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Kristen Lippincott sits at the center of time — literally. For the past 10 years, she has been studying time and astronomy at the Royal Observatory, in Greenwich, England. She is also curator of "The Story of Time" at the National Maritime Museum — an exhibit that explores how societies relate to time.
Where better than Greenwich to tell the story of time? Since 1884, it has been the place where time begins and ends every day. Before then, most towns and cities kept their own time. But the creation of the prime meridian helped set international standards for how time is measured, for when a day begins and ends — even for how long an hour is. Today, every place on Earth sets its clocks according to its distance from Greenwich.
In an interview with Fast Company, Lippincott, 45, offered a (really) brief history of time — and the validity (if any) of the hot concept of "Internet time."
Why are we all so fascinated by time?
The clock is a symbol of authority: We all want to "control" time. In many instances, when a revolutionary government has come to power, one of its first acts has been to change the calendar — to recalibrate time. That's what happened during the French Revolution. The regime didn't like the 12-base, or duodecimal, calendar (inherited from antiquity and early Christianity) , so it tried to impose a decimal calendar. A similar attempt to control the calendar occurred during the Russian Revolution.
But trying to mold time to the whims of people just hasn't worked. The duodecimal calendar has survived since Babylonian times for a reason. There are certain truths about how long it takes the sun and the moon to pass across the sky that you can't escape — no matter how hard you try to remake the calendar to suit your needs.
Do people really have less time today than they used to have?
How we experience time depends on whether we're engaged in what we're doing, whether we're organized about what we're doing — even whether we're physically fit. A wise man I know, who worked in government, structured his day so that he always had time to sit with his feet up. He said that if you're always chasing the next problem, you don't see three problems ahead.
Is time an abstraction, or is it real?
Time affects your body, your health, the rhythms of your life. An endocrinologist at the University of Sussex has said, "You can have a 24-hour society, but you can't have a 24-hour body." Whether we like it or not, the melatonin levels in our bodies follow the movement of the sun. Even living with electric light puts stress on our bodies, because it keeps melatonin from responding to light cues in the way that it should. So, in response, people take melatonin supplements. Meanwhile, increases in our cortisol levels get us excited at times when we should be quieting down. It's not healthy.
One of the most interesting papers that I've read recently was about sleeping and waking patterns in humans. Apparently, humans have sleeping and waking patterns that closely resemble those of chipmunks. Therefore, the paper concluded, we should sleep more in the winter — we should almost hibernate — and we should be extremely active in the summer. It's a good reminder: We are just a species of animal that lives on a rock that revolves around the sun. No matter how fast the Internet gets, we can't change that reality.
What's next for how people relate to time?
We're going to see the emergence of two drastically different streams of people. We're going to see people who are working in Internet businesses or in telecommunications, who are going to go fast because they want to go fast. But we're also going to see plenty of people who will want to go slow. Today, most of the money out there is flowing into the fast stream. But what if the world's resources began to dwindle? It's possible that people who invest in the slow stream could become the next millionaires.
Learn more about the "Story of Time" exhibit on the Web (www.rog.nmm.ac.uk/index.html) .
Sidebar: Time for Internet Time?
As a high-profile expert on the history of time, Kristen Lippincott, the curator of the "Story of Time" exhibit at the National Maritime Museum, in Greenwich, England, hears a lot about the unique properties of Internet time. So what does she think of this newfangled idea? As we found out, she doesn't exactly set her watch by it.
"I don't know what 'Internet time' means. People who use the Internet are interested in fast responses, so they plug into that speed-driven system and find what they want. But they also seem to be the kind of people who respond quickly when questions are posed to them — who say yes or no without really thinking carefully about what their response should be.
"What's really different about email isn't that it's a faster medium than conventional pen and paper. What's different — and dangerous — is that email is a disposable medium. It just doesn't provoke the same degree of reflection and consideration from its user that paper does. If I have an important message that I want someone to grapple with, I'll still use paper to communicate it.
"I worry that we've become enamored with deadlines. We want to feel an adrenaline rush. We believe that if we're always chasing the next deadline, we must be important. A lot of our 'busy-ness' is a way for us to avoid thinking about what is most important. There's a difference between being busy and being productive."
A version of this article appeared in the June 2000 issue of Fast Company magazine. | <urn:uuid:c095e732-1062-4223-89cf-5b650f1254cf> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.fastcompany.com/39690/really-brief-history-time | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783398516.82/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154958-00108-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.970707 | 1,214 | 2.640625 | 3 |
Jellyfish Gone Wild — Text-only | Flash Special Report
BIOLOGY OF BLOBS
WHAT IS A JELLYFISH?
To some degree, the definition of a jellyfish depends on who you ask. Beach-goers generally define jellyfish loosely. They use the word “jellyfish” (along with qualifiers such as “ick!”) to describe just about any transparent, slumped lump stranded in the sand, and any shapeless, ghost-like creature that lurks in the oceanic murk--whether it is giving swimmers painful stings or just creepily brushing against their skin.
By contrast, scientists define jellyfish narrowly. To be classified as a “true jellyfish” by scientists, an animal must have stingers, have a bell-shaped body as an adult, and belong to the group of animals (phylum) known as Cnidaria. In addition, most true jellyfish have tentacles and eat plankton. Note that jellyfish, which are invertebrates and don’t have gills, are not fish.
When scientists categorize animals, they distinguish “true jellyfish” from various types of jellyfish-like animals that look, swarm and squish like jellyfish, but are not jellyfish in the zoological sense.
For example, jellyfish-like animals known as comb jellies--like true jellyfish--have slimy, transparent bodies and tentacles, and populate the world’s oceans in large numbers. But comb jellies are not classified as “true jellyfish” because they lack stingers and bell-shaped bodies and have different life cycles than true jellyfish. (Comb jellies are classified as ctenophores).
THE MANY FORMS OF GELATINOUS ANIMALS
The bodies of some gelatinous animals are smaller than contact lenses; others are bigger than truck wheels. Some have tentacles; some don’t.
Although jellyfish are famous for their bell-shaped bodies, gelatinous animals come in many shapes. In fact, the longest animals in the world are jellyfish-like animals known as Siphonophores, which live in the open ocean.
Many Siphonophores have long, thin shapes and some reach 130 feet in length, which is about the height of a 13-story building. By comparison, the maximum length of the Blue Whale, the largest mammal on Earth, is about 110 feet. The best known siphonophore is the Portuguese man-of-war, whose giant stinging tentacles may extend dozens of yards.
150 million people worldwide are exposed annually to jellyfish. About 200,000 jellyfish stings occur in Florida annually. Credit: Erion Cuko
DEATH BY JELLYCIDE
The comb jelly known as Beroe eats other species of comb jellies. By doing so, it has helped control population explosions of comb jellies in various worldwide locations. Credit: Casey Dunn | <urn:uuid:18ad2258-9dd4-414a-969f-d4cb1fd5c693> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.nsf.gov/news/special_reports/jellyfish/textonly/biology.jsp | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783397213.30/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154957-00059-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.94176 | 625 | 3.90625 | 4 |
Numbness usually arises from damage or disease of nerves.
Numbness is a symptom & not a disease.I
It can be due to following diseases-
- Nerve compression syndromes
- Repetitive motion disorders
- Carpal tunnel syndrome
- Circulatory disorders(poor blood circulation)
- Rheumatoid arthritis
- Multiple sclerosis
Stroke & ischaemic attack are stress related.
So I advice you to don't take it lightly & go for a complete medical checkup to know the underlying disease & treatment accordingly.
The following tips will help you greatly:
1.Exercise to maintain muscle tone.
2.Attend a group support to diminish depression and other negative feelings.
3.Rest and practice a relaxation technique for improved energy level.
4.Avoid temperature extremes.
5. Meditation, massage & relaxing therapy will relieve the stress & improve blood circulation.
Source- Medline Plus Encyclopedia. | <urn:uuid:f90309be-5694-424b-8d9f-504ff240497c> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.justanswer.com/health/0o0dw-causes-tingling-numbness-end-finger.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783398869.97/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154958-00006-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.819216 | 197 | 2.5625 | 3 |
Avoid flat head
Babies should always sleep on their backs in order to reduce the risk of SIDS. However, some babies can develop a flat head from spending too much time on their backs.
Therefore, to help avoid or treat this temporary condition (called positional plagiocephaly), more time on the tummy while awake is essential.
Enhance motor development
Babies who spend less time on their stomachs are also more inclined to have development delays in areas such as rolling over, sitting up and crawling. Tummy time is also a fun way to spend time with your baby. It encourages eye contact, strengthens neck muscles and improves upper body strength.
Tummy time basics
Start tummy time when your little one is about two months old and able to lift his or her head. You can do tummy time before this age, but the baby won't benefit much before he or she can lift his or her head. Begin with very short periods of tummy time -- about three minutes per session, two or three times each day.
If your baby hates the idea of lying on his or her tummy on a mat, start by lying on your back and laying your baby on his or her tummy on your chest. Your child will lift his or her head using his or her arms to try to see your face. After a few days, switch over to a play mat or rug on the floor with age-appropriate toys nearby. Get down on the floor next to your baby and sing or talk to him or her. If your baby continues to detest tummy time, don't stress about it. Wait a few weeks or until he or she is three months old and try again.
Place a toy just out of your baby's reach during tummy time to get him or her to try to reach for the toy. You can also place several toys in a circle around the baby. Reaching to the different spots will help your child to develop the muscles he or she'll need to roll over, scoot and eventually crawl. | <urn:uuid:1cf08d5a-2baa-4013-b001-9c75674b8ef2> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.allparenting.com/my-family/articles/946361/baby-development-the-importance-of-tummy-time | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783395560.14/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154955-00197-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.978839 | 419 | 3.375 | 3 |
After his humiliating defeat at Actium, Mark Antony retires to Alexandria, Egypt, where he remains in seclusion for some time in the temple of Isis. He avoids meeting his mistress, Cleopatra, the queen of Egypt, whose cowardice largely caused the defeat. Meanwhile the Romans, under Octavius, Maecenas, and Agrippa, have invaded Egypt, where, having laid siege to Alexandria, they calmly await Antony’s next move. Serapion, a patriot and a priest of Isis, becomes alarmed at a sudden rising of the Nile and by prodigious disturbances among the royal tombs; these events seem to presage disaster for Egypt.
Ventidius, Antony’s trusted and highly successful general in the Middle East, comes at this time to Alexandria to aid his commander. Alexas, Cleopatra’s loyal, scheming eunuch, and Serapion try to encourage citizens and troops with a splendid birthday festival in Antony’s honor. Ventidius, in Roman fashion, scorns the celebration. He tells Antony’s Roman soldiers not to rejoice, but to prepare to defend Antony in his peril. Antony, clearly a ruined man, at last comes out of his seclusion. While he curses his fate and laments the day that he was born, Ventidius, in concealment, overhears the pitiful words of his emperor. Revealing his presence, he attempts to console Antony. Both men weep; Antony marvels that Ventidius can remain faithful to a leader who brought a large part of the Roman Empire to ruin through his love for Cleopatra.
Ventidius offers to Antony his twelve legions, which are stationed in Lower Syria, but his stipulation that these legions will not fight for Cleopatra plunges doting Antony into renewed gloom. When Ventidius mentions the name of Cleopatra lightly, Antony takes offense and curses the general as a traitor. After this insult Antony, his mind filled with misgivings, guilt, and indecision, hastens to assure Ventidius of his love for him. He promises to leave Cleopatra to join the legions in Syria.
The word that Antony is preparing to desert her leaves Cleopatra in a mood of anger and despair. Meanwhile Charmion, her maid, goes to Antony and begs the Roman to say farewell to her mistress. Antony refuses, saying that he does not trust himself in Cleopatra’s presence. Not daunted by this refusal, Alexas later intercepts Antony as he marches out of Alexandria. The eunuch flatters the Romans and presents them with rich jewels from Cleopatra. As Antony is with difficulty clasping a bracelet around his arm, Cleopatra makes her prepared appearance. Antony bitterly accuses her of falseness and of being the cause of his downfall. The two...
(The entire section is 1060 words.) | <urn:uuid:31501172-76de-4fd2-8c5e-5f347f298065> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.enotes.com/topics/all-for-love | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783395613.65/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154955-00121-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.960362 | 622 | 2.734375 | 3 |
The proposal will not cover foods that are part of the federally subsidized school meal program. That program was revamped recently by the Obama administration and requires participating school cafeterias to start serving twice as many fruits and vegetables, more whole grains and less sodium and fat when the next school year begins.
Consumer advocates are hoping for an equally dramatic change in so-called “competitive foods” that are sold outside the school meal program. They say these foods, including potato chips and cookies, are widely available but barely regulated in schools.
Federal law bans only a small subset of competitive foods, such as sodas and certain types of candy, from being sold in cafeterias during mealtime. But those products are available to kids in other venues at school, even during lunch, according to the study, which was published in the Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine. Such foods also include sandwiches, pizza and other a la carte items that are not federally reimbursed.
“Really, it’s a very weak regulation at this point,” said Lindsey Turner, lead author of the study and a health psychologist at the University of Illinois at Chicago. “We’re at a time of transition and opportunity for these competitive foods.”
The study, based on mail-back surveys from about 3,900 public and private elementary schools nationwide, found that about half of the students could buy foods in one or more competitive venues during the 2009-10 school year. Access to these foods did not change significantly during the 2006-07 through 2009-10 school years.
The study highlighted “striking” regional differences. About 60 percent of public elementary school kids had access to sugary snacks in the South, where childhood obesity rates are the highest. This compares with 24 percent in the West and 30 percent in the Midwest. But fruits and vegetables also were more available in the South.
The study assessed only access to snacks, not consumption or the link to obesity. It cited a separate 2009 study, however, in the Journal of the American Dietetic Association showing that 29 percent of elementary school students consumed competitive foods, usually unhealthy ones. A separate study strongly linked the availability of unhealthy foods and drinks in competitive venues with greater calorie intake.
In early 2010, the American Beverage Association said that its members had voluntarily reduced the calories in drinks shipped to schools by 88 percent. Its members also stopped offering full-calorie soft drinks in elementary school vending machines.
Jim McCarthy, president of the Snack Food Association, said he had not seen this week’s study. But the group’s members, including Frito-Lay and Kraft, have been voluntarily reducing fats, sodium and sugars in their products for at least six years, he said. Last week, the chairman and highest-ranking Democrat on the House agriculture committee wrote a letter urging Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack to make sure that the final proposal is consistent with the standards set for the federally funded school meal program. | <urn:uuid:d2e879ce-e57e-4a67-8a9b-016686ad6614> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.rocketnews.com/2012/03/junk-food-widely-available-at-u-s-elementary-schools-despite-anti-obesity-push/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783396887.54/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154956-00110-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.972177 | 611 | 2.75 | 3 |
After hurricane Sandy tore through the mid-Atlantic region, a shipwreck has been unearthed on a barrier island of New York, exciting archeologists.
The wrecked ship is reportedly a Canadian schooner that has long been buried in the sands of Fire Island, a barrier island in Long Island, N.Y., and is now totally exposed as a result of severe beach erosion brought on by Sandy's record breaking storm surge.
The wreck is located about four miles east of Davis Park on the Fire Island National Seashore between Skunk Hollow and Whalehouse Point, as reported by Newsday.
The current speculation is that the remains belong to the Bessie White that ran aground more than 90 years old, according to Paula Valentine, public affairs specialist for Fire Island.
There are conflicting historic accounts concerning the actual year the ship ran aground, but the events of surrounding the wreck seem to be in agreement.
Historical reports indicate that the ship, a 4-mast Canadian schooner, ran aground due to heavy fog just west of Smith's Point, Long Island. Conflicting reports indicate the ship wrecked in 1919 or 1922.
The crew, including the ship's cat, made it safely ashore, but the ship was unable to be moved. The ship was carrying many tons of coal and when it was determined the ship could not be saved, the contents of the ship were salvaged.
The remains of the boat, which are about the size of a city bus, have broken through the sand after strong storms eroded the beach, but never has it been exposed so much.
The dune and surrounding beach that had once been used to bury the wreck eroded back an average of 72 feet, Cheryl Hapke, U.S. Geological Survey coastal geologist, said in a statement.
Archaeologists and park officials are going to be researching the wreck before the sea covers it once more with sand.
"There's so little of it left we may not be not be able to determine which ship it actually is, but we may be able to learn more about its age," Valentine said. "It's just a rare treat to see something exposed." | <urn:uuid:7600ca36-598e-43c8-b458-04cbe5b98167> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.christianpost.com/news/sandy-exposes-ship-once-buried-on-fire-island-85087/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783397749.89/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154957-00102-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.972507 | 444 | 3.015625 | 3 |
Here is the complete list of Nationalities. There are many nations in the world. Persons living in a particular country are called in connection with the name of the country. They are called Nationalities.
For example, a citizen of Afghanistan is called as Afghan. A citizen of American is called American. | <urn:uuid:8c660f89-258d-436d-bc45-e3c5becb70b4> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.english-for-students.com/Nationalities-A.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783408828.55/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624155008-00132-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.978491 | 61 | 3.109375 | 3 |
Antilles ou Indes Occidentales par Th. Doutovenay.
1852 (undated) 10 x 13 in (25.4 x 33.02 cm)
An attractive 1852 map of the West Indies by Th. Duvotenay. Covers from Florida to Venezuela and from Honduras to Barbados. Includes the Bahamas, Cuba, Jamaica, Santo Domingo (Hispaniola), Porto Rico, and the Lesser Antilles or Windward Isles. Throughout, Duvotenay identifies various cities, towns, rivers and assortment of additional topographical details. Features a neoclassical decorative border. Prepared by Th. Duvotenay for publication as plate no. 32 in Maison Basset's 1852 edition of the Atlas Illustre.
Thunot Duvotenay (1796 - 1875) was a French geographer active in the mid 19th century. Thunot is known to have worked with several other important cartographers of his dayincluding Barbie du Bocage, Vuillemin, Charle, Levassseur and Dufour.
Duvotenay, T., Atlas Illustre (Maison Basset), 1852.
Good. Some foxing mostly confined to margins. Blank on verso. | <urn:uuid:fb4c6222-7be2-471d-a033-ca456ace361f> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.geographicus.com/P/AntiqueMap/WestIndies-duvotenay-1852 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783396959.83/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154956-00190-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.830291 | 271 | 2.625 | 3 |
Thursday's health and safety news from the world of football:
* Digital Journal published a peer-reviewed study that showed custom-made mouthguards outperformed store-bought models in reducing the risk of concussions.
High school football players wearing store-bought, over-the-counter (OTC) mouthguards were more than twice as likely to suffer mild traumatic brain injures (MTBI)/concussions than those wearing custom-made, properly fitted mouthguards, reports a new study in the May/June 2014 issue of General Dentistry, the peer-reviewed clinical journal of the Academy of General Dentistry (AGD).
"Researchers and, most importantly, parents, are looking for ways to better protect children against concussions," said lead author Jackson Winters, DDS, a pediatric dentist who also served as a high school and collegiate football official for 28 years. "Consumers may believe that today's advanced helmet design provides sufficient protection, but our research indicates that, when compared to over-the-counter versions, a custom-made, properly fitted mouthguard also is essential to player safety."
The study followed 412 players from six high school football teams. Three teams (220 athletes) were randomly assigned to wear custom-made mouthguards, and three teams (192 athletes) wore standard OTC mouthguards of their own choosing. All players wore the same style of football helmet.
According to the study, 8.3 percent of athletes in the OTC mouthguard group suffered MTBI/concussion injuries. For those with custom-made mouthguards, however, the rate was only 3.6 percent.
Diehl spoke to them about the signs and symptoms of concussions and the importance of getting tested before returning to the sports field.
"Having a concussion is basically your brain bouncing off your skull," Diehl says. "That's something we can't see, but doctors can see. Playing sports, you can play through an ankle or knee. But this is different."
Diehl is affiliated with St. Barnabas Hospital, which offers baseline screenings for student athletes. They can be used to determine when a student's brain has healed and is ready to return to the playing field.
* KMBC-TV in Kansas City looked at an emerging concussion test at the University of Kansas Hospital's concussion management center using a blood test.
* Phys.org published work by a group of University of Arkansas researchers who are working on wireless helmet sensors.
* The North Carolina High School Athletic Association passed a rule that any coach who coaches a game without taking a concussion awareness course faces a $500 fine, according to the Raleigh News & Observer.
* The Charleston (S.C.) Post and Courier looked at the consequences of brain injuries in children.
* PhxFan.com reviewed prep football safety with the return of spring practices in Arizona.
-- Bill Bradley, contributing editor | <urn:uuid:b0a145fd-cedc-4b2c-9d9a-0a8bd55d677c> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap2000000345815/article/study-shows-overthecounter-mouth-guards-dont-protect-as-well | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783397428.37/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154957-00178-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.960158 | 594 | 2.765625 | 3 |
April 6, 2013
Researchers Uncover Significant Evidence Of The 17th Dynasty Of Ancient Egypt
redOrbit Staff & Wire Reports - Your Universe Online
Archaeologists from the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC) have discovered the burial sites of four individuals from the 17th dynasty of ancient Egypt, including one they believe belongs to the son of one of the first kings of that era.The individuals would have lived approximately 3,550 years ago, and their gravesites were discovered on the hill of Dra Abu el-Naga in what is now Luxor but what was formerly the ancient settlement of Thebes.
The expedition was part of the Djehuty Project — the first Spanish archaeological expedition to study an Egyptian tomb. It was led by CSIC researcher José Manuel Galán of the Institute of Mediterranean and funded by Unión Fenosa Gas and the Ministry of Education, Culture and Sport, the organization said Friday in a statement.
Their discovery will help researchers learn more about a little-known historical period during which Thebes became the capital of the Egyptian kingdom, and the empire established their dominance over neighboring nations like Syria, Palestine and Nubia. The 17th dynasty was part of an era known as the Second Intermediate Period of Egypt, which lasted from 1800 and 1550 BC, according to the CSIC.
One of the four tombs belonged to an individual known as Intefmose. Three inscriptions found in that tomb (including one that was accompanied by a portrait in relief) referred to Intefmose as the “son of the king.” Galán said that he and his teams believe that this individual “could be the son of Sobekemsaf, one of the first kings of the 17th Dynasty, about whom we barely have historical information.”
Intefmose´s tomb consisted of a small chapel made out of adobe bricks that had been built in front of an approximately seven-meter deep shaft-grave. That shaft leads to a burial chamber, and a hole at the back of that room led to the burial chamber of a second tomb, which was discovered during the expedition.
That second tomb belonged to Ahhotep, a high-ranking official also known as the “spokesman of Nekhen.” According to Galán, three clay figurines known as shabtis were found there, and each had been painted and bore Ahhotep´s name.
“Two of these shabtis were found inside of both small clay sarcophagi, decorated with an inscription on the sides and on the top. The third one was wrapped in nine linen fabrics, as if it was a real mummy, and each of the fabrics had traces of writing in black ink,” the expedition leader explained. “These figurines have a very original and naïf style, which provides them a special charm and a unique character.”
Galán and his colleagues also found the intact coffin of an unidentified boy that lived during the 17th dynasty, as well as shabtis and funerary linens belonging to prince Ahmose-Sapair, who lived in the time between the 17th and 18th Egyptian dynasties. According to the archaeologists, these findings confirm that Dra Abu el-Naga hill served as the burial grounds for the Egyptian royal family of both of those dynasties. | <urn:uuid:e940b3da-9941-4df6-a8ad-757097dc207c> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.redorbit.com/news/science/1112817398/ancient-egyptian-dynasty-burial-site-discovered-040613/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783395560.14/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154955-00108-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.978804 | 711 | 3.3125 | 3 |
Are you curious like an explorer? Do you like to solve problems like a researcher? Do you enjoy participating in community projects? Do you like to talk about what you have learned? Join a scientist in cutting-edge research, share your knowledge with an eager group of school kids, discover and document treasures...the opportunities are as varied as you can imagine! From historical digs to marine studies, our volunteer program spans the country and touches all aspects of the work we do.
Get behind the scenes, learn something new and make a difference. There are lots of ways you can be a part of the action. Here are just a few ideas:
Play a part in special events or education programs
Get active and celebrate at Parks Day and many more special occasions, participate in historical re-enactments or interpretive programs...
Share your discoveries and knowledge with visitors
Interact as a Park Ambassador, Campground Host or tour guide helper...
Study, restore and conserve our heritage
Participate in archaeological projects, rare plant inventories, butterfly counts, frog monitoring, species at risk monitoring...
Take care of the land and the history
Join a shoreline clean-up initiative, a trail rehabilitation effort. Experience period costume fabrication, artifact restoration, and collections support...
As a volunteer, you can share your ideas, knowledge, talent and skills with Parks Canada to build a legacy for Canada's natural and historic treasures! | <urn:uuid:d9dc5fdf-73f6-4264-85be-314e7ed0db46> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.pc.gc.ca/agen/vol-ben/index.aspx | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783393997.50/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154953-00102-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.918576 | 288 | 2.71875 | 3 |
From 1859 to 1880 the comstock mine produced some $300 million in silver and gold. Virginia became a boomtown, or a town that has a sudden burstof economic or population growth. Population jumped from 3,000 in the 1860's to 20,000 in the 1870's. By the 1890's the mining boom was over. Early migration and settlement: trappers and miners in the West; the reasons for increasing migration; the Oregon Trail. | <urn:uuid:1c224672-30f1-4b2a-8463-cfc5bcae4870> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.jiskha.com/display.cgi?id=1366742454 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783395546.12/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154955-00034-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.965643 | 91 | 3.59375 | 4 |
With the deteriorating Washington, D.C., home of Frederick Douglass as a backdrop, GOP congressional leaders announced on May 8 legislation to provide almost $1 million of the $2 million sought to preserve the famed abolitionist’s historic residence — and launched a new campaign to expand the GOP’s base among African Americans. But Republicans may find it easier to restore the home of the 19th century champion of human rights and ally of Abraham Lincoln, than to bring back the support the GOP once enjoyed among blacks.
The Republican Party is still smarting from the Trent Lott debacle of last December when the then senate majority leader said that the country would have been better off if Strom Thurmond had been elected president in 1948. That year, Thurmond campaigned for the White House on a platform that called for preserving segregation. Since then, Republican leaders have been scrambling to find ways to deflect the perception that the GOP is an anti-civil rights party.
On the grounds of the Frederick Douglass National Historic Site, House Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.) said that Douglass, an early Republican, “fought for human rights. The values and principles that Frederick Douglass and Abraham Lincoln worked so hard for in the 1800s are the same values and principles that we are fighting for as a Republican Party today.” To illustrate the GOP’s sincerity, Hastert unveiled the Fulfilling America’s Promise initiative, a collection of legislative measures designed to “empower African Americans to achieve the American Dream.” The plan has three components: creating jobs and economic security, providing equal opportunity for quality education, and strengthening faith and families.
Some political observers are skeptical about how relevant this initiative is to the core concerns of black Americans. “This is another Republican attempt to repackage GOP ideological positions,” says Robert C. Smith, a political science professor at San Francisco State University. Indeed, half the items comprising the initiative are part of the massive Bush tax-cut plan. The other measures include the issue of school vouchers for students.
However beneficial these measures might be, recent policy stances of President George W. Bush and congressional Republicans may operate to cancel them out. President Bush has done little to address the growth of joblessness and, as promised, has named judges to the federal bench who are as conservative as Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia. In the face of strong support for affirmative action among a broad spectrum of black leaders, including Secretary of State Colin Powell, Bush has opposed affirmative action admissions programs at the University of Michigan. The Republican-controlled Congress has failed to pass legislation that would raise the minimum wage, extend healthcare to the working poor, or provide full funding to education programs.
If the GOP is to attract a greater number of African Americans to its ranks, it will have to neutralize its dubious record regarding support for black interests. That would not have been such a tall order in decades past.
After the Civil War, newly freed blacks flocked to the GOP because it was the party | <urn:uuid:74b7a2ea-b811-4ed3-99dc-eeab75ecc399> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.blackenterprise.com/mag/republicans-courting-black-america-again/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783396224.52/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154956-00043-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.952819 | 623 | 3.15625 | 3 |
C++ usually doesn't provide automatic garbage collection. Some C++ features, and much C++ code is poorly suited for AGC, so programmers must explicitly deal with memory management issues, which can get quite difficult and needs much time.
Related categories 1
"Pure Virtual Function Called": An Explanation
This article provides an in-depth look at the "pure virtual function called" error message.
Counted Body Techniques
Introduces two key concepts: the use of a generic requirements based approach to simplify and adapt the use of the counted body pattern and the ability to dynamically and non-intrusively add capabilities to fixed types using the runtime mixin pattern.
An Introduction to Garbage Collection, Part II
Show how garbage collection works and what it actually costs.
Memory Management in C++
Covers the design of a global memory manager that is as fast and space-efficient as per-class allocators.
Smart Pointers in Boost
Introduces smart pointers and takes a look at Boosts various smart pointer templates (scoped_ptr, scoped_array, shared_ptr, and shared_array).
Smart Pointers: What, Why, Which?
Explains what smart pointers are, why they should be used, and which one should be used.
The Rule of The Big Two
Matthew and Bjorn update the well-known Rule of The Big Three, explaining which one of those member functions is not always needed. (October 01, 2004)
Memory Hygiene in C and C++: Safe Programming with Risky Data
Memory management is scary. It should be: A lot can go wrong--often very wrong. But a moderately experienced C or C++ programmer can learn and understand memory hazards completely. (February 06, 2004)
C++ Memory Management: From Fear to Triumph, Part 3
Presents a list of simple, powerful techniques that can be used to deal with memory in C++ programs. (August 07, 2003)
C++ Memory Management: From Fear to Triumph, Part 2
This article explains design principles that will help keeping memory management error out of C++ code. (June 19, 2003)
C++ Memory Management: From Fear to Triumph, Part 1
This article discusses C++ in the context of several other popular languages. It also describes the kinds of memory errors that can occur in C++ programs. (May 08, 2003)
Smart Pointers in C++
Andrei Alexandrescu discusses smart pointers, from their simplest aspects to their most complex ones and from the most obvious errors in implementing them to the subtlest ones--some of which also happen to be the most gruesome. (April 18, 2003)
C++ Memory and Resource Management
Stephen Dewhurst discusses how the various features of C++ are used together in memory management, how they sometimes interact in surprising ways, and how to simplify their interactions. (January 24, 2003)
Andrei Alexandrescu navigates through the sometimes treacherous waters of using smart pointers, which imitate built-in pointers in syntax and semantics but perform a host of additional tasks that built-in pointers can't. (February 08, 2002)
To New, Perchance to Throw, Part 2
Delves deeper into the question of what operator new() failures mean, and how best to detect and handle them. (May 01, 2001)
A Generic Non-intrusive Smart Pointer Implementation
This article follows through the implementation of a smart pointer class that overcames deficiencies of existing smart pointer implementations. [PDF] (March 13, 2001)
To New, Perchance to Throw, Part 1
Explains why a class that provides its own class-specific operator new(), or operator new(), should also provide corresponding class-specific versions of plain new, in-place new, and nothrow new. (March 01, 2001)
A Garbage Collection Framework for C++, Part II
This article deals with refactoring the code originally presented in part 1 in order to allow polymorphic types to be used. (January 26, 2001)
A Garbage Collection Framework for C++
An article on using garbage collection through the use of smart pointers. (January 18, 2001)
Containers in Memory: How Big Is Big?
Answers the question of how much memory the various standard containers use to store the same number of objects of the same type T. (January 01, 2001)
Using auto_ptr Effectively
Explains why auto_ptr neatly solves common C++ design and coding problems, and why using it can lead to more robust code. (October 01, 1999)
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Honest common sense answers came readily during the American founding era. For instance, Noah Webster’s 1828 dictionary offers this summary of the word "law": "In general, law is a rule of action prescribed for the government of rational beings or moral agents, to which rule they are bound to yield obedience, in default of which they are exposed to punishment."
This simple, clear-cut definition goes to the root of things about man and law. In essence, it says that man, unlike the rest of the animal kingdom, is a rational being — in other words, a moral agent. He knows right from wrong, and has the ability to either act or not act when presented with choices — either to the blessing or cursing of himself and others, or often without significant effect.
Not surprisingly, because man has the ability to reason, and he knows right from wrong, when he hears something such as the commonsense biblical teaching “Where much is given, much is required,” it rings true through and through. It makes sense to him that he and all mankind ought to be subject to laws which check or punish harmful actions, especially actions to others. Thus moral agency demands moral accountability, and moral accountability requires law. Man has always believed and practiced this.
This honest and reasonable line of thought regarding the nature of man is what the Founders and their forefathers knew to be the Law of Nature. Remember Jefferson’s reference in the Declaration of Independence to the Law of Nature? What did he mean by it? Again, Webster’s 1828 dictionary provides a sensible answer:
Law of Nature, is a rule of conduct arising out of natural relations of human beings established by the Creator, and existing prior to any positive precept. Thus it is a law of nature, that one man should not injure another, and murder and fraud would be crimes independent of any prohibitions from a supreme power [that is, from any earthly government].
Here, then, is one of the Higher Laws Jefferson referred to that give men inalienable rights, and which legitimate officials and governments must uphold to remain legitimate. That Higher Law was the moral law God implanted in man’s nature — in his mind and in his conscience.
The other half of that formula was the claim Jefferson made upon Nature’s God, or upon the laws God had given through revelation (he was actually quoting Locke on this). This revelation from God gave man a second, and more sure, witness of what was discoverable about the Law of Nature for him through reason. Thus reason and revelation testify of a Higher Moral Law to which governments have an obligation to mold their laws, and to which men have a right to appeal — even to the extent of revolting in order to obey when their government does not.
Pagans on Morality and the Law
Our American Christian forefathers are not the only ones who reached these common sense conclusions. Even pagan Rome’s pre-Christian philosophers/statesmen such as the great Senator Cicero, understood it. Said he:
The animal which we call man, endowed with foresight and quick intelligence, complex, keen, possessing memory, full of reason and prudence, has been given a certain distinguishing status by the Supreme God, who created him; for he is the only one among so many different kinds and varieties of living beings who has a share in reason and thought, while all the rest are deprived of it. But what is more divine, I will not say in man only, but in all heaven and earth, than reason? And reason, when it is full grown and perfected, is rightly called wisdom. Therefore, since there is nothing better than reason, and it exists both in man and God, the first possession of man and God is reason. But those who have reason in common must also have right reason in common. And since right reason is Law, we must believe that men have Law also in common with the gods. Further, those who share Law must also share Justice; and those who share these are to be regarded as members of the same commonwealth. If indeed they obey the same authorities and powers, this is true in a far greater degree, but as a matter of fact they do obey this celestial system, the divine mind, and the God of transcendent power. Hence we must now conceive of this whole universe as one commonwealth which both gods and men are members.” (Quoted in Ebenstein, Great Political Thinkers, 133)
Did any prophet of the Old Testament or the Gospel teachers of the New Testament ever say it better? Here was a "non-believer" who — having that Higher Law called Reason written in his heart (Romans 2:13-16), recognized who man was and what his general duties were to his fellow man.
Cicero understood that because men have “reason” in common (“a faculty of mind which enables the possessor to deduce inferences from facts or from propositions,” Webster), then they must also have “right reason” in common (the other half of the definition of reason, or, “a faculty of the mind by which it distinguishes truth from falsehood, and good from evil”). And because that is true, then men must also have law in common with God, for right reason is law. In other words, law is based upon what men, in common with God, know as right and wrong.
It’s really not that complicated. The moral nature of man requires that he be a creature of law. His God-given capacity to differentiate between right and wrong, and between good, better and best; along with his power to freely make choices; and finally his innate sense that with moral capacity comes moral accountability — all require that man's laws uphold the moral standard he believes to be true or best. The Founders universally endorsed, implemented, and upheld the Judeo-Christian ethic as best in their personal lives, their state and local laws, and in the establishment of the world’s greatest and longest-living Constitution.
It ought to give us pause. For this is all about candid common sense — something this nation’s leaders once possessed. In order for the survival of the government our Founders gave us — a legitimate one which protects our inalienable rights — we must again have leaders who possess candid common sense.
Man, law, and morality — natural partners, then and now.
Steve Farrell is one of the original pundits at Silver Eddy Award Winner, NewsMax.com (1999–2008), the author of the highly praised inspirational novel Dark Rose, and Founder and Editor in Chief of The Moral Liberal. | <urn:uuid:da050e46-253c-4cce-baa4-4b27db62886f> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.thenewamerican.com/reviews/opinion/item/5993-candid-common-sense-on-law-morality-and-the-nature-of-man | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783396029.85/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154956-00097-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.971079 | 1,374 | 3.328125 | 3 |
Tetrapod Devonian Tetrapods
- The Evolution of Fins and Limbs More Similar Than Originally Believed
- Tetrapods – from the superclass Tetrapoda (meaning four-footed in Ancient Greek) – consists of the first four-limbed vertebrates as well as their descendants and includes reptiles, amphibians, birds, and mammals.
- Scotland holds the key to understanding how life first walked on land
- The mystery begins at the end of the Devonian, a time period famous for its fishes.
- Romer's Gap, a missing page
- “The tetrapods we know from the latest Devonian would have been strange to our eyes,” Dr Stig Walsh, Senior Curator of Vertebrate Palaeobiology at the National Museum of Scotland (NMS), Edinburgh, explains.
- After a Mass Extinction, Only the Small Survive
- The deep freeze was brutal both for fishes and for the early land vertebrates (known as tetrapods) that were just starting to clamber around on feet with toes. An estimated 96 percent of all ... Working with Andrew K.
- Lungfishes are not airheads
- In fact, our knowledge of extant lungfishes, their biology, and their evolutionary relationships to other fishes or tetrapods was confusing at first.
Tetrapod Devonian Tetrapods is described in multiple online sources, as addition to our editors' articles, see section below for printable documents, Tetrapod Devonian Tetrapods books and related discussion.
Suggested News Resources
Great care has been taken to prepare the information on this page. Elements of the content come from factual and lexical knowledge databases, realmagick.com library and third-party sources. We appreciate your suggestions and comments on further improvements of the site.
Tetrapod Devonian Tetrapods Topics
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the power of one plot | <urn:uuid:1c3f24b4-557e-4cb7-9d85-cd3ce7afdf5b> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.realmagick.com/tetrapod-devonian-tetrapods/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783396100.16/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154956-00016-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.924786 | 423 | 3.109375 | 3 |
Sohra (Cherrapunji) and Mawsynram's water crisis is entirely man-made, a visit to the world's wettest place reveals
Everyone knows Cherrapunji or Sohra (its original and now official name) or Cherra (as it is fondly referred to by expat Khasis) due to a geographical quirk that makes it and the nearby village of Mawsynram the wettest places on the sub-continent. Sohra holds the world record for most rainfall on a single day and Mawsynram is the world record-holder for most rains in a calendar year.
Sohra, perched on a plateau at 1,300 metres in the southern Khasi hills, would have been the northeastern capital of British India, but they found the place too wet and moved on to Shillong, 60 km further northeast. Shillong of course remained the chosen capital of undivided Assam until 1971.
Sohra and Mawsynram sit on a ridge on top of a funnel formed by two mountain ranges. Moist winds from the Bay of Bengal pour into the funnel and as the passage narrows, these winds rise and cool. The moisture then condenses and falls in a torrent of rain on these two villages making it a huge attraction for hordes of domestic tourists who flock here to "experience the non-stop rains".
Sohra receives about 11,777 mm (463.7 in) of annual rainfall between June and October but all those millions of cubic tonnes of water simply drain down the mountains into the Bay of Bengal via the plains of Bangladesh less than 250 miles below, leaving Sohra parched and thirsty every year. When the monsoons disappear Sohra is dry and there is no water to drink by November. By December the locals are at the mercy of the tanker-gods as is evident from the annual news picture of women and children clamouring for drinking water at tankers or trudging uphill with their pots to suck up some water from the depths of the mountains.
Centuries of incessant rains have washed away topsoil on the plateau, leaving behind undulating grasslands, but the hardier perennial temperate forests hidden in the folds and crevices of the mountains have all but disappeared. Massive deforestation over the last few decades has further exacerbated the situation by destroying the only refuge for springs and protected waterbodies. To make matters worse the menace of widespread unscientific coalmining and limestone quarrying has polluted and depleted water levels in the perennial catchment areas of the region, compounding the scarcity of drinking water.
The Delhi-based Central Laboratory of the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), which conducted an analysis of water samples collected from these rivers, said the water was highly 'acidic', rendering it unsuitable to support life forms. Another report submitted by the Meghalaya State Pollution Control Board to the state government and CPCB, Delhi, said, "Mine run-off from coalmines is the major probable cause of water pollution in the area." "The undesirable change in water quality affects a variety of flora and fauna of the rivers. Fish, as such, are susceptible to acidity and low pH values are unsuitable for most aquatic organisms," the report said.
Interestingly, despite the discovery of an abundance of coal and other minerals in the state, due to the unique governance challenges complicated by the presence of three autonomous councils, the state is yet to agree on a coherent and comprehensive mining policy. Since most coal deposits are small, isolated and regulated by private operators, the Meghalaya government prefers to stand aside, deeming it uneconomical to invest in investigating the dire ecological impacts of this cottage industry. As a result, landholders, usually sitting in Shillong, start coal mining as a cottage industry, taking it for granted that mining is a customary right independent of environmental obligations.
On my way here I had seen many 2-3-feet-high structures, very like small stone dollhouses with plastic roofs, under which are hidden the infamous rat-holes, 3-4 feet wide tunnels in which small-built and agile workers, usually children, are lowered to pull out coal.
But now newspapers are reporting how the limestone quarries and coalmines have made the ground below Sohra -- like many parts of Jaintia and the Garo Hills -- a hollow cavern, a void created by the illegal mining, which could cave in at any time, along with entire towns of 90,000-plus populations. A draft mining policy has finally been presented to the state assembly but no action is expected before the next elections as it is rumored that every third lawmaker has some links to mining.
The misery of it all was apparent on the faces of people I encountered in Sohra bazaar, which also doubles as the bus and taxi stand. You'd think that with all the mining on private land some of the wealth would be visible in the town. But despite the forced smile of the rosy-cheeked women and the light banter over salted chai with some Khasi men, the atmosphere was generally strained. There were no visible signs of prosperity among the rain-hardened souls that crowded the bazaar. There was no water in the taps at the bazaar. There was not a single rainbow or cloud in the sky either. Not yet.
I asked Isabella Gonon, a cherubic lady I met at the teashop, whether it was normal to have no rains at all in Cherrapunji, and the young teacher was quick to retort, "Yes, it has been reducing every year and I have seen more dry days in the last few years than even I remember. My mother remembers it rained every night throughout the year, even if for a few hours or minutes. By now the monsoon should have set in, but there are no clouds in the sky." What did she attribute the reduced rainfall to? "Climate change," was her quick response, "don't you know?" and she winked and was out of there like lightening.
Reduced rainfall, increased temperatures, freak storms, weird weather, everything that the climate scientists have warned the world about plays out here in real life. According to Dr S V Ngachan, Regional Director, ICAR Northeast, "Barapani in Meghalaya alone has recorded a rise in temperature by 2 degrees Celsius in the last decade and rainfall in world-famous Cherrapunji has reduced substantially over the years, changing the weather cycle of the region. The rest of the Northeast region has recorded an increase in temperature by 0.08 degrees Celsius in the last decade along with static dispersion of seasonal weather phenomena in the region."
It is a well-known fact that high rainfall does not ensure perennial water supply for infinity. Sohra's drinking water crisis is entirely man-made. It is the inability to harvest and store water for a population that has doubled over two decades that is at the heart of Sohra's water problem. The creaking old water pipelines laid by the British supply water to 13,000 houses in Sohra town. They cannot meet the demands of the whole town, the adjacent rural areas and the settlements of 5,000 coal and limestone labourers. An ambitious Rs 4.13 crore Greater Sohra Water Supply scheme implemented in 2010 has run into trouble as its source, the Wah Lyngksiar river, has tested highly acidic and unfit for drinking by the North Eastern Hill University. Following objections from the local durbars a water treatment plant has been built, but the locals are still wary of drinking the water.
It is at Sohra that one realises the follies of looking towards the government as the 'munificent provider' of water, especially given the ancient custom of community control over commons that was prevalent amongst the Khasis, like so many other indigenous peoples of the region. Almost 20 years ago, the late Anil Aggarwal, environmentalist, writing on the need to revive traditional water harvesting systems, had proposed that the state's role should be largely limited to the provision of technical advice and seed capital, and even that should be with the participation of users in water planning and management. The community needs a sense of ownership, responsibility and involvement in the management of the systems if any attempt to revive water-harvesting systems is to succeed.
The trick is to build on the inbuilt cultural matrix of traditional systems to regenerate and develop traditional water harvesting systems and inculcate an attitude of judicious use of water.
A fine example of a traditional and community-based system of conservation that has persisted till today are the 79 sacred forest groves all over Meghalaya. There are four main categories of sacred groves as formulated by the Durbar of Khasis in 1925 – Ki Law Lyngdoh (forests under the control of the traditional religious leader or village council, no public use permitted), Ki Law Kyntang (forests of great sacred value for sacrificial and religious ceremonies), Ki Law Adong (forest protected for non-commercial use eg water), Ki Law Shnong (forest resources for village use). These sacred groves play a crucial role in soil and water conservation. They usually hold water resources in the form of springs, ponds, lakes, streams or rivers and the vegetative mass of the grove sponges up the water, often providing the only source of water for animals and birds in times of drought.
I visited one such well-preserved community-managed sacred grove at Mawphlang in East Khasi Hills District. Located about 25 km from Shillong at 5,600 feet (1842m) on a gently rolling ridge top, the 75-hectares dense wet temperate forests of Mawphlang are a unique habitat with impressive biodiversity that has been protected since the settlement of the area 100 years ago. Ancient stone megaliths dot the forest of oak, chestnuts, alder, figs and rhododendrons with a prolific variety of epiphytic ferns, orchids and pipers. Four hundred tree species and unusual orchids, mushrooms, amphibians and birds have been recorded in the sacred forest according to council records.
The sacred grove of Mawphlang is managed by a religious chief (Lyngdoh) who together with the village headman and clan chiefs ensures that the responsibilities for forest protection, fire control and rituals are shared by the local community. But most importantly the elders knew that the greatest value of forests is sustainable water supply. In 2005 the Mawphlang community collaborated with California-based Community Forestry International (CFI) on a potential REDD project to stop further degradation of the forest and reinforce its watershed areas. REDD (reduced emissions from deforestation degradation) is a controversial mechanism proposed (and now disposed of) by the UN to encourage developing nations to preserve their forests by giving an economic value to the carbon saved by stopping deforestation. Critics argue that in REDD projects, which entail entering into a complex financial arrangement with international stakeholders, would endanger the very control of the community over the commons.
Whatever be the fate of the Mawphlang's attempt to qualify as India's first pilot REDD project, the fact remains that the secret of the survival of sacred groves is the delicate fabric of myth, legend and religious belief woven together by centuries of experience and wisdom.
'Catching water where it falls', the basic principle of rainwater harvesting, has today proved to be the best way to extend the bounties of the monsoon. The revival of that tradition, and engaging the community in a holistic fashion to do so, is the only viable solution to Sohra's water crisis. For that matter, it is the only viable solution to the water crisis facing the rest of the country today.
Sohra to me is a perfect example of how the fate of forests, mountains, rivers and all creatures living in them -- including the human species -- is intertwined. You bring one down and the rest come tumbling after.
Infochange News & Features, October 2012 | <urn:uuid:0a3ab581-2437-4df7-a34c-b14c607f24ee> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://infochangeindia.org/environment/northeast-s-fragile-ecology/the-wettest-desert-on-earth.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783396027.60/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154956-00200-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.957491 | 2,504 | 3 | 3 |
XHTML - Doctypes
The XHTML standard defines three Document Type Definitions (DTDs). The most commonly used and easy one is the XHTML Transitional document.
XHTML 1.0 document type definitions correspond to three DTDs −
There are few XHTML elements and attributes, which are available in one DTD but not available in another DTD. Therefore, while writing your XHTML document, you must select your XHTML elements or attributes carefully. However, XHTML validator helps you to identify valid and invalid elements and attributes.
Please check XHTML Validations for more detail on this.
XHTML 1.0 Strict
If you are planning to use Cascading Style Sheet (CSS) strictly and avoiding to write most of the XHTML attributes, then it is recommended to use this DTD. A document conforming to this DTD is of the best quality.
If you want to use XHTML 1.0 Strict DTD then you need to include the following line at the top of your XHTML document.
<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd">
XHTML 1.0 Transitional
If you are planning to use many XHTML attributes as well as few Cascading Style Sheet properties, then you should adopt this DTD and you should write your XHTML document accordingly.
If you want to use XHTML 1.0 Transitional DTD, then you need to include the following line at the top of your XHTML document.
<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd">
XHTML 1.0 Frameset
You can use this when you want to use HTML Frames to partition the browser window into two or more frames.
If you want to use XHTML 1.0 Frameset DTD, then you need to include following line at the top of your XHTML document.
<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Frameset//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-frameset.dtd">
Note − No matter what DTD you are using to write your XHTML document; if it is a valid XHTML document, then your document is considered as a good quality document. | <urn:uuid:ec2e7bcc-f185-4023-9776-173897727b25> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.tutorialspoint.com/xhtml/xhtml_doctypes.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783395679.92/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154955-00061-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.804298 | 566 | 3.171875 | 3 |
BHAGAVAD GITA SUMMARY (in English)
The Bhagavad Gita ("Song of God") is the essence of the Vedas and Upanishads. It is a universal scripture applicable to people of all temperaments, for all times. It is a book with sublime thoughts and practical instructions on Yoga, Devotion, Vedanta and Action. The Bhagavad Gita has influenced many great thinkers over the years.
- Why do you worry without cause? Whom do you fear without reason? Who can kill you? The soul is neither born, nor does it die.
- Whatever happened, happened for the good; whatever is happening, is happening for the good; whatever will happen, will also happen for the good only. You need not have any regrets for the past. You need not worry for the future. The present is happening...
- What did you lose that you cry about? What did you bring with you, which you think you have lost? What did you produce, which you think got destroyed? You did not bring anything - whatever you have, you received from here. Whatever you have given, you have given only here. Whatever you took, you took from God. Whatever you gave, you gave to him. You came empty handed, you will leave empty handed. What is yours today, belonged to someone else yesterday, and will belong to someone else the day after tomorrow. You are mistakenly enjoying the thought that this is yours. It is this false happiness that is the cause of your sorrows.
"Whatever you took, you took from God. Whatever you gave, you gave to him. You came empty handed, you will leave empty handed."
- Change is the law of the universe. What you think of as death, is indeed life. In one instance you can be a millionaire, and in the other instance you can be steeped in poverty. Yours and mine, big and small - erase these ideas from your mind. Then everything is yours and you belong to everyone.
- This body is not yours, neither are you of the body. The body is made of fire, water, air, earth and ether, and will disappear into these elements. But the soul is permanent - so who are you?
- Dedicate your being to God. He is the one to be ultimately relied upon. Those who know of his support are forever free from fear, worry and sorrow.
- Whatever you do, do it as a dedication to God. This will bring you the tremendous experience of joy and life-freedom forever. | <urn:uuid:82439052-3e05-424c-833d-09eda18e424d> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.eaglespace.com/spirit/geetaenglish.php | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783391634.7/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154951-00156-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.974552 | 532 | 2.9375 | 3 |
BROOKLYN - The Encyclopedia of Cleveland History
The west side municipality of BROOKLYN, distinguished from the BROOKLYN portion of the city of Cleveland (Old Brooklyn) and located 6 miles southwest of downtown, lies contiguous to Cleveland on its east, north, and west borders, and to the city of PARMA on its southern boundary. Brooklyn Township, organized 1 June 1818, occupied a significant part of Cleveland's early west side territory, and was bounded on the north by Lake Erie, on the east by the CUYAHOGA RIVER, on the west by Rockport, and on the south by the Parma and INDEPENDENCE townships. The incorporation of separate municipalities, along with subsequent annexations by the city of Cleveland, throughout the 19th and early 20th centuries (OHIO CITY (CITY OF OHIO), Old Brooklyn, LINNDALE, and BROOKLYN HEIGHTS) left only a small area in the southwest corner of the original Brooklyn township. That portion of the former township became Brooklyn Village on 16 March 1927, and was chartered as the city of Brooklyn in 1950.
Primarily a residential suburb of 4.5 sq. miles, in 1966 Brooklyn became the first community in the nation to mandate use of seatbelts in automobiles. The city constructed the Brooklyn City Center at 7619 Memphis Ave. (housing the city court, police, and fire divisions) in the early 1970s, and in 1975 opened the Brooklyn Recreation Center at 7600 Memphis Ave. The Brooklyn Historical Society, founded in 1970, displays furniture and artifacts from the 1830s through the present, along with memorabilia pertaining to Brooklyn's township and city history. In 1994 the PLAIN DEALER opened a $200 million printing and distribution facility on Tiedeman Rd. adjacent to I-480 on Brooklyn's south side. John M. Coyne served as Brooklyn mayor for 52 years from 1948-1999, the longest consecutive term of service by any mayor in the nation. Brooklyn's population in 1995 was 11,700 and in 2000 was 11,586.Last Modified: 08 Jun 2003 02:40:57 PM
This site maintained by Case Western Reserve University | <urn:uuid:a068854f-2431-4c0f-a8d1-18a9e8ca764a> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://ech.case.edu/ech-cgi/article.pl?id=B30 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783394414.43/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154954-00145-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.954905 | 447 | 2.796875 | 3 |
June 27, 2007
Director of Communications
Public Information Officer
The Virginia Department of Education (VDOE) today unveiled a new, online resource to help educators and administrators analyze safety data as they develop and review plans to protect children, improve discipline and enhance security. The new Safe Schools Information Resource (SSIR) also broadens public access to school-safety data and provides an easy-to-use tool for creating reports and comparing data for schools and divisions.
"SSIR is a powerful tool for improving the learning environment and puts safety and discipline data at the fingertips of everyone who cares about the commonwealth's public schools," said Superintendent of Public Instruction Billy K. Cannaday Jr.
SSIR enables schools, parents and communities to access data easily, assess school-safety needs and design programs and strategies that address identified needs. Users can track trends and create charts and are able to "drill" down to view and compare data for schools and divisions on specific offenses and discipline outcomes. Information available through SSIR includes:
- Frequency of reported offenses
- Data on student offenders
- Data on non-student offenders
- Disciplinary outcomes resulting from student offenses
SSIR was developed by VDOE and Virginia Commonwealth University's Center for School-Community Collaboration as part of the Prevention Through Information initiative, a three-year, federally funded project to improve the capacity of Virginia schools to collect and use safety data for prevention planning.
"By improving access to school-safety data, we increase the ability of educators and communities to protect students by preventing and solving problems," said Donna Dockery, director of the Center for School Community Collaboration.
SSIR is available on the VDOE website as a selection on the "Virginia School Report Card". | <urn:uuid:21b21d49-0950-48ce-bb72-615b552f0b7f> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.doe.virginia.gov/news/news_releases/2007/jun27.shtml | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783404382.73/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624155004-00115-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.92969 | 356 | 2.71875 | 3 |
THE EXODUS STORY - about being born again.
Remember Jesus is also revealed (typologically) in the Bible stories.THE EXODUS ALLEGORY:
This famous Jewish story relates the story of Moses leading his people out of captivity in Egypt by miraculously parting the Red Sea. There follows 40 years of wandering in the wilderness in search of the Promised Land, at the end of which Moses dies. It is his successor, Joshua ben Nun, who miraculously parts the river Jordan to lead the Jews to the destined homeland. The 40 days (a day for a year principle) in which Jesus went into the wilderness represents this event. Notice He was tempted in the wilderness to doubt God, to blaspheme (3rd plage the frogs) yet eventually overcome both his bodily temptations and the doubts of His mind.
It is important to understand right up front that the name "Jesus" itself comes from Exodus (Joshua/Jesus makes his first appearance in Exodus 17:8). In Greek the Hebrew name "Joshua" becomes "Jesus".
This "Joshua" of history, whose name also means "Jesus". In the days of the first century this was completely obvious that they shared the same name. In fact if a Jew was writing for a Gentile audience then he would have written "Jesus" and not "Joshua" This is not a coincidence.
In Hebrew the name Joshua/Jesus is written with the letters Yod Heh Shin Vah Heh.
The letters Yod Heh Vah Heh (minus the Shin) is known as the Tetragrammaton and was extremely significant to Jews, as they were used to signify the unpronounceable name of God, usually rendered today with added vowels as either Jehovah or Yahweh. As Philo explains, when the middle letter Shin, known as the Holy Letter, is added, the name means "Saviour of the Lord".
Answer for yourself: Then does "Joshua" and or "Jesus" mean "Savior of the Lord"? Yes!
The "Christ" is also linked to the Exodus. Paul tells us (Heb. 11:24-27).
Jews and Christians, understood Exodus to be a spiritual allegory. THE ALLEGORY EXPLAINED...COMING OUT OF EGYPT
Egypt represents the flesh " the EGYPTIANS your neighbours, are GREAT OF FLESH"
(Ezek. 16:26). When the initiate identifies with only the body and the flesh they are "in captivity". To "come forth out of Egypt" was understood as leaving behind the temptations and desires of what is natural and the slavery represents the addiction to those lusts (remember the Israelites wanted to return to Egypt and to the fine cloth and the abundance of food).
Hippolytus recounts for us that those who are ignorant...are Egyptians in need of departing Egypt; that is from their fleshly centered existence (Hippolytus, Ref., 5.11).
Man is first "captive" (in Egypt). Then when he/she turns to God they are "called", yet to be "chosen" (in Israel) that man has to overcome by the power of Spirit and faith at which point he comes into the spiritual degree, the spiritual promised land, and like Israel is "chosen". This is the spiritual sense of the Old Testament, the important sense. Thus, "many are called but few are chosen". CROSSING THE RED SEA..."BAPTISM"...FIRST STAGE
Crossing the Red Sea was understood as symbolizing a purifying baptism, which is the first stage of initiation on the path of spiritual awakening". This in Judaism was called being "born again". Explaining that Exodus should be understood "allegorically", Paul writes:"Our ancestors passed through the Red Sea and so received baptism into the fellowship of Moses"
(I Cor. 10:1-6): Moreover, brethren, I would not that ye should be ignorant, how that all our fathers were under the cloud, and all passed through the sea; 2 And were all baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea; 3 And did all eat the same spiritual meat; 4 And did all drink the same spiritual drink: for they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them: and that Rock was Christ. 5 But with many of them God was not well pleased: for they were overthrown in the wilderness. 6 Now these things were our examples, to the intent we should not lust after evil things, as they also lusted.
Initiation by baptism begins a process in which initiates must face their doubts and confusion, symbolized by the Jews being afflicted in the desert for 40 years. THE DEATH OF MOSES...SECOND STAGE
The next stage is experiencing the "death" of the old self which was represented by the death of Moses. Moses then results in Joshua/Jesus (Joshua was his successor).THE PROMISED LAND ACHIEVED...SALVATION...THIRD STAGE
It is through this new Moses, this Joshua/Jesus, that one completes the journey to the Promised Land, representing the "reborn" one. It is only through this "new man" (Joshua/Jesus) that the goal of salvation can be achieved in the Old Testament for Israel. "But in Christ it is not circumcision or uncircumcision that counts BUT THE POWER OF THE NEW BIRTH. To all who live by this principle, to the TRUE ISRAEL OF GOD"
Peter 2:5. It is a mindset that makes us a spiritual Egyptian, and it is a mindset that makes us a spiritual Israelite. They are symbols.
The basic structure of the Exodus allegory, representing the fundamental stages of our journey. When you possess the keys it can be seen on a deeper level to be the birth, life, death, and rebirth and the spiritual journey of every man.PARALLELS TO THE JOSHUA/JESUS OF THE NEW TESTAMENT
This same Exodus story is retold through the Christ of the New Testament.BEING BORN AGAIN...BAPTISM...FIRST STAGE
In the Exodus this is the crossing of the Red Sea, which inaugurates 40 years of wandering in the wilderness. We find the exact same thing inn the Jesus story represented by Jesus baptism, followed by his 40 days in the wilderness. DEATH OF THE OLD SELF...THE "OLD MAN"...SECOND STAGE
The next stage in the process of initiation is the "death" of the old self. This is represented in the Exodus by the death of Moses and by the death of Jesus on the cross.
Answer for yourself: Does Paul teach this Exodus allegory through the New Testament "Christ"? He sure does. Rom 6:6 6 Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him (Christ), that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin.
Eph 4:22-23 22 That ye put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts;
23 And be renewed in the spirit of your mind
Col 3:9-10 9 Lie not one to another, seeing that ye have put off the old man with his deeds; 10 And have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him:
In Col 3:9-10 Paul appeals to believers to not fall back into lives typified by sin and fleshly deeds. To go back into captivity in Egypt
Col 1:27 27 To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory:
(KJV) JESUS' RESURRECTION FROM THE DEAD...SALVATION...THIRD STAGE
The experience is represented in Exodus by Joshua-Jesus crossing to the Promised Land. This is the salvation of Israel as depicted in the Old Testament.
Edited by Mercia2, 21 November 2006 - 12:07 AM. | <urn:uuid:81cf9b9d-f122-40a1-82d0-fe602d0a9849> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.thechristadelphians.org/forums/index.php?showtopic=9855 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783393518.22/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154953-00094-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.958258 | 1,690 | 3.75 | 4 |
DNA was extracted from fresh spinach leaves in DNAzol (Invitrogen, part of Life Technologies) by PCT and by a standard bead-beater protocol. Prior to pressure cycling, spinach was ground for 20 seconds in the PCT shredder. PCT extraction was performed for 30 cycles at 35,000 psi. Bead-beater extraction was performed in a bead beater for 10 10-second pulses with 1 mm zirconia beads.
Since bead beating generates a large amount of heat, samples were placed on ice between bead-beating pulses to prevent overheating. Following sample disruption by PCT or bead beating, DNA was extracted from the DNAzol as recommended by the manufacturer.
After DNA purification, triplicate samples were analyzed by electrophoresis. Analysis by gel electrophoresis shows that bead beater-extracted DNA is highly sheared, while PCT-extracted genomic DNA exhibits much less shearing (Figure 3). After extraction by PCT or bead beating, DNA was purified using the DNAzol isolation protocol for plants according to manufacturer’s instructions. | <urn:uuid:2da5defb-cdd2-4bdc-bb9d-8571d26d16b1> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.genengnews.com/gen-articles/pressure-cycling-for-sample-preparation/3126/?page=2 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783396945.81/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154956-00073-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.972953 | 230 | 2.890625 | 3 |
The virus that's ravaging dolphins along the East Coast isn't anything unusual, by itself. But the record severity of the outbreak is.
Measles-like virus affecting whales, dolphins, porpoises.
Weakens lungs and infects the brain, causing abnormal behaviors. Can kill or weaken animal to the point where a secondary infection kills it.
Symptoms include skin sores and pneumonia.
Spread through contact, including with particles from animals' breathing.
What's more, the virus is causing only one of three unusual bottlenose dolphin die-offs occurring at the same time along the Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico coasts. That is unheard of, and it's the latest toll of an alarm sounding among marine mammal pathologists.
What to do
If you see a stranded dolphin or whale:
Don't approach it or let pets approach it. Don't try to push the animal back into the water.
The morbillivirus isn't contagious, but a weakened dolphin can contract other infections. Stranded dolphins and other marine mammals are often sick, and some diseases can be spread to humans or pets.
Don't wade into the immediate area where a dolphin has just been stranded, particularly if you have an open sore or wound.
Contact the Marine Mammal Stranding Network hotline, 1-800-922-5431.
The animals are considered a sentinel species for detecting threats to ocean - and human - health.
"The morbillivirus virus is going to go through the population and there's going to be increased mortalities," said Gregory Bossert, Georgia Aquarium chief veterinary officer and an adjunct professor at the Medical University of South Carolina. "But we're more concerned about other things we're finding. We're seeing patterns in our oceans that are disturbing."
More than 900 dolphins are estimated to have died of the virus so far along the East Coast - more than a hundred more than the 750 deaths from the previous worst outbreak, from 1987-88.
More than 45 have died off of South Carolina - and the outbreak isn't considered anywhere near over. A second wave of deaths is expected in the spring.
Morbillivirus outbreaks tend to occur from time to time. The virus is always present; exposed survivors develop immunity and following generations lose it. But animals weakened from other stresses are more susceptible to it.
Meanwhile, nearly half of the dolphins in the Indian River lagoon in Florida died this year; the suspected culprit is a toxic algal bloom. And more than 800 dolphins have died so far in the Gulf of Mexico following the massive Deepwater Horizon oil spill in 2010, from a parasitic bacteria and other causes tied to contaminated food.
Bossert is part of a team that has been studying the Indian River deaths. For a control sample, they turned to dolphins in Charleston Harbor and the Stono River. But that "healthy" population isn't so healthy.
Dolphins tested here have shown some of the worst concentrations recorded in the species of flame retardants and other man-made chemicals, and it is weakening their immune systems. They are exposed to so many antibiotics from sewage discharge that they are growing bacteria strong enough to resist antibiotic medications.
"You have to wonder how a dolphin would get an antibiotic resistance; an obvious answer is the discharge," Bossert said. "Contaminants, (ocean) acidification, (rising) sea temperatures, species distribution shifts - when you pull all of them together, they make the perfect recipe of environmental pressures. It does create issues that affect ecosystem health."
Meanwhile, the "sentinel" marine mammals are suffering from new pathogens, or disease causers, and recurrences of old pathogens, at an apparent accelerating rate.
"Human-introduced contaminants ... can also reduce the fitness of bottlenose dolphin populations by stressing their immune system or reducing genetic diversity," the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Fisheries reported in a release on the outbreak. "Morbillivirus outbreaks may also be triggered by a drop in the immunity of bottlenose dolphin populations."
That doesn't bode well for their two-legged fellow species.
"If you look at diseases in humans, the same things are happening," Bossert said. "There's such a great pollution factor."
Reach Bo Petersen at 937-5744, @bopete on twitter or Bo Petersen Reporting on Facebook. | <urn:uuid:2e966d32-69bc-4cce-882a-201dc472ea1c> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.postandcourier.com/article/20131208/PC16/131209446/1214/dolphin-deaths-alarming-experts-troubled-seas-also-a-threat-to-humans | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783395560.14/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154955-00171-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.952446 | 900 | 3.484375 | 3 |
From Our 2010 Archives
Obese Teens at Risk for Severe Adult Obesity
Study Shows 37% of Obese Boys and 51% of Obese Girls Become Severely Obese Adults
By Kathleen Doheny
Reviewed by Laura J. Martin, MD
Nov. 9, 2010 -- Obese teens are at risk of becoming severely obese as adults, according to a new study.
"What's unique about this study is, we are following them over 13 years," says researcher Penny Gordon-Larsen, PhD, associate professor of nutrition at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.
She expected to see an increased risk of severe obesity during young adulthood in those teens who were obese, but the percentages were higher than she anticipated, she tells WebMD.
"Half of the obese female teens developed severe obesity by their 30s, and 37% of the obese male teens developed severe obesity," she says.
Severe obesity is defined as having a body mass index (BMI) of 40 or greater. "When we are talking about severe obesity, we are talking about 80 to 100 pounds over normal body weight," Gordon-Larsen says.
The study is published in The Journal of the American Medical Association.
Tracking Obese Teens
While much research has shown that obesity and severe obesity have risen in recent years, there has been less research that looks at those who are obese early in life to see what happens as they enter young adulthood, Gordon-Larsen says.
She tracked 8,834 participants in the U.S. National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health, ages 12 to 21 when they entered the study in 1996. She followed them into adulthood, when they were ages 24 to 33 in 2007-2009.
Weight and height were measured during in-home surveys and body mass index was calculated. Participants came from 80 high schools and 52 middle schools and are representative of the U.S. population.
At the study's start in 1996, just 1% of the teens, or 79, were severely obese. Sixty of those, or 70.5%, remained severely obese in adulthood.
By 2009, 703 new cases of severe obesity -- or 7.9% of all the participants -- were found in those young adults who weren't severely obese as teens. Those 703 were more likely to have a higher BMI as a teen than those who didn't become severely obese as young adults.
Gordon-Larsen found gender and racial differences, with severe obesity rates highest among black women, with 52.4% of those who were obese as teens becoming severely obese at the study end.
Put in other terms, overall, the obese teens were 16 times more likely to develop severe obesity as young adults compared to normal-weight or overweight (but not yet obese) teens, she found.
Less than 5% of those who were at a normal weight as teens became severely obese as young adults, she found.
Those who developed severe obesity gained about 80 pounds over the 13-year follow-up, Gordon-Larsen says. "I think these numbers are pretty staggering, in terms of the amount of weight gained and the risk," she says.
The study findings are no surprise to Jessica Rieder, MD, founder and director of the Bronx Nutrition and Fitness Initiative for Teens program, or B'N'Fit, for overweight and obese teens at Montefiore Medical Center in the Bronx, N.Y. She reviewed the study findings for WebMD.
While programs to prevent childhood obesity have become more common, those to help youth already obese are less common, she says.
Advice for Parents
Gordon-Larsen tells parents of all children to "keep an eye on the weight gain."
She suggests parents have a goal of ''keeping a healthy household." That means focusing on healthy food options and building physical activity into the day, encouraging kids to walk more and move more.
Rieder agrees, suggesting that healthy changes need to be adopted by all family members, not just children who are trying to maintain or lose weight. "As a family, you adopt a healthier lifestyle for everyone," she says. "The whole family does it together."
Beyond those changes, Rieder says, ''the obese child needs a lot of support." She suggests parents of obese children and obese teens talk to their child's pediatrician and ask for screenings for diabetes, high cholesterol, and other potential problems. Ask what resources are available in the community to help your child lose weight.
SOURCES: Penny Gordon-Larsen, PhD, associate professor of nutrition, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.Jessica Rieder, MD, founder and director, Bronx Nutrition and Fitness Initiative for Teens ("B'N'Fit), Montefiore Medical Center, New York.The, N. Journal of the American Medical Association, Nov. 10, 2010; vol 304: pp 2042-2047. | <urn:uuid:f4f90cb7-a636-40e6-a91c-12f10e9db0fc> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.emedicinehealth.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=121935 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783397213.30/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154957-00150-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.969041 | 1,023 | 2.640625 | 3 |
No Categories available for this record.
War & Locale: World War II -- European Theater
Date of Birth:
Thomas D. Botello
No photos available for this record.
By Patrick Lynch
The story of the Botello brothers – Crisantos, Gregorio, John, Simon and Trinidad, who all served during World War II – is one of honor and bravery. And thanks to another of the brothers, their tales of heroism won’t be lost to time.
Younger sibling Thomas D. Botello wrote a booklet called “Proud I Served” about his brothers’ service in WWII, also detailing his family’s struggles back home. The narratives included present a glimpse into history from the perspective of a Mexican American family during that era.
“Proud I Served” details his family’s history leading up to the war, tracing their lives as sharecroppers on farms in rural Central Texas. He recalls times spent with family and friends working in the towns, noting how the entire clan labored together within the region.
Botello’s parents, Crisostomo E. and Jesusita D. Botello, had 10 boys and two girls. Of the brothers, the five oldest would enter the service.
News of the war reached the Botello family through newspapers, radio reports and word of mouth. Food was rationed, and the family gathered rubber and metal products for the government to purchase.
Botello writes that before the war, his brothers weren’t ideally suited to join the Armed Services, since they lacked an adequate education. To him, the most important prerequisites for being a soldier were “sound reasoning and comprehension,” both attributes secured with a good education. His brothers were denied this because of their ethnic background and social status, he says. Fortunately for Botello and countless other children, a change in attitude by virtue of the war led to a mandate for all kids to attend school.
Because they weren’t in school, the four oldest brothers helped out on the farm and made up the majority of their father’s labor force. As a result, the family felt the impact of the young men’s induction into service especially hard. Their father was forced to give up the farm and move closer to the city, where he was able to find a house on a smaller, 3-acre plot, maintaining a stock of milking cows, pigs, rabbits and fowl single-handedly.
The brothers sent frequent letters, often replete with emotional descriptions of their struggles and experiences. And the Secretary of the War Department sent telegrams reporting injuries and casualties. The Botello family received three of these, each alerting that one of the sons had been wounded in battle.
The family was greatly relieved when the war ended in 1945, but they were still uncertain when the boys would return. Any activity in front of the house raised hopes that maybe one of the brothers was approaching.
Botello also includes excerpts from interviews and diaries of each of his brothers (except for Crisantos, or “Cris,” because Botello apparently didn’t have access to a diary and Cris had died before Botello began conducting interviews). These accounts detailing the various homecomings are often accentuated with homespun details. For example, Simon Botello describes in the following interview excerpt his clandestine effort to visit with his girlfriend and future wife, Isabel Vasquez, upon his return:
I didn’t get to see her until about 2 days after I got home, because in those days it was not easy to see your girlfriend unless someone helped you get word out to her. We used to do everything in secrecy when we wanted to date our girlfriend. I forget who it was that helped me carry the message to her, but we met for the first time at the court house and I remember being real happy to see her again, and for being back home again.
Thomas D. Botello’s “Proud I Served” was self-published in 2001. | <urn:uuid:0b0e901b-8d0a-4e6c-9746-54a768203db9> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.lib.utexas.edu/voces/template-stories-indiv.html?work_urn=urn%3Autlol%3Awwlatin.524&work_title=Botello%2C+Simon | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783396224.52/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154956-00073-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.975081 | 842 | 3.046875 | 3 |
By teaching people who stutter how to systematically retrain the way their speech muscles behave, they gain control over the way they talk and fluency happens.
Roanoke, VA (PRWEB) July 10, 2014
The July/August 2014 issue of Monitor on Psychology, published by the American Psychological Association (APA), features coverage on the inhibiting condition of stuttering, which is one of mankind’s most challenging disorders to treat.
There are three million people in the U.S. and 66 million people worldwide who stutter. The condition is characterized by involuntary sound repetitions, difficulty speaking initial sounds of words, prolongation of syllables and words, and/or facial contortions during attempts to speak. Symptoms range from mild-to-severe and may not be present all the time.
Constraining the free flow of daily communication, stuttering serves as a barrier to people reaching their full potential in life. The disorder can erode self confidence, hinder social interaction, and limit people educationally and professionally.
The APA article focuses on the latest approaches that help people who stutter gain mastery over their symptoms and associated anxiety. Highlighted is the scientifically based, behavioral stuttering therapy program at Hollins Communications Research Institute (HCRI – http://www.stuttering.org).
HCRI was founded by Dr. Ron Webster in 1972 to investigate stuttering through scientific discovery and treatment innovation. Since that time, Virginia-based HCRI, a 501 (c) (3) charitable organization, has become a leader in stuttering research and the development of innovative therapy approaches.
“Our early research demonstrated that stuttering is a physical condition caused by abnormal speech-muscle contractions that occur when people try to speak,” Webster said. “By teaching people who stutter how to systematically retrain the way their speech muscles behave, they gain control over the way they talk and fluency happens.”
HCRI’s intensive, 12-day behavioral treatment involves helping participants learn how to replace faulty speech muscle movements that cause their stuttering with new muscle behaviors that generate fluent speech. Precise, tested therapy protocols, advanced technology, quantitative speech measurement, and computerized feedback make fluency skills easier to learn and sustain over time.
Ninety-three percent of HCRI therapy participants achieve fluency in 12 days. Follow-up studies reveal that 70-75 percent maintain fluent speech for the long term. The nonprofit center provides all clients with post-therapy support and practice tools that further solidify their fluency training.
HCRI clinicians have treated more than 6,300 people from across the U.S. and 47 other countries. Clients come from all walks of life and include broadcaster John Stossel of Fox News; Annie Glenn, wife of Senator and Astronaut John Glenn; as well as athletes, teachers, engineers, students, doctors, military personnel, a supreme court nominee, business professionals, police officers, actors, and even royalty.
For more information, visit http://www.stuttering.org or contact HCRI at 855-236-7032 or info(at)stuttering(dot)org. | <urn:uuid:cef6fb1b-fad2-4707-93d7-09435bd149ee> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.prweb.com/releases/2014/07/prweb12002250.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783398216.41/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154958-00086-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.945414 | 656 | 3.046875 | 3 |
What does it really mean to be “African American?” Does the term refer to people with slaves as ancestors, or is it just as applicable to recent African immigrants?
Here’s the gist, according to the Washington City Paper: The Enterprise Theater & Jazz Lounge was opened by Charletta Lewis, who is now suing her landlord. She claims that landlord Michael Ressom racially discriminated against her by leasing her a building that wasn’t up to code, and therefore, she couldn’t legally open for business. Lewis is black, Ressom is an Ethiopian immigrant. Her complaint states that Ressom “is a non-African-American man.” Ressom and his lawyer declined to comment to the City Paper, while Lewis’ lawyer Jimmy Bell explained:
“He’s not African-American!” Bell says, when asked if Ressom’s ethnicity damages his case. “African-American means you are a descendant of a slave! This guy’s an Ethiopian immigrant, who wasn’t naturalized as a citizen until November 2010.”
General discrimination claims of this sort aren’t that all uncommon. Some taxicab complaints were officially filed with the D.C. Taxicab Commission by people who write they are black and claiming they were racially discriminated against by African cabbies. But for every story about animosity between D.C.’s black and Ethiopian communities, there is another about good will and unity between the groups.
Still, our question remains: is lumping everyone together as “African American” really the most accurate racial identifier? | <urn:uuid:c98a3231-970d-432e-84c2-e022221796ac> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://dcentric.wamu.org/2012/03/the-non-african-american-ethiopian-immigrant/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783396887.54/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154956-00173-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.976322 | 346 | 2.828125 | 3 |
SOGEP – Continuous Forest Improvement Project
Ekrem Egemen Taskiran
Geographic focus: Turkey / Istanbul and surrounding metropolitan area
Date completed: 2002
Turkey’s forests have been disappearing at an alarming rate and this trend threatens not only the nation’s timber industry but also producers of non-wood forest products such as nuts and mushrooms. Ekrem Egemen Taskiran, a high school student in Edremit, Turkey, mapped land use in the region surrounding the city of Istanbul. Ekrem described how human activities threaten forests within the study area and proposed several recommendations to protect them, including granting title to tracts of forested land to residents entrusted to care for them and distributing saplings free of charge to private landowners.
Topics / keywords: Deforestation; Land Use
Project (pdf - 0.1MB) | <urn:uuid:3e5ef385-4f2a-466c-aaac-49a0573af062> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.aag.org/cs/mycoe/learning_resources/project_gallery/sogep_continuous_forest_improvement_project | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783395613.65/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154955-00016-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.909871 | 173 | 2.953125 | 3 |
||Researchers at the University
of Pennsylvania School of Medicine have discovered
a molecular link between the cell’s two major pathways
for breaking down proteins and have succeeded in using
this link to rescue neurodegenerative diseases in a simple
||The cell has two internal pathways for
breaking down proteins. The ubiquitin-proteasome pathway
marks unwanted proteins with ubiquitin tags and shuttles
them for rapid breakdown to a complicated structure called
the proteasome. The second is the autophagy-lysosomal system,
a more general process in which proteins are surrounded by
membranes inside the cell for bulk digestion.
||The researchers discovered that making
the lysosomal system more or less active dramatically influenced
the severity of neurodegeneration.
||The study appears this week in Nature.
(PHILADELPHIA) – Many age-related neurological diseases
are associated with defective proteins accumulating in nerve
suggesting that the cell’s
normal disposal mechanisms are not operating correctly. Now, researchers
at the University of Pennsylvania School of
Medicine have discovered
a molecular link between the cell’s two major pathways for
breaking down proteins and have succeeded in using this link to
rescue neurodegenerative diseases in a simple animal model. The
study appears this week in Nature.
Eye in fruit fly model of Alzheimer's disease
appears rough and deformed.
Click on thumbnail
to view full-size images
The cell has two internal pathways for breaking down proteins.
The ubiquitin-proteasome pathway marks unwanted proteins with ubiquitin tags and shuttles
them for rapid breakdown to a complicated structure called the
proteasome. The second is the autophagy-lysosomal system,
a more general process in which proteins are surrounded by membranes inside the cell for bulk digestion.
“The dogma has been that the autophagy-lysosomal and the
proteasomal systems are trains that run on different tracks, with
similar purposes, but no point of intersection,” explains
senior author J. Paul Taylor, MD, PhD, Assistant Professor of Neurology. “The
new finding directly challenges this thinking by showing that one
system can be induced to compensate for the other. Cells are able
to shift proteins between the systems. We think that this molecular
link can be used to benefit a wide variety of neurodegenerative
diseases because accumulation of toxic proteins is a common underlying
feature of age-related neurodegeneration.”
Taylor and his group study fruit flies in which the proteasome
is disabled by a genetic mutation, which results in neurodegeneration.
They use the fly eye, a neuron-rich tissue, as a surrogate for
the brain because it is easy to visualize. They discovered that
making the lysosomal system more or less active dramatically influenced
the severity of neurodegeneration.
“We found that whenever we knocked the lysosome system down,
neurodegeneration always got worse,” says Taylor. “Then
when we activated the autophagy system by feeding the flies a drug
called rapamycin, neurodegeneration was prevented.” The accumulated
misfolded proteins were cleared out by the lysosome system. “Then
we knew that this system can compensate for the impaired proteasome
function, which in itself tells us that the two pathways intersect,” says
Taylor. “The question was, ‘How is this working?’”
The Role of HDAC6
“That’s where the power of fruit flies comes in,” Taylor
explains. “We can use fruit flies to rapidly screen through
many genes to find the one we’re interested in. In the process
of screening, our attention was drawn to HDAC6 because we already
knew that it could bind to ubiquitin-tagged proteins and transport
them within the cell. So we wondered, could HDAC6 be the link?”
Taylor’s group showed that if the HDAC6 gene is knocked
out, inducing autophagy no longer rescues the fly eyes from neurodegeneration.
Therefore, autophagy requires HDAC6 to work. They also showed that
by simply expressing extra HDAC6, neurodegeneration was prevented
in flies with proteasome impairment. Taylor’s group then
moved on to fly models of human neurodegenerative disease and showed
that they, too, are rescued by over-expression of HDAC6.
Therefore, the researchers suggest that the level of the HDAC6
in a cell regulates its sensitivity to accumulation of misfolded
proteins, and that increasing the activity of HDAC6 can prevent
the degeneration normally associated with accumulating old, damaged
proteins. The researchers suggest further that when proteasomes
are impaired or overwhelmed, which leads to accumulation of defective
proteins, HDAC6 facilitates delivery to the autophagy-lysosomal
system for degradation. “That’s how we think HDAC6
links the two systems,” says Taylor.
Taylor and his team are now testing the ability of HDAC6 to
prevent neurodegeneration in several mouse models, including motor
neuron disease, Parkinson’s disease, and Huntington’s
disease. They are also attempting to identify pharmacologic approaches
to augmenting HDAC6 activity.
Penn co-authors are Udai
Bhan Pandey, Zhiping
B. Nedelsky, and Stephanie Schwartz.
This work was funded by the Kennedy’s Disease Association,
the Morton Reich Research Fund, and the National
Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke.
PENN Medicine is a $2.9 billion enterprise
dedicated to the related missions of medical education, biomedical
research, and high-quality patient care. PENN Medicine consists
of the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine (founded in
1765 as the nation's first medical school) and the University of
Pennsylvania Health System.
Penn's School of Medicine is ranked #2 in the nation for receipt
of NIH research funds; and ranked #3 in the nation in U.S. News
& World Report's most recent ranking of top research-oriented
medical schools. Supporting 1,400 fulltime faculty and 700 students,
the School of Medicine is recognized worldwide for its superior
education and training of the next generation of physician-scientists
and leaders of academic medicine.
The University of Pennsylvania Health System includes three hospitals,
all of which have received numerous national patient-care honors [Hospital
of the University of Pennsylvania; Pennsylvania Hospital, the nation's
first hospital; and Penn Presbyterian Medical Center]; a faculty practice
plan; a primary-care provider network; two multispecialty satellite
facilities; and home care and hospice. | <urn:uuid:5e31703f-6efa-4d9f-a852-ccac1c6f5524> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/jun07/cell-protein-recycling.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783396872.10/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154956-00199-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.91039 | 1,492 | 2.796875 | 3 |
“Advances in digital and networked technologies mean that more young people are participating today in the production and sharing of culture and knowledge than in any time in human history.”
“Artists help us see ourselves. They stand at the precipice of the present and look into it.” It was with this mindset that Steinhardt Assistant Professor David Darts threw himself into curating Conflux, an international art and technology festival that promotes the intellectual and artistic investigation of everyday urban life though emerging artistic, technological and social practices. The event featured three days of lectures, performances, workshops, and exhibitions from over 150 public space scholars and artists, and included a virtual golf game played in the streets of NYC, a human-scale chess game spanning 10 city blocks, and an iPhone drumming circle held in a local park.
Darts teaches in the art education program and serves as associate director of the Steinhartd’s MA Studio Art Summer in Venice, Italy. Darts approaches his teaching with the same curatorial eye he uses for Conflux by challenging his students to experiment, take risks, and push boundaries with their work. He also encourages his students to place themselves and their artworks directly in dialogue with the community. “Introducing young people to the methods of public-space artists and art activists can be a powerful way of modeling and inspiring artful forms of civic engagement.”
A native of Vancouver, Canada, Darts' educational background combines studies in English literature, fine arts, curriculum studies, and art education. His research focuses on the convergences between education, contemporary art and media, technology, and democracy. His Creative Tools for Critical Times (CT4CT) is a web-based research project and repository of artistic works that exist at the intersection of contemporary culture, critical theory, and civic engagement. The site serves as a research tool and archive of contemporary artists and artworks.
Darts believes technology is profoundly transforming cultural practices and lowering the barriers to artistic production and collaboration. “Advances in digital and networked technologies mean that more young people are participating today in the production and sharing of culture and knowledge than in any time in human history,” he said. While he sees this as a positive development, his research also reveals a growing rift between the lives of contemporary young people and the culture inside schools. “Educators will be increasingly pressed to find ways to integrate young peoples' experiences and cultural practices outside of school with instruction within the classroom.”
Darts is currently writing a book whose working title is “Hacking School,” where he will explore the lessons that teachers and schools can learn from amateur artists, electronics enthusiasts, DIYers, and other “makers” of contemporary culture. “Schools are no longer the primary site for teaching and learning in our society. We can learn a great deal about intrinsic motivation and learning by studying and participating in the communities of practice that are springing up all over the world,” he said. | <urn:uuid:8794b66c-cd98-4a38-a056-2f1634c1bcae> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://steinhardt.nyu.edu/profiles/faculty/david_darts | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783391519.0/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154951-00049-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.958808 | 618 | 2.625 | 3 |
In what is a first for biology, a team of investigators is reporting that the human body makes ozone. The team has been slowly gathering evidence over the last few years that the human body produces the reactive gas — most famous as the ultraviolet ray-absorbing component of the ozone layer — as part of a mechanism to protect it from bacteria and fungi. “Ozone was a big surprise,” says researcher Bernard Babior. “But it seems that biological systems manufacture ozone, and that ozone has an effect on those biological systems.” From the Scripps Research Institute:
Scientists at The Scripps Research Institute Make Strides in Addressing Mysteries of Ozone in the Human Body
La Jolla, CA. February 27, 2003 — In what is a first for biology, a team of investigators at The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) is reporting that the human body makes ozone.
Led by TSRI President Richard Lerner, Ph.D. and Associate Professor in the Department of Chemistry Paul Wentworth, Jr, Ph.D., who made the original discovery, the team has been slowly gathering evidence over the last few years that the human body produces the reactive gas?most famous as the ultraviolet ray-absorbing component of the ozone layer?as part of a mechanism to protect it from bacteria and fungi.
“Ozone was a big surprise,” says TSRI Professor Bernard Babior, M.D., Ph.D. “But it seems that biological systems manufacture ozone, and that ozone has an effect on those biological systems.”
Now, in an important development in this unfolding story, Babior, Wentworth, and their TSRI colleagues report in an upcoming issue of the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences that the ozone appears to be produced in a process involving human immune cells known as neutrophils and human immune proteins known as antibodies.
“It is a tremendously efficient chemical and biological process,” says Wentworth, who adds that the presence of ozone in the human body may be linked to inflammation, and therefore this work may have tremendous ramifications for treating inflammatory diseases.
The Ozone Hole in Each One of Us
Ozone is a reactive form of oxygen that exists naturally as a trace gas in the atmosphere. It is perhaps best known for its crucial role absorbing ultraviolet radiation in the stratosphere, where it is concentrated in a so-called ozone layer, protecting life on earth from solar radiation. Ozone is also a familiar component of air in industrial and urban settings where the gas is a hazardous component of smog. However, ozone has never before been detected in biology.
Two years ago, Lerner and Wentworth demonstrated that antibodies are able to produce ozone and other chemical oxidants when they are fed a reactive form of oxygen called singlet oxygen. And late last year, Lerner, Wentworth, and Babior demonstrated that the oxidants produced by antibodies can destroy bacteria by poking holes in their cell walls.
This was a completely unexpected development, since for the last 100 years, immunologists believed that antibodies?proteins secreted into the blood by the immune system?acted only to recognize foreign pathogens and attract lethal “effector” immune cells to the site of infection.
Questions, Answers, and More Questions
The question still remained, however, as to how the antibodies were making the ozone. The TSRI team knew that in order to make the ozone and other highly reactive oxidants, the antibodies had to use a starting material known as singlet oxygen, a rare, excited form of oxygen.
Now Babior and Wentworth believe they have found where the singlet oxygen comes from?one of the effector immune cells called neutrophils which are little cellular factories that produce singlet oxygen and other oxidants. During an immune response, the neutrophils engulf and destroy bacteria and fungi by blasting them with these oxidants.
The work of the TSRI scientists suggests that the antibacterial effect of neutrophils is enhanced by antibodies. In addition to killing the bacteria themselves, the neutrophils feed singlet oxygen to the antibodies, which convert it into ozone, adding weapons to the assault.
“This is really something new, and there are a million questions [that follow],” says Babior. “What does the ozone do to the body’s proteins and nucleic acids? Can neutrophils make ozone without the antibodies? Is ozone made by other cells? How long does ozone last in the body? And, most importantly, how will these discoveries help to cure disease?”
The research team continues to investigate.
The article, “Investigating antibody-catalyzed ozone generation by human neutrophils,” is authored by Bernard M. Babior, Cindy Takeuchi, Julie Ruedi, Abel Gutierrez, and Paul Wentworth, Jr. The article will be available online this week at: http://www.pnas.org/cgi/doi/10.1073/pnas.0530 251100, and it will be published in an upcoming issue of the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences .
The research was funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), through research grants and through a training grant; and by The Skaggs Institute for Chemical Biology.
For more information contact:
10550 North Torrey Pines Road
La Jolla, California 92037
Copyright ? 2003 TSRI. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part in any form or medium with out express written permission of TSRI is prohibited. | <urn:uuid:5c811942-1172-4ce2-a22e-6d86c863792b> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://scienceblog.com/1122/researchers-find-human-body-produces-ozone/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783396945.81/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154956-00099-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.944658 | 1,149 | 3.578125 | 4 |
University Park, Pa. -- Using a new electrically-assisted microbial fuel cell (MFC) that does not require oxygen, Penn State environmental engineers and a scientist at Ion Power Inc. have developed the first process that enables bacteria to coax four times as much hydrogen directly out of biomass than can be generated typically by fermentation alone.
Bruce Logan, the Kappe professor of environmental engineering and an inventor of the MFC, says, "This MFC process is not limited to using only carbohydrate-based biomass for hydrogen production like conventional fermentation processes. We can theoretically use our MFC to obtain high yields of hydrogen from any biodegradable, dissolved, organic matter -- human, agricultural or industrial wastewater, for example -- and simultaneously clean the wastewater.
"While there is likely insufficient waste biomass to sustain a global hydrogen economy, this form of renewable energy production may help offset the substantial costs of wastewater treatment as well as provide a contribution to nations able to harness hydrogen as an energy source," Logan notes,.
The new approach is described in a paper, “Electrochemically Assisted Microbial Production of Hydrogen from Acetate,” released online currently and scheduled for a future issue of Environmental Science and Technology. The authors are Hong Liu, postdoctoral researcher in environmental engineering; Stephen Grot, president and founder of Ion Power, Inc.; and Logan. Grot, a former Penn State student, suggested the idea of modifying an MFC to generate hydrogen.
In their paper, the researchers explain that hydrogen production by bacterial fermentation is currently limited by the "fermentation barrier" -- the fact that bacteria, without a power boost, can only convert carbohydrates to a limited amount of hydrogen and a mixture of "dead end" fermentation end products such as acetic and butyric acids.
However, giving the bacteria a small assist with a tiny amount of electricity -- about 0.25 volts or a small fraction of the voltage needed to run a typical 6 volt cell phone -- they can leap over the fermentation barrier and convert a "dead end" fermentation product, acetic acid, into carbon dioxide and hydrogen.
Logan notes, "Basically, we use the same microbial fuel cell we developed to clean wastewater and produce electricity. However, to produce hydrogen, we keep oxygen out of the MFC and add a small amount of power into the system."
In the new MFC, when the bacteria eat biomass, they transfer electrons to an anode. The bacteria also release protons, hydrogen atoms stripped of their electrons, which go into solution. The electrons on the anode migrate via a wire to the cathode, the other electrode in the fuel cell, where they are electrochemically assisted to combine with the protons and produce hydrogen gas.
A voltage in the range of 0.25 volts or more is applied to the circuit by connecting the positive pole of a programmable power supply to the anode and the negative pole to the cathode.
The researchers call their hydrogen-producing MFC a BioElectrochemically-Assisted Microbial Reactor or BEAMR. The BEAMR not only produces hydrogen but simultaneously cleans the wastewater used as its feedstock. It uses about one-tenth of the voltage needed for electrolysis, the process that uses electricity to break water down into hydrogen and oxygen.
Logan adds, "This new process demonstrates, for the first time, that there is real potential to capture hydrogen for fuel from renewable sources for clean transportation."
The Penn State researchers were supported by grants from the National Science Foundation, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the Penn State Huck Life Sciences Institute and the Stan and Flora Kappe Endowment.
For more details of this process, see: Electrochemically Assisted Microbial Production of Hydrogen from Acetate | <urn:uuid:ae75ee40-3cc1-4c64-bcfd-fda3cecbaacd> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.energybulletin.net/print/5994 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783393997.50/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154953-00098-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.914258 | 779 | 2.796875 | 3 |
News stories about using graphene in computers appear all the time. Less often, there are stories about graphene used in communications. This will probably change.
Graphene is carbon, a specific form of carbon related to graphite (as in the lead of pencils). Graphene is graphite in sheets, very thin sheets precisely one carbon atom thick. Anything at the one atom level is nanoscale (most atoms are less than a nanometer in size and a nanometer is 1/100,000 the width of a human hair), so graphene is part of nanotechnology.
As reported by Nanowerk, recent research at IBM has led to the conclusion that graphene has many desirable properties for communications – if it can be manufactured at the right quality, in the right quantity.
The specific use of graphene in IBM’s research is in photodetectors, a device that converts light into electrical energy. This same capability in graphene is why it’s also under research for use in solar cells [SciTechStory: Progress toward graphene solar cells]. In both cases, the researchers are looking to graphene as a replacement for the use of silicon. In communications, photodetectors are used in fiber-optic systems to convert light from the optical system to electricity – it could be as a converter, or a switch.
When struck with light (photons) traditional semiconductors such as silicon form what are called electron-hole pairs (it’s not really a ‘hole’ but a gap between the layers or bands of a semiconductor). In the presence of an electric field (supplied from outside the semiconductor), an electric current is formed in the gap, which then can be drawn to electrodes – hence the switch from light to electricity. When combined with a metal in the form of palladium-titanium electrodes, graphene can do this too, but unlike silicon it does not require an external source of current – a big operational advantage. Moreover, it does the light/electricity conversion very quickly, with operating speeds greater than 500 GHz.
A key contribution of this research was to figure out how to attach the electrodes to the graphene sheet – in essence by creating ‘fingers’ of metal that extend further onto the sheet and creating a much larger photosensitive area.
The IBM team says that the unique band structure of graphene can enable an ultrawide range of operational wavelengths, at least from 300 nm to 6 µm. Xia says that, in combination with its intrinsically high operating speed, this enables the graphene photodetector to be a promising candidate for a variety of applications including optical communications, remote sensing, environmental monitoring, terahertz detection, and surveillance. | <urn:uuid:6064c58c-6fb6-41a9-8eb3-6c7b0acf0b90> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://scitechstory.com/2010/04/11/graphene-in-a-communications-context/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783397744.64/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154957-00178-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.93899 | 559 | 4 | 4 |
Simple Definition of countryside
: land that is away from big towns and cities
Full Definition of countryside
1 : a rural area
2 : the inhabitants of a countryside
Examples of countryside in a sentence
We took a long drive through the open countryside.
<everyone hates to see the countryside ruined by new developments>
First Known Use of countryside
Rhymes with countryside
Akenside, algicide, alkoxide, almond-eyed, alongside, Argus-eyed, bleary-eyed, bona fide, Christmastide, citified, citywide, classified, coincide, corporate-wide, countrified, countrywide, cut-and-dried, cyanide, deicide, demand-side, dignified, dioxide, double-wide, eagle-eyed, Eastertide, ecocide, eventide, far and wide, feticide, formamide, fratricide, freedom ride, fungicide, genocide, germicide, gimlet-eyed, glassy-eyed, goggle-eyed, googly-eyed, gospel side, great divide, harborside, herbicide, homicide, honeyguide, humified, matricide, Merseyside, misty-eyed, miticide, monoxide, mountainside, nationwide, Naugahyde, Oceanside, on the side, open-eyed, override, overstride, parricide, Passiontide, patricide, pesticide, planetwide, qualified, rarefied, raticide, regicide, riverside, Riverside, set-aside, side by side, silverside, sissified, slickenside, spermicide, starry-eyed, subdivide, suicide, supply-side, trisulfide, underside, verbicide, vermicide, viricide, waterside, Whitsuntide, wintertide
COUNTRYSIDE Defined for Kids
Definition of countryside for Students
: a rural area or its people
Seen and Heard
What made you want to look up countryside? Please tell us where you read or heard it (including the quote, if possible). | <urn:uuid:221bf244-dd9e-4009-beda-4ab6993064c3> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/countryside | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783398516.82/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154958-00118-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.810777 | 445 | 2.609375 | 3 |
One Word: Divorce
. All courts in the world have actually reported boost in family law as parties divorce, embrace children, contest dna paternity suits, and so on
The compound of this type of law varies from one jurisdiction to the other because the principles that underpin it are mainly obtained from the society. In societies where very same sex relationships are not accepted, this kind of law needs that such union can not be acknowledged as marital relationship in courts of law.
Like all the other branches of law, household law has gone through lots of improvements in an attempt to address the moderate issues in families. A lot of societies have tried to legislate 'come we remain' relationships if the celebrations involved live together for particular duration of time.
One if the most popular contemporary trends in family law is the collective law which describes structured procedure which supplies parties looking for divorces or celebrations associated with other disputes an alternative names of resolving their issue rather than a going through the pricey, prolonged litigation process in courts. Collaborative law enables the parties to marriage or suggested civil union to take the control of their fate by employing family legal representatives committed to the process of solving legal conflicts in household and relationships within household setting amicably through discussions and arrangements without the courts being included. | <urn:uuid:4f340054-9e0e-45e9-b769-4a4c4a79df7a> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.inclub.lg.ua/?option=com_k2&view=itemlist&task=user&id=359292 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783408840.13/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624155008-00053-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.962347 | 253 | 2.71875 | 3 |
Staphylococcal food poisoning results from the con- sumption of a food in which enterotoxigenic staphylococci have grown and produced toxins. Within 1–6 h after inges- tion of staphylococcal enterotoxin (SEs)-contaminated foods, victims experience nausea, abdominal cramps, vom-
iting, and diarrhea (Archer & Young, 1988; Garthright, Archer, & Kvenberg, 1988). Although EO water has been proved to be effective against Staphylococcus aureus, trace amounts of enterotoxin produced by the bacteria may remain active after disinfection. Suzuki, Itakura, Watana- be, and Ohta (2002a) reported that exposure of 70 ng, or 2.6 pmol, of staphylococcal enterotoxin A (SEA) in 25 lL of phosphate buffer saline (PBS) to a 10-fold volume of EO water, or 64.6 · 103-fold molar excess of HOCl in EO water, caused a loss of immuno-reactivity between SEA and a specific anti-SEA antibody. Native PAGE indicated that EO water caused fragmentation of SEA, and amino acid analysis indicated a loss in amino acid content, in par- ticular Met, Tyr, Ile, Asn, and Asp. EO water denatures SEA through an oxidative reaction caused by OH radicals and reactive chlorine. Thus, EO water might be useful as a preventive measure against food-borne disease caused by SEA.
Suzuki et al. (2002b) also reported that EO water could sterilize Aspergillus parasiticus and eliminate the mutage- nicity of aflatoxin AFB1 by the OH radical originating from HOCl. Exposing A. parasiticus at an initial density of 103 spores in 10 lL to a 50-fold volume (500 lL) of EO water containing 390 lmol HOCl for 15 min at room temperature resulted in a complete inhibition of fungal growth. Three nanomoles of AFB1 showed a high mutage- nicity for both Salmonella Typhimurium TA98 and TA100 strains, but this mutagenicity was reduced markedly after exposure to 20-fold molar amount of HOCl in the EO water in both TA98 and TA100. However, foods contain compounds such as proteins, lipids, vitamins, minerals, color, etc., and concerning food soundness, it may not nec- essarily be appropriate to apply EO water to wash food materials. | <urn:uuid:10031f2c-22d6-43ea-b18d-86103d160eb1> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://neutralanolyt.de/inactivation-of-toxins-using-eo-water/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783393533.44/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154953-00091-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.915091 | 535 | 2.578125 | 3 |
Did you know? The heat in the upper six miles of the earth’s crust contains 50,000 times much as energy as found in all the world’s oil and gas reserves combined. Despite this abundance, only 10,500 megawatts of geothermal generating capacity have been harnessed worldwide. For more information view the text and data in Chapter 5 of Plan B 4.0: Mobilizing to Save Civilization.
Chapter 10. Stabilizing Climate: Hybrid Cars and Wind Power
With the price of oil over $60 a barrel at this writing in September 2005, with political instability in the Middle East on the rise, with little slack in the world oil economy, and with temperatures rising, the world needs a new energy economy. Fortunately, the foundation for a new transportation energy economy has been laid with two new technologies—the gas-electric hybrid engines pioneered by Toyota and advanced-design wind turbines. 29
These technologies deployed together can dramatically reduce world oil use. As noted earlier, the United States could easily cut its gasoline use in half by converting the U.S. automobile fleet to hybrid cars as efficient as the Toyota Prius. No change in the number of vehicles, no change in miles driven—just doing it with the most efficient propulsion technology on the market. 30
In fact, there are now several gas-electric hybrid car models on the market in addition to the Prius, including the Honda Insight and a hybrid version of the Honda Civic. According to the Environmental Protection Agency, the Prius—a midsize car on the cutting-edge of automotive technology—gets an astounding 55 miles per gallon in combined city/highway driving compared with 22 miles per gallon for the average new passenger vehicle. No wonder there are lists of eager buyers willing to wait several months for delivery. 31
Recently, Ford released a hybrid model of its Escape SUV, and Honda released a hybrid version of its popular Accord sedan. General Motors will offer hybrid versions of several of its cars beginning with the Saturn VUE in 2006, followed by the Chevy Tahoe and Chevy Malibu. 32
Earlier in this chapter we outlined how to cut U.S. gasoline use in half by shifting to gas-electric hybrid vehicles over the next decade. As we shift to these cars, the stage is set for the second step to reduce gasoline use, namely the use of wind-generated electricity to power automobiles. If we add to the gas-electric hybrid a second battery to increase its electricity storage and a plug-in capacity so the batteries can also be recharged from the grid, motorists could then do their commuting, grocery shopping, and other short-distance travel largely with electricity, saving gasoline for the occasional long trip. Even more exciting, recharging batteries with off-peak wind-generated electricity would cost the equivalent of gasoline at 50¢ per gallon. This modification of hybrids could reduce remaining gasoline use by perhaps another 40 percent (or 20 percent of the original level of use), for a total reduction of gasoline use of 70 percent. 33
These are not the only technologies that can dramatically cut gasoline use. Amory Lovins, a highly regarded pioneer in devising ways of reducing energy use, observes that most efforts to reduce automotive fuel efficiency focus on designing more-efficient engines, largely overlooking the potential of fuel savings from reducing vehicle weight. He notes that substituting advanced polymer composites for steel in constructing the body of automobiles can “roughly double the efficiency of a normal-weight hybrid without materially raising its total manufacturing cost.” If we build gas-electric hybrids using the new advanced polymer composites, then we can cut the remaining 30 percent of fuel use by another half, for a total reduction of 85 percent. 34
Unlike the widely discussed fuel cell/hydrogen transportation model, the gas-electric hybrid/wind model does not require a costly new infrastructure, since the network of gasoline service stations and the electricity grid are already in place. To fully exploit this technology, the United States would need to integrate its weak regional grids into a strong national one, which it needs to do anyway to reduce the risk of blackouts. This, combined with the building of thousands of wind farms across the country, would allow the nation’s fleet of automobiles to run largely on wind energy. 35
One of the few weaknesses of wind energy—its irregularity—is largely offset with the use of plug-in gas-electric hybrids, since the vehicle batteries become a storage system for wind energy. Beyond this, there is always the tank of gasoline as a backup.
The combination of gas-electric hybrids with a second storage battery and a plug-in capacity, the development of wind resources, and the use of advanced polymer composites to reduce vehicle weight has been discussed in a U.S. context but it is a model that can be used throughout the world. It is particularly appropriate for countries that are richly endowed with wind energy, such as China, Russia, Australia, Argentina, and many of those in Europe. 36
Moving to the highly efficient plug-in gas-electric hybrids, combined with the construction of thousands of wind farms across the country to feed electricity into a strong, integrated national grid, could cut U.S. gasoline use by 85 percent. It would also rejuvenate farm and ranch communities and shrink the U.S. balance-of-trade deficit. Even more important, it could cut automobile carbon emissions by some 85 percent, making the United States a model for other countries.
28. Wind royalties from Union of Concerned Scientists, “Farming the Wind: Wind Power and Agriculture,” www.ucsusa.org/clean_ energy/renewable_energy/page.cfm?pageID=128; for corn, calculations by author using data from John Dittrich, American Corn Growers Association, “Major Crops: A 27-Year History with Inflation Adjustments,” Key Indicators of the U.S. Farm Sector (Washington, DC: January 2002); beef is author’s estimate.
29. “Benchmark Oil Price Hits Dollars 66.50 A Barrel,” Financial Times, 29 September 2005.
30. DOE and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Fuel Economy Guide (Washington, DC: 2005); gasoline savings based on Malcolm A. Weiss et al., Comparative Assessment of Fuel Cell Cars (Cambridge, MA: Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2003).
31. DOE and EPA, op. cit. note 30; Marv Balousek, “Hybrid Cars Are Catching On,” Wisconsin State Journal, 10 August 2005; EPA, “Emission Facts,” fact sheet, www.epa.gov/otaq/consumer/f00013.htm, updated 15 July 2005.
32. John Porretto, “Ford Expands Lineup of Hybrid SUVs,” Chicago Sun-Times, 14 April 2004; Matthew L. Wald, “Designed to Save, Hybrids Burn Gas in Drive for Power,” New York Times, 17 July 2005; General Motors, “Hybrid Power to the People,” New York Times, 27 September 2004.
33. Lester R. Brown, “The Short Path to Oil Independence,” Eco-Economy Update (Washington, DC: Earth Policy Institute, 13 October 2004); Senator Joseph Lieberman, remarks prepared for Loewy Lecture, Georgetown University (Washington, DC: 7 October 2005).
34. Amory B. Lovins et al., Winning the Oil Endgame: Innovation for Profits, Jobs, and Security (Snowmass, CO: Rocky Mountain Institute, 2004), p. 64.
35. Associated Press, “Review Faults Electricity Grid System,” Los Angeles Times, 30 September 2004.
36. C. L. Archer and M. Z. Jacobson, “Evaluation of Global Wind Power,” Journal of Geophysical Research, vol. 110, no. D12110 (2005), pp. 1–20.
Copyright © 2006 Earth Policy Institute | <urn:uuid:149df3ca-c060-4329-a7f7-b8b22ff67008> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.earth-policy.org/books/pb2/pb2ch10_ss4 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783402479.21/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624155002-00023-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.920668 | 1,665 | 2.96875 | 3 |
19th September 2014, 9:39am
‘Honeybee’ robots replicate swarm behaviour
Computer scientists have created a low-cost, autonomous micro-robot which in large numbers can replicate the behaviour of swarming honeybees.
Colias - named after a genus of butterfly - is an open-platform system that can be used to investigate collective behaviours and be applied to swarm applications.
Robotic swarms that take inspiration from nature have become a topic of fascination for robotics researchers, whose aim is to study the autonomous behaviour of large numbers of simple robots in order to find technological solutions to common complex tasks.
Due to the hardware complexities and cost of creating robot hardware platforms, current research in swarm robotics is mostly performed by simulation software.
However, the simulation of large numbers of these robots in robotic swarm software applications is often inaccurate due to the poor modelling of external conditions.
Colias was created by a team of scientists led by the University of Lincoln, UK, with Tsinghua University in China. It has been proven to be feasible as an autonomous platform - effectively replicating a honeybee swarm. Its small size (4cm diameter) and fast motion (35cm/s) means it can be used in fast-paced swarm scenarios over large areas.
In comparison to other mobile robots which are utilized in swarm robotic research, Colias is a low-cost platform, costing around £25, making the replication of swarm behaviour in large numbers of robots more feasible and economical for researchers.
Farshad Arvin, from the School of Computer Science, University of Lincoln, was part of the research team which developed Colias.
He said: “The platform must be able to imitate swarm behaviours found in nature, such as insects, birds and fish. Colias has been designed as a complete platform with supporting software development tools for robotics education and research. This concept allows for the coordination of simple physical robots in order to cooperatively perform tasks. The decentralised control of robotic swarms can be achieved by providing well-defined interaction rules for each individual robot. Colias has been used in a bio-inspired scenario, showing that it is extremely responsive to being used to investigate collective behaviours. Our aim was to imitate the bio-inspired mechanisms of swarm robots and to enable all research groups, even with limited funding, to perform such research with real robots.”
Long-range infrared proximity sensors allow the robot to communicate with its direct neighbours at a range of 0.5cm to 2m. A combination of three short-range sensors and an independent processor enables the individual robots to detect obstacles.
A similar but more complex mechanism has been found in locust vision, where a specific neuron called the ‘lobula giant movement detector’ reacts to objects approaching the insects’ eyes.
Co-author Professor Shigang Yue, also from Lincoln’s School of Computer Science, previously created a computerised system which supports the autonomous navigation of mobile robots based on the locust’s unique visual system.
This earlier research, published in the International Journal of Advanced Mechatronic Systems (2013), could provide the blueprint for the development of highly accurate vehicle collision sensors, surveillance technology and even aid video game programming.
The next step for the Colias research team is to work on an extension of the vision module using a faster computer processor to implement bio-inspired vision mechanisms.
Full details of their research have been published in the International Journal of Advanced Robotic Systems.
The work is supported by the European Union’s FP7 project EYE2E, which aims to build international capacity and cooperation in the field of biologically inspired visual neural systems.
Farshad Arvin, John Murray, Chun Zang, Shigang Yue ‘Colias: An autonomous micro robot for swarm robotic applications’ International Journal of Advanced Robotic Systems | <urn:uuid:ed27fd66-d2f7-4999-bed7-c601164c6d05> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.lincoln.ac.uk/news/2014/09/963.asp | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783393533.44/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154953-00092-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.923492 | 793 | 3.5 | 4 |
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The structure of the urinary system is the same in both males and females, although certain components differ slightly between the sexes. The system filters liquid waste from the blood to be released as urine. Urine from healthy individuals is usually sterile; although it does contain waste products from the body, it doesn't contain anything toxic or any foreign materials, like bacteria, viruses, or fungi. Since urine is sterile, the "survival tip" that one can drink it is actually true for healthy individuals, but since it does contain cellular waste products, it still isn't good for the body.
Almost all of the urinary system's important work is performed by the kidneys. Nephrons, which are mall structures in the kidneys, are responsible for filtering waste products from the blood. These contain a network of blood vessels with a large surface area, so waste and excess salt can pass out of the blood for disposal. Eliminating excess salt along with cellular waste allows the composition of the blood to be monitored very tightly. The structure of the urinary system optimizes this process so any unfavorable changes can be quickly corrected.
From the kidneys, urine flows into the ureters, which are thin tubes that carry urine down to the bladder. One ureter extends from each kidney, and they never cross or interact. Muscles in the walls of the ureters push urine down to the bladder, so movement can continue even while lying down. The muscles tighten and relax in a process similar to that by which food is pushed down to the stomach, depositing small amounts of urine into the bladder every few seconds. If this motion is disrupted, the whole urinary system can be disrupted as well, and a kidney infection or kidney stones can result.
Urine is stored in the bladder until it must be released to make way for more. Two muscle rings called sphincters tighten at the opening of the bladder to hold it closed until its contents can be emptied through the urethra. The structure of the urinary system is built to contain as much urine as possible, as long as possible. Since the bladder can stretch, the structure of the urinary system is somewhat flexible, but it is built for relatively continuous waste processing, so preventing the bladder from emptying can eventually cause problems with blood monitoring.
One of our editors will review your suggestion and make changes if warranted. Note that depending on the number of suggestions we receive, this can take anywhere from a few hours to a few days. Thank you for helping to improve wiseGEEK! | <urn:uuid:72edcd17-4c54-4f11-8eab-e55f4cc7e81c> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-the-structure-of-the-urinary-system.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783396949.33/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154956-00111-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.960852 | 521 | 3.703125 | 4 |
Confucius and Podcasting
Richard Mobbs, Head of Learning Technology at the University, says we should start thinking about delivering education to where the student wants it and not to where we say they will get it.
In 450BC Confucius is reputed to have said: "Tell Me and I Will Forget; Show Me and I May Remember; Involve Me and I Will Understand." The ethos of this statement is often quoted as being a tenet underpinning many learning and teaching pedagogies. But times have changed or have they? Confucius lived at a time when the spoken word was the main form of educating others but today we have other means at our disposal, so is the Confucian philosophies open to some debate? For instance, what do I remember if you keep telling me? What do I remember if you keep showing me? As lecturers do we want to keep repeating ourselves and isn’t this what technology is good at?
From various research sources we know that we remember from: the Lecture (5%); Reading (10%); Audio Visual (20%); Demonstration (30%); Discussion group (50%); Practice by doing (75%) and Teaching others (90%). So quite clearly we need to turn our students into teachers to make them understand what they should be learning. Recognising that this might not be achievable we need to look at other means of improving learning and the gaining of knowledge.
The use of the spoken word has been fundamental to our learning processes since the beginning of time and it is no surprise that a digital equivalent has risen in popularity within online learning and it is colloquially known as “podcasting”.
There are several origins of the term “podcasting” but the commonly quoted derivative is associated with the Apple iPod (pod) and the iTunes philosophy of sending users a reference link to new music files (the cast). When prompted the user (also called the “catcher”) picks up the music file and can either listen to the file from the original source or download the file to play on a personal system. These are generally iPods or any suitable MP3 player which are now very much part of the youth culture and rank very highly on the “must have” list.
The teaching and learning process is very complicated but we know that we learn best of all when we want to learn and that requires having easy access to the learning materials. Virtual Learning Environments facilitate on demand learning but they still require that the learner has Internet access. So what can be better than to give the learner portable learning materials.
We should start thinking about delivering education to where the student wants it and not to where we say they will get it, to this end we need to deliver the resources to the student and not the student to the resources.
True “podcasting” has two components: the source file and the broadcasted information that the file is available. The creation of the sound (MP3) source files is not complicated and can be done from most desktop computers. All that is required a microphone (which might be part of a decent headphone set such as the Logitech 250). It is also quicker to record, say, a ten minute student briefing than to type it. Sound files can be uploaded into the Blackboard VLE for access but don’t forget to do the “cast” bit and tell the students that the files are there!
Watch out for the University’s IMPALA Project for further information on podcasting (shortly to be available at www.impala.ac.uk)
-Dr Richard Mobbs
Head of Learning Technology
- The Guardian has carried two features recently highlighting learning technology innovation at Leicester. You can access this via: | <urn:uuid:e0e8a1bd-7848-488a-b74f-e3c9386f8e8a> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.le.ac.uk/ebulletin-archive/ebulletin/features/2000-2009/2006/05/nparticle.2006-05-19.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783396147.66/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154956-00053-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.958249 | 775 | 2.734375 | 3 |
The growing importance of intellectual property (IP) in knowledge-based economies has generated concerns about the potential adverse effects of counterfeiting and piracy on governments, rights holders and consumers. A recent OECD study entitled The Economic Impact of Counterfeiting and Piracy attempted to quantify the scale of the effects due to these illicit activities. This study focused on the infringement, through counterfeiting and piracy, of trademarks, copyrights, patents and design rights, to the extent that they involved physical products.
Based on the framework developed in the study, this short report updates the quantitative results of that study by utilising more recent international trade statistics for the calendar years 2000 to 2007. This report does not, however, update the customs interception data on which the original framework was constructed and relies on the same, aggregated customs interception data (i.e. for 1999-2005). A methodological note describing the updating process in more detail is included in the full update report.
The OECD study concluded that international trade in counterfeit and pirated goods could have accounted for up to USD 200 billion in 2005. The updated estimates, based on the growth and changing composition of trade between 2005 and 2007, suggest that counterfeit and pirated goods in international trade grew steadily over the period 2000-2007 and could amount to up to USD 250 billion in 2007 (see figure below). The share of counterfeit and pirated goods in world trade is also estimated to have increased from 1.85% in 2000 to 1.95% in 2007. As in the original study, these figures do not include domestically produced and consumed products, or non-tangible pirated digital products.
Evolution of trade in counterfeit and pirated products (upper limit) | <urn:uuid:014b0b6e-cb6e-4039-b328-3d861149ff68> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.oecd.org/industry/ind/magnitudeofcounterfeitingandpiracyoftangibleproductsnovember2009update.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783395620.56/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154955-00127-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.938287 | 343 | 2.921875 | 3 |
Posted April 2014
During this past winter, our Gentoo penguin population increased from seven to ten with the birth of three chicks. Since the Gentoos share an exhibit with nine rockhopper penguins, 19 penguins makes for a very, very playful and active exhibit! Gentoos grow to adult size quickly, so the chicks are no longer tiny and fuzzy, and now look full-grown.
Gentoo penguins are extremely committed parents. In the wild, Mom and dad typically take turns sitting on and incubating the eggs while the other parent feeds at sea. Incubation can take up to 41 days.
Wild Gentoo penguins live in the Antarctic Peninsula and surrounding islands. They can swim up to 22 miles per hour, stay below water up to seven minutes and dive to 655 feet. They are the third largest penguin species.
Visit the Gentoo penguins daily, in the Herb and Nada Mahler Family Aviary. | <urn:uuid:f4333516-19b6-4074-b504-8e663869a38e> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.milwaukeezoo.org/news/2014/gentoochicks.php | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783396147.66/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154956-00058-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.928116 | 195 | 3.03125 | 3 |
No. 2904: CHATTERBOTS
by Andrew Boyd
Today, we chat. The University of Houston’s College of Engineering presents this series about the machines that make our civilization run, and the people whose ingenuity created them.
Imagine having a five minute, typed conversation with someone in another room. Your challenge: determine if the “someone” is a human or a computer. How would you go about it? What questions would you ask?
While you’re thinking about that, let’s look at the flip side of the coin. If you were a gifted programmer, could you create a program that responded as if it were human? Could you fool all of the people some of the time? Some of the people all of the time?
The challenge hovers around the question of whether computers can think, but really sidesteps it. Instead, it asks if computers can interact with us in such a way that we believe they can think. The challenge is called the Turing test after computational pioneer Alan Turing, and it continues to befuddle the artificial intelligence community to this day.
But for creative minds, befuddlement is a source of inspiration. And that’s why enthusiasts line up to participate in the annual competition for the Loebner Prize. The Loebner Prize pits humans against specialized computer programs called — get this — chatterbots to see who’s the most, well, human. Each judge carries on a typed conversation with two competitors, one human, the other a chatterbot. The judge’s task: decide which is which.
Photo by Ulrike Spierling
Computers are pretty good at facts — generally better than we are. But they have a lot of trouble with something we take for granted: the give and take of natural conversation. “What’s the family up to?” or “How about those Astros?” Easy questions for us, but they can leave computers scratching their heads — figuratively, of course.
All this adds up to chatterbots that aren’t very good at chatting. Judges have been fooled, but only on rare occasions. And even as the chatterbots grow more and more sophisticated, they seem to do worse and worse in competition.
Why? It’s not just the chatterbots that’ve gotten better. The humans have, too. Judges have learned what computers have trouble with and ask better questions. And the humans who pair off with their chatterbot adversaries, motivated by the chance to win the “most human human” prize, have learned how to better communicate their humanness. Joking with the judges, discovering shared likes and dislikes. We humans didn’t just start with the advantage of being human. When it comes to playing the game, we’re improving faster than our mechanical challengers.
The game-like nature of the Loebner competition doesn’t sit well with many researchers, who view the event as more spectacle than science. Chatterbots are only a tiny part of artificial intelligence, and their poor performance doesn’t reflect well on the field as a whole. Still, it’s nice to know that, for the time being, we remain victorious when confronted by our computer overlords, at least when it comes to a real and uniquely human stronghold: the ability to chat.
I’m Andy Boyd at the University of Houston, where we’re interested in the way inventive minds work.
Many different chatterbots are available online including A.L.I.C.E. and Jabberwacky, which can be found at http://alice.pandorabots.com/ and http://www.jabberwacky.com/, respectively. All sites accessed September 10, 2013.
B. Christian. “Mind vs. Machine.” The Atlantic, March, 2001. See also: http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2011/03/mind-vs-machine/308386/. Accessed September 10, 2013.
Loebner Prize Home page: http://www.loebner.net/Prizef/loebner-prize.html. Accessed September 10, 2013.
The picture of the three men is from Wikimedia Commons; see http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Robby_Hugh_Rich.jpg. Accessed September 11, 2013. The remaining picture is by E. A. Boyd.
This episode first aired on September 12, 2013. | <urn:uuid:9e70654c-e012-4966-baf5-d71ca545e167> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.uh.edu/engines/epi2904.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783392099.27/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154952-00048-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.937526 | 949 | 2.578125 | 3 |
Slum-dwellers who make up a third of the world's urban population often live no better - if not worse - than rural people, a United Nations report says.
Family life continues in slums despite the squalor, the report says
Anna Tibaijuka, head of the UN Habitat agency, urged governments and donors to take more seriously the problems of at least a billion people.
Worst hit is Sub-Saharan Africa where 72% of urban inhabitants live in slums rising to nearly 100% in some states.
If no action is taken, the world's slum population could rise to 1.4bn by 2020.
More than one billion people live in slums now.
Habitat - the UN's human settlements programme - is hosting an Urban Forum in Vancouver next week on how to stem the crisis.
Its report is billed as a ground-breaking survey of urban growth, making a clear distinction between slum and non-slum development for the first time in UN history.
According to Dr Tibaijuka, speaking to reporters in London, slum-dwellers suffer a double disadvantage: they both live in misery and their plight often goes unreported given the traditional focus on the rural poor in the developing world.
"The average aid worker is not aware of the extent of the problem - this report is the proof," UN Habitat's executive director added.
Some states, the report notes, have already taken significant action to improve conditions, notably in Latin America where about 31% of urban people are classified as living in slums (figures for 2005) - down from 35% in 1990.
Such progress is welcomed as part of the UN's Millennium Development Goal of achieving a significant improvement in the lives of at least 100 million slum-dwellers by 2020.
Among the report's findings:
"Rural poverty has long been the world's most common face of destitution but urban poverty can be just as intense, dehumanising and life-threatening," UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan says in an introduction to the report.
- Expectations of better access to education are unmet for most slum-dwellers; a 2003 study found that one in five children in the Nairobi slum of Kibera had no access to primary schools
- Poor sanitation, described as a "silent tsunami", means illness and death are rife; in one part of Harare, 1,300 people share one communal toilet with just six squatting holes
FIVE CHIEF FEATURES OF A SLUM
Lack of durable housing
Insufficient living area
Lack of access to clean water
Definition: UN Habitat
- In Cape Town's slums, children under the age of five are five times more likely to die than those living in the city's high-income districts
- Young adults living in slums are more likely to have a child, be married or head a household than their counterparts living in non-slum areas
Upgrade and prevent
A slum is defined by UN Habitat as a place of residence lacking one or more of five things: durable housing, sufficient living area, access to improved water, access to sanitation and secure tenure.
Slums have existed in what is now the developed world since the Industrial Revolution and 6% of its current urban population also fall under Habitat's definition.
However, the growth in slums is unprecedented, Habitat finds, and the nature of the problem has also changed.
Of the urban population of South Asia, 57% live in slums though this is down on the 1990 figure of nearly 64%.
Dr Tibaijuka told journalists that urbanisation in itself was not the problem as it drove both national output and rural development.
"History has shown that urbanisation cannot be reversed," she continued.
"People move to the cities not because they will be better off but because they expect to be better off."
The only effective way to upgrade slums and prevent new ones emerging, she said, was to persuade governments to improve infrastructure.
While help from international donors was required, she also argued that governments could take relatively cost-free action such as reforming property laws. | <urn:uuid:e06da3ed-6c84-4ad4-9250-c03b43f6370c> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/5078654.stm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783397873.63/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154957-00188-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.953092 | 871 | 2.90625 | 3 |
UNCCD News Focuses on Food Security and a Brown Revolution
September 2011: The lastest issue of "UNCCD News," a newsletter published by the Secretariat of the UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), focuses on food security and efforts that have been undertaken to mitigate the effects of food crisis through sustainable land management.
In Issue 3.3, UNCCD Executive Secretary Luc Gnacadja writes that a "new green revolution is likely to be a 'brown revolution' through holistic management," and he "advocate[s] a 'brown revolution' combined with a green economy, where the knowledge that fuels food production in the green economy is deployed to improve means and ends."
Articles in this issue address: food security in the drylands, with a focus on the current crisis in the Horn of Africa; the "brown revolution" focused on "the regeneration of covered, organically rich, biologically thriving soil" and the role of livestock in reversing desertification in this regard; and the Qatar National Food Security Programme's (QNFSP) upcoming special event to found the Global Drylands Land Alliance. [Publication: UNCCD News Issue 3.3] | <urn:uuid:af379498-9bb4-4802-85ff-51059283b6f5> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://climate-l.iisd.org/news/unccd-news-focuses-on-food-security-and-a-brown-revolution/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783408828.55/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624155008-00015-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.922383 | 246 | 2.59375 | 3 |
Happy 177th birthday, Arkansas
It’s hard to believe we let this one slip past our watchful eyes — Arkansas turned 177-years-old on June 15. It’s hard to believe — the old gal doesn’t look a day over 150.
Yes, Arkansas was admitted to the Union way on back in 1836. To commemorate the Natural State, it’s time for a few fun facts about our beloved Arkansas. Ready? Here we go.
* Politics have always been more than a bit divisive, combative and odd here in Arkansas and there’s good precedent for that — the Speaker of the House John Wilson killed State Representative Major J.J. Anthony in a knife fight on the House floor during the first session of the Arkansas General Assembly in 1837. That’s right — Wilson and Anthony attempted to settle an argument with Bowie knives and Anthony died right on the House floor. Yes, that’s back when political fights were actual fights rather than contests between lobbyists trying to outspend each other (I’m still not sure which is worse). You know, there’s an idea — perhaps lobbyists should be required to engage in knife fights at the Capitol and only the victors would be allowed bribe our representatives. At any rate, Wilson got booted out of the House, was acquitted at trial by using the “excusable homicide” defense and was again elected as a state representative. He moved to Texas and died in 1865.
* The Arkansas flag is simply dripping with symbolism. The Natural State didn’t have a flag until 1913 and the one we rally around today was one of 65 designs submitted by Willie Kavanaugh Hocker of Wabbaseka (Jefferson County). The diamond in the center indicates that Arkansas was the only state in the Union that produced diamonds. The star over the word “Arkansas” represents the fact that the Natural State was once part of the Confederacy, while the three stars beneath the state name symbolize the three other nations to which Arkansas has belonged — France, Spain and the United States. The three stars also represent the year 1803 as that was when the Louisiana Purchase — which brought Arkansas into the U.S. — was signed. The three stars also represent that Arkansas was the third state — after Louisiana and Missouri — to be carved out of the Louisiana Purchase.
* Arkansas was not allowed to join the Union until another state entered around the same time. Arkansas was to be admitted as a “slave” state and Pres. Abraham Lincoln wanted to balance it out with another “free” state. So, Arkansas’ sister state is Michigan, which gained statehood in 1837.
* Seen that Red State Socialism graphic that’s been floating around the Internet ad nauseum since 2008? That’s the graphic that suggests, seemingly, that people in “red states” and “blue states” tend to vote against their best interests as government-hating Republican states typically receive more federal tax dollars than they pay in while kindhearted Democrats support the poor slobs on the right with their tax revenue. Arkansas, on that oft-repeated graphic, is depicted as having received $1.41 in 2005 for every dollar paid in taxes. It turns out that graphic doesn’t hold up as far as Arkansas is concerned. According to both Mother Jones and The Economist, that old chart is in need of an update — Arkansas has paid in more than it has received in recent history. Mother Jones used 2010 tax data while The Economist tracked data from 1990 to 2009 and found that heavily-Republican Arkansas contributed $333.3 billion in federal taxes and received $316.3 billion in federal expenditures — a “surplus” of $17 billion. So there.
* According to Fortune, four of the 500 largest companies in the nation last year are located in Arkansas — Wal-Mart Stores (2nd largest, Bentonville), Tyson Foods (96th, Springdale), Murphy Oil (98th, El Dorado) and Dillard’s (383rd, Little Rock).
* The official state nickname from 1947 to 1995 was “The Land of Opportunity.” The state Legislature changed the nickname in 1995 to “The Natural State,” although that slogan had been in use since 1987. The “opportunity” slogan was a lot to live up to, of course, and perhaps that’s what prompted the Legislature to stop talking about opportunity and start promoting trees, rivers, mountains and the like. You’ll find a full list of official and unofficial nicknames here. My personal favorite is “The Razorback State.” We can all agree on that one, at least.
* Charles Hillman Brough (“Brough” rhymes with “rough,” by the way), Arkansas’ 25th governor (1917-1921), got fed up with the state’s negative image and did something about it after he left office. He led the organization of the Arkansas Advancement Association in 1923 and went around claiming the state was self-sufficient. The state’s resources were so diverse, he claimed, that one could build a fence around the Natural State and we’d manage just fine. Brough’s idea was to promote a positive image of Arkansas and encourage investment from businesses in Arkansas. Alas, that effort was undermined on many fronts, and our own state Legislature was involved in one of the most damaging assaults on what Brough was trying to achieve. Baltimore Journalist H.L. Mencken wrote a seven-page article about the South and briefly mentioned Arkansas which included his observation that the people of the Natural State were “too stupid to see what was the matter with them.” The Arkansas Legislature made matters worse by passing a resolution demanding that Mencken apologize for that comment, but managed to misspell the writer’s name. Instead of an apology, Mencken issued more articles ridiculing Arkansans. Had the Legislature let the whole issue go, then perhaps the very Eastern businessmen Brough was trying to impress wouldn’t have read article after article claiming that Arkansas was full of idiot hillbillies. Ouch. Alas, that wasn’t the last time Arkansans wew embarrassed by the questionable antics of its legislators.
So, there you go — a few fun facts you can use to impress your friends. Happy 177th, Arkansas.
Benton resident. Rogue journalist. Recovering attorney. Email = [email protected]. | <urn:uuid:5dfd4e2e-c2e9-4808-9d18-9e5c82c981c8> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://firstarkansasnews.net/2013/06/happy-177th-birthday-arkansas/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783397864.87/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154957-00084-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.973072 | 1,371 | 2.609375 | 3 |
As part of a continual districtwide effort to combat substance abuse by students, Lynbrook North Middle School eighth-graders attended a presentation about the dangers of alcohol and drug abuse conducted by the Long Island Council on Alcohol and Drug Dependency.
LICADD representative Lisa Ganz spoke frankly with students about the real dangers of mind- and mood-altering drugs, including alcohol, amphetamines, cannabis, hallucinogens, opiates, benzodiazepines, sedatives and stimulants. She also emphasized that misusing legal substances such as alcohol and prescription medications can be just as dangerous as using street drugs.
“There is a big difference between the use of prescription medications such as OxyContin for medicinal purposes and the misuse and abuse of such highly addictive substances,” said Ganz.
Ganz also revealed some startling statistics about the use of gateway drugs such as alcohol, nicotine and marijuana. For example, people who begin drinking alcohol before the age of 15 are four times as likely to become alcohol dependent.
“All of our patients who are addicted to heroin started with alcohol, nicotine, marijuana and prescription medications,” said Ganz. “What’s even more alarming is that the progression from these gateway drugs to heroin occurred within two to three years. We are now seeing 16-, 17- and 18-year-old heroin addicts.”
In addition, according to a recent report published by the CDC, unintentional overdose of opiate pain relievers has now surpassed auto accidents as the leading cause of accidental death in the U.S.
Ganz concluded by challenging students to think about the reasons why people use drugs — to escape from reality, to feel better, for social acceptance, to lose inhibitions, or simply out of curiosity.
“It starts with curiosity, but quickly evolves into dependency,” she explained.
She then led the students on an exploration of the four primary emotions — sadness, happiness, anger and fear. “Three-quarters of these emotions don’t feel good,” she pointed out. “If you use medication every time you experience one of these, it quickly progresses from feeling like it helps you to cope to feeling like you can’t function without it.” | <urn:uuid:72883f7f-632e-46c2-bc05-9a8fee0d8ed5> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.liherald.com/lynbrook/stories/Lynbrook-students-learn-about-dangers-of-substance-abuse,45766?page=1&content_source= | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783395548.53/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154955-00141-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.949951 | 465 | 2.734375 | 3 |
TRUCK. Christianshavn 2005
is a lightweight, lowcost, human powered vehicle that enables persons to
move loads up to about 300 kg at slow speeds. By transporting things using
a SMALL TRUCK, the driver gets physical exercise while working. By combining
these activities, time is also spared for other things. SMALL TRUCK provides
shelter from wind and rain and can be equipped with various systems: platforms
and trailers that can support micro-economical initiatives, like for example,
a transport company, a small shop, restaurant, cinema or office, or it
could be equipped to offer an unfoldable concert scene, public library,
or a mobile home.
N55 recommend that the SMALL
TRUCK is copied by other persons, and that the trucks are made available
for others when they are not in use.
The chassis of the SMALL TRUCK
has been realized through a collaboration between Pelle Brage and N55.
The chassis will be used by both parties in different ways. This means
SMALL TRUCKs will appear in various materials and shapes, depending on
the context in which it is meant to function.
The current ways of transporting goods in populated areas, using huge cars
and trucks running on fossil fuels, lead to pollution of local environments
and contribute to the disturbance of the global climate. In addition, the
lack of exercise is unhealthy for drivers. In general, it is inexpedient
to have heavy, fast and hard machines in the same environment as the soft
bodies of humans. In most traffic accidents, high speed is the direct cause,
and accidents always become more severe the faster the involved vehicles
move. Speed is a considerable stress factor in daily life and fast moving
vehicles are a dominant factor in almost every environment, both rural and
However, most transporting tasks could be solved by smaller, slower and
lighter vehicles than the ones used today. This would in some cases imply
some reorganisation, for example, the transport units would perhaps have
to be more numerous, and consumption patterns would probably have to be
changed. The advantages thus gained would most likely outweigh the inconveniences.
SMALL TRUCK is based on a simple design. For the chassis, standard square
recycled steel tubes, recycled and altered bicycleparts are used. The
superstructure can be made from steel tubes, a wood or metal construction,
or as in the present version, from standard PE- containers. The measures
of SMALL TRUCK enables it to carry one euro pallet at a time.
The maximum speed of SMALL TRUCK is about 10 kilometers per hour. At this
speed, wind resistance has very little influence on the energy expenditure,
and considerations about aerodynamics are virtually superfluous. This allows
a very simple vertical design that fits the human body placed in an upright
position, in which the driver has a good overview on traffic. The risk of
severe injury to fellow persons is also minimized at this level of speed.
The SMALL TRUCK shown in this manual has been equipped with an electrical
engine and a battery that can provide 200 W on full speed for 2 hours.
If the pedals are used along with the engine, the vehicle will move at
the same speed, but the batteries will last longer. Since the vehicle
is legally considered a bicycle with aid (Denmark), it doesnt need
to go through expensive procedures of approval. The battery can be charged
with solar power.
Different platforms can be mounted behind the steering house. A trailer
can also be connected, if one wants to be able to carry more substantial
More SMALL TRUCKS:
Persons are encouraged to copy SMALL TRUCK and make them available to
other persons. The producer should then state which purposes the SMALL
TRUCK may be used for, and when it is available. N55 will keep an updated
list of available SMALL TRUCKS on www.n55.dk.
If you want to participate with a truck, please send information about
the position and the conditions to [email protected]
SMALL TRUCK micro market system:
The SMALL TRUCK MICRO
MARKET SYSTEM is a system that aims at supporting micro-economical initiatives.
The cages fit the dimensions of SMALL TRUCK and can be stacked for transport
as well as for sale directly from the vehicle. When it stands alone, the
system functions as a small farm. It also contains equipment necessary
for sleeping and cooking.
Public spaces are generally dominated by commercial interests that block
the possibilities of smaller agents to make a living from small scale
production and sale. SMALL TRUCK MICRO MARKET SYSTEM is a flexible, lowcost
system that could break the monopoly of large shops in the cities, thus
increasing diversity on the streets. Street sale in most places is regulated
by permissions that could be an obstacle for small scale trade and impulsive
micro markets. Coordinated action between many agents could facilitate
establishment of micro markets, if not in highly regulated areas, then
in borders zones, on empty lots, and so on.
SMALL TRUCK MICRO MARKET SYSTEM consists of equal sized cages made of
welded stainless steel tubes. The cages are made for small-scale production
and sales display of different goods.
The cages have a very simple, uniform construction which can accomodate
many different functions. Any kind of product or item can be offered for
sale through the SMALL TRUCK MICRO MARKET SYSTEM: food (baked, cooked,
raw, dried, canned, bottled, alive or dead), clothes and shoes, books,
electronics, furniture, etc. In addition, the kitchen unit makes it possible
to offer food, hot drinks, etc.
The hen cages are covered with stainless net and left open in the bottom.
In order for the hens to graze and pick earthworms, the cages can be placed
on grass and moved as the grass is eaten. If no grass area is available,
straw or sawdust can be used to provide a soft and comfortable bedding.
The nests are inside the plastic box, to which the hens have access from
two sides. The feeding and watering automats must be refilled regularly,
and the bedding must be exchanged once a week. One can pick up eggs through
the round hole.
The kitchen unit consists of a cage of which two sides are covered in
stainless steel sheet. A sink and a gas cooker provide the basic cooking
equipment. Water must be refilled into the container. When mounted on
the SMALL TRUCK, the kitchen unit can function as a mobile restaurant.
Depending on the sort of plant and the time of year, the plants can be
kept either in a closed cage (with polycarbonate walls) or in an open
cage. The plants grow in soil wrapped up in semipermeable fibrecloth,
and water is introduced into every plant module by hoses that are perforated,
allowing water to seep out into the soil.
The SMALL TRUCK MICRO MARKET
SYSTEM will be further developed with shelves for different items, as well
as systems for providing electricity such as micro wind mills and solar
SMALL TRUCK has to be regularly
lubricated, and the tyres and brakes must be in good shape. The brake
pads must be exchanged with regular intervals. If the SMALL TRUCK is equipped
with an engine, the drive belt must be exchanged as well as the battery.
Weight: approx. 80 kg
4 gears: 3 forward and one reverse
Height: 210 cm
30 x 50 x 1 mm square tube, steel
1 steel disc
4 pc. rubber wheels
brake stick: welded steel tubes
4 pc. Polyethylene tanks, 80 cm x 80cm X 70 cm
2 pc pocket mirrors, mounted on stainless steel plates.
window: polycarbonate, 3 mm
rubber door mats
detatchable lights with batteries
1 pc. windscreen wiper
bolts and nuts
200 watt elektrical engine
2 cages, each 80 x 80 x 60 cm, of stainless steel square tube, 25 mm,
2 pc. stainless steel sheet, 1 mm, 80x 80 cm
3 polyethylene containers, Ø 35 cm, different heights
3 cages, each 80 x 80 x 60 cm, of stainless steel square tube, 25 mm,
2 polyethylene boxes, 80 x 80 x 60 cm
Stainless steel net
Bakelite spheres, Ø 5 and 2.5 mm
Feeding automat, polyethylene
Water automat, polyethylene
Staw and hay
4 cages, each 80 x 80 x 60 cm, of stainless steel square tube, 25 mm,
Semipermeable garden hose
The SMALL TRUCK is steered by the two rods next
to the seat. They are connected to the disc that controls the rear
By pushing the center rod (the brake) forward, one brings the vehicle
to a stop.
The 3-speed gear is attached to the right steering rod. The backward
gear which is activated by pedalling backwards.
can be opened and suspended from the plastic knobs.
The vehicle has four gears: 3 forward and one backward.
lights and bumper:
Lights: demounteable bicycle lights, red and white.
Bumper: rubber door mat.
Wheels: pneumatic rubber wheels.
The spare wheel is located inside the cargo box behind the steering
One wipes the wind screen manually by turning the knob handle.
Current list of available SMALL TRUCKS:
Please contact us on our email at [email protected] to make arrangements to borrow
our version of SMALL TRUCK. It may be used for micro-economical purposes
or for situations like the ones stated above.
Back to manuals
Back to HOME | <urn:uuid:baf39434-28f8-4722-b57c-78e5d7d3f355> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.n55.dk/MANUALS/SMALLTRUCK/smalltruck.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783402699.36/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624155002-00088-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.892132 | 2,102 | 3.140625 | 3 |
Horsman, Marylyn BA, MSc; Suto, Melinda PhD, OT(C); Dudgeon, Brian PhD, OTR, FAOTA; Harris, Susan R. PT, PhD, FAPTA, FCAHS
Cerebral palsy (CP) is a group of disorders that interferes with movement and posture.1 Because of “non-progressive disturbances in the developing or [fetal] brain,”1(p572) adults with CP lose functional abilities earlier than persons who are able-bodied. Moreover, the number of adults with CP is growing because of improved survival of low-birth-weight infants2 and increased overall life expectancy.3 Because CP is a lifespan disability, studies of the changes these adults experience, and the meanings of those changes for them, are needed so that pediatric physical therapists and other health professionals can work together to minimize the occurrence and manage the effects of secondary impairments.
Secondary impairments in CP can progress subtly, not appearing until late adolescence or adulthood; whereas some are preventable, others are modifiable through environmental or adaptive measures.4 These secondary conditions can contribute to loss of function and deterioration of activities in daily living5–9 and are therefore important to recognize when providing a lifespan therapy approach.
This study's purpose was to investigate the lived experiences of adults with CP, as they age and undergo changes in their functional abilities. To understand these experiences, qualitative data were obtained and described by using terminology from the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health.10 Functioning includes body functions, activities, and participation, whereas disability refers to impairments, activity limitations, or participation restrictions.10 Impairments represent difficulties in body function or structure. Activity involves an individual's performance of a task or action, whereas participation occurs when partaking in a life situation. Activity limitations exist when individuals have difficulty executing tasks whereas participation restrictions occur when they experience problems with involvement in life situations.10
By studying and giving voice to the lived experience of adults getting older with CP, we hope that more understanding and insight into their experiences would be gained as to how they cope with changes in their functional abilities. The strength of this approach was the assumption that the participants' perspectives were fundamental to the understanding of their lived experiences.
A descriptive, phenomenological approach was used to understand the unique, lived experience of adults growing older with CP. Guided by the research question, descriptive phenomenology explores the depth and richness of experiences in a person's life and the meanings of those experiences.11 The research question was as follows: How do adults with CP experience getting older and cope with unanticipated changes in their functional abilities? Through individual interviews, participants were asked to describe their experiences of growing older and changes in their functional abilities.
Study approval was granted by the University of British Columbia (UBC)'s Behavioural Research Ethics Board. Informed consent was obtained before interviewing each participant.
Participants were selected by purposeful and convenience sampling, on the basis of their knowledge of the phenomenon being studied, that is, undergoing age-related changes in functional abilities. The researchers were interested in investigating the coping strategies used to deal with the changes these adults might be experiencing in their functional abilities as they grew older. Therefore, we chose participants who were experiencing age-related changes in their functional abilities to explore the coping strategies they might be utilizing. The first author informed administrative staff of the Cerebral Palsy Association of Alberta, the British Columbia Cerebral Palsy Association, and Vancouver's Jewish Family Service Agency about the study criteria; they then distributed the ethics-approved initial contact letter to candidates who met the criteria.
Selection criteria were adults older than 25 years who (1) had been diagnosed with CP, (2) had not been diagnosed with any other chronic disability or illness but were experiencing changes in their functional abilities as they had gotten older, (3) had at least a high school diploma from a regular curriculum (not special education), and (4) were able to speak English and describe their experiences in interviews with the researcher. We focused on those older than 25 years because the literature5,7,9 suggests that adults with CP often begin to experience changes in their functional abilities by that age. Thirteen individuals responded to the contact letter, but one did not meet the inclusion criteria. Demographic characteristics for the 12 enrolled participants appear in Table 1.
The sample size of 12 participants was consistent with recommendations in a leading qualitative research text suggesting that smaller samples are appropriate for studies involving phenomenology because that type of study is directed toward finding the essence of experiences and requires in-depth, detailed analysis.12 Because the purpose of phenomenology is to understand the meaning of experiences, the sample comprised only people who were growing older with CP rather than enlarging the sample to include individuals who knew the participants.
Data Collection and Analysis
The first author gathered data through in-depth, semistructured interviews that were audiotaped. At the time of the interviews, she was a master's student in rehabilitation sciences at UBC and had completed graduate-level introductory and advanced courses in qualitative research methods; both courses required interviewing assignments, including subsequent data analysis. Open-ended questions asked what it was like to age with CP, how these experiences were understood, what strategies were used to cope with the changes, and what are the meanings of these experiences. A pilot interview was conducted to ensure that the proposed questions elicited appropriate data on the phenomenon being studied, with these data included in the final analyses.
Additional data were then collected from 11 other participants. Each was interviewed twice: the first interview lasted 60 to 90 minutes and the second 45 to 70 minutes. The second interview allowed participants to reflect on their experiences and to clarify, validate, and expand upon information provided in the first interview. Prior to the second interview, data from the first interview were reviewed and questions prepared to clarify or elaborate the earlier data. Audiotaped data were transcribed by an individual with previous experience in transcribing qualitative data, recommended by qualitative research faculty members in the UBC School of Nursing.
Pseudonyms were used within the transcripts. To ensure accuracy, audiotapes were reviewed, compared to the written transcripts, and edited as needed. The research team had access to all transcripts and read selected interviews to ensure quality and aid in the first author's reflexive process; they also provided guidance in subsequent coding and thematic analysis. Data analysis (in which all authors participated) involved identifying meaning units, transforming data into scientific language, and reducing the data further to convey primary themes. After the first author divided the data manually into meaning units using a word processing program, 48 topics emerged. The meaning units were then organized into the language that expressed the values of the scientific discipline being utilized, that is, a psychosocial perspective, by transforming the participants' language of everyday life into the meaning behind the language within the psychosocial perspective in which it was being studied. Subsequent to input from the research team, the 48 meaning units were organized into clusters of 5 themes that appeared to reflect the data. After further analysis and discussion, the themes were reduced to 3, one of which is described in this article.
Respondent validation is a process whereby the researcher returns to the participants with a summary of the data analyses to confirm whether the analyses reflect their experiences.13 Respondent validation was carried out following the data analysis.
Role and Impressions of the First Author
Qualitative researchers are interested in how people make sense of events or situations that affect their lives.14 In descriptive phenomenology, the researcher tries to understand the meanings people create around these situations, to understand participants from their own “point of view,” and to interfere minimally with that point of view. As active participants in the qualitative research process, the researchers situate themselves within the problem formulated.15
Because the interviewer/first author is a middle-aged woman with CP, the questions originated from some of her own experiences. Using a phenomenological approach, her critical reflections increased awareness of her own assumptions so that they could be suspended or bracketed to hear the participants' worldviews. Thus, her experience of aging with CP was not imposed on others but was used to build rapport and understand the complexities of the participants' perspectives and experiences.
On the basis of this reflexive process, the interviewer observed that all participants desired acceptance as persons in their own right, not defined by their disability. She empathized with how 1 participant explained that living with CP shapes and forms who we are but that our own personhood goes beyond having CP.
The interviewer's experience of rehabilitation therapies as a child could not help but influence her view of rehabilitation therapies. One of the participants expressed her disregard for all types of therapy, believing that “all the therapy in the world” would not change that fact that a person has CP. After that interview, the interviewer shared in conversation that she believed therapy had made a big difference in her life, recognizing that she was privileged to have had 1 therapist throughout her childhood who treated her like a daughter.
The interviewer's predisposition against ever having to use a wheelchair was changed following her interviews of the participants, realizing that the decision to use a wheelchair could be based on safety needs and could enhance one's independence.
Consistent with phenomenological approaches, the interviewer's experiences of aging with CP influenced data collection and interpretation. She realized that she had been unable to make changes until aware of what needed to be changed; she then had to accept the needed changes before taking necessary actions. Part of her motivation as the primary researcher was to become more aware of the conditions that adults with CP experience while growing older. Rather than biasing the data, the interviewer (an “insider”) used her own experience and knowledge to enhance data collection and analysis.
A theme that emerged from the interviews and data analysis was described as Awareness, Acceptance, and Action.
In growing older with CP, participants were aware that their bodies were deteriorating quicker than those of their able-bodied peers. One described feeling like a 65-year-old, although only 37. Another described her balance as “unpredictable.” Because balance is linked to stability, feeling stable means feeling secure or safe. Deteriorating balance abilities undermined the participants' sense of security or safety.
Many participants reported experiencing fatigue.
I wake up in the morning feeling really, really good. I feel lots of energy and then, by the time noon hour comes along, I feel a loss of energy. Not exactly sure how that happens but it ... even though I haven't really done anything, it seems to happen .... I can't do anything. I can't do the things that I normally do. I have to basically call it quits, whatever I'm doing, and go have a nap. (Alan)
To function in their daily lives, participants were aware of the need for more rest, for example, a daytime nap or at least 8 hours of sleep at night. They spoke of having to manage their lives differently than when they were younger because of fatigue.
Experiences of pain, stiffness, and fatigue also made participants aware of their need for physiotherapy, although many complained about lack of funded services as adults: “They pretty much let you go with pretty much no resources ... once I was 18 ... they cut you loose and said ‘we can't do anything for you now, and you're on your own,' and that was it...” (Barbara).
Most participants believed they would maintain their abilities longer with greater access to therapies: “I still think right now if I went back to therapy I could still learn a lot and improve on different things” (Gary). What was especially bothersome to the participants was lack of knowledge among medical professionals about aging with CP. Participants struggled to gain information about their concerns, explaining that often their family doctor did not seem to know anything about CP.
There's very limited information; there's not too many people I can turn to for advice. The medical personnel don't seem to know whether they're coming or going half the time-–they don't know enough. They can't tell you what to expect. The medical expertise drops when you're 19. Like there doesn't seem to be anyone that carries through from childhood to beyond ... (Sara)
Participants expressed fear and frustration, stating that information about what to expect when growing older with CP would be helpful: “And the doctors don't have a clue so I guess as far as aging with CP, it would help if somebody could say this is aging with CP and this is what's not ...” (Barbara). Individuals' experiences in seeking information about aging with CP made them aware of the lack of such knowledge among medical professionals.
Five participants shared how their increased physical limitations led to isolation and loneliness, often resulting in bouts of depression, with 4 of them aware of the need for professional counseling. The sole participant who expressed strong opinions against counseling explained that her loneliness and depression were due to living with a disability that all the “counseling in the world” would not change.
Participants viewed themselves as minorities in an able-bodied world, often perceived as helpless. They were disturbed when others were more interested in their disability than their personhood and wished that people would see their abilities instead.
Acceptance and Action
Acceptance and action followed awareness. Participants described coming to a level of acceptance that hastened actions toward improving their quality of life. Some altered their lifestyles, others decided to use mobility devices, others sought out various therapies, whereas some changed their outlook toward their challenges.
Aware that their physical deterioration often adversely affected their balance, participants developed strategies to prevent falling and address personal safety, for example, using a wheelchair or scooter: “... I made the decision that because I'm on my own 23 hours a day, it's safer for me to be using the chair more often” (Nina). Another stated that her scooter is faster and saves her energy. Conversely, others sought ways to remain ambulatory because wheelchairs or scooters were viewed as compromising their independence, whereas those who accepted mobility devices saw them as providing greater independence. All participants accepted their need to address difficulties with their balance and mobility as they grew older with CP.
For those requiring hired caregivers, assessment of their functional limitations was necessary to determine the level of care needed. However, each struggled to attain adequate funds for the number of hours they felt they needed. One commented that the problem resided in whether assessments were viewed within a medical model versus a participation model. Most participants' self-assessments included taking part in activities that interested them (participation model), whereas most social service agencies' assessments considered only their basic health needs (medical model).
Fortunately, there is a provincial social service program that enabled some participatory choice on the part of those 5 individuals who needed hired caregivers for assistance, that is, choosing to go through an agency that sets up the allotted hours and provides the staff or choosing to receive a dollar allotment for care and then interviewing and selecting caregivers of their choice. Four of the five chose to receive the dollar allotment and select their own caregivers. Ted explained the advantage of this program for people with disabilities.
So ... yeah, this program is ... to me it's a model program through this country; it is making a difference for people to be able to go to work, to be able to go to school, be involved in recreational activities and be able to socialize ... you know. It really is a program that is dynamite ... it just needs to be tweaked a bit to be more ... the assessment of hours need to be based on participation, not on the medical model because that's really what the assessment process part is based on.
In accepting increasing fatigue, participants sought actions to manage their lives. Realizing their needs for more rest, they altered their activities: “When one gets older, one learns to accept a lot of things. Then that makes it easier and your energy is used toward more useful and practical things” (Sheila).
Increasing pain and stiffness led participants to take actions. Exercise and diet were strategies to manage age-related changes. Realizing that increased body weight adversely affected his abilities, one participant changed his diet and incorporated a more rigorous stretching regime: “I have to do what I have to do. And I feel healthier for it ... I either stretch or I get too stiff” (Tom). He commented that some of the changes were part of normal aging but, for people with CP, the magnitude is often greater.
“I don't contribute that (stiffness) necessarily to having cerebral palsy; I contribute the magnitude of the stiffness is a lot more significant for me as it would be for someone else” (Tom).
Some sought alternative therapies, such as massage, hypnosis, nutritional counseling, and chiropractic, whereas others paid for services such as physiotherapy and exercise coaches: “[with] massages and a little bit of therapy sessions, I should be able to take my disability and even take it to the next level where probably ... I'll be walking a lot better and be able to move a lot better” (Gary). Diet, exercise, and alternative therapies were helpful actions in dealing with secondary impairments.
Participants came to understand that their disability was not separate from their personhood, while recognizing that they were more than their disability: “I tell people when people are born with cerebral palsy, they're born completely normal [for them] because they're never going to be able to change it” (Gary). As they grew older with CP, many were better able to accept their condition, providing them with a more positive outlook.
To conduct respondent validation (member checking), the first author/interviewer contacted all 12 participants, 7 of whom responded. All who responded identified with the theme Awareness, Acceptance, and Action and this strengthens the credibility of the findings. In particular, Tom and Alan identified with the process of first needing to become aware and then having to accept before they were able to take necessary actions.
Awareness, Acceptance, and Action describes strategies used by participants to cope with daily life. Through awareness, many coped by acknowledging the difficulties they were experiencing and then assessing their situations and available resources. Acceptance and action involved strategies that included both attitudinal and environmental changes. As participants became more accepting of themselves, they were better able to make appropriate decisions.
Most had not anticipated these changes at such young ages, wishing that they had been informed sooner to take preventive measures. As to their health and well-being as they aged, all were proactive: altering their lifestyles, seeking out alternative therapies or counseling, changing their diets, and exercising.
Participants in this study experienced many of the age-related, biomedical conditions reported by others, for example, increased pain with increasing age.16–22 As noted by Schwartz et al,18 stress/depression, overexertion, and weather changes exacerbated pain, whereas exercising, stretching, resting, massage, and staying active relieved pain. Similar strategies were used by participants in our study.
Jahnsen et al16 reported that adults with CP who were experiencing pain altered their lifestyle by reducing work hours, beginning to use a wheelchair or other compensatory device, or applying for more home services—findings mirrored in our results. Although such changes may minimize pain, those authors16 and others8,22 have suggested that these measures can be perceived as a “defeat,” creating psychological distress because of activity and participation restrictions. Although some participants in our study described psychological adjustments when having to alter their lifestyle, use mobility devices, or request more help, most accepted the needed changes.
In the past, a lifespan perspective has been missing when planning programs for persons with CP.8,16,22 Participants in our study believed that preventive measures and ongoing therapies would improve or halt conditions contributing to their declining abilities. As for support from social and medical services, the participants felt “forgotten” after turning the age of 18 years.
Influence of the Interview Findings on the First Author's Own Experiences
As a woman growing older with CP, the first author/interviewer identified with much of the data and understood their meanings perhaps differently than would a researcher without CP. She identified Acceptance, Awareness, and Action as a process that she uses in her own life, realizing that she is unable to make necessary changes until aware of what needs to be changed. She then needs to accept what needs to change before taking the necessary actions.
Although it was impossible to avoid having her own experiences of aging with CP enter into the research process, the first author made every effort to use her experience and knowledge about the topic to enhance both data collection and analysis rather than influence the data. To increase the credibility of the findings, the research team monitored the first author's reflexive process.
Our findings are specific to the participants interviewed and do not reflect the experiences of all adults growing older with CP. Furthermore, our inclusion criteria limited the sample to community-dwelling, high school graduates, aged 25 years or older.
Although phenomenological methods have merit in describing the experiences of aging with CP, this approach has limitations. We focused on just 12 individuals whose experiences were interpreted primarily by the first author (whose own experiences as an adult aging with CP likely influenced the study findings). Although the findings were reviewed by other authors and their credibility checked with the participants, the analysis was conducted primarily by the first author. Nonetheless, the findings provide important insights for health care providers wishing to provide optimal care for adults aging with CP.
Implications for Physical Therapists
Programs promoting lifetime fitness (eg, exercise, nutrition, weight control, stress management, and energy conservation) are needed so that individuals with CP do not compromise their abilities. One energy conservation strategy mentioned by our study participants was prioritizing activities to partake in those they most enjoy. Programs to manage chronic pain are needed as well. Continual monitoring of changes in strength and range of motion and assessment of fitness and appropriate use of equipment are essential because deterioration can be slow but notable over time.23,24
All health care providers should be aware of the unique needs of adults with CP. Physical therapists are often in the best position to advocate for accessibility in health care and encourage prevention and routine examination for clients with CP.24
Pediatric physical therapists and social service providers should be cognizant of needs during times of transition, for example, moving from child-centered to adult-oriented health care.25,26 Liptak26 suggests that transition planning include assessment of the individual, family, and community—beginning in adolescence. Participants in our study supported plans that include care coordination, ensuring availability of care financially, and having capable, adult-centered health care providers to ensure successful transition from adolescence to adulthood.26
In taking responsibility for their own health, adults with CP need to know what their physician and other health care providers will do for them. One participant suggested that family physicians be interviewed to learn what they know about CP, their connections within the medical community (ie, specialists, rehabilitation therapists), and where they have hospital privileges. Participants suggested also that adults with CP ascertain whether a physician is equipped to handle special needs or adaptations required for care and is willing to devote extra time needed for examinations.
Because pediatric physical therapists often work closely with children and adolescents with CP (and their families), they are well positioned to anticipate what secondary impairments may lie ahead during adulthood. As Campbell suggested more than a decade ago, pediatric therapists should assist their young clients to take responsibility for their own health, to learn to conserve energy so they can participate in those life activities they most enjoy, and to enhance their physical fitness with the goal of minimizing secondary impairments in later life,27 as echoed by the participants in our study.
Implications for Evidence-Based Practice
Our findings also have important implications for therapists wishing to practice in an evidence-based manner. According to Sackett et al,28 evidence-based medicine is defined as the integration of the best available research evidence with clinical expertise and patient values. As Straus et al29 noted, the patient's individual values and preferences must be integrated with the research evidence to foster informed shared decision-making between the health care provider and the client. Unfortunately, this component of evidence-based practice is often missing within our own literature.30
By listening to the voices and honoring the values of consumers in qualitative studies such as ours,31 pediatric physical therapists can become champions in fostering evidence-based practice within our profession.
More research is needed on what adults with CP should expect as they grow older, including preventive measures to minimize the effects of secondary impairments. Studies are needed to determine how to reduce wear on joints and muscles from overuse and spasticity, how to promote relaxation, minimize stress, and conserve energy.27
Although participants found alternative therapies helpful, limited evidence exists regarding their efficacy.32–34 Individuals with CP should not be discouraged from exploring alternative therapies but further scientific inquiry is needed about their benefits and side effects.32–34 Factors contributing to isolation and depression, such as premature losses in employment, health, function, mobility, or independent living, should be systematically investigated.
As participants experienced and were able to accept changes in their physical abilities, they made decisions to address the adverse effects these changes were creating. The participants accepted the need to address safety issues and their increased need for support. Some participants took actions toward increased use of mobility devices, whereas others moved toward more support of family and friends and others increased their use of hired caregivers. Alternative therapies, exercise programs, diets, and changes in levels of activities were some of the actions used by the interviewees in addressing changes in their physical abilities. The participants' decisions on how to view growing older with CP also seemed to make a significant difference in their approach to the changes they were experiencing. The theme Awareness, Acceptance, and Action illuminated some of the coping strategies used by adults growing older with CP.
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2. Rapp CE Jr, Torres MM. The adult with cerebral palsy. Arch Fam Med. 2000; 9:466–472.
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6. Ando N, Ueda S. Functional deterioration in adults with cerebral palsy. Clin Rehabil. 2000; 14:300–306.
7. Bottos M, Feliciangeli A, Sciuto L, Gericke C, Vianello A. Functional status of adults with cerebral palsy and implications for treatment of children. Dev Med Child Neurol. 2001; 43:516–528.
8. Jahnsen R, Villien L, Stanghelle JK, Holm I. Fatigue in adults with cerebral palsy in Norway compared with the general population. Dev Med Child Neurol. 2003; 45:296–303.
9. Murphy KP, Molnar GE, Lankasky K. Medical and functional status of adults with cerebral palsy. Dev Med Child Neurol. 1995; 37:1075–1084.
10. World Health Organization. International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health: ICF. Geneva: World Health Organization; 2001:1–298.
11. Giorgi A. Description versus interpretation: competing alternative strategies for qualitative research. J Phenomenological Psychol. 1992; 23:119–135.
12. Morse J. Designing funded qualitative research. In: Denzin NK, Lincoln YS, ed. Handbook of Qualitative Research. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage; 1994;220–235.
13. Mays N, Pope C. Qualitative research in health care. Assessing quality research in health care. BMJ. 2000; 320:50–52.
14. Bogdan R, Biklen S. Qualitative Research for Education: An Introduction to Theory and Methods. Boston: Allyn and Bacon; 1982.
15. Bergum V. Being a phenomenological researcher. In: Morse J, ed. Qualitative Nursing Research: A Contemporary Dialogue. Newbury Park: Sage; 1991:55–71.
16. Jahnsen R, Villien L, Aamodt G, Stanghelle J, Holm I. Musculoskeletal pain in adults with cerebral palsy compared with the general population. J Rehabil Med. 2004; 36:78–84.
17. Dudgeon B, Gerrard B, Jensen M, Rhodes L, Tyler E. Physical disability and the experience of chronic pain. Arch Phys Med Rehabil. 2002; 83:229–235.
18. Schwartz L, Engel JM, Jensen MP. Pain in persons with cerebral palsy. Arch Phys Med Rehabil. 1999; 80:1243–1246.
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23. Strauss D, Ojdana K, Shavelle R, Rosenbloom L. Decline in function and life expectancy of older persons with cerebral palsy. Neuro Rehabil. 2004; 19:69–78.
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25. Stevenson CJ, Pharoah PO, Stevenson R. Cerebral palsy—the transition from youth to adulthood. Dev Med Child Neurol. 1997; 39:336–342.
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activities of daily living; adult; age factors; cerebral palsy/complications; cerebral palsy/psychology; cerebral palsy/rehabilitation; persons with disabilities; female; humans; male; middle aged; motor skills disorders/etiology; psychological adaptation; quality of life
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|Irish: Maigh Rath|
The main street in Moira
Moira shown within County Down
|Population||4,221 (2008 estimate)|
|Sovereign state||United Kingdom|
|Postcode district||BT 67|
|EU Parliament||Northern Ireland|
|UK Parliament||Lagan Valley|
|NI Assembly||Lagan Valley|
Moira (from Irish: Maigh Rath, meaning "plain of the streams or wheels") is a village and civil parish in County Down, Northern Ireland. It is in the northwest of the country, near the borders with counties Antrim and Armagh. The M1 motorway and Belfast–Dublin railway line are nearby. The settlement has existed since time immemorial. In a 2008 estimate the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency approximated the population of Moira to be 4,221.
- 1 History
- 2 Government and Politics
- 3 Demography of Moira
- 4 Transport
- 5 Other Services and Activities
- 6 Namesakes
- 7 Notable people
- 8 See also
- 9 References
The etymology of Moira is somewhat uncertain. It seems to be an anglicisation of the Irish Maigh Rath, which may mean either 'plain of the wheels' or 'plain of the ringforts'. Another Irish form of the name is Mag Rath. The change most probably occurred during or before the Plantation of Ulster. Regardless Moira has now evolved to become both the official name and the one in everyday use.
Prehistory to Early Modern Period
Moira has been a settlement for at least 1,500 years. For the period it consisted most probably only of small dwellings surrounded by several earthen ringforts. Evidence of three such forts still remain. The best known of these is the so-called "Rough Fort", situated on the Old Kilmore Road. However the remains of "Pretty Mary's Fort" exist behind the Waringfield residential area. Finally evidence of a third ringfort can be found near Claremont.
The existence of these primitive defences, coupled with the good-view afforded from the top of Moira hill, made the settlement strategically valuable. Proximity to Lough Neagh enhanced this value. Accordingly during the repeated power struggles of the first millennium the area was often fought over, and eventually witnessed the largest battle in the history of Ireland when three tribal kings contested the area to determine supremacy in Ulster and beyond. This was the Battle of Moira. Its impact on Moira is still felt; two townlands still bear battle names, Aughnafosker (meaning field of slaughter) and Carnalbanagh (meaning the Scotsman's grave). After the battle a Bishop by the name of Ronan Finn (who was later canonized) was alleged to have created a monastery in the area.
The medieval period itself remains shrouded in mystery. It is known that the town and its hinterland were under the control of the O'Lavery Clan for a considerable period. They were Catholic families who held sway in large parts of Armagh. Indeed prior to the Nine Years War Ulster was the most gaelic part of Ireland. There were few towns, few roads and much of the country was thickly wooded. However the subjugation of Ulster by the victorious armies of Elizabeth I greatly reduced the clout of gaelic hierarchs, the O'Laverys included. But it was their participation in the Irish Rebellion of 1641 doomed their dominance. The English authorities crushed the rebellion and confiscated vast amounts of native Irish property, in Moira as in the rest of Ireland. As a direct result of this the Protestant plantations of Ulster (which began in 1606) was accelerated.
Arrival of the Rawdon family
In 1631 Major George Rawdon, a wealthy man from the village of Rawdon in Yorkshire, settled in Moira. During the Irish Rebellion of 1641 he and 200 English soldiers helped defeat the army of Sir Phelim O'Neill and re-secure Moira and its environs for the Crown. In 1651 an officer by the name of Major de Burgh purchased a small estate and built a brick house in Moira. This house, the forerunner of Moira Castle, was subsequently purchased by Rawdon. Following his actions in putting down rebellion Rawdon subsequently purchased vast amounts of land in the area (most probably financed by confiscations from the dead or subjugated Catholic rebels), and was said to have developed it greatly. In 1665 he was created a baronet by Charles II. At some point in his life he became a Member of Parliament. Somewhat unfortunately he was nicknamed the 'Great Highwayman' for his development of roads infrastructure in and around Moira. Sir George Rawdon was succeeded in his title by his son Sir Arthur Rawdon.
Later Rawdon Baronets
Sir Arthur (who would also become an Irish MP) became a General in the armies of King William III during the Jacobite War in Ireland. He was quickly besieged in Derry, but managed to escape. After the war, with the Protestant Ascendancy of which he was a part yet again restored, Sir Arthur (who had presumably profited greatly from the war) returned to Moira. Having inherited the brick mahor house his father had purchased he decided to expand it greatly, and it became one of the largest residences in the whole island, to be called Moira Castle. The castle, which in fact was a mansion, was also accompanied by vast gardens. These gardens became world famous. In 1690 Sir Arthur utilised his friendship with fellow Downshire-born botanist Sir Hans Sloane, and acquired from him the seeds of 400 exotic plants, and instructions in how to grow them. To fit his ends Sir Arthur also constructed in Moira the first hothouse in Europe.
The subsequent baronets maintained the gardens (though the hothouse did not survive) for generations. In 1723 Sir John Rawdon, 3rd Baronet helped fund the construction of the Anglican Moira Parish Church, dedicated to St. John.
The Lords Rawdon
In 1750 Sir John Rawdon, 4th Baronet was raised to the peerage by King George II as the Baron Rawdon of Moira. He subsequently flirted with Methodism, and invited John Wesley to speak at Moira Church. This caused a major religious rift in the town. And though Wesley did speak, he did so from the grounds of Moira Castle, not the church for which the Rawdons had largely paid. He was also granted a higher title in 1762 by King George III, when he was made Earl of Moira.
In addition to flirting with Methodism Lord Rawdon also flirted with Irish self-government (albeit under the Ascendancy), opposing the efforts of William Pitt to forge closer links with Great Britain in the first decade of his Ministry. His death in 1793 was significant in Moira history, in that it marked the largest funeral in the history of Ireland, a testament to his extensive political connections. Over four hundred carriages were in procession. This Lord Rawdon is buried in the family crypt in the church.
Upon his death his son Francis Rawdon-Hastings became the Earl of Moira. A respected general and politician with significant influence in London, his time as head of the family was nevertheless negative for the town of Moira, which had risen greatly in prestige as a result of his predecessors. He neglected the gardens in the Moira estate, which subsequently declined into decay. He also spent the vast majority of his time in England.
The 2nd Earl was raised to a yet-higher rank of the peerage in 1816, when he was created Marquess of Hastings, subordinating the Moira title.
Lord Hastings would be the last member of the Rawdon family to reside in Moira Castle (which he had always used as a secondary residence in any case). In 1805 he sold it to Sir Robert Bateson, 1st Baronet, who also did not use it as a primary residence. The status of Moira thus declined considerably. The Rawdons' legacy would linger, however, with several streets and housing developments bearing their name centuries later.
Fortunately for the denizens of Moira the Acts of Union had reduced the power of the Ascendency, and Moira was now directly governed by London instead of Dublin. In addition the Great Reform Act had reduced the ability of landowners in general and lords in particular to control Moira.
Moira itself continued to develop during this period. A canal was built to the north (which became the boundary between Counties Antrim and Down), and a Market Hall completed at the expense of the Bateson family in about 1810. It was considered to have market the completion of the village. In 1841 Moira railway station was completed, and is now the oldest such structure on the island of Ireland. Moira Castle itself was vacated by the Batesons, and was demolished during the Victorian Era. A few gate stumps remain, as does some stepping for the famous gardens, and the dug-out cellar.
During the Second World War the grounds of Moira Demesne (as the Castle had become known) were used by the army as a medical centre.
Moira remained relatively uneventful for most of the 20th century, but did not escape The Troubles. On 20 February 1998 dissident republicans planted a 500 lb (227 kg) car bomb exploded outside the police station, injuring 11 people. The bomb was intended to kill police officers due to do a shift change. The blast was so loud that it could be heard fully twenty miles (32 km) away in Belfast. The bomb caused extensive damage, resulting in the police station and several nearby buildings having to be rebuilt. The bombing also threatened to derail the peace process at the time.
Government and Politics
Moira is at the very edge of the boundaries of the City of Lisburn, and is therefore subject to the local government authority of Lisburn and Castlereagh City Council. Both the overall council and the electoral area (Killultagh) for Moira are dominated by unionist parties. During the 2011 council elections the members elected for Killultagh were, in order of preference, as follows:
- Thomas Beckett - Democratic Unionist Party
- Jim Tinsley - Democratic Unionist Party
- Pat Catney - Social Democratic and Labour Party
- Jim Dillon - Ulster Unionist Party
- John Palmer - Democratic Unionist Party
Following the 2014 Local Government Elections Moira formed part of the Downshire West District Electoral Area. The following councillors were elected:
- Jim Dillon - Ulster Unionist Party
- Alexander Redpath - Ulster Unionist Party
- Allen Ewart - Democratic Unionist Party
- John Palmer- Democratic Unionist Party
- Owen Gawith - Alliance Party
At a national level Moira is part of the Lagan Valley constituency, represented by DUP MP Jeffrey Donaldson. At a provincial level the identically named and districted Lagan Valley includes Moira. This multi-member constituency is also dominated by unionists.
Demography of Moira
Moira is classified as an intermediate settlement by NISRA (i.e. with population between 2,250 and 4,500 people).
The population of Moira on Census day (29 April 2001) was 3682 people. The demographic characteristics of the people living in Moira were as follows:
- 24.3% were aged under 16 years;
- 13.8% were aged 60 and over;
- the average age was 34.8 years (NI average age 35.8 years);
- 48.8% of the population were male and 51.2% were female;
- 13.0% were from a Catholic Community Background;
- 82.6% were from a 'Protestant and Other Christian (including Christian related)' Community Background;
- 9.4% were born outside Northern Ireland; and
- 0.9% were from an ethnic group other than white.
On Census Day 2001 there were 1372 households in Moira. Statistics relating to Moira households include:
- average household size was 2.63 persons per household (NI level 2.65 persons per household);
- 73.7% of households were one family households;
- 4.6% were lone-parent households with dependent children.
Moira is well located in terms of infrastructure. It is served by Moira railway station, which is a stop along the Newry to Bangor line. The station was originally built by the Ulster Railway, which ran beyond Portadown and went to Armagh which line ought to be reopened. It is also located conveniently close to the M1 motorway, with Moira Roundabout serving as a major junction. The proximity of Moira to both Belfast and Lisburn has meant that it has become something of a dormitory town in recent decades. Unfortunately Moira is also situated directly along the main road to Lurgan, which creates considerable traffic jams, particularly during rush hour. The 51 bus service runs from Portadown to Belfast regularly, with several stops in the town.
Moira is located approximately twenty miles from Belfast International Airport.
Other Services and Activities
The village primarily exists as a commuter town, however, such jobs as there are tend to be in the services sector, with much replication. Moira is also famed for McCartney's of Moira, a 140-year-old family butchers. The firm has repeatedly won national awards for food, including the Northern Irish and National Sausage Competition. In 2011 they also became Great Taste Awards 2011 Supreme Champion, among other accolades. The Four Trees is also a popular place.
Moira and specifically The Moira Drive Thru and Internet Cafe was also the filming location for Channel 4's award winning Facejacker comedy program which had over 3,000,000 viewers.
Moira Primary School, reopened by The Princess Royal, and Rowandale Integrated Primary School provide education for the first two key stages. Moira has no secondary education, with most children commuting into Lurgan, Lisburn or Belfast to attend schools such as Friends', Wallace, RBAI, Hunterhouse, Lurgan Junior High School, St. Paul's, St. Mary's and St. Michael's (all Lurgan), Lismore Comprehensive; St. Patrick's Grammar Armagh; St. Colman's College Newry; St. Patrick's Lisburn and Rathmore Grammar. Since the closure of St. Colman's PS Kilwarlin, pupils now attend a range of local primary schools including St. Patrick's PS in Magheralin. Moira's library is currently being rebuilt.
Moira has a thriving and enthusiastic junior football club, Moira FC that fields several young teams that play locally. The club, which has grown significantly since it started in the autumn of 2009, is linked to The LOGIC Cafe, which is part of St John's Parish Church in the village. Moira has another (unrelated) football team, Moira Albion, an amateur football club who host two teams and play in the Mid Ulster League. The Moira area is also represented in GAA by the St. Michael's club in Magheralin as Moira falls within the Magheralin Parish. St. Michael's play in the Down County League and their most notable player to date is George Lavery, who came from Moira and won two senior all-irelands with Down in 1960 and 1961. George played soccer for Moira Young Men's club in the 1940s and 1950s, playing in the local league before being offered a contract by Belfast Celtic.
Due to the prevalence of the Rawdon family in British Imperial affairs, several places in the world are named after Moira, County Down, usually via the noble title. These include;
- Moira, Leicestershire, a former mining village largely built by the Rawdons.
- Moira, Ontario, an area in Canada.
- The Moira River, and by extension the Moira Lake, also in Ontario, Canada.
- Moira, County Down (civil parish)
- List of towns and villages in Northern Ireland
- Market Houses in Northern Ireland
|Wikimedia Commons has media related to Moira, County Down.|
- Placenames NI - Moira
- "NINIS: Northern Ireland Neighbourhood Information Service". nisra.gov.uk.
- "Moira - Lisburn.com". lisburn.com.
- "The Battle of Mag Rath". askaboutireland.ie.
- R. R. Madden, The United Irishmen, Their Lives and Times Vol 1, J.Madden & Co (London 1845), Pg. 2-5.
- Cyril Falls: The Birth of Ulster.London, Constable and Company Ltd. 1996. Pages 11-12. P. Robinson The Plantation of Ulster. Belfast, Ulster Historical Foundation. 2000. Page 28. Dr. I. Adamson: The Identity of Ulster. Bangor, Pretani Press. Third Impression, 1995. Page 11.
- Dissident Republicans bomb Moira, County Down. February 1998. YouTube. 30 January 2010.
- "Sinn Féin asks to meet Blair". BBC News. 22 February 1998.
- "NINIS 1971-2008". NISRA. Retrieved 2011.
- Judith Millar. "Home". mccartneysofmoira.com. | <urn:uuid:885e2350-f824-440f-a6bc-35cc537ca22d> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.digplanet.com/wiki/Moira,_County_Down | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783397213.30/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154957-00035-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.970301 | 3,635 | 3.03125 | 3 |
Biomass Energy Working Group
The Indiana Office of Energy Development in conjunction with Purdue Extension sponsor the Indiana Bimass Energy Working Group. This group is a consortium of stakeholders from the industry, state and federal government, trade organizations, universities and citizenry working together to create a climate in the state of Indiana that would foster the growth of a viable renewable energy industry, protect our environment, provide energy security and green jobs in our communities. This will be done through educational programming and networking among stakeholders.
The term "biomass" means any plant derived organicmatter available on a renewable basis, including dedicated energy crops and trees, agricultural food and feed crops, agricultural crop wastes and residues, wood wastes and residues, aquatic plants,animal wastes, municipal wastes, and other waste materials. Handling technologies, collection logistics and infrastructure are important aspects of the biomass resource supply chain.
Some helpful links:
To learn more about CHP, click here
E85 and B20 provide a safer, cleaner burning source that also decreases the dependancy on foreign sources of oil. Value is added to current domestic products such as corn and soybeans. | <urn:uuid:97e0f43f-2829-48ee-a726-010578e797c8> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.in.gov/oed/2415.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783397695.90/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154957-00000-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.911124 | 229 | 2.703125 | 3 |
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Against Egypt. 2Concerning Egypt. Against the army of Pharaoh Neco, king of Egypt, defeated at Carchemish on the Euphrates* by Nebuchadrezzar, king of Babylon, in the fourth year of Jehoiakim, son of Josiah, king of Judah:
3Prepare buckler and shield!
move forward to battle!
4Harness the horses,
charioteers, mount up!
Fall in, with helmets on;
polish your spears, put on your armor.
5What do I see?
Are they panicking, falling apart?
Their warriors are hammered back,
They flee headlong
never making a stand.
Terror on every side—
oracle of the LORD!a
6The swift cannot flee,
nor the warrior escape:
There up north, on the banks of the Euphrates
they stumble and fall.
7Who is this? Like the Nile, it rears up;
like rivers, its waters surge.
8Egypt rears up like the Nile,
like rivers, its waters surge.
“I will rear up,” it says, “and cover the earth,
destroying the city and its people.b
March forth, warriors,
Cush and Put, bearing shields,
Archers of Lud, stretching bows!”
10Today belongs to the Lord GOD of hosts,
a day of vengeance, vengeance on his foes!
The sword devours and is sated, drunk with their blood:
for the Lord GOD of hosts holds a sacrifice
in the land of the north, on the River Euphrates.c
11Go up to Gilead, procure balm,
Virgin daughter Egypt!
No use to multiply remedies;
for you there is no healing.d
12The nations hear your cries,
your screaming fills the earth.
Warrior stumbles against warrior,
both collapse together.e
14Proclaim in Egypt, announce in Migdol,
announce in Memphis and Tahpanhes!
Say: Fall in, get ready,
the sword has devoured your neighbors.g
15Why has Apis* fled?
Your champion did not stand,
Because the LORD thrust him down;
16he stumbled repeatedly then collapsed.
They said to each other,
“Get up! We must return to our own people,
To the land of our birth,
away from the destroying sword.”h
17Give Pharaoh, king of Egypt, the name
18As I live, says the King
whose name is LORD of hosts,
Like Tabor above mountains,
like Carmel* above the sea, he comes.
19Pack your bags for exile,
enthroned daughter Egypt;
Memphis shall become a wasteland,
an empty ruin.
20Egypt is a beautiful heifer,
a horsefly from the north keeps coming.
21Even the mercenaries in her ranks
are like fattened calves;
They too turn and flee together—
they do not stand their ground,
For their day of ruin comes upon them,
their time of punishment.
22Her voice is like a snake!
Yes, they come in force;
They attack her with axes,
like those who fell trees.
23They cut down her forest—oracle of the LORD—
impenetrable though it be;
More numerous than locusts,
they cannot be counted.
24Shamed is daughter Egypt,
handed over to a people from the north.
25The LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, has said: See! I will punish Amon* of Thebes and Egypt, gods, kings, Pharaoh, and those who trust in him.i 26I will hand them over to those who seek their lives, to Nebuchadrezzar, king of Babylon, and to his officers. But later, Egypt shall be inhabited again, as in days of old—oracle of the LORD.j
27But you, my servant Jacob, do not fear;
do not be dismayed, Israel!
Listen! I will deliver you from far-off lands;
your offspring, from the land of their exile.
Jacob shall again find rest,
secure, with none to frighten him.k
28You, Jacob my servant, must not fear—oracle of the LORD—
for I am with you;
I will make an end of all the nations
to which I have driven you,
But of you I will not make an end:
I will chastise you as you deserve,
I cannot let you go unpunished.l
* [46:1–51:64] A collection of oracles against foreign nations constitutes the final section of the Hebrew text of Jeremiah; in the Greek text they follow 25:13. The oracles here appear to be arranged in loose chronological order: 46:2 mentions the fourth year of Jehoiakim; the oracles in 50:1–51:64 are evidently from the end of Jeremiah’s life.
* [46:2] Carchemish on the Euphrates: the western terminus of the Mesopotamian trade route, where Nebuchadnezzar defeated Pharaoh Neco in 605 B.C., thus gaining undisputed control of Syria and Palestine.
* [46:13] In 601 B.C. Nebuchadnezzar advanced into Egypt itself, but finally had to withdraw to Syria.
* [46:15] Apis: the chief god of Memphis; the black bull honored as an incarnation of the god Ptah and, later, of the god Osiris.
* [46:17] “Braggart-missed-his-chance”: the Hebrew phrase may contain a pun on the Pharaoh’s name or royal title.
* [46:18] Tabor…Carmel: mountains in Palestine that seem to tower over their surroundings as Nebuchadnezzar towers over the nations in his path as he makes his way toward Egypt.
* [46:25] Amon: the sun-god worshiped at Thebes in Upper Egypt.
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ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI—
Irrigation can make a big difference in agricultural production and in the lives of farm families. But the artificial application of water may not all be for the better. A new study
describes how irrigation can lead to a surge in malaria that can persist for a decade or more.
The malaria parasite is spread by mosquitoes, and mosquitoes like to breed in standing water. So when a previously dry area is irrigated, the disease can take hold.
“What happens is that when you irrigate, there is more, in a sense, more breeding habitats for the mosquito,” explains University of Michigan scientist Mercedes Pascual. She and her colleagues studied areas in northern India’s Gujarat state, where irrigation was introduced at various times. They analyzed how malaria progressed along with the spread of irrigation.
What they found was that after farmers began irrigating their crops, the malaria risk increased dramatically. The researchers thought maybe the malaria cases surged because there was little effort to control the mosquitoes that spread the disease.
“In fact, we saw the opposite,” Pascual said in a telephone interview. “This transition stage was characterized not just by heightened malaria risk, but also by more intervention to control the mosquito vector.”
Eventually, the mosquito control efforts take hold, but the researchers found high rates of malaria persist for a decade or more - longer than had been previously thought.
Pascual suggests that the irrigation project managers need to focus more on reducing places where mosquitoes might breed. And health officials may need to ramp up their approach, which she says has mostly focused on indoor insecticide spraying.
“And what we are saying is that those measures have to be sustained, and sustained and also planned for, for the long term.”
In areas with low rainfall, the researchers write in their research paper, “irrigation offers considerable rewards.” But as University of Michigan scientist Mercedes Pascual and her team point out, irrigation can also bring with it years of high rates of malaria unless better planning and control measures come along with the water supply.
Their findings are published online by the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. | <urn:uuid:db5f7b46-fe56-4feb-8d9f-253e861e84f0> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.voanews.com/content/irrigation-brings-malaria-along-with-water/1729806.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783395560.14/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154955-00059-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.970116 | 458 | 3.8125 | 4 |
From: National Optical Astronomy Observatory
Posted: Wednesday, January 8, 2003
Astronomers analyzing nearly 20 years of data from the National Science Foundation's Very Large Array radio telescope have discovered that a small star in a multiple-star system in the constellation Taurus probably has been ejected from the system after a close encounter with one of the system's more-massive components, presumed to be a compact double star. This is the first time any such event has been observed.
"Our analysis shows a drastic change in the orbit of this young star after it made a close approach to another object in the system," said Luis Rodriguez of the Institute of Astronomy of the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM).
"The young star was accelerated to a large velocity by the close approach, and certainly now is in a very different, more remote orbit, and may even completely escape its companions," said Laurent Loinard, leader of the research team that also included Monica Rodriguez in addition to Luis Rodriguez. The UNAM astronomers presented their findings at the American Astronomical Society's meeting in Seattle, WA.
The discovery of this chaotic event will be important for advancing our understanding of classical dynamic astronomy and of how stars evolve, including possibly providing an explanation for the production of the mysterious "brown dwarfs," the astronomers said.
The scientists analyzed VLA observations of T Tauri, a multiple system of young stars some 450 light-years from Earth. The observations were made from 1983 to 2001. The T Tauri system includes a "Northern" star, the famous star that gives its name to the class of young visible stars, and a "Southern" system of stars, all orbiting each other. The VLA data were used to track the orbit of the smaller Southern star around the larger Southern object, presumed to be a pair of stars orbiting each other closely.
The astronomers' plot of the smaller star's orbit shows that it followed an apparently elliptical orbit around its twin companions, moving at about 6 miles per second. Then, between 1995 and 1998, it came within about 200 million miles (about two times the distance between the Sun and the Earth) of its companions. Following that encounter, it changed its path, moving away from its companion at about 12 miles per second, double its previous speed.
"We clearly see that this star's orbit has changed dramatically after the encounter with its larger companions," said Luis Rodriguez. "By watching over the next five years or so, we should be able to tell if it will escape completely," he added.
"We are very lucky to have been able to observe this event," said Loinard. Though studies with computer simulations long have shown that such close approaches and stellar ejections are likely, the time scales for these events in the real Universe are long -- thousands of years. The chance to study an actual ejection of a star from a multiple system can provide a critical test for the dynamical theories.
If a young star is ejected from the system in which it was born, it would be cut off from the supply of gas and dust it needs to gain more mass, and thus its development would be abruptly halted. This process, the astronomers explain, could provide an explanation for the very-low-mass "failed stars" called brown dwarfs.
"A brown dwarf could have had its growth stopped by being ejected from its parent system," Loinard said.
The VLA observations were made at radio frequencies of 8 and 15 GHz.
T Tauri, the "Northern" star in this system, is a famous variable star, discovered in October of 1852 by J.R. Hind, a London astronomer using a 7-inch diameter telescope. At its brightest, it is some 40 times brighter than when at its faintest. It has been studied extensively as a nearby example of a young stellar system. While readily accessible with a small telescope, it is not visible to the naked eye. The observed orbital changes took place in the southern components of the system, displaced from the visible star by about one hundred times the distance between the Sun and the Earth.
// end // | <urn:uuid:59ce9a93-8f4b-4059-a4cb-c7b96ffdd06a> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.spaceref.com/news/viewpr.html?pid=10340 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783396224.52/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154956-00186-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.962884 | 841 | 2.84375 | 3 |
South Dakota Department of Health
Office of Disease Prevention - 605-773-3737 — (1-800-592-1861 in South Dakota only)
This material is provided for informational purposes only and is not a substitute
for medical care. We are not able to answer personal medical questions. Please see your
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What is trichinosis?
Trichinosis is a food borne disease caused by a microscopic round worm.
Who gets trichinosis?
Anyone who eats under cooked meat of infected animals can develop trichinosis. Pork products are implicated more often than other meats.
How is trichinosis spread?
Animals such as pigs, dogs, cats, rats and many wild animals including fox, wolf, polar bear and arctic marine mammals harbor the parasite. When parasites are passed in the feces, they infect new animals. When humans eat infected pig meat that has been improperly cooked, they become infected. Person-to-person spread does not occur.
What are the symptoms of trichinosis?
The symptoms usually start with fever, muscle soreness, pain and swelling around the eyes. Thirst, profuse sweating, chills, weakness and tiredness may develop. Chest pain may be experienced since the parasite may become imbedded in the diaphragm (the thin muscle separating the lungs from abdominal organs).
How soon after infection do symptoms appear?
The incubation period varies depending upon the number of parasites in the meat and the amount eaten. It can range from five to 45 days but is usually eight to 15 days.
Does past infection with trichinosis make a person immune?
Partial immunity may develop from infection.
What is the treatment for trichinosis?
A drug called Mebandazole is used in treatment.
What can be the effect of not being treated for trichinosis?
Failure to treat could be fatal.
What can be done to prevent the spread of trichinosis?
The best prevention is to make sure that pork products are properly cooked. The desirable temperature is at least 150 degrees F. Storing infected meat in a freezer with a temperature no higher than -13 degrees F. for 10 days will also destroy the parasite. | <urn:uuid:173f7c69-16ed-4a1b-9240-cea2324c152a> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://doh.sd.gov/diseases/infectious/diseasefacts/Trichinosis.aspx | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783393442.26/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154953-00117-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.926426 | 480 | 3.28125 | 3 |
Every woman, whether she chooses to acknowledge it or not, has an innate desire to be desired. Even the staunchest of feminists want to be accepted by other feminists. It goes without saying that we, as human beings, don’t enjoy being disliked and we go to any measure to make ourselves more readily acceptable to others. For women, one of the easiest ways to improve confidence and self-image is makeup.
Ancient Egyptians used copper and lead ores in some of the most primitive forms of makeup, and in many cultures there are reports of women crushing berries to dye their lips, using burnt matches as eyeliners, and using leeches to drain their blood to make their complexions appear more pale. Even the highly poisonous element mercury was a popular cosmetic in ancient Rome and Egypt. Most of these practices are obviously not safe. In some cultures, the use of cosmetics to enhance one’s appearance was limited only to the upper class.
During the Middle Ages, the Church began looking down on the use of cosmetics in all but the upper classes, probably because it nurtured vanity, one of the Seven Deadly Sins. In the 1800s, Queen Victoria publicly denounced makeup, calling it “vulgar,” and declared use of it acceptable only by actors.
However, after the turn of the century and the roaring twenties, makeup had become commonplace by the middle of the twentieth century. Discovering the marketplace for cosmetics, a few still well-known names emerged – Max Factor and Estée Lauder, just to name a two.
Max Factor was born Maximilian Factorowicz in what is now Poland (then part of the Russian Empire) in 1877 and began creating his own makeup, fragrances, and wigs to sell out of a shop. Factorowicz became well known when a traveling troupe wore some of his fragrances to a performance for Russian nobility. The royal family soon named him the cosmetic expert for themselves and the Imperial Russian Grand Opera.
In 1904, Factorowicz and his family migrated to the United States. After changing his last name to Factor, he began selling his cosmetics at the 1904 World’s Fair in St. Louis, Missouri. The family again moved in 1908, this time to Los Angeles, which allowed Factor to get a start in Hollywood.
Realizing that the commonly used grease paint of the stage could not be applied thinly enough to be used for motion pictures, Factor set about perfecting a grease paint in cream form that went on thinner and, unlike theatrical grease paint, would not crack. The new makeup caught on, and soon Factor was receiving calls from Hollywood stars eager to try the new flexible makeup.
Factor is also credited for coining the term “makeup” to refer to cosmetics. He based his new word on the verb phrase “to make one’s self up.”
After his success in Hollywood, Factor’s business only continued to grow, and in 1920 the Color Harmony principles of makeup were developed, stating that certain aspects of women’s faces were better accented by certain makeup shades. Factor continued to break boundaries and create new products, including liquid nail enamel in 1925, lip-gloss in 1930, and the first waterproof makeup in 1971.
Max Factor died in 1938 at the age of 59. His son, Max Factor Jr., expanded the family business, which merged with Norton-Simon industries in 1976. In 1983, Esmark took over Norton-Simon and then merged with Beatrice Foods, placing Max Factor into the Playtex division. Revlon bought Playtex in 1986, and in 1991, Revlon sold the company to Procter and Gamble. In 2010, Procter and Gamble will discontinue Max Factor in the United State to focus on the more successful CoverGirl brand.
Estée Lauder was born in Queens, New York, to a Hungarian mother and a Czechoslovakian father. She later married Joseph Lauder and in 1946 the two created and began selling cosmetics in New York. Starting with only four products, the Lauders sold independently for two years before establishing their first department store contract with Saks Fifth Avenue.
For fifteen years, the Lauders worked on spreading their brand across the United States. Finally in 1960, the business went international, with a contract with Harrod’s department store in London. The company would later open an office in Hong Kong as well.
Estée Lauder stands out as a company because its Clinique brand became the first dermatologist-guided, allergy-free skin system. Clinique also made headlines when it became the first cosmetic company to introduce a line for men.
Estée Lauder is comprised of several brands. Some of the most recognizable are Tommy Hilfiger, Kate Spade, Coach, and MAC Cosmetics.
While Max Factor and Estée Lauder are two of the best known American cosmetic companies, the biggest in the world in headquartered in Clichy, France. L’Oréal was founded in 1907 by French chemist Eugène Schueller, who developed a hair-color formula. Schueller manufactured his own products and then sold them to French hairdressers. In 1909, Schueller registered his company and began growing the brand.
Although L’Oréal got its start in hair color, the company has expanded over the years to include cosmetics, body and skin care, and fragrances.
As part of its Luxury Products division, L’Oréal owns and operates Lancôme, which began in 1935 and focused mainly on fragrances. Lancôme debuted its five fragrances at the World’s Fair in Brussels. Today, the company manufactures over 50 fragrances. In 1936, only a year after its premiere, the company had expanded its offerings to include makeup and skin care products.
It has been a long time since the ancient Egyptians used poisons to make themselves look pretty, and it can definitely be said that we’ve come a long way. Makeup now endures rigorous testing before it finds its way onto department store shelves and makeup brushes across the country. No matter how shallow the act of making one’s self up may be, the truth remains that as human beings, we always strive to be accepted. And if that means using beauty products to do so, count me in.Powered by Sidelines | <urn:uuid:8cea2449-d22f-480e-ad39-a0f50149ab84> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://blogcritics.org/a-brief-history-of-makeup/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783394937.4/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154954-00095-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.972256 | 1,311 | 2.546875 | 3 |
Early in the Civil War, President Abraham Lincoln was hard pressed by the Radical Republicans -- the party's abolitionist wing -- to abolish slavery by proclamation. Lincoln was opposed. He said that his main concern was preserving the union and he subordinated his feelings about slavery to that goal: "My paramount object is to save the Union, and not either to save or destroy slavery." Moreover, he knew that if he decreed emancipation at the beginning of the war, Missouri, Kentucky, and probably Maryland, all of which technically remained on the Union side, would have joined the South. As the war gloomily dragged on in 1862, and things looked bleak for the Union cause, Lincoln realized that he would have to end slavery. He was willing to issue an Emancipation Proclamation but he felt that the people of the North were not yet ready for it. He needed a military victory. In September of 1862, he barely got one. Five days after the Confederate Army's northward march was stopped at the battle of Antietam on September 17, 1862, Lincoln issued a preliminary proclamation.
in "Jim Crow Stories" | <urn:uuid:2a718477-fcfd-495e-af93-acbd6f893391> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.pbs.org/wnet/jimcrow/segregation_pops/1863_emancipation.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783392069.78/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154952-00129-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.984205 | 227 | 4.46875 | 4 |
THE HISTORY OF CAPE CANAVERAL CHAPTER 2
THE MISSILE RANGE TAKES SHAPE (1949-1958)
Written and Edited by
The U.S. Selects Cape Canaveral To Host A Missile Test Range
As post-war development of missile weapons progressed, a site became necessary to develop tactics and techniques for guided missile operations, train personnel, test equipment used to operate the missiles and conduct functional and tactical tests of new guided missiles to determine their effectiveness.
A suitable facility would need to be relatively isolated from centers of population, provide a large expanse of unpopulated area over which missiles could fly and accommodate the installation of several downrange tracking stations. A base for military operational headquarters would also be required.
Although a missile range had been in operation at White Sands, New Mexico since the close of World War II, this range was only 135 miles long and was perilously close to populated areas. It proved to be too short for newer, more powerful missiles and too risky to support more advanced research and development tests.
The dangers of a missile range so close to populated areas would become painfully clear in May, 1947 when a V-2 rocket strayed to the south instead of heading north over the White Sands range. The missile flew directly over El Paso, Texas and eventually crashed into the Tepeyac Cemetery in Juarez, Mexico.
The missile impact created a hole 50 feet wide by 30 feet deep. Although no one was injured, the U.S. government caused a minor international incident and had to settle damage claims, many of which were obviously embellished by the local residents. Thankfully, the quest for a new missile range had begun almost a year before this incident.
In October, 1946 the Joint Research and Development Board under the Joint Chiefs of Staff established the Committee on the Long Range Proving Ground to analyze possible locations for a new missile range to be shared by the various branches of the military.
Three potential sites emerged. One was based on the coast of northern Washington, with a range along the Aleutian Islands of Alaska. A second was based at El Centro, California, with a range along the coast of Baja, Mexico. A third was based at the Banana River Naval Air Station, with launches from Cape Canaveral and a range over the Atlantic Ocean.
Responsibility for acquiring, building and equipping the selected missile range was assigned to the War Department by the Joint Research and Development Board on July 8, 1947. On August 14, 1947 the War Department delegated limited responsibility for developing the selected missile range to the Army Air Forces.
In September, 1947 the Committee on the Long Range Proving Ground announced its decision to recommend the establishment of a missile proving ground at the California site, with Cape Canaveral offered as the second choice. The Washington site had been quickly rejected due to its isolation and poor weather.
On September 5, 1947 the Army Air Forces activated the National Guided Missiles Group to pursue development of the missile range. The Air Force was established on September 18, 1947 and inherited the National Guided Missiles Group.
The Air Force was notified by the recently established Department of Defense on December 30, 1947 that since a long range missile proving ground was intended to benefit the Army, Navy and Air Force, management of the project would be reassigned.
The project was officially designated the Joint Long Range Proving Ground, with development responsibility granted to the Joint Long Range Proving Ground Group. Although plans continued initially for the establishment of a missile range based in California, political problems arose in 1948.
Although it would have been a suitable site very close to existing missile manufacturers, the California site had to be rejected when Mexican President Aleman refused to agree to allow missiles to fly over the Baja region. This was largely a result of bad timing, since a wayward V-2 rocket launched from White Sands, New Mexico had recently crashed near Juarez, Mexico.
The British, however, were quick to express their willingness to allow missiles to fly over the Bahamas. They also were willing to lease island land to the U.S. military for the establishment of tracking stations. That, coupled with inherent strengths of Cape Canaveral, sealed its selection as the first U.S. long range missile proving ground.
The Missile Test Range At Cape Canaveral Is Approved
The very traits that kept large numbers of settlers away from Cape Canaveral now made it a perfect site for the establishment of a missile range. Covering 15,000 acres, the Cape was relatively isolated from heavily populated areas, but it was accessible by road, rail and shipping. The weather was also favorable most of the year.
The unique location of Cape Canaveral provided a huge over-water flight area removed from populated land masses and shipping lanes, as well as accessible West Indies and South Atlantic island sites for the installation of optical and radar tracking stations.
Cape Canaveral also was located near the Equator, which would prove to be an asset in ballistic missile testing and eventually space launches. Rockets launched from the Cape could take advantage of the rotational speed of the Earth, which is greatest at the Equator. The relative position of Cape Canaveral required less rocket engine thrust than would have been necessary elsewhere.
The additional fact that the Banana River Naval Air Station was available for occupation as headquarters just 15 miles south of Cape Canaveral caused military leaders to push ahead with the development of a missile range in Florida.
On May 11, 1949 President Harry S. Truman signed legislation entitled Public Law 60 establishing the Joint Long Range Proving Ground at Cape Canaveral. The Banana River Naval Air Station, which had been transferred from the Navy to the Air Force on September 1, 1948 was renamed the Joint Long Range Proving Ground Base on June 10, 1949
The Military Moves Onto Cape Canaveral
The U.S. government already owned several square miles of land on Cape Canaveral, including the Cape Canaveral Lighthouse vicinity and nearby property used to host Coast Guard patrol stations that monitored the coastline during World War II.
But more land was needed, and the U.S. government began condemning and purchasing private property on Cape Canaveral. Some of the local residents complied quickly, but some stayed in their homes even after the military assumed residence, preferring to wait until the courts exhausted their appeals to remain on their property.
About two dozen residents remained in the area around DeSoto Beach after the military assumed residence on the Cape. These individuals were temporarily removed from Cape Canaveral by bus and housed at the Brevard Hotel in the city of Cocoa during hazardous launch operations near their homes, which were very close to the first launch pads on the Cape.
Eventually, all of the remaining families were removed by action of the courts and the military assumed sole occupancy of Cape Canaveral. Many of the existing homes and buildings were converted into storage areas and offices. The hotel at DeSoto Beach housed the first headquarters building on Cape Canaveral.
Although all of the original buildings located on Cape Canaveral at the time the military assumed residency have long since vanished, surviving remnants of the first Cape residents include numerous preserved grave sites, scattered orange groves, gardens and of course the historic Cape Canaveral Lighthouse.
The Missile Range At Cape Canaveral Takes Shape
On October 1, 1949 the Joint Long Range Proving Ground Base was activated under the management of the Advance Headquarters, Joint Long Range Proving Ground and the Air Force Division, Joint Long Range Proving Ground.
On May 9, 1950 work began under a contract between the Army Corps of Engineers and Duval Engineering Company of Jacksonville, Florida to construct the first permanent access road and launch sites on Cape Canaveral. The first area developed for launch operations became known as Launch Pads 1, 2, 3 and 4.
Construction of instrumentation sites and missile handling areas on the Cape was also begun. Initially, military offices were established in existing buildings on Cape Canaveral itself, including abandoned homes. Prior to the completion of a runway and missile handling areas on the Cape, missile hardware was received and handled at the Joint Long Range Proving Ground Base, then trucked to Cape Canaveral for launch.
Although the entire facility was initiated under the cooperative management of the Army, Navy and Air Force, the Air Force soon assumed control of operations at Cape Canaveral and the island tracking stations by directive of the Department of Defense.
The Air Force Division, Joint Long Range Proving Ground was redesignated the Long Range Proving Ground Division on May 16, 1950 and assumed sole jurisdiction over the Cape Canaveral missile range. The range was renamed the Long Range Proving Ground, and the Joint Long Range Proving Ground Base was renamed the Long Range Proving Ground Base.
Under the direction of the Army Corps of Engineers, the construction of Port Canaveral at the southern end of Cape Canaveral was begun in July, 1950. The deep water port was originally intended to allow the berthing of range instrumentation and cargo ships, but was later expanded to service ballistic missile submarines and commercial vessels.
On July 21, 1950 the Bahamian Agreement was signed with the British government to allow construction of the first island tracking stations. The range of tracking stations eventually stretched across the Atlantic Ocean, South Africa and into the Indian Ocean.
Launch Pad 3 Supports The First Rocket Launch From Cape Canaveral
Although Launch Pads 1, 2, 3 and 4 and their associated support buildings were not all fully completed, the Army scheduled launches of two modified German V-2 rockets for July, 1950. The rockets were called Bumper, and each employed a V-2 rocket as first stage and a Without Any Control (WAC)-Corporal rocket as second stage. The first rocket launch from Cape Canaveral, that of Bumper #8, occurred on July 24, 1950. For more information on the first rocket launch from Cape Canaveral, click here.
Patrick Air Force Base Is Born And Cape Canaveral Gets Its First Military Name
A few days after the historic Bumper launches from the Cape, the Long Range Proving Ground Base received the name it holds today. It was renamed Patrick Air Force Base in honor of Major General Mason M. Patrick on August 1, 1950.
On June 30, 1951 the Long Range Proving Ground Division was redesignated the Air Force Missile Test Center and the range was renamed the Florida Missile Test Range.
The Cape itself did not receive a special military name at the introduction of launch activity. It was referred to by the informal designations "Cape Canaveral launch area" or "Cape Canaveral launching area", or simply as an extension of the Long Range Proving Ground.
On October 5, 1951 the military-occupied portion of the Cape was designated the Cape Canaveral Auxiliary Air Force Base (CCAAFB). This was in recognition of the official establishment of Cape Canaveral as Station #1 of the Florida Missile Test Range.
Patrick Air Force Base was declared a permanent military installation on December 24, 1952.
Cape Operations Expand Rapidly And The Air Force Yields To Contractors
With a basic infrastructure firmly established, Cape Canaveral began to grow rapidly. Although initially expected to only encompass Launch Pads 1, 2, 3 and 4 for the testing of Air Force winged missiles, the introduction of ballistic missiles caused operations at the Cape to expand rapidly.
As new ballistic missiles were introduced and tested, new facilities at Cape Canaveral were constructed of necessity. From a relatively humble beginning, launch facilities at Cape Canaveral eventually covered a sprawling area literally extending from the top to the bottom of geographic Cape Canaveral.
Initially, Air Force personnel manned all of the range support positions. However, an analysis determined that Cape Canaveral operations would be more cost-effective if broad functions were turned over to commercial contractors.
On December 31, 1953 the Guided Missiles Range Division of Pan American World Airways was granted the first range operation and maintenance contract. This included overall responsibility for range engineering, operation and maintenance, as well as instrumentation systems on the fleet of ocean range ships.
On February 28, 1954 Pan American World Airways signed its own sub-contract with RCA for the technical functions of operating and maintaining the range instrumentation systems. This included missile flight data processing, tracking instrumentation and communication links between the launch sites and downrange tracking stations.
Cape Canaveral Skid Strip Supports Its First Skid
On June 3, 1954 Cape Canaveral supported the first attempted recovery of a winged missile that flew a programmed pattern and then returned to the Cape for refurbishing and reuse. A Snark missile was successfully guided for landing on the Cape Canaveral Skid Strip, but the missile's skids failed and the vehicle crashed and exploded upon contact.
The Cape Canaveral Skid Strip still bears its name. It originated as a long strip intended to support landings of Snark missiles, which employed metal skid plates but no traditional landing gear. Hence, the Cape landing strip was nicknamed the Cape Canaveral Skid Strip, because Snark missiles skidded to a stop after landing. A large number were successfully recovered this way.
The Cape Canaveral Skid Strip was eventually modified for other purposes. On February 3, 1956 a Navaho X-10 missile was successfully launched from and recovered on the skid strip. The Navaho X-10 was a test version of the Navaho XSM-64 and employed landing gear similar to that used on aircraft. It was launched, flew and landed much like a traditional aircraft.
Traditional aircraft ultimately came to use the Cape Canaveral Skid Strip as well. On February 11, 1963 the Cape Canaveral Skid Strip was designated an auxiliary landing strip for Patrick Air Force Base, although rated for daytime use only.
From that time onward, the Cape Canaveral Skid Strip has fulfilled a vital role in the shipping and receiving of rocket parts and supplies for Cape operations, as well as the transport of personnel. Training of military paratroopers is also routinely conducted there.
More Name Changes For Cape Canaveral And The Range
On December 16, 1955 Cape Canaveral Auxiliary Air Force Base was redesignated the Cape Canaveral Missile Test Annex (CCMTA). The Cape would hold this name until a controversial name change was in store.
In May, 1958 the Florida Missile Test Range was renamed the Atlantic Missile Range.
First Missile Worker Dies On Cape Canaveral
On July 9, 1958 the Cape experienced its first operational fatality. On that day, Fred D. Adams fell from an Atlas missile service tower and died as a result of injuries sustained.
Although this was a great loss for all involved, fatalities on the Cape have been few and far between. Specific records on fatalities are not available for review, but it is estimated that less than 20 people have died as a result of operational activities at the Cape.
This number does not include those who may have died in automobile accidents on government property, but anyone would agree that given the volatile nature of rocket and missile launches, the number of operational fatalities has been remarkably low.
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Copyright © 2000 by Spaceline, Inc. | <urn:uuid:d37aeb36-fed2-48a1-ac48-bb824942c249> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.spaceline.org/capehistory/2a.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783399425.79/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154959-00083-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.969536 | 3,048 | 3.765625 | 4 |
This specimen is a partial set of jaws of Equus capensis, the so called cape giant zebra, from Makapansgat, the most northerly australopithecine site in South Africa. Actually, although robust these equids are not so giant, being about the size of a big modern horse. Fossils of this robust equuid are widespread throughout South Africa, with the type coming from close to Cape Town, way down in the southwest.
It is often said that Africa escaped the megafaunal extinctions of the late Pleistocene but there is a definite set of large African mammal species that clearly did not make it through to the present. These include the giant buffalo Pelorovis, other bovids like Megalotragus, and supposedly Equus capensis. But if Charles Churcher is right reports of E. capensis' demise are greatly exaggerated. It s apparently alive and well in the form of.... Grevy's Zebra.
Image from wikimedia commons
Apparently the teeth (which are what most extinct Equus taxonomy is based on)of E. capensis do not differ in significant ways from those of E. grevyi and a bunch of east and northern african fossil equiids (e.g. E. oldowayensis).
Grevy's zebra is now restricted to East Africa and cannot be found anywhere near Suth Africa. So if it doesn't represent an actual extinction it does represent a drammatic range contraction.
Churcher CS (2006)Distribution and history of the Cape zebra (Equus capensis) in the Quaternary of Africa. Transactions of the Royal Society of South Africa 61:89-95
All the Skinks of the Rainbow - *Breeding male southern rainbow skink *Carlia tetradactyla*, copyright Will Brown.* Australia is home to a diverse and distinctive array of reptiles, most...
3 days ago | <urn:uuid:54a8e8e3-6d3f-421d-9e14-175c05da551f> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://dracovenator.blogspot.com/2008/11/from-galleries-of-bpi-cape-giant-zebra.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783396147.66/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154956-00138-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.903709 | 402 | 3.15625 | 3 |
|Scientific Name:||Litoria booroolongensis|
|Species Authority:||(Moore, 1961)|
|Taxonomic Source(s):||Frost, D.R. 2014. Amphibian Species of the World: an Online Reference. Version 6 (27 January 2014). New York, USA. Available at: http://research.amnh.org/herpetology/amphibia/index.html. (Accessed: 27 January 2014).|
|Red List Category & Criteria:||Critically Endangered B2ab(i,ii,iii,iv,v) ver 3.1|
|Assessor(s):||Jean-Marc Hero, Graeme Gillespie, Frank Lemckert, Peter Robertson, Murray Littlejohn|
|Reviewer(s):||Global Amphibian Assessment Coordinating Team (Simon Stuart, Janice Chanson and Neil Cox)|
Listed as Critically Endangered because its Area of Occupancy is less than 10km2, its distribution is severely fragmented, and there is a continuing decline in the extent and quality of its habitat, in its Extent of Occurrence, its Area of Occupancy, and in the number of locations and the number of mature individuals.
|Previously published Red List assessments:|
|Range Description:||This Australian endemic ranges from the Queensland border south down the Great Dividing Range almost to the Victorian border. It has not been recorded from the Northern Tablelands during the past 15 years despite extensive surveys. The only extant population in Northern New South Wales is near Tamworth. The area of occupancy of this species is only approximately 10km² and is severely fragmented. It has been recorded between 200 and 1,000m asl.|
|Range Map:||Click here to open the map viewer and explore range.|
|Population:||There have been very few records of the species in the past five years and the species is believed to have undergone massive declines over its entire range.|
|Current Population Trend:||Decreasing|
|Habitat and Ecology:||This is a highland species associated with western-flowing rocky streams on the slopes and tablelands of the Great Dividing Range. Streams are slow-flowing and bordered by grassy vegetation. Males begin calling in August from rocks in or near the water. It is most active at night but also often found in daylight on rocks on the waters edge.|
|Major Threat(s):||The widespread disappearance of this species across most of its range is probably due to chytridiomycosis. In addition, introduced fish occur in many streams where the species has been recorded, which exert predatory pressure upon tadpoles of this species. Land clearing, forest grazing and timber harvesting have occurred adjacent to or in the headwaters of catchments in which the species has been recorded. Flow modification and weed invasion (particularly by willows) has also occurred along many streams where the species occurs.|
|Conservation Actions:||Development of a management plan is under way, but much further research and survey work is needed as is protection and rehabilitation of remaining habitat. The range of the species includes several protected areas, and it is given protection where it occurs in state forests. Given the probable threat of chytridiomycosis, recommended conservation measures will probably need to include the establishment of a captive-breeding programme.|
Barker, J., Grigg, G. and Tyler, M. 1995. A Field Guide to Australian Frogs. Surrey Beatty and Sons Pty Ltd, New South Wales.
Gillespie, G. and Hines, H.B. 1999. Status of Temperate Riverine Frogs in South-Eastern Australia. In: Campbell, A. (ed.), Declines and Disappearances of Australian Frogs, pp. 109-130. Environment Australia, Canberra.
IUCN. 2004. 2004 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. www.iucnredlist.org. Downloaded on 23 November 2004.
Moore, J.A. 1961. The frogs of eastern New South Wales. Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History: 151-386.
|Citation:||Jean-Marc Hero, Graeme Gillespie, Frank Lemckert, Peter Robertson, Murray Littlejohn. 2004. Litoria booroolongensis. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2004: e.T41029A10390615.Downloaded on 30 June 2016.|
|Feedback:||If you see any errors or have any questions or suggestions on what is shown on this page, please provide us with feedback so that we can correct or extend the information provided| | <urn:uuid:d97e7aa5-575b-4111-8be4-18bef106154b> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.iucnredlist.org/details/full/41029/0 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783399117.38/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154959-00185-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.868328 | 984 | 2.8125 | 3 |
EVERY CHILD SHOULD FEEL SAFE in school. Fear of violence should not intrude on learning. Governor Locke is working to ensure that school is a place to learn, not a place to fear.
|“It isn't just the violence, but the threat of violence in schools that we must address. How can we expect our children to learn if they are afraid for their very safety in our schools?” Governor Gary Locke|
School violence tragedies send the frightening message that no school is immune to these horrible events. But if students, parents, school officials, and law enforcement have the tools, and if they work together, schools can be much safer, and students can feel secure enough to focus on learning.
In 1998, Governor Locke and State Superintendent of Public Instruction Terry Bergeson convened a Youth Safety Summit.
More than 400 students, parents, educators, law enforcement officers, and community leaders discussed what is needed to make schools safer. They recommended ways to prevent violence in schools and improve youth safety, focusing on what people can do together in their own communities.
In the last three legislative sessions, the Governor and the Legislature provided $31 million for new tools to help create safer schools. Included in this past legislative budget was funding:
The Governor also signed new laws requiring immediate evaluation of students arrested for bringing guns to school, and requiring more information sharing between schools and law enforcement.
Governor Locke knows our childrens' safety requires more than government intervention. It requires the caring involvement of the community - from students and parents to teachers and neighbors. It takes all of us working together to make our schools safe.
The six pillars of school safety:
Dick Van Wagenen, Governor's Executive Policy Office
Phone: (360) 902-0651
Fax: (360) 586-8380 | <urn:uuid:7971f78e-f649-40fe-a555-3d3a67c94658> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.digitalarchives.wa.gov/GovernorLocke/protect/commun.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783396875.58/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154956-00089-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.951885 | 376 | 3.265625 | 3 |
Did you know…o Fleas spend only 10% of their time on your animalo An average fleas’ life span can be up to 2-3 yearso One female flea can lay up to 1 million eggs during its lifeo Eggs can live unhatched in your carpet for a year until the right environment for hatching occurso Bark dust, wood piles and ivy are great places for fleas to survive the winter monthso The flea is the second oldest insect (the cockroach is the first) because of its excellent survival mechanismsThe Flea Life CycleAdult cat and dog fleas prefer to feed on pets rather than people. The pets are closer to the ground and have warmer body temperatures than humans. Second choice would be children — especially infants and toddlers. Female fleas will probe and bite and average of seven times in a “grouping” before locating a blood vessel in the skin. The saliva they leave with each bite can cause a localized allergic reaction (flea allergy dermatitis or FAD as we call it in the veterinary world.) After feeding on large amounts of blood, the female flea deposits her eggs and droppings (flea dirt) which consists mostly of undigested blood. Both the eggs (which are white and about the size of a grain of salt) and the droppings (which are black and appear like ground pepper, often in the shape of a comma) drop off the animal’s coat and spread all over the environment.Here’s a quick home-test to see if your pet has fleas: Lay out a white piece of butcher paper and groom your pet for a few minutes as they stand on the paper. Do you see any black, comma-looking things against the white paper? If so, put a drop of water on it. If it’s flea dirt, the water will turn pink.Flea eggs remain in the environment for variable amounts of time and are not destroyed by extremes in temperature or by pesticides. When proper conditions exist, the eggs hatch and release tiny white larvae. These larvae are not able to get around and must rely on the undigested blood left in the droppings for their food source. Larvae are very susceptible to extremes in environment, pesticides, and insect growth regulators.Within several days the larvae spin a protective cocoon called a pupae around themselves. The pupae are very resistant to all but steam cleaning and can lie dormant for many months to years. The pupae is the primary stage that over-winters in the environment. When conditions are favorable (warm and moist), the pupae release young adult fleas and the cycle is complete.The length of the flea life cycle can vary from a little as one month to as long as two or three years.Flea Control ProductsThere are many products available to eliminate fleas. They differ in effectiveness, application, safety, convenience, odor of the product, and duration of effectiveness. Sounds pretty complicated, right? It is. It’s actually a chemical nightmare.AN EFFECTIVE FLEA CONTROL PROGRAM MUST INCLUDE ALL ANIMALS IN THE HOUSEHOLD AND THE ENTIRE ENVIRONMENT IN WHICH THE ANIMALS LIVE (INCLUDING YOUR CAR.)Many people only use one product at a time, which is NOT effective. You must treat the animal, the house, and the yard all at one time to get this challenge under control.Control of fleas on the pet: You have your choice of powders, sprays, dips, spot-ons or oral growth regulators.Flea Powder: Manufacturers of these products say flea powder is safe to use every 3-4 days on dogs and cats older than 8 weeks of age. The active ingredient, (pyrethrins being the safest and most natural ingredient) takes about 15 minutes to kill fleas when first applied. By the end of 5-7 days, if not reapplied, flea powder works only as a residual, taking up to 12 hours to kill the flea. There is no growth regulator in this product so it only kills the adults.Note: Powder should be diluted to half strength with talcum powder when used on puppies and kittens.Disadvantages of flea powder: Flea powder can make the coat feel rough and dirty. So, if your pet is already uncomfortable from the fleas and now you are alienating them by not giving them the affection you used to when their coats were cleaner and softer, this makes the problem worse. The animals do not enjoy flea powder and it may make asthma worse.Flea Sprays: Sprays can vary somewhat. Most are alcohol-based and some are more organic than others. The alcohol is for quick kill of the adult and pre-adult stages. Some flea sprays contain an insect growth regulator that will kill flea eggs as well. Make sure you get one with this in it. Pets run when they see you come to them with that bottle after a few applications.The only time I use flea spray is when I’m treating a cat for ear mites (I spray some on a Kleenex and wipe their head down after I clean their ears and put medication down both ear canals.) I also use it to spray my pant legs when I take walks in the woods during tick season.So, could you use rubbing alcohol or vodka to kill the adults? Yes, but using rubbing alcohol can be toxic. Rubbing alcohol contains a bit of methanol, which can cause blindness when ingested. Cats groom themselves and will ingest this. If you want to use alcohol, stick with vodka or Everclear, but it’s really not very effective.Aromatherapy: Herbal insecticides include pennyroyal (very toxic), clove, citronella, and eucalyptus oils (diluted of course.) These can be mixed in with shampoos or applied to a material flea collar. They can be very irritating when applied directly to the skin. They should not be put directly onto the coat either because when the animal grooms himself or herself they will ingest it. In general, pets hate this type of flea control and only submit to it in a learned helplessness type of situation.Flea collars are only minimally effective in the control of fleas. Most collars contain dichlorvos, which is released as a vapor. They are sold under several trade names. Dichlorvos is toxic to animals and people and can cause severe reactions occasionally. Remember, flea and tick collars don’t work well for animals over 20 pounds.Note: Collars are especially harmful to Persian cats. They may also cause localized reactions around the neck.Ultrasonic collars are ineffective and may cause hearing loss in your pet. Ultrasonic collars are an expensive gimmick. Don’t fall for this.Dips which kill fleas and mites for several days or weeks are highly toxic and should not be used for routine flea control. One study found that more than 3 dips per year led to an increased incidence of cancer. Wear gloves if you decide on this method of flea control (although I have no idea why you would.) Try to pick a non-organophosphate (OGP) type with a growth inhibitor in it.Pour-on and Spot-on products containing organophosphates are also very toxic. Organophosphate spot-on kills the fleas only after it bites the pet and sucks its blood. These products are also dangerous where infants are concerned. Do not let a small child be exposed to the pet for at least 24 hours after these products are used. I have heard of instances where the parent found a dead infant the day after putting this on the family dog that slept with the child. They are applied once every two weeks. A good rule of thumb is “if a little is good, a lot is NOT necessarily better.” Use only the dose specified on the bottle. Make sure you know the weight of the animal before you dose them. Make note of the next paragraph.Common side effects to flea products may include hypersalivation, vomiting, and diarrhea. Some animals appear to foam at the mouth, others stagger about. Their pupils dilate and they seem disoriented. The best treatment is to remove the product from the animal’s skin or body. Bathe your pet immediately–with a mild shampoo NOT containing flea control. Some animals may need to be treated by a veterinarian with atropine or steroids to help the animal deal with the toxicity and in some instances to save their lives. If you have any questions, do not hesitate to call your vet.One product on the market seems to be working quite well and is minimally toxic. It is called Advantage. Advantage is a spot-on with a growth inhibitor, which works for 3-4 weeks. It permeates the fatty layer of the skin. It should be applied after the bath because bathing leeches the product from the skin. Advantix is a formula that is used for those who are in a tick area. It is also fairly safe.For dogs that swim regularly, this product may not work as well as others such as Program. If Advantage is not working for you, you are most likely not following a total flea control program of treating all animals in your house, premise spraying the house, the car and treating the yard as well.Occasionally I have seen Advantage react locally with the skin causing the hair in that area to fall out, but this is rare.Program is an oral product that contains growth inhibitor. It is given once a month and literally sterilizes the adult fleas so they cannot produce any eggs. It is very safe for both the animal and owners. The animals don’t mind the taste in most cases and it is very effective when used with environmental control. Some forms of Program also include a heartworm preventative and monthly roundwormer (pyrantel pamoate). This product is especially recommended for flea problems of a larger magnitude and for long term maintenance. It’s not a good product for the flea allergic pet, however because the flea still needs to bite the pet to ingest the growth inhibitor.I am often asked about Frontline products. I will have to say that I have never muscle-tested this product to be safe for any pet. It sure is popular and sells like crazy (I don’t carry it.) I don’t know why, but Advantage and Program seem to be the safest products with the fewest chance for side effects.Flea Shampoos provide no protection once they are rinsed off. They can provide temporary relief (a few hours with severe infestation of the environment) and will kill the fleas on the animal at the time of the bath. They are good in getting rid of the flea dirt on the skin, but they also dry the skin out and are not good for dogs with dry/flaky or oily/greasy skin. It’s better to choose the correct medicated shampoo for your pet in these cases.Apply flea spray, powder, or Advantage to the pet after the bath for longer lasting results. Any animal having skin disease along with the flea problem should see your veterinarian for proper treatment and recommendations regarding diet, shampoo and treatments.I’m sorry to say that B-Vitamins, Brewer’s Yeast, Garlic, Cedar Chips and Herbal Flea Collars will not kill fleas. They do, however, make the skin smell bad to the flea and will deter them. Scientific studies show a decrease of only 20% in the flea numbers with the use of these products.Note: Cedar chips and shavings can be harmful to your pet’s skin. The slivers off the chips can embed into the skin and cause tumors (that goes for rats too!). The essential oil of the wood is also very toxic and has been known to cause cancer.Avon Skin-So-Soft is used by itself as a flea deterrent and is in Duo-Cide products. To use this product, add 2 tablespoons Skin-So-Soft per pint water in a pint spray bottle. Shake well just before using each time–it is an oil/water interface. Skin-So-Soft may make the coat oily and you may have to wash the pet more often as the dust will stick to this oil more readily. If your pet has allergies, this would not be a good choice. The goal is to reduce allergen exposure on the coat for allergic pets. This product would help the pollens to adhere to your pet causing more problems.Flea combs are highly recommended for animals that cannot tolerate flea products. The challenge is to get the owners to use the comb as often as necessary to help the animal–every day. Grooming can be biweekly after you comb off no more fleas for several days in a row. Continue to use the flea comb daily for those flea-allergic pets. Fleas need to be crushed with a thumbnail as they have very hard exoskeletons.Some fleas combs are better than others. Try to purchase one that will rake off the adult fleas, eggs, and flea dirt all at once. These combs are also excellent in the prevention of hairballs in cats (and will comb out lice in a child’s hair very effectively). Fleas combs won’t comb through the longer coats very easily–the tines bend and break. I like the kind imported from England. They have a great handle you can palm and metal tines that can really take a beating (or grooming.) I also use my flea comb to comb out the winter coats on my pets. They cost about $7.00.Treating the Pet’s Environment:In general, the products used in the environment can be more toxic and last longer than those which are applied to the animal. Never use these products directly on your pet or children unless the bottle states it is safe to do so (even then, I would question this.)Where young children and infants are concerned, more importance is placed on safety than effectiveness. This is why it is important for you to be involved in the choices of products for your home and pets.Premise control products kill only the susceptible stages of the fleas at the point in time they are used. They are fairly safe and can be used as the main environmental treatment in homes that have birds and fishes as pets. The frequency of fogging and spraying depends upon the temperature and humidity, degree of flea infestation, the traffic of pets in and out, the effectiveness of the products used, and the amount of household clutter in which fleas can hide.Foggers are designed to cover large enclosed areas and are set off while all occupants (including pets) are away. They are most effective in empty spaces and in crawl spaces. In homes with furniture or items covering the floor they are not very effective. Foggers can take care of up to 80% of the problem. Make sure you get one with a growth inhibitor in it.When using foggers, remove all living things from the premises. Cover your fish tanks and remove all the birds. Read labels prior to using any foggers or premise sprays. Because the insect growth regulator Methoprene is also removed with vacuuming, vacuum or steam clean before using them and wait at least 4 days after fogging to vacuum. Foggers are basically gone after 10-15 vacuumings.Put your dollars into growth inhibitor products for most effective and economical results.Premise Sprays are designed for spot treatment or for difficult to reach areas and for areas which are not enclosed such as a back porch or doghouse. Use premise sprays for the baseboards, under the furniture, and between the couch cushions and around the edges of the water bed mattress.These products last 2-3 months, are not as easily vacuumed up (they last for 20-30 vacuumings) and are very good for high traffic areas and for continuous protection. These products are broken down and become ineffective by the sun’s rays. Use them for touch up in well-traveled pathways in the house where you may vacuum more often. Don’t forget to treat your car if you pets travel with you (even just once to the vet.) This product is effective and a good use for your dollars.Yard and kennel sprays are for outdoor use and should be used in accordance with manufacturer recommendations. Most fleas live within a 30-foot radius of the building — where most pets spend their time. These sprays can be purchased at your veterinarian’s office, pet shops, on-line, or at the local garden store.Nematodes that eat flea larvae: A few years ago I carried a natural product of nematodes to sprinkle on your lawn that would kill the flea larvae. That would be a great product if it were effective. The downfalls to this product were that it had to be kept wet, the expiration dates are short, it is expensive, and one can does not go far. If anyone of you out there has found a good product like this could be, let me know!Malathion and Sevin are the sprays used most frequently for the yard, but get inactivated by sunshine and they will not last over 3-7 days. Spray them after the sun has gone down and when you know it won’t be raining for a day or two.Housekeeping can be an extremely effective flea control measure. Vacuuming will remove flea eggs, pupae and the flea droppings used by the larvae for food. Vacuum up some flea powder or add a piece of flea collar to each new bag or burn the vacuum sweepings to prevent fleas from completing their life cycle in the compost heap or trash bag. Vacuuming EVERY DAY is essential if you don’t want to use chemicals. Also, getting rid of carpet in your house helps a lot. I would also recommend an occasional shampoo of the carpets (not dry-chemical cleaning) as it will suffocate the cocoons.A note about worms: When fleas (or mice) are ingested by your pet the tapeworm (cestode) is allowed to finish its life cycle. If you see rice-sized segments sticking to the hairs around the rectum of your pet or see the segments or “ribbon or noodle-like” worms in the stool or on the animals bedding you should contact your veterinarian for a drug to treat them. Over-the-counter worm preparations only treat nematodes (roundworms) and are not effective against tapeworms. Worming may be necessary as often as every three weeks (the life cycle of the tapeworm) depending on the severity of the flea problem.When in doubt (especially for large dogs, which can be very expensive to worm,) bring in a fresh stool sample for a floatation. The floatation may not show eggs even though your pet has worms.My recommendation is to worm your pets if you are seeing fleas with a good tapewormer (Cestex is wonderful) and worm twice a year with pyrantel pamoate (also called Nemex or Strongid-T) roundwormer. Piperzine is useless these days for roundworming and no longer works at all in cats. The grocery store doses are ineffective.If you have wormers at home and would like to try to use them up first, call your vet. We need to know the chemical name (scientific name) to be able to tell you if you have the proper medication.NEVER give a store bought wormer to a pet who is sick unless your vet is consulted first. You may cause some severe problems–especially with triple wormers. I once had a relative give her pregnant dog a triple wormer. The dog strained so much that her uterus burst and she died.Diatomaceous Earth: Not all diatomaceous earth (DE) is alike. Stay away from filtration types. All DE that is used for filtration purposes (pools, spas, etc) has undergone chemical and heat treatment. The heat treatment greatly increases the percentage of crystalline silica, which poses a serious inhalation risk. DE has high crystalline silica content and some DE has high levels of arsenic in it. Our local organic people recommend Perma-Guard (www.perma-guard.com). Another brand to use that is safe is Biconet. Only natural untreated DE should be used for insect control.How does DE work? The dust clogs their breathing apparatus so they suffocate. Unfortunately it may also make asthma symptoms worsen.Mopping with soap and mild bleach water is quite effective for flea control in those houses with no carpets. Many of my clients with flea allergic animals and inhalant allergy children eventually change over to hardwood floors and linoleum.Flea attractant lights. What a racket. Don’t waste your money on this gimmick. White dishes filled with water and Joy dish soap: I suspect if you are attracting fleas to this kind of contraption that you have a severe infestation and should think about doing something a bit more effective.Well, I hope this helps your flea problem. Good luck! You’ll need it.© 2005 by Dr. Denice M. Moffat
Dr. Denice Moffat is a practicing naturopath, medical intuitive, and veterinarian working on the family unit (which includes humans and animals) through her telephone consultation practice established in 1995. She has a content-rich website at http://www.NaturalHealthTechniques.com. Sign up for her free internationally distributed newsletter to receive a bonus report containing over 150 tips to improve your health starting today or follow her on Facebook for all the latest health updates and discussions at http://www.facebook.com/NaturalHealthTechniques. | <urn:uuid:0a7bcd8d-3809-4475-b9ea-48912d7cc38e> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | https://kittylala1980.wordpress.com/2012/08/12/flea-control-strategies/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783392159.3/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154952-00008-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.949242 | 4,558 | 3.171875 | 3 |
Semantic Mapping Using Mobile Robots
Semantic Mapping Using Mobile Robots". In IEEE Transactions on Robotics, 24(2):245-258, 2007.. "
Robotic mapping is the process of automatically constructing an environment representation using mobile robots. We address the problem of semantic mapping, which consists of using mobile robots to create maps that represent not only metric occupancy but also other properties of the environment. Specifically, we develop techniques to build maps that represent activity and navigability of the environment. Our approach to semantic mapping is to combine machine learning techniques with standard mapping algorithms. Supervised learning methods are used to automatically associate properties of space to the desired classification patterns. We present two methods, the first based on hidden Markov models and the second on support vector machines. Both approaches have been tested and experimentally validated in two problem domains: terrain mapping and activity-based mapping.
Semantic Mapping, Supervised Learning | <urn:uuid:d7bc22aa-40f1-476d-8911-9f28358c5785> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://robotics.usc.edu/resl/publications/516/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783402699.36/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624155002-00074-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.882481 | 185 | 2.859375 | 3 |
By Gary P. Caton | October 25, 2010
American politics has regularly scheduled elections, although this regularity has only been in place for the last hundred years or so. Congress introduced a universal Election Day in 1845, but 1914 was the first election year where all Senators were popularly elected. Since then, every two years (even-numbered years), we have had Federal elections on the Tuesday after the first Monday of November. Therefore, the earliest possible date is November 2 and the latest possible date is November 8. Astrologically, this puts the Sun between 9º-15º Scorpio, in the tropical zodiac.
Members of the House of Representatives serve a two-year term before facing an election. U.S. Senators serve six-year terms; however, their terms are staggered — every two years, about one-third of the Senate is elected. So, our President is elected every four years and our Congress holds elections every two years. This sets up a phenomenon known as “mid-term elections,” since they are Congressional elections near the midpoint of the four-year presidential term. Historically, these usually don’t turn out well for the party of the President; in the past 17 mid-term elections, the President’s party has lost an average of 28 seats in the House, and an average of four seats in the Senate. (1)
Astrologically, this mid-term phenomenon begins to make some sense when viewed through the lens of the synodic cycle of Venus. Because of a 13:8 resonance with Earth, Venus has one of the most regular cycles of any planet. She completes five synodic cycles in almost exactly eight calendar years, tracing a five-pointed star in the sky.
This means that every eight years Venus makes her retrograde conjunction with the Sun near the same degree of the zodiac. Furthermore, these conjunctions drift backward through the zodiac about 2.5 degrees every eight years, so after twelve conjunctions and 96 years, any particular arm of Venus’s five-pointed star will change zodiac signs. Since 1930 (and through 2026), one arm of the Venus star has resulted in retrograde conjunctions in the sign of Scorpio. This means that, for the last 80 years, one in four federal elections have been held with Venus retrograde. Since 1970, Venus’s retrograde conjunctions with the Sun have drifted into mid-Scorpio and, thus, have been very close to Election Day.
When understood as a visible phenomenon, Venus’s involvement with U.S. federal elections begins to make even more sense. While only one in four federal elections currently occur during Venus retrograde, half of them occur with Venus invisible. At the mid-point of her eight-year cycle, Venus makes a superior (e.g., direct) conjunction near the same degree as the retrograde conjunction four years earlier. When Venus is conjunct the Sun, either retrograde or direct, she is not visible in the sky — she is either passing in front of, or behind, the Sun and cannot be seen within the bright solar glare. At the mid-term elections this year Venus is invisible. (Venus retrograde is conjunct the Sun on October 28.)
Currently, the U.S. Presidential elections happen with Venus shining brightly — either as Morning Star in the sign of Libra, or as Evening Star in the sign of Sagittarius. Two years later, at the time of mid-term elections, Venus is close to one of her conjunctions with the Sun in Scorpio, unable to be seen. Thus, the brightest planet in the sky at the time when any President is elected becomes hidden when he faces mid-term elections. With the President’s party usually faring poorly in mid-terms, this visual disappearance of Venus every two years seems to correlate with the vagaries of voter opinion.
It is almost as if the American voting public suffers from a kind of “buyer’s remorse” and they decide to take back the support they gave only two short years ago. The upside of this is that it seems to activate the system of checks and balances the Founding Fathers put in place. It is not often that one party controls all three branches of government. The downside is that it provides an opportunity for a man, who once brazenly passed out money from Big Tobacco right on the floor of the House, to now possibly become the leading lawmaker in this country and third in line to the Presidency. (2) Yet, even the long dark shadow of corruption via corporate money in American politics makes sense in terms of Venus. Following the chain of dispositorships, any July 2 or 4 charts for the U.S. show Venus ruling Saturn in Libra, who then rules Pluto in Capricorn. In the Sibley chart, using whole sign houses, this is all happening in the financial houses: the 2nd, 8th, and 11th. Perhaps Venus’s retrograde intrusions on our election processes are here to teach us a lesson.
Recent polls have suggested that voters are more negative now about re-electing members of Congress than in the last five mid-terms, including the 1994 and 2006 elections, which saw dramatic shifts of power in both houses of Congress. (3) Mercury was retrograde at the 2006 election, and Mercury and Venus were conjunct the Sun in Scorpio. In 1994, the North Node of the Moon was conjunct the Sun, and Venus was retrograde in Scorpio, with Jupiter in Scorpio as well. The 1954 election saw a reversal in both the Senate and the House — a Democratic majority shift in the Senate, which would last until 1980, and in the House, which would last until 1994. In 1954, both Mercury and Venus were retrograde in Scorpio and Saturn was conjunct the Scorpio Sun. Astrologically speaking, it appears to this astrologer that if we were going to have a reversal in both houses of Congress, we would see more emphasis in Scorpio than we have this year. It is possible that the House may change to Republican control, but probably not the Senate.
Gary P. Caton is an eclectic astrologer who embraces an organic, process-oriented approach to spiritual growth, exploration, and transformation. Gary holds a degree in counseling and has developed a unique multi-discipline approach to Astrology over 17 years. Connect with Gary at DreamAstrologer | <urn:uuid:9d5615ef-098d-46ab-b346-2253b118aa69> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://mountainastrologer.com/tma/the-2010-venus-rx-mid-term-elections | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783395346.72/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154955-00068-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.966521 | 1,337 | 3.03125 | 3 |
leatherback, marine turtle, Dermochelys coriacea, found in tropical, subtropical, and temperate waters around the world. The largest of all turtles, it may reach a length of 71/2 ft (230 cm) and weigh 1200 lb (540 kg). Its shell, unlike that of most turtles, has no horny layer; the bone layer is covered with tough, leathery, black skin. Seven bony ridges running the length of the shell give this turtle its distinctive appearance. Highly pelagic turtles, leatherbacks have occasionally been seen as far N as Norway and as far S as New Zealand. They sometimes enter shallow coastal waters, but come ashore only to lay eggs. They are omnivorous feeders. Like other sea turtles, the leatherback is declining in numbers as a result of hunting and egg harvesting. It is classified in the phylum Chordata, subphylum Vertebrata, class Reptilia, order Chelonia, family Dermochelidae.
The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th ed. Copyright © 2012, Columbia University Press. All rights reserved. | <urn:uuid:4a1339b1-d8f1-4e3f-87b8-b29f9535952e> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.factmonster.com/encyclopedia/science/leatherback.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783397748.48/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154957-00029-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.930277 | 229 | 3.65625 | 4 |
For years, bodybuilders were told to first perform exercises which utilize multiple muscle fibers, such as the squat, followed by exercises for isolation, such as the leg extension. This is commonly referred to as the “size principle of motor unit recruitment.”
Maximal muscle growth requires you to recruit as many muscle fibers as possible during exercise, which is the reason many bodybuilders perform squats first—because the exercise utilizes many different muscle fibers. For gaining muscle size, your training goal should be to recruit as many motor units as possible during exercise to get the fastest results for muscle growth.
This has been the bodybuilding way of life for decades, but recently a study in the Journal of Medicina Sportiva found this may not be true. The research paper was a critical review on exercise sequence and muscle growth and has challenged the size principle theory. The authors reported that two new studies showed no significant difference between groups in strength gains for any of the exercises or any significant difference in muscular hypertrophy when small muscle groups were performed first compared to large muscle groups.
The key finding was that when repetitions were standardized for workouts comparing small vs. large muscle groups performed first, the results were the same. The research paper went on to report that many studies that have examined small vs. large muscle groups being performed first failed to control for repetitions completed. The reviewer noted that some of these studies reported that significantly fewer repetitions were performed in subsequent sets of an exercise when they were performed later in a resistance-training session, compared with when they were performed earlier in the session. The lead author concluded, “There is very little evidence to suggest that any specific sequence of exercise affects strength gains or muscular hypertrophy.”
As long as volume remains equal for workouts, it should make very little difference which exercise is performed first. - FLEX | <urn:uuid:2033b39b-d4f7-4f40-8ec4-ee08f4f1cfb8> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.flexonline.com/training/exercise-sequence?t=4 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783395039.24/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154955-00021-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.987661 | 376 | 2.609375 | 3 |
PBS Program Examines Nuclear Power
In April, the PBS broadcast an hour-long Frontline report titled “Nuclear Reaction.” Here are some of the points made during the program.
- The energy from nuclear power is in very concentrated form. The energy produced in a nuclear reactor vessel 12 feet tall and 12 feet in diameter can produce enough electricity to run a city.
- The average American receives about 350 millirems of radiation from natural, or “background” sources each year, most of which comes from air, soil, and water. Radon accounts for about 200 millirems of the average American’s annual exposure. Radiation from a nuclear power plant is extremely low--less than one millirem.
- American nuclear power plants, unlike the Chernobyl design, are enclosed by massive steel and concrete containment domes to prevent radioactivity from reaching the environment.
- The Chernobyl accident was economically devastating and a human tragedy, but health effects were limited. Some children developed thyroid cancer, which is curable, but leukemia and adult cancers have not increased. The actual death toll stands at 31 firefighters who received extremely high doses of radiation during the accident.
- No American has died from an accident involving radiation at a U.S. nuclear plant. Radiation exposures from the 1979 accident at the Three Mile Island nuclear power plant ranged from 2 to 10 millirems--less than a chest x-ray.
- Coal-fired power plants emit air pollution, acid rain, greenhouse gases, carcinogens and--because coal contains radioactive elements--more radioactivity than nuclear power plants.
- Nuclear power plants meet 20 percent of America’s electricity needs.
- France, Japan, and other countries don’t consider used nuclear fuel as waste. They recycle their used nuclear fuel to recover plutonium and usable uranium. The United States, on the other hand, plans to dispose of the used fuel in underground disposal facility. | <urn:uuid:1a80b86a-6631-4712-8d9e-ce55875a486d> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://news.heartland.org/newspaper-article/1997/07/01/pbs-program-examines-nuclear-power | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783396106.25/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154956-00158-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.923951 | 400 | 3.859375 | 4 |
Amer was a flourishing settlement dating as far back as 967 A.D. Around 1037 A.D., Amer was conquered by the Kachwaha clan of Rajputs. Much of the present structure known as Amer Fort is actually the palace built by the great conqueror Raja Man Singh who ruled from 1590 - 1614 A.D. The fort-palace comprises of beautiful buildings, ponds and gardens. Amer is now part of Jaipur City.
Critiques | Translate
swapankumarroy (2847) 2014-07-27 7:54
You captured a nice image. Rajasthan is my favorite place and I traveled many times. Clarity of the picture is excellent. Well light control, colour balance and shoot it at perfect position.
with best wishes and thanks for sharing | <urn:uuid:045a8f5a-e3b9-4a37-ba44-00a9753fb6f6> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.trekearth.com/gallery/Asia/India/West/Rajasthan/Jaipur/photo1467841.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783396875.58/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154956-00103-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.93612 | 171 | 2.59375 | 3 |
Just a few short weeks after the Curiosity rover's successful Martian landing, NASA has announced a new mission to Mars. But the InSight project wouldn't be a rover like Curiosity; the static lander will be mainly devoted to sussing out what goes into the inner — and outer — workings of the red planet.
That includes placing a seismometer on the surface and drilling a 16 foot hole into Mars' crust.
"That will give us a lot of insight into the core and mantel and crust and relative relationships of those," says Tom Hoffman, a spokesman for the InSight project. "Using that information we can understand our early formation of Earth and other planets."
Of particular interest to NASA is Mars' core, specifically whether it's liquid or solid. Hoffman says that because of its lack of tectonic activity — shifting continents, constant earthquakes — Mars represents a "fairly pristine view of what the Earth looked like in its formation."
"By investigating that ... we can understand better the relationship between [Mars and Earth]," says Hoffman, "and then extrapolate with other rocky-bodied terrestrial planets in our solar system and other solar systems."
Meaning that the new mission could shed light on how solid planets were made — and that includes our own.
Since leaving Earth in late November of last year, NASA's last bot travelled roughly 350 million miles at an average cruising speed of nearly 8,000 miles per hour on its way to Mars.
The InSight project is set to launch in 2016. | <urn:uuid:4595bf41-b752-4b68-8515-5a1065a0478b> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.scpr.org/news/2012/08/20/33959/nasa-announces-new-mission-mars-heels-curiosity/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783403826.29/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624155003-00104-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.95411 | 312 | 3.390625 | 3 |
This command simply changes the size of the object you created or from the existing object created by someone else. So to start, let us make an object, on this example, two rectangles that overlaps each other. To change the size or scale, first type “scale” on the command prompt and press enter. AutoCAD will prompt you to select an object. Select the two objects either by selecting the two with the selection box or windowing to select both. To window it, just type “w” on the command prompt and press enter. The AutoCAD will prompt: Specify first corner: pick the first point in windowing the object on the lower left corner of the two rectangles (see Fig. 1). Then drag the window to enclose the object and click the upper right corner outside the object then press enter.
Fig. 1 – Windowing an Object to Select
Then AutoCAD will prompt: Specify base point: which tells you to specify a base point. A base point is point in the drawing area for relative distance and angle when scaling, copying, moving, and rotating objects. To make it simple, when you pick a rubber band, when you hold it first with your right finger, thats the base point. As you stretch it with your left finger, your right finger holds the other end in a steady and fixed position. So your right finger that hold the rubber band is the base point.
So specify a base point by clicking your mouse near or center of the two rectangles. Then you will see another prompt: Specify scale factor or [Reference]: you will notice that as you move your mouse and drag your cursor, the two rectangles changes its size. From that point you can just click your cursor to change the size but if you like a more accurate dimension, you can specify the scale factor. If you wll type “2” the size will be twice as big as the original. If you type “3” the size will be three times. If you want to use the “Reference” option, it is use for copying the size of another existing object.
To make an example, make another rectangle on the side of the two rectangles you’ve already drawn. Make the size of the third rectangle half the size. Then run the command again by typing “scale” and select only the two rectangles you have drawn excluding the third rectangle then press enter. Specify the base point by using osnap command on the right lower corner of the rectangle ( See Fig. 2 ). Set the osnap command first to “endpoint”. Press “shift” + right mouse button and select osnap setting. Check the “Object Snap on” box and Object Snap Mode > “Endpoint” box and click OK. After specifying the base point, AutoCAD will prompt : Specify scale factor or [Reference]: then type “r” to invoke the subcommand “reference”. Then another prompt will show: Specify reference length <1>: and click the base point again then on the Specify second point: click the upper corner as in Fig. 2. Then another prompt Specify new length: will appear. This is a bit tricky because you have to use osnap command again. While holding the shift key click the right mouse button and when the osnap menu appears select Point Filters > “y” then select the upper left corner of the reference rectangle ( See Fig 3). When the prompt Specify new length: .Y of (need XZ): appears, select the base point again. Now you will see that the height of the rectangle duplicates the reference rectangle.
Fig. 2 – Using the Reference Command to Specify Base Point
Fig. 3 – Using Osnap Filter to Specify New length | <urn:uuid:726ea69b-c953-4598-9367-8364adf78d18> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.cadblog.net/autocad-scale-command.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783396949.33/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154956-00077-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.785718 | 800 | 4 | 4 |
Thrust Three: Driven Assembly at the Nanoscale
Mission: Thrust 3 explores and aims to harness non-equilibrium processes, such as the use of flow and electric fields, for controlled assembly and manipulation of nanoscale objects, including particles and macromolecules. Thrust 3 adopts a truly concerted experimental cycle of prediction, validation and exploration to develop a fundamental understanding of driven assembly, beyond equilibrium, at the nanoscale. Consistent with the diagram of Figure 1, Thrust 3 seeks to develop a general and comprehensive understanding of driven assembly across multiple platforms. These include driven assembly of simple particles in highly structured media, such as nematic liquid crystals, and driven assembly of highly structured, patterned nanoscale entities such as DNA macromolecules in simple, isotropic solvents.
Long-Term Goals: The phenomena that Thrust 3 seeks to discover and exploit rely on the coupling between various elements of a system’s internal structure and the applied field. This coupling varies considerably across platforms, depending on whether external forces act directly on the object being assembled, or indirectly, through the medium where the assembly occurs, or both. Thrust 3’s proposed activities have been carefully conceived to address distinct and complementary elements of that coupling. The goals of Thrust 3 are to learn how to trigger well-defined responses in distinct elements of a nanoscale system, in a rational and predictable manner, and to demonstrate the corresponding principles in the creation of technologically relevant devices.
Context within the Center: The entire NSEC will benefit from supplementing directed assembly through application of external fields. The knowledge required to do so in a rational manner is developed under Thrust 3, and it is rapidly transferred to Thrusts 1 and 2 through targeted cross-Thrust projects, including theoretically-conceived strategies that seek to position nanoparticles and nanowires in structured copolymer melts (with Thrust 1) and that seek to interpret β-peptide assembly data at interfaces and through judicious application of electric fields (with Thrust 2), or that aim to create fully 3-dimensional structures by assembling complex DNA constructs on surfaces (with Thrust 2). Toxicity and environmental fate of synthesized nanoparticles is evaluated in Thrust 4.
Thrust Three Highlights | <urn:uuid:f1310660-1254-4703-98e1-afb00700321d> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.nsec.wisc.edu/thrust3.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783395620.56/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154955-00156-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.920076 | 457 | 2.5625 | 3 |
Update: a commenter below has noted that the Palmer Drought Severity Index uses an inverse scale, with more negative numbers reflecting an increase, not decrease in drought. The commenter appears to be correct and I apologize for the misinterpretation. Still unexplained, however, is why the claimed increase in atmospheric water vapor due to global warming would cause increasing drought; see comments below.
A plot of the worldwide data for the Palmer Drought Severity Index shows that there has been an unprecedented decrease in world drought severity over the past 30 years.
[The title of this post is facetious about CO2 being the cause of the decreased drought - see comments below] | <urn:uuid:51c3ff2f-503d-4f1c-bf73-d9a9c4eed2b9> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://hockeyschtick.blogspot.com/2011/07/rising-co2-causes-unprecendented.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783395346.6/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154955-00092-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.929551 | 132 | 2.546875 | 3 |
Taking the Mystery Out of the Individual Graduation Plan (IGP)
also known as the Student Learning Plan
Developing an Effective Individual Graduation Plan (IGP)
This document was developed as a result of a joint project between the University of Idaho and the Idaho Division of Professional- Technical Education.
In 1997, the Idaho Legislature approved student learning plans as part of the Administrative Rules of the State Board of Education:
"No later than the end of grade eight (8) all students will develop parent-approved student learning plans for their high school and post-high school options. The learning plan will be developed by students and parents or guardians with advice and recommendation from school personnel. It will be reviewed annually and may be revised at any time. The purpose of a parent-approved student learning plan is to outline a course of study and learning activities for students to become contributing members of society. A student learning plan describes, at a minimum, the list of courses and learning activities in which the student will engage while working toward meeting the district’s graduation standards. The school district will have met its obligation for parental involvement if it makes a good faith effort to notify the parent or guardian of the responsibility for the development and approval of the learning plan. A learning plan will not be required if the parent or guardian requests, in writing, that no learning plan be developed." (IDAPA 08.02.03 THOROUGHNESS)
As a result of this rule, we have worked to put together a vision of the process and the product to meet the "heart" of the rule: the needs of the student.
- What is an individual graduation plan?
- Who carries it out?
- What does it look like?
- An outstanding program…
- Key elements
- Program planning and implementation
The mission of this integrated program for comprehensive planning is to provide all students with a wide variety of career exploration activities, employability skills and personal development opportunities to enable them to design a parent-approved individual graduation plan which provides direction for high school and postsecondary education so students can reach their highest potential. | <urn:uuid:f6e4fe6e-4b46-4ca9-80ed-5a8eb5897a2b> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://pte.idaho.gov/Career_Guidance/Program_of_Study_Curriculum/Other_Curricula/Mystery_Out_of_IGP/Mystery_Out_IGP.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783398628.62/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154958-00125-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.942591 | 431 | 2.875 | 3 |
An article for teachers and pupils that encourages you to look at the mathematical properties of similar games.
A game for 2 players. Set out 16 counters in rows of 1,3,5 and 7. Players take turns to remove any number of counters from a row. The player left with the last counter looses.
A game for 2 players with similaritlies to NIM. Place one counter on each spot on the games board. Players take it is turns to remove 1 or 2 adjacent counters. The winner picks up the last counter.
A collection of games on the NIM theme
This article for teachers describes several games, found on the
site, all of which have a related structure that can be used to
develop the skills of strategic planning.
Start with any number of counters in any number of piles. 2 players
take it in turns to remove any number of counters from a single
pile. The winner is the player to take the last counter.
The aim of the game is to slide the green square from the top right
hand corner to the bottom left hand corner in the least number of
Can you describe this route to infinity? Where will the arrows take you next?
Euler discussed whether or not it was possible to stroll around Koenigsberg crossing each of its seven bridges exactly once. Experiment with different numbers of islands and bridges.
Pick a square within a multiplication square and add the numbers on
each diagonal. What do you notice?
We can show that (x + 1)² = x² + 2x + 1 by considering
the area of an (x + 1) by (x + 1) square. Show in a similar way
that (x + 2)² = x² + 4x + 4
Problem solving is at the heart of the NRICH site. All the problems
give learners opportunities to learn, develop or use mathematical
concepts and skills. Read here for more information.
Can you work out how to win this game of Nim? Does it matter if you go first or second?
The number of plants in Mr McGregor's magic potting shed increases
overnight. He'd like to put the same number of plants in each of
his gardens, planting one garden each day. How can he do it?
List any 3 numbers. It is always possible to find a subset of
adjacent numbers that add up to a multiple of 3. Can you explain
why and prove it?
Imagine starting with one yellow cube and covering it all over with
a single layer of red cubes, and then covering that cube with a
layer of blue cubes. How many red and blue cubes would you need?
A little bit of algebra explains this 'magic'. Ask a friend to pick 3 consecutive numbers and to tell you a multiple of 3. Then ask them to add the four numbers and multiply by 67, and to tell you. . . .
Triangle numbers can be represented by a triangular array of squares. What do you notice about the sum of identical triangle numbers?
What are the areas of these triangles? What do you notice? Can you generalise to other "families" of triangles?
What would you get if you continued this sequence of fraction sums?
1/2 + 2/1 =
2/3 + 3/2 =
3/4 + 4/3 =
Consider all two digit numbers (10, 11, . . . ,99). In writing down
all these numbers, which digits occur least often, and which occur
most often ? What about three digit numbers, four digit numbers. . . .
Take any two positive numbers. Calculate the arithmetic and geometric means. Repeat the calculations to generate a sequence of arithmetic means and geometric means. Make a note of what happens to the. . . .
Jo has three numbers which she adds together in pairs. When she
does this she has three different totals: 11, 17 and 22 What are
the three numbers Jo had to start with?”
Can you find sets of sloping lines that enclose a square?
The sum of the numbers 4 and 1 [1/3] is the same as the product of 4 and 1 [1/3]; that is to say 4 + 1 [1/3] = 4 × 1 [1/3]. What other numbers have the sum equal to the product and can this be so for. . . .
Find some examples of pairs of numbers such that their sum is a
factor of their product. eg. 4 + 12 = 16 and 4 × 12 = 48 and
16 is a factor of 48.
Try entering different sets of numbers in the number pyramids. How does the total at the top change?
Imagine a large cube made from small red cubes being dropped into a
pot of yellow paint. How many of the small cubes will have yellow
paint on their faces?
Choose a couple of the sequences. Try to picture how to make the next, and the next, and the next... Can you describe your reasoning?
Square numbers can be represented as the sum of consecutive odd
numbers. What is the sum of 1 + 3 + ..... + 149 + 151 + 153?
If you can copy a network without lifting your pen off the paper and without drawing any line twice, then it is traversable.
Decide which of these diagrams are traversable.
A game for two people, or play online. Given a target number, say 23, and a range of numbers to choose from, say 1-4, players take it in turns to add to the running total to hit their target.
Can you find the values at the vertices when you know the values on
Use the animation to help you work out how many lines are needed to draw mystic roses of different sizes.
The Egyptians expressed all fractions as the sum of different unit
fractions. Here is a chance to explore how they could have written
What size square corners should be cut from a square piece of paper to make a box with the largest possible volume?
Find out what a "fault-free" rectangle is and try to make some of
Can you find an efficient method to work out how many handshakes
there would be if hundreds of people met?
How could Penny, Tom and Matthew work out how many chocolates there
are in different sized boxes?
Nim-7 game for an adult and child. Who will be the one to take the last counter?
Watch this video to see how to roll the dice. Now it's your turn! What do you notice about the dice numbers you have recorded?
It starts quite simple but great opportunities for number discoveries and patterns!
Charlie has made a Magic V. Can you use his example to make some more? And how about Magic Ls, Ns and Ws?
Here are two kinds of spirals for you to explore. What do you notice?
Here are some arrangements of circles. How many circles would I need to make the next size up for each? Can you create your own arrangement and investigate the number of circles it needs?
Can you see why 2 by 2 could be 5? Can you predict what 2 by 10
Place the numbers from 1 to 9 in the squares below so that the difference between joined squares is odd. How many different ways can you do this?
It would be nice to have a strategy for disentangling any tangled
Can you tangle yourself up and reach any fraction?
When number pyramids have a sequence on the bottom layer, some interesting patterns emerge... | <urn:uuid:c666f4dc-4f63-4d09-964b-9a6a46fc556d> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | https://nrich.maths.org/public/leg.php?code=72&cl=2&cldcmpid=4815 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783400572.45/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624155000-00043-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.929992 | 1,571 | 3.5 | 4 |
Monday, April 28, 2014
Outreach Events Examining Secondhand Smoke and Disease Outbreaks
The Department of Biological Sciences hosted 63 students from Bishop Canevin, Serra Catholic, Ringgold, and McKeesport high schools on March 18, 19, 25 and 26th. This outreach program stressed the importance of knowing the dangers of secondhand smoke exposure, as well as gave the students the opportunity to develop their own experimental design and ownership of data in the life sciences. The students were accompanied by their teachers: Sara Brown (Ringgold), Cara DeSalvo (Serra Catholic), Joan Smith (McKeesport), and Vanessa Bentley (Bishop Canevin).
In recent decades, the dangers of smoking and secondhand smoke have come to light. It is common knowledge that smoking and secondhand smoke have detrimental health effects on most living organisms. Students learned the uses of model organisms in biology, specifically the uses of Baker’s yeast S. cerevisiae. Based off of what they had learned about both secondhand smoke and model organisms, students were tasked with designing an experiment that would demonstrate the dangers of secondhand smoke.
On the first day, students were given a culture of wild type S. cerevisiae and were given a primer of basic microbiology and the culturing of yeast. Students then designed exposure chambers and variable they wanted to test. Groups had their choice of many variables to test, examples include: exposure time, distance, cigar/cigarette brand, etc. Once the choice of cigar/cigarette brand was chosen, yeast were spread on agar plates and inserted into the student built smoking chambers. With the aid of the teaching assistant, students exposed their yeast according to their experimental design.
Once the yeast had some time to grow the students returned a second day, analyzed the data, created killing curves, and prepared a short seminar-style talk. After their presentations, students also had the chance to go to the microscopy lab, and compare and analyze the differences in lung tissues of a smoker vs. a nonsmoker.
Additionally, 25 students from Oakland and Central Catholic high schools visited in April to see how disease outbreaks can be detected and tracked using an ELISA. Teachers Mark Krotec (Central Catholic) and Melissa Franks (Oakland Catholic) were also in company.
An Enzyme Linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA) is a common biochemical technique that is used to detect substances with a high degree of sensitivity. It is commonly used in the field of epidemiology to trace the path of disease outbreaks. At the core of the method, an ELISA relies on the specificity of antibodies. When the immune system encounters a foreign substance, antibodies are produced specifically for that substance. The subsequently produced antibody then binds to the foreign substance (called an antigen). The antigen-antibody specificity is how an ELISA can determine the presence of an antigen with such specificity.
In this module, students simulated a disease outbreak by sharing tubes of simulated bodily fluids. After several rounds of sharing, each student performed an ELISA on their sample to determine whether or not they had been exposed. At the end of the experiment, students amassed all their data and went to work back-tracking the spread of the “disease”.
Secondhand Smoke Event: The outreach was possible due to the undergraduate, graduate, and alumni research mentors. Graduate student and alumni volunteers were: Andrew Kehr, Olivia Molinar, Ian Bayles, Joseph Doonan, Stacey Kuzetsov, Ming Zhang, and Vishnu Chandra. Undergraduate mentors were: Alexis Oguh, Eric Pederson, Dustin Brout, Kaitlin Hamilton, Jacob Krause, Tara Sheikh, Emma Hartman, Corrina Tender, Patricia Thang, Victor Bass, Elizabeth Berryhill McCarty, Alexander Post, Yemi Bankole, Memphis Hill, Dallas Hartman, Serena Zhou, Marlena Darr, and Brian Mattes.
Dr. Carrie Doonan coordinated and ran the event. Dr. Swarna Mohan and Nathan Wilson were instructors for the event. Graduate student Andrew Kehr was a lead instructor.
Disease Outbreak Event: Dr. Carrie Doonan coordinated the event. Dr. Swarna Mohan served as lead instructor while Nathan Wilson, Joseph Doonan, and graduate student Christopher Pratt were teaching assistants for the event.
Additional images from the secondhand smoke outreach event can be viewed here. | <urn:uuid:174eeba7-9bd4-419d-b8c2-7774ef5c7540> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.cmu.edu/bio/news/2014/doonan-lab-outreach-2014.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783394987.40/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154954-00099-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.957675 | 914 | 2.6875 | 3 |
San Salvi, also known as San Michele a San Salvi, is a church in Florence, Italy.
The church was built in the 11th century by the Vallombrosans as part of an abbey complex. During the 1529 Siege of Florence, the church was partially destroyed. It was reconstructed in accordance with its original style with the exception of the portico which was built with a 16th century style. The interior of the church is of a single aisle, Latin-cross design with a rectangular apse. | <urn:uuid:d84703c8-db7e-4789-98c6-9144e8f38d9f> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://pages.rediff.com/san-salvi/856813 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783397567.28/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154957-00035-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.989992 | 107 | 2.515625 | 3 |
Computational photography: the snap is only the start
- 11 July 2013
- From the section Technology
Imagine a camera that allows you to see through a crowd to get a clear view of someone who would otherwise be obscured, a smartphone that matches big-budget lenses for image quality, or a photograph that lets you change your point of view after it's taken.
The ideas may sound outlandish but they could become commonplace if "computational photography" lives up to its promise.
Unlike normal digital photography - which uses a sensor to capture a single two-dimensional image of a scene - the technique records a richer set of data to construct its pictures.
Instead of trying to mimic the way a human eye works, it opens the activity up to new software-enhanced possibilities.
Pelican Imaging is one of the firms leading the way.
The California-based start-up is working on a handset part which contains an array of 16 lenses, each attached to either a blue-, red- or green-colour sensor, which link up to a chip that fuses the data they produce together.
"You end up with a standard Jpeg-image that has a depth map of the scene that allows you to identify where all the edges of all the objects are right down to human hair," chief executive Christopher Pickett tells the BBC.
A companion app uses this information to let the snapper decide which parts of their photo should be in focus after they are taken. This includes the unusual ability to choose multiple focal planes.
For example a photographer in New York could choose to make the details of her husband's face and the Statue of Liberty behind him sharp but everything else - including the objects in between them - blurred.
"Because we have no moving parts we also have super-fast first shot, as we're not hunting for focus," adds Mr Pickett. "You get the perfect picture as you just don't miss."
Another firm, Lytro, already offers similar functions on its own standalone light field camera - but Pelican suggests offering the tech via a component small enough to fit in a phone will prove critical to its success.
Nokia has already invested in Pelican, leading to speculation it will be among the first to offer the tech when it becomes available next year.
For now, high dynamic range (HDR) imaging offers a ready-to-use taste of computational photography. It uses computer power to combine photos taken at different exposures to create a single picture whose light areas are not too bright and dim ones not too dark.
However, if the subject matter isn't static there can be problems stitching the images together. Users commonly complain of moving objects in the background looking as if they're breaking apart.
One solution - currently championed by chipmaker Nvidia - is to boost processing power to cut the time between each snap.
But research on an alternative technique which only requires a single photo could prove superior.
"Imagine you have a sensor with pixels that have different levels of sensitivity," explains Prof Shree Nayar, head of Columbia University's Computer Vision Laboratory.
"Some would be good at measuring things in dim light and their neighbours good at measuring very bright things.
"You would need to apply an algorithm to decode the image produced, but once you do that you could get a picture with enormous range in terms of brightness and colour - a lot more than the human eye can see."
Even if current HDR techniques fall out of fashion, computational photography offers other uses for multi-shot images.
Last year US researchers showed off a process which involves waving a compact camera around an object or person to take hundreds of pictures over the space of a minute or so.
The resulting data is used to create what's called a light field map on an attached laptop.
Software makes use of this to render views of the scene, letting the user pick the exact vantage point they want long after the event has ended.
Another technique involves analysing two photos taken in quick succession, one with flash the other without.
"You can use this to work out what features of the image are shadows," explains Dr Martin Turner, a computer vision expert at the University of Manchester.
Microsoft has filed a patent for this idea saying the information could be used to make flash photographs look less "jarring" by automatically improving their colour balance, removing ugly shadows cast by the bright light and treating for red-eye.
Ultimately you end up with what looks like a highly detailed low-light image that doesn't suffer from noise.
Some of the most exotic uses of computational photography have been pioneered by Stanford University where researchers came up with a way to "see through" dense foliage and crowds.
By positioning dozens of cameras at different viewpoints and processing the resulting data they were able to create a shallow-focus effect that left the desired subject sharp but obstructing objects so blurred that they appeared transparent.
Their research paper suggested surveillance of a target as a possible use for the tech.
"They spent $2m [£1.3m] to build this great big camera array and it took a team of dedicated grad students to run the thing," says Prof Jack Tumblin, a computational photography expert at Northwestern University, near Chicago.
"It was a wonderful lab machine, but not very practical."
Prof Tumblin is currently trying to develop a budget version of the effect using only a single camera.
His theory is that by taking lots of shots from different positions, with the lens's exact location recorded for each one, he should then be able to use software to remove an undesired object from the final photograph. The caveat is that the thing involved must be static.
Perhaps the biggest potential benefit of computational photography isn't new gimmicky effects but rather the ability to capture the best two-dimensional shot possible.
One area of research is to create a high-quality image that currently requires a heavy lens containing several precision-polished glass elements to take it - but to do so with a smaller, cheaper, less complex part.
The idea is to stop trying to avoid any imperfections in the image cast onto the sensor but rather control what kinds they are, limiting them to ones that can be fixed with software.
Another technique involves taking shots in quick succession and moving the sensor as little as half-a-pixel between each one before combining the information to create a "super-resolution" image.
Hasselbad already uses this on one of its high-end cameras to let its 50 megapixel sensor create 200MP photos.
And there's the suggestion that building a hybrid device which takes takes both stills and high-speed video simultaneously could solve the problem of camera shake.
"The purpose is to get an exact measurement of how the photo has been blurred," explains Prof Tumblin.
"If the video camera part focuses on some bright spot off in the distance it can be used to work out the trajectory. That lets blur caused by your hand moving in random ways become quite reversible." | <urn:uuid:5bdd345f-f64e-489b-99aa-544e78d51fd5> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-23235771 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783399522.99/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154959-00140-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.955053 | 1,435 | 2.609375 | 3 |
Athero-thrombotic occlusion of larger arteries (e.g., carotid, middle cerebral, basilar) is not only the most common cause of primary large vessel occlusive cerebrovascular disease, but also is the most common cause of stroke.
After primary large vessel occlusive disease, embolism is the most common cause of stroke. Most embolic strokes are due to cerebral arterial atherothrombosis, in which a larger thrombus and is carried to other places in the cerebrovasculature. Cerebral emboli may also arise from other cardiogenic sources and deep vein thrombosis.
Primary small vessel cerebrovascular disease most prominently causing lacunar strokes arises from microatheroma of an influx of fat-like materials (lipohyalinosis).
Acute Ischemic Stroke: New Concepts of Care
The presentation of this content is made possible with permission from Genentech, Inc.
Copyright 1998-1999 Genentech Inc., all rights reserved. Content may not be reproduced without permission. | <urn:uuid:140a4a59-363a-4e28-9ee8-e526e6f73829> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.strokecenter.org/professionals/brain-anatomy/atherosclerosis-and-thrombus-formation/thrombosis-related-ischemic-stroke/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783398516.82/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154958-00104-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.901987 | 228 | 2.765625 | 3 |
Consider a particular hole H in a piece of swiss cheese. H is not nothing. It has properties. It has, for example, a shape: it is circular. The circular hole has a definite radius, diameter, and circumference. It has a definite area equal to pi times the radius squared. If the piece of cheese is 1/16th of an inch thick, then the hole is a disk having a definite volume. H has a definite location relative to the edges of the piece of cheese and relative to the other holes. H has causal properties: it affects the texture and flexibility of the cheese and its resistance to the tooth. H is perceivable by the senses: you can see it and touch it. You touch a hole by putting a finger or other appendage into it and experiencing no resistance.
Now if anything has properties, then it exists. H has properties; so H exists.
H exists and the piece of cheese exists. Do they exist in the same way? Not by my lights. The hole depends for its existence on the piece of cheese; the latter does not depend for its existence on the former. H is a particular, well-defined, indeed wholly determninate, absence of cheese. It is a particular, existing absence. As an absence of cheese it depends for its existence on the cheese of which it is the hole.
So I say the hole exists in a different way than the piece of cheese. It has a dependent mode of existence whereas the piece of cheese has a relatively independent mode of existence.
On the basis of this and other examples I maintain that there are modes of being. To be precise, I maintain that it is intelligible that there be modes of being. This puts me at odds with those, like van Inwagen, who consider the idea unintelligible and rooted in an elementary mistake:
. . . the thick conception of being is founded on the mistake of transferring what properly belongs to the nature of a chair -- or of a human being or of a universal or of God -- to the being of the chair. (Ontology, Identity, and Modality, Cambridge 2001, p. 4)
Did I make a mistake above, the mistake van Inwagen imputes to thick theorists? Did I mistakenly transfer what properly belongs to the nature of the hole -- its dependence on the piece of cheese -- to the being (existence) of the hole?
I plead innocent. Perhaps it is true that it is the nature of holes in general that they depend for their existence on the things in which they are holes. But H is a particular, spatiotemporally localizable, hole in a particular piece of cheese. Since H is a particular existing hole, it cannot be part of H's multiply exemplifiable nature that it depend for its existence on the particular piece of cheese it is a hole in. The dependence of H on its host is due to H's mode of existence, not to its nature.
Suppose there are ten quidditatively indiscernible holes in the piece of cheese: H1, H2, . . . H10. Each exists. Each has its own existence. But each has the very same nature. How then can this common nature be the factor responsible for making H1 or H2 or H3, etc., dependent on the particular piece of cheese? The dependence of each hole on its host is assignable not to the nature common to all ten holes but to each hole's existence as a mode of its existence.
Now of course this will not convince any thin theorist. But then that is not my goal. My goal is to show that the thick theory is rationally defensible and not sired by any obvious 'mistake.' If any 'mistakes' are assignable then I 'd say they are assignable with greater justice to the partisans of the thin theory.
Talk of 'mistakes,' though, is out of place in serious philosophy. For apart from clear-cut logical blunders such as affirming the consequent, quantifier shift fallacies, etc. any alleged 'mistakes' will rest on debatable substantive commitments. | <urn:uuid:218992e8-9163-47c5-8379-2104859fd146> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://maverickphilosopher.typepad.com/maverick_philosopher/2012/08/holes-and-their-mode-of-being.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783391519.2/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154951-00142-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.943503 | 846 | 2.75 | 3 |
Why did Tolkien use archaic language?
All words have life cycles. They are born, sometimes by a specific individual at a recorded moment, as was the case with grotty. The current first citation in the Oxford English Dictionary (OED) is from the 1964 film A Hard Day’s Night, in which George Harrison utters the word in response to some shirts. ‘I wouldn’t be seen dead in them’, George says. ‘They’re dead grotty.’ When prompted with, ‘Grotty?’ he responds, ‘Yeah—grotesque’. In this case, it seems that we not only know the word’s beginning and sense, but we can view its creation at our leisure. Most words don’t begin so cinematically, of course. Someone somewhere utters dog, or cat, or serendipity, and someone else repeats it. And so it goes.
Some words – like grotty, in fact – then become widely used, while others remain restricted to specific regions or subject matters. Aetiological is fairly healthy today, at least if one is speaking about beginnings in a philosophical or scientific realm. When they pass, many words remain out of use, with the exception of their presence in older books. And so from reading Dickens’s novels we may know words like phaeton and stanhope, but since they refer to types of carriages not in use now, we scarcely use them in daily conversation. Some words and expressions, however, rise from the dead, vampire-like, and function as archaic language, used with the self-conscious recognition that they are, well, no longer in use.
Spenser and Milton enjoyed archaic language, as did Dickens, Browning, and T. S. Eliot. But few writers have made greater use of it than J. R. R. Tolkien. Published in 1937, the Hobbit includes a host of expressions that, the dictionaries tell us, were long out of currency by the time of writing. We find forms that simply have been replaced, such as the historical kine, which Tolkien uses for cows. Or words that he uses with an outdated sense, such as reek, meaning not ‘unpleasant smell’ but ‘smoke’. Or words whose structure is archaic, such as clove for cleaved, thriven for thrived, carven for carved, and upholden for upheld. Tolkien even uses archaic forms of verbal phrases. ‘Supper is preparing’, one elf observes to Thorin, though since the eighteenth century English-speakers have said that supper is ‘being prepared’.
An inside joke
Tolkien did not initially intend for the Hobbit to be published. It began as story for his children and was shared with friends at Oxford – fellow medievalists like C. S. Lewis – for whom the archaic expressions well might have been a kind of inside joke. It was quite by accident that the manuscript found its way into the house of Allen and Unwin, where Rayner Unwin, the publisher’s ten-year-old son, pronounced it ‘rich!’ The rest, as they say, is history.
Things were otherwise for the Lord of the Rings, which Tolkien had begun by December of 1937, just a few months after the appearance of the Hobbit. It was always written for a wider audience, always meant to be published, and always imagined on the grand scale not of ‘there and back again’ but of Middle-earth.
And in view of the fact that the book was written for an audience that would not have the medieval and philological training of Tolkien and Lewis, it is striking how much Tolkien increased the presence of archaic language. Here, scarcely a page is turned without words and usages like fell (‘wicked’), dolven (‘dug’), cloven (‘cleaved’), writhen (‘twisted’), smote, thou, and ye. Beyond individual words are clauses and even entire sentences that involve archaic syntax: ‘They saw a swan of great size’; ‘Boromir was a man both tall and strong’; ‘Rede oft is found at the rising of the Sun’; ‘Helms too they chose, and round shields’. When an admirer’s letter criticized the latter archaism, Tolkien responded that if modern English ‘has lost the trick of putting a word desired to emphasize . . . into prominent first place . . . so much the worse for it’. As annoying as such archaisms might be to some readers, there’s no doubt Tolkien used them intentionally.
Something out of the ordinary
And all these usages do indeed have historical justification. They are words, senses, inflections, and structures that were employed at some point in English’s past. But for an individual simply to reuse them once they have passed from currency raises at least two complications. First, the era that Tolkien’s archaisms in particular recall isn’t so much the full inflectional period of Anglo-Saxon England as the medievalism of the Victorian and Edwardian periods, when writers like Collingwood and Morris used them to construct a pseudo-medieval world in novels Tolkien read as a youth. That they already were marked usages is clear from the highly critical response of Gudbrandur Vifusson and York Powell, two of the Victorian era’s luminaries in Scandinavian scholarship. In their own translation of medieval Norse materials, they described the ‘affectation of archaism’ as a ‘grave error’ and an ‘abominable fault’ that makes the originals ‘sound unreal, unfamiliar, false’. And second, fronting a direct object like helms (say) was a perfectly ordinary thing to do in Old English, when the language’s inflections made it perfectly clear what was a subject and what an object. In linguistic terminology, it was an ‘unmarked’ usage. Today, it’s exactly the opposite, and so it draws attention to itself as something out of the ordinary, which is the kind of thing to which Vigfusson and Powell objected.
Language is historically specific, and if we reuse outdated language like reek or outdated forms like fronted objects, we necessarily produce meanings and effects other than those found in the originals or in the unmarked language of daily discourse. Like nonce words and other kinds of linguistic novelty, then, the often disorientating archaisms of The Lord of the Rings don’t evoke so much the Middle Ages or even William Morris as simply something peculiar, something unusual, something not of this world. Vigfusson and Powell were surely right, then, to describe archaisms as unreal and unfamiliar, since that is precisely their point. Whatever Tolkien’s intentions and whatever one thinks of Middle Earth or outmoded expressions, archaic language is fundamental to what he called the sub-creation of this secondary world.
The opinions and other information contained in OxfordWords blog posts and comments do not necessarily reflect the opinions or positions of Oxford University Press. | <urn:uuid:436c3b61-cfe5-487c-a79c-7f014035d0c8> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://blog.oxforddictionaries.com/2013/11/archaic-language/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783399428.8/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154959-00070-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.95765 | 1,521 | 3.1875 | 3 |
Pelargonium suburbanum is a sprawling, mat forming herbaceous
shrublet, with dark green leaves and large dark pink to purple flowers
from mid-winter to mid summer (June to well into January). It occurs
in the winter rainfall area of southern Africa, from the Cape Peninsula
to Port Elizabeth. This particular subspecies occurs in coastal
areas in the Eastern Cape from Humansdorp to Port Elizabeth, where
it often grows in openings in low scrub on sand dunes. This area
receives rain in summer too.
Pelargonium suburbanum subsp. suburbanum belongs
in the family Geraniaceae, a large cosmopolitan family of approximately
11 genera and 800 species in subtropical and temperate regions of
the world. The South African genera in the Geraniaceae family are
Pelargonium, Geranium, Erodium, Monsonia and Sarcocaulon.
There are approximately 270 species of Pelargonium which
occur in S, E and NE Africa, Asia, St Helena, Tristan da Cunha,
Madagascar, Australia and New Zealand, most of which ( ±
219 species) occur in southern Africa, with a large concentration
of more than 135 species that occur in the southern portion of South
Africa between Nieuwoudtville in the West and Port Elizabeth in
The distinctive shape of the seed pod of geranium plants is responsible
for the name of the both the genus Geranium and the family
Geraniaceae, from the Greek geranos, a crane, as the seed
pod resembles the head and beak of a crane. Similarly Pelargonium
is derived from the Greek pelargos, a stork, and Erodium
is from the Greek erodios, a heron, as the fruit resembles
the head and/or bill of these birds. The botanical names can thus
be translated as crane's-bill, stork's-bill and heron's-bill respectively.
The name suburbanum refers to the original name given to
this plant, Pelargonium urbanum, as the first collection
of this plant was apparently made in an urban area (urbanus
in Latin). The common name, wildemalva, means 'wild mallow' in English,
and is a name applied to many South African pelargoniums, although
not in the translated form.
species and hybrids of Pelargonium are commonly called geraniums,
a misnomer that has stuck, while true geraniums are also commonly
called geraniums, or are known as crane's-bill. This 'name-sharing'
has resulted in confusion between these two genera, but they can
in fact be very easily distinguished.
The genus Geranium has flowers with five equal petals symmetrically
arranged that can be divided into two equal halves along more than
one plane, while the genus Pelargonium has flowers which
can only be cut into two equal halves along one plane, in this case
the vertical plane. The flowers of Pelargonium suburbanum
subsp. suburbanum for instance have two large upper petals
and two or three much smaller lower petals. A photograph of Geranium
incanum, the carpet geranium, is shown for comparison between
a typical Geranium flower and a Pelargonium flower.
Plants from both genera are grown in large numbers in gardens in
both the Northern and Southern Hemisphere. Pelargoniums are one
of the most popular pot- and bedding plants in Europe and North
America and have been cultivated since 1672, when they were first
introduced to the European public. Francis Masson collected about
fifty species of Cape pelargoniums in 1772. From these and other
South African species, plant breeders have produced the ivy-leaved-,
zonal-, regal-, rose- and other types of "geraniums" with
flowers in colours from dazzling white to deep, nearly black purple.
However, many of the pure species from South Africa, although more
difficult to cultivate than the commercial varieties, are just as
varied and amazing in form and colour. Many of the South African
Pelargonium species have strongly scented foliage and some hybrids
produce oils that are used in the perfume industry.
Growing Pelargonium suburbanum subsp.
Pelargonium suburbanum subsp. suburbanum is a fast
growing, showy, long flowering plant, an outstanding plant for rockeries,
walls and steep slopes, an excellent ground cover in a sunny position
in any garden, and is tolerant of coastal conditions. It is also
suitable for hanging baskets, window boxes or tubs. It flowers from
mid-winter until mid-summer (the end of June to well into January),
with a peak during early summer (October to December).
Pelargoniums like plenty of light, a well-drained soil, and good
air circulation. Light shade or full shade for part of the day is
tolerated by most South African Pelargonium species. In their
natural environment they are found growing in the shelter of bushes
or rocks, where even if the leaves are exposed, the roots are cool.
A good sandy, loamy soil of 1 part loam : 2 parts sand : 2 parts
compost, plus some fertilizer, will suit most pelargoniums. The
soil pH is not a critical factor, and a neutral to slightly acidic
pH is suitable for most species. Watering is an important factor
in the cultivation of pelargoniums, both for their growth rate and
for the health of the plants. A general rule of thumb is to only
water when dry and under-watering is preferable to over-watering
as almost all their problems in cultivation arise from over-watering
or poor drainage. The stems of Pelargonium suburbanum subsp.
suburbanum can be slightly hairy and thus retain water on
their surface. Watering should be done in the early morning to prevent
outbreaks of fungal diseases or rust. Pelargoniums are tender to
frost and will succumb to wet cold and prolonged frost and are not
suitable for permanent outdoor cultivation in areas with a winter
minimum of less than -1 to 4 oC (30 to 40 oF) (USDA Zone 10).
The plants are not long lived and should be replanted after two
years, when they tend to start dying off from the centre. However,
they are very easy to propagate from cuttings and seed germinates
Stem cuttings may be taken in summer or autumn from a parent plant
that is strong and healthy. The stem should be fairly firm but not
woody, with at least 3 to 5 leaf nodes, and cut just below a node.
The leaves and stipules should be removed leaving only a few leaves
intact on the top. Large leaves may be trimmed to reduce moisture
loss. The cuttings should be left to dry for a few hours before
being placed in the soil. The cuttings should be rooted in trays
or in cold frames, in a well-drained medium e.g. coarse river sand.
They can also be planted directly into the ground, as long as they
are given light shade and are watered regularly until they have
rooted. The basal ends of the cutting should be dipped in a rooting
hormone to improve the rate of rooting and inserted in a prepared
hole made by a dibber or a nail to avoid damaging the ends. The
cuttings should be watered regularly but kept on the dry side, as
over-watering will result in losses. After root formation has started,
4 to 8 weeks later, the cuttings should be fed with a seaweed-based
fertilizer and potted up 1 or 2 weeks after this. Plants produced
this way will flower in approximately 3 to 6 months.
The seed of pelargoniums has an interesting mechanism: the elliptical
seeds have a feathered tail-like structure, which is coiled into
a spiral. The tail causes the seed to be twisted around so that
it drills into the soil in a corkscrew fashion and thus secures
itself in the soil. For optimum germination, seed is best sown when
fresh, although it may remain viable for up to 7 years. Sow seed
in a light, well-drained soil with a high content of coarse sand.
Firm down and level the medium gently. Broadcast the seed evenly,
covering it with a layer of clean sand. The depth of sowing is usually
one and a half times the size of the seed. Water thoroughly but
gently and provide light shade. Germination usually takes place
within 10 to 14 days but can take longer if temperatures are low.
Plants grown from seed are generally more vigorous than those produced
from cuttings, however, they take longer to flower, from 12 to 18
months after sowing, and may also display a certain amount of variation.
- van der Walt, J.J.A. & Vorster, P.J., 1988, Pelargoniums
of Southern Africa, Volume 3, National Botanic Gardens, Cape
- Powrie, F. (compiled by), Grow South African Plants,
Kirstenbosch Gardening Series, National Botanical Institute, Cape
- Lighton, Conrad., 1973, Cape Floral Kingdom
- Bailey, L.H., The Standard Cyclopedia of Horticulture
- Jackson, W.P.U., 1990, Origins and Meanings of Names of South
African Plant Genera, U.C.T. Printing Dept., Cape Town.
- Leistner, O.A. (ed.), 2000, Seed plants of southern Africa:
families and genera, Strelitzia 10., National Botanical Institute,
Authors: H.G. Jamieson and L. May. | <urn:uuid:207e8cfa-9104-4d7d-8713-f0fa0d61d4e5> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.plantzafrica.com/plantnop/pelargsuburb.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783391519.2/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154951-00015-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.912805 | 2,134 | 3.375 | 3 |
Routes of Administration Requiring Sterile Formulations
Some routes of administration demand that products do not bring microbial contamination
with them into the body. This is required because some routes of administration
by-pass the body's natural defense mechanisms, or some tissues or organs are
so sensitive and vital that such contamination could be serious.
All of these "sterility demanding" routes are parenteral routes.
NOTE: But not all parenteral routes are "sterility demanding" routes.
The term parenteral means next to
or beside the enteral. Enteral refers to the alimentary tract, so parenteral
means sites that are outside of or beside the alimentary tract. Since oral,
sublingual, and rectal comprise the enteral routes of administration, any other
route is considered a parenteral administration site. Topical administration
is a parenteral route that does not require sterile formulations.
The parenteral routes of administration are used for various reasons.
- If a drug is poorly absorbed when orally administered
or is degraded by stomach acid or the gastrointestinal enzymes, then a parenteral
route would be indicated.
- The parenteral routes are also preferred when a rapid
and predictable drug response is desired as in a emergency situation.
- Parenteral routes of administration are also useful
when a patient is uncooperative, unconscious, or unable to take drug via an
- Parenteral routes are used when localized drug therapy
But there are major disadvantages.
- Most of these parenteral formulations are more expensive
than enteral route formulations.
- There is the requirement that these parenteral formulations
must be sterile.
- Most of these formulations require that a skilled or
trained person administer them.
- Once the drug is administered, it may be difficult
to remove the dose is there if an adverse or toxic reaction. | <urn:uuid:e3107cc1-5390-4526-a20e-f0e0f071df99> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://pharmlabs.unc.edu/labs/parenterals/routes.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783395166.84/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154955-00048-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.885032 | 409 | 2.828125 | 3 |
Sequestration Not Likely to Harm Education
If mandatory federal budget cuts, called sequestration, take place starting January 2, most federal education programs will be cut by 8.2 percent, according to a new Office of Management and Budget report.
Such cuts could have “destructive impacts,” said Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Tom Harkin (D-IA) in a hearing this summer. Testifying before the committee in July, U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan asserted: “It would be hard to overstate the devastating impact of sequestration.”
Despite such strong statements, others suggest cuts to federal education spending would benefit both taxpayers and children.
“Federal education programs … should be abolished with or without sequestration,” said Andrew Coulson, director of the Cato Institute’s Center for Educational Freedom. He says these programs have been “a complete waste of money.”
The Spending Black Hole
“The federal government has spent roughly $2 trillion on K-12 education since 1965, and test scores near the end of high school are flat in reading and math and have actually declined a little in science over that period,” Coulson said. Federal education spending has taken “$2 trillion out of the productive sector of our economy… thereby slowing economic growth.”
Per-pupil, inflation adjusted federal education spending has tripled since the 1970s, notes Lindsey Burke, an education policy fellow for the Heritage Foundation. She says federal education spending “has been on an untenable track for decades,” creating “numerous duplicative and ineffective programs.”
Burke also notes the compliance burden attending federal dollars. For example, a 2006 OMB report found No Child Left Behind, the largest federal education law, added 7 million man-hours of paperwork for states, at a cost of $141 million.
“Reducing bureaucracy and federal intervention … could ultimately put more money in the hands of local school districts,” Burke says.
Main Result: Bureaucracy
Federal dollars tighten central control without improving education, says Derek Monson, director of public policy for the Sutherland Institute.
“Accepting dependence on federal funding” does not improve education, he said. The best way to strengthen education, he said, is by “trusting and empowering the parents, teachers, and principals who know children the best to do what they want most: help children learn,” he said.
That means allowing options such as digital learning, charter schools, “a tax system that rewards educational self-reliance,” and ending “intrusive” government regulation at all levels, he said.
Image by woodleywonderworks. | <urn:uuid:a6174865-02bf-44b4-918b-1bc737b49b7b> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://news.heartland.org/newspaper-article/2012/10/03/sequestration-not-likely-harm-education?quicktabs_4=1 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783393332.57/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154953-00142-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.947348 | 569 | 2.640625 | 3 |
The donkey, though small and impatient, is fun to draw and give expression to. Here are some tips on how you can draw a superb donkey in these simple steps.
1Draw a neck shaped slightly like a square, and a rectangular shaped body.
2Draw the head of the donkey. Add legs and add hooves to bottom of them.
3Now add an eye, ears, tail, and a muzzle.
4Finally, add details and erase any orthogonal lines you don't want any more. Details include a blanket, a smiling mouth, a pupil and eyelashes, and ear creases.
5You are done with your donkey!
- If you are in need of help drawing straight lines, lightly draw a grid with four equal squares going across, and three down.
- Use a pencil. The drawings were done in marker to make the lines visible.
- Draw lightly and sketch.
- Be careful no to get a paper-cut or poke yourself with the pencil/writing utensil!
Things You'll Need
- Colored Pencils/Crayon | <urn:uuid:1f08e92d-58f1-4407-add9-7fb03f81c549> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.wikihow.com/Draw-a-Donkey | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783393332.57/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154953-00109-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.914852 | 227 | 3.3125 | 3 |
|Diwali / Deepavali|
Rangoli decorations, made using coloured powder, are popular during Diwali
|Observed by||Hindus, Sikhs, Jains and Buddhists|
|Type||Indian, Cultural, Seasonal|
|Celebrations||Diya and lighting, home decoration, shopping, fireworks, puja (prayers), gifts, performing religious rituals, feast and sweets|
|Begins||Dhanteras, 2 days before Diwali|
|Ends||Bhai Dooj, 2 days after Diwali|
|Date||Varies per Hindu Lunisolar calendar|
|2015 date||11 November (Wednesday)
10 November (Tuesday) in South India
30 October (Sunday)-- North India29 October (South India)
19 October (Thursday-north india)18 October(Wednesday-south India)
7 November(Wednesday-north India)6 November(Tuesday-south India)
|Related to||Kali Puja, Diwali (Jainism), Bandi Chhor Divas|
|Part of a series on|
Diwali (or Deepavali, the "festival of lights") is an ancient Hindu festival celebrated in autumn (northern hemisphere) or spring (southern hemisphere) every year. Arguably the most important festival in Hinduism, it is an official holiday in Fiji, Guyana, India, Pakistan, Malaysia, Mauritius, Myanmar, Nepal, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Suriname and Trinidad and Tobago. The festival spiritually signifies the victory of light over darkness or good over evil, knowledge over ignorance, and hope over despair. Its celebration includes millions of lights shining on housetops, outside doors and windows, around temples and other buildings in the communities and countries where it is observed. The festival preparations and rituals typically extend over a five-day period, but the main festival night of Diwali coincides with the darkest, new moon night of the Hindu Lunisolar month Kartika. In the Gregorian calendar, Diwali night falls between mid-October and mid-November.
Before Diwali night, people clean, renovate, and decorate their homes and offices. On Diwali night, Hindus dress up in new clothes or their best outfit, light up diyas (lamps and candles) inside and outside their home, participate in family puja (prayers) typically to Lakshmi – the goddess of fertility and prosperity. After puja, fireworks follow, then a family feast including mithai (sweets), and an exchange of gifts between family members and close friends. Deepavali also marks a major shopping period in nations where it is celebrated.
Diwali is an important festival for Hindus. The name of festive days as well as the rituals of Diwali vary significantly among Hindus, based on the region of India. In many parts of India, the festivities start with Dhanteras (in Northern and Western part of India), followed by Naraka Chaturdasi on second day, Deepavali on the third day, Diwali Padva dedicated to wife–husband relationship on the fourth day, and festivities end with Bhau-beej dedicated to sister–brother bond on the fifth day. Dhanteras usually falls eighteen days after Dussehra.
On the same night that Hindus celebrate Diwali, Jains celebrate a festival of lights to mark the attainment of moksha by Mahavira, Sikhs celebrate Bandi Chhor Divas and some Newar Buddhists also celebrate Diwali remembering Ashoka's conversion to Buddhism.
The word Diwali means rows of lighted oil lamps.
Diwali (English pronunciation: //) is derived from the Sanskrit dīpāvali "series of lights"., formed from दीप dīpa "light, lamp" and आवलि āvali "series, line, row". Diwali is also known as दीपोत्सव dīpotsava "festival of lights".
The holiday is known as dīpavaḷi in Kannada: ದೀಪಾವಳಿ, Malayalam: ദീപാവലി, and Telugu: దీపావళి, dipawoli in Assamese: দীপাৱলী, dipaboli or dipali in Bengali: দীপাবলি/দীপালি, dipābali in Odia: ଦିପାବଲି, divālī in Hindi: दिवाली, dīvālī in Punjabi: ਦੀਵਾਲੀ, divāḷi in Gujarati: દિવાળી, Marathi: दिवाळी, and Konkani: दिवाळी, diyārī in Sindhi: दियारी, tīpāvaḷi in Tamil: தீபாவளி, and tihar in Nepali: तिहार.
Diwali dates back to ancient times in India, as a festival after the summer harvest in the Hindu calendar month of Kartika. The festival is mentioned in Sanskrit scriptures such as the Padma Purana, the Skanda Purana both completed in second half of 1st millennium AD but believed to have been expanded from a core text from an earlier era. The diyas (lamps) are mentioned in Skanda Purana to symbolically represent parts of sun, the cosmic giver of light and energy to all life, who seasonally transitions in the Hindu calendar month of Kartik. Hindus in some regions of India associate Diwali with the legend of Yama and Nachiketa on Kartika amavasya (Diwali night). The Nachiketa story about right versus wrong, transient wealth versus true wealth, ignorance versus knowledge is recorded in Katha Upanishad composed in 1st millennium BC.
King Harsha in the 7th century Sanskrit play Nagananda mentions Deepavali as Deepapratipadutsava, where lamps were lit and newly engaged brides and grooms were given gifts. Rajasekhara referred to Deepavali as Dipamalika in his 9th century Kavyamimamsa, where in he mentions the tradition of homes being whitewashed and oil lamps decorating homes, streets and markets in the night. The Persian traveller and historian Al Biruni, in his 11th century memoir on India, wrote Deepavali being celebrated by Hindus on New Moon day of the month of Kartika.
Diwali is one of the happiest holidays in India and Nepal with significant preparations. People clean their homes and decorate them for the festivities. Diwali is one of the biggest shopping seasons in India and Nepal; people buy new clothes for themselves and their families, as well as gifts, appliances, kitchen utensils, even expensive items such as cars and gold jewelry. People also buy gifts for family members and friends which typically include sweets, dry fruits, and seasonal specialties depending on regional harvest and customs. It is also the period when children hear ancient stories, legends, myths about battles between good and evil or light and darkness from their parents and elders. Girls and women go shopping and create rangoli and other creative patterns on floors, near doors and walkways. Youth and adults alike help with lighting and preparing for patakhe (fireworks).
There is significant variation in regional practices and rituals. Depending on the region, prayers are offered before one or more deities, with most common being Lakshmi – the goddess of wealth and prosperity. On Diwali night, fireworks light up the neighborhood skies. Later, family members and invited friends celebrate the night over food and sweets.
Diwali is celebrated by Hindus, Jains, and Sikhs and some Buddhists to mark different historical events, stories or myths but they all symbolise the victory of light over darkness, knowledge over ignorance, good over evil, hope over despair.
The Yoga, Vedanta, and Samkhya schools of Hindu philosophy share the belief that there is something beyond the physical body and mind which is pure, infinite, and eternal, called the Atman. The celebration of Diwali as the "victory of good over evil" refers to the light of higher knowledge dispelling all ignorance, the ignorance that masks one's true nature, not as the body, but as the unchanging, infinite, immanent and transcendent reality. With this awakening comes compassion and the awareness of the oneness of all things, and knowledge overcomes ignorance. Diwali is the celebration of this inner light over spiritual darkness, knowledge over ignorance, right over wrong, good over evil.
The religious significance of Deepavali varies regionally within India, depending on the school of Hindu philosophy, regional myths, legends, and beliefs.
Hindus across the world celebrate Diwali in honor of the return of Lord Rama, his wife Sita and his brother Lakshmana from exile of 14 years after Rama defeated Ravana. To honor the return of Lord Rama, Sita and Lakshmana from Lanka and to illuminate their path, villagers light Diyas to celebrate the triumph of good over evil. For some, Diwali also celebrates the return of Pandavas after 12 years of Vanvas and one year of "Agyatavas" in Mahabharata. Furthermore, Deepavali is linked to the celebration of Lakshmi, who is venerated amongst Hindus as the goddess of wealth and prosperity and is the wife of Lord Vishnu. The 5-day festival of Diwali begins on the day Goddess Lakshmi was born from the churning of cosmic ocean of milk by the gods and the demons; while the night of Diwali is the day Lakshmi chose Vishnu as her husband and they were married. Along with Lakshmi, devotees make offerings to Ganesha, who symbolizes ethical beginnings and fearless remover of obstacles; Saraswati, who embodies music, literature and learning and Kubera, who symbolizes book-keeping, treasury and wealth management. Other Hindus believe that Diwali is the day Vishnu came back to Lakshmi and their abode in the Vaikuntha; so those who worship Lakshmi receive the benefit of her good mood, and therefore are blessed with mental, physical and material wellbeing during the year ahead.
Hindus in India's eastern region, such as Odisha and West Bengal, worship the goddess Kali instead of Lakshmi, and call the festival Kali Puja. In India's Braj and north central regions, the god Krishna is recognized. People mark Mount Govardhan, and celebrate legends about Krishna. In other regions, the feast of Govardhan Puja (or Annakoot) is celebrated, with 56 or 108 different cuisines prepared, offered to Krishna, then shared and celebrated by the local community.
In West and certain Northern parts of India, the festival of Diwali marks the start of a new Hindu year.
Diwali for Sikhs marks the Bandi Chhor Divas, when Guru Har Gobind freed himself and some Hindu Rajahs, from the Gwalior Fort, from the prison of the Mughal emperor, Jahangir, and arrived at the Golden Temple in Amritsar. Ever since then, Sikhs celebrate Bandi Choorh Divas, with the annual lighting up of Golden Temple, fireworks and other festivities. In the post-Guru Gobind Singh era, Sarbat Khalsa used to meet on Diwali and Baisakhi to discuss important issues concerning Sikh community.
Diwali has special significance in Jainism. Mahavira, the last of the Tirthankar of this era, attained Nirvana on this day at Pavapuri on 15 October 527 BCE, on Kartik Krishna Amavasya. According to the Kalpasutra by Acharya Bhadrabahu, 3rd century BC, many gods were present there, illuminating the darkness. Therefore, Jains celebrate Diwali as a day of remembering Mahavira. On Diwali morning, Nirvan Ladoo is offered after praying to Lord Mahavira in all Jain temples all across the world. Gautam Gandhar Swami, the chief disciple of Lord Mahavira achieved omniscience(Kevala Gyan) later the same day.
Diwali is a five-day festival in many regions of India, with Diwali night centering on the new moon – the darkest night – at the end of the Hindu lunar month of Ashvin and the start of the month of Kartika. In the Common Era calendar, Diwali typically falls towards the end of October, or first half of November each year. The darkest night of autumn lit with diyas, candles and lanterns, makes the festival of lights particularly memorable. Diwali is also a festival of sounds and sights with fireworks and rangoli designs; the festival is a major celebration of flavors with feasts and numerous mithai (sweets, desserts), as well as a festival of emotions where Diwali ritually brings family and friends together every year.
Rituals and preparations for Diwali begin days or weeks in advance. The festival formally begins two days before the night of Diwali, and ends two days thereafter. Each day has the following rituals and significance:
Dhanteras (celebrated in Northern and Western part of India) starts off the five day festival. Starting days before and through Dhanteras, houses and business premises are cleaned, renovated and decorated. Women and children decorate entrances with Rangoli – creative colourful floor designs both inside and in the walkways of their homes or offices. Boys and men get busy with external lighting arrangements and completing all renovation work in progress. For some, the day celebrates the churning of cosmic ocean of milk between the forces of good and forces of evil; this day marks the birthday of Lakshmi – the Goddess of Wealth and Prosperity, and the birthday of Dhanvantari – the God of Health and Healing. On the night of Dhanteras, diyas (lamps) are ritually kept burning all through the nights in honor of Lakshmi and Dhanvantari.
Dhanteras is also a major shopping day, particularly for gold or silver articles. Merchants, traders and retailers stock up, put articles on sale, and prepare for this day. Lakshmi Puja is performed in the evening. Some people decorate their shops, work place or items symbolizing their source of sustenance and prosperity.
Narak Chaturdasi is the second day of festivities, and is also called Choti Diwali. The Hindu literature narrates that the asura (demon) Narakasura was killed on this day by Krishna, Satyabhama and Kali. The day is celebrated by early morning religious rituals and festivities followed on. Typically, house decoration and colourful floor patterns called rangoli are made on or before Narak Chaturdasi. Special bathing rituals such as a fragrant oil bath are held in some regions, followed by minor pujas. Women decorate their hands with henna designs. Families are also busy preparing homemade sweets for main Diwali.
The third day is the main festive day. People wear new clothes or their best outfits as the evening approaches. Then diyas are lit, pujas are offered to Lakshmi, and to one or more additional deities depending on the region of India; typically Ganesha, Saraswati, and Kubera. Lakshmi symbolises wealth and prosperity, and her blessings are invoked for a good year ahead.
Lakshmi is believed to roam the earth on Diwali night. On the evening of Diwali, people open their doors and windows to welcome Lakshmi, and place diya lights on their windowsills and balcony ledges to invite her in. On this day, the mothers who work hard all year, are recognized by the family and she is seen to embody a part of Lakshmi, the good fortune and prosperity of the household. Small earthenware lamps filled with oil are lighted and placed in rows by some Hindus along the parapets of temples and houses. Some set diyas adrift on rivers and streams. Important relationships and friendships are also recognized during the day, by visiting relatives and friends, exchanging gifts and sweets.
After the puja, people go outside and celebrate by lighting up patakhe (fireworks). The children enjoy sparklers and variety of small fireworks, while adults enjoy playing with ground chakra, Vishnu chakra, flowerpots (anaar), sutli bomb, rockets and bigger fireworks. The fireworks signify celebration of Diwali as well a way to chase away evil spirits. After fireworks, people head back to a family feast, conversations and mithai (sweets, desserts).
The day after Diwali, is celebrated as Padwa. This day ritually celebrates the love and mutual devotion between the wife and husband. The husbands give thoughtful gifts, or elaborate ones to respective spouses. In many regions, newly married daughters with their husbands are invited for special meals. Sometimes brothers go and pick up their sisters from their in-laws home for this important day. The day is also a special day for the married couple, in a manner similar to anniversaries elsewhere in the world. The day after Diwali devotees perform Goverdhan puja in honor of Lord Krishna.
Diwali also marks the beginning of new year, in some parts of India, where the Hindu Vikram Samvat calendar is popular. Merchants and shopkeepers close out their old year, and start a new fiscal year with blessings from Lakshmi and other deities.
The last day of festival is called Bhai dooj (Brother's second) or Bhai tika in Nepal, where it is the major day of the festival. It celebrates the sister-brother loving relationship, in a spirit similar to Raksha Bandhan but with different rituals. The day ritually emphasizes the love and lifelong bond between siblings. It is a day when women and girls get together, perform a puja with prayers for the well being of their brothers, then return to a ritual of food-sharing, gift-giving and conversations. In historic times, this was a day in autumn when brothers would travel to meet their sisters, or bring over their sister's family to their village homes to celebrate their sister-brother bond with the bounty of seasonal harvests.
On this festive occasion, Hindu, Jain and Sikh communities also mark charitable causes, kindness, and for peace. For example, at the international border, every year on Diwali, Indian forces approach Pakistani forces and offer traditional Indian sweets on the occasion of Diwali. The Pakistani soldiers anticipating the gesture, return the goodwill with an assortment of Pakistani sweets.
To add to the festivals of Diwali, fairs are held throughout India. Melas are found in many towns and villages. A mela generally becomes a market day in the countryside when farmers buy and sell produce, and rural families shop for clothes, utensils and other products. Girls and women dress attractively during the festival. They wear colourful clothing and new jewelry, and their hands are decorated with henna designs.
Among the many activities that take place at a fairs are performances by jugglers, acrobats, snake charmers and fortune tellers. Food stalls are set up, selling sweet and spicy foods. There are a variety of rides at the fair, which include Ferris wheels and rides on animals such as elephants and camels. Activities for children, such as puppet shows, occur throughout the day.
In Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, the festivities center over two days – Naraka Chaturthasi and Deepavali Amaavasya. The festivities start out at the crack of dawn and carry on well into the night. Most people make a trip to the local temple along with their families to seek the blessings of their respective gods. The night sky is lit up with a scintillating array of noisy fireworks.
Diwali is one of the seven most important festivals of Andhra Pradesh. It is very popular with children who celebrate Diwali because of the excitement of bursting firecrackers. Special shops to sell firecrackers are set up in all towns, cities and bigger villages. Some areas host local stage story telling called Hari Katha. Some areas may put a huge Narakasura dummy made with fireworks. This will be burst by a person dressed as Lord Krishna or, more accurately, a costume of Satyabhama, the consort of Lord Krishna, who actually killed the demon Narakasura; an event that is celebrated as Diwali for generations. The evening sky of Diwali is a colourful sight to watch.
People clean/white-wash or paint/decorate their homes as it is a very auspicious day; to welcome the goddess of wealth and prosperity i.e. Lakshmi devi to their homes. Homes are lit up with hundreds of diyas and colourful diwali rangolis adorn the doorways. After all this preparation all the members of the family perform the Lakshmi puja. Another custom involves decorating homes with paper figures.
Festivities cut across boundaries to move on from the small villages to the big towns, often beginning almost a month before Diwali. Sales of expensive silk saris, jewellery, ornaments, and household goods increase. From the poor to the rich, everyone indulges in the largest shopping spree of the year. Sweets, which are an integral part of any festival in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, are prepared or purchased from shops. The festival is full of messages depicting one or more aspects of human life, relationships, and ancient traditions.
Diwali begins in Konkan and Goa on the day of Naraka Chaturdashi. The houses are cleaned and decorated with kandeel(known as Akashdivo in Konkani), lamps, mango leaves, and marigold flowers. The utensils are made to shine, filled with water, and decorated for the holy bath the following morning. On the eve of Naraka Charurdashi, paper-made effigies of Narakasura, filled with grass and firecrackers symbolizing evil, are made. These effigies are burnt at around four o'clock in the morning. Firecrackers are burst, and people return home to take a scented oil bath. Lamps are lit in a line. The women of the house perform aarti of the men, gifts are exchanged, a bitter berry called kareet is crushed under the feet in token of killing Narkasur, symbolising evil and removal of ignorance. Different varieties of Poha and sweets are made and eaten with family and friends. Festivities continue till Tulsi Vivah and lamps are lit every evening. Celebrations include Lakshmi puja on the Diwali day, Krishna puja or Govardhan puja and cattle worship on Balipratipada day, Bhaubeej, and Tulsi vivah.
In Gujarat the Diwali celebrations take on a number of distinct characteristics.
Diwali occurs in the second (dark) lunar fortnight (Krishna Paksha) of the month of Ashvin (Gujarati: "Aaso") and the first (bright) fortnight (Shukla Paksha) of Kartika (Guj: "Kartik"). Aaso is the last month of the Gujarati calendar, and Kartik the first.
Celebrations start earlier in Gujarat than in the rest of India, commencing on Agyaras, the 11th day of the Krishna Paksha of Aaso. On the 12th day is Vagh Baras, the festival of the cow and the calf. On the 13th day is Dhanteras, the days Diwali starts in the rest of India. The 14th (elsewhere known as Naraka Chaturdashi in South India and Choti Diwali in the North) is celebrated as Kali Choudas. The 15th (new moon day) is Lakshmi Puja, celebrated throughout India. The next day, the first day of Shukla Paksha of Kartik, is Bestu Varsh, New Year's Day, start of the Gujarati calendar. The 2nd day of Kartik is Bhai Bij, the day Diwali ends. A further celebration takes place on the 5th day of Kartik, Labh Pancham.
Known as Deepavali (ದೀಪಾವಳಿ) in Karnataka, it is celebrated on the day before and day following Amavasye (New Moon Day) as Naraka Chaturdashi (before new-moon day) resembling Satyabhama's victory over Narakasura and as Bali Padyami, the first day of Kartika masa. The entire house is cleaned and new clothes are purchased for the entire family which is followed by lighting of oil lamps around the house and bursting firecrackers. The tradition in Kannada families is that all members gather together for the three days celebration. The thirteenth day of the Krishna Paksha is celebrated as "neeru tumbo habba" when the house is cleaned, painted afresh and the vessels are washed, bedecked and filled with fresh water for the festival. The next day is Naraka Chaturdashi, considered very auspicious. In parts of North Karnataka, the women of the house perform Aarti on the men. The next day is Lakshmi mahaapooje on Amavaasye (new-moon day). On the fourth day, the house, especially the entrance, is decorated with flowers and floor decorations to invite Bali into their homes. A special entrance to the home is built, made out of cow-dung (gOmaya) and Sandalwood (siri-chandana). Both materials are revered in Kannada tradition as having divine significance. The day is of special importance to agricultural families as they celebrate Govardhan Pooja on this day. The houses are adorned with Keraka (replica of the Govardhana giri using cow dung) bejewelled with flowers and maize, ragi stalks. Fire-camps are kindled on both Naraka Chaturdashi and Bali Padyami days of Deepavali. The celebration of Deepavali is marked by the lighting of lamps in every courtyard and the bursting of firecrackers. Ravtegh is a special Deepavali delicacy in Bangalore region. Holiges and Chakkulis are prepared in all households.
Diwali or popularly known locally as Deepavali, falls on the preceding day of the New Moon in the Malayalam month Thulam (October–November). The celebrations are based on the legend of Narakasura Vadha – where Sri Krishna destroyed the demon and the day Narakasura died is celebrated as Deepavali. It commemorates the triumph of good over evil. The story of King Bali is also associated with Diwali by Hindus in Kerala.
Preparations for Diwali start before the festival with people preparing sweets and savory snacks collectively called 'Faral'. The snacks include Chakali, Laddu, Karanji, Chiwada and other festive foods.
In Maharashtra, Diwali starts from Vasubaras which is the 12th day of the 2nd half of the Marathi month Ashvin. This day is celebrated by performing an Aarti of the cow and its calf – which is a symbol of love between mother and her baby.
The next day is Dhana Trayodashi. Traders and business people give special importance to this festival. It is also considered an auspicious day for making important purchases, especially metals, including kitchenware and precious metals like silver and gold.
This is followed by Naraka Chaturdashi. On this day people get up early in the morning and take their bath before sunrise while stars are still visible. Bathing is an elaborate process on this day with abundant use of utnas, oils and perfumes, and is preceded by an Aarti.
The day after Naraka Chaturdashi comes Lakshmi-pooja. It occurs on Amavasya i.e. no moon day. The dark night is illuminated by lamps and at dusk firecrackers are burst. New account books are opened after a pooja. Generally the traders do not make any payments on that day to preserve Lakshmi in home. In every household, cash, jewellery and an idol of the goddess Lakshmi is worshipped. Friends, neighbours and relatives are invited over and celebrations are in full swing.
Bali Pratipada is the 1st day of Kartik in the Hindu calendar. It marks the start of Hindu financial year. It is a special day for Husband and wife. The wife puts tilak on her husbands forehead and he gives her an expensive gift. In recent times there is a growing trend of organising a cultural event called Diwali Padwa early in the morning.
Bhau-beej – it is the time when the bond of love between a brother and sister is further strengthened. The sister asks God for her brother's(s') long and successful life while she receives presents from her beloved brothers. .
In Odisha, the day starts with drawing Rangolis in front of the house. The Rangoli is drawn in the shape of sailboat on the ground in front of their house and is filled with items like cotton, salt, mustard, asparagus root, turmeric and a wild creeper. However, in the central chamber, Prasad is placed and over which a Diya of a jute stem with cloth wick is lit. This marks the beginning of Puja. Tarpanam – the ritual meant to invoke the spirits of the ancestors. Immediately after the dusk, all members of household gather for lighting Kaunria (pith of the jute plant). A lighted lamp is placed inside an earthen pot that is tied to a pole erected in front of the house . All the members then hold a bunch of jute stick in their hands and lit them from the fire from main Diya i.e. the Diya kept over Prasad and raise the bunch towards the sky chanting the following verse. And then in presence of every members of the house, a bundle of the Kaunria is lit during the Puja and raised skywards accompanied with the chant: "Badbadua ho andhaara re aasa aalua re jaa" meaning "O' forefathers come in the dark of the evening, we light your way to the heaven". The significance of the ritual is that we show respect to our ancestors who reinforce their absence from the physical world by our presence.
Known as Deepavali (தீபாவளி) in Tamil Nadu, it commemorates the death of Narakasura at the hands of Lord Sri Krishna. It is believed that Narakasura, a malevolent demon, tortured common people and they prayed to lord Krishna to defeat him. The people then celebrated Narakasura's defeat with sparklers, lights and firecrackers. This celebration has continued down the generations as Diwali. In Tamil Nadu, Diwali falls on the 14th day preceding the amavasya (new moon) in the solar month of Aippasi. The day begins with an early morning oil bath, wearing new clothes, bursting of firecrackers, visiting Lord Ganesha, Lord Vishnu and Shiva temples. The exchange of sweets between neighbours, visiting relations, and preparing Diwali special sweets are traditions of the day.
Typical Deepavali celebrations begin with waking up early in the morning, before sun rise, followed by an oil-bath. The bathing tradition involves extensive massaging of warm til-oil containing pepper corns and betel leaves. New clothes are typically worn as a part of celebrations. After the bath, a home-made medicine known as "Deepavali Lehiyam" is consumed, which is supposed to aid in soothing digestive problems that may ensue because of feasting that occurs later in the day. Sparklers, firecrackers and lights are used extensively, much like the rest of the world where Deepavali is celebrated. Tamil Nadu will celebrate it on the preceding day, Naraka Chaturdashi. In Tamil Nadu, Diwali is calculated when chaturdashi prevails during sunrise, precisely at 4am-6am. If chaturdashi prevails after 6am it is not considered. For example, if chaturdashi tithi begins at 2:30 pm the preceding day and ends at 1pm next day, the next day will be celebrated as Diwali. Lamps are lit on the night of Karthikai Deepam, in the Tamil solar month of Karthikai.
In Telangana the festivities center over two days – Naraka Chaturthasi and Deepavali Amaavasya. People clean/white-wash and paint their homes as it is a very auspicious day; to welcome the goddess of wealth and prosperity i.e. Lakshmi devi to their homes. Homes are lit up with hundreds of diyas and colorful Diwali rangolis adorn the doorways. After all this preparation all the members of the family perform the Lakshmi puja. Sri Kedareswara Vratham is held on Amavasya called Nomu. This is very sacredly performed. There is special thread called the Nomu Dhara, which is tied to the worshiper right hand after performing puja. This custom is acquire through ancestry only. Those families who have this ritual are eligible to perform this puja.
The Goddess Lakshmi is worshiped and food, fruits, nuts, in multiples of 21 are placed in twin winnow as offering to God, new clothes, area nuts, food arranged in plaintain leaf is offered as Naivedya. Adrasam or Kajjaya is a savoury made of rice flour and jaggery then deep fried is specially prepared on this day.
There are some traditional customs followed such as buying new clothes for this festival. Buying new home or vehicles is considered auspicious. Special sweets are made too. Some eateries in Hyderabad make some delicious sweets during Diwali which will not be available at any other time. Some areas may put a huge Narakasura dummy made with fireworks.
Diwali is the most important festival in this predominantly Hindu state and is celebrated with great vigor and gaiety. Diwali is celebrated in memory of Lord Rama's victory over the demon king Ravana and his subsequent homecoming to Ayodhya after 14 years in exile. People wear colourful clothes throughout the Diwali festival, and enthusiasm is visible over the entire festival. The ghats of Varanasi come alive with thousands of brightly lit earthen lamps. Visitors throng in large numbers to watch this. Fairs and art festivals are held in the state, a venue for fun and shopping. Other celebrations, such as puja, fireworks, sweets and gifts exchange are similar to the rest of India.Diwali is celebrated with pomp and antiquity in Uttar Pradesh.It is celebrated as the Festival of Lights.The festival is celebrated with great enthusiasm the children and the old.
In this region, Diwali marks the killing of Narakasura: Celebrated as Naraka Chaturdashi, one day before Diwali, it commemorates the killing of the evil demon Narakasura, who wreaked havoc. In different versions, either Krishna or Krishna's wife Satyabhama killed Narakasura during the Dwapara yuga. The festival is celebrated over six days. It starts with Govatsa Dwadashi. Go means cow and vatsa means calf. Dwadashi means the 12th day. The story associated with this day is that of King Prithu, son of the tyrant King Vena. Because of the ill rule of Vena, there was a terrible famine and earth stopped being fruitful. Prithu chased the earth, who is usually represented as cow, and ‘milked’ her, meaning that he brought prosperity to the land. On second day, people shop for utensils, clothes, gold and other items. The third day is called Chaturdashi, the day on which the demon Narakasura was killed by Krishna – an incarnation of Vishnu. It signifies the victory of good over evil and light over darkness. The day is celebrated with puja, fireworks, and feast. The fourth day, is Diwali night, celebrated like rest of India. The fifth day is Govardhan Puja, celebrated as the day Krishna defeated Indra by the lifting of Govardhana hill to save his kinsmen and cattle from rain and floods. Symbolic mountains of food are prepared representing the Govardhan hill lifted by Krishna, then shared in the community. The last day is Yama Dwitiya where brothers and sisters meet to mark their bond, love and affection for each other. If sister is married and lives in a distant area, the brothers typically visit their sisters’ place on this day and usually have a meal there. The brothers also bring and give gifts to their sisters.
Kali Puja is light-up night for West Bengal, Mithila region of Bihar and Assam. Kali Puja coincides with the festival of Diwali (pronounced Dipaboli in Bengali), (in Maithili, it is known as Diya-Baati) where people light diyas/candles in memory of the souls of departed ancestors. The goddess Kali is worshipped, not Lakshmi, for whole night on one night during this festival. The festival is popularly called Kali puja, not Diwali. Kali puja is also known by the names of Shyama puja or Nisha puja in parts of the Mithila region and West Bengal.Many people also celebrate this festival by lighting earthen lamps (deeps) which is a significance of Lord ram winning over the evil Ravana.
Deepavali is celebrated around the world, particularly in countries with significant populations of Hindu, Jain and Sikh origin. These include Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Australia, New Zealand, Fiji, Mauritius, Kenya, Tanzania, South Africa, Guyana, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago, the Netherlands, Canada, the United Kingdom, United Arab Emirates, and the United States. With more understanding of Indian culture and global migration of people of Indian origin, the number of countries where Diwali/Deepavali is celebrated has been gradually increasing. While in some countries it is celebrated mainly by Indian expatriates, in others it is becoming part of the general local culture. In most of these countries Diwali is celebrated on the same lines as described in this article with some minor variations. Some important variations are worth mentioning.
Deepavali is known as "Tihar" or "Swanti". It is celebrated over the same five day period concurrent with Deepavali in India. The traditions vary from those followed in India. On the first day (Kaag tihar), crows are given offerings, considering them to be divine messengers. On the second day (Kukur tihar), dogs are given food for their honesty. After Kaag and Kukur Tihar, Gai Tihar and Goru Tihar is celebrated on the third day, where cow and ox are decorated and fed. Also on the third day, Laxmi puja is performed. This is the last day of the year according to Nepal Sambat, so many of the businessmen clear their accounts on this day and on finishing it, worship goddess Laxmi, the goddess of wealth. Days before the Laxmi puja, houses are cleaned and decorated; on the day of Laxmi puja, oil lamps are lit near doors and windows. The fourth day is celebrated as new year. Cultural processions and other celebrations are observed in this day. The Newars celebrate it as "Mha Puja", a special ritual in which the body is worshipped to keep it fit and healthy for the year ahead on this day. On the fifth and final day called "Bhai Tika", brothers and sisters meet, garland each other, pray for the other's well being, mark the other's forehead with Tika. The brothers give gifts to their sisters, and sisters feed their brothers.
In Nepal, family gathering is more significant during Tihar. People in the community play "Deusi and Bhailo" which is a kind of singing and dancing forming a group. People go to all the houses in the community and play songs and dance, and give blessings to the visited house, whereas the home owner gives gifts like rice, SelRoti, fruits and money. After the festival, people donate some part of the collected money and food to the charity or welfare groups and with the rest of the money and food, they go for a picnic. People also play swing called Dore Ping made out of thick ropes and Pirke Ping or Rangate Ping made out of wood.
Among Nepali people, after Lakshmi Puja, young girls assemble in a groups four to ten members in a group on Diwali. And they sing/dance and play Bhailo in each and every village one by one.The head of the family, of each house they visit, gives them dakshani as a token of gift. They play till Bhaitika (Bhaiduj).Similarly boys play Deusi. Diwali is rejoicingly celebrated during these days.
In mid March, before the 2016 Diwali festival, it was declared a public holiday throughout Pakistan. It is mainly celebrated by Pakistani Hindus, however Muslims and Christians also take part in the festival, like in Peshawar in the 2015 celebrations.
Deepavali is a federal public holiday throughout Malaysia. In many respects it resembles the traditions followed in the Indian subcontinent. 'Open houses' are held where Hindu Malaysians (of all ethnic groups like Tamils, Telugus and Malayalees) welcome fellow Malaysians of different races and religions to their house for a meal. Diwali in Malaysia has become an occasion for goodwill and friendly ties between religious and ethnic groups in Malaysia.On Diwali night, Hindus dress up in new clothes, light up diyas (lamps and candles )inside and outside their home, participate in family puja(prayers)typically to Lakshmi.
Deepavali is a gazetted public holiday. Observed primarily by the minority Indian community (Tamils), it is typically marked by a light-up in the Little India district, the heart of the Indian community. Apart from the light-up, other activities such as bazaars, exhibitions, parades and concerts will also take place in Little India. The Hindu Endowment Board of Singapore along with Singapore's government organizes many of these cultural events during this festive period.
This festival, a public holiday in the island nation, is also called "Deepavali" and is celebrated by the Tamil community. On this day, it is traditional for people to take an oil bath in the morning, wear new clothes, exchange gifts, performing Poosai (Pūjā), and a visit to the Koil (Hindu temple) is normal.[note 1] Burning of firecrackers in the evening of the festival is a common practice of this festival. Hindus light oil lamps to invite the blessings of Lakshmi, the goddess of wealth and to banish any evil from the household for once and for all. The festival is marked by illumination, making of toys of enamel and making of figures out of crystal sugar popularly known as Misiri. Sri Lanka's celebration include many of the traditional aspects of Deepavali such as games, fireworks, singing and dancing; however, the tradition of a large meal, family reunions and fireworks are admirably preserved.
In Australia, Deepavali is celebrated publicly among the people of Indian origin and the local Australians in Melbourne. Deepavali at Federation Square has been embraced warmly by the mainstream Victorian population beginning in 2006. The event has now become a part of the Melbourne Arts calendar and is celebrated over a week in the city.
Over 56,000 people had visited the Federation square on the last day of the festival last year and had enjoyed the entertaining live music and traditional dances of India, art and crafts as well as the variety of Indian cuisines with the festival culminating in a spectacular fireworks display on the Yarra River.
Many iconic buildings including the Victorian Parliament, Melbourne Museum, Federation Square, Melbourne Airport and the Indian Consulate are decorated over this week. Along with this, many outdoor dance performances and super banners immerse the city in Deepavali mood in the City and Melbourne Airport. The Deepavali event regularly attracts national organizations like AFL, Cricket Australia, White Ribbon, Melbourne Airport and artists from other communities and India . Their participation and contribution by a team of volunteers makes it a mega event and a show case for Indian community.
From the sheer numbers alone attending over one week period of the festival, Diwali at Federation Square has now been recognized as the biggest celebration in Australia.
On the Australian external territory of Christmas Island, Deepavali is celebrated alongside many other celebrations common in Australia and Malaysia as well as local celebrations of the island.
In Trinidad and Tobago, communities all over the islands get together and celebrate the festival. One major celebration that stands out is the Diwali Nagar or Village of the Festival of Lights located in Chaguanas, Trinidad. It features stage performances by the east Indian cultural practitioners, a folk theatre featuring skits and plays, an exhibition on some aspect of Hinduism, displays by Hindu religious sects and social organisations, nightly worship of Lakshmi, lighting of deeyas, performances by schools related to Indian culture, and a food court with Indian and non-Indian vegetarian delicacies. Thousands of people participate in the island wide festivities. Sports grounds, schools and other public locations such as parks, host Deepavali Celebrations. Deepavali celebrations begin with Lakshmi Pooja and continue with lighting deyas and singing, dancing and sharing meals. The festival culminates with fireworks displays ushering in Diwali.
In Fiji, Deepavali is a public holiday and is a religious event celebrated together by Hindus (who constitute close to a third of Fiji's population), and culturally amongst members of Fiji's races and is a time in the year that is greatly looked forward to. Originally celebrated by imported indentured labourers from the Indian subcontinent during British rule in the then Colony of Fiji during the 19th century, it was set as a holiday at independence in 1970 as the government wished to set aside one religious public holiday each for Fiji's three largest religions, i.e., Christianity, Hinduism and Islam.
Deepavali in Fiji is often remarked by people from India as being observed on a larger scale then Deepavali celebrations in India, as fireworks and Deepavali related events begin at least a week before the actual day. Another unique feature is the cultural celebration of Deepavali (aside from its traditionally religious celebration) where Fijians of Indian origin or Indo-Fijians, whether Hindu, Christian, Sikh or even Muslim along with the other cultural groups in Fiji celebrate Deepavali as a time for sharing with friends and family as well as signalling the beginning of the Holiday season in Fiji. On the commercial side, Deepavali is a time for many retail sales and giveaways. Deepavali celebrations in Fiji have taken on a flair of its own, markedly different from celebrations on the Subcontinent.
Deepavali marks a time for cleaning and buying new and special clothes for the celebrations amongst cultural groups along with dressing up in Saris and other Indian clothing, to work the day before. Homes are cleaned and Oil lamps or diyas are lit. Decorations are made around the home with an array of coloured lights, candles and paper lanterns, as well as the use of religious symbols formed out of coloured rice and chalk. Invitations are made to family, friends and neighbours and houses are opened. Gifts are made and prayers or pooja are made by Hindus. Sweets and vegetable dishes are often eaten during this time and fireworks are fired for days before and after Diwali.
In New Zealand, Deepavali is celebrated publicly among many of the South Asian diaspora cultural groups. A large group that celebrates Diwali in New Zealand are members of the Indo-Fijian communities who have migrated and settled there. There are main public festivals in Auckland and Wellington, with other events around the country becoming more popular and visible. An official reception has been held at the New Zealand Parliament since 2003. Diwali is celebrated by Hindus. The festival signifies the triumph of light over darkness, justice over injustice, good over evil and intelligence over ignorance. Lakshmi Mata is worshiped. Lakshmi Mata is the goddess of light, wealth and beauty. Special Divali foods are barfi and Prasad.
In Britain, Indians celebrate Diwali with great enthusiasm. People clean and decorate their homes with lamps and candles. A popular type of candle is a diya. People also give each other sweets such as laddoo and barfi, and the different communities may gather for a religious ceremony and get-together. It is also an important time to contact family in India and perhaps exchange gifts.
The festival of Deepavali has begun to find acceptance in the broader British national consciousness as more non-Hindus appreciate and celebrate Hinduism on this occasion. Hindus celebrate all over the UK which also brings an understanding to different cultures for the rest of the community. Over the past decade national and civic leaders such as Prince Charles have attended Diwali celebrations at some of the UK's prominent Hindu temples, such as the Swaminarayan Temple in Neasden, using the occasion to commend the Hindu community's contributions to British life. In 2013, Prime Minister David Cameron and his wife joined thousands of worshipers at the BAPS Swaminarayan Mandir in Neasden to celebrate Diwali and the Annakut festival marking the Hindu New Year. Since 2009, Diwali has been celebrated every year at 10 Downing Street, the residence of the British Prime Minister. The yearly celebration, begun by Gordon Brown and continued by David Cameron, is one of the most anticipated events hosted by the British Prime Minister.
Diwali was first celebrated in the White House in 2003 and was given official status by the United States Congress in 2007 by former president George W. Bush. Barack Obama became the first president to personally attend Diwali at the White House in 2009. On the eve of his first visit to India as the president of United States, Obama released an official statement sharing best wishes with "those celebrating Diwali".
The Diwali Mela in Cowboys Stadium boasted an attendance of 100,000 people in 2009. In 2009, San Antonio became the first U.S. city to sponsor an official Diwali celebration including a fireworks display; in 2012, over 15,000 people attended. In 2011, The Pierre in New York City, now operated by Tata Group's Taj Hotels, hosted its first Diwali celebration. There are about 3 million Hindus in the United States.
Diwali marks a major shopping period in India. In terms of consumer purchases and economic activity, Diwali is the equivalent of Christmas in the west. It is traditionally a time when households purchase new clothing, home refurbishments, gifts, gold and other large purchases. The festival celebrates Lakshmi, the goddess of wealth and prosperity, and investment, spending and purchases are considered auspicious. Diwali is a peak buying season for gold and jewelry in India. It is also a major sweets, candy and fireworks buying season. At retail level, about US$800 million (INR 5,000 crores) worth of firecrackers are consumed in India over the Diwali season.
There has been growing concern and questions on the environmental and health impact of Diwali, as with other major festivals of the world.
One study indicates that air pollution worsens not as much during fireworks, but after fireworks celebration is over, with fine particulate matter (PM2.5) levels about four times worse than pre-Diwali levels, and average levels about two times a normal day. The study indicated that there is high accumulation of PM2.5 generated because of fireworks on Diwali festival which remains suspended in the air. The peak pollution lasts for about one day, and the pollutant concentrations return to background levels after 24 hours.
Another study indicates that ground level ozone pollution is also formed during Diwali. The dispersal and decay times for increased ground level ozone is also about one day.
There is an increase in burn injuries in India during Diwali from fireworks. A firework called anar (fountain) has been found to cause 65% of the injuries. Adults are the typical victims. Newspapers advise splashing cold water immediately after the burn, which along with proper nursing of the wound helps reduce complications. Most burns are Group I type burns (minor) requiring outpatient care.
Asato ma sat gamaya | (असतो मा सद्गमय ।)
Tamaso ma jyotir gamaya | (तमसो मा ज्योतिर्गमय ।)
Mṛtyor ma amṛtam gamaya | (मृत्योर्मा अमृतं गमय ।)
Om shanti shanti shantihi || (ॐ शान्तिः शान्तिः शान्तिः ॥)
From untruth lead us to Truth.
From darkness lead us to Light.
From death lead us to Immortality.
Om Peace, Peace, Peace.
First Diwali day called Dhanteras or wealth worship. We perform Laskshmi-Puja in evening when clay diyas lighted to drive away shadows of evil spirits.
It is extremely important to keep the house spotlessly clean and pure on Diwali. Goddess Lakshmi likes cleanliness, and she will visit the cleanest house first. Lamps are lit in the evening to welcome the goddess. They are believed to light up her path.
Fireworks and firecrackers are set off to chase away evil spirits, so it is a very noisy holiday too.
There are firecrackers everywhere to scare off evil spirits and contribute to the festive atmosphere.
But as well as delighting the spectators, the fireworks are believed to chase away evil spirits.
According to a resolution passed recently by the Foreign Affairs Committee of the House of Representatives, the festival is celebrated by almost 2 million in the United States and many millions more around the world. The bill, H.R. 747, calls for the U.S. Congress to acknowledge 'the religious and historical significance of the festival of Diwali.'
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Carbon monoxide -- found in combustion fumes from a furnace or other device -- is known as "The Silent Killer" because it is an odorless gas that can cause sudden illness and death. Symptoms of CO poisoning include headache, dizziness, weakness, nausea, vomiting, chest pain and confusion. CO poisoning can be difficult to diagnose because the symptoms mimic other illnesses.
Here are some tips to avoid exposure, from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention:
* Install a battery-operated CO detector in your home and check or replace the battery when you change the times on your clock each spring and fall.
* When purchasing gas equipment, buy items that carry the seal of a national testing agency, such as the American Gas Association or Underwriters' Laboratories.
* Do not use portable flameless chemical heaters (cataltic) indoors. Although these heaters don't have flames, they burn gas and can cause CO to build up inside a home.
For more information, visit cdc.gov. | <urn:uuid:16958316-3078-401d-8bcd-daa4f8db0e0d> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://blog.nj.com/ledgerarchives/2008/12/tips_to_avoid_carbonmonoxide_p.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783404826.94/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624155004-00196-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.903025 | 206 | 3.234375 | 3 |
The Default Windows Setting is Dangerous
Windows systems come with default file view settings. The default is to "Hide file extensions for known file types". This setting can be used to decieve a computer user into believing that a file is safe to open when it is not. Files containing viruses can be sent to a computer with the name "document.txt.exe" which is a file that the computer will run. The file will appear to the computer user as "document.txt" making the user believe that it is safe to open, but if the user clicks on it the file will be run and be able to infect the computer.
Changing the View Settings
This section will tell you hw to change your settings so you will always see file extensions. It will also tell you how to beable to see file details.
Open "My Computer" by clicking on the "My Computer" icon on your desktop. Click on the menu item "View" and select "Details" from the drop down menu. This will change the current settings for the folder or location you are in, but the change is not permanent yet.
To change the file view settings, if you are using Windows 2000 or XP click on the menu item "Tools" and "Folder options" selection. If you are using Windows 98, click on "View", and "Folder options". A dialog box similar to the one below should appear.
Click on the view tab and the dialog box will change as shown below:
Click on the button in the Folder Views area that says "Like current folder" and answer yes when asked if you want to change all folders to match the current folder. Change the rest of the settings to match the dialog box as shown below:
The first three selections are display settings which make it more convenient to navigate through files and folders. Be sure and uncheck the checkbox next to "Hide file extensions for known file types". If you are using Windows 2000 or Windows XP, this should be done for every user that logs in since each unique user that uses the machine will get their own desktop and user profile. | <urn:uuid:0df510a7-59f7-47f5-b6af-943ada5e5b36> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.comptechdoc.org/basic/basictut/fileview.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783397562.76/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154957-00189-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.919317 | 429 | 2.890625 | 3 |
A consistent study routine with about 30 minutes of downtime before getting started is widely recommended. "Use a power period of 45 minutes of work and 5 minutes of break time to promote productivity and efficiency. Create a workflow process with your kids and it will make all the difference," advises Ellen Delap of Professional-Organizer.com
. Elizabeth Hagen
, author of Organize with Confidence
(and mom of five!), suggests supplying kids with a timer so they can learn to focus on their homework for an allotted period, and work toward finishing so that they can watch their favorite TV show or go play. | <urn:uuid:fa3cb990-119b-49ed-9ff7-1bc2c46b6fa6> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.thisoldhouse.com/toh/photos/0,,20518393_21001239,00.html?xid=shine-110816-study-tips | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783399425.79/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154959-00155-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.956579 | 123 | 2.515625 | 3 |
As high blood triglyceride is often a result of unhealthy lifestyle, in order to reduce triglycerides, one would in most cases, need to change his/her lifestyle. A change in lifestyle that involves lowering triglycerides should include a proper diet and an appropriate exercise routine. The diet to lower triglycerides should be customized according to the particular person as the body weight, height and the various typical medical conditions of the person must also be taken into account before forming a diet chart. The basic rule is to however, avoid sweets, oily foods and carbohydrates as much as possible. It should not be a diet to put you through starvation though, and thus you must replace these saturated fats with unsaturated fats like the omega-3 fats found in fatty fishes (salmon, herring, tuna) in addition to coniferous dark green vegetables (Arugula, lettuce, spinach). Someone with significantly high blood triglyceride may also have to take medications to reduce triglycerides and subsequently, the risk of heart diseases. Lowering triglycerides also reduces the risks that are associated with cholesterol increase as triglyceride is a major component in the chemical formation of cholesterol within our body.
It must be understood that obesity is directly related to elevated triglycerides. When the body receives more calories than it can utilize, it converts them into triglyceride, which acts as the reserve energy store for the body. However, if the body does not need the triglycerides, soon after, they are stored as fat (near the waist area especially) that makes us obese. The fatter one gets, the higher is the person’s triglyceride count is, which brings us to the obvious solution: the fat needs to be burned. In order to lower triglycerides, one must also put in an effort to burn the fat that has already accumulated. The exercise routine must once again be formulated by an expert after considering all the medical and physical conditions of the person in question. The target of the exercise regime should be fat burning and thus it should mostly include aerobic exercise like jogging, swimming and cycling, but depending on the decision of the trainer, one may also have to do a little bit of strength training to empower the muscles.
The most important detail that is necessary to reduce triglycerides is the reason that it is on the rise in the first place. If the reason is dietary imbalance and an unhealthy lifestyle, then a combination of an appropriate diet and exercise regime should be sufficient. However, if the reason involves conditions like uncontrolled diabetes or a genetic disorder like familial hypertriglyceridemia, then it would certainly not be enough. Regular medical observation and medications for treating the root-reason would then be necessary to keep the triglyceride levels under control. At times, even medications like beta-blockers, contraceptives or steroids can also raise triglyceride levels. It is therefore imperative to at first determine the reasons behind the condition, before taking any action to lower triglycerides. | <urn:uuid:2cd5acc2-7875-4571-bc75-0242282a04ed> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://triglycerides.me/triglycerides-diet/high-triglycerides-diet/lowering-triglycerides/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783393442.26/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154953-00106-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.944643 | 593 | 2.765625 | 3 |
for National Geographic News
Part of the Digital Places Special News Series
More Digital Places Stories>>
Getting the message out isn't easy on the front lines of wildlife conservation.
News crews and other media are seldom on hand to spread the word of efforts to save endangered animals in remote tropical regions often ravaged by war, poverty, and disease.
Now conservationists are taking matters into their own hands, via their keyboards, in harnessing the power of the blog to attract headlines and much needed support.
One such blog, from central Africa, made the news last month.
In a posting on Congo Rangers—a blog for wildlife workers in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC)—rangers alerted the world to the massacre of hundreds of hippos by armed militiamen in Virunga National Park.
(Read "Hippos Butchered by the Hundreds in Congo Wildlife Park" [October 24, 2006].)
The posting also revealed the cost of the slaughter, and quickly. Results of an aerial census of the park's threatened hippo population were posted on the Web the same day the census was carried out.
The Web site provides a platform for conservationists working to protect African wildlife and wildlands under difficult and often dangerous conditions.
"We believe that the Internet provides an unprecedented means of bringing the remarkable efforts of African conservationists to the attention of the world," WildlifeDirect's director, Emmanuel de Merode, said.
Lives at Risk
SOURCES AND RELATED WEB SITES | <urn:uuid:54e6961a-60c3-4362-b69f-412d313ee2ae> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2006/12/061205-blogs-animals.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783396106.25/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154956-00105-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.934504 | 312 | 2.953125 | 3 |
Pop Quiz: If a man between 20 and 60 years old vows to donate his worth to the Bet Hamikdash, how much must he give?
by Rabbi Shmuel Choueka
"If you will say 'What will we eat in the seventh year?'" (Vayikra 25:20)
The Torah commands the Jewish people to keep the laws of shemitah (sabbatical) and to refrain from planting or harvesting during the seventh year. Hashem promised that if they kept the laws properly, they would be blessed with an abundance of crops during the sixth year which would provide for them until the next planting.
The question is, if so, why will the Jews ask "what will we eat on the seventh year" if they already saw the blessing during the sixth year?
One of the commentaries answers that this question will be posed before the sixth year, even during the times of plenty, because it is not really a logical question , but rather, it reflects anxiety and worry by the Jewish people. It is possible for many of us to have abundance for the present and lack nothing, and still we will worry about the future to the extent that we don't even enjoy what we really have. It is OK to prepare for the unknown but we should differentiate between logical concern and irrational worry and anxiety.
The way to overcome these kinds of feelings is through faith and trust in G-d, which the misvah of shemitah helped to instill in the Jews. There are many other commandments which also teach us this very important lesson of faith, such as closing our businesses for Shabbat and holidays, and the monetary laws which demand that we act in a very scrupulous manner. One who tries to strengthen his faith in Hashem will not only have peace of mind about the future, but will enjoy the present as well.
By Rabbi Reuven Semah
"And I shall remember for them the covenant of the ancients" (Vayikra 26:45)
This week we read two perashiot: Behar and Behukotai. The second perashah contains what are called the rebukes. Hashem warns His Jewish people what will happen if they fail to live up to the Torah standards. What is described is frightening to anyone who reads it. We all know the terrible tragedies that have occurred to our people. It causes one to wonder about the purpose of it all. The Melitz Yosher brings an interesting analogy that can bring things into focus.
If someone who is wealthy and powerful becomes ill, the efforts spent to help that person are very great. If the sick person is someone that the whole world needs, they will bring to him the greatest doctors and professors to save him. They will not lose hope. Even if they see he is about to die, they would continue with the most precious and rare medications hoping that maybe they will help.
It is the same when one sees the great retribution brought upon our people, which in reality are very expensive and rare medications. These are the great efforts that are being done to heal this nation from its spiritual illnesses. All of this points to the importance of these people. They are powerful; they are needed by the entire world. It is very important that this nation returns to its original strength. As the Torah says, Hashem does not forget the covenant he had with our ancient and great ancestors. Knowing all this, the retributions listed in the Torah are really statements describing our greatness. Shabbat Shalom.
"The land shall observe a Shabbat rest for G-d" (Vayikra 25:2)
The word 'Shabbat' is superfluous. It could have said "The land shall observe a rest for Hashem."
The solar calendar contains approximately 365 days, which equal 52 weeks plus one day. Since, in every period of seven days there is a Shabbat, during the entire year there are at least 52 Shabbatot with one extra Shabbat every seven years. When the farmer uses his land, in reality it is working continuously every day of the week and not resting on Shabbat.
In a period of six years the land works a total of 312 Shabbatot. Therefore, the Torah designates the seventh year as shemitah, so that for 312 days plus the 52 Shabbat days of the seventh year, and one additional Shabbat which accumulated over the seven year period, the land will rest and totally observe Shabbat to Hashem. (Vedibarta Bam)
"Ten miracles were done to our forefathers in the Bet Hamikdash...a fly was never seen in the slaughterhouse." (Pirkei Abot 5:4)
The Ben Ish Hai in Hasdei Abot says that this mishnah teaches an important lesson to remember when battling the yeser hara (evil inclination). A person, when he thinks about his physical beginnings, and that he is destined to end as dust in the earth, may come to think that his physical nature will inevitably draw him to sin. It is almost against his will. Therefore, he may convince himself, "how could I be punished for doing something over which I had no control?"
This is the lesson we are to learn from the fact that not a single fly was ever seen in the slaughterhouse of the Bet Hamikdash. It is logical to expect a place like that to be filled with flies. However, since the place was filled with holiness, the fly, which represents impurity was not able to enter. All the more so, a person who instills within himself a spirit of holiness by involving himself with Torah and misvot will be able to push off any forces of impurity, even though his physical composition would seem to push him in the other direction.
Answer to pop quiz: Fifty silver shekels.
Back to this week's parsha | Previous Issues
This article is provided as part of Shema Yisrael Torah Network
Permission is granted to redistribute electronically or on paper,
provided that this notice is included intact. | <urn:uuid:be84c8ac-9224-4537-b57f-194d9d153edc> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.shemayisrael.co.il/parsha/jersey/archives/bhr-bchkt.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783397744.64/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154957-00112-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.977167 | 1,263 | 2.984375 | 3 |
The chloride ion is formed when the element chlorine picks up one electron to form an anion (negatively-charged ion) Cl−. The salts of hydrochloric acid HCl contain chloride ions and can also be called chlorides. An example is table salt, which is sodium chloride with the chemical formula NaCl. In water, it dissolves into Na+ and Cl− ions.
The word chloride can also refer to a chemical compound in which one or more chlorine atoms are covalently bonded in the molecule. This means that chlorides can be either inorganic or organic compounds. The simplest example of an inorganic covalently-bonded chloride is hydrogen chloride, HCl. A simple example of an organic covalently-bonded (an organochloride) chloride is chloromethane (CH3Cl), often called methyl chloride.
Other examples of inorganic covalently-bonded chlorides that are used as reactants are:
- phosphorus trichloride, phosphorus pentachloride, and thionyl chloride, all three of which reactive chlorinating reagents that have been used in a laboratory
- disulfur dichloride (S2Cl2), used for vulcanization of rubber.
Chloride ions have important physiological roles. For instance, in the central nervous system, the inhibitory action of glycine and some of the action of GABA relies on the entry of Cl− into specific neurons. Also, the chloride-bicarbonate exchanger biological transport protein relies on the chloride ion to increase the blood's capacity of carbon dioxide, in the form of the bicarbonate ion.
The North American Dietary Reference Intake recommends a daily intake of between 2300 and 3600 mg/day for 25-year-old males.
Chloride is also a useful and reliable chemical indicator of river / groundwater faecal contamination, as chloride is a non-reactive solute and ubiquitous to sewage.
bg:Хлорид ca:Clorur de:Chloride et:Kloriidideo:Kloridoid:Klorida it:Cloruro nl:Chloride nn:Kloridsimple:Chloride sr:Хлорид fi:Kloridi sv:Klorid | <urn:uuid:891ae2d6-441f-4c85-a74d-c9d34ddaac2a> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://wikidoc.org/index.php/Chloride_ion | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783396949.33/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154956-00026-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.859888 | 486 | 4.4375 | 4 |
What is Cyberbullying?
Cyberbullying is defined as:
threats or other offensive behavior sent online to the victim. This includes threats and other offensive behavior sent or posted online about the victim for others to see. (Wolak, Mitchell, Finkelhor et al., 2006).
Cyberbullying may be in the form of one of the following or something similar:
- Threatening to hurt someone through email, instant messenger (IM), or a social networking site
- Posting or spreading rumors, real or false, online for others to see
- Deleting someone from a “buddy list” to make them feel left out
- Pretending to be someone else through a fake profile
- Or hacking into someone’s profile and pretending to be that person
In short, cyberbullying is bullying or harassing that happens online. Much of it is similar to the bullying that experienced offline in schools, homes, or the community, but has the additional aspect of the Internet.
Cyberbullying occurs in many different places online
including instant messengers, social networking sites, email, and chat rooms. The most common place bullying occurs online is over instant messenger, but it also can occur via new phone technologies such as text messaging and applications (apps). | <urn:uuid:760c99b4-0579-4876-baba-75d455d3b920> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.cyberbully411.org/what-is-cyberbullying | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783398516.82/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154958-00071-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.932118 | 267 | 4.34375 | 4 |
Bodyscan Health Route HealthGems -
Accelerated Relief from the Common Cold
The reason a common cold doesn't go away in a few hours is that you are reinfecting yourself through the respiratory tract. The germs in your throat are multiplying at great speed.
Persistently sipping from half-pints of hot water (as hot as possible) continually kills the bacteria responsible for the continued presence of cold symptoms. This does NOT mean to do it as you always have, where you take five or six, maybe even eight sips of hot liquid, and then drink the rest of it warm. That has limited benefit - limited, of course, to the benefits produced by a few sips of hot tea, versus the benefits of sipping a cup of tea.
Instead, use this excellent shortcut, wherein the shortcut is successful no less than ninety percent of the time, works hugely and instantly, provided you include the foundation of you drinking more hot tea.
You don't even need to increase the number of cups of tea!!
It DOES mean sipping more of the cups of tea that you DO have. It means some two hundred or more hot sips or mouthfuls of piping hot liquid within those first 24 hours.
If the water is warm or tepid, it's not doing its primary job of killing the bacteria. Must be hot, must be repeated, again and again and again. In between cups or bowls of hot liquid, cool fresh water maintains the flushing function. Pints of clean fresh water help accomplish the primary task, flushing out the body.
According to your taste, you can flavor the hot water with soup, tea, etc., as long as food is mostly avoided for maybe 12 to 18 hours, at which point you may not have found a cure for the common cold, yet you WILL have obtained fast and effective relief from the symptoms of the common cold. As you may remember from school, a human being's digestion of food demands a great deal of the body's resources when it's not food from the ground.
Considering what most of us put into our bodies regularly, it's far, far more effective to allow the body to focus on getting rid of the cold and clearing up the systems quickly, rather than being distracted by the enormity of digestion and its attendant and ancillary functions.
To throw a touch of the technical in, the brain's focus has impact not as yet acknowledged by conventional medical practitioners who continue to have the vested interests of time and income at stake. Literally, talking to your body has an immediate, powerful impact, at all times, whether you have a cold, or stressed shoulder muscles. Ignoring this single most powerful shortcut to improved health is nothing less than foolish.
A fantastic example of this can be found in the following demonstration.
You're at a street corner, waiting to cross to the other side. Suddenly and without notice, you feel a jab in the back just as you hear a menacing voice growling at you, "Don't move or I'll blow your guts out."
You know, and I know, that your heart rate is going to zoom up, along with blood pressure, adrenaline flow, fear, and more. Your body instantly goes into "fight or flight" mode, wherein blood flow to the extremities is dramatically reduced, the digestion system stops in its tracks, as your body's so-called 'autonomic function' prepares for possible loss of blood and the need to defend the body. These are defensive functions that happen each time such a threat to the body and life itself is presented.
It then turns out to be a friend just pulling your leg, or perhaps an idiotic semi-criminal who only has his finger jabbed into your kidneys.
Aside from the relief in realizing that life is not threatened, the thinking person realizes that it was NOT a gun or knife that caused so many dozens and scores of bodily changes to take place... ... it was, specifically and identifiably, the words, feelings, and yes, commands that your mind issued to your body. Stop here and give this a good thought.
Your mind told your body to react, and did it ever respond to those commands. Your body persistently does as it is told to do... ... and it does so as consistently as you may wish, not merely for emergency response, as well for just about any situation you can name.
It is plain silly to think that you can't instruct your body, with those same tools you used in that 'emergency threat' situation, such as words and mental imagery, to IMMEDIATELY obtain relief from headaches, backaches, stomach problems, stressed muscles, and so much more.
Norman Cousin's book, "Anatomy Of An Illness," provides an effective blueprint for how a man sentenced to death by every doctor he consulted, defeated a terminal illness, laughing his way through life more than TWENTY YEARS after his death was expected. Those of you who might be fighting a so-called terminal disease, or who have friends/family in that sad situation are urged to read "Anatomy Of An Illness" and other books that teach us how to give healthier, more effective commands to the body.
When we examine hundreds of cases of cancer in remission without traditional treatments of chemical irradiation or surgery, not one of these hundreds of survivors had begun with a "I'll fight this" attitude. That's interesting, isn't it?
In each case, acceptance of the disease came first, THEN the decision to defeat it from the inside out, rather than from the outside in.
Because of this universal truth common to all of these remitted patients, that acknowledgement-cum-acceptance of the disease must be scientifically attached to the empirical result of 100% remission in each of these hundreds of cases. Yet, the so-called 'conventional medical community' does not, as of this date, accept any great influence of the mind over disease.
The coming generations will provide us with unassailable evidence that mental influence constitutes no less than 80% of all healing, as Pareto would happily remind us. Even a common cold is subject to the rule that the human body follows the commands of the human mind.
To date, every major experiment done with zinc between 1979 and 2000 has shown zinc to reduce time length of a cold by fifty percent.Why not let your body do what it does best?
That fifty percent figure also applies to most -- although not all -- cases of flu. Those who usually find themselves with a cold for five to ten days will observe all symptoms to be gone, or nearly so, within 48 hours.
Those who generally experience colds for 72 - 120 hours will observe complete relief to be achieved generally in 18 to 36 hours when they combine all three: near-boiling water, cool fresh water, and zinc (lozenges or liquid).
Obviously, rest is the gasoline that fires the engine of virtually instant healing. Because your eyes demand enormous levels of energy use from the body, keep your reading to an absolute minimum for the twelve to eighteen hours it takes to eliminate the majority of your common cold or flu. With over a hundred and seven million sophisticated lenses in each eyeball, the energy required to use them is enormous. Give them a rest. That saved energy accelerates the healing process!
Approximately 100% of the time, fast and consistent relief is achieved.
No antibiotic, not even aspirin, can more than vaguely approach this method of getting rid of a cold. No doctors visits, no expensive medications, no food beyond the lightest and least you can handle. Listen to your body. It's a powerful device;
its natural state is one of healing and balance.
Bodyscan Health Route HealthGem PowerGems
Because and only because you have made it to this point, have you earned a fantastic treat, free of course.
If you feel a cold coming on, and you know that tickle in the throat that almost always leads to a full-blown cold, take nucleotides, several of them every five or six hours when you're awake.
Six billion nucleotides is what it takes to create a single one of your cells. Nucleotides will knock your socks off, because when you take a nucleotides at the onset of a cold, you do not get the cold!
-That's quite right. It stops a cold dead in its tracks.
If the cold is already in force, take six nucleotides or at least four of them, every three to five hours that you are awake. Your cold should be gone in 12 to 30 hours. That's that.
Nucleotides literally stand in as an acting immune system, and nucleotides simply dazzle the mind.
If that's not enough, everyone with a cold is low in zinc. Say what you will, it is as true as the fact that nucleotides are nucleotides, meaning there is nothing as powerful as nucleotides. Still and all, adding a quarter-teaspoon, maybe even half a teaspoon of zinc assay, will REALLY knock out your colds and such. It's important to note that zinc is one of the exquisitely rare supplements that you need to be careful with, because too much zinc is toxic to the body. As long as you don't exceed a quarter-teaspoon or half-teaspoon every day, or, better yet, every other day, you will find zinc to be enormously helpful to the correct functioning of many different body systems. This includes the cure for the common cold. All the spluttering in the world cannot change the fact that your cold is cured, rapidly, decisively, when nucleotides and zinc are taken to either cut off a cold from happing, or to literally cure one's cold, simply, at home, uninvasively. How's that for curing the common cold? Hours? Go ahead, try it yourself and see for yourself: nucleotides and zinc have cured my own colds plenty of times.
The Bodyscan Health Route is packed with really useful information.
Your job is, of course, to find these HealthGems, true PowerGems of Health,
specifically meaning that they work approximately one hundred percent of the time.
Learn more so you can live more. Learn about glyconutrients, for example: they're GREAT.
Everyone seems to think that they are an expert. We prefer to heed sharp, healthy elderly people.
Those who live stronger for longer are great sources for all of us at the Bodyscan Health Route
Follow and learn from those who are actually doing it best, not merely speaking best.
You're welcome. º¿º
Forget about vitamins. Not even one in a hundred vitamins provide much use.
If you see the value of extra help, look into natural supplements, not vitamins.
Natural supplements, when purveyed by reputable people, are far stronger,
as well as being more useful, healthier, bioavailable, and affordable.
While MisterShortcut avoids mentioning products by trade name,
it's fair to say that Premiere Research Labs is among the best.
It's founder, still running the company as of today,
has not yet been bitten by the bug of greed.
There are other companies like this, too.
If your health is worth the effort,
take the time to look for the Zen of Useful Shortcuts "good guys,"
those companies that put quality before profit.
For common colds, there ARE a few products that help,
more effectively and without risk, as Vitamin C does present.
Just look for products that are both natural, and present no side effects.
Apples have more Vitamin C than Vitamin C pills can even hope to provide us.
Scraping the inside of all or most of an orange pill is likely to prevent most common colds.
Zinc of at least a decent quality has cut the length of most colds fifty percent or more, repeatedly.
Don't underestimate zinc for cutting your cold in half,
and do not underestimate the huge power of garlic.
Let's repeat this forty times until you pay attention,
until you listen to people getting better results:
HEALTHY FOODS ARE BETTER MEDICINE.
That's not an opinion - it's the demonstrated fact.
Please remember that natural remedies do not hurt or kill.
Prescription medicines do. Aside from 106,000+ deaths per year,
over six million people in the U.S. are admitted to hospitals, sick from drugs.
This does not include overdosages, but does include wrong drugs prescribed.
Millions and millions of people sickened by what their doctors ordered for them.
In the opinion of the one and only man who can claim to have read 11,000 books,
you should never, ever take prescription drugs unless you are in pain beyond your control.
Every single human malady - that means no exceptions - has healthy natural remedes and medicines.
Learn more in order to live more, at the Zen of Useful Shortcuts and elsewhere.
With so many thousands of great and quickly-found resources out there,
you've no excuse any longer for being lazy, overweight. or over-tired.
Even if you've been "diagnosed" with some horrible disease,
you WILL repeatedly find whatever you look for in this life.
That includes looking for natural remedies that do work.
That includes seeking remedies that never kill or injure.
Quit your yammering and complaining and "Why me?"
Learn to focus your mind on "Okay, try me."
More than eighty percent of all who win,
of all who defeat health challenges,
do it naturally, healthfully, safely,
and, to no small surprise to us,
usually at a fraction the cost.
Laboring Under Correct Knowledge.
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Quantum Reflex Analysis - Altering Your Most Basic Perceptions
Links For Quantum Reflex Analysis - perhaps the most amazing thing you will ever learn
QRA (Quantum Reflex Analysis) has proven to be correct tens of thousands of times in a row!
This test is so magnificently accurate in diagnosis and so much more that it is actually patented.
Twenty thousand M.D.'s gathered together cannot possibly tell you what one QRA practitioner does.
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For now, you can feed people with a free click | <urn:uuid:1701c725-29e6-4b0c-a830-783425b92a31> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.newyorkbodyscan.com/coldcure.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783398869.97/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154958-00080-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.943954 | 3,564 | 2.640625 | 3 |
People who carry a variant of a gene that is associated with longevity also have larger volumes in a front part of the brain involved in planning and decision-making, according to researchers at UC San Francisco.
The finding bolsters their previous discovery that middle-aged and older people who carry a single copy of the KLOTHO allele, called KL-VS, performed better on a wide range of cognitive tests. When they modeled KL-VS in mice, they found this strengthened the connections between neurons and enhanced learning and memory.
KLOTHO codes for a protein, called klotho, which is produced in the kidney and brain and regulates many different processes in the body. About one in five people carry a single copy of KL-VS, which increases klotho levels and is associated with a longer lifespan and better heart and kidney function. A small minority, about 3 percent, carries two copies, which is associated with a shorter lifespan.
In the current study, published Tuesday, Jan. 27, in Annals of Clinical and Translational Neurology, researchers scanned the brains of 422 cognitively normal men and women aged 53 and older to see if the size of any brain area correlated with carrying one, two or no copies of the allele.
They found that the KLOTHO gene variant predicted the size of a region called the right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (rDLPFC), which is especially vulnerable to atrophy as people age. Deterioration in this area may be one reason why older people have difficulty suppressing distracting information and doing more than one thing at a time.
Researchers found that the rDLPFC shrank with age in all three groups, but those with one copy of KL-VS, about a quarter of the study group, had larger volumes than either non-carriers or those with two copies. Researchers also found that the size of the rDLPFC predicted how well the three groups performed on cognitive tests, such as working memory - the ability to keep a small amount of newly acquired information in mind - and processing speed. Both tests are considered to be good measures of the planning and decision-making functions that the rDLPFC controls.
"We've known for a long time that people lose cognitive abilities as they age, but now we're beginning to understand that factors like klotho can give people a boost and confer resilience in aging," said senior author Dena Dubal, MD, PhD, assistant professor of neurology at UCSF and the David A. Coulter Endowed Chair in Aging and Neurodegenerative Disease. "Genetic variation in KLOTHO could help us predict brain health and find ways to protect people from the devastating diseases that happen to us as we grow old, like Alzheimer's and other dementias."
In statistical tests, the researchers concluded that the larger rDLPFC volumes seen in single copy KL-VS carriers accounted for just 12 percent of the overall effect that the variant had on the abilities tested. However, the allele may have other effects on the brain, such as increasing levels or changing the actions of the klotho protein to enhance synaptic plasticity, or the connections between neurons. In a previous experiment, they found that raising klotho in mice increased the action of a cell receptor critical to forming memories.
"The brain region enhanced by genetic variation in KLOTHO is vulnerable in aging and several psychiatric and neurologic diseases including schizophrenia, depression, substance abuse, and frontotemporal dementia," said Jennifer Yokoyama, PhD, first author and assistant professor of neurology at UCSF. "In this case, bigger size means better function. It will be important to determine whether the structural boost associated with carrying one copy of KL-VS can offset the cognitive deficits caused by disease."
Other authors of the study include Virginia Sturm, Luke Bonham, Joel Kramer and Bruce Miller of UCSF; Eric Klein and Giovanni Coppola of the University of California, Los Angeles; Lei Yu and David Bennett of Rush University Medical Center; and Konstantinos Arfanakis of Rush and the Illinois Institute of Technology.
The study was funded by the Larry L. Hillblom Foundation, the National Institute on Aging, the American Federation for Aging Research, the Coulter-Weeks Foundation and the Bakar Foundation.
UCSF is the nation's leading university exclusively focused on health. Now celebrating the 150th anniversary of its founding as a medical college, UCSF is dedicated to transforming health worldwide through advanced biomedical research, graduate-level education in the life sciences and health professions, and excellence in patient care. It includes top-ranked graduate schools of dentistry, medicine, nursing and pharmacy; a graduate division with world-renowned programs in the biological sciences, a preeminent biomedical research enterprise and top-tier hospitals, UCSF Medical Center and UCSF Benioff Children's Hospitals. Please visit http://www. | <urn:uuid:f27be918-62e3-4d11-9b4c-9f8df56e2057> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2015-01/uoc--brv012115.php | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783402699.36/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624155002-00050-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.949721 | 1,006 | 2.84375 | 3 |
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Ibn Sina and his Influence on the Arabic and Latin World
This volume focuses on Ibn Sina - the Avicenna of the Latin West - and the enormous impact of his philosophy in both the Islamic and Christian worlds. Jules Janssens opens with a new introductory article, surveying the position of work in the field. The next studies look at Ibn Sina's work and thought, inspired by Alexandrian Neoplatonism on the one hand, and the Qur'an on the other, notably his views on the relationship between God and the world, within the context of Islam. There follow explorations of Ibn Sina's influence on later philosophers, first within the Islamic world and with particular reference to al-Ghazzali, but also, once translated into Latin, in the scholastic world of the West, on figures such as Albert the Great, Thomas Aquinas, and above all Henry of Ghent. | <urn:uuid:b4aba941-7d2e-48d1-a3f6-ed85ef633f71> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.history.ac.uk/history-online/book/isbn/086078987x | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783395621.98/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154955-00134-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.93298 | 186 | 2.9375 | 3 |
What is an
Internal Eye Sty ?
By Darry J. Oswald
An internal sty causes a red, painful swelling, but its
location prevents the pus from appearing on the eyelid. A stye
develops rapidly, producing an elevated, painful, red, swollen
area on the eyelid.
Most chalazia develop further from the eyelid edge than styes.
A sty is a bacterial infection that appears as a small bump
along the edge of the eyelid. A sty resembles a pimple and is
located at the edge of the eyelids. Chalazions usually occur
farther from the edge of the eyelid than styes, and tend to
"point" toward the nose side of the eyelid.
If the eyelash stye lasts for more than 3 days or the infection
appears to be spreading, consult an eye doctor. A sty is an
infection of one of the follicles from which the eyelashes
grow. A problem that can occur along with, or be mistaken for,
a stye is an inflammation or infection of the eyelid
Discharge from the infection causes the well known symptoms of
eyelids stuck together on wakening or having a "crusty"
appearance. Your eye doctor may recommend replacing your
contact lenses after the stye has healed to prevent recurrence
or spread of the infection.
In some cases, however, an untreated stye may lead to
cellulitis (a more widespread infection of the skin) of the
eyelid. If the eyelash stye lasts more than 3 days or the
infection appears to be spreading, consult your eye doctor.
The initial treatment for styes is usually warm
the eyelid at least three or four times a day. In children who
are susceptible to styes, gently cleaning the eyelid with a
clean, warm washcloth can help prevent the pores from becoming
At first, a chalazion looks and feels like a stye:
eyelid, pain, and irritation. Resembling a pimple on the
eyelid, a stye can grow on the inside or outside of the lid. As
the stye grows, the eye may water and the eyelid may be painful.
DO NOT attempt to squeeze a stye or any other type of eyelid
bump. Facial edema may also be caused by a stye, or growth on
the inner or outer eyelid.
About The Author: Come Find out more on Eye Sty, visit
More Eye Treatment and Health Related
A lot of Eye problems are caused by or compounded further by
other health issues... worrying, anxiety, depression etc.
An instance of
such eye problem is Uveitis. In addition to getting advice and medical
treatment from your doctor, these tapes and cd's are also recommended
for people concerned with eye health or experiencing recurring eye and
other health problem : | <urn:uuid:4375f99f-d319-4c3c-b70c-b181114aaeb6> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.snzeport.com/dlarticles3/eye-sty.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783398075.47/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154958-00149-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.890767 | 620 | 3.25 | 3 |
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