process on Linux. The summary lines are useful to parse and gather from a graphing perspective. As mentioned in the ps entry, the output of ps is limited as it does not distinguish between shared and non-shared memory. For more accurate memory measurements I tend to take the summary line from pmap and select shared/non-shared memory as appropriate.
- strace Allows tracing of system calls by a process ID. This can be very useful to identify if a process is looping on file access, or simply inefficiently using system files. In very simple terms, to see all calls
- top A useful interactive linux tool for monitoring current activity. Supports a wealth of flags and options for filtering and sorting activity based on key criteria. See also topas on AIX, prstat on Solaris. I use top for interactive monitoring when I want to manually monitor behaviour on a machine running tests.
echo $val > /prov/sys/vm/drop_cachesWhere a $val value of 1 flushes page cache, 2 flushes dentries and inodes and 3 flushes all of the above.
bt - to get backtrace from the active thread at the point of attaching/crashing
thread apply all bt - gets a backtrace from all active threads
I use a here document to output to a file e.g.
adam>gdb MyProgram core.1234 > file.txt <<EOF
thread apply all bt
lsof -U$UIDA list of open files is sometimes not particularly useful in itself, unless you know what you are expecting to see. When I use lsof it is generally in the context of what James Bach described to me as "consistency relationships", i.e. I know what the output looks like for comparable states or processes and I can use this knowledge as the basis of deciding whether or not the current output constitutes a problem. I monitor and check against lsof counts in automated testing to check for file and socket leaks in processes. As with other such tools, a diff comparison is an excellent way of analysis the output across a test to check for problems.
netstat -tulnapas it is easy to remember and allows me to grep for the addresses and ports that I am interested in. The specific parameters are:-
t=TPC/IP connections; u=UDP connections; l=listening ports; n=Show ports as numeric ; a=Show all ; p=show owning program and PIDs.
adam>len=`cat file.txt | wc -l`
adam>for i in `seq 1 $len` ; do echo $RANDOM >> rfile.txt ; done
adam>paste -d"|" rfile.txt file.txt | sort -t"|" -n
while true ; dowill give process id, command name, rss and vsz memory, cpu utilisation and command line arguments to a file every 10 seconds for every process owned by the current user.
ps -u$UID -o pid,comm,rss,vsz,%cpu,args >> pslog
NB The memory information output by ps is somewhat unreliable in that each process lists includes shared memory. For more accurate memory measurements I use pmap (see below).
The richer "maps" are quite inaccessible when observing them from a static viewpoint, however by comparing maps between processes or between different points in time on the same process (e.g. using a diff tool), issues such as memory leaks can be identified.
I use pmap rarely interactively, but when I do need it it is invaluable, for example when trying to pin down increases in memory usage or apparent memory leaks. I've also integrated pmap into my automated regression testing and in this respect I use it on a daily basis.
strace -p <processid>To see only file open calls
strace -e open -p <processid>
Windows environmentWindows has a number of built in tools that are great for testing including basics like the task manager and event viewer to more advanced options such as the PerfMon data collection tool. In addition I use the following tools to debug and diagnose behaviour in a Windows environment:-
- BareTail This is a nice, albeit limited, application on Windows. It essentially mimics the "tail -f" capabilities in Linux of following a file as it is being generated, such as a log file. It neatly allows specific lines to be highlighted based on the content, making it easier to search for certain content. I don't use it extensively on its own but as I wrote in a post which I'll update here, it combines nicely with RapidReporter to allow note taking and highlighted items from the session. Many thanks to Joe Strazzere for pointing this tool out to me, via this post.
- cports AKA CurrPorts: A very nifty little tool which shows all of the port activity on the windows box, including the Process ID, protocol, local and remote IP address and ports as well as the connection state.
- Cygwin Cygwin provides a bash interpreter for Windows machines. For anyone who is used to manipulating files and scripting tasks in a Linux environment, Cygwin provides a shell environment in Windows where you can utilise many of the basic bash commands and command line tools. Being frustrated by the limitations of Windows batch scripting, and not knowing powershell, this is essential for me.
- Depends Does similar job to ldd on Linux. This great little tool does a "dependency walk" of an application or module and tells you what DLLs that module depends upon.
- Process Explorer You know when Windows annoyingly states that you can't delete a file because another process has it open. ProcExp lets you find out which process that is. That in itself justifies it as an essential tool. ProcExp essentially provides a much richer version of the Windows Task manager. In addition to information on processes and their memory usage you get useful information such as registry keys and file handles.
- ProcMon ProcMon is the newer version of the excellent FileMon - allows you to monitor file access on a Windows machine and filter for specific programs or files.
DatabaseI work extensively with database and data access technologies. The following tools are very useful simple tools for testing against a generic database system (NB my remote data access tends to be limited to a querying capacity rather than database admin, which is why you won't see tools such as Toad in the list) :-
- Microsoft ODBC Test This is a great ODBC Testing tool as it allows access at the API interface level to test ODBC commands. It does require an understanding of ODBC in order to use it, however using the tool itself is an excellent way to build that understanding. Comes in 32 and 64 bit ANSI and Unicode versions.
- ExecuteQuery The best open source JDBC tool that I have seen. Primarily a JDBC data querying tool, ODBC access is also supported, albeit via an ODBC/JDBC bridge connection. Simple and relatively robust this tool is the first place I look when trying out the validity of a JDBC connection (the second place is debugging directly with Java code and eclipse).
Analysis and Documentation
There are many ways to record and analyse the information that we collect through our testing activities. I work in a Windows desktop environment so most of my analysis and analysis tools are for Windows. Here are a select few tools that I use regularly.
- DiffMerge Excellent tool for comparing files to look for anomalies and smells. See this post for a detailed example of how I use DiffMerge. I got a lot of feedback after that post suggesting WinDiff as a good alternative.
- Excel Simply the best. If I could use only one application in my testing efforts, it would be excel. The combination of recording and analytical capabilities make this an essential part of my testing activities. Many vendors out there scoff at the use of excel in documenting testing, arguing for a complete solution. I've not yet seen another tool that has the combination of flexibility, simplicity and power in terms of reporting and analysis. See this post for one example of the ways I use excel for reporting.
- Hi-Editor A use this sparingly but it is a very useful little editor if you need to open BIG files. When notepad++ gives up the ghost, I get this editor out. At the time of writing this I am using this editor to examine debug tracing files of over 500MB in size.
- HxD I use this tool primarily as a hex editor. It allows the examination, editing and comparison of files viewed in Hexadecimal form. This is particularly useful to me when I'm testing extended or special characters and I want to avoid being fooled by the application of a character set, by examining the raw data directly. As with HiEditor, HxD is designed for large files and seems to cope with massive files with no problem at all. HxD also has the ability to view and edit disk images and process memory directly , although I don't use it in this capacity.
- Notepad++ Awesome editor. I wrote a post a while ago on how I discovered some great features in notepad++ to help with my testing. The ability to search across all open files, explore and search directories and apply standard or custom syntax highlighting makes this tool incredibly useful. The clean and seamless ability to work with files in different formats from different operating systems (UTF-8, ASCII, with and without Windows BOM, CRLF or LF line endings) has resulted in me recommending this editor to any customers who are getting confused over how to view their international data.
- Rapid Reporter Written by a fantastic chap called Shmuel Gershon, Rapid Reporter is an exploratory note taking tool. I personally don't tend to use it for my exploratory testing, preferring Excel, however I do make use of this tool when performing static reviews, notably static code analysis or even in a non-testing capacity of reviewing multiple CVs when recruiting.
- Xmind I'm not one of those testers who believes that everything should be done as a mind map. I use electronic mind maps sparingly but surgically, for those specific tasks where I need an extended breakdown of an area. This usually applies at a higher level than actual coal face interactive testing, such as when planning an approach to a piece of work like defining a test approach for a new feature or preparing a presentation.
Xmind is the best I've found for this purpose, primarily through its ease of use. Want a new Subordinate, hit TAB. Want a new peer node, hit enter. I find that mouse and right click navigaton lets down many otherwise good visual tools and Xmind has overcome this problem very well through thoughful keyboard accessibility. I use the excellent free option but there is also a paid version that allows advanced features and upload and sharing of mind maps.
I've listed here some of the tools that are most useful to me in my day to day testing activities. I've not listed them all, and certainly not done some justice, but hopefully in sharing this information it will help others looking for useful tools to solve their testing problems. In my team when we find a useful tool we try to run a session demonstrating to the rest of the team, encouraging a culture of shared learning. Hopefully this page will help to contribute to this endeavour in the wider testing community.
|
<urn:uuid:d6ef383b-9080-41bf-a809-3c8557c4a519>
|
CC-MAIN-2016-26
|
http://www.a-sisyphean-task.com/p/selection-of-testing-tools.html
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783395992.75/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154955-00175-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.912211 | 2,896 | 2.78125 | 3 |
When Oxford's Atlas of the World first appeared it was widely praised for the beauty and accuracy of its maps and for its wealth of geographical information. Booklist hailed it as "one of the most current atlases available today... Its well-designed format and superior use of map colors make
Oxford's Atlas of the World an appropriate selection for junior and senior high schools as well as public and academic libraries." And The New York Times Book Review hailed it as "a veritable encyclopedia of geographic and demographic information, profusely illustrated with multicolored maps and
Now in its Fourth Edition, the Atlas of the World has been completely updated, with all the maps newly digitized for even greater clarity and accuracy, and drawn from an up-to-the-minute computer database of geographic and cartographic information, including satellite feeds and current censuses.
The Fourth Edition includes dozens of significant alterations, from the latest province names in South Africa, Wales, and Scotland; the most recent Dayton Accord boundaries in Bosnia-Herzegovina; and completely revised population figures for all US cities of over 50,000 inhabitants
. Of course, the basic qualities of the Atlas -- the exquisite mapmaking and the wealth of supplemental information -- are as superb as ever. The heart of the book is the 160 section of outstanding, full-color world maps, providing detailed political and topographical information about every nation
on Earth enhanced by relief shading and layer-colored contours. There are 66 city maps, charting the key urban centers of each continent from Bombay to New York City. The convenient 75,000 entry index makes locating specific places easy and convenient. And the stunning 48-page Introduction to World
Geography -- beautifully illustrated with lavish color maps, graphs, and charts -- offers a systematic look at the world, covering topics such as climate, plate tectonics, agriculture, health, population and migration, and global conflicts.
Completely up-to-date, thoroughly international, and packed with informative and comprehensive articles, graphs, and charts, the Fourth Edition of Oxford's Atlas of the World offers the finest global coverage available. With its exquisitely designed maps and its wealth of supplemental information,
the Oxford Atlas is ideal for any home, school, or library.
A large-sized volume of color maps of the various regions of the world, countries, islands, and the continents. Includes several removable paper fold-out maps and an index of countries for easy referencing. Previous edition not cited. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
THE GOLD STANDARD, October 14, 2002
In choosing a world atlas for my family, I looked at all that were available: from Oxford, National Geographic, Rand McNally, Hammond, DK, and other publishers. This new edition of the Oxford
Atlas of the World is clearly the gold standard. Just published, it is of course the most up-to-date atlas available. More importantly, it is accurate and detailed, exquisitely produced (a joy to look at)and very readable. Unlike other atlases, for example, the maps do not run into the gutters. The introductory section containing informational maps and data (country population, income, products,languages, etc.) and stunning satellite photos is virtually a book in itself and worth the price of admission. And for all that one gets, the price is more than reasonable. This is more than a reference book--it's a good read. I highly recommend it.
(Oxford) World Atlas, Good but lacking detail, November 7, 2000
I bought the Atlas of the World, 5th edition to use mainly for three purposes: working crossword puzzles, current events, and research for travel. For current events and travel the Atlas is fine. I like the shading for altitude which makes it easy to see where a place is located in relationship to mountains. However, there are several things that frustrate me. Many features, such as rivers, lakes, bays, etc are shown but not named, which makes this a poor choice for crossword puzzle information. Secondly, the names are often located in such a way on the map it is impossible to tell to what town or area they belong. Names of Rivers and Lakes are not followed by any notation that tells you it is a lake, althought they print the river names on the river bank, so if the river is not even you can tell that the name belongs to the river, because it is not in a straight line. Names of mountain ranges are printed without any reference to what they are, so that you don't know if it is the name of a region, province, etc. unless you already know this before hand. If you want an Atlas that you can really use to find detailed information, I believe this is not the best choice.
Not the gold standard - but the best value for money, November 11, 2005
This is the best atlas you can get in this price category. The gold standard of world atlases - The Times Comprehensive Atlas of the World - will cost you three times as much as this one.
The features of the Oxford University Press's "Atlas of the World" are quite similar to the Times Comprehensive Atlas of the World. It has the same user-friendly overview over the maps contained in the atlas ("Key to the World/European Map Pages") on the insides of the front and back hardcover. And it has the same comprehensive index of names in the back, featuring not only the location of a certain place on the grid of a map, but also the place's longitude and latitude. As a bonus, there are 16 pages with stunning satellite pictures of - among others - cities like Los Angeles, New York, Tokyo, Sydney and Naples with Mount Vesuvius.
The main difference is the size of the two atlases: The Times Atlas is 19 by 13.3 inches, the Oxford Atlas is 15 by 11.3 inches. The bigger-sized maps of the Times Atlas allow greater detail.
If you still have small kids in the house who love to thumb through your books, this atlas will be your best choice. In its price category it is absolutely a 5-star book.
Rating: 3.0 | Added on: 10 Oct 2007
Rate this book:
|
<urn:uuid:fd3802be-ab59-4775-ae31-e1b22c1615c0>
|
CC-MAIN-2016-26
|
http://www.biology-online.org/books/atlas.html
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783395679.92/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154955-00125-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.931865 | 1,303 | 2.875 | 3 |
Keralite Hindus are coming to a renewed appreciation of traditions once branded as primitive, obsolete and superstitious. Ayurvedic medicine, astrology, yoga and Hindu sacred arts have enjoyed revived interest. But in the process of moderizing India's education system, many traditional training schools were shut down and skilled practitioners became scarce, especially in the sacred arts.
In Kerala, the science of temple construction, vastuvidya, and the related art of mural painting were pushed to the brink of extinction by the policies of the communist government and by challenges from non-Hindu philosophies. But even diehard communists here never completely abandoned their ancestors' affection for temples, and with the fall of communism in the Soviet Union, some have openly returned to Hindu ways. While people are proud of the modern buildings, they also realize that they don't possess that magical link between building, nature and the Divine which is present in the exquisite temples, palaces and residences built in the past.
In response to this need, the Kerala state government archaeological department set up the Vastuvidya Gurukulam at Aranmula, on the banks of holy river Pamba, famed for the yearly Onam festival's snake-boat race. The school is charged with training designers and builders as well as experts in the mural painting known as sudhacitra, which adorns the walls of many Kerala temples.
Two faculty members, Dr. A. Achyuthan and Balagopal T.S. Prabhu, explained the college's approach to design. "Vastu in its broadest meaning covers the four categories of earth, buildings, vehicles and furniture. Of these, we consider earth as two dimensional, whereas the others have three dimensional forms. In either case, the design will stipulate basic shape, size and orientation." According to them, the "principles of vastuvidya are to be viewed as a building grammar." While the temple architects of Tamil Nadu must master stone, here in Kerala wood is the building material of choice, and the school faculty includes master carpenters.
The application of vastuvidya principles in modern buildings will impact the planning of the site, orientation of the buildings, access to the plot and the building, shape, size and form of the buildings, orientation and dimensions of rooms, dimension of openings and the proportioning of each element. The principles are invoked so as to evolve designs satisfying both the modern building code requirements and the canons of vastuvidya.
Another department of the school teaches mural painting, sudhacitra, an art form which nearly went extinct. The method is unusual and like the one used for the murals of Ajanta caves. A mortar base of burnt shell, sand, jaggery, banana and sugar cane juice is first applied; then, to repel insects, a coat of finely ground shell and sand in wood apple and neem juices is applied with a brush of the champaka tree. A similar paste mixed with fresh coconut water is used to fix the finished art. The method is similar to what is called dry fresco in Europe, as the paints are applied to a dry surface, not wet plaster as in true fresco.
Students are taught how to make their own pigments from mineral sources such as ores, soils and carbon black. These are tedious to prepare, but store well and last longer in the mural. They also learn to make plant pigments, which must be used immediately. Western painting theory considers red, blue and yellow as primary colors, whereas traditional Indian painting is based on five primary colors--white, yellow, red, green and black. These five pure colors are considered to be associated with the five elements: earth, water, fire, air and ether, or akasha.
Irrespective of religious allegiance, people seek the school's guidance in constructing residential homes and places of worship. Assistance has been provided for 590 residential buildings and 55 places of worship since the school's founding in 1993. Now modern engineers, architects and artists undergo training here to supplement their contemporary methods with ancient wisdom.
|
<urn:uuid:5342dd63-436d-447d-9e46-27f3ca79d8b0>
|
CC-MAIN-2016-26
|
http://hinduismtoday.com/modules/smartsection/print.php?itemid=4014
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783400031.51/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624155000-00032-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.966365 | 840 | 3.078125 | 3 |
Animal Species:Thylacoleo carnifex
Thylacoleo carnifex, the largest carnivorous Australian mammal known, may have hunted other Pleistocene megafauna like the giant Diprotodon. Thylacoleo was one of the first fossil mammals described from Australia, discovered not long after European settlement. It may have been an ambush predator or scavenger, and had enormous slicing cheek teeth, large stabbing incisor teeth (replacements for the canine teeth of other carnivorous mammals) and a huge thumb claw that may have been used to disembowel its prey.
Standard Common Name
Pleistocene Marsupial Lion
Thylacoleo carnifex is the last and largest member of the Thylacoleonidae ('marsupial lions'). Distinguishing features of thylacoleonids include enlarged cheek teeth (the third premolars) that formed long shearing blades. These were developed at the expense of posterior molar teeth, which were either reduced in size or absent.
Thylacoleo carnifex had a wide, heavy, short-snouted skull with a bony bar (postorbital bar), as in primates, behind the orbits. It has the longest shearing tooth of the thylacoleonids as well as large, serrated, canine-like upper incisors and horizontally oriented lower incisors (replacements for the canine teeth of other carnivorous mammals). Thylacoleo also had an enlarged thumb claw encased in a sheath (as in cats) that may have been used to disembowel its prey.
Limb proportions of Thylacoleo suggest that it was cursorial (adapted for running) but not swift. Forelimb proportions are similar to those of some arboreal/saltatorial animals. Its clawed forelimb may have been used to reach out and bring food towards its mouth. Its pseudo-opposable thumb suggests that Thylacoleo may have also been at least partly scansorial (adapted for climbing). Western Australian and Tasmanian specimens are smaller than eastern Australian specimens, and sexual dimorphism (where one sex is larger than the other) is reported. The weight of Thylacoleo is estimated to have ranged from 90-160 kilograms.
1.5 m long (head-tail) and 75 cm tall at the shoulder
Thylacoleo carnifex was widely distributed across Australia during the Pleistocene. It has been found in all Australian states as well as the Northern Territory, including the Darling Downs (Queensland), Wellington Caves (New South Wales), Naracoorte Caves (South Australia) and Thylacoleo Cave on the Nullarbor Plain (Western Australia).
Most of the sites where Thylacoleo fossils have been found are interpreted as dry, open forest habitat (e.g., the Darling Downs and the Wellington, Naracoorte and Nullarbor caves.
Feeding and Diet
The diet of Thylacoleo has been the subject of much debate. Thylacoleo has been described as a carnivore, a bone crusher, a scavenger or perhaps even an herbivore. It was first described by Sir Richard Owen as 'one of the fellest and most destructive of predatory beasts' (Owen 1859). Its unusual teeth and herbivorous ancestry, however, prompted further suggestions, including crocodile eggs, carrion, meat and bone marrow. The suggested diet raising the most eyebrows, however, is that of cycad nuts or native cucumbers (dubbed the 'melon-muncher' hypothesis). Palaeontologist Robert Broom had earlier pointed out that since Thylacoleo had no grinding teeth to process plant matter, it could not have included much plant food in its diet.
Most scientists today believe that Thylacoleo was carnivorous. Its teeth seem clearly designed for slicing flesh, and its powerful forearms and large, retractable thumb claws suggest a fierce, powerful predator. A study of the skull and jaw found that Thylacoleo had a head shape typical of carnivores, similar to the skulls of other carnivores except for the reduced canines, the use of incisors as stabbing teeth, and co-opting of a premolar rather than molar as a 'carnassial' tooth (a tooth specialized for carnivory). Further study on its 'bite strength' finds that Thylacoleo had the most powerful bite of any mammalian predator, living or extinct, and that it could have taken prey much larger than itself (such as subadult Diprotodon).
Little has been found in the fossil record to give us direct information about the lifestyle of Thylacoleo. However, three individuals from Moree, NSW shed some light on the raising of young. An adult female adult with a very young baby ('pouch-young') and a second, older juvenile ('young-at-foot') were found in association, almost certainly a family group. The adult is represented by a complete skeleton, the baby by an incomplete lower jaw and the juvenile by a skull, all held in the fossil collection of the Australian Museum.
For about 100 years after its discovery, Thylacoleo carnifex was known only from fragmentary remains (teeth, partial skulls and jaws, and some postcranial fossils). The first complete skull of Thylacoleo was described in 1956, and the first near-complete skeleton (lacking a foot and tail) was found at Moree, NSW in 1966 (the mother with young described above). Much material has been recovered from Naracoorte Caves in South Australia, and several complete individuals have been discovered in Thylacoleo Cave on the Nullarbor Plain, Western Australia.
Era / Period
Most palaeontologists think that the ancestors of thylacoleonids were herbivores, an unusual occurrence since most carnivores evolved from other carnivorous lineages. One proposal suggests that thylacoleonids evolved from a possum ancestor (Phalangeroidea) based on dental formula, the skull of the cuscus Phalanger, and on a phalangerid-like musculature. Alternatively, evidence from certain skull features may show that thylacoleonids branched off the vombatiform line, the lineage that includes wombats and koalas.
- Long, J. A. et al. 2002. Prehistoric Mammals of Australia and New Guinea: One Hundred Million Years of Evolution. Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore, 240 pp.
- Finch,M. E. 1982. The discovery and interpretation of Thylacoleo carnifex (Thylacoleonidae, Marsupialia). pp. 537-551 in Archer, M. (ed) Carnivorous Marsupials, Vol. 2. Royal Zoological Society of New South Wales, Mosman.
- Finch, M. E. and Freedman, L. 1982. An odontometric study of the species of Thylacoleo (Thylacoleonidae, Marsupialia). pp. 553-572 in Archer, M. (ed) Carnivorous Marsupials, Vol. 2. Royal Zoological Society of New South Wales, Mosman.
- Owen, R. 1858. Odontology. Teeth of mammals. Encyclopedia Britannica (8th Edition), Vol. 16, p. 447.
- Owen, R. 1859. On the fossil mammals of Australia. Part II. Description of a mutilated skull of the large marsupial carnivore (Thylacoleo carnifex Owen), from a calcareous conglomerate stratum, eighty miles S. W. of Melbourne, Victoria. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society 149, 309-322.
- Owen, R. 1871. On the fossil mammals of Australia. Part IV. Dentition and mandible of Thylacoleo carnifex, with remarks on arguments for its herbivory. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society 161, 213-266.
- Pledge, N. 1977. A new species of Thylacoleo (Marsupialia, Thylacoleonidae), with notes on the occurrence and distribution of Thylacoleonidae in South Australia. Records of the South Australian Museum 17, 277-283.
- Prideaux, G. J., Long, J. A., Ayliffe, L. K., Hellstrom, J. C., Pillans, B., Boles, W. E., Hutchinson, M. N., Roberts, R. G., Cupper, M. L., Arnold, L. J., Devine, P. D. and Warburton, N. M. 2007. An arid-adapted middle Pleistocene fauna from south-central Australia. Nature 445, 422-425.
- Wells, R. T. and Nichol, B. 1977. On the manus and pes of Thylacoleo carnifex Owen (Marsupialia), Transactions of the Royal Society of South Australia 101,139-146.
- Wells, R., Horton, D. R. and Rogers, P. 1982. Thylacoleo carnifex Owen (Thylacoleonidae): marsupial carnivore? pp. 573-585 in Archer, M. (ed) Carnivorous Marsupials, Vol. 2. Royal Zoological Society of New South Wales, Mosman.
- Woods, J. T. 1956. The skull of Thylacoleo carnifex. Memoirs of the Queensland Museum 13, 125-140.
- Wroe, S., Myers, T. J., Seebacher, F., Kear, B., Gillespie, A., Crowther, M. and Salisbury, S. 2003. An alternative method for predicting body mass: the case of the Pleistocene marsupial lion. Paleobiology 29, 404-412.
- Wroe, S., McHenry, C. and Thomason, J. 2005. Bite club: Comparative bite force in big biting mammals and the prediction of predatory behaviour in fossil taxa. Proceedings of the Royal Society B (online edition), 1-7.
Tags Darling Downs, Wellington Caves, Naracoorte, Nullarbor, marsupial lions, extinct, carnivorous, mammals, marsupials, fossils, Lost Kingdoms, megafauna, Pleistocene, wakaleo, diprotodon, carnivore,
|
<urn:uuid:31cf7e31-cde8-442c-a31b-8b8d427615e9>
|
CC-MAIN-2016-26
|
http://australianmuseum.net.au/thylacoleo-carnifex
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783392099.27/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154952-00056-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.882092 | 2,223 | 3.71875 | 4 |
Cultural and Linguistic Competence Implementation Guide
The Cultural and Linguistic Competence Implementation Guide provides community examples, best practices, and information on specific tools and resources that can assist system of care communities, partnering agencies, and organizations to build and promote CLC. The Implementation Guide is a living document that will be updated at regular intervals. The Cultural and Linguistic Competence Checklist for Communities (PDF) is a companion piece to the Implementation Guide, addressing larger-scale strategic questions organized by category.
The Implementation Guide is organized around six domains. Each domain contains:
- Descriptions of specific implementation strategies;
- Examples of best practices in the field;
- Internet links to important resources that can help leaders and practitioners design culturally and linguistically competent practices and policies; and
- Performance indicators and measures that can be used to assess the outcomes of approaches used to actualize CLC.
Domain 1: Governance and Organizational Infrastructure. This domain addresses the organizational resources, policy-making, leadership, and oversight mechanisms an organization needs to deliver or facilitate the delivery of culturally competent care.
Domain 2: Services and Supports. This domain addresses how an organization should plan, deliver, and facilitate services, supports, and interventions that respond to the unique cultural and linguistic needs of the populations it serves. Key areas of focus addressed include access, prevention and education, screening and assessment, early intervention, treatment and supports, and aftercare planning.
Domain 3: Planning and Continuous Quality Improvements. This domain includes the mechanisms and processes that an organization or agency can use to assess its level of CLC; strategies for tracking and maintaining relevant data and information on the populations served; and the development of long- and short-term policy, programmatic, and operational cultural competence planning informed by external and internal consumers. Specific topics include organizational self-assessment, collection and use of cultural and linguistic information and data, and conflict and grievance resolution techniques and processes.
Domain 4: Collaboration. This domain describes specific strategies that support the development of effective working relationships between provider organizations, consumers, and the community at large to promote CLC.
Domain 5: Communication. This domain describes strategies for promoting effective exchange of information, and for developing collaborative relationships among systems of care, providers, consumers, and the community at large. Issues related to language and communication, outreach and engagement, and social marketing appear in this section.
Domain 6: Workforce Development. This domain addresses an organization’s efforts to recruit and retain a culturally and linguistically representative staff to ensure that staff and other service providers have the requisite attitudes, knowledge, and skills for delivering culturally competent services. Areas of focus include recruitment and retention of diverse staff, linguistic competence, training, and supervision.
|
<urn:uuid:cbe11e41-d665-4a6d-9b9d-b831960a6355>
|
CC-MAIN-2016-26
|
http://www.tapartnership.org/COP/CLC/implementationGuide.php
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783397749.89/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154957-00064-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.898414 | 559 | 2.53125 | 3 |
Notre Dame vs. The Klan
How the Fighting Irish Defeated the Ku Klux Klan
by Todd Tucker ’90 (Loyola Press)
During two days of riots in May 1924, Notre Dame students took on the Indiana Ku Klux Klan. The KKK wasn’t reacting to the students’ race but to their religion—Catholicism. “Look around: they are already taking over the schools, flaunting our laws, changing the very nature of the United States, a Protestant country at its birth,” a KKK leader asserted at a state rally in the early 1920s.
Here the author details how and why the two institutions came to loggerheads at the height of anti-Catholicism in America. The book continues through the aftermath of the three-day confrontation in downtown South Bend, including the football team’s winning Rose Bowl appearance and the Indiana KKK’s eventual implosion.
|
<urn:uuid:b4af1336-2f69-46bc-a281-014a29794a0b>
|
CC-MAIN-2016-26
|
http://magazine.nd.edu/picks-of-the-week/notre-dame-vs-the-klan/
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783397111.67/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154957-00118-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.953294 | 189 | 2.921875 | 3 |
Travelers on the California Leg of the Southern Route 1849 - 1852
By Blaine P. Lamb (Retired)
Cultural Resources Division
“The emigrants by the Gila route gave a terrible account of the crossing
of the Great Desert, lying west of the Colorado. They described this region as
scorching and sterile -- a country of burning salt plains and shifting hills of sand,
whose only signs of human visitation are the bones of animals and
men scattered along the trails that cross it.” (1)
Pioneer travel correspondent Bayard Taylor made this observation in 1849 as thousands of adventurers on the southern trails to the California gold fields crossed the desert country between the Colorado River and the coastal mountains. Their experience challenged both their imagination and their stamina. Even after traversing the deserts of New Mexico, Arizona and Sonora, travelers from the humid east had trouble comprehending the aridity and starkness of this entrance to California. Few had anything positive to say about the experience, and wrote off the land as utterly desolate and uninhabitable, a purgatory to be crossed as quickly as possible. This paper examines the last leg of the southern route to West Coast in the mid-nineteenth century through the Colorado Desert of southeastern Alta California and northeastern Baja California.
Flat, dry and mercilessly hot in summer, most of the Colorado Desert lies at or below sea level, with two features defining the region. The first, the Salton Sink, was a vast salt plain with a briny marsh in its center, into which a flooding Colorado River occasionally drained (the last inflow in 1905-1907 creating today's Salton Sea). It served as a barrier to travelers wishing to take north-south or east-west transits across southeastern California.
Roughly southeast of the Salton Sink lies the second determining feature in the history of the Colorado Desert, the Algodones Sand Dune System. These ever-shifting mountains of sand stretch southeastward across the border into Mexico and blocked most direct east-west travel from the Colorado River crossing at Yuma, forcing trails, and later roads, irrigation canals and railroads to detour into northern Baja California.
Today, the heart of the Colorado Desert comprises the lush green Imperial and Mexicali Valleys, testaments to what can be done with enough water, money and political will. One hundred and fifty years ago, however, green was a color found largely in the abstract on the Colorado Desert. Sand, creosote, mesquite and waterless blue skies were the dominant factors of life there, and yet for centuries the Cauhilla, Kumeyaay and Quechan peoples had inhabited this harsh region. In 1771, Father Francisco Garces, on a solitary expedition from Mission San Xavier del Bac near Tucson, crossed the Colorado Rivernear its mouth and wandered into the Colorado Desert from the south. He encountered the channel of the New River and continued to the northwest until he could make out a gap leading into the coastal mountains. The following year, Lieutenant Pedro Fages entered the Colorado Desert from the west in pursuit of Indians fleeing the San Diego Mission. His expedition ventured out onto the desert plain but failed to find any sources of water and turned back. (2) (3)
The exploits of Fr. Garces and Lt. Fages stimulated Spanish interest in an overland route connecting the frontier provinces of northern Mexico with Alta California. Juan Bautistade Anza, accompanied by Fr. Garces, opened the route in 1774 and 1775. His first expedition left Tubac, Arizona, and crossed the Colorado below its confluence with the Gila. Anza marched southward along the Colorado, avoiding the sand dunes, and then turned west and north enroute to Mission San Gabriel. Anza's second expedition from Arizona, consisting of colonists to settle San Francisco, crossed the Colorado at Yuma, and, after again skirting the dunes, divided into three columns for the trek across the desert. The columns met near the Carrizo-San Felipe Creek confluence, and then ascended the coastal mountains. (4) Anza's success convinced Spanish authorities of the feasibility of an overland link between Sonora and Alta California. To strengthen their hold on the route, the Spanish developed a permanent outpost on the eastern edge of the Colorado Desert at the Yuma Crossing in 1780. An uprising by the Quechan the following year, however, resulted in the destruction settlement and the interruption of travel across the Colorado Desert. (5)
Soon after achieving independence from Spain, the Mexican government sought to reopen the route. As early as 1822, Indians were carrying messages between the Missions San Gabriel in Alta California and San Xavier del Bac. In 1823, Captain Jose Romero led an expedition west from Tucson, but difficulties with the Quechan beginning at the Yuma Crossing and continuing into the desert forced the Mexicans to turn south into Baja California. Romero's attempt to return to Tucson from San Gabriel in late 1823 also failed when the party ran short of water and forage. Disagreements between Romero and government officials delayed a second try until 1825. This time he was escorted across the Colorado Desert by Lieutenant of Engineers Romulado Pacheco. Lt. Pacheco then built and garrisoned a small adobe and stone fort at Laguna Chapala in the heart of the desert about 6 miles west of the present city of Imperial. An attack by the Kumeyaay in April 1826, however, forced the abandonment of the post and official closure of the Colorado Desert route once again. (6)
Although unofficial travel by traders from New Mexico and others across the Colorado Desert continued over the following two decades, the next crossing in force came during the Mexican War. General Stephen Watts Kearny and advance units of his Army of the West made a rigorous trek west from Yuma in 1846. Lieutenant William H. Emory in his narrative of the expedition reported that the soldiers proceeded southwest around the dunes to the well at Alamo Mocho, which he described as:
"What had been the channel of a stream, now overgrown with a few ill-conditioned mezquite, a large hole where persons had evidently dug for water. It was necessary to halt to rest our animals, and the time was occupied in deepening this hole, which after a long struggle, showed signs of water. An old champagne basket, used by one of the officers as a pannier, was lowered in the hole, to prevent the crumbling of the sand. After many efforts to keep out the caving sand, a basket-work of willow twigs effected the object, and much to the joy of all, the basket, which was now 15 or 20 feet below the surface, filled with water.” (7)
Lt. Emory continued that they followed a winding course, skirting the base of the dunes, and then proceeding northwest over, "...an immense level of clay detritus, hard and smooth as a bowling green. . .." They reached a salt lake (probably the "Big Laguna," one of the ponds caused by a flow in the New River) but the soldiers found no relief, as Lt. Emory noted: "As we approached the lake, the stench of dead animals... put to flight all hopes of our being able to use the water.” (8) From that point the column proceeded to Carrizo Creek, where it finally located water and a way out of the desert. Lt. Emory calculated that the soldiers had made the desert crossing of some 96 miles in 3 days. Although this was done in November, thereby missing the summer heat, the troops did suffer from lack of water and the difficulty of marching through sand. These contributed significantly to the fatigue of animals and men that plagued Gen. Kearny's command in its unfortunate encounter with Californio lancers at San Pasqual. In an ironic twist, later that year much the same route was followed in reverse by the defeated Mexican General Jose Castro in his flight from Alta California to Sonora.
In January 1847, Lieutenant Colonel Philip St. George Cooke and the Mormon Battalion crossed the Colorado Desert. They battled the region’s winter climate that produced heat during the day and frost at night. Cooke's command brought the first wagons across the desert and laid out a road west from Yuma, south of the dunes and up the western plain. Deviating slightly from Gen. Kearny's path, the Battalion went south of the salt lake before reaching Carrizo Creek and San Felipe Pass over the coastal mountains. The Mormons also located and opened or reopened wells and watering holes that would be used by travelers for decades. (9)
Following Cooke and the Mormon Battalion in late November, 1848 was a column of Dragoons under the command of Major Lawrence Pike Graham. These men had marched from Monterey in Mexico, and, after resting at the Colorado River, made a difficult crossing of the desert. Although the temperature did not pose a problem, the lack of water and forage did. The soldiers had to dig and clean out wells opened by Cooke the previous year, and the column was pretty well spent by the time it reached Carrizo Creek, "The mules were dropping dead in harness, their tongues swelling etc. and the men nearly as bad off for water.” (10)
The next rush of travelers, argonauts bound for the California gold fields, passed through the Colorado Desert in1849. The southern route to California by way of the Gila River and Colorado Desert may have been of lesser importance compared to the heavily traveled California Trail, but it did attract thousands of travelers through the early 1850s. Many of these were Mexicans following trails up from Sonora. Others came from the southeastern United States, while still others were pioneers willing to face the hardships of a desert crossing rather than risk the deadly snows of the Sierra Nevada that had trapped the Donner Party in 1846. (11)
The presence of so many travelers along the route had a definite impact on the desert. Whereas previous expeditions made the journey in isolation, during the Gold Rush, trails became relative highways. Companies of miners frequently encountered one another or ran across the remains of recently vacated campsites. The desert floor also became littered with articles abandoned when they either fell apart or proved too heavy or cumbersome for their weary owners. Broken wagons, furniture, articles of clothing, tools and even weapons left by the side of the road proved to be a bonanza for scavengers. The scene was one of devastation, as recorded by J. A. Durivage, a correspondent for the New Orleans Picayune: "upon a level plain, were two abandoned wagons, and literally covering the ground were. . fragments of harness, gun barrels, trunks, wearing apparel, barrels, casks, saws, bottles and quantities of articles too numerous to mention." (12)
Impromptu commerce blossomed as parties of travelers gathered at wells and watering places to barter for supplies or other less necessary items. Traders from the coast and Sonora drove horses and mules to the desert for sale to argonauts desperate to replace dead or lame animals. This brings up a less appealing aspect of the Colorado Desert migration, the toll it took on animals attempting the crossing. In addition to finding human detritus, travelers recounted seeing hundreds of beasts, pushed beyond the limits of their endurance by owners either anxious to get to the gold diggings before their neighbors or searching for the next water hole. William Chamberlin, writing in 1849, described it as, "a perfect Golgotha -- the bones of thousands of animals lie strewn about in every direction.” (13) Rotting carcasses fouled wells and created an awful stench, as Durivage noted: "The hot air was laden with the fetid smell of dead mules and horses, and on all sides misery and death seemed to prevail." (14) Often animals were left where they had fallen, still with their saddles, bridles or harnesses on. Passersby who spied outfits superior to their own had no compunction about helping themselves to the abandoned rigs. It was even reported that travelers displayed an unusual sense of humor by standing some of the stiffened creatures on all fours in a macabre, if static, parade across the desert floor. 15
The principal route taken by the argonauts left the upper Yuma Crossing, along the mesquite thickets of the Colorado River past Pilot Knob for a few miles before turning southwest into the Mexican desert. Their first goal, about 15 miles distant, was Cooke's Wells. Located some four miles below the border in the dry bed of the Alamo River, the wells had been developed by the Mormon Battalion just a few years earlier. Judge Benjamin Hayes, who traveled through the region in 1850 described the site:
The well is on the left side of the road, down a steep sandy bluff surrounded with the bones of mules that have gone there for water and died -- unable to reach it. Well partly covered with boards. A mule might easily fall into it. Water good, clear, except when much water taken from it. There is a wooden bucket there ready.... The smell from the well is strong of decayed animal matter. (16)
View San Diego and Colorado River 1850's Map (pdf)
A 22 - mile march reached the well at Alamo Mocho, a well-known watering place since Spanish times. Another long trek of 24 miles to the northwest was required to reach water at the Pozo Hondo (or deep well) until June 1849, when overlanders were greeted by the "miraculous" appearance of the New River. Caused by an overflow of the Colorado River into the lower desert in Mexico and then north to the Salton Sink, the New River resembled a slow moving stream, with several pools or "lagoons," It cut the distance from Alamo Mocho to water to 13 miles. In addition to serving as a source of water, overflows from the New River irrigated patches of grass providing badly needed grazing for horses and livestock. From there, travelers, now back in the United States, followed the New River to the "Big Laguna,” south of present-day Seeley The next march of 28 miles across barren, rocky desert brought them to Carrizo Creek near its confluence with Vallecito Creek. This spot was generally regarded as marking the end of the worst portion of the desert journey. Travelers bound for San Diego headed west over the mountains, while those going to Los Angeles followed Vallecito Creek northwestward to Palm Spring, Vallecito, San Felipe and Warner’s Ranch before crossing the Coast Range. (17)
With watering holes and routes fairly well known, and mostly reliable, the Colorado Desert, nonetheless, presented a challenge to those unused to dry country. Decisions to travel during the heat of the day rather than at night, when darkness might slow progress, not to spend time refreshing and repairing at the Colorado River before pushing on across the desert, or to forgo the extra supplies of water and forage that could impede the journey, placed many travelers in danger from dehydration and exhaustion. Sometimes inadequate preparations could invite disaster, as in 1850 when Samuel E. Chamberlain and his party of former members of scalp hunter John Glanton's gang found Cooke's Well choked with sand. A note indicated that water could be found by excavating down ten feet, but the group's failure to bring digging tools led to a most disagreeable and thirsty trek. Chamberlain's melodramatic account of that journey on the "Jornado del Muerto" mirrored the experience of many unprepared arognauts who attempted the desert crossing:
Away to the north the black mountains of California seemed to recede as I advanced. ... At noon we halted for two hours, then once more resumed our solitary way. I was getting weak, my heavy arms weighed me down like lead. I had drawn my waist belt tighter and tighter, until I was shaped like a wasp. On we went for hours, but the black mountains seemed as far off as ever. Long into the dark night we stumbled on until we sank exhausted on the sand. ... All day we kept on, lying down now and then, and then staggering on, trying to gain on those craggy peaks which always fled before us. (18)
In September 1849, Lieutenant Cave Johnson Couts of the 1st U. S. Dragoons, leading the escort for the United States-Mexico Boundary Survey, established an aid station called Camp Salvation on the New River at the border (today’s Calexico). Camp Salvation consisted of an emigrants' camp and a soldiers' camp, and offered some good grazing. The survey's commander, topographical engineer Lieutenant Amiel W. Whipple, noted that at its height, the site resembled an expansive tent village. Lt. Couts detailed a squad of troopers to maintain the station while he proceeded across the "Grand Sahara Desert of California," described as "no water, no grass, no nothing" to the Colorado River. There, he founded Camp Calhoun on the California side of the river near its confluence with the Gila. At Camp Calhoun, in addition to his military duties, Lt. Couts continued to distribute rations to a steady stream of hungry travelers from the Gila Trail. In December, he closed both Camp Calhoun and Camp Salvation and returned to San Diego. (19) Another aid station at Carrizo Creek was established late in 1849 under the authority of (now) Major William H. Emory. Operated by Agoston Harazthy, his son Attila, and Doctor. W. R. Kerr of San Diego, it lasted into the following year. (20)
Traffic through the Colorado Desert continued brisk in 1850, if the ferry receipts at the Yuma Crossing are any indication. Early that year, Dr. Able Lincoln claimed to have made $60,000 transporting some one hundred emigrants a day across the Colorado River at the rate of "$1.00 per man, $2.00 horse or mule." Soon after, John Glanton and his henchmen shoved Lincoln aside, appropriating the ferry operation for themselves. Within a short time they had banked $8,000 in San Diego. Their unlamented demise at the hands of the Quechan Indians in late April 1850, however, did not deter other entrepreneurs from later restarting the service. (21)
But it was not the same. After 1851, the Gold Rush began to wane, and with it travel along the Southern Route. Horse traders and livestock drovers still used the trail to drive herds from Texas and Mexico to California. The U.S. Army continued to send caravans of provisions from San Diego to its outpost Ft. Yuma, at least until 1852 when a reliable method of supply by ship and river steamer was established. The civilian travelers who crossed the Colorado Desert now tended not to be bands of prospectors with visions of gold dancing before their eyes, but rather the trains of individual families, moving west to begin businesses, farms or ranches in Southern California.
Of the thousands of emigrants who struggled into California by way of the Colorado Desert, only a handful had anything remotely positive to say about the region. The most outspoken of these was a Louisiana physician turned argonaut, Oliver M. Wozencraft. Unlike most of his fellow '49ers, Wozencraft's interest in the desert extended beyond just how to get across it in the least amount of time. While his traveling companions slept fitfully in the desert heat, he examined the soil, estimated distances and elevations, and dreamed. With Los Angeles County's surveyor Ebenezer Hadley, Wozencraft concocted a scheme to turn water from the Colorado River onto the lower desert. The project would open the region to irrigated agriculture and alleviate the, "great suffering...loss of human life, and a great loss of animals and other property," that he had observed while crossing the Colorado Desert. It also would relieve soldiers and civilians of the necessity of making, "an unauthorized encroachment on the soil of a government inimical to us," in order to travel between Yuma and the coast. (22)
Wozencraft persuaded California's legislature to grant him rights to the state's interest in the Colorado Desert and to petition the federal government to transfer much of the area to the state (and, not coincidentally, to his irrigation project). Although the state made Wozencraft its "agent" in Washington, D.C. for desert reclamation, he failed to convince a federal government to fund the work. n the final analysis, however, of all of the gold seekers on Colorado Desert trails, it was Wozencraft who had the greatest impact on the region. His ideas about tapping the Colorado River inspired others to investigate, and eventually develop, the irrigated empire of today's Imperial Valley. (23)
The coming of irrigation at the turn of the twentieth century marked the end of the frontier period in the Colorado Desert. Sand and creosote gave way to alfalfa and vegetables. Paved highways replaced Indian trails, emigrant routes and wagon roads. Some of the wells and watering holes served the new roadways, but others, such as Alamo Mocho, Cooke's Wells and Big Laguna, fell into disuse, their names all but forgotten. New place names dotted the landscape as more and more people arrived to farm and settle the towns of Imperial, EI Centro, Holtville, Calexico and Mexicali. Memories of the wasteland and the pioneers who had trekked across it in the "Days of '49" faded. The California leg of the southern route found itself transformed from the place of dread and challenge that Bayard Taylor had observed into a quaint tourist attraction -- "America's most fascinating desert, lying close about the fertile green acres of a modern valley of homes, only minutes from the comfort of sun porch and cool patios. " (24)
1. Bayard Taylor, EI Dorado: Or Adventures in the Path of Empire, 8th ed. (New York: G. Putnam & Son, 1859), p. 47.
2. Pedro Font, "The Colorado Yumas in 1775," in The California Indians: A Sourcebook,
ed. R.[obert] Heizer and M. A. Whipple, 2nd ed. (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1971), p. 247;
Ralph L. Beals and Joseph A. Hester, Jr., "A New Ecological Typology of the California Indians," Ibid, p. 82;
M. S. Crowell, "At San Diego and the Gold Mines," Overland Monthly 5 (October 1870): 324;
and C. R. Orcutt, "The Colorado Desert," The West American Scientist 7 (October 1890): 57.
3. Herbert E. Bolton, "In the South San Joaquin Ahead of Garces," California Historical Quarterly 10 (September 1931): 211-219.
4. Richard F. Pourade, History of San Diego: The Explorers (San Diego: Union-Tribune Publishing Company, 1960), p. 58;
J. N. Bowman and Robert F. Heizer, Anza and the Northwest Frontier of New Spain
(Los Angeles: Southwest Museum, 1967), pp. 36, 39.
5. Clifford E. Trafzer, Yuma: Frontier Crossing of the Far Southwest (Wichita: Western Heritage Books, 1980), pp. 18-21.
6. Hubert Howe Bancroft, History of California, Vol. II, 1801-1824 (San Francisco: The History Company, 1886), pp. 507-509;
Keld J. Reynolds, "Principal Actions of the California Junta de Fomento, 1825-1827," California Historical Quarterly 25 (December 1946): 364n; California Historical Landmarks (Sacramento: California Department of Parks and Recreation, 1982),
p. 32; and "A History of the Imperial Valley -- Part I," at //www.Imperial.cc.ca.us/Pioneers/history/htm
7. W.[illiam] H. Emory, Notes of a Military Reconnaissance from Fort Leavenworth, in Missouri to San Diego,
in California, Including Part of the Arkansas, Del Norte, and Gila Rivers
(Washington, D.C.: Wendell and Van Benthuysen, Printers, 1848), p. 141.
8. Ibid. p. 101.
9.David Bigler and Will Bagley, Army of Israel: Mormon Battalion Narratives
(Spokane: The Arthur H. Clark Company, 2000), pp. 180-181.
10. Hemy F. Dobyns, ed. Hepah California! The Journal of Cave Johnson Couts from Monterey, Nuevo Leon,
Mexico to Los Angeles, California During the Years 1848-1849 (Tucson: Arizona Pioneers' Historical Society, 1961), pp. 82-83.
11. George M. Ellis, ed. Gold Rush Trails to San Diego and Los Angeles in 1849
(San Diego: San Diego Corral of Westerners, 1995), p. 9
12 "Durivage of the Picayune: A Journalist Reports," in Ellis, ed. Gold Rush Trails, p. 100.
13. "Lewisburg to Los Angeles in 1849: The Diary of William H. Chamberlin," in Ellis, ed. Gold Rush Trails, p. 49.
14. "Durivage of the Picayune," p. 100.
15. Richard F. Pourade, The History of San Diego: The Silver Dons
(San Diego: The Union-Tribune Publishing Company, 1963), p. 148.
16. Ellis, ed., Gold Rush Trails, p. 24.
17. Ibid. pp. 25-26.
18. Samuel E. Chamberlain, My Confession (New York: Harper & Brothers, Publishers, 1956), pp. 291, 294-295.
19. Ben F. Dixon, Camp Salvation: First Citizens of Calexico, An Oasis on the Gold Rush Trail, 2nd ed.
(San Diego: Don Diego's Libreria, 1965), p.5; U. S. Congress, Senate, Report of the Secretary of War Communicating the Report of Lieutenant Whipple's Expedition from San Diego to the Colorado,
Ex. Doc. 19, 31st Cong., 2nd Sess., February 1, 1851,p.10; Lt Cave J. Couts to Major W.H. Emory,
Camp Calhoun, October 10, October 17, 1849, Bvt Major W. H. Emory to Lt C. J. Couts, Camp Riley,
October 25, October 29, 1849, Couts Papers, San Diego Historical Society Research Library.
20. Benjamin Hayes, Pioneer Notes from the Diaries of Judge Benjamin Hayes, 1849-1875
(Los Angeles: Privately Printed, 1929), p. 46; and Brian McGinty, Strong Wine: The Life and Legend of Agoston Haraszthy
(Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1998), p. 179.
21. Douglas D. Martin, Yuma Crossing (Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 1954), p. 140.
22. O.M. Wozencraft to Senate Public Lands Committee, in U.S. Congress, House, Colorado Desert,
House Report No. 87, 37th Cong., 2nd Sess., April 23, 1862, p. 24.
23. Donald J. Pisani, From the Family Farm to Agribusiness: The Irrigation Crusade in California and the West, 1850-1931
(Berkeley: University of California Press, 1984), pp. 89-91.
24. "Imperial County, California: America's Winter Garden," 1947. pamphlet in the Ephemera Collection, California State Archives, Sacramento.
|
<urn:uuid:9c3c01d1-3cfa-4d04-a1e1-24ac99f34795>
|
CC-MAIN-2016-26
|
http://www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=24680
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783393442.26/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154953-00175-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.94766 | 5,878 | 3.234375 | 3 |
200 Years. 200 Stories. Story
12: “Past Meets Present
Turning the page of Audubon's The Birds of America
Past Meets Present
Academy member John James Audubon’s work, The Birds of America, is featured every weekday at the Academy! The Birds of America consists of 435 individual hand-colored illustrations, which were released in sets of five between 1827 and 1838. The Academy was one of the original subscribers, and we paid the hefty sum of $1,000 for the complete set. We then bound the separate plates into five volumes, which are kept here in the Library.
Our set is among approximately 120 complete sets in existence today. This extra-large version is called the “double elephant folio.” It takes its name from the size of the paper, which was the largest available at the time. This format allowed Audubon to show the birds as close to life-size as possible, and it allows you to take a closer look at the beautifully rendered birds when you visit the museum.
Every weekday at 3:15 pm, we turn the page to reveal a new bird. This activity helps conserve the illustrations—and it’s fun to watch. Join us once, twice, or as many times as you like to take part in this exciting daily ritual.
|
<urn:uuid:04db9c9c-64d4-42b4-b0f7-47bfb930e196>
|
CC-MAIN-2016-26
|
http://www.ansp.org/explore/online-exhibits/stories/past-meets-present/
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783393093.59/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154953-00044-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.962634 | 279 | 2.734375 | 3 |
|Hand painted icons on gesso panel, using 23ct. gold leaf, egg tempera , and natural powdered pigments.|
From the early centuries, images of holy people of the Christian faith have been depicted in a unique way through iconography. Icons are not intended to be portraits or realistic images. Rather, they symbolically and stylistically represent holy persons, who in death have been transfigured and are seen as in the spiritual state. Traditionally, icons are said to be written... because they tell in color and image what Scripture tells in text.
churches technique links contact
|
<urn:uuid:d281760e-cd55-46f0-bb56-77a62d5231ef>
|
CC-MAIN-2016-26
|
http://www.iconsbydelphia.com/
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783399428.8/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154959-00108-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.905508 | 122 | 2.578125 | 3 |
When a couple brought their newborn son to a hospital with a fractured arm, Coventry social services were called in on suspicion that the child might have been injured by his parents.
The mother was arrested, handcuffed and detained for nine hours, fearing her child might be taken away. Although not charged with any offence, the couple remain on police bail, preventing them leaving the country.
The child was taken by his Irish grandmother to Ireland, where is he supported by a family. Social services are still attempting to get an order through the courts for the grandmother to return to England.
This is just one case study of "forced adoption" – a term used by critics of the practice of removing children permanently from their parents and their subsequent adoption.
Aside from Croatia, Britain is the only EU member state that practices forced adoption and for some, it is a secretive system that allows social workers to separate children from loving families without proper justification and with little concern for their interests.
But for others, adoption is only carried out when it is in the child's best interests to do so – and criticism of the social care system is merely a consequence of the incomprehensibly difficult task of removing children from their parents.
There are 92,000 "looked after" children in the UK – meaning cared for by the state – according to NSPCC. More than half of these children in England and Wales became looked after because of abuse or neglect between 2012 and 2013 but critics say they have had their sons and daughters taken away for less.
Ian Josephs, who runs the Forced Adoption website, has helped hundreds of families in this situation.
Speaking to IBTimes UK, he explained lots of parents feel they are punished without having committed a crime.
"No baby or child should be removed from parents and put into care unless one of the parents has committed, or at least been charged with a crime against children," he said.
But the argument for forcible adoptions is that if left too late, the child may be at risk or serious harm or even suffer death.
However, another problem lies in determining if and proving that, particularly in cases of emotional abuse, there is sufficient evidence to take the child away.
Critics state there are a number of procedural issues surrounding forced adoption. Some argue that due to increased funding for social services units – that effectively place a greater number of children with adopted families – there are financial incentives for local authorities to secure adoptions.
Moreover, some argue there is a demonisation of parent's embroiled in care proceedings. More than 90% of families where children are forcibly adopted live below the poverty line - despite counterarguments that child abuse and neglect are not class issues.
Around 45% of the parents have mental health problems, which often go undiagnosed, unassessed or untreated, before proceedings take place.
Once a child is placed for adoption, neither the parents nor child have any recourse open to them to reverse the process - even when evidence comes to light that shows that the reasons for the adoption were flawed.
Currently, families subjected to forced adoption may also be prohibited by court order from publicly discussing their case and attempting to contact their children.
"Most parents who contact me say they have done nothing wrong and if they speak the truth, they shouldn't be punished by the state by having their children confiscated – nor should they receive gagging orders to stop them complaining publicly and breaching their freedom of speech," said Josephs.
Speaking at a conference for the charity Children Screaming to be Heard, Josephs stated that when children are taken into care, gagging orders isolate children from family and friends.
"Even if parents have done committed a crime, the children haven't – we shouldn't treat them like them have," he added.
Introduced in April, the Children and Families Act 2014 seeks to reshape the adoption system – in particular, to get children placed with adoptive families more quickly.
But while adopting is necessary for children in danger, there are a number of solutions that don't punish the families of children who are not.
Such solutions include pre-proceedings intensive support, Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) and specialist family support services.
Rather than bonuses for placing children in care, they could be used to support families remaining together.
|
<urn:uuid:c9eb8271-63d4-4257-a4a8-294f0171b9da>
|
CC-MAIN-2016-26
|
http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/forced-adoption-uk-child-protection-punishment-without-crime-1458364
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783396887.54/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154956-00052-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.974324 | 882 | 2.609375 | 3 |
You are sometimes trying to install or configure a program and bind it to a port and it throws an error. That means some other program is using that particular port. Let’s see how you can check what program is using your system’s ports.
First if you know the number of the port you are interested in you can:
For example let’s check port number 631:
$ sudo lsof –i:631 –n –P
That should give you something like that:
COMMAND PID USER FD TYPE DEVICE SIZE/OFF NODE NAME cupsd 776 root 10u IPv6 9353 0t0 TCP [::1]:631 (LISTEN) cupsd 776 root 11u IPv4 9354 0t0 TCP 127.0.0.1:631 (LISTEN) cups-brow 953 root 8u IPv4 9930 0t0 UDP *:631
In the above, the “-n” parameter prevents automatic conversion of host IP address to host name, and “-P” parameter prohibits conversion of port number to port name. In our example, cupsd and cups-brow processes are using TCP and UDP port number 631, respectively.
If you want a list of all open TCP ports and the programs/processes associated you can type:
$ sudo lsof -i -n -P | grep TCP
On the table resulting from it, on the left column it has the processes and on the right the ports.
|
<urn:uuid:f3c9a1c5-ddd6-4827-b7fa-d0241db9f4e4>
|
CC-MAIN-2016-26
|
http://www.unixmen.com/check-program-using-port-via-terminal/
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783397213.30/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154957-00165-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.760262 | 323 | 2.515625 | 3 |
Famous People's Cause of Death Charles Dickens
About the famous English author Charles Dickens, biography, history and cause of death.
POSTMORTEMS--WHAT THEY DIED FROM
Born: Feb. 7, 1812
Died: June 9, 1870
Cause of Death: Paralytic stroke
Physician's Notes: Perhaps the most popular novelist of all time--the creator of such memorable characters as Little Nell, Pip, and David Copperfield--Dickens literally worked himself to death. As a child he was sickly and subject to inexplicable attacks of "spasms" and fever. In 1864, at the age of 52, he developed gout in his left foot, which plagued him until his death. One of the most significant events which led to Dickens's death occurred on June 9, 1865, when he was a passenger on a train which derailed at Staplehurst in Kent, England. It was a major railway disaster in which 10 people were killed. Although he escaped serious injury and managed heroically to extricate the dead and dying from the wreckage, he never recovered from the nervous shock to his system. In 1866, still suffering from the effects of the train crash and under the constant grind of his enormously popular "readings," he developed severe pains in his left eye, stomach, and chest. Not only refusing to quit but actually stepping up his performances, he slowly committed suicide--his overtaxed body finally couldn't shake even a mild cold. He developed heart trouble in the late 1860s, and the excitement he experienced during his performances made his blood pressure soar until his face would flush red, then go white. In December, 1868, he couldn't read the left side of shopfront signs, a forewarning of paralysis, but he continued working exhaustingly until he had a breakdown in the spring of 1869. A year later, while having dinner, his face flushed and he suddenly stood up, stating that he had to leave for London immediately; then he pitched forward. He was unconscious all night and died the following day--exactly five years after the train crash. He was buried in Westminster Abbey.
|You Are Here: Trivia-Library Home » Death: How Famous People Died » Famous People's Cause of Death Charles Dickens|
|DISCLAIMER: PLEASE READ - By printing, downloading, or using you agree to our full terms. Review the full terms at the following URL: /disclaimer.htm|
|
<urn:uuid:0542b293-81f3-4b2d-992f-b3243ec67f92>
|
CC-MAIN-2016-26
|
http://www.trivia-library.com/b/famous-people-cause-of-death-charles-dickens.htm
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783391519.2/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154951-00192-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.982194 | 504 | 2.609375 | 3 |
Research Interests: Airflow over and around mountains, cyclogenesis, frontal formation and propagation, monsoon meteorology.
Teaching Interests: Dynamic meteorology, waves and instabilities, earth system science.
Dr. Bannon explores the influence of mountains on the earth's weather and climate. The interaction of the atmosphere with the underlying topography encompasses a rich variety of phenomena. Among them are the formation of storms downstream of mountain ranges (lee cyclogenesis), the role of high plateaus as elevated heat sources, the blocking of the low-level flow to form trapped boundary currents, the exchange of momentum with the solid earth, and the propagation of fronts over mountains. Other research focuses on the influence of physical processes (friction, precipitation) on the formation, structure, and propagation of fronts and cyclones.
A major theme in Bannon's research is the role that mountains play in our weather and climate. A mountain range can have both a mechanical influence or a thermal influence, or a combination of the two.
Mechanically, a mountain can force the air to go up and over the range or it can block the air and make it move laterally around the obstacle. Air parcels that have been displaced vertically often undergo a wavy motion downwind of the mountain. These "mountain waves" produce thin lens-shaped clouds as well as updrafts that glider pilots use for soaring. Sophisticated computer models used for weather prediction make better forecasts when they include the energy transports due to mountain waves. Bannon and a graduate student have documented the strength of Pennsylvania's mountain waves using high resolution data of the state's topography that includes Tussey and Nittany Mountains.
Mountains also affect the path of low-pressure cells or storms. Typically a storm system off the west coast of the U.S. is deflected to the north, bringing rain to Seattle but sparing San Diego. The storm tends to weaken over the Rockies, only to reform and intensify over Colorado and Kansas. Bannon has developed a mathematical model of the formation of this "lee cyclone". He has also studied the distortion of a cold front as it encounters a long mountain range like the Appalachians. A front is slowed upstream of a mountain, weakens as it move over the crest only to reappear stronger and steeper downstream.
Bannon has also investigated the role of mountains in the summer monsoon of South Asia. There the giant plateau of Tibet acts as an elevated heat source. During summer, the air over the plateau is warmed by the sun's radiation. As the warmed air rises, air from the surrounding lowlands of India and Bangladesh are drawn towards the Himalayas. This moist air is forced upward, helping to generate the heavy monsoon rains. Thus, the Asian monsoon is more like a giant mountain breeze than a sea breeze. Using a blend of satellite, upper air, and ground based observations, Bannon and a graduate student have quantified the surface radiation budget for the monsoon and shown that the radiative warming over Tibet is twice that over the surrounding regions.
Mountains also help create deserts. Air dried by its ascent over the Tibetan plateau arrives over central Asia with too little moisture to produce precipitation. In this "rain shadow," the Gobi desert forms. In South America, the blocking of the surface winds by the Andes prevents rising motion and precipitation. This results in the coastal desert of Chile and Peru, where the town of Iquiqui has gone as long as ten years without measurable precipitation.
While primarily a theoretician, Bannon has also participated in the Alpine Experiment. This international field program studied mountain waves, lee cyclones, and frontal distortion over the European Alps. Flights in specially equipped research aircraft that can withstand hurricane force winds flew over Europe and the Mediterranean sea gathering data to test the theories.
Bannon, P.R., 1986: Linear development of quasi-geostrophic baroclinic disturbances with condensational heating. Journal of the Atmospheric Sciences, 43, 2261-2274.
Bannon, P.R., 1989: Linear baroclinic instability with the geostrophic momentum approximation. Journal of the Atmospheric Sciences, 46, 402-409.
Bannon, P.R., 1991: Aspects of rotating shear flow over a mountain ridge. Journal of the Atmospheric Sciences, 48, 211-216.
Bannon, P.R., 1992: A model of Rocky Mountain lee cyclogenesis. Journal of the Atmospheric Sciences, 49, 1510-1522.
Abreu, M.L., and P.R. Bannon, 1993: Dynamics of the South American coastal desert. Journal of the Atmospheric Sciences, 50, 2952-2964.
|
<urn:uuid:1d4c0523-ac30-454e-b813-09554366bc2e>
|
CC-MAIN-2016-26
|
http://www.ems.psu.edu/%7Ebannon/
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783396872.10/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154956-00146-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.904923 | 965 | 3.5 | 4 |
Whereas good governance is needed for the smooth running of public institutions, it is also essential for maintaining the sovereignty of the country. If a country is poorly governed and there is a political instability, its enemies find opportunities in this situation and try to undermine it. While a badly governed country has many other problems to solve, it can not ensure its security. A good governed country is economically strong and all the departments of the country function smoothly. It enables the rulers to strengthen the country’s security.
Good governance is essential to reap the fruit of globalization. As we all know that globalization is a fast spreading phenomenon which also has negative aspects due to the low quality products. The problem of law and order that is the outcome of bad governance is also a hindrance in reaping the benefits of globalization.
In Pakistan, there have been repeated military interventions into political governance from time to time. Although country has witnessed democratic regimes as well, but there has been constant experimentation with democracy in the last 50 years. That is shy no comprehensive system of governance could evolve.
This poetical chaos started with the dissolution of 1 constituent assembly in the most undemocratic and arbitrary manner by Governor General Ghulam Mohammad in 1954. Since then Pakistan’s internal strife has been plaguing including constitutional crises. He replaced Khawaja Nazim-ud-Din by Mohammad Ali Bogra. Then foreign Ambassador of Pakistan in the United States. In the second cabinet of Mohammad Alil Bogra, Mohammad Ayub Khan, then C-in-C, was included. While paving the way of military’s involvement in the country’s political affairs, culminating in the imposition of ML in 1958.
The first Martial Law was imposed by Ayub Khan in 1958 and lasted till 1969. He abrogated the constitution of 1965. He introduced Presidential system with indirect elections. His era was known as “Decade of Development” which later on proved to be “Decade of Exploitation” as his policy of privatization widened the gap between “haves” and
“have nots”. The national wealth was concentrated into the Ayub also created resentment among the students. Although economic indicators improved significantly during Ayub’s Martial lust for power prevented him from leaving his high position with impossible and Ayub’s regime resulted in total fiasco (confusion).
In April 1969 General Yahya assumed lasted control of the country and again Martial Law lasted till 1971. He abrogated the constitution of 1962, banned all political activates and dissolved National and Provincial Assemblies. Yahya’s Military regime in the history of Pakistan was something of love’s labours lost because there was no improvement or progress in any sphere of life. Rather there was a visible decline in political, social and economic spheres. Above all the country, was dismembered and the eastern wing broke away to emerge as an independent sovereign state of Bangladesh. His only aim was to transfer power to an elected body by holding free and fair elections. Yahya lived up to his promise of holding fair election which were held in 970 but instead of paving the way of smooth transfer of power, the results of the election sowed the seeds of disintegration which eventually led to the formation of Bangladesh in 1971. The loss of East Pakistan in 1971 war and the dismemberment of the country ill-reputed the Pakistan Army. The army rule could not continue and Yahya had no alternative but to quit by handing over power to Z.A Bhutto.
Z.A Bhutto was the chairman of PPP, which secured majority in West Pakistan in election of 1970. For the first time people of consequence, populist regime set in. the success of Populist or Bonaparte’s leader depends upon its ability to manipulate certain institutions like bureaucracy, army, etc. Bhutto possessed a charismatic personality. He introduced the concept of “Islamic Socialism”. According to him
”Islam is our faith. Democracy our policy, Socialism our economy and all power to the people”.
He raised the slogan of providing basic necessities to the people like Roti, Kapra and Makan. His economic policy was totally different. In 1972, he undertook a massive “nationalization” program in which he nationalized all those industries set up in the private sector. In first phase 31 units were nationalized which fell under 10 categories. They were iron and steel Industries, basic metals, heavy engineering etc. In second phase 1073-74, he undertook second phase of nationalization which people were not expecting. It created great panic among the industrialist, as they were not expecting the nationalization was not an extensive exercise and could not arrest inflation effectively as it was planned to do so. The PPP government public enterprises were controlled by BIM.
The land reforms introduced by Bhutto also could not yield the desired results as landlords anticipated such reforms in advance and transferred surplus land in names of their other family member, relatives or even made lease-back arrangement with tenants. However, his labour reforms in 1972-73 enhanced the prestige and status of labour class and safeguarded their rights effectively. He was the only head go government who was allowed to enjoy his tenure properly from 1970-1977.
Again Martial Law intervened in 1977 and the so-called popular leader elected by common people through dubious elections was hanged. Whatever the circumstances were, the step was unconstitutional. Zia’s Martial Regime was supposed to be the shortest one but it turned out to be the longest in the history of Pakistan. Zia did not abrogate the constitution o f1973 but suspended. At that point of time a strong Pakistan from military point of view was needed because of Afghan problem and the revolution of Iran. Both of then could have their repercussions beyond their boundaries. Zia’s regime opened the gates of foreign aid in Pakistan as country was going through adverse economic crises.
Besides, Zia undertook massive Islamic program in order to seek legitimacy of his prolonged rule. He issued various ordinances to bring existing laws in line with principles of Quran and Sunnah. He decided to promulgate 1973 Constitution with necessary amendments. He passed his famous 8 amendment curtailing the power of head of government through article 58 2(b) and provided significant power to the president who could dissolve National Assembly whenever he thinks that need has arisen.
He held local elections in 1983 on non-party basis. Then he held referendum in 1984 and main aim was to seek public mandate for Zia’s various steps, which he had already taken since 1977. In January 1985, he held general elections which were also on non-party basis. It became difficult to choose P.M and C.M from elected assemblies.
Hanpicked civilian Govt. of Mohammad Ali Khan Junejo was placed in but it found it very difficult to work while country was still under Martial Law Regime. The Government of Junejo was fired in 1988 through the special power enjoyed by Zia because of 8 amendment. The government was dismissed on the plea of Ojhri Camp disaster. Corruption charges were leveled against it and also due to the early signing of the Geneva Accord by Junejo without the consent of President Zia. Holding of Round Table Conference by Junejo also annoyed Zia in which various political parties were invited. On 18 August 1988, president Zia airplane C-130 crashed near Bahawalpur. He died along with top brass military generals on the spot. Thus another military civilian regime ended in a tragic manner.
The General elections were held in 1988 on party basis by the president Ghulam Ishaq Khan. Many ethnic, political and regional parties participated in these general elections. The PPP bagged 93 seats followed by Islami Jamhoori Ittehad claiming over 60 seats in National Assembly. As a result, Benazir became PM of Pakistan on 1 December 1988. The govt. was dissolved in 1990 due to the corruption charges leveled against her by president of that time.
Then next elections were held in October 1990 an this time Islami Jamhoori Ittehad got majority and hence Nawaz Sharif became PM. This government was also dismissed in 1993 by Ghulam Ishaq Khan on plea of corruption, nepotism and ethnic strife.
Again elections were held in 1993 and Benazir became PM but this government was also dissolved on corruption charges in 1996.
Election were again held on 2 February 1997, and Nawaz Sharif came into power. The results were amazing for everyone. The PML (N) made clean sweep in the elections and got a wide majority. But in 1999 a military coup took place led by General Musharraf. The Army was yet again in power promising again of smooth transfer of power to grass root level within 3 years.
Causes of Bad Governance
Since the establishment of Pakistan Army has always had a strong desire to have a permanent place in the political setup of country. The 4 military regimes are the proof of this. Pakistan’s history is studded with coups and coup like actions that have affected the character of the civilian governments and their working.
It’s quite clear that four governments before the Ayub Regime and all the governments after Zia were dismissed because they were guilty of corruption, mal administration, nepotism, and ethnic strife.
All the Governments after Junejo were characterized by the royal style of the Prime Minister that was true in case of Benazir and Nawaz Sharif because of their extravagant style of living i.e. Raiwind Palaces and Surrey Palace respectively.
All the previous heads of governments both civilian and military and also the politicians they exercised absolutism in style and mentality. They did not realize that their foremost duty was to serve the people not just to misrule them. Politicians during the last 50 years have not exhibited responsible attitude.
People elect the PM, his cabinet and the members of assemblies through ballot. But it has often happened that an indirectly elected president comes and dismisses the government who has secured the mandate from public. This is highly undemocratic, unconstitutional, and it has been happening in our political history due to the 8 amendment passed by The Zia regime. Zia dismissed Junejo’s government; Ghulam Ishaq dissolved Benazir and Nawaz governments respectively. Balance is not maintained between powers of incompetent governance.
Our constitution does not provide an effective system of check and balance. That is why when a civilian government is elected, it becomes omnipotent i.e. all powerful which gives rise to corruption and mal-administration. There is no effective system of governance which can keep check on the decisions and the steps taken by PM and his cabinet. Judiciary must be made strong enough to keep a check over the legislation by the government.
In Pakistan except Bhotto’s government, no government has completed its expected life span. After Junejo, many governments were disbanded in the period of 9 years. This game of power musical chair has seriously affected the economic and social progress of our country.
The political chaos prevailing in the country has led to grave economic condition. Now our country is on the verge of bankruptcy for some years and of being and of being declared insolvent. A feeling of hopelessness is going o. Increasing unemployment has led to “brain drain” which is alarming for the very survival of our dear homeland. This continuously deteriorating economic situation is detrimental to effective and results oriented governance the Present government has reversed this pattern.
People are also responsible for their misfortunes because they have not exerted themselves. They have failed to participate in the affairs of the state. They have allowed governments to misgovern and mismanage the economy.
In Pakistan, bureaucrats have also tried to gain political power. The examples of bureaucrats turned politicians are present here. These bureaucrats exercise undue influence and make politicians dance on their tunes. They have done enormous changes to the previous government setups by giving rise to red tapes.
Political parties have not done their job properly of inculcating political awareness among the masses. Most of the times they have failed to mobilize public opinion. Instead of securing confidence of the people, they introduced horse trading which has shattered the confidence of people in politicians and political parties. Moreover, political parties led to extreme political polarization in the society which affected the law and order situation in the country. Karachi provides the best example.
The people should be represented from the grass root to the highest level throng their representatives. This democratic process should be fair to accommodate the aspirations of the man in the street throng effective governance.
In order to attain quality of governance, people instead of the accountability of the previous or failed rulers, must ask for participation in decision making and in the execution of the policies evolved through a democratic consultative process.
In order to have an effect system of governance, participation of women should be ensured as according to the latest count men: women ratio is 48:52 respectively. The number of seats that are taken negligible; it’s almost non-existent at the moment.
For proper governance the role of army in the political setup of the areas of operation of all institutions of the state like army, bureaucracy and the government.
Independence of judiciary must be maintained which can exercise an effective system of check and balance and can prevent politicians from abuse of power.
Economic and political stability are deeply interlinked. Without one the other can not be obtained.so government must evolve strait and requires a major re-structuring. Then continuity of policy is required without which no result would be obtained.
People must be educated without which they can not protect their rights. Press can play a vital role in creating awareness among people regarding their problems and their solutions. In this way people would be able to demand their rights and will perform their duties in a more organized way. Thus, we can say without proper civic sense good and effective governance can not be obtained.
this is high time that consensus must be developed among the people that what system of government can suit them better. Keeping in view the pluralistic society of Pakistan, federal system of government can serve people better but sufficient powers must be given to the provinces in order to tackle problems of the people in an appropriate way. Direct system of election must be introduced and governments must be allowed to complete their tenure.
The crucial importance of good governance can be witnessed by the experience of East Asian countries. Between 1965 and 1990, the region registered the highest growth rate in the world and combined it with high living standards. The single most important factor in this economic miracle was the fact that these countries were able to put in place sound and sustainable framework.
It is not that Swiss and Swedes are inherently blessed with grater honesty and integrity than Pakistanis. But difference lies in the institutions, laws and traditions of civil society that have been created by the law. The wrong doer there invites the immediate wrath of law, receives a fair trial of law without adjournment and is awarded appropriate punishment.
|
<urn:uuid:7c0ee2a0-0446-4ae7-a29a-9e41d6d27bb6>
|
CC-MAIN-2016-26
|
http://www.entrytest.com/essays/essay8.aspx
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783393463.1/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154953-00140-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.978948 | 3,083 | 3.203125 | 3 |
Pyramids, Roads, Architecture, Aquaculture, Horticulture, Engineering, Hydrology.
Just a short list of those accomplishments by early man that lead some to say that only the influence of technologically advanced alien cultures could have given us those achievements. Of course they never are able to address who gave those races the basis for their own knowledge, because at some point it all comes down to one who must have done it by themselves, and if one can do it, then others can as well. While humanity may have been primitive in many ways, they yet possessed essentially the same brain we have today and figured out ways to use that brain despite lacking the millennia of knowledge we now possess.
In fact, were instrumental in building that repository of knowledge. However large the accomplishment, it all comes down to the tools that were used.
From The Daily Mail
The Roman Army Knife: Or how the ingenuity of the Swiss was beaten by 1,800 years
By Daily Mail Reporter
UPDATED: 04:07 EST, 30 January 2010
The world’s first Swiss Army knife’ has been revealed – made 1,800 years before its modern counterpart.An intricately designed Roman implement, which dates back to 200AD, it is made from silver but has an iron blade. It features a spoon, fork as well as a retractable spike, spatula and small tooth-pick.
Inspired: The Roman army pen knife, a precursor to today’s popular Swiss Army accessory
Experts believe the spike may have been used by the Romans to extract meat from snails. It is thought the spatula would have offered a means of poking cooking sauce out of narrow-necked bottles.
The 3in x 6in (8cm x 15cm) knife was excavated from the Mediterranean area more than 20 years ago and was obtained by the museum in 1991. The unique item is among dozens of artefacts exhibited in a newly refurbished Greek and Roman antiquities gallery at the Fitzwilliam Museum, in Cambridge. Experts believe it may have been carried by a wealthy traveller, who will have had the item custom made.
A spokesman said: ‘This was probably made between AD 200 and AD 300, when the Roman empire was a great imperial power. The expansion of Rome – which, before 500 BC, had just been a small central Italian state – made some individuals, perhaps like our knife-owner, personally very wealthy. This could have been directly from the fruits of conquests, or indirectly, from the ‘business opportunities’ the empire offered. We know almost nothing about the person who owned this ingenious knife, but perhaps he was one of those who profited from the vast expansion of Rome – he would have been wealthy to have such a real luxury item.
‘Perhaps he was a traveller, who required a practical compound utensil like this on his journeys.’
The spokesman added: ‘While many less elaborate folding knives survive in bronze, this one’s complexity and the fact that it is made of silver suggest it is a luxury item. Perhaps a useful gadget for a wealthy traveller.’
Modern Swiss Army knives originated in Ibach Schwyz, Switzerland, in 1897 and were created by Karl Elsener.
The knives which provide soldiers with a ‘battlefield toolkit’ have since become standard issue for many modern day fighting forces thanks to their toughness and quality.
Nationalist Elsener decided to design the knives after he realised the Swiss army were being issued with blades manufactured in neighbouring Germany.
Other popular artefacts include an intricately designed Greek make-up box which was custom made almost 3000 years ago for a women of ‘wealth and status’.
The round clay make-up container from Athens dates back to 740BC and experts believe it may have been stored in a grave in the Ancient Greek city for the last 2,700 years.
The six inch high and 12 inch diameter box would have contained precious gems and make up from the era made from a variety of naturally occurring substances.
Next Saturnalia, what to buy the wealthy Roman traveller who has everything!
|
<urn:uuid:00a6c41a-2f5c-4834-b2ff-f91db33473f3>
|
CC-MAIN-2016-26
|
http://www.ghosttheory.com/2012/12/29/the-ingenuity-of-mankind
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783402516.86/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624155002-00109-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.979386 | 849 | 2.734375 | 3 |
- Historic Sites
Benedict Arnold: The Aftermath Of Treason
The traitor was not destitute, but his family's life was not comfortable after the Revolutionary War.
October 1967 | Volume 18, Issue 6
He had managed to hold on to his money—some £5,000 which he had brought for trading—and he soon put small amounts of it to good use as bribes. He learned that a British fleet was now blockading the harbor; he also heard that he was slated for the gallows. Further bribes to his guards put him in touch with the British flagship Boyne and procured the equipment he needed. On June 29, 1794, as the sultry, tropical evening became night and the tide turned, Arnold placed his money and other valuables in a cask and dropped it overboard—a gamble that worked, for later the cask washed ashore below Pointe-à-Pitre, where a British landing force had encamped.
In the late dark hours, Arnold slid down a rope to a small raft that was waiting for him. On this he made his way to a rowboat that had been anchored in the harbor, and then pulled for the British fleet as fast—and as quietly—as he could. At one point he had to outrow a French cutter that hailed him: clever work with his own smaller, more maneuverable boat got him away in the darkness. At four o’clock in the morning the built-up shoe that Arnold wore on his shrunken wounded leg pounded the deck boards of the Boyne.
Off and on for the next two years he served as a volunteer officer under Sir Charles Grey, the general commanding the British land forces in the West Indies. He organized the supply service and acted as an agent for the British planters affected by the slow British retreat from Guadeloupe and other French West Indian possessions. Once more he tried to obtain a permanent and suitable post in the British Army. Once more his requests met with refusal; he told his wife that the British would not even let him seek a soldier’s death.
Still, his last military efforts did not go unrewarded. A committee of West Indian planters and merchants drew up a resolution, thanking him for “beneficial” services. As a former Loyalist officer on half pay, he was granted 13,400 acres of Crown land in Quebec. This, however, did not provide him with immediate financial returns.
Dwindling finances were not the traitor’s only problem. In 1795 Benedict, the eldest of his sons by his first wife, died in Jamaica of gangrene, after being wounded while fighting with the British. In May of 1800, Sophia, his and Peggy’s only daughter, had a paralytic stroke that left her a semi-invalid for life. A month later Edward, their favorite son, left for India as an officer in the British engineers. “His death,” Peggy told sister Betsy, “could scarcely be a more severe stroke.”
Even before Edward had completed the tedious five-months’ voyage to his post at Cawnpore, Peggy was penning him a long letter, outlining the doleful state into which her husband’s privateering ventures had fallen. Such “insignificant prizes” as Arnold’s captains had taken, she complained, had caused her husband “more trouble than profit” because of the legal formalities involved in their condemnation. She added that the petty officers on her husband’s ships were throwing out “some very broad hints that handsome fortunes have been made by ransoming Ships at sea, but as we have not proof we must sit down quietly with the loss. … [Arnold] is, at present, in the most harassed wretched state that I have ever seen him. Disappointed in his highly raised expectations, harassed by the Sailors who are loudly demanding their prize-money, when in fact their advances have greatly exceeded anything that is due to them, and wishing still to do something, without the health or power of acting, he knows not which way to turn himself.” Peggy herself tended to much of her husband’s business. Her own informed view was that Arnold’s skippers had “done” him out of “about £50,000.”
Most of this unhappy letter was written on January 14, 1801. A few weeks later Arnold’s already broken health took a turn for the worse, following the renewal of a chronic cough contracted in the tropics. Gout attacked his unwounded leg; the other ached constantly, and he walked only with a cane. Overwhelmed by accumulated frustrations, he failed rapidly. His face became deeply wrinkled; only the blue eyes reminded his friends of the old Arnold.
In the early summer Peggy took him to Galleywood, near Chelmsford, to spend a week with her friends Ann and Sarah Fitch. The General seemed to improve in the country air, but following their return to London, he was much worse. His doctors’ diagnosis was dropsy, and on June 10 he became delirious.
Legend has it that as death approached he called for his old American uniform and said he wished he had never removed it. Historians generally discredit this as inconsistent with his conviction that nothing he chose to do could be wrong. Quite possibly his only regrets were that he had failed to deliver West Point to the British, and that his lifelong struggle for fame and fortune had brought him only infamy and debts.
|
<urn:uuid:f3be1968-19d3-4ff8-9d06-82b1f5b77686>
|
CC-MAIN-2016-26
|
http://www.americanheritage.com/content/benedict-arnold-aftermath-treason?page=7
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783391519.2/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154951-00144-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.992073 | 1,158 | 3.03125 | 3 |
Washington, Sep 4 (IANS) Children who use inhaled steroid drugs for asthma end up growing slightly shorter as adults than children who don't use the drugs, findings from a comprehensive asthma study show.
The study led by Robert C. Strunk, professor of paediatrics at Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis involved more than 1,000 children aged five to 12 years who were treated for mild to moderate asthma as part of the Childhood Asthma Management Programme (CAMP) clinical trial.
They received treatment for more than four years at eight centres, including Washington School of Medicine, the "New England Journal of Medicine" reports.
They were divided into three groups: one received twice-daily budesonide, an inhaled corticosteroid medication; a second group received nedocromil, an inhaled non-steroid medication; and a third group received a placebo.
All children received albuterol, a fast-acting drug for relief of acute asthma symptoms, and oral corticosteroids as needed for asthma symptoms, according to a Washington statement.
The researchers followed 943 participants in the trial at regular intervals until they reached adult height. Females were considered to be at adult height at age 18 or older and males at age 20 or older, Strunk says.
In the first 4 1/2 years after the end of the trial, researchers took patients' height and weight every six months. Over the next eight years, height and weight were measured once or twice a year.
The mean adult height was about one-half inch, or 1.2 cm, shorter in the group that received budesonide than in the patients who received nedocromil or placebo. The patients who experienced the slower growth were primarily between 5-11 years old when they began using budesonide.
"This was surprising because in previous studies, we found that the slower growth would be temporary, not affecting adult height," Strunk says. "But none of those studies followed patients from the time they entered the study until they had reached adult height."
These findings were presented at the European Respiratory Society meeting in Vienna, Austria.
|
<urn:uuid:a81e8c25-e0b4-4027-a20a-181a0085a2ec>
|
CC-MAIN-2016-26
|
http://www.newstrackindia.com/newsdetails/2012/09/04/215--Asthmic-kids-on-steroids-grow-slightly-shorter-.html
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783397797.77/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154957-00072-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.971507 | 444 | 2.609375 | 3 |
In the winter the days are short and the Sun in low in the sky. The graphic above shows the Sun's path through the sky on the shortest day of the year, the winter solstice. This is the day when the Sun is the lowest in the southern sky.
During the short winter days the Sun does not rise exactly in the east, but instead rises just south of east and it sets south of west.
Each day after the winter solstice, which occurs on December 21st, the Sun's path becomes a little higher in the southern sky. The Sun also begins to rise closer to the east and set closer to the west until we reach the day when it rises exactly east and sets exactly west. This day is called the equinox. In the spring we have the Spring Equinox about March 21st. There is also a Fall Equinox on September 21st. Click here to learn more about the spring and fall equinox.
|
<urn:uuid:b7c0223a-c366-4432-92a0-3b7af7916ed0>
|
CC-MAIN-2016-26
|
http://solar.physics.montana.edu/YPOP/Classroom/Lessons/Sundials/winter.html
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783393332.57/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154953-00127-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.963743 | 196 | 3.640625 | 4 |
Gardening Articles: Landscaping :: Trees, Shrubs, & Vines
The Value of Urban Trees
by Susan Littlefield
What is a tree on a city street worth? More than you might expect when you take into account all the benefits that trees provide in the urban landscape. This is what Alejandro Chiriboga, an Ohio State University (OSU) graduate student, discovered when he evaluated trees in the city of Wooster, Ohio using special software developed by the U.S. Forest Service.
Chiriboga started out by inventorying and recording the attributes of 3,229 municipally owned trees in Wooster in the summer of 2010. He then used the Forest Service's i-Tree Streets software to calculate the environmental value the trees provided by storing carbon, removing air pollution, helping to deal with stormwater, and conserving energy, along with the more traditionally recognized aesthetic benefits. His conclusion? Each tree provided about $83 dollars in benefits annually, for a whopping $270,153 value overall to the city! This is in addition to the value of the 3,980 tons of carbon stored in the trees' aboveground tissues, which wasn't figured into the annual values noted above.
Research has shown that the more mature and well-established the tree, the greater its contribution in environmental improvement. Trees that are 20 years or older have been shown to have the greatest benefits in terms of carbon removal and storage and removal of dust particles and carbon monoxide from the air. This underscores the importance of assessing the health of existing trees and finding strategies for keeping city trees thriving in a stressful environment.
That's where i-Tree comes in. This state-of-the-art software suite was developed by the U.S. Forest Service to help communities make the most of their street trees. In the public domain so that it is available to all, i-Tree offers various urban forest assessment applications, as well as tools for selecting proper species, detecting pests, and assessing storm damage. i-Tree can help anyone interested in urban forest stewardship assess and manage anything from a single tree to an entire forest.
|
<urn:uuid:984f64e7-a881-42ad-a01a-1eb60dd32d3a>
|
CC-MAIN-2016-26
|
http://garden.org/subchannels/landscaping/trees?q=show&id=3568
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783395546.12/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154955-00100-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.943242 | 437 | 3.015625 | 3 |
In June 1869, a most interesting company arrived near Coloma. The group included twenty-two Japanese samurai and a young woman named Okei Ito. In their possession were mulberry trees, tea plant seed, fruit tree saplings, paper and oil plants, rice, bamboo and other crops that they had brought from their Japanese homeland. With these items and an abundance of anticipation, this vanguard established the Wakamatsu Tea and Silk Colony, which is believed to be the first permanent Japanese settlement in North America. The colony was the birthplace of the first naturalized Japanese-American and the only settlement established by samurai outside of Japan.
17th Century Policies
But the colony’s history had its origin earlier in centuries-old domestic Japanese politics. In the 17th century, the Tokugawa Shogunate, the feudal political structure that ruled the island from 1603 to 1868, adopted cultural isolation and prohibitions on foreign travel as their keystone policies. These policies reigned supreme for 250 years, until Commodore Matthew Perry of the United States Navy forcibly established trade with Japanese ports in 1853-1854, primarily through American military intimidation. Perry’s foray opened the door to foreign cultural intrusion and by the 1860s, the Shogunate’s desired seclusion was crumbling.
The Tokugawa leadership attempted to stem the tide, but a local daimyo, or Lord, of the Aizu Wakamatsu Province publicly and dangerously disagreed with Shogunate policy and felt that some form of accommodation with the Westerners was a more prudent course. His name was Matsudaira Katamori. He was not alone as a few others in the Tokugawa Shogunate wished for modernization and nascent global outreach. Internal dissension was brewing
Katamori was friendly with the European diplomat John Henry Schnell, who was attached to the Prussian Embassy. Schnell also sold European-style weaponry. Katamori was one of his best customers and Schnell trained the provincial samurai in the use of European firearms. John Henry Schnell achieved great respect and even rank in the province as he was awarded a Japanese name, allowed to marry a Japanese samurai-class woman, and given the rank of General.
War of the Year of the Dragon
The rapid changes in Japanese society following Commodore Perry’s arrival led to bitter discord between the Tokugawa faction, which included the disaffected Matsudaira Katamori, and their enemies, who wished for a restoration of the Imperial Monarchy after decades of Shogunate rule. The result was the bloody Boshin Civil War of 1868-1869, a conflict also known as the War of the Year of the Dragon. In 1868, Katamori’s force of 4000 samurai was roundly defeated by the Emperor’s army of 20,000 soldiers at Aizu, Wakamatsu Province. Katamori surrendered and was sentenced to execution. His friend and supporter John Henry Schnell suddenly found his life in danger.
In April 1869, with Katamori’s financial support, Schnell arranged for a steam-powered clipper ship, the SS China, to carry some Wakamatsu refugees to the United States. Among the passengers were Schnell’s Japanese wife Jou and their daughter Frances, some of Katamori’s veteran samurai, and the 17-year-old Okei, the Schnell Family nursemaid.
Arriving in San Francisco
Upon arrival in San Francisco on May 20, 1869, the refugees were an exotic novelty. The San Francisco Daily Alta California newspaper gushed about Jou’s beauty and grace and that the cargo hold held 50,000 mulberry trees to be used for silk cultivation, six million tea seeds, and silkworm cocoons. The new arrivals also brought cooking utensils, swords, and a large banner bearing the Aizu Wakamatsu lotus blossom crest.
Within weeks, the colonists, under the direction of Schnell, purchased 200 acres and outbuildings in Gold Hill, just a mile from Coloma. The land had been purchased from Charles Graner, who had settled in Gold Hill in 1856. The settlers quickly began their daunting task of establishing a profitable agricultural colony. The mulberry trees and tea seeds were planted, other crops were cultivated (most notably, citrus, peaches, and other stone fruits) and dwellings began to appear. In January 1870, a correspondent for the San Francisco Daily Morning Call traveled to the Tea and Silk Colony and reported that the settlers had four carpenters in their company and they were
now engaged in erecting buildings for the party. The houses are to be twelve in number, dimensions thirty six feet by thirty, each containing four rooms, and built in the Japanese fashion with low, pitched roofs,… The partition walls are paper, the outer walls of wood; one room is to be used as a sleeping room, another as a kitchen, and the two others—in each house—or silk raising, where the worms will be kept and nursed and the silk reeled and otherwise manipulated.
Compliments on Japanese Culture
The correspondent commented favorably on Japanese ingenuity, neatness, intelligence and manners, but sadly found it vital to draw a negative comparison to the Chinese residents of the region, whom were regarded by the dominant Euro-American culture as dangerous and subhuman: "Take them all in all, they [the Japanese] are in every respect a superior race to the Chinese, and resemble them in no manner except their physical appearance."
The Wakamatsu Tea and Silk Colony flourished for a while. The colonists proudly displayed their products at the 1869 California State Agricultural Fair in Sacramento and the 1870 Horticultural Fair in San Francisco. But the colony faltered due to a series of momentous complications, including a prolonged drought, increasing water costs and competition, and, perhaps most importantly, the withdrawal of funding from Matsudaira Katamori. In 1869, the Boshin War ended in defeat for the Tokugawa Shogunate and brought the Meiji Restoration, the reinstallation of Imperial dynastic control. Katamori, sentenced to death during the war by the now victorious Meiji leadership, was surprisingly pardoned and chose to remain in Japan as a Shinto priest. With different personal circumstances and a newborn vocation, Katamori discontinued further funding to the Tea and Silk Colony.
Change in Land Ownership
In 1873, the Francis Veerkamp Family purchased the Wakamatsu lands. The colony was disbanded although several of the colonists remained on the property. The fate of only a few of the colonists is known. Matsunosoke Sakurai worked for the Veerkamps until his death in 1901. Masumizu Kuninosuke married Carrie Wilson, an African-Native American woman from Coloma. Kuninosuke died in 1915 but many of Masumizu and Carrie’s descendants still live in the region. And what of Okei Ito, the 17-year-old nursemaid of the Schnell family? She died in 1871 and was buried on the Wakamatsu Colony property. She was only 19 years old.
The story does not end there. In the early 1920s, Japanese Americans began tending to Okei’s grave and began emphasizing the importance of the Wakamatsu Colony in the history of Japanese immigration to the United States. Following the end of the Boshin Civil War and the Meiji restoration, rapid modernization and social upheaval rocked Japan. Many Japanese looked to a new start in new lands. Many of these searchers looked to the Wakamatsu experiment as a model for immigration that preserved cultural cohesion. The Wakamatsu Tea and Silk Colony experience is widely viewed today as the beginning of permanent Issei (first generation) settlement in the United States. By 1900, more than 20,000 Japanese were living in the United States and an estimated 10% of all California agricultural production was credited to the Japanese settlers.
First Japanese To Be Buried
Okei Ito was the first Japanese buried on American soil and, in recent years, her gravesite has become a pilgrimage destination. In 1969, then California Governor Ronald Reagan designated the Wakamatsu Colony site as California Historic Landmark #815. Also, in 1969, the 100th Anniversary of the colony, Japanese American community leaders proclaimed the year as the "Japanese American Centennial." A commemorative ceremony at the Wakamatsu Colony featured participation from Matsudaira Ichiro, the grandson of colony financier Matsudaira Katamori, and the Japanese Consul General Shima Seichi.
In November 2010, the American River Conservancy purchased the 272 acre Gold Hill-Wakamatsu Tea and Silk Colony Farm with plans to preserve, protect and interpret the location’s significant and compelling social history and cultural legacy. The National Park Service has found the property to be "nationally significant." In 2009, local Congressman Tom McClintock introduced the Gold Hill-Wakamatsu Preservation Act (H.R. 4108) to safeguard the property. The legislation died in committee, but was reintroduced in 2011 by California Senator Barbara Boxer as Senate Bill 177, which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources for consideration.
Sacramento Congressional Representative Doris Matsui has stated that "To many Japanese Americans, the Wakamatsu Colony is as symbolic as Plymouth Rock was for the first American colonists."
- The Wakamatsu Tea and Silk Colony. Source: Collections of the American River Conservancy
- The gravesite of Okei Ito Source: Collections of the American River Conservancy
- Dedication of the Historical Marker at the Wakamatsu Colony June 7, 1969 – Governor Ronald Reagan second from left Source: Collections of the CSU Sacramento Archives and Library
- Historical marker at Wakamatsu Tea and Silk Colony Source: Collections of the American River Conservancy
|
<urn:uuid:0681568d-54b7-43e6-91ae-7aae56145059>
|
CC-MAIN-2016-26
|
http://www.sierracollege.edu/ejournals/jsnhb/v5n1/ito.html
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783408840.13/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624155008-00168-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.962345 | 2,038 | 3.421875 | 3 |
Contents - Previous - Next
This is the old United Nations University website. Visit the new site at http://unu.edu
Judith Snavely McGuire
Institute of Nutrition of Central America and Panama, Guatemala City, Guatemala, and Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States of America
Institute of Nutrition of Central America and Panama. Guatemala City, Guatemala
1. To determine the energy costs of the household and agricultural activities most frequently performed by adult women in a rural region of Guatemala.
2. To assess longitudinally the energy intake and total energy expenditure of such women throughout the agricultural cycle in that region.
Subjects for Objective 1
Fifty-eight women, 16 to 49 years old (mean SD: 27 ± 6). of mixed Mayan and Caucasian descent (Lading). Weight. 49.1 ± 80 kg (range: 36.2-75.6). Height. 150 ± 6 cm (range: 144-163). Physiologic state. 12 in second or third trimester of pregnancy; 30 lactating; 16 neither pregnant nor lactating (NPNL).
Usual occupations: Mainly rural household-related activities, child-care and minor agricultural tasks, such as gleaning, winnowing, picking fruits, and tending domestic animals. Participated with other family members in picking cofee during the harvest season.
Subjects for Objective 2
Eighteen women selected from the preceding group, 18 to 31 years old 126 ± 3), who lived with a spouse, had at least one pre-school-age child, and who did not share household duties with another woman or an older child. Weight: 47.8 ± 4.7 kg. Height: 152 ± 6 cm. Physiologic state: Throughout the longitudinal 18month study, eight became pregnant, delivered an infant, and breast-fed it.
The study took place in Cacahuito, a small village of 1,043 inhabitants, located 1 13 km south-east of Guatemala City. It is at an altitude of 616 m above sea-level. The mean temperature during the day ranged from 21 to 33° C at various times of the year. The study lasted 18 months and included both the rainy (March-September) and dry seasons.
The women ate the foods traditional in the rural areas of Guatemala. They followed their customary meal pattern and no food supplements were provided. The staples were black beans (Phaseolus vulgaris) and corn, which provided about 65 per cent of the dietary protein. Animal foods provided about 15 per cent of the protein. The diets had a low energy density, mainly because of their low fat content (usually about 15 per cent, including inherent "invisible fat"). Nutrient intakes were calculated from 24-hour dietary recall surveys and Central American food composition tables.
The women lived in their home environment and engaged in their normal day-to-day activities. They were asked to repeat or perform some of those activites for 10 to 15 minutes in order to measure the energy cost of the work. The time-motion observations were done by one of the investigators who lived in the village throughout the study, and who was well known and socially accepted by the experimental subjects. It is felt that the investigator's presence did not influence the subjects' pattern of physical activity.
Duration of the Study
Observations were done over a period of 16 months, during the planting season. the coffee harvest season, and between the harvest and the following planting season.
Indicators and Measurements
Anthropometry: Body weight and other anthropometric measurements were done after the energy cost of the various activities had been determined. In the longitudinal study, women were measured at monthly intervals, in the morning, before breakfast.
Energy cost of work: After observing the chores performed by each woman for 1 to 2 months, the most common tasks were identified (table 1). The energy cost of 21 such activities was measured by indirect calorimetry using a respiratory face-mask with a low-resistance valve, and either a portable respirometer of the Kofranyi-Michaelis type or a modification of the Douglas bag technique. For the latter, latex rubber balloons were used and exhaled air was measured with a dry-gas meter calibrated with a 600-litre Tissot gasometer. All volumes were adjusted to standard pressure, temperature, and humidity conditions (STPD). Oxygen concentrations were measured with a "microfuel cell" analyser (Teledyne, Inc., San Gabriel, California) calibrated with certified gases. Respiratory quotients of 0.88-0.90 were assumed for mild and moderate physical activity. and an energy equivalent of 4.92 kcal/litre oxygen, STPD, was used to calculate energy expenditure. The energy costs of eleven tasks were estimated from direct observations of their activity components and from calculations of the energy cost of those components (table 2).
TABLE 1. Energy Cost of Tasks Performed by Rural Women in Guatemala
Activity or Task
Energy Cost (kcal/kg/min)
Coefficient of Varation
Energy Expended by 55 kg Woman (kcal/min)
Mean + SD
|1.Lying down||23||0.021 + 0 003||0.017-0.026||13||1.14|
|2.Standing||8||0.021 + 0 005||0.015 0.029||23||1.15|
|3.Buying or selling||0.021||1.15|
|4-5. Sitting or sewing||20||0.022 + 0 044||0.014-0.029||19||1.20|
|8. Ironing clothes||1||0.026||1.44|
|9. Picking coffee||6||0.027 ± 0 004||0.023-0.033||14||1.50|
|10. Winnowing or dekerneling corn||15||0.030 + 0.006||0.014 0 037||19||1.63|
|11. Washing dishes||1||0.030||1.68|
|12.Cooking||19||0.032 ±0.008||0.018 0.049||27||1.75|
|15.Making tortillas||48||0.038 + 0.009||0.017-0 056||23||2.08|
|16House-cleaning||16||0.040 + 0.016||0.020-0.077||40||2.20|
|17.Child care||4||0.040 + 0.010||0 033-0 055||26||2.22|
|20. Washing clothes||16||0.049 + 0.010||0.036 0.067||21||2.69|
|21. Walking on a flat terrain or downhill, with orwithout a load'||31||0.050 + 0.012||0 032-0.078||24||2.73 (3.22)|
|23.Raking and burning||0.050||2.77|
|24.Sweeping||33||0.057 + 0.010||0.038 0.077||18||3.12|
|25.Staking a fence||0.058||3.18|
|26.Cutting fruit with a pole||0.061||3.34|
|27.Light work with machete||0.064||3.52|
|28.Gleaning~||5||0.072 + 0.026||0.039-0.106||36||3.95|
|29.Lifting and moving objects||4||0 074 + 0.018||0.049-0.087||25||4.04|
|30.Walking uphill||18||0077+0.019||0.054 0.117||24||4.25|
|31. Chopping wood with machete||6||0.078 + 0.013||0.057-0.093||16||4.32|
|32.Carrying a load uphill||24||0.089 + 0.016||0.058-0.134||18||4.88 (5.77)|
TABLE 2. Energy Cost of Tasks Estimated from their Component Activities
|Taska||Energy Cost (kcal/kg/min)||Estimation|
|Buying or selling||0.021||Similar to standing|
|Nursing||0.022||Similar to sitting or sewing|
|Eating||0.022||Similar to sitting or sewing|
|Personal necessities||0.035||Mean between sitting or standing|
|Hanging clothes||0.035||Mean between sitting or standing|
|Picking fruit||0.044||Mean of picking coffee and cutting fruit with a pole|
|Weeding||0.047||Mean between sitting and gleaning|
|Tending animals||0.050||Similar to walking|
|Raking and burning||0.050||Mean of standing, sweeping and lifting|
|Staking a fence||0.058||Mean of sitting or crouching, light work with machete and lifting|
|Light work with machete||0.064||Mean between walking and chopping wood with machete|
a. The tasks are described in detail in the Appendix.
Time-motion observations: The 18 women in the longitudinal study were under direct observation by the same investigator twice in each of the three agricultural seasons. Observations were done on two different weekdays, within 10 days of each other, for 12 hours each day between 5 a.m. and 5 p.m. Each activity was described in a written record and timed with a stop-watch to the closest second.
Total energy expenditure: This was calculated from the time-motion and energy cost of work during 10 hours of the day and from questioning the women about their activities during the remaining 14 hours. The energy expended during the wakeful hours of that period was calculated as the average cost of cooking, caring for children, and resting (0.0313 kcal/kg/min.), or as the average cost of those three tasks plus that of washing clothes (0.0357 kcal/kg/min). The energy cost of the sleeping hours was estimated from the FAO/WHO 1973 recommendations (0.0164 kcal/kg/min).
Dietary surveys: During each of the three agricultural seasons, the dietary intake of each individual woman was calculated from 24-hour recall surveys and weighing of sample portions of food with a diet scale. The nutrient contents of foods were calculated from the Central American food-composition tables. Food samples were subjected to proximal analysis to confirm the adequacy of the use of the food-composition tables.
Summary of Main Results
Energy Cost of Tasks
Tables 1 and 2 show the energy cost of the 32 tasks that were used to calculate energy expenditure. Several activities were measured in pregnant, lactating, and NPNL women. There were no differences related to the physiological status in terms of units of body weight (i.e. kcal/kg). Pregnant women, however, expended more energy per unit of time in those activities that involved body displacement because they weighed more than NPNL or lactating women.
Complete data were obtained from eleven women. Seven participated for only 6 to 10 months, mainly because of migration.
Table 3 shows the anthropometric characteristics of the 11 women who participated throughout the study. Seven women who became pregnant and delivered a baby during the study did not gain weight during the first trimester of pregnancy. Mean weight gain during pregnancy was 6.9 + 3.1 kg (CV = 46 per cent). Weight gains during the second and third trimester of pregnancy were similar for the group of seven women, averaging 40 g/day. There were no significant seasonal changes in body weight or other anthropometric measurements, such as subcutaneous skinfold thicknesses or limb circumferences.
Pattern of Activities
The coffee harvest during the year of the study was the poorest for several years because of climatic conditions. This resulted in lower participation of women in agricultural tasks than customary in good harvest seasons. Consequently, most of the coffee was picked by the men in the village and the women devoted less time to agricultural chores than in previous years during the harvest season. This factor did not allow comparison of the activity pattern in harvest season with that in other seasons that would be typical of the agricultural cycle in other years.
TABLE 3. Anthropometric Characteristics of 11 Women (Average of Observations Made Over a Period of 16 Months)
Weight + SD (kg}
Height (cm) (kg)
Standard Weight for Height cm
Head Circumferences (cm)
Arm Circumference + SD (cm)
Calf Circumference + SD (cm)
Triceps Skinfold + SD (mm)
|9||13||44.6 ± 5.0||150.3||50.4||51.8||24.2 ± 0.8||31.6 ± 0.8||11.1 ± 2.7|
|239||14||50.9 ± 2.6||151.6||51.5||54.1||24.0 ± 1.0||32.3 ± 0.5||13.1 ± 0.9|
|430||11||54.8 ± 4.8||154.3||52.5||54.6||25.1 ± 1.1||32.8 ± 0.9||11.0 ± 0.7|
|456||13||46.4 ± 1.2||142.4||45.9||53.8||25.4 ± 0.8||31.4 ± 0.4||13.9 ± 0.7|
|462||14||52.6± 1.1||163.0||58.3||54.6||24.3 ±0.6||36.3±0.6||8.5 ± 1.8|
|470||13||47.6 ± 4.1||150.4||50.4||53.8||22.9 ± 0.6||31.3 ± 0.9||10.1 ± 2.3|
|495||14||40.0 ± 2.1||144.5||47.0||53.0||21.1 ± 0.9||29.5 ± 0.6||10.9 ± 1.1|
|538||14||49.8 ± 2.2||151.4||51.0||52.8||24.3 ± 0.9||30.6 ± 0.8||12.1 ± 1.0|
|623||14||46.0 ± 1.4||148.2||49.2||53.2||25.4 ± 0.6||29.4 ± 0.4||12.0 ± 1.1|
|678||14||44.8 ± 2.1||147.3||48.6||50.9||23.6 0.7||31.1 ± 0.4||9.4 ± 2.1|
|990||14||45.3 ± 3.5||154.6||53.1||51.7||21.6 1.0||29.5 ± 0.9||8.4 ± 1.5|
|Mean||11||47.4 ± 4.2||150.7||50.8||53.1||23.8 ± 1.4||31.4 ± 2.0||11.0 ± 1.8|
|± 5.5||± 3.3||± 1.2|
TABLE 4. Daily Intake of Dietary Energy and Protein
|Overall||50||1,792 ± 492||53.9 ± 18.1|
|Planting and cultivation|
|- May||11||1,827 ± 607||50.8 ± 22.6|
|- August||9||1,711 ± 542||52.5 ± 20.7|
|- December||6||1,705 ± 568||49.2 ± 16.2|
|- March||11||1,701 ± 375||45.1 ± 29.0|
|Pregnant||12||1,678 ± 558||51.8 ± 22.6|
|Lactating||28||1,845 ± 483||54.6 ± 17.2|
|NPNL||10||1,682 ± 377||54.5 ± 16.6|
a. Number of surveys
b. Unusually poor coffee harvest.
There were no differences between the family dietary surveys of the 18 women's families and the remainder of the village families, all of whom were also surveyed. The protein and energy intakes of the women, based on individual dietary surveys, are shown in table 4. No seasonal variations were detected, and there were no changes related to the women's physiological status.
Total Energy Expenditure
Table 5 shows the daily energy expenditure of the women. Each value used for each woman was the average of two-day observations carried out within a 10-day interval. No seasonal differences were detected.
TABLE 5. Daily Energy Expenditure Estimated by Time-Motion Studies in 18 Women (Mean ± SD)
|Overall||18||1,985 ± 194||1,058 ± 122||40 7 ± 2.7|
|Planting and cultivation||11||1,878 ± 116||999 ± 67||40.1 ± 2 8|
|Harvest||11||1,950 ± 164||1,024 ± 98||40 9 ± 3.6|
|Non-agricultural||11||1 932 ± 248||1,020 ± 140||40.0 ± 2.5|
|Pregnant||8||2,044 ± 147||1 071 ± 80||40.7 + 3.0|
|Lactating||15||1,891 ± 160||1 051 ± 122||41.1 ± 3.0|
|Non-pregnant, non-lactating||5||2,055 ± 283||1 091± 126||39 0 ± 1 0|
Women who were pregnant expended more energy than when they were lactating, mainly because of greater weight during pregnancy, which implied more energy expenditure when they moved. These calculations did not take into account energy losses in milk secretion. Other studies at INCAP have shown that lactating women of similar socio-cultural and nutritional backgrounds produce 400 to 800 ml of breast milk per day during the first six months of lactation, with an average energy content of about 400 kcal/day.
Conclusions and Comments
The daily energy expenditure of the women studied was about 2,000 kcal/day, or 41 kcal/kg/day, without including the energy in milk secreted by lactating women. No differences were detected among the main agricultural seasons, but this may have been because of the poor coffee harvest during the year of the study.
When expressed per kg body weight, there were no differences between pregnant, lactating, or NPNL women in the energy cost of various activities or in their daily energy expenditure.
Dietary intake was estimated at about 200 kcal/day lower than the total energy expenditure (about 600 kcal lower for lactating women, assuming 400 kcal secreted in milk). This apparently "negative" energy balance was not accompanied by consistent weight reductions, except for lactating women, who usually reached their pre-pregnancy weights after two to three months of lactation. These discrepancies could be due to underestimations of intake, which are known to occur in many dietary surveys, to overestimations of expenditure, which could be errors in the time-motion studies and/or the energy equivalent of oxygen used to convert oxygen consumption into energy expenditure, or to a combination of both.
Weight gain during pregnancy was low (about 7 kg), which is consistent with other observations done at INCAP on women from rural Guatemala. Weight gain began in the second trimester of pregnancy and it seemed to proceed in a linear fashion in the last 160-180 days before delivery.
The authors express their gratitude to the people of Cacahuito, to Mr. Ruben D. Mendoza, Drs. Fernando Viteri, Alfonso Mata, Lic. Rafael Flores, Mr. Victor Manuel Luna, and the rest of the staff of INCAP's programme on nutrition and productivity, and to Dr. Peter Russell from INCAP's computer centre. This study was done with partial support from M.l.T.'s Department of Nutrition and Food Science, the Government of Guatemala, and the Kellogg Foundation.
Energy expenditure was measured or estimated for the following activities and tasks, listed in alphabetical order:
Buying and selling: carrying out negotiations while standing; this often included walking a few steps.
Carrying loads. on the head, with the arms, or both; differences in the manner of carrying the load were minimal and values were therefore combined. The weight carried was added to the woman's weight to calculate energy expenditure per kg of body weight.
Child care: bathing, changing, and dressing children and helping them to move about.
Chopping wood: wood 2 to 4 inches in diameter and dried tree branches were chopped with a machete (long-blade knife weighing 2-3 lb); only the actual cost of chopping was measured.
Cooking: over wood fires using virtually no labour-saving devices. Typical activities included cutting of vegetables or meat; preparing and cooking rice, beans, or corn (which entailed walking within the house to get the grain, walking to an outside water-tap to draw water, apportioning grain or water, carrying the pot to the fire, stoking and poking the fire), and cleaning counters or a table. Environmental temperature in the kitchen was usually 27°C or higher.
Cutting fruit with a pole: a long pole was lifted and swung at fruit hanging from high branches. The woman then picked the fallen fruit from the ground and placed them in a basket which was carried to the next tree.
Eating: seated at a table the majority of the time, occasionally getting up to serve food to family members.
Gleaning. encompassed several activities - gathering wild fruit in the woods, scavenging fallen coffee berries for the household and gleaning grains after thrashing rice, sorghum, or beans. This activity also included the picking of low plants or chili peppers and involved frequent crouching.
Hanging clothes: draping wet clothes over a line, bushes. or on rooftops and removing them when dry.
House-cleaning: this is a general category for household duties that accounts for a large portion of the women's work-day. It included dusting, folding clothes, shaking out straw sleeping mats, collecting clothes for washing, and "putting things in order." It can be considered as "random standing," as more standing than walking was involved.
Ironing clothes: was performed while standing, using a coal-filled or coal-heated iron.
Lifting and moving: activities such as stacking firewood, placing beans to dry under the sun, and moving furniture and other household objects.
Light work with a machete: cutting low brush, usually to clear a trail while walking through fields.
Lying down: energy expenditure was measured after 15 minutes in this position.
Making tortillas: included kneading of corn-dough and adding water until smooth; rolling the dough on a grinding stone; patting a small amount of dough with both hands into a round, thin pancake; tending the tortillas while they cooked on a griddle, and poking and stoking the fire. The grinding stones and fire were often located on opposite sides of the room and the process included frequent walking across the kitchen.
Nursing: usually while seated. When performing simultaneously other activities such as cooking or housecleaning, the energy cost of the most demanding activity was used to calculate energy expenditure.
Personal necessities: dressing and undressing, hair-combing, bathing, and walking to an "out-house" to urinate or defecate.
Picking coffee: coffee berries were picked from branches within arm's reach of women standing beside the trees. Berries were placed in a basket tied to the women's waists and carried from tree to tree until the basket was full. The contents of full baskets (about 35 lb) were dumped into a gunny-sack. Generally, coffee plantations were located on fairly flat terrain. The measurements made in this study coincided with a poor coffee harvest; during good seasons coffee is picked faster and in larger amounts per working hour.
Picking fruit: fruit, nuts, and leaves from bushes and trees within reach were picked while standing.
Raking and burning: raking leaves, grass, litter, and trash into a heap for burning.
Sitting and sewing: these activities were combined, as women sewed while seated and energy expenditure was similar to that of non-activity.
Standing: either unsupported or while leaning against a wall.
Staking a fence: cutting saplings with a machete, digging holes with a stick, securing poles into the ground, and tying fence wires round the poles.
Sweeping: with a broom. Earth floors of the houses were sprinkled with water prior to sweeping.
Tending animals: herding pigs and cows short distances; preparing a slop of corn dough, water, and salt and pouring it into a trough, and scattering grain for fowl.
Walking: was measured on local terrain, while ascending and descending mild slopes or on a flat surface. Generally, the women walked at a pace of about 4 km per hour.
Washing dishes: included lifting full buckets of water and vigorous scrubbing with coarse sand to remove grease and particles from pans and dishes.
Washing clothes. by hand, either in a concrete sink with a textured scrubbing surface or at a river. The rinsing of clothes was performed at the sink by scooping water and pouring it over the soaped clothes, whereas at the river clothing was dunked several times into the current. The women worked less continuously at the sink to allow for re-filling of the water-tank. Nevertheless, there was no difference in the amounts of energy expended using either method. Dirt was removed from the clothes by the women's physical force and weight against the roughness of the sink's surface or the rocks in the river; virtually no detergent and only mild vegetable soaps were used. The procedure consisted of wetting the clothes, soaping, scrubbing (anchoring the cloth with one hand and scrubbing with a back-and-forth motion using the others, rinsing and wringing; with heavy or exceptionally dirty clothing, both hands were used to scrub and the procedure was akin to kneading a tough piece of dough.
Weeding: stooping to cut weeds with a small curved knife, between bean plants or rows of corn.
Winnowing and other grain preparation performed while seated. This included shucking corn and removing dried kernels, cleaning undesirable particles from the grain, shaking or blowing grains to remove extraneous matter, shelling beans, separating grains for planting from those for eating, and winnowing by pouring the grain into the wind for cleaning.
Contents - Previous - Next
|
<urn:uuid:b4525a8e-b2a9-4f00-8169-20bb2e3c4c2c>
|
CC-MAIN-2016-26
|
http://archive.unu.edu/unupress/unupbooks/80481e/80481E0j.htm
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783404405.88/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624155004-00059-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.944596 | 5,839 | 2.78125 | 3 |
Welch attended Salem High School. Welch went to college at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. He graduated in 1957 with a Bachelor of Science degree in chemical engineering. After receiving his bachelor’s degree Welch went on to earn his M.S. and Ph.D at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 1960.
Welch began his career with General Electric in 1960. He worked as a junior chemical engineer in Pittsfield, Massachusetts. In the beginning Welch received a salary of $10,500 annually. After his first year, displeased with his pay and work environment, Welch planned to leave General Electric. A higher executive knew he was too valuable to lose and took him out to dinner convincing him to stay with the company. Welch was convinced and did not leave.
Welch moved up through the company. He was named vice president of General Elelctric in 1972. Welch continued up the the ranks to become senior vice president in 1977. Welch became vice chairman in 1979 and in 1981 Welch was named General Electric’s youngest chairman and CEO.
Welch’s popularity climbed as he became known for streamlining General Electric. His tactics were often viewed as harsh and brutal. However, when Welch retired from General Electric in 2001 the company went from a $14 billion company to a value more than $410 billion at the end of 2004. These statistics made General Electric the largest and most valuable company in the world. Welch’s personal net worth was estimated at $720 million in 2006.
|
<urn:uuid:9d10ca33-e8be-47aa-84d3-421967e7daa9>
|
CC-MAIN-2016-26
|
http://www.eduinreview.com/blog/2011/12/jack-welchs-education-background/
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783395346.6/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154955-00056-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.991469 | 319 | 2.609375 | 3 |
Dusts From Drywall-Joint-Compound Mud May be a Serous Lung Hazard, NIOSH Finds
Organization(s): CPWR - The Center for Construction Research and Training
Other languages: Spanish
by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) has
shown that "nuisance dust" from joint-compound mud used in drywall
work can contain toxic materials. And, there can be dangerously high amounts
of dust from sanding and other drywall work.
NIOSH conducted a Health Hazard Evaluation of dust and toxic exposures to 10 renovation workers at 2 sites doing drywall finishing. Measuring the air the workers were breathing, NIOSH found 9 of 10 total-dust samples at higher levels than limits set by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). More important, 2 of 13 samples of respirable (breathable) dust were above the limits OSHA says are safe. Two samples contained respirable silica. Silica can cause crippling and fatal lung diseases.
"The health effects associated with long-term chronic airborne exposure to the dust or particulates generated during drywall sanding are not known," the report said, adding that even when the dust amounts are within recommended limits, they may not be safe. This is especially true, the report said, when parts of the dusts are known to have a "biologic effect."
Besides silica, another material in the dusts that may be unsafe is kaolin. Found in clay, kaolin causes pneumoconiosis, or permanent lung damage.
For the study, NIOSH also bought drywall-joint compound at stores in Ohio, to test for minerals and examined 8 of the workers for health problems. The researchers found the workers' main complaints related to the dust were eye irritation and nasal congestion.
The report recommends engineering controls (such as local-exhaust ventilation), wet-finishing techniques, and personal protective equipment to limit exposures to dusts during drywall.
The study was done at sites in Washington, D.C., and Buffalo, New York, in 1993 but only published in October 1997. CPWR had requested the work. For a free copy of the report, HETA 94-0078-2660, call 1-800-35NIOSH.
The NIOSH researchers and other members of the Controls Work Group, have produced a 7-minute video, Drywall Dust Engineering Controls. The video shows how to use the controls to protect workers. It is available from CPWR – Center for Construction Research and Training for $7 postpaid.
More like this
|
<urn:uuid:e3145421-781e-4764-b06b-fd3c3bd43182>
|
CC-MAIN-2016-26
|
http://www.elcosh.org/document/2102/d000348/Dusts%2BFrom%2BDrywall-Joint-Compound%2BMud%2BMay%2Bbe%2Ba%2BSerous%2BLung%2BHazard%252C%2BNIOSH%2BFinds.html?show_text=1
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783391634.7/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154951-00018-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.91791 | 537 | 2.625 | 3 |
The Fifth Postulate
How Unraveling A Two Thousand Year Old Mystery Unraveled the Universe
It's the dawn of the Industrial Revolution, and Euclidean geometry has been profoundly influential for centuries. One mystery remains, however: Euclid's fifth postulate has eluded for two thousand years all attempts to prove it. What happens when three nineteenth-century mathematicians realize that there is no way to prove the fifth postulate and that it ought to be discarded—along with everything they'd come to know about geometry? Jason Socrates Bardi shares the dramatic story of the moment when the tangible and easily understood world we live in gave way to the strange, mind-blowing world of relativity, curved space-time, and more.
"Jason Socrates Bardi tells the story of the discovery of non-Euclidian geometry—one of the greatest intellectual advances of all time—with tremendous clarity and verve. I loved this book."
—John Horgan, author, The End of Science and Rational Mysticism
"An accessible and engrossing blend of micro-biography, history and mathematics, woven together to reveal a blockbuster discovery."
—David Wolman, author of Righting the Mother Tongue and A Left-Hand Turn around the World
Title: The Fifth Postulate
Author: Jason Socrates Bardi
Summing It Up 2016 US$ 22.36 249 pages
Discovering Statistics Using IBM SPSS Statistics 2013 US$ 70.00 953 pages
|
<urn:uuid:8ded6a81-123d-460f-acf2-67b2a5c119c8>
|
CC-MAIN-2016-26
|
http://www.ebooks.com/427679/the-fifth-postulate/bardi-jason-socrates/
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783395560.14/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154955-00025-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.854775 | 304 | 2.84375 | 3 |
Mountain Range Geography
A mountain range is a series of mountains
that are connected together generally to form a long line of mountains. Large mountain ranges may be made up of smaller mountain ranges called subranges. For example, the Smokey Mountain Range is part of the Appalachian Mountain Range. It is a subrange of the Appalachians.
Below is a list and description of some of the world's great mountain ranges. The tallest mountain range in the world is the Himalayas and the longest is the Andes.
The Himalayas stretch 1,491 miles through much of central Asia. They travel from Afghanistan and Pakistan through India, Nepal, and China all the way to Bhutan. The Himalayas also include the formidable Karakoram and Hindu Kush mountain ranges.
The Himalayas are most famous for their tall peaks. The majority of the worlds tallest mountains are in the Himalayas including the two tallest moutains: Mount Everest at 29,035 feet and K2 at 28,251 feet.
The Himalayas have played an important role in the history of Asia. The mountains in Tibet and the high peaks are considered sacred in many religions including Buddhism and Hinduism.
At around 4,300 miles long, the Andes Mountains make up the world's longest mountain range. The Andes stretch north to south through much of South America including such countries as Argentina, Chile, Peru, Bolivia, Venezuela, Colombia, and Ecuador. The highest peak in the Andes is Mount Aconcagua which rises to 22,841 feet.
Machu Picchu located high in the Andes
The Andes played a vital role in the history of South America. The Inca
built their famous ancient city, Machu Picchu
high in the Andes.
The Alps are a major mountain range in central Europe. They pass through many European countries including France, Germany, Switzerland, Italy, Austria, and Slovenia. The tallest peak in the Alps is Mont Blanc at 15,782 feet located on the French-Italian border.
The Alps took their place in history over the years. Perhaps one of the most famous events was when Hannibal
crossed the Alps during the Punic Wars to attack Rome.
The Rocky Mountains Range from north to south in western North America. They run from Canada to the US state of New Mexico. The highest peak in the Rockies is Mount Elbert which is 14,440 feet tall.
The Sierra Nevada Mountain Range runs somewhat parallel to the Rockies, but further west in the United States. Beautiful national parks are located here including Yosemite and Kings Canyon. The tallest mountain in the contiguous United States, Mount Whitney at 14,505 feet is part of the Sierra Nevada.
The Appalachian Mountains run parallel to the Atlantic Ocean coastline on the eastern part of the United States.
The Ural Mountains run north to south in western Russia. The eastern side of these mountains is often considered the boundary line or border between the continents of Europe and Asia.
Other important world mountain ranges include the Pyrenees, Tian Shan, Transantarctic Mountains, Atlas, and the Carpathians.
Top 10 Mountain Ranges and Peaks
Back to Geography Home Page
|
<urn:uuid:0ceb76f1-fa19-41d0-b450-cb488e3d676a>
|
CC-MAIN-2016-26
|
http://www.ducksters.com/geography/mountain_ranges.php
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783397749.89/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154957-00047-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.942221 | 659 | 3.59375 | 4 |
An examination of the failure of the United States as a broker in the Palestinian-Israeli peace process, through three key historical moments
For more than seven decades the conflict between Israel and the Palestinian people has raged on with no end in sight, and for much of that time, the United States has been involved as a mediator in the conflict. In this book,acclaimed historian Rashid Khalidi zeroes in on the United States’ role as the purported impartial broker in this failed peace process.
Khalidi closely analyzes three historical moments that illuminate how the United States’ involvement has, in fact, thwarted progress toward peace between Israel and Palestine. The first moment he investigates is the “Reagan Plan” of 1982, when Israeli prime minister Menachem Begin refused to accept the Reagan administration’s proposal to reframe the Camp David Accords more impartially. The second moment covers the period after the Madrid Peace Conference, from 1991 to 1993, during which negotiations between Israel and Palestine were brokered by the United States until the signing of the secretly negotiated Oslo accords. Finally, Khalidi takes on President Barack Obama’s retreat from plans to insist on halting the settlements in the West Bank.
Through in-depth research into and keen analysis of these three moments, as well as his own firsthand experience as an advisor to the Palestinian delegation at the 1991 pre–Oslo negotiations in Washington, DC, Khalidi reveals how the United States and Israel have actively colluded to prevent a Palestinian state and resolve the situation in Israel’s favor. Brokers of Deceit bares the truth about why peace in the Middle East has been impossible to achieve: for decades, US policymakers have masqueraded as unbiased agents working to bring the two sides together, when they have, in fact, been the agents of continuing injustice, effectively preventing the difficult but essential steps needed to achieve peace in the region.
“Rashid Khalidi’s trenchant analysis is powerful and disturbing.” -Jeffrey D. Sachs, author of The End of Poverty
“A stinging indictment of one-sided policymaking destined, if undisturbed, to result in even greater violence.” -Kirkus Reviews
“Professor Khalidi deserves much credit for his superb exposition of the fatal gap between the rhetoric and reality of American diplomacy on this critically important issue.” -Avi Shlaim, emeritus professor of international relations at Oxford University and author of The Iron Wall: Israel and the Arab World
The slovenliness of our language makes it easier for us to have foolish thoughts. . . . If thought corrupts language, language can also corrupt thought. A bad usage can spread by tradition and imitation, even among people who should and do know better. --George Orwell, “Politics and the English Language,” 1946
In politics and in diplomacy, as in much else, language matters greatly. However debased political discourse may become, however disingenuous diplomacy often is, the words employed by politicians and diplomats defi ne situations and determine outcomes. In recent history, few semantic battles over terminology have been as intensely fought out as those concerning Palestine/Israel.
The importance of the precise use of language can be illustrated by the powerful valence in the Middle East context of terms such as “terrorism,” “security,” “self-determination,” “autonomy,” “honest broker,” and “peace process.” Each of these terms has set conditions not only for perceptions, but also for possibilities. Moreover, these terms have come to take on a specifi c meaning, frequently one that is heavily loaded in favor of one side, and is far removed from what logic or balance would seem to dictate. Thus in the American/Israeli offi cial lexicon, “terrorism” in the Middle East context has come to apply exclusively to the actions of Arab militants, whether those of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), Hamas, Hizballah, or others. Under these peculiar terminological rules, the actions of the militaries of Israel and the United States cannot be described as “terrorism,” irrespective of how many Palestinians, Lebanese, Iraqi, or Afghan civilians may have died at their hands.
Similarly, in this lexicon, “security” is an absolute priority of Israel’s, the need for which is invariably described as rooted in genuine, deepseated existential fears. “Israeli security” therefore takes precedence over virtually everything else, including international law and the human rights of others. It is an endlessly expansive concept that includes a remarkable multitude of things, such as whether pasta or generator parts can be brought into the Gaza Strip, or whether miserably poor Palestinian villagers can be allowed water cisterns.1 By contrast, in spite of the precarious nature of their situation, Palestinians are presumed not to have any signifi cant concerns about their security. This is the case even though nearly half the Palestinian population have lived for more than two generations under a grinding military occupation without the most basic human, civil, or political rights, and the rest have for many decades been dispersed from their ancestral homeland, many of them living under harsh, authoritarian Arab governments.
This book is concerned primarily, however, not with the misuse of language, important though that is, but with an American-brokered political process that for more than thirty-fi ve years has reinforced the subjugation of the Palestinian people, provided Israel and the United States with a variety of advantages, and made considerably more unlikely the prospects of a just and lasting settlement of the confl ict between Israel and the Arabs. This is the true nature of this process. Were this glaring reality apparent to all, there might have been pressure for change. But the distortion of language has made a crucially important contribution to these outcomes, by “corrupting thought,” and thereby cloaking their real nature. As we shall see in the pages that follow, language employed in the Middle East political context--terms like “terrorism” and “security” and the others mentioned above--has often been distorted and then successfully employed to conceal what was actually happening.
Where the Palestinians are concerned, time and again during their modern history, corrupted phraseology has profoundly obscured reality. The Zionist movement decisively established a discursive hegemony early on in the confl ict with the Palestinians, thereby signifi cantly reinforcing the existing power balance in its favor, and later in favor of the state of Israel. This has placed the Palestinians at a lasting disadvantage, as they have consistently been forced to compete within a fi eld whose terms are largely defi ned by their opponents. Consider such potent canards as “making the desert bloom”--implying that the six hundred thousand industrious Palestinian peasants and townspeople who inhabited their homeland in the centuries before the relatively recent arrival of modern political Zionism were desert nomads and wastrels--and “a land without a people for a people without a land,” which presumes the nonexistence of an entire people.2 As the Palestinian literary and cultural critic Edward Said aptly put it in 1988: “It is by no means an exaggeration to say that the establishment of Israel as a state in 1948 occurred partly because the Zionists acquired control of most of the territory of Palestine, and partly because they had already won the political battle for Palestine in the international world in which ideas, representation, rhetoric and images were at issue.”3
Introduction: Dishonest Brokers
Chapter 1: The First Moment: Begin and Palestinian Autonomy in 1982
Chapter 2: The Second Movement: The Madrid-Washington Negotiations, 1991-93
Chapter 3: The Third Movement: Barack Obama and Palestine, 2009-12
Conclusion: Israel's Lawyer
From the Hardcover edition.
- Khalidi appeared on BBC in the video, "Life and Legacy of Ariel Sharon," 1/11/14
- Rashid Khalidi appeared on Democracy Now! with Noam Chomsky and Avi Shlaim, following the death of former Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, 1/13/14
- Khalidi was included in a round-table of commentaries on Al Jazeera America, 1/13/14
- "Call Off the Sainthood of Ariel Sharon," an article by Khalidi on Foreign Policy, 1/13/14
- Khalidi was interviewed on RTE This Week (Irish network)
- WBAI interviewed Khalidi following the death of Ariel Sharon, 1/13/14
- An interview on CTTV America, the American arm of China Central Television of Beijing, discussing the conflicted legacy of Ariel Sharon, 1/12/14
- Rashid Khalidi's interview with host John Hockenberry on The Takeaway, a co-production of PRI, 7/17/14
- Rashid Khalidi: The Occupation & Racism & America’s Complicity," on the Majority Report, 7/10/14
- Rashid Khalidi's op-ed, Israel's Assault on Gaza Obscures Core Issues: Racism, Occupation, Colonization appears on Alternet, 7/10/14
- Rashid Khalidi discussed the unfolding situation around the murder of the Israeli and Palestinian teens ON POINT/NPR on 7/9/14
- Click here to read a post by Khalidi on Foreign Policy
- Click here to listen to Rashid Khalidi on Chicago Public Radio's "Worldview"
- Rashid Khalidi's interview with host John Hockenberry on The Takeaway, a co-production of PRI, 7/17/14
- Khalidi's interview on Forum with Michael Krasny, 3/4/14
- The New Yorker posted "Collective Punishment in Gaza," a piece by Rashid Khalidi about the Israel-Palestine conflict, 7/29/14
- Rashid Khalidi is featured in "Why Talk of Intifada? We Should Call it a Palestinian Uprising," by Natasha Lennard on Vice News, 7/26/14
- Click here to listen to Rashid Khalidi on Upfront/KPFA Radio, Bay Area, 7/25/14
- Khalidi is interviewed by The Times of India in "Israel's targeting civilians--or it's weapons are utterly inaccurate: Rashid Khalidi," 7/23/14
- Khalidi is quoted at length in "A Gaza Stripped Anew," in Outlook India.
- Rashid wrote an essay entitled "Unwavering Support for Israel Harms U.S. Interests, Encourages Extremism" on the New York Times discussion, "Room for Debate", 8/5/14
- Click here to listen to Rasid Khalidi on Building Bridges/WBAI, "Collective Punishment in Gaza: The Palestinian/Israeli Conflict in Context"
- An interview (in Turkish) in HaberTurk, 8/4/14
- Rashid Khalidi was on a PBS Newshour panel discussing ISIS, 10/5/14
- Brokers of Deceit was mentioned in an article on The Middle East Monitor about the European Union, 11/28/14
|
<urn:uuid:0a570cb7-8d1b-4aca-b32e-f91779540269>
|
CC-MAIN-2016-26
|
http://www.beacon.org/Brokers-of-Deceit-P1029.aspx
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783399522.99/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154959-00193-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.95029 | 2,335 | 2.578125 | 3 |
CAD is a progressive condition, and symptoms may not appear for some time. It is possible to not know you have CAD until the condition has significantly progressed and complications appear. Over time, CAD may lead to:
Angina is the most common symptom of CAD. It is described as chest pain or discomfort with a squeezing or pressure-like quality, usually felt behind the breastbone, but sometimes felt in the shoulders, arms, neck, jaws, or back. Angina is an indicator that your heart is not getting all the oxygen it needs to keep working at its optimal level. People who have angina are at an increased risk of having a heart attack .
Types of angina include:
- Stable angina or angina pectoris —The attacks are predictable, and the triggers that cause them can be identified. They do not occur when you are resting or relaxed, and symptoms will usually disappear after a few minutes of rest.
- Unstable angina —The symptoms are less predictable. Chest pain may occur while resting or even sleeping (nocturnal angina), and the discomfort may last longer and be more intense. Stable angina becomes unstable when symptoms occur more frequently, last longer, or occur more easily. You should call your doctor immediately if you experience symptoms at rest, or a worsening pattern of symptoms.
- Variant or Prinzmetal angina —This is usually caused by the spasm of a coronary vessel. It occurs when you are at rest and often in the middle of the night. It can be quite severe and in some cases associated with arrhythmias .
- Microvascular angina —Caused by spasms in the smallest arterial vessels of the heart. Spasms cause a decrease in the heart's blood supply leading to chest pain.
CAD can eventually lead to severe complications such as:
- Heart attack —Blood flow to the heart is completely blocked in one or more of the coronary arteries that supply the heart muscle.
- Stroke —Blood flow to the brain is completely blocked in one or more arteries that supply the brain with oxygen.
- Heart arrhythmias —Irregular heartbeats feel like palpitations or flutters, and indicate problems with the heart's electrical circuit. They can also lead to sudden cardiac arrest .
- Heart failure —A progressive condition in which the heart cannot pump enough blood to meet the needs of the body. Symptoms of heart failure include shortness of breath and swelling of ankles, feet, or abdomen.
Differences Between Angina and a Heart Attack
Having angina, especially for the first time, may be frightening. People may mistake it for having a heart attack or mistakenly think it is heartburn . A stable pattern of angina does not necessarily mean a heart attack is about to occur. Some differences include:
- Duration of pain —In general, anginal pain lasts for only a few minutes and is relieved by rest or nitroglycerin, a medication that increases blood flow to the heart. Heart attack pain may last longer, or may subside and return. There may also be a change in the general pattern of the stable angina you are used to.
- External factors —Anginal pain is often brought on by exercise or activity, emotional tension, dreams, cold or windy weather, low blood sugar, or even eating. Your symptoms can subside when you alter the behavior or environmental trigger. Heart attack pain will usually not subside with rest and may be accompanied by other symptoms such as shortness of breath, nausea, or sweating. Women, the elderly, or people with diabetes may have less typical or more subtle symptoms signaling angina or heart attack. Some people may have silent ischemia and experience no symptoms at all.
If you experience chest pain that is new, worsening, or persistent, call for emergency medical services right away . Do not try to determine for yourself if the pain is due to angina, a heart attack, or some less serious condition. Do not drive yourself to the hospital. Heart attacks can cause severe, permanent damage to the heart, or death. Seeking help quickly is important because some of the most effective treatments to increase survival and recovery are ideally given within the first hour after symptoms begin. Emergency medical service personnel give these treatments while on the way to the hospital. About half of all deaths due to heart attack happen within one hour of the start of symptoms, often before a person gets to the hospital.
Build up of plaque and damage to blood vessels rarely occurs in the heart's blood vessels alone. Blood vessel damage in other areas of the body may lead to other conditions such as:
- Erectile dysfunction (ED) —ED is often caused by a blood flow problem in blood vessels of the penis. It may be an early sign of blood vessel problems that can exist throughout the body. ED has been found to precede CAD by an average of 2-3 years.
- Peripheral artery disease (PAD) —Narrowing and obstruction of arteries outside of the heart and brain.
- Chronic kidney disease —may often be caused by blood vessel damage.
These conditions are sometimes warning signs of blood vessel problems that contribute to CAD.
- Reviewer: Michael J. Fucci, DO, FACC
- Review Date: 03/2016 -
- Update Date: 03/15/2015 -
|
<urn:uuid:e18d815d-5774-4bac-827a-7acb9a66ff9f>
|
CC-MAIN-2016-26
|
http://medtropolis.com/your-health/?/19091/Conditions-InDepth--Coronary-Artery-Disease--CAD-~Symptoms
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783395679.92/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154955-00155-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.938721 | 1,101 | 2.90625 | 3 |
A+ Certification/Exam Objectives/Hardware/Basics/Adapter card
Control Bus: The physical connections that carry control information between the CPU and other devices within the computer. Whereas the data bus carries actual data that is being processed, the control bus carries signals that report the status of various devices. For example, one line of the bus is used to indicate whether the CPU is currently reading from or writing to main memory. (Webopedia.com)
Industry Standard Architecture (ISA) This architecture was originally used in the IBM PC/XT and PC/AT used for connecting peripheral devices. It has been made obsolete by PCI.
Peripheral Component Interconnect (PCI) Developed by Intel Corporation. It is a standard for local bus. It has a throughput rate of 133MBps.
Accelerated Graphics Port (AGP) A standard for 3-D graphic interfaces. Its first incarnation had a bandwidth of 266MBps with 2x, 4x, and 8x versions later following. The x is how many times 266MBps set bandwidth is (2x would be 533MBps, etc.). AGP ports are still common but are quickly being made obsolete by PCI Express.
|
<urn:uuid:ec880be2-f3f8-4086-a668-4d3447093507>
|
CC-MAIN-2016-26
|
https://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/A%2B_Certification/Adapter_card
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783394987.40/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154954-00123-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.93427 | 249 | 3.796875 | 4 |
Imagine getting a card on Valentine’s Day that still speaks to you in July. Imagine a valentine with a message that comes alive.
Here’s a craft project for one of those seemingly endless winter nights: valentines of handmade paper with lavender seeds embedded in them. Your loved ones can read the cards and think about you, then plant them and think of you again in late summer when they’re picking lavender flowers from a blooming border.
These cards are surprisingly easy to make. Paper is nothing more than vegetable fiber that has been ground to a pulp in water, spread on a screen, and flattened as it dries. Making paper by starting with plants—harvesting, soaking, and boiling them to make the pulp (see “Paper from Plants” on page 51)—is time-consuming, so I take a shortcut that saves time and energy. I start with paper, using whatever I have on hand, such as scrap typing paper, colored paper, even newspaper. The result is a project that children can do.
Lavender is a perfect Valentine’s Day flower. In the Victorian language of flowers, lavender conveys a message of devotion and loyalty. For these cards, I used dried lavender leaves and flowers from my garden to add texture and interest to the paper along with seeds of the fast-growing lavender cultivar Lavandula angustifolia ‘Lady’, which blooms the first year from seed. Handmade cards can hold seeds of basil, chives, parsley, dill, flax, or wildflowers, but avoid large seeds that will be lumpy in the final paper. The hot water you add to the pulp doesn’t harm the seeds.
Seeds embedded in paper are germinated the same way they would be if they were loose. Lavender is best started indoors. Fill several pots with moist potting mix. Tear the card into several pieces, and press a piece onto the surface of the potting mix (because lavender requires light to germinate). Water thoroughly. Keep the paper and potting mix moist. Germination should occur within about two weeks.
Making the Paper
For your first batch of handmade paper, you’ll need to gather a few materials that are readily available at hardware, craft, hobby, or office-supply stores, and you’ll need a mold and deckle, the frames that hold and shape your paper. They’re easy enough to make yourself (see above), or you can buy them at craft stores. A mold and deckle can be reused for as many cards as you want to make.
• 1 large sheet blotting paper, cut into 6 pieces 12 inches square (these are also reusable)
• Absorbent cloth (a few pieces 12 by 16 inches cut from an old wool blanket are perfect)
• Rolling pin
• 2 plastic containers, one holding 4 cups; the other, 6 to 10 cups
• Large basin or 20-by-15-by-5-inch plastic storage box
• Mold and deckle
• About 3 sheets 8-by-11-inches paper (or an equivalent amount)
• 1 small handful dried flowers and leaves
• 1 teaspoon lavender seeds
• Window screen, at least 12 by 16 inches
• 2 boards, at least 8 1/2 by 11 inches
• 3 bricks, heavy books, or other weights
1. On a waterproof surface, arrange the blotters and fabric squares, rolling pin, blender, and plastic containers around your work area. Hold the mold in the basin as you add enough water to cover it by 1/2 inch.
2. Heat 4 cups of water until very hot. Meanwhile, tear the paper into pieces about 1 inch square. Pour one-third of the hot water into the blender jar and add one-third of the torn paper. Blend until the paper is shredded and pulpy. Pour the pulp into the larger plastic container. Repeat with the remaining water and paper. Before pouring out the third batch, add a few dried flowers and leaves to the pulp and briefly process again. The more you blend, the more finely shredded the plant materials will become. Now pour this pulp into the plastic container. Stir in the seeds and a few whole leaves and flowers.
3. Place the screen over the mold and cover it with the deckle. Push this sandwich to the bottom of the basin and smooth out the screen. Holding it down with one hand, pour the pulp evenly into the deckle. With both hands, lift the mold, screen, and deckle straight up out of the water. Hold them over the water, and tip one corner to allow water to run off.
4. Remove the deckle. Carefully lift the screen with the pulp off the mold. Lay it, pulp side up, on three sheets of blotting paper. Cover the pulp with a cloth and gently roll the rolling pin over the cloth to extract more water. Remove the cloth when it is wet. Replace the wet blotter with two or three dry blotters and cover them with a dry cloth. Place the screen on the cloth, paper side down. Sponge the paper, pushing down to extract more water and wringing out the sponge as it becomes wet.
5. Peel back the screen, starting at one corner, to release it from the paper. Lay a dry cloth on a board, lay the paper on the cloth, and top the paper with a second cloth. Place the second board on top and add enough weight to flatten the paper.
6. Every few hours, replace wet cloths with dry ones. After about a day, you may lay the paper between dry cloths and use an iron set on “low” to finish drying the paper.
See the box at left for some ideas for finishing your handmade cards. Don’t forget to write on the card that it’s plantable! Include the plant name and instructions for germinating the seed.
Ann Kulpa, an artist and craftswoman, lives in Berthoud, Colorado, and works for Inter- weave Press, sister publishing company to Herb Companion Press.
Dawson, Sophie. The Art and Craft of Papermaking. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: Running Press, 1992.
Grummer, Arnold E. Paper by Kids. Rev. ed. Minneapolis, Minnesota: Dillon Press, 1990.
Shannon, Faith. The Art and Craft of Paper. San Francisco, California: Chronicle Books, 1987.
|
<urn:uuid:8fa39433-9385-4ccc-983c-3abc5c344fa2>
|
CC-MAIN-2016-26
|
http://www.motherearthliving.com/garden-projects/an-valentine-that-blooms.aspx
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783396959.83/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154956-00068-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.931614 | 1,359 | 2.625 | 3 |
Canadian geologists have a penchant for premature naming of things. The Canadian literature is saddled with the clunky terms Aphebian for the early Proterozoic (2500-1750 m.y.), Helikian for middle Proterozoic (1750-950 m.y.) and Hadrynian for late Proterozoic (950-570 m.y.). The deformation of the Archean rocks was long called the "Kenoran orogeny," although the deformation was probably not a single event. Around 1400 m.y. there was supposedly an "Elsonian orogeny" although almost everything with that age is intrusive. And it still goes on. The presumptive pre-impact deformation and metamorphism has now been given the name "Blezardian" although the event remains poorly documented to this day, and Blezard Township lies almost entirely within the Sudbury Basin.
Americans, on the other hand, like to take well established names and replace them with bland, generic terms. Thus, the Churchill Province (named after Churchill, Manitoba) has been relabeled the Trans-Hudson Orogen, though almost all of it lies west of Hudson's Bay. Likewise the Keeweenawan Rift (named for the Keeweenaw Peninsula, where its rocks are well exposed) is now either the Mid-Continent Rift System or the Central North American Rift. Americans also have a wholly irrational fear of geophysics, based on what I call the "Gaussian myth." The Gaussian myth is the notion that because there are an infinite number of ways to model a given potential field, therefore we can't conclude anything useful. People who buy this reasoning apparently believe a round gravity anomaly 5 kilometers across can somehow be modeled by a square rock body 10 kilometers across.
A great deal has been learned about the Proterozoic of North America since 1976. When I began reading the literature on the Canadian Shield, I assumed that the oldest block, the Superior Province, was made up of whatever had not yet been deciphered. I soon discovered that the Superior Province, if not well understood, was at least a pretty clearly defined entity, and that the Churchill Province was the grab bag of leftovers. The Churchill Province (now Trans-Hudson Orogen) is now known to be the product of numerous accretion events involving small terranes as well as large blocks of reworked Archean crust. (The Superior Province is probably also the result of multiple accretion events, but that's another story.)
The implications of terrane accretion were only beginning to become apparent in 1976. Partly for that reason and partly for sheer lack of evidence to the contrary, I treated the early Proterozoic rocks of the Great Lakes as a single subduction complex. In fact, Wisconsin is now known to consist of three terranes: a sliver of the Superior Province in the far north, a volcanic arc complex (Central Wisconsin Magmatic Terrane) and a southern gneiss complex (Marshfield Terrane) that may correlate with the ancient gneisses of southern Minnesota. The hope that the Huronian rocks might have correlatives around Lake Superior has been pretty well dashed; the shelf and platform sequences of Michigan and Minnesota are quite a bit younger.
Virtually nothing was published on the Precambrian of Wisconsin in 1976. That was one reason I took a job in Wisconsin. Unfortunately, I didn't stop to think that there was a good reason why the last glacial advance is called the Wisconsin. I knew I was in serious trouble when I got to Fond du Lac before seeing my first outcrop. The Geologic Map of the United States showed northern Wisconsin as mostly early Proterozoic granite with inclusions of metavolcanic rocks. It's actually the other way around: metavolcanic rocks predominate.
Something else not fully appreciated in 1976 was tectonic burial. The Sudbury area may well have been buried by kilometers of nappes following the Penokean Orogeny, and was almost certainly buried by kilometers of nappes following the Grenvillean Orogeny.
The lowermost volcanic rocks, called the Stobie Formation in my thesis, were subdivided shortly after I did my field work. The lower part of my Stobie Formation is now called the Elsie Mountain Formation. The contact is defined by the appearance of appreciable metasedimentary interbeds in the upper part of the sequence. The subdivision does not affect any of my conclusions.
Radiometric ages tend to increase as better analytical techniques evolve and more samples are dated. The Nipissing Diabase is now dated around 2200 m.y., rather than the 2150 given in my thesis. The Murray Pluton has been dated at 2470 m.y. and the Creighton Pluton at 2330. On the presumption that the Murray Pluton is orogenic, we can probably account for the term "Blezardian." The northern end of the Murray Pluton extends into Blezard Township, whereas the southern end lies in McKim Township, and "McKimian" grates on the ears even worse that "Blezardian." The refinements in dating also do not affect my conclusions.
The early date for the Murray Pluton really does inspire speculation that the volcanic and granitic rocks, and maybe the overlying McKim Formation, might be latest Archean. They may be the very last of the Archean greenstone belts. Considering the reverence
that Sudbury geologists accord early workers who postulated multiple tectonic events, it may pay to re-examine some of their early ideas about great discontinuities in the lower part of the Huronian.
In 1976, it was generally assumed that the Sudbury Irruptive (a term apparently used nowhere else, and meaning something that bursts into something else) was intrusive. Sudbury geologists who didn't (and some still don't) believe in impact thought in terms of a violent collapse of a magma chamber. Those of us who did believe in impact pictured something like the ring fracture around the Manicouagan impact structure forming a conduit for magma. In any event, much of the funnel shape of the intrusive complex was considered primary.
That changed radically when R. A. F. Grieve, D. Stoffler, and A. Deutsch suggested in 1991 that the igneous complex was actually an impact melt sheet. It turns out to be remarkably easy to get the Sudbury igneous complex - and the ores - by melting the basement rocks and allowing the melt to differentiate. This origin also handily explains the otherwise anomalous granitic upper portion of the complex.
Unlike magmas, which can never be far above their melting points, there is virtually no limit to how hot an impact melt can be. Some studies suggest temperatures as high as 2,000 C. Unlike magmas, which are invariably a mush of crystals and melt, impact melts can be pure liquids. At 2,000 C, the melt would splash like water (the viscosity would be maybe that of light oil, but the density would make it easier to flow downhill). The implications are profound. The melt sheet has to have been perfectly horizontal. Conical initial geometries simply cannot work. Since the lower Huronian and the igneous complex face structurally in opposite directions with no intervening discontinuity, the lower Huronian has to have been completely inverted when the melt was emplaced.
Fortunately, there's a way to do that. Very large impacts create peak-ring craters. The compressed floor of the crater rebounds into a central peak, but unlike normal craters with central peaks, this central peak is so large it collapses and spreads outward to make a ring of peaks. It is also becoming clear that the present Sudbury Basin is far smaller than the original crater.
Created 4 August 2004, Last Update 17 November 2011
Not an official UW-Green Bay Site
|
<urn:uuid:bac40b98-086a-46d0-87dc-438f91c3e9bd>
|
CC-MAIN-2016-26
|
http://www.uwgb.edu/dutchs/Sudbury/ThesisPost.htm
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783395346.72/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154955-00150-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.96087 | 1,651 | 3.015625 | 3 |
¤ Kerala History Dates Back To Mauryan Empire
The first recorded history of Kerala appears in the inscriptions of the Mauryan Emperor, Ashoka (269-232 b.c.).In these inscriptions, Ashoka refers to four independent kingdoms that lay to the south of his empire. These were the kingdoms of the Cholas, the Pandyas, the Keralaputrasand the Satiyaputras.Among them, the Keralaputras or the Cheras, as they were called, reigned over Malabar, Cochin and North Travancore – all part of present-day Kerala. They managed to maintain their independence because they were on good terms with the Great Maurya. Otherwise, Ashoka, who was a great empire builder, would surely have attempted to bring these kingdoms under his tutelage.
The four South Indian Kingdoms extended a hand of friendship towards the Mauryas. It was really Hobson’s choice for them, having already experienced the Mauryan onslaught during the reign of Ashoka’s predecessor, Bindusara (297-272 b.c.)
¤ The Sangam Age
Information about the Cheras during the Mauryan times is very scarce. It is only in the Sangam Age that the history of Kerala emerges from myths and legends. The Sangam Age refers to the period during which Sangam literature was composed. Sangam literally means academy and these great works in Tamil were written in the first four centuries of the Christian era.
Tradition has it that the first three academies met at Madurai and were attended by kings and poets.
However, the literature composed at the First Sangam is no longer extant.
Tolkappiyam : The earliest work on Tamil grammar, was composed during the Second Sangam.
Ettutogai : The Third Sangam produced a remarkable collection of Tamil literature known as Ettutogai (“Eight Anthologies”). These anthologies give us a detailed description of the political, social and economic conditions of that period.
¤ The Chera Kingdom
The Sangam Age witnessed three political powers ruling the area which now constitutes the State of Kerala. These were the Ays in the south, the Cheras in Central Kerala and Ezhimalas to the north. The Ays established a kingdom which in its halcyon days, extended from Tiruvalla in the north to Nagercoil in the south. Antiran, Titiyam and Atiyan were the most prominent of the Ay rulers.
The Ezhimalas too ruled over an extensive area that covers the present Kannur and Wynad districts of North Kerala. However, the Cheras were the most conspicuous of the dynasties and founded a powerful kingdom in Kerala.
The first Chera ruler was Perumchottu Utiyan Cheralatan – a contemporary of the great Chola, King Karikalan. After suffering a humiliating defeat at the hands of the Chola ruler at the battle of Venni, he committed suicide.
His son, Imayavaramban Nedum Cheralatan, another important Chera ruler, succeeded him. During his long rule of 58 years, Imayavaramban Nedun Cheralatan consolidated the Chera Dynasty and extended its frontiers. He inflicted a crushing defeat on his sworn enemies, the Kadambas of Banavasi (see Uttar Kannad for details). Imayavaramban’s reign is of special significance to the development of art and literature. Kannanar was his poet laureate.
However, the greatest Chera King was Kadalpirakottiya Vel Kelu Kuttuvan, who is also identified with the mythical hero of the Silappadigaram (The Jewelled Anklet). Silappadigaram is one of the three great Tamil epics of the Sangam Age. The other two are Manimegalai and Sivaga-Sindamani. The great Tamil poet, Paranar, refers to his military exploits including his famous victory at Mogur Mannan and Kongar. Kuttuvan was the proponent of the Patni (wife) cult. The cult emphasised the utter devotion of a wife towards her husband. He dedicated a temple at Vanchi to Kannagi (the female protagonist of Silappadigaram), and the present Kurumba Bhagavati Temple at Kodungallur (Cranganore) is modelled on it. Kannagi’s devotion towards her husband was legendary. Recently, the Indian Government has instituted an award in her memory, which is given to the women.
¤ Kalabhra Interregnum
After the Sangam Age, Kerala passed through a dark period that lasted four centuries. This era is known as the ‘Kalabhra Interregnum’. At the end of the eighth centurya.d., South Indian kingdoms such as the Pallavas, the Chalukyas, the Rashtrakutas and the Pandyas succeeded in overthrowing the Kalabhras.
¤ Shankaracharya – The Great Theologian
It is a paradox that Buddhism disappeared (until its revival in recent years) from the land of its origin. One of the main reasons for this development was that a revived and reformed Hinduism began to emerge after the sixth century a.d.
In the eighth century, this reform movement was led by Adi Shankaracharya, whose position with respect to Hinduism is similar to that of St. Thomas Aquinas in the Roman Catholic Church. He travelled the length and breadth of India and got the better of many Buddhist missionaries in public discourses. Kalady, situated 25 kilometres northeast of Cochin, was the birthplace of Shankaracharya. A great philosopher and theologian, he propagated the advaita (monism) philosophy, which is also known as kevaladvaita (strict monism). Shankaracharya was also a great organiser. His missionary zeal was best exemplified in his establishment of four mathas (Hindu monastic establishments) in the four corners of the country. These are located at Sringeri in Karnataka, Dwarka in Gujarat, Puri in Orissa and Badrinath in Uttar Pradesh. Shankaracharya died at the young age of 32.
¤ The Second Chera Empire
Just after the eclipse of the Kalbhras, the Second Chera Empire made its appearance in the annals of Kerala history. Mahodyapuram (modern Kodangallur) was its capital. It was founded by Kulasekhara Alvar (a.d. 800-820), one of the 12 Alvars. Alvars were Tamil saints who composed and sang hymns in praise of Vishnu (The Preserver in the Hindu Holy Trinity of Creator-Preserver-Destroyer). They were exponents of the Bhakti (devotional) cult in South India. The Alvars gave a great impetus to the Bhakti cult in South India between the seventh and the 10th centuries. Kulasekhara Alvar was a scholar and a great patron of the arts. He composed five dramas – the Perumal Tirumozhi in Tamil, and Mukundamala, Tapatisamvarna, Subhadradhamala and Vichchinnabhiseka – all in Sanskrit, which testify to his scholarship.
¤ Rajasekhara Varman Rul (a.d. 820-44)
(succeeded Kulasekhara Alvar. He founded the ‘Kollam Era’ of Kerala, which began in a.d. 825. He is also reputed to have issued the Vazhappali Inscription, the first epigraphical record of the Chera Kingdom. Rajasekhara Varma was followed by Sthanu Ravi Varman (a.d. 844-55), a contemporary of the Chola King, Aditya I (a.d. 870-906).
The Tillaisthanam Inscription indicates that he was on friendly terms with the Chola monarch. His reign witnessed a flourishing trade between Kerala and China. This is borne out by the Arab merchant Sulaiman who visited India in a.d. 851. His first love was astronomy and Sankaranarayana, who composed the astronomical work Sankaranarayaniyam, adorned his court.
After Rajasekhara’s death, hostilities broke out between the Cheras and the Cholas, which continued until the disintegration of the Chera Kingdom. The Pandyas of the Madurai also involved themselves in the conflict.
Rama Varma Kulasekhara (a.d. 1090-1102) was the last of the Chera Kings. He shifted his capital to Quilon when the Cholas sacked Mahodyapuram during his reign. His death signalled the atomisation of the Chera Empire, from the ruins of which arose the independent kingdom of Venad.
¤ The Venad Kingdom
After the fall of the Kulasekharas, Venad emerged as an independent power. The kingdom reached its zenith under Udaya Marthanda Varma (1175-1195) and Ravi Varma Kulasekhara (1299-1314). An efficient ruler, Udaya Marthanda Varma was the architect of a brilliant administrative system for temples. The copper plates, which he issued during his rule, and which were called the Kollur Madham Plates and the Tiruvambadi Inscription of1183, testify to this fact.
Ravi Varma Kulasekhara was the most important ruler of the dynasty. He was a brave and active warrior. He brought peace and order to the strife-torn Pandya Empire, after Malik Kafur, lieutenant of the Delhi Sultan, Ala-ud-din Khilji (1296-1315), ravaged it. His reign saw the development of art and learning. A scholar and musician himself, he patronised intellectuals and poets during his tenure. The Sanskrit drama Pradyumnabhyudayam is ascribed to him. Trade and commerce also flourished during his rule and Quilon became a famous centre of business and enterprise.
After the death of Ravi Varma Kulasekhara, the history of the Venad Kingdom is not of special interest. The kingdom lingered on until the middle of the 18th century before it disintegrated.
¤ Emergence of Calicut
During the medieval period, Calicut rose to prominence from the ashes of the mighty Kulasekhara Empire, in the northern part of Kerala. The Zamorins (literally Lord of the Sea) were the hereditary rulers of Calicut who traced their lineage to the old Perumal dynasty of Kerala. Calicut emerged as a major seaport during the reign of the Zamorins.
Trade with foreigners like the Chinese and Arabs was the main source of revenue for the Zamorins. But it was the Arabs who managed to establish stronger trade links with the rulers of Calicut. Art and culture flourished under the Zamorins who were great patrons of literature.
Accounts of travellers like Ibn Batuta (1342-47), Ma Huan, the Chinese scholar, Abdur Razzak (1443), Nicolo Conti (1444) and Athanasius Nikitin (1468-74) corroborate this fact. Not content with the size of their kingdom, the Zamorins set about expanding its boundaries. The powerful Zamorins conquered Beypore, Parappanad, Vettat, Kurumbranad, Nilambur, Manjeri, Malappuram, Kottakal and Ponnai. By the 15th century, clashes between Cochin and Calicut became increasingly frequent. The reigning Zamorin emerged as the undisputed monarch of the North Malabar area, extending up to Pantalayani Kollam.
¤ The Europeans Arrive
The arrival of Vasco da Gama at Calicut in 1498, was a landmark event in the annals of history. At that time, Kerala was in the throes of political turmoil. Although the Portuguese did not enjoy cordial relations with the Zamorin, they succeeded in procuring some trading facilities at Quilon and Cannanore. But the Portuguese were intent on stopping the Arabs from trading with India.
Hostilities between Cochin and Calicut were exacerbated because the Raja of Cochin acted as a willing supporter of the Portuguese. However, the Zamorin faced a crushing defeat at the hands of the Portuguese when they laid siege on Cochin. The Portuguese gained permission to fortify Cochin and Cranganore in 1503 and 1504, respectively.
After Vasco da Gama, the most notable Portuguese to set foot on Indian soil, was Albuquerque. He managed to make peace with the Zamorin. A treaty was signed in 1513, which gave the Portuguese the right to construct a fort in Cochin and to carry on trade. However, the successors of Albuquerque were incompetent and corrupt. Naturally, that led to the decline of Portuguese power in Kerala.
The Portuguese had a strong impact on the educational and cultural life of the people of Kerala. The introduction of the printing press in Kerala can be counted as one of their biggest achievements. However, religious intolerance and bigotry marked their rule, leading to strife and disharmony among the local populace. This period also saw the revival of the Bhakti movement.
¤ Trade Link With Dutch
Lured by the possibility of trade with India, the Dutch landed on the western coast. Various treaties signed in 1608 and 1610 ensured trading facilities for the Dutch. With the treaty of 1619, the Dutch joined hands with the British to eliminate competition from the Portuguese.
The Dutch were able to fortify and monopolise trade in the regions of Purakkad, Kayakulum, Quilon and Travancore by 1662. One of the most singular achievements of the Dutch contingent in India was the conquest of Cochin in 1663. The decline of the Dutch became inevitable with the unprecedented rise of Travancore under Marthanda Varma (1729-58) and the Mysore invasion. The Zamorin also succeeded in depriving the Dutch of Cochin, Cranganore, Parur and Trichur at one go. By 1759, curtains fell on the Dutch power in India.
¤ Rise of Travancore
Travancore or Venad occupied centre stage in the political arena of Kerala around 18th century, thanks to the deeds of its two illustrious rulers, Marthanda Varma (1729-58) and Rama Varma, popularly known as Dharma Raja (1758-98). In his lifetime, Marthanda Varma successfully annexed the territories under the Dutch. Known as the Maker of Modern Travancore, Marthanda’s tenure is a remarkable period in the history of Kerala.
Rama Varma ascended the throne and ably carried out the task of administration. Two distinguished ministers, Ayyappan Marthanda Pillai and Raja Kesava Das assisted him in administering the kingdom.Rama Varma had to bear the brunt of Haider Ali and Tipu Sultan’s invasion. But Rama Varma’s defence system withstood even the might of Tipu’s forces.
Travancore was fortunate enough to be governed by many enlightened administrators like Velu Thampi, Rani Gouri Lakshmi Bai (1810-15), Gouri Parvati Bai (1815-29), Swati Tirunal (1829-47), Ayilyam Tirunal (1860-80), Sri Mulam Tirunal (1885-1924) who did much to see science, art and culture flourish in Travancore.
¤ Mysore Invades Kerala
Haider Ali, the ruler of Mysore, turned his attention towards Kerala after subduing Bednore in 1763. The regions of Kolathiri, Kottayam, Kadathanad, Kurumbranad and Calicut came under the dominion of Haider Ali. Again in 1773, Haider Ali laid siege on Kerala and conquered Trichur after restoring his authority in Malabar. Haider’s son, Tipu Sultan ascended the throne in 1782. Continuing in the footsteps of his illustrious father, Tipu managed to annex the entire South Malabar in 1783. Nevertheless, it was only in 1790 that he succeeded in breaching the Travancore Line.
But the beginning of the Third Mysore War spelt disaster for Tipu as, one after another, most of the kingdoms under Tipu surrendered to the British forces. With the signing of the Treaty of Serirangapatam in 1792, the last blow was dealt to Tipu’s reign. According to the terms of the treaty, Tipu had to hand over Malabar to the British.
¤ British Accession to Power
Like the other European powers, the British also came in as traders to India. By 1634-35, they had managed to gain permission to use all the Portuguese ports in Kerala from the Zamorin. The British fortified Calicut in 1664.In the years to follow, Travancore and Tellicherry also came under purview of the British.
But it was not all smooth sailing for the British. They had to face considerable opposition from the French and the Dutch. However, the British were successful in ousting other European powers such as the French and the Dutch, from their turf.
But the Keralites did not give in to the British without a whimper. Several revolts took place during the late 18th and early 19th century, which challenged British authority. Among them, the most important was the revolt of Velu Thampi and Paliath Achan who were Chief Ministers of Travancore and Cochin, respectively. Velu Thampi had led a popular uprising against the corruption and misrule of the king’s advisers.
The dictatorial attitude and adverse policies of the British Resident raised his hackles too. He found an ally in Paliath Achan, the Dewan of Cochin who was also dissatisfied with British administration.The famous proclamation asking people to rise against the British was issued in 1809 by Velu Thampi. Though the revolt was crushed mercilessly, Thampi and Achan are still revered as great patriots who sacrificed their lives for the country.
With the Treaty of Serirangapatam in 1792, Malabar came under the sway of the British. Compared to the many achievements of Travancore and Cochin, progress made by Malabar was insignificant. Malabar was converted into a district of the Madras Presidency.
Around 1836-56, Malabar saw a lot of disturbances due to the Mappila Riots. It is still unclear whether the cause of the riots was religious fanaticism or agrarian grievances and poverty. However, the British forces repressed the rebellion quite ruthlessly.
¤ The Growth of the National Movement
There was no dearth of patriotic fervour amongst the people of Kerala when India was going through the struggle for independence.Malabar was a centre of political agitation from the inception of the national movement. Many stalwarts of the Indian National Congress were from Malabar. The Non-Cooperation Movement and the Khilafat agitation found enthusiastic supporters in Malabar too. Mahatma Gandhi spearheaded the Salt Satyagraha of 1930 and the Civil Disobedience movement of 1932. These popular uprisings found an echo in Malabar too. The Muslim League also had a branch here, though it became a force to reckon with only in 1934. Abdul Rahman Ali Raja of Cannanore became the President of the Muslim League in 1937. The Communist Party found a foothold in Kerala around 1939.
The winds of patriotism swept through the princely states of Travancore and Cochin during the freedom struggle.Travancore had a long history of popular uprisings, the earliest of which was led by Velu Thampi in 1799. The Malayali Memorial signed in 1891, which chronicled the grievances of the local populace, raised the political consciousness of the people. Likewise, the Ezhava Memorial of 1896 was a petition that spelt out the injustices the Ezhava community had suffered for a long time. The Indian National Congress established a Congress Committee in Thiruvananthapuram. Travancore remained in a state of political unrest for many years.
Cochin also remained in the eye of the storm for several years during the national movement. The people of Cochin participated in several uprisings like the Electricity agitation, the agitation for a responsible government, to name a few. A committee of the Indian National Congress was set up in Cochin too.
|
<urn:uuid:c073be57-52a8-4a00-ac98-38263ca3076b>
|
CC-MAIN-2016-26
|
http://gk4psc.blogspot.com/2010/07/kerala-history.html
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783402516.86/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624155002-00033-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.964946 | 4,413 | 3.640625 | 4 |
27 March 2012—The word robot calls to mind images of C-3PO or the Terminator. But robots don’t necessarily need to be gleamingly metallic and hard-edged; some might even be downright squishy. That at least is the vision of some robotics researchers, including Carmel Majidi, assistant professor of mechanical engineering at Carnegie Mellon University, in Pittsburgh, and head of the school’s Soft Machines Lab.
“Nature is just full of examples of functionality without any rigid parts,” Majidi said during the American Physical Society’s March meeting in Boston. Think of an octopus squeezing through a tight opening or a Venus flytrap snapping shut on an unwitting insect.
Soft robots could be built from various types of rubber or silicone. Adam Stokes, a postdoctoral fellow in George Whitesides’s lab at Harvard University, showed off a soft rubber gripper picking up an uncooked egg and an anesthetized mouse without damaging them. The gripper, a small six-pointed star, is made of two types of rubber, one softer and more extensible than the other. Air is pumped into microchannels in the device through a small tube. “When you put air in, the softer rubber extends more and introduces curvature,” Stokes explains. The star bends around the top of the egg, tight enough to lift it but with enough give so the egg doesn’t break.
Majidi says the field of soft robotics is still fairly new and that researchers need to find alternatives to air pumps as a way to control the devices. The robots will also need ways to sense their own position. For that he’s exploring the use of microfluidics, specifically liquid-filled microchannels inside a film of rubber. Something as simple as saltwater would render the channel conductive so that the device would become electronic. But there are other fluids that could work, such as Galinstan—an alloy of gallium, indium, and tin that’s liquid at room temperature and a million times as conductive as saline, making it comparable to copper wire.
Because bending or stretching such a circuit changes the shape of the microfluidic channel, it also changes the circuit’s conductivity and thus alters an electrical signal passing through it. “You get something that functions like a stretchable circuit,” Majidi says. Such a device could act as a sensor that measures strain, pressure, or curvature. It could even be used as a stretchable antenna, as was recently demonstrated by a team led by Michael Dickey at North Carolina State University.
And soft devices would be comfortable for human use. “You can wear them, essentially,” Majidi says. He envisions a sensor worn over a finger or other joint to monitor body motion. Or the soft circuits could be integrated with textiles to create a wearable keyboard or other “smart” clothing.
“There are lots of things you could do with this,” says Stokes. Perhaps a robot could be a hybrid of hard parts, performing some of the functions robots perform now, plus soft parts for manipulating delicate objects.
His group also makes a four-limbed, air-powered robot that can crawl along a benchtop or bend itself to fit through a narrow opening. Stokes says they’re studying the role that different gaits could play in letting robots move at different speeds.
Soft-robot parts are relatively easy to build, the researchers say. The Harvard lab, for instance, uses a 3-D printer to make a mold. Stokes says that by selecting materials with the right mechanical properties, it should be possible to make devices in a wide range of sizes.
The ways in which soft robots differ from their hard-bodied forebears—from their pliability to the fact that they move very differently from the traditional machines based on joints and bearings—give robotics researchers entirely new avenues to explore, many inspired by nature, Majidi says. “We can start building devices that are more multifunctional, more versatile,” he says.
This article was modified on 16 April 2011.
About the Author
Neil Savage, based in Lowell, Mass., writes about strange semiconductors and amazing optoelectronics. In the February 2012 issue of IEEE Spectrum, he reported on how nanostructures are allowing solar cells to be made much thinner.
|
<urn:uuid:48e2990d-c6e7-4048-99da-637cc4883790>
|
CC-MAIN-2016-26
|
http://spectrum.ieee.org/robotics/robotics-hardware/soft-robots-for-hard-problems
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783393146.70/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154953-00075-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.951425 | 923 | 3.625 | 4 |
DieselNet.com. Copyright © Ecopoint Inc. Revision 2002.02d
This is a preview of the paper, limited to some initial content. Full access requires DieselNet subscription.
Please log in to view the complete version of this paper.
Addition of water into the diesel combustion process is a known method to reduce NOx and, in some implementations, simultaneously reduce NOx and PM emissions. The very notion of introducing water into the cylinder of the diesel engine may sound controversial. After all, engineers have been taking great care to accomplish the exact opposite and protect the combustion chamber from water contamination, be it from the fuel or from water condensation in intake air coolers. The controversy around water addition is founded on the observation that water droplets impinging on the cylinder walls can immediately destroy the lubrication oil film. This danger however, although very real, is posed exclusively by liquid water. Once water is evaporated, it can no longer affect the lube oil film . Thus, water addition methods which ensure that water droplets cannot contact the cylinder liner surface may be considered harmless. Further concerns have been raised that increased concentrations of water vapor in engine cylinder may result in condensation of water and/or sulfuric acid leading to corrosion problems. Apparently, these suspicions are not justified either, as the dew point of sulfuric acid at very high water:fuel ratio of 1:1 is increased by only up to 15°C . Considering the temperatures in diesel combustion, condensation in the combustion chamber is not possible at any time.
In general, water can be introduced into the diesel combustion process using one of the following methods:
These methods are shown schematically in Figure 1.
Emulsion is a system consisting of two immiscible liquids, one of which is finely dispersed in the other. In all water/diesel fuel emulsions of practical importance water is dispersed in the form of fine droplets in the continuous diesel fuel phase. This type of emulsion, schematically shown in Figure 2, is often referred to as “water-in-fuel” emulsion. In the opposite configuration, with fuel dispersed in the continuous water phase, water would be much more likely to contact the cylinder liner surface and other metal parts, leading to corrosion and engine problems.
In practice, running an engine on water-fuel emulsion makes it possible to reduce NOx by up to about 50% with the required water quantity being about one percent for each percentage point of NOx reduction . The limiting factor for water emulsions is the delivery capacity of the injection system. If emulsions are to be used without engine modifications (e.g., to substitute regular fuel in existing engines), the maximum quantity of water and the degree of NOx reduction are both limited to some 10-20%. Even then, the engine may not be able to reach its rated power, running in effect at a slightly derated condition.
Emulsions are distinguished among other methods of water addition by the fact that water, being incorporated into the fuel spray droplets themselves, is introduced directly into the combustion flame area where emissions are formed. In addition to the NOx benefit, which in all methods is attributed primarily to the lowering of combustion temperature by water, emulsions result in enhanced fuel spray atomization and mixing. Enhanced mixing which extends throughout the diffusion flame can bring quite impressive reductions of PM emissions. As a result, water-fuel emulsions are one of the rare diesel emission control strategies that can simultaneously reduce NOx and particulate emissions without or with only a small fuel economy penalty. Reduction of PM emissions by emulsions has not yet been as thoroughly researched as NOx reduction. Nevertheless, as will be discussed later, the achievable effectiveness of PM reduction appears to be more than twice the level of NOx reduction.
In-cylinder injection of water requires a separate, fully independent injection system, preferably under electronic control. This method offers the capability to inject very large quantities of water without the need to derate the engine. This system also allows to switch the water injection on and off, as may be needed, without affecting engine reliability. Direct water injection needs to be carefully optimized with respect to injection timing, water consumption, emissions, and other parameters. This flexibility in optimizing parameters allows to achieve NOx reductions similar to those seen in emulsion systems, despite the fact that water is not introduced directly into the diesel flame area as an integral part of the spray. However, PM emission reductions, if any, do not match those with emulsified fuels. The complex development work required for water injection systems in different engine types makes this approach suited for OEM rather than for retrofit applications.
Fumigation, meaning the introduction of water into the intake air, is the most simple method of water addition. This method offers very little control over the injection parameters such as timing or spatial coordinates. For this reason, observed NOx reductions tend to be lower than those with emulsions or direct injection. Fumigation typically reduces NOx emissions by 10% for each 20% water addition to the fuel .
If the fumigated water does not completely evaporate in the intake air, it will impinge on the cylinder walls causing disintegration of the lube oil film and engine damage. A safer approach is to fumigate water vapor rather than liquid. Water vapor may be generated using waste heat from the engine, such as from the exhaust gas and/or from the compressed charge air. Another possibility is to use steam, which may be available in certain stationary engine applications.
Regardless of the method of water addition, consideration must be given to the logistics of providing the water supply. The use of emulsifying agents allows for preparing emulsions that can remain stable for a number of days or even weeks. In this case, vehicles may be simply fueled with emulsion in place of regular fuel. Such application of emulsions is obviously limited to vehicle fleets that are centrally fueled from one facility where the emulsion would be prepared. Other water addition methods would require that water tanks and handling systems are installed on the vehicle. The obvious drawback of such systems is the large quantity of water that is needed for NOx reduction, which would require large tanks and frequent replenishment. This is likely the main reason why water addition technologies attract more attention in stationary and marine applications, where supplying large quantities of water is less problematic. However, most systems for ocean going ships would work on fresh water only, thus requiring additional fresh water generation equipment.
|
<urn:uuid:013a19f1-28fd-4170-bead-d1aae640877b>
|
CC-MAIN-2016-26
|
https://www.dieselnet.com/tech/engine_water.php
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783399106.96/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154959-00073-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.95408 | 1,329 | 3.015625 | 3 |
Marketers mislead with labeling
Updated 10:12 pm, Friday, July 20, 2012
Should cookies be considered nutritious if they contain added fiber and calcium? Is an orange-flavored drink a good choice for kids because it serves up a day's supply of vitamin C — even though it contains as much sugar as soda?
With the growing concern over obesity, more products are being marketed as healthful even if they're anything but, much to the frustration of dietitians and public health experts — and even some marketing pros.
The folks at EnviroMedia Social Marketing in Austin became fed up with what they call “leanwashing” — companies leading consumers to believe unhealthful products are healthful as a way of boosting sales. The group, which focuses on campaigns related to the environment and public health, created the Greenwashing Index in 2007 (both terms derive from the term whitewashing) to help consumers figure out when products are really eco-friendly and when they're only advertised that way. They decided to do the same thing with food marketing.
The Leanwashing Index (leanwashing.com), launched in March, allows consumers to post food ads or product packaging and determine whether such health claims are legitimate using criteria developed by advisers from the medical, public health and marketing fields.
“We do need healthier food in our grocery stores, but somehow that's gotten twisted in some marketing efforts to be just flat-out dishonest and disingenuous just to sell a product,” says Valerie Davis, a UT-Austin grad and co-founder of EnviroMedia Social Marketing.
“Leanwashing is worse than greenwashing because it threatens the very health of the consumer. It can prompt a consumer to have more of a product that's unhealthy.”
For example: a product label with bold letters declaring, “No trans fat!” It may be so, but that doesn't make it a super food — chances are it's loaded with other kinds of fats.
The labels on kids' cereals may boast about the whole grains inside, but those cereals may (and probably do) contain mountains of sugar, too, so look beyond the front of the box and check out the nutrition label.
And that can of soup crowing about “less sodium”? Less than what? It could still contain an entire day's worth of salt.
Browsing the ads for foods (as well as diet plans and fitness products) on the Leanwashing Index is both enlightening and disturbing. The good news: There are plenty of foods that really are good for you, if you can weed out the phonies. This educational tool is one way to help elevate public awareness about the distinction.
Empowering consumers to scrutinize health claims is essential until the marketing and advertising industry halts misleading claims. Don't hold your breath, Davis says.
“I have watched the advertising industry line up and fight hard with high-powered attorneys against any kind of voluntary guidelines from our federal government to curb this dangerous kind of marketing,” she says. “It will take them forever to change. But we can do this now.”
|
<urn:uuid:388811f7-1019-44d5-b806-027a4b8383ef>
|
CC-MAIN-2016-26
|
http://www.mysanantonio.com/life/life_columnists/jessica_belasco/article/Marketers-mislead-with-labeling-3720974.php
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783396887.54/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154956-00173-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.951257 | 654 | 2.5625 | 3 |
ABOUT THE PSA LOGO
The canoe is an ancient Tahitian twin-hulled voyaging canoe. A deck connects the two hulls with a thatched house on it. The drawing is based on sketches made by the artists who accompanied the early European voyages of discovery in Polynesia. These wooden canoes, constructed by stone tools, were the vehicles by which the Polynesians explored and settled the Pacific islands.
In addition to fresh foods, they carried with them fermented and dried provisions, added to their food supply by fishing, and carried fowl, pigs, and dogs, some for food and some to populated the new land. Food plants, slips of paper mulberry for bark cloth, and slips of cordage plants were also brought to the new land. Navigation was by the stars, and wave patterns, cloud formations, and the flight of sea birds told them when land was near. Thus many of the sciences within the field of the Pacific Science Association were already practiced by the ancient Polynesians.
Use of the PSA logo is limited to PSA-sponsored events, projects, or programs, and is granted only with the express written permission of the PSA Secretariat.
The original PSA logo, designed in 1961, is below.
|
<urn:uuid:5b9648dc-a4cc-47b0-9802-77605d1a074c>
|
CC-MAIN-2016-26
|
http://pacificscience.org/logo.html
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783404382.73/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624155004-00091-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.980605 | 260 | 2.890625 | 3 |
Most people who read this won’t have a clue what a Hollerith punched card is. I only just caught the end of the era at University where I learned to program in FORTRAN coding one punched card at a time. Once the stack of cards was complete, I delivered it to the computer operator for scheduling and execution.
Jobs were scheduled one at a time because that is how the primitive Burroughs scheduler and operating system was designed. Running more than one program at a time was still a pipe dream in those days so hardware engineers focused on making programs run faster by scaling up the hardware. Faster Processor, faster IO, more main memory, and more powerful instruction sets that did more in fewer clock cycles.
This propensity to scale up, make computers more and more powerful and IO faster and faster has been at the center of the whole industry for decades, an arms race for more clock cycles. In fact Gordon Moore a founder at Intel coined the phrase Moore’s Law to describe the rapid and continuous performance improvements in processor performance we have seen over the last 40 years.
The same is true for networking. Token Ring networks ran at 4MB/s, Ethernet at 10MB/s in the early days of the LAN, now 10GB/s is the norm for new installations, a three orders of magnitude improvement in 20 years.
Storage systems also have shown massive performance improvements with systems like Oracle’s ExaData offering 1M IOPS performance levels. Database technology has also seen massive performance improvements driven in part by smart data design and and great database technology. Performance levels we see today in these scale up systems are unimaginable only a few decades ago.
I remember in 1975 Donald Michie Professor of the Machine Intelligence and Perception unit at Edinburgh University proving mathematically that we would never see a computer beat a grand master at chess within out lifetimes. The problem was too big to solve with current technology and the rate of growth of performance required to beat a grand master, he told us was just unbelievable.
The fact that the unbelievable levels of performance we see today are still not enough for the largest Internet scale tasks such as hosting Twitter, Facebook or LinkedIn or managing the search indexes at Yahoo or Google. Scale up just doesn’t scale up enough. None of these Internet scale enterprises use scale up technology any more. They scale out at every level. Scale out compute, storage, network, application architecture and even at the database level.
Scale out applications are becoming more common with developers adopting a MapReduce style approach to coding, where a master process splits the problem into a number of smaller parts and then farms them out to a large number of processes that derive the answer. The master process then combines the answers to deliver a single consolidated output. For the largest scale computational problems this is often the only way to get to the answer in a meaningful timescale.
Scale out compute is now commonplace, with any number of hypervisor technologies (VMware, Xen, KVM, Hyper-V) supported by a cloud operating system to handle virtualisation and load balancing.
Scale out storage is also a growth industry with products like HP’s X9000 (IBRIX) and IBM’s XIV gaining traction in the market. Object storage is also gaining popularity with URI or HTTP protocols becoming commonplace on any number of offerings such as Amazon’s S3. Open source file systems such as Apache Hadoop add an additional feature of understanding the location of the data so that compute and storage elements can be closely co-located to reduce network latency and end to end bandwidth demands.
Scale out networking follows the logic that most network traffic in a scale out world is edge to edge so why bother with a core network? Converge on 10G lossless Ethernet using top of rack switches supporting iSCSI, NAS and HTTP protocols to converge the SAN and LAN into a common routable IP system.
Scale out databases are now commonly referred to as NOSQL databases that go back in time to pre-relational designs that do not provide ACID consistency guarantees (atomicity, consistency, isolation, durability) but allow sharding to split the data sets over multiple systems to improve the parallelism of the overall system.
The legacy of the punched card is still with us because Information Technology is an evolutionary process. Scale up approaches continue to support the evolution, but one day the dinosaurs will die out.
|
<urn:uuid:216c53dc-a670-4245-9fbf-c9657ef9785c>
|
CC-MAIN-2016-26
|
http://www.thehotaisle.com/2010/02/17/computing-has-never-properly-recovered-from-punched-cards/
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783395992.75/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154955-00100-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.940058 | 904 | 2.734375 | 3 |
10 Astounding Examples of Pareidolia In Outer Space
Ever look at clouds and see a rabbit or a dog? Or pop out a piece of toast and see the partially burnt face of Jesus looking at you? This bizarre experience is called pareidolia—a psychological phenomenon whereby a sight or sound triggers something in your brain, persuading you that what you hear or see is something recognizable.
One well-known example of pareidolia involves seeing “the man in the moon”. But there are many more examples of pareidolia in space—and as our robots, spacecraft, and telescopes take more and more images, we’re discovering more space pareidolia daily. Here are ten of the most astounding examples:
One of the oldest and most familiar examples of space pareidolia is the horsehead nebula, or Barnard 33, which is a cold and dark cloud of dust and gas silhouetted by the bright nebula IC 434. The Horsehead Nebula is located in the constellation Orion, and appears to be a side-on view of a horsehead.
First noted in 1888, it is 1,500 light years from Earth. The dark shadowing of the Horsehead Nebula is created by dust, but at the base of the nebula you can see bright spots which are young stars just being formed. The bright star just visible in the top left side of the horsehead is a young star still embedded in the stellar nursery of gas and dust. The radiation from this young star is so powerful that it’s starting to erode the cloud—so millions of years in the future, the Horsehead Nebula may not bear any resemblance to its current form.
Another very well-known example of pareidolia in space is Cydonia Mensae, or “The Face on Mars”. On July 25, 1976, NASA released a series of images snapped by the Viking spacecraft orbiters. These images depicted the Cydonia Mensae region of Mars—a region of flat-topped mesa-like formations. The first image showed what appeared to be a human face looking skyward. This was originally dismissed as a trick of shadowing on the Martian rocks; a subsequent image, however, likewise showed what would become known as The Face on Mars—even with the sun at a different angle.
These images sparked decades of speculation about the possibility of life on Mars, and prompted talk of advanced civilizations which may have left behind giant, human-like memorials on the planet.
Twenty years later, however, Mars was visited by three more spacecraft which orbited the planet and took higher resolution images. These better quality images proved that what appeared to be a giant statue of a human face was simply a normal Martian mountain, which—when seen with the correct shadowing and illumination—created pareidolia in the minds of the observers.
In an amazing image captured by the European Southern Observatory (ESO) Very Large Telescope, we can observe the collision of three different galaxies. Most interestingly, we can note the effect that each of them is having on the others. As the three galaxies collided, they have twisted, stretched, and pulled one other into a recognizable shape. Is it Tinker Bell or a Space Hummingbird? Whichever you decide, it is certainly a beautiful image.
Mars is home to many examples of pareidolia, largely due to the fact that—like the moon—it is so highly photographed. Either that, or Martians have just been busy creating human-like structures for such a very long time. You decide.
Another example is the “Elephant Face”, which resembles an elephant head in profile, complete with an eye and an elongated elephant trunk. The image was taken by the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, and was intended to capture a lava flow in Elysium Planitia.
It seems to me that “The Face on Mars” looks more like the human alien in the film “Prometheus” than any real human. But another pareidolia on Mars, located in the Libya Montes region, looks more genuinely human.
It appears to be an almost classical Greek or Roman face, complete with a crown, and it is often imaginatively referred to as “The Crowned Face”. Remarkably, most people can “see” the Libya Montes face in many different kinds of light.
In what I believe to be one of the most beautiful examples of deep space pareidolia, we have an image taken of a pulsar called PSR B1509-58. The image of the 150-lightyear-wide nebula was captured by the Chandra Observatory telescope.
The rapidly rotating neutron star, or “pulsar”, is only twelve miles across—yet it has enough power to twist and sculpt the space around the nebula into the beautiful hand-like object we see in the photo. This hand appears to be almost reaching out to touch space itself.
Another recent example of Martian pareidolia involved a human-like figure, caught in mid-stride (almost Bigfoot-like) as it ambles across the Martian surface. Or is it a Martian mermaid, sitting on a rock with its tail laid out? The original image was taken by the Mars Spirit rover on the surface of what scientists have dubbed “home plate”, a ninety mile (145km) plateau region in the Columbia Hills of Mars.
The photo was responsible for all manner of conspiracy theories, accusing NASA of attempting to cover up clear proof that life exists on Mars. According to one astronomer, however, the photo depicts nothing but “a funky little bizarre wind-carved rock formation.”
When viewed as part of the complete rover image, you can see just how tiny the “Mars Mermaid” or “Martian Bigfoot” really is—about six centimeters tall.
Mimas, one of Saturn’s moons, was already the famous owner of one example of pareidolia. When the Voyager spacecraft returned images of Saturn’s moons in the early 1980s, only several years had passed since the release of “Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope”. This film, as many of the readers will know, featured the gigantic “Death Star”, with its powerful radar dish-like super laser. So when people saw the Voyager images of Mimas for the first time, and in particular the giant crater “Herschel”, they instantly recognized the similarity between Mimas and The Death Star.
But Mimas had a second example of pareidolia in store for humans—this one even more strange than the first. When the Cassini spacecraft orbited Mimas in 2010, it used a thermal infrared spectrometer to map the planet in infrared. What they saw in the images baffled the scientists—and was instantly recognized by ordinary citizens as a giant depiction of the arcade game Pac Man.
The colorful map’s yellow spots have the highest surface temperature, and its blue spots have the lowest. Scientists were baffled because they expected the higher temperatures to be along the equator of the moon, where the sun was shining directly on Mimas when Cassini flew by. Instead, Mimas proved once again that the moons of our solar system are fascinating of their own account—for the exact opposite was found to be true.
Scientists speculated that the strange results may have been caused by different densities in the ice covering the moon’s surface. Another scientist was quoted as saying: “it has to be a thermal inertia thing.” Sure.
In this picture, your eye might naturally drift to the center—and if so, you’ll find yourself looking at what I call “Space Wood”, a pareidolia of phallic-like protuberance.
Taken by NASA’s Spitzer Space Telescope, the photo shows a region of young star formation in the Eta Carina Nebula. Spitzer has captured a stellar nursery in action more than ten thousand lightyears away. Thick, huge, dark pillars of dust (in pink) house young stars being formed (in white and yellow). With infrared, Spitzer can show how the young stars destroy the clouds of gas and dust from which they are born. In fact, the image shows a titanic battle between older “first generation” stars, and the young stars still being formed.
One interesting first generation star in the system is Eta Carinae, which pumps out more energy than one million of our own suns. In the 1840s (bearing in mind the slight delay), Eta Carinae put out a burst of so much energy that it temporarily became the second-brightest star in the heavens.
Another image of the Carina nebula—apparently showing space flipping us the bird—inspired viewers around the world to look for other examples of space pareidolia. If you would like to search for some examples yourself, go to this zoomable image of the Carina Nebula.
Even while I was working on this list, a new example of pareidolia popped up. The Mars Curiosity Rover snapped a photograph of the Martian terrain, and someone with a lot of free time found what appears to be a lizard, or long-tailed rat. Is there enough water on Mars to sustain small animals? Is it possible that a lizard or rat, similar to our own, could evolve and live on Mars? Or is it merely the case that NASA is secretly shipping freeze-dried rodents and lizards on board the rovers so they can be dropped off for future “discovery”, and hence, government funding? Once again—you decide.
Patrick Weidinger has been a contributor of lists to Lisverse for over three years. His list topics frequently involve tales of history, science, and survival.
|
<urn:uuid:946ac76e-b44d-41ed-ac1b-26440acaf886>
|
CC-MAIN-2016-26
|
http://listverse.com/2013/06/09/10-astounding-examples-of-pareidolia-in-outer-space/
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783391766.5/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154951-00159-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.945005 | 2,059 | 3.390625 | 3 |
The “African wild dog” also known as hunting dog is a very rare species in Africa. It is a vanishing species in east Africa. Like most social animal this wild dog is also very intelligent and sharp doing reflexes. Similar to most predators it also helps in eliminating below par and scrawny animals. Thus it helps to uphold a natural poise and in chorus improving the quarry variety.
“African wild dog” is scientifically known as “Lycaon pictus” which is a canid found only in Africa. It is then called the African wild dog, African hunting dog, Cape Hunting dog, painted dog etc. The scientific name is derived from Greek word for “wolf” and the Latin word for “painted”. It is the only canid which is not having dewclaws in its forelimb. Again it is the largest canid in Africa and before the grey wolf becomes second largest wild canid in world. The scientific classification includes this species into “class-mammal”, “phylum-chordata” and “kingdom-Animalia”.
The adults typically weigh around 18 to 36 kilograms. It arises about 75 cm at the shoulder and the remaining body length up to 75-141 cm. The tail appends up to 30 to 45 cm. There are five subspecies of this wild dog. It is only extant species belongs to genus “Lycaon”. In relation with dogs, wolves and coyotes wild dogs are very close as far as other canids are concerned. Previously these were speeded over sub Sahara Africa. Now days the most population found in three countries named as Namibia, Botswana and Zimbabwe. Due to the itinerant nature of these species it is hard to find out their exact population.
The characteristics of “African wild dog” are presumed to be very unique. This wild dog is long legged having massive jaws, flat ears. It has got four toes instead of five which resembles in domestic dogs. The texture for this dog reflects a colourful coat of brown, black and yellow patches means “painted wolf.
African wild dog hunts in packs by making a small group. Like most member of the dog family the chase continues to a long period of time. They generally hunt in the early morning and late evening. They prey upon gazelles, antelopes, wildebeests, calves and rats. The most common hunt depends upon the domestic availability and season. To hunt a larger prey they pass a coordinated approach. In this hunting process one dog catches the victim’s tail and other gets the lip, nose and head. Finally the other pack slaughters the animal.
The centre pack of six dogs makes a breeding pair and several others to help known as no breeding adults. Similarly one female in the pack will form the subsequent breeding pair with any of the males. A breeding female gives birth once in a year. The average for the breeding is nearly about ten pups. The pups are born in a shelter, thick grass or may be in a hole. Unlike many others, the female brood left the place after mellowness. The hunting members reunion from their prey by then giving nourishment to the pups and female offspring.
But some of them die from exposure and diseases. Therefore the hunting team is reduced the efficiency of getting food becomes difficult. Social behaviour of the “wild dogs” is comprised of related males and females. Accordingly they will form a pack. If any of the group do not merge then they will be separated and join another masculinity group.
The African wild dog becomes an endangered species due to habitat loss and forest encroachment. It is basically having a competition with the carnivores that they have been looking for, like the lions and hyena. Lions often kill as many as they can while chasing but do not eat them. Again throughout the Africa the wild dogs have been killed by farmers. Due to this region they become more brisk and vivacious. In some areas they are seal to annihilation.
Facts and Figures :
The distribution of “wild dog” is in relation with where they are living. Often it counts one dog in every 208 square kilometres in Serengeti which contradicts with 1 dog per 25 square kilometres. There were 500000 African wild dogs in 39 countries. Now there are only 3000 to 5500 species remain left behind.
Life Cycle and life Style :
“African Wild dog” may reproduce once in a year. It may happen during the zenith between March and June logically. The copulatory characteristics of mates found to be less that is less than a minute. The time between the births is 10-14 minutes. The litters may contain 2-19 new ones. The typical gestation period is of 70 days. Pups are usually born in dens and then removed by the group. After three months the pups run off the burrow and began to sprint with the cluster.
“African wild dog” is a very gregarious animal that gathers a bundle generally. There is a strict ranking within the system which is headed by a strict leader. They undergo with a good responsibility and do everything as a group whether it may be giving food, giving assistance to the young ones and also going for a hunt. These facts clearly resemble that “African wild dogs” pilot a superior lifestyle.
“African wild dog” is mostly set up in arid zones and also in savanna. During their quarry they are also found in forest and heap habitats. They choose to make their set up in shades, bushes to feel relaxed and to have rest.
Images, Pics, Photos and Pictures of African Wild Dog :
This “African wild dog” exists in a cluster of six to twenty. The dogs have a ignition bonding between them which helps to commence each hunt. They start circulating among the members and whispering, poignant in anticipation as they are ready for the hunt. The attack for the prey is coordinated, designed, well planned and in a cooperative manner. They can sprint distances up and about 35 miles per hour.
|
<urn:uuid:8b782c78-a629-47c1-b609-6201c8303412>
|
CC-MAIN-2016-26
|
http://animalsadda.com/african-wild-dog/
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783395679.92/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154955-00101-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.962134 | 1,268 | 3.234375 | 3 |
Subsets and Splits
No community queries yet
The top public SQL queries from the community will appear here once available.