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By Michael J. Chaille
Since 1973, Knott's Berry Farm in Buena Park, California has been conjuring up it's own Halloween tradition. That was the first year the Southern California theme park cloaked itself under the moniker Knott's Scary Farms Halloween Haunt and launched its Halloween Haunt, the First Halloween Theme Park Event. Building slowly over the years, the event now covers 160 acres, lasts 25 nights and boasts over 1000 live monsters roaming the park.
How did Knotts Scary Farm achieve the grand reputation they have today? What is this Haunt doing right? More importantly, what can smaller Dark Attractions across the country learn from the Knott's Scary Farms Halloween Haunt?
There is no magic room design or any one scheme that makes a destination this popular. Instead, it has been a slow build and cultivation on many levels that make the Knott's Haunt such a success. Key factors include Innovation, Tradition and Design which all contribute to making the Knott's Haunt 'to die for'.
Thirty years ago, Halloween was the season to dress up and Trick or Treat. For a multitude of reasons, the years to follow witnessed a decline in these traditional Halloween activities. In retrospect, whether intentional or not, the Knott's Haunt concept marked the beginning of a turning point in our culture; the decline of Trick or Treating and the rise in popularity of centralized Halloween events. Knott's took an innovative approach at the right time, and created a new reason to visit the Berry Farm. Merely a 'seedling' in 1973, the past 31 years have allowed for consistent promotion, implementation and execution of this event.
Neither glamorous nor earth-shattering, tradition plays a large role in the event's widespread and longstanding success. Consider the latest Census statistics that conclude 50% of the population will live their entire life within 50 miles of their birthplace. This could very well explain the park attendance that jumps from one age demographic to the next. While kids under 18 were the dominant age group, guests in their 30s and 40s and up were well represented. Los Angeles and Orange County has a combined population of 3.5 million kids under 18. No wonder Knott's Scary Farm offers 25 nights, (many Sold Out during that last weeks of October). Starting them young, Knott's also has a non-scare celebration designed for the family crowd. Throughout the Camp Snoopy section of the park, the Annual Camp Spooky is held during the day (now in it's 13th year). This daytime event permits kids 3-11 to Trick or Treat through the park as part of the regular admission price. Start a tradition early with this group and the potential number of return guests multiplies. For many young grandparents, moms and dads, young adults, teens and 'tweens living in Southern California, Knott's Scary Farm IS their Halloween.
The overall design of the Knott's event is really a critical factor to its success. For starters, Knott's IS haunting for the masses. The attraction line-up for the 2004 season included 11 Mazes, 4 Scare Zones and 6 Themed Shows all for $46 bucks. (Of which you could get up to $23 off with sponsor coupons). While individual Haunted Attractions can be quite popular in North America, Southern California is quite devoid of these stand-alone venues. And it's no wonder! Crowds or not, this is a great price for an entire night of scares. At $23 it would be difficult to get into any two separate events elsewhere. An entire night of entertainment and amusement, with more special haunted attractions than one could see in an evening, is a tremendous value for the Haunt-goer, and puts Knott's in the 'untouchable' category for anyone even thinking of competing. Knott's also has the ability to open up non-Halloween themed rides too. It is beyond me why anyone would attend this Halloween event to wait in a 2 hour line for a ride when you can attend the park in the day and have no wait at all? Either way, Knott's is accommodating to those riders and is a great strategy to alleviate the crowd pressure amongst the street. They really are operating at full capacity in the middle of the night.
Success Tip: Have other types of attractions available to guests that don't want the full Halloween Experience.
The economics and crowd logistics' are just the beginning of the Knott's design. The mazes themselves are methodical in layout and design as well. For the most part the mazes lead the guest along with a particular theme already set. The events that unfold are not unlike a roller coaster with planned anticipation, quick actions, high impact scares followed by sections of coast or escape. This analogy exemplifies the emotional ups and downs as they journey through the mazes. These short bursts of high energy scares, followed by black wall sections of non-descript scenic allows guest to reflect what they have just experienced and calms them down for the next set of scares. Startles along the way are used to build the anticipation. Every room does not have a huge scare and that's good design.
Success Tip: Pace out your scares to allow the guest to experience highs and lows of the story you are telling.
To paint a picture of the maze design, I'll describe two new attractions that were so clever; they no doubt left indelible guest impressions (after all, Tradition is all about creating memories!)
Red Beards Revenge was a twisting, cavernous tour below decks of a cursed ship. Haunts really didn't pick up the pirate theme just after the movie release of Pirates of the Caribbean. Knott's did and this maze had a grand entry façade with animations and overflowing sets filled with scenic detail and lots of pirates. The journey below the ships decks and the "rocking" of the floorboards were details I admired and remembered. This maze possessed a strong story line that was easy to follow due to the recent movie and was augmented with "full of life" characters. I thought they pulled this off well. There was a sense of dank confinement and the overhead space left you thinking you were below the decks. Twisting and winding around the sets, this story line was filled in by your own interpretation of what a pirate's life would be.
Success Tip: Use current day entertainment to keep the show fresh and your guests interested.
Another well-done maze (and my favorite) was Terror Vision in 3-D. Leading you down a hall of white noise, this maze was based on the kitschy 50's, 60's and 70's TV shows that we all grew up watching. Immediately recognizable show logos were doctored up with creepy themes like Sesameat Street, UnHappy Days, I Loathe Lucy and Wheel of MisFortune. After the simple 'cue card' intro, guests toured a replica set for each show while twisted theme music played in the background. The spoofed scenes were enhanced with a horror twist. This design really worked as recognizable characters and familiar scenes led guests into a false sense of security, only to set them up for the scare. A manic mix of animations, static props and clever actors, this maze was scaring everybody just about every four feet. Because the layout was designed in such a way that each room was introduced with a brand, guests focused on what they expected to see, and were easily distracted.
Success Tip: Use the viewer's memory to distract or take them back to a moment that they can reflect on.
Suffice to say this is not a maze revue, but most of the 11 mazes I journeyed through were well done and at the very least had clever aspects of design and show value. Both Red Beards Revenge and Terror Vision in 3-D, like all Knott's mazes, were short, twisting paths of high impact and energy. No real pulse of the guest throughput was evidenced, and most times it really didn't matter. Another key to their design is the application of actors that did not attempt to scare every guest that passed. This restrained shock technique employs the concept of quality and not quantity scares. A balanced smattering of shaker cans, canastas and metal finger tipped gloves allowed the actors to control their use of sounds to startle and elicit the imagination, as opposed to a heavy hand slapping on plywood walls.
Success Tip: Subtly can be just as effected as in your face.
Continuity was seen throughout the Haunt. Designs and themes are introduced by the Marquee or façade treatment and carried throughout the mazes. This is important to set the plot in the guests mind and initiate a mood. While many Haunted Attractions elsewhere comprise a "Haunt Stew" approach (where each room or scene is comprised, based on the props/actors on hand rather than an actual story line), sticking with a theme allows for designers to fall back on continuity and permits the guest to be set up more easily. A typical Haunt Stew Scenario would be a circus scene followed by a dungeon set followed by an Alien spacecraft, etc. Knott's sticks to a storyline.
These mazes also tend to scare forward and actors are smart enough not to block a guests egress path. This is key to getting guests into and out of the maze. With so much to do, who wants to get stuck in a bottleneck for 5 minutes?
Success Tip: Always permit guests to 'escape' from a room as quickly as possible to make way for more guests. Scare Forward whenever possible.
With this said, I hope Knotts can learn from a mistake. Billed as a "Scare Experience" the Jaguar - Temple of Sacrifice appeared to be another haunted maze. After entering the interior attraction, our group was immediately stopped by what appeared to be a temporary bottleneck. It's wasn't. This "scare experience" was actually just a Queue line for a less then mediocre kiddy coaster with a couple of sadly concealed scare actors trying to remain motionless while guests stood within punching distance. The real tragedy was by the time I could see what I had gotten myself into, there was no way out and the guests demise was to shuffle along a never ending switch back queue until boarding the coaster.
Success Tip: Don't try to scare waiting guests unless there is a way for the actor to escape and reset elsewhere.
While I may never get those 30 minutes back, the "scare zones" somehow made up for it. These concepts really work and most haunted events attempt these in some form, but typically not at the scale of Knotts. Whether nestled underneath the forested walkways of Camp Snoopy, (the Gauntlet), below the twisting steel of massive coasters, (The Swamp), or ambling down the dusty western boardwalk, (Ghost Town), a total of 4 zones offered up ample opportunity for scares. These 'zones' are all about the guests freely roaming around the open common areas or sets of the theme park. While taking in the sites, shopping or goofing off with friends, the guests are actually being stalked. These areas are where a lot of the roaming monsters lurk, waiting for the unsuspecting and distracted.
One of the best features of this event is watching other guests being hunted by the monsters. This is a front row seat to witness a hideous creature prowling for an unsuspecting group of teenage girls. Or a pair of thirty-something's juggling sodas and churros as an onrush of sliders rush out of the fog-choked corners of the street. This side show entertainment occurs independent of the mazes, has every guest on edge and is great fun.
Success Tip: Haunt common areas outside of the attraction for added value.
Sliders, a subset of the roaming monsters, are another great innovation that converts passive areas of the park into a separate attraction. Sliders are roaming monsters of all types that are suited up with leg, knee and elbow pads. Their heavy work gloves are fitted with steel fingertips and plates to protect them as they take a running leap towards guests and slide - stopping short right at the feet of the targeted victims. This type of fast action scare leaves nobody safe from attack.
Success Tip: Employ Hit and Run scare tactics that leaves guests wondering what will happen next.
These scare zones have earned their own right to entertainment and guests now pony up to pose and buy a staged photo (after the scare of course!) with their favorite monster. While the purest of haunters would cringe as monsters chat with guests while in costume, remember, this is haunting for the masses, (and really with crowds like these, anything goes.) Kiosks are set up with cash registers and lighting, ready to capture you and your favorite creature, for a price.
Another revenue source for the park is the "Seasons of Screams" series that is now out on DVD. This Hauntumentry reveals the history of the Knott's Scary Farms Halloween Haunt and how it evolved into the most successful Halloween attraction in the World.
Success Tip: Offer DVD's or photos so guests can take home the experience while providing additional revenue.
The latest innovation is the Maze Interior Photo Opportunity. While this may be the single worst place to have guests dig around for a flash camera, it may be visionary with regard to the current popularity of camera phones. This concept allows the guest to stop inside the maze, whip out a camera and pose with the characters as they are in the set. Typically one would think that photos would be taboo, but the vampire brides overtly encouraged shutterbugs within their reach. How this would work on a busy night, I have no idea, but if you're stuck in a backed up line, it may just prove to be entertaining and encourage more interaction among guests and actors. This strategy may also accommodate a slow maze section or allow time for guests to slow themselves down so they don't trample lagging groups within the maze.
There is much more to the Knott's Haunt then I have space to cover. This event really is a great place to research the art of haunting. Several rides at Knott's are also transformed into haunted attractions that are unique and fun. Between attractions you could also take in any of the 6 "Sinister Shows" that are produced just for this season. Ranging from the traditional 'Hanging' to the newest offspring "Dr. Cleaver's Psycho Circus", these attractions are peppered with current events, comedy and gore. Dr. Cleaver's was evidence of Knott's leaning to a more adult theme show that had big stage effects and Vegas style dance numbers.
Success Tip: Take a chance on new concepts and ideas and be quick to learn from your mistakes.
Innovation, Design and Tradition have all lead to the success of the Knott's Haunt over the years. A lot can be said of being first to market with new scares and maze concepts, but there is more to it then that. The designing of an event that permits guests to experience fear in fast paced, energetic environment gets them in and out of the mazes and on to the next thing. Knott's keeps people moving from event to event. Offering more then any one guest can experience in an evening leaves the audience wanting more and that is a golden rule in entertaining, which Knott's easily accomplishes. Most importantly, Knott's Scary Farms Halloween Haunt is building traditions with its audience, young and old, and that will keep this new era Halloween around for years to come.
Michael J. Chaille is the president of Ghost Ride Productions, INC., a Halloween and Dark Attractions manufacturer based in Hollywood, California. Professionally in the Halloween Props and Effects business for 10 years, Ghost Ride develops a multitude of new products for the industry annually. Part of the business is seeing what is out there and what is needed within the industry. Ghost Ride puts this research to use in developing new and custom products for theme parks across the nation and around the world. Michael can be reached at [email protected].
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Our Musculoskeletal System
The musculoskeletal system provides the framework for the body and allows the body to move. It also protects and gives the body shape.
Bones are hard, rigid structures that are made up of living cells. Long bones (leg bones) bear the weight of the body. Short bones allow skill and ease in movement. Bones in the wrists, fingers, ankles, and toes are short bones. Flat bones protect the organs. Such bones include the ribs, skull, pelvic bones, and shoulder blades. Irregular bones are the vertebrae in the spinal column. They allow various degrees of movement and flexibility.
Joints are the points at which two or more bones meet. Joints allow movement. There are three types of joints:
1. Ball-and-socket joint – allows movement in all directions. The joints of the hips and shoulders are ball-and-socket joints.
2. Hinge-joint – allows movement in one direction. The elbow and knee are hinge joints.
3. Pivot-joint- allows turning from side to side. The skull is connected to the spine by a pivot joint.
Muscles – there are more than 500 muscles in the human body. Voluntary muscles can be conciously controlled. Muscles that are attached to bones (skeletal muscles) are voluntary. Arm muscles do not work unless you move your arm; likewise for leg muscles. Involuntary muscles work automatically and cannot be consciously controlled. Involuntary muscles control the action of the stomach, intestines, blood vessels, and other body organs. Cardiac muscle is in the heart. It is an involuntary muscle.
Muscles perform three important body functions:
a. movement of body parts
b. maintenance of posture
c. production of body heat
Some muscles constantly contract to maintain the body’s posture. When muscles contract, they burn food for energy, resulting in the production of heat. The greater the muscular activity, the greater the amount of heat produced in the body. Shivering is a way the body produces heat when exposed to cold. The shivering sensation is from rapid, general muscle contractions.
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When you say you’re going to eat sumac, people often respond with worry. “That’s poisonous!” they say. They are thinking of poison sumac, which is related but looks very different. Poison sumac has smooth leaves and spaced out white berries, while edible sumac has tightly clumped red ones and jagged, toothy leaves (as above). The species pictured is an edible one, Rhus typhina, known as staghorn sumac. It was growing in direct sunlight near my apartment on a shrub that was 10 feet tall with a fuzzy stalk. (Well, sort of like Britney circa 2001, it was more than a shrub, but not quite a tree).
I took that photo of a sumac fruit a couple days ago. This afternoon, the tree/shrub was gone.
I was out walking my dog, Petunia, when I saw a neighbor cutting down the landscaping outside his house. I (politely) intercepted. He pointed me to the debris pile and I was able to dig out the fruit before they ended up in the city’s yard-waste collection bin, fortunately. My plan is to do what Middle Eastern chefs do and dry the berries, and then grind them up into a spice powder that lasts all year without refrigeration. I could then sprinkle it on rice, hummus, kebabs, etc. Sumac tastes slightly sour, tart and citrus-like, very similar to a lemon.
Sumac is native to the Mediterranean. It now grows here in the States — often as an ornamental — in the northern and middle parts of the country from coast to coast. Sumac contains calcium, potassium, magnesium, citric acid and antioxidants, according to this plant physiology study conducted by the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences. Sumac bark is useful medicinally as an astringent tea for anti-diarrhea purposes. It’s also antibacterial. You can read more about medicinal applications here.
Another thing you could do with sumac fruit: Make a lemonade substitute by immersing the berries in cold water, rubbing them to release the juice, and then leaving them for several hours to soak and infuse into the water. Then strain and drink it. You could freeze the liquid in ice cube trays and use it year-round like lemon juice. “Wildman” Steve Brill’s Wild Vegan Cookbook offers several interesting recipes for sumac concentrate.
Share this post and tell your friends and family about a common free food and medicine.
Explore many more wild plants on the Search Plants! page.
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May 6, 2011 | WebMemo on Health Care
On April 15, the House of Representatives passed a budget that addresses the Medicaid crisis. Introduced by Budget Committee chairman Paul Ryan (R–WI), it repeals Obamacare and its costly Medicaid expansion and puts Medicaid on a more fiscally sustainable path. Ryan’s Medicaid reform ends the open-ended federal reimbursement of state Medicaid spending and allows states greater flexibility to manage their programs without interference from the federal bureaucracy. In contrast, the White House fails to appreciate the Medicaid crisis and instead relies on Medicaid to cover upwards of 20 million more people beginning in 2014.
Medicaid in Crisis
Unsustainable spending growth, enormous crowd-out of private coverage, perverse incentives that discourage work and financial planning, and cost control mechanisms like low provider payment rates that limit access for enrollees and contribute to a low quality of care have left Medicaid in crisis.
Unsustainable Medicaid Spending. Between 1990 and 2010, national Medicaid spending increased from $72 billion to over $400 billion. Federal spending alone has increased from $40 billion in 1990 to an estimated $271 billion in 2010. At the state level, Medicaid spending has increased four times faster than elementary and secondary spending, five times faster than higher education spending, and nine times faster than transportation spending over the past two decades.
Low Provider Participation in Medicaid. Several states reimburse Medicaid providers at extremely low rates, some lower than one-third of commercial rates. Medicaid also requires an enormous amount of paperwork with lag times for payment twice as long as those for Medicare or commercial insurance. Moreover, the denial rate for Medicaid claims is three times that of Medicare and commercial insurance.
As a result, only about half of all physicians accept new Medicaid patients. Small physician practices are increasingly deciding not to see Medicaid enrollees, so enrollees are increasingly served by a subset of providers. In Texas, less than one-third of that state’s doctors participate in Medicaid, and a widespread access problem in Louisiana is frustrating both physicians and enrollees.
Evidence of Poor Quality of Care. Physicians treat Medicaid patients in ways that can negatively impact their health and use fewer guideline-recommended therapies on Medicaid recipients. Medicaid recipients also tend to lack a regular place of care and thus receive a greater proportion of their care in the emergency room, which has been shown to have high rates of medical errors. On a larger scale, Tennessee’s massive Medicaid expansion in the mid-1990s more likely reduced population health than improved it.
Enormous Medicaid Crowd-Out of Private Coverage. Since Medicaid is heavily subsidized, eligibility expansions encourage individuals to switch from private coverage to government coverage, passing private costs to taxpayers. Jonathan Gruber and Kosali Simon estimated Medicaid crowd-out at 60 percent for expansions between 1996 and 2002. This means that for every 10 people gaining Medicaid coverage, six of them simply replaced private coverage. Crowd-out is more likely to occur as Medicaid eligibility expands.
Perverse Incentives. For acute care services, Medicaid is in large part conditional upon low income and lack of assets. The loss of a Medicaid benefit can therefore penalize households that work hard and earn income or save an amount beyond the eligibility cutoff.
The impact of Medicaid on behavior is more pronounced on the long-term care (LTC) side. Although there are technically income and asset requirements for Medicaid LTC eligibility, they are irrelevant for most people. Most states have “medically needy” income criteria, which means health expenses can be deducted from gross income before the income test is applied. Since LTC services are quite expensive, an individual would have to have a very high income to fail this test.
With respect to the asset test, there are generous federal exemptions that result in most people being able to qualify for Medicaid without spending down. As a result—and as attested to by several recent economics studies—Medicaid both crowds out the purchase of LTC insurance and reduces savings. Furthermore, a growing legal industry assists individuals in becoming cash poor and qualifying for Medicaid, corrupting the basic legislative intent of the program and exacerbating budget problems.
Obamacare Worsens Medicaid
In 2014, states must enroll every individual who resides in a household below 138 percent of the federal poverty level into Medicaid. This expansion will massively expand the welfare state by up to 25 million able-bodied adults. Nonpartisan analysts at both the Congressional Budget Office and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services estimate that this will increase annual spending on the program by around $100 billion. Moreover, only 10 percent of primary care physicians (PCPs) believe that new Medicaid enrollees in their area will find a suitable PCP after the expansion. Adding millions more individuals to Medicaid will likely cause a further deterioration in the quality of care Medicaid enrollees receive.
A recent study estimates that Obamacare’s Medicaid expansion will result in an 82 percent crowd-out rate for working adults. The combination of crowd-out and “woodwork” effects—where currently eligible but not yet enrolled individuals join Medicaid—will impose a new burden on states. However, states will have very little incentive to control the cost of the expansion population as the federal government will finance 100 percent of the costs of the expansion population for the first three years and at least 90 percent of the costs thereafter.
The Ryan Medicaid Budget Plan
Currently, the federal government provides an open-ended reimbursement of at least 50 percent of every state’s Medicaid spending. The Ryan plan replaces the open-ended federal reimbursement with a fixed allotment to each state. Combined with additional flexibility, this provision would encourage states to form more cost-effective programs.
Reform, Not Expansion
Washington can no longer afford to kick the can down the road on serious Medicaid reform. Its unsustainable spending, inferior access to quality care, massive crowd-out of private coverage, and perverse incentives that discourage work and financial planning all underscore the need for fundamental Medicaid reform. Obamacare’s massive expansion of Medicaid is simply not feasible given that the nation cannot afford the current program. Congressman Ryan’s Medicaid budget proposal, on the other hand, is an important step toward improving the program for enrollees and taxpayers.
Brian Blase is a Policy Analyst in the Center for Health Policy Studies at The Heritage Foundation and a Doctoral Candidate in Economics at George Mason University.
Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, 2010 Actuarial Report on the Financial Outlook for Medicaid, December 21, 2010, at https://www.cms.gov/ActuarialStudies/downloads/MedicaidReport2010.pdf (May 4, 2011).
Medicare rates are generally estimated to be about 70–80 percent of commercial payment rates. And Medicaid rates, which vary considerably by state, are generally smaller than Medicare rates. Kaiser Family Foundation, “Medicaid-to-Medicare Fee Index, 2008,” at http://www.statehealthfacts.org/comparetable.jsp?ind=196&cat=4 (April 25, 2011).
AthenaHealth, “PayerView 2010: Improving the Way Providers and Payers Work Together,” May 2010, at http://www.athenahealth.com/_doc/pdf/whitepapers/PayerView_Whitepaper_2010_Final.pdf (September 29, 2010).
Peter J. Cunningham and Jessica H. May, “Medicaid Patients Increasingly Concentrated Among Physicians,” Center for Studying Health System Change, August 2006, at http://hschange.org/CONTENT/866/ (April 7, 2011).
Associated Press, “Doctors Threaten to Pull Out of Medicaid,” July 12, 2010, at http://www.nbcdfw.com/news/health/Doctors-Threaten-to-Pull-Out-of-Texas-Medicaid-98202569.html (September 28, 2010).
Robert Pear, “Cuts Leave Patients with Medicaid Cards, but No Specialist to See,” The New York Times, April 1, 2011, at http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/02/health/policy/02medicaid.html?ref=robertpear (April 5, 2011).
See James E. Calvin et al., “Insurance Coverage and Care of Patients with Non-ST-Segment Elevation Acute Coronary Syndromes,” Annals of Internal Medicine, Vol. 145 (November 2006), pp. 739–48.
Lucian L. Leape et al., “The Nature of Adverse Events in Hospitalized Patients: Results of the Harvard Medical Practice Study II,” New England Journal of Medicine, Vol. 324, No. 6 (February 1991), pp. 377–84.
Brian Blase, “Obama’s Proposed Medicaid Expansion: Lessons from TennCare,” Heritage Foundation WebMemo No. 2821, March 3, 2010, at http://www.heritage.org/research/reports/2010/03/obamas-proposed-medicaid-expansion-lessons-from-tenncare.
Jonathan Gruber and Kosali Simon, “Crowd-Out 10 Years Later: Have Recent Public Insurance Expansions Crowded Out Private Health Insurance?,” Journal of Health Economics, Vol. 27 (2008), pp. 201–17.
Jeffrey R. Brown and Amy Finkelstein, “The Interaction of Public and Private Insurance: Medicaid and the Long-Term Care Insurance Market,” American Economic Review, Vol. 98, No. 3 (2008), pp. 1083–1102; Geena Kim, “Medicaid Crowd-Out of Long-Term Care Insurance with Endogenous Medicaid Enrollment,” 12th Annual Joint Conference of the Retirement Research Consortium, 2010.
Six of the top 10 results when searching for “Medicaid” in the books section on Amazon.com are books promoting techniques for individuals to protect assets and qualify for Medicaid.
Richard Foster, “The Estimated Effect of the Affordable Care Act on Medicare and Medicaid Outlays and Total National Health Care Expenditures,” testimony before the Committee on Energy and Commerce, U.S. House of Representatives, March 30, 2011, at http://republicans.energycommerce.house.gov/Media/file/Hearings/Health/033011/Foster.pdf (May 4, 2011).
Douglas W. Elmendorf, letter to Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi (D–CA), March 20, 2010, at http://www.cbo.gov/ftpdocs/113xx/doc11379/AmendReconProp.pdf (June 22, 2010); Richard Foster, “Estimated Financial Effects of the ‘Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act,’ as Amended,” U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, April 22, 2010, at https://www.cms.gov/ActuarialStudies/Downloads/PPACA_2010-04-22.pdf (June 30, 2010).
Doug Trapp, “New Medicaid Patients Will Lack Access, Most Doctors Say,” Amednews.com, May 3, 2010, at http://www.ama-assn.org/amednews/2010/05/03/gvsb0503.htm (September 30, 2010).
Steven D. Pizer, Austin B. Frakt, and Lisa I. Iezzoni, “The Effect of Health Reform on Public and Private Insurance in the Long Run,” March 9, 2011, at http://ssrn.com/abstract=1782210 (May 5, 2011).
Although the federal government will pick up 100 percent of the cost for the first three years and at least 90 percent of the costs thereafter, it does not provide additional funding for the currently eligible but not enrolled.
The federal government reimburses state Medicaid spending at a percentage dubbed the Federal Medical Assistance Percentage (FMAP). The state FMAP is inversely related to state per capita income. Every state has an FMAP of at least 50 percent, although it can increase to nearly 80 percent in the poorest states.
CBO scored the Ryan-Rivlin block grant proposal to save $180 billion from Medicaid, with the repeal of Obamacare to save another $500 billion. Douglas W. Elmendorf, letter to Congressman Paul Ryan (R–WI), November 17, 2010, at http://www.cbo.gov/ftpdocs/119xx/doc11966/11-17-Rivlin-Ryan_Preliminary_Analysis.pdf (April 11, 2011).
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With Instructables you can share what you make with the world, and tap into an ever-growing community of creative experts.
Tracing the energy Ins and Outs through a 1984 V-6 Camaro (Canadian model)
Identifying and tracing energy flows through many different engines.
This car was manufactured in Canada and has a lot of preheat mechanisms. For example, this foil air-intake hose draws air from next to the exhaust manifold (one ...
The starter motor uses energy from the battery to turn the engine over at first, and get the whole thing going.
Aside from being transmitted through the transmission to the wheels, rotating shaft energy is used to power the alternator, coolant pump, fan, and power steering pump.
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Five Questions for: Greg Black
University dining programs live and die by student feedback. At 30,000-student University of Iowa in Iowa City, Greg Black, director of university dining, uses surveys to discover what is on students’ minds. He spoke to FSD about how his department crafts and uses surveys.
Many colleges use surveys to gain customer feedback. What does your department do to differentiate your surveys and make sure students participate?
We try to make them short and to the point and usually offer some type of incentive for participating. We’ve drawn names from the participants for a variety of prizes such as credits to their flex dollar accounts or an iPod. I think some people try to gather too much information at one time or over-analyze the data. Before making decisions based on survey results, it is important to determine the size and scope of the respondents and ask yourself just how representative these responses are of the entire student population or targeted market.
What are some of the challenges involved in actually crafting the survey?
We have a fairly involved administrative structure that all surveys must be run through. This requires extra time to make sure we are taking enough time to plan appropriately, which can be challenging. Relating to questions, I think it’s important to keep them short and to the point. It is so easy to ask follow up questions in surveys, which just prompts even more questions, so keep it simple!
What are some examples where you've gotten feedback from the survey and you've been able to translate that feedback into reality?
We’ve heard from students about issues of organics and other sustainability measures such as trayless dining. From feedback we’ve extended our hours of operation, and it has also inspired menu changes. Organics is one where we tried it and then the students changed their minds. When we presented the costs associated with offering organic foods, the students’ response was that it wasn’t worth the costs. The students are supportive of the concept, but they are not willing to pay for it yet. We will introduce organics where it makes financial sense to do so.
What are some of the most helpful questions you've asked on a survey?
We ask them to rate their level of satisfaction from one to five, relating to any number of issues such as additional meal plan options, longer serving hours, more nutritional information or more healthy food options. We also ask them to rate the level of importance that they feel on a number of issues. Another helpful questions was, “What is one thing would you like to see added or change within dining?” I think you need to determine in advance the specific purpose or desired outcome of the survey. Then, keep it simple.
What are some of the items on this year's survey that you are going to look into making happen in the next few months?
Students were asking for to-go options, but currently we really don’t have the space to set up a separate grab-and-go area, so we set up “On the Go” as an alternative for those students who simply can’t make it to either of our contract dining facilities. “On the Go” allows students to order to-go meals ahead of time and pick them up. While we work with a set menu, we will customize an “On the Go” meal to meet the individual requests of our students.
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— This article by Jerry Cates, Pete (Spring, TX), Amy P. (Ponder, TX), and Joy R., first published on 25 January 2011, was revised last on 18 August 2013. © Bugsinthenews Vol. 12:01(09)
The yellow garden spider (Argiope aurantia) is a common sight in mid to late summertime yards, gardens, and woods throughout the contiguous 48 United States. The female is marked with black, yellow, and white on the abdomen, and silvery hairs on the carapace. Males are much smaller, with less dramatic colors and markings; because the males die spontaneously at the terminus of the mating ritual, they are rarely observed beyond midsummer (but see CASE 07292010, below, for excellent images of a male observed in San Antonio in late July, 2010).
The genus Argiope is discussed in a separate article.
Pierre-Hippolyte Lucas (1814-1899), a French entomologist, first described this species in 1833, applying to it the specific epithet aurantia. The name derives from either of the Latin words aurum, “golden,” or auranticus, “orange-colored.”
Female yellow garden spiders tend to remain within a limited, localized area throughout their lifetimes. They construct elaborate orb webs, with bright white stabilimenta in their hubs. The webs are oriented in the vertical plane, and are effective snares for flying insects. In areas with abundant prey, these spiders grow quite large, inspiring awe and fear in those who come upon them on the trail, especially on watching the speed at which they swathe and kill the insects that become entangled in their webs.
These spiders are capable of biting — even through light clothing — if handled roughly, or if accidentally captured between their webs and one’s body (as can happen when one by happenstance walks into a web strung across a trail). Though the bite can be painful, the venom is not considered dangerous. Allergic individuals may suffer unusual complications, however.
Individual case histories, provided below, supply additional details on the anatomy and life histories of these spiders.
Amy wrote on 15 August 2010:
This fine lady has been on my porch for about three weeks. She just re-located her web on a window which gives me great view. Notice that she has a baby in the web with her. I’m so enjoying her – she is absolutely beautiful. The photos don’t do her color justice.
Amy’s surname has been shortened to protect her privacy.
I hastened to let Amy know that the “baby” she had photographed on the web with the fine female yellow garden spider was, in fact, a male.
We don’t often see males on these webs, as most mate and die early in the season. Here, as late as mid-August, a male had taken up residence of the web with this female.
As with Joy R., whose yellow garden spider encounter is chronicled below — and who was actively photographing her yellow garden spiders, male and female, at the same time — Amy enthusiastically took up the task of recording and observing the lives of these spiders for the viewers of BugsInTheNews.
We thank both of these ladies heartily!
The photos sent in by Amy are posted as thumb nails in two groups. Group I is above, and shows the images dated 15 August 2010.
That group of nine images shows, in the first five shots (plus the first image at the head of this Amy’s report) a small, live male, with a much larger live female.
Both are at rest in these images, with the female at the center of her web, and the male — on the other side of the orbal plane — positioned directly behind her.
This would place the male essentially out of sight.
On the other hand, the male would not be “hidden” in the fullest sense of that word, as any movement by the male would transmit vibrations in the web to the female, who would be able to use those vibrations to track the male’s position very precisely. Because of this, it must be presumed that this female has chosen to tolerate the presence of this male, for otherwise the latter would either be chased off so aggressively as to cause it to find another place to stay, or would be stalked and eventually killed. Tolerance suggests receptivity to mating, and it seems likely that this male has sensed that receptivity, and is now biding its time, awaiting the proper moment when mating would be most propitious.
In the last four images in this first group of photos, we see the female wrapping and biting a grasshopper, after the latter had flown into the web. The male could not be seen in any of the full sized photos from which these images are taken, even on the periphery of the web. That is expected, inasmuch as the female is not safe to be around when attacking, swathing, and killing prey.
In the second group of images, we see the male, now dead, and are able to examine the condition of the male’s palps.
From these photos we see that the dead male has not been attacked by the female, as the corpse appears to be in intact.
The palps, on the other hand, show signs that they have been used in the act of mating.
Also, though the left-hand palp is intact, the right-hand palp shows signs of damage, with — according to my interpretation of the images — the embolus caps of both palps now missing.
That evidence suggests strongly that both palps were inserted into the female’s genital tract, that the left-hand palp was inserted first, and its embolus cap was left behind when the palp was withdrawn. Then, generally after a period of re-courting behavior, the right-hand palp was inserted next, at which point the male suffered a fatal cardiac arrest en copula, before that palp was withdrawn.
The embolus cap of the right-hand palp would have snapped off the moment the palp was inserted, and additional damage would have been done to the embolus itself, when the female detached the male’s corpse from her body. The embolus caps would have effectively plugged both sides of the female’s genital tract, as described by Foellmer (2008, Adelphi University, N.Y.), in his paper on this subject. This has the effect of preserving the priority of this male’s sperm, i.e., protecting its paternity, by preventing another male from mating with this female.
It is of interest to note that mating took place just prior to the female’s deposition of eggs. Amy reports that she saw the male alive the evening of 30 August, but on the morning of the 31st the male’s corpse was found on the web, and the female was observed preparing an egg sac.
Amy is hopeful she will see this spider’s offspring in 2011. She wrote:
It’s great seeing these photos on the Internet! She made a third egg sac and then passed away shortly after that – I would guess by mid Sept 2010. I do miss her and appreciate the enjoyment she gave us. The egg sacs were relocated to our front flower bed. I look forward to seeing her offspring in the spring. Maybe we will have another set of photos for you.
Joy wrote on 29 July 2010:
Here’s a nasty “little” guythat’s on my porch. He looks scary.He also looks like he has some massive teeth. What is he?
Thanks, Joy R.
Note that the photographs posted on this page, as with all the photos posted on bugsinthenews.info, can be enlarged for more detailed viewing by placing your cursor over them and left-clicking.
The photos posted here are not ordered precisely as Joy sent them in, but each is dated in its caption.
The first set of photos, referenced in the email of 19 June, were of a mature female yellow garden spider (Argiope aurantia), all alone on its web, that Joy had photographed that morning. We know this female is sexually mature because, prior to the last molt, the carapace (the hardened anterior portion of the body, distinguished from the softer posterior abdomen) is marked with dark radial bands not observed in Joy’s specimen. After the last molt the carapace is entirely covered with silvery hairs, rendering the carapace essentially unmarked.
The “massive teeth” Joy referred to are not fangs but diminutive, jointed appendages, in front of the spider’s face, called pedipalps; females use them to examine prey prior to feeding, and to manipulate prey for mastication. For that reason the female’s pedipalps (shown in the two photos below) are uncomplicated, leg-like structures covered with innervated hairs. The male’s pedipalps, by way of contrast, are tipped with specialized structures (emboli) that are used as reservoirs for sperm prior to mating, and that effectively discharge the sperm into the female’s epigynum during copulation.
I asked Joy to think about taking additional photos to chronicle the spider’s life, preferably all the way to where the female would produce an egg sac. The yellow garden spider is the most beloved of our North American garden spiders. It is quite small in the early spring, after emerging from the egg sac produced by its mother the previous fall, but in the presence of abundant prey the females grow quickly to enormous size, entertaining us throughout the summertime with their awesome beauty and the powerful ways they capture, swathe, and consume insects and other animals that are unfortunate enough to be snared in their webs.
Juvenile females spin individual webs and begin capturing prey. After molting several times, the female arrives at the penultimate state of development, just one molt from sexual maturation. At that state, males often congregate on or near the web, awaiting the next molt.
One or more of these males will successfully mate with the female in the midst of the ensuing molt, when — because she is immobile — they are not at risk of being attacked. This is important, as studies have shown that males who attempt to mate with mature, mobile females face a high risk of attack, and are often killed before mating can be consummated. Having previously filled the bulbs of their pedipalps with sperm, they insert one of these into the female’s epigynum, then — by increasing the pressure of the blood supply (hemolymph) to the palps — sperm is discharged into the female’s seminal vesicles, where it is stored until the eggs are fertilized.
Matthias W. Foellmer (then at Concordia University, Montreal) and Daphne J. Fairbairn (University of California, Riverside) published a study (2003, Spontaneous male death during copulation in an orb-weaving spider) that described this process, and its curious aftermath.
It happens that, for this particular species, the male expires soon after its second pedipalp is inserted. Evidently, the mating male suffers a cardiac arrest triggered by the physiological processes associated with discharging sperm from the second pedipalp; his dead body remains attached to the female’s underside until she takes steps to remove it. Foellmer published a later study (2008, Adelphi University, N.Y.) showing that the male pedipalp often snaps off as his body is removed, effectively plugging the female’s epigynum and protecting his sperm from competition by future males.
Virgin males that fail to copulate with females during the final molt continue to search for females, though before long their chances of mating opportunistically (as copulations with molting females are termed) become nil. These males, however, refuse to accept a life of celibacy, and — whenever possible — seek out and attempt to mate with fully mature females, whether the latter have mated previously or not. The male photographed by Joy is one of these spider-come-lately fellows. As the photo shows, the male’s pedipalps are intact, and this plus the very fact the spider is alive suggests strongly that it has not copulated successfully in the past. In Foellmer’s 2008 study, he provides a photo of the male pedipalps, which may be compared with the photo provided here.
In either case, whatever sperm is deposited in the female’s epigynum is stored in internal spermatotheca, and weeks or months later are used to fertilize the eggs as they are discharged from the female’s body, into an egg sac of the female’s manufacture.
Shortly after producing, and filling, the egg sac, the female dies, as the species doesn’t usually overwinter in the adult stage. My hope was that Joy would photograph the sequence of events as it unfolded, and though she wanted to comply with this request, there was a problem:
The spider had built its web in the worst possible place, on the porch precisely in the way of traffic. Although she and her husband had no children, they did use the porch, and having the spider there would be a serious inconvenience.
We then discussed how the spider dismantles its web every night, and rebuilds it just before daybreak. If incentives could be provided to entice the spider to move to another location, chances are it would take the hint.
Most likely it was on the porch because the outside porch light was left on all night long, which attracted bugs and kept the spider busy at night as well as during the day.
Turning the porch light off would cut off that source of food, and that ought to make it choose another place to build its webs.
Joy turned off the porch light, and before long the spider dutifully moved to her flower garden, nearby, where flying insects were now more plentiful. There, the spider was no longer in the way of traffic, and Joy could take photos to show how it was developing.
Joy took additional photos on July 29, and sent them in, mentioning that the spider’s mate was on the web with her.
The first photo posted on this page shows both of them, together on the web, the relatively large female on the side of the web closest to the camera, the correspondingly diminutive male on the other side of the web.
Notice that the male is positioned back on the web relative to the female, with its body oriented so that she cannot visualize the male’s body, although the male’s front legs are in view. In all the photos Joy took, this stance was maintained. It is likely that this position reduces the risk that the male will be attacked by the female. Note the enlargement of the underside of the male.
The egg sacs produced by a single female number from one to five, and are constructed in late summer or during the fall.
Each sac is a leather-like pouch that contains up to 1,000 eggs and measures from 5/8-1.0 inch in diameter.
In the photos Joy sent, we can see both the structure of the egg sacs themselves, and the silk scaffolding that the female usd to fix their positions in space. Scaffolding stabilizes the egg sac against buffeting by wind, rain, and other natural conditions that, under extreme conditions, can destroy the egg sac and its contents. Since the offspring of spiders that take time to secure their egg sacs with scaffolding have a greater chance of survival, scaffolding can be seen as an adaptation for which evolution selects.
Questions? Corrections? Comments? BUG ME RIGHT NOW! Feel free to e-mail me at [email protected]. You may also register, log in, and leave a detailed comment in the space provided below.
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The RESHAPE function constructs an array of a specified shape from a template array.
SyntaxRESHAPE (source, shape [, pad] [, order] )
source is an INTENT(IN) array of any type. If pad is absent or of size zero, the size of source must be greater than or equal to the product of the values of the elements of shape.
shape is an INTENT(IN) INTEGER array of rank one. Its size must be positive and less than or equal to seven. It cannot have any negative elements.
pad is an INTENT(IN) array of the same type and kind as source.
order is an INTENT(IN) array of type INTEGER with the same shape as shape. Its value must be a permutation of (1, 2, ..., n), where n is the size of order. If order is absent, it is as if it were present with the value (1, 2, ..., n).
The result is an array of the same type and kind as source, with a shape identical to shape.
The elements of the result, taken in permuted subscript order, order(1), ..., order(n), are those of source in array element order followed if necessary by elements of one or more copies of pad in array element order.
Examplereal :: x.(4) real :: x.(2,2)=reshape((/1.,2.,3.,4./),shape(x2)) real :: x.(3,2) x1=reshape(x2,shape(x1)) write(*,*) x. ! writes 1. 2. 3. 4. write(*,*) reshape(x1,shape(x2),order=(/2,1/)) ! writes 1. 3. 2. 4. write(*,*) reshape(x1,shape(x3),pad=(/0./)) ! writes 1. 2. 3. 4. 0. 0.
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This post is Part 1 in a 3-part series about helping your homeschool child choose a career. Here are the topics in this series:
Part 1: What are the options? Employee vs. Employer
Part 2: What career is the best fit? Exploring career fields
Part 3: What can parents do to help? A paradigm shift in education
How soon should your child start thinking seriously about what he wants to do as a career? High school? Should he wait until he’s been to college a couple of years so he can explore his options?
Bring up the subject early and often
Some might disagree with me, but I think you should encourage your child to think seriously about what type of career he wants to pursue as early as junior high. That's not to say that your child needs to decide 100% for sure what he is going to do, but he needs to start thinking about it.
Children who wait too late in their school career to give serious consideration to their career options waste years of opportunities to increase their skills and experience in their chosen field. And waiting until college before considering options? That’s rife with risk and something I would avoid almost at all costs.
My first suggestion for helping your child choose a career is simply to talk about it. And talk about it a lot. Don’t mention it once in passing and then never bring it up again; make his future career choice an ongoing topic of discussion. The more options you consider and the more time your child has to think through things, the better able he’ll be to narrow down his field of choices.
As you probably know already, teens usually don’t think about preparing for the future very willingly. They resist when we remind them they are nearing adulthood and will soon be taking on adult responsibilities.
But it’s not just teens who resist; I’ve even had other adults tell me that I need to let my teens enjoy their childhood, that it’s wrong for me to force them to think about adulthood yet.
But I disagree. Strongly.
Teens do need to be thinking about and preparing for adulthood, and preparing for adulthood doesn’t have to mean that they’re not able to enjoy their childhood.
Employee vs. Employer or Entrepreneur
As parents, we tend to encourage our children to follow this path: 1) graduate from high school, then 2) go to college so they can 3) get a good job where they’ll be employees. And while there's nothing wrong with that, we often neglect to mention the other possibility—that our children could strive to become employers, to be entrepreneurs.
I’m an entrepreneur myself, so I'm a huge advocate of entrepreneurism.
This is especially true when it comes to my daughters.
Some might think I'm sexist when I say this, but the truth of the matter is if my daughters want to stay home with their own children someday, many "normal" careers are incompatible with that. Sure, there is the possibility that their husbands may make enough to allow them to stay home with their children, but if that's not the case, then they would need to have the ability to make money from home. When my daughters and I discuss their future career choices, we factor that in. I encourage them to think about careers that would allow them to work from home.
So when you discuss careers with your children, don't forget to talk about the possibility of becoming an entrepreneur. Not everyone is cut out to be an entrepreneur, but it would be a shame if someone who does have the skills never gets the chance to put those into practice because they didn't know it was a legitimate option.
For some great information about how to raise your children as entrepreneurs, watch this TED.com video below. (If you are reading this via feed reader or email, you may need to click through to this post to watch the video.)
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Thirteen years after devastating forest fires burned more than 1.6 million acres in Yellowstone National Park, the scars are still evident. In this simulated natural color ASTER image, burned areas appear gray in contrast to the dark green of unburned forests. This scene covers an area of 60 by 63 kilometers, and it was acquired on July 2, 2001, by the Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) on NASAs Terra satellite.
With its 14 spectral bands from the visible to the thermal infrared wavelength region and its high spatial resolution of 15 to 90 meters (about 50 to 300 feet), ASTER will image Earth for the next six years to map and monitor the changing surface of our planet. The instrument was built by Japans Ministry of Economy, Trade, and Industry. A joint U.S./Japan science team is responsible for validation and calibration of the instrument and the data products.
The broad spectral coverage and high spatial resolution of ASTER will provide scientists in numerous disciplines with critical information for surface mapping and monitoring dynamic conditions and temporal change.
Image courtesy NASA/GSFC/METI/ERSDAC/JAROS, and U.S./Japan ASTER Science Team
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PERSONAL HEALTH; Hidden Plague of Alcohol Abuse by the Elderly
By JANE E. BRODY
Published: April 2, 2002
Alcohol abuse by seniors: experts call it a hidden epidemic. Hidden because its symptoms often mimic or are masked by common physical and mental infirmities of aging. Hidden because doctors rarely ask about when and how much their older patients drink or what effect alcohol may have on their lives.
Hidden because older people and their relatives are often in denial about the extent and effects of their drinking habits. Hidden because the amount of alcohol now causing trouble had no untoward social or physical effects in middle age. Hidden because many of the hallmarks of excessive drinking -- like missing work or being noticeably intoxicated -- may not be noticed among retirees who live alone.
Although problem drinking is less common over all among older people, as the population ages, increasing numbers of older adults are getting into trouble with alcohol, often with an amount of alcohol that most would not consider immoderate. In some cases, even moderate consumption can cause or aggravate ailments associated with aging or cause dangerous interactions with medicines older people take.
While few would deny a healthy older person a glass of wine or that cocktail before dinner, the nation's experts on alcohol are now urging greater restraint for drinkers over 65 and asking people in and out of the medical field to pay more attention to the drinking habits of older adults.
On April 11, National Alcohol Screening Day, thousands of people at 2,000 sites across the country will have a chance to have their drinking patterns assessed anonymously and the findings discussed with trained counselors.
To find the nearest screening site, call (800) 405-9200 or, on the Web, consult mentalhealthscreening.org. Screening is urged even if alcohol is not a problem for you but may be for someone you care about.
An older person may have never had a previous alcohol problem, but various circumstances common among older people can increase the risk of alcohol abuse. Retirement may result in a loss of structure, self-esteem and income and an increase in loneliness and boredom. Other losses -- of spouses, friends, physical well-being or independence -- as well as pain or sleep problems may also prompt older people to turn to alcohol.
Changing Effects of Alcohol
Because the body that is consuming alcohol at 65 or beyond is not the same as the one that drank at 45, the effects of a given amount of alcohol can be greatly exaggerated in an older person.
As people age, they lose lean body mass (muscle and bone) and acquire a greater percentage of body fat. This results in a decrease in body water, and since alcohol is soluble in water, not fat, a given amount of alcohol reaches higher concentrations in the blood of an older person.
In addition, as people age, there is a decline in a stomach enzyme -- alcohol dehydrogenase -- that starts to break down alcohol before it reaches the bloodstream. This further increases the blood alcohol level and places an extra burden on the liver, where most alcohol metabolism takes place. Furthermore, with advancing age, blood flow through the liver declines as does kidney function, so alcohol is eliminated more slowly from the blood.
Older women are especially at risk because they are usually smaller, have less lean body mass and lower levels of alcohol dehydrogenase than men, all factors that result in a higher blood alcohol levels than men experience. In fact, at any age women reach higher levels of intoxication than men do per dose of alcohol.
All told, blood alcohol levels in older people typically are 30 percent to 40 percent higher than in younger people who consume the same amount of alcohol. But even at equivalent blood alcohol levels, older people are more likely than the middle aged to experience intoxication, cognitive difficulties and problems with balance and coordination. In other words, tolerance for alcohol declines, and the risks of excessive drinking rise with age.
Add to this the interactions between alcohol and some 150 prescription and over-the-counter medications, and you have the potential for disaster resulting from immoderate alcohol intake by older people, most of whom take drugs for conditions like arthritis, depression, hypertension and heart disease. Among the common drugs that can interact badly with alcohol are acetaminophen, antidepressants, aspirin and other nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, digoxin, heparin, hypoglycemics and sleep aids.
Certain ailments common among older people can be worsened by alcohol, among them gastrointestinal bleeding, depression and anxiety, cognitive impairment, cirrhosis and other liver diseases, hypertension and cardiac arrhythmias, osteoporosis and impaired immunity.
And while many people believe that alcohol before bed aids their sleep, in fact, alcohol interferes with normal deep sleep and commonly results in middle-of-the-night insomnia.
Be aware, too, that reflexes slow with advancing age, a problem greatly worsened by alcohol for anyone who tries to drive soon after drinking even a small amount.
Many people who live into their 90's and beyond attribute their longevity in part to their daily cocktail or glass of wine.
Though this may sound like an attempt to justify a bad habit, in fact studies of tens of thousands of people here and abroad have found that regular moderate alcohol intake diminishes the risk of heart disease and possibly stroke, probably by raising blood levels of protective H.D.L. cholesterol and estrogenic substances.
Moderate alcohol consumption has also been linked to a reduced risk of dementia in people over 55. The key word here is moderate. For younger adults, moderate is defined as no more than two drinks a day for men and no more than one drink a day for women.
But for healthy men and women over 65, the new definition of moderate offered by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism is no more than one drink a day, and some experts suggest that older women would be wise to cut that amount in half.
Defining a Drink
A study in the mid-1990's revealed that 15 percent of men and 12 percent of women 60 and older visiting a primary care clinic regularly drank more than one drink a day. Depending on the group studied, 2 percent to 10 percent of older adults have been found to abuse alcohol.
What is ''a drink''? It is 12 grams of pure alcohol, the amount found in a 12-ounce beer, a 5-ounce glass of wine or a shot of 80-proof distilled liquor.
In ordering a drink, the amount of alcohol served may be considerably more than ''one drink.'' You would be wise to measure out the specified amount of your favored beverage at home so you can recognize when you are served far more than the recommended amount.
Photo (Toni Zules)
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mean corpuscular volume
Medical Definition of mean corpuscular volume
: the volume of the average red blood cell in a given blood sample that is found by multiplying the hematocrit by 10 and dividing by the estimated number of red blood cells—abbreviation MCV
Seen and Heard
What made you want to look up mean corpuscular volume? Please tell us where you read or heard it (including the quote, if possible).
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| 0.87754 | 90 | 2.921875 | 3 |
The Colony At Roanoke by Ralph Lane 1586
The first English Colony of Roanoke, originally consisting of 100 householders, was founded in 1585, 22 years before Jamestown and 37 years before the Pilgrims landed in Massachusetts, under the ultimate authority of Sir Walter Raleigh. In 1584 Raleigh had been granted a patent by Queen Elizabeth I to colonize America.
This Colony was run by Ralph Lane after Sir Richard Grenville, who had transported the colonists to Virginia, returned to Britain for supplies. These colonists were ill-prepared and not particularly clever, because, although they depended upon the local Indians for food, they also antagonized the Indians by such tactics as kidnapping them and holding them hostage in exchange for information. Unfortunately for the colonists, who were desperately in need of supplies, Grenville's return was delayed. As a result, when Sir Francis Drake put in at Roanoke after destroying the Spanish colony of St. Augustine, the entire colony returned with Drake to England.
Interestingly, when Drake picked up these colonists, he left behind 15 of his own men, who were never heard from again. This foreshadowed one of the great mysteries of North America, Roanoke's so-called "Lost Colony" of 90 men, 17 women and 9 children, founded in 1587 and discovered to be missing in 1590, but for the word "Croatan" carved on a post. Although both the English and the Spanish searched for clues to the colony's disappearance for many years, the mystery has never been solved.
The first Roanoke colony lasted a total of ten months. This account, a fascinating description of American before European settlement, is taken from Lane's report on the adventure to Sir Walter Raleigh.
To the Northwest the farthest place of our discovery was to Chawanook distant from Roanoak about 130 miles. Our passage thither lies through a broad sound, but all fresh water, and the channel of a great depth, navigable for good shipping, but out of the channel full of shoals...
Chawanook itself is the greatest province and Seigniorie lying upon that river, and that the town itself is able to put 700 fighting men into the field, besides the force of the province itself.
The king of the said province is called Menatonon, a man impotent in his limbs, but otherwise for a savage, a very grave and wise man, and of a very singular good discourse in matters concerning the state, not only of his own country, and the disposition of his own men, but also of his neighbors round about him as well far as near, and of the commodities that each country yields.
When I had him prisoner with me, for two days that we were together, he gave me more understanding and light of the country than I had received by all the searches and savages that before I or any of my company had had conference with: it was in March last past 1586. Among other things he told me, that going three days' journey in a canoe up his river of Chawanook, and then descending to the land, you are within four days' journey to pass over land Northeast to a certain king's country, whose province lies upon the Sea, but his place of greatest strength is an island situated, as he described unto me, in a bay, the water round about the island very deep.
Out of this bay he signified unto me, that this King had so great quantity of pearls, and does so ordinarily take the same, as that not only his own skins that he wears, and the better sort of his gentlemen and followers are full set with the said pearls, but also his beds, and houses are garnished with them, and that he has such quantity of them, that it is a wonder to see...
The king of Chawanook promised to give me guides to go overland into that king's country whensoever I would: but he advised me to take good store of men with me, and good store of victual, for he said, that king would be loth to suffer any strangers to enter into his country, and especially to meddle with the fishing for any pearls there, and that he was able to make a great many of men in to the field, which he said would fight very well...
And for that not only Menatonon, but also the savages of Moratoc themselves do report strange things of the head of that river, it is thirty days, as some of them say, and some say forty days' voyage to the head thereof, which head they say springs out of a main rock in that abundance, that forthwith it makes a most violent stream: and further, that this huge rock stands so near unto a Sea, that many times in storms (the wind coming outwardly from the sea) the waves thereof are beaten into the said fresh stream, so that the fresh water for a certain space, grows salt and brackish: I took a resolution with myself, having dismissed Menatonon upon a ransom agreed for, and sent his son into the pinnace to Roanoak, to enter presently so far into that river with two double whirries, and forty persons one or other, as I could have victual to carry us, until we could meet with more either of the Moraroks, or of the Mangoaks, which is another kind of savages, dwelling more to the westward of the said river: but the hope of recovering more victual from the savages made me and my company as narrowly to escape starving in that discovery before our return, as ever men did, that missed the same...
And that which made me most desirous to have some doings with the Mangoaks either in friendship or otherwise to have had one or two of them prisoners, was, for that it is a thing most notorious to all the country, that there is a province to the which the said Mangoaks have resource and traffic up that river of Moratoc, which has a marvelous and most strange mineral. This mine is so notorious among them, as not only to the savages dwelling up the said river, and also to the savages of Chawanook, and all them to the westward, but also to all them of the main: the country's name is of fame, and is called Chaunis Temoatan.
The mineral they say is Wassador, which is copper, but they call by the name of Wassador every metal whatsoever: they say it is of the color of our copper, but our copper is better than theirs: and the reason is for that it is redder and harder, whereas that of Chaunis Temoatan is very soft, and pale: they say that they take the said metal out of a river that falls very swift from high rocks and hills, and they take it in shallow water: the manner is this.
They take a great bowl by their description as great as one of our targets, and wrap a skin over the hollow part thereof, leaving one part open to receive in the mineral: that done, they watch the coming down of the current, and the change of the color of the water, and then suddenly chop down the said bowl with the skin, and receive into the same as much ore as will come in, which is ever as much as their bowl will hold, which presently they cast into a fire, and forthwith it melts, and does yield in five parts at the first melting, two parts of metal for three parts of ore.
Of this metal the Mangoaks have so great store, by report of all the savages adjoining, that they beautify their houses with great plates of the same: and this to be true, I received by report of all the country, and particularly by young Skiko, the King of Chawanooks son of my prisoner, who also himself had been prisoner with the Mangoaks, and set down all the particulars to me before mentioned: but he had not been at Chaunis Temoatan himself: for he said it was twenty days' journey overland from the Mangoaks, to the said mineral country, and that they passed through certain other territories between them and the Mangoaks, before they came to the said country.
Upon report of the premises, which I was very inquisitive in all places where I came to take very particular information of by all the savages that dwelt towards these parts, and especially of Menatonon himself, who in everything did very particularly inform me, and promised me guides of his own men, who should pass over with me, even to the said country of Chaunis Temoatan, for overland from Chawanook to the Mangoaks is but one day's journey from sun rising to sun setting, whereas by water it is seven days with the soonest: These things, I say, made me very desirous by all means possible to recover the Mangoaks, and to get some of that their copper for an assay, and therefore I willingly yielded to their resolution: But it fell out very contrary to all expectation, and likelihood: for after two days' travel, and our whole victual spent, lying on shore all night, we could never see man, only fires we might perceive made along the shore where we were to pass, and up into the country, until the very last day.
In the evening whereof, about three of the clock we heard certain savages call as we thought, Manteo, who was also at that time with me in the boat, whereof we all being very glad, hoping of some friendly conference with them, and making him to answer them, they presently began a song, as we thought, in token of our welcome to them: but Manteo presently betook him to his piece, and told me that they meant to fight with us: which word was not so soon spoken by him, and the light horseman ready to put to shore, but there lighted a volley of their arrows among them in the boat, but did no hurt to any man...
Choosing a convenient ground in safety to lodge in for the night, making a strong corps of guard, and putting out good sentinels, I determined the next morning before the rising of the sun to be going back again, if possibly we might recover the mouth of the river, into the broad sound, which at my first motion I found my whole company ready to assent unto: for they were now come to their dog's porridge, that they had bespoken for themselves if that befell them which did, and I before did mistrust we should hardly escape.
The end was, we came the next day by night to the river's mouth within four or five miles of the same, having rowed in one day down the current, much as in four days we had done against the same: we lodged upon an island, where we had nothing in the world to eat but pottage of sassafras leaves, the like whereof for a meat was never used before as I think. The broad sound we had to pass the next day all fresh and fasting: that day the wind blew so strongly and the billow so great, that there was no possibility of passage without sinking of our boats. This was upon Easter eve, which was fasted very truly. Upon Easter day in the morning the wind coming very calm, we entered the sound, and by four of the clock we were at Chipanum, whence all the savages that we had left there were left, but their wares did yield us some fish, as God was pleased not utterly to suffer us to be lost: for some of our company of the light horsemen were far spent. The next morning we arrived at our home Roanoak...
This fell out the first of June 1586, and the eight of the same came advertisement to me from captain Stafford, lying at my lord Admiral's Island, that he had discovered a great fleet of three and twenty sails: but whether they were friends or foes, he could not yet discern. He advised me to stand upon as good guard as I could.
The ninth of the said month he himself came unto me, having that night before, and that same day traveled by land twenty miles: and I must truly report of him from the first to the last; he was the gentleman that never spared labor or peril either by land or water, fair weather or foul, to perform any service committed unto him.
He brought me a letter from the General Sir Francis Drake, with a most bountiful and honorable offer for the supply of our necessities to the performance of the action we were entered into; and that not only of victuals, munition, and clothing, but also of barks, pinnaces, and boats; they also by him to be victualed, manned and furnished to my contentation.
The tenth day he arrived in the road of our bad harbor: and coming there to an anchor, the eleventh day I came to him, whom I found in deeds most honorably to perform that which in writing and message he had most courteously offered, he having aforehand propounded the matter to all the captains of his fleet, and got their liking and consent thereto.
With such thanks unto him and his captains for his care both of us and of our action, not as the matter deserved, but as I could both for my company and myself, I (being aforehand prepared what I would desire) craved at his hands that it would please him to take with him into England a number of weak and unfit men for any good action, which I would deliver to him; and in place of them to supply me of his company with oar-men, artificers, and others.
That he would leave us so much shipping and victual, as about August then next following would carry me and all my company into England, when we had discovered somewhat, that for lack of needful provision in time left with us as yet remained undone.
That it would please him withal to leave some sufficient Masters not only to carry us into England, when time should be, but also to search the coast for some better harbor, if there were any, and especially to help us to some small boats and oar-men...
While these things were in hand, the provision aforesaid being brought, and in bringing aboard, my said masters being also gone aboard, my said barks having accepted of their charge, and my own officers, with others in like sort of my company with them (all which was dispatched by the said general the 12 of the said month) the 13 of the same there arose such an unwonted storm, and continued four days...
This storm having continued from the 13 to the 16 of the month, and thus my bark put away as aforesaid, the general coming ashore made a new proffer unto me; which was a ship of 170 tons, called the bark Bonner, with a sufficient master and guide to tarry with me the time appointed, and victualed sufficiently to carry me and my company into England, with all provisions as before: but he told me that he would not for anything undertake to have her brought into our harbor, and therefore he was to leave her in the road, and to leave the care of the rest unto myself, and advised me to consider with my company of our case, and to deliver presently unto him in writing what I would require him to do for us; which being within his power, he did assure me as well for his captains as for himself, should be most willingly performed.
Hereupon calling such captains and gentlemen of my company as then were at hand, who were all as privy as myself to the general's offer; their whole request was to me, that considering the case that we stood in, the weakness of our company, the small number of the same, the carrying away of our first appointed bark, with those two special masters, with our principal provisions in the same, by the very hand of God as it seemed, stretched out to take us from thence; considering also, that his second offer, though most honorable of his part, yet of ours not to be taken, insomuch as there was no possibility for her with any safety to be brought into the harbor: seeing furthermore, our hope for supply with Sir Richard Grenville, so undoubtedly promised us before Easter, not yet come, neither then likely to come this year, considering the doings in England for Flanders, and also for America, that therefore I would resolve myself with my company to go into England in that fleet, and accordingly to make request to the general in all our names, that he would be pleased to give us present passage with him...
From whence the general in the name of the Almighty, weighing his anchors (having bestowed us among his fleet) for the relief of whom he had in that storm sustained more peril of wreck than in all his former most honorable actions against the Spaniards, with praises unto God for all, set sail the nineteenth of June 1596, and arrived in Portsmouth the seven and twentieth of July the same year.
Historical Documents National Center Home Page
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It's not you: It's winter.
This winter's siege of frigid temps and frequent dumps of snow, plus often-icy roads and sidewalks at a time darkness descends early, have left lots of us feeling glum, even if we don't have a clinical case of depression or Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) -- depressive symptoms confined to a particular time of year.
Therapists often counsel depressed people not to isolate themselves, but mountains of snow and impenetrable thoroughfares make it difficult to go out and socialize, noted Lisa Brateman, an LCSW and psychotherapist in midtown . "The constant snow, the upheaval in people's lives and schedules - there just doesn't seem like there's any end. It feels like the longest winter," Brateman said. Many people, she said, have stopped accepting invitations, saying, "I'm not up to it: I don't look good and I don't feel good."
It's not surprising that many New Yorkers are reporting depressed moods when "the number of cloudy days correlates with the incidence of SAD," as does living in the northern latitudes, said Dr. Prakash Masand, president and CEO of Global Medical Education. A study published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine last year noted that mental health inquiries on Google coming from the U.S. are 14% higher in winter than summer.
Part of our seasonal sadness may be connected to missing Vitamin D, "the sunshine vitamin," which is produced by the body absorbing the rays of the sun. While science hasn't explored whether lower Vitamin D levels are connected to SAD, "There is a lot of literature confirming the relationship between (low levels of) Vitamin D and depression," and Vitamin D deficiency is common, said Masand. Depression, in turn, "is a very important contributing factor to heart disease," and increases the risk of death, said Masand.
New Yorkers need not surrender to the doldrums, though. Here are some ideas for beating the blahs:
Work out. "Exercise is a very good medication for depression," said Masand. "Be active! Get out as much as you can!" he exhorted. Reframe the way you think about exercising in cold weather, Brateman added: "If you don't have a child, you don't think about going to the park and building a snowman," but there's no reason why you can't do so with friends. That kills three birds with one snowball: You get exercise, Vitamin D AND you're socializing with friends. Just be sure to bundle up well. If conditions don't permit you to go outside, take a dance class, exercise to a DVD or hit the gym.
Lay off the booze. Schnapps may take the chill off, but alcohol is a mood intensifier. "If you are already feeling down, it will only make you feel more down," said psychologist Jephtha Tausig-Edwards, who practices on the Upper West Side.
Consider "bright light therapy" if you have SAD. What you're looking for is a "full spectrum light" box that emits at least 10,000 LUX, said Masand. You can buy such boxes for about $100 online and then sit in front of them for 30 to 60 minutes a day while working at your desk. The light, Marsand explained, mimics daylight and works through "your retinal receptors to affect key parts of the brain, like the hypothalamus."
Take Vitamin D supplements. "There's no harm," in taking 2,000 international units of the stuff each day, said Masand. People who are deficient may be told to take doses 10 times that high, but if you suspect you are deficient you should ask your physician for a blood test. "Ask specifically for a Vitamin D level," Masand suggested.
Nix the comfort food. People with SAD tend to crave carbs. But all that heavy food "puts on weight and it becomes a vicious cycle: "I'm five pounds heavier and now I'm unhappy about that, too," said Brateman. Make a real effort to eat lots of fresh fruits and vegetables -- even if you have to tromp through snow (exercise!) to get them.
Make an effort. Call and check on others. Throw a potluck. "It's about not accepting, 'I'm just going to be depressed until April,'" said Brateman.
Get outta town. "I often recommend to my patients, 'take a vacation!'" said Masand. Of course, Masand acknowledged, given the snarls at local airports, "it may not be feasible."
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Diarrhea Causes and Treatment for Dogs (cont.)
The first step is to find and treat the underlying cause. Diarrhea resulting from a change in diet can be corrected by switching back to the old diet and then making step-by-step changes to pinpoint the cause. When lactase deficiency issuspected, eliminate milk and dairy products from the diet, particularly as they are not required for adult dogs.
Diarrhea caused by overeating (characterized by large, bulky, unformed stools) can be controlled by tailoring the diet more accurately to the caloric needs of the dog and feeding his daily ration in three equal meals.
Chronic, intermittent diarrhea that persists for more than three weeks requires veterinary attention.
This article is excerpted from “Dog Owner’s Home Veterinary Handbook” with permission from Wiley Publishing, Inc.
Copyright © 2007 by Howell Book House. All rights reserved.
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Pulses (beans, peas and lentils), now recognised as an important group of foods that promote weight loss, were a vitally important part of our early ancestors' diet. They appeared as early as 6,000 BC in Asia, the Americas and Europe, becoming a staple food, essential for providing protein where there was insufficient meat.
Once called "the poor man's meat", it is true they are readily available and inexpensive. However, far from being "poor" in any way, shape or form, these nutrient-rich seeds are quite miraculous. Studies have proved conclusively that these humble foods provide enough nutrients to give your body a healthy boost in both energy and immunity.
Although they are rich in carbohydrate and fibre, and low in fat (most of which is of the unsaturated kind), pulses can be as much as 25% protein (in fact Soya is over 30%)! This super-rich source of vegetable protein, is far more easily digested than meat. Despite this advantage they contain relatively low quantities of the essentail amino acid methionine, and so on their own are not the ideal meat substitute. However, this shortage can be overcome by adding grains to your diet, as any Vegetarian will tell you. This a match made in heaven as grains contain low quantities of another essential amino acid lysine, which pulses do contain!
Pulses are rich in B Vitamins essential to our health. Amongst the most prominent are:
Vitamin B3 (Niacin). Niacin is important to the correct functioning of your digestive system, nervous system, and skin. It's main role is in the process of converting the food you eat into raw energy.
Vitamin B1 (Thiamine). If your body lacks this essential vitamin, you will be left feeling fatigued and weak despite the meals you eat everyday. This vitamin plays an integral role in the production of energy in your body. It improves the overall function of the heart, muscles, and nervous system.
Vitamin B2 (Riboflavin). This vitamin is essential for growth development of your body. It is important in the production of red blood cells, which distribute oxygen all around your body. Vitamin B2 also helps in the release of energy from carbohydrates.
Vitamin B6 (Pryidoxine). This vitamin is significant in the creation of antibodies for your immune system, helps maintain normal nerve function, and assists the formation of red blood cells. B6 is also an important factor in the breakdown of proteins. Simply put, the more protein we take in, the more B6 is needed; lack of it causes nausea, dizziness, and mental and behavioral changes.
Aside from the vitamins listed above, pulses are a source of potassium (better than bananas), which aids in the normal functions of nerves and muscles. Recent research has also shown that the coating of pulses contains anti-oxidant and anti-aging properties. This helps to reduce the cholesterol in our bodies, improves digestion, and aids in cancer prevention.
Pulses come in a huge range of colours, flavours and textures. There are plenty of ways to eat them too! You can either eat them raw (red kidney beans and soya beans contain harmful toxins which are destroyed by cooking and should never be eaten raw or undercooked), sautéed with your favorite vegetables, boiled, or even ground to be used in soup. A cupful contains more iron and calcium than can be found in an ounce of cooked meat, with less calories and without the cholesterol.
Pulses are a key element in a healthy raw food diet. In fact, this is more than just a diet, it's acomplete lifestyle. If you really want to lose weight and at the same time feel absolutely great, this is probaly just what you have been looking for. Find out more at http://www.feel-great-lose-weight.com
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Friday, August 29
The Moon is coming back into the evening sky. Look for the waxing crescent low in the west-southwest in twilight, as shown at lower right. Can you make out Spica twinkling beneath it? Binoculars help. Far to their upper left are Saturn and Mars.
Saturday, August 30
The waxing crescent Moon now shines closer to Saturn and Mars, as shown above. Can you see little Alpha Librae in the middle of the narrow triangle they make?
Sunday, August 31
Spot the Moon at dusk with Saturn to its right and Mars to its lower left (for North America).
As the stars come out this week, the first you see may be Arcturus shining high in the west. As the sky gets a little darker, look to its right for the Big Dipper scooping down in the northwest.
Monday, September 1
First-quarter Moon this evening and Tuesday evening (exactly first quarter at 7:11 a.m. Eastern Daylight Time Tuesday morning). It's passing over Scorpius, as shown above.
Tuesday, September 2
The Great Square of Pegasus is well up in the east as soon as nightfall is complete. It's larger than your fist at arm's length and currently stands on one corner. Seen from your latitude at your time, how close is its balance to being perfect?
Wednesday, September 3
Look lower left of the Moon right after nightfall for the Teapot of Sagittarius, tilting and pouring to the right.
Thursday, September 4
In Friday's dawn, use binoculars to help pick up Venus just above the eastern horizon about 30 minutes before sunrise. It's far to the lower left of Jupiter. Can you make out Regulus, less than a hundredth as bright, within 1° of Venus?
Friday, September 5
Saturn, Mars, Delta (δ) Scorpii, and Antares form an equally-spaced ragged line in the southwest at dusk, as shown at right. Delta Scorpii used to be a bit dimmer than Beta above it. Then in July 2000 it doubled in brightness. It has remained bright, with fluctuations, ever since.
Look high above the Moon this evening for Altair.
Saturday, September 6
This evening look to the right of the Moon, by a little more than a fist-width at arm's length, for two faintish (3rd-magnitude) stars: Alpha and Beta Capricorni, one above the other. Alpha is the one on top. With sharp vision, you can barely see that it's double. Binoculars resolve it easily.
Want to become a better astronomer? Learn your way around the constellations. They're the key to locating everything fainter and deeper to hunt with binoculars or a telescope.
This is an outdoor nature hobby; for an easy-to-use constellation guide covering the whole evening sky, use the big monthly map in the center of each issue of Sky & Telescope, the essential guide to astronomy. Or download our free Getting Started in Astronomy booklet (which only has bimonthly maps).
Once you get a telescope, to put it to good use you'll need a detailed, large-scale sky atlas (set of charts). The standards are the little Pocket Sky Atlas, which shows stars to magnitude 7.6; the larger and deeper Sky Atlas 2000.0 (stars to magnitude 8.5); and once you know your way around, the even larger Uranometria 2000.0 (stars to magnitude 9.75). And read how to use sky charts with a telescope.
You'll also want a good deep-sky guidebook, such as Sue French's Deep-Sky Wonders collection (which includes its own charts), Sky Atlas 2000.0 Companion by Strong and Sinnott, the bigger Night Sky Observer's Guide by Kepple and Sanner, or the beloved if dated Burnham's Celestial Handbook.
Can a computerized telescope replace charts? Not for beginners, I don't think, and not on mounts and tripods that are less than top-quality mechanically (able to point with better than 0.2° repeatability, which means fairly heavy and expensive). As Terence Dickinson and Alan Dyer say in their Backyard Astronomer's Guide, "A full appreciation of the universe cannot come without developing the skills to find things in the sky and understanding how the sky works. This knowledge comes only by spending time under the stars with star maps in hand."
This Week's Planet Roundup
Mercury (about magnitude –0.2) remains quite deep in the sunset, as it always does during its evening apparitions that happen in late summer and early fall. Scan for Mercury with binoculars just above the horizon due west about 20 minutes after sundown.
Venus (magnitude –3.9) and Jupiter (magnitude –1.8) shine in the east-northeast during dawn. Jupiter is the higher and easier one to spot. Watch far to its lower left for Venus rising as dawn grows bright. The two planets continue drawing farther apart: from 12° apart on August 30th to 20° by September 5th. Jupiter is moving higher, and Venus is gradually sinking lower.
Use binoculars to catch Regulus less than 1° to Venus's lower left on the morning of September 5th (for North America).
Mars and Saturn, both magnitude +0.6, glow in the southwest at dusk, moving apart after their conjunction last week. They're 4° apart on August 29th and 7° by September 5th. Mars is the one on the lower left early in the week, directly left later. Off to their left are fainter Delta Scorpii, then Antares. Compare all their colors.
Uranus (magnitude 5.7, in Pisces) and Neptune (magnitude 7.8, in Aquarius) are high in the southeast and south, respectively, by midnight. See our Finder charts for Uranus and Neptune online or in the September Sky & Telescope, page 50.
All descriptions that relate to your horizon — including the words up, down, right, and left — are written for the world's mid-northern latitudes. Descriptions that also depend on longitude (mainly Moon positions) are for North America.
Eastern Daylight Time (EDT) is Universal Time (UT, UTC, or GMT) minus 4 hours.
"The universe is full of magical things patiently waiting for our wits to grow sharper."
— Eden Phillpotts, "A Shadow Passes," 1918
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| 0.931914 | 1,383 | 2.515625 | 3 |
Ceramics is one of the oldest forms of art in human history. The availabilty of material, its durability and versatility, functional objects, decorative pieces, and sculpture in nearly every culture around the world.
At present, one of the biggest challenges in creating new ceramic work is grappling with the common stigma that ceramics is only a utilitarian trade or artisan craft. Toshiko Takaezu speaks directly to this issue by making vessels that are closed and therefore not functional while other ceramicists employ the medium for sculptural and figural forms. At the other end of the spectrum, artistic movements of the 20th century have embraced the craft based origins of ceramic art and incorporated traditional techniques and aesthetics into the production of contemporary work. Either way, ceramics presents a rich and accommodating medium for any contemporary artist working today. It offers myriad possibilities for form and object type and a wide array of options for technical processes. Depending on their choice of materials, building method, surface decoration, and firing, artists have nearly endless options to aid them in creating varied and lasting pieces of ceramic art.
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en
| 0.948773 | 221 | 2.5625 | 3 |
Low Vitamin D Levels May Help Some Live Longer
New research shows that good genes typically include low Vitamin D levels
-- by Suzanne Boothby
Producing less vitamin D may be associated with longevity, according to a new Dutch study.
New research published in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal), found that familial longevity was associated with lower levels of vitamin D and a lower frequency of allelic variation in the CYP2R1 gene.
These results may cause confusion, as Vitamin D has recently become the darling in the supplement world. People with higher levels have been found to have better immunity, lower rates of cancer, and decreased risk of developing Parkinson’s disease.
For example, in 2010, Yale University School of Medicine researchers found that people with high levels of Vitamin D had almost half the rate of sickness as those with lower levels. When these people did get sick, they even recovered faster.
In other words, the jury is not yet out on how vitamin D affects your long-term health.
The Expert Take
Studies have long shown that longevity runs in families, but the vitamin D connection is still under investigation.
"We found that the offspring of nonagenarians [i.e., in their 90s] who had at least one nonagenarian sibling had lower levels of vitamin D than controls, independent of possible confounding factors and SNPs [single nucleotide polymorphisms] associated with vitamin D levels," the authors wrote. "We also found that the offspring had a lower frequency of common genetic variants in the CYP2R1 gene—a common genetic variant of this gene predisposes people to high vitamin D levels.”
Source and Method
Dutch researchers looked at data from 380 families with at least 2 siblings over age 90 (89 years or older for men and 91 year or older for women), all of whom participated in the Leiden Longevity Study. Using this data, the researchers were able to find a correlation between vitamin D and longevity.
The study involved siblings, their offspring, and their partners with a total of 1,038 offspring and 461 controls. The researchers measured levels of 25(OH) vitamin D and categorized levels by month according to each season. The researchers controlled for age, sex, BMI (body mass index), time of year, vitamin supplementation and kidney function, which all contribute to vitamin D levels. They also examined the influence of genetic variation in three genes associated with vitamin D levels.
The study was led by Dr. Diana van Heemst, Department of Gerontology and Geriatrics, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden.
This new report found an association between low vitamin D levels and familial longevity and concluded that offspring of nonagenarians could have more of a protein that is hypothesized to be an "aging suppressor." More research is still needed to fully understand the connection between lower vitamin D levels, genetic variants, and familial longevity.
While previous studies link low levels of vitamin D to increased rates of death, heart disease, diabetes, cancer, allergies, mental illness and other health issues, scientists are working to discover whether low levels are the cause of these diseases or if they are a consequence.
In other words, it is still unclear whether vitamin D levels affect your health or whether your health affects your vitamin D levels—scientists have only found correlation, and not causation.
A 2011 Spanish study said the relationship between vitamin D and health outcomes was not linear and that more research was needed to determine the optimal vitamin D levels for health.
Vitamin D along with calcium supplementation has proven to be effective in increasing life expectancy in the elderly, according to a 2012 study published in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism.
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| 0.951614 | 759 | 3.203125 | 3 |
LAST UPDATED: 12 April 2016
Duck shooters are required to sit a 22 question 'Waterfowl Identification Test'. This test only requires 75% correct marks to pass — and is a once-only requirement, meaning some shooters may not have taken the test for 25 years. Juniors (ie. 12 to 17 year olds) and non-Australian residents are not required to sit the test — so adolescents and international visitors can legally fire shotguns at waterbirds without demonstrating any knowledge of which species are protected. Only weeks into the 2016 duck shooting season, and already 'protected' species — including one of Australia's rarest waterbirds — have been massacred.
A shotgun fires a cluster of up to 200 pellets simultaneously which gradually spread out in a cloud-like pattern that increases in diametre the further it moves away from the gun. This means that a bird may be hit by only one or two pellets in the cloud’s outer perimeter, which is enough to injure but not instantly kill. An estimated 50,000 birds are injured every season and can suffer enormously for hours or even days before death. Not even the most skilled marksman can prevent this.
Duck shooters don't have to pass a compulsory accuracy test — despite the Government's own data revealing shooters are likely to have injury rates up to 30%. The development of an accuracy improvement course for shooters was funded by tax payers, but attracted little interest from shooters. Fewer than one hundred shooters are believed to have attended the one day course — yet 26,000 duck hunters are licensed for this pending season.
Most Australians abhor the thought of canned hunting in Africa — wild animals like lions shot in an enclosure, thus guaranteeing a 'kill' for the trophy hunter. The animals never stand a chance — and soon, neither will many of Victoria's native waterbirds.
Right now, drought-affected ducks are flocking to the few Victorian wetlands that still have water. With so few options, these desperate animals are effectively captive populations — and in a tragic twist, some wetlands have been artificially filled with water, which attracts more birds, only for them to be then shot out of the sky.
While an announcement that some wetlands will now be closed to shooters, one of the most significant breeding areas — Johnson Swamp — is still scheduled to become a shooting zone, albeit a few weeks after the official season begins. This is only likely to delay the inevitable massacre at this tranquil wetland.
One 'game' species — the grey teal — is currently breeding but it isn’t illegal to shoot mother birds, leaving their ducklings orphaned. Consider this in light of the fact that breeding levels are at their lowest on record — and waterbirds flock to where there is vegetation and water to breed because they feel safe ...
The Andrews government's claims that duck shooting brings in millions to Victoria are grossly misleading. New independent economic analysis has found no evidence that duck shooting contributes to Victoria's economy*.
*'A review of 'Estimating the economic impact of hunting in Victoria in 2013' by Dr Kristy Jones, February 2016
Governments are supposed to listen to the people. Instead of listening to 9 in 10 Victorians* who want duck shooting banned, they are bowing to a radical minority of shooters. This is an abuse of our wetlands, an abuse of animals and a betrayal of trust.
*87% of informed Victorians, Roy Morgan Research 2007
It’s not only the birds who are shot who will suffer, all animals seeking sanctuary on the wetlands will be traumatised and terrorised under the barrage of shot-gunfire. There may be 70 bird species (some who are breeding) in one wetland, whereas only 7 can be targeted by shooters. Other animals like wombats, echidnas, frogs, and platypus may live in and around wetlands, and will be affected by this violent intrusion into their home.
Help save native ducks!
- Help end wildlife massacres! Only weeks into the 2016 Victorian duck shooting season horrific cruelty of wildlife and a massacre of rare and threatened species has been exposed by our investigators. Take urgent action to help prevent this from happening again!
- Are you from Victoria? Your State MP needs to hear from you! Get in touch (by phone, e-mail, postal mail, social media) to tell them why you want to see 'recreational' duck shooting end! You can look up the name and contact details of your state MP here (and if you're not sure which electorate you live in head here first to find out).
- If you live outside Victoria click here to make your voice heard heard for ducks!
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| 0.947079 | 952 | 2.65625 | 3 |
Your doctor has requested an esophageal (eh-SOF-uh-JEE-al) dilation (dye-LAY-shun) for you. This procedure dilates, or stretches, the esophagus. The esophagus is the tube that connects your mouth to your stomach.
Dilation is usually performed when you have difficulty swallowing food. This difficulty may occur if your esophagus narrows or swells. Esophageal dilation is usually performed with an upper GI endoscopy, a procedure which uses a lighted scope to detect polyps or other defects in the lining of the esophagus and stomach (see the patient education sheet titled Upper GI Endoscopy for more information).
How do I prepare for the test?
These are general guidelines for this test. You will be given specific instructions by your doctor, nurse, or testing center.
Please check with your doctor or testing center for instructions if you are taking any of the following medications:
- Nonsteroidal, anti-inflammatory drugs (Advil, Motrin, or arthritis medications)
- Diabetes medication (insulin, Glucophage, or others)
- Heart medications
- Do not eat or drink anything after midnight the night before your test.
- Your prescription
- An insurance card and/or referral slip
- A responsible adult to drive you home
- A list of your medications and allergies
What will happen before the test?
- You will sign a consent form for the test.
- You will be asked to put on a hospital gown.
- An intravenous (IV) line will be started in your arm.
- You will be asked to remove your glasses, contact lenses, dentures, and jewelry.
What will happen during the test?
You will be given medication to help you relax before the test. You will be awake but drowsy. You may be asked to swallow lubricated flexible tubes of increasing size. These tubes will be inserted into your throat one at a time. The test usually takes about 15 minutes.
Your doctor may use special balloons instead of tubes to dilate your esophagus. He or she will talk to you about which method is best for you.
What will happen after the test?
- You will remain in the recovery area until you are awake and the medication has worn off.
- You will not be able to eat or drink until your gag reflex has returneddoctor tells you..
How will I feel after the test?
You may have a mild sore throat and/or hoarseness or a cough. You may feel drowsy if you received an IV sedative.
What should I report to my doctor?
Call your doctor immediately if you have any of the following symptoms:
- Increasing chest, shoulder, or back pain
- Temperature of 100°F or above
- Persistent coughing up of blood
- Persistent nausea or vomiting
- New, persistent abdominal pain
When/How will I get my test results?
Your doctor will discuss the results of your test with you. Please talk with your doctor and/or testing center about how to get your test results.
Revised July 2013
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| 0.901162 | 664 | 2.890625 | 3 |
1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Gefle
GEFLE, a seaport of Sweden on an inlet of the Gulf of Bothnia, chief town of the district (län) of Gefleborg, 112 m. N.N.W. of Stockholm by rail. Pop. (1900) 29,522. It is the chief port of the district of Kopparberg, with its iron and other mines and forests. The exports consist principally of timber and wood-pulp, iron and steel. The harbour, which has two entrances about 20 ft. deep, is usually ice-bound in mid-winter. Large vessels generally load in the roads at Gråberg, 6 m. distant. There are slips and shipbuilding yards, and a manufacture of sail-cloth. The town is an important industrial centre, having tobacco and leather factories, electrical and other mechanical works, and breweries. At Skutskar at the mouth of the Dal river are wood-pulp and saw mills, dealing with the large quantities of timber floated down the river; and there are large wood-yards in the suburb of Bomhus. Gefle was almost destroyed by fire in 1869, but was rebuilt in good style, and has the advantage of a beautiful situation. The principal buildings are a castle, founded by King John III. (1568-1592), but rebuilt later, a council-house erected by Gustavus III., who held a diet here in 1792, an exchange, and schools of commerce and navigation.
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en
| 0.959736 | 319 | 2.765625 | 3 |
Ethical Conduct in Research
Research ethics and responsible conduct of research are terms used broadly to refer to many ethically significant issues that arise in research, from fair apportionment of credit among members of a research team, to responsible behavior in submitting or reviewing grant applications and the responsible treatment of research subjects.
Academic honesty or integrity is the maintenance of truthfulness and proper crediting of sources of ideas and expressions.
Source: "RESEARCH ETHICS or the RESPONSIBLE CONDUCT OF RESEARCH" Online Ethics Center for Engineering 9/14/2006 National Academy of Engineering Accessed: Friday, February 12, 2010
Ethical and responsible conduct of research is of the highest concern at Shippensburg University. Given this, the university revised its Ethical Conduct in Research Policy in the 2010. The policy in its entirety may be found here (Shippensburg University Ethical Conduct in Research Policy). It is patterned after the PASSHE model Misconduct in Research Policy as well as the Lock Haven University policy.
In August 2009, the NSF announced requirements that all Universities that apply for NSF grants must describe in the proposal a plan to provide training and oversight in the responsible and ethical conduct of research to undergraduate, graduate students and post docs that participate in the project. The following web sites are supported by the NSF as on-line resources in ethics education:
Ethics in Science and Engineering
The Online Ethics Center
All Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education (PASSHE) are required to have a responsible or ethical conduct of research policy.
Ethical Conduct of Research Policy
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http://www.ship.edu/Public_Service/Policies/Ethical_Conduct/
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en
| 0.946619 | 330 | 2.984375 | 3 |
Choose one of our special categories to view or subscribe
Heading Soccer Balls Could Injure Brain
Players of all skill levels must use proper techniques, study says
SUNDAY, Jan. 15 (HealthDay News) -- Soccer players need to use the correct techniques when "heading" -- using their unprotected head to stop or redirect the ball -- to prevent possible brain injury, researchers say.
Although researchers have not yet proven a link between the sport and brain damage, Dr. Alejandro Spiotta and other experts from the Cleveland Clinic said soccer balls are moving at high speeds when they come into contact with players' heads, putting athletes at risk for a possible traumatic brain injury.
"Even if the cognitive impairment were to be mild, it would still present a major medical and public health concern because of the massive volume of soccer players worldwide," Spiotta and colleagues wrote. "Any possible detrimental effect may only become clinically evident decades in the future."
In their review of existing research, published in the January issue of Neurosurgery, the researchers said caution about heading must be used at all levels of soccer. They advised that children use age-appropriate balls until they develop the neck strength and body control necessary for correct heading technique.
English soccer player Jeffrey Astle, who had a reputation as a fierce header, died with degenerative brain disease in 2002. The brain damage he sustained was similar to chronic traumatic encephalopathy, a degenerative brain disease seen in football players and other athletes, the researchers said in a journal news release.
The researchers noted that soccer balls are no longer made of leather and do not absorb moisture, which may make them safer for heading. Also, a debate about the use of soft headgear to help protect players' heads is ongoing.
The review concluded that more research is needed to determine the long-term effects of heading on soccer players' brains.
The American Association of Neurological Surgeons provides more information on sports-related brain injury.
Source: SOURCE: Neurosurgery, news release, January 2012
Copyright © 2012 HealthDay. All rights reserved.
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<urn:uuid:1cf58afa-811f-4aee-a129-e03f21aa11c8>
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http://www.summitmedicalgroup.com/healthday/article/660612/
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en
| 0.943576 | 429 | 3.328125 | 3 |
- He is a really nice guy.
* "He" is the subject of the sentence, controlling the verb and the complement.
- My dog attacked the burglar.
* "My dog" is the subject, controlling the verb and the rest of the sentence.
- David plays the piano
* The subject "David" performs the action of "playing the piano".
- The police interviewed all the witnesses.
* The subject the police performs the action of interviewing all the witnesses.
To determine the subject of a sentence, first isolate the verb and then make a question by placing "who?" or "what?" before it. Having identified the Subject, we can see that the remainder of the sentence tells us what the Subject does or did. We refer to this string as the "predicate" of the sentence.
- Who plays the piano?
=> "David" ( = Subject)
=> "plays the piano" ( = predicate) tells us what David does.
- Who interviewed all the witnesses?
=> "The police" (= Subject)
=> "interviewed all the witnesses" ( = predicate) tell us what the police did.
Subjects can either be "simple", "compound" or "complex"
Composed of a single pronoun, noun or noun phrase.
A complex subject consists of a noun phrase and any words, phrases, or clauses that modify it.
- The man who had followed us inside walked over to the telephone.
=> central noun: man
=> complex subject: the man who had followed us inside
- The superior performance of La Traviata pleased the wealthy audience.
=> central noun: performance
=> complex subject: the superior performance of La Traviata
A compound subject consists of two or more noun phrases (and their modifiers if any) joined together with a coordinating conjunction.
- The man and the woman walked over to the telephone.
=> The compound subject here is the whole phrase, "the man and the woman."
- Neither the superior performance of La Traviata nor the excellent wine at intermission pleased the wealthy audience.
=> Again, the whole phrase, "neither the superior performance of La Traviata nor the excellent wine at intermission," is the subject. The phrase answers the question, "What pleased the wealthy audience?"
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http://www.englishlanguageguide.com/grammar/subject.asp
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en
| 0.902334 | 486 | 3.015625 | 3 |
|The Gray Fox - Graceful, Beautiful, Interesting and Not A Dog
The central Texas Hill Country is home to many remarkable creatures, but none are more intriguing than the gray fox (Urocyon cinereoargenteus).
Found throughout most of the southern half of North America from southern Canada to northern Venezuela and Colombia, the gray fox is adaptable, usually more wary than fearful, and quite handsome. It may be difficult to appreciate the coloration of this fox until you see her for yourself. With a mostly gray back and reddish sides, she has a white throat with beautiful red markings. To top it off, the middle of the back is usually black and she sports a magnificent, long, bushy tail with a black tip.
Not large, weighing between 8 and 12 pounds, the gray fox is smaller than some well-fed domestic cats and moves quite gracefully... much like a cross between a cat and a dog. She is, however, all fox.
A canid (family Canidae) akin to coyotes, jackals and wolves, the fox is genetically separate and distinct. A dozen million years ago the fox formed a separate genetic group and, possessing a different number of chromosomes, cannot cross-breed with dogs or other canids.
Although foxes belong to the order Carnivora and will eat meat, they are more accurately described as omnivorous. Food sources include fruits, grains and vegetable matter as well as insects, voles, field mice, and shrews. The gray fox dislikes a hullaballoo and, contrary to cartoon portrayals, it is highly unlikely that she will raid a henhouse.
The gray fox is unique in that she can climb trees as deftly as a cat. In fact, the gray fox has been observed denning with young in the hollow of a tree, although many prefer rock crevices, underground burrows, hollow logs and even a good, undisturbed brush pile.
If you have the good fortune to observe one of these foxes during foraging moments at dusk or dawn, you may have an opportunity to watch them adroitly leap and dance between levels of rock or tree stumps. Multi-talented, the gray fox will even swim if she must.
The gray fox is monogamous. Around December in Texas, the female marks the area with a scent indicating she's ready to become a team and breeding continues until March. If you live in the Hill Country, you may hear foxes calling to each other on crisp winter evenings (they seem to prefer clear, cold weather for that activity) a really good reason to live in this area.
Between three and six pups are born in April or May after a gestation period of about 53 days. Born blind and helpless, the kits quickly grow and leave the home nest seeking shelter in rock piles, brush, or in other sites that offer concealment and protection. Momma feeds and grooms them until they can move well, then hunts small game and brings it back to the den for the practice of hunting skills.
The kits reach their adult weight at five to six months and discover Momma is suddenly snarly and mean, chasing them away to find their own territories. Although it seems cruel, this is, of course, nature's way of preserving the next generation through geographical diversity.
Incidentally, the female also snubs the male when the kits are self-sufficient, but the same pair quite often join forces again in December to start a new family.
If you live in a quiet place where there's enough buffer from dense development, or find yourself camping in one of the Texas parks, you may be rewarded sitting quietly within sight of this interesting, entertaining creature. The gray fox may even observe you occasionally, but as long as you make no sudden, threatening moves or noise and remain at a safe distance, she will often congenially continue her busy search for food. The experience is worth any patience you can muster.
Article © 2010
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en
| 0.960518 | 825 | 2.921875 | 3 |
Via The Washington Post: In Fukushima aftermath, suicides soar. Excerpt:
Following the Fukushima nuclear power plant disaster in March, 2011, troubling tales of depression and suicide started to trickle in. “One man I know went back to check his house,” a woman told CNN last year. “When he didn’t return his family went to find him. His car was parked outside. He had hanged himself. I think he’d given up, he couldn’t see any future.”
But now, those trickles have turned into a steady stream, the National Police Agency said Thursday morning.
Thirty-seven suicides — linked either to the power plant’s meltdown or the Tsunami that proceeded it — occurred last year in areas near the plant. That figure represents a dramatic increase from last year when there were only 13 disaster-related suicides, according to the Japan Times.
Suicide is a deeply-ingrained aspect of Japanese culture, and according to academic research, the influx in Fukushima-related suicides reflect broader societal currents.
Many Japanese still consider suicide to be an honorable way of death. In 2007, Cabinet member Toshikatsu Matsuoka killed himself following accusations of corruption, and one governor said that action proved he was a “true samurai.” Today, something called “internet pact suicide” has grown in popularity among then nation’s youth.
Still, despite suicide’s cultural relevancy, the increase among those affected by Fukushima has alarmed local activists. “Many people may be feeling stressed for not knowing when they can go back to their homes, being unable to find transport or feeling isolated from people around them,” Yasuyuki Shimizu of the Life Link support center told the Japan Times.
Officials linked the deaths to Fukushima through suicide notes and interviews with neighbors. Deteriorating health contributed to 22 suicides, money problems to nine more, and family issues drove five people to take their own life, the National Police Agency says.
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en
| 0.964129 | 417 | 2.578125 | 3 |
Click on image to enlarge.
Release Date: December 4, 2015
This highest-resolution image from NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft shows how erosion and faulting has sculpted this portion of Pluto’s icy crust into rugged badlands. The prominent 1.2-mile-high cliff at the top, running from left to upper right, is part of a great canyon system that stretches for hundreds of miles across Pluto’s northern hemisphere. New Horizons team members think that the mountains in the middle are made of water ice, but have been modified by the movement of nitrogen or other exotic ice glaciers over long periods of time, resulting in a muted landscape of rounded peaks and intervening sets of short ridges. At the bottom of this 50-mile-wide image, the terrain transforms dramatically into a fractured and finely broken up floor at the northwest margin of the giant ice plain informally called Sputnik Planum. The top of the image is to Pluto’s northwest.
These images were made with the telescopic Long Range Reconnaissance Imager (LORRI) aboard New Horizons, in a timespan of about a minute centered on 11:36 UT on July 14 – just about 15 minutes before New Horizons’ closest approach to Pluto – from a range of just 10,000 miles (17,000 kilometers). They were obtained with an unusual observing mode; instead of working in the usual “point and shoot,” LORRI snapped pictures every three seconds while the Ralph/Multispectral Visual Imaging Camera (MVIC) aboard New Horizons was scanning the surface. This mode requires unusually short exposures to avoid blurring the images.
Credit: NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Southwest Research Institute
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Faculty Peer Reviewed
The New York City Marathon this past weekend marked a yearly event in the city’s lifecycle. As the leaves fall and a November chill fills the air, the race reminds us of the importance of physical activity to our health maintenance. And just when we thought it was too late to reactivate those new year’s resolutions, we were gifted with an extra hour from the daylight savings gods.
In line with this reflection on health prevention and health maintenance, The Lancet Infectious Diseases has published a meta-analysis of the efficacy and effectiveness of the influenza vaccine.. So if you are still vacillating whether or not it is worthwhile get your seasonal flu shot, look no further than this article for a bit more guidance. Currently, the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices recommends yearly vaccination with the trivalent inactivated vaccine (TIV) for all individuals older than 6 months, or the live attenuated influenza vaccine (LAIV) for healthy non-pregnant people ages 2-49 years.ii However, this study shows some gaps in evidence supporting these recommendations. Eligible articles published between 1967 and 2011 evaluated both the relative risk reduction of circulating influenza viruses during individual flu seasons (efficacy) and the effectiveness of the vaccine as previously evaluated in observational studies. Of the 5,707 studies screened, eligible trials were restricted to those evaluating the TIV and LAIV that included direct virus detection methods of reverse transcriptase – PCR or culture for confirmation of influenza. Ten randomized controlled trials assessed efficacy of the TIV during 12 influenza seasons and eight (67%) showed significant overall vaccine efficacy. Eight studies done in adults aged 18-64 during nine influenza seasons showed a pooled TIV efficacy of 59% (95% CI 51-67). Ten randomized controlled trials separately assessed the LAIV efficacy in healthy adults during 12 influenza seasons and nine (75%) were significant, with a pooled efficacy of 83% (CI 69-91). For the seasonal influenza vaccine, studies mainly analyzed the TIV. Six (35%) of 17 analyses showed significant effectiveness (lower 95% CI >0) against laboratory proven influenza. Review of this data showed that there were substantial gaps in efficacy data for both TIV and LAIV. No randomized controlled trials showed efficacy of TIV in people aged 2-17 or older than 65 years even met the stringent inclusion criteria of this analysis. And for LAIV, there are were no randomized controlled trials showing efficacy in people ages 8-59, despite AICP recommendations for use until age 49. With the evidence available, it can only be suggested that current influenza vaccines offer moderate overall protection against infection and illness. Although, seasonal influenza vaccines are reported to be 70-90% effective in prevention of laboratory-confirmed influenza, their effectiveness is difficult to comment on because of the varying incidence and unpredictable nature of seasonable influenza. So ultimately, whether or not you take the plunge and get vaccinated is a personal choice. The potential for efficacy and effectiveness certainly exists, but don’t be surprised if fevers, sniffles, and aches creep up on you after vaccination, as our data shows that vaccination by no means guarantees protection.
Adding more fuel to the fiery debate on the influenza vaccine is a study published this week by the International Journal of Obesity suggesting that obesity impairs the immune response to the influenza vaccine. During the 2009 H1N1 pandemic, obesity was recognized as an independent risk factor for increased influenza morbidity and mortality. Furthermore, obese mouse models have shown impaired innate immune responses and greater mortality following influenza infection. This current prospective, observational study is the first to examine body mass index (BMI) on humoral and cell-mediated immune responses to the influenza vaccine in humans. The antibody response to the 2009-2010 TIV was assessed with convenience sampling in healthy weight, overweight, and obese patients at 1 and 12 months post-vaccination, and peripheral blood cultures were used to analyze CD 8+ T-cell activation. Data from the first 2 years of this ongoing study with 499 participants showed twelve months following vaccination, increasing BMI was associated with a larger drop in antibody titer. To test the cellular response, blood cultures 12 months post-vaccination were challenged with a live vaccine strain of influenza. Samples from obese individuals had decreased CD8+ T-cell activation. Given the increasing proportion of obesity in our society, we must keep this in mind when vaccinating our patients. Future studies could evaluate the need for higher doses or adjuvants to increase the immune response in obese individuals.
In other preventive medicine news, two particular studies evaluated interventions that could alter cancer risk. JAMA examined the association between alcohol consumption and breast cancer. Previous studies have shown that higher alcohol consumption is associated with increased risk, but none have quantified this. The Nurses’ Health Study, a prospective, cohort study of 105,986 women, used questionnaires to assess alcohol intake in early adulthood, followed by 8 subsequent surveys. The primary end point, a diagnosis of invasive breast cancer, occurred in 7,690 patients between 1980 and June 2008. The cancer risk was significantly increased at an alcohol intake of 5.0 to 9.9g per day, equivalent to 3-6 drinks per week (relative risk 1.15, 95% CI 1.06-1.24). There was also a weak association with binge drinking, but not frequency of drinking. Overall, a 10% increased risk of breast cancer was observed for each additional 10g per day of alcohol intake, a stronger effect than seen in previous studies. The authors hypothesized that the causative mechanism was the alcohol’s effects on circulating estrogen levels by increasing aromatase activity, decreasing hepatic catabolism of androgens, or effecting on adrenal steroid production. Although the mechanism is still unclear, this is one of the first studies to quantify the amount of alcohol needed to increase the breast cancer risk.
The second article added to the lengthy discussion about the effects of aspirin on the development of colorectal cancer (CRC). Published in The Lancet, this study is the second in a series put forth by the Colorectal Adenoma/Carcinoma Prevention Program. The first, CAPP1, was a RCT that examined patients with familial adenomatous polyposis. The patients were randomized to aspirin and/or resistant starch v. placebo. After 1 year of follow-up, the authors concluded that both aspirin and resistant starches have decreasing protective effect against CRC. In CAPP2, the most recent trial, 1,071 participants with Lynch Syndrome were randomized to receive 600mg aspirin daily or placebo. The average length of observation was 25.2 months, followed by an average of 29 months of further follow-up. The initial study results, published in 2008, looked at CRC incidence in patients 6 years after the first group completed the study period. At that time, there was no evidence that aspirin or affected the development of colonic neoplasia. The current study is an extension to 10 years after recruitment. For the entire post-randomization period, the hazard ratio of CRC in the aspirin group was significant at 0.41 (CI 0.19-0.86, p=0.02) and argues for a strong influence of aspirin in decreasing the development of CRC. Secondary analysis also showed that greater duration of aspirin therapy decreased CRC incidence (0.06/100 person-years for those taking aspirin more than 2 years v. 0.13/100 person-years for less than 2 years). From this, the authors concluded that their findings support a delayed effect of aspirin on reducing CRC incidence. They went on to urge clinicians to “consider aspirin prescription for all individuals judged to be at high risk of colorectal cancer.” Despite their admonitions, we must remember that Lynch syndrome accounts for only 15% of the sporadic CRC cases. This single study should not alter recommendations for CRC prevention without extensive further research.
Cystic fibrosis also made a guest appearance this week. NEJM published an international, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial showing success with a novel treatment for CF, the most common lethal genetic disease among white patients. The investigational medication, Ivacaftor (VX-770), is an oral drug that is designed to increase the time that the cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR) protein spends open at the epithelial cell surface. This should increase the flow of chloride and water into the mucous membrane. Until now, all treatments for CF have targeted the secondary effects of CFTR channels, but not the underlying cause of its dysfunction. In vitro studies have already shown that Ivacaftor augments the CFTR protein in the 4-5% of CF patients with the causative G551D missense mutation. The study randomized subjects 12 years or older with at least one G55ID-CFTR mutation to receive either Ivacaftor or placebo for 48 weeks. The primary endpoint was mean change in %FEV1. At week 24, the %FEV1 in the Ivacaftor group improved 10.4 points, while that in the placebo group decreased 0.2 points. The effects of Ivacaftor was first noted by day 15 of treatment. At week 48, 67% of patients taking Ivacaftor were free from pulmonary exacerbations (v. 41% in the placebo group). Treated patients also had a 5.9 point improvement in the Cystic Fibrosis Questionnaire, compared to a 2.7 point decrease in the placebo group. Furthermore, treated patients also experienced a weight gain of 3.1kg v. 0.4kg in the placebo group. Adverse events for the two groups were similar. Because of the narrow population examined, though, additional studies are needed to evaluate the efficacy and safety profile of Ivacaftor before those afflicted by CF can truly celebrate.
As the runners fall into their post-marathon lull and the cold-air blues start to hit our patients, we are left standing on the edge of an era where medicine is becoming increasingly individualized. We should get a better idea of our patients’ constantly changing risk profiles and appreciate their unique differences. We can maybe even recall one of these newly examined interventions that could decrease long-term risk or, at the very least, encourage proactive behaviors in our patients. After all, acknowledging these subtle variations can help to maintain both the art and humanism of medicine.
Dr. Jessica Taff is a 1st year resident at NYU Langone Medical Center
Peer Reviewed by Ishmael Bradley, Section Editor, Clinical Correlations
Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons
1. Osterholm MT, Kelley NS, Sommer A, Belongia EA. Efficacy and effectiveness of influenza vaccines: a systematic review and meta-analysis. The Lancet Infect Dis. Forthcoming Nov 2011. Available at: http://www.thelancet.com/journals/laninf/article/PIIS1473-3099(11)70295-X/fulltext
2. Fiore AE, Uyeki TM, Broder K, et al and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Prevention and control of influenza vaccines: recommendations of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (AICP), 2010. MMWR Recomm Rep 2010; 59:1-62. Available at: http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/rr59e0729a1.htm
3. Sheridan PA, Paich HA, Handy J, et al. Obesity is associated with impaired immune response to influenza vaccination in humans. Int J Obes. Forthcoming Nov 2011. Available at: http://www.nature.com/ijo/journal/vaop/ncurrent/full/ijo2011208a.html
4. Nave H, Beutel G, Kielstein JT. Obesity-related immunodeficiency in patients with pandemic influenza H1N. Lancet Infect Dis. 2011 Jan; 11:14-15. Available at: http://www.thelancet.com/journals/laninf/article/PIIS1473-3099(10)70304-2/fulltext
5. Smith AG, Sheridan PA, Harp JB, Beck MA. Diet-induced obese mice have increased mortality and altered immune responses when infected with influenza virus. J Nutr. 2007 May. 137:1236-1243. Available at: http://jn.nutrition.org/content/137/5/1236.short
6. Chen WY, Rosner B, Hankinson SE, et al. Moderate Alcohol Consumption During Adult Life, Drinking Patterns, and Breast Cancer Risk. JAMA. 2011 Nov 3. 306(17) 1884-1890. Available at: http://jama.ama-assn.org/content/306/17/1884.abstract?sid=97a6daa9-dc18-4835-9d33-e5c06654d5ef
7. Smith-Warner SA, Spiegelman D, Yaun S-S, et al. Alcohol and breast cancer in women: a pooled analysis of cohort studies. JAMA. 1998: 279 (7): 535-540. Available at: http://jama.ama-assn.org/content/279/7/535.full?sid=894817e4-5458-411d-be2a-221197685d89
8. Burn J, Gerdes A-M, Macrae F, et al Long-term effect of aspirin on cancer risk in carriers of hereditary colorectal cancer: an analysis from the CAPP2 randomised controlled trial. Lancet. Forthcoming 2011. Available at: http://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(11)61049-0/fulltext#article_upsell
9. Boland CR, Thibodeau SN, Hamilton SR, et al. A National Cancer Institute Workshop on Microsatellite Instability for cancer detection and familial predisposition: development of international criteria for the determination of microsatellite instability in colorectal cancer. Cancer Res. 1998: 59(22)5248. Available at: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9823339
10. Ramsey BW, Davies J, McElvaney G, et al. A CFTR Potentiator in Patients with Cystic Fibrosis and the G551D Mutation. N Engl J Med. 2011 Nov 3; 365(18):1663-1672. Available at: http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa1105185?query=featured_home
11. Van Goor F, Hadida S, Grootenhuis PD, et al. Rescue of CF airway epithelial cell function in vitro by a CFTR potentiator, VX-770. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA. 2009; 106: 18825-30. Available at: http://www.pnas.org/content/106/44/18825.full?sid=fe62f9b4-eda7-4c37-8639-fe8031fba14e
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**Posted by Phineas
As the years go by, I more and more realize just how poorly History is taught in our schools, both at the secondary and the the collegiate level. As a case in point, take the end of the American Revolution. How many of us still believe what we were taught, that the war was won with the US victory over the British at the Siege of Yorktown in 1781 and that the 1783 Treaty of Paris was really just a formality?
Boy, have we got some un-learning to do.
Thomas Fleming’s The Perils of Peace: America’s struggle for survival after Yorktown (hereafter, “Perils”), tells the story of the post-Yorktown years: not only of the travails of the United States to turn de facto independence into internationally recognized reality, but also of the Great Powers that were part of the war, Britain, France, Spain, and the Netherlands, to end it before they all went broke. (We already were. See? History does repeat itself.)
Fleming tells this story as narrative history, relating events through the eyes and personalities of men often in conflict with each other and operating from motives ranging from noble and selfless to petty and base. The author makes it clear in his prose those whom he admires and respects and those for whom he has contempt. At the top of the list of the former are, probably not surprisingly, George Washington and Benjamin Franklin, who both not only had to carry on the military and diplomatic struggle with London, but often also had to battle generals and politicians on their own side. At the other end are characters clearly low in Fleming’s esteem, such as Continental Congress Delegate Arthur Lee, who for years waged a vindictive campaign to destroy Franklin and the French alliance. Even John Adams, a future president, was too often (in Fleming’s presentation) petty, vain, and jealous of any perceived slight to his honor, but who also in the end played an important role in the final treaty negotiations.
Fleming presents the European actors in a similar manner, though perhaps with less obvious biases. King George III, while adamant about holding the British Empire together and putting down the rebellious colonies, is treated with some sympathy and even a grudging admiration. Far from being the dolt of popular myth, he was a skilled political operator who was long able to dominate Parliament and came reasonably close to making that arrangement permanent. Indeed, Fleming often refers to George III as the “Patriot King,” and I don’t think he was writing that tongue-in-cheek.
There is also the key French player, not King Louis XVI, but his foreign minister, the Comte de Vergennes, who was determined to restore France’s position as the preeminent European power, which had been severely tarnished after her defeat at Britain’s hands in the Seven Years (French and Indian) War. Vergennes and Franklin formed a close alliance and even friendship, which lead not only to France’s recognition of American independence and her entry into the war, but loan after loan and gift after gift, which the Continental Congress would always burn through and then come asking for more, even after radicals in Congress would belittle and insult France.
Make no mistake, though; France was not doing this out of admiration for America, though that played its part through figures such as Lafayette, but out of sense of self-interest in the great contests of European politics. And it was that “Great Game” that provided the catalyst for the final negotiations over the Treaty of Paris, as event as far away as Russia and Turkey and near as the emptying treasuries of France, Britain, and Philadelphia (where the Continental Congress sat) impelled the Europeans and Americans to finally make peace.
In telling the story of the post-Yorktown years, Fleming weaves certain themes through his book. One is the role of the Atlantic Ocean itself, so vast that potentially critical information would reach the people who needed it only after weeks and months. Sometimes this would work in our favor, sometimes not.
There is also the nauseating fecklessness and factionalism of the Continental Congress, riven by ideology between what might be called the “practical politicians” (Madison, Hamilton, and others) and the “True Whigs,” a faction so caught up with ideology that they nearly wrecked our diplomacy in Europe and showed churlish ingratitude toward the Regulars of the Continental Army, even refusing to make good on back pay that was years overdue.
But don’t think the states were much better. Under the Articles of Confederation, even just one state saying “no” could block revenue-raising measures for the federal government. While that might sound appealing these days, it lead us to the edge of national bankruptcy and actual rebellion in the Army, when soldiers demanding their pay marched on Congress. (Leading that body to bravely run away, skedaddling first to New Jersey and then to Maryland.) Individual states were mean-spirited even to the troops who had saved them from the British, as experienced by General Nathanael Greene’s forces in South Carolina and Georgia when they were refused the money to even buy anything other than rotting food.
Fleming’s goal in showing us the small-mindedness of both Congress and the states is not just to make us shake our heads in wonder that we survived at all, though it does that when one also considers British efforts after Yorktown to divide the states and entice some to rejoin the Empire, but it also sets the stage for one of the most important moments in our history, one that helped define our character and set the tone for civil-military relations to this day: General Washington’s retirement and surrender of his commission to Congress, refusing those who urged him to instead march on Congress and even become King of America. This moment, recalling the story of Cincinattus from the Roman Republic, might well have kept the new nation from falling apart in conflict and even civil war.
There’s much more, of course, from the heart-wrenching stories of the slaves who sought freedom with the British and the slave-owners in the southern states who so feared revolt that they refused to arm and free slaves for service in the Continental Army, even though manpower was desperately needed, to the Tories themselves, whom we often think of as traitors, but who really were loyal Englishmen, many of whom bet and lost all by siding with their King.
There was the savage violence of the guerrilla war between Rebels and Loyalists in both the south and in New Jersey, and the strange story of Vermont, whose founders essentially stole the land of Loyalist New Yorkers, fought hard against the British, yet who negotiated both with the Continental Congress and the British commander in Canada to see who could offer them the best deal. (And one can see why, since Governor Clinton of New York was demanding an army be sent to crush them.)
The Perils of Peace, at just over 300 pages, is a skillful telling of a history far too few of us are familiar with; it is a book that truly makes the reader marvel that we not only grew to be the wealthiest, most powerful nation on Earth, but that we survived our birth at all.
(Crossposted at Public Secrets)
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Categories: Uncategorized | Comments
A person dies from malaria every minute. Seven people are infected with this debilitating disease every second. These are the figures that World Malaria Day – which is today – is seeking to highlight.
World Malaria Day has been going since 2007. It was established by the World Health Assembly, part of the World Health Organization, to get people to sit up and take note of this often underreported disease. While the headline figures look bad, great steps have already been made in tackling the disease.
The good news is that the global mortality rate for malaria has fallen by 25% since 2000. At the same time, 50 out of the 99 countries where malaria is endemic are set to meet targets to cut infection rates by three-quarters by 2015. However, new problems have emerged. As the UN and projects like the Medicines for Malaria Venture, with the help of philanthropic organisations such as the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, have stepped up the fight against the disease, criminals have taken advantage. It’s now estimated that a third of malaria drugs sold around the world are counterfeit.
Fortunately, scientists are coming up with ways of identifying the fakes. Announced to coincide with World Malaria Day, the US Food and Drug Administration is planning to start trials on a handheld testing device that can tell the bogus medicines from the real thing.
Other recent good news includes work to drive down the cost of the drug artemisinin, the most effective treatment against the deadliest form of malaria. Scientists have just published work in Nature where they were able to engineer yeast to produce 10 times more of the chemical precursor to artemisinin – artemisinic acid – than before. This can then be chemically converted into the drug.
French drug giant Sanofi has gone one better, scaling up artemisinin production using the same engineered yeast. Using some photochemical wizardry Sanofi hopes to be synthesising enough of the drug to meet a third of world demand by next year.
While artemisinin is still on the frontline in the fight against malaria, the counterfeiters have been taking their toll in another way. Often, criminals place a small amount of the drug in fake antimalarial drugs to try fool tests meant to pick them up. Unfortunately, when these drugs reach malaria patients they give the malarial parasites the opportunity to develop resistance to artemisinin as there’s not enough of it to kill them. Happily, researchers are working hard to develop new drugs all the time and there are some exciting new compounds in the pipeline. One group of researchers has resurrected an old drug and appear to have overcome some of its toxicity problems. This molecule can target all stages of the malarial parasites’ lifecycle, which is virtually unheard of, and early tests indicate that the parasite cannot easily develop resistance to the drug. Brilliant news!
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Pain in the English offers proofreading services for short-form writing such as press releases, job applications, or marketing copy. 24 hour turnaround. Learn More
What does it mean when someone states that they were “read the riot act” or that THEY read someone else “the riot act”? Is there such a thing as a Riot Act. I haven’t been able to locate information on this.
"Britain's Riot Act of 1715 stated that when 12 or more people were engaged in a riot, any magistrates on hand could command them to disperse. Anyone not obeying the command could be arrested for a felony. So reading the Riot Act is a public warning of dire consequences if certain behavior is to continue. The act was superseded by the Public Order Act of 1986."
October 27, 2005, 5:34am
Wow, thanks! Another dead metaphor to add to my collection.
October 27, 2005, 3:19pm
I'll read you the Public Order Act.
October 28, 2005, 7:01pm
Thanks for clearing that bad bit of business up nicely. Now, all of you disperse or it's off with your heads!
October 31, 2005, 7:43pm
This figure of speech is still fairly common. If someone says I "read him the riot act", it usually means that I spent a long time scolding him.
When you did that dumb thing when you were 16 and you're parents spent the next hour lecturing you on why it was dumb, they were "reading you the riot act".
November 2, 2005, 3:38pm
In an abusive situation, one has the right to read the riot act. I have looked in law books at the local library and book stores and have yet to find this "reading" please advise. I would like the version the police use for one unruly destructable individual, not a group of 12 which is all I seem to find on the internt... I simply would like a copy of this act.
May 30, 2007, 1:01am
Hmm, Ms. LeGrand, if the actual origin of the expression is a three hundred year old law, then why would you expect to find a current law on the books called "The Riot Act"? Why would you expect that the police use any version for any reason?
May 30, 2007, 8:51am
My 16 year old son came home from his camp counselor job and asked me, "Mom, what is the riot act?"I replied, "I don't know for sure, but it was probablly a law that was passed against groups congregating, in fear that violence would erupt." I then asked, "Why do you ask?"To which he replied, "The camp director/teacher told me I shouldn't be so nice to the kids who are misbehaving, that I should threaten them with the reading of the riot act. And Mom you wouldn't believe how well it works! Today a boy was standing up on the bus seat on our way back from a field trip and when I threatened him with the reading of the riot act he immediately sat down and was no problem the rest of the trip. I figured it must be some kind of special education law that I should know about." Well, I then had a good laugh and explained to my son that it was actually a figure of speech that meant knock it off or you're in big trouble.Obviously the student had heard it before and knew what the proper response needed to be. This incident spurred my interest to find out the origins of the phrase, which led me to your site. Thanks for the historical connection.My son and I concluded that obviously he must have always been such a good boy that he had never been introduced to the "riot act" threat!
July 20, 2007, 7:48pm
Good job the act is repealed or we would have the House of Parliament cleared on a regular basis, when Gordon Brown speaks. So that no one would protest or question Labour party’s ridiculous policies… totalitarianism!
SIR RS KC
January 17, 2008, 2:15am
©2016 CYCLE Interactive, LLC.All Rights Reserved.
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5 Things You Didn't Know About Wallis Simpson
It takes quite a woman to get a man to give up the English throne just to marry her, but twice-divorced American socialite Wallis Simpson pulled off the trick in 1936 when she married King Edward VIII. Here are five things you might not know about the woman for whom Edward abdicated the throne.
1. She Was the First 'Woman of the Year'
In 1936, Time honored Wallis Simpson's major coup of getting Edward to abdicate his throne by naming her "Woman of the Year," the first time the magazine had ever given its "Man of the Year" award to a woman. She didn't sneak past a field of slackers to get the honor, either; the other finalists included FDR, Mussolini, Eugene O'Neill, Chiang Kai-shek, British Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin, Lou Gehrig, Jesse Owens, and Margaret Mitchell.
Why did the magazine choose to honor Wallis Simpson over so many people who changed the course of 20th century history? According to Time, "In the single year 1936 she became the most-talked-about, written-about, headlined and interest-compelling person in the world. In these respects no woman in history has ever equaled Mrs. Simpson, for no press or radio existed to spread the world news they made."
2. Their Wedding Cake Sold for Big Money—in 1998
Remember the episode of Seinfeld where the fictional J. Peterman bought a slice of Edward and Wallis' 60-year-old wedding cake for $29,000? That little quirk didn't just spring from Jerry Seinfeld's head; it actually happened.
In 1998, Sotheby's held a large auction of the duke and duchess' personal effects, including a slice of cake in a box marked ""A PIECE OF OUR WEDDING CAKE WE WE 3-VI-37." (The "WE" stood for "Wallis and Edward.")
Sotheby's expected the cake curiosity to sell for $500-1000. The bidding for the slice of cake quickly became heated, though, and in the end California couple Benjamin and Amanda Yim forked over $29,000 for the well-aged baked good. Benjamin Yim explained his purchase by saying, "It is almost unimaginable to have such an item exist. It is something totally surreal. It represents the epitome of a great romance."
3. She Loved Pugs
As a fellow pug fancier, I had to include this one. The duke and duchess owned a pack of pugs with great names: Disraeli, Davey Crockett, Black Diamond, Imp, Trooper, and Ginseng. Wallis didn't just love live pugs, though; she also had 11 pug-shaped pillows arranged at the foot of her bed. The pillows were replicas of a needlepoint done by actress Sylvia Sidney and sold for $13,800 after the duchess' death.
At least one funny story sprang from the duchess' lifelong love of pugs. Famed photographer Richard Avedon got an opportunity to photograph Edward and Wallis during a 1957 stay at the Waldorf Astoria. Avedon didn't want to take another bland, guarded picture of smiling members of the royal family, so he got creative. After remembering that the couple were dog lovers, he told a long, sad story about seeing a taxi run over a pup. He then snapped the picture right as their faces looked the most concerned. The photo, which now hangs in the National Portrait Gallery, is one of Avedon's more memorable works.
4. She Stayed in Hitler's Guestroom
Wallis and Edward ran afoul of the rest of the royals (and much of the British government) during World War II. The Duke and Duchess of Windsor made a high-profile trip to Nazi Germany during 1937 to see how the German people lived under Hitler's regime; they even stayed with the Fuhrer as his personal guests. When tensions flared during the early days of World War II, the couple was still said to entertain fascist friends in their French home.
Others thought that the Nazis were gleaning information about French defenses from the loose-lipped duchess. Some of the rumors were pretty steamy: people speculated that German foreign minister Joachim von Ribbentrop had been Wallis' lover during the mid-1930s and sent her 17 carnations a day as a reminder of how many times they slept together.
The British intelligence community became so worried that Wallis and Edward were Nazi sympathizers that they decided to make a preemptive strike against any future leaks. Edward received a new assignment—the relatively low-risk governorship of the Bahamas. The couple spent five years there in a Napoleon-like exile. Wallis hated life in the Bahamas and made frequent shopping trips to the U.S., which irked many British citizens who were having to deal with severe rationing and ongoing blackouts.
5. Madonna Wants to Play Her
In February 2009, rumors started to circulate in the British press that Madonna wanted to make a musical about Wallis Simpson's life and play the starring role. Sources close to the singer reported that Madonna closely identified with Simpson following her divorce from director Guy Ritchie. Apparently Madonna identifies with the idea of a tabloid-mocked American marrying a British institution, but the project isn't in production yet.
'5 Things You Didn't Know About...' appears every Friday. Read the previous installments here.
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Waste - Outlook 2020 (Norway)
The total quantity of waste increased by approximately 41 per cent between 1995 and 2009, while the gross domestic product (GDP) increased by 40 per cent in the same period.
According toNorway's national goal growth in the total amount of waste is to be significantly lower than the economic growth. As shown in the figure below wasteamounts were not developing in line with thisgoal.
The national goal on waste recovery is that 75 per centof the total quantity of waste is to recovered in 2010, this target has been reached since 2004 . The proportion is subsequently to beraised to 80 per cent. This is based on the principle that the quantity of waste recovered should be increased to a level that is appropriate in economic and environmental terms.
Statistics Norway has calculated that 78 per cent of the total quantity of waste was recovered in 2009.
According to the national goalhazardous waste is to be dealt with in an appropriate way, so that it is either recovered or sufficient treatment capacity is provided within Norway.
Most of the hazardous waste that is generated in Norway is dealt withinwithin the country.According to Statistics Norway about 11 per cent was exported for approved treatment in 2008. A total of 1,1 million tonnes was handled in Norway. About 65 000 tonnes was handled in unknown ways.
For references, please go to www.eea.europa.eu/soer or scan the QR code.
This briefing is part of the EEA's report The European Environment - State and Outlook 2015. The EEA is an official agency of the EU, tasked with providing information on Europe's environment.
PDF generated on 30 Jun 2016, 09:11 AM
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Considerations Regarding a Behind-the-Counter Drug Class
GAO-09-245: Published: Feb 20, 2009. Publicly Released: Mar 23, 2009.
In the United States, most nonprescription drugs are available over-the-counter (OTC) in pharmacies and other stores. Experts have suggested that drug availability could be increased by establishing an additional class of nonprescription drugs that would be held behind the counter (BTC) but would require the intervention of a pharmacist before being dispensed; a similar class of drugs exists in many other countries. Although the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has not developed a detailed proposal for a BTC drug class, it held a public meeting in 2007 to explore the public health implications of BTC drug availability. GAO was asked to update its 1995 report, Nonprescription Drugs: Value of a Pharmacist-Controlled Class Has Yet to Be Demonstrated (GAO/PEMD-95-12). Specifically, GAO is reporting on (1) arguments supporting and opposing a U.S. BTC drug class, (2) changes in drug availability in five countries since 1995 and the impact of restricted nonprescription classes on availability, and (3) issues important to the establishment of a BTC drug class. GAO reviewed documents and consulted with pharmaceutical experts. To examine drug availability across countries, GAO studied five countries it had reported on in 1995 (Australia, Italy, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, and the United States) and determined how 86 drugs available in all five countries were classified in each country.
Arguments supporting and opposing a BTC drug class in the United States have been based on public health and health care cost considerations, and reflect general disagreement on the likely consequences of establishing such a class. Proponents of a BTC drug class suggest it would lead to improved public health through increased availability of nonprescription drugs and greater use of pharmacists' expertise. Opponents are concerned that a BTC drug class might become the default for drugs switching from prescription to nonprescription status, thus reducing consumers' access to drugs that would otherwise have become available OTC, and argue that pharmacists might not be able to provide high quality BTC services. Proponents of a BTC drug class point to potentially reduced costs through a decrease in the number of physician visits and a decline in drug prices that might result from switches of drugs from prescription to nonprescription status. However, opponents argue that out-of-pocket costs for many consumers could rise if third-party payers elect not to cover BTC drugs. All five countries GAO studied have increased nonprescription drug availability since 1995 by altering nonprescription classes or reclassifying some drugs into less restrictive classes. Italy and the Netherlands, which previously allowed nonprescription drugs to be sold only at specialized drug outlets, made some or all of these drugs available for OTC sale. Australia, the United Kingdom, and the United States switched certain drugs from more restrictive to less restrictive drug classes, increasing these drugs' availability. However, the impact of restricted nonprescription drug classes on availability is unclear. When we examined the classification of 86 selected drugs in the five countries, we found that the United States required a prescription for more of those drugs than did Australia or the United Kingdom--the study countries using a BTC drug class. However, the United States classified more of the 86 drugs as OTC--the option that provides greatest access to these drugs for consumers--than all four of the other study countries. Pharmacist-, infrastructure-, and cost-related issues would have to be addressed before a BTC drug class could be established in the United States. For example, ensuring that pharmacists provide BTC counseling and that pharmacies have the infrastructure to protect consumer privacy would be important. Issues related to the cost of BTC drugs would also require consideration. For example, the availability of third-party coverage for BTC drugs would affect consumers' out-of-pocket expenditures and pharmacists' compensation for providing BTC services would need to be examined. In commenting on a draft of this report, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) agreed that cost-related issues would have to be addressed before implementing a BTC drug class and also provided technical comments. The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) also reviewed the report and provided technical comments. We have incorporated HHS and VA technical comments as appropriate.
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The American Civil Liberties Union has been involved in more cases before the United States Supreme Court than any other institution except the government. We defend people’s rights in court every day, so we’re not surprised when people ask us for legal advice. In the past weeks, the ACLU of Maine has received numerous questions from college students and staff wanting to know, “Do students have the right to vote?”
The answer is yes, and it has been yes for more than 100 years. It is alarming that anyone would suggest otherwise. However, the road to securing voting rights for students has been a long one.
In 1882, the town of Waterville denied George Sanders the right to vote because of his status as a college student in the town. Sanders sued the town, and the Maine Supreme Judicial Court awarded him $25 in damages for being denied his legal right to vote. The court found that students, including George Sanders, could not be denied the right to vote based on their educational status.
This principle hasn’t changed in more than 100 years. Students have the right to vote where they attend school.
There have been challenges to students’ right to vote along the way. In 1972, the Gorham Board of Registration refused to register students to vote from the University of Maine at Gorham. This time, the parties settled before the suit reached the Maine Supreme Judicial Court, and students were allowed once again to register and vote.
In 1979, a Texas registrar asked students attending a predominantly black college to complete a questionnaire, which included invasive questions about their residency, property ownership and employment status. A lower federal court ruled that requiring students to complete the questionnaire resulted in unequal treatment with respect to those who were able to register and, thus, unlawfully abridged the students’ right to vote. The
U.S. Supreme Court affirmed the lower court’s decision in the case of Symm v. United States (1979).
It isn’t the voting registrar’s business where you are employed, whether you own property, or whether you pay taxes because those issues –- property ownership, taxation, employment –- have nothing to do with the right to vote.
In summary, all legal precedents in Maine and before the United States Supreme Court uphold the right of students to vote. You do not need a voter ID to vote in Maine. Maine has same-day voter registration. You can register on Election Day and vote.
Students have exactly the same rights and obligations under Maine law as all other eligible voters. And directing overt or implied threats about criminal enforcement of other laws to students looking to vote is coercive and misleading, at the least.
Last year, Secretary of State Charlie Summers sent a threatening letter to the homes of parents of more than 200 students attending school in Maine. He enclosed a form designed to “unenroll” students. The ACLU received numerous calls from parents and students alike. We advised them that they have the legal right to vote where they live. Scared of prosecution, more than 100 students decided to fill out the unenrollment form anyway, deciding it was too risky to vote in Maine.
Of those brave students who decided to defy the secretary of state’s letter and vote in Maine in 2011 anyway, not one of them was prosecuted. That’s because not one of them had broken the law. All of them had voted legally in Maine. All of them were then and are now guaranteed the right to vote under the law and the U.S. Constitution.
A family member told me the other day that voting doesn’t matter. I disagree. If it didn’t matter, politicians wouldn’t work so hard to convince certain demographics not to do it. The sad fact is that some politicians don’t want students to vote. But, voting is power in a democracy. So vote if you are unhappy with politicians who say you can’t. Or vote in hope of positive change. Or vote just because you can. The ACLU will be there to defend any attack on your right to do so.
Shenna Bellows is executive director of the ACLU of Maine Foundation.
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NOTE: This is one in a series of posts from my moral theology assignments. They are intended to be brief responses. In many cases, the topics could be extensively explored, but that was not the intent of the assignment.
Much of what Catholics believe has been handed down as part of the lived tradition. In a Catholic cultural tradition, there comes to be a sense of what is of the faith (de fide) and what is not, and what conforms to the doctrines of the faith while not being specifically defined. The “sense of the faithful” is one of the factors guiding the college of bishops and the Holy Father when they attempt to define doctrine: what has been believed always, everywhere, and by everyone. Ashley points out that many dogmas are very clear to the faithful before ever being declared: for example, the dual natures (Divine and human) of Christ defined at the Council of Chalcedon.[i] While eminent theologians such as St. Thomas Aquinas have been hesitant to accept beliefs such as the sinlessness of the Blessed Mother, the people’s devotion convinced the bishops and the Holy Father that this teaching had been held perpetually by the faithful. As with all teaching, according to the guarantee of Jesus in Matthew 29, the Counselor guides the Church in such matters to prevent her from going astray. The Vatican II constitution Lumen Gentium explains: “The whole body of the faithful who have an anointing that comes from the holy one… cannot err in matters of belief” (Lumen Gentium 12).
This is not to say that the faithful cannot be misled or that their sense of the faith cannot become distorted, particularly by the surrounding culture. While the prohibition on contraception has been consistent since the early days of the Church, the secular culture of Western Europe and North America in the 20th century inculcated a greater trust in science than in the Church, which turned many Catholics against the traditional teaching of the Church. When Humanae Vitae was promulgated in 1968 in the midst the sexual revolution, it came under widespread condemnation by many theologians in North America and Europe. The culture that informed the sense of the faithful, in this case, could hardly be described as Catholic, as it came not from the perpetual teaching of the Church but from modern secular culture. In fact, in a largely democratic sphere, the term sensus fidelium gives the impression of majority rule rather than a sense of unified faith—that what the faithful decide is correct for the time is somehow the truth. This belief, of course, is far from the true meaning of sensus fidelium and is more a symptom of Catholics in the West projecting their views on the whole Church.
Lumen Gentium employs the term sensus fidei because it more adequately captures the notion that it is the faith that unites us rather than our secular democratic culture. A citation in Lumen Gentium 12 defines the sensus fidei as “the instinctive sensitivity and discrimination which the members of the Church possess in matters of faith.” In order to have a true sensus fidei, there must be a common Catholic enculturation and faithful instruction in the teachings of the Church. Where this enculturation exists, a true sensus fidei resides.
i. Benedict Ashley, “Moral Theology: Lecture 4B—Lesson 8,” International Catholic University, 27 February 2010, http://home.comcast.net/~icuweb/c00308.htm.
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Pronunciation: (ī"dē-ol'u-jē, id"ē-), [key]
1. the body of doctrine, myth, belief, etc., that guides an individual, social movement, institution, class, or large group.
2. such a body of doctrine, myth, etc., with reference to some political and social plan, as that of fascism, along with the devices for putting it into operation.
a. the study of the nature and origin of ideas.
b. a system that derives ideas exclusively from sensation.
4. theorizing of a visionary or impractical nature.
Random House Unabridged Dictionary, Copyright © 1997, by Random House, Inc., on Infoplease.
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Gabora, L. (2007). Mind. In (R. A. Bentley, H. D. G. Maschner, & C. Chippendale, Eds.) Handbook of Theories and Methods in Archaeology, Altamira Press, Walnut Creek CA, (pp. 283-296).
University of British Columbia
What can relics of the past tell us about the thoughts and beliefs of the people who invented and used them? Recent collaborations at the frontier of archaeology, anthropology, and cognitive science are culminating in speculative but nevertheless increasingly sophisticated efforts to unravel how modern human cognition came about. By considering objects within their archaeological context, we have begun to piece together something of the way of life of people who inhabited particular locales, which in turn reflects their underlying thought processes.
Comparing data between different sites or time periods tells us something about the horizontal (within generation) or vertical (between generations) transmission of material culture. In addition to patterns of transmission of existing kinds of artifacts, we are also interested in novel artifacts that might be indicative of new cognitive abilities, belief structures, or levels of cooperation. An archaeological period marked by the sudden appearance of many kinds of new objects may suggest the onset of enhanced creative abilities. By corroborating archaeological findings with anthropological data (evidence of sudden change in the size or shape of the cranium, for example) with knowledge from cognitive science about how minds function, we can make educated guesses as to what kinds of underlying cognitive changes could be involved, and how the unique abilities of Homo sapiens arose.
In this chapter, we consider three questions about human cognition that can be addressed through archaeological data: (1) How did human culture begin? (2) Where, when, and how did humans acquire the unique cognitive abilities of modern Homo sapiens? and (3) What role do artifacts play in the evolution of these cognitive abilities?
The earliest known artifacts, referred to as Oldowan -- after Olduvai Gorge, Tanzania, where they were first found -- were simple stone tools, pointed at one end (Leakey 1971), and widely associated with Homo habilis, although it is possible that they were also used by late australopithecenes (de Baune 2004). The oldest of these Oldowan tools, from Kada Gona and Kada Hadar, date to approximately 2.5 million years ago (Semaw et al. 1997). The earliest use of stone tools was probably to split fruits and nuts; "the moment when a hominin ...produced a cutting tool by using a thrusting percussion ...marks a break between our predecessors and the specifically human" (de Baune 2004:142). With sharp edges, Lower Palaeolithic tools could be used to sharpen wood implements and occasionally butcher small game. Using the sharp flakes associated with these tools, Homo habilis butchered animals for meat, as these tools are found in context with cut-marked bones at the FLK Zinj site (1.75 Ma) in the Olduvai Gorge (Leakey 1971; Bunn and Kroll 1986). Although it has been debated whether they were scavenging, hunting, or “power scavenging” by scaring carnivores away (e.g., Binford 1977; 1983, 1988; Bunn and Kroll 1986; Selvaggio 1998), it is clear that these hominids were capable of acquiring the richer, more meat-rich portions of a kill (Bunn and Kroll 1986). This may have introduced a positive feedback cycle, in that meat eating, by allowing a smaller gut, provided metabolic support for a larger brain (Aiello and Wheeler 1995) which, in turn, would improve cognitive ability for group hunting using mental landscape maps, interpretation of visual clues such as animal tracks, and knowledge of predator behavior.
With the arrival of Homo erectus by 1.8 Ma, we see sophisticated, task-specific stone hand axes, complex stable seasonal habitats, and long-distance hunting strategies involving large game. The size of the Homo erectus brain was approximately 1,000 cc, about 25% larger than that of Homo habilis, and 75% the cranial capacity of modern humans (Aiello 1996; Ruff et al. 1997; Lewin, 1999). By 1.6 Ma, Homo erectus had dispersed as far as Southeast Asia (Swisher et al. 1994), indicating the ability to migrate and adapt to vastly different climates (Cachel and Harris 1995; Walker and Leakey 1993; Anton and Swisher 2004). In Africa, West Asia, and Europe, Homo erectus carried the Aschulean handaxe, which was present by 1.4 Ma in Ethiopia (Asfaw et al. 1992). A do-it-all tool that may even have had some function as a social status symbol (Kohn and Mithen 1999) these symmetrical biface tools probably required three stages of production, bifacial knapping, and considerable skill and spatial ability to achieve their final form. The handaxe persisted as a tool of choice for over a million years, spreading by 500 ka into Europe, where was it used by H. heidelbergensis until the Mousterian at about 200 ka. This period also marks the first solid evidence for controlled use of fire, by 800 ka in the Levant (Goren-Inbar et al. 2004). A 400,000 year-old, fire-hardened wooden spear found at Schöningen, Germany (Thieme 1997) shows beyond doubt that Middle Pleistocene Homo were sophisticated big-game hunters (Dennell 1997).
By a half million years ago the complexity of Homo culture was already beyond that of any other species (Darwin 1871; Plotkin 1988). What got the ball rolling, enabling the process of enculturation to take hold? One suggestion is a theory of mind (Cheney and Seyfarth 1990; Premack and Woodruff 1978), which refers to the capacity to reason about the mental states of others, such as interpreting the intentions of another through his/her actions. However, there is abundant evidence that many species are capable of social attribution and deception, indicating that theory of mind is not unique to humans (Heyes 1998). Moreover, the invention of tools, taming of fire, and conquering of new habitats could not have been achieved solely through enhanced social skills; it would have required enhanced mastery of the physical environment.
Another suggestion is that culture arose due to onset of the capacity for imitation (Dugatkin 2001; Richerson and Boyd 1998). However, imitation is widespread among animals such as dolphins, dogs, primates, and birds (Bonner 1980; Byrne and Russon 1998; Lynch and Baker 1994; Robert 1990; Smith 1977). Moreover there is no evidence, empirical or theoretical, that imitation-like social learning processes (or simple manipulations of them such as a bias to copy high prestige individuals) are sufficient for cultural evolution. To get the kind of adaptive modification and diversification of stable form found in culture (and biology) requires entities that possess an integrated, self-modifying structure wherein changes to one part percolate to other parts with context-sensitive effects, such that different structures can potentially result. Artifacts, habits, and other socially acquired elements of culture do not on their own possess such a structure.
A third proposal is that Homo underwent a transition from an episodic mode of cognitive functioning to a mimetic mode (Donald 1991). The early hominid, functioning in the episodic mode, was sensitive to the significance of episodes, could encode them in memory, and coordinate appropriate responses, but not voluntarily access them independent of environmental cues. Thus awareness was dominated by what was happening in the present moment. Donald maintains that with encephalization (brain enlargement) Homo acquired the capacity for a ‘self-triggered recall and rehearsal loop’. which basically amounts to the capacity for a stream of thought in which one idea evokes another which evokes another and so forth recursively. This process, sometimes referred to by psychologists as representational redescription (Karmiloff-Smith, 1992), allowed hominds to direct attention away from the external world toward internal thoughts, planned actions, or episodes encoded in memory, and access them at will. This gave rise to a mimetic mode of cognitive functioning. The term comes from the word ‘mime’ or ‘pantomime’, and indeed Donald stresses onset of the ability to act out events that may have occurred in the past or could occur in the future. Thus the mimetic mind is able to not only escape the here and now, but through gesture facilitate a similar temporary escape from the present in other minds. This provided a way of sharing knowledge and experience without language, and may have been our earliest means of cultural transmission. Self-triggered thought also enabled hominids to evaluate and improve skills through repetition or rehearsal.
The mimetic mode rests heavily on the capacity to generate previous or imagined episodes or motor acts and adapt them to the present situation. How might it have come about, and why would it be enhanced by encephalization? To answer this we look briefly at the structure of memory. Episodes etched in memory are distributed across a cell assembly (a bundle of brain cells) that contains many locations, and likewise, each location participates in the storage of many items. Thus the same memory locations get used and reused (neural re-entrance). Each memory location is sensitive to a range of subsymbolic microfeatures: primitive attributes of a stimulus or situation. This kind of architecture is said to be content-addressable because similar or related items activate, and get encoded in, overlapping memory regions. Now imagine a hominid observing various features of the landscape. Memory location A may respond preferentially to lines oriented at say 45 degrees from the horizontal, neighboring location B to lines at a slightly different angle, say 46 degrees, and so forth. However, although A responds maximally to lines of 45 degrees, it responds to a lesser degree to lines of 46 degrees. This kind of organization is referred to as coarse coding. Thus for example, location A participates in the storage of all those memories involving lines at close to 45 degrees, and a particular episode affects not just A but many other locations. We refer to this constellation of locations as the cognitive receptive field (CRF) for that episode.
As brains size increased, CRFs became larger. This enables more fine-grained encoding of episodes in memory, which makes the memory more prone to self-triggered thought. Consider, for example, an episode that involves getting pricked by a thorny cactus. A small brain might encode this episode in terms of a few features (Figure 1a), such as perhaps the pain involved, and some recognizable feature such as its overall shape or color. This would aid avoidance of contact with this cactus in the future, and perhaps similar cacti. However, that would be the extent of this episode’s usefulness. A larger brain, though, might include in the CRF additional features (Figure 1b), such as the sharp point of the thorn. The encoding of an episode constituted by both pointed shape and torn flesh means that there is an association between these properties. Some time later, the need to kill prey may activate the memory locations involved in the encoding of torn flesh, leading to the retrieval of the entire episode, including the pointed shape, and thereby aid in the invention of a spear. Hence the transition from coarse coding, wherein episodes tend to be encoded separately, to fine-grained coding, whereby episodes overlap and can thereby be associated, may have brought the capacity for abstract relationships. Such relationships constitute the stepping stones via which abstract streams of thought occur (through representational redescription), and by which an internal model of the world is acquired and thereafter honed as new information is continually integrated. Abstraction thereby imparts the capacity to reason about anything including, but not limited to, the mental states of others.
Figure 1. (a) Schematic representation of activation of portion of (a) less fine-grained memory, left and (b) more fine-grained memory, right. Each vertex represents a possible memory location. Each black ring represents an actual location. Ring with circle inside represents actual location with previously encoded item. Degree of whiteness indicates degree of activation in current thought, which concerns the need to kill prey for food.
(2) Cognitive Modernity
The European archaeological record suggests that a profound cultural transition occurred between 60,000 and 30,000 ka at the onset of the Upper Paleolithic (Bar-Yosef 1994; Klein 1989a; Mellars 1973, 1989a, 1989b; Soffer 1994; Stringer and Gamble 1993). The Upper Paleolithic has often been referred to as a “revolution”. Considering it “evidence of the modern human mind at work,” Richard Leakey (1984:93-94) describes the Upper Palaeolithic as “unlike previous eras, when stasis dominated, ... [with] change being measured in millennia rather than hundreds of millennia.” Similarly, Mithen (1996) refers to the Upper Paleaolithic as the ‘big bang’ of human culture, exhibiting more innovation than in the previous six million years of human evolution. This marks the beginning of a more organized, strategic style of hunting involving specific animals at specific sites, elaborate burial sites indicative of ritual, the colonization of Australia, and replacement of Levallois tool technology by blade cores in the Near East. In Europe, many forms of art appeared, including naturalistic cave paintings of animals, decorated tools and pottery, bone and antler tools with engraved designs, ivory statues of animals and sea shells, and personal decoration such as beads, pendants, and perforated animal teeth, many of which may have indicated social status (White 1989a, 1989b). White (1982:176) also writes of a “total restructuring of social relations.” Clearly the Upper Palaeolithic was a period of unprecedented cultural change. Was it strictly a cultural explosion, or a major event in the biological evolution of our species? In either case, how and why did it happen?
Although the tradition has been to view the Upper Palaeolithic transition as a “revolution,” a more appropriate null hypothesis might well be that it was not a “revolution” at all, and that Lower and Middle Palaeolithic symbolism should be reassessed without our modern expectations about iconography (Bednarik 1992). Henshilwood and Marean (2003) argue that many of the diagnostic traits (such as art, burial of the dead, personal ornaments, blade technology, complex hearths, and seasonal hunting in harsh environments) used to identify behavioral modernity are based on the European Palaeolithic record and lack relevance to African Stone Age. In fact, models being proposed for the gradual development of cognitive modernity well before the Upper Palaeolithic transition are substantially supported by archaeological evidence (Bahn 1991; Harrold 1992; Henshilwood and Marean 2003; White 1993; White et al. 2003). McBrearty and Brooks (2000), for example, argue that most of the features associated with a rapid transition to behavioral modernity, at 40–50 ka in Europe, are actually found in the African Middle Stone Age tens of thousands of years earlier, including blades and microliths, bone tools, specialized hunting, long distance trade, art and decoration. Some important examples include the Berekhat Ram figurine from Israel (d’Errico and Nowell 2000), and an anthropomorphic figurine of quartzite from the Middle Ascheulian (ca. 400 ka) site of Tan-tan site in Morocco (Bednark 2003).
If modern human behaviors were indeed gradually assembled as early as 250–300 ka, as McBrearty and Brooks (2000) argue, it would push these changes back into alignment with the most recent spurt in human brain enlargement, between 600,000 and 150,000 ka (Aiello 1996; Ruff et al. 1997), well before the Upper Paleolithic. Indeed, an earlier cultural transition might be easier to explain if it coincided with an increase in brain size (Bickerton 1990; Mithen 1998).
As Henshilwood and Marean (2003:630) point out, “there is no anatomical evidence (and there may never be any such evidence) for a highly advantageous neurological change after 50,000 years ago.” What can be gleaned from skeletal anatomy is that many modern behaviors were at least anotomically possible by earlier dates. For example, the hyoid bone (which connects to the larynx) of a Neanderthal from Kebara Cave (63,000 BP) indicates the anatomically capacity for language (Arensburg et. al. 1989), and the inner-ear structures of Middle Pleistocene humans from the Sierra de Atapuerca (ca. 800 ka) is indicative of the capacity to hear language properly (Martinez et al. 2004). Based on skeletal anatomy, we cannot even rule out the possibility that Homo erectus used some sort of pre-syntactic vocal communication (Wynn 1998).
From DNA evidence it now seems very likely, although not indisputable (Eswaran 2002; Wolpoff et al. 2004), that Neanderthals were a separate lineage and not the ancestors of modern humans (Caramelli et al. 2003; Krings et al. 1997; Ovchinnikov et al. 2000; Tattersall 1998). If Neanderthals possessed cognitive abilities on par with modern humans, it would suggest that their abilities evolved independently during their 500,000 years of separate lineage from humans (Mithen 1996:141). Neanderthals had an average brain size of 1,520 cc (Klein 1989b:272), which is actually slightly larger than the modern human average. In Europe from 130 ka until at least 50 ka but possibly 30 ka (Klein 2003), Neanderthals survived glacial cycles with fluctuations in game populations, climate, and plants. Particularly in their hunting of large mammals (Marean and Kim 1998), their knowledge of cave location, hoof prints, animal behavior, and potential carcass locations was essential to their survival.
The technical intelligence of Neanderthals was considerable; the Levallois technique of tool making requires 5 stages and technical thinking throughout the process, such that a fixed set of rules would be insufficient to do it and even most students today can't learn to make a Levallois point (Mithen 1996). Neanderthal burials indicate that they at least occasionally buried their dead, and that the sick and elderly were cared for (Bahn 1998; Bar-Yosef et al. 1986; Klein 2003; Mithen 1996:135). As for an aesthetic sense, whether Neandethals were capable of art has become a hotly debated issue (e.g., Davidson 1992; D’Errico et al. 2003 and associated comments). Bednarik (1992) compiled a list of published evidence for pre-Upper Palaeolithic symbolic behavior, including the use of ochre or hematite, crystal prisms and fossils, perforated portable objects, engraved or notched bone fragments, and rock art. While some (Davidson 1992; Chase and Dibble 1992) considered this evidence to be spread too sparsely over time and continents to show any convincing pattern, certain individual cases beg explanation, with the higher profile cases including the decorated bone from Bilzingsleben (see Mithen 1996:161), or the musical flute of bone from Divje Babe I cave (D’Errico et al. 1998b).
More recently the debate has focused on whether Neanderthals are responsible for the Chatelperronian industry, which appears to be the early Upper Palaeolithic descendent of the Mousterian industry (Klein 1989b:335). The site of Grotte du Renne, Arcy-sur-Cure, dated at about 34,000 BP, where a Neanderthal temporal bone (Hublin et al. 1996) is found near Chatelperronian artifacts, has become central to the debate over Neanderthal’s cognitive capacity for art and symbolism. Based on arguments of the archaeological context within the Grotte du Renne, d'Errico et al. (1998a, 2003) argued that the Chatelperronian ivory beads, pierced bear incisors and wolf canines, and ivory rings were made by Neanderthals, and made distinctively enough so as to not be mere imitations of Aurignacian ornaments made by contemporary modern humans. The Chatelperronian predates the oldest Aurignacian (both stratigraphically and in 14C) almost everywhere they are found (d’Errico et al. 2003; Klein 2003) and that the Chatelperronian lithics show stylistic continuity from the preceding Neanderthal Mousterian. If their argument is true, and the Neanderthals really did make simple bone tools, decorate themselves with perforated animal teeth, and put red ochre on their living floors, then their considerable cognitive capacities would require a reexamination of the causes of cognitive modernity (d’Errico et al. 2003; Mellars 1998b).
It has been hypothesized that modernity arose at different times and places (Bahn 1998; Mellars 1998b), though this has become exceedingly unlikely on the basis of recent genetic evidence (Prugnolle et al. 2005). Another problem with this scenario is the apparently extraordinary coincidence that these Neanderthal behaviors would have begun just as modern humans were spreading into Europe (Demars 1998; Hublin 1998; Mellars 1998a; 1998b; Toscano 1998). If Neanderthals survived in southern Iberia for 5,000 - 10,000 years after the arrival of anatomically modern humans in northern Spain, it seems likely that they imitated the Aurignacian objects of the newcomers, possibly with some (intentional or unintentional) modification (Klein 2003). However, D’Errico et al. (2003) counter that the Iberian Neanderthals maintained their traditional culture long after modern humans arrived, indicating they were not simply acculturated through contact.
Even if we accept biological ability for “modern” behaviors developed gradually over hundreds of thousands of years, the question remains about why the development in these behaviors accelerated at or after 60,000 BP. What is perhaps most impressive about this period is not the novelty of any particular artifact but that the overall pattern of cultural change is cumulative; more recent artifacts resemble older ones but have modifications that enhance their appearance or functionality. This is referred to as the ratchet effect (Tomasello 1993), and it appears to be uniquely human (Donald 1998). It may have involved an underlying biological change, as discussed in below. Note however that many dramatic cultural revolutions, such as the Holocene transition to agriculture or the modern Industrial Revolution, occurred long after the biological changes that made them cognitively possible. Thus all that can be said for certain is that by somewhere within the vicinity of 50,000 or more years ago, the hominid mind had not only had acquired the potential for cognitive modernity, but its environment (social, cultural, and physical) enabled it to capitalize on or actualize that potential.
The traditional and currently dominant view is that modern behavior appeared in Africa between 50,000 and 40,000 years ago and then spread out of Africa from anatomically modern humans who, through their biologically evolved cognitive advantages, replaced the pre-existing species, including the Neanderthals in Europe (e.g., Ambrose 1998; Gamble 1994; Klein 2003; Stringer and Gamble 1993). If so, what were these cognitive advantages, and how did they come together in the modern mind? Let us now review some explanations.
Connection of domain-specific modules: The notion that the mind is modular refers to the view that many cognitive functions are served by innately channeled domain-specific systems, whose operations are largely independent of and inaccessible to the rest of the mind (Fodor, 1983). It has been suggested that what might appear to be unequivocal evidence of modernity might merely reflect the evolution of cognitive competence restricted to particular domains governed by particular modules (e.g. Renfrew and Zubrow, 1994). Another proposal is that modern cognition arose through the connecting of domain-specific brain modules, enabling cross-domain thinking, and particularly analogies and metaphors (Gardner, 1983; Rozin, 1976). Mithen (1996) suggests that in the Upper Paleolithic, modules specialized to cope with domains such as natural history, technology, and social processes became connected, giving rise to conceptual fluidity. One problem with this proposal is that although there is evidence that certain abilities are handled by different modules (e.g. different brain areas specialized for, say, vision and speech), there is no evidence that different modules handle different domains of life e.g. no religion module or tool module. Moreover, the logistics of physically connecting these modules (whose positions in the brain evolved without foreknowledge that they should one day become connected) would be formidable.
Sperber’s (1994) solution is that the modules got connected not directly, but indirectly, by way of a special module, the ‘module of meta-representation’ or MMR, which contains ‘concepts of concepts’. Sperber’s proposal is consistent with there being more general purpose or ‘association cortex’ by the onset of the Upper Palaeolithic, although the timing of this cultural transition does not coincide with the increase in cranium size.
Symbolic Reasoning: Deacon (1997) has suggested that the Upper Paleaolithic ‘revolution’ was due to the emergence of an ability to represent complex, internally coherent abstract systems of meaning, consisting of representations and their properties and relationships. Some of these are grounded in concrete experience, but many are instead processes of systematic abstraction or symbolic reasoning. Thus Deacon’s account focuses on the ability to systematically reason with abstract symbols and thereby derive causal relationships. It does not deal with the intuitive, analogical, associative processes through which we unearth relationships of correlation.
Cognitive Fluidity: In contrast, Mithen (1998) proposes that the cultural transition of the Middle/Upper Paleolithic reflects enhanced cognitive fluidity, resulting in the ability to map, explore, and transform conceptual spaces. Mithen refers to Boden’s (1990) definition of a conceptual space as a ‘style of thinking—in music, sculpture, choreography, chemistry, etc.’ As for why hominids suddenly became good at transforming conceptual spaces, he is rather vague:
There is unlikely to be one single change in the human mind that enabled conceptual spaces to become explored and transformed. Although creative thinking seems to appear suddenly in human evolution, its cognitive basis had a long evolutionary history during which the three foundations evolved on largely an independent basis: a theory of mind, a capacity for language, and a complex material culture. After 50,000 years ago, these came to form the potent ingredients of a cognitive/social/material mix that did indeed lead to a creative explosion (Mithen 1998:186).
Although the capacity for a theory of mind, language, and complex artifacts could conceivably have arisen at different times, it is hard to imagine how each could have evolved independently. It is possible they have a common cause fact; a single, small change within a complex interconnected system can have enormous consequences (Bak et al. 1988; see also chapter 15 of this volume by Bentley and Maschner). The possibility that the Upper Paleolithic revolution was triggered by a small cognitive change is consistent with scientific understanding of abrupt phase transitions and with the sudden ‘breakthroughs’ that appear in the archeological record back to the Lower Palaeolithic (de Baune 2004; Tattersall 2003). However, Mithen’s basic point—that it is related to the capacity to explore and transform conceptual spaces—holds promise. A similar proposal is that it was due to onset of the capacity to blend concepts, which greatly facilitated the weaving of experiences into stories or parables (Fauconnier and Turner 2002). The question we are left with is: what sort of change in cognitive functioning would enhance the blending of concepts and exploration of conceptual spaces?
Contextual focus: The above proposals for what kind of cognitive change could have led to the Upper Paleolithic transition stress different aspects of cognitive modernity. Acknowledging a possible seed of truth in each of them we begin to converge toward a common (if more complex) view. Conceptual blending is characteristic of associative thought, which is quite different from the logical, analytic thought stressed by Deacon. The modern human mind excels at both. Hence the Paleolithic transition may reflect a fine-tuning of the genetics underlying the capacity to subconsciously shift between these modes, depending on the situation, by varying the specificity of the activated cognitive receptive field (Gabora 2003). This is referred to as contextual focus because it requires the ability to focus or defocus attention in response to the situation or context. Defocused attention, by diffusely activating a diversity of memory locations, is conducive to associative thought; obscure (but potentially relevant) properties of the situation thus come into play (Figure 2a). Focused attention is conducive to analytic thought because memory activation is constrained enough to zero-in and specifically operate on the most defining properties (Figure 2b). Thus in an analytic mode of thought, the concept ‘giant’ might only activate the specific concept of bigness, whereas in an associative mode of thought, the giants of various fairytales might come to mind. Once it was possible to shift between these modes of thought, cognitive processes requiring either analytic thought (e.g. mathematical derivation), associative thought (e.g. poetry) or both (e.g. technological invention) could be carried out more effectively.
Figure 2. (a) Schematic representation of region of memory activated and retrieved from during (a) associative thought, left and (b) analytic thought, right. The activation function is flat in associative thought and spiky in analytic thought. Encoded items in memory locations in whitened region blend to generate next instant of thought.
When we take into account how memory works, the lag between the second rapid increase in brain size approximately 500,000 years ago, and the cognitive transition of the Upper Paleolithic begins to make sense. A larger brain provided more space for episodes to be encoded, but it doesn’t follow that this increased space could straightaway be optimally navigated. There is no reason to expect that information from different domains would immediately be compatible enough to coexist in a stream of thought, as in the production of a metaphor. It is reasonable that once the brain achieved sufficient capacity for modern cognition, it took time to fine-tune how its components ‘talk’ to each other such that different items could be blended together and recursively revised (and recoded) in a coordinated manner. Only then could the full potential of the large brain be realized. Thus the bottleneck may not have been sufficient brain size but sufficient sophistication in the use of the memory already available, which could have come about through onset of contextual focus. With it the modern mind could both (1) intuitively combine concepts, and adapt old concepts to new contexts, and (2) logically analyze these new representations and how they fit together. Together these abilities would lead to the development of more fine-grained internal model of the world, which through language could be expressed and revised. Hence it may not be language per se that made the difference, as Bickerton (1990, 1996) maintained, but rather capacity to shift between analytic and associative processing --- such that the fruits of one mode provide the ingredients for the other --- that not only made language possible, but other aspects of the cultural life of modern humans such as art, science, and religion as well.
The cumulative nature of artifact change since the Middle Paleolithic tempts one to refer to culture as an evolution process. Like organisms, artifacts become more complex, more finely honed, and more adapted to the constraints and affordances they impose on one another over time. They also create niches for one another; for example, the invention of cars created niches for seatbelts and gas stations. However, artifacts do not evolve by means of a genetic code, and do not change through a process of random mutation and natural selection. So culture does not evolve in the same sense as biological organisms. In this section we examine in what sense the word evolution applies to artifact change.
As discussed by Bentley and Maschner in chapter 10 of this volume, “evolutionary archaeology” (EA) is one school among an array of evolutionary approaches that attempt to analyze culture change in terms of concepts borrowed from population genetics such as selection or drift -- changes in the relative frequencies of variants through random sampling from a finite population (O’Brien 1996, 2005; O’Brien and Lyman; for critiques see Boone and Smith, 1998; Gabora, 2006). EA distinguishes itself from other evolutionary approaches by its strong maintenance that artifacts constitute part of an organism’s phenotype (defined in biology as the physical manifestation of an organism’s genotype) and should be subjected to the same kind of analysis as other phenotypic traits. O’Brien and Lyman (2004: 179) see human artifacts as phenotypic in the biological sense, analogous to “a bird’s next, a beaver’s dam, or a chimpanzee’s twig tools as phenotypic traits.” However, their assumption, that heritable behavior is the major determinant in the form of a human-made artifact, is rather easily falsified. Colin Renfrew (1982) succinctly characterized the difference between adaptations that are accumulated genetically and adaptations that are passed on culturally:
The genetic inheritance, itself the product of environmental selection, may itself be regarded as environmental ‘memory’... humans [are not] alone in communicating [their experience of the environment] to others of the species: the dance of the bees, where individuals can indicate the direction and distance of suitable supplies of pollen, fulfils precisely this function. The essence of human culture, however, is that it is an ‘acquired characteristic’, which, unlike the dance of the bees, is not genetically determined (Renfrew 1982:18).
As Renfrew points out, much of human culture is not genetically determined, meaning that it can evolve in a Lamarckian fashion by inheriting acquired characteristics. Beaver dams and bird’s nests, however, cannot evolve this way: if a particular beaver were taught, perhaps by humans, to build a window in its dam, and its offspring still built normal windowless dams, we would see that only the dam, and not the window, belongs in the beaver’s biological phenotype, to be passed on via genetic inheritance.
Culture has many attributes of an evolutionary process. That is, phenomena such as transmission and drift can operate on cultural variants themselves regardless of the Darwinian (genetic) evolution among humans who carry these variants. In computer simulations (see Costopolous, chapter 16 of this volume), culture evolves through drift or a combination of invention and imitation, without genomes at all (e.g., Gabora 1995; Neiman 1995; Madsen et al. 1999; Bentley et al. 2004). But although culture has attributes of an evolutionary process, it does not operate through the same underlying mechanisms as biology. When it comes to human-made artifacts, inheritance of acquired characteristics is not just the exception but the rule. Once we learned how to build dwellings with windows, dwellings with windows were here to stay. Something is happening through culture that is prohibited in biology.
Some cultural theorists assume that the basic units of this second evolution process are mental representations or ideas, or the tangible products that result from them such as artifacts, language and so forth (Aunger, 2000; Durham, 1991; Lake, 1998). Sometimes these elements of culture are referred to as ‘memes’, a term that usually implies that they are not only basic elements of culture but also replicators: entities that make copies of themselves (Dawkins 1976). What does that entail? The mathematician and computer scientist John von Neumann (1966) postulated that a replicator, or ‘self-replicating automaton,’ could be code consisting of (1) a description of itself, or self-description, and (2) a set of self-assembly instructions. After it is passively copied from one replicant, the self-description is actively deciphered via the self-assembly instructions to build the next replicant. In this case, the code functions as interpreted information. Interpreting the code makes a body, while the uninterpreted use of the code makes something that can itself make a body. In biology, the DNA code is copied—without interpretation—to produce new strands of DNA during meiosis. In successful gametes these DNA strands are decoded—interpreted—to synthesize the proteins necessary to construct a body. However, an artifact (or idea) is not a replicator because it does not consist of self-assembly instructions. It may retain structure as it passes from one individual to another. But it does not replicate it. Like a broadcast signal received by a radio, an idea has no self-assembly code and needs external apparatus to be replicated – it cannot self-replicate in the biological sense. Thus the meme perspective is widely believed to be flawed.
Essentially assuming that von Neumann’s definition holds for cultural information, Lake (1998) differentiates between its expression versus its symbolically coded representation. Speaking aloud or singing, for example, both express what is represented by a text or written musical score. Singing expresses what can be represented by written music. However neither expression nor representation is equivalent to interpretation or (uninterpreted) copying of a self-assembly code. A musical score does not, on its own, produce little copies of itself. Symbolic coding is not enough to be a replicator; there must be a coded representation of the self. In sum then, artifacts are not replicators and not the basic unit of an evolutionary process.
This does not mean however that nothing in culture is a replicator. Another possibility is that the modern mind itself constitutes a replicator. Not a von Neumann replicator, which replicates with high fidelity using self-assembly instructions as described above, but a primitive replicator (Gabora 2004), which replicates in an autopoietic sense.An autopoietic structure is one in which the parts reconstitute one another and thus the structure as a whole is self-mending or self-replicating. For example, Kauffman (1993) proposed that the earliest life forms were autopoietic; that is, that pre-DNA life initially replicated through a process in which simple molecules each catalyze the reaction that generates some other molecule in the set and thus as a whole they self-replicate. The proposal arose in response to the well-known ‘chicken and egg’ problem: which came first, the nucleotides that make up a genetic self-assembly code which through transcription and translation leads to proteins, or the proteins that are necessary to many stages of the transcription/translation process? His answer is neither; a sloppy form of self-replication is possible without any code.
Kauffman’s proposal draws upon the topological notion of a closure space: a set of points sufficiently connected such that it is possible to get from any one point to another by following the edges (connections) between them. Closure can be visualized as follows. Imagine you spill a jar full of buttons on the floor. You tie two randomly chosen buttons with a thread, and repeat this again and again. Occasionally you lift a button and see how many connected buttons get lifted, and you find that clusters start to emerge. When the ratio of strings to buttons reaches about 0.5, you pass a threshold where, suddenly, a giant cluster of connected buttons forms, containing most of the buttons. The giant cluster is a closure space because any two buttons within it are connected through strings and other buttons. With primitive replicators the chicken-and-egg problem is solved because self-replication occurs through happenstance interactions of molecules more primitive than either DNA or proteins. Since replication proceeds not through following a code but through happenstance interactions, inheritance of acquired characteristics is possible, and replication has a low fidelity because of it.
Similarly, it is proposed that the enculturated modern human mind constitutes a primitive replicator that emerges through a self-organized process of conceptual closure (Gabora, 2000; Gabora and Aerts 2005). Indeed an analogous paradox arises in considerations of the origin of cultural evolution as arose in consideration of the origin of biological evolution. We know that a mind is not just a collection of imitated cultural elements but an integrated model of how different aspects of experience relate to one another, or worldview. But this leads to the following chicken-and-egg situation: Until memories are woven into a worldview, how can they generate the remindings and associations that constitute a stream of thought? Conversely, until a mind can generate streams of thought, how does it integrate memories into a worldview? How could something composed of complex, mutually dependent parts come to be?
Much as in biology, the chicken-and-egg paradox can be resolved by applying the concept of closure. To apply the concept of closure to cognition, episodes in memory are represented as points (buttons), associative paths between them as edges (strings), and concepts as clusters of connected points. Retrieval of an item from memory evokes another retrieval, which, in turn, evokes yet another. This increases the density of associative paths, and the probability of concept formation. Concepts facilitate streams of thought, which forge connections between more distantly related clusters. The ratio of associative paths to concepts increases until it becomes almost inevitable that a giant cluster emerges and the episodes form a connected closure space. Eventually for any one episode or concept there exists a possible associative path to any other, and together they constitute an integrated conceptual web.
The idea is that, like the self-organized autocatalytic sets postulated to be the earliest forms of life, a mind reach a stage in which it is conceptually integrated when it becomes a primitive replicator. Integrated structure enables it to reason about one thing in terms of another, adapt ideas to new circumstances, frame new experiences in terms of previous ones, or combine information from different domains (as what happens with a joke). It should be stressed that it is not the presence of but the capacity for an integrated worldview that the human species came to possess. An infant may be born predisposed toward conceptual integration, but the process must begin anew in each young mind. The manner in which a worldview replicates is not all-at-once but piecemeal, through social exchange, often mediated by artifacts. Worldviews are therefore not so much replaced by as transformed into (literally) more evolved ones. Like cutting a fruit at different angles exposes different parts of its interior, different situations expose different facets of a mind, and the production of artifacts is one way a mind reveals its current evolutionary state. The process is emergent rather than dictated by self-assembly instructions, and therefore characteristics acquired over a lifetime are heritable. One individual modifies the basic idea of a cup by giving it a flat enough bottom to stay put when not in use, and another individual adds a handle, making it easier to grasp. With each instantiation, the basic idea remains the same but the details change to make it more useful or adapted to specific needs.
Thus while brains were evolving through biological evolution, integrated minds began evolving through cultural evolution. The associative or relational structure of the mind manifests as a capacity to define one element in terms of others, predict how a change to one element will affect another, compare the present state of an idea or artifact with its previous state, or desired state, and thereby refine or improve it. Two necessary steps toward conceptual closure would have been (1) that representations were sufficiently distributed to allow concept formation and self-cued retrieval, and (2) that contextual focus enabled the capacity to shift between associative thought (conducive to bridging domains) and analytical thought (conducive to logical operations within a domain). Thus the notion of conceptual closure fits well with the explanations put forth to underlie the two cultural transitions examined earlier, though at present this is speculative.
In contradiction to the meme perspective, neither a painting nor the ideas that went through the artist’s mind while painting it constitute a replicator. Instead, a painting reveals some aspect of the artist’s mind (which is a primitive replicator) and thereby affects the minds (other replicators) of those who admire it. As minds become increasingly complex, the artifacts they manifest become increasingly complex, which necessitates even more complex cognitive structure, et cetera. This suggests that artifacts are not the basic unit of either biological or cultural evolution, but that they a crucial if indirect role in the evolution of the integrated mind.
As Renfrew (1982) suggests, artifacts function as external memory storage, which affects both the biological and cultural fitness of their makers and users (see also Donald 1991, 2001). Retrieving information from the depiction of bison on a cave wall or calendrical notches in a log is not so different from retrieving knowledge from memory. Note that elements of the natural world functioned as a form of memory long before there were symbolic artifacts; a look of disapproval on a mother’s face could remind a child not to eat a poisonous mushroom as readily as retrieval of a memory of doing this and getting sick. The look on the mother’s face is not a material artifact, yet it functions as an external memory source, in much the same way as notches in a log. This corresponds to Clark and Chalmers’ (1998) extended mind perspective, in which individual experience is woven together through interaction between the internal and external world, and in which the brain and its social cultural environment co-evolve, mutually provoking change in one another (Deacon, 1997; Durham, 1991; Lumsden and Wilson, 1981).
There are many ways in which human cognition differs from that of other species, such as our ability to generate and understand complex languages and other symbolic structures appearing in art, science, politics, and religion. The appearance of stone tools (2.5 Ma), strategic big game hunting (1.6 Ma), controlled fire use (0.8 Ma), and complex habitats suggests that prior to the onset of complex language and symbolism, hominid cognition already differed profoundly from that of other species. It has been suggested that this reflects onset of the capacity to imitate, or onset of a theory of mind enabling attribution of mental states to others. However, since these abilities are also present in other social species, a more likely suggestion is that it reflects onset of the capacity for self-triggering of thoughts or motor patterns such that one evokes the next. This underlies abilities ranging from refinement of skills for tool production to enactment of events. A plausible explanation for how it came about is that encephalization enabled mental representations of events and skills to become more broadly distributed and thus the resulting memory was more fine-grained, facilitating the retrieval or reminding events that recursively reiterated constitute a self-triggered thought process.
Many, but not all, archaeologists believe that these distinctly human abilities likely arose about fifty thousand years ago, or perhaps somewhat earlier, during the Middle/Upper Paleolithic. Although encephalization has been occurring throughout the last two million years, a second spurt occurred between 600,000 and 150,000 ka, well before the cultural transition of the Middle/Upper Paleolithic. Thus this second cultural transition cannot be attributed to something so simple as the sudden appearance of a ‘language module’; a feasible explanation must involve not new brain parts or increased memory but a more sophisticated way of using the available memory. The advent of language or symbol use may be part of the answer, but begs the question what sort of cognitive functioning is capable of producing and using language or symbols. A more in-depth examination of spatiotemporal patterns in the archaeological record, however, reveals not just the pronounced appearance symbolic artifacts, but evidence that they build on one another in cumulative fashion; that is, exhibit the ratchet effect. Indeed some believe this to be the most distinctly human characteristic of all. It is indicative of conceptual fluidity, which involves combining ideas in new ways and adapting old ideas to new circumstances, and requires both the complex mental operations characteristic of analytic thought, and the intuitive, analogical processes characteristic of associative thought. Thus it has been proposed that culture was brought about by onset of the capacity to adapt others' ideas to ones' own circumstances, and this requires (1) an integrated internal model of the world, and (2) a sophisticated way of navigating that model of the world, such that relationships can be retrieved and creatively elaborated. This provides a possible cognitive explanation for the explosion of task-specific decorated tools, beads, pottery, and so forth during the Middle/Upper Paleolithic: they reflect onset of the capacity to spontaneously shift between these two forms of thought depending on the situation. Together, analytical thought allowing calculation within a domain, and associative thought forging connections amongst seemingly disparate domains. This paved the way for episodes encoded in memory to become integrated through the formation of a dynamical network of concepts to yield a self-modifying internal model of the world.
The last section of this chapter looked at the relationship between minds, artifacts, and evolution. Evolutionary archaeologists view artifacts as part of the human phenotype, which increase biological fitness through their functionality. However we saw that although there may be a genetic component to the capacity to produce a well-crafted artifact it is not the only or even dominant influence; culture appears to play a formidable role. We also saw that artifacts themselves do not constitute replicators, and are thus not the basic unit of a cultural evolution process. However it is possible that integrated worldviews evolve in the same primitive sense as the first living organisms, through an emergent, self-organized process, resulting in a structure that can be mathematically described as a closure structure. Because no self-assembly code is involved, the evolution of such emergent structures is Lamarckian; acquired characteristics are inherited.
In this brief chapter it has been possible only to sketch out some ideas about the evolution of human cognitive abilities. We have a long way to go before we arrive at a complete picture, but it is an exciting journey ahead.
I would like to acknowledgement the support of Foundation for the Future. I would also like to thank Alex Bentley for many helpful comments and additions, and Merlin Donald for comments on portions of this chapter.
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Liane Gabora, Department of Psychology, University of British Columbia
Okanagan campus, 3333 University Way, Kelowna BC, V1V 1V7, CANADA
In neural net terms, contextual focus amounts to the capacity to spontaneously and subconsciously vary the shape of the activation function, flat for associative thought and spiky for analytical.
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Will We See a Global Climate Change Agreement in 2015?
Warsaw talks forge a murky path towards an international climate pact at COP-21
Last week, government delegates and climate activists wrapped up the 19th round of United Nations international climate negotiations in Warsaw, Poland. And though the talks may not have accomplished all that climate activists hoped for, many participants remain optimistic that a meaningful climate change agreement is on the horizon.
Photo by Shubert Ciencia
The goal going into Warsaw was to create a roadmap outlining the necessary steps for the adoption of an international climate agreement in 2015, and implementation of the agreement in 2020.
“The three [primary] aspects of the roadmap are the clarification of the legal form in which countries will make their pledges, the amount of money that will be available to support actions in developing countries and how that will be dispersed to different countries, and the actual pledges countries will make,” explains Tom Athanasiou, executive director of EcoEquity, an Earth Island Institute project. “And there are two kinds of pledges: there are finance pledges and there are emissions reductions pledges.”
While negotiators didn’t expect countries to make concrete emissions reductions commitments in Warsaw, they hoped to make progress on the legal form of pledges and the financial aspects of the agreement. So, did the climate talks succeed in this regard?
“The roadmap was an important part of what we were hoping for,” says Lou Leonard, vice president of the climate change program at World Wildlife Fund. “Rather than a roadmap, I think we got kind of a vague sense of direction, but certainly not with the clarity that would really be ideal in order for countries to know what is expected of them when they put another set of commitments on the table.”
The ambiguity surrounding the legal form of pledges has broad implications. Currently, there are no guidelines regarding how countries will provide information on their intended emissions reductions contributions, whether and how countries must explain the fairness of their contributions, or how their contributions should be evaluated and reviewed. As of yet, there is also no firm deadline by which countries must make their pledges.
With respect to finance for low-income countries, Warsaw also fell flat. Several mechanisms, including the Green Climate Fund and the Adaptation Fund, have been established in previous negotiations to address financial components of the framework. Unfortunately, financial commitments by wealthy countries have so far been inadequate.
“The plumbing is all in,” says Athanasiou, referring to the financial mechanisms that have been developed over the past two decades. “Now the question is whether there will be money in the pipes. Countries aren’t coming up with the money.”
While gaps remain with respect to emissions reductions pledges and financial contributions, Warsaw did bring some progress.
For one thing, negotiators developed an international mechanism to provide assistance and expertise to developing nations facing loss and damage from climate change. The mechanism, which has yet to be fine-tuned, represents an important step towards addressing the impacts of climate change on the world’s most vulnerable populations.
Additionally, progress was made on the issue of deforestation. The United States, Norway and the United Kingdom pledged $280 million to the Warsaw Framework for REDD+, money that will be allocated to countries able to show that they are reducing carbon emissions by curbing deforestation.
Given the challenges presented in Warsaw, what are the chances that we will see a meaningful climate agreement in 2015?
On this issue, opinions are mixed. Christiana Figueres, executive secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate change told reporters: “[Warsaw] keeps us on track for [negotiations in Lima and Paris], and certainly on track for the 2015 agreement.
Leonard disagrees. “We are off track. I don’t think that means we can’t get there, it just means it’s a lot harder than we had hoped…and it is a lot harder to see us getting to a final agreement in Paris.”
Warsaw may not have lived up to expectations, but it wasn’t completely ineffective either. With strong leadership from the governments of Peru and France, which will host the 2014 and 2015 climate negotiations respectively, there is still hope for international action on this complex issue. “I think we still have a chance in 2015,” says Leonard. “We can’t give up on it because we absolutely need this agreement.”
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07/28/2006 21:03 Filed in: Faith & Reason
Above: Modern-day Israel with Lebanon to the north.
Currently, Israel and Lebanon are at war, but there was a time in ancient history that the region had strong alliances.
Consider the following, mostly from the 10th Century BC:
1. Multi-generational alliances: 1 Sam 5:11; 1 Kings 5:1.
2. Worker-exchange programs: 1 Kings 5:13-14; 7:14.
3. Free trade of food and resources: 1 Kings 5:10-11.
4. Contributions to Israel's religious life: 1 Kings 5:6-18
5. Contributions to Lebanese building projects: 1 Kings 9:19
6. Political marriage unions: 1 Kings 16:31 (although this would not prove positive for Israel)
7. Resources for Jerusalem's reconstruction: Ezra 3:7 (5th Century BC).
Below: Trade routes in Solomon’s time, showing principal imports and their sources.
So, what the heck happened?
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Saturday, November 10, 2012
When : Always November 10th
USMC Day celebrates the birth of the United States Marine Corps. The Marine Corps were created during the Revolutionary War.
The Continental Congress of the newly created United States of America, authorized the creation of the Continental Marines on November 10, 1775. It was later renamed the U.S. Marine Corps. It is often abbreviated as USMC.
The Marine Corps has proudly participated in every war that has involved the United States.
If you see a Marine today, thank them for their contributions to protecting our country. Active or retired, they deserve our thanks and appreciation.
My Marine, my youngest son, Paul.
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The months between May and August are particularly critical when it comes to drowning. It's the height of swim season when children are out splashing around. Which is why experts encourage parents and caregivers to focus on drowning prevention.
Mom Amy Saracino saw how quickly a child could fall victim. "My older son when he was small, probably three or four like she is, just walked into a common pool area, and fell in" Now she keeps a close eye on her four year old daughter.
Every year in the state of Florida, the equivalent of three preschool classrooms drown. It's the leading cause of death in children under the age of five.
Lee Memorial Hospital's Alex Daneshmand works in pediatric critical care and is called on to treat children, "In one instant they're happy, healthy, having fun, and then and you look hours later and we're unfortunately providing them resuscitation to keep them alive." He advocates using layers of protection, beginning with supervision. "If they're around a body of water we would like the parents to remember somebody needs to be designated to be watching them." he says. "We call them water watchers."
Other lines of defense are pool gates, alarms and having an emergency plan including CPR. "By creating these barriers, creating these obstacles around the pool and having these plans around you can prevent these deathss perhaps" he says.
Together they build layers of protection that can safeguard children from drowning.
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The Three Layers of Lighting Design Explained
When decorating the interior of a space, lighting – one of the most important elements of interior design – is often neglected. Having stylish furniture in a room that’s been feng shui-ed to your heart’s desire won’t have nearly the same effect if the only illumination you’re using is a single table lamp or wall sconce. Just as an interior designer would layer colors or fabric, lighting designers use three layers of light – ambient, accent, and task lighting – to enhance a room’s visual appeal.
Why is Layered Lighting Important?
Have you ever been inside a department store dressing room or a dim restaurant bathroom and wondered why the reflection you’re looking at seems less than appealing? It may be because these locations tend to lack multiple layers of lighting, causing unflattering shadows instead of even washes of light. While having all three layers of lighting in public restrooms and dressing rooms isn’t always considered a priority, it should be when it comes to your own home and any other area where a balanced and comfortable ambiance is desired.
The Three Lighting Layers
So that you can get a good idea of how to use ambient, accent, and task lighting in your own home, we’ll break each of these layers down by explaining their function and what kind of light source or fixtures can be used to create them:
1. Ambient Lighting
The ambient lighting layer could also be referred to as the “general lighting” layer. Ambient lighting should give your room overall illumination that provides an adequate visual of the entire area. Typically, ambient lighting is created by ceiling light fixtures such as recessed lights, troffers and panels commonly used in commercial lighting, or large overhead fixtures like pendants or chandeliers. This type of general lighting is typically uniform and, dare we say, boring. That’s why the next two layers of light are crucial in lighting design.
2. Accent Lighting
The second layer of light is known as the accent lighting layer. This layer can also be referred to as the “decorative” layer because it allows you to highlight points of interest in your interiors such as architecture, artwork, or anything other features that can’t be made more prominent just with ambient lighting. Types of fixtures typically used for accent lighting include wall sconces, track lighting, uplighting, and even LED tape lighting installed in coves and under counters for toe-kick lighting.
3. Task Lighting
As you might have guessed, task lighting, the final layer of lighting design, provides illumination for specific tasks performed in an area. When choosing light for this particular layer, you should first evaluate what is done in that designated area. For example, if you typically read in your favorite chair near the bookshelf, you may want a floor lamp or swing arm sconce for better reading light. Commonly used task lights are table and floor lamps, desk lamps, under cabinet lighting, bathroom vanity lighting, and pendant lighting above smaller areas such as a kitchen island, the one shown in the picture to the right
Now that we've explained the three layers of lighting design, this doesn't mean that you have to use separate fixtures for each layer when choosing your own lighting. Some fixtures can function as two layers of lighting at the same time. For instance, downlights can be used as both general illumination and accent lighting. Similarly, a wall sconce can be used as both accent and task lighting.
Do you have any questions about the best way to use layered lighting in your home? Leave us a comment or send us your question via Facebook, Twitter, Google Plus, Pinterest, or LinkedIn!
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"A Close Reading of the Common Core Writing Standards"
This presentation was conducted on June 12, 2013 to provide school trainers with a better understanding of the Common Core Writing Standards# These resources should be used to provide ALL teachers with knowledge and tools to implement writing into EVERY classroom#
Complete list of grade level standards that show vertical progression.
These are research projects that were compiled by teachers who attended the training# The projects cover all disciplines and grades, providing non-ELA teachers with ideas as to how they can provide research opportunities in their classroom that include writing#
Created and compiled by NCDPI, the content found under the Writing Tab provides instructional resources for teachers to use in implementing CCS Writing Standards# These resources can also be used for teacher trainings#
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Moving is common. Lots of people move each year! But exactly how many people move, when do they move and why do they move? Here are some interesting facts about moving:
How often do people move?
- The average Americans move about 12 times in their lifetime.
How many people move each year?
- An estimated 43 million Americans relocate each year.
Why do people move?
- About 40% of all moves are due to work, 42% are personal moves and 18% are military or government relocations.
What about renters?
- 33% of renters move each year.
Who moves more?
- People in the Northeast part of the US move the least, while those in the West move the most.
What does a mover look like?
- The average mover is part of a couple between the ages of 25 and 44 with one or two kids between 2 and 11.
When do people move?
- Nearly half of all moves take place in the summer, between the beginning of May and Labor Day.
Sources: U.S. Census Bureau; American Moving and Storage Association; moving.com
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<urn:uuid:1122b049-d5c9-4ad1-8950-c1972524b074>
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http://www.golansmoving.com/seven-interesting-moving-facts-and-statistics
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| 0.947488 | 236 | 2.75 | 3 |
The Plastic Bank’s Open Sourced Extruder
The Plastic Bank is an organization designed to remove plastic waste from the world’s oceans, beaches and waterways while empowering people living in poverty to raise their standard of living.
To achieve this goal The Plastic Bank is releasing their first version of a recyclebot – a plastic extruder that makes valuable 3D printing filament from waste plastic. Unlike other recyclebots, The Plastic Bank Extruder v1.0 is an industrial waste plastic/ocean plastic extruder designed for heavy use. The Plastic Bank is providing all of the plans as open hardware.
“By open-sourcing the designs for The Plastic Bank Extruder, The Plastic Bank has established themselves as leaders in the rapidly growing ethical filament space. As people lift themselves out of poverty using The Plastic Bank model, having this technology freely available for others to replicate throughout the world is an enormous benefit.” said Joshua Pearce, Associate Professor of Materials Science and Engineering at Michigan Tech University.
The full bill of materials, assembly and operation instructions are housed on Appropedia.
To learn more about The Plastic Bank’s Extruder and 3D printing technology, please watch the video below.
About The Plastic Bank:
The Plastic Bank is turning plastic waste into a currency to help reduce global poverty and plastic waste. It is setting up exchange centers for plastic waste in areas that have a high amounts of poverty and plastic pollution. The Plastic Bank’s mandate is to provide a ladder of opportunity for the worlds poor to ascend from poverty by providing a reliable income and access to education, opportunities and 3D printing services. The exchange process for our recycled “Social Plastic®” improves the life of a disadvantaged person while cleaning our planet. The goal of The Plastic Bank is to lead the movement towards a worldwide demand for the use of Social Plastic® in everyday products. The higher the demand becomes, the greater the social impact towards helping the world’s poor. Much of the world’s ocean plastic starts on land in developing countries. The Plastic Bank has created a system to prevent ocean bound plastic waste from being dumped into oceans, rivers and waterways by making it too valuable to throw away.
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<urn:uuid:8dd0abdf-fdaf-4fec-983b-5c9decb3ca49>
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CC-MAIN-2016-26
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http://plasticbank.org/extruder/
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| 0.925021 | 456 | 2.9375 | 3 |
Defining gastrocnemius length in ambulant children
Eames, NWA, Baker, RJ and Cosgrove, AP 1997, 'Defining gastrocnemius length in ambulant children' , Gait and Posture, 6 (1) , pp. 9-17.
- Published Version
Restricted to Repository staff only
Download (1MB) | Request a copy
This paper describes a system to calculate gastrocnemius muscle length from three dimensional kinematic gait data and anthropometric measurements of children taken from MRI scans. As well as describing the simple model that may be applied to existing gait data, the anthropometric data for 15 able-bodied children is presented. The model is then used to describe gastrocnemius muscle lengths and the effect of different pathologies on muscle lengths by looking at cohorts of able-bodied children, children with a hemiplagic or diplegic pattern of cerebral palsy, a child undergoing tendo Achilles lengthening and a child with burns to his lower limbs. The results show the importance of using muscle lengths as part of a clinical assessment and the need to take the effects of skeletal growth into account when developing models for use in a paediatric population.
|Themes:||Health and Wellbeing|
|Schools:||Schools > School of Health Sciences|
|Journal or Publication Title:||Gait and Posture|
|Depositing User:||RH Shuttleworth|
|Date Deposited:||07 Jul 2011 11:16|
|Last Modified:||30 Nov 2015 23:51|
Actions (login required)
|Edit record (repository staff only)|
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<urn:uuid:19cd2434-0bca-48e3-95f7-9c07bb0e5e71>
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CC-MAIN-2016-26
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http://usir.salford.ac.uk/16597/
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| 0.834042 | 353 | 2.796875 | 3 |
In this experiment a process of chromatography was used to separate chlorophyll a, chlorophyll b, xanthophyll, and beta carotene. When these pigments were obtained they were used to measure the wavelengths by way of spectrophotometer of each and the total of all the pigments wavelength. Introduction
Photosynthesis is a process by which plants use the sunlight to convert it from light energy into chemical energy. This equation shows us how it is done, 6CO2 + 6H2O + light energy --> C6H12O6 + 6O2. The pigments called chlorophylls in the plants are what trap the light energy. Carotenoids also help aid the chlorophylls by also absorbing light. The two chlorophylls found in green plants are chlorophyll a and chlorophyll b. The purpose of this lab is to extract the pigments from spinach leaves and separate them by using chromatography to determine each of the pigments absorption spectra. Methods and Materials
For this experiment I used a 10mL pipette, a 100mL graduated cylinder, a rubber stopper, chromatography paper, forceps, cuvettes, spinach leaves, hexane-acetone, acetone, and the spectrophotometer to record the wavelength.
To start the experiment I first pipette 10mL of hexane-acetone into a 100mL graduated cylinder and put the rubber stopper on to prevent any of the solution from evaporating. While letting the hexane-acetone set I then prepared my chromatography strip but first cutting it to 20 centimeters and then cutting one end to a point. Then I used 2-3 spinach leaves and a quarter to leave a green residue line containing the pigments of the spinach leaves. I then inserted the strip with the spinach pigments into the cylinder I prepared earlier with the hexane-acetone. When the chromatography strip was properly into the cylinder I then put the rubber stopper onto the cylinder checking the progress of how far the solvent moved every 5 minutes. After 20 minutes the solvent reached to about 1 cm...
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<urn:uuid:98a3b0a9-450f-4381-a137-dacdb6c5d9ec>
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http://www.studymode.com/essays/Chromatography-Of-Photosynthetic-Pigments-1648597.html
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| 0.91096 | 434 | 3.734375 | 4 |
GIS on the Chester attended the Upper Chester River Pilot Watershed meeting a few weeks ago. Representatives from a range of organizations were in attendance, including the University of Maryland, Washington College, DNR, USGS, NRCS, and more. The ultimate goals are to improve outreach to land owners, create a soil and water quality conservation plan, and implement best management practices, as well as to establish a baseline assessment for the watershed's health. If this collaborative project is successful in creating a viable management plan, then the Upper Chester watershed could serve as a model for other watersheds in the future. Hopefully you'll be hearing more from us soon on this exciting project. In the meantime, here are some of the maps we made:
This first one shows the locations of current monitoring sites run by several organizations.
This one shows the current status of historic aerial imagery. The images in the empty portion may exist somewhere, but they haven't been georeferenced yet. In order for aerial imagery to be useful, it has to be georeferenced first - that is to say, someone has to go in and match up the landmarks on the aerial image to their locations on the map, so that the image lines up correctly.
This cool map shows elevation and bathymetry for the watershed area.
This image is from the Quickbird satellite. In simple terms, the Quickbird divides light into a number of spectral "bands" based on wavelength, including wavelengths outside the visible light spectrum such as infrared. The particular band highlighted on this map, Near Infrared, is especially good at showing vegetation. All of the bright green represents biomass.
Finally, this image shows all the parcels that fall partly or entirely inside the watershed area, and their land use classifications. Urban and suburban areas have a different kind of impact on the watershed than agriculture or forested areas, so it's important for watershed analysts to know the primary land use types in an area.
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<urn:uuid:82c507ec-4cee-432a-9c46-d9042e94112e>
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http://gisonthechester.blogspot.com/2010_07_01_archive.html
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| 0.94688 | 401 | 2.984375 | 3 |
The scikits.hydroclimpy module was designed to automatize some basic operations in hydrology, such as drawing hydrographs. In this example, we describe how to draw a hydrograph for the North Oconee River in Athens, GA.
First, we need to import some basic modules: numpy, numpy.ma and of course, scikits.hydroclimpy itself.
>>> import numpy as np >>> import numpy.ma as ma >>> import scikits.hydroclimpy as hydro
We will need to download the rainfall data from the Athens, GA weather station. As this station is part of the COAPS network, we need to import the scikits.hydroclimpy.io.coaps module. We will also need discharge data from the USGS site, so we must also import the scikits.hydroclimpy.io.usgs module.
>>> import scikits.hydroclimpy.io.coaps as coaps >>> import scikits.hydroclimpy.io.usgs as usgs
At last, we need to import some extensions to the matplotlib library:
>>> import scikits.hydroclimpy.plotlib as cpl
Let’s import the rainfall data for Athens, GA. As we already know from a previous section, the COAPS identification code for this is 90435. The load_coaps_stationdata function returns a series with a structured dtype, but we only need to take the 'rain' field.
>>> weatherdata = coaps.load_coaps_data(90435) >>> rainfall = weatherdata['rain']
We can check the frequency of the series and its dates range:
>>> print rainfall.freqstr 'D' >>> print rainfall.dates[[0,-1]] [13-Jan-1944 31-Dec-2007]
Let’s import the streamflows recorded on the North Oconee River in Athens, GA. We use the load_usgs_flows function, that requires the identification code(s) of one or several USGS streamflow gages. The corresponding code for the station of interest is ‘02217770’.
>>> flowdata = usgs.load_usgs_flows('02217770')
Here also we can check the frequency and range of dates of the series:
>>> print flowdata.freqstr D >>> print flowdata.dates[[0,-1]] [10-Aug-2002 14-Sep-2008]
The rainfall and streamflows series do not have the same length. Let’s select the overlapping region of the two series. We use the adjust_endpoints function of the scikits.timeseries package, that allows us to specify common starting and ending points to the series. This function takes two optional parameters, start_date and end_date. We will force the rainfall series to start on the same date as the flowdata series, and the flowdata series to end at the same date as the rainfall series.
>>> rainfall = hydro.adjust_endpoints(rainfall, start_date=flowdata.dates) >>> flowdata = hydro.adjust_endpoints(flowdata, end_date=rainfall.dates[-1])
As an alternative, we could have used the align_series function, that sets a sequence of series to the same range of dates. By default, the series are extended to cover the widest range possible.
Now that we have our two series, we can plot an hydrograph. The scikits.climpy module provides a function for this specific purpose, hydrograph. This function creates a new matplotlib Figure object, with two superposed plots:
The function requires two mandatory arguments, hyetodata and hydrodata, for the precipitation and streamflows series. It also accepts all the standard parameters of a Figure object.
>>> fig = cpl.hydrograph(rainfall, flowdata, figsize=(12,6))
The handle of the hyetograph subplot can be accessed through the hyeto attribute of the figure, and the handle of hydrograph through the hydro attribute.
We can set the labels of the y-axis:
>>> fig.hyeto.set_ylabel("Rainfall (mm)", fontweight='bold') >>> fig.hydro.set_ylabel("Flows (cfs)", fontweight='bold') >>> fig.suptitle("Hydrograph for the North Oconee River at Athens, GA", fontweight="bold", fontsize=12) >>> fig.savefig("athens_hydrograph.png")
The output is given here
As the hydrograph is a subclass of TimeSeriesFigure, the ticks on the x axis of each subplot are automatically adjusted with the level of zoom. Moreover, as the two subplots share the same x-axis, any modification on one subplot is reflected on the other. As an example, let’s focus on the year 2005.
>>> fig.hyeto.set_datelimits('2005-01-01', '2005-12-31') >>> fig.savefig("athens_hydrograph_zoomed.png")
Exception occurred rendering plot.
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<urn:uuid:8d73071f-81dd-4c3b-9062-2a4fd1cba9a9>
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http://hydroclimpy.sourceforge.net/examples.hydrograph.html
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| 0.816904 | 1,133 | 2.75 | 3 |
Photographers take pictures of people, places, or things. They want us to get a special feeling when we see their pictures. They take pictures to sell products, entertain people, report the news, or bring back memories.
Photographers know how to choose the right tools to give them the best picture. They use different things such as lights, lenses, and film to create a picture. New digital technology is being used more and more by photographers. A lot of them use computers to finish their work.
Have you ever had a photographer at your school? Most photographers take pictures of certain things. Some photographers take pictures only at schools or weddings. Others take pictures of only cars, clothes, buildings, or animals. Other photographers take pictures for your textbooks.
Some photographers work 40 hours a week. Others work longer hours and at different times during the day or night. News photographers must be ready to work when they get a call from their offices.
Photographers who work for themselves have a lot of freedom. They can choose the type of pictures that they want to take. They can make their own schedules. However, they may not always have a job to do. They must find people who want pictures. This can be stressful.
Some photographers work in their own studios and sometimes they travel. Others travel near and some travel far away and stay for a long time. They might work in harsh or dangerous areas. Sometimes, photographers and camera operators wait a long time to take a picture. They wait in all kinds of weather for an event to take place. They have to stand or walk for a long time. They also have to carry heavy equipment.
Photographers often have to get their work done quickly. They have to meet deadlines and please their clients.
Most employers seek persons who really understand photography. They need workers who can dream up new ideas. They look for workers who are creative. Some employers need persons who have a college degree in photography. Other courses such as those relating to science are helpful.
Persons interested in photography should read newsletters and magazines that have information about photography. They should join camera clubs. They should try to work in camera stores or photo studios. Also, they should decide what they like to photograph.
Do they like to take pictures of people or events? Do they like to take pictures or videos? Summer or part-time work with a photographer is a good way to learn about this field.
See also: Photographers.
|Actor||Jobs Involving Music and the Arts||Artist|
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<urn:uuid:9c86b879-e5d7-4876-9dc8-fbb846977d42>
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http://www.factmonster.com/ipka/A0934685.html
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| 0.975018 | 516 | 2.71875 | 3 |
Farsideology: Swords of Muhammad
Some Interesting Facts about Muhammad (source)
As part of his preparation to spread the peaceful religion of Islam throughout the world, Muhammad kept a well-stocked arsenal of swords.
Sword Dhu al-Faqar
"Dhu al-Faqar is the name of this sword, taken as Booty by the prophet Muhammad at the Battle of Badr. It is reported that the prophet Muhammad gave the sword to Ali b. Abi Talib, and that Ali returned from the Battle of Uhud covered with blood from his hands to his shoulders, having Dhu al-Faqar with him. . . ."
"The al-Rasub sword is one of the nine swords of the prophet Muhammad. It is said that the weapons of the house of the prophet Muhammad were kept among his family just like the Ark was kept with the Israelites."
"This sword is known as "Qal'i" or "Qul'ay." The name may be related to a place in Syria or a place in India near China. Other scholars state that the adjective "qal'i" refers to "tin" or "white lead" which was mined in different locations. This sword is one of the three swords which the prophet Muhammad acquired as booty from the Banu Qaynaqa. . . . ."
"The sword called is reported to have passed from the prophet Muhammad to Ali b. Abi Talib, and from him to his sons. Some report that the sword was taken as booty by Ali b. Abi Talib from a raid he led in Syria."
"Hatf is a sword which the prophet Muhammad took as booty from the Banu Qaynaqa. . . . ."
"al-'Adb, the name of this sword, means "cutting" or "sharp." This sword was sent to the prophet Muhammad by one of his companions just before the Battle of Badr. He used this sword at the Battle of Uhud and his followers used it to demonstrate their fealty to him."
"al-Ma'thur, also known as "Ma'thur al-Fijar" is the sword which was owned by the prophet Muhammad before he received his first revelations in Mecca. . . . The prophet Muhammad migrated with the sword from Mecca to Medina, and the sword remained with him until it was transferred, along with other war equipment, to Ali b. Abi Talib."
"al-Qadib is a thin-bladed sword which, it was said, resembled a rod. It was a sword of defense or companionship for the traveller but not used to battle. Written on the side of the sword in silver is the inscription: "There is no god but God, Muhammad the apostle of God--Muhammad b. Abdallah b. Abd al-Muttalib." There is no indication in any historical source that this sword was used or in any battle. . . ."
"The al-Battar sword was taken by the prophet Muhammad as booty from the Banu Qaynaqa. It is called the "sword of the prophets" and is inscribed in Arabic with the names of David, Solomon, Moses, Aaron, Joshua, Zechariah, John, Jesus, and Muhammad. It also has a drawing of King David when cut off the head of Goliath to whom this sword had belonged originally. . . ."
P.S. Obtaining booty was Muhammad's favorite pastime.
Farsideology is a collection of FFI Forum posts submitted by user Farside.
|Farsideology Home|| What people say about Farsideology: Comment from a muslim:
"For a long time I have been a secret admirer of your communication method." (more comments)
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http://wikiislam.net/wiki/Farsideology:_Swords_of_Muhammad
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| 0.976276 | 795 | 2.640625 | 3 |
Individual differences |
Methods | Statistics | Clinical | Educational | Industrial | Professional items | World psychology |
In the Indian religions Buddhism, Jainism and Hinduism, nirvāna (from the Sanskrit निर्वाण, Pali: Nibbāna -- Chinese: 涅槃; Pinyin: niè pán), literally "extinction" and/or "extinguishing", is the culmination of the yogi's pursuit of liberation. Hinduism and Jainism also use the word nirvana to describe the state of moksha, and it is spoken of in several Hindu tantric texts as well as the Bhagavad Gita.
|Part of a series on|
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|Bhakti · Hindu Idealism|
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Etymologically, nirvana (Pali Nibbana) in sutra is "bhavanirodha nibbanam" (The subjugation of becoming means Nirvana). Nirvana in sutra is never conceived of as a place, but the antinomy of samsara (see below) which itself is synonymous with ignorance (avijja). “This said: ‘the liberated mind/will (citta) which does not cling’ means Nibbana”[MN2-Att. 4.68]. Nibbana is meant specifically as pertains gnosis which ends the identity of the mind (citta) with empirical phenomena. Doctrinally Nibbana is said of the mind which no "longer is coming (bhava) and going (vibhav)", but which has attained a status in perpetuity, whereby "liberation (vimutta) can be said".
It carries further connotations of stilling, cooling, and peace; the realizing of nirvana is compared to the ending of avijja (ignorance) which perpetuates the will (citta/mind) from passing through samsara life after life, which causes (and is caused by) among other things craving, consciousness, birth, death, greed, hate, delusion, ignorance. Nirvana, then, is not a place nor a state, it is an absolute truth to be realized, and a person can do so without dying. When a person who has realized nirvana dies, his death is referred as his parinirvana, his fully passing away, as his life was his last link to the cycle of death and rebirth (samsara), and he will not be reborn again. Buddhism holds that the ultimate goal and end of existence is realization of nirvana; what happens to a person after his parinirvana cannot be explained, as it is outside of all conceivable experience.
Gautama Buddha sometimes refers to nirvana as amata ("immortality"). Elsewhere the Buddha calls nirvana 'the unconditioned element' (i.e., that which is not subject to causation). Nirvana is impossible to define directly; it can only be experienced or realized. One may not even be able to say this, since saying this implies the existence of an experiencing subject--which in fact would not persist after full nirvāna. While some of the associated effects of nirvana can be identified, a definition of nirvāna can only be approximated by what it is not. It is not the clinging existence with which man is understood to be afflicted. It is not any sort of becoming. It has no origin or end. It is not made or fabricated. It has no dualities, so that it cannot be described in words. It has no parts that may be distinguished one from another. It is not a subjective state of consciousness. It is not conditioned on or by anything else.
It should also be noted that the Buddha discouraged certain lines of speculation, including speculation into the state of an enlightened being after death, on the grounds that these were not useful for pursuing enlightenment; thus definitions of nirvāna might be said to be doctrinally unimportant.
In the Samyutta Nikaya (SN43:14), the Buddha describes Nibbana as: “the far shore, the subtle, the very difficult to see, the unaging, the stable, the undisintegrating, the unmanifest, the unproliferated, the peaceful, the deathless , the sublime, the auspicious, the secure, the destruction of craving, the wonderful, the amazing, the unailing, the unailing state, the unafflicted, dispassion, purity, freedom, the unadhesive, the island, the shelter, the asylum, the refuge...”
At the end of the Maha Satipattana Sutta in Digha Nikaya, the Buddha describes Success of Four Pattana Meditations as: “One who is honest to himself and practice this four Pattana Meditations without a delay, he should be willing to achieve Arahat or Anagami level, in seven days to seven years in time which would ultimately direct to Nirvana”
Nirvana and SamsaraEdit
Calling nirvana the "opposite" of samsara or implying that it is apart from samsara is doctrinally inaccurate. They are in fact identical according to early Mahayana Buddhism. By the time of Nāgārjuna, there are teachings of the identity of nirvana and samsara. However, even here it is assumed that the natural man suffers from at the very least a confusion regarding the nature of samsara.
Theravada makes the antithesis of samsara and Nibbana the starting point of the entire quest for deliverance. Even more, it treats this antithesis as determinative of the final goal, which is precisely the transcendence of samsara and the attainment of liberation in Nibbana. Where Theravada differs significantly from the Mahayana schools, which also start with the duality of samsara and Nirvana, is in its refusal to regard this polarity as a mere preparatory lesson tailored for those with blunt faculties, to be eventually superseded by some higher realization of non-duality. From the standpoint of the Pali Suttas, even for the Buddha and the Arahants suffering and its cessation, samsara and Nibbana, remain distinct.
In the experience of some, Nirvana is a state which all six bases (Eye, Ear, Nose, Tongue, Body and Mind) cannot feel.
Nirvana in the Mahaparinirvana Sutra Edit
However, in certain Mahayana teachings of the Buddha, Nirvana, or "Great Nirvana" in particular (higher than "ordinary" Nirvana), is said to be the sphere or domain ("visaya") of the True Self. In the "Mahayana Mahaparinirvana Sutra", as well as in a number of other important Mahayana sutras, Great Nirvana is seen as the state which constitutes the attainment of that which is "Eternal, Self, Bliss, and Pure". Maha-nirvana thus becomes equivalent to the ineffable, unshakeable, blissful, all-pervading and deathless Selfhood of the Buddha himself - a mystery which no words can adequately reach and which can only be fully known by an Awakened Being directly.
An important facet of Nirvana in general is that it is not something that comes about from a concatenation of causes, that springs into existence as a result of causes and conditions: it always was, is and will be. But due to the moral and mental darkness of ordinary, samsarically enmeshed sentient beings, it remains hidden from unawakened perception. The Buddha of the Mahaparinirvana Sutra insists on its eternal nature, saying:
"It is not the case that the inherent nature of Nirvana did not primordially exist but now exists. If the inherent nature of Nirvana did not primordially exist but does now exist, then it would not be free from taints (asravas) nor would it be eternally (nitya) present in nature. Regardless of whether there are Buddhas or not, its intrinsic nature and attributes are eternally present ... Because of the obscuring darkness of the mental afflictions (kleshas), beings do not see it. The Tathagata, endowed with omniscient awareness (sarvajna-jnana), lights the lamp of insight with his skill-in-means (upaya-kausalya) and causes Bodhisattvas to perceive the Eternal, Bliss, the Self, and the Pure of Nirvana."
Vitally, according to Mahayana teachings, any being who has reached Nirvana is not blotted out or extinguished: there is the extinction of the impermanent and suffering-prone "worldly self" or ego, but not of the immortal "supramundane" Self of the indwelling Buddha. The Buddha states in the "Mahayana Mahaparinirvana Sutra" (Tibetan version): "Nirvana is deathless ... Those who have passed into Nirvana are deathless. I say that anybody who is endowed with careful assiduity is not compounded and, even though they involve themselves in compounded things, they do not age, they do not die, they do not perish."
- Gautama Buddha:
- "Where there is nothing; where naught is grasped, there is the Isle of No-Beyond. Nirvana do I call it -- the utter extinction of aging and dying."
- "There is, monks, an unborn -- unbecome -- unmade -- unfabricated. If there were not that unborn -- unbecome -- unmade -- unfabricated, there would not be the case that emancipation from the born -- become -- made -- fabricated would be discerned. But precisely because there is an unborn -- unbecome -- unmade -- unfabricated, emancipation from the born -- become -- made -- fabricated is discerned." [Udana VIII.3]
- Sutta Nipāta, tr. Rune Johansson:
- accī yathā vātavegena khitto
atthaṁ paleti na upeti sankhaṁ
evaṁ muni nāmakāyā kimutto
atthaṁ paleti na upeti sankhaṁ
- atthan gatassa na pamāṇam atthi
ynea naṁ vajju taṁ tassan atthi
sabbesu dhammesu samūhatesu
samūhatā vādapathāpi sabbe
- Like a flame that has been blown out by a strong wind goes to rest and cannot be defined, just so the sage who is freed from name and body goes to rest and cannot be defined.
For him who has gone to rest there is no measure by means of which one could describe him; that is not for him. When all (dharmas) have gone, all signs of recognition have also gone.
- accī yathā vātavegena khitto
- Aggi-Vacchagotta Sutta
- Atman (Buddhism)
- Bhagavad Gita
- Great Perfection
- God in Buddhism
- Nirvana Sutra
Further reading Edit
- Jon Kabit-Zin, Wherever You Go, There You Are
- The Mahayana Mahaparinirvana Sutra (Nirvana Publications, London 1999-2000), translated by Kosho Yamamoto, revised and edited by Dr. Tony Page.
- Nibbana - more excerpts from the Pali Tripitaka defining Nibbana
- "Nirvana Sutra": full English translation of the "Nirvana Sutra" and appreciation of its teachings.
- Buddha - A Hero's Journey to Nirvana
- Salvation Versus Liberation, A Buddhist View of Paradise Worlds
- In-depth explanation of Nibbana according to the Pali Canon
- Mind Like Fire Unbound - a discussion of fire imagery as used in the Buddha's timeda:Nirvana
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| 0.915142 | 2,698 | 3.140625 | 3 |
Is Softened Water Safe to Drink?
According to the U.S. Geological Survey, more than 85 percent of the United States geography has hard water. While many consumers use a water softener so they can enjoy the benefits of soft water, there is some confusion about whether softened water is safe to drink.
Some consumers are concerned that drinking softened water will increase the level of sodium in their diet. Despite the myth, softening your water will not result in salty-tasting water. Sodium bicarbonate, which is different from sodium chloride (table salt), is formed through the water softening process.
The amount of sodium added to water from the water softening process depends on the hardness of the water supply. When very hard water (greater than 10 grains of hardness per gallon) is softened, only 20 to 40 mg of sodium is added to every 8 ounces of water. For comparison, an 8-ounce glass of low-fat milk contains about 120 mg of sodium, a 12-ounce can of diet soda contains from 20 to 70 mg, and an 8-ounce glass of orange juice contains about 25 mg.
The majority of the sodium in consumers' diets - more than 90 percent - comes from sources such as processed foods and table salt. The recommended daily allowance for sodium consumption is 2,400 mg.
Drinking two quarts of softened water would only add only about 240 mg of sodium to your diet. Individuals concerned about sodium in their diet should consult their physician about effective means of reducing overall sodium consumption, which will probably involve diet change.
It is unlikely that a physician would discourage anyone from drinking softened water.
Of course, many of our water softener customers also use a Reverse Osmosis drinking water system which removes sodium as well as many other contaminates for the best combination of water conditioning methods.
We will get back to you as soon as possible.
Tom Atkinson: (602) 377-4761 (cell)
Tom Knapp:(602) 339-1427 (cell)
Office: (602) 993-0083
22047 North Black Canyon Highway
Phoenix, Arizona 85027
Show Room Hours:
6am-8pm by Appointment
Show Room (Map)
We answer our phones 7 days a week well into the evening. A real person, not a answering service, will answer our emergency line 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
American Home Water and Air or American Home Water Heaters provides emergency service 7 days a week and installations Monday through Saturday.
Salt or potassium delivery available.
Products Quick ViewThe President
"Excellent all the way around! Use this business with confidence. New water softener system installed in my home." Laura T. - Laveen, AZ
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| 0.932909 | 568 | 2.53125 | 3 |
CB radios still offer two-way communication on a budget. This Fix-It Guide on CB radio repair tells how a CB radio works, what often goes wrong, how to identify a CB radio problem, and what parts and tools you will need to perform a few simple CB radio repairs. It then gives instructions for how to diagnose noise on your CB radio, replace a CB antenna, and clean electronic CB components. CB radio repair also applies to walkie talkie repair.
How Does a CB Radio Work?
A citizens band (CB) radio is both a receiver and a transmitter. A radio receiver is an electronic device that receives audio signals through an antenna, then amplifies and sends the sound to speakers. A transmitter does the opposite: it takes microphone (a reverse speaker) signals, converts them into electronic signals, and distributes them via an antenna. CB radios have 40 channels on which you can speak and/or listen. Some, such as channel 9, are set aside for special purposes (emergency assistance), but most are open to whatever you want to talk about. Mobile radios and mobile telephones work approximately the same way.
What Can Go Wrong with a CB Radio?
Mobile CB radios, those installed in cars and trucks, run on car battery power. Base stations are corded radio transmitters and receivers. A battery or cord may need replacing. Many CBs have fuses that can be replaced, often from the back of the unit. Contacts can be bent or corroded. Controls and switches may be dirty. Antennas can break or become disconnected.
Because CB radios transmit electronic signals, they come under the jurisdiction of the Federal Communications Commission. You’ll need an FCC technician’s license to work on a CB or mobile radio, other than a few tasks that can’t impact transmission. Cleaning a CB is okay, as is replacing an antenna. And you can replace a Fuse.
How Can I Identify a CB Radio Problem?
- If a CB radio won’t work, make sure the car battery is charged, or the electrical cord for a base unit tests okay and replace it if needed.
- If the sound on a CB radio is fuzzy, disassemble the unit and locate the volume control. Spray electrical contact cleaner into the control and rotate or slide the control several times to lubricate the mechanism. Replace a damaged or broken antenna (see below).
- If the sound on a CB radio is crackly or whines, check the car’s noise-suppression filter and ignition coil capacitor (see below).
Don’t throw away the owner’s manual that comes with your CB radio. It offers information on where to get parts as well as what you can and can’t do when attempting to repair your CB. It also includes warranty information.
What Do I Need for CB Radio Repair?
CBs are digital wonders. That means there is little you can do to them without the help of an FCC-licensed technician. Even so, you can clean and maintain your unit. Here are some basic tools for the job:
- Canned air
- Electronic contact cleaner
What Are the Steps to CB Radio Repair?
Diagnose noise on a CB radio:
- If the sound is a high-pitched whine that gets higher as the engine speeds up, the cause is probably a defective noise-suppression filter. Buy an exact-replacement unit from an auto parts store and make sure it has installation instructions included.
- If the sound is a ticking that doesn’t get higher pitched but does become more frequent as the engine speeds up, it’s probably a defective spark plug wires or a defective ignition coil capacitor. Purchase the replacement parts from an auto parts store that can advise you on installation.
Replace a CB radio antenna:
- Loosen the antenna mounting nut on the car fender and remove the antenna. Some CB antennas are temporarily mounted with a magnet base and run a wire between the antenna and the CB radio.
- Follow the manufacturer’s instructions for installing the replacement antenna. (There are entire books on selecting and mounting CB antennas!)
Clean electronic CB radio components:
- Unplug the CB radio from power and from the antenna.
- Remove the screws holding the case together, typically mounted on the bottom of the case.
- Look for labels and other indications of the transmission circuitry. Don’t touch it. You need to be an FCC-licensed technician to work on the transmitter.
- Use canned air to blow dust from other components including any power cords and speaker jacks.
- Use electrical contact cleaner or a cotton swab dipped in denatured alcohol to clean electronic components as needed.
Electronic and CB stores typically have books on specific brands and models of CBs including information on what you can do and how to do it.
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| 0.915759 | 1,010 | 2.78125 | 3 |
KISSIMMEE, Fla. — The galaxy's fastest stars may have just become easier to pick out of a crowd.
As they race away from their stellar siblings, some speedy stars push material in front of them to create a visually striking, half-circle formation that a group of astronomers has used to identify a large number of fast-moving candidates.
"Over the past year, we have identified hundreds of hot, massive star candidates streaming at supersonic speeds," William Chick said last week at a press conference at the 227th annual meeting of the American Astronomical Society in Kissimmee. [Top 10 Star Mysteries]
Chick, a graduate student at the University of Wyoming, is part of a team of astronomers that pored through archived images taken by NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) and Spitzer Space Telescopes in search of the wavelike structures, then identified fast-moving stars as their source.
"Using Spitzer and WISE, we have identified hundreds of hot dust structures with arclike shapes, revealing a previously uncategorized group of objects," Chick said.
Most stars move on a fairly predictable path through the galaxy, moving away from the region where they were born slowly and without fanfare. But hypervelocity stars travel at a much faster clip. Zeta Ophiuchi, a bright star in the constellation of Ophiuchus, moves at around 67,000 mph (30 kilometers per second) compared to background material. By comparison, the sun travels at only about 43,000 mph (19 km/s). If they travel fast enough, such stars can even leave the Milky Way galaxy.
Finding a fast-moving star in the galaxy may initially be a task much like finding the proverbial needle in a haystack. But as Zeta Ophiuchi and stars like it zoom through the slower surrounding dust and gas, they push the matter in front of it, creating a striking bow shock in the cooler material.
"It's similar to jets moving at supersonic speeds, causing the material to pile up in front of them," Chick said.
Chick and his colleagues identified more than 200 fuzzy features captured in infrared light by Spitzer and WISE. They then used the Wyoming Infrared Observatory to follow up on 80 of the objects, examining the arc-shaped features in search of stars that could create them. Although they anticipated these stars would influence the formation of some of the arcs, they were startled to see just how prominent a role they played.
"We were surprised that over 95 percent of them were, in fact, hot, massive stars, as we predicted," he said.
"It appears that bow-shock nebulae are an extremely efficient method of locating these hot, massive runaway stars."
An energetic kick
Zeta Ophiuchi is a young star, five times hotter and 20 times more massive than the sun. Like the sun, it likely formed in a cluster with other young stars. But something happened to kick Zeta Ophiuchi from its original path.
"To get something the size of these stars up to these speeds, there needs to be a pretty energetic event to get them moving," Chick said.
Although scientists aren't completely certain of what provided the energy boost, two methods rise to the top of the list. As a star travels through space, it may pass a massive object such as a black hole. Gravity kicks in, slingshotting the star into space at accelerated speeds. Alternatively, two stars in a binary system may age together, until one dies young in a violent supernova. The explosion may have enough energy to propel the survivor outward at supersonic speeds.
Chick and his team can't rewind time to see the events that booted their bow-shock-forming stars, but they can trace the star back through space to find its birthplace and try to determine what sent it packing. For instance, if the speedy star was kicked out by a companion supernova, the remnant should be visible when the astronomers backtrack.
According to Chick, it's very likely that both mechanisms play a role in ejecting these stars. He said that the team has already identified several likely cases for both scenarios, though additional observations are needed for any individual case.
"It may be that our Milky Way is swarming with these hot, runaway stars," he said.
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| 0.955931 | 900 | 3.046875 | 3 |
Plants are essential to everyone's lives. Welcome to Plantlife.
(Baldellia ranunculoides )
A delicate aquatic plant with long, curving stems that root wherever they touch moist ground.
Lesser water-plantain only blooms briefly but when it does it produces pale-pink flowers. Each has three dainty petals with a rough, ragged edge.
Sheltered, muddy shores.
Best time to see
Flowers from June to August
Did you know...
Part of its Latin name - 'ranunculoides' - means 'buttercup like'. This refers to its seeds rather than its flowers which, although just as pretty, bear little resemblance.
County flower of Dunbartonshire/Dumbartonshire.
One of the uncommon gems that, within the county, brighten a few southern bays and shores of Loch Lomond – the crown jewel of Scotland's first National Park.
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| 0.918373 | 204 | 2.90625 | 3 |
SAN DIEGO -- Learning music at a very young age was linked with neural maturation in the brain regions responsible for language and executive function in adulthood, researchers reported here.
Compared with children who started learning to play an instrument at age 7 or older, those who had musical training before age 7 demonstrated increased thickness in the right superior temporal gyrus and precuneus at ages 19 to 21 based on MRI scans, according to PhD candidate Yunxin Wang, of Beijing Normal University in China and Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, and colleagues.
These results indicated strengthened regions related to executive function, language, auditory processing, and self-awareness, Wang said during an oral presentation at the Society for Neuroscience meeting.
Wang noted that although greater improvements were seen in younger participants than older ones, other research has shown that music is effective at improving minds of older patients as well.
However, she added that younger children have more potential for greater change and that brain maturation peaks at age 7. She cited as examples composers Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Ludwig van Beethoven, Frederic Chopin, and Franz Schubert, all of whom started training before age 7.
To study the impact of music training on brain anatomy, the authors reviewed MRI scans of 48 Chinese young adults (40 were female) who had formal music training for at least 1 year. Training ranged from 1 to 16 years.
Participants were grouped by age at onset of training, including those who started before age 7 and those who started at age 7 or older. Mean age at onset of training was 7.58 years.
The researchers measured cortical thickness and gray matter volume across the whole brain, then conducted a regression analysis with age of onset as a predictor variable for brain anatomy. Outcomes were controlled for sex, years of training, and intracranial volume.
Regression analysis showed that starting to learn music at a younger age was related to a thicker right caudal anterior cingulate cortex and larger volume of right lingual gyrus, as well as thinner cortex and smaller volume in the right lateral occipital region.
Wang said her study was limited by inclusion of only Chinese young adults and a lack of control for language, but that an ongoing follow-up at MIT will include a cross-cultural sample that adds English speakers.
Session moderator Gottfried Schlaug, MD, PhD, of Harvard Medical School, noted that the study did not establish whether this was a chicken-or-egg relationship. He cautioned that "future studies will have to show if children with a well-developed brain will be better at tasks related to music." He added that "intense training over time has been shown to change brain structure."
The study was supported by the Ministry of Education of China.
The authors reported no conflicts of interest.
Society for NeuroscienceSource Reference: Wang Y, et al "It matters when you start: the age of onset of music training predicts brain anatomy" SFN 2013; Abstract 765.07/HHH45.
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en
| 0.962336 | 623 | 3.09375 | 3 |
Almonds Processed With Toxic Chemicals & High Heat Are Not "Raw"
In response to two outbreaks of Salmonella in 2001 and 2004 traced to raw almonds grown in California, the Almond Board of California and the USDA have quietly developed a new regulation mandating that all almonds undergo a sterilization process that includes chemical and/or high-temperature treatments.
The plan is angering many small-scale farmers, retailers, and consumers. This new rule is controversial for many reasons. It could force family farms out of business, ignores the underlying systemic problems with conventional agriculture that cause food contamination, and is upsetting to consumers seeking organic and raw foods.
Truth in Advertising, or Greenwashing Questionable Technology?
While the USDA generously describes the new almond treatments as pasteurization, the most common treatment method expected to be used fumigates almonds with propylene oxide. In lab experiments, the chemical leads to gene mutation, DNA strand breaks, and neoplastic cell transformation. The U.S. EPA has classified propylene oxide as a probable human carcinogen. Its use in treating food for human consumption is banned in the European Union, Canada, Mexico, and most other countries.
Organic Almonds Might Be Safer but Will Not Be "Raw"
The only exemptions to these new regulations will be organic "raw" almonds, which will not be fumigated, but will undergo the steam-heat treatment, and small-scale growers who can sell truly raw almonds but only direct to the public from farm stands. Almonds that have heat treatment will deceptively still be labeled as "raw," despite having undergone surface sterilization treatments.
Family Farmers Could Be Squeezed Out of Business
The costs of the chemical and heat treatments, in addition to the costs of transporting and recording the new procedures, will be especially onerous on small-scale and organic farmers. The equipment to pasteurize almonds is very expensive. A propylene oxide chamber costs $500,000 to $1,250,000, and a roasting line can cost as much as $1,500,000 to $2,500,000. Smaller, family-operated handlers that buy almonds from small, family-owned almond growers and cater to the organic and natural foods markets, are concerned that they will not be able to afford such expensive equipment and will be forced out of the almond business.
Unlike milk, eggs, and meats, for which real pasteurization or cooking offers an important protection from food-borne illness, no scientific evidence exists to show that almonds are an inherently risky food. In fact, Salmonella contamination of almonds can only occur when livestock manure or fecal matter is inadvertently transferred to the nuts through contaminated water, soil, or transportation and handling equipment. Almonds may also be infected by poor employee sanitation either on the farm or in processing facilities.
While two outbreaks may bring bad publicity and economic losses to the almond industry, it does not prove that almonds are inherently unsafe. Is it justified to impose these onerous regulations on an entire industry, impacting all consumers, because of two relatively small outbreaks, one of which has been traced to Paramount Farms, a giant, industrial-scale farming operation raising 70,000 of acres of nut crops, that is by no means representative of the industry as a whole?
The rule is set to go into effect on September 1. The Cornucopia Institute has formally asked the USDA to re-open the regulatory proceeding to allow for additional public input and review. Only 18 public comments-all from the almond industry-were received on the draft rule when it was open for public comment in early 2007. Unlike consumers, retailers, or other organizations concerned with food safety, all almond handlers received a personal letter or fax from the USDA alerting them to the sterilization proposal and inviting their comments. It's time other stakeholders-consumers and retailers-have an opportunity to have their voices heard in this matter.
We urge all concerned consumers, retailers, and farmers to contact the USDA and demand that the new rule mandating "pasteurization" of almonds be re-opened for public comment and review. Cornucopia has a comprehensive fact sheet on the almond issue on its web page, and a sample letter for interested individuals to send to the USDA can be found at http://cornucopia.org/index.php/almonds/
Your support of The Cornucopia Institute underwrites our work on food and farm policy issues concerning sustainable and organic agriculture. You can donate online using our secure credit card server. Your personal and financial information will not be shared with anyone.
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en
| 0.941661 | 944 | 2.578125 | 3 |
Arctic winds, snow and frosts have come in such a blast this winter that the bookmakers report record numbers of bets on a white Christmas so early in December. The Met Office has issued a blizzard of severe weather warnings, telling us to wrap up warm, take care on the roads, generally scaring the living daylights out of everyone about the perils of cold.
Suddenly we seem to be facing a Siberian freeze, which may come as shock because, yes, winter can be cold. This is what a British winter is supposed to be like, but for many years autumn has almost slipped seamlessly into springtime with hardly a pause for winter. But we should be more chilled out about the cold because it actually does a power of good.
Cold is Nature’s clock, telling plants and animals that it’s time to pack up and go to sleep, go away or fatten up. Without the cold, living things don’t know when winter has come and gone, or when to get going again in springtime. Recent winters have been so mild that they have left Nature thoroughly confused. Birds didn’t know whether to migrate, hedgehogs and bats wake up too early from hibernation. Plants such as the white deadnettle carry on flowering all year and the grass carries on growing, so the nation has reverberated to the sound of lawnmowers all winter long.
This cold snap is reminiscent of the savage freezes of long ago. The winter of 1962-63 is now a hazy memory, but it was so cold that pneumatic drills were used to dig up turnips in frozen fields, ice floes bobbed around in the Channel and cars were driven over the frozen Thames at Oxford. People were geared up to big freezes in those days. They wore balaclavas and thick coats, made roaring fires and stoked up on bowls of proper porridge. Now we have central heating at the flip of a switch, heated cars, artificial ice rinks and fake frost on windows at Christmas. It’s all too namby-pamby.
Although we moan, the cold could do us the power of good. In Siberia they swim outdoors in minus 40C to stay immune, they claim, from pneumonia and colds. The Finns jump stark naked from steaming sauna to freezing lakes. In Britain we drop like flies at the first sniff of a cold snap. We are so helplessly unprepared, that it’s a wonder we know what snow looks like. The Met Office has even launched a health forecasting service tailored to warn vulnerable patients of expected drops in temperatures. And even if the cold is too much to bear, there could still be some good news. The Met Office is sticking to its forecast of a milder than average winter.
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| 0.95216 | 575 | 2.546875 | 3 |
Currency Error notes are those that come from the Bureau of Engraving and Printing flawed.
That is the basic definition of a currency error. It had to have been made that way at the BEP.
There are many different kinds of error notes and some are more common than you think.
Error notes can range in value from as little as $20 to as much as $75,000.
One of the most famous error notes is called the Del Monte note which sold in 2006.
When it was printed there was a Chiquita banana sticker on the note so that part of the overprint is
over the top of the sticker. This is called an obstructed printing error.
This is a one of a kind error and is a great note for the type.
Some of the most valuable and interesting error notes are called Double Denominations.
These are notes with one denomination on the front and another on the back. A jarring occurrence.
The note shown below is an example of an inverted third printing and it's especially nice because
it's on a 1934a Hawaii Emergency note. The more exotic the note an error is on the better the error.
Large sized errors are especially interesting and very rare.
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en
| 0.975712 | 253 | 2.921875 | 3 |
[Previous] [Next] [Index]
This is an incomplete list of some of the world's language families. More detailed classifications can be found in Voegelin and Voegelin, Classification And Index Of The World's Languages (1977), and M. Ruhlen, A Guide To The World's Languages (1987). (Note: Ruhlen's classification recognizes a number of higher-order groups which most linguists regard as speculative).
A language family is a group of languages that have been proven to have descended from a common ancestral language. Branches of families likewise represent groups of languages with a more recent common ancestor. For example, English, Dutch, and German have a common ancestor which we label Proto-West-Germanic, and thus belong to the West Germanic branch of Germanic. Icelandic and Norwegian are descended from Proto-North Germanic, a separate branch of Germanic. All the Germanic languages have a common ancestor, Proto-Germanic; farther back, this ancestor was descended from Proto-Indo- European, as were the ancestors of the Italic, Slavic, and other branches.
Not all languages are known to be related to each other. It is possible that they are related but the evidence of relationship has been lost; it's also possible they arose separately. It is likely that some of the families listed here will eventually turn out to be related to one another.
While low-level close relationships are easy to demonstrate, higher-order classification proposals must rely on more problematic evidence and tend to be controversial. Recently linguists such as Joseph Greenberg and Vitalij Shevoroshkin have attracted attention both in linguistic circles and in the popular press with claims of larger genetic units, such as Nostratic (comprising Indo-European, Uralic, Altaic, Dravidian, and Afroasiatic) or Amerind (to include all the languages of the New World except Na-Dene and Eskimo-Aleut). Most linguists regard these hypotheses as having a grossly insufficient empirical foundation, and argue that comparisons at that depth are not possible using available methods of historical linguistics. For more see question 22.
This list isn't intended to be exhaustive, even for families like Germanic and Italic. Nor is it the last word on what's a 'language'; see question 12.
Note: English is not descended from Latin.
English is a Germanic language with a lot of Latin vocabulary, borrowed from French in the Middle Ages.
[Maps of the world's language families]
[Numbers from 1 to 10 in thousands of languages]
Semitic: Arabic, Hebrew (not Yiddish; see above), Aramaic, Amharic and other languages of Ethiopia
Chadic: languages of northern Africa, e.g. Hausa
Cushitic: Somali, other languages of eastern Africa
Egyptian: Ancient Egyptian
Berber: languages of North Africa
NIGER-KORDOFANIAN: includes most of the languages of sub-Saharan Africa. Most of the languages are in the Niger-Congo branch; the most widely known subgroup of N-C is Bantu (Swahili, Zulu, Xhosa, etc.)
URALIC: Finnish, Estonian, Saami (Lapp), Hungarian, and several languages of central Russia
MONGOL: Mongolian, Buryat, Kalmuck, etc.
TURKIC: Turkish, Azerbaijani, Kazakh, and other languages of Central Asia
TUNGUSIC: Manchu, Juchen, Evenki, Even, Oroch, and other languages of northeastern Asia
Some linguists group these three families together as ALTAIC. Rather more controversially, some add Korean and Japanese to this group.
It has been claimed that URALIC and ALTAIC are related (as URAL-ALTAIC), but this idea is not widely accepted.
DRAVIDIAN: languages of southern India, including Tamil, Telugu, etc.
Sinitic: Chinese (several 'dialects', or arguably distinct languages: Mandarin, Wu (Shanghai), Min (Hokkien [Fujian], Taiwanese), Yue (Cantonese), Hakka, Gan, Xiang
Tibeto-Burman: Tibetan, Burmese, various languages of Burma, China, India, and Nepal
Mon-Khmer: Vietnamese, Khmer (Cambodian), and various minority and tribal languages of Southeast Asia
Munda: tribal languages of eastern India
JAPANESE: A number of linguists argue that Japanese is ALTAIC; others,
that it is most closely related to Austronesian, or that it represents
a mixture of Austronesian and ALTAIC elements.
TAI-KADAI: Thai, Lao, and other languages of southern China and
northern Burma. Possibly related to Austronesian.
An outdated hypothesis that Tai is part of SINO-TIBETAN is still often found in reference works and introductory texts.
AUSTRALIA: the Aboriginal languages of Australia are conservatively classified into 26 families, the largest being PAMA-NYUNGAN, consisting> of about 200 languages originally spoken over 80-90% of Australia.
A large number of language families are found in North and South America. There are numerous proposals which group these into larger units, some of which will probably be demonstrated in time. To date no New World language has been proven to be related to any Old World family. The larger North American families include:
ESKIMO-ALEUT: two Eskimo languages and Aleut.
ATHAPASKAN: most of the languages of Alaska and northwestern Canada, also includes Navajo and Apache. Eyak (in Alaska) is related to Athapaskan; some linguists put these together with Tlingit and Haida in a NA-DENE family.
ALGONQUIAN: most of Canada and the Northeastern U.S., includes Cree, Ojibwa, Cheyenne, Blackfoot
IROQUOIAN: the languages of NY state (Mohawk, Onondaga, etc.) and Cherokee
SIOUAN: includes Dakota/Lakhota and other languages of the Plains and Southeast U.S.
MUSKOGEAN: Choctaw, Alabama, Creek, Mikasuki (Seminole) and other languages of the southeast U.S.
UTO-AZTECAN: a large family in Mexico and the Southwestern U.S., includes Nahuatl (Aztec), Hopi, Comanche, Paiute, etc.
SALISH: languages of Washington and British Columbia
HOKAN: languages of California and Mexico; a controversial grouping
PENUTIAN: languages of California and Oregon; also controversial
Work on documentation and classification of South American languages still has a long way to go. Generally recognized families include:
ARAWAKAN, TUCANOAN, TUPI-GUARANI (including Guarani, a national language of Paraguay), CARIBAN, ANDEAN (including Quechua and Aymara)
LANGUAGE ISOLATES: A number of languages around the world have never been successfully shown to be related to any others-- in at least some cases because any related languages have long been extinct. The most famous isolate is Basque, spoken in northern Spain and southern France; it is apparently a survival from before the Indo-Europeanization of Europe.
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NIAID is committed to the research necessary to successfully end HIV/AIDS. In 2015 alone, more than 2 million people worldwide become infected with HIV, the virus that causes AIDS. Currently, there are an estimated 1.2 million people in the United States and nearly 37 million people globally who are living with HIV infection. In 2015, 1.1 million people died from AIDS-related causes. Through our laboratories and clinics at the National Institutes of Health to our vast network of supported research at universities, medical centers, and clinical trial sites around the globe, NIAID is working to better understand HIV and how it causes disease, find new tools to prevent HIV infection, develop new and more effective treatments for HIV-infected people, and find a cure.
Large-Scale HIV Vaccine Trial to Launch in South Africa | see Q&A—May 18, 2016
NIH Statement on HIV Vaccine Awareness Day—May 18, 2016
Media Availability: NIH-Led Team Discovers New HIV Vaccine Target—May 12, 2016
Bulletin: AIDS-Kaposi’s Sarcoma Study Ended—May 5, 2016
Media Availability: Single Antibody Infusions Provide Durable Protection Against HIV-Like Virus in Monkeys—April 27, 2016
News From NIAID-Supported Institutions
Last Updated June 08, 2016
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In August 2010, when Julia Gillard was campaigning in the national election, she made a promise: "There will be no carbon tax under the government I lead," she said to an Australian television channel.
It's a statement that Australia's first female Prime Minister has undoubtedly lived to regret as she's heard it quoted back to her repeatedly since February when she announced a bill that would put a price on carbon as she tries now to persuade the Australian public to embrace a law they never voted for. "Most Australians now agree our climate is changing. This is caused by carbon pollution. This has harmful effects on our environment and on the economy, and the government should act," Gillard said in a televised address on July 10 after the government divulged the long-awaited details of the Clean Energy Future package.
The policy lays down the foundation for the biggest emissions-trading scheme outside of Europe. If passed, from July next year, 500 of Australia's top polluters will pay around $25 for every ton of carbon they release into the atmosphere. That fee will rise by 2.5% annually until 2015, when the carbon price will be replaced with an emissions-trading scheme. The goal of the bill is to reduce Australia's total emissions by 5% below 2000 levels by 2020, and ultimately reduce carbon pollution by 80% below 2000 levels by 2050. The government has also said it will invest approximately $13 billion into clean technology, with the focus on renewable energy such as solar, wind and geothermal power.
Today, 80% of Australia's electricity is derived from coal. Australia is also the world's leading coal exporter, and the nation's $50 billion coal industry could be hit the hardest by the proposed reforms. Ralph Hillman, executive director of the Australian Coal Association, an industry body, predicts the carbon-tax bill on the coal industry could run as high as $19.17 billion, forcing some 4,700 coal miners out of their jobs.
To placate coal and other industries that feel they will be disproportionately targeted by the tax, the government has designed a $9.8 billion package of rebates to heavy polluters including steel, zinc, concrete and aluminum manufacturers that will be reduced gradually each year. A $1.38 billion package has also been offered to protect jobs in the coal industry. But even with these measures, many worry that Australia will be priced out of the global market. "The tax will push our coal prices up, but the world's demand for coal is not going to decrease," says Michael Roche, CEO of the Queensland Resources Council, a not-for-profit industry association. "It just means that Australia will be less competitive."
Consumers have had mixed reactions to the tax. Half of the levy's revenue will be used to cushion individuals from bearing the brunt of the tax; 9 out of 10 households will receive tax cuts and payment increases. Car owners and small businesses will not be charged for their fuel use, which is not included in the tax, nor will those who use fuel for agriculture, fisheries or forestry. (Diesel used for heavy vehicles weighing more than 4.5 tons will be affected, however, as will aviation fuel. Qantas has already announced that the price of local fares will go up by $3.72 per ticket.)
In the end, the program is estimated to cost families an average of $10 a week. The Consumer and Taxpayers Association in Canberra has planned an Aug. 16 rally against increased prices. But others are not concerned. Jean-Miguel Leone, a marketing manager, believes that any rise in costs will be minimal. "I think the people who complain are just crying poor," he says.
Predictably, opposition leader Tony Abbott has slammed Gillard's proposal. "This go-it-alone carbon tax will also impose a heavy cost on Australian industries that their overseas competitors will not face. Australian jobs will be sent offshore for no environmental gain," he said in a statement on July 10. Abbott also faulted the impact the tax would have on households and consumers.
But for all the controversy it has generated from interest groups and the political opposition, will Gillard's carbon-tax plan make a difference to the environment? Scientists say it is a step forward albeit a small one. "I am happy it has been introduced. We need a mechanism to trigger change," says Barry Brook, director of Climate Science at the University of Adelaide, though he and others agree that $25 per ton, even given its incremental rise, is not a hefty enough price tag to instigate any real change in the industry. Peter Cook, CEO of the Cooperative Research Centre for Greenhouse Gas Technology in Canberra, believes the price should be as high as $106 for renewable energy to become a proper alternative.
Environmentalists also worry the plan's goal of a 5% emissions reduction won't have a significant impact. Australia emits 577 million tons of carbon dioxide a year just 1.5% of global emissions. Bill Hare the director of Climate Analytics, a nonprofit organization that specializes in climate change, believes that Australia should aim to reduce its emissions by 25% of 2000 levels by 2020. "It would be a major strategic contribution globally as it would spur others to match this and assist in getting a strong global agreement."
But before any international collaboration can take place, Gillard's package has to pass. The legislation is scheduled to go before parliament for a vote at the end of the year. The latest Newspoll, conducted for the Australian over the weekend, shows that her Labor Party's approval is at a record low of 27%, while the opposition's approval has risen to 49%. With an election due to take place in the next few years, Abbott has already said that if he is elected, he would eliminate the tax.
It wouldn't be the first time carbon has spelled the end for an Australian leader. Former Prime Minister Kevin Rudd's proposed emissions-trading scheme and his decision to shelve it because of its lack of support is widely considered to have been the catalyst for his demise both popularly and within his own party. Gillard, who again faces the onerous task of persuading the public to embrace putting a price on pollution, looks like she is wedged in an equally complicated position.
"The first Australian government to announce a plan for a carbon price was John Howard's back in 2007," she said in her address to the nation. "The debate has been difficult and divisive, and no government no political party or leader can claim to have got everything right during this time ... Now is the time to move from words to deeds."
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|Electronic Resources for the Study of Latin|
Each chapter addresses Latin grammar and sentence structure ("syntax") as well as vocabulary. The student will demonstrate knowledge of the vocabulary and the concepts of each chapter; vocabulary quizzes, followed by chapter quizzes, will gauge the student's grasp of the material. LatinDrill© will prove useful in preparing for these quizzes.
Midterms (after units 4, 8, 11):30% (10% each)
These exams reflect the vocabulary, grammatical concepts, cultural issues and literary passages that were addressed in groups of chapters, and are designed to aid the student in determining what components he or she has grasped successfully.
This exam, administered at a day and time determined by the Registrar, is comprehensive and gauges how well the student has grasped the basics of the Latin language and Roman culture.
There will be written homework assignments during the course of each unit. For each assignment, students are to write out the assigned Latin or English, supply the answer, and then leave enough space to make any necessary corrections. Homework assignments will include posting to the chatroom one or more sentences, translations, and any grammatical notes you choose.
Class participation is an essential aspect of this course, especially because it is an intensive course that meets four days per week. Participation consists of preparing all assignments for class, attending class, and participating in class drills and discussions. Class work is a requirement, not an option.
Of course, if you do not attend class you can not participate in the in-class discussions. You may take 3 absences from the classroom during the semester without penalty -- no questions asked, no explanation necessary. After three absences, each absence will result in a lowering of the class participation component of 20% by one full grade.
Note: Absence from any quiz or exam without a written medical excuse will result in a grade of F for that assignment.
Maintained by Michael Arnush, Classics Department
Skidmore College, Saratoga Springs, NY, 12866
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An Italian fellow named Graziano Toni from the northeastern Italian city of Faenza has catapulted holy card collecting into a serious hobby–he has 50,000 cards in his personal collection and has compiled about 2,000 of his finest ones in a 512-page book titled “The First International Catalog of Holy Cards,” recently published by the Italian firm Unificato.
It’s a potent mix–devotion and cash. (Like baseball card collecting, I suppose.) Rare or elaborate designs can command some $4,700 at antique markets and collectors’ fairs. Unfortunately, a central reason for such prices is the increasing scarcity of these cards.
RNS’s Vatican correspondent Francis X. Rocca has the story and the fascinating back story:
The history of holy cards begins soon after Johannes Gutenberg’s invention of the printing press, in 1440. The same technology that would help spread Protestantism through reformers’ tracts and Bible translations enabled the proliferation of religious images that Protestant iconoclasts abhorred.
During the Catholic Counter-Reformation of the 16th and 17th centuries, evangelizing Jesuit priests were eager distributors of holy cards, particularly among the illiterate.
From early on, holy cards were also put to secular use. Notaries often attached them to legal documents to guarantee their legitimacy, and travelers would put them inside trunks as supernatural insurance against theft.
The holy card’s age of “maximum splendor” came in the 17th and 18th centuries, Toni said, when the handiwork of monks and nuns grew increasingly refined. Gems from this period often feature intricate cutting to produce the effect of delicate lace borders, miniature watercolor portraits, and collages made of such luxurious materials as silk, velvet and seed pearls.
In the 19th century, a more efficient way to reproduce images (lithography) transformed holy cards into a mass market industry, with images commonly circulating by the thousands.
Large-scale production hardly meant the demise of quality, Toni said, pointing to the vivid colors and fine lines that distinguish outstanding work in the 1800s. It was during this period, amid rising literacy rates, that prayers commonly appeared on the flip side of a saint’s image.
The 20th century, especially the period since World War II, has witnessed the decline of holy cards in both quality and popularity.
The morale of the story: Hold on to your holy cards. Better yet, start using them again.
(RNS photo: A French steel engraving from the middle of the 19th century, portraying an unnamed pilgrim. The caption reads, “Pilgrimage is an offering to God.” From the first international catalog of holy cards.)
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For the PDF version of this article, click here.
A switch-mode power supply incurs loss in many areas of its circuitry, including the MOSFETs, input and output capacitors, quiescent controller current and inductor. The power dissipated in the inductor arises from two separate sources: the losses associated with the inductor core and those associated with the inductor windings. Though determining these losses with precision can require complex measurements, an easier alternative exists. Inductor losses may be estimated using readily available data from core and inductor suppliers along with the relevant power supply application parameters.
An inductor consists of wire wound around a core of ferrite material that includes an air gap. A subset within the broad inductor category, power inductors operate as energy-storage devices. They store energy in a magnetic field during the power supply's switching-cycle on time and deliver that energy to the load during the off time. To understand power loss in inductors, you must first understand the basic parameters associated with inductors. These include magnetomotive force F(t), magnetic-field strength H(t), magnetic flux Φ(t), magnetic-field density B(t), permeability µ, and reluctance R.
To avoid the complicated physics of electromagnetic fields, we offer only a brief treatment of these parameters. The magnetic field strength generated by an inductor is measured in amperes multiplied by turns per meter. The magnetic field is created when current flows in the turns of wire that wrap around the magnetic core. For switch-mode power inductors, we can approximate the magnetic field by assuming it is completely contained within the core.
Magnetic-field density, measured in teslas, is equal to the magnetic-field strength, H(t), multiplied by the magnetic-core permeability, µ:
Magnetic flux, which is measured in webers, equals the magnetic-field density, B(t), multiplied by the cross-sectional area of the core, AC:
Permeability, measured in henrys/m, expresses the capability of a specific material to allow the flow of magnetic flux more easily. Thus, higher permeability enables a material to pass more magnetic flux. Permeability is a product:
in which µ0 is the permeability of free space (µ0 = 4π × 10-7 H/m) and µR is the material's relative permeability (a dimensionless quantity). For example, µR for iron is approximately 5000 and µR for air — the other extreme — is 1. The core of a power inductor contains an air gap and ferrite material, so its effective µ is somewhere between that of ferrite and air.
Magnetomotive force, F(t), is approximated in our case as the magnetic-field strength, H(t), multiplied by the effective length of the core, lE:
where the units for F(t) are amperes multiplied by turns. Effective length is the length of the path followed by the magnetic flux around the core. In a magnetic circuit, F(t) can be regarded as the generator of magnetic flux (Fig. 1). Finally, reluctance, which is measured in amperes multiplied by turns/weber, is the resistance of a material to magnetic fields. Reluctance is also the ratio of magnetomotive force, F(t), to magnetic flux, Φ(t), and therefore depends on the physical construction of the core. Substitution of the above equations for F(t) and Φ(t) yields the following equation for reluctance:
Inductors operate according to the laws of Ampere and Faraday. Ampere's Law relates current in the windings — or turns of wire — to the magnetic field in the core of the inductor. As an approximation, one assumes the magnetic field in the inductor's core is uniform throughout the core length (lE). That assumption lets us write Ampere's Law as:
where “n” is the number of wire turns around the inductor core and i(t) is the inductor current.
Faraday's Law relates the voltage applied across the inductor to the magnetic flux contained within the core:
where Φ(t) is the magnetic flux and “n” is the number of wire turns around the core. The functional diagram of Fig. 1 shows a power inductor and its equivalent magnetic circuit. As shown, the air gap places a high-reluctance element (RAIR) in series with a low-reluctance ferrite material (RFe), thereby locating the bulk of the magnetomotive force, ni(t), at a desired location — that of the air gap. The inductor value is calculated as:
Because ferrite materials have high permeability, they offer an easy path for magnetic flux (low reluctance). That characteristic helps contain the flux within the inductor's core, which in turn enables the construction of inductors with high values and small size. This advantage is evident in the inductance equation above, in which a core material with high µ value allows for a smaller cross-sectional area.
The power inductor in a buck or boost converter operates as follows. Turning on the primary switch applies a source voltage VIN across the inductor, causing the current to increase as:
This changing current, di(t)/dt, induces a changing magnetic field in the core material according to Ampere's Law:
In turn, magnetic flux through the inductor's core increases as:
and that increase can be rewritten in terms of magnetic-field density:
The primary switch opens during the off time and removes VIN, causing the magnetic field to decrease. In response, a decreasing dΦ/dt in the inductor's core induces (according to Faraday's Law) a voltage -n dΦ/dt across the inductor.
A graph of B(t) as a function of H(t) for a sinusoidal input voltage produces the hysteresis loop shown in bold lines on Fig. 2. B(t) is measured as H(t) is increased. The response of B(t) versus H(t) is nonlinear and exhibits hysteresis, hence the name hysteresis loop. Hysteresis is one of the core-material characteristics that causes power loss in the inductor core.
Power Loss in the Inductor Core
Energy loss due to the changing magnetic energy in the core during a switching cycle equals the difference between magnetic energy put into the core during the on time and the magnetic energy extracted from the core during the off time. Total energy (ET) into the inductor over one switching period is:
Using Ampere's Law:
and Faraday's Law:
the equation for ET can be rewritten as:
Thus, the total energy put into the core over one switching period is the area of the shaded region within the B-H loop of Fig. 2 multiplied by the volume of the core. The magnetic field decreases as inductor current ramps down, tracing a different path (following the direction of the arrows in Fig. 2) for magnetic flux density. Most of the energy goes to the load, but the difference between stored energy and delivered energy equals the energy lost. Energy lost in the core is the area traced out by the B-H loop multiplied by the core's volume, and the power lost is this energy (ET) multiplied by the switching frequency.
Hysteresis loss varies as a function of ΔBn, where (for most ferrites) “n” lies in the range 2.5 to 3. This expression applies on the conditions that the core is not driven into saturation, and the switching frequency lies in the intended operating range. The shaded area in Fig. 2, which occupies the first quadrant of the B-H loop, represents the operating region for positive flux-density excursions, because typical buck and boost converters operate with positive inductor currents.
The second type of core loss is due to eddy currents, which are induced in the core material by a time-varying flux dΦ/dt. According to Lenz's Law, a changing flux induces a current that itself induces a flux in opposition to the initial flux. This eddy current flows in the conductive core material and produces an I2R, or V2/R, power loss.
That effect also can be seen via Faraday's Law. If you imagine the core as a lumped resistive element with resistance RC, then the voltage vI(t) induced across RC according to Faraday's Law is:
where AC is the cross-sectional area of the core. The power loss in the core due to eddy currents is
This power loss is proportional to the square of the rate of change of flux in the core. Since the rate of change of flux is directly proportional to the applied voltage, the power loss due to eddy currents increases as the square of the applied inductor voltage and directly with its pulse width. Thus:
where VL is the voltage applied to the inductor, tAPPLIED is the on or off time, and TP is the switching period. Because the core material has high resistance, losses due to eddy currents in the core are usually much less than those due to hysteresis. The data given for core losses usually includes the effects of both hysteresis and core eddy currents.
Core-loss measurements are difficult because they require complicated setups for measuring flux density and because they involve the estimation of hysteresis-loop areas. Many inductor manufacturers do not supply this data, but curves are available from ferrite manufacturers to help you approximate the core loss in an inductor. Such curves indicate power loss in W/kg or W/cm3 as a function of peak-to-peak flux density, B(t), and frequency (f).
The magnetics division of Spang and Co. in Pittsburgh supplies ferrite material for inductor manufacturers. From the website www.mag-inc.com, you can obtain material data sheets that include curves for core loss versus flux density at various frequencies. If you know the particular ferrite material and the volume of the inductor's core, these curves enable you to make a good estimate of core loss.
Such curves for a given ferrite material (Fig. 3) are taken with a sinusoidal applied voltage using bipolar flux swings. When estimating the core loss for dc-dc converters that operate with unipolar flux swings and rectangular applied voltages, which consist of higher-frequency harmonics, you can approximate the loss using the fundamental frequency and one-half the peak-to-peak flux density:
The core volume can usually be estimated with a rough measurement.
A few inductor manufacturers do offer core-loss graphs or equations that enable more accurate estimations of core power loss. For example, Pulse Engineering in San Diego provides inductor core-loss equations in some of its inductor data sheets (see www.pulseeng.com). See SMT power inductors P1172/P1173 for examples. These data sheets include an equation using constants (K-factors) that enable the calculation of core loss as a function of frequency and peak-to-peak ripple in the inductor current.
On the other hand, Coiltronics, headquartered in Boynton Beach, Fla., presents core loss for many of its inductors in graph form (see FLAT-PAC 3 series power inductors for example at www.coiltronics.com). Fig. 4 shows the curve for core power loss versus flux density and frequency from a Coiltronics Flat-Pac 3 data sheet.
Power Loss in Inductor Windings
The preceding discussion presented losses in the inductor core, but losses also occur in the inductor windings. Power loss in the windings at dc is due to the windings' dc resistance and the RMS current through the inductor (IRMS2 · RDC). Resistance (R) is defined as:
where r is the resistivity of the winding material. This material is usually copper, for which ρ=1.724 ·10-8(1+.0042 · (T°C-20°C))Ωm). Physically smaller inductors typically use smaller wire, and thus exhibit a higher dc resistance due to the smaller cross-sectional area of the wire. Larger-value inductors have more turns of wire, and therefore also have higher resistance due to the longer length.
Winding losses at dc are due to the dc resistance (RDC) of the windings and are given in the inductor data sheet. With increasing frequency, the winding resistance increases due to a phenomenon called skin effect, caused by a changing i(t) within the conductor. The changing current induces a changing flux (dΦ/dt) perpendicular to the current that induced it.
According to Lenz's Law, the changing flux induces eddy currents that induce a flux themselves, in opposition to the initial changing flux. These eddy currents are of a polarity opposite that of the initial current. The induced flux is strongest at the conductor's center and weakest at the surface, causing the current density at the center to decline from its dc value with increasing frequency. As a result, current gets pushed to the surface of the conductor, producing a lower current density at the center and a higher current density at the surface. Resistance increases because the resistivity of copper remains constant and the conductor's effective current carrying area decreases.
The windings' ac resistance is found by determining the depth, known as penetration depth, to which current exists in the conductor at a particular frequency. Current density at that point falls to 1/e times the current density at the surface, or at dc. This depth (DPEN) can be calculated as:
where r is the resistivity of the conductor (usually copper) and µ is the conductor's permeability (µ = µ0 · µR, where µR = 1 for copper). This calculation is accurate when the conductor is a flat surface or when the radius of the conductor is much larger than the penetration depth. Note that ac resistance (RAC) acts as a power loss only to the ac current, which for buck and boost converters is the inductor-current ripple. DC current in the inductor only creates power loss in RDC.
You find RAC by calculating the effective conducting area of the copper wire at a given frequency. For conductors that have radii larger then the skin depth at the given operating frequency, the effective conducting area is the surface area of a conducting ring with thickness equal to the skin depth. Because resistivity remains constant, the ratio of RAC to RDC is simply the ratio of the two areas:
Furthermore, RAC/RDC multiplied by RDC is the effective resistance at a given frequency for a straight wire in free space.
Eddy currents in the inductor windings are also induced by other nearby conductors, a phenomenon known as the proximity effect. For inductors with many overlapping wire turns and adjacent wires, the increased eddy currents cause a resistance considerably higher than that from the skin effect alone. The proximity effect becomes complicated, however, due to the various configurations and distances with which conductors can be placed relative to each other. Because such calculations are beyond the scope of this article, the reader should refer to the references provided.
A simple circuit illustrates losses in the inductor (Fig. 4). RC represents the core losses, and RAC and RDC represent the ac- and dc-dependent winding losses. RC is determined by core loss calculations or estimates, while RDC is the dc winding resistance and RAC is the ac resistance due to skin effect, proximity effect or both. An example of this loss model can be developed using the MAX5073 switching power supply. We operate the MAX5073 as a buck converter with VIN = 12 V, VOUT = 5 V, fSW =1 MHz, and IOUT = 2 A. A 4.7-µH inductor (FP3-4R7 from Coiltronics) produces an inductor current ripple (ΔI(t)) of 621 mA.
A graph of core loss versus flux density and frequency is shown in Fig. 4. Peak-to-peak flux density (ΔB) is what matters. It traces out a small hysteresis loop within the larger hysteresis loop (see the inner loop in Fig. 2). You can find ΔB using the equation given in the inductor data sheet:
where K is a constant given in the data sheet (K = 105 in our case), and L is the inductance in microhenries. In this example:
As an alternative, you can estimate ΔB(t) using the inductor volt-second product divided by the number of turns and the core area within the turns:
Going to the FP3 data sheet, core loss at 613 gauss and fSW= 1 MHz is approximately 470 mW. RC in Fig. 5 is the equivalent parallel resistance that accounts for power loss in the inductor core. That resistance is calculated from the RMS voltage across the inductor and the core power loss:
RC is then 60.1 V2/0.470 W=128 Ω, where VIN × √D is the RMS value of a rectangular wave with duty cycle D and amplitude VIN.
RDC from the data sheet is 40 mΩ, assuming a zero temperature rise for the inductor, which would otherwise increase the value of RDC. The penetration depth for a 1-MHz switching frequency, using only the fundamental of the triangular current ripple at TA = +20°C, is 0.065 mm. A rough measurement of the conductor's radius gives 0.165 mm, which results in an RAC value of:
This resistance only dissipates power due to the RMS ac current. The RMS value of inductor current ripple is:
Thus, the total estimated losses are:
Erickson, Robert W., and Dragan Maksimovic. Fundamentals of Power Electronics, 2001. Chapters 13 and 14, pp. 491-562.
Kassakian, John G., Martin F. Schlecht, and George C. Verghese. Principles of Power Electronics, 1991. Chapter 20, pp. 565-601.
Dixon, Lloyd H. Magnetics Design for Switching Power Supplies. Sections 1-5.
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Continuing from my previous post, recall that the goal of species is to have a unified theory of containers with labeled1 locations. So, how do we actually specify such things (leaving aside for the moment the question of how we compute with them)?
We might imagine specifying them by:
- using any arbitrary set to represent some family of labeled structures (e.g. the set of labeled binary tree structures, the set of labeled list structures, …), together with
- a function that takes a structure and computes its set of labels.
On the face of it this seems quite natural (at least, it does to me). However, it works better to instead use a function from sets of labels to the subset of all structures containing precisely those labels.
In my experience teaching people about species, this often seems to be a source of confusion—it seems “backwards”. More generally, when thinking about a set indexed by some other set (in this case, structures indexed by their sets of labels), one might think to model this by a function (which tells us the index), but it actually works better to model it by a function , which takes each “index” to the set of all things indexed by it.2 Hopefully as we work through the rest of the definition you’ll get a sense for why it works better this way. For now, I think the best advice is don’t assign computational significance to these functions from labels to structures. Just think of them as a convenient technical device to keep track of shapes indexed by labels.
In any case, the first half of the definition is:
- A species is a mapping from sets of labels to sets of structures.
(I deliberately chose the word mapping instead of function to emphasize, again, that we don’t particularly want to assign it computational significance.) Of course, the fact that a species takes sets “of labels” as input and outputs sets “of structures” doesn’t matter; any sets will do, so we might as well just say that a species maps sets to sets. We write for the species applied to a set of labels , and call the set of “-structures with labels drawn from ”, or simply “-structures on ”, or even (when is clear from context) just “-structures”.
So far, however, this is rather uninteresting, and moreover it fails to adequately capture our intuition for what “structures” are. Intuitively, the labels are incidental, just like the variable names used in lambda terms are incidental: we must use them to be able to distinguish locations, but the precise objects we use as labels really “shouldn’t matter”. That is, given two sets of labels of the same size, we ought to have “the same” family of structures indexed by each. Of course they can’t be literally the same, because they have different labels! But they should be the same “up to relabeling”. We want to rule out the ability to have two same-size sets of labels indexing wildly different sets of structures: a species shouldn’t be able to “look at” the individual labels in order to “decide” what sort of structures to produce, just like a polymorphic type in Haskell can’t “look at” its type argument. The major difference is that species are allowed to “look at” the size of the label set.
Making this intuition precise is the clever part, and is really the pivotal point around which the whole theory revolves. Here’s how we do it. We don’t work with sizes of label sets directly; instead we work with bijections between label sets. (Of course, if there is a bijection between two finite sets then they are necessarily the same size.)
Given two label sets and which are related by the bijection (sometimes referred to as a relabeling), there must be a relationship between and —in particular they must also be in bijection. Here, then, is the second part of the definition:
- Given a bijection , a species must also “lift” to a bijection .
(Note that we’re recycling notation here, using for the action of species on both label sets and bijections.) However, this still isn’t quite enough: we don’t want to be just any bijection between and . It really should be the specific bijection that “applies” to the labels contained within the structures in . For example, it would be weird if the identity relabeling, when lifted through , resulted in some nontrivial reshuffling of the structures in . It would also be strange if didn’t respect composition, that is, if there were some such that , since intuitively “applying then applying ” ought to be the same as “applying ”. So we add these as conditions:
- must map every identity bijection to the identity , and
- must preserve composition of bijections, that is, .
Of course, all of this may look rather familiar if you know some basic category theory. Consider the category whose objects are sets and whose morphisms are bijections. Then all of the above can be summed up by the pithy
A species is an endofunctor on .
Whew! We finally made it to the definition. However, working directly with the definition is not very convenient. In my next post I’ll begin explaining the more usual algebraic approach.
At this point I should mention that species were first introduced by André Joyal in his thesis (1981). Unfortunately it is in French, which I cannot read. Fortunately Bergeron, Labelle, and Leroux (1998) wrote an excellent reference text on the subject of species. Unfortunately it is in French too. Fortunately, Margaret Readdy translated it into English!
Bergeron, F., G. Labelle, and P. Leroux. 1998. Combinatorial species and tree-like structures. Trans. Margaret Readdy. Encyclopedia of Mathematics and its Applications. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Joyal, André. 1981. “Une Théorie Combinatoire des Séries Formelles.” Advances in Mathematics 42: 1–82.
A note on spelling: generally, “labeled” is the American spelling and “labelled” British (though “labelled” is also in common American usage, according to Merriam-Webster). I try to consistently use the American spelling, but will probably slip up occasionally, and you should use whichever spelling makes you happiest.↩
I’ve seen this pattern show up multiple times in different category-theoretic contexts, but I don’t feel qualified to comment on it more generally. If you have any pointers to more general discussion of this idea/phenomenon I’d appreciate it.↩
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Copyright © 2001 by the author(s). Published here under license by The Resilience Alliance.
The following is the established format for referencing this article:
Dominy, N. J. and B. Duncan. 2001. GPS and GIS methods in an African rain forest: applications to tropical ecology and conservation. Conservation Ecology 5(2): 6. [online] URL: http://www.consecol.org/vol5/iss2/art6/
A version of this article in which text, figures, tables, and appendices are separate files may be found by following this link.
Insight GPS and GIS Methods in an African Rain Forest: Applications to Tropical Ecology and Conservation Nathaniel J. Dominy1 and Brean Duncan2
1University of Hong Kong; 2Dynamac Corporation, Kennedy Space Center
Since the completion of the Navstar Global Positioning System (GPS) in 1995, the integration of GPS and Geographical Information Systems (GIS) technology has expanded to a great number of ecological and conservation applications. In tropical rain forest ecology, however, the technology has remained relatively neglected, despite its great potential. Notwithstanding cost, this is principally due to (1) the difficulty of quality satellite reception beneath a dense forest canopy, and (2) a degree of spatial error unacceptable to fine-scale vegetation mapping. Here, we report on the technical use of GPS/GIS in the rain forest of Kibale National Park, Uganda, and the methodology necessary to acquire high-accuracy spatial measurements. We conclude that the stringent operating parameters necessary for high accuracy were rarely obtained while standing beneath the rain forest canopy. Raising the GPS antenna to heights of 25–30 m resolved this problem, allowing swift data collection on the spatial dispersion of individual rain forest trees. We discuss the impact of the 1996 Presidential Decision Directive that suspended U.S. military-induced GPS error on 1 May 2000, and comment on the potential applications of GPS/GIS technology to the ecological study and conservation of tropical rain forests.
KEY WORDS: Kibale National Park, Uganda, biodiversity conservation, canopy interference, differential correction, frugivores, geographic information systems, global positioning system, seed dispersal, spatial ecology, tropical rain forest, vegetation mapping.
Published: November 20, 2001
The occupation and utilization of space is implicit to any ecological investigation and is central to ecological theory (Dale 1999, Folt and Burns 1999). In this regard, the spatial dispersion of trees has long captivated ecologists (Wallace 1878) and has stimulated decades of research (Diggle 1979, Condit et al. 2000, Plotkin et al. 2000). In the tropics, the mapping of individual trees is beginning to yield great insight into patterns of recruitment limitation, seed dispersal, and tropical tree diversity (Wills et al. 1997, Hubbell et al. 1999, Condit et al. 2000, Harms et al. 2000). Indeed, the work of Harms and colleagues (2000) is so compelling that, in the words of Howe and Miriti (2000:434), there is now “no question: seed dispersal matters.” However, although this study underscores the hypothesized relationship between patterns of vertebrate seed-dispersal and tropical species diversity (see Howe 1989), it also calls attention to the sixth great mass extinction currently facing tropical ecosystems (May 1999, Pimm and Raven 2000). Forest plotting and the measurement of species diversity are thus important components of forest conservation and management (Hubbell and Foster 1983) because, as Plotkin et al. (2000) emphasize, these techniques are poised to answer controversial questions such as: How does habitat loss relate to species extinction of both vertebrates and plants? What is the best possible design of a natural reserve to maximize the number or genetic diversity of surviving species?
Forest plotting, however, is often tedious work. Classic methods of ground-based mapping frequently involve triangulation from a known point, which, in a rain forest, may involve extensive labor without being outstandingly accurate. Distance accuracy using reconnaissance-type mapping is at best only 1 part in 80 (4.5°) with a hand-held compass, and 1 part in 300 (1.2°) with a staff-held forester’s compass (Mosby 1959). These techniques have served tropical ecology well, but mapping accuracy and efficiency can be greatly improved today by utilizing Global Positioning Systems (GPS) and Geographic Information Systems (GIS) technologies. The relatively recent development of GPS and GIS technologies appear ideally suited to conservation efforts because they empower ecologists to expeditiously acquire, store, analyze, and display spatial data on organisms and their environment (Johnston 1998, Wadsworth and Treweek 1999). For example, in Bwindi National Park, Uganda, GPS was used to determine that mountain gorillas (Gorilla gorilla beringei) preferentially sleep in areas outside park boundaries (Goldsmith 2000). This finding has important conservation implications because many plant species may rely on both gorillas and their sleeping sites for seed dispersal and seedling recruitment (Tutin et al. 1991, Rogers et al. 1998). Simply enlarging the perimeter of Bwindi to include these sites would therefore seem an important step to preserve both the vulnerable gorillas and the diversity of the system as a whole. In this regard, the application of integrated GPS/GIS technology to habitat utilization models is particularly strong because it is capable of identifying those habitats most at risk of human encroachment and essential to species’ demographic success (e.g., Breininger et al. 1991, 1995, Duncan et al. 1995).
When using GPS in a forest, however, one is faced with two critical problems: (1) a 10–30 m spatial error presently found in autonomous GPS coordinates is unsuitable for plotting and differentiating individual trees, and (2) a dense forest canopy may pose a significant physical barrier to accurate GPS satellite reception and data acquisition (Wilkie 1989, Petersen 1990, D’Eon 1995, Wills 1996, Phillips et al. 1998). Our objective in Kibale National Park, Uganda was to mitigate these problems in a wet and remote environment. We were interested in the rapid and highly accurate (i.e., ± 1-m) plotting of individual trees in order to understand how scatter vs. clumped patterns of vertebrate seed dispersal (sensu Howe 1989) account for the spatial dispersion of adult trees (N. J. Dominy and B. Duncan, unpublished manuscript). Our aim here is to report on the feasibility and systems capabilities of a 12-channel backpack GPS with satellite-based differential correction in a rain forest environment. We believe that the findings may aid effective management decisions by increasing the efficiency of data collection and analysis, reducing spatial error, reducing the volume of archived records, easing data management, and increasing information sharing between tropical ecologists.Definition of GPS
The Navstar Global Positioning System (GPS) refers to the group of 24 geosynchronous satellites owned and maintained by the U.S. Department of Defense (USDOD). Equipped with atomic clocks, each satellite emits a unique radio signal that is received by a GPS receiver on Earth. The quartz clock in a GPS receiver is calibrated to a satellite’s atomic clock via information imbedded in the GPS signal. Because each GPS receiver generates the same unique code at the same time as each satellite, it is able to measure the time lag between radio signals sent and received. Because radio signals travel at a standard speed (299,460 km/s), a precise Earth location is thus a trigonometric equation solving for the intersection of four spheres with known radii (the radius being the measured distance between a receiver and satellite). Therefore, a minimum of four accurate distance measurements is theoretically required to determine a precise three-dimensional location on the surface of the Earth. Because each of six orbital planes contains at least four satellites inclined to the equator at an angle of 55 degrees, all areas of the Earth have at least four satellites visible at any given time.
GPS data are usually expressed as latitudes and longitudes relative to a mathematical model called the World Geodetic System 1984 datum (or WGS-84). Coordinates in the WGS-84 model are based on both an origin point and the GRS-80 ellipsoid, the standard most closely approximating the shape of the Earth. Prior to 1 May 2000, the greatest source of GPS error was called Selective Availability (S/A), which referred to ephemeris errors (epsilon) and satellite clock errors (dithering) deliberately induced by the U.S. Department of Defense. Autonomous GPS accuracies of 10–30 m were restricted to all except those authorized by the U.S. military and its allies. The combination of S/A and other sources of error (e.g., ionospheric and tropospheric delay) resulted in 95% of all civilian GPS positions being somewhere within 100 m of truth (Trimble Navigation 1998). Although the recent presidential decision to remove S/A now improves civilian GPS accuracy to 10–30 m (McDonald 1999), differential correction is still necessary to compensate for error sources preventing the accuracy at < 1 m possible with current GPS technology.Definition of GIS
Geographic information systems are an information technology with the capacity to store, analyze, and display both spatial and nonspatial data (Parker 1988). Although some modern Computer Aided Design (CAD) systems can link geographic features with attributes in a database, they are considered graphic systems only (Cowen 1988). The utility of GIS (Scholten and de Lepper 1991) is more sophisticated in:
Spatial data were collected in order to analyze the influence of seed dispersal by large frugivores on the spatial dispersion of adult rain forest trees (N. J. Dominy and B. Duncan, unpublished manuscript). Here, we describe our use of GPS and GIS technology to map individuals of three tree species representing an elephant–ape–monkey continuum of seed dispersal. They are, respectively: Balanites wilsoniana (Balanitaceae), Chrysophyllum gorungosanum (Sapotaceae), and Uvariopsis congensis (Annonaceae).Site description
The study was located in the Kanyanchu research area (~1300 m a.s.l.) of Kibale National Park, Uganda (0°13’ N to 0°41’ N and 30°19’ E to 30°32’ E). Forest canopy typically ranges from 25 to 40 m, although some trees may obtain heights of 50 m. Vegetation classification ranges from moist evergreen forest (but closely related to moist montane forest) to lowland tropical rain forest, with affinities to both montane and mixed tropical deciduous rain forest (Langdale-Brown et al. 1964, Struhsaker 1997). Mean annual rainfall is 1700 mm (1990–1996; C. A. Chapman and L. J. Chapman, unpublished data) and bimodal in distribution, occurring in two distinct rainy seasons: March–May and August–November.Equipment and data collection
From April to July 1999, we used a 12-channel GPS Pathfinder Pro XRS System (Trimble Navigation 1998) equipped with subscription to a satellite differential correction service (Fugro-OmniSTAR, Houston, Texas). The selection of this unit was based on the demands of a rain forest environment and the need for the highest possible accuracy (the unit is sub-meter capable). In addition to being light in mass (1.35 kg) and battery powered, this backpack GPS has several other features that are suited to meet those needs: (1) the capacity to simultaneously track 12 satellites; (2) real-time differential correction capability; (3) a rugged, waterproof housing; and (4) built-in, multipath rejection technology.
Data were collected using the manufacturers’ suggested critical settings. The Position Dilution of Precision (PDOP) mask was set to <6.0, the Signal-to-Noise (SNR) mask was set to >6.0, and the Elevation mask was set to 15°. PDOP is a measure of how clumped the satellites are in space and how strong the trilateration base will be for determining a position on Earth. The more evenly distributed the satellites are in space, the better the trilateration base and the lower the PDOP number. The SNR is a measure of satellite signal strength; hence, the higher the number, the stronger the signal. The elevation mask helps to prevent the GPS unit from using unfavorable satellites by eliminating those that are low on the horizon. After configuring the critical settings, we established a link between the Pro XRS and the satellite differential service (XSAT satellite, 1538.053 MHz, data rate: 2400 bps). Given an ideal physical environment and these configurations, Fugro-OmniSTAR specifies the expectation of 1-m data for study locations in Africa (M. Huff, personal communication). This is because OmniStar's 10 regional base stations around the southern half of Africa and their unique “Wide Area Solution” give any user, regardless of distance or location, approximately the same 1-m accuracy (Huff 1995).
We began data collection with a series of tests aimed to assess equipment function. To compare differences between differentially corrected and uncorrected data, we walked along a relatively open and unobstructed logging road and collected a single location point every 7 s. We then plotted and analyzed the differences between uncorrected and corrected data to determine whether the difference was within the expected range of USDOD specifications for autonomous GPS (Fig. 1). After satisfactory results, we began to map individual trees when Trimble’s Quick Plan software indicated optimal conditions (i.e., at times during the day featuring the greatest number of satellites with PDOP <6.0).
To measure the positions of trees, we placed the GPS antenna against individual boles in both undisturbed forest and near canopy gaps. If neither GPS nor differential (DGPS) readings were obtained at ground level, trees were ascended using a safety belt and Buckingham tree climbers (essentially, steel gaffs and shanks strapped to the feet). Data on the attributes and spatial location of individual trees were then downloaded onto a portable laptop computer and exported into GIS software (ArcView version 3.1, Environmental Systems Research Institute, Redlands, California, USA).
In conditions under which the sky was relatively open and free of obstruction, a minimum of four satellites in optimum position and signals of optimum strength were always located and tracked, allowing consistent collection of high-accuracy data in real time. Often, however, ground-based attempts to log differentially corrected data points beneath the forest canopy resulted in total failure. Although the GPS receiver was, at times, able to locate the required minimum of four satellites, the narrow signal parameters needed for high-quality, differentially corrected positions were rarely obtained. Attempts to plot trees in the forest interior failed because the SNR became so convoluted by heavy foliage that even the minimum requirement of tracking four satellites was rarely achieved (Fig. 2A). In trials with the GPS antenna positioned near canopy gaps, the hand-held data logger indicated favorable SNR levels, but these were confounded by conditions of poor satellite positioning or high PDOP (Fig. 2B). In an attempt to mitigate these factors, we climbed trees in order to escape as much signal interference as possible. From a height of 25–30 m, the SNR increased and PDOP decreased sufficiently to allow high-accuracy DGPS measurement. This strategy always worked, although the GPS receiver sometimes required 10–15 min to locate satellites with the optimum PDOP required for collecting the highest quality measurements. In 135 DGPS measurements, we tracked 6.65 ± 0.92 satellites (mean ± 1 SD), and PDOP was 2.48 ± 0.75.
The map (Fig. 3) produced by our methods shows the degree to which high-accuracy GPS data can be plotted with the aid of GIS technology. Uvariopsis congensis (Annonaceae), for example, was exceptionally dense: the modal distance between nearest conspecifics was 3.95 m (minimum 0.023 m). Every tree was represented by a single point because, in addition to the sheer time commitment required to climb trees, the degree of error was considered minor relative to the circumference of the tree itself.
In Kibale Forest, we experienced one of the main limitations of GPS technology. Dense forest canopy posed a significant physical barrier to quality GPS signal reception. Although researchers have described using GPS technology beneath the rain forest canopies of Africa (Wilkie 1989), Southeast Asia (Wills 1996), and Central America (Phillips et al. 1998), none has attempted to mitigate induced or inherent signal errors. Even if their measurements were repeated now in the absence of S/A, their methodologies did not include differential correction and would thus result in an error of at least 10–30 m (McDonald, 1999). Although this degree of error is probably acceptable to many ecological applications, fine-scale vegetation mapping requires high levels of spatial accuracy. It is unlikely that traditional mapping techniques would have produced the differentiation between trees reported here.
Our solution to achieving high spatial sampling accuracy in a tropical rain forest environment is just one of many that can be taken using today’s available technology. We chose to use a satellite subscription service for producing our DGPS measurements, rather than using a base station. A base station is an additional GPS receiver with an antenna stationed in an area that has an unobstructed view of the sky and is relatively close to the study site (at least within 1500 km, or 250 km for the highest accuracies). Ideally, the antenna of this unit would be surveyed in so that its position would be known with precision. A base station operates simultaneously while the rover unit is collecting field data. Because the base antenna is on a known position, geographically close, and running at the same time that the rover is collecting data, its files can be used to remove unwanted error inherent in the GPS signal. This is referred to as post-processed differential correction, because the corrections are applied after field data collection is completed.
In a typical collecting environment, post-processed GPS data will yield greater accuracy than data produced by real-time differential correction techniques. However, one thing we knew prior to commencing work in Kibale Forest was that we would not be working in a typical GPS collecting environment: a dense, multilayered forest environment is one of the most challenging for this technology. We quickly ruled out post-processing using a separate base station, reasoning that we would need to purchase two units instead of one. This was possible, but not likely, considering our research budget. Moreover, it would be difficult to find a surveyed locality (a monument or survey marker) with known coordinates on which to place the antenna. Although a fixed reference may be obtained with a second unit collecting and averaging data, this is time consuming and unlikely to produce greater accuracy than a real-time differential correction service. Finally, concerns regarding theft contributed to the decision to avoid use of a base station. We chose the Trimble Pro XRS because of its proven performance and suitability for real-time differential correction.
Although the methods described here involved climbing trees, a tiring and arguably dangerous pursuit, we believe that outfitting the GPS antenna with a telescoping pole would achieve the same results. Although using a telescoping range pole could be very effective and efficient if used properly, there are several considerations when elevating the antenna. The first is simply being able to control and balance the elongated range pole, a task that may be facilitated with an assistant and/or supporting vegetation. The second consideration is protection of the antenna and cable from damage by vegetation. Lastly, the Pro XRS antenna cable may not exceed 30 m without an inline repeater.
In a rain forest environment, however, the manufacturer’s accuracy specifications may only be used as a guideline. Absolute accuracy may only be gauged by comparing DGPS measurements made using field techniques with a point of known coordinates. Unfortunately, we were unable to locate a nearby locality with known, highly accurate coordinates, so this comparison was not made. Real-time DGPS techniques and elevating the antenna may have contributed to the overall error, but, despite this, we are confident that our measurements fall within a 1–2 m error range, with the majority being closer to 1 m.Speculation
What is the value of rapid, high-accuracy mapping techniques in the rain forest? Recent studies analyzing plots of rain forest trees are now yielding great insights into patterns of recruitment limitation, seed dispersal, and tropical tree diversity (Hubbell et al. 1999, Condit et al. 2000, Harms et al. 2000). The patterns of seed deposition, seedling demography, and adult tree recruitment are critical to making sound conservation decisions regarding tropical rain forest habitats (Hubbell and Foster 1983). This is particularly true in light of the probable co-dependence of many tropical trees on large-bodied frugivores vulnerable to poaching and habitat destruction (Chapman and Chapman 1995, Chapman and Onderdonk 1998, Balcomb et al. 2000). With ‘biodiversity hotspots’ (sensu Myers et al. 2000) rapidly shrinking in area, it is essential to understand how seed-processing by these animals affects forest composition. In this regard, the main advantage of GPS/GIS technology is its speed. In addition, the integration of GPS/GIS technology with habitat utilization models is particularly strong, because it is capable of identifying those habitats most at risk of human encroachment and essential to species demographic success (e.g., Breininger et al. 1991, 1995, Duncan et al. 1995). To this end, the recent miniaturization of GPS receivers for use in radio collars (Moen et al. 1996) will obtain animal ranging data faster and far more accurately than would cumbersome radiotelemetry equipment. In sum, the methods described here allow for the application of GPS/GIS to rapid and fine-scale vegetation mapping of rain forest environments. We believe that the utility of this technology to address important empirical and theoretical issues, along with the speed and accuracy of the methods, are well worth the effort and cost.
Responses to this article are invited. If accepted for publication, your response will be hyperlinked to the article. To submit a comment, follow this link. To read comments already accepted, follow this link.
Research permission was gratefully received from the Makerere University Biological Field Station, Ugandan Wildlife Authority, and the Uganda National Research Council of Science and Technology. We thank Charles Preuss at Trimble Navigation, Jack Dangermond and Marcus Chan at ESRI, and Mike Huff at Fugro-OmniSTAR for patience, kind technical assistance, and generous donation of equipment and services. This study was influenced by the NASA Planetary Biology Internship program and supported by the NASA Science and Engineering Office–Biological Sciences Branch, Sigma Xi, Explorer’s Club, National Geographic Society (grant number 6584-99 to Peter Lucas), and the Research Grants Council of Hong Kong (grant number 7241/97M to Peter Lucas). Thanks to Eastman Ting for the drawings, and very special thanks to Patrick Kagoro, Boniface Balyeganira, and Moses Musana for aiding with field data collection and climbing trees. The manuscript was improved by comments from Peter Lucas, Richard Corlett, and two anonymous reviewers.
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Address of Correspondent:
Nathaniel J. Dominy
Department of Anatomy
University of Hong Kong
5/F Li Shu Fan Building
5 Sassoon Road
Hong Kong SAR
Phone: (+852) 2819-9225
Fax: (+852) 2817-0857
Address of Correspondent after Jan. 2, 2002
Nathaniel J. Dominy
Department of Ecology and Evolution
University of Chicago
1101 East 57th Street
Chicago, Illinois 60637-1573 USA
Phone: (773) 702-1988
Fax: (773) 702-9740
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1 Answer | Add Yours
The story of the tortoise is a fable, one of two traditional Nigerian stories presented by Achebe in the novel (the other being the story of the mosquito). On the surface, it fulfills a standard role of the fable, explaining a natural phenomenon. In this case, it explains why the tortoise has a cracked shell. In the fable, the tortoise is a great speaker who convinces the birds to take him along. He tells every one to take a new name for the feast, choosing the name “All of you” for himself. The men in the sky declared they had prepared the feast for “all of you” (meaning all of the birds). But since that was the name Tortoise had chosen, he ate the best portions of food and drank two pots of palm wine. The birds only got the leftovers. They were very angry and left Tortoise in the sky without wings to fly. Tortoise sent a message with Parrot asking his wife to put soft things around his home so he could fall and land safely. However, Parrot told Tortoise’s wife to put hard things around their home. When Tortoise jumped from the sky, he crashed. He did not die, but his shell broke into pieces and a great medicine man had to mend his shell.
However, the story may also be read as an allegory of resistance. Tortoise may be seen as an invading country, and the birds the colonized people. While Tortoise uses language to deceive the birds, Parrot uses language to deceive Tortoise. This is similar to the conversations between the missionaries and the villagers of Umuofia. Both use language to entrap the other. The conflict in the fable is resolved when Tortoise falls upon his own weapons. Achebe may be indicating that both language and war are necessary for oppressed people to resist domination.
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Nuclear, Particle and Astrophysics
Jean-Côme Lanfranchi from the Cluster of Excellence "Universe" prepares a cylindrically formed detector crystal for a test. At the left, the cryostat that can cool the crystal down to ten millikelvin. Foto: TUM/Heddergott. The origin and structure of matter in the universe together with the role played by the different interactions and symmetries in the development of the universe from the Big Bang up to the still ongoing production of heavy elements in stars and in star explosions are matter of investigation within this research area. From a theoretical point of view the electromagnetic, weak and strong forces can be described within quantum field theory but this leaves out the gravitational force. For this reason one of the objectives of the ongoing research is a common description of all fundamental forces within the same model.
Spokesperson of the research area KTA is Stefan Schönert.
Elementary Particle Physics
Interaction of a pion beam (from the left) within a bubble chamber filled with hydrogen. Foto: CERN. The question about the nature of the fundamental building blocks that compose our world was already debated by our ancestors. Modern experiments have allowed us to look deeper and deeper into the structure of matter and to identify smaller and smaller matter constituents. With experiments at the largest accelerators worldwide, like today at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at CERN in Geneva, it is possible to produce the most elementary particles and to study their properties. Indeed, precision experiments can measure known particles and their symmetries and the experimental results can on the one hand be compared to the theoretical predictions by the Standard model of particles on the one hand, that provides a common framework for all existing particles, their interactions and the underlying symmetries and on the other hand test new theoretical predictions beyond the Standard models by looking to new particles or unexpected deviations in precision measurements.
Read more aboutElementary Particle Physics
Investigating solar neutrinos: the Borexino experiment at Gran Sasso, Italy. Foto: Henning Back/Virginia Tech. Astroparticle physics represents the gateway between astronomy, astrophysics, cosmology and Nuclear- and particle physics and deals with the links between the big structures in the universe and the smallest building blocks of matter, the forces between them and the underlying symmetries. From astronomical observations we know today that the visible form of matter constitutes only a quarter of the total amount of matter and only 5% of the total energy density in the universe and we are still searching for the particles that compose the so-called dark matter. The properties of neutrinos are also subject of investigation within astroparticle physics. In particular, we would like to study how neutrinos produced in stars change their character while travelling to the earth and possibly transform into their antiparticles, as the role played by neutrinos in stellar explosions and in the central core of earth.
Read more about Astroparticle Physics
Nuclear and Particle Physics
Hadrons as protons and neutrons are composed out of quarks that interact by means of gluons. We know that the strong interacting hadrons, among which the best known are protons and neutrons, are composed of more elementary building blocks that are interacting and also kept together by Gluons. We want to understand in detail why the proton is 50 times heavier than the sum of its buildings blocks or how the spin of the proton results from the dynamic of its constituents. Also the interaction between neutrons and protons within atomic nuclei and how this is linked to the properties of the elementary building blocks and which role the different atomic nuclei played in the formation of the heaviest elements in the universe is matter of study in this branch of physics. Heavy ion collisions at the accelerators help studying the hadron properties with different quark contents and also how these interact within dense and hot nuclear matter. One can even recreate a plasma of free quarks and gluons as probably it was the case shortly after the Big Bang.
Read more about Nuclear and Particle Physics
Applications in Medicine, Biology and Material Science
The Positron-Emission-Tomography (PET) displays regions with larger metabolic activity (lighter spots). Many technological development from fundamental research within KTA have found applications in the every-day life or in other research areas. This is the reason why many different diagnostic methods in medicine, like MRI and PET are by-products of the KTA research. Today photon, ion and neutron beams are regularly used to treat tumors. Modern research in the field of the medical diagnostic based on the very modern detector technology and that utilize ion and neutron beams for application in biophysics and for the study of different materials are further example of these kind of applications.
Maier Leibnitz Lab
MLL is dedicated to experimental and theoretical research and teaching in the area of nuclear and particle physics. It contributes with important developments of many experiments, which are carried out at large scale facilities such as CERN, the underground lab at Gran Sasso in Italy and GSI in Darmstadt.more
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paper, 136 pp., $16.95
The beauty and much of the value of this little book is in the abundant photographs of these underground forest fungi. The authors describe truffles succinctly and explain where to find them as well as their value to both trees and humans. The vast majority of this work is dedicated to individual descriptions of a rich variety of fungi. Each profile includes a scientific name, group, season, distribution, habitat, spores, features, and significantly desirability rating (or DR). Some fungi earn a DR of "unknown" while others are rated "delicious" or "insipid." At the end of this handy guide you will find a glossary, meanings of scientific names, references, and an index. Overall, anyone interested in fungi will find this book an invaluable guide.
— Marilyn K. Alaimo, garden writer and volunteer, Chicago Botanic Garden
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by John Walker
One of the most fundamental deductions Albert Einstein made from the finite speed of light in his theory of special relativity is the relativity of simultaneity—because light takes a finite time to traverse a distance in space, it is not possible to define simultaneity with respect to a universal clock shared by all observers. In fact, purely due to their locations in space, two observers may disagree about the order in which two spatially separated events occurred. It is only because the speed of light is so great compared to distances we are familiar with in everyday life that this effect seems unfamiliar to us. Note that the relativity of simultaneity can be purely due to the finite speed of light; while it is usually discussed in conjunction with special relativity and moving observers, it can be observed in situations where none of the other relativistic effects are present. The following animation demonstrates the effect.
(The animation is a rather large file and may take a while to download; please be patient if it doesn't start immediately.) In this model we will consider what three widely separated observers (represented by the yellow, blue, and grey spheres), none moving with respect to one another, observe when two lights, one red and the other green, illuminate at equal distances on either side of the yellow observer. When the lights come on, wavefronts of green and red light begin to spread out spherically from them at the speed of light. (Of course, the wavefronts appear as circles in this two-dimensional projection. Note also that we are observing this event from a large distance, equidistant from the red and green lights.)
At the moment the lights illuminate and the wavefront begins to propagate outward from each, we start a “progress meter” for each observer, with a time indicator bearing the observer's colour code showing local elapsed time. When the wavefront from the red light reaches an observer, we begin to plot a red line above the time line to indicate that the observer now sees the red light, and when the wavefront from the green light arrives, a green line begins to be drawn for the observer. The animation repeats continuously and pauses at the start and end.
When the animation reaches the end of a cycle, compare the progress meters for the three observers. Solely due to their respective distances from the red and green lights, each sees the lights come on in a different order: the yellow observer sees both illuminate simultaneously; the blue observer sees the red light first, while the grey observer sees the green light first. The lesson of the finite speed of light and special relativity is that not only isn't there a universal time valid everywhere, observers cannot even agree on the order in which they observe events to occur when the distances between them are significant compared to the speed of light.
Technical note: Some physicists prefer to reserve the term “relativity of simultaneity” for cases where observers are in motion relative to one another and the effects of special relativity obtain. In a case like the example above, where all the observers and sources are at rest with respect to one another, it is possible, using Einstein's definition of simultaneity, for spatially separated observers to synchronise their clocks and define simultaneity in terms of the spacetime interval between events. When observers are in relative motion, however, it is impossible, even in principle, to synchronise their clocks, so no definition of simultaneity is possible. But to me, the phrase “relativity of simultaneity” means precisely what it says, notwithstanding relativistic effects or their absence. In this case, three observers of the same two events see three different orders in which they appeared to occur from their particular vantage points; hence their perception of simultaneity is relative even though it is entirely due to light travel time instead of motion.
You're probably familiar with the following audio clip of the touchdown of Apollo 11 on the Moon. This is from the Public Affairs Officer (PAO) feed provided to news media covering the landing and broadcast worldwide in real time over television and radio. The feed included occasional commentary by the PAO, but during the landing only the “air to ground” (so-called, despite the conspicuous absence of air in the vicinity of the Moon) downlink and CAPCOM (the astronaut in mission control designated to speak to the crew, Charles Duke in this instance) are heard.
Buzz Aldrin does most of the talking in this sequence. As lunar module pilot, his responsibility was to provide Neil Armstrong, who was flying the spacecraft and looking out the window searching for a landing site, with a running commentary of instrument readings and status indications, which was also transmitted over the air to ground link to mission control. Armstrong does not key his microphone until he makes the post-landing transmission, “Houston, Tranquility Base here. The Eagle has landed.” (Actually, if you listen very carefully, you can hear Armstrong confirm “Out of detent” after Aldrin calls “ACA out of detent” immediately after engine stop; his voice was picked up by Aldrin's microphone.) An annotated transcript of this sequence appears from vehicle elapsed time 102:45:40 through 102:46:06 in the indispensable Apollo Lunar Surface Journal edited by Eric M. Jones.
Every time I've listened to this sequence, I've been a bit puzzled why Armstrong paused so long between “Houston” and the rest of the “Tranquility Base…” transmission. He was certainly excited at the time: telemetry records his heart rate at touchdown at 150 beats per minute, and most people (although perhaps not steely-nerved engineering test pilots) tend to speak rapidly in such circumstances.
Thinking about this, it occurred to me to ask what Neil Armstrong heard through his headphones immediately after landing on the Moon. This isn't what listeners on Earth heard, due to relativity of simultaneity. At the time of the Moon landing (which I take as 20:17:43 UTC on 20th July 1969, Julian Day 2440423.34564, for the purposes of this document) the Moon was 385693 km from the Earth, which distance light took about 1.2865 seconds to traverse. Consequently, when you listen to the Earth-based recordings of the Apollo communications, you're hearing the CAPCOM in Houston as soon as he speaks, but transmissions from the Moon more than 1¼ seconds after they were spoken.
Digital audio editing tools make it easy (although still a bit tedious) to transform a recording of transmissions from widely separated sources into how they would be received at any given location. In particular, by extracting transmissions from the LM from those originating in mission control onto separate tracks with the Audacity audio editor, I was then able to time-shift transmissions originating from the Earth by the light delay of 1.2865 seconds to reproduce what Buzz Aldrin and Neil Armstrong heard through their headphones in the cabin of the Eagle lunar module on the surface in Mare Tranquillitatis. During the landing phase, an on-board tape recorder in the lunar module captured the voices of Armstrong and Aldrin even when they were not transmitting on the air to ground link. From this noisy source, I have restored the few remarks by Armstrong which were only heard within the cabin. This is, then, the lunar touchdown as heard by the astronauts who performed it.
Now it's obvious what happened to Armstrong's post-landing transmission! Right before he began the call, Duke's message, sent a second and a quarter earlier, arrived at the Moon. While, from an earthly perspective, this was spoken well before Armstrong said “Houston”, on the Moon this message “stepped on” the start of Armstrong's transmission (especially considering human reaction time), and caused him to pause before continuing with his message. Note also that on the Earth-based recording, Duke's response occurs almost immediately after the end of Armstrong's transmission, but on the Moon, the astronauts had to wait for the pokey photons to make it from the home planet to their high gain antenna on its distant satellite.
I have taken the liberty of preparing an audio track of the entire terminal descent and landing of the lunar module Eagle on the Moon as heard by the astronauts on board.
In this stereo presentation, Aldrin's transmissions appear in the centre, with Armstrong's remarks captured only on the onboard recorder in the left channel and CAPCOM Charles Duke's transmissions in the right channel. Consider, as you listen to this audio, that apart from other folks who clicked on this link before you, only Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, and this humble scrivener have ever listened to this event from the lunar surface's unique perspective in spacetime. The transcript for this sequence occurs between vehicle elapsed time 102:42:25 and 102:47:15 in the Apollo Lunar Surface Journal.
by John Walker
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10 Lessons Kids Can Learn From Spongebob
When I think of Spongebob I am reminded of the latest report out that says watching him makes you dumber. You would think it would be hard to learn lessons from him, but I have found that Spongebob has quite a few great characteristics that kids can glean from him.
- Always think positively. Spongebob is a true optimist, seeing the glass as full. Even if it is just full of air. He always has a smile on his face and has a great attitude about most things. It is really hard to get him in a bad mood.
- Work hard. No matter what obstacles you face. Spongebob loves his job and works hard at it. He does his best to work hard and make his boss happy. He also thinks it’s important to keep the customers happy. He has difficult coworkers, boss, and customers. Despite all that he works hard, with a smile on his face.
- Think the best of everyone. Spongebob is always happy to meet a new person and make them his friend. They can treat him bad, but he still gives them the benefit of the doubt. This quality is probably what helps foster his positive attitude.
- If at first you don’t succeed try, try again. Spongebob in his optimism isn’t capable of thinking he can fail. So, if he does, he just picks up where he left off and tries again with an attitude of winning the race. He may have to try 38 times but he keeps coming back with a smile on his face and a great attitude.
- Cheer others on. Spongebob enjoys watching others succeed. It doesn’t matter if he’s in the sidelines or competing against them, he just wants the best for them. Who wouldn’t want to be friends with a guy like that?
- Don’t be afraid to be yourself. Spongebob never feels the need to impress others or be a people pleaser. He knows who he is and likes himself. If you don’t like him, he doesn’t seem to notice. He just keeps seeking to be your friend.
- Sing a song to change your outlook. Sometimes when Spongebob is in a bad spot with no seeming hope, he makes up a song. It cheers him up and he hopes to help the others around him have hope. He thinks it will make the situation more durable. Adding some drum sounds and different voices makes it even better.
- How to be a good friend. Spongebob is always there for his friends no matter what it costs him. He is always compassionate and concerned about the feelings of his friends and what will make them happy.
- Honesty is the best policy. Spongebob sees importance in being honest. He wants to be truthful to his customers, boss, friends, and strangers. If he isn’t, he is haunted by the guilt and the truth comes tumbling out.
- Always be willing to help others. Whether your Spongebob’s best friend, co-worker, or just a fellow ocean dweller, he is always willing to lend a helping hand. He never grumbles, even when excessive demands are put upon him.
If you let your kids watch Spongebob there are many lessons they can learn from him. He has many great characteristics that would be good for any child to have.
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Date: January 15 2013
Australia might not have been as isolated for the 40,000 years before European colonisation as once thought.
A new study has found evidence of substantial gene flow between Indian populations and Australia about 4000 years ago.
The researchers also suggest the dingo might have arrived on Australian shores about that time, along with tool technology and food processing.
The study, published in the journal PNAS, says it was commonly assumed that Australia remained largely isolated following initial colonisation some 40,000 years ago - but genetic histories had not been explored in detail.
Irina Pugach, of the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Germany, joined colleagues in analysing large-scale genotyping data from Aboriginal Australians, New Guineans, island Southeast Asians and Indians that suggest a new possibility.
The authors found a common origin for populations in Australia, New Guinea and the Mamanwa (a Negrito group from the Philippines) and estimated these groups split from each other about 36,000 years ago.
The researchers say this supports the view that they represent the descendents of an ancient southwards migration out of Africa.
They also found a substantial gene flow from India to Australia 141 generations ago, or 4230 years ago assuming a generation span of 30 years.
"This is also approximately when changes in tool technology, food processing, and the dingo appear in the Australian archeological record, suggesting that these may be related to the migration from India," their paper says.
They said the Indian gene flow might not have come directly from India.
The researchers said the Australian samples came from a broad area of the Northern Territory but might not be representative of the indigenous population as a whole.
This material is subject to copyright and any unauthorised use, copying or mirroring is prohibited.
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Category:The Book of Psalms
From Association of Independent Readers and Rootworkers
The Book of Psalms is a collection of 150 ancient Hebrew poems or songs employed in a variety of spiritual, magical, medical, and social circumstances. It forms one of the most loved portions of the Jewish Bible or Hebrew Tanakh, and is equally revered in the Old Testament of the Christian Bible. The word "Psalms" comes from the Greek "Psalmoi," meaning "songs sung to a harp." Another name for The Book of Psalms is the Psaltery, from the Greek word "psallein," meaning to "play on a stringed instrument."
The Book of Psalms in Folk Magic
Click each Psalm's link to read the Psalm and to learn specific details about how you can use it in your own magical and spiritual practices.
- Psalms 1: For removal of the ungodly from a group; for a safe pregnancy.
- Psalms 2: To aid in disbanding and breaking up enemy conspiracies.
- Psalms 3: For relief from a severe headache or from back pain.
- Psalms 4: For restful and peaceful sleep; to change one's luck from bad to good.
- Psalms 5: For finding favor with authorities or superiors in business.
- Psalms 6: For healing diseases of the eye; for protection in the dark.
- Psalms 7: To stop conspiracies, enemy pursuit, for court cases.
- Psalms 8: Business success through the good will of associates; blessing of oils.
- Psalms 9: To punish enemies; to restore health to male children; for court cases.
- Psalms 10: To cleanse off an unclean, restless, or intranquil spirit.
- Psalms 11: To cast off fear; for righteous retribution against your foes.
- Psalms 12: For protection against severe persecution or oppression.
- Psalms 13: For safety from unnatural death; for curing painful eye diseases.
- Psalms 14: To stop libel and slander from tarnishing the trust others have in you.
- Psalms 15: To exorcise evil spirits and devils from a person; for mental peace.
- Psalms 16: To identify a thief; to change sorrow to joy and heal to pain.
- Psalms 17: For safe travel abroad and to help bring a loved one safely home.
- Psalms 18: To drive off approaching robbers; for anointing the sick to cure them.
- Psalms 19: For help in childbirth, for release from jail, to remove evil spirits.
- Psalms 20: Protection from danger for a day; to be justified in a court case.
- Psalms 21: To both calm a storm and to offer protection for seafarers and sailors.
- Psalms 22: For travel protection from dangerous storms, pirates, beasts, and men.
- Psalms 23: For prosperity, love, protection, wisdom, and guidance.
- Psalms 24: For protection from floods and escape from rising waters.
- Psalms 25: Forgiveness of the sins of youth; protection from capture.
- Psalms 26: For the release of someone from confinement or from jail.
- Psalms 27: For protection and hospitality while one is travelling abroad.
- Psalms 28: To bring back estranged friends who have become hostile to you.
- Psalms 29: To drive out devils and restore peace and tranquility to the home.
- Psalms 30: For protection from enemies; for recovery from severe illnesses.
- Psalms 31: For protection from conspiracies, back-biting, and gossip.
- Psalms 32: To gain respect, love, grace, and blessings from Heaven.
- Psalms 33: To protect, unite, and bless all of the members of a family.
- Psalms 34: To destroy and reverse back evil; for protection while travelling.
- Psalms 35: For justice to prevail in court cases and legal matters.
- Psalms 36: For protection from slander and gossip and to expose liars.
- Psalms 37: For protection against slander, gossip, lies, and evil-doers.
- Psalms 38: To help in court cases where slander fouled up the proceedings.
- Psalms 39: To turn around a court case when false testimony has been given.
- Psalms 40: For protection against evil spirits and to cast them out.
- Psalms 41: To restore a good name if slander and gossip have ruined a reputation.
- Psalms 42: For spiritual guidance; for answers in dreams; for love reconciliation.
- Psalms 43: To work against slander and wicked people; to turn back evil.
- Psalms 44: To guard and protect against enemies, invading armies, or war.
- Psalms 45: For peace between husband and wife; to calm an angry spouse.
- Psalms 46: To help a struggling marriage; to soothe marital tensions.
- Psalms 47: To gain favour from those in power; for mastery over people.
- Psalms 48: To destroy hateful and envious enemies; to seize them with terror.
- Psalms 49: To help heal and ease serious illnesses, diseases, and fevers.
- Psalms 50: For healing; to overcome fevers and other forms of sickness.
- Psalms 51: For cleansing and removing sin, especially after acts of revenge.
- Psalms 52: To end all manner of gossip and calumny by poison-tongued people.
- Psalms 53: To protect from enemies whose names are known or unknown.
- Psalms 54: To give protection by reversing works of evil and malice.
- Psalms 55: To call upon the Lord to bring down retribution against attackers.
- Psalms 56: For intercession by the Almighty to remove temptation and bad habits.
- Psalms 57: To turn around one's luck, changing bad luck into good luck.
- Psalms 58: For warding off snakes and wild beasts; to reverse evil unto enemies.
- Psalms 59: To bring down the vengeance of the Lord against one's enemies.
- Psalms 60: For the Lord to march into battle and protect His soldiers.
- Psalms 61: For a new home to be fixed with good fortune, happiness, and peace.
- Psalms 62: For forgiveness of sins and to gain the blessing of the Lord.
- Psalms 63: To protect from being victimized by business partners and investors.
- Psalms 64: For protection, especially while at sea, and for a safe return.
- Psalms 65: For road opening that breaks through barriers and leads to success.
- Psalms 66: To remove evil spirits; to heal those possessed; for wishes to come true.
- Psalms 67: Against illness and fever; to free one who has been imprisoned or bound.
- Psalms 68: Recited while preparing baths that are used to exorcise evil spirits.
- Psalms 69: To free one from slavery to addictions and unhealthy habits.
- Psalms 70: To cast down and reverse the wickedness wrought by enemies.
- Psalms 71: To release clients from prison, for acquittals in court cases.
- Psalms 72: To craft charms and talismans that bring a client favour and grace.
- Psalms 73: To protect travellers against religious persecution in foreign lands.
- Psalms 74: For an end to persecution and to destroy oppressors and persecutors.
- Psalms 75: Used along with specially prepared baths for the cleansing of sins.
- Psalms 76: For the Lord's intercession, to provide protection from all attacks.
- Psalms 77: Used against danger, poverty, chronic illness, drought, and famine.
- Psalms 78: To gain favors from kings, princes, and other government officials.
- Psalms 79: To utterly destroy the wicked and also to cast fatal curses.
- Psalms 80: To end spiritual doubts and to prevent people falling into unbelief.
- Psalms 81: To save people from error and mistakes, for safety from accidents.
- Psalms 82: To facilitate business deals and assist those making investments.
- Psalms 83: To keep clients safe during times of war, persecution, and captivity.
- Psalms 84: For healing, especially when the body has contracted unusual odors.
- Psalms 85: To soften hearts and restore peace to friends who have become enemies.
- Psalms 86: To bring goodness, spiritual peace, and happiness to the community.
- Psalms 87: To cleanse the community before starting healing and blessing work.
- Psalms 88: To remove evil and bring blessings; used with baths and talismans.
- Psalms 89: To anoint the sick, to secure a release from prison, for psychic vision.
- Psalms 90: Used with Psalms 91 for protection; also to bless the work of the hands.
- Psalms 91: For protection from distress and harm; to exorcize evil spirits.
- Psalms 92: Prayed over herbal baths used to bring good fortune and high honors.
- Psalms 93: Against prosecution by unjust and oppressive men; to win in court.
- Psalms 94: For protection and to turn all evil back onto your enemies.
- Psalms 95: To cleanse sins; to pray for guidance and forgiveness for enemies.
- Psalms 96: To bless a family and bring happiness, peace, and joy to them.
- Psalms 97: Used with Psalms 96 for healing, blessing, and cleansing a family.
- Psalms 98: To restore peace between two hostile families; to bless a home.
- Psalms 99: For praise and devotion to God; to gain conversation with God.
- Psalms 100: To bring victory against enemies by uplifting the client.
- Psalms 101: For protection against enemies and to be rid of evil spirits.
- Psalms 102: For assistance in matters of fertility and to be granted grace.
- Psalms 103: For help in conceiving of a child and for the forgiveness of sins.
- Psalms 104: To cleanse away evil; to bless natural curios and spiritual supplies.
- Psalms 105: For healing illnesses, especially recurrent or periodic fevers.
- Psalms 106: For healing and to restore one to health, especially from fevers.
- Psalms 107: For remission or healing from periodic or recurrent fevers.
- Psalms 108: Utilized in a spell for financial success in your place of business.
- Psalms 109: Used in a powerful curse against oppressive, slanderous enemies.
- Psalms 110: For victory; to cause enemies to bow before you and beg for mercy.
- Psalms 111: Recited to acquire many friends, as well as respect, and admiration.
- Psalms 112: To increase in might and power, for success, abundance, and blessings.
- Psalms 113: Prayers and blessings for those in need; to stop infidelity and heresy.
- Psalms 114: Used in a spell for success in matters of finance, business, and money.
- Psalms 115: To foster truth-telling, for victory in debate over scoffers and mockers.
- Psalms 116: Recited daily for protection from violent or sudden death or injury.
- Psalms 117: For forgiveness of a failure to keep a vow or promise that you made.
- Psalms 118: For protection against those who try to misguide or lead you astray.
- Psalms 119: The longest Psalm, its 22 alphabetic divisions cover all human problems.
- Psalms 120: For success in court and for protection against snakes and scorpions.
- Psalms 121: For safety at night, both during sleep and while travelling in darkness.
- Psalms 122: For peace within a city, and to gain the favour of those in high station.
- Psalms 123: Employed in a spell to cause a servant, trainee, or employee to return.
- Psalms 124: Cleansing of the soul, protection at sea and from being wronged.
- Psalms 125: For protection in foreign lands and against those who work iniquity.
- Psalms 126: After miscarriage or the death of a child; for the next child to live.
- Psalms 127: Placed in a mojo for the protection and blessing of a newborn baby.
- Psalms 128: For a fortunate, accident-free pregnancy; for uncomplicated childbirth.
- Psalms 129: Recited daily to prepare one for a long life of virtue and good works.
- Psalms 130: Recited to the four quarters when passing by sentries in a war zone.
- Psalms 131: Recited three times a day to reduce one's sin of pride and scornfulness.
- Psalms 132: To remediate one's unpunctuality and failure to perform duties on time.
- Psalms 133: To retain the love and respect of friends and to gain many more friends.
- Psalms 134: For altar work in matters of higher education and for success in school.
- Psalms 135: For repentance, spirituality, and rededication of one's life to God.
- Psalms 136: Recited on behalf of those who wish to confess and be cleansed of sins.
- Psalms 137: For cleansing of the heart and soul from hate, envy, evil, and vice.
- Psalms 138: Recited daily to bring love and friendship from the Lord.
- Psalms 139: To nurture and maintain love, especially within the context of marriage.
- Psalms 140: To restore tranquility and to preserve and maintain relationships.
- Psalms 141: To ward against terror and fear and against looming oppression.
- Psalms 142: To heal the body, restore health, and alleviate pain and suffering.
- Psalms 143: To heal bodily limbs, especially the arms and to alleviate pain.
- Psalms 144: To speed up healing and to ensure the perfect mend of a broken arm.
- Psalms 145: To cleanse and purify clients who are beset by ghosts or evil spirits.
- Psalms 146: Used with altar work for healing and recovery after being wounded.
- Psalms 147: For healing wounds and bites from snakes, insects, and other animals.
- Psalms 148: Used with Psalms 149 to keep clients safe from accidents by fire.
- Psalms 149: Used with altar work to protect against fire-related accidents.
- Psalms 150: For the glory of the Lord and to give thanks for His intervention.
Recitation of the Psalms
Psalms can be sung, but in popular Jewish, Protestant Christian, Spiritualist, and Catholic Christian traditions, it is more common to recite them, either from memory or from a book, as a form of prayer, or while performing other devotions, such as bathing oneself, performing a spiritual cleaning of a home or business, placing candles or vigil lights upon an altar, or suffumigating a room or person with incense.
In hoodoo and conjure practice, the Jewish custom of reciting specific Psalms over oils or water to fix or empower them is also found. Your spiritual counsellor may provide you with talismans, mojo bags, incense, or other spiritual supplies that have been blessed through the recitation of Psalms, or may instruct you in your own use of Psalms while handling your case for you.
The History of Psalmic Magic
The tradition of praying the Psalms for magical, medical, or social remediation is an old Jewish custom. Additionally, Jewish folk magicians and kabbalists have, over the centuries, developed a method of working with the Psalms in prescriptive rites, such as the consecration of talismans, and as an adjunct to spell-casting for various conditions. The earliest book on this subject, the Hebrew text "Shimmush Tehilim" ("On the Use of the Psalms") dates back to the 10th century CE.
In the 1700s, Johannes Gottfried Seelig, a German Jewish convert to Christianity, translated "Shimmush Tehilim" into the German language. Shortly thereafter, it entered the United States when Seelig himself emigrated to Pennsylvania, where he lived with a group of devout men known as "The Monks of the Wissahickon." By the early 1800s, the book had been well accepted among Pennsylvania German Christian practitioners of brauchererai folk magic (which is better known to English-speaking Americans as Pow Wow magic).
In the late 19th century, the American Ashkenazi Jewish publishers Wehman Brothers translated Seelig's German-language edition of "Shimmush Tehilim" into English, and Anglicized the author's name as well. Under the title "Secrets of the Psalms, A Fragment of the Practical Kabbalah" by "Godfrey Selig," the ancient Jewish magic book was introduced to the African American folk magic community by Jewish pharmacists and occult-shop owners. By the early 1900s, "Secrets of the Psalms" had become one of the most popular books used by conjure doctors and spiritual practitioners of hoodoo and rootwork, and its wide popularity continues to the present day.
Our compilation of the uses of the Psalms in hoodoo and rootwork is based on the English-language edition of "The Secrets of the Psalms" (and thus on "Shimmush Tehilim"), and it also incorporates original African American hoodoo variations on this ancient Jewish book of magical art.
Bibliomancy with the Psalms
Although it is a slim volume, the Psaltery may be consulted on matters of divination, for within its 150 songs are verses that cover virtually the entire gamut of human life. To divine with The Book of Psalms, one needs only the book and a moment of calm, peaceful silence. (Read More...)
Facts About the Psalms
Many of the Psalms were written by the Jewish King David, who was a harpist. Seventy-three of the Psalms specifically bear David's name as the author. Additionally, thirteen Psalms have headings that refer to events in David's life; these Psalms are 3, 7, 18, 34, 51, 52, 54, 56, 57, 59, 60, 63 and 142.
The shortest Psalm is number 117, which only contains two verses.
The longest Psalm is number 119, which is composed of 176 verses, in sets of eight verses, each set beginning with one of the 22 letters of the Hebrew alphabet.
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System time is measured by a system clock, which is typically implemented as a simple count of the number of ticks that have transpired since some arbitrary starting date, called the epoch. For example, Unix and POSIX-compliant systems encode system time ("Unix time") as the number of seconds elapsed since the start of the Unix epoch at 1 January 1970 00:00:00 UT, with exceptions for leap seconds. Systems that implement the 32-bit and 64-bit versions of the Windows API, such as Windows 9x and Windows NT, provide the system time as both SYSTEMTIME, represented as a year/month/day/hour/minute/second/milliseconds value, and FILETIME, represented as a count of the number of 100-nanosecond ticks since 1 January 1601 00:00:00 UT as reckoned in the proleptic Gregorian calendar.
System time can be converted into calendar time, which is a form more suitable for human comprehension. For example, the Unix system time 1000000000 seconds since the beginning of the epoch translates into the calendar time 9 September 2001 01:46:40 UT. Library subroutines that handle such conversions may also deal with adjustments for timezones, daylight saving time (DST), leap seconds, and the user's locale settings. Library routines are also generally provided that convert calendar times into system times.
Closely related to system time is process time, which is a count of the total CPU time consumed by an executing process. It may be split into user and system CPU time, representing the time spent executing user code and system kernel code, respectively. Process times are a tally of CPU instructions or clock cycles and generally have no direct correlation to wall time.
Most first-generation PCs did not keep track of dates and times. These included systems that ran the CP/M operating system, as well as early models of the Apple II, the BBC Micro and the Commodore PET, among others. The IBM AT was the first widely available personal computer that came equipped with date/time hardware built into the motherboard. Add-on peripheral boards included real-time clock chips with on-board battery back-up was also available for the IBM PC and XT. Prior to the widespread availability of computer networks, most personal computer systems that did track system time did so only with respect to local time and did not make allowances for other time zones.
With current technology, most modern computers keep track of local civil time, as do many other household and personal devices such as VCRs, DVRs, cable TV receivers, PDAs, pagers, cell phones, fax machines, telephone answering machines, cameras, camcorders, central air conditioners, and microwave ovens.
Microcontrollers operating within embedded systems (such as the Raspberry Pi, Arduino, and other similar systems) do not always have internal hardware to keep track of time. Many such controller systems operate without knowledge of the external time. Those that do require such information typically initialize their base time upon rebooting by obtaining the current time from an external source, such as from a time server or external clock, or by prompting the user to manually enter the current time.
The system clock is typically implemented as a programmable interval timer that periodically interrupts the CPU, which then starts executing a timer interrupt service routine. That routine typically adds one tick to the system clock (a simple counter) and handles other periodic housekeeping tasks (preemption, etc.) before returning to whatever the CPU was doing before the interruption.
The following tables illustrate methods for retrieving the system time in various operating systems, programming languages, and applications. Values marked by (*) are system-dependent and may differ across implementations. All dates are given as Gregorian or proleptic Gregorian calendar dates.
Note that the resolution of an implementation's measurement of time does not imply the same accuracy of such measurements. For example, a system might return the current time as a value measured in microseconds, but actually be capable of discerning individual clock ticks with a frequency of only 100 Hz (10 ms).
|Operating system||Command or function||Resolution||Epoch or range|
||1 ms||1 January 1970|
|BIOS (IBM PC)||INT 1Ah, AH=00h||54.931 ms
|Midnight of the current day|
|INT 1Ah, AH=02h||1 s||Midnight of the current day|
|INT 1Ah, AH=04h||1 day||1 January 1980 to 31 December 1999 or 31 December 2079 (system dependent)|
|CP/M Plus||System Control Block:
scb$base+58h, Days since 1 Jan 1978
scb$base+5Ah, Hour (BCD)
scb$base+5Bh, Minute (BCD)
scb$base+5Ch, Second (BCD)
|1 s||1 January 1978 to September 2067|
|BDOS function 69h (T_GET):
word, Days since 1 January 1978
byte, Hour (BCD)
byte, Minute (BCD)
byte, Second (BCD)
|10 ms||1 January 1980 to 31 December 2099|
|INT 21h, AH=2Ch SYSTEM TIME
INT 21h, AH=2Ah SYSTEM DATE
|iOS (Apple)||CFAbsoluteTimeGetCurrent()||< 1 ms||1 January 2001 ±10,000 years|
|Mac OS (Apple)||CFAbsoluteTimeGetCurrent()||< 1 ms[note 1]||1 January 2001 ±10,000 years[note 1]|
|OpenVMS (HP)||SYS$GETTIM()||100 ns||17 November 1858 to AD 31,086|
|z/OS (IBM)||STCK||2−12 μs
|1 January 1900 to 17 September 2042 UT|
(see also C date and time functions)
1 January 1970 to 19 January 2038
1 January 1970 to AD 292,277,026,596
|Windows (Microsoft)||GetSystemTime()||1 ms||1 January 1601 to AD 30,828|
|Language/Application||Function or variable||Resolution||Epoch or range|
|Ada||Ada.Calendar.Clock||100 μs to
20 ms (*)
|1 January 1901 to 31 December 2099 (*)|
|BASIC, True BASIC||DATE, DATE$
|Business BASIC||DAY, TIM||0.1 s||(*)|
|C (see C date and time functions)||time()||1 s (*)[note 2]||(*)[note 2]|
|1 s (*)[note 2]
1 ns (C++11, OS dependent)
|100 ns||1 January 0001 to 31 December 9999|
|CICS (IBM)||ASKTIME||1 ms||1 January 1900|
|COBOL||FUNCTION CURRENT-DATE||1 s||1 January 1601|
|Common Lisp||(get-universal-time)||1 s||1 January 1900|
|1 January 1900|
|System.SysUtils.Time||1 ms||0/0/0000 0:0:0:000 to 12/31/9999 23:59:59:999|
|System.SysUtils.GetTime (alias for System.SysUtils.Time)|
|System.SysUtils.Date||0/0/0000 0:0:0:000 to 12/31/9999 0:0:0:000|
|System.SysUtils.Now||1 s||0/0/0000 0:0:0:000 to 12/31/9999 23:59:59:000|
|System.SysUtils.DayOfWeek||1 day||1 to 7|
|Emacs Lisp||(current-time)||1 μs (*)||1 January 1970|
|Excel (Microsoft)||date()||?||0 January 1900|
|(*)||1 January 1970|
|Go||time.Now()||1 ns||1 January 0001|
|Haskell||Time.getClockTime||1 ps (*)||1 January 1970 (*)|
|Data.Time.getCurrentTime||1 ps (*)||17 November 1858 (*)|
|1 ms||1 January 1970|
|1 ms||1 January 1970|
|Matlab||now||1 s||0 January 0000|
|MUMPS||$H (short for $HOROLOG)||1 s||31 December 1840|
|Objective-C||[NSDate timeIntervalSinceReferenceDate]||< 1 ms||1 January 2001 ±10,000 Years|
|OCaml||Unix.time()||1 s||1 January 1970|
|Extended Pascal||GetTimeStamp()||1 s||(*)|
|Perl||time()||1 s||1 January 1970|
|1 s||1 January 1970|
|Python||time.time()||1 μs (*)||1 January 1970|
|1 s||1 January 0001 to 31 December 9999|
|CURRENT(TIMESTAMP), %TIMESTAMP||1 μs|
|Ruby||Time.now()||1 μs (*)||1 January 1970 (to 19 January 2038 prior to Ruby 1.9.2)|
|1 s (ANSI)
1 μs (VisualWorks)
1 s (Squeak)
|1 January 1901 (*)|
|3 ms||1 January 1753 to 31 December 9999 (*)|
|60 s||1 January 1900 to 6 June 2079|
|Standard ML||Time.now()||1 μs (*)||1 January 1970 (*)|
|TCL||[clock seconds]||1 s||1 January 1970|
|[clock milliseconds]||1 ms|
|[clock microseconds]||1 μs|
|[clock clicks]||1 μs (*)||(*)|
|Windows PowerShell||Get-Date||100 ns||1 January 0001 to 31 December 9999|
|Visual Basic .NET (Microsoft)||System.DateTime.Now
|100 ns||1 January 0001 to 31 December 9999|
- Computation time
- DATE (command)
- GPS time
- Network Time Protocol
- TIME (command)
- Time formatting and storage bugs
- TIME protocol
- Time standard
- Unix date command
- Unix time
- Unix time command
- Wall clock time
- Year 2000 problem
- Year 2038 problem
- The Apple Developer Documentation is not clear on the precision & range of CFAbsoluteTime/CFTimeInterval, except in the CFRunLoopTimerCreate documentation which refers to 'sub-millisecond at most' precision. However, the similar type NSTimeInterval appears to be interchangeable, and has the precision and range listed.
- The C standard library does not specify any specific resolution, epoch, range, or datatype for system time values. The C++ library encompasses the C library, so it uses the same system time implementation as C.
- Ralf Brown, "Int 0x1A, AH=0x00" in Ralf Brown's Interrupt List, 2000, http://www.delorie.com/djgpp/doc/rbinter/ix/1A/00.html
- Ralf Brown, "Int 0x1A, AH=0x02" in Ralf Brown's Interrupt List, 2000, http://www.delorie.com/djgpp/doc/rbinter/ix/1A/02.html
- Ralf Brown, "Int 0x1A, AH=0x04" in Ralf Brown's Interrupt List, 2000, http://www.delorie.com/djgpp/doc/rbinter/ix/1A/04.html
- "CP/M Plus (CP/M Version 3.0) Operating System Guide" (PDF).
- "BDOS system calls".
- Ralf Brown, "Int 0x21, AH=0x2c" in Ralf Brown's Interrupt List, 2000, http://www.delorie.com/djgpp/doc/rbinter/ix/21/2C.html
- Ralf Brown, "Int 0x21, AH=0x2a" in Ralf Brown's Interrupt List, 2000, http://www.delorie.com/djgpp/doc/rbinter/ix/21/2A.html
- "Time Utilities Reference" in iOS Developer Library (Apple, 2007).
- "Time Utilities Reference" in Mac OS X Developer Library (Apple, 2007).
- "CFRunLoopTimer Reference" in Mac OS X Developer Library (Apple, 2007).
- z/Architecture Principles of Operation (Poughkeepsie, New York:International Business Machines, 2007) 7-187.
- z/Architecture Principles of Operation, (Poughkeepsie, New York:International Business Machines, 2000) 4-45, 4-46.
- IBM intends to extend the date range on future systems beyond 2042. z/Architecture Principles of Operation, (Poughkeepsie, New York:International Business Machines, 2007) 1-15, 4-45 to 4-47.
- "DateTime.Now Property" in MSDN (Microsoft, 2010) last updated July 2010.
- "DateTime.UtcNow Property" in MSDN (Microsoft, 2011)
- "DateTime.Ticks Property in MSDN (Microsoft, 2010) last updated May 2010.
- "Date and Time Support" in Embarcadero Developer Network (Embarcadero Technologies, 2013)
- "System.SysUtils.Time" in Embarcadero Developer Network (Embarcadero Technologies, 2013)
- "System.SysUtils.GetTime" in Embarcadero Developer Network (Embarcadero Technologies, 2013)
- "System.SysUtils.Date" in Embarcadero Developer Network (Embarcadero Technologies, 2013)
- "System.DateUtils.Today" in Embarcadero Developer Network (Embarcadero Technologies, 2013)
- "System.DateUtils.Tomorrow" in Embarcadero Developer Network (Embarcadero Technologies, 2013)
- "System.DateUtils.Yesterday" in Embarcadero Developer Network (Embarcadero Technologies, 2013)
- "System.SysUtils.Now" in Embarcadero Developer Network (Embarcadero Technologies, 2013)
- "System.SysUtils.DayOfWeek" in Embarcadero Developer Network (Embarcadero Technologies, 2013)
- "System.SysUtils.CurrentYear" in Embarcadero Developer Network (Embarcadero Technologies, 2013)
- "In the Microsoft Office Spreadsheet Component, the value 0 evaluates to the date December 30, 1899 and the value 1 evaluates to December 31, 1899. ... In Excel, the value 0 evaluates to January 0, 1900 and the value 1 evaluates to January 1, 1900." XL2000: Early Dates on Office Spreadsheet Component Differ from Excel in (Microsoft Support, 2003).
- "SYSTEM_CLOCK", documentation for FORTRAN compiler, Intel Corp., accessed 27 October 2011.
- SYSTEM_CLOCK — Time function" in The GNU Fortran Compiler (Free Software Foundation) accessed 27 October 2011.
- System.nanoTime() method in Java Platform, Standard Edition 6: API Specification (Oracle, 2011) accessed 27 October 2011.
- Clock.systemUTC() and other methods in Java Platform, Standard Edition 8: API Specification (Oracle, 2014) accessed 15 January 2015.
- JSR-310 Java Time System in Java Platform, Standard Edition 8: API Specification (Oracle, 2014) accessed 15 January 2015.
- Matlab Help
- "Foundation Data Types Reference" in Mac OS X Developer Library (Apple, 2011) last modified 6 July 2011, section NSTimeInterval.
- Douglas Wegscheild, R. Schertler, and Jarkko Hietaniemi, "Time::HiRes" (CPAN Comprehensive Perl Archive Network, 2011) accessed 27 October 2011.
- Time class in Ruby-Doc.org: Help and documentation for the Ruby programming language (Scottsdale, AZ: James Britt and Neurogami) accessed 27 October 2011.
- Ruby 1.9.2 Release Notes in Ruby-Doc.org: Help and documentation for the Ruby programming language (Scottsdale, AZ: James Britt and Neurogami) accessed 27 October 2011.
- "Using the Get-Date Cmdlet". Microsoft TechNet. Retrieved 11 December 2013.
- "Windows PowerShell Tip of the Week – Formatting Dates and Times". Microsoft TechNet. Retrieved 11 December 2013.
- Critical and Significant Dates, J. R. Stockton (retrieved 3 December 2015)
- The Boost Date/Time Library (C++)
- The Boost Chrono Library (C++)
- The Chronos Date/Time Library (Smalltalk)
- Joda Time, The Joda Date/Time Library (Java)
- The Perl DateTime Project (Perl)
- The Ruby Date/Time Library (Ruby)
Return to Fuhz Home - This article covering System time is enhanced for the visually impaired.
The text of this Fuhz article is released under the GNU Free Documentation License
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NASUTION, MHD.IQBAL (2009) DAMPAK HUKUM AKIBAT KEKERASAN TERHADAP ANAK MENURUT HUKUM ISLAM DAN HUKUM POSITIF. Other thesis, University of Muhammadiyah Malang.
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Violence against children is a fairly complex problem, because it has a serious negative impact, both for victims and their social environment. In general, violence is defined as an action taken by one individual against another individual causing physical disruption and / or mental.Law Act No . About 23 Year 2003 on Child Protection. Article 4 says that: "Every child has the right to live, grow, develop, and participate appropriately in accordance with the dignity of humanity, and to receive protection from violence and discrimination.The definition of a child is an individual who has not reached the age of 18 years old. Therefore, the violence in children is an act of doing someone / individuals to those who have not completed 18 years of age that causes physical condition and / or mentally disturbed. Often the term violence to these children in the strict sense associated with unfulfilled rights of children to get protection from violence and exploitation. Violence in children also often associated with the first and second tier providers or the responsible fulfillment of child rights of parents (father and mother) and keluarga.kekerasan latter known as mistreatment of children or child abuse that is part of the violence in the household (domesticviolence). Violence in the treatment of a child or children is an arbitrary act committed by a person should maintain and protect the child (caretaker) on a child physically, sexually, or emotionally. Perpetrators of violence here as acting as a caretaker, they are generally the closest people around the child. Biological mother and father, mother and stepfather, grandfather, grandmother, uncle, private drivers, teachers, motorcycle taxi drivers an introduction to school, gardeners, and so on. Many theories that attempt to explain how this violence occurs, one of which related to the theory of stress in the family (family stress). Stress in the family can come from children, parents, or a particular situation. Acts of violence against children is a fairly complex problem, because it has a serious negative impact, both for victims and the social environment. The objectives to be achieve in the writing of this thesisis: 1. To understand the form soft violence that comm Onlyoccur in children 2. To find child abuse violence last three years 20062008 3. To determine the legal impact of violence against children in terms of Islamic law and positive law. Violence against children is a deliberate behavior (verbal and non verbal) are intended to injure or damage the child, either physical assaults or damage to the child, mental, social, economic and sexual violation of human rights, contrary to the values and norms norm in society, impact of psychological traumas for victims of violence against children is felt the most traumatic experiences on self stubborn child, who continues on other issues, whether physical, psychological and social.
|Item Type:||Thesis (Other)|
|Subjects:||K Law > K Law (General)|
|Divisions:||Faculty of Islamic Studies > Department of Syariah|
|Depositing User:||Anggit Aldila|
|Date Deposited:||20 Jun 2012 06:55|
|Last Modified:||20 Jun 2012 06:55|
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You are hereHome >
Transportation in Transition
Americans’ transportation habits have changed. The average American drives 7.6 percent fewer miles today than when per-capita driving peaked in 2004.
A review of data from the Federal Highway Administration, Federal Transit Administration and Census Bureau for America’s 100 most populous urbanized areas – which are home to over half of the nation’s population – shows that the decline in per-capita driving has taken place in a wide variety of regions. From 2006 to 2011, the average number of miles driven per resident fell in almost three-quarters of America’s largest urbanized areas for which up-to-date and accurate data are available. Most urbanized areas have also seen increases in public transit use and bicycle commuting and decreases in the share of households owning a car. (See Figure ES-1.)
Figure ES-1: Driving Is Declining and Non-Driving Transportation Is Increasing in Urbanized Areas
The first five data bars (“Increase in the proportion of workers working at home” to “Increase in the percent of car-less households”) measure the 100 most populous urbanized areas from 2000 to 2010. The “Decrease in vehicle-miles traveled per capita” measures the 74 (out of the 100) most populous urbanized areas for which comparable data exist from 2006 to 2011. The “Increase in transit passenger-miles traveled per capita” measures the 98 (out of 100) most populous urbanized areas for which comparable data exist from 2005 to 2010.
Regional, state and federal officials need to account for changing trends in driving as they consider how to adapt their transportation policies and infrastructure plans to a new future of slower growth in vehicle travel.
Transportation trends are changing in America’s biggest urbanized areas.
- The proportion of workers commuting by private vehicle – either alone or in a carpool – declined in 99 out of 100 of America’s largest urbanized areas between 2000 and 2007-2011.i (See Figure ES-2.)
- The proportion of residents working from home has increased in 100 out of the 100 largest urbanized areas since 2000.
- The proportion of households without cars increased in 84 out of the 100 largest urbanized areas from 2006 to 2011.
- The proportion of households with two cars or more decreased in 86 out of the 100 largest urbanized areas from 2006 to 2011.
Figure ES-2: The Proportion of Workers Traveling to Work by Car Has Fallen across the Country (2000 to 2007-2011)
TABLE ES-1: 10 Urbanized Areas with the Largest Decline in Proportion of Workers Commuting by Private Car or Van
There is additional evidence of declining driving in those urbanized areas with standardized data on vehicle-miles traveled.
- The average number of vehicle-miles traveled (VMT) per capita declined in 54out of the 74 large urbanized areas whose trends could be analyzed between 2006 and 2011.ii(See Figure ES-3.)
- New Orleans has seen the largest drop in per-capita VMT – 22 percent – since 2006, possibly a result of Hurricane Katrina. The urbanized areas containing two Wisconsin cities, Milwaukee and Madison, saw the second and third biggest drops in per-capita VMT – 21 percent and 18 percent, respectively. Two Pennsylvania urbanized areas, Harrisburg and Pittsburgh, saw the fourth and fifth biggest drops in per-capita VMT – 14 percent and 13 percent, respectively.
Figure ES-3: VMT per Capita Has Declined across the Country (2006 to 2011)
Note: States with shading are missing reliable data for all or part of an urbanized area, and ‘X’s denote the location of excluded urbanized areas. In addition, vehicle-miles traveled per capita in urbanized areas may have declined even more during this period than these estimates because of residents who have recently moved into exurbs outside the boundaries of urbanized areas but drive into the urbanized area.
Table ES-2: 10 Urbanized Areas with Largest Declines in VMT per Capita
The use of non-driving modes of transportation has increased in a majority of the nation’s most populous urbanized areas.
- The proportion of residents bicycling to work increased in 85 out of 100 of America’s largest urbanized areas between 2000 and 2007-2011.
- The number of passenger-miles traveled (PMT) per capita on transit increased in 60 out of 98 of America’s large urbanized areas whose trends could be analyzed between 2005 and 2010.iii
Variations in the economy do not appear to be responsible for variations in the trends in driving among urbanized areas.In fact, the economies of urbanized areas with large declines in driving have been less affected by the recession according to unemployment and poverty indicators.
- Between 2006 and 2011, the average increase in the unemployment rate in the 15 urbanized areas with the highest per-capita declines in VMT was 3.9 percent, while the average increase in all other urbanized areas was 4.6 percent.
- Between 2006 and 2011, the average increase in the poverty rate of the 15 urbanized areas with the highest per-capita declines in VMT was 2.7 percent, while the average increase in all other urbanized areas was 3.6 percent.
The time has come for cities and states to shift their transportation priorities away from investments in expensive, unnecessary new highways, and toward the maintenance and repair of our existing infrastructure and the development of new transportation choices for Americans.
To that end, public officials should:
- Revisit transportation plans. Many existing transportation plans continue to reflect outdated assumptions that the number of miles driven will continue to rise steadily over time. Officials at all levels should revisit transportation plans to ensure that they reflect recent declines in driving and new understandings of the future demand for travel.
- Reallocate resources. With driving stagnating in many areas and demand for transit, bicycling and pedestrian infrastructure increasing, officials should reallocate resources away from wasteful highway expansion projects and toward system repair and programs that expand the range of transportation options available to Americans.
- Remove barriers to non-driving transportation options. In many areas, planning and zoning laws and transportation funding rules limit public officials’ ability to expand access to transportation choices. Officials at all levels should remove these barriers and ensure access to funding for non-driving forms of transportation.
- Use innovative travel tools and services. New technologies and techniques provide transportation officials with new tools to address transportation challenges. Transportation agencies should encourage the use of carsharing, bikesharing and ridesharing and provide real-time travel information for public transit via smartphone.
- Get better data. Transportation agencies should compile and make available to the public more comprehensive, comparable and timely data to allow for better informed analysis of the causes and magnitude of changes in driving trends. Officials at all levels should eliminate inconsistencies in the reporting of transportation data, increase the frequency of surveys that shed light on changes in transportation preferences and behaviors, and use emerging new sources of information made possible by new technologies in order to gain a better grasp of how driving trends are changing and why.
What Are “Urbanized Areas” and Why Are They Important?
An “urbanized area” is a geographic area that is generally larger than a city and smaller than a metropolitan area. The Census Bureau defines urbanized areas as densely developed areas with 50,000 or more residents that include both a central city and adjacent built-up areas (including suburbs). The Census Bureau redefines the boundaries for each urbanized area every 10 years.
Urbanized areas are important geographic units for transportation funding and planning. The 100 largest urbanized areas house more than half of the U.S. population and they are growing rapidly – between 2000 and 2010, the population in all urbanized areas grew 14.3 percent, compared to the total population, which grew 9.7 percent.
Trends in travel in urbanized areas are important both because they are a major indicator of overall vehicle travel and because they have important implications for transportation policy and investment decisions.
i For a list of data sources, see the Methodology. Throughout this report, “2007-2011” refers to data collected by the 2011 American Community Survey 5-year survey which covers years 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010 and 2011. The American Community Survey reports one number for all five years.
ii While this report focuses on the transportation trends in America’s 100 most populous urbanized areas, 26 urbanized areas are excluded from the VMT analysis. VMT per capita and changes in VMT over time in these 26 urbanized areas could not be accurately determined due to states’ failure to use standardized and up-to-date data collection methods.
iii While this report focuses on the transportation trends in America’s 100 most populous urbanized areas, two urbanized areas were excluded from the public transit analysis. The passenger-miles traveled on public transit in Mission Viejo (CA) and Ogden-Layton (UT) were excluded because no transit agency lists these two urbanized areas as their primary urbanized area, and the passenger miles and trips traveled within urbanized areas in 2005 were derived from transit agency travel information.
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The Co-Benefits of Sustainability Strategies
Yvonne Hunter is program director of the Institute for Local Government’s California Climate Action Network (CCAN) and can be reached at [email protected].
For more about CCAN, visit www.ca-ilg.org/climatechange.
The phrases “Buy one, get one free,” “Kill two birds with one stone” and “It’s a two-fer” are part of our everyday language. How do these common phrases relate to sustainability? Virtually all of the strategies that promote sustainability have more than one benefit — also referred to as co-benefits. In many cases, they provide much more than just a “two-fer.” Sustainability strategies save money, conserve resources for future generations, improve public health, respond to climate change and make communities more attractive places to live.
The Public Health Connection
The term “co-benefit” is often used in the public health community to describe multiple, ancillary health benefits of a program, policy or intervention, such as the health benefits that are achieved through improvements to the built environment. For example, how communities are designed — land use and transportation patterns, accessibility to parks, open space and transit, pedestrian- and bicycle-friendly features — all have positive direct and indirect impacts, or co-benefits, on residents’ health and health conditions, including obesity, asthma and cardiovascular disease.
Often overlooked is the fact that many of the design strategies to reduce vehicle miles traveled and greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs) from transportation — the largest source of GHGs — also have multiple public health co-benefits. Thus the application of co-benefits extends well beyond the public health arena, and the examples are numerous.
Energy and Trees
Taking steps to implement energy efficiency measures in public agency facilities saves resources and money as energy bills decrease, which helps the local agency manage its budget. Similarly, planting shade trees reduces the need for air conditioning, thereby saving energy and money, and trees make communities more attractive. Trees also absorb greenhouse gases and improve air quality. Because energy generation is the second largest source of GHG emissions, reducing energy usage is a significant climate change mitigation strategy. The co-benefits of energy efficiency are numerous and broad.
Water efficiency and conservation offer equally dramatic co-benefits. Improving water efficiency and conservation efforts reduces the energy usage (and GHG emissions) associated with water processing and delivery. This also saves money. Using water more efficiently has another co-benefit. By reducing water consumption, communities can begin to adapt to the impacts of climate change — and a future when water is scarcer due to increased drought, frequent extreme weather conditions and a reduced snow pack.
Green buildings incorporate energy- and water-efficient features as well as products made of recycled materials. The co-benefits of this sustainability strategy include reduced energy and water use and resultant lower bills, and conservation of natural resources. Green buildings that use products with recycled content also help strengthen the markets for recycled materials and reduce the amount of material sent to landfills, which in turn lessens the potential for methane gas production, a vigorous greenhouse gas that is released from improperly managed landfills.
In recent years, wildfires have devastated neighborhoods and economies in rural communities and those on the urban-wildland interface. The fires also contribute to climate change by releasing carbon dioxide stored in the materials that burn. Efforts to reduce the likelihood of wildfires, such as implementing minimum brush clearance requirements and using fire-resistant landscaping and materials, also promote public safety and reduce the potential loss of life and property. Fire prevention efforts have climate change co-benefits because trees store carbon dioxide that would be released into the atmosphere if they were burned.
Whether a policy or strategy involves increasing energy efficiency and water conservation, making communities more bicycle friendly, reducing the likelihood of wildfires or improving public health, one theme is constant throughout — the direct and indirect potential to save money. This is an important co-benefit anytime, but especially during times of fiscal challenges.
An Opportunity to Agree
Californians agree that these are worthy goals:
- Using water more wisely;
- Reducing air pollution;
- Increasing recreation opportunities;
- Recycling; and
- Promoting well-designed, vibrant, healthy communities.
The same can be said for reducing dependence on foreign oil. The majority of Californians also believe it is important to address climate change. Understanding the co-benefits of sustainability strategies beyond a narrow set of impacts offers local leaders an opportunity to broaden the dialogue and unite around making their communities better places to live and work.
Resources For More Information
The following links are a few of the helpful resources available from the Institute for Local Government.
- California Climate Action Network: www.ca-ilg.org/climatechange
- California Climate Action Network: www.ca-ilg.org/bestpractices
- Land Use and Environment Program: www.ca-ilg.org/landusecommunitydesign
- Healthy Communities: www.ca-ilg.org/healthycommunities
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Reading Guide Questions
Please be aware that this discussion guide may contain spoilers!
- Discuss Owen and Adelaide's relationship and how it is affected by their different social and economic statuses. How are their views of each other influenced by each other's perception, rather than the reality of their feelings?
- Discuss the similarities and differences between how Owen and Argus deal with being orphans. How do the memories of their fathers continue to impact them? How does the necessity of being independent at a young age impact them later in life?
- What are Owen's motivations for going on the voyage? What do you think influences him the most? Discuss Captain Terrapin's statement that "all men are equal at sea." (p. 129) Do you find this to be true?
- Discuss the role of women in the novel. Think about Adelaide, her mother Margaret, and Malini. How do they exert influence over the men in their lives? How do they see their role in society?
- Among the Melanesian languages featured in the novel there is no future tense. What does this say about the Melanesian people? Who in this novel is living in the past, the present, or the future?
- Owen recalls, "His own interest in objects, from the native to the urban, had always been about the story each one represented, about possessing material proof of something transient" (p. 126). What are the motivations of other collectors? What do such objects and artifacts mean to different characters? Think about Argus's reaction to seeing the tools of his ancestors in the museum: "These items did not belong to the white men but had they saved them from oblivion? He couldn't know what was true." (p. 392) What do you believe?
- Why do Argus and Malini agree to act like savages and be put on display? Do you think they come to regret their choice? What do you think impacts Jethro's sanity? Is it the snake bite, or something else? Malini thinks, "Weather and time; she was beginning to understand that these were two of the clayskin gods." (p. 354) Do you agree? Do you find that true in present day?
- Why does Owen keep the effigy? He says, "It stood for all that waited beyond the brink. All that could arrive without invitation." (p. 434) What does he mean by this statement?
- Discuss the symbolism of the house Owen restores. He has been dismantling houses and relocating objects all his life - why is it suddenly important to him to put something back together?
- Reread Argus's thoughts as he confronts Jethro on page 456: "His sister, his island, his own boyhood self, they had all be defiled, each in their own way." Why does Argus react the way he does in this scene? Do you think he does the right thing?
- Discuss the significance of the section headers. How do they tie together and emphasize parallels within the story?
- Death plays a large role in this novel. Contrast different characters' and different cultures' and social ranks' views of death, burial, and the afterlife.
- The novel employs extensive foreshadowing. How is it used as a literary device? What major events did you notice were foreshadowed? How did this impact your reading?
- Early in the book, the narrative is written from the perspectives of Owen and Argus, but later opens up to include limited perspectives from Adelaide, Malini, Jethro, and Hale. Is there anyone else you would have liked to hear more from? How did this contribute to the novel?
- Discuss the customs and rituals presented in the novel, both of the native islanders and the Americans on the ship and in the city. What role does tradition and familial obligation play in the characters' lives?
Unless otherwise stated, this discussion guide is reprinted with the permission of Washington Square Press.
Any page references refer to a USA edition of the book, usually the trade paperback version, and may vary in other editions.
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Businesses provide anything consumers want or need, including basic necessities such as food and housing, luxuries such as whirlpool baths and wide-screen televisions, and even personal services such as caring for children and finding companionship.
There are many types of businesses in a free-market economy. The three most common are manufacturing firms, merchandisers, and service enterprises.
Manufacturing firms produce a wide range of products. Large manufacturers include producers of airplanes, cars, computers, and furniture. Many manufacturing firms construct only parts rather than complete, finished products.
Merchandisers are businesses that help move goods through a channel of distribution—that is, the route goods take in reaching the consumer. Merchandisers may be involved in wholesaling or retailing, or sometimes both.
Service enterprises include many kinds of businesses. Examples include dry cleaners, shoe repair stores, barbershops, restaurants, ski resorts, hospitals, and hotels.
WorldWWW.com - the diversified business directory provides users with helpful business links to business directories, franchise opportunities, home business, industrial business, business services, women's business, real estate, property listings, property management, apartment rentals, luxury home, online shopping, small appliances, office products, automotive, telecommunications, business organizations, escort service, video production, special education, homework help and much more.
Please click here to know more information on business and the sucessful process of making business. We will do our best to satisfy you.
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UN Women Executive Director Statement on the International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia
Date: 17 May 2014
Statement by UN Women Executive Director Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka on the International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia.
On the 17th of May 1990, the World Health Organisation removed homosexuality from its list of mental disorders. Twenty four years later, we mark that landmark decision and celebrate the International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia.
In every region of the world, progress towards equality and freedom for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Intersex people has been made. However, no country has yet eliminated homophobia and transphobia. At least 78 countries continue to have laws in effect that are used to criminalize consensual relationships between adults of the same sex. And recently we have seen the passage of laws in several countries which target LGBTI people for discrimination, vilification, and punishment.
On behalf of UN Women, let me state clearly that LGBTI rights are human rights.
There can be no place in our world for the criminalization of sexual orientation and consensual sexual behaviour of individuals.
The oppression of LGBTI people is closely related to the discrimination that women face in their daily lives. The struggle for gender equality, women’s rights and women’s empowerment will not be complete until LGBTI people are also free.
UN Women is proud to take up the call from the UN Secretary-General, who has challenged us to fight for a world that is truly free and equal. We believe that equality begins at home.
An equal, peaceful and sustainable world cannot be realised without full and equal rights for LGBTI people.
UN Women will continue to work for an end to discrimination, violence and prejudice, and for all people to be able to live their lives with dignity and respect.
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THE CONCAVE EARTH HYPOTHESIS
This hypothesis was first conceptualised in the Cellular Cosmogony of Cyrus R Teed, founder of the KoreshanReligion/Society established in 1886. He stated that the Earth is concave (curving upward), thus we are on the inside of a hollow Sphere. All of the stars and planets are illusions due to refraction of curving light in the atmosphere, of which itself is illusory in the general appearance of its shape. Only one half of the sun radiates light, it rotates on an axis at the centre of the hollow cell, and we only ever see a focalised projection of it through multiple layers of the atmosphere.
Accordingly this cosmology was revealed to Teed during a visionary experience in which a female angel showed him the "true" nature of the cosmos, where the heavens revolve inside the hollow cell of the earth.
Astrology of the Cellular Cosmogony
1.1 Inversion Geometry:
In 1981 Mostafa Abdelkader an Egyptianmathematician from Alexandria, revived and expanded upon Karl E Neupert's Geocosmos version of Cyrus' Ideas, from the year 1900. Unlike Cyrus' model which considers the heavenly bodies entirely as optical illusions, Neupert's model inverts the entire known cosmos into the concave model, stating that space shrinks / implodes via non-euclidean geometry, so as to fit an entire Copernican cosmos (C) into the comparatively finite boundary-envelope of the Geocosmos' (G) concave surface. In his paper that he submitted to the Australian science journal;Speculations in Science and Technology, in 1981 (which then gave a serious peer review of his full hypothesis in its 6th volume edition published in 1983), Abdelkader says:
“The enormous galaxies and other remote objects are mapped inside as microscopic objects, and our moon as by far the largest of the celestial objects, all of which revolve daily around the earth's axis. Straight rays of light are mapped as arcs of circles, so that all celestial phenomena appear to inside observers in G just as they do to outside observers in C. We next consider the hypothesis that, conversely, our actual universe is this finite G."(This idea entails the inversion of all known geo/astro physics.)
The main addition to Neupert's concept which Abdelkader addressed, is that light is eventually pulled toward the centre of the cosmos which shrinks inward. The arcs of light which travel toward the surface of the earth are absorbed, and those that are not continue travelling toward the centre of the cosmos as well as around it to the opposite side of the heavens than the sun. However they never illuminate the other side of the earth or its night sky because the wavelengths of light flow in accordance with the volume of space beyond the earth's surface, and are also subject to the black-hole like inertia of the cosmoses infinitesimal centre. Thus as they converge toward the opposite position of the heavens to where the sun is, they are simultaneously pulled in toward the centre.
Therefore the light which circles round to the opposite side of the heavens, never meets the sight of those who have the centre of the cosmos between them and the sun. Therefore an observer on the surface will experience night without a luminous sky, even though rays of light are actually traversing the space they look out into, this being because the rays are only in space and thus are never received directly into the eye.
(for those FES forum explorers who are limited in English terminology, “Geology” is the study of the shape of the Earth, its properties and in some sense its relation to the rest of the cosmos. Hence the name Geocosmos as in this model the Earth is the boundary of the cosmos)
Abdelkader's Concave Earth
Abdelkader devised an equation that suggests the phenomena belonging to the perception of the sky-dome and horizon line, are subject to optical illusion, supporting his statement that Light bends in wide arcs through space, rather than travelling in straight paths. As such when we believe we are looking at a luminous astrological object perpendicular to our line of sight, what we are seeing actually lies on the other end of a bent ray of light. Thus ones line of sight is really pointing at nothing, and their eyes are receiving an image of something that is at a position in the sky elsewhere to the direction they are truly looking.
This arcing nature of light therefore would attribute illusion to the perception of phenomena in the sky and space. However it is not just the light alone that produces this illusion, but also the magnetic field of the earth and gravity which causes the light to behave extraordinarily.
Double refraction and re-focalisiation of light was the explanation Teed offered for the sky-dome Illusion. Teed's model however theorised a stationary sun with which he attributed the bizare notion that it were really a focalsied point of light emanating from a rotating luminous double helix at the centre of the cosmos. Abdelkader's model on the other hand requires more elaboration as it entertains an orbiting sun rather than a stationary one.
1.2 The Mechanics of Gravity/Levity (Earth's EMF) & The Propogation of Light
To fully comprehend the theory of how light behaves in the Geocosmos, one must entertain the notion that the Earth's magnetic field and Gravity are really opposite polarities of the same unified force. This force compounds on itself through the envelope of the Geocosm i.e. the spherical area around the outside of the Geocosmos (within the crust.)
In other words Gravity or Centripetal force as Teed believed it to be, radiates out from the centre of the cosmos and through the earth's concave crust where it then
folds/compresses against the inside of the concave earth's outer boundary/envelope (below the crust) then, due to it being a continuously flowing force, it therefore flows back outward to the surface at double the frequency (as it has folded/compressed against itself) and becomes the Earth's Levic electromagnetic field EMF.
How this concept of Gravity/Levity is relevant to the behaviour of light in the Geocosmos is that as the light reaches its resonant threshold of the EMF it begins to compress/slow down with friction causing an inverted compression of its wavelength within ratio to the Earths EMF.
A way to help visualise this is to take the example of a blown up rubber glove and how one can push the gloves fingers into the inside of the blown up glove provided the air pressure isn't too high. However this analogy is only outlining the path of the light as in reality it is in constant flow, from both the sun, moon, planets, stars and any other astrological phenomena.
This means: that because one sees what's on the other end of the arcing rays of light, and that the path of light is also folding back on itself against the Earth's EMF, then focalising back down toward the earth before our eyes receive it, the optical information that our eyes receive of the EMF threshold/light resonance layer is therefore reversed. Similar to how the reflection of a spoon is upside down and slightly distorted depending on the angle one views it from.
This accounts for the unexplained phenomena (Dubbed the Moon Illusion) of why objects in the sky look larger on the horizon than they do directly overhead. It also explains why one instead sees the Sky-dome/horizon line as a concave dome-illusion rather than a convexly implied display of concentric atmosphere/void as one would expect it to appear.
Thus when one sees the sun cross below the horizon what it would actually be doing is moving up and around into the zone of the SP's influence where the circular paths of light progressively get pulled into the SP and hence day becomes night. Abdelkader emphatically points out that both his and Einstein's concepts of the properties of light are assumptions as no one has proven either view.
1.3 The Optical Illusion of the Earth Ball in Space:
In the October 1983 issue, Omni Magazine inquired withH.S.M. Coxter, a maths professor of the University of Toronto , as to whether or not there was any way to prove we aren't living inside a hollow earth. Coxter responded saying he couldn't think of any, and being an expert on inversion geometry went on to say:
“A rocket flight, an eclipse, a Foucault pendulum a Coriolis effect – any observation we can make on the outside of the earth has an exact duplicate version inside. There would be no way to tell which was the truth."
The article continued to relay: “Just as the geometry of space inverts, so do all the laws of physics. Toward the centre of a hollow Earth, light slows down and everything shrinks -- atoms, astronauts, spaceships, and measuring rods. Light travels in circular paths, producing some weird (but lawful) optical effects. Astronauts on the moon looked back on what they thought was a blue sphere in the distance. Actually it was the inside of the earth's shell, seen through sight lines that flared like the bell of a trumpet, producing the illusion of a sphere. The optical distortion is something like the wide angle view through a fish-eye lens”.
The German NASA astronaut & physicist - Werner Von Braun, speaks of this convex spherical illusion of our planet in the (inner) outer space of the concave Earth in one of his papers regarding optical illusions in space. He explains the process by which a “photograph of the Earth ball” ("Convex Earth") occurs, a potentially illusory perception of which our arbitrary physical senses have lead us to believe.
2.1 Phases of the Moon and Lunar/Solar Eclipses
The Following was harvested from:http://geocosmos.tripod.com/lunar_eclipse.htm
The sketch below shows a horizontal section through the geocosmos. One has to be aware, that in reality the earth envelopes a spherical space which means that any radiation goes in all directions. You can easily do that in your mind by making the drawing rotate around its vertical axis.
[This image is synonymous with the shape of a Torus Field]
The drawing shows the moon in its different phases. If the light hits the moon from the back, the side facing the earth is dark and we have a new moon. If the light hits the moon from the side we half a half moon. At a full moon it is radiated by light from all sides which then return to the celestial sphere.
The moon will reflect any light received back to the earth on certain curved paths, which have been shown earlier. This makes it possible that all the phases of the moon including the crescent can be seen.
Exactly opposite the sun is a funnel like night canal without any light, since it can not be reached by any light beams. Since all the curves of light are equally curved, the cross section of that canal is round. When the moon passes through it then we have a total lunar eclipse. If the moon only touches the canal a little, then we have a partial eclipse. The moon will then show a dark (light less) disk, which, according to the Copernican theory is interpreted as the shadow of the earth.
Usually the moon bypasses the night canal, since it does not orbit in the same plane as the sun, thus preventing a lunar eclipse and having a full moon instead. For the same reason we seldom see a solar eclipse. If the new moon would always pass in the direction of the sun, then we would have a solar eclipse any time we have a new moon. However, most the time the moon bypasses the sun so far north or south, that it does not cover the sun.
More details can be found in the book by Johannes Lang: "The Geocosmic Theory" (Not yet available in English.)
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Rain Clouds in a Jar
Before making rain clouds in a jar discuss how it rains and what causes rain to form. Review where rain comes from and the process of how rain clouds form. The girls and I Googled a few questions and discussed some of the information we found. We also read a few weather related books. You can find a great collection of weather books for kids below.
Rain Clouds in a Jar Materials (affiliate links provided)
- Fill the jars or containers you are using 3/4 of the way with water and then top with shaving cream. Allow a few minutes for the shaving cream to fully settle on top of the water
- In a bowl mix several drops of blue food coloring with a little bit of water. Add a pipette or two, and the experiment can begin
- Inserting the tip of the pipette into the cloud helped the cloud to fill. Have them squeeze more and more blue water into the cloud. As the cloud fills with water it will begin to rain
- Simple and fun Science kids LOVE!
You can also set up this experiment in the bath. We first did this as part of a weather themed bath, and Rosie loved it! Be sure to check it out for more weather activities for kids.
Books About Weather for Young Children
Click the affiliated photos to read a description of each book and take a peek inside. These are all available for purchase on Amazon.
Other Experiments for Kids:
Visit our Science archives for tons more fun experiments for kids!
Like it? Please share it on Facebook!
& don't forget to pin it!
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Copyright © 2008 by Diana E. Sheets
some forty years now the Democrats—champions of "progressive" causes
exemplified in their advocacy of civil rights, gender equality, and
multifarious doctrines of identity politics and "fairness"—have, like
the Israelites before them, wandered in the desert in search of the
Promised Land. If we consider this Old
Testament story as a literary metaphor, what is its political relevance
to the 2008 presidential election?
This essay will argue that Barack Obama's election as our forty-fourth president marks the end of Bamidbar for the Democrats. This
peripatetic life of African Americans and, by inference, all
marginalized Americans who have wandered in search of the Promised Land
is over. They have arrived. Let us consider the story of the Israelites with respect to Obama's historic victory.
The Israelites had been slaves in Egypt. God told Moses to liberate the Israelites, but stipulated that they wander for forty years in the Sinai desert. One interpretation of the scripture is that as slaves they could not know freedom. Years
later, a new generation of Israelites had matured who were descendants
of Egyptian slaves, but had no direct experience of subjugation. They walked as free men into the Promised Land.
For African Americans the journey from slavery to freedom has been protracted. Nominally it began in 1654 when lifetime ownership of slaves was legalized in America until the end of the Civil War (1865) when the practice was abolished (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slavery_in_the_United_States). However,
it would be more than one hundred years later, during the American
Civil Rights Movement (1955-1968), that social, legal, and cultural
changes would ensue, resulting in substantive reforms. More than forty
years would pass before these legislative reforms were widely accepted
by Americans. Along the way there were milestones on the march toward this Promised Land. Among these was the landmark case Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka (1954) that was heard in the Supreme Court. It was argued and won by Thurgood Marshall, an African American and chief counsel of the NAACP. He
was subsequently appointed a Supreme Court Justice in 1967. The ruling
overturned the "separate but equal" doctrine with respect to
educational institutions. In 1955, Rosa Parks refused to vacate her seat to a white passenger while traveling on a bus in Montgomery, Alabama. Two years later nine African-American students successfully integrated a school in Little Rock, Arkansas. There were "sit-ins" at lunch counters in department stores during the 1960's. Freedom Riders, men and women pursuing civil rights reforms as they traveled by bus to regions south of the Mason-Dixon Line, campaigned to ensure desegregation of interstate buses, terminals, restrooms, and drinking fountains. The integration of the University of Mississippi (1962) paved the way for educational opportunities for African Americans and other minorities. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibited segregation in schools, public spaces, and employment. The
efforts to register African-American voters in the South led to the
reforms mandated in the National Voting Rights Act (1965). Two years
earlier the historic March on Washington led demonstrators to the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. There Reverend King delivered his memorable "I Have a Dream" speech, which envisioned an America in which blacks, whites, and all people might live together in harmony (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I_Have_a_Dream). On April 4, 1968, while standing on a motel balcony in Memphis, Reverend King was assassinated (For an overview of the Civil Rights Movement, see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_civil_rights_movement.).
the eve of his murder, Reverend King delivered a brooding sermon, "I
See the Promised Land" to the congregation at the Mason Temple in Memphis. His conclusion was ominous, if prophetic.
And then I got into Memphis. And some began to say that threats, or talk about the threats that were out. What would happen to me from some of our sick white brothers?
Well, I don't know what will happen now. We've got some difficult days ahead. But it doesn't matter with me now. Because I've been to the mountaintop . . . . And I've seen the Promised Land. I may not get there with you. But
I want you to know tonight, that we, as a people will get to the
Promised Land . . . . Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of
the Lord. http://library.thinkquest.org/C004391F/promis_land_speech.htm
Reverend King never made it to the Promised Land. For
many Americans the assassination of President John F. Kennedy (1963),
the murder of Reverend King (1968), the killing of Robert F. Kennedy
(1968), and the effective end of the Civil Rights Movement (1968)
dashed all hope of reaching the Promised Land.
Nevertheless, progress was made. John F. Kennedy advanced the cause of social justice through his advocacy of a "New Frontier." Lyndon
B. Johnson implemented the substance of these
reforms—policies aimed at eradicating poverty and
racism—through the enactment of legislation embodied in his
programmatic initiative, the Great Society. While
no president was more adept than Johnson at wielding power and
influence to enact "progressive" policies, he was never embraced by
social reformers as their spiritual leader.
the years following Reverend King's death, there would be no African
American with his masterful rhetorical skills or his ability to unify a
people and a nation. Neither of his two
best-known disciples, Andrew Young and Reverend Jesse Jackson, despite
their promise and contributions, reached across the divides of class,
race, and gender to win the hearts of uncommitted Americans. Social progress continued, but the dream of an African-American leader bringing his people into the Promised Land remained in limbo. Racial
acrimony—as evidenced in the speeches and sermons, respectively, of
Reverend Al Sharpton and Reverend Jeremiah Wright—while it may have
been celebrated in African-American communities where disaffection was
high and its members nursed grievances born out of the belief that they
were excluded from social mobility, never captured the hearts of other
citizens walking along America's Main Street. Only
when Barack Obama turned to harmony in the 2008 presidential election
did an African American win the hearts and votes of a broad
cross-section of America's electorate.
opportunity—the hope of spiritual transcendence—would be delivered by a
man born in the age of civil rights reforms who as a presidential
candidate became the symbol of the "Multicultural Man" (Ross Douthat,
"Palin Fire", National Review, September 29, 2008,
Vol. LX, No. 18, 40). The son to a white mother and an African father,
Obama, as with the Israelites born in the desert, had only indirect
associations with slavery. Having been raised in Hawaii and Indonesia, he experienced no significant discrimination. In Hawaii he attended one of the finest private schools. His talent and capabilities were encouraged by his teachers. His (white) maternal grandparents were largely responsible for nurturing and supporting him from the age of ten. He had minimal contact with his African father and his relatives in Kenya.
Obama's victory in the 2008 presidential election marks the end of Bamidbar and the dawn of a new era. All Americans, whatever color or creed, are now officially citizens of the Promised Land. The election was won by legitimate means. It was achieved through electoral victory, rather than revolution. The
outcome suggests that Americans, while perhaps not blind to race,
nonetheless, voted their economic concerns, rather than their ethnic
fears. Forty years ago, this outcome would have been inconceivable.
If Reverend King serves as Obama's spiritual antecedent, John F. Kennedy represents Obama's presidential icon. Indeed, no contemporary Democratic President seeking historical gravitas can afford to overlook the Kennedy legacy. Consider,
for instance, Bill Clinton's now famous advertisement, "The Man from
Hope," that spearheaded his successful 1992 campaign. He consciously invoked not only the memory of John F. Kennedy but also his personal connection with him. "It was in 1963 that I went to Washington and met President Kennedy at the Boy's Nation Program. And
I remember just, uh, thinking what an incredible country this was, that
somebody like me, you know, who had no money or anything, would be
given the opportunity to meet the President. That's when I decided I could really do public service . . . ." (Drew Westen, The Political Brain, PublicAffairs, 4-5)
Weston suggests "The Man from Hope" was one of the most powerful television commercials in American politics. The purpose of the ad was to convey that Clinton represented "hope and the American dream." It was a personal narrative, not a policy enumeration. The intent was to create a "multisensory network of associations" to win the emotional support of the American electorate (5).
then, does Barack Obama, who has no direct ties to President Kennedy,
Reverend King, and the Civil Rights Movement of the sixties, establish
in the minds of the voters his rightful claim? Two months after announcing his candidacy, Obama gave a speech in March of 2007 at the historic Brown Chapel A.M.E. Church in Selma, Alabama to commemorate Bloody Sunday. On March 7, 1965 nearly six hundred black protestors had gathered outside Brown Chapel. On behalf of voting rights, they began marching to the state capital, Montgomery, despite Governor Wallace's prohibition. The demonstrators traveled barely six blocks and were crossing the Edmund Pettus Bridge when they were charged by state troopers on horseback. The protestors were brutally attacked with billy clubs, tear gas, bullwhips, and barbed wire encased in rubber tubing (http://www.nps.gov/nr/travel/civilrights/al2.htm). Several were bloodied and badly injured. Seventeen were hospitalized. The attack was televised to a national audience. Two days later, Reverend King led a symbolic protest from the chapel to the bridge. A third march succeeded in completing the 54-mile journey to Montgomery. President Johnson signed the National Voting Rights Act of 1965 five months later (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Selma_to_Montgomery_marches).
From the Brown Chapel, Obama gave a speech in March of 2008 that recalled the Civil Rights protests that occurred in Selma and Birmingham, Alabama and their pivotal role in achieving voting rights for African Americans. In that historic setting, Obama imagined a conversation that might have occurred between Robert and Jack Kennedy. "'You know, we're battling communism. How
are we going to win hearts and minds all across the world if right here
in our own country, John, we're not observing the ideals set forth in
our Constitution? We might be accused of being hypocrites'" (Jerome R. Corsi, The Obama Nation, Threshold Editions, a Division of Simon & Schuster, Inc., 2008, 31). Obama
suggested that his father was part of the 1959 airlift sponsored by the
Kennedys to provide Africans with educational opportunities. Obama
then speculated that his father and his mother, "whose
great-great-great-great-grandfather had owned slaves" might have
"looked at each other and they decided that in the world as it has
been, it might not be possible for us to get together and have a child
means of this phantasmagorical spectacle, Obama was able to link
Reverend King, John F. Kennedy, and Robert F. Kennedy to his father's
journey to America and, coincidentally, his own birth, thereby
providing a direct and personal association with Reverend King, the
Civil Rights Movement, and the myth of Camelot (30-35).
Truth, however, was quite another matter. Michael
Dobbs proved that Obama Sr.'s arrival occurred in 1959, a year prior to
the Kennedys support of the airlift, a discrepancy later acknowledged
by Obama's spokesman Bill Burton (Michael Dobbs, "Obama Overstates
Kennedys' Role in Helping His Father," The Washington Post, March 30, 2008, A01, http://washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/03/29/AR2008032902031.html). Given that there was no longer a direct association between Obama and Camelot, he needed to create another Kennedy moment. This he sought to do by addressing an audience in Berlin
in July of 2008 where he paid homage to John Kennedy's famous "Ich bin
ein Berliner" speech delivered forty-five years earlier. It was in the western sector of that great city that Kennedy praised the citizens of Berlin for their eighteen-year resistance to communism. "Freedom
has many difficulties and democracy is not perfect, but we have never
had to put a wall up to keep our people in, to prevent them from
leaving us . . . . I know of no town, no city, that has been besieged
for 18 years that still lives with the vitality and the force, and the
hope and the determination of the city of West Berlin." (http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Ich_bin_ein_Berliner).
speech, "A World that Stands as One," as with so many of his public
addresses, begins with a personal narrative before expanding to
national and global concerns. Noting, "I
know that I don't look like the Americans who've previously spoken in
this great city," he talked about his mother, born in the heartland,
and his father, who grew up "herding goats in Kenya." He mentioned his paternal grandfather, "a cook, a domestic servant to the British." Obama acknowledged the power of democracy and its particular resonance in Berlin, "This city, of all cities, knows the dream of freedom." He recalled the American airlift to Berlin in 1948 when the Soviet Army blockaded the western sector of the city, depriving its citizens of essential food and supplies. Obama spoke of the "partnership" of America and Berlin in preserving freedom. Sixty years later, he added, Europe and America are at a new crossroad, sharing a "common destiny" in a world in which the threats to democracy know no national boundaries (http://cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/07/24/obama.words/index.html).
Poorly secured nuclear material in the former Soviet Union, or secrets from a scientist in Pakistan could help build a bomb that detonates in Paris. The poppies in Afghanistan become the heroin in Berlin. The poverty and violence in Somalia breeds the terror of tomorrow. The genocide in Darfur shames the conscience of us all. ("A World that Stands as One")
called for the divisions between nations and peoples to dissolve:
between rich and poor nations, among races and tribes, between
indigenous and immigrant peoples, and among Christian, Muslim, and
Jewish believers. He urged a global commitment to meeting the challenges of the 21st century while promising to defeat terrorism ("A World that Stands as One"). It
was a public-relations moment intended to be of historic import (Robert
Schlesinger, "Barack Obama's Berlin Speech: Popular today, but What
Will History Say?" July 25, 2008, http://www.usnews.com/articles/opinion/2008/07/25/barack-obamas-berlin-speech-popular-today-but-what-will-history-say.html).
The "presidential moment" was not without difficulty. Obama
wished to give his speech at the historic Brandenburg Gate, visited by
John F. Kennedy in 1963 and where in 1987 Ronald Reagan called for
Mikhail Gorbachev to "tear down this wall" and, later in 2004, Bill
Clinton exclaimed "Berlin is free" (Peter Walker, Elana Schor, "Crowds
gather in Berlin to hear Obama's foreign policy speech," July 24, 2008, http://guardian.co.uk/world/2008/jul/24/uselections2008.barackobama). However, Chancellor Angela Merkel resisted. Her
spokesman suggesting that she has "little sympathy for the Brandenburg
Gate being used for electioneering . . . ." (Gregor Peter Schmitz,
"Obama Reacts to Debate in Berlin," SpiegelOnline, July, 10, 2008, http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/0,1518,565080,00.html). Instead, the event was held in front of the Victory Column in Berlin.
The crowds, estimated at 100,000 (Walker, Schor), were gathered to hear
two popular bands, reggae artist Patrice and rock band Reamonn while
waiting for Obama to arrive (Noel Sheppard, "Will Media Report Concert
Before Obama's Berlin Speech?" July 24, 2008, http://newsbusters.org/blogs/noel-sheppard/2008/07/24/will-media-report-concert-obamas-berlin-speech).
As with so many Obama moments, it was lofty oratory set against a
Hollywood-like spectacle crafted to mesmerize his global audience.
the legacy of Reverend King and the associations—real or imagined—with
John F. Kennedy, the Obama Presidency marks the end of Bamidbar as our new president strides confidently into the Promised Land. It has been a long hard-fought campaign with bitter accusations of all sides. The electorate has spoken. There will be an orderly transfer of power to Barack Obama's administration.
It is hoped that Republicans remember how to serve as the loyal opposition. This requires civility. It
necessitates willingness, when needed, to reach across the political
divide to achieve legislative compromises that best serve the interests
of our nation. Consider the 1962 photograph taken by Paul Vathis, which won the Pulitzer Prize. It was taken in the aftermath of the aborted Bay of Pigs invasion. President Kennedy and former President Eisenhower had just finished appearing jointly at a news conference. They had turned their back to the press corps. They were walking side-by-side down a narrow, winding path through the woods at Camp David. They were intent in conversation. Eisenhower's demeanor was deferential. His arms were behind his back, clasping his hat. Kennedy's arms reached forward. (See the AP photo taken by Vathis, http://www.nppa.org/news_and_events/news/2008/01/kennedy.html).
We, the citizenry, gained courage through the meaningful exchange between Kennedy and Eisenhower. Would that politics today were conducted this way. We are in the midst of a global financial crisis, a war overseas, and a world-wide recession. Our politicians need to collaborate to solve our present difficulties. It is critical for the economy, for Americans, as well as societies around the globe. Our
politicians—and our business men and women—must have the courage and
integrity to conduct themselves in a manner worthy of public servants
and entrepreneurial visionaries. Our very future depends upon their principled leadership.
the last essay in this series on the 2008 Presidential Election, next
month Literary Gulag will speculate on the future successes of Obama's
administration and weigh the potential challenges that lie ahead. The Obama government has the potential to achieve great promise, although it is at risk of making grave miscalculations. What will be the outcome? Stay tuned for Literary Gulag's assessment.
Copyright 2008 Diana Sheets. All Rights Reserved.
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There is perhaps nothing else so distinctive of the condition and character of a people as the method in which they treat their dead.
- William Tegg, 1876
Throughout the history of human civilization, different cultures mourn and treat the dead differently. Some, like Tibetan Buddhists, have no use for burials as they dispose the dead by feeding corpses to vultures or by burning them in funeral pyres. Most cultures, however, show their respect by burying the dead, sometimes in complex and ornate tombs, crypts, and catacombs.
This article takes a look at ten of the most fascinating final resting places around the world, from the largest prehistoric burial mound in Europe to the the tombs of pharaohs to the most beautiful mausoleum in the world:
The burial mound of Newgrange in County Meath, Ireland is definitely one of the most impressive prehistoric monuments in the world. Build between 3300 BC - 2900 BC, it is the also the world's oldest surviving building (it's older than Stonehenge and the Great Pyramid of Giza in Egypt).
Newgrange is impressive: the circular mound is 250 feet (76 m) across and 40 feet (12 m) high. It covers an entire acre (4046 m²). A long tunnel under the mound leads to a high-domed burial chamber, a corbelled vault with ceilings made of huge, interlocking stone slabs.
The entrance to Newgrange is marked with a huge curbstone that is elaborately carved with "megalithic art," which includes spiral and concentric arc motifs chipped into the stone with flint tools.
Newgrange burial mound. Image: mike nl [Flickr]
The wall of Newgrange. Image: Barbara y Eugenio [Flickr]
The engraved slab in front of Newgrange's entrance. Image: mike nl [Flickr]
The Toraja people in Sulawesi, Indonesia, have what is probably the most complex funeral ritual in the world. When someone dies, the funeral is attended by a lot of people and can last for days! But that's not the strange part - this is: the funeral ceremony is often held weeks, months, or even years after the death (to give the family of the deceased time to raise enough money for expenses).
Torajans can wait that long because they believe that death is not a sudden event but instead a gradual process towards the afterlife (if you're wondering about the smell - the dead body is embalmed within the first few days of death, then stored in a secret place until the funeral ceremony).
After much partying (including the slaughter of one or several water buffaloes), the dead is buried in a stone cave carved out of a rocky cliff. A wood-carved effigy called tau tau, carved with the likeness of the dead person is then placed in the balcony of the tomb to represent the dead and watch over their remains.
Toraja cave tombs with balconies, filled with tau tau. Image: Kaeru [Flickr]
"In Tana Toraja, everything revolves around death. The graves can be very sophisticated yet sometimes, long after the coffins are destroyed by time, people gently place bones along natural cave 'racks'. Often, the bones are offered cigarettes or various offerings. This is supposed to prevent dead ancestors from bringing bad luck and otherwise making the lives of the living miserable."
Image: phitar [Flickr]
The gothic church Westminster Abbey in London, United Kingdom was established by Benedictine monks in the tenth century (and rebuilt in the 13th century by King Henry III) - since then it has evolved into both the coronation church for English royalty and the final resting place of monarchs.
Though at first Westminster Abbey was the burial place of kings, aristocrats, and monks, it soon became the tomb-of-choice (if there is such a thing) for the who's who in England. Poets and writers like Geoffrey Chaucer, Charles Dickens, Thomas Hardy, Rudyard Kipling, and Alfred Tennyson; as well as scientists like Sir Isaac Newton, Charles Darwin, and Ernest Rutherford were all interred there.
Westminster Abbey. Image: Inetours
Newton's grave at Westminster Abbey. Image: Sacred Destination
There are more than 100 pyramids in Egypt, with the largest and most famous being the complex of pyramids in Giza Necropolis, Cairo, Egypt. This complex consists of the Great Pyramid of Giza (tomb of the Egyptian pharaoh Khufu or Cheops), the Pyramid of Khafre, the Pyramid of Menkaure, the Great Sphinx statue, as well as several other smaller satellite pyramids.
Let's take, for instance, the Great Pyramid of Giza, the only surviving member of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. When it was completed in 2560 BC, the pyramid was 481 feet (147 m) tall with each base side being 758 feet (231 m) wide. The blocks weigh about 1.5 tons each, with the internal granite blocks used as the roof of the burial chamber being about 80 tons each. The ancient Egyptians knew what they were doing: the base sides have a mean margin of error of only 2 1/3 inch (58 mm)! Needless to say, it is an amazing work of engineering.
The Pyramids of Giza. Image: liber [Flickr]
The Great Sphinx. Image: ironmanix [Flickr]
The Pyramids of Giza are not too far from the urban sprawl of Cairo.
Image: graspnext [Flickr]
Valley of the Kings
Even if you don't know much about the Valley of the Kings, a burial ground of ancient Egyptian pharaohs and one of the most famous archaeological sites in the world, chances are you know about one of its occupants: King Tut and the Curse of the Pharaohs that accompany his grave.
In 1922, Egyptologist Howard Carter discovered and opened the tomb of Tutankhamen - despite warnings that "Death shall come on swift wings to him who disturbs the peace of the King." Lord Carnarvon, the funder of the expedition, was the first to die: he was bitten by a mosquito and later accidentally lashed the bite while shaving. His wound became infected and he died of blood poisoning.
Whether the "mysterious" deaths associated with the Curse of the Pharaoh actually had anything to do with opening of the tombs or just great copy to sell newspaper, scientists did recently discover that the tombs indeed contained potentially dangerous molds, bacteria, toxins, and even hazardous gases.
Valley of the Kings. Image: Shelby PDX [Flickr]
The tomb of King Tut in the Valley of the Kings. Image: Hajor [wikipedia]
Tomb of Ramses III in Luxor, Valley of the Kings. Image: Peter J. Bubenik [wikipedia]
Sarcophagus of the Pharaoh Merenptah in the KV8 tomb of the Valley of the Kings.
Image: Hajor [wikipedia]
Luxor Temple. Image: mike nl [Flickr]
Catacombs of Paris
Officially called les carrières de Paris or "the quarries of Paris," the Catacombs of Paris is a network of underground tunnels and rooms that used to be Roman-era limestone quarries.
In the late 1700s, Paris was suffering from diseases caused by improper burials and mass graves in church cemeteries. Local authorities decided that they would remove thousands of bones and place them stacked in the abandoned underground quarries.
Today, the entrance to the catacombs is restricted and only a small portion of the 186 miles (300 km) worth of underground tunnels is accessible to the public. Secret entrances to the Catacombs, however, dotted Paris - urban explorers have found access via sewers, manholes and even the Paris Metro subway system.
Catacombs of Paris. Bones from the former Magdalene cemetery, deposited in 1844 in the western ossuary (bone repository) and transferred to the catacombs in 1859. Image: Vlastimil Juricek [wikipedia]
Wall of bones in the Catacombs of Paris. Image: Ivan Paganacci [Flickr]
In 1974, local farmers in Xi'an, China, discovered a vast underground complex of mausoleum while drilling for water. They had serendipitously stumbled upon the burial ground of Qin Shi Huangdi, the First Emperor and the unifier of China.
According to legends, the First Emperor was buried alongside great treasures inside a tomb with pearl-laced ceilings (in a pattern that represented the cosmos) and channels dug in the ground with flowing mercury to represent the rivers of China. But the most famous feature of the tomb is the Terracota Army, about 8,000 life-like and life-sized statues of soldiers buried alongside Qin Shi Huangdi to help the Emperor rule in the afterlife.
Terracota army. Image: MichaelTyler [Flickr]
Image: mkools [Flickr]
Each face and pose of the Terracota army soldier is distinct from the others. Image: Peter Morgan [wikipedia]
Capuchin Catacombs of Palermo
When the Capuchin monastery in Palermo, Italy, outgrew its original cemetery in the 16th century, monks excavated the catacomb below it and began a bizarre tradition that lasted until the 19th century.
The Capuchin monks mummified the bodies of the dead, dressed them up in everyday clothing and then put them on display on the monastery walls. Apparently, it was quite a status symbol to be entombed in the Capuchin monastery - prominent citizens of the town would ask to be preserved in certain clothing or even have the clothes changed on a regular basis according to contemporary fashion!
When the last body was interred in the late 1800s, there were 8,000 mummies on the walls of the Capuchin monastery and in the catacombs.
Capuchin Catacombs. Image: deadgoodbooks [Flickr]
Mummies on the wall of the Capuchin Catacombs. Image: Kircher Society
The Sedlec Ossuary resides in a small Roman Catholic chapel in Sedlec, Czech Republic. If you didn't know any better, you wouldn't have guessed that inside the unassuming building is an ossuary containing about 40,000 human skeletons artistically arranged to form decorations, chandeliers, and furnishings!
In the 13th century, an abbot returned to Sedlec with a small amount of earth from Golgotha, the site of Jesus' crucifixion, and sprinkled it all over the abbey's cemetery. This made the grounds of the church a desirable burial site and over centuries thousands of people were buried there.
In 1870, František Rint, a woodcarver was hired to put the heaps of bones in order. He decided to make a work of art out of the skeletal remains: a chandelier made from skull and bones, a coat of arms of the family that paid him to do the work, and even an "artist's signature" done in bone, of course!
Little would you suspect what lies inside ... Image: currybet [Flickr]
Entrance to the Sedlec Ossuary. Image: Curious Expeditions [Flickr]
The chandelier at Sedlec Ossuary. Image: B10m [Flickr]
The Schwarzenberg family's coat of arms, done with at least one of every
bone in the body. Image: goldberg [Flickr]
No article on tombs is complete without the Taj Mahal, a magnificent mausoleum in Agra, India. The Taj Mahal was built in 1631 by the Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan, who was devastated when his wife Mumtaz Mahal died during childbirth. Grief stricken, he ordered that the most beautiful mausoleum be built.
Taj Mahal is an amazing architectural wonder: the marble tomb in the center of the complex is flanked on four corners by minarets. The massive central dome, called the onion dome because of its shape, is striking in its symmetrical perfection. Finials and calligraphy are everywhere.
Inside the Taj Mahal is even more ornate: Precious and semi-precious gemstones are inlaid into the the intricately carved marble panels that serve as walls. The caskets of Mumtaz and Shah Jahan are decorated with gems and inscribed with calligraphy, reciting the 99 names of God.
The story of the Taj Mahal actually didn't end with the completion of its buildings: shortly after its completion, Shah Jahan fell ill and a power struggle amongst his four sons ensued. The victor, Aurangzeb, locked the king in the Fort of Agra, where he remained until he died. Legend has it that he spent the remainder of his life gazing at the Taj Mahal, the tomb of his beloved wife, from the window of his prison.
Taj Mahal from a distance. Image: Christopher Chan [Flickr]
The Taj Mahal in Agra, India. Image: micbaun [Flickr]
The tombs of Shah Jahan and Mumtaz Mahal. Image: William Donelson [wikipedia]
Here is another one that didn't quite make the list:
City of the Dead in Northern Ossetia, Russia
In the remote, rugged Gizel valley of Northern Ossetia, Caucasus, Russia, there is a set of stone buildings that from a distance look like a regular village - but with one important detail: it is not for the living. A closer look inside the buildings with slanted slate roof reveal something gruesome: mummified bodies dressed in their best clothes and shoes with hair tidily combed.
Local legends have it that in the 18th century, a plague swept through Ossetia. The clans built quarantine houses for sick family members, who were provided with food, but not freedom to move about, until death claimed their lives. A slow and painful way to go, indeed.
City of the Dead in Northern Ossetia. Image: dziadek.mroz [Flickr]
Image: dziadek.mroz [Flickr]
I'll be the first to acknowledge that this list is subjective and far from complete - if you have any suggestions of a final resting place that should be included, I'd appreciate it if you could leave a comment.
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- San Diego Zoo
Lo'ulu Palm Prichardia ssp.
FAMILY: ARECACEAE (Palm Family)
Many palms from all around the world grow at their best in the warm, volcanic lands of Hawaii, but only one genus, the Prichardia, is a Hawaiian native. The lo'ulu palm can be found throughout many tropical Pacific islands, including most of the seven major Hawaiian Islands. Unfortunately, with the continual introduction of nonnative flora and fauna, the native habitat of Prichardia palms is in jeopardy.
The beautiful lo'ulu palms tend to be slower growing fan palms than the Washingtonia fan palms found growing all over Southern California. Most have solitary trunks and green palmate leaves, although some can be found with a blue-green hue. Long flower spikes arch out from the crown and produce large, dark seeds. Prichardias tend to be self-cleaning palms, meaning that when their old fronds die, they fall to the ground; this differs from other fan palms that produce a "petticoat" of hanging, dead leaves.
Of the 23 known Hawaiian Prichardia palms, the San Diego Zoo is currently growing 16 species. These palms can be found throughout the Zoo, with a high concentration at the Hawaiian Native Plant Gardens Reptile Mesa.
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Caseous lymphadenitis (CL) is a chronic, recurring disease in goats. A slowly enlarging, localized, and nonpainful abscess may develop either at the point of entry into the skin or in the regional lymph node (superficial or external form), from which it may spread via the blood or lymphatic system and cause abscessation of internal lymph nodes or organs (visceral or internal form). Initial infection may cause no clinical signs or may be accompanied by high fever, anorexia, anemia, and cellulitis at the infection site. Superficial abscesses enlarge and may rupture and discharge infectious pus.
This caseous (damaged or necrotic tissue; cheese-like) abscessation of lymph nodes and internal organs caused by Corynebacterium pseudotuberculosis occurs worldwide. It is an important endemic infection in regions with large sheep and goat populations. Economic losses result from reduced weight gain, reproductive efficiency, and wool and milk production, as well as from condemnation of carcasses and devaluation of hides. Although principally an infection of sheep and goats, sporadic disease also occurs in horses, cattle, water buffalo, wild ruminants, primates, pigs, and fowl.
Infection may occur after C pseudotuberculosis penetrates through unbroken skin or mucous membranes; however, in most cases it probably begins when superficial skin wounds are contaminated with purulent material from ruptured abscesses from other sheep and goats. Ruptured superficial and lung abscesses are the primary sources of environmental contamination. Contaminated dipping vats and shearing, handling, and feeding equipment are responsible for spread of the organism. The pus contains large numbers of bacteria that can survive for months in hay, shavings, and soil. The disease is commonly introduced into a flock by entry of an apparently healthy carrier from an infected flock, by contact on shared pastures, or via contaminated shearing equipment.
In housed goats and sheep, superficial abscesses develop mainly in the head and neck region due to transmission by contaminated feed, feeders, and other fomites. Animals with superficial abscesses show no obvious ill effects unless the location of the abscess interferes with functions such as swallowing or breathing. Abscessation may recur at the same site. Pulmonary, hepatic, and renal abscesses commonly cause “thin ewe syndrome.” Other manifestations include caseous bronchopneumonia, arthritis, abortion, CNS abscessation, scrotal abscessation, and mastitis. The visceral form is usually more extensive in sheep than in goats, with a preponderance of pulmonary involvement. The incidence steadily increases with age; clinical disease is more prevalent in adults, and up to 40% of animals in a flock can have superficial abscesses. In goats, the exudate is usually soft and pasty.
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Princess Mary gives this to Andrew to preserve him when he goes off to fight the French at Austerlitz.
This is a device that is used by the old Prince Bolkonski in his daily habits. It is used to carve a straight stick of wood into an ornate piece, perhaps as a chair leg, toy, or ornamentation.
This is an object that toward the end of the book is broken. The owner decides to leave it to remind him of what made him break it.
This section contains 91 words
(approx. 1 page at 300 words per page)
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Eating healthy, nutrient rich foods is necessary for our overall wellness and helps reduce the chances of developing chronic conditions such as type 2 diabetes, heart disease and some cancers. The 2015-2020 Dietary Guidelines for Americans offers us key recommendations that serve as a guide to a healthy eating pattern. A healthy eating pattern includes:
- A variety of vegetables from all the subgroups – dark green, red and orange, legumes (beans and peas), starch, and other
- Fruits, especially whole fruits
- Grains, at least half of which are whole grains
- Fat-free or low-fat dairy, including milk, yogurt, cheese, and/or fortified soy beverages
- A variety of protein foods, including seafood, lean meats and poultry, eggs, legumes (beans and peas), and nuts, seeds, and soy products.
Click here for quick video to learn more about the 2015-2020 Dietary Guidelines.
MyPlate is a great resource that reminds us to find our healthy eating style and build it throughout our lifetime. Everything we eat and drink matters. The right mix can help us be healthier now and in the future. This means:
- Focus on variety, amount, and nutrition.
- Choose foods and beverages with less saturated fat, sodium, and added sugars.
- Start with small changes to build healthier eating styles.
- Support healthy eating for everyone.
The USDA SuperTracker is an online tracking tool that helps you track both your food intake and physical activity. Click here for a quick video that can assist you in getting started with the SuperTracker.
Maricopa County Resources:
The “Better Bites/Better Gulps” vending program provides snack and beverage choices lower in fat, sugar, sodium, and calories than usual vending items. These changes will make it easier to eat healthier at work. Half of the choices in the vending machines will meet nutrition guidelines listed in this brochure. Selecting the items marked as “Better Bites” or “Better Gulps” will help you manage your health and your weight.
Ask the Nutritionist
Ask the Nutritionist is a resource offered by Maricopa County Department of Public Health. Through the hotline or e-mail, a nutrition expert provides general information on food and nutrition.
The Weight Watchers at Work Program, administered by Maricopa County’s Wellness Works Program, provides an opportunity for employees/dependents to be rewarded for losing weight when they attend Weight Watchers classes.
Click on the links below to watch "Nutrition in the Kitchen," videos starring the Office of Nutrition and Physical Activity Registered Dietitians Andrea Zechmann and Wendy Alfonso, and learn different cooking techniques and recipes using those techniques.
- Introduction to Nutrition in the Kitchen
- Technique – Steam
- Recipe – Chicken Chopped Salad
- Technique – Sauté
- Recipe – Stuffed Bell Pepper
- Recipe - Roasted Fruit Dessert
- Technique - Roasting Vegetables
- Center for Disease Control and Prevention (Division of Nutrition, Physical Activity, and Obesity)
- Fruit and Vegetables More Matters
- Champions for Change - Arizona Nutrition Network
- Maricopa County Public Health Office of Nutrition and Physical Activity
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Many of the readers of this site have expressed strong opinions about the awful waste involved in using conventional K-Cups.
You use the K-Cup once and then toss it into the garbage. From there it joins BILLIONS of other K-Cups in landfills around the globe.
In addition, there is a growing concern about the plastics used in making K-Cups, and the possibility of toxic chemicals leaching from each K-Cup when hot water is passed through it as part of the brewing process.
Well, the folks at Rogers Family Company have been working hard to address this problem, and were kind enough to send us a box of their OneCup K-Cups.
As you can see from the photo above, the OneCup doesn’t look like a regular plastic K-Cup. In fact, there is no plastic there at all.
The white ring at the top of the OneCup, which sets it into the Keurig brew head, looks and feels like plastic, but is in fact made from a plant-based material and is 100% biodegradable.
The lid material started as a foil, but is now being transitioned to a paper version.
Bottom line…every element of the OneCup is biodegradable, except for the mesh that holds and filters the coffee.
When I first thought about this, my reaction was that there’s not much point in having a K-Cup that is 97% biodegradable. That missing 3% means you still have to throw the K-Cup into the trash rather than the compost.
Or else you have to spend time cutting away the mesh and then composting the rest.
But after thinking about it some more, I came to a different conclusion.
First, I know that the Rogers Family Company is actively working on the mesh issue, with the intention of making the OneCup 100% biodegradable.
Second, if you do toss your used OneCups in the garbage, you are creating 97% less waste than with conventional K-Cups. Once in the landfill, all but the mesh will naturally degrade.
I think the company deserves a big thumbs-up for their efforts. K-Cup trash is a huge problem and takes a lot of the shine off the convenience of single-serve coffee brewing.
I applaud them for making the effort to address this problem.
As for the coffee itself, we enjoyed it. We didn’t find it better or worse than regular K-Cups, but certainly appreciated the zero-plastic, and that we were cutting our waste by 97%.
You can find OneCup coffee at the Rogers Family Company website here…
About the author: Nick Usborne, aka Coffee Detective, is a writer and long-time coffee enthusiast. Read more…
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Definition of Antisepsis
Antisepsis: Prevention of infection by inhibiting or arresting the growth and multiplication of germs (infectious agents). Antisepsis implies scrupulously clean and free of all living microorganisms.
From the Greek roots anti- meaning against + sepsis against putrefaction = literally, against putrefaction.Source: MedTerms™ Medical Dictionary
Last Editorial Review: 5/13/2016
Medical Dictionary Definitions A - Z
Search Medical Dictionary
Drugs and Treatment Resources
- The Benefits of Tea Tree Oil
- Teaching Your Child to Use Their Auto-Injector
- Why Are ADHD Drugs Controlled Substances?
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ESR dating of marine mollusc shells is an important tool in coastal geomorphology as well as in palaeosea-level and other research. Some severe problems, however, remain as far as the accuracy of the dating results are concerned. Case studies of Patagonian Middle and Younger Quaternary marine terraces help to illustrate the potential of an improved ESR dating technique. It can be demonstrated that a discrimination of Holocene, Last Interglacial, Penultimate Interglacial and “older” samples is possible. A chronostratigraphic separation of the well-known Last Interglacial substages 5a, 5c, and 5e is still missing, partly due to the misleading accuracy of ESR dating results. Consequently, it cannot be decided yet whether the morphologically well-conserved Last and Penultimate Interglacial age substages result from a relative sea-level fall (glacioeustatic and/or decreasing wind intensities) during the one and the same interglacial highstand shortly after the 5e or 7 transgression maximum or whether they were deposited during the much younger sea-level sub-highstands, e.g. 5c, 5a or 7c, or 7a.
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- Historic Sites
Pursuit: Normandy, 1944
An infantryman remembers how it was
February/March 1978 | Volume 29, Issue 2
Preparation for the attack was automatic: One rifle company-now about fifty men-and the heavy weapons would form a fire base on the right, while the other two companies—with a combined strength of less than one-attacked on the left along a farm road. The morning mist cleared by jump-off time at 0630, and the hill’s great round shape reared above us in the light of another bright August day. The artillery and fire base opened on the moment and created their own haze around the crest. The two assault companies started up and had not gone far before machine-gun fire clipped the hedge tops. Among the first casualties was an Indian from the Southwest, naturally called “Chief,” who had been at the front of every attack starting with D-day. I had tried several times to talk to him as one of the remaining veterans, but got only monosyllables in answer. What his thoughts were on fighting at the front of what was essentially white America’s war I was unable to determine. Now he stumbled down the slope blinded by blood streaming from a scalp wound. He did not return to the regiment and became another of the hundreds who shed blood in its ranks and then disappeared.
After this show of opposition the defenders pulled out and the attack went up with a rush to find the hill’s broad top divided into fields and orchards. The riflemen coalesced along the hedgerows fencing in a brick farmhouse where a number of German wounded had been left behind-something that had not happened before.
Suddenly, from a field beyond the house, came sounds of a loud argument in German, apparently between those who wanted to surrender and others who wanted to retreat and shoot at us another day. More artillery fire was called in to encourage surrender, and one of our men promoted the idea in Milwaukee German.
Apparently the die-hards among the arguing enemy prevailed, for the loud voices faded. The communications platoon labored up with the latest extension of a telephone line that they had started laying on Omaha Beach two months before. I got through to the regimental commander to tell him that the objective was taken, and he sounded surprised and relieved. There is a flamboyant tradition that on such an occasion one announces that his command awaits further orders. Not wanting further orders, I didn’t ask for any.
Checking around our perimeter, I stopped at a post that looked across another ravine to Hill 203, taken by the 1st Battalion that morning in an action that won for it a presidential citation. A stretch of farm lane along the ravine was in view, and as we watched three or four Germans appeared trudging along it in single file, apparently in retreat from Hill 203. Very much as in a shooting gallery, one of our riflemen crumpled them into gray bundles. Presently, another figure appeared on the lane, as if from the wings of a stage, waving a large Red Cross flag. He examined the bundles and, apparently finding them lifeless, exited slowly again into the wings, still waving his flag. The rifleman who had done the sharpshooting was grinning; the rest looked on without speaking.
I continued around the perimeter and toward its northern part followed a high stone wall that ended ahead in the side of a farm building. Laboring along this wall, vastly weary, I became aware of thumping sounds behind me, and just before reaching the building there was a louder thump in front and stone chips flew from the impact of a bullet. Only then did it dawn that I was being tracked by a distant sniper; the next shot would likely be on target. The only exit from the situation was through an open window directly in front of me in the side of the building. The sill was at least shoulder high; without conscious thought and from a standing start I dove through the window into the building-the outstanding athletic achievement of my life, and not a mean one by any standard. A sergeant and some riflemen in the room where I landed in a heap were apparently beyond surprise, for they did not comment on this unorthodox entrance by the battalion commander. I cautioned them about the sniper and left by the other end of the building, following the protected side of the wall, and on down to the command post on the western slope of the hill.
It was early afternoon. I was certain that we had reached a stopping point; that nothing more could be asked of the now truly decimated 2nd Battalion other than to hold where it was. With this comforting conviction-for which there was no basis in experience—I lay down in the cool grass and drifted into a half doze. This pleasant state did not last long: sharp explosions of M-I rifle fire from the top of the hill brought me up with a start, and set the field phone buzzing. In a few moments word came down that two German motorcycles with sidecars had been driven into our lines and had been promptly bushwhacked. Shortly afterward four POWs were marched into the command post carrying a young staff captain wounded in the foot.
The captain looked the part of a German war poster: handsome, blond, and tall. He and his party had been on reconnaissance and had driven into our lines unaware that the hill was no longer German-held. This happened often enough on both sides to constitute a prime hazard to staff service.
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The cosine double angle formula is cos(2theta)=cos2(theta) - sin2(theta). Combining this formula with the Pythagorean Identity, cos2(theta) + sin2(theta)=1, two other forms appear: cos(2theta)=2cos2(theta)-1 and cos(2theta)=1-2sin2(theta). These can be used to find the power-reduction formulas, which reduce a second degree or higher trig function to a first degree. These formulas are very useful in Calculus.
Sample Problems (2)
Need help with "Other Forms of the Cosine Double-Angle Formula" problems? Watch expert teachers solve similar problems to develop your skills.
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Intro test A clarification please
I am new to riding dressage patterns and will be riding my first intro test in a couple of weeks. I need clarification on what "medium walk between X & C" means. Does it mean to start the walk at X through to C or to start the walk in the middle of X and C. Any answers would be helpful. Thanks!
It means you do the medium walk from X to C, all the way.
Oh I just realized that it kind of depends on what you are doing prior to that. Like, if you are trotting from H to X , or something like that, and the next thing is "between X and C, medium walk", then that would mean to change to a medium walk between those two numbers.
LOL, don't know the test that you are looking at there, but it can mean either, I would want context to be sure.
The way that you have written it, it could be part of an instruction that followed say, medium trot, turn down centre line at A, then "medium walk between X & C" would mean transition between the letters.
It is more likely though to be as Tiny says, walk all the way from X, to C.
It is intro test A from the USDF. The direction is
1. A Enter working trot rising
Between X & C Medium walk
2. C Track right
M Working trot rising
and so on. I am confused as to when I should start the medium walk. At X or between the two letters.
Thanks for the replies so far. :-)
Ok, got it now, it is somewhere between the two, so after you have passed through X make your downward transition, to medium walk, there isn't a target spot, although you will find it easier if you make a definite spot in mind.
Just make sure you are walking BEFORE you reach C,
It's up to you, just make sure you don't do it all of a sudden, you want a clean transition but not abrupt. And enough time after your transition to make your next transition at C.
Posted via Mobile Device
Cakemom, there is no transition at C, just the turn, the next pace transition is at M, :wink:
I meant the turn, shouldn't have called it a transition. Just don't want to muddy your turn. Be to your walk my then and prepared
Posted via Mobile Device
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Living Building Pulls Out All the Stops
Phipps Conservatory & Botanical Gardens’ new Center for Sustainable Landscapes in Pittsburg received Net Zero Energy Building Certification, which it pursued in the Living Building Challenge issued by International Living Future Institute. The building features everything from geothermal, to solar, to wind, to a desiccant dehumidification wheel in order to conserve energy.
The building is designed to reduce annual energy usage by at least 50 percent in comparison to a traditionally-designed building and is designed to reduce capacity requirements for HVAC systems by 30-40 percent, according to Phipps.
Energy-saving attributes of the building include:
- Passive solar design, which uses building orientation to maximize exposure for effective daylighting along with light shelves, louvers and overhangs to minimize summer cooling loads and contribute to building heating in winter.
- A robust building envelope reduces thermal heating losses and solar cooling loads. Low-emissivity windows provide solar and thermal control and energy efficiency, while admitting maximum daylight.
- A ground-source geothermal HVAC system generates heating and cooling. The system works in conjunction with the building’s Rooftop Energy Recovery Unit to provide heating, cooling, ventilation, and dehumidification.
- A desiccant dehumidification wheel utilizes energy that would otherwise be exhausted to pre-treat temperature and moisture in incoming outside air with minimal energy use and without mechanical refrigeration.
- The digital building management system alerts occupants if temperature, humidity and air quality conditions are favorable for opening windows, while also locking out mechanical systems. Meters and sensors will provide building operating profiles and trend data to monitor energy efficiency on an ongoing basis.
- The building includes solar PV and solar water collectors as well as a vertical axis wind turbine.
- 10 Tactics of Successful Energy Managers
- Building Energy Benchmarking & Transparency Laws
- Planning for a Sustainable Future
- It's Time for Today's EHS and Sustainability Professionals to Embrace Big Data
- Let's Do The Math for DR
- How the IoT is Reshaping Building Automation
- 2016 Environmental Leader Product & Project Awards
- 2015 Insider Knowledge
- Improve Occupant Comfort & Reduce Energy Costs Through Humidity Control
- Verdantix Green Quadrant for EHS Software
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| 0.893729 | 485 | 2.671875 | 3 |
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