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Coiled creature of the night
Meet NGC 1097, a galaxy located about 50 million light-years away. The object at the center of the galaxy is a massive black hole with a ring of stars surrounding it. As NASA reports, “The black hole is huge, about 100 million times the mass of our sun, and is feeding off gas and dust along with the occasional unlucky star. Our Milky Way's central black hole is tame in comparison, with a mass of a few million suns.” The red dust is though to be heated by newborn stars, while the older stars are blue. The blue smudge to the left of the black hole is actually a smaller companion galaxy, though experts don’t know if its position is simply the result of a chance alignment. | <urn:uuid:525aa3da-b88d-4865-9be3-75c7f1f71f19> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.mnn.com/earth-matters/space/photos/8-images-of-galaxies-far-far-away/coiled-creature-of-the-night | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783395560.69/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154955-00119-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.945935 | 161 | 3.421875 | 3 |
The Archives of Traditional Music preserves and disseminates the world’s music and oral traditions through the acquisition of cultural and historical materials of enduring value to advance the educational role of Indiana University and to serve international communities of scholars, patrons, and those whose cultural heritage is represented by its holdings.
The Archives of Traditional Music fosters the educational and cultural role of Indiana University through the preservation and dissemination of the world's music and oral traditions. The Archives seeks to fulfill its mission by developing appropriate acquisitions of audio and video recordings of the music and oral traditions from the state of Indiana, the United States, and the diverse cultures of the world, and by cataloging and preserving the collections for use by educators, researchers, and interested members of the public, including the people from whom the material was collected.
The Archives' collections and library contribute to the research and teaching activities of Indiana University, especially the Departments of Folklore and Ethnomusicology, Anthropology, Linguistics, the Jacobs School of Music, and the interdisciplinary area studies that are associated with them. The ATM also serves as a research, teaching, and training center for the IU Ethnomusicology Program primarily through the experiences that graduate students receive through the four assistantships and various hourly positions that are available each year.
The Archives of Traditional Music is a cultural institution that is open to the public. It has a responsibility to make its holdings and performances available to those whose cultural heritage is represented in the collections, as well as to individuals interested in developing an appreciation for the recorded artifacts.
Our core values have developed in accordance with the professional standards of our field and our own beliefs about the critical functions of a sound archive. We have been serving the needs of researchers, students, and the general public since 1953 and have long been committed to providing as much access as possible while at the same time balancing cultural sensitivities and legal rights. Our collections and our clientele are truly international and our values are the bedrock upon which all of our work and relationships are built.
We conduct our work and engage in relationships in ways that are trustworthy. We use integrity in both senses of the word. We will do work that is thorough, accurate, and of the highest quality according to current professional standards in library and archival work; and we conduct our relationships with patrons, depositors, and subjects in an ethical manner.
As stewards of valuable cultural artifacts, we work to assure the maintenance and continuity of these materials in perpetuity. Securing the future existence and availability of these artifacts guides everything we do in the present.
We engage overlapping international and interdisciplinary communities of archivists, librarians, scholars, depositors, technologists, performers, and patrons to effectively preserve and provide access to our holdings. We place a special importance on communication and collaboration with the people and groups from whom the material was recorded.
We respect the cultural expressions of the people our collections document and the media upon which they are carried.
We intrinsically support the work and heritage of others. We provide resources and education by making our holdings and expertise available to local, national, and international publics. We connect subjects, scholars, and patrons in a shared educational enterprise. | <urn:uuid:8b482cb3-e710-4dff-88dc-5ba8024aa3e7> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.indiana.edu/~libarchm/index.php/about-us.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783396959.83/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154956-00032-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.947375 | 651 | 2.53125 | 3 |
Each of the many readers who love Walt Whitman creates his or her own version of him: The poetry is so vast, so manifold—and exists in so many revised forms—that Whitman is the American poet most like the fabled elephant as described by blind witnesses, each touching a different part of the creature thinking it to be a wall or a snake. Yet we tend to call him, familiarly, Walt. After all, what he assumes we will assume. He has told us so, directly and honestly. He hides nothing in his work; there are few metaphors, few symbolic gestures, little that is oblique. It can be hard to remember how strange this familiar presence we call Walt really is.
A broad consensus looks on Leaves of Grass as the fountainhead of American poetry, but though many follow this or that direction of his style, few take up the essential core of his endeavor, I think. His perceived plainness (how plain can a style based on near-infinite periodic sentences be, really?), his directness, his intimacy, his transparency clearly inspire many of his poetic descendants. But something deeper and richer and more dangerous—no, more impossible—is rarely broached, and scarcely mentioned.
Whitman’s famous lines “Camerado, this is no book;/ Who touches this touches a man” take us to the crux of the matter. How do we understand this utterance? That there is an unmediated continuity between poet and text, text and reader, poet and reader? How true can this be? More radically than any other poet of his time, Whitman throws his famous hat in the ring of the purely textual (as opposed to the oral tradition to which Poe, for instance, remains in allegiance). Not the voice, not the song, but the book connects us directly and intimately to Whitman.
My songs cease—I abandon them;
From behind the screen where I hid I advance personally, solely to you.
Camerado! This is no book;
Who touches this, touches a man;
(Is it night? Are we here alone?)
It is I you hold, and who holds you;
I spring from the pages into your arms—decease calls me forth.
O how your fingers drowse me!
Your breath falls around me like dew—your pulse lulls the tympans of my ears;
I feel immerged from head to foot;
Enough, O deed impromptu and secret!
Enough, O gliding present! Enough,
O summ’d-up past!
“My songs cease ... I advance personally, solely to you ... decease calls me forth.” Go to the Oxford English Dictionary and unpack that odd word immerged. This is no clear, transparent, plain statement. It is a miracle. Likewise, “who touches this [book] touches a man” is no straightforward proposition. If we try to understand it as such, we run into the fact that it is false. Who touches this book touches a book, and confuses a book with a person at his or her peril. Perhaps then it is a metaphor. But to understand it as a metaphor reduces the intimacy the passage asserts: Who wants to be embraced by—to make love to—a metaphor? The only remaining option is to understand Whitman’s statement as a miraculous “impossibility,” like Jesus’ “Lo I am with you always, even unto the end of the world.” In that case, “Who touches this [book] touches a man” is neither a simple statement of fact nor a metaphor: It is a transubstantiation, the word made flesh. So, “decease calls me forth” follows from “I spring from the pages into your arms.”
Thus far people of Christian cultures at any rate may follow Whitman’s strangeness as being based on a familiar model, but even here we are defeated, for Whitman does not claim to be any kind of Christ, but only “one of the roughs.” The divine—the Godhead, or Emerson’s “The Oversoul”—is, by an act of poetic jujitsu, flipped to become, first, America, and ultimately the body of humanity. For Whitman, there the miracle of transforming book to man does not need anything supernatural; all that is required is humanity, and for Whitman America is where this fact is to be fully realized.
Where are the poets who flock to Whitman’s transubstantiation? Mostly, we lack the visionary strength to follow him there. For most of us most of the time, Wordsworth’s “What is a poet? He is a man speaking to men,” when translated out of its gender-specific form, is a much more congenial model, and for the most part there we American poets rest, paying lip service to Whitman, but following Wordsworth. We lack the power to “spring from the pages into your arms” from “decease.” But how we love it when Whitman says it; how we long for him to do it.
Whitman’s project was nothing less than the reinvention of the human voice, and the human consciousness behind that voice, through writing—through the process of writing and writing’s product, transmogrified. There are volumes yet to be written about his achievement, the often misconstrued depth of his ambition for humanity.
However—in an improbable historic irony—there emerges from the shadows, come down to us by circuitous routes, a certain artifact: a recording purporting to be of Whitman himself, made by Thomas Edison. If you are interested in Whitman, probably you have already heard it, and considered the dispute among experts about whether the recording is authentic.
If you want to peruse, or enter, the dispute, it is easy to find. For me, it is much more fruitful to listen to the recording—the deliberate, overarticulated voice, the grinding sound in the background which is the recorder recording itself (how appropriate to Whitman!). It sounds like a gravel-grinder in Hell.
The overall effect is sublime.
Is it Whitman? Who hears this voice hears a man. Out of the text, out of the abandonment of song, a living voice arises, transubstantiated. How glorious to hear him, whoever he might be. He reads the first four lines of a six-line poem called “America” (why only four? A revision of the poem? Or was that all the time the wax cylinder allotted? Does this elision itself constitute an abandonment of song?). Decease calls him forth. He reads the poem that is the namesake of the nation in which he had such mystical faith, such metaphysical hope. For the duration of the recording, the tension between orality and text is resolved. He springs from the pages into our arms.
By Walt Whitman
Centre of equal daughters, equal sons,
All, all alike endear'd, grown, ungrown, young or old,
Strong, ample, fair, enduring, capable, rich,
Perennial with the Earth, with Freedom, Law and Love,
A grand, sane, towering, seated Mother,
Chair'd in the adamant of Time. | <urn:uuid:dce07c57-0677-43d0-ad04-b1c0c72f7c6f> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.slate.com/articles/arts/classic_poems/2013/03/walt_whitman_s_reads_america_hear_a_rumored_thomas_edison_recording_audio.single.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783397567.28/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154957-00111-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.955186 | 1,534 | 2.53125 | 3 |
Remove the covering from the doll, plush toy or soft toy and test it in accordance with the following method:
1 This method covers the evaluation of the flammability of outer coverings of dolls, soft toys, plush toys, and any other product for use by a child in play, that are covered with a flat or raised fibre textile material or natural fur, including dolls’ clothing. In this Schedule, the term “raised fibre surface” means a napped, pile, tufted, flocked or similar surface.
2 Cut specimens from the outer covering and prepare them by brushing the raised fibre surface, by laundering if they have a flame-retarding finish, and by drying. Hold each dried specimen at a 45° angle in the specimen holder of the flammability tester. Apply a standardized flame to the surface of the specimen near the lower end for one second. Record the time that is required for flaming to proceed up the specimen over a distance of 127 mm (5 inches).
3 (1) Flammability tester described in section 1 of Schedule 6.
(2) Brushing device described in section 2 of Schedule 6.
(3) Laboratory drying oven.
(4) Desiccator that is 250 mm (9.8 inches) in diameter.
(5) Calcium chloride, anhydrous.
(6) Butane, cp.
(7) A commercially available detergent.
(8) Mercerized cotton sewing thread No. 50.
4 (1) Select five test specimens, each measuring 51 mm by 152 mm (2 inches by 6 inches) from the part of the outer covering that burns most rapidly.
(2) When possible, in order to select the specimens that burn most rapidly, determine the direction in which to cut the specimens and the part of the outer covering from which to select the specimens. Do this by making preliminary trials, in accordance with the 45° angle test, with specimens cut in different directions and from different locations on the outer covering. Cut the test specimens in the chosen direction and from the chosen location on the outer covering. For textiles that have a raised fibre surface, the long dimension usually is in the direction of the lay of the surface fibres.
(3) Pieces may be removed and reassembled in the specimen holder in the same manner as in the original assembly, to the extent that the pieces are of such a size that they can be securely held in place by the specimen holder, if the outer covering is an assembly and a portion of the outer covering, including any seams, cannot be removed from the assembly in a size large enough to provide the required specimen.
(4) If the outer covering is known to have a flame-retarding finish or if preliminary testing indicates that such a finish may be present, ensure that it is laundered in accordance with section 5.
5 (1) Precondition outer covering samples that are known to have or that are suspected of having a flame-retarding finish applied to them by subjecting them to the washing and drying procedure described in this section.
(2) Prepare a bath solution that consists of water that has a hardness of not greater than 324 mg (5 grains) of calcium carbonate per 4.5 L (1.0 imperial gallons) in an amount 30 times the weight of the sample from which the specimens are to be taken and a commercially available detergent in an amount equal to 15% of this weight. Ensure that the temperature of the bath solution is from 35°C to 38°C inclusive (95°F to 100°F).
(3) Immerse the sample and allow it to soak for 3 minutes. Work it gently by hand for 2 minutes, squeezing the bath solution through the part of the sample to be tested.
(4) Rinse the sample three times in water that has a hardness of not greater than 324 mg (5 grains) of calcium carbonate per 4.5 L (1.0 imperial gallons) in an amount 30 times the weight of the sample. Ensure that the temperature of the rinse water is 27°C (80°F). Immerse and gently squeeze the sample in the first rinsing bath for 1 minute and in the second and third baths for 2 minutes each.
(5) Remove excess water from the sample after each bath by squeezing gently. After the final rinsing bath blot out as much moisture as possible using paper towels or cotton terrycloth.
(6) Lay the sample flat to dry at ambient temperature, namely, from 18°C to 24°C inclusive (65°F to 75°F).
Preparation of Specimens
6 (1) Mark out five specimens, each 51 mm by 152 mm (2 inches by 6 inches), on the reverse side of the sample. Mark the longer dimension in the direction in which burning is most rapid, as established in the preliminary trials referred to in subsection 4(2). Identify the end of each specimen toward which flame spread is most rapid by attaching a staple to it. Cut the specimens from the outer covering.
(2) Brush each specimen that has a raised fibre surface once against the lay of the surface fibres with the brushing device illustrated in Figure 2 of Schedule 6. Specimens that do not have a raised fibre surface do not require brushing.
(3) Clamp each specimen individually in the specimen holders of the flammability tester illustrated in Figure 1 of Schedule 6. The stapled end is to be in the upper position during the test to ensure that the specimen is mounted in the direction in which burning is most rapid. Dry the mounted specimen in a horizontal position in an oven for 30 minutes at 105°C (221°F) or for 120 minutes at 75°C (167°F). Remove it from the oven and place it until cool in a desiccator over anhydrous calcium chloride for at least 15 minutes and not more than 2 hours.
7 (1) Adjust the position of the rack of the flammability tester with a holder and trial specimen (not a prepared specimen) so that the tip of the indicator touches the surface of the specimen.
(2) Open the control valve of the fuel supply and allow approximately 5 minutes for the air to be driven from the fuel line. Ignite the gas and, with the door closed as far as possible, adjust the flame to a length of 16 mm (5/8 inch) measured from its tip to the opening in the gas nozzle.
(3) Remove a mounted specimen from the desiccator and place it in position on the rack in the chamber of the flammability tester. Ensure that the flame impinges on the test specimen within 45 seconds after the time it is removed from the desiccator. String the stop cord (mercerized cotton sewing thread No. 50) through the guides in the upper plate of the specimen holder, across the top of the specimen, through the guides at the rear of the chamber and through the guide ring. Attach the weight to the cord close to and just below the guide ring.
(4) Close the door of the flammability tester. Set the stop watch to zero. Conduct the test in a draft-free room with the flammability tester at room temperature.
(5) Bring the starting lever over to the extreme right and release it. This starts the timing mechanism and applies the flame to the specimen for a period of one second. Timing is automatic, starting on the application of the flame and ending when the weight is released by the burning of the stop cord.
(6) Record the flame spread time for each specimen.
Interpretation of Results
8 (1) A specimen that exhibits either base burning or surface burning of sufficient intensity to sever the stop cord in 7 seconds or less is considered to have failed the test.
(2) Test five additional specimens if one of the five specimens fail. If two out of 10 specimens fail, the doll, plush toy or soft toy does not meet the test requirement.
- Date modified: | <urn:uuid:858a59cb-d649-43d6-9556-3b061bce47cc> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/regulations/SOR-2011-17/page-8.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783391519.2/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154951-00131-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.928728 | 1,669 | 2.671875 | 3 |
September 17, 2010 | Backgrounder on Education
Revised and updated October 4, 2010.Abstract: An education gap between white students and their black and Hispanic peers is something to which most Americans have become accustomed. But this racial division of education—and hence of prospects for the future— is nothing less than tragic. The good news is that the racial divide in learning is a problem that can be fixed. Of course, it can only be fixed if education reform is approached in a common sense and innovative way. Continuing to repeat the largely failed national policies and ever-increasing spending of the past decades is surely not commonsense. One state, Florida, has demonstrated that meaningful academic improvement—for students of all races and economic backgrounds—is possible. In 1999, Florida enacted far-reaching K–12 education reform that includes public and private school choice, charter schools, virtual education, performance-based pay for teachers, grading of schools and districts, annual tests, curbing social promotion, and alternative teacher certification. As a result of parental choice, higher standards, accountability, and flexibility, Florida’s Hispanic students are now outperforming or tied with the overall average for all students in 31 states. It is vital that national and state policymakers take the lessons of Florida’s success to heart. The future of millions of American children depends on it.
For years, policymakers around the country have looked for ways to address the racial achievement gap in K–12 education. Despite significant increases in education spending at all levels and the federal government’s ever-increasing role in education, national academic achievement has remained relatively flat, graduation rates have stagnated around 70 percent, and racial disparities persist. Many states have enacted policies to address racial disparities in academic achievement and attainment, but the changes have been largely piecemeal.
One state, however, has demonstrated that meaningful improvement is possible. In 1999, Florida enacted a series of far-reaching K–12 education reforms that have increased academic achievement for all students and substantially narrowed the racial achievement gap. Today, Florida’s Hispanic and black students outscore many statewide reading averages for all students.
The Sunshine State’s reform model includes:
Efforts to address racial achievement gaps from Washington, D.C.—from the War on Poverty of the mid-1960s to the No Child Left Behind Act of 2002—have sadly proven expensive and largely ineffective. Fortunately, the genius of federalism has produced an impressive example of a state that deviated from the typical formula of throwing ever more money at schools without changing a thing. Florida has succeeded in narrowing racial achievement gaps; policymakers in other states should follow its lead.
The Racial Divide: Discussed Around the Country, Tackled in Florida
In 1997, Professor Lawrence Stedman of the State University of New York described the severe extent of the racial achievement gap at a Brookings Institution conference:
Twelfth-grade black students are performing at the level of middle school white students. These students are about to graduate, yet they lag four or more years behind in every area including math, science, writing, history, and geography. Latino seniors do somewhat better than 8th-grade white students in math and writing but, in other areas, are also four years behind white 12th graders.... Schools and society remains divided into two different worlds, one black, one white, separate and unequal.
Thirteen years later, only limited progress has been made in addressing the K–12 achievement gaps. In 2008, National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) long-term trend data revealed that white eighth-graders scored two points above the national average for black 12th-graders and one point below that of Hispanic 12th-graders. Despite a non-stop education reform debate, substantial increases in inflation-adjusted spending per pupil, and the federal passage of No Child Left Behind, racial achievement gaps stubbornly endure.
The endurance of racial achievement gaps has led some to argue that Americans simply should not expect much progress without vastly increasing the size and scope of the welfare state. In her first speech as president of the American Federation of Teachers, Randi Weingarten launched the first salvo of the union’s “Broader, Bolder” campaign:
Imagine schools that are open all day and offer after-school and evening recreational activities and homework assistance…and suppose the schools included child-care and dental, medical and counseling clinics, or other services the community needs. For example, they might offer neighborhood residents English language instruction, GED programs, or legal assistance.
On average, Americans can expect to pay more than $50,000 for each child in the nation’s public school system by the time that child reaches fourth grade. Yet, in 2009, 34 percent of public school fourth graders scored “below basic” in reading on the NAEP. If public schools cannot be trusted to teach children how to read, why should they be expected to fix children’s teeth or to resolve parental legal issues?
Weingarten and other “Broader, Bolder” supporters seem to believe that schools can improve academically by focusing on issues other than academics. This, of course, is precisely the wrong direction to take. Professor Paul Hill of the University of Washington recently conducted a series of studies concerning the stubborn lack of academic progress in public schools despite increased spending. After a series of studies, Hill reached the conclusion that
money is used so loosely in public education—in ways that few understand and that lack plausible connections to student learning—that no one can say how much money, if used optimally, would be enough. Accounting systems make it impossible to track how much is spent on a particular child or school, and hide the costs of programs and teacher contracts. Districts can’t choose the most cost-effective programs because they lack evidence on costs and results.
A great deal is known about how much money is spent on schools, but very little is known about the percentage that actually reaches students in the form of effective learning strategies. The broader and bolder crowd has mistaken the disease for the cure: Schools are already drowning in money but the system is failing to equip millions of students with basic academic skills. American schools do not lack for resources; rather, they desperately need to make better use of their funds.
Advocates for expanding the public education welfare state would do well to read Terry Moe and John Chubb’s book Liberating Learning. Moe and Chubb detail the history of K–12 reform since the publication of A Nation at Risk in 1983. A Nation at Risk famously warned of a “rising tide of mediocrity” in American schools. The report went so far as to say that if a foreign power had saddled the U.S. with such ineffective schools, the country would consider it an act of war.
A Nation at Risk served as a clarion call for reform, but Moe and Chubb chillingly describe the politics of the reform era as a game of Whack-a-Mole played by the dominant player in K–12 politics: the teacher unions. Whack-a-Mole is an old carnival game played with a hole-filled board, someone to move the mole through the holes, and someone else attempting to whack the mole with a hammer.
The primary concern of the teacher unions is protecting the employment interests of their members (through tenure and tenure-like contract provisions) and maximizing public school revenue. As Albert Shanker, the late president of the American Federation of Teachers put it, “When school children start paying union dues, that’s when I’ll start representing the interests of school children.” A New York City school principal told The New Yorker that the current president of the American Federation of Teachers “would protect a dead body in the classroom.”
Moe and Chubb argue that the political modus operandi of the education unions is to oppose any reform that does not involve increasing public school revenue and employment. Thus, unions oppose parental choice, alternative teacher certification, rigorous standards, and accountability. Moe and Chubb argue that the unions do not manage to whack every mole every time, but that they whack most of the moles most of the time. Education unions are huge multi-million-dollar entities organized in every legislative district in the country. They hire lobbyists, contribute millions to political campaigns, and send volunteers to work on campaigns. There is little to match the unions on the reformers’ side—unions wield real political power and have an intense interest in K–12 policy in terms of gaining yet more power.
The American public school system, with a few exceptions, largely reflects the policy preferences of the leadership of the education unions. Spending per pupil has risen far faster than the rate of inflation for decades, while the average class size has declined substantially. All the while, academic achievement remained relatively flat, and graduation rates have stagnated around 70 percent. The American system of public schools has done a much better job maximizing employment for adults than learning for children.
While many states have managed to enact K–12 policies disliked by the unions, these changes have been largely piecemeal. All states have created state academic standards and accountability tests, but few have had the courage to do much with the results. Many states have enacted charter school laws, but most state laws cap or hamstring the creation of new charter schools. A large and growing number of states have passed parental choice programs including private options, but growth has been limited due, in part, to fierce union opposition.
In 1999, Florida enacted a series of far-reaching K–12 reforms despite opposition by the teacher unions. Then-Governor Jeb Bush made K–12 reform his top priority, and the majority of Florida legislators strongly supported reform. The result was unique: The unions effectively lost control of K–12 policy in Florida.
Today, Florida’s Hispanic and black students have significantly narrowed the racial achievement gap. Moreover, they have begun to outscore many statewide averages for all students. Florida’s academic successes were made possible by commonsense changes to the educational landscape achieved by reformers, students, and teachers.
The Racial Divide: The U.S. vs. Florida
Fourth-grade reading gains are an important focus of education reform because early childhood literacy is the gateway to all other learning. Florida students have demonstrated the strongest gains on the NAEP in the nation since 2003, when all 50 states began taking NAEP exams.
From kindergarten to third grade, children learn how to read. After third grade, they read to learn a variety of subjects. Literacy research shows that many children who do not learn basic literacy skills in the early grades never catch up later, as it becomes increasingly difficult to acquire literacy skills. The appalling racial gaps described in the first paragraphs of this paper among 12th-graders are not solely the product of the high school years. Those teenagers began the process of academic failure as youngsters and progressively fell further and further behind over time. Early literacy skills are absolutely essential to long-term academic success.
Chart 1 presents achievement gap data from the fourth-grade reading NAEP, beginning before the Florida reforms (1998) and moving to the present. Chart 1 presents the national average score for white students, the national average for black students, and Florida’s average for black students.
Between 1998 and 2002, the average score for black students increased by 12 points from 192 to 204. In Florida, it increased by 25 points—twice the gains of the national average. If black students nationwide had made the same amount of progress as black students in Florida, the fourth-grade reading gap between black and white would be approximately half the size it is today.
Chart 1 also presents the same data for Hispanic students nationally and in Florida, and for white students nationally.
In 1998, Florida’s Hispanic students scored six points above the national average for Hispanic students, but 25 points below the average for white students. Between 1998 and 2009, Florida’s Hispanics made the same amount of progress as black students: 25 points. Just as with black students, Florida’s Hispanic students made twice as much progress as the national average for Hispanics.
The gap between Hispanic students in Florida and white students nationally declined from 25 points to six points between 1998 and 2009. Chart 2 demonstrates the same data in terms of achievement levels instead of scores on the fourth-grade reading NAEP. NAEP has four achievement levels: below basic, basic, proficient, and advanced. Chart 2 shows the percentage of Florida’s black and Hispanic students who scored “basic” or better in 1998 compared to white students nationally, as well as the same achievement data from the 2009 exam.
Charts 1–2 show how to close the racial achievement gaps. If trends since 1998 were to hold nationally, it would be about 33 years before we could expect Hispanics to close the gap with their white peers. In Florida, however, black students could catch up in half that time, and Hispanics could exceed the national average for white students as early as 2011.
Florida ’s Minority Students: Outpacing Other States
Florida’s minority students have not only begun to close the racial divide, they have also outscored or tied a number of statewide averages for all students on fourth-grade reading. After a decade of K–12 education reform, Florida’s Hispanic and black students have outscored averages for many other states. The Sunshine State’s success puts it at the forefront of education reform, and proves that demography does not equal destiny.
Florida’s radical success is best illustrated with a map. (See Map 1.)
In 1998, Florida’s black students scored below the national average on fourth-grade reading, approximately 1.5 grade levels below even the most poorly performing states (Hawaii and Louisiana tied for the bottom score with average scores of 200). By 2009, Florida’s black children outscored or tied statewide averages for all children in eight states: Alaska, Arizona, California, Hawaii, Louisiana, Mississippi, Nevada, and New Mexico. Black children in Florida pulled off this feat despite the fact that all eight states improved somewhat themselves between 1998 and 2009.
For purposes of clarity, Map 1 compares only Florida’s black students against the state averages for all students in these eight states. Thus, California’s average, for example, includes children of all income levels and ethnicities. The NAEP derived the California number from a statewide sample including children from affluent suburbs.
Map 2 focuses on fourth-grade reading scores for Florida’s Hispanic students from the 2009 Nation’s Report Card. The map highlights the states in which the average score for all students is either less than or equal to the average score for Florida’s Hispanic students. The map demonstrates an impressive accomplishment, especially considering the fact that students take the fourth-grade reading NAEP in English. After a decade of strong improvement, Florida’s Hispanic students now outscore or tie 31 state averages.
Noteworthy is the large number of states with predominantly white populations highlighted on the map: Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Oregon, Washington, and Wyoming. Also noteworthy are North Carolina and Texas, two states proud of their K–12 reforms in the previous decade, and Tennessee, one of the two first-round finalists in the Obama Administration’s Race to the Top competition.
Today, the average Hispanic student in Florida scores almost the equivalent of two grade levels higher than the average for his peers around the country. On fourth-grade reading, the racial achievement gap between white students nationally and Hispanic students in Florida has dropped by 76 percent since 1998.
How did Florida do it? The state’s success resulted from common sense reforms implemented during Governor Jeb Bush’s tenure, detailed below.
The Florida Reforms: A Model of Success
Beginning in 1999, two years before the passage of the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB), Florida began a comprehensive overhaul of its education system. Governor Jeb Bush presided over a suite of aggressive education reforms, which included strong standards, true accountability, and transparency. During the decade that followed—a decade marked by a significant increase in federal control of education—the Sunshine State pursued its own course of education reform that it continues to improve today.
Performance Pay and Alternative Teacher Certification. In 2002, Florida began offering alternative routes to teacher certification. Today, nearly half of all teachers come to the profession through an alternative certification program. Every school district in Florida now offers an alternative teacher certification through on-the-job training. The Sunshine State also established Educator Preparation Institutes to offer fast-tracked teacher certification for college graduates who have subject matter competency but did not obtain an education degree, and for mid-career professionals. Florida also honors other alternative paths to teacher certification, such as the American Board for Certification of Teacher Excellence (ABCTE). Further, Florida offers reciprocity with teaching certificates from other states and allows college education minors to enter the teaching profession. Providing robust alternative routes to the classroom ensures that Florida can attract high quality teachers.
While alternative teacher certification attracts high quality teachers to the Sunshine State, Florida’s performance pay helps keep them in the classroom. Florida’s pay system rewards those teachers who achieve significant student gains in subject areas assessed on the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test (FCAT). Teachers can receive up to 10 percent of their base salary in performance pay. In addition, Florida has implemented a school recognition program, which provides bonuses of $75 per student for improving a letter grade on the state’s report card system or for maintaining an “A.” The bonuses go directly to principals and teachers, bypassing collective bargaining.
Another aspect of Florida’s performance pay plan includes rewarding teachers with bonuses for increasing the number of students who pass Advanced Placement (AP) courses. AP teachers receive $50 for every AP class that a child successfully passes, with total bonuses capped at $2,000 per school year. Schools, not school districts, also receive bonuses of $700 for each student who passes an AP exam. Finally, schools that received a “D” or “F” are eligible to receive an additional $500 for each student who passes an AP exam.
There is evidence that Florida’s emphasis on Advanced Placement coursework is paying off. Since beginning performance rewards for successful AP completion, Florida has made significant progress in increasing the number of students who take and pass AP exams. In 2009, 40.2 percent of Florida’s public school graduates took an AP exam, compared to just 26.5 percent nationally. In 2009, 21.3 percent of those test-takers in Florida earned at least a grade “3” (the grade normally required to receive college credit) on an AP exam during their high school careers, compared to 15.9 percent of test-takers nationally. The College Board notes that Florida, which has the fourth-highest number of students taking AP exams in the nation, experienced the largest single-year increase in the percentage of the student population who received at least one score of 3 or higher on an AP test during high school (3.1 percent). Overall, Florida now ranks fifth in the nation in the percentage of AP test-takers who score at least a 3 while in high school.
The percentage of minority students taking and passing AP exams in Florida has also increased significantly. In 2009, 24.8 percent of AP test-takers in Florida were Hispanic, compared to 15.5 percent nationally. Further, 27.6 percent of AP examinees who earned at least a 3 were Hispanic, compared to just 14.3 percent nationally. In 2009, 12.9 percent of AP test-takers in Florida were black, compared to 8.2 percent nationally. In 2009, 6.3 percent of AP examinees scoring at least a 3 were black, compared to 3.7 percent nationally.
Standards and Accountability. One of the cornerstones of Florida’s education reforms was the A+ Accountability Plan, which, beginning in 1999, required students to be tested annually using the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test in grades three though 10 in reading and math. Prior to the implementation of the FCAT, eight different norm-referenced tests were administered across the state. In addition to including norm-referenced measures, the new FCAT included criterion-referenced measures to compare Florida’s students to students across the country. The FCAT, which aligns with Florida’s strong state standards, also provided the necessary data for the Sunshine State to begin grading schools and districts.
While Florida has graded schools since 1995, in 1999 the Sunshine State moved from an uninformative I–V scale to a more straightforward A–F grading scale for schools and districts. The new grading system coupled with the introduction of the FCAT meant that both schools and students were held accountable for academic outcomes. While the state bases school grades on student performance on the FCAT, beginning in 2001, the state based 50 percent of the grade on learning gains. In addition, in 2010, graduation rates for at-risk students, all other graduation rates, and college readiness began to count toward grades. When Florida implemented the new grading system in 1999, there were more D and F schools than schools earning an A or B. As of 2009, Florida’s A and B grades exceeded D and F grades by a factor of 10. Florida created monetary incentives for schools that receive good grades and sanctions for schools that receive poor grades.
In addition to holding schools accountable through the new grading system, Florida also held parents and students accountable by curtailing social promotion. The new education reform plan required students to pass the third-grade reading FCAT before progressing to the fourth grade. Specifically, third-graders who scored only one out of five in reading on the FCAT repeat the third grade and take remediation until they can demonstrate basic literacy skills. The policy does contain a number of exceptions and time limits, but firmly sets the default for an illiterate child to repeat the third grade.
Florida’s third-grade retention policy may seem cruel to some, and the research demonstrates that it is indeed cruel to some students—those exempted from the policy.
In 2006, approximately 29,000 third-grade students failed the reading portion of the FCAT. Florida’s retention policy contained a number of exemptions. An analysis by Manhattan Institute scholars compared the academic progress of retained students to those of two groups of similar students: those who barely scored high enough to avoid retention, and those who scored low enough for retention but received an exemption.
The Manhattan Institute team reported that after two years “retained Florida students made significant reading gains relative to the control group of socially promoted students.” The researchers found that the academic benefit increased after the second year: “That is, students lacking in basic skills who are socially promoted appear to fall farther behind over time, whereas retained students appear to be able to catch up on the skills they are lacking.”
Schools did not do the exempted children a favor: The retained students learned how to read, while the promoted students continued to fall behind. The students at the bottom proved the biggest winners of Florida’s tough-minded reforms. Better yet, the percentage of students scoring low enough to merit retention declined by 40 percent as schools gave greater focus to early childhood literacy.
Closing the Racial Gap Requires Bold Reform
The Nation’s Report Card shows that Florida has made enormous progress in closing racial achievement gaps. It is worth noting that the limited amount of national progress in raising the scores of black and Hispanic students includes Florida’s progress. If Florida’s results were taken out of those figures, they would be still less impressive. No national consensus exists to embrace Florida-type reforms, which are still opposed by the education unions despite their obvious and overwhelming success. Reform advocates therefore face the daunting task of implementing these and more far-reaching reforms state by state.
In politics, there are problems and there are conditions. A problem is something one is still trying to fix. A condition is something on which one has given up and simply grown to accept, however uncomfortably. The good news is that racial achievement gaps are a problem to solve, not a condition to accept. In addition, commonsense conservative policies have shown the ability to address the problem—in stark contrast to the failed efforts of previous decades. Regardless of how well-intentioned those past efforts may have been, they failed to deliver the intended results. Early in his tenure as Secretary of Education, Rod Paige stated that “After spending $125 billion of Title I money over twenty-five years, we have virtually nothing to show for it.” Sadly, this largely remains the case.
Racial achievement gaps have haunted America long enough. Florida’s example shows that it is possible to improve student performance by instituting a variety of curricular, choice-based, and incentive-based reforms, placing pressure on schools to improve. Other states have begun to emulate Florida’s successful strategy. Chancellor Joel Klein adopted reforms based on the Florida model in New York City. The legislatures of five states (Arizona, Georgia, Ohio, Oklahoma, and Utah) have adopted special-needs voucher programs following Florida’s lead. In 2010, Arizona and Indiana lawmakers adopted major elements of the Florida reforms, including school-grading, the curtailment of social promotion, and alternative teacher certification.
Lessons for Federal and State Policymakers
Florida’s successful education reforms should lead policymakers to the following realizations:
Recommendations for National Policymakers
National policymakers should free states from federal bureaucracy and allow state leaders to use education funds in a manner that will best meet the needs of their local schools and families.
Recommendations for State Policymakers
State policymakers should implement systemic education reforms to ensure accountability is strengthened to parents and taxpayers.
Since 1985, inflation-adjusted per-pupil education spending has increased 138 percent. And just as federal funding for education has grown, so has federal red tape. But despite an ever-increasing federal role in education, academic achievement has languished.
There is a way to truly improve education, which embraces a philosophy that restores state sovereignty and elevates states as laboratories of reform. Florida serves as a prime example of the ability of states to do what they do best: innovate in a way that best meets the needs of local students and families. Florida is accomplishing what education-reform advocates nationwide have worked for over the past few decades: to eliminate achievement gaps and put educational opportunity within the grasp of all children. Federal and state policymakers should view Florida as an example of what is possible if parent-centered and student-centered reform strategies are implemented.
—Matthew Ladner, Ph.D. , is the Vice President of Research at The Goldwater Institute, and Lindsey M. Burke is a Policy Analyst in Domestic Policy Studies at The Heritage Foundation.
Howard Fuller, “The Real Evidence: An Honest Update on School Choice Experiments,” Wisconsin Interest (Fall/Winter 1997), p. 19.
“Randi Weingarten elected AFT President,” WNET.org, July 15, 2008, at http://thirteencelebration.org/blog/edblog/randi-weingarten-elected-aft-president/90/ (September 9. 2010). Ms. Weingarten was elected president of the American Federation of Teachers on July 14, 2008. This quotation is from her acceptance speech.
Terry M. Moe and John E. Chubb, Liberating Learning: Technology, Politics, and the Future of American Education (San Francisco: Jossey Bass, 2009), pp. 29–56.
Steven Brill, “The Rubber Room: The Battle Over New York City’s Worst Teachers,” The New Yorker, August 31, 2009, at http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2009/08/31/090831fa_fact_brill#ixzz0jEjLuhxrhttp://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2009/08/31/090831fa_fact_brill (August 27, 2010).
Effective in 2003, No Child Left Behind made participation in NAEP a requirement for receipt of federal funds. Before 2003, state participation in NAEP was voluntary.
Since the NAEP uses representative samples of students rather than testing every student in every state, there is a margin of sampling error, meaning that the score for Florida’s black students (211) and that for all California students (210) should be considered a tie, given that a single point difference lies within the margin of error.
Lindsey Burke, “School Choice in America 2009: What it Means for Children’s Futures,” Heritage Foundation Backgrounder No. 2332, November 4, 2009, at http://www.heritage.org/Research/Reports/2009/11/School-Choice-in-America-2009-What-it-Means-for-Childrens-Futures (August 27, 2010).
Researchers found that the tax credit program led to statistically significant improvements in Florida’s public schools. The Florida Tax Credit Scholarship Program, which allows corporations to receive a dollar-for-dollar tax credit for donations to scholarship-granting organizations that provide vouchers to low-income children to attend a private school of their parents’ choice, was found to have an impact on a multi-billion-dollar public school system. Competition placed on the Florida public school system as a result of the voucher program led to improvements in the test scores of public school students. See David Figlio and Cassandra M.D. Hart, “Competitive Effects of Means-tested School Vouchers,” Institute for Policy Research, Northwestern University, May 2010, at http://www.northwestern.edu/ipr/publications/papers/2010/IPR-WP-10-03.pdf (September 30, 2010).
Office of Independent Education and Parental Choice, “About Florida’s Charter Schools,” Florida Department of Education, at http://www.floridaschoolchoice.org/Information/Charter_Schools/ (August 27, 2010).
Florida Virtual School, “2008–2009 FLVS Enrollment Summary,” July 1, 2009, at http://www.flvs.net/areas/aboutus/Documents/EnrollmentSummary.pdf (August 27, 2010).
Matthew Ladner and Dan Lips, “How ‘No Child Left Behind’ Threatens Florida’s Successful Education Reforms,” Heritage Foundation Backgrounder No. 2226, January 7, 2009, at http://www.heritage.org/Research/Reports/2009/01/How-No-Child-Left-Behind-Threatens-Floridas-Successful-Education-Reforms (August 27, 2010).
Ladner and Lips, “How ‘No Child Left Behind’ Threatens Florida’s Successful Education Reforms.”
Patricia Levesque, Foundation for Excellence in Education, “Florida Formula for Student Achievement: Lessons for the Nation,” PowerPoint presentation at the Education Reform Summit in Atlanta, October 30, 2009.
College Board, “The 6th Annual AP Report to the Nation,” February 10, 2010, at http://www.collegeboard.com/html/aprtn/pdf/ap_report_to_the_nation.pdf (August 27, 2010).
Levesque, “Florida Formula for Student Achievement: Lessons for the Nation.”
Jay P. Greene and Marcus A. Winters, “Getting Farther Ahead by Staying Behind: A Second-Year Evaluation of Florida’s Policy to End Social Promotion,” Manhattan Institute Civic Report No. 49, September 2006, at http://www.manhattan-institute.org/html/cr_49.htm.
Laura Green, “Despite Rise in Scores, Reading Still Emphasized; Schools Want to Reach Lowest-Performing Students,” Sarasota Herald-Tribune, May 4, 2006.
Greene and Winters, “Getting Farther by Staying Behind.”
Larry Elder, Showdown (New York: St. Martin’s Press, 2002), p. 45. | <urn:uuid:718a4adc-95b0-4816-b875-82b294adee8a> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.heritage.org/research/reports/2010/09/closing-the-racial-achievement-gap-learning-from-floridas-reforms | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783392527.68/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154952-00013-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.950354 | 6,742 | 3.625 | 4 |
Bring the world to your students!
The Perot Museum doesn’t just promise you the moon and stars — we deliver! Our Portable Universe planetarium brings the whole world to your students, with state-of-the-art digital planetarium programs that may be reserved on-site at the Perot Museum or brought directly to your campus. Our age-appropriate programs are designed to engage students in grades PK-12 and can accommodate 10-29 students, depending on age, plus teacher.
One World, One Sky
Grades: PK-K, Available in Spanish
What early childhood student wouldn't want to join Big Bird, Elmo and Hu Hu Zhu on a trip to the moon? This 25-minute planetarium movie, with live information included by our staff, follows these Sesame Street friends as they explore the sun, moon and stars, including the Big Dipper and North Star. The imaginary journey allows students to discover that no matter where we may live on Earth, we are all connected under the same sky. Program time is 45 minutes. Spanish version is also available; please inquire about availability when booking.
The Sky at Night, Jr.
Young astronomers observe the sun, moon and stars as they discover the patterns of day and night from our home on planet Earth. The Sky at Night, Jr. is presented live so that it may be tailored to meet the learning needs of your students. Program time is 45 minutes.
The Sky at Night
Students observe the sun, moon and stars to uncover patterns astronomers see in the sky. Students will enjoy learning how to locate planets visible at the time of their program, and their virtual tour to the distant worlds will encourage them to test their knowledge of the changes they see in the sky. The Sky at Night is presented live to tailor content for the learning needs of your students and is well suited for both cultural and scientific studies. This program is perfect for introducing students to the wonders of the universe or to supplement in-classroom study of astronomy. Program time is 50 minutes.
Mission to Mars
Available beginning January 14, 2014. Students take the controls on this virtual flight to examine how Mars and Earth may share more similarities than differences. While following the robotic exploration of the red planet, students will discover the necessities of manned space flight to Mars. Class size is limited so that students may fully participate in this hands-on experience. Program time is 50 minutes.
The Sky At Night, Secondary
Students learn a lot about Earth by exploring the sun, moon and stars. Participants will gather insight through a virtual journey to other planets and distant galaxies gives them a glimpse into Earth's unique place in space. The Sky at Night: Secondary is presented live to tailor content for the learning needs of your students and is well suited for both cultural and scientific studies. This program is perfect for introducing students to the wonders of the universe or to supplement in-classroom study of astronomy. Program time is 50 minutes.
The Search For Water
Available beginning Ocotber 1, 2014. Life in North Texas depends on quality water. In this live presentation, students consider how the water supply in North Texas affects the well-being of the community. Using the immersive environment of the Portable Universe planetarium, students examine the relationship between cosmic and global factors contributing to water shortage. The students are introduced to local watersheds, community water usage, and future prospects for our community as we strive to be good stewards of this limited resource. Program time is 50 minutes.
The Portable Universe CANNOT be setup outdoors or on an auditorium stage. Our planetarium programs require:
- A large, air-conditioned room (gymnasium or multipurpose room)
- 25 ft. by 25 ft. minimum dimensions
- 20 ft. minimum overhead clearance
- Schools who fail to measure properly will not be refunded for cancelled programs due to insufficient space
- Access to a 110V electrical outlet is required to run the planetarium
- Allow 40-60 minutes setup and takedown time prior to first program and following final program
Portable Universe programs satisfy TEKS objectives — along with students’ curiosity about the world around them! | <urn:uuid:0effe7a1-0ecf-4673-9b7b-cbfda1f01455> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.perotmuseum.org/events-and-programs/school-programs/at-the-museum/portable-universe.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783397696.49/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154957-00177-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.915728 | 851 | 3.3125 | 3 |
Q. Is the recovery of nickel metal from waste sludge considered recycling, reusing or reclaiming? T.Z.
A. First of all, let’s not call it “sludge,” but rather filter press cake from a wastewater pretreatment system.
It is not uncommon to hear that there is some confusion by the differences among the definitions of recycling, reclaiming and reusing. The terms are often used interchangeably, which adds to their misunderstanding. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency defines each of them in 40CFR 262.1(a)(2) as follows: A material is “recycled” if it is used, reused or reclaimed. A material is considered “reclaimed” if it is processed to recover a usable product or if it is regenerated. A material is “used or reused” if it is employed as an ingredient (including use as an intermediate) in an industrial process to make a product (for example, distillation bottoms from one process used as feedstock in another process). However, a material will not satisfy this condition if distinct components of the material are recovered as separate end products (as when metals are recovered from metal-containing secondary materials) A material also is considered “used or reused” if it is employed in a particular function or application as an effective substitute for a commercial product (for example, spent pickle liquor used as phosphorous precipitant and sludge conditioner in wastewater treatment). As you can see, reclaiming and reusing can be methods of recycling.
I assume that you are recovering or desire to recover nickel from filter press cake (F006-listed hazardous waste) generated from an electroplating operation’s wastewater pretreatment system. Based on the definitions above, recovering nickel from filter press cake is considered a reclamation activity and is also defined as recycling.
The reclamation designation can be significant in determining whether a waste is regulated. For example, in Ohio, a “listed waste” that is being reclaimed is regulated, but a waste that is hazardous only due to exhibiting a characteristic is not regulated when reclaimed.
Unfortunately, reclaiming metals from filter press cake typically does not exclude the material from hazardous waste regulations. A 1989 memorandum from the EPA Office of Solid Waste and Emergency Response states that EPA views F006 waste used as a feedstock in a metals recovery smelter as a recovery process rather than as an ingredient in an industrial process, and, therefore, considers the reclamation to be a form of treatment. Because it is considered a recovery process, the F006 waste remains a hazardous waste and must be managed as such prior to the reclamation process. It is important to know your state’s rules with regard to reclaimed materials.
At one time, the EPA had proposed a rule to exempt F006 hazardous waste from RCRA regulations if it was recycled. However, the agency withdrew the rule in 2006 during the review process and has not yet revisited the exemption. It is encouraging metals recovery in the metal finishing industry to increase the recycling of F006 by removing some of the regulatory disincentives to generators. As stated in a rule finalized in 2000, the EPA allows generators of F006 waste up to 180 days to accumulate the waste on site without a hazardous waste storage permit, provided certain conditions are met. These conditions include implementing pollution prevention practices that reduce the volume or toxicity of the F006 waste or that make it more amenable for metals recovery; recycling the F006 by metals recovery; accumulating no more than 35,280 lbs (16,000 kg) of F006 waste on site at any one time; and complying with the applicable management standards. These standards cover accumulation in tanks, containers or containment buildings; labeling and marking accumulation units; preparedness and prevention contingency plans and emergency procedures; personnel training; and waste analysis and record keeping. EPA hopes that these relaxed requirements will recover metal resources that otherwise would be land-disposed.blog comments powered by Disqus | <urn:uuid:a52a15ba-1d44-4629-bcea-b4dee3c33cc2> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.pfonline.com/articles/nickel-recovery-from-filter-press-cake | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783396959.83/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154956-00070-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.939081 | 821 | 2.859375 | 3 |
June 28, 2016,
Cryoglobulins are abnormal proteins. This article describes the blood test used to check for them.
In the laboratory, cryoglobulins come out of blood and form crystals when the blood sample is cooled below 98.6 degrees Fahrenheit (37 degrees Celsius).
Back to TopHow the Test Is Performed
Blood is typically drawn from a vein, usually from the inside of the elbow or the back of the hand. The site is cleaned with germ-killing medicine (antiseptic). The health care provider wraps an elastic band around the upper arm to apply pressure to the area and make the vein swell with blood.
Next, the health care provider gently inserts a needle into the vein. The blood collects into an airtight vial or tube attached to the needle. The elastic band is removed from your arm.
Once the blood has been collected, the needle is removed, and the puncture site is covered to stop any bleeding.
In infants or young children, a sharp tool called a lancet may be used to puncture the skin and make it bleed. The blood collects into a small glass tube called a pipette, or onto a slide or test strip. A bandage may be placed over the area if there is any bleeding.
Because they are temperature sensitive, cryoglobulins are very hard to accurately detect. The blood specimen must be collected in a special way and the test should only be done in laboratories that are equipped for it.
Back to TopHow to Prepare for the Test
There is no special preparation for this test.
Back to TopHow the Test Will Feel
Some people feel discomfort when the needle is inserted. Afterward, there may be some throbbing.
Back to TopWhy the Test Is Performed
This test is most often done when a person has symptoms of a condition associated with cryoglobulins. Cryoglobulins are associated with cryoglobulinemia. They also occur in other conditions that affect the skin, joints, kidneys, and nervous system.
Back to TopNormal Results
Normally, there are no cryoglobulins.
Note: Normal value ranges may vary slightly among different laboratories. Talk to your doctor about the meaning of your specific test results.
The example above shows the common measurement for results for these tests. Some laboratories use different measurements or may test different specimens.
Back to TopWhat Abnormal Results Mean
A positive test may indicate:
- Hepatitis (especially hepatitis C)
- Infectious mononucleosis
- Macroglobulinemia - primary
- Multiple myeloma
- Rheumatoid arthritis
- Systemic lupus erythematosus
Additional conditions under which the test may be performed:
Back to TopRisks
Veins and arteries vary in size from one patient to another and from one side of the body to the other. Obtaining blood from some people may be more difficult than from others.
Other risks associated with having blood drawn are slight, but may include:
- Excessive bleeding
- Fainting or feeling light-headed
- Hematoma (blood accumulating under the skin)
- Infection (a slight risk any time the skin is broken)
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The University of California’s Hastings College of the Law recently conducted a study of 557 women across all races on whether or not they’ve experienced gender bias. 93 percent of White women said they had, while 100 percent of the women of color that volunteered that they absolutely did. The study was based on female scientists working in the field of STEM research.
In the second stage of the research project titled “Double Jeopardy?,” 60 non-White (Black, Asian, Latina and one Native American) women also participated in more in-depth conversations with Professor Joan C. Williams. As an expert on gender studies for 25 years, Williams felt compelled to learn more about the prejudice these women have combated for simply being female, of color, and as scientists. As she told Mashable.com,“If you ask people about gender in our society…what you get is information about white women.” She was also seeking to confront sexism in the science workplace.
A lot of the information Williams has disclosed is bleak. But it’s important that we’re all fully aware of the unfair circumstances these women have gone through. In the report, it was included that in some past situations, former female scientists endured so much emotionally, they had either quit their jobs or demanded to be relocated. Below is a list, courtesy of Mashable, of what Williams discovered during her 1-on-1’s:
- Black and Latina women said they were regularly mistaken for janitors.
- Asian-American women felt more pressure to act traditionally feminine.
- Black women controlled emotion to avoid an “angry black female” stereotype.
- Latina women reported being labeled as “crazy” when they expressed emotion.
- Asian-American women faced more push back from peers if they acted assertively.
We’ve seen or heard of these stereotypes and pressures before, but it was still a bit disheartening to read. These are the truths from real working women in science and they have studied damn hard to be in those labs. Their contributions matter just as much as any White male or female scientist. Regarding Black women, Williams particularly noted, “You just see a very different emotional tone than you did among the other three groups…a sense of bleak isolation. And the black women reported experiences where they were treated with such profound disrespect.”
The official report also exposed the handful of contradictions that their White counterparts unleashed towards their non-White co-workers. While Native Americans and Asians were expected to be docile, only to be later unfairly labeled as meek, Black and Latina women were given the too angry sticker and accused of behaving at times “too masculine.”
The purpose of Williams’ report wasn’t to make women of color in science feel like there’s no hope, but to encourage and push the scientific workplace to better address these matters of prejudice and sexism. “This is not women’s problem. If you want to interrupt the bias, you actually have to redesign the business system.” | <urn:uuid:1d157700-b022-4921-9731-4ce6605a5601> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://hellobeautiful.com/2015/01/28/black-female-scientists-discriminated/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783398209.20/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154958-00192-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.971334 | 643 | 2.984375 | 3 |
We’ve been talking here about how long it will take for a woman to get pregnant after stopping birth control. Last week, we looked at how the Pill affects women who are trying to conceive. Today, we’ll take a peek at IUDs and fertility.
There are two types of IUDs in North American use currently – the older Paragard Copper T and the newer synthetic progesterone-releasing Mirena. Historically, these IUDs were placed in women who had already had a child. Then the FDA approved the Copper T for use in women who had not had a child, as long as they were at least 16 years of age. The Mirena is commonly used “off label” in women who have never had a child, but it was approved by the FDA for those with prior pregnancies.
So are there any differences in the return to fertility between the two types of IUDs? Generally, there is no statistical difference in pregnancy rates after the removal of either type of IUD. One particularly good study randomly assigned women to one of the two types of IUD, then followed the time to pregnancy after the IUDs were removed. In this study, time to conception after Copper T removal was 3 months and 4 months for the Mirena (Belhadj, 1986). It is important to note that the women in these studies had had prior pregnancies, thus known fertility.
In a retrospective study of 2269 women (Hassan, 2004), 82 women used a non-hormonal IUD and 13 used the Mirena. Compared to women using condoms, the time to pregnancy in non-hormonal IUD users was twice as long. The Mirena users had the same time to pregnancy (about 4 months) as condom users.
What about pregnancy rates for women who have not yet conceived? In a retrospective study of former Copper T users, there was no difference in return to fertility between never pregnant, and previously pregnant women (Hubacher, 2001). The usual cause of infertility from IUD use is scarring in the fallopian tubes from chlamydia infections. In this study, only the presence of blood antibodies to chlamydia was associated with infertility – not Copper T use. In a more recent study (Merki-Feld, 2007), prior chlamydia infections in Copper T users were linked to scarring in the fallopian tubes. This linkage was not seen in users of birth control pills nor condoms. Thus, if you want to get pregnant after your IUD is removed, be sure to protect yourself from gonorrhea and chlamydia by monogamy, condom use or frequent STD screenings. Better yet, consider another birth control method if you are likely to have non-condom sex with new partners.
Read the series:
- Part 1: Getting Pregnant After Birth Control
- Part 2: Getting Pregnant After Stopping the Pill
- Part 3: Getting Pregnant After Stopping IUDs
- Part 4: Getting Pregnant After Depo, Implanon, Ortho Evra Patch and Nuva Ring | <urn:uuid:d973bcc1-1587-406f-9b68-fba60d93db1f> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://blogs.webmd.com/womens-health/2010/03/getting-pregnant-after-stopping-iuds.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783394605.61/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154954-00095-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.965451 | 646 | 2.875 | 3 |
NEWTOWN SQUARE, Pennsylvania, September 27, 2011 An analysis of two decades of data collected by the U.S. Forest Service's Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) program shows that the live volume of hemlocks in the eastern United States is increasing despite infestations of hemlock woolly adelgid that have decimated local populations.
The information comes from an e-Science Update co-authored by scientists from two U.S. Forest Service research stations, the Northern Research Station (NRS) and the Southern Research Station (SRS), and published by SRS.
"The update provides an overview of the status and extent of hemlocks in the eastern United States based on FIA inventories conducted by SRS and NRS," according to Randall Morin, a research forester with the NRS' FIA program and the primary author. "It also incorporates research by NRS scientists and the results of pest surveys conducted by the Forest Service's State and Private Forestry Program."
Two native species of hemlock eastern and Carolina grow in eastern North America. Although a minor component in most of the forests of the eastern United States, high densities of eastern hemlock are found in New England and the mountains of the Southeast and Mid-Atlantic. The Carolina hemlock, similar in appearance to the eastern hemlock, is found only on rocky mountain slopes of the Southern Appalachian region.
Researchers conducted the analysis on 20 years of data collected across 433 counties stretching from southern Maine into northern Georgia. They found an overall increase in live-tree hemlock basal area in counties infested with hemlock woolly adelgid as well as those without infestations.
A tiny insect introduced into the United States from East Asia, the hemlock woolly adelgid, feeds at the base of hemlock needles, defoliating and eventually killing trees. "Since the insect was first noticed in the 1950s it has expanded its range at between 4.7 and 12.7 miles a year," according to Andrew Liebhold, an NRS research entomologist. "Hemlock woolly adelgid currently infests about 45 percent of the range of hemlocks in the United States and 41 percent of the total hemlock basal area." These percentages are up 26 percent and 25 percent respectively since 2004.
"The analysis also showed that the general regional trend in the East over the past 50 years has been one of increasing hemlock volume, even with infestation by the hemlock woolly adelgid," according to Sonja Oswalt, an SRS forester and co-author. "Even though the insect has caused substantial negative impacts on hemlock at stand-level scales, analysis of FIA data suggests that infestations have not yet reduced the overall abundance of hemlock, even in states where hemlock woolly adelgid has been active for decades."
The authors caution that the trend of increasing hemlock volume may not last much longer. "Despite increasing hemlock volume over the last four decades across most of the eastern United States, the regions with long-established populations of hemlock woolly adelgid are also the regions where hemlock is accumulating slowest," Morin said. "Net growth rates decrease as years of infestation increase, and mortality rates increase, with mortality starting to equal net growth in areas where hemlock woolly adelgid has been present for 10 to 20 years." As time goes on the trend of increasing abundance may begin to reverse.
|Contact: Jane Hodgins|
USDA Forest Service - Northern Research Station | <urn:uuid:2381bced-5bb9-409d-8e7c-4d3a8a075915> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.bio-medicine.org/biology-news-1/US-Forest-Service-study-finds-hemlock-still-abundant-despite-adelgid-infestation-21514-1/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783395992.75/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154955-00186-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.937187 | 755 | 3.171875 | 3 |
Exploring Colonial Mexico©
Some time ago we ran a page on the sculpted 16th century facade of Santa Maria Tiltepec a spectacularly sculpted churc in the Mixteca Alta highlands of Oaxaca.
We follow up by looking at its close neighbor, the church of Santiago Nejapilla, another little known gem of early colonial architecture. This remarkable church is cast in the characteristic mold of 16th century Dominican buildings throughout Oaxaca, and is notable for the richness of its sculpted west portal, framed in the form of a triumphal arch - a classical motif especially favored by the Dominicans.
The grand main doorway is spanned by a double coffered archway inset with cross-banded diamonds, and is framed by powerful fluted jambs capped by dentilled capitals - another signature motif of regional Dominican architecture. Carved vines spring from urns on each side, arching above the doorway and spreading across the spandrels. A vigorous relief of the Archangel Michael fills the keystone, with spread wings and cloak. Three enormous plumes rise from his helmet. This sculpture, dated 1696 by an inscription, most likely replaced an earlier relief of St. James (Santiago,) the patron saint of the church.
Scalloped upper and lower niches with broad beaded frames flank the doorway. While the upper niches are plain, the lower pair is delicately carved with openwork doves in the arch, draped cross reliefs similar to those at Coixtlahuaca in the recess and projecting corbels or fonts at the foot. Intricate relief medallions featuring the diagonal Dominican cross separate the tiers of niches.
Above the doorway, running cornices - another common Dominican device - outline the entablature. Dentils and a twisted cord ornament the upper cornice and another vine snakes along the intervening frieze. Shell, anchor and cross reliefs appear over the keystone.
Fluted spiral columns flank the portal, extending through the entablature - one more Dominican feature - to the upper tier of the facade. This upper tier echoes the doorway level but is more austere, possibly a later addition. Its only sculptural ornament is in the surmounting frieze, which displays a row of winged, seated figures in flat relief. Bold arched openings, also embellished with dentils and beading, punctuate the church: in the lateral porches, niches and nave windows. Assorted reliefs, floral, animal and figural, also adorn on the exterior. Deer, a jaguar, and a caped figure with the legend "Yo El Rey" (I the King) are carved into the wall of the apse.
Inside the church, five arches, enriched with carved and painted moldings and reliefs, separate the bays and support the long barrel vault. Figure sculptures embellish several keystones, notably a spirited Archangel Raphael and a relief of Christ, both are colorfully painted and dated 1700. Together with the facade relief of St. Michael, these sculptures probably mark a refurbishment of the earlier church.
Other classic Dominican architectural features include the ribbed wheel vault with its carved floral bosses supporting the underchoir, and the round coffered vault that spans the narrow sanctuary.
- * NOTE: Santiago Nejapilla is located off Highway 190 to the southwest about 25 kms south of Yanhuitlan. Some recent visitors encountered an unwelcome reception at Nejapilla, so caution may be advised when entering the village. As everywhere in Mexico, courtesy and respect always work best in approaching local residents, who will usually respond in a positive and helpful manner.
- This article is based on the detailed description of Nejapilla by the late Robert J Mullen in his landmark study, The Architecture and Sculpture of Oaxaca: 1530s1980s. (ASU Center for Latin American Studies. 1995)
- See our archive for other Hidden Gems of Oaxaca
- Pictures by kind permission of Carolyn Brown ©1997. and Felipe Falcón
- For more information on the Dominican missions of Oaxaca consult our illustrated guidebook, Exploring Colonial Oaxaca
- See also our guide More Maya Missions, on the Dominican buildings of Chiapas | <urn:uuid:c62aedd9-8a0d-4a89-b878-9973d9f835c3> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.colonial-mexico.com/Oaxaca/nejapilla.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783396106.71/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154956-00106-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.920785 | 893 | 3.078125 | 3 |
The United Kingdom, Great Britain, The British Isles; The Latin Britannia is derived from the travel writings of the ancient Greek Pytheas c320 BC and as a United Country – England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales, we are still being written about for our stunning countryside, magnificent coastal plains, major contributions to Art, Science, Industry, Commerce and our diverse, multi-cultural society. We may be a small country in stature but we have always been at the forefront of innovation, science, engineering art, design, manufacturing and commerce. We are told we are an Island of shop-keepers but we, as a country, are far more than that. We pride ourselves on providing exemplarily goods and services which we export globally and Great Britain is still a “must see” tourist destination for discerning travellers throughout the World.
Great Britain was the foremost industrial and maritime power of the 19th century and played a dominant role in developing parliamentary democracy and in advancing literature and science. At its peak, the British Empire stretched over one-fourth of the earth's surface. The first half of the 20th century saw the UK's strength seriously depleted in two World Wars. The second half witnessed the dismantling of the Empire and the UK rebuilding itself into a modern and prosperous European nation. As one of five permanent members of the UN Security Council, a founding member of NATO, and of the Commonwealth, the UK pursues a global approach to foreign policy.
Some British Facts
Population 2011 = 61,113, 2005 Currency = Pound sterling Capital = London Native Languages = English, Welsh, Gaelic, Scots Main towns / cities = London, Manchester, Birmingham, Leeds, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Cardiff, Belfast Britain’s highest mountain = Ben Nevis 1300 metres – Scotland Britain’s longest river = River Severn 354 KM – Wales & England
A brief timeline
Victorians: 1837 - 1900
Victoria – the longest reigning British monarch – became Queen in 1837, aged just eighteen. During her reign, she introduced a number of constitutional changes and the spirit of these changes led to the publishing of the people's charter, which laid out six demands including universal manhood suffrage and annual parliamentary elections. The charter was continually rejected in parliament, but today five out of the six original demands are firm parts of the British constitution.
Early 20th Century: 1901 – 1944
The early twentieth century saw advances in science and technology that were unimaginable in previous eras. Among the ground-breaking achievements of this period were: the invention of the television by the EMI-Marconi Corporation; and subsequent founding of the British Broadcasting Company (BBC); the discovery of penicillin by Alexander Fleming; and insights into the structure of the atom, which led to the development of nuclear weapons and energy.
Post World War II: 1945 - 2010
Following World War II, in which the UK was an allied power, most of the territories of the British Empire became independent. Many went on to join the Commonwealth of Nations, a free association of independent states. Some have retained the British monarch as their Head of state to become independent Commonwealth realms. In its capacity as a great power and as a leading member of the United Nations, European Union and NATO, the United Kingdom remains a strong economic, cultural, military and political influence in the 21st century. | <urn:uuid:76877e6e-b661-4eb4-94f6-cc7ae900ed93> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.buybritish.co.uk/en/history.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783400572.45/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624155000-00133-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.948598 | 679 | 3.234375 | 3 |
Robert Kahn, Steven A. Tananbaum Senior Fellow for International Economics
Europe's debt crisis and recession have been felt around the world, and the United States has not been spared. The economies of all seventeen euro-area countries comprised 17 percent of the world economy in 2012, generating $12.2 trillion in GDP (close to the $15.7 trillion U.S. economy). Germany's economy alone is the fourth largest in the world. Strong trade, investment, and financial ties with the United States ensure that shocks in one region have important effects on the other.
The crisis in Europe has been directly felt through lost trade, as lower European incomes reduce demand for U.S. goods. The eurozone is the third largest export destination of the United States, accounting for 15 percent of total U.S. goods exports and one-third of service exports.
Cross-border investments have increased dramatically in recent decades. U.S. assets abroad and foreign-owned assets in the United States increased more than six fold between 1994 and 2010, according to a U.S. government report, and it has been estimated that one quarter of the earnings of top U.S. companies come directly or indirectly from Europe. Consequently, U.S. companies and investors have an important stake in a European recovery.
Financial sector linkages also matter. While U.S. banks do not have many direct financial holdings in Europe's "peripheral" countries experiencing the most formidable fiscal woes, the indirect effects of a European debt blow-up could be "quite significant" in U.S. financial markets, according to Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke.
On the positive side, the United States benefits from its role as a safe haven for investors. When Europe's problems intensify, investors often will turn to the relative security of the United States. This will bid up stocks and bonds, boosting stock markets and lowering interest rates. | <urn:uuid:35d4ceef-efcb-4317-90b2-1f0250f0cd34> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.cfr.org/financial-crises/impact-eurozone-crisis-us-economy/p31407 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783391519.0/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154951-00056-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.945435 | 390 | 2.84375 | 3 |
Electron microscope image of a waveguide structure, superimposed with a measured intensity profile of the light trapped within it.
Researchers at the university have now developed a material capable of optical amplifications which match those achieved using the best, currently available semiconductor optical amplifiers, but at potentially higher data communication rates. This material consists of thin crystalline layers whose optical properties were specially designed for the optical circuits found on chips. The researchers can fine-tune the properties of these thin crystalline layers by changing their composition. Using a clever trick, they were able to embed much higher concentrations of optically active Ytterbium ions (Ytterbium is a rare-earth element) in the crystal. In this way, they have boosted the optical amplification of currently available rare-earth-doped materials by more than one hundredfold. This will ultimately pave the way for faster and cheaper optical data communication.
If you liked this article, please give it a quick review on ycombinator or StumbleUpon. Thanks | <urn:uuid:369d712d-8bab-4596-9baa-11dfa62ece5a> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://nextbigfuture.com/2011/11/university-of-twente-has-alternative-to.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783398628.62/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154958-00163-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.930506 | 210 | 3.453125 | 3 |
The blasting of the Mississippi River levee at Caernarvon in 1927 is shown in vivid detail in photographs found in The Times-Picayune’s library, some of them not published since the 1940s. For weeks that spring, panicked New Orleanians watched the water rise in the river.
Concerned businessmen successfully lobbied for cutting through the Caernarvon levee, near the site of a natural levee break in 1922, to ease pressure on levees upriver in New Orleans, where water had begun seeping through in several spots.
An estimated 10,000 people living in St. Bernard and Plaquemines parishes were evacuated before a series of explosions cut through the levee on April 29.
Spectators from New Orleans whose connections allowed them to get passes were among those who witnessed the event, traveling to the spot by boat, car or airplane. One photographer stood atop the levee to get a shot of water carving away at the artificial crevasse.
The roar of the water could be heard a mile away, according to a story in the May 1, 1927, Times-Picayune.
The 1927 flood killed nearly 250 people, but a major disaster in New Orleans was averted. Few property owners from St. Bernard or Plaquemines were ever compensated. | <urn:uuid:aebe18b7-4bba-4e42-801b-6d21a39e2dbf> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.nola.com/175years/index.ssf/2012/04/our_times_blasting_mississippi.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783396100.16/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154956-00149-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.966057 | 270 | 3.515625 | 4 |
You are hereThe Renwick Cockatrice
The Renwick Cockatrice
In 1733 a cockatrice terrorized Renwick when the church was being demolished. The beast was slayen by John Tallantire with a rowan branch. The creature was described as resembling a bat. Apparently the cockatrice was again reported as having been seen in 1959. The classic appearance of a cockatrice is considered to be that of a large rooster with a lizards tail and it is supposed to have the power to turn someone to stone at a glance. Maybe John just did fight a big bat with his stick. | <urn:uuid:8f3f07a7-d9b5-4b4a-86fd-a2175d10e6f2> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.mysteriousbritain.co.uk/england/cumbria/cryptozoology/the-renwick-cockatrice.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783395620.9/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154955-00102-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.989406 | 127 | 2.609375 | 3 |
Voltaire and Frederick the Great
Voltaire and Frederick the Great
from Books and Characters, French and English
by Lytton Strachey, 1915
edited by Geoffrey Sauer
This edition copyright © 1997 by Geoffrey Sauer
At the present time [October 1915] when it is so difficult to think of anything but of what is and what will be, it may yet be worthwhile to cast occasionally a glance backward at what was. Such glances may at least prove to have the humble merit of being entertaining: they may even be instructive as well. Certainly it would be a mistake to forget that Frederick the Great once lived in Germany. Nor is it altogether useless to remember that a curious old gentleman, extremely thin, extremely active, and heavily bewigged, once decided that, on the whole, it would be as well for him not to live in France. For, just as modern Germany dates from the accession of Frederick to the throne of Prussia, so modern France dates from the establishment of Voltaire on the banks of the Lake of Geneva. The intersection of those two momentous lives forms one of the most curious and one of the most celebrated incidents in history. To English readers it is probably best known through the few brilliant paragraphs devoted to it by Macaulay; though Carlyle's masterly and far more elaborate narrative is familiar to every lover of The History of Friedrich II. Since Carlyle wrote, however, fifty years have passed. New points of view have arisen, and a certain amount of new material -- including the valuable edition of the correspondence between Voltaire and Frederick published from the original documents in the Archives at Berlin -- has become available. It seems, therefore, in spite of the familiarity of the main outlines of the story, that another rapid review of it will not be out of place.
Voltaire was forty-two years of age, and already one of the most famous men of the day, when, in August 1736, he received a letter from the Crown Prince of Prussia. This letter was the first in a correspondence which was to last, with a few remarkable intervals, for a space of over forty years. It was written by a young man of twenty-four, of whose personal qualities very little was known, and whose importance seemed to lie simply in the fact that he was heir- apparent to one of the secondary European monarchies. Voltaire, however, was not the man to turn up his nose at royalty, in whatever form it might present itself; and it was moreover clear that the young Prince had picked up at least a smattering of French culture, that he was genuinely anxious to become acquainted with the tendencies of modern thought, and, above all, that his admiration for the author of the Henriede and Zaire was unbounded.
La douceur et le support [wrote Frederick] que vous marques pour tous ceux qui se vouent aux arts et aux sciences, me font espérer que vous ne m'exclurez pas du nombre de ceux que vous trouvez dignes de vos instructions. Je nomme ainsi votre corm merce de lettres, qui ne peut être que profitable à tout être pensant. J'ose même avancer, sans déroger, au mérite d'autrui, que dans l'univers entier il n'y aurait pas d'exception à faire de ceux dont vous ne pourriez être le maître.
The great man was accordingly delighted; he replied with all that graceful affability of which he was a master, declared that his correspondent was "un prince philosophe qui rendra les hommes heureux," and showed that he meant business by plunging at once into a discussion of the metaphysical doctrines of "le sieur Wolf," whom Frederick had commended as "le plus célèbre philosophe de nos jours." For the next four years the correspondence continued on the lines thus laid down. It was a correspondence between a master and a pupil: Frederick, his passions divided between German philosophy and French poetry, poured out with equal copiousness disquisitions upon Free Will and la raison suffisante, odes sur la Flatterie, and epistles sur l'Humanité, while Voltaire kept the ball rolling with no less enormous philosophical replies, together with minute criticisms of His Royal Highness's mistakes in French metre and French orthography. Thus, though the interest of these early letters must have been intense to the young Prince, they have far too little personal flavour to be anything but extremely tedious to the reader of to-day. Only very occasionally is it possible to detect, amid the long and careful periods, some faint signs of feeling or of character. Voltaire's empressement seems to take on, once or twice, the colours of something like a real enthusiasm; and one notices that, after two years, Frederick's letters begin no longer with "Monsieur " but with "Mon cher ami" which glides at last insensibly into "Mon cher Voltaire"; though the careful poet continues with his "Monseigneur" throughout. Then, on one occasion, Frederick makes a little avowal, which reads oddly in the light of future events.
Souffrez [he says] que je vous fasse mon caractère, afin que vous ne vous y mépreniez plus.... J'ai peu de mérite et peu de savoir; mais j'ai beaucoup de bonne volonté, et un fonds inépuisable d'estime et d'amitié pour les personnes d'une vertu distinguée et avec cela je suis capable de toute la constance que la vraie amitié exige. J'ai assez de jugement pour vous rendre toute la justice que vous méritez; mais je n'en ai pas assez pour m'empêcher de faire de mauvais vers.
But this is exceptional; as a rule, elaborate compliments take the place of personal confessions; and, while Voltaire is never tired of comparing Frederick to Apollo, Alcibiades, and the youthful Marcus Aurelius, of proclaiming the re-birth of "les talents de Virgile et les vertus d'Auguste," or of declaring that "Socrate ne m'est rien, c'est Frédéric que j'aime," the Crown Prince is on his side ready with an equal flow of protestations, which sometimes rise to singular heights. "Ne croyez pas," he says, "que je pousse mon scepticisme a outrance... Je crois, par exemple, qu'il n'y a qu'un Dieu et qu'un Voltaire dans le monde; je crois encore que ce Dieu avait besoin dans ce siècle d'un Voltaire pour le rendre aimable." Decidedly the Prince's compliments were too emphatic, and the poet's too ingenious; as Voltaire himself said afterwards, "les epithetes ne nous coutaient rien"; yet neither was without a little residue of sincerity. Frederick's admiration bordered upon the sentimental; and Voltaire had begun to allow himself to hope that some day, in a provincial German court, there might be found a crowned head devoting his life to philosophy, good sense, and the love of letters. Both were to receive a curious awakening.
In 1740 Frederick became King of Prussia, and a new epoch in the relations between the two men began. The next ten years were, on both sides, years of growing disillusionment. Voltaire very soon discovered that his phrase about "un prince philosophe qui rendra les hommes heureux " was indeed a phrase and nothing more. His prince philosophe started out on a career of conquest, plunged all Europe into war, and turned Prussia into a great military power. Frederick, it appeared, was at once a far more important and a far more dangerous phenomenon than Voltaire had suspected. And, on the other hand, the matured mind of the King was not slow to perceive that the enthusiasm of the Prince needed a good deal of qualification. This change of view was, indeed, remarkably rapid. Nothing is more striking than the alteration of the tone in Frederick's correspondence during the few months which followed his accession: the voice of the raw and inexperienced youth is heard no more, and its place is taken -- at once and for ever -- by the self-contained caustic utterance of an embittered man of the world. In this transformation it was only natural that the wondrous figure of Voltaire should lose some of its glitter -- especially since Frederick now began to have the opportunity of inspecting that figure in the flesh with his own sharp eyes. The friends met three or four times, and it is noticeable that after each meeting there is a distinct coolness on the part of Frederick. He writes with a sudden brusqueness to accuse Voltaire of showing about his manuscripts, which, he says had only been sent him on the condition of un secret inviolable. He writes to Jordan complaining of Voltaire's avarice in very stringent terms. "Ton avare boira la lie de son insatiable désir de s'enrichir... Son apparition de six jours me coûtera par journée cinq cent cinquante écus. C'est bien payer un fou; jamais bouffon de grand seigneur n!eut de pareils gages." He declares that "la cervelle du poète est aussi légère que le style de ses ouvrages," and remarks sarcastically that he is indeed a man extraordinsire en tout.
Yet, while his opinion of Voltaire's character was rapidly growing more and more severe, his admiration of his talents remained undiminished. For, though he had dropped metaphysics when he came to the throne, Frederick could never drop his passion for French poetry; he recognised in Voltaire the unapproachable master of that absorbing art; and for years he had made up his mind that, some day or other, he would posséder -- for so he put it -- the author of the Henriade, would keep him at Berlin as the brightest ornament of his court, and, above all, would have him always ready at hand to put the final polish on his own verses. In the autumn of 1743 it seemed for a moment that his wish would be gratified. Voltaire spent a visit of several weeks in Berlin; he was dazzled by the graciousness of his reception and the splendour of his surroundings; and he began to listen to the honeyed overtures of the Prussian Majesty. The great obstacle to Frederick's desire was Voltaire's relationship with Madame du Chatelet. He had lived with her for more than ten years; he was attached to her by all the ties of friendship and gratitude; he had constantly declared that he would never leave her -- no, not for all the seductions of princes. She would, it is true, have been willing to accompany Voltaire to Berlin; but such a solution would by no means have suited Frederick. He was not fond of ladies -- even of ladies like Madame du Chatelet -- learned enough to translate Newton and to discuss by the hour the niceties of the Leibnitzian philosophy; and he had determined to posséder Voltaire either completely or not at all. Voltaire, in spite of repeated temptations, had remained faithful; but now, for the first time, poor Madame du Chatelet began to be seriously alarmed. His letters from Berlin grew fewer and fewer, and more and more ambiguous; she knew nothing of his plans; "il est ivre absolument" she burst out in her distress to d'Argental, one of his oldest friends. By every post she dreaded to learn at last that he had deserted her for ever. But suddenly Voltaire returned. The spell of Berlin had been broken, and he was at her feet once more.
What had happened was highly characteristic both of the Poet and of the King. Each had tried to play a trick on the other, and each had found the other out. The French Government had been anxious to obtain an insight into the diplomatic intentions of Frederick, in an unofficial way; Voltaire had offered his services, and it had been agreed that he should write to Frederick declaring that he was obliged to leave France for a time owing to the hostility of a member of the Government, the Bishop of Mirepoix, and asking for Frederick's hospitality. Frederick had not been taken in: though he had not disentangled the whole plot, he had perceived clearly enough that Voltaire's visit was in reality that of an agent of the French Government; he also thought he saw an opportunity of securing the desire of his heart. Voltaire, to give verisimilitude to his story, had, in his letter to Frederick, loaded the Bishop of Mirepoix with ridicule and abuse; and Frederick now secretly sent this letter to Mirepoix himself. His calculation was that Mirepoix would be so outraged that he would make it impossible for Voltaire ever to return to France; and in that case -- well, Voltaire would have no other course open to him but to stay where he was, in Berlin, and Madame du Chatelet would have to make the best of it. Of course, Frederick's plan failed, and Voltaire was duly informed by Mirepoix of what had happened. He was naturally very angry. He had been almost induced to stay in Berlin of his own accord, and now he found that his host had been attempting, by means of treachery and intrigue, to force him to stay there whether he liked it or not. It was a long time before he forgave Frederick. But the King was most anxious to patch up the quarrel; he still could not abandon the hope of ultimately securing Voltaire; and besides, he was now possessed by another and a more immediate desire -- to be allowed a glimpse of that famous and scandalous work which Voltaire kept locked in the innermost drawer of his cabinet and revealed to none but the most favoured of his intimates -- La Pucelle.
Accordingly the royal letters became more frequent and more flattering than ever; the royal hand cajoled and implored. "Ne me faites point injustice sur mon caractère; d'ailleurs il vous est permis de badiner sur mon sujet comme il vous plaira." "La Pucelle! La Pucelle! La Pucelle! et encore La Pucelle!" he exclaims. "Pour l'amour de Dieu, ou plus encore pour l'amour de vous-même, envoyez la-moi." And at last Voltaire was softened. He sent off a few fragments of his Pucelle -- just enough to whet Frederick's appetite -- and he declared himself reconciled. "Je vous ai aimé tendrement," he wrote in March 1749; "j'ai été fâché contre vous, je vous ai pardonné, et actuellement je vous aime à la folie." Within a year of this date his situation had undergone a complete change. Madame du Chatelet was dead; and his position at Versailles, in spite of the friendship of Madame de Pompadour, had become almost as impossible as he had pretended it to have been in 1743. Frederick eagerly repeated his invitation; and this time Voltaire did not refuse. He was careful to make a very good bargain; obliged Frederick to pay for his journey; and arrived at Berlin in July 1750. He was given rooms in the royal palaces both at Berlin and Potsdam; he was made a Court Chamberlain, and received the Order of Merit, together with a pension of £800 a year. These arrangements caused considerable amusement in Paris; and for some days hawkers, carrying prints of Voltaire dressed in furs, and crying "Voltaire le prussien! Six sols le fameux prussien!" were to be seen walking up and down the Quays.
The curious drama that followed, with its farcical peripeteia and its tragi-comic dénouement, can hardly be understood without a brief consideration of the feelings and intentions of the two chief actors in it. The position of Frederick is comparatively plain. He had now completely thrown aside the last lingering remnants of any esteem which he may once have entertained for the character of Voltaire. He frankly thought him a scoundrel. In September 1749, less than a year before Voltaire's arrival, and at the very period of Frederick's most urgent invitations, we find him using the following language in a letter to Algarotti: "Voltaire vient de faire un tour qui est indigne." (He had been showing to all his friends a garbled copy of one of Frederick's letters.)
Il mériterait d'être fleurdelisé au Parnasse. C'est bien dommage qu'une âme aussi lâche soit unie à un aussi beau génie. Il a les gentillesses et les malices d'un singe. Je vous conterai ce que c'est, lorsque je vous reverrai; cependant je ne ferai semblant de rien, car j'en ai besoin pour l'étude de l'élocution française. On peut apprendre de bonnes choses d'un scélérat. Je veux savoir son français; que m'importe sa morale? Cet homme a trouvé le moyen de réunir tous les contraires. On admire son esprit, en même temps qu'on méprise son caractère.
There is no ambiguity about this. Voltaire was a scoundrel; but he was a scoundrel of genius. He would make the best possible teacher of l'élocution française; therefore it was necessary that he should come and live in Berlin. But as for anything more -- as for any real interchange of sympathies, any genuine feeling of friendliness, of respect, or even of regard -- all that was utterly out of the question. The avowal is cynical, no doubt; but it is at any rate straightforward, and above all it is peculiarly devoid of any trace of self-deception. In the face of these trenchant sentences, the view of Frederick's attitude which is suggested so assiduously by Carlyle -- that he was the victim of an elevated misapprehension, that he was always hoping for the best, and that, when the explosion came he was very much surprised and profoundly disappointed -- becomes obviously untenable. If any man ever acted with his eyes wide open, it was Frederick when he invited Voltaire to Berlin.
Yet, though that much is clear, the letter to Algarotti betrays, in more than one direction, a very singular state of mind. A warm devotion to l'élocution française is easy enough to understand; but Frederick's devotion was much more than warm; it was so absorbing and so intense that it left him no rest until, by hook or by crook, by supplication, or by trickery, or by paying down hard cash, he had obtained the close and constant proximity of -- what? -- of a man whom he himself described as a "singe" and a "scélérat," a man of base soul and despicable character. And Frederick appears to see nothing surprising in this. He takes it quite as a matter of course that he should be, not merely willing, but delighted to run all the risks involved by Voltaire's undoubted roguery, so long as he can be sure of benefiting from Voltaire's no less undoubted mastery of French versification. This is certainly strange; but the explanation of it lies in the extraordinary vogue -- a vogue, indeed, so extraordinary that it is very difficult for the modern reader to realise it -- enjoyed throughout Europe by French culture and literature during the middle years of the eighteenth century. Frederick was merely an extreme instance of a universal fact. Like all Germans of any education, he habitually wrote and spoke in French; like every lady and gentleman from Naples to Edinburgh, his life was regulated by the social conventions of France; like every amateur of letters from Madrid to St. Petersburg, his whole conception of literary taste, his whole standard of literary values, was French. To him, as to the vast majority of his contemporaries, the very essence of civilisation was concentrated in French literature, and especially in French poetry; and French poetry meant to him, as to his contemporaries, that particular kind of French poetry which had come into fashion at the court of Louis XIV. For this curious creed was as narrow as it was all-pervading. The Grand Siècle was the Church Infallible; and it was heresy to doubt the Gospel of Boileau.
Frederick's library, still preserved at Potsdam, shows us what literature meant in those days to a cultivated man: it is composed entirely of the French Classics, of the works of Voltaire, and of the masterpieces of antiquity translated into eighteenth-century French. But Frederick was not content with mere appreciation; he too would create; he would write Alexandrines on the model of Racine, and madrigals after the manner of Chaulieu; he would press in person into the sacred sanctuary, and burn incense with his own hands upon the inmost shrine. It was true that he was a foreigner; it was true that his knowledge of the French language was incomplete and incorrect; but his sense of his own ability urged him forward, and his indefatigable pertinacity kept him at his strange task throughout the whole of his life. He filled volumes, and the contents of those volumes afford probably the most complete illustration in literature of the very trite proverb -- Poeta nascitur, non fit. The spectacle of that heavy German Muse, with her feet crammed into pointed slippers, executing, with incredible conscientiousness now the stately measure of a Versailles minuet, and now the spritely steps of a Parisian jig, would be either ludicrous or pathetic -- one hardly knows which -- were it not so certainly neither the one nor the other, but simply dreary with an unutterable dreariness, from which the eyes of men avert themselves in shuddering dismay. Frederick himself felt that there was something wrong -- something, but not really very much. All that was wanted was a little expert advice; and obviously Voltaire was the man to supply it -- Voltaire, the one true heir of the Great Age, the dramatist who had revived the glories of Racine (did not Frederick's tears flow almost as copiously over Mahomet as over Britannicus?), the epic poet who had eclipsed Homer and Virgil (had not Frederick every right to judge, since he had read the Iliad in French prose and the Aeneid in French verse?), the lyric master whose odes and whose epistles occasionally even surpassed (Frederick confessed it with amazement) those of the Marquis de la Fare. Voltaire, there could be no doubt, would do just what was needed; he would know how to squeeze in a little further the waist of the German Calliope, to apply with his deft fingers precisely the right dab of rouge to her cheeks, to instil into her movements the last nuances of correct deportment. And, if he did that, of what consequence were the blemishes of his personal character? "On peut apprendre de bonnes choses d'un scélérat."
And, besides, though Voltaire might be a rogue, Frederick felt quite convinced that he could keep him in order. A crack or two of the master's whip -- a coldness in the royal demeanour, a hint at a stoppage of the pension -- and the monkey would put an end to his tricks soon enough. It never seems to have occurred to Frederick that the possession of genius might imply a quality of spirit which was not that of an ordinary man. This was his great, his fundamental error. It was the ingenuous error of a cynic. He knew that he was under no delusion as to Voltaire's faults, and so he supposed that he could be under no delusion as to his merits. He innocently imagined that the capacity for great writing was something that could be as easily separated from the owner of it as a hat or a glove. "C'est bien dommage qu'une âme aussi lâche soit unie a un aussi beau genie." C'est bien dommage! -- as if there was nothing more extraordinary in such a combination than that of a pretty woman and an ugly dress. And so Frederick held his whip a little tighter, and reminded himself once more that, in spite of that beau génie, it was a monkey that he had to deal with. But he was wrong: it was not a monkey; it was a devil, which is a very different thing.
A devil -- or perhaps an angel? One cannot be quite sure. For, amid the complexities of that extraordinary spirit, where good and evil were so mysteriously interwoven, where the elements of darkness and the elements of light lay crowded together in such ever-deepening ambiguity, fold within fold, the clearer the vision the greater the bewilderment, the more impartial the judgment the profounder the doubt. But one thing at least is certain; that spirit, whether it was admirable or whether it was odious, was moved by a terrific force. Frederick had failed to realise this; and indeed, though Voltaire was fifty-six when he went to Berlin, and though his whole life had been spent in a blaze of publicity, there was still not one of his contemporaries who understood the true nature of his genius; it was perhaps hidden even from himself. He had reached the threshold of old age, and his life's work was still before him; it was not as a writer of tragedies and epics that he was to take his place in the world. Was he, in the depths of his consciousness, aware that this was so? Did some obscure instinct urge him forward, at this late hour, to break with the ties of a lifetime, and rush forth into the unknown?
What his precise motives were in embarking upon the Berlin adventure it is very difficult to say. It is true that he was disgusted with Paris -- he was ill-received at Court, and he was pestered by endless literary quarrels and jealousies; it would be very pleasant to show his countrymen that he had other strings to his bow, that, if they did not appreciate him, Frederick the Great did. It is true, too, that he admired Frederick's intellect, and that he was flattered by his favour. "Il avait de l'esprit," he said afterwards, "des grâces, et, de plus, il était roi; ce qui fait toujours une grande séduction, attendu la faiblesse humaine." His vanity could not resist the prestige of a royal intimacy; and no doubt he relished to the full even the increased consequence which came to him with his chamberlain's key and his order -- to say nothing of the addition of £800 to his income. Yet, on the other hand, he was very well aware that he was exchanging freedom for servitude, and that he was entering into a bargain with a man who would make quite sure that he was getting his money's worth; and he knew in his heart that he had something better to do than to play, however successfully, the part of a courtier. Nor was he personally attached to Frederick; he was personally attached to no one on earth. Certainly he had never been a man of feeling, and now that he was old and hardened by the uses of the world he had grown to be completely what in essence he always was -- a fighter, without tenderness, without scruples, and without remorse. No, he went to Berlin for his own purposes -- however dubious those purposes may have been.
And it is curious to observe that in his correspondence with his niece, Madame Denis, whom he had left behind him at the head of his Paris establishment and in whom he confided -- in so far as he can be said to have confided in any one -- he repeatedly states that there is nothing permanent about his visit to Berlin. At first he declares that he is only making a stay of a few weeks with Frederick, that he is going on to Italy to visit "sa Sainteté" and to inspect "la ville souterraine," that he will be back in Paris in the autumn. The autumn comes, and the roads are too muddy to travel by; he must wait till the winter, when they Svill be frozen hard. Winter comes, and it is too cold to move; but he will certainly return in the spring. Spring comes, and he is on the point of finishing his Siècle de Louis XIV; he really must wait just a few weeks more. The book is published; but then how can he appear in Paris until he is quite sure of its success? And so he lingers on, delaying and prevaricating, until a whole year has passed, and still he lingers on, still he is on the point of going, and still he does not go. Meanwhile, to all appearances, he was definitely fixed, a salaried official, at Frederick's court; and he was writing to all his other friends, to assure them that he had never been so happy, that he could see no reason why he should ever come away. What were his true intentions? Could he himself have said? Had he perhaps, in some secret corner of his brain, into which even he hardly dared to look, a premonition of the future? At times, in this Berlin adventure, he seems to resemble some great buzzing fly, shooting suddenly into a room through an open window and dashing frantically from side to side; when all at once, as suddenly, he snoops away and out through another window which opens in quite a different direction, towards wide and flowery fields; so that perhaps the reckless creature knew where he was going after all.
In any case, it is evident to the impartial observer that Voltaire's visit could only have ended as it did -- in an explosion. The elements of the situation were too combustible for any other conclusion. When two confirmed egotists decide, for purely selfish reasons, to set up house together, every one knows what will happen. For some time their sense of mutual advantage may induce them to tolerate each other, but sooner or later human nature will assert itself, and the ménage will break up. And, with Voltaire and Frederick, the difficulties inherent in all such cases were intensified by the fact that the relationship between them was, in effect, that of servant and master; that Voltaire, under a very thin disguise, was a paid menial, while Frederick, condescend as he might, was an autocrat whose will was law. Thus the two famous and perhaps mythical sentences, invariably repeated by historians of the incident, about orangeskins and dirty linen, do in fact sum up the gist of the matter. " When one has sucked the orange, one throws away the skin," somebody told Voltaire that the King had said, on being asked how much longer he would put up with the poet's vagaries. And Frederick, on his side, was informed that Voltaire, when a batch of the royal verses were brought to him for correction, had burst out with "Does the man expect me to go on washing his dirty linen for ever? " Each knew well enough the weak spot in his position, and each was acutely and uncomfortably conscious that the other knew it too. Thus, but a very few weeks after Voltaire's arrival, little clouds of discord become visible on the horizon; electrical discharges of irritability begin to take place, growing more and more frequent and violent as time goes on; and one can overhear the pot and the kettle, in strictest privacy, calling each other black. "The monster," whispers Voltaire to Madame Denis, "he opens all our letters in the post" -- Voltaire, whose lighthandedness with other people's correspondence was only too notorious. "The monkey," mutters Frederick, "he shows my private letters to his friends" -- Frederick, who had thought nothing of betraying Voltaire's letters to the Bishop of Mirepoix. "How happy I should be here," exclaims the callous old poet, "but for one thing -- his Majesty is utterly heartless!" And meanwhile Frederick, who had never let a farthing escape from his close fist without some very good reason, was busy concocting an epigram upon the avarice of Voltaire.
It was, indeed, Voltaire's passion for money which brought on the first really serious storm. Three months after his arrival in Berlin, the temptation to increase his already considerable fortune by a stroke of illegal stock-jobbing proved too strong for him; he became involved in a series of shady financial transactions with a Jew; he quarrelled with the Jew; there was an acrimonious lawsuit, with charges and counter-charges of the most discreditable kind; and, though the Jew lost his case on a technical point, the poet certainly did not leave the court without a stain upon his character.
Among other misdemeanours, it is almost certain -- the evidence is not quite conclusive -- that he committed forgery in order to support a false oath. Frederick was furious, and for a moment was on the brink of dismissing Voltaire from Berlin. He would have been wise if he had done so. But he could not part with his beau génie so soon. He cracked his whip, and, setting the monkey to stand in the corner, contented himself with a shrug of the shoulders and the exclamation "C,'est l'affaire d'un fripon qui a voulu tromper un filou." A few weeks later the royal favour shone forth once more, and Voltaire, who had been hiding himself in a suburban villa, came out and basked again in those refulgent beams.
And the beams were decidedly refulgent -- so much so, in fact, that they almost satisfied even the vanity of Voltaire. Almost, but not quite. For, though his glory was great, though he was the centre of all men's admiration, courted by nobles, flattered by princesses -- there is a letter from one of them, a sister of Frederick's, still extant, wherein the trembling votaress ventures to praise the great man's works, which, she says, "vous rendent si celebre et immortel"-- though he had ample leisure for his private activities, though he enjoyed every day the brilliant conversation of the King, though he could often forget for weeks together that he was the paid servant of a jealous despot -- yet, in spite of all, there was a crumpled rose-leaf amid the silken sheets, and he lay awake o' nights. He was not the only Frenchman at Frederick's court. That monarch had surrounded himself with a small group of persons -- foreigners for the most part -- whose business it was to instruct him when he wished to improve his mind, to flatter him when he was out of temper, and to entertain him when he was bored. There was hardly one of them that was not thoroughly second-rate. Algarotti was an elegant dabbler in scientific matters -- he had written a book to explain Newton to the ladies; d'Argens was an amiable and erudite writer of a dull free-thinking turn; Chasot was a retired military man with too many debts, and Darget was a good-natured secretary with too many love affairs; La Mettrie was a doctor who had been exiled from France for atheism and bad manners; and Pollnitz was a decaying baron who, under stress of circumstances, had unfortunately been obliged to change his religion six times.
These were the boon companions among whom Frederick chose to spend his leisure hours. Whenever he had nothing better to do, he would exchange rhymed epigrams with Algarotti, or discuss the Jewish religion with d'Argens, or write long improper poems about Darget, in the style of La Pucelle. Or else he would summon La Mettrie, who would forthwith prove the irrefutability of materialism in a series of wild paradoxes, shout with laughter, suddenly shudder and cross himself on upsetting the salt, and eventually pursue his majesty with his buffooneries into a place where even royal persons are wont to be left alone. At other times Frederick would amuse himself by first cutting down the pension of Pollnitz, who was at the moment a Lutheran, and then writing long and serious letters to him suggesting that if he would only become a Catholic again he might be made a Silesian Abbot. Strangely enough, Frederick was not popular, and one or other of the inmates of his little menagerie was constantly escaping and running away. Darget and Chasot both succeeded in getting through the wires; they obtained leave to visit Paris, and stayed there. Poor d'Argens often tried to follow their example; more than once he set off for France, secretly vowing never to return; but he had no money, Frederick was blandishing, and the wretch was always lured back to captivity. As for La Mettrie, he made his escape in a different manner -- by dying after supper one evening of a surfeit of pheasant pie. "Jesus! Marie!" he gasped, as he felt the pains of death upon him. "Ah! " said a priest who had been sent for, "vous voila- enfin retourne a ces noms consolateurs." La Mettrie, with an oath, expired; and Frederick, on hearing of this unorthodox conclusion, remarked, "J'en suis bien aise, pour le repos de son ame."
Among this circle of down-at-heel eccentrics there was a single figure whose distinction and respectability stood out in striking contrast from the rest -- that of Maupertuis, who had been, since 1745, the President of the Academy of Sciences at Berlin. Maupertuis has had an unfortunate fate: he was first annihilated by the ridicule of Voltaire, and then re-created by the humour of Carlyle; but he was an ambitious man, very anxious to be famous, and his desire has been gratified in over-flowing measure. During his life he was chiefly known for his voyage to Lapland, and his observations there, by which he was able to substantiate the Newtonian doctrine of the flatness of the earth at the poles. He possessed considerable scientific attainments, he was honest, he was energetic; he appeared to be just the man to revive the waning glories of Prussian science; and when Frederick succeeded in inducing him to come to Berlin as President of his Academy the choice seemed amply justified. Maupertuis had, moreover, some pretensions to wit; and in his earlier days his biting and elegant sarcasms had more than once overwhelmed his scientific adversaries. Such accomplishments suited Frederick admirably. Maupertuis, he declared, was an homme d'ésprit, and the happy President became a constant guest at the royal supper-parties. It was the happy -- the too happy -- President who was the roseleaf in the bed of Voltaire. The two men had known each other slightly for many years, and had always expressed the highest admiration for each other; but their mutual amiability was now to be put to a severe test. The sagacious Buffon observed the danger from afar: "ces deux hommes," he wrote to a friend, one sont pas faits pour demeurer ensemble dans la meme chambre." And indeed to the vain and sensitive poet, uncertain of Frederick's cordiality, suspicious of hidden enemies, intensely jealous of possible rivals, the spectacle of Maupertuis at supper, radiant, at his ease, obviously respected, obviously superior to the shady mediocrities who sat around -- that sight was gall and wormwood; and he looked closer, with a new malignity; and then those piercing eyes began to make discoveries, and that relentless brain began to do its work.
Maupertuis had very little judgment; so far from attempting to conciliate Voltaire, he was rash enough to provoke hostilities. It was very natural that he should have lost his temper. He had been for five years the dominating figure in the royal circle, and now suddenly he was deprived of his pre-eminence and thrown completely into the shade.
Who could attend to Maupertuis while Voltaire was talking? -- Voltaire, who as obviously outshone Maupertuis as Maupertuis outshone La Mettrie and Darget and the rest. In his exasperation the President went to the length of openly giving his protection to a disreputable literary man, La Beaumelle, who was a declared enemy of Voltaire. This meant war, and war was not long in coming.
Some years previously Maupertuis had, as he believed, discovered an important mathematical law -- the "principle of least action." The law was, in fact, important, and has had a fruitful history in the development of mechanical theory; but, as Mr. Jourdain has shown in a recent monograph, Maupertuis enunciated it incorrectly, without realising its true import, and a far more accurate and scientific statement of it was given, within a few months, by Euler. Maupertuis, however, was very proud of his-discovery, which, he considered, embodied one of the principal reasons for believing in the existence of God; and he was therefore exceedingly angry when, shortly after Voltaire's arrival in Berlin, a Swiss mathematician, Koenig, published a polite memoir attacking both its accuracy and its originality, and quoted in support of his contention an unpublished letter by Leibnitz, in which the law was more exactly expressed. Instead of arguing upon the merits of the case, Maupertuis declared that the letter of Leibnitz was a forgery, and that therefore Koenig's remarks deserved no further consideration. When Koenig expostulated, Maupertuis decided upon a more drastic step. He summoned a meeting of the Berlin Academy of Sciences, of which Koenig was a member, laid E the case before it, and moved that it should solemnly pronounce Koenig a forger, and the letter of Leibnitz supposititious and false. The members of the Academy were frightened; their pensions depended upon the President's good will; and even the illustrious Euler was not ashamed to take part in this absurd and disgraceful condemnation.
Voltaire saw at once that his opportunity had come. Maupertuis had put himself utterly and irretrievably in the wrong. He was wrong in attributing to his discovery a value which it did not possess; he was wrong in denying the authenticity of the Leibnitz letter; above all he was wrong in treating a purely scientific question as the proper subject for the disciplinary jurisdiction of an Academy. If Voltaire struck now, he would have his enemy on the hip. There was only one consideration to give him pause, and that was a grave one: to attack Maupertuis upon this matter was, in effect, to attack the King. Not only was Frederick certainly privy to Maupertuis' action, but he was extremely sensitive of the reputation of his Academy and of its President, and he would certainly consider any interference on the part of Voltaire, who himself drew his wages from the royal purse, as a flagrant act of disloyalty. But Voltaire decided to take the risk. He had now been more than two years irt Berlin, and the atmosphere of a Court was beginning to weigh upon his spirit; he was restless, he was reckless, he was spoiling for a fight; he would take on Maupertuis singly or Maupertuis and Frederick combined -- he did not much care which, and in any case he flattered himself that he would settle the hash of the President.
As a preparatory measure, he withdrew all his spare cash from Berlin, and invested it with the Duke of Wurtemberg. "Je mets tout doucement ordre a mes affairs he told Madame Denis. Then, on September I8, 1752, there appeared in the papers a short article entitled " Reponse d'un Academicien de Berlin a un Academicien de Paris."It was a statement, deadly in its bald simplicity, its studied coldness, its concentrated force, of Koenig's case against Maupertuis. The President must have turned pale as he read it; but the King turned crimson. The terrible indictment could, of courses only have been written by one man, and that man was receiving a royal pension of £800 a years and carrying about a Chamberlain's gold key in his pocket. Frederick flew to his writing-table, and composed an indignant pamphlet, which he caused to be published with the Prussian arms on the title-page. It was a feeble work, full of exaggerated praises of Maupertuis, and of clumsy invectives against Voltaire: the President's reputation was gravely compared to that of Homer; the author of the "Reponse d'un Academicien de Berlin" was declared to be a "faiseur de libelles sans genies" and "imposteur effrontery a "malheureux ecrivain "; while the is Reponse "itself was a "grossierete plated whose publication was an "action malicieuse, laché infame," a "brigandage affreux." The presence of the royal insignia only intensified the futility of the outburst. "L'aigle, le sceptré et la couronne," wrote Voltaire to Madame Denis, "sont bien etonnes de se trouver la." But one thing was now certain: the King had joined the fray. Voltaire's blood was up, and he was not sorry. A kind of exaltation seized him; from this moment his course was clear -- he would do as much damage as he could7 and then leave Prussia for ever. And it so happened that just then an unexpected opportunity occurred for one of those furious onslaughts so dear to his heart with that weapon which he knew so well how to wield. "Je n'ai point de sceptre," he ominously shot out to Madame Denis, "mais j'ai une plume."
Meanwhile the life of the Court -- which passed for the most part at Potsdam, in the little palace of Sans Souci which Frederick had built for himself -- proceeded on its accustomed course. It was a singular life, half military, half monastic, rigid retired from which all the ordinary pleasures of society were strictly excluded. "What do you do here? " one of the royal princes was once asked. "We conjugate the verb s'ennuyer," was the reply. But, wherever he might be, that was a verb unknown to Voltaire. Shut up all day in the strange little room, still preserved for the eyes of the curious with its windows opening on the formal gardens and its yellow walls thickly embossed with the brightly coloured shapes of fruits, flowers, and birds, the indefatigable old man worked away at his histories his tragedies his Precede, and his enormous correspondence. He was, of course, ill -- very ill; he was probably, in fact, upon the brink of death; but he had grown accustomed to that situation; and the worse he grew the more furiously he worked. He was a victim he declared of erysipelas, dysentery and scurvy; he was constantly attacked by fever, and all his teeth had fallen out. But he continued to work. On one occasion a friend visited him, and found him in bed. "J'ai quatre maladies mortelles," he wailed. "Pourtant," remarked the friend, "vous avez l'til fort bon." Voltaire leapt up from the pillows: "Ne savez-vous pas," he shouted, "que les scorbutiques meurent l'oeil enflammé?" When the evening came it was time to dress, and, in all the pomp of flowing wig and diamond orders to proceed to the little music-room, where his Majesty, after the business of the day, was preparing to relax himself upon the flute. The orchestra was gathered together; the audience was seated; the concerto began. And then the sounds of beauty flowed and trembled and seemed for a little spaces to triumph over the pains of the living and the hard hearts of men; and the royal master poured out his skill in some long and elaborate cadenzas and the adagio came, the marvellous adagio and the conqueror of Rossbach drew tears from the author of Candide. But a moment later it was supper-time; and the night ended in the oval dining room amid laughter and champagnes the ejaculations of La Mettrie, the epigrams of Maupertuis, the sarcasms of Frederick and the devastating coruscations of Voltaire.
Yet, in spite of all the jests and roses, everyone could hear the rumbling of the volcano under the ground. Everyone could hears but nobody would listen; the little flames leapt up through the surface, but still the gay life went on; and then the irruption came. Voltaire's enemy had written a book. In the intervals of his more serious labours, the President had put together a series of "Letters," in which a number of miscellaneous scientific subjects were treated in a mildly speculative and popular style. The volume was rather dull, and very unimportant; but it happened to appear at this particular moment, and Voltaire pounced upon it with the swift swoop of a hawk on a mouse. The famous Diatribe do Docteur Akakia is still fresh with a fiendish gaiety after a hundred and fifty years; but to realise to the full the skill and malice which went to the making of it, one must at least have glanced at the flat insipid production which called it forth, and noted with what a diabolical art the latent absurdities in poor Maupertuis' reveries have been detected dragged forth into the light of day, and nailed to the pillory of an immortal ridicule. The Diatribe, however, is not all mere laughter; there is a real criticism in its too. For instance, it was not simply a farcical exaggeration to say that Maupertuis had set out to prove the existence of God by "A plus B divided by Z"; in substances the charge was both important and well founded. "Lorsque la métaphysique entre dans la géometrie," Voltaire wrote in a private letter some months afterwards "c'est Arimane qui entre dans le royaume d'Oromasde, et qui y apporte des ténèbres"; and Maupertuis had in fact vitiated his treatment of the "principle of least action" by his metaphysical preoccupations. Indeed, all through Voltaire's pamphlet there is an implied appeal to true scientific principles, an underlying assertion of the paramount importance of the experimental method, a consistent attack upon a priori reasoning, loose statement, and vague conjecture. But of course, mixed with all this, and covering it all, there is a bubbling, sparkling fountain of effervescent raillery -- cruel, personal insatiable -- the raillery of a demon with a grudge. The manuscript was shown to Frederick who laughed till the tears ran down his cheeks. But, between his gasps, he forbade Voltaire to publish it on pain of his most terrible displeasure. Naturally Voltaire was profuse with promises and a few days later, under a royal licence obtained for another work the little book appeared in print. Frederick still managed to keep his wrath within bounds: he collected all the copies of the edition and had them privately destroyed; he gave a furious wigging to Voltaire; and he flattered himself that he had heard the last of the business.
Ne vous embarrasses de rien, mon cher Maupertuis [he wrote to the President in his singular orthography]; l'affaire des libelles est finie. J'ai parlé si vrai à l'hôme, je lui ai lavé si bien la tête que je ne crois pas qu'il y retourne, et je connais son âme lache, incapable de sentiments d'honneur. be l'ai intimidé du côté de la boursse, ce qui a fait tout beget que j'attendais. Je lui ai déclaré enfin nettement que ma maison devait être un sanctuaire et non une retraite de brigands ou de célérats qui distillent des poissons.
Apparently it did not occur to Frederick that this declaration had come a little late in the day. Meanwhile Maupertuis, overcome by illness and by rage, had taken to his bed. "Un peu trop d'amour-propre," Frederick wrote to Darget, "I'a rendu trop sensible aux manceuvres d'un singe quail devait mepriser apres queen l'avait fouette." But now the monkey had been whipped and doubtless all would be well.
It seems strange that Frederick should stills after more than t wo years of close observations have had no notion of the material he was dealing with. He might as well have supposed that he could stop a mountain torrent in spate with a wave of his hands as have imagined that he could impose o bedience upon Voltaire in such a crisis by means of a lecture and a threat " du cote de la boursse." Before the month was out all Germany was swarming with Akakias; thousands of copies were being printed in Holland; and editions were going off in Paris like hot cakes. It is difficult to withhold one's admiration from the audacious old spirit who thus, on the mere strength of his mother-wits dared to defy the enraged master of a powerful state. "Votre effronterie m'etonne," fulminated Frederick in a furious notes when he suddenly discovered that all Europe was ringing with the absurdity of the man whom he had chosen to be the President of his favourite Academy, whose cause he had publicly espoused and whom he had privately assured of his royal protection. "Ah! Mon Dieu, Siren" scribbled Voltaire on the same sheet of paper, " dans l'etat ou je suis! " He was, of course, once more dying. " Quoi ! vous me jugeriez sans entendre! be demande justice et la mort." Frederick replied by having copies of Akakia burnt by the common hangman in the streets of Berlin. Voltaire thereupon returned his Order, his gold key, and his pension. It might have been supposed that the final rupture had now really come at last. But three months elapsed before Frederick could bring himself to realise that all was over, and to agree to the departure of his extraordinary guest. Carlyle's suggestion that this last delay arose from the unwillingness of Voltaire to go, rather than from Frederick's desire to keep him, is plainly controverted by the facts. The King not only insisted on Voltaire's accepting once again the honours which he had surrendered, but actually went so far as to write him a letter of forgiveness and reconciliation. But the poet would not relent; there was a last week of suppers at Potsdam -- " soupers de Damocles " Voltaire called them; and then, on March 26, 1753, the two men parted for ever.
The storm seemed to be over; but the tail of it was still changing in the wind. Voltaire: on his way to the waters of Plombieres, stopped at Leipzig, where he could not resist, in spite of his repeated promises to the contrary, the temptation to bring out a new and enlarged edition of Akakia.
Upon this Maupertuis utterly lost his head: he wrote to Voltaire, threatening him with personal chastisement. Voltaire issued yet another edition of Akakia, appended a somewhat unauthorised version of the President's letter, and added that if the dangerous and cruel man really persisted in his threat he would be received with a vigorous discharge from those instruments of intimate utility which figure so Freely in the comedies of Moliere. This stroke was the coup de grace of Maupertuis. Shattered in body and mind, he Dragged himself from Berlin to die at last in Basle under the ministrations of a couple of Capuchins and a Protestant valet reading aloud the Genevan Bible. In the meantime Frederick had decided on a violent measure. He had suddenly remembered that Voltaire had carried off with him one of the very few privately printed copies of those poetical works upon which he had spent so much devoted labour; it occurred to him that they contained several passages of a highly damaging kind; and he could feel no certainty that those passages would not be given to the world by the malicious Frenchman. Such, at any rate, were his own excuses for the step which he now took; but it seems possible that he was at least partly swayed by feelings of resentment and revenge which had been rendered uncontrollable by the last onslaught upon Maupertuis. Whatever may have been his motives, it is certain that he ordered the Prussian Resident in Frankfort, which was Voltaire's next stopping-place, to hold the poet in arrest until he delivered over the royal volume. A multitude of strange blunders and ludicrous incidents followed, upon which much controversial and patriotic ink has been spilt by a succession of French and German biographers. To an English reader it is clear that in this little comedy of errors none of the parties concerned can escape from blame -- that Voltaire was hysterical, undignified, and untruthful, that the Prussian Resident was stupid and domineering, that Frederick was careless in his orders and cynical as to their results. Nor, it is to be hoped, need any Englishman be reminded that the consequences of a system of government in which the arbitrary will of an individual takes the place of the rule of law are apt to be disgraceful and absurd.
After five weeks' detention at Frankfort, Voltaire was free free in every sense of the word -- free from the service of Kings and the clutches of Residents, free in his own mind, free to shape his own destiny. He hesitated for several months, and then settled down by the Lake of Geneva. There the fires, which had lain smouldering so long in the profundities of his spirit, flared up, and flamed over Europe, towering and inextinguishable. In a few years letters began to flow once more to and from Berlin. At first the old grievances still rankled; but in time even the wrongs of Maupertuis and the misadventures of Frankfort were almost forgotten. Twenty years passed, and the King of Prussia was submitting his verses as anxiously as ever to Voltaire, whose compliments and cajoleries were pouring out in their accustomed stream. But their relationship was no longer that of master and pupil, courtier and King; it was that of two independent and equal powers. Even Frederick the Great was forced to see at last in the Patriarch of Ferney something more than a monkey with a genius for French versification. He actually came to respect the author of Akakia, and to cherish his memory. " Je lui fais tous les matins ma priere," he told d'Alembert, when Voltaire had been two years in the grave; " je lui dis, Divin Voltaire, ora pro nobis." | <urn:uuid:89a26326-fb38-4737-8652-4293048ff2e1> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://books.eserver.org/nonfiction/strachey/voltaire-and-frederick.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783396106.71/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154956-00049-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.97357 | 12,774 | 2.734375 | 3 |
PART ONE: THE HUMAN COST OF DIRTY MEAT
Some say meat is murder. In the long term for human beings, it may be more like suicide. Meat causes death, disease and environmental destruction. Agricultural techniques have contributed to the growth of antibiotic-resistant bacteria (“superbugs”), the spread of food-borne illness and the emergence of lethal conditions like new variant CJD. Our appetite for meat has partly led to the prevalence of the fatal diseases of affluence in our society – cancer, diabetes and cardiovascular disease – and contributed to hunger in the developing world by demanding land and resources be devoted to feeding our farmed animals instead of human beings. Reliance on meat and livestock proved disastrous for the United Kingdom when BSE wiped out our export markets and foot-and-mouth decimated our countryside and the tourist industry on which it depended. As the nations most recently affected by bird flu have learned, meat is not something that you can ever rely on. Not as a commodity, not as a way of life – and certainly not as a food.
This report cannot examine all the ills that derive from meat: instead it will focus simply on the product on our plates – how it gets there, where it comes from and what comes with it. As meat sales have declined and vegetarianism grown, so the vested interests reliant on meat have worked harder and harder to reinforce the idea that the dead flesh of slaughtered animals is a healthy, wholesome and desirable product. Marketing men and women, advertisers, package designers and lifestyle editors have done their very best to disguise the true nature of meat and position it as something modern, fresh and clean – to make a silk purse out of this sow’s ear. The reality is anything but. | <urn:uuid:71ec502c-c0f8-48de-bde6-1bf65888b9a7> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.viva.org.uk/dishing-dirt/part-one-human-cost-dirty-meat | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783393463.1/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154953-00177-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.950375 | 358 | 2.71875 | 3 |
The Dead Sea Scrolls are some of the most famous Christian documents in the world and they are the oldest known biblical manuscripts in existence. The scrolls have a storied history that saw them stashed away inside a series of caves on the shores of the Dead Sea to protect them for the Roman armies that were invading the Holy Land in 68 BCE. The scrolls were lost until 1947 when a shepherd tossed a rock into the cave and discovered the scrolls.
The scrolls have been on exhibit since 1965 at the Shrine of the Book at The Israel museum in Jerusalem. Google has announced that it has now made the Dead Sea Scrolls available online and has digitized all of the content in the scrolls and made that content searchable online. The images of the scroll are high resolution at up to 1200MP to allow the user to see everything about the scrolls.
Google says that you can zoom in on the Temple Scroll and see what the animal skin that the text is written on looks like. The Great Isaiah Scroll can be read chapter and verse. The Hebrew text is also translated into English when clicked. The scrolls went online via a partnership between Google and The Israel Museum, Jerusalem. | <urn:uuid:5da77931-5047-44e9-b0f3-53dcf3be84f8> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.slashgear.com/google-digitizes-the-dead-sea-scrolls-and-puts-them-online-26182724/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783399117.38/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154959-00108-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.963792 | 232 | 3.4375 | 3 |
Use a multi-meter (voltage meter) and trun on the engine.
If you donít have good access to your alternator, then you can simply test the alternator by touching the positive multi-meter probe to the positive terminal on your battery and the negative probe to the negative terminal on your battery.
A car alternator needs to be putting out between 13.8 and 14.2 volts to effectively charge a 12 volt car battery. If it is putting out too much voltage (over 15 volts), battery acid will leak out of the battery. When a battery is near fully charged the alternator will stop putting out sufficient voltage to charge the battery and the meter will read only the voltage coming from the battery itself. In this case, you can leave your lights on with the engine off for ten minutes to drain your battery a little.
It can also be helpful to test at the battery terminals with the engine off and then turn the car on and test again at the terminals. If your battery is more or less fully charged, it should read at around 12-13 volts with the car off. If youíve run your car for a long time and while the car is running the voltage reading is in the 13-14 volt range, but then you shut the car off and the battery voltage instantly drops to well below 12 volts (10 volts or under; 9 volts or under in freezing weather conditions), it is likely that your battery needs maintenance or replaced. | <urn:uuid:da4c16b5-c23b-4fe9-830d-9ea5287f731c> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://jerickweb.50webs.com/autobin/alternator.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783396106.25/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154956-00057-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.938119 | 300 | 3.140625 | 3 |
Researchers from computer firm IBM say they have invented a new non-toxic gel that can kill deadly drug-resistant bacteria by cutting through the sludge that shelters them and attacking the germ’s cell membrane.
If verified, the finding could herald a breakthrough in the fight against the superbugs that infect hospitals everywhere and add billions annually to public health bills worldwide.
In a press release issued overnight, the computer firm said researchers from IBM and the Institute of Bioengineering and Nanotechnology in Singapore had developed “an antimicrobial hydrogel that can break through diseased biofilms and completely eradicate drug-resistant bacteria upon contact.”
“The synthetic hydrogel, which forms spontaneously when heated to body temperature, is the first-ever to be biodegradable, biocompatible and non-toxic, making it an ideal tool to combat serious health hazards facing hospital workers, visitors and patients,” the statement said.
Biofilms are the toxic sludge that harbour germs and often form around medical devices implanted in the body, such as catheters, heart valves and hip implants.
Biofilms are notoriously difficult to penetrate with common antibiotics but the researchers said their new water-based gel would break through biofilms and attack the bacteria’s cell membrane.
Professor Peter Collignon, an infectious diseases and microbiology expert at the Australian National University said the finding was potentially very interesting.
“They don’t give any evidence it works — this is a press release for a company on the stock exchange — but having said that, it’s good a large company is into this,” said Professor Collignon, who was not involved in the research.
“It could have its uses and also abuses. We are using too much disinfectant in kitchens and homes and that goes into the waterways and has the potential to induce resistance,” he said.
“Their claim they can penetrate a biofilm is good, if it turns out to be verified independently by others. If they can inject [the gel] that’s a major step.”
Professor Collignon said that if the new hydrogel could damage the germ’s cell membranes, it may damage cell membranes in the body as well.
Dr Marc Pellegrini, an infectious diseases researcher at the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute said the discovery “has a lot of potential.”
“A lot of the bugs in hospitals at the moment are resistant to the drugs that we have. In places like intensive care units, patients have a lot of devices implanted in them like catheters or tubes to deliver drugs and these tubes often get contaminated with microbes. This is hard to treat,” said Dr Pellegrini, who was not involved in the research by IBM.
“This new discovery looks like it may well have application in preventing these surfaces becoming contaminated but it’s quite a few steps away from being put into practice in a hospital.”
Some antimicrobials that worked well in the lab presented unforeseen problems when used in humans, he said.
“It’s still early days.” | <urn:uuid:09a5dc2f-7506-4a9a-81c2-b3f054af9e7e> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.businessinsider.com/ibm-created-gel-that-can-kill-superbugs-2013-1 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783397428.37/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154957-00070-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.957851 | 665 | 3.40625 | 3 |
Categorie: gezondheid |
Trefwoorden: natuurlijke bron water
Samenvatting & achtergrondinformatie
As a result of extensive research into the role of water in the body, the author, a medical doctor, believes that he has found chronic dehydration to be the cause of many conditions including asthma, allergies, arthritis, angina, migraine headaches, hypertension, raised cholesterol, chronic fatigue syndrome, multiple sclerosis, depression, and diabetes in the elderly.
According to Dr. Batmanghelidj, the body possesses many different thirst signals. A dry mouth is not a reliable indicator of your body's water needs. He describes a variety of more reliable ones, and helps you learn to understand when your body is calling for water. In this way, he claims you can prevent, treat, and cure a variety of conditions of ill health, at no cost, with what he calls nature's miracle medicine: Water. The author explains how much water one needs to drink a day to stay healthy, and why tea, coffee, and sodas are not good substitutes for water.
From Scientific American
This book by a highly respected M.D. explodes a medical atom bomb--An entirely new paradigm for the cause and prevention of many degenerative diseases! You owe it to yourself to read this incredible book! | <urn:uuid:a2414162-a3ee-414e-8b3f-bc4b74103286> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.succesboeken.nl/?media=&ISBN=9781903571491&PC=LPFB | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783394414.43/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154954-00116-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.893279 | 281 | 2.640625 | 3 |
I have heavy clay soil that becomes as hard as a brick when it dries, and my neighbors who also garden have asked me how to improve clay soil. What are the best methods for improving clay soil?
First, the good news: “Of the three major soil components — sand, silt and clay — clay has the highest nutrient content,” says Garn Wallace, president of Wallace Labs, a soil-testing firm in El Segundo, Calif. Clay soils retain minerals in forms that are readily available to plants and that aren’t water soluble, so rain and irrigation water are less likely to leach them away. The trouble is that clay lacks good porosity. Its fine-textured particles tend to clump tightly together. Air, water, roots and seedlings can have trouble moving through it, so crop yields may be lower. (Plus, clay is a pain to work in!)
Increasing your soil’s organic matter is the first and most important step toward improving heavy clay soil. Organic matter invites in more porosity-improving earthworms. Work in compost, grass clippings, shredded leaves or other organic materials. Plant and turn under cover crops, and safeguard your soil’s surface with an organic mulch to prevent crusting. Sand or peat moss can also improve soil texture, but they lack many of the other benefits of organic matter, such as beneficial microbial activity and nutrients for your plants to uptake. Plus, you’ll need a lot of sand to make a real difference (1 part sand to every 2 parts clay soil).
Photo by Dreamstime/Ian Nixon: Don’t be foiled by your heavy clay soil: Add organic matter to soften up your tough terrain.
Vicki Mattern is a contributing editor for MOTHER EARTH NEWS magazine, book editor and freelance magazine writer. She has edited or co-authored seven books on gardening, and lives and works from her home in northwestern Montana. You can find Vicki on Google+. | <urn:uuid:bcb406ce-a1a9-419c-8fd3-e3d8d653e1b0> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.motherearthnews.com/organic-gardening/how-to-improve-clay-soil-zm0z14amzsor.aspx | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783397695.90/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154957-00046-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.94411 | 415 | 2.78125 | 3 |
Doing More With Less: The Development Of Minimally Invasive Surgery for Spinal Fusion
In the early 1980s, most spinal fusions were cumbersome procedures and painful for patients. But Charles Branch Jr., MD, professor and chair of the Department of Neurosurgery, and his peers—young doctors fresh out of residencies and fellowships—questioned the need for such invasive measures.
While their professors were saying “No,” these new doctors were saying “Yes.” They went against the grain and pushed the belief that spinal fusions could be performed using minimally invasive measures.
“For years, neurosurgeons believed that most spinal interventions just involved decompressing nerves,” said Branch. “We’d take the roof off the spine and a part of the hinge joint off to get the pressure off a nerve. We’d relieve a painful condition, but patients would often come back a few months later after the pain returned.”
With the advent of new imaging technology, such as CT scans and MRIs, it became clear that many patients had unstable spines after standard decompressive surgeries. What was needed, Branch said, was spinal fusion surgery.
“Once we recognized that there was value in spinal fusion and had access to new instruments, such as screws, plates and other devices, the motivation for us was simply how to do it more quickly, safely and less painfully for the patient,” said Branch. “We found that there were ways to do it through a smaller incision that caused less disruption to our patients’ muscles.”
Posterior and transforaminal lumbar interbody fusions (PLIF and TLIF) were developed 70 years ago to help bones grow between vertebral elements. The surgeries provided much needed relief for patients with unstable spines. However, PLIF and TLIF were so complex and painful for patients that most neurosurgeons had no interest in performing the operations.
“In the early 1990s we developed simpler ways of doing those operations that made it easy to teach our colleagues,” said Branch. “All of a sudden, spine surgeons embraced the concept of interbody fusion as a reasonable, safe and effective treatment method. We took something that was effective but difficult and made it easy, straightforward and less painful for patients.”
Branch and his colleagues at Wake Forest Baptist’s Department of Neurosurgery were part of the group of pioneers that developed minimally invasive strategies for spinal fusion surgeries.
Today, Branch and his colleagues hold 13 U.S. and 11 European patents developed for use in their early interbody fusion operations. These techniques, which were once just ideas in the minds of young doctors, are now the standards of care for ensuring greater clinical success and less pain for patients worldwide facing surgery for unstable spines. | <urn:uuid:ec8a72fc-6e48-4886-9385-a573288b25e7> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.wakehealth.edu/Neurosciences/Spinal-Fusion.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783395160.19/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154955-00163-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.978938 | 591 | 2.875 | 3 |
Of the Office for Civil Rights
Fiscal Year 2006
|PDF (6 MB)|
I. TITLE VI OF THE CIVIL RIGHTS ACT OF 1964
Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color or national origin by recipients of federal financial assistance. The Title VI regulations (34 C.F.R. Part 100) call for OCR investigations when an individual or representative files a complaint with the agency. The regulations also call for periodic compliance reviews on issues identified by OCR. OCR staff have investigated and resolved numerous cases since Title VI’s inception, including desegregation, overrepresentation of minority students in special education classes, underrepresentation of minority students in gifted and talented classes, racial harassment, and limited English proficient (LEP)-related issues. | <urn:uuid:0f3a1623-bc0d-4232-8736-11be3071c8d4> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www2.ed.gov/about/reports/annual/ocr/annrpt2006/report_pg12.html?exp=5 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783403826.29/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624155003-00131-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.878782 | 169 | 3.09375 | 3 |
A legal right to citizenship for all children born in a country’s territory, regardless of parentage: he wants to amend the Constitution to remove birthright citizenship
Más ejemplos en oraciones
- Previous rulings have affirmed that nearly all such children were entitled to birthright citizenship under the 14th Amendment.
- A rising number of lawmakers want to end so-called birthright citizenship for babies who are born to illegal aliens.
- The clause also excluded from birthright citizenship people who were not "subject to the jurisdiction thereof."
For editors and proofreaders
División en sílabas: birth·right cit·i·zen·ship
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Muy popular en Reino Unido
Muy popular en Australia
= de moda | <urn:uuid:2c7cda63-4322-4e48-b05e-d677a8af155a> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/es/definicion/ingles_americano/birthright-citizenship | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783396027.60/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154956-00187-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.693884 | 214 | 2.796875 | 3 |
Farm Fair Contest
What is the minimum number of weighing operations required to measure 63 kg of wheat, if only one weight of 1 kg is available?
Is This Entry Abusive?
| perf and fab from United States |
School: International School of Beaverton
|Explanation:||I pretty much drew out the problem to figure out how much wheat there would be at each time. So 1=1 2=3 3=7 4=15 and from there I realized the pattern was multiply by two and add 1 so the next would be 5=31 and then finally 6=63| | <urn:uuid:78c34af9-8e2c-46ff-90eb-82c115c23f88> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.dositey.com/2008/Topics/topic.php?topicId=41&sub=58&subsub=m&sub_3=MathChallenge58&action=abuse&submissionId=20036&batch=2&lastBatch= | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783396875.58/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154956-00110-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.951073 | 123 | 2.703125 | 3 |
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No announcements at this time.
Why American Sign Language(ASL)?
American Sign Language is a complete, complex language that employs signs made with the hands and other movements, including facial expressions and postures of the body. It is the first language of many deaf North Americans, and one of several language options available to deaf people. ASL is said to be the fourth most commonly used language in the United States.
In spoken language, the different sounds created by words and tones of voice (intonation) are the most important devices used to communicate. Sign language is based on the idea that sight is the most useful tool a deaf person has to communicate and receive information. Thus, ASL uses hand shape, position, and movement; body movements; gestures; facial expressions; and other visual cues to form its words. Like any other language, fluency in ASL happens only after a period of study and practice.
Even though ASL is used in America, it is a language completely separate from English. It contains all the fundamental features a language needs to function on its own--it has its own rules for grammar, punctuation, and sentence order. ASL evolves as its users do, and it also allows for regional usage and jargon.
Careers in American Sign Language:
American Sign Language education (K-16) interpreter services, international relations, governmental agencies, social work, speech pathology, and tourist industry are among the fields in which Arabic may be a prerequisite.
American Sign Language is recommended for many careers, including international business (e.g. import-export, banking, industry), hotel/motel management, and humanitarian agencies.
Lower division courses which lead to an ASL major or minor at a four-year institution:
Sign Language 1101 4 credits Beginning American Sign Language I
American Sign Language 1102 4 credits Beginning American Sign Language II
An encouraging word!
offer retroactive credit at a nominal fee upon completion of an upper-level
course with a grade of A or B. The student with previous language experience
should continue the same foreign language, and enter the sequence at RCTC
at as high a level as possible, so as to complete the entire lower division
sequence before transfer. The University of Minnesota also offers FLIP
and FLAC, Foreign Language Immersion and Across the Curriculum certificate
programs. For the past 5 years, the University of Minnesota-Rochester
has offered a successful certificate program for Interpreters and Translators
as an extension of Continuing Education.
Many fields employ people with ASL skills:
Interpreting and Interpreter Education
Teaching -There is a shortage of teachers for the deaf.
Employment and Vocational Rehab. Counselors
Sign Language Teachers
Finance, Real Estate, and Travel
ASL at RCTC (See college catalog for course descriptions)
American Sign Language I
1108: American Sign Language II | <urn:uuid:ad1753cb-e216-4893-a170-3cc831243e80> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.roch.edu/dept/worldlanguage/html/asl.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783403823.74/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624155003-00135-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.907436 | 612 | 3.109375 | 3 |
Minnesota's iconic northern forests are undergoing a gradual shift as the climate warms. Aspen, birch, balsam fir and black spruce, for example, are projected largely to vanish from the state by the end of the century.
But some foresters are suggesting a more radical shift in approaching what to do about it. Although not everyone agrees, some in forestry are stressing urgency and experimenting with bringing new species from hundreds of miles away, betting that with a helping hand those trees stand a better chance of producing a healthy diverse forest than existing species.
For proponents, bringing oaks and even ponderosa pines from as far away as the Black Hills is the best way to ensure Minnesota and its sizable forest industry will have thriving forests many decades from now. Others worry that the idea is too much of a gamble and could wind up essentially introducing troublesome invasive species.
One place to see this approach in action is a recently logged clearing north of Two Harbors in the Superior National Forest.
Ecologists with The Nature Conservancy have planted 108,000 seedlings on 2,000 acres here and elsewhere in northern Minnesota. Last fall, in a forest of spruce, fir, birch and aspen, Mark White, a forest ecologist with the group, and Laura Kavajecz, a University of Minnesota-Duluth graduate student, were monitoring oak, white pine and basswood seedlings.
"We're measuring the total height of each tree, the diameter and then the distance to the bud scale scar, so we can get at how much it's grown this season," Kavajecz said.
In that particular plot, White said, trees were growing from seeds taken from areas south and west of the forest about 200 miles away.
"These trees may have some characteristics that make them better suited to these sites in a warmer, drier future," White said, referring to the possibility of longer dry spells between rains and greater evaporation rates that would dry out forests even in an era of increased rainfall.
A few of the seedlings came from even farther away - white pines from the lower peninsula of Michigan.
This represents a big change in the forestry world, where the longstanding practice has been to plant only local trees. But models predict in the next several decades those trees that have flourished here for centuries likely won't be able to survive in great numbers.
Minnesota is unique because it lies at the convergence of three distinct ecosystems, or biomes. And the boundaries among those three - boreal forests of spruce, fir, pine and birch; deciduous forests of maple and oak and basswood; and prairie grasslands - are very sensitive to climate changes, said Lee Frelich, the director of the University of Minnesota Center for Forest Ecology.
In addition, Minnesota has been warming faster than most other states. In particular, northern Minnesota is heating up faster still - by nearly three degrees over the past century.
“I'm not wild about the idea of using our native forests as the place to experiment.”John Almendiger, forest ecologist, Minnesota DNR
"So we can expect the boreal forest with a business as usual climate scenario for CO2, for example, to virtually disappear from Minnesota," Frelich said.
Although he and others believe boreal trees will hang on in pockets of the state, he has already documented some deciduous species, like red maple, invading patches of boreal forest.
The notion that boreal forests will decline in a warmer climate has gotten support from a University of Minnesota research project near Cloquet and Ely, where scientists used infrared lamps to artificially warm eight-by-eight-foot plots of forest by as much as seven degrees, trying to simulate future conditions.
After five years, a difference is clear.
In the warmed plots, the maples and oaks tower over their boreal cousins, while in an unwarmed plot nearby, the conifers were nearly as tall as the temperate species. In results reported in January in the journal Nature Climate Change, investigator Rebecca Montgomery said spruce and firs fared especially poorly in the warmed plots.
But some foresters fear that the naturally occurring deciduous trees won't be able to move fast enough on their own to replace the more cold-climate adapted trees. Frelich thinks parts of the Boundary Waters could be transformed into an oak savannah.
Climate models predict, for example, red oaks will love northern Minnesota in half a century. But Meredith Cornett, director of science for The Nature Conservancy in Minnesota, says they can't just hop on Interstate 35 and drive north.
“The time to be thinking about how to act is now, and the time to act even beyond experimentation is rapidly approaching.”Brian Palik, scientist, U.S. Forest Service
"You think about an acorn and it drops right there, and animals might scatter it and carry it further, but not at a pace that is going to allow us to keep up with a changing climate."
That poses a potential problem and not simply for academics and environmentalists. Trees support multi-billion dollar tourism and forest products industries.
"Forest products in Minnesota is the fourth or fifth largest manufacturing industry, employing some 30,000 people statewide, with a value of manufactured products of about $9 billion," said Wayne Brandt with Minnesota Forest Industries.
In addition to a steady supply of everything from construction lumber and utility poles to paper products and wine barrels, the state's 17 million acres of forest also provide a host of ecological benefits. They suck up carbon dioxide, support birds and other wildlife and filter water, said Dave Zumeta, executive director of the Minnesota Forest Resources Council said.
With all that at stake, it's important how land managers like the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, the U.S. Forest Service and private landowners try to sustain the state's forests.
Zumeta suggested that a mix of species and ages of trees is important, as it is in a stock portfolio.
"If all you own in this last month is oil stocks, your portfolio isn't looking too good right now," he said.
"These climate change modelers, even the best and the brightest, they don't know exactly what's going to happen," Zumeta said. "It's common sense that you'd want to manage complex ecosystems like forests for diversity and for resilience."
Not all the state's forest managers agree on how to favor trees projected to do better in a warmer climate. Some private landowners are planting white pine, a native tree expected to be a climate change "winner."
But in another experiment just underway in the Chippewa National Forest, researchers will be planting trees from much farther afield.
Earlier this winter loggers felled red pines - a potential "loser" as the climate warms -- and sliced them into eight-foot sections to haul away. In their place, said U.S. Forest Service scientist Brian Palik, scientists this spring will plant a dozen different species.
That includes ponderosa pine, which grows well in drier, warmer climates like in the Black Hills in South Dakota, Palik said. "So we think it might be something that could be a potential replacement for red pine."
The Forest Service is also planting bitternut hickory and black cherry, species that live south of the experiment.
That is the first of four climate adaptation studies the U.S. Forest Service is planning around the country. The goal is to test a range of methods, like thinning trees to reduce competition for native trees, and planting a range of new species. They want to see what strategies might work best for helping the forest adapt to a rapidly changing climate.
This controlled experiment in moving trees hundreds of miles beyond their native range -- often called "assisted migration" -- is controversial in the forestry world.
Rick Klevorn, silviculture manager for the DNR thinks it's risky. "We don't really know if they'll do well here," he said. "Or maybe they'll overly do well, maybe they'll become invasive."
Klevorn says the DNR is taking a more conservative approach. It is managing for more diversity in the woods by, in the past 10 years, planting mixed stands of trees, rather than the old style plantations of red pine or spruce planted in neat rows.
But it does not plant trees in climate zones outside of where they were grown, he said.
"We manage for native plant communities as we know them now," he said. "We're getting close to doing things like that. But no, we're not moving species around."
DNR forest ecologist John Almendinger said, "I'm not wild about the idea of using our native forests as the place to experiment. I don't like the concept right now of moving trees that have shown no ability to perform in those kinds of habitats."
Palik at the Forest Service said planning for the uncertainty of how rainfall and temperature might change is the challenge. But he believes forest managers need to be more urgent and have little time to pause.
"I've had the realization that we are faced with something potentially very radical and unprecedented, in terms of the future climate scenario and habitat suitabillty for species we have here," Palik said. "The time to be thinking about how to act is now, and the time to act even beyond experimentation is rapidly approaching." | <urn:uuid:2536ab06-865e-472a-a2e1-cf595fe51f70> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.mprnews.org/story/2015/02/03/climate-change-forestry | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783395160.19/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154955-00024-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.960624 | 1,955 | 3.515625 | 4 |
All the black communities living on the Caribbean coast of Central America are commonly
called Garifuna or Black Carib, or as they refer to themselves, Garinagu. Over the last
three centuries, in spite of many migrations, re-settlements and interactions with
Indians, British, French and Spanish, they have preserved much of the culture from their
two main branches of ancestry. The Garinagu are the descendants of Caribs Indians and
Black African slaves. The Caribs were originally indigenous peoples from South America.
They spoke the Arawak Indian language and are believed to have left the
of Venezuela to settle in the Caribbean. They inhabited various Caribbean islands but were
later pushed out by European colonists and were able to keep only two islands, Dominica
and Saint Vincent.
In 1635 two Spanish ships carrying slaves to the West Indies were ship-wrecked near St.
Vincent. The slaves escaped and were welcomed and protected by the Carib Indians. Their
intermarriage formed the Garinagu people (known as Garifuna today). The Garinagu still
spoke Arawak. They remained on those two islands where they traded with the French. In
1795, the British took control of their islands to start sugar cane plantations. In 1797,
British relocated all the Garinagu prisoners along with some black slaves to the island of
Roatan in Honduras. From Roatan they moved to the Spanish fort of Trujillo and settled all
along the coast from Belize through Honduras to Nicaragua.
At last census in 1974 the Garifuna population was believed to be approximately 77,000,
in 51 communities, most of them on the Caribbean shores of Honduras. Their language,
agriculture (yucca), and religion remain similar to those found among their
ancestral peoples of the Amazon, while their dances, drum music and artistic heritage
shows a strong African influence.
We will spend time in various Garifuna communities and experience and document their
daily lives. Join us for a fascinating look at Afro-Caribbean culture.
For more details on their culture and history we also recommend that you visit the
Garinet Global :
Garifuna Web portal with an array of links for contemporary Garifuna
news, issues, culture, and organizations: Garifuna History, Garifuna
News, Garifuna Events, Garifuna Music, Garifuna products and Much
Return to Indigenous | <urn:uuid:7088695f-dbaf-4d84-8e6c-71f3da9fb020> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.nativeplanet.org/indigenous/garifuna.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783395546.12/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154955-00052-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.948717 | 514 | 3.875 | 4 |
Homepage layout matters. It affects what people view on a website and what they remember from the news.
Across a series of three experiments, we analyzed what happens when people are given the same news content presented in different ways. Some of our 2,671 participants browsed a site with a classic newsprint layout, while others looked at a page with a contemporary, modular and image-based layout. The same 20 articles, drawn from mainstream news media coverage about evergreen subjects, appeared on both sites.
The results were striking:
- Unique page views increased by at least 90 percent when participants viewed the contemporary homepage compared to the classic homepage.
- Recall of details from the articles, although low for all participants, nonetheless increased by at least 50 percent when participants viewed the contemporary homepage compared to the classic homepage.
- Study participants rated the contemporary site more positively than the classic site.
- Where the articles appeared on the page affected article recall more consistently than whether people clicked on the article. | <urn:uuid:6b0bd50b-0f26-4002-96b2-3aca24322e65> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://engagingnewsproject.org/research/news-presentation/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783398516.82/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154958-00143-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.927919 | 202 | 2.75 | 3 |
the Jiva (or Chit-Soul). In consequence of acts
and the virtue of time, the Soul goes through birth
and repeated rounds of rebirth. As in a dream
the Soul sports as if invested with a body which,
of course, is due to the action of the mind, after
the same manner, it obtains in the mother’s
womb a body in consequence of attributes and propensities
having (past) acts for their origin. Whatever
senses while it is there, are awakened by past acts
as the operating cause, become generated in Consciousness
in consequence of the mind co-existing with attachments.
In consequence of the past thoughts of sound that
are awakened in it, the Soul, subjected to such influences,
receives the organ of hearing. Similarly, from
attachment to forms, its eye is produced, and from
its longing after scent its organ of smelling.
From thoughts of touch it acquires the skin. In
the same way the five-fold breaths are acquired by
., Prana, Apana, Vyana, Udana, and Samana,
which contribute to keep the body agoing. Encased
in body with all limbs fully developed in consequence
(as shown above) of past acts, the Soul takes birth,
with sorrow, both physical and mental, in the beginning,
middle, and end. It should be known that sorrow
springs from the very fact of acceptance of body (in
the womb). It increases with the idea of Self.
From renunciation of these (attachments which are the
cause of birth), sorrow meets with an end. He
that is conversant with sorrow’s end attains
to Emancipation. Both the origin and the destruction
of the senses rest in the attribute of Passion.
The man of wisdom should act with proper scrutiny
with the aid of the eye constituted by the scriptures.
The senses of knowledge, even if they succeed in earning
all their objects, never succeed in overwhelming the
man that is without thirst. The embodied Soul,
by making its senses weak, escapes the obligation
“Bhishma said, ’I shall now tell thee
what the means are (for conquering the senses) as
seen with the eye of the scriptures. A person,
O king, will attain to the highest end by the help
of such knowledge and by framing his conduct accordingly.
Amongst all living creatures man is said to be the
Among men, those that are regenerate have been called
the foremost; and amongst the regenerate, they that
are conversant with the Vedas. These last are
regarded as the souls of all living creatures.
Indeed, those Brahmanas that are conversant with the
Vedas are regarded as all-seeing and omniscient.
They are persons who have become conversant with Brahma.
As a blind man, without a guide, encounters many difficulties
on a road, so has a person destitute of knowledge
to encounter many obstacles in the world. For
this reason, those that are possessed of knowledge
are regarded as superior to the rest. Those that
are desirous of acquiring virtue practise diverse | <urn:uuid:622e6665-9375-410d-b2a1-a76455dcd57f> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.bookrags.com/ebooks/15476/1004.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783392527.68/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154952-00042-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.941465 | 681 | 2.53125 | 3 |
This little book with big information will send kids flying into outer space to explore our fascinating universe. Of course, they’ll learn about the planets, moons, and stars. But this lively information-packed guide also includes fantastic astronomical phenomena that will make a child’s eyes open wide in amazement: everything from black holes to white dwarfs to red giants. The voyage begins in our own solar system, starting with the sun and proceeding from Mercury to Pluto--with the occasional asteroid, comet, and meteor thrown in. Follow a star’s life from beginning to end; do "deep sky” astronomy (the study of objects beyond our system) and have fun observing the heavens through binoculars and telescopes. There’s lots of cool trivia and quizzes throughout, too!
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Rent Astronomy 1st edition today, or search our site for other textbooks by Melanie Melton Knocke. Every textbook comes with a 21-day "Any Reason" guarantee. Published by Sterling Publishing Co., Inc..
Need help ASAP? We have you covered with 24/7 instant online tutoring. Connect with one of our Astronomy tutors now. | <urn:uuid:44cdc0a7-1be5-4894-a181-dfe8927dc274> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.chegg.com/textbooks/astronomy-1st-edition-9781402732348-1402732341?ii=14&trackid=2dc50c5b&omre_ir=1&omre_sp= | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783396459.32/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154956-00006-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.889121 | 243 | 3.625 | 4 |
This Sunday, as is tradition in the United States on the second Sunday in May, children will celebrate their mothers with cards and flowers and drugstore chocolates—the single day of the year when mothers are supposed to be pampered and recognized for all that they do.
For many of us, the commercialism that has become the "holiday" that is essentially about respecting your mother seems more than a little absurd. If you're in this camp—offended by the price of carnations in May, repelled by a mimosa brunch, and someone who believes that mothers (and fathers...and all the people you love, for that matter) should be appreciated on more than just one day of the year—you're not alone. Anna Jarvis is with you.
In 1905, the mother of a woman named Anna Jarvis died, and the young Ms. Jarvis decided to create a holiday to remember her mother. As she saw it, her mother had done so much for her, and she wanted to carve out time for all Americans to remember their mothers, even after their mothers were gone. Only 9 years later, in 1914, President Woodrow Wilson declared Mother's Day a national holiday. And, as the story goes, it was all downhill from there.
When some infidels took it upon themselves to add a “happy” to the sentiment—as in “Happy Mother’s Day!”—Miss Jarvis threatened them with legal action. As far as Anna Jarvis was concerned, there was nothing “happy” about what had happened to a day intended for personal remembrance, and so she spent the rest of her life attempting to dismantle the institution she had created.
The true sentiment behind Mother's Day (which is, for the record, "Mother's Day" and not "Mothers' Day") is a good one. It's important to be thankful, to acknowledge the ways that others have helped us throughout our lives, and to mourn the people we've loved who are gone. This is not a call for an Anna Jarvis-style Mother's Day takeover. But it is a reminder that, behind all the commercialism, Mother's Day is a good reminder to appreciate those we love, not just on the second Sunday in May, but everyday. | <urn:uuid:c33f1077-f341-4b18-b684-9364f89fb100> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | https://www.everplans.com/blog/the-history-of-mothers-day | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783395560.14/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154955-00030-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.981795 | 467 | 2.78125 | 3 |
Accounting assistants are important to the financial reporting process. Accounting assistants are entry-level positions requiring a two-year college degree in business, finance or accounting. They perform a variety of tasks under the supervision of senior professionals. These tasks could include journal entries, ledger confirmations and bank reconciliations. They also may assist internal and external auditors in evaluating a business' internal procedures. Assistants move up to more senior roles if they receive a four-year college degree and earn a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) license. Make Journal Entries
1.Accounting assistants record an organization's business activities by making journal entries in sub- or general ledgers. Entering items in a journal means crediting or debiting an account. There are five types of accounts: expense, revenue, asset, liability and shareholders' equity. Expenses are charges incurred. Revenues reflect sales and commissions. Assets indicate what a business entity owns, and liabilities, what it owes. Shareholders' equity represents amounts invested by company owners. Verify Journal and Ledger Balances
2.Journal and ledgers are accounting records. Bookkeepers enter financial data into journals by making journal entries. Such information is then summarized in sub- and general ledgers. A sub-ledger is a section of a general ledger. For example, Client XYZ's sub-ledger is part of a business customers' general ledger. Accounting staff verify that balances are accurate by checking journal entries, vendor bills and customer invoices. Reconcile Bank Statements
3.Accounting clerks also perform bank reconciliation duties. A business entity may have several accounts with a variety of institutions. Reconciling bank statements ensures that clerks can verify an organization's cash balance, and that such balance agrees to internal cash ledgers. These employees perform reconciliations... | <urn:uuid:81a8e2c6-37b7-4fdd-aaef-ab0efead5ec3> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.studymode.com/essays/The-Duties-Responsibilities-Of-Accounting-560383.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783396538.42/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154956-00121-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.928215 | 371 | 3.140625 | 3 |
Interested in new perennials for your garden? How about ones that have proven to be exceptional—fragrant, colorful, drought tolerant, resistant to disease and pests, and hardy in the Midwest and similar climates? Just turn to our scientists, who have done the legwork for you through the Chicago Botanic Garden’s plant breeding and evaluation programs.
Breeding and selecting new perennials is a long, intense process that begins with cross-pollinating two plants, or moving pollen by hand from the flowers of one plant to the flowers of another plant with different traits. The two related plants—which ideally will produce exceptional offspring—are selected for breeding based on desirable attributes.
“In the best-case scenario, from the first cross to the final plant worthy of introduction, it takes about seven years, maybe eight to ten. I have to think long-term in generation time, from seed to first bloom to maturity,” said Jim Ault, Ph.D., plant introduction manager and Gaylord and Dorothy Donnelley Director of Ornamental Plant Research.
The most promising new plants are propagated by cuttings or tissue culture and then scrutinized by the Garden’s Plant Evaluation Program, managed by Richard Hawke. He compares the plants to cultivars and species already in the trade to ensure that the plants from the breeding program are unique and worthy of introduction. Hawke also recommends plants for use as parents in the breeding program.
“The public can see about 80 percent of the breeding program plants as we are growing them in the ground in the evaluation gardens,” Dr. Ault said. Plants with the highest marks move to licensed commercial nurseries that also conduct field and container trials and then propagate the new plants for sale to home gardeners and the horticultural trade.
In recent years, popular offerings from the breeding program have included the first orange coneflower ever released, Art’s Pride coneflower (Echinacea ‘Art’s Pride’), and Forever Pink phlox (Phlox ‘Forever Pink’). “The interest in ‘Forever Pink’ has exploded,” Ault said. “It has three weeks of peak bloom in late May to early June and then it repeat-blooms on about 10 percent of the plant all summer and fall. It’s compact and, unlike other summer-blooming phlox, has had no powdery mildew whatsoever.”
You can expect to see more noteworthy perennials in coming years. Ault is hybridizing several types, including ground-cover phlox, asters, and other genera. “Something really wonderful should bloom this spring out of the hundreds of new seedlings that we’re growing,” said Ault.
Visit chicagobotanic.org/research/environmental/breeding for a full list of the perennials released commercially through the Garden’s Plant Breeding Program.
Support for the plant evaluation program is provided by the Bernice E. Lavin Evaluation Garden Endowment, the Woman’s Board Endowment for Plant Evaluation Research and Publication, and the Sally Meads Hand Foundation.
This post was adapted from an article by Nina Koziol that appeared in the spring 2014 edition of Keep Growing, the member magazine of the Chicago Botanic Garden.
©2014 Chicago Botanic Garden and my.chicagobotanic.org | <urn:uuid:885ec4b3-6aa8-476c-ad5a-06ea7ef8e239> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://my.chicagobotanic.org/science_conservation/plant-breeding-program-takes-perennials-to-new-heights/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783396106.25/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154956-00068-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.932903 | 719 | 2.59375 | 3 |
Polska / opolskie
|Synagogues, prayer houses and others||Cemeteries||Sites of martyrdom||Judaica in museums||Andere|
|Province:||opolskie / inne (before 1939)|
|County:||nyski / Neisse (before 1939)|
|Community:||Nysa / Neisse (before 1939)|
|Other names:||Neisse [j. niemiecki]|
The town of Nysa is a seat of the county in Opolskie Province. It is situated at the border of the Sudeckie Foothills and the Silesian Lowland, by the Nysa Kłodzka River.
Adam Marczewski /
Jewish residents of Nysa are first mentioned in 1319, when they could live on separate Jewish street, on which also a house of prayer was to be located. . New Jewish settlers brought with them western models of social and political organization of a state. In addition to that, they also imported tradition, religious rites and a language of Ashkenazi Jews (Hebr. אַשְׁכְּנָזִים, the word “Ashkenazi” denotes Germany as a country where they came from.) At the time of settling down in Silesia at the turn of the 14th century Jews were not restricted by any legal regulations. What is more, they were also protected by numerous privileges issued by Silesian dukes, who followed the example of such privileges as the one granted to Jews by Boleslaw the Pious in 1264 [the General Charter of Jewish Liberties, known as the Statute of Kalisz.] In the 14th century on one of the town’s streets called Judengasse a synagogue used to stand.
When Sielsia got under the rule of Czech dukes in 1327, also Silesian Jews adopted Czech jurisdiction.
In March 1327 a certain Jew, upon the jury’s verdict, was sentenced to prison, but the Bishop of Wrocław himself named Nanker (1326-1341) stood up for his release. The same Bishop was the author of diocesan statutes, published in 1311, that ordered Jews to wear clothes marked with yellow circles and cover their heads so that they could be distinguished from Christians.
In the mid-14th century the Black Death epidemics broke out in Silesia, which brought about famine and starvation. At that time Jews were accused of poisoning wells, which led to the pogrom against Jews also in Nysa on April 2nd 1349. The immediate cause of the pogrom was fire of a house of a Jew who refused to be baptized. As a result of the riots 40 Jewish households were torched.
In 1361 another pogrom against Jewish inhabitants took place, which was sparked by the news that a Host had been reputedly desecrated. . In 1410 a wooden synagogue was erected. The first record of a Jewish cemetery in Nysa dates back to May 10th 1423. A Jewish community was exempt from cemetery taxation in 1488, which might imply its closure,
Most Jews in the 15th century occupied themselves with trade and granted loans to Silesian dukes (charging interests on financial loans was then prohibited by Canon law in t
A settlement might have existed there in the 10th century. The first reference to the town dates back to 1155 . In 1223 Nysa was located under the Flemish law. The favorable location of the town by trade routes from Prague to Opole and from Kłodzko to Cracow enhanced its development. In 1241 the Mongols burnt down Nysa. At the beginning of the 14th century the town was the capital of the Duchy of Nysa. In 1327 Prince Waclaw of Bytom paid homage to the king of Bohemia, and from that moment Nysa went under the Bohemian rule, sharing the political history of Silesia. In 1350 the town was fenced with defense walls. In 1429 the Hussite armies burnt down some parts of Nysa. In 1521 an epidemic killed over half of the town inhabitants. In 1526 King Louis II of Hungary died childless, and the throne of Bohemia was taken over by Ferdinand Habsburg, the Archduke of Austria. Hence, Nysa went under the Habsburg dynasty’s rule. In 1542 a great fire destroyed the town. In 1551 the population of Nysa numbered 7,344. In 1580 a modern system of bastion fortifications was constructed in Nysa. During the Thirty Years’ War, in 1632, the town was burnt down by the Sass armies. In 1742, the Swedish army invaded Nysa. In 1700 the Austrians fortified Nysa with a new line of walls with a broad moat. In 1742 the town was incorporated to the territory of Prussia. The Prussian authorities decided to build a fortress in Nysa, which substantially changed the town’s character. In 1756 the town’s population numbered 5,284. During the Napoleonic Wars, in 1807, the fortress of Nysa capitulated after four months of the Wittenberg siege. In 1810, the population of Nysa amounted to 7,257. In the 19th century the local economy revived. It was, however, blocked by the existence of the fortress and a military camp. In 1900 the number of the inhabitants of Nysa increased to 20,337. In 1903 the fortress of Nysa was closed and the town could develop in a normal way.
During World War II, in March 1945, the Soviet army conquered Nysa. Over 50% of the town buildings were then destroyed due to the military actions.
With your financial contribution towards the development of a town description, a photo documentation or other activities, you will be awarded a donation certificate. | <urn:uuid:5ac8c8cb-b046-4d70-b32b-50cc4631539a> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.sztetl.org.pl/en/city/nysa/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783398873.39/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154958-00089-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.969372 | 1,276 | 3.546875 | 4 |
Ideas for Using AASL Best Websites: Learn it in Five March 25, 2013Posted by Donna Baratta in Best Websites for Teaching and Learning, Check this out!.
Want to embed technology in instruction? Working to introduce your students or colleagues to cool and useful online tools? Overwhelmed by the constantly evolving array of Web 2.0 resources? Pressed for time? Learn it in Five < http://learnitin5.com>, featured on the AASL Best Websites for Teaching and Learning 2012 list, provides a library of five-minute (or less) how-to videos on Web 2.0 resources. The resources are selected for their educational value.
The Learn it in Five videos are organized in seven categories:
Social Media for Teachers
Classroom Video Tools
Wikis for Teachers
Web 2.0 Lessons
Videos for your Class
The Search for the Right Tools:
The categories are an excellent starting point when searching for potentially valuable resources. Use the videos to start screening resources before setting up accounts or trying to figure out “how they work.â€
Tip: Send students to Learn it in Five to look for alternative ways to produce and publish their original content.
In addition to using Learn it in Five as a resource for quick introductions to online resources, teachers can investigate the Digital Classroom Strategies section of Learn it in Five for ideas on implementing digital resources.
Tip: Use Learn it in Five’s subscription feature for daily updates. Having information sent to you is a great time management tool.
Finally, just as the site’s title suggests, you can use Learn it in Five videos for quick how-to introductions to online tools.
Tip: Have students create their own “Learn it in Five†videos based on the models provided. | <urn:uuid:93e06553-5577-4936-86e0-1afa7d2ce166> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.aasl.ala.org/aaslblog/?p=3557 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783398628.62/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154958-00058-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.875136 | 384 | 2.9375 | 3 |
1 Answer | Add Yours
An intron is any nucleotide sequence in a certain gene that can be removed before the translation of the messenger RNA (mRNA). Introns, which are situated between exons, do not function for protein coding in the protein synthesis and apparently interrupts a gene-coding or non-translated sequences.
After the transcription of particular genes to the mRNA, the introns are removes and the exons are spliced with enzymes and will be further translated into amino acids and proteins. Recent researches however found out that some introns can be encoded to generate non-encoding RNA molecules.
We’ve answered 327,983 questions. We can answer yours, too.Ask a question | <urn:uuid:8371b8f0-fd50-4215-90b7-3f3178b4ba0a> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.enotes.com/homework-help/what-an-intron-442833 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783397797.77/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154957-00113-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.920668 | 149 | 3.515625 | 4 |
Forestry and climate change
People and ecosystems in Southern Africa are extremely vulnerable to climate change. Forest and rangeland ecosystems play a vital role by supplying goods and services to rural communities but are under threat from climate change and human pressures. While many climate change efforts in Southern Africa to date have focused on mitigation (e.g. REDD+), countries are recognizing the urgency to build resilience and facilitate adaptation to climate change. National actions can be enhanced through collaborative work among countries in the sub-region.
The importance of regional cooperation to support countries’ in climate change adaptation has been recognized by the Parties of the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). Working in partnership, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the Southern African Development Community (SADC), aim to facilitate cooperation on climate change adaptation in the forestry and rangeland sectors among SADC member countries to address common needs, for example, in capacity strengthening, research, communications and planning and assessing impact of measures adaptation on the ground.
The objectives of the workshop are to take stock of countries’ current efforts related to forests, rangelands and climate change and to identify priorities for cooperative work in adaptation aimed at addressing gaps and common needs through a sub-regional programme.
A total of 23 participants from 13 countries took part in the workshop. The countries represented were Angola, Botswana, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Lesotho, Malawi, Mauritius, Madagascar, Mozambique, South Africa, Swaziland, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe. Namibia and Seychelles were unable to attend. In addition to the country participants, officers from the following organizations participated: SADC Secretariat, FAO (Headquarters, Sub-Regional Office for Southern Africa and the FAO Representation in South Africa), the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), The Belgian Ambassador to South Africa attended and addressed the opening plenary. Staff of the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research, South Africa (CSIR) and Kulima Integrated Development Solutions participated in their capacity as resource persons.
Expected outputs of the workshop
The expected outputs of the workshop were as follows:
African Forestry and Wildlife Commission - side event on Forests, Rangelands and Climate Change Adaptation in Southern Africa
A side event on Forests, Rangelands and Climate Change Adaptation in Southern Africa, was organized at the African Forestry and Wildlife Commission, 4th of October, Windhoek, Namibia.
The objectives of the side event were i) to present the draft Program Framework Document (PFD)of the project initiative and provide an opportunity for the SADC member states to discuss it together; and ii) to present a new publication on forests, rangelands and climate change adaptation in Southern Africa, which provided useful background information for the June workshop and the preparation of the PFD. Click here for the full summary.
AFWC side event | <urn:uuid:32bcc08b-4f3a-4ace-a476-47fa9f6aa4ef> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.fao.org/forestry/climatechange/83659/en/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783397567.28/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154957-00000-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.927432 | 611 | 3 | 3 |
Automakers such as Honda, GM, Audi, BMW and Daimler have already done it, now Volvo has too – it’s joined the CAR 2 CAR Communication Consortium. The aim of the project is to establish a standard system that would allow vehicles to wirelessly communicate with one another, regardless of make or model. If the system works as planned, it should reduce accidents, improve traffic flow, and just generally make driving a more enjoyable experience.
The system would allow cars to transmit data to other vehicles within a given radius. That data could include things like each vehicle’s GPS coordinates, speed and direction of travel. Transmitters would also be placed in infrastructure components, such as traffic lights and road signs, allowing them to be part of the wireless network – in that way, they could transmit information such as speed limits and road conditions to vehicles in the area.
As outlined by Volvo, the CAR 2 CAR technology that it will help to develop and standardize could include some of the following features.
Red Light Violation Warning (pictured above) – this will alert drivers approaching a controlled intersection on a green light, if a car approaching on the cross street is about to run its red light and potentially collide with them
Green Light Optimum Speed Advisory – drivers will be advised of the optimum speed of travel along a given road, if they wish to hit only green lights
Motorcycle Approaching Indication – the system will warn drivers of the presence of nearby motorcycles, so they can take extra care to notice them
Emergency Vehicle Warning – drivers will be made aware of approaching emergency response vehicles, so they can pull over to let them get past
Emergency Electronic Brake Light – motorists will be warned when a driver ahead of them suddenly slows down or stops
Road Works Warning – provides advance notice of upcoming construction zones, along with providing numbers on the length of those zones
In-Vehicle Signage – information such as speed limits will be displayed within the vehicle
Traffic Jam Ahead Warning – as with the Emergency Electronic Brake Light, the system will let drivers know that they need to prepare to stop
Weather Information – alerts regarding icy roads, heavy rainfall, or other weather conditions that could affect driving
The consortium hopes to have the system up and running by 2016. More information on Volvo’s involvement in the project is available in the video below. | <urn:uuid:9a317260-39d6-48c8-a3f8-6b7414539279> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.gizmag.com/volvo-car-2-car-communication-consortium/24892/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783394414.43/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154954-00150-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.940809 | 482 | 2.734375 | 3 |
Athletes have long recognized a relationship between
confidence and performance. Sometimes it appears that only
the greatest athletes have access to that magical confidence,
while all other inferior beings can only wish for it.
this is wrong! Everyone can increase their level of confidence
and perform better.
Although confidence is difficult to define, it is usually
described as thoughts, feelings and actions reflecting
self-belief and expectations of success.
Confident athletes entertain a rich variety of successful
thoughts. The notion of failure simply never occurs during
Confident athletes believe deeply in their abilities, love
challenges, and feel strongly that they will prevail.
Confident athletes expect success and show it in their body
language. They rarely give their opponent a confidence boost by
appearing discouraged or threatened.
It is often asked what comes first, confidence or success?
Although it is true that success breeds confidence, it is equally
so that confidence increases one's probability for success. Success
is never certain, but self-doubt, negativity, and low expectations
Belief in oneself prevents harmful distractions such as anxiety,
allowing for a more efficient performance focus. Confidence also
security during slumps and helps the athlete sustain effort.
Finally, self-belief prompts athletes to set higher performance goals,
greater achievements are expected and appear more attainable.
Athletes who lack confidence worry needlessly about mistakes,
lose concentration, allow dangerous levels of arousal to intrude,
and hasten failure by giving up. After all, there is nothing to gain
Although confidence is desired by all, there is no replacement
for competence. The most confident athlete in the world still needs
skill and experience to succeed. Confidence just helps make
go more smoothly, often providing the decisive competitive edge.
Some describe the relationship between confidence and
performance as an inverted U, similar to the relationship between
arousal and performance. Maintaining an optimal level of confidence
is important because overconfidence, or a false belief in one's
ability, can also lead to reduced effort and performance.
Here are some techniques to help you develop and maintain
Effort invested in self-belief will help you reach your
potential. Confidence is not a luxury reserved for the divine ... just another
tool for success...compliments of sport psychology. Believe in yourself
and prosper! Until next month...
- Frequently image successful performances.
- Increase your level of physical fitness, as this will enhance
technique and self-image at the same time!
- Beat up on players slightly below your level occasionally to
keep confidence alive. Some players never learn to win or develop
confidence because they are always overmatched.
- Make a list of your strengths. Review this list regularly to
remind yourself of how great you really are.
- Eliminate negative thoughts and memories. When they occur,
replace them with positive self-statements (e.g., "I'm at my best under
- Have a general strategy going into each competition. Confidence
will grow as your plan is executed.
- Keep you head up and maintain positive body language regardless
of the score. The way you act will often influence the way you and your
opponent feel. Act confidently, be confident!
- Improve on areas of weakness in practice so that you'll have more
to believe in during competition. | <urn:uuid:114c502d-2420-4eb7-acec-6e38acd2781d> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.tennisserver.com/mental-equipment/me_1_96.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783397797.77/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154957-00036-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.940413 | 712 | 2.828125 | 3 |
Youngsters are heading for the River Kennet to release the trout they have cared for since the day they spawned.
It was part of the Trout in the Classroom Project organised by ARK – Action for the River Kennet – which teaches about the river’s ecosystem.
Pupils at St Peter’s and St John’s schools in Marlborough and St Michael’s in Aldbourne have been looking after the trout since January and are now getting ready to release them.
Eggs were provided to ARK by Berkshire Trout Farms and students had to recreate the trout’s natural chalk environment in the classroom and make sure the water is cool and declorinated.
Coordinator Helen Kelly said: “Some of the children have been so involved and intrigued with this project. It’s been amazing to watch them.
“They have cared for them since they were eggs and hatched into alevins, which is a difficult time because the alevins are susceptible to loss.
"They have had to extract any that have died and now they are bigger have the responsibility of feeding them.
“I hope it is something we can repeat next year.” | <urn:uuid:0cb7cf20-dc0e-476f-b9c3-c58a8c47debc> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.thisiswiltshire.co.uk/news/headlines/11111319.Marlborough_and_Aldbourne_pupils_set_to_release_trout_into_River_Kennet/?ref=var_0 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783404405.88/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624155004-00039-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.987169 | 252 | 3.046875 | 3 |
Word Tests May Predict Gains for Kids With Autism
Toddlers' brain responses corresponded with later language, thinking and self-care skills
This suggests that children with less severe symptoms can process words in much the same way as typically developing children, the study authors said.
Children with more severe social impairments, however, showed brain responses more broadly over the right hemisphere. The researchers said this is not usually seen in healthy children of any age.
The children's language skills, thinking abilities and social and emotional development also were assessed at age 2 and again at ages 4 and 6.
Over time and with intensive treatment, the children with autism improved on the behavioral tests, but individual gains varied widely, the researchers found. The more the autistic children's brain responses resembled those of typically developing children, the greater the improvement in their skills by age 6.
"Essentially, children who showed a different brain response from the left hemisphere to a known versus unknown word made better progress by age 6," Dawson said. "This measure may help us identify early on which children could benefit from extra help, such as an alternative communication device, so that they can have the best possible long-term outcome."
Study lead author Patricia Kuhl, of the University of Washington in Seattle, said in a university news release: "We think this measure signals that the 2-year-old's brain has reorganized itself to process words.
"This reorganization depends on the child's ability to learn from social experiences," said Kuhl, who is co-director of the university's Institute for Learning and Brain Sciences. She said, however, that researchers are still a long way from identifying a brain marker that can help predict future autism diagnoses.
In previous studies, Kuhl found that social interactions promote language learning in babies. For children with autism, social impairments prevent them from picking up on social cues, the researchers said. As a result, they pay attention to objects and other things rather than people.
"Social learning is what most humans are about," Kuhl said. "If your brain can learn from other people in a social context, you have the capability to learn just about anything."
Kuhl thinks the latest findings could lead to measures that might help identify children at risk for autism by the age of 1 year or younger. "This line of work may lead to new interventions applied early in development, when the brain shows its highest level of neural plasticity," she said. | <urn:uuid:df0d1f9e-6001-40bd-945b-66c09d2e35f2> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.webmd.com/brain/autism/news/20130529/word-tests-at-age-2-might-predict-gains-for-kids-with-autism-study-finds?page=2 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783396887.54/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154956-00176-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.970631 | 503 | 3.75 | 4 |
The fastest of all domestic felines, Egyptian Mau is an ancient short haired breed of cats. It traces its origin to the oldest of all cats, the African Wild Cat. The cat is believed to have resided for millennia in Egypt where it was the object of worship, 'Mau' being the Egyptian term for 'cat'. It was adored, protected and buried alongside Pharaohs in their tombs as mummies. Over the years, the cat continued to be cherished in its native lands as an object of fancy as well as a remarkable hunter. Even today farmers keep crossbreeds from Egyptian Maus as pets to keep their fields safe from rodents. The modern recognition of this elegant feline came in the nineteen fifties when a pair was brought over to United States. They were given championship status in the seventies.
A sturdy yet finely built cat, the Egyptian Mau is a medium sized animal. It has a well muscled and graceful presence. Hind legs are longer than the front, enabling the cat to reach speeds of up to fifty kilometers an hour. Mau is the only naturally occurring domestic cat that is spotted. The spots run underneath the fur to the cat's actual skin. They are present on the whole body, with the legs and tail being striped. Recognized coat colors are bronze, silver and smoke. Eyes are in shades of dazzling green.
Egyptian Maus are healthy and active felines and don't suffer from any recurring hereditary medical conditions. Owing to their love for the outdoors and excellent hunting skills, many owners are tempted to let them outside. Though the cats are surprisingly adept at avoiding any accidents and mishaps, it's still not a good idea to leave these rare treasures outdoors unsupervised.
Athletic and playful, the Maus are always alert. They are very protective of their 'territory' and are quite prepared to defend it against any intruders. They don't accept other cats and pets well and fare best in a single animal household. From the beginning, they develop a close affiliation with their humans and maintain a very loyal relationship with them throughout their lives. They are not fond of strangers though and prefer a settled environment, taking time to adapt. Egyptian Maus have a very lovely voice which they use to communicate with their owners. They are intelligent and responsive to their humans' moods and flourish if endowed with the appropriate attention and care. For their beauty, fidelity and vigor, the splendid Egyptian Maus are amongst the finest of all cat breeds.
Images © Warren Photographic - Warrenphotographic.co.uk | <urn:uuid:6b9b6a8c-6777-4818-8e4c-d0da60ee0eef> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.ofcats.com/2008/06/egyptian-mau.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783394987.40/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154954-00088-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.972822 | 526 | 2.59375 | 3 |
The marketing of unhealthy food to children is on the Labour Party policy agenda up for consultation and among the ideas “on the table” is that the advertising of unhealthy foods should not be screened before nine pm.
The current restriction on the marketing of unhealthy food and drink in the UK only covers children’s television programmes. However, marketers can still advertise unhealthy products during some of the television programmes most watched by children, such as X-Factor.
This “loophole” was highlighted in recent research commissioned by the British Heart Foundation (BHF), as part of the Action on Junk Food Marketing campaign, which showed that children’s TV viewing peaked at around eight pm.
One of the researchers, Dr Emma Boyland, from the Institute of Psychology, Health and Society, University of Liverpool, told FoodNavigator: “There is a clear and substantial body of evidence that food marketing has a detrimental effect on children’s diets, and yet the current regulations focus almost entirely on dedicated children’s programmes.”
She explained that this is because of the use of audience indexing, which relies on the proportion of children in the audience rather than the actual number.
Boyland added: “This ignores the real viewing habits of young people in the UK, which is to spend a majority of their TV time watching non-children’s programming, and therefore they are still being exposed to excessive promotion of HFSS (high in fat, salt or sugar) foods.
“Establishing a nine pm watershed would ensure a massive reduction in this exposure and therefore be a really positive step towards creating a food environment more conducive to healthy living.”
A Labour Party spokesman said that issues around the marketing of unhealthy food to children, among others, were “still on the table” and its finalised consultation paper will come out within the month.
Analysis of more than 750 adverts found that nearly a quarter of those shown between eight and nine pm were for food.
The most frequently shown adverts promoted unhealthy products from supermarkets such as Aldi and Morrisons (25%), followed by fast-food chains such as KFC (13%), with chocolate and sweet companies like Lindt and Haribo the third most common (12%).
Adverts screened between eight and nine pm were said to be designed for a young audience, with nearly a third of food adverts shown using themes of “fun” rather than more adult concerns of price or convenience.
Meanwhile more than half of the clips used children or child-aged characters to promote the food products.
Recent Accenture data, which assessed children’s TV viewing habits in EU countries, shows that many brands have either voluntarily pulled food advertisements or are only advertising products that meet strict nutrition criteria during children’s programming. | <urn:uuid:3c80b741-1fda-4c33-8eed-7159ffe8d817> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.bakeryandsnacks.com/Regulation-Safety/Nine-o-clock-threshold-for-junk-food-ads-among-policy-proposals | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783395560.14/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154955-00180-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.963492 | 580 | 2.6875 | 3 |
I pick up bags of leaves left curbside and use them in my compost bin or spread them as mulch. I’ve been told this is a bad idea because black walnut leaves might be in the mix. Is this really a concern?—GP, Cave Springs, Ga.
The fallen leaves of black walnut trees (Juglans nigra), and all of the plants parts as well, produce a chemical called juglone that can inhibit the growth of—and even kill—certain other plants. Tomatoes are an example; in them the phenomenon is known as walnut wilt.
That said, there is perhaps more to-do made over black walnut’s allelopathic ways that they warrant. Some plants aren’t discouraged by the tree at all. Virginia’s Cooperative Extension publishes a thorough list of these plants. If your garden plants are on this list, you have no worries.
Even if you do have plants sensitive to juglone, the compound is broken down by microbial action, so composting the leaves should ensure that your leafy cache is good for all your plants. If you are still nervous about any potential toxicity of your compost, try testing it on a tomato plant.
Bagging and removing leaves is costly and a waste of nutrients and organic matter that are of value to the landscape. You are to be commended for recycling them.
Read a short cut for composting leaves | <urn:uuid:ae612c3a-2463-4c6a-9e82-40181a69fa7c> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.hortmag.com/weekly-tips/qa/blackwalnutleaves | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783395620.9/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154955-00082-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.955113 | 299 | 3.34375 | 3 |
The future of power management in the Internet of Things
This article is part of EDN's Hot Technologies: Looking ahead to 2013 feature, where EDN editors and guest contributors examine some of the hot trends and technologies in 2012 that promise to shape technology news in 2013 and beyond.
In the area of digital management and system communications, the electronic power-system industry is in the process of the largest technology integration since the introduction of the linear power supply. Digital power-management techniques have long been a facet of chip design on the client side, where the device controls its internal subsystems to maximize operating efficiency, and there have been special requirements for the power ICs that drive them. The migration of digital power management from the inside of the box to the outside of the box and the need to communicate with the various systems that inhabit the world outside will create the next level of challenge and opportunity for the industry.
This migration could not have occurred without certain core technologies, both hardware- and software-based. Digital power-management protocols such as PMBus could not move to the board level and provide real value to the designer before the introduction of intermediate-bus architecture to take advantage of the added level of control. Interdevice communications for both power and data would be more difficult without the advances in mixed-bus connector architectures, such as USB and PoE (power over Ethernet), both encouraging and enabling the process (Figure 1).
Figure 1 Interdevice communications for both power and data would be more difficult without advances in mixed-bus connector architectures, such as USB and PoE, both encouraging and enabling the process.
The external factors involved are based on both reality and desire, and in the area of power design they overlap strongly. Power efficiency translates to thermal efficiency, which aids sleek design, which challenges haptics, which affects board layout, which affects available real estate for the power system and its cooling/shielding requirements. A system that can communicate with its power source can use extended power-management methodologies to raise overall system efficiencies. In the case of batteries and other energy-storage systems, communication also improves device safety and reliability. Market demands put USB connectors on most wall-mount chargers; why not use the bidirectionality of the format?
This pressure to provide functionality, coupled with the availability of advanced power-system methodologies, drives the migration of digital power management to macro systems. A device that can communicate with its wall charger will operate more efficiently than one that cannot; when that wall charger can communicate with the smart-house management system (or at least a smart power meter), the result is not only improved efficiency, but improved functionality and safety as well. This integration provides functionality not only for the user but also for the infrastructure, as it makes the device a part of the Internet of Things and all that it implies.
This ability of the infrastructure to be self-managing at the power level may be intrusive at some levels to some users, but the benefits are myriad. For example, if the power to homes located in hurricane-, tornado-, and flood-evacuation areas could be turned off at the subgrid level, secondary fires would be minimized, and dangers to first responders due to electrocution and water-based secondary electrical damage would be eliminated. The ability to turn off unused (by power signature or device self-reporting) devices in the grid would minimize brownouts and blackouts by reducing “vampire” standby drain.
The advance of cloud-supported, Web-based products increases the need for improved power and signal interdevice communication. As your smartphone takes on more of the role of a personal server, it will be called on to control and manage everything from your belt-mounted artificial pancreas to the speed of your pacemaker while still operating the remote-controlled car you drive around your desktop. Such systems function best when battery states and other operating parameters are part of system management and are accessible through the Web. Your doctor can monitor your medical-device performance, and even in the case of your toy, upgrades to the software and system troubleshooting data can be downloaded to the device.
What this means for you as a designer is that you increasingly will be called upon to ensure your designs function in a larger system infrastructure, and the higher you are able to have your device function in that device architecture, the more you will be able to address the expanded requirements of the Internet of Things. As system architectures and market demands increase the need to exchange data more actively between devices, having the power system participate in the conversation will pay large dividends across the market, from the individual chips inside the device to the power station down the road.
- Nanotechnology. Our grasp of what is possible is expanding exponentially, and as a result nanotech is moving from a primarily materials-based technology to a core microdevice and microcomponent electronics and device technology (Figure 2).
Figure 2 Nanotechnology is moving from a primarily materials-based technology to a core microdevice and microcomponent electronics and device technology.
- Energy harvesting and alternate power methodologies for small devices. “Smart dust” sensor networks, parasitic energy-harvesting subsystems, and multisource power systems are all examples of ways power can be harnessed to increase system functionality and performance.
Read more of EDN's Hot Technologies: Looking ahead to 2013:
- Mobile touch proliferates: Is UI design keeping pace?
- Near-field communications to go far in 2013
- Test it your way
- More-than-Moore memory grows up
- Human-machine interfaces enter the third dimension
- Wear your heart monitor on your sleeve
- M2M branches beyond one-to-one links
- Opportunities abound in cloud “clutter” | <urn:uuid:0bb548c9-f643-4fa6-b23f-623fafd23dc0> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.edn.com/design/power-management/4402999/The-future-of-power-management-in-the-Internet-of-Things | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783395679.92/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154955-00099-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.931866 | 1,175 | 2.84375 | 3 |
For Sam Clark, Class of ’10, and Laura Chernak, Class of ’09, six months of work paid off in one split second – and one split chicken bone. The two worked with assistant professor of biomedical engineering Eric Kennedy to develop a device to better understand when and why so many people tear their anterior cruciate ligament, or ACL.
Clark, a biomedical engineering major, and Chernak, a mechanical engineering major, have created an apparatus that mimics the injury mechanics of an ACL tear. The device, which uses a chicken bone to simulate a knee twisting really fast, includes a high-speed video camera and a data acquisition system.
They plan to build on their research, scaling the device to handle larger bones such as pig knees and, eventually, knees from human cadavers.
“Eventually this research could give athletic trainers the information they need to selectively develop training programs for different athletes,” Kennedy says.
The following links are virtual breadcrumbs marking the 27 most recent pages you have visited in Bucknell.edu. If you want to remember a specific page forever click the pin in the top right corner and we will be sure not to replace it. Close this message. | <urn:uuid:ea3db2bf-237f-4c9b-900d-ab592c2c7338> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.bucknell.edu/x45761.xml | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783395621.98/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154955-00123-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.94074 | 249 | 2.734375 | 3 |
Ex`pi*ra"tion (?), n. [L. expiratio,exspiratio: cf. F. expiration. See Expire.]
The act of expiring
; as: (a)Physiol.
The act or process of breathing out, or forcing air from the lungs through the nose or mouth; as, respiration consists of inspiration and expiration; -- opposed to inspiration
Emission of volatile matter; exhalation.
The true cause of cold is an expiration from the globe of the earth.
The last emission of breath; death
. "The groan of expiration
A coming to a close; cessation; extinction; termination; end
Before the expiration of thy time.
That which is expired; matter breathed forth; that which is produced by breathing out, as a sound.
The aspirate "he," which is . . . a gentle expiration.
© Webster 1913. | <urn:uuid:cc52ac0b-677f-4ddf-81c9-52148c7b135d> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://everything2.com/title/Expiration | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783391519.0/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154951-00170-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.871163 | 191 | 2.796875 | 3 |
This 30 foot (10 meters) tower based weather station is located at the offices of Campbell Scientific, Inc. in Logan, Utah, USA. Elevation at the site is approximately 4455 ft (1358 m). The city of Logan is located on the east side of Cache Valley in northern Utah. The valley is quite level, about 30 mi (48 km) long and 10 to 15 mi (16 to 24 km) wide. It is open to the north and closed by mountains to the south, east, and west.
Winters are usually cold but not severe. The valley is protected somewhat from cold Canadian air masses by the mountains. Spring is the wettest season of the year. Nearly 40 percent of the annual total precipitation falls in March, April, and May. Only one year in ten receives less than two-thirds of the expected moisture supply during these months. Summer arrives abruptly the first part of June with warmer and drier weather. The mountains to the south and southwest, and the Great Salt Lake about 30 mi (48 km) away, help to divert or moderate warm air currents. Nights are cool and humidity low in the daytime. Maximum temperatures of 100 degrees F (38 degrees C) or higher are extremely rare. Only one year in fourteen receives temperatures of 100 degrees (38 degrees C) or higher. Crisp, cool weather accompanies the fall season in September.
The average growing season extends for 159 days, from May 8th to October 13th. Spring frosts tend to linger on, which shortens the growing season. There is a 50 percent probability of freezing temperatures after the first week in May, and temperatures of 32 degrees or lower have been recorded as late as June 12th. Fall frosts can be expected early, usually before mid-October. The earliest recorded occurrence of freezing temperature or lower is September 15th (Eubank 1979). | <urn:uuid:5e5c61c7-8511-4c9c-a8d1-148d0a3c7be1> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://weather.campbellsci.com/lcas.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783396106.71/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154956-00078-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.966329 | 382 | 3.3125 | 3 |
Send Letter to Editor
How homes ignite
Avoiding a recipe for disaster
Fire needs heat, fuel and oxygen to burn. If even one of these factors is removed from the equation, the fire is snuffed out. Fuels, weather, topography and human behavior influence the likelihood of a fire starting, as well as its speed, direction, intensity, and the ability to control and extinguish the wildfire. Weather cannot be changed. Topography generally remains the same. But fuels and human behavior can be altered. Thus, the greatest opportunity to reduce a wildfire threat to your home lies in actively managing wildland vegetation and changing your habits.
Fire quickly moves through light fuels like grass, fallen leaves, pine needles and mulch. Fire lingers and burns more intensely in heavier fuels like wood decks and fences, firewood stacks and lawn furniture. Very heavy fuels like trees and buildings can burn for long periods and spread fire by producing radiant heat and flying embers.
Fuels are arranged horizontally and vertically. Ground fuels consist of combustible materials lying beneath the surface including deep duff, roots, rotten buried logs and other organic matter. Fires in ground fuels are usually called "peat fires."
Surface fuels consist of materials lying on or immediately above the ground including pine needles, leaves, grass, downed logs, stumps, tree limbs and low shrubs.
Aerial fuels include green and dead materials in the upper forest canopy: tree branches, crowns, snags, moss and taller shrubs. "Crown fires" burn these aerial fuels. Fires in conifer stands and pine plantations tend to be very intense and difficult to control.
How these fuels are connected around a home can determine the chances of a structure surviving. Unmowed grass, unraked leaves and dead branches are a continuous fuel supply right up a home's siding. Breaking the chain of continuous fuels up to and around a home can serve as a fuel break, slowing a fire and bringing it to the ground where firefighters have a better chance to stop it.
Temperature, relative humidity and wind speed are three significant weather factors affecting wildfire behavior. Higher temperatures preheat fuels by driving off moisture, which allows fuels to burn faster. Lower relative humidity and a lack of precipitation lowers fuels moisture; dry fuels burn more easily than fuels with higher moisture content.
Wind is the most important weather factor since it dries fuel and increases the supply of oxygen. Wind has the greatest influence on the rate and direction of fire spread. In Wisconsin, wind direction almost always changes in a clockwise rotation and winds tend to be the strongest in mid-afternoon.
Wisconsin's wildfire weather is most severe during spring, between the time after the last snowmelt and before the vegetation "greens up." Spring rains and new green growth lessen the likelihood that wildfires will start and spread. The chances increase again during late summer and fall when the vegetation begins to dry out. The combination of hot weather, high wind speed and dry vegetation creates prime conditions for wildfires.
Topography plays a big role in how a fire will behave. Steep slopes spread fire rapidly. Minimizing fuels downhill from a home can make a difference when a wildfire threatens. Fire travels faster uphill and afternoon winds travel upslope as hot air rises, pushing fire even faster. Homes built on a hilltop need larger areas of defensible space, particularly on the downhill side. Aspect, or the direction a slope faces, also is a factor. North facing slopes tend to be more shaded and moister with heavier fuels such as trees. South facing slopes tend to be sunnier and drier, with more light fuels such as grasses.
When people live in fireprone environments, their behavior becomes an important factor in predicting the loss of life and property. Narrow or sandy roads and driveways, limited access, lack of firewise landscaping, inadequate water supplies and poorly planned subdivisions increase risk to people living with the threat of wildfire. Wildfire risk also increases when people burn trash or light warming campfires.
Jolene Ackerman is Wisconsin DNR's wildland-urban interface coordinator. | <urn:uuid:2e91dee5-6860-47e2-92a0-8ddf36ba37e7> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://dnr.wi.gov/wnrmag/html/supps/2005/apr05/behave.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783397696.49/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154957-00164-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.925631 | 844 | 3.859375 | 4 |
Interactive map of the Blitz unveiled
An interactive online map showing the location of bombs dropped on London during World War II proved so popular when first launched earlier today, that the site immediately went down under the barrage of visitors. Like the survivors of that infamous moment in history, the site picked itself up, dusted itself off, kept calm, and carried on once more, but is still going offline periodically.
The Bomb Sight project was created by a team from the University of Portsmouth using London WWII bomb census data (taken between October 1940 and June 1941) supplied by The National Archives, and shows visitors where the bombs fell during the Blitz, and what type they were.
Dr Kate Jones, the University of Portsmouth geographer behind the project, said following its launch: "When you look at these maps and see the proliferation of bombs dropped on the capital it does illustrate the meaning of the word Blitz, which comes from the German meaning lightning war. It seems astonishing that London survived the onslaught".
The bombing locations include geo-located photographs from the Imperial War Museum, as well as memories from the BBC's WW2 People's War Archive. In addition to the website, a companion Android app is set to be released shortly. This will offer access to the map and an augmented reality view that will enable London residents and visitors to see all of the bombs that fell nearby. | <urn:uuid:442c13d4-fccf-4d3a-b373-4c2f6ab11485> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://betanews.com/2012/12/07/interactive-map-of-the-blitz-unveiled/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783396538.42/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154956-00135-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.963776 | 278 | 3.1875 | 3 |
A new app for the iPad and iPhone, LingoWorld, has recently been launched by Cooori, with the aim to help aid the language learning process.
LingoWorld is a new language-learning app for iOS, which allows users to quickly and effectively learn basics phrases in 10 languages, including Icelandic.
The app is designed so that its users can learn essential words and phrases in a short period of time. The app is built on a core of Artificial Intelligence, which adjusts to each user’s learning ability, ensuring that each user gets the most out of even short learning experiences.
As part of the app, users will be able to practice pronunciation, look up words and phrases, closely monitor their own progression, develop language skills, and understanding all from the comfort of their mobile or iPad device.
LingoWorld enables users to learn common phrases and basic words in Chinese, English, French, German, Japanese, Icelandic, Italian, Korean, Spanish and Thai.
Cooori has also developed a web-based language learning software that utilises artificial intelligence to help its users learn Japanese faster and more efficiently.
For more information about LingoWorld, visit http://www.cooori.com/lingoworld_language_learning_app_by_cooori/.
The app is also available on the iTunes App Store here. | <urn:uuid:5ef75de2-4ac0-4a74-b082-f7fa971ebfe7> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.icenews.is/2013/01/22/new-app-for-ipad-and-iphone-to-make-language-learning-easier/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783391519.2/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154951-00062-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.935832 | 279 | 2.5625 | 3 |
Although rare in Southern California, tsunamis can be extremely deadly. All low-lying coastal areas, including the Los Angeles Harbor, Venice and West Los Angeles beaches, are vulnerable. Here are some steps you can take to prepare.
Learn the natural warning signs of a tsunami: an earthquake, water receding or surging out to sea, water surging inland and a loud roaring sound coming from the ocean.
- Prepare "Go-Kits" for your home, automobile and work. Click here to find out what you should have in a "Go-Kit."
- If you live or work in the Tsunami Evacuation Area, Los Angeles strongly urges you to purchase a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration weather radio with an alert feature and Specific Area Message Encoding to keep you informed of Tsunami Watches and Warnings.
- Check the tsunami evacuation maps below or at the City of Los Angeles Emergency Management Department to see if you live, work or attend school in the Tsunami Evacuation Area. Plan an evacuation route from your home, school, workplace or any other place you frequently visit that is at risk for a tsunami.
When you should evacuate
In the event of a tsunami, Tsunami Watches and Warnings will be issued by NOAA. Radio and TV stations will carry official shoreline evacuation instructions through the Emergency Alert System. A local tsunami may not allow sufficient time to issue a warning. Therefore, swift action is necessary.
- When a Tsunami Warning is issued, or if you feel a strong earthquake at or near the beach or harbor, move away from low-lying coastal areas.
- Evacuate immediately if you are within the Tsunami Evacuation Area on the Tsunami Evacuation Map. Follow evacuation routes and instructions to a safer location.
- If time permits, Los Angeles city officials may order an evacuation. If an evacuation is ordered and time permits, law enforcement officials will notify the public to evacuate the Tsunami Evacuation Area. However, it is best to evacuate immediately after the Tsunami Warning is issued since traffic jams may occur.
If children are in school:
- Los Angeles Unified School District schools within the Tsunami Evacuation Area will activate their existing Safe School Plans when a Tsunami Warning is issued.
- If an evacuation is ordered and time permits, the schools inside the Tsunami Evacuation Area will be evacuated to another LAUSD school outside the evacuation area.
- Following the evacuation, you will be notified when and where to pick up your children.
Where you should evacuate to
Follow evacuation instructions. As you evacuate, listen to your car radio or check the Emergency Management Department's Twitter for additional information and updates. Do not call 911. Be sure to take your "Go-Kit."
- Move inland to higher ground. Move out of and away from the Tsunami Evacuation Area as quickly as possible. Evacuation routes are shown in red on the Tsunami Evacuation Map.
- If you are on the beach and unable to get to high ground, go inland as far as you can.
- If you are unable to get far enough inland, try to find refuge above the third floor in a high-rise steel-reinforced building.
- If you're in a boat in shallow waters or harbors, move to deep water (600 feet or more) if there is enough time and weather conditions are suitable.
- Do not return home until authorities say it is safe to do so.
Interactive tsunami evacuation maps
Below are maps of the three coastal areas – West Los Angeles, Los Angeles Harbor and Venice – that are most vulnerable to tsunamis.
West Los Angeles
View West Los Angeles evacuation map in a larger map
Los Angeles Harbor
View Harbor Area evacuation map in a larger map
View Venice Evacuation map in a larger map
What you should have in a "Go-Kit" in case of an evacuation
At the least, include three days worth of:
- Food and water
- Medications and copies of prescriptions
- Change of clothes and comfortable shoes
- Personal hygiene and first aid supplies
- Special items such as diapers, formula or special food requirements
- Pet carrier, leash and pet food
- Copies of your important documents
Keep the items that you would most likely need for evacuation in a backpack, duffel bag or wheeled cooler in an easily accessible location. | <urn:uuid:814f51f1-2131-48f3-ab52-d7af27a2c269> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.scpr.org/news/2011/03/23/25213/how-to-prepare-for-a-tsunami-and-a-map-of-tsunami-/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783391766.5/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154951-00055-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.912554 | 925 | 2.859375 | 3 |
Facade: the nave and side aisles each with decorated portal
Overall church construction started in 1292, making this one of the first "hall churches" in this area (more on that on the following page). As obvious from the picture above, we have a work in progress: the top half of the facade was never finished. The lower half from the 15th century fared better. Its 5 carved cylinders spiral around the central doorway with exquisitely carvings.
Franciscans started building this church in 1292. Work stopped in 1348 when nearly half of Todi was wiped out by the plague. Giovanni da Santuccio and his nephew Bartolo from Firenzuola served as architects for the facade which started construction in 1420 and never finished. By the end of the century, Todi ran out of money and energy from fighting its neighbor city-states.The niche at left holds a statue of the archangel Gabriel of Annunciation fame. This may be the work of the Tuscan genius Jacopo della Quercia, who around this time was the supervising architect at Sienna's cathedral construction.
Guarding the steps for a millennium stand two weathered lions
A church to Todi's patron and first bishop San Fortunato
had been here before. These travertine lions were used in
the original Benedictine Vallumbrosan church and possibly
date back to the 7th century.[16-38]
They need a little work.
Inside, this hall church is spacious and sun-lit, creating a brilliant space for the Franciscans to preach. Join us there by clicking here.
Geek and Legal Stuff
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.5 License.
This page has been tested in Internet Explorer 7.0 and Firefox 2.0.
Created on May 15, 2008 corrected November 15,2009 | <urn:uuid:5dab0e6b-997f-4721-b7f1-008e83beb248> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.fmschmitt.com/travels/Italy/umbria/todi/images-san-fortunato/sanfortunato-exterior.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783396147.66/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154956-00120-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.94563 | 399 | 2.8125 | 3 |
1. The economy isn’t a zero sum game. There are numerous examples (including post-apartheid South Africa) that demonstrate the downward slope of the demand curve isn’t as precipitous as some imagine. But here’s a good one from Benjamin Powell, an Assistant Professor of Economics at Suffolk University and a Senior Economist at the Beacon Hill Institute: “Since 1950, there has been massive entry of women, baby boomers, and immigrants into the work force. Yet there has been no long-term increase in the unemployment rate.” … “In 1950, the unemployment rate was 5.2 percent, and in 2007, the year before the current recession started, the unemployment rate was 4.6 percent.” This is partly because careers that never existed in the past can be created (one small example: How many bloggers existed in 1950?)
2. This is not to say there won’t be problems, but the negative impact is exaggerated. According to George J. Borjas, Professor of Economics and Social Policy at the Harvard Kennedy School, the long-run effect on native wages is zero. The only cohort significantly impacted in the short-term are high school dropouts, whose wages are reduced by 8.2 percent.
3. A surprise finding?: Immigration encourages Americans to stay in school. The fact that high school dropouts are hurt could be seen by some as a feature, not just a bug. According to Rutgers Professor Jennifer Hunt, a “natives’ probability of completing 12 years of education is increased by immigration” and that the “net e ffect is composed in part of the additional incentive to complete 12 years provided by the presence of unskilled adult immigrants in the labor market…” (This makes sense. If a native-born American thinks he can get a good-paying job without a high school degree, he has less incentive to graduate.)
4. Even assuming the downside, don’t forget the upside. Assuming immigrants decrease the wages of those without high school diplomas in the short term, it also stands to reason that others benefit from the cheaper products and services. A middle class family who can pay less for getting the house painted or for a nanny obviously has more money left over to spend or to save. Likewise, if businesses profit more they can build more factories, afford to hire more workers, etc. But we fail to appreciate these benefits. As Powell notes, “It’s a classic example of Bastiat’s ‘what is seen and what is not.’ Everyone can see when an immigrant takes a job that used to be held by a native-born worker. But not everyone sees the secondary consequence of the new jobs that are created because native-born labor has been freed up for more-productive uses.”
5. American employers probably need more unskilled workers. According to Michael Clemens, a senior fellow and research manager at the Washington-based Center for Global Development, “the United States will need 3 million additional workers over the next decade to fill the least-skilled jobs,” but “[o]ver the same period, the total number of U.S. workers entering the labor force at all skill levels, between the ages of 25 and 54, will be 1.7 million.” | <urn:uuid:2a441d53-856d-4dd3-94d4-ec45425f783a> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://dailycaller.com/2013/07/16/5-reasons-the-they-took-our-jobs-fear-is-exaggerated/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783399117.38/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154959-00153-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.955043 | 690 | 2.75 | 3 |
Use Assessment To Plan Instruction
In this activity, you will assess the reading and writing performance of one of your students to guide your instruction.
- Print the Student Assessment Form (PDF). Consider what you want to know about the student's performance in the different areas of literacy.
- Collect three to five performance samples or records of informal assessments. They should provide evidence of the student's strengths and needs in the following areas:
- Concepts About Print
- Word Knowledge
- Reading Fluency
- Motivation and Interest
- Analyze the assessment samples to determine the student's strengths and needs, and complete the Student Assessment Form.
Now use the assessment data collected to plan subsequent instruction to support the student's learning.
- From the assessment information, identify the areas of reading and writing in which the student requires different or additional practice.
- Develop lessons and activities that will advance the student's learning in these areas.
For example, if the student's oral reading fluency should be stronger, you might plan activities to develop fluency with simple texts (e.g., repeated readings, reading into a tape recorder, practicing reading to a younger student.)
If the student has difficulty recalling and comprehending elements of stories, you might select texts with a clear story structure (e.g., folk tales), develop lessons that focus on story elements, and provide simple story maps for the child to outline the important information.
To chart the student's progress, repeat similar assessments throughout the year and adjust instruction accordingly. Compare Assessment Forms to consider how the student has progressed.
The Running Record (PDF) and letter to next year's teacher (PDF) are also available for your reference. | <urn:uuid:d8dfab37-42ad-41a2-969e-ee1be4a7b566> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.learner.org/workshops/readingk2/session7/piip2.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783393332.57/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154953-00120-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.902603 | 343 | 3.765625 | 4 |
Raising children is not an easy job. There is so much you have to consider as a parent, not least your kid’s overall health. That is your main job and one that never leaves you regardless of their age and their ability to take care of themselves. Because it is so difficult there is always room for advice. Here are a few tips that can maintain your children’s health and keep them fit and healthy.
Staying active is the first thing that everyone thinks about when it comes to staying healthy. But, with children it is even more important because of their nature. Kids are full of energy and need to release that energy to keep an even keel. If it begins to build up, they can begin to show symptoms of stress and anxiety. All you have to do to keep them active is get them out of the house. Try walking instead of driving and enrol them in sports clubs and activities.
It is tempting to rustle up whatever you can think of for dinner because it is easy. Not only is it easy to make, but it also means you don’t have to force your kids to eat their meal! The problem is food like this tends to be junk food, which is not good. Junk food doesn’t have the proper nutrients for a growing body, so you need to prepare healthy meals. A good tip is to mix vegetables in with their food, so they don’t know they are eating them.
Talk To Someone
Talking to a doctor is a great way for children to express their thoughts and feelings. Although you are their parent’s and they love you, they won’t tell you everything. They don’t want to hurt your feelings. Allowing them to talk to a therapist or someone other than yourself, which will give them a positive mental attitude. Don’t underestimate how important a child’s mental state is.
See A Dentist
Teeth need to be maintained because you only get one go at keeping them healthy. Obviously, children are more susceptible to problems because their teeth are only just growing. While they are in their growing phase, they require a lot of attention and maintenance. Conventional dentists are more than qualified, but pediatric dentistry is an alternative if you want a specialist who just deals with kids. Whatever your choice, make sure your kids get to see a dentist once every couple of months.
Let Them Be Kids
Your kids are only young once, so they should enjoy the time. The worst way to treat a child is to burden them with issues that are beyond their reasoning. It puts too much pressure on their young shoulders and can have detrimental consequences. Let them socialise with their friends and be immature because that is what young children do best.
Obviously, your children’s health is the most important thing. These five tips are a great way of making sure that your kid’s health is never compromised. | <urn:uuid:37cbfda7-90b2-46dd-893c-488118770821> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.lifehappenswithkids.com/maintain-your-kids-overall-health-with-these-tips/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783397567.28/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154957-00033-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.980301 | 604 | 2.671875 | 3 |
Missile Defense Milestones
Dr. Donald R. Baucom
1944 - 1997
Ballistic Missile Defense Organization
- 8 Sep 44
- The Missile Age began when the first German V-2 missile struck
- The Allies developed a plan to use timed anti-aircraft artillery
barrages to defend London against incoming V-2 missiles. The plan was never implemented
because of the damage that would have been caused when unexploded artillery shells fell
back on the city.
- At the end of World War II, U.S. leaders learned of Nazi plans for
an ICBM that would have been aimed at New York City had the war continued into 1946.
- 4 Jul 45
- A delegation of American officers, which went to Europe to
investigate the use of ballistic missiles during World War II, recommended that the U.S.
undertake a research and development program to develop defenses against these new weapons.
- Dec 45
- A report by the Scientific Advisory Group of the U.S. Army Air Forces
(forerunner of the U.S. Air Force) discussed the use of missiles and a form of energy
beam to defend against missile attacks.
- 4 Mar 46
- The Army Air Forces, precursor of the U.S. Air Force, initiated two
long term studies, Projects Thumper and Wizard, that were to explore the feasibility of
developing interceptor missiles that could destroy missiles moving as fast as 4,000 miles
per hour at an altitude as high as 500,000 feet.
- 29 May 46
- The Stilwell Board Report, which had been convened in November
1945 to determine what equipment U.S. ground forces would require following World War II,
recommended the development of defenses against ballistic missiles. The report stated:
"Guided missiles, winged or nonwinged, traveling at extreme altitudes and at velocities
in excess of supersonic speed, are inevitable. Intercontinental ranges of over 3,000
miles and payload[s] sufficient to carry atomic explosive[s] are to be expected.
Remotely controlled, and equipped with homing devices designed to be attracted to sound,
metal, or heat, such missiles would be incapable of interception with any existing
equipment such as fighter aircraft and antiaircraft fire. Guided interceptor missiles,
dispatched in accordance with electronically computed data obtained from radar detection
stations, will be required."
- Sep 53
- The prospect of ICMB developments prompted the seven marshals who had
led Soviet efforts in World War II to ask the Central Committee of the Communist Party of
the Soviet Union to investigate the possible development of an ABM system. In response to
this request, a feasibility study was conducted and the determination reached that missile
defenses were possible. This led the Soviets to initiate their ABM development program at
the end of 1953.
- Using an analog computer, Bell Telephone Laboratories completed 50,000
simulated intercepts of ballistic missile targets. These simulations indicated that it
was possible to hit a missile with another missile. Up to this point, a number of
scientists said that it was impossible to intercept missiles because of their high speed.
This, they said, would be like "hitting a bullet with another bullet."
- 16 Jan 58
- Secretary of Defense Neil H. McElroy assigned primary
responsibility for the ballistic missile defense mission to the U.S. Army, ordering the
Air Force to scale back its Project Wizard and make the radar and command and control
equipment from this project compatible with the Army's Nike Zeus ballistic missile defense
- 4 Mar 61
- According to one report, the Soviets completed the first
interception and destruction of a missile warhead. An official report described this
intercept as follows:
"The V-1000 antimissile was launched according to a computer command. The
detonation of the antimissile's high-explosive fragmentation warhead was conducted at an
altitude of 25 km according to a command from earth from a computer after which, based
upon data from the film recorder, the ballistic missile warhead began to fall apart."
- 19 Jul 62
- During a test over the Pacific Ocean, a Nike Zeus missile fired
from the Army's Kwajalein test facility intercepted a dummy warhead from an Atlas ICBM.
Although the Zeus only came within two kilometers of the warhead, this was close enough
so that the nuclear warhead of a fully operational Zeus would have destroyed the ICBM
- 22 Dec 62
- A Zeus missile came within 200 meters of a reentry vehicle during
a simulated intercept over the Pacific Ocean.
- 10 Nov 66
- Secretary of Defense Robert S. McNamara informed the American
people that the Soviets were deploying their Galosh ballistic missile defense system.
- 23 Jun 67
- At the Glassboro summit, President Lyndon Johnson and Secretary of
Defense Robert McNamara tried to convince Soviet Premier Alexsei N. Kosygin that the
Soviets should abandon their effort to deploy missile defenses, for the U.S. would merely
have to add more nuclear warheads to its ICBM force to overcome these defenses. This
elicited the following response from Kosygin: "Defense is moral; offense is immoral!"
- 18 Sep 67
- Secretary of Defense Robert S. McNamara announced President Lyndon
Johnson's decision to deploy the Sentinel ballistic missile defense system. This was to
be a two-tiered defensive system that employed two interceptors: the Spartan and the
Sprint, both of which were nuclear-tipped. The Spartan intercepted warheads and decoys
outside the atmosphere. The Sprint intercepted warheads within the atmosphere where air
resistance would strip away decoys and make it easier to find the attacking warheads.
The system itself was designed to protect the U.S. from the so-called "Nth country
threat," an attack by unsophisticated ICBMs such as those the People's Republic of China
- 6 Feb 69
- Secretary of Defense Melvin Laird halted the deployment of the
Sentinel system pending the completion of a review of U.S. strategic programs by the new
administration of President Richard Nixon.
- 14 Mar 69
- President Richard Nixon announced his decision to deploy a missile
defense system designed essentially to protect U.S. ICBM fields from attack by Soviet
missiles. This system retained the same missiles that were to be deployed as part of the
Johnson administration's Sentinel system. The re-oriented missile defense system was
renamed Safeguard. The overall plan for Safeguard included the option to expand the
system so that it could become a population defense against the "Nth country threat."
- 26 May 72
- U.S. President Richard Nixon and Soviet General Secretary Leonid
Brezhnev signed the SALT I agreements which include the ABM Treaty. This treaty limited
the Soviets and the U.S. to the deployment of two ABM sites, each having 100 interceptors.
One site was to guard an ICBM field, the other would protect the national command
authorities at each nation's capital city. A 1974 protocol reduced the number of
permitted sites to one.
- In view of technical limitations and the restrictions on missile
defenses contained in the ABM Treaty, Congress ordered the Army to close down the
Safeguard system, scarcely four months after it had become operational. The Soviets
continued to maintain their own ABM system near Moscow. At the same time, Congress
directed the Army to re-orient its missile defense program from one designed to produce
a follow-on system to Safeguard to a program of R&D that was to serve as a hedge against
a possible Soviet breakout from the ABM Treaty. There were at least two major problems
with the Safeguard system. First, its large phased array radars were vulnerable to
destruction by Soviet missiles. Destruction of these radar systems would blind the
defensive system. Additionally, when the nuclear warheads on defending Spartan and Sprint
missiles were detonated, these explosions themselves would also blind the radar systems.
- The U.S. Army pushed the development of technologies that made
possible a revolution in missile defense interceptors. These interceptors could destroy
their targets by actually colliding with them. This eliminated the need for nuclear
warheads and thus solved one of the major problems with the earlier Safeguard missile
- 31 Jul 79
- Ronald Reagan, Republican presidential hopeful, visited the NORAD
Command Post under Cheyenne Mountain near Colorado Springs. Here, Reagan saw a
demonstration of the command and control facilities the U.S. would use to alert U.S.
retaliatory forces and the American people in case of nuclear war. He was upset to learn
that there was nothing the U.S. could do to defend itself against missile attacks.
Shortly after this, he decided to make missile defenses a part of his national security
policy if he were elected president.
- 8 Jan 82
- A group of private advisors headed by Mr. Karl R. Bendetsen briefed
President Reagan in the Oval Office, recommending that he launch an emergency national
program to develop missile defenses. This effort should be patterned after the Manhattan
District Project that produced America's atomic bomb during World War II.
- 11 Feb 83
- After months of considering the strategic issues raised by
America's inability to field the MX missile as a response to the growing ability of the
Soviets to deliver an effective first strike against U.S. ICBMs, the Joint Chiefs
unanimously recommended to President Reagan that the U.S. begin to pursue a national
security strategy that would place increased emphasis on strategic defenses.
- 23 Mar 83
- President Ronald Reagan announced his decision to launch a major
new R&D program to see if it might be feasible to deploy effective missile defenses at
some point in the future.
- 25 Mar 83
- The policy announced in the 23 March speech was formalized in
National Security Decision Directive 85.
- 18 Apr 83
- President Reagan issued guidance calling for the completion of a
two-part study. One study would assess the state of missile defense technology and
recommend a technology program for the new missile defense program. The second part would
assess the strategic and policy implications of such a program. The first study became
known as the Defensive Technologies Study or the Fletcher Report, and the second study
became known as the Future Security Strategy Study (sometimes called the Hoffman Report).
- Oct 83
- The Future Security Strategy Study (FSSS) was completed. This study
consists of a series of papers that were completed by two groups: an interagency group
headed by Mr. Franklin C. Miller, assistant secretary of defense for strategic forces
policy, and a group of contractor personnel headed by Mr. Fred S. Hoffman of Pan
Heuristics Corporation. Mr. Miller served as the overall study director. Among the major
findings of these two groups were the idea that missile defenses could enhance deterrence
(Miller group) and the view that an anti-tactical ballistic missile system could serve as
a useful first step toward a national missile defense system (Hoffman group).
- Oct 83
- The first version of the Defensive Technologies Study or Fletcher
Report was completed. The final version did not appear until February 1984. This report
outlined two models for the new missile defense research program ordered by the President.
The favored program was to be technology constrained and called for a funding level of
$1.405 billion in 1984, $2.385 billion in 1985, $3.43 billion in 1986, $4.284 billion in
1987, $4.623 billion in 1988, and $4.766 in 1989. The alternative program was funded at
a lower level and referred to as the fiscally constrained program. The recommended
program was to consist of five basic research areas: Systems; Surveillance, Acquisition,
Tracking, and Kill Assessment; Directed Energy Weapons; Kinetic Energy Weapons; and
Supporting Technologies (Survivability, Lethality, Space Power, Space Logistics;
Communications, Computers, and Software). The technology constrained program became the
guide for the Strategic Defense Initiative. Comments in the Fletcher report adumbrated
both limited missile defenses and theater missile defenses. Specifically, the report
recognized the commonality between the terminal phase of a strategic missile defense
system and more limited defensive systems.
- 6 Jan 84
- Presidential National Security Decision Directive 119 established
the Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI) to explore the possibility of developing missile
defenses as an alternative means of deterring nuclear war. The technology plan developed
by the Fletcher committee was to be the general guide for initiating this program. This
directive also made the Secretary of Defense responsible for the new program. The emphasis
in the program was to be on non-nuclear developments, although research work on defensive
nuclear devices was to continue "as a hedge against a Soviet ABM breakout."
- 27 Mar 84
- Secretary of Defense Caspar Weinberger appointed Lt. Gen. James A.
Abrahamson, U.S. Air Force, as first Director, Strategic Defense Initiative Organization
- 24 Apr 84
- Secretary Weinberger signed the first charter for SDIO. This
charter was specifically designed to be general in nature to give the organization's first
director extensive leeway in managing the program. The charter also specified that the
Director, SDIO, would report directly to the Secretary of Defense.
- 10 Jun 84
- The core of the Army's new hit-to-kill interceptor technology was
successfully demonstrated in the homing overlay experiment. In this demonstration, a test
intercept vehicle was launched from Kwajalein Missile Range aboard a modified Minuteman
rocket. Also riding on the Minuteman was an infrared sensor package and an on-board
computer. The interceptor itself carried a computer and an infrared sensor package for
guidance; it was also equipped with a kill device that resembled the folded skeleton of
an umbrella with weights attached to its ribs. Once above the atmosphere, the sensor and
computer in the Minuteman located and tracked a re-entry vehicle that had been launched
from Vandenberg AFB by a second Minuteman missile. Then, the on-board computer of the
launch rocket passed tracking data to the computer on the intercept vehicle. At the
appropriate time, the interceptor package was launched and homed in on the target using
its own infrared sensor and on-board computer. Once free of the mother ship, the kill
vehicle deployed its umbrella structure, crashed into the target vehicle, and destroyed it.
This successful intercept followed partial successes in two other test flights.
- Apr-Nov 85
- The debate over the broad versus the narrow interpretation of the
ABM Treaty began. One critical event in this early phase of the debate was a 6 October
appearance on "Meet the Press" by National Security Adviser Robert McFarlane in which he
indicated that the Reagan administration would be following the broad interpretation of
the Treaty. Nevertheless, the administration continued to follow the narrow
- 6 Sep 85
- The Mid-Infrared Advanced Chemical Laser destroyed a Titan booster
rigged to simulate the conditions of a thrusting rocket booster.
- Dec 85
- The Inter-National Research Institute completed a study of the SDIO
organization and manpower situation. The study, which was commissioned by General
Abrahamson in August 1985, was directed by Brigadier General Al Esposito, USAF (Ret).
The Esposito study found that SDIO was "critically short of the people and skills required
to carry out the responsibilities" in its charter. To overcome these difficulties, SDIO
should reorganize and establish a Federally Funded Research Center to support the
organization. The recommended organization included "two key line positions, the Deputy
for Programs and Systems and the Deputy for Technology."
- Dec 85
- The SDIO Panel on Computing in Support of Battle Management submitted
its report (the Eastport Study). The panel had been appointed
"'to devise an appropriate computational/communication response to the SDI battle
management computing problem and make recommendations for a research and technology
development program to implement the response.'"
The report concluded that
"computing resources and battle management software for a strategic defense system are
within the capabilities of the hardware and software technologies that could be developed
within the next several years." But this was a difficult task that constituted "the
paramount strategic defense problem." The report noted that the "tradeoffs necessary to
make the software task tractable are in the system architecture." The study stated that
a "promising class of system architectures" was one that was "less dependent on tight
coordination," for such an approach to the overall architecture offered "robustness,
simplicity, and the ability to infer the performance of full-scale deployment by
evaluating the performance of small parts of the system." The report also recommended the
establishment of a non-centralized National Test Bed to provide the simulation support
that would be necessary to solve the problems of battle management.
- 30 Jul 86
- General Abrahamson directed that SDIO be reorganized. The new
organizational structure featured two principal deputies: Brigadier General Malcolm
O'Neill became the Deputy for Programs and Systems, and Dr. Lou Marquet became the Deputy
for Technology. The reorganization was based upon the Esposito Study of SDIO's
organizational requirements (see Dec 85 entry above). This change in SDIO's organization
signalled the rising importance being assigned to system/architectural designs and was an
indication that SDIO was resolving some of the technical issues it faced when the program
- Aug 86
- SDIO and the military services signed a charter establishing the
National Test Bed, which was to operate under the overall guidance of SDIO, which funded
the project. The charter provided for the establishment of an NTB Joint Program Office
(JPO) under executive direction of the Air Force. Through the JPO, the services were
responsible for executing the NTB program.
- 11 Sep 86
- SDIO completed the Delta 180 experiment. During this experiment,
SDIO completed what was the first equivalent of a boost phase intercept of a target.
Additionally, this experiment involved a number of sophisticated sensor experiments,
including the collection of data from space on a booster vehicle launched from the White
Sands Missile Test Range in New Mexico.
- 11-12 Oct 86
- U.S. President Ronald Reagan and U.S.S.R. President Mikhail
Gorbachev held their second summit meeting at Reykjavik, Iceland. During this meeting,
Gorbachev pressed Reagan heavily to accept limitations on the SDI program as a
pre-condition for other agreements restricting offensive arms. Reagan refused to accept
Gorbachev's proposed restrictions on SDI.
- Nov 86
- The germination of the concept for Brilliant Pebbles occurred in
discussions between Lowell Wood and Greg Canavan. There were antecedents of this
interceptor concept in the interceptor program carried out by the U.S. Army in the
seventies and early eighties, but it was Wood specifically who became the leading champion
of "brilliant" technologies as the answer to problems posed by the costliness and
vulnerability of space-based missile defense systems. "Brilliant" technologies refers to
the use of powerful, miniaturized computers and miniaturized sensors to give the
capabilities previously possessed only by large, expensive satellites to much smaller,
- 4 Dec 86
- While attending a meeting of NATO's defense ministers in Brussels,
Secretary of Defense Caspar Weinberger announced the award of seven SDI contracts for the
first phase of a theater missile defense architectural study competition. Contracts of
$2 million were awarded to each of seven European and American prime contractor teams
which were to complete their work by July 1987. They would then compete for further
contracts based on the results of their phase one studies.
- May 87
- The SDIO staff moved into new facilities that had been constructed
for it under the Pentagon concourse where the old bus tunnels used to be. Prior to this
time, the bulk of the staff was housed in the Matomic Building in downtown Washington D.C.
- 11 May 87
- Judge Abraham D. Sofaer, State Department Legal Advisor, completed
his study of how the ABM Treaty affected the SDI program. The report was released on
13 May. Briefly, Sofaer concluded that the Treaty did not preclude testing of space-based
missile defense systems, including directed energy weapons.
- Jun/Jul 87
- The Defense Acquisition Board of the Office of the Secretary of
Defense conducted its first review of the SDI program. A second review was held in
September. As a result, the Phase I baseline architecture was approved and six specific
components of the SDI program were authorized to enter the demonstration and validation
stage of the acquisition process.
- 29 Jul 87
- The SDI Organization and the Army's Strategic Defense Command
announced the selection of five phase I contractor teams which were to be invited to
participate in the second phase of the SDI Theater Missile Defense Architecture Study.
Contracts were expected to be completed in September with each team having until July
1988 to refine its architectural concept. The value of each contract was to very from
$4.5 million to $7 million depending upon the exercise of contract options.
- Nov 87
- Lowell Wood briefed General James Abrahamson on the interceptor
concept that eventually became Brilliant Pebbles.
- 4 Nov 87
- A Patriot with the PAC-2 modifications successfully destroyed
another Patriot missile that was simulating the flight of an SS-23 missile.
- 19 Jan 88
- Senator Sam Nunn (D-GA) delivered a speech to the Arms Control
Association calling for a reorientation of the SDI program. Nunn called for the new SDI
program to focus first on developing a "limited system for protecting against accidental
and unauthorized missile launches." A longer range goal of the program would be to
develop a more comprehensive defensive system.
- Spring 88
- The National Test Facility (NTF) was activated in temporary
facilities at Falcon Air Force Base near Colorado Springs. On 23 March 1988, the ground
was broken to begin construction of the permanent research building for the NTF, which was
also to be located at Falcon Air Force Base. Eighteen months after the ground breaking,
the building was completed.
- 30 Sep 88
- The SDI Organization was realigned. Among the major changes was
the addition of several new positions. A chief of staff was added to oversee the
activities of the SDIO staff. The addition of a chief engineer ensured the many
engineering tasks and analysis efforts would receive the top-level management attention
they required. Another major change was the creation of the Resource Management
Directorate by merging the Comptroller and Support Services Directorates, a move designed
to increase management efficiency. In another part of the change, the Programs and
Systems Deputate was redesignated the Systems Deputate. Within this last office, a major
goal of the reorganization was to achieve better integration and management of the six
SDS Phase I elements by placing them under the Phase I program office within the Systems
Deputate. A further change involved giving the Architectures and Analysis Directorate,
which was formerly the Follow-On Phase Architectures Directorate, additional strength so
that it could better address "alternative and innovative architectures."
- 1 Feb 89
- Lt. Gen. George L. Monahan, Jr., became the second director of the
Strategic Defense Initiative Organization, succeeding General Abrahamson who retired at
the end of January.
- 9 Feb 89
- General Abrahamson's end of tour report contained a strong
recommendation of the Brilliant Pebbles concept. Abrahamson stated that an entire
space-based architecture based on Brilliant Pebbles could be deployed in five years for a
cost of no more than $25 billion.
- 3 Mar 89
- President George H. W. Bush ordered a general review of U.S.
national defense strategy.
- 14 Jun 89
- Based upon his administration's review of U.S. security
requirements, President Bush concluded that the goals of the SDI program were generally
sound and that the program should continue in such a way as to offer the possibility of
a deployment decision in the next few years. Emphasis in this effort was to be directed
toward perfecting boost-phase kill technologies such as Brilliant Pebbles. In support of
these directions, Bush directed DOD to carry out an independent review of the SDI program
and to have this review finished in the fall of 1989.
- Summer 89
- Four major studies of the Brilliant Pebbles concept were carried
out, including a review by the JASONs. The general conclusion of these studies was that
Brilliant Pebbles was a promising, technically feasible concept that could provide the
solution to cost and vulnerability problems of the space-based elements of the Phase I
Strategic Defense System architecture.
- Dec 89
- At the request of Secretary of Defense Richard Cheney, Ambassador
Henry F. Cooper agreed to carry out the independent review of the SDI program that
President Bush had called for as a result of his administration's review of national
- 15 Mar 90
- Ambassador Henry F. Cooper submitted the report of his independent
survey of the SDI program. Here, Cooper endorsed the concept of Brilliant Pebbles and
spelled out the concept that became the system for Global Protection Against Limited
- 30 Jun 90
- Lt. Gen. George L. Monahan, Jr., retired from the Air Force.
- 10 Jul 90
- President George Bush appointed Ambassador Henry F. Cooper to the
position of Director, Strategic Defense Initiative Organization.
- 2 Aug 90
- Iraq invaded Kuwait.
- 24 Oct 90
- The FY 1991 Appropriations Conference Committee Report, H. Rep.
101-938 called for the Secretary of Defense to establish a centrally managed Theater
Missile Defense (TMD) program funded at $218.249 million for FY 1991. The conference
committee report also required the Defense Department to accelerate R&D on theater and
tactical ballistic missile defense systems. While Congress recognized that it was too
early to determine the baseline for a tactical ballistic missile defense (TMD) system,
it asked the Secretary of Defense to submit a plan by 1 March 1991 for determining a TMD
baseline system and then developing and fielding this system. Once determined, this plan
was to be funded fully in DOD's Six Year Defense Program (1992-1997). Furthermore, the
plan was to take account of Air Force and Navy requirements and include participation of
- 9 Nov 90
- The Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition assigned to SDIO the
responsibility for the Defense Department's centrally managed Theater Missile Defense
- 17 Jan 91
- U.S.-led coalition forces in the Middle East began military
operations against Iraqi forces.
- 18 Jan 91
- According to press reports, for the first time in history, an
anti-missile missile intercepted and destroyed a ballistic missile under combat conditions.
A Patriot air defense missile destroyed an Iraqi Scud missile that was attacking a U.S.
air base in Saudi Arabia. The crew that fired the Patriot missile was led by First
Lieutenant Charles McMurtrey of Montgomery, Alabama. The Patriot was launched against
the Scud at 4:28 a.m. local time. A reporter for the Los Angeles Times wrote: "The age
of 'Star Wars' had arrived." After the end of the Gulf War, questions were raised about
whether or not this first "kill" actually occurred. This was part of a general public
debate about the operational effectiveness of the Patriot system that began soon after
hostilities ended and continued for about two years.
- 29 Jan 91
- In his State of the Union Address, President Bush formally
announced the shift in focus in the SDI program to the concept known as Global Protection
Against Limited Strikes. The president stated:
"I have directed that the Strategic Defense Initiative program be refocused on providing
protection from limited ballistic missile strikes, whatever their source. Let us pursue
an SDI program that can deal with any future threat to the United States, to our forces
overseas and to our friends and allies."
- 25 Feb 91
- A Scud missile struck a barracks housing Army reservists, killing
28 soldiers. Later, a monument was constructed at the entrance to the headquarters of the
14th Quartermaster Detachment at Greensburg, Pennsylvania, in honor of 13 of the 28 people
- 30 Mar 91
- The Defense Department dispatched the Theater Missile Defense
Report to Congress. This report was submitted in response to directions contained in the
FY 1991 Appropriations Conference Committee Report (see 24 Oct 90 entry above). This
report informed Congress that the SDIO would be the centralized management office for the
theater and tactical missile defense programs and advised that SDIO would establish a
"managerial position as Deputy for TMD, equal in status to the Deputies for technology and
strategic programs." This new office was established as part of the reorganization
announced on 15 March by SDIO Director Ambassador Henry Cooper.
- 23 Apr 91
- General Donald Kutyna, USAF, commander of the U.S. Space Command,
told the Senate Armed Services Committee that U.S. control of space enhanced the
effectiveness of coalition forces during the Persian Gulf War. The U.S. must plan in the
future on having the means to control space by attacking the space assets of a possible
enemy. The general also pointed out that General Norman Schwarzkof, commander of the
coalition's forces, was able to move his troops without the movements being detected by
the Iraqis because of our control of air and the fact that Iraq had no space
- 28 Apr-6 May 91
- At 7:33 AM EST on 28 April, the space shuttle Discovery
blasted off from Cape Canaveral with several major SDIO experiments aboard. The launch,
originally scheduled for 26 February, had been delayed because of a number of difficulties
with the space shuttle. One of the more interesting facets of the experiments carried out
on this mission was the shuttle's execution of a maneuver known as the "Malarkey Milkshake."
This maneuver was part of an experiment that observed the firing of the shuttle's engines
against various backgrounds, e.g., against the earth, against black space, against the
earth's limb, etc. Planners for this experiment had expected to get a minimum of six
views of the shuttle's engines firing and hoped for as many as twelve; they actually
observed the firing engines seventeen times. The shuttle mission ended at 2:56 p.m. EDT
on 6 May when the Discovery landed at Cape Canaveral.
- 5 Dec 91
- President George Bush signed into law H.R. 2100, the "National
Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Years 1992 and 1993." That portion of H.R. 2100
dealing with missile defenses was known as the Missile Defense Act of 1991. This act
required the Defense Department to "aggressively pursue the development of advanced
theater missile defense systems, with the objective of down selecting and deploying such
systems by the mid-1990s." Additionally, DOD was to "develop for deployment by the
earliest date allowed by the availability of appropriate technology or by fiscal year
1996 a cost-effective, operationally effective, and ABM Treaty-compliant antiballistic
missile system at a single site as the initial step toward deployment of an antiballistic
missile system." This system was to be "designed to protect the United States against
limited ballistic missile threats, including accidental or unauthorized launches or Third
- 8 Dec 91
- Three Soviet republics (Russia, Ukraine, and Byelorussia) formed
a commonwealth and declared Gorbachev's government "dead." This effectively marked the
demise of the Soviet Union and the end of the Cold War.
- 1 May 92
- Ambassador Henry Cooper concluded a memorandum of agreement with
the secretaries of the military services that established the organizational structures
and procedures for handling the acquisition of the GPALS system as DOD moved ahead with
deploying missile defenses in accordance with instructions contained in the Missile
Defense Act of 1991. Among the more important provisions of this MOA were that SDIO would
establish a General Manager's function, headed by a three-star general, that would be
responsible for working with the military services in the management of procurement
actions. The General Manager would work through GPALS program executive officers (PEO)
that each military service would appoint. The PEOs were to be of flag rank. Each PEO was
to have authority over all program managers within his or her service who were completing
SDI work in accordance with program management agreements worked out between SDIO and the
- 2 Jul 92
- Secretary of Defense Richard Cheney dispatched to Congress the
180-Day Report required by the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Years 1992
and 1993. This report outlined the Defense Department's acquisition strategy in support
of the deployment goals set by the Missile Defense Act of 1991. This strategy would allow
the U.S. to deploy a user operational evaluation system (UOES) to provide limited
protection of the U.S. by 1997. Where theater missile defenses were concerned, the basic
strategy was to upgrade existing defensive capabilities such as those possessed by the
Patriot and then to produce an advanced, new generation system with greater range and
effectiveness. The advanced system was to be the Theater High Altitude Area Defense
(THAAD), which was to have a contingency capability as early as 1996.
- 1 Oct 92
- House and Senate Conferees agreed to the provisions that were to
be included in the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 1993. This law
amended the Missile Defense Act of 1991 by placing more emphasis on treaty compliance in
any National Missile Defense the U.S. might choose to deploy and by eliminating the target
date of 1996 for deployment of the initial NMD site. Finally, the requirement to deploy
advanced theater missile defenses by the mid-1990s was eliminated and replaced with a
requirement to develop advanced theater missile defense systems for deployment.
- Dec 92
- Program management responsibility for Brilliant Pebbles was
transferred to the Air Force. All changes associated with the transition were to be
completed by 30 September 1993.
- 10 Dec 92
- SDIO, U.S. Space Command, and the U.S. Air Force signed a
memorandum of agreement that started the process of transferring ownership of the
National Test Facility to the Air Force, with the final transfer coming at a later time
as agreed to by the three signatories to the agreement.
- 7 Jan 93
- Ambassador Henry F. Cooper, director SDIO, submitted a letter of
resignation to President George Bush, with the resignation to be effective 20 January.
- 20 Jan 93
- William Jefferson Clinton was sworn in as the forty-second
president of the United States.
- 13 May 93
- Secretary of Defense Les Aspin announced that the Strategic
Defense Initiative Organization was being redesignated the Ballistic Missile Defense
Organization to reflect the new focus in DOD's missile defense program and the new way in
which the program would be managed. The major change in management was that the
organization would no longer report directly to the secretary of defense, but rather to
the under secretary of defense for acquisition. Concerning the refocusing of the program,
Secretary Aspin noted that the end of the Cold war meant that the U.S. no longer faced the
threat of a massive Soviet attack such as that the SDI program had concentrated on. Now,
the U.S. faced theater ballistic missiles in the hands of Third World dictators; these
missiles could pose a threat to our forces and to the forces and peoples of our allies.
Additionally, in the future, the U.S. could "face hostile or irrational states that have
both nuclear warheads and ballistic missile technology that could reach the United
States. . . . That's why we've made theater ballistic missile defense our first priority
to cope with the new dangers of the post-Cold War era." The next priority was developing
defenses for the American people.
- 4 Aug 93
- Secretary of Defense Les Aspin announced that President Clinton has
nominated Major General Malcolm O'Neill, BMDO Acting Director, for the position of BMDO
Director with promotion to lieutenant general. General O'Neill's appointment had to be
approved by the Senate.
- 1 Sep 93
- Secretary of Defense Les Aspin announced the results of the
Bottom-Up Review which laid out America's national security plans for the five year period
between FY95 to FY99. Where the ballistic missile defense program was concerned, primary
emphasis was to be placed on Theater Missile Defense, which was to receive $12 billion.
National Missile Defense was to receive $3 billion, with the remaining $3 billion split
between Follow-On Technology and Research and Support.
- 19 Nov 93
- The U.S. Senate confirmed Major General Malcolm R. O'Neill for the
position of Director, Ballistic Missile Defense Organization, and approved his promotion
to lieutenant general. O'Neill was promoted on 22 November during a ceremony in the
offices of BMDO.
- 30 Nov 93
- The Army carried out a successful test of the Extended Range
Interceptor (ERINT) at the White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico. The ERINT collided
with the warhead of a STORM target vehicle. This warhead contained a cluster of 38
pressurized, water-filled containers designed to simulate toxic chemical submunitions.
- 11 Feb 94
- The Army System Acquisition Review Council selected the Extended
Range Interceptor (ERINT) over the Patriot multi-mode missile to be the missile in the
PAC-3 theater missile defense program.
- 15 Feb 94
- An Extended Range Interceptor (ERINT) hit a ballistic missile
target vehicle in a test conducted at the White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico.
The target was a nose cone carrying a simulated chemical warhead.
- 11 May 94
- A Scud missile struck the North Yemen city of Sanaa at 1 a.m.
today causing fifty-three casualties. As many as twenty-five of these people may have
- 10 Feb 96
- Program Budget Decision 224 was issued. This PBD reflected the
results of a general OSD review of the BMD program. It called for a reduction of about
$2.4 billion in the FYDP for missile defenses with the bulk of the cuts ($2 billion)
coming in the program for the Theater High Altitude Area Defense system.
- Mar 96
- The Peoples' Republic of China (PRC) fired four M-9 missiles that
landed in the vicinity of Taiwan. These firings were part of military maneuvers designed
to influence Taiwanese elections, which the PRC feared might harden Taiwanese resistance
to re-union with mainland China.
- 9 Apr 96
- Dr. Paul Kaminski, Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and
Technology, directed the BMDO Director to establish a Joint Program Office to manage the
deployment readiness program for national missile defense.
- 31 May 96
- LTG Malcolm R. O'Neill, BMDO Director, retired after thirty-four
years of military service.
- 26 Jun 96
- Secretary of Defense William Perry announced that Lt. Gen. Lester
G. Lyles, USAF, had been nominated to the Senate for the position of Director, Ballistic
Missile Defense Organization. At the time of his nomination, General Lyles was serving as
Commander of the Air Force Materiel Command's Space and Missile Systems Center at Los
Angeles Air Force Base, California. The General's appointment was confirmed by the
Senate on 2 August.
- 20 Aug 96
- The Israelis completed a successful test of the Arrow II
(Hetz-2) anti-ballistic missile. During this test the Arrow II missile destroyed a
target missile that was an Arrow I, modified so that its radar cross section and warhead
matched that of a Scud missile. The target missile was launched from a barge in the
Mediterranean Sea about four minutes before the launching of the Arrow II missile from an
Israeli air force base on the coast of Israel about ten kilometers away. Israel's Green
Pine fire control radar participated in this test and was apparently able to track the
- Nov 96
- The U.S. Army fielded an improved version of the Patriot PAC-2
system that included the class 2M radios of the Joint Tactical Information Distribution
System (JTIDS). This gave the Patriot system the ability to use Link 16, DOD's most
advanced common data link, which would allow the system to communicate with other missile
defense systems. The "configuration two" Patriot also had the capability of communicating
via Link 11, which would allow communication with the systems of NATO allies.
- 3 Dec 96
- The Defense Department hosted a special briefing for the press to
discuss the finding that data gathered by SDIO's Clementine space experiment indicated
the presence of a substantial amount of ice in the north polar region of the moon.
- 24 Jan 97
- A modified Standard Missile 2 Block IVA successfully intercepted
and destroyed a Lance missile target at the White Sands Missile Range. This was the first
successful intercept of a missile by the SM2. During the test, the interceptor
successfully transitioned from radar guidance to its infrared guidance system prior to
destroying the target with its blast fragmentation warhead. This successful test was one
of the prerequisites for moving the Navy's Theater Wide missile defense system into the
Engineering and Manufacturing Development stage of the defense acquisition process.
- 7 Feb 97
- BMDO and the U.S. Army's Space and Strategic Defense Command
carried out a test in which a Patriot Advanced Capability-2 (PAC-2) missile successfully
intercepted a theater ballistic target missile. The target missile was fired from Bigen
Island, Aur Atoll, toward the Kwajalein Atoll; the interceptor missile was fired from
Meck Island in the Kwajalein Atoll and intercepted the target missile over the Pacific
Ocean. A Patriot Guidance-Enhanced Missile was also fired at the target, but destroyed
itself because the PAC-2 missile had already destroyed the target missile. The target
missile had the characteristics of a variant of the Scud missile.
- 1 Apr 97
- BMDO established the Joint Program Office for the National Missile
Defense program after submitting to Congress the cost-benefit analysis report that was
required by the FY 1997 Defense Appropriations Conference Report. The JPO was to be
responsible for "the design, development and demonstration of an NMD system to defend
the United States from ballistic missile attack by 2003." After a 1999 system
demonstration, the JPO was to be in a position to deploy a national missile defense
system if the threat warranted such a deployment.
- 24 Jun 97
- BMDO's Joint Program Office, in conjunction with the U.S. Army's
National Missile Defense Program Office and the Air Force's 30th Space Wing, successfully
completed the first flight test (IFT-1A) of "a candidate infrared sensor designed for
possible use with the National Missile Defense (NMD) program." This sensor was produced
by Boeing North America and employed a very "sensitive infrared silicon-based focal plane
arrray." Another sensor developed by Hughes Aircraft will be tested later.
In the test of 24 June, a specially configured Minuteman II rocket, fired from
Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, lifted aloft a suite of test targets. This
launch occurred twenty-one minutes before a payload launch vehicle sent the Boeing sensor
package into space from Kwajalein Missile Range in the Republic of the Marshall Islands.
The sensor package then flew by and "looked at" the test objects, collecting an extensive
amount of data on the objects.
Following the test of the Huges sensor package that will occur later, both companies will
integrate their sensors with hardware to develop a test exoatmospheric kill vehicles (EKV).
These two EKVs will then be flown in actual intercept tests. Following these intercept
tests, one of the EKV designs will be selected for an integrated NMD flight test in late | <urn:uuid:b404d974-9fbe-4a87-ba1b-5850c62dca75> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://fas.org/spp/starwars/program/milestone.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783400572.45/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624155000-00072-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.948593 | 9,489 | 3.34375 | 3 |
The Environmental Audit Committee accused ministers of taking an "extraordinarily complacent approach" to protecting important pollinating insects such as bees.
Bees pollinate more than £1 billion worth of crops in the UK each year including fruits and vegetables such as carrots, cabbages, apples and pears.
Numbers of the insects have declined dramatically over the past 25 years and there are fears that the use of a common type of pesticides known as neonicotinoids may be playing a role.
Many countries have already implemented a ban on their use on crops and the European Commission has also attempted to restrict their use, but the British government has called for greater scientific evidence before it takes any action.
The Environmental Audit Committee said it now felt the weight of evidence now justified precautionary action to protect bees and other insects including moths, butterflies and hoverflies. | <urn:uuid:147bbb64-7990-4931-8161-da29bdee8e57> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.ontariobee.com/inside-oba/news-and-updates/telegraph-ban-pesticides-to-dave-bees-mps-urge | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783396106.25/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154956-00169-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.959027 | 174 | 2.75 | 3 |
Two men digging up a small tree in Methuen, Massachusetts, found more than just roots.
The men uncovered a wooden box, which contained nine rusty tin cans filled with $1, $2 and $20 bills. There were about $1,800 bills in all, dating from 1899 to 1929. There also were some gold and silver certificates as well as notes from local banks at the time.
It all added up to more than $100,000.
The men took the money to an antique dealer, who checked to make sure it wasn't counterfeit.
There are several theories as to who buried the treasure, including bootleggers or maybe bank robbers. | <urn:uuid:33539fc7-095c-484a-b2af-39101de56ee7> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.wtvy.com/news/headlines/1511937.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783397565.80/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154957-00192-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.988463 | 138 | 2.8125 | 3 |
English: A Zebrafish Pigment Mutant. The mutant called bleached blond was produced by insertional mutagenesis. The embryos in the picture are four days old. At the top is a wild-type embryo, below is the mutant. The mutant lacks black pigment in the melanocytes because it fails to synthesise melanin properly. | <urn:uuid:376720a9-9931-4725-8cba-566328a197a4> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://eol.org/data_objects/27701672 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783396538.42/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154956-00052-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.928255 | 69 | 2.65625 | 3 |
Twenty-five years ago this month I was in Gov. Branstad’s office to watch him sign the open enrollment legislation I had helped to get through the Legislature. My hope was that competition among the schools would ultimately improve curriculum.
In spite of my efforts to explain foundational math concepts to the Baxter school board (all of which can now be found in the national Common Core curriculum), I was unable to get them to adopt a concept-based curriculum. They were like the rest of the public schools in the state (and around the country) that also resisted efforts by individuals, like me, to get foundational concepts back into the curriculum.
Public schools not only resisted efforts of individuals, they ignored reports issued from time to time (“A Nation at Risk” being just one of them).
When the NAEP exams changed to testing for concepts rather than memorized topics in the mid-1990s, Iowa was at a loss to explain why their standing began falling (since regular dumbing down of the Iowa assessment tests showed them doing well). Continued refusal to put concepts back into the curriculum led ultimately to NCLB and the example of the national Common Core curriculum to show schools what concepts were all about.
Think of foundational concepts as like the foundation of a structure. Remove the foundation and the structure has no solid basis. Lacking a solid basis it ultimately begins falling into its component parts.
Over the course of 50 years, these component parts erode to different shapes that can no longer be put back together again. We have many abandoned buildings to serve as examples of structures that have lost their integrity as their foundation falls away.
This is what happened to education when foundational concepts were removed about fifty years ago. Topics became memorized items, and the focus of what topics to memorize was determined by “sneaking a peek” at what the Iowa assessment tests would include.
Students who struggled due to the absence of foundational concepts were labeled as “defective” so their test scores could be eliminated from the calculation of school average. Schools, understandably, did not want to abandon the cheating system they had created in the absence of foundational concepts.
When forced by the national government to adopt the national Common Core or one that was higher, the Iowa education system chose to do the following: They took the foundational concepts provided by the national government and then attempted to place their piecemeal topics on top of it as if to rebuild the structure that was lost fifty years ago with the removal of concepts.
This will not work. It will not work because the pieces (topics) have taken on a different shape since falling into separate topics after the removal of the foundation. The new shapes no longer fit together, and they interfere with the functioning of the foundational concepts as a system.
Schools need to have the option of using the national Common Core or the Iowa Core if there is to be competition, basic to the open enrollment legislation enacted 25 years ago. Only then will it be made apparent which curriculum is closer to world standards, and Iowa can move up from the 41st national percentile as the student proficiency standard. | <urn:uuid:239b6804-c598-4c95-bc42-b35637236e3b> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.newtondailynews.com/2014/01/27/math-without-concepts-like-a-building-without-its-foundation/avfa72k/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783404405.88/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624155004-00097-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.981613 | 637 | 2.671875 | 3 |
The importance of strengthening the abdominal (or "abs") cannot be overemphasized. The functions of the mid-section include flexion, lateral flexion and rotation of the torso as well as flexion of the hip. Collectively, the muscles of this region keep the abdominal organs compressed and assist in forced expiration (as during vigorous exercise).
Therefore, virtually all sports require the use of the abdominals to some degree. In addition, having a strong mid-section will remove stress that tends to build up in our lower backs from being sedentary.
Basic Anatomy and Muscular Function
The abdominal muscles can be divided into two groups: the upper and the lower. The upper abdominal wall consists of four pairs of thin muscles arranged in layers connecting the rib cage with the pelvic girdle.
The muscle fibers run in three different directions: diagonally, vertically and horizontally. This mycological arrangement helps to strengthen the abdominal wall and to stabilize the trunk.
The external obliques are the outermost covering of the three layers on both sides of the abdomen. The fibers of this broad muscle form a "\/" across the front of the abdominal area, extending diagonally downward from the lower ribs to the pubic bone. The internal obliques lie immediately under the external obliques on both sides of the abdomen.
These fibers form a "/\" (an inverted "\/") along the front of the abdominal wall, extending diagonally upward from the pubic bone to the ribs. The rectus abdominis lies on the same layer as the internal oblique. It is a long, narrow muscle that runs vertically across the front of the abdomen from the rib cage to the pubic bone. The transverse abdominis is the innermost layer of the abdominal wall. It is the thinnest of all abdominal muscles and its fibers run horizontally across the abdomen.
The following general guidelines apply when training the abdominals:
- Exercise the abs at the end of your workout. Remember, the abdominals stabilize the rib cage and aid in forced expiration. So, it would not be wise to fatigue your mid-section early in your workout since this would detract from your performance in the other exercises that involve the larger, more powerful muscles (i.e. the hips, legs and upper torso).
Exercise the upper abs before the lower abs. For example, when performing a ab crunch, a person uses his rectus abdominis and iliopsoas (or hip flexor). The iliopsoas is the "weak link" in executing a sit-up. This means that your hip flexors -- i.e. your lower abs -- will fatigue well before your upper abs.
- The Preferred exercise for the abdominals is the "crunch". A "crunch" is actually a modified sit-up with a restricted range of motion. The beginning position for a crunch is to lie on the floor and place the backs of your lower legs on a bench or a stool. The angle between your upper and lower legs should be about 90 degrees. Placing your legs on a bench or a stool in this manner will cause your iliopsoas muscle to relax, thereby reducing the load on your lumbar spine.
- Fold your arms across your chest or place your hands behind your neck and lift your head off the floor so that your chin is tucked into your chest. (You can also keep your arms flat on the floor at your sides.) To do this movement, bring your torso up as high as possible. Pause briefly in this position and then lower yourself under control to the starting position (don't let your head touch the floor). Once again, avoid throwing your arms and/or head forward as you do the exercise.
- A hanging leg raise is a productive exercise for training the iliopsoas and the lower portion of the abdominals. To assume the starting position, reach up, hang from a chin-up bar and cross your ankles. To begin the movement, simply bring your knees up to your chest, pause briefly in this position and then lower your legs under control back to the starting position.
- Once you can perform a set of 12 reps in strict form, you can increase the workload on your muscles by performing the exercise slower or by having someone apply manual resistance to your upper legs.
Perform all exercises in good form. Good form is raising your body without the use of momentum in about 1 - 2 seconds, pausing distinctly in the contracted (or mid-range) position and lowering your body under control in about 3 - 4 seconds.
This will ensure that your abdominal muscles are raising your body (rather than momentum) and that your chances of incurring an injury while strength training are minimized.
Avoid hyper-extending the spine. People frequently complain of low back pain while executing abdominal exercises. This is usually the result of having relatively weak lumbar extensors, performing the exercise incorrectly or a combination of the two. For instance, sit-ups (or any variation of a sit-up) should be performed with your knees bent and your chin tucked into your chest.
This will help keep your lower back flat, thereby reducing the amount of stress placed on it during the performance of the exercise. Under no circumstances should the so-called "Roman Chair" sit-up be done because this particular movement hyper-extends the spine and places undue stress on the low back area. In the case of weak low back muscles, strengthening exercises (such as back extensions) should be prescribed.
Keep tension on the abdominals throughout the entire duration of the exercise. As an example, your abdominals are used during the first 30 degrees of a conventional bent-knee sit-up movement (with respect to the horizontal). So, its not necessary to bring your torso all the way up to your legs.
In fact, when performing a bent-knee sit-up you should stop before your upper torso goes beyond a point that is perpendicular to the ground. In addition, don't let your head touch the sit-up board between reps. Otherwise, you'll take the tension off your abdominals allowing them to rest and momentarily recover.
Reach momentary muscular failure between 10 -15 reps (or 40 - 70 seconds). Momentary muscular failure may best be defined as that instant when it is literally impossible for you to perform another repetition in good form.
It is not necessary to perform thousands -- or even hundreds -- of repetitions in order to strengthen the abdominals. The abdominals should be treated like any other muscle group. Once an activity for the abdominals exceeds about 70 seconds in duration, it becomes a test of endurance rather than strength.
Key points for ab training (summary)
1. Train your abs like any other muscle group and don't train them on consecutive days. 3 days a week is plenty if your doing the movements correct.
2. On the top portion of any ab movement, you want to pause for a beat.
3. Control the movement and do the exercise slow.
4. Breath out and tighten the abs during the exertion of the exercise.
5. Press your lower back (flatten it) down towards the floor while crunching.
6. Place your hand behind you neck and not on your head.
7. Only crunch up for 4 to 6 inches.
8. Mix up the order for the following ab routines, but warm up the abs with the regular crunch.
U = upper abs, L = lower abs, O = obliques
|1.||Regular crunch||U||2 set for 15 reps|
|2.||Reverse crunch||L||2 sets for 15 reps|
|3.||Hanging leg raise||L||2 sets for 15 reps|
|4.||Side crunch||O||2 sets each side for 10 reps|
|5.||Regular crunch||U||1 set for 20 reps|
|1.||Regular crunch||U||2 set for 15 reps|
|2.||Twist crunch||O||2 sets each side for 10 reps|
|3.||Reverse crunch||L||2 sets for 15 reps|
|4.||Roman crunch||4.||2 set for 15 reps|
|5.||Rope Pulldown crunch||U||1 set for 20 reps|
For questions or comments please visit www.FitFranco.com
Any questions, comments or information on personal training, you can contact Joe Franco at: | <urn:uuid:514e2714-1a89-447a-b355-f8623b76e6b8> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/franco3.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783396872.10/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154956-00087-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.908283 | 1,761 | 3.546875 | 4 |
Coronary Anatomy and Blood Flow
The left and right coronary arteries and their branches lie on the surface of the heart, and therefore are sometimes referred to as the epicardial coronary vessels. These vessels distribute blood flow to different regions of the heart muscle. When the vessels are not diseased, they have a low vascular resistance relative to their more distal and smaller branches that comprise the microvascular network. As in all vascular beds, it is the small arteries and arterioles in the microcirculation that are the primary sites of vascular resistance, and therefore the primary site for regulation of blood flow. The arterioles branch into numerous capillaries that lie adjacent to the cardiac myocytes. A high capillary-to-cardiomyocyte ratio and short diffusion distances ensure adequate oxygen delivery to the myocytes and removal of metabolic waste products from the cells (e.g., CO2 and H+). Capillary blood flow enters venules that join together to form cardiac veins that drain into the coronary sinus located on the posterior side of the heart, which drains into the right atrium. There are also anterior cardiac veins and thesbesian veins drain directly into the cardiac chambers.
Although there is considerable heterogeneity among people, the following table indicates the regions of the heart that are generally supplied by the different coronary arteries. This anatomic distribution is important because these cardiac regions are assessed by 12-lead ECGs to help localize ischemic or infarcted regions, which can be loosely correlated with specific coronary vessels; however, because of vessel heterogeneity, actual vessel involvement in ischemic conditions needs to be verified by coronary angiograms or other imaging techniques.
|Anatomic Region of Heart||Coronary Artery (most likely associated)|
|Anteroseptal||Left anterior descending|
|Anteroapical||Left anterior descending (distal)|
|Posterior||Right coronary artery|
The following summarizes important features of coronary blood flow:
Flow is tightly coupled to oxygen demand. This is necessary because the heart has a very high basal oxygen consumption (8-10 ml O2/min/100g) and the highest A-VO2 difference of a major organ (10-13 ml/100 ml). In non-diseased coronary vessels, whenever cardiac activity and oxygen consumption increases, there is an increase in coronary blood flow (active hyperemia) that is nearly proportionate to the increase in oxygen consumption.
Good autoregulation between 60 and 200 mmHg perfusion pressure helps to maintain normal coronary blood flow whenever coronary perfusion pressure changes due to changes in aortic pressure.
Adenosine is an important mediator of active hyperemia and autoregulation. It serves as a metabolic coupler between oxygen consumption and coronary blood flow. Nitric oxide is also an important regulator of coronary blood flow.
Activation of sympathetic nerves innervating the coronary vasculature causes only transient vasoconstriction mediated by α1-adrenoceptors. This brief (and small) vasoconstrictor response is followed by vasodilation caused by enhanced production of vasodilator metabolites (active hyperemia) due to increased mechanical and metabolic activity of the heart resulting from β1-adrenoceptor activation of the myocardium. Therefore, sympathetic activation to the heart results in coronary vasodilation and increased coronary flow due to increased metabolic activity (increased heart rate, contractility) despite direct vasoconstrictor effects of sympathetic activation on the coronaries. This is termed "functional sympatholysis."
Parasympathetic stimulation of the heart (i.e., vagal nerve activation) elicits modest coronary vasodilation (due to the direct effects of released acetylcholine on the coronaries). However, if parasympathetic activation of the heart results in a significant decrease in myocardial oxygen demand due to a reduction in heart rate, then intrinsic metabolic mechanisms will increase coronary vascular resistance by constricting the vessels.
Progressive ischemic coronary artery disease results in the growth of new vessels (termed angiogenesis) and collateralization within the myocardium. Collateralization increases myocardial blood supply by increasing the number of parallel vessels, thereby reducing vascular resistance within the myocardium.
Extravascular compression (shown to the right) during systole markedly affects coronary flow; therefore, most of the coronary flow occurs during diastole. Because of extravascular compression, the endocardium is more susceptible to ischemia especially at lower perfusion pressures. Furthermore, with tachycardia there is relatively less time available for coronary flow during diastole to occur this is particularly significant in patients with coronary artery disease where coronary flow reserve (maximal flow capacity) is reduced.
In the presence of coronary artery disease, coronary blood flow may be reduced. This will increase oxygen extraction from the coronary blood and decrease the venous oxygen content. This leads to tissue hypoxia and angina. If the lack of blood flow is due to a fixed stenotic lesion in the coronary artery (because of atherosclerosis), blood flow can be improved within that vessel by 1) placing a stent within the vessel to expand the lumen, 2) using an intracoronary angioplasty balloon to stretch the vessel open, or 3) bypassing the diseased vessel with a vascular graft. If the insufficient blood flow is caused by a blood clot (thrombosis), a thrombolytic drug that dissolves clots may be administered. Anti-platelet drugs and aspirin are commonly used to prevent the reoccurrence of clots. If the reduced flow is due to coronary vasospasm, then coronary vasodilators can be given (e.g., nitrodilators, calcium-channel blockers) to reverse and prevent vasospasm.
RK Revised 04/06/07 | <urn:uuid:13963ee5-f9a5-4459-ae2a-c596bb5928cd> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.cvphysiology.com/Blood%20Flow/BF001.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783393997.50/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154953-00038-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.890529 | 1,226 | 3.40625 | 3 |
In education, learning objectives are brief statements that describe what students will be expected to learn by the end of school year, course, unit, lesson, project, or class period. In many cases, learning objectives are the interim academic goals that teachers establish for students who are working toward meeting more comprehensive learning standards.
Defining learning objective is complicated by the fact that educators use a wide variety of terms for learning objectives, and the terms may or may not be used synonymously from place to place. For example, the terms student learning objective, benchmark, grade-level indicator, learning target, performance indicator, and learning standard—to name just a few of the more common terms—may refer to specific types of learning objectives in specific educational contexts. Educators also create a wide variety of homegrown terms for learning objectives—far too many to catalog here. For these reasons, this entry describes only a few general types and characteristics.
While educators use learning objectives in different ways to achieve a variety of instructional goals, the concept is closely related to learning progressions, or the purposeful sequencing of academic expectations across multiple developmental stages, ages, or grade levels. Learning objectives are a way for teachers to structure, sequence, and plan out learning goals for a specific instructional period, typically for the purpose of moving students toward the achievement of larger, longer-term educational goals such as meeting course learning expectations, performing well on a standardized test, or graduating from high school prepared for college. For these reasons, learning objectives are a central strategy in proficiency-based learning, which refers to systems of instruction, assessment, grading, and academic reporting that are based on students demonstrating understanding of the knowledge and skills they are expected to learn before they progress to the next lesson, get promoted to the next grade level, or receive a diploma (learning objectives that move students progressively toward the achievement of academic standards may be called performance indicators or performance benchmarks, among other terms).
Learning objectives are also increasingly being used in the job-performance evaluations of teachers, and the term student learning objectives is commonly associated with this practice in many states. For a more detailed discussion, including relevant reforms and debates on the topic, see value-added measures and student-growth measures.
Learning objectives are also a way to establish and articulate academic expectations for students so they know precisely what is expected of them. When learning objectives are clearly communicated to students, the reasoning goes, students will be more likely to achieve the presented goals. Conversely, when learning objectives are absent or unclear, students may not know what’s expected of them, which may then lead to confusion, frustration, or other factors that could impede the learning process.
While the terminology, structure, and use of learning objectives can differ significantly from state to state or school to school, the following are a few of the major forms that learning objectives take:
- School-year or grade-level objectives: In this case, learning objectives may be synonymous with learning standards, which are concise, written descriptions of what students are expected to know and be able to do at a specific stage of their education. Grade-level learning objectives describe what students should achieve academically by the end of a particular grade level or grade span (terms such as grade-level indicators or grade-level benchmarks may be used in reference to these learning objectives or standards).
- Course or program objectives: Teachers may also determine learning objectives for courses or other academic programs, such as summer-school sessions or vacation-break programs. In this case, the objectives may be the same academic goals described in learning standards (in the case of a full-year course, for example), or they may describe interim goals (for courses that are shorter in duration).
- Unit or project objectives: Teachers may determine learning objectives for instructional units, which typically comprise a series of lessons focused on a specific topic or common theme, such as an historical period, for example. In the case of project-based learning—an instructional approach that utilizes multifaceted projects as a central organizing strategy for educating students—teachers may determine learning objectives for the end of long-term project rather than a unit.
- Lesson or class-period objectives: Teachers may also articulate learning objectives for specific lessons that compose a unit, project, or course, or they may determine learning objectives for each day they instruct students (in this case, the term learning target is often used). For example, teachers may write a set of daily learning objectives on the blackboard, or post them to an online course-management system, so that students know what the learning expectations are for a particular class period. In this case, learning objectives move students progressively toward meeting more comprehensive learning goals for a unit or course.
In practice, teachers will commonly express learning objectives in different ways to achieve different instructional goals, or to encourage students to think about the learning process is a specific way. While the minutia and nuances of pedagogical strategy are beyond the scope of this resource, the following are a few common ways that learning objectives may be framed or expressed by teachers:
- Descriptive statements: Learning objectives may be expressed as brief statements describing what students should know or be able to do by the end of a defined instructional period. For example: Explain how the Constitution establishes the separation of powers among the three branches of the United States government—legislative, executive, and judicial—and articulate the primary powers held by each branch. State learning standards, which may comprise a variety of learning objectives, are commonly expressed as descriptive statements.
- “I can” statements: Teachers may choose to express learning objectives as “I can” statements as a way to frame the objectives from a student standpoint. The basic idea is that “I can” statements encourage students to identify with the learning goals, visualize themselves achieving the goals, or experience a greater sense of personal accomplishment when the learning objectives are achieved. For example: I can explain how the Constitution establishes the separation of powers among the three branches of the United States government—legislative, executive, and judicial—and I can articulate the primary powers held by each branch.
- “Students will be able to” statements: “Students will be able to” statements are another commonly used format for learning objectives, and the abbreviation SWBAT may be used in place of the full phrase. For example: SWBAT explain how the Constitution establishes the separation of powers among the three branches of the United States government—legislative, executive, and judicial—and articulate the primary powers held by each branch.
The Glossary of Education Reform by Great Schools Partnership is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. | <urn:uuid:bc504a5d-5405-4b88-a7c4-60d7ae8d1974> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://edglossary.org/learning-objectives/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783393533.44/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154953-00119-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.943891 | 1,370 | 4.3125 | 4 |
What matters to kids and teens when it comes to the future of the United States?
Candidates are talking about the issues they think that people want to hear about. But what about what matters to kids and teens?
We asked: kids and teens when it comes to issues facing the United States, what do you feel is most important? And what kind of person do you think should be president?
Weekly Reader surveyed more than 2,000 students in grades 3 to 12 to see what matters to kids and teens.
The students shared their thoughts about the challenges that our nation faces and the upcoming, or nearing, 2012 presidential election.
At the same time, IBOPE Zogby, a national polling organization, asked adults the same questions. In some cases, kids and adults agreed. For example, kids and adults agreed that the economy and jobs were the most important issues facing our country right now.
In other cases, what matters to kids and teens is a bit different from adults.
Kids want a president who is honest. Adults are more likely to prefer a president who, above all, is as intelligent as he or she is honest. And, in general, kids feel much more hopeful about the country’s future than their parents do.
That’s how democracy works. Everyone has different ideas, and everyone does their part to make things better. In the upcoming presidential election in 2012, people will cast their vote for the candidate they think will make things better.
“Polling both adults and school kids and comparing results gives us valuable insight,” said Kjell de Orr, Chief Executive Officer of IBOPE Zogby International. “As in this case, I often find the student responses to be both pure and thoughtful, and it indicates our future is in good hands with these bright young people.”
Wyman encourages you to visit WeeklyReader.com for more information on what matters to kids and teens. | <urn:uuid:56f90545-7e7d-4bfb-86ef-3b3a33b9740b> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.howtolearn.com/2011/12/2012-election-what-matters-to-kids-and-teens | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783399385.17/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154959-00039-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.961295 | 403 | 2.6875 | 3 |
Detroit Longitudinal Study, 1967 (ICPSR 7312)
Principal Investigator(s): Aberbach, Joel; Walker, Jack
This survey asked Detroit area residents about satisfaction with their neighborhoods, police relations, racial discrimination, and perceptions of the 1967 riot and its consequences. In addition, the questionnaire measured feelings of political efficacy, political involvement, evaluations of various political personalities and social programs, and respondents' personal values and aspirations. Respondents' attitudes toward race relations were examined in a series of questions dealing with integration and separation of the races and an open-ended question that prompted respondents to define "Black power." Also included in this study are three derived measures: a general trust scale, an index assessing respondents' interpretations of the riot, and a political power index measuring respondents' perceptions of their ability to affect local and national laws. Questions also elicited background information, such as composition of respondents' parental families, level of education of parental figures, father's occupation, and parental influence on the respondents' job choices. Region and size of place of residence during childhood were also ascertained, as well as how long the respondent had lived in Detroit. Demographic data include age, sex, race, marital status, education and technical training, occupation, employment history, union membership, and service in the Armed Forces for the head of household. In all cases Black respondents were interviewed by Black interviewers and white respondents were interviewed by white interviewers.
These data are available only to users at ICPSR member institutions. Because you are not logged in, we cannot verify that you will be able to download these data.
Aberbach, Joel, and Jack Walker. DETROIT LONGITUDINAL STUDY, 1967. Conducted by Lafayette Clinic, Detroit. ICPSR ed. Ann Arbor, MI: Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research [producer and distributor], 1974. http://doi.org/10.3886/ICPSR07312.v1
Persistent URL: http://doi.org/10.3886/ICPSR07312.v1
Scope of Study
Subject Terms: aspirations, Black power, Black White relations, childhood, Detroit riots (1967), educational background, family life, military service, neighborhoods, parental influence, political attitudes, police performance, political efficacy, political participation, public opinion, race relations, racial attitudes, riots, social attitudes, social problems, social status, trust in government, voting behavior, values
Geographic Coverage: Detroit, Michigan, United States
Date of Collection:
Universe: People 16 years of age or older living in dwelling units in the city of Detroit, in Hamtramck and Highland Park (cities entirely enclosed within Detroit), and in Grosse Pointe, Grosse Pointe Farms, Grosse Pointe Shores, Grosse Pointe Woods, Grosse Pointe Park, and Harper Woods (communities forming a wedge between the east side of Detroit and Lake St. Clair).
Data Types: survey data
Sample: Random sample (N=538), supplemented with a special sample (N=309) randomly drawn from the areas of Detroit where fires related to the 1967 civil disturbance were located.
Extent of Processing: ICPSR data undergo a confidentiality review and are altered when necessary to limit the risk of disclosure. ICPSR also routinely creates ready-to-go data files along with setups in the major statistical software formats as well as standard codebooks to accompany the data. In addition to these procedures, ICPSR performed the following processing steps for this data collection:
- Standardized missing values.
- Checked for undocumented or out-of-range codes.
Original ICPSR Release: 1984-03-18
Related Publications (?)
- Citations exports are provided above.
Export Study-level metadata (does not include variable-level metadata) | <urn:uuid:0b6b7db2-bb5c-4f40-90c5-5712a0e55e87> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.icpsr.umich.edu/icpsrweb/ICPSR/studies/7312?geography=Detroit | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783402746.23/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624155002-00138-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.905955 | 796 | 2.640625 | 3 |
Source: Family Records or genealogies of the first settlers of Passaic Valley and Vicinity above Chatham, with their ancestors and descendants, as far as could be ascertained in 1851. By John Littell, 1851.
Tradition in the Whitaker family says that three brothers embarked in England for America; that the ship in which they embarked was cast away, and but one of the three arrived; whose name was Jonathan Whitaker, who settled in New England; his wife's name was Elizabeth. They had children: (2d Gen.)
1. Nathaniel, who married Miss Smith.
2. Eliphalet married Ruth Bailey.
3. Elizabeth married Stephen Ogden, of Basking Ridge.
4. Mary married, 1st, Samuel Brown; 2d, Ebenezer White.
5. Jonathan, Jun. married Mary Miller.
Nathaniel Whitaker became a presbyterian minister, and settled in Norwich, Connecticut: he was sent in 1764 or 65, with Mr. Samuel Occum, an Indian preacher, to England, to collect funds for "Moore's Charity School," of Lebanon, an Indian school.
Jonathan Whitaker, Sen. removed with his family, (except Nathaniel,) from New England to New Jersey, and purchased of Thomas Penn and Richard Penn, proprietors of the Province of Pennsylvania, (by Richard Peters and Lynford Lardner, their attornies and agents,) for the sum of £225, lawful money of the State of New Jersey, a tract of land, lying on both sides of Mine Brook, in Somerset county, 407 1/2 acres, by deed bearing date 19th December, 1752; and by writing of transfer on the back of said deed, bearing date 7th day of July, 1763, for the sum of £625, current money, of East New Jersey, at eight shillings per ounce, he conveyed to Jonathan Whitaker, Jun his eldest son, the whole of the aforesaid tract of 407 1/2 acres, excepting about 163 acres previously sold and conveyed to his son Eliphalet.
ELIPHALET WHITAKER, (son of Jonathan,) married Ruth Bailey, and at length sold his farm, and removed to Georgia, and settled there, leaving two children, Samuel and Elizabeth, in New Jersey.
SAMUEL WHITAKER, (son of Eliphalet,) was born 26th November, 1756, and died 6th June, 1818, aged 61 1/2 yrs. He married, 2d March, 1783, Mary, a widow, and daughter of John Rivers. She was born 15th March, 1754, and died 2d October, 1825, aged 71 1/2 years; they had children: (4th Gen.)
1. Mary, born 20th Dec. 1784, and married, 24th Dec. 1804. John Taylor.
2. Benjamin, born 16th February, 1787, and died 27th Oct 1827.
3. Samuel, born 11th June, 1789, and died 16th May, 1818.
4. Phebe, born 9th July, 1792, and died 22d April, 1810.
5. Elisha, born 21st February, 1795, married, 28th April, 1824, Anne M. Finley, daughter of Alexander, of Basking Ridge; she was born 14th December, 1799, and died 2d October, 1842.
MARY WHITAKER, (daughter of Samuel,) and John Taylor lived in New York, and had children: (5th Gen.)
1. Mary Antoinette Taylor, born 10th March, 1806, and married Jabez Hays.
2. Abigail Amelia Taylor, born 7th October, 1808, and married Mr. Chandler.
3. Samuel Taylor, born 16th August, 1811, and married Harriet Jackson.
4. Phebe Taylor, born 5th September, 1813, and died 15th August, 1815.
5. Horace Taylor, born 13th November, 1815; married, and soon died.
6. Phebe Taylor, born 21st November, 1818.
7. George Edwin Taylor, born 25th August, 1821, and married Martha Durkin.
8. John Romeyn Taylor, born 27th December, 1824.
9. Susan Taylor, born 4th November, 1827, and died young.
ELISHA WHITAKER, (son of Samuel,) and Anne M. Finley lived in Newark, and had children:
1. Phebe Amelia, born 24th March, 1826, and died 14th April, 1846.
2. Samuel Elisha, born 12th February, 1831.
3. Alexander Finley, born 10th May, 1832, and died 13th April, 1833.
4. Alexander Finley, born 6th June, 1834.
5. Mary Anne, born 7th June, 1840.
6. Elisha Samuel, born 23d January, 1842, and died 10th October, 1842.
Elisha Whitaker married for his 2d wife, 12th June, 1844, Eliza M. Kinsey, widow of Jonathan Kinsey, of Philadelphia, and daughter of Nathaniel Manning; she was born 14th February, 1808.
ELIZABETH WHITAKER, (daughter of Eliphalet,) married William Roy, son of Judge John Roy, of Basking Ridge, and had children: (3d Gen.)
1. Hannah Roy, who married Aaron Hand, son of Jonathan; she died 21st January, 1850. [See Hand.]
2. William Roy, Jun. married Deborah Whitaker, daughter of Stephen, son of Jonathan Whitaker, Jun.; he lived in Yates county, New York.
William Roy, Sen. died, and his widow Elizabeth married Richard Hall, son of John Hall. [See John Hall.]
ELIZABETH WHITAKER, (daughter of Jonathan Whitaker, Sen.) married Stephen Ogden, of Basking Ridge, lived where Patrick Matthews now does, and had children:
1. Jonathan Ogden, who lived near Morristown, was judge of the court.
2. Nathaniel Ogden.
3. Isaac Ogden was a physician, lived at Germantown, Hunterdon county, New Jersey, and had a son Oliver Wayne Ogden, who was several years Marshall of the state of New Jersey.
4. Sally Ogden, who married John Gaston, father of Joseph Gaston, of Pluckemin, who was the father of John Gaston and William B. Gaston, Esqs. of Somerville.
MARY WHITAKER, (daughter of Jonathan Whitaker, Sen.) married, 1st, Samuel Brown; 2d, Ebenezer White, and removed to Long Island.
Mrs. White, after the death of her husband, returned to Basking Ridge, and lived in the house where General Lee was taken prisoner, in the revolutionary war. She had a daughter, Susan White, who married her cousin, Stephen Whitaker, eldest son of Jonathan Whitaker, Jun. and had an only daughter, Susan Whitaker, who married Alexander Finley. [See Finley.]
JONATHAN WHITAKER JUN.
JONATHAN WHITAKER, Jun. (son of Jonathan,) and Mary Miller lived on part of the 407 acres of land purchased of his father, on Mine Brook, and had children: (3d Gen.)
1. Stephen, who married, 1st, his cousin, Susan White, daughter of Ebenezer White; she died 1st September, 1773; 2d, Ruth Conklin, daughter of Stephen Conklin, who was born in Suffolk county, Long Island, 22d December, 1753, and died in Somerset county, N. J, 21st October, 1797.
2. Phebe married Rev. Francis Peppard, and lived in Sussex. [See Peppard. (a separate section on Peppard was not included in the original book ~ BKB)]
3. Polly, who died 19th February, 1822, aged 68 years, unmarried.
4. Sally married Moses Allen, removed to Crawford county, Pennsylvania, 18 miles west of Meadville, and had children:
5. Rebecca, born 10th May, 1754, married William Conklin, Esq. son of Stephen. Mr. Conklin was an elder in the Presbyterian church at Basking Ridge. [See Conklin.]
6. Jonathan 3d married Mary Mitchel, had 13 children, and removed to Warren county, Ohio, about 1800.
7. Nathaniel, born June, 1758, and married, June, 1787, Hannah Drake, daughter of John Drake, of Mendham, and had a daughter, Sally, who married Garret Voorhies, Esq. His wife Hannah died December, 1794, and he married, 2d, Ruth Haines, daughter of Samuel Haines, near Vealtown, and had a daughter, Hannah, who married Nicholas Arrowsmith, Jun. Esq.
Nathaniel Whitaker died 27th October, 1841, and his widow Ruth died 10th November, 1844.
Jonathan Whitaker, Jun. died 1785, aged 73 years.
STEPHEN WHITAKER, (1st child of Jonathan Whitaker, Jun,) was born 10th January, 1747, and died 4th November, 1827. He and Susan White had a daughter, Susan, who married Alexander Finley. And by his 2d wife, Ruth Conklin, had children: (4th Gen.)
2. Jonathan, who married Mary Bailey, daughter of Thaddeus Bailey, of Sussex county; and lives in Yates county, New York.
3. Mary married Moses Hall, son of John, son of Richard Hall. [See Hall.]
4. Deborah married William Roy, Jun., son of William, son of John Roy, and lived in Yates county, New York. Mr. Roy was an Elder in the Presbyterian Church. She died 20th July, 1851.
5. Stephen, born 21st July, 1784, and married Mary Hall, sister of Moses Hall, lives at Cleveland, Ohio; he was an Elder and Deacon in the Presbyterian Church there.
6. Ruth married, 1st, Ephraim Mallory, and had a son, John Mallory; 2d, Jacob Vandeventer, son of Jacob, of Peapack, lived in Yates county, New York. She died 16th Oct. 1850, of cancer in the breast.
7. Isaac married Acsah Cushman, of Benton, Yates Co., and went to Michigan.
8. Phebe married Moses Hall, after the death of her sister Mary, and has no children.
9. Anne married Jonathan A. Hall, son of Jonathan, and nephew of Moses, and lives near Penn Yan, New York. Mr. Hall died 24th January, 1852. [See Hall.]
Stephen Whitaker's 2d wife, Ruth, died, and he married, 3d, Polly, the widow of John Cross; she died, and he married, 4th, Agnes (Van Court,) the widow of Daniel Potter; [See Potter,] she was sister of Hannah Van Court, who married Daniel Lacy, son of David Lacy. [See Lacy.] His 4th wife Agnes died in Benton, Yates county, New York, 29th July, 1837.
JONATHAN WHITAKER, (2d child of Stephen, son of Jonathan, Jun.,) and Mary Bailey, live in Yates county, N. Y. He was an Elder and an efficient member of the Presbyterian Church at Benton; he was born 24th January, 1780; she was born 27th August, 1784. They had children: (5th Gen.)
1. Squier Bailey, born 29th May, 1807, and married, 1st, Mary Amsbury, daughter of Stephen; 2d, in 1832, Lydia C. Amsbury, sister of his first wife; she died in childbed, with her first child, 24th January, 1852, leaving an infant son.
2. Stephen Madison, born 3d June, 1809, and married Mary Anne Gage, daughter of Martin Gage, of Bellona, and is a merchant there. They had children: 1. Ephraim Seward; 2 George Homer; 3 Mary Virginia; 4. Stephen Eddy.
3. Alexander Finley, born 7th August, 1811, married, 20th June, 1843, Louisa P. Torrence, daughter of Richard Torrence. He is a Major General of Militia, and a farmer. They had children:
4. William Harlow, born 16th Aug, 1813, married Anne Eliza McDowel, daughter of Jonathan, and had children:
5. Ephraim Mallory, born 27th August, 1816, married 12th September, 1844, Eliza W. Bates, live in Ann Arbor, Michigan, is a merchant there, and has children: Grenville Adolbert, born 23d November, 1846, and Herbert Belletti, born October 6th, 1850.
6. Ruth Ann, born 15th November, 1818.
7. Marietta, born 21st December, 1820.
8. George W., born 27th November, 1823, and died at 20 months old.
MARY WHITAKER, (3d child of Stephen, son of Jonathan Whitaker, Jun.,) and Moses Hall, lived at Geneva, and had children: (5th Gen.)
1. Jane Hall, born 25th April, 1809, and married John Humphry; live in Michigan.
2. Phebe Hall, born 5th November, 1810, married Nelson Rowley; live in Michigan.
3. Rachel Hall, born 7th November, 1812.
4. Stephen Whitaker Hall, born 5th August, 1815, married Nancy Graham, and live at Williamsport, Pennsylvania.
5. Henry Axtel Hall, born 9th February, 1817, married Susan C. Babcock; live in Geneva.
6. Mary Hall, born 9th March, 1820, married 30th September, 1847, the Rev. John Jermain Potter, of Geneva.
7. Hetty Hall, born 18th September, 1823, married Chauncey B. Ackley; live in Geneva.
DEBORAH WHITAKER, (4th child of Stephen, son of Jonathan Whitaker, Jun,) and William Roy, had children:
1. Charles Roy, who married Elizabeth Tracy, and had children: 1. William Tracy Roy; 2. Chester Roy.
2. Eliza Roy, who married Doctor Joel H. Ross, and live in New York.
DEACON STEPHEN WHITAKER, (5th child of Stephen, son of Jonathan Whitaker, Jun.,) and Mary Hall, had children:
1. John Hall Whitaker, born 6th May, 1813, and married Francis Elvina Grosvenor, daughter of Vine Grosvenor, of Pittsfield, Mass; live at Toledo, Ohio; is an iron monger. His wife died 2d September, 1849, aged 32 years, and left one child, Charles Henry, born 5th September, 1846.
2. Charles, born 13th March, 1817, and married, 1st November, 1851, Susan Littell, daughter of John Littell, Esq., son of Nathaniel, of New Providence, Essex county, New Jersey. [See Nathaniel Littell, son of David.]
3. Mary Catherine, born 13th January, 1820.
4. Stephen Conklin _____ , died suddenly of erysipelas, November, 15th 1851, after 4 days illness.
5. Henry Axtel, who died at 5 years.
6. William Henry.
7. Helen Elizabeth, who died at 11 months.
RUTH WHITAKER, (6th child of Stephen, son of Jonathan Whitaker, Jun.,) and Ephraim Mallory, lived in Yates county, New York. (5th Gen.)
NOTE--Ephraim Mallory was son of Meredith Mallory and Mary Barnum, of Connecticut; they had three children: 1. John; 2. Meredith; and 3. Ephraim Mallory.
Ruth Whitaker and Ephraim Mallory, had children:
1. John Mallory, who married Mary Lacy, daughter of Silas Lacy, son of Daniel Lacy [See Lacy] and Hannah Van Court, sister of Agnes Van Court, widow of Daniel Potter, [See Potter] the 4th wife of Stephen Whitaker, son of Jonathan, Jun. John Mallory had an only daughter, Ruth Anne, born March, 1845.
2. Deborah Mallory, born 9th November, 1811, who married Milton Curtis, son of Tracy Curtis, and had a son, Charles Curtis, born 28th November, 1833. Mr. Curtis died 17th October, 1839.
Ephraim Mallory died 1813, and his widow, Ruth, married Jacob Vandeventer, son of Jacob, of Peapack, and had children:
3. William Vandeventer, born 1819, who married Elizabeth Derry, daughter of John Derry, near Penn Yan, and had children: 1. Edward; 2. John Jacob; 3. Frank Derry Vandeventer.
4. Mary Vandeventer, born 9th November, 1820, married Doctor William Breck, born 14th November, 1818, son of Joseph Breck, and live at Springfield, Mass. and have a son, Theodore Frelinghuysen Breck.
5. Stephen Vandeventer, born 7th February, 1823, married Anne Eliza Andrews, daughter of Doctor Jerry Andrews, and have a son, William Bryant Vandeventer, born 7th December, 1843.
6. Elizabeth, who died in 1829, aged 11 months.
ISAAC WHITAKER, (7th child of Stephen, son of Jonathan, Jun.,) and Acsah Cushman, removed to Michigan. He was born 16th January, 1792; she was born 11th July, 1796. They had children:
1. Charles, born 16th November, 1818, married Laura Beach, 20th December, 1843, daughter of William Beach, and had chiildren:
2. Stephen Deming, born 12th December, 1820, and married, 5th October, 1845, Caroline Kellogg, daughter of Judge Kellogg, of Sharon, Conn. and have a daughter, Adeline Matilda, born 10th August, 1848.
3. Phebe Caroline, born 24th December, 1824.
4. Isaac Milton, born 2d May, 1826.
5. Matilda Jane, born 19th July, 1828.
6. Sabrina, born 28th September, 1831, and died 15th June, 1836.
7. Byron Cushman, born 11th May, 1835.
PHEBE WHITAKER, (2d child of Jonathan Whitaker, Jun.,) and the Rev. Francis Peppard, lived in Sussex, and had children:
1. Phebe Peppard, who died in childhood.
2. Jonathan Peppard removed to Wheeling, Virginia, and from thence to Worcester, Ohio, and rendered much assistance in the establishment of the church in that new settlement. He had a numerous family.
3. Phebe Peppard 2d married John Caruthers, Esq., of Lycoming county, Pennsylvania, and had one daughter and six sons. She died about 1847, aged 80 years.
4. Elizabeth Peppard married Lewis Kerr, son of Joseph, and lived in Brook county, Virginia. She died about 1820, aged about 53 years. Lewis Kerr was many years an Elder in the Presbyterian church.
5. Nathaniel Peppard married Peggy Green, or Miss Freeman, and had a numerous family, living in Indianapolis. He has been many years a Ruling Elder in the Presbyterian church.
6. Sarah Peppard married Aaron Kerr, brother of Lewis, about the year 1800; they were both born in 1777; he was elected at the age of 22 years an Elder in the Presbyterian church, at Hardwick, Sussex county, New Jersey, and about the same time elected to a seat in the Legislature of New Jersey. He subsequently removed to Washington county, Pennsylvania, and continued to serve his country and the church in a public capacity.
7. Rebecca Peppard.
8. Isaac Peppard, who died in youth.
After the death of the Rev. Francis Peppard, his widow removed with her son-in-law, Aaron Kerr, to Pennsylvania, about 1810. She died at about 80 years of age, in the triumphs of the gospel.
ELIZABETH PEPPARD and Lewis Kerr removed to Washington county, Penn. about 1808, and had children:
1. Phebe Kerr, who married Doct. John Todd, from New York, and had one son, John Todd. Doct. Todd died, and his widow Phebe married Doct. Cebar, She died about 1846.
2. Lydia Kerr married William Gordon, of Western Pennsylvania, and had 7 children, viz. Hampton, Amanda, James, and others.
3. Isaac Kerr married Miss Thompson, daughter of William, and had children, William, Amanda, Lydia, and two others.
4. Elsie Kerr married James Carson, of Brook county, Virginia, and had children, Harriet, Sarah, William, James, and others.
Mr. Lewis Kerr married, 2d, Sarah Dawson, and had other children.
NATHANIEL PEPPARD and his wife had children:
1. Elizabeth married Mr. Landis, and had a daughter, Mary, who married the Rev. Lawrence G. Hay, of the Allahabad mission, in Northern India.
2. Mary married Mr. Morris, and lives in Indianapolis, Indiana.
3. Hampton; 4. Phebe married _____ _____ , in Indianapolis.
5. James married _____ _____ , in Indianapolis.
6. Margaret married Mr. Demoss; lives in Indianapolis.
7. Joseph married _____ _____ ; lives in New Orleans.
8. Phebe married Mr. Beabitt; she is now a widow.
SARAH PEPPARD and Aaron Kerr had children:
1. Susan Kerr, who married Doct. Samuel Todd, brother of Doct. John Todd, and had children:
Doct. Todd died, and his widow, Susan, married Mr. Applegate, near Monongahela City.
2. Francis P. Kerr, was a physician; married Jane Fleming, daughter of Daniel. He died in 1825, aged 25 years, leaving children, Daniel and Francis.
3. Elizabeth Green Kerr married Joseph Fleming, brother of Jane, and had children: 1. Kerr Fleming; 2. Alexander Fleming; 3. Susan Fleming; 4. Hampton Fleming; 5 Amanda Fleming; 6. Joseph Fleming; 7. Hervy Fleming.
4. Joseph Kerr, born 5th Feb. 1806, is a Presbyterian minister; was ordained in 1833, and soon went as a missionary to the Indians, west of Missouri, and subsequently settled in Poland, Ohio, near the west line of Pennsylvania. He married Mary Anne Caldwell, daughter of William Caldwell, of Pittsburg, and had children: 1. E. Byington; 2. Joseph Brainerd; 3. Clarissa; 4. Elliot; 5. Walter Lowry; 6. Anna Jane.
5. Phebe Kerr married James Hair, of Washington county, Pennsylvania, and have children: 1. Hamilton Hair, and others.
6. Hampton Kerr married Jane Lee, daughter of John Lee, of Washington county, Pennsylvania, and had children: 1. Lee Anne; 2. Aaron.
7. Amanda Kerr married, first, Rev. Joseph Reed, and had one child, Sarah Elizabeth Reed. Mr. Reed died, and she married, 2d, Henry Haman, of Pittsburg, and lives there.
8. Aaron Hervy Kerr is a Presbyterian minister in Ontario, Indiana; was licensed in 1847. He married, in 1848, Elizabeth Craig, daughter of the Hon. Walter Craig, of Penn.
Walter Ker, the ancestor of the Kerrs, before named, was banished from Scotland, in the time of the persecution, and was permitted to remove to America. He came to N. Jersey, and settled in Freehold, in the year 1685, and as a layman was eminently useful in the establishment of the gospel in that region; his descendants have been blessed as useful members of the church of Christ. He had a son, Samuel, who had two sons, Samuel and Joseph. Joseph had sons, Lewis and Aaron Kerr.
Samuel had a son Jacob, who was a minister of the gospel, and Pastor for thirty years over two churches near Salsbury, Maryland, and died in 1795.
Rev. Jacob Kerr had a son, Doct. Samuel Kerr, of Prince Anne, Somerset county, Maryland, who had a son, Rev. Jacob W. E. Kerr, Pastor of the Presbyterian church at Deerfield, West Jersey Presbytry
JONATHAN WHITAKER 3d, (6th child of Jonathan, Jun.) and Mary Mitchel lived in Warren county, Ohio. He died July, 1840, aged 79 years; his widow died November, 1850, aged 87 years; they had children:
1. Nathaniel, who married Nancy Hayden.
2. Abigail, who died young.
3. Jonathan M., who married, 1st, Jane Irvin; 2d, Anne McIntire; 3d, Polly Miller, daughter of John Miller, of Springdale; he removed to Centreville, Indiana.
4. William, twin to Jonathan M. married Sarah Skinner, sister of Richard Skinner, who married Catherine Hurin, [see Hurin,] and daughter of Daniel Skinner.
5. Sarah married David Reeder, son of Daniel, of Pleasant Ridge, and removed to Illinois,
6. Abigail married Daniel Skinner, son of Abraham, brother of Daniel.
7. Benjamin married, 1st, Catherine Felter; 2d, Hannah Miller, sister of Jonathan's 3d wife, and has living children:
8. Stephen married Huldah Skinner, sister of Daniel, Abigail's husband; lives near Mason, Hamilton county, Ohio.
9. James, born 22d October, 1798, married Mary Abbot, daughter of John; he is a mason, lives in Huntsville, Ohio.
10. Polly Halsted married Joseph Runyon, of Lebanon, and had children, Courtland Runyon and Mary Runyon.
JONATHAN M. WHITAKER and Jane Irvin, had children:
1. James Irvin, who married Mary McClure.
2. Mary Halsted married Alexander Morrow, son of Richard.
3. Nancy Jane, who died at about 18 years.
4. William Mitchel married Sarah Jane McKannis, daughter of Robert.
5. Sarah lives in Piqua.
Jonathan M. Whitaker, by Anne McIntire, had children:
6. David Newton, who died at about 23 years.
7. Martha died at about 13 years.
8. Jonathan Milton, born 25th October, 1829, lives at Piqua.
9. Margaret Anne died at about one year.
10. Mary Jane lives at Reading.
By his 3d wife, Polly Miller, he had no children.
WILLIAM WHITAKER, (4th child of Jonathan 3d, 6th child of Jonathan, Jun.) and Sarah Skinner, had children:
1. Mary M. who married Daniel Morris, and went to Texas.
2. Jonathan Miller went to Texas, and married there, Cynthia Robins.
3. Martha Anne married David Enyart, son of David.
4. Sarah Skinner married Nelson Littleton, of Middletown.
5. Phebe Mills, twin to Sarah Skinner, married, 1st, Daniel Pauly; 2d, Ambrose Voorhies.
6. Isabel Skinner married Paulaski Whelan.
7. Amanda married Andrew May, Jun. lives in Indiana.
8. Rebecca Reeder; 9. Richard.
10. William Pitt Skinner went to Texas.
JAMES WHITAKER. (9th child of Jonathan 3d,) and Mary Abbot lived at Huntsville, and had children:
1. John, who married Hannah Jane Clifton; live in Rossville, and had children: 1. Laura; 2. Clement.
2. Jonathan married, 1st, Elizabeth Jaques, who had no children; 2d, Charlotte Harper, lived in Tennessee, and had children: 1. Austin; 2. Mary Anne.
3. Stephen married Sarah Irvin; live in Butler county, Ohio.
4. Joseph married Emily Jones; live about 40 miles west of Hamilton, Ohio, in Indiana.
5. Benjamin; 6. Ichabod; 7. James. 8. Albert, born 10th June, 1842.
NOTE.--The widow Mitchel, mother of Jonathan Whitaker's wife, Mary Mitchel, married William Conklin, Sen. as his 2d wife.
NATHANIEL WHITAKER, (7th child of Jonathan Whitaker, Jun.,) and Hannah Drake had one daughter, Sally, who married Garret Voorhies, Esq.; lives where her father did, and had children: (5th Gen.)
1. John Voorhies, born 14th June, 1817.
2. Matilda Voorhies married, 8th Jan. 1851, Charles Barker, an Englishman. She died in childbed, Sept. 28th 1851; had twins, born 21st Sept. and both died before her.
3. Anne Voorhies married, Dec. 1849, William Heath, son of Robert.
4. Hannah Voorhies married, 28th Oct. 1847, James Garritson Kline, son of John, son of David Kline, of Reddington, Somerset county, and had a daughter, Dorothy Kline, born 17th Nov. 1849.
5. Ellen Voorhies; 6. Garret Voorhies. 7. Nathaniel Whitaker Voorhies. 8. Samuel Scott Voorhies; 9. Mary Voorhies.
10. Ruth Elizabeth Voorhies; 11. Ralph Voorhies.
Nathaniel Whitaker, by his 2d wife, Ruth Haines, had but one daughter, Hannah, who married Nicholas Arrowsmith, Jun. Esq. son of Nicholas, Esq. of Peapack, and had children:
1. Theodore Arrowsmith.
2. Elizabeth Barnet Arrowsmith, who married Charles Dayton, of New Brunswick, merchant, son of Jesse Dayton, of Fort Plain, and had children: 1. Mary Elizabeth Dayton; 2. Anna Whitaker Dayton; 3. Emma Dayton; 4. Charles Meredith Dayton; 5. Frances Salina Dayton; 6. James Dayton.
3. Henrietta Arrowsmith, who married, 22d November, 1848, Doctor Alexander N. Dougherty, of Newark, and had a son, Alexander Dougherty.
This page was last modified on: 01 January, 2014
Copyright ©1999-2014 by Brianne Kelly-Bly, all rights reserved. | <urn:uuid:2b63a4d6-18f5-4d25-a39c-8c4d13bcfd89> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~njmorris/passaicvalley/whitaker.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783396106.71/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154956-00115-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.972973 | 6,815 | 2.578125 | 3 |
Lyme Disease and Neck Pain
Nearly everyone suffers from neck pain at some point in their lives which makes it difficult to attribute to Lyme disease. Neck pain, neck stiffness, muscular aches and pains, and acute pain between the shoulder blades may be a feature of Lyme disease in some patients, with others also suffer headaches, facial palsy, muscle cramps and spasms, and altered mobility or sensation in the neck, back, and joints of the body. Patients with Lyme Borreliosis may develop neuroborreliosis where the infection spreads to the central nervous system. The symptoms of disseminated Lyme disease and neuroborreliosis can vary significantly as different nerves may be affected in different patients. Those with a pre-existing condition, nerve trauma, or particular susceptibility (predisposition) to neurological problems may suffer more extensive nerve damage or acute inflammation and nervous system dysfunction than those with a previously healthy nervous system.
Lyme neuroborreliosis is known to mimic many neurological diseases including Multiple Sclerosis, Parkinson’s Disease, Alzheimer’s Disease, Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, and others. This can make it very hard for a patient and their physician to ascertain if their neck pain is simply due to an awkward sleeping position, poor posture, uneven shoes, cervical spinal stenosis, or nerve inflammation and dysfunction from infection with Borrelia bacteria. Neck pain can also be a result of stress and tension which many patients experience whilst awaiting diagnosis and treatment for Lyme disease.
Symptoms of neuroborreliosis may begin as early as a week after a tick bite, with most cases occurring between one and five weeks following infection. Some patients may only begin to experience symptoms of neuroborreliosis after months of untreated infection, and even then such symptoms as Lyme disease neck pain may simply be dismissed due to the often transient and intermittent nature of the complaint. Neurological symptoms of Lyme disease are more commonly found in European patients, but they can also occur in those who have contracted Lyme disease in the US. The particular strain of Borrelia bacteria and Lyme disease morphology is thought to affect the type and severity of symptoms in patients.
Typically, neuroborreliosis symptoms begin as back pain, with acute pain between the shoulder blades and up into the neck. This may feel like a slipped disc or neuropathy from spinal stenosis or degenerative disc disease and patients with pre-existing spinal stenosis or a disc herniation or disc bulge may not seek medical attention immediately for such symptoms. The pain from neuroborreliosis tends to worsen at night and the patient may also experience abnormal sensations around the sit of the original tick bite(s) at this time. Numbness in the dermatome may occur, and many patients go on to develop Bell’s Palsy, where the facial nerves are affected. In a similar fashion to patients with Multiple Sclerosis, those suffering from facial palsy may accidentally bite their cheeks when chewing food, or begin to have difficulty moving the jaw naturally due to loss of nerve function. Neck pain may then occur as the disc in the temporomandibular joint can become strained or improperly positioned.
Meningitis, Lyme Disease, and Neck Pain
Meningitis symptoms may also arise in patients with neuroborreliosis, with acute inflammation of the nerves and spinal cord causing extreme neck stiffness, headaches, fever, and photosensitivity. Where such symptoms arise it is very important to seek immediate medical attention as inflammation of the spinal cord and the brain can be fatal if not treated successfully. Lyme disease neck pain may presage cognitive difficulties associated with Lyme neuroborreliosis, such as memory deficits, difficulties in concentrating, mood irregularities, hearing loss, dementia, or dysphagia. Again, the similarities with other diseases is clear and some unfortunate patients will be misdiagnosed and given inappropriate, and often expensive or dangerous treatment for a condition they do not have, all the while remaining untreated for a worsening Lyme disease infection.
Continue Reading –> Treating Lyme Disease Neck Pain | <urn:uuid:821e7b09-681f-4aff-8190-21237090e184> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://lymediseaseguide.org/lyme-disease-neck-pain | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783396222.11/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154956-00010-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.939148 | 816 | 2.84375 | 3 |
Students at the University of Southern Maine will learn to combat hackers and prevent data breaches as part of a new program unveiled Tuesday.
The USM Cyber Security Lab opens Tuesday in the university's Science building.
"Right now I'm doing a bunch of compiling which is taking source code and making binary files out of it," said sophomore Samuel Barton.
The research lab will allow students to work in a controlled network, allowing them to play the role of a hacker as they experiment and work with computer viruses without the risk of contaminating other networks.
The idea of the security lab was developed several years ago by faculty and staff.
"With hacking it's a matter of looking for an opening, an opportunity, something that's wrong with something that's developed and then going in," said Barton.
Using $1 million in grants from the National Science Foundation and the Maine Technology Institute, construction on the lab began earlier this year.
The lab is part of the Maine Cyber Security Cluster, which is housed at USM. | <urn:uuid:86e59874-7d2e-42f0-ab8e-f04a763d2c7c> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.wmtw.com/news/usm-opens-cyber-security-lab/27734092 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783403823.74/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624155003-00074-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.967238 | 207 | 2.515625 | 3 |
Unfortunately, the future of guitars and a number of other instruments is uncertain because many of the forest species that give them their unique sounds are in jeopardy. According to the conservation group Fauna & Flora International, more than 200 species of trees are used to make musical instruments, and of those, 70 are threatened with extinction. Among these are Honduras cedar, Honduras rosewood and mahogany, all of which are used in guitars.Growing awareness has led to increased protection of these species and controls on their trade, but endangered tonewoods, as they are called, can still slip past authorities. For instance, in 1992 the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species banned the sale of Brazilian rosewood, one of the most valuable and sought-after woods used in classical acoustic guitars. Yet traders still find ways to get it onto the market by calling it “old stock,” a maneuver that may or may not be legal.
Major guitar manufacturers like Gibson, C.F. Martin, Fender and Taylor have joined forces with Greenpeace to launch the Music Wood Campaign, an effort to find and increase the supply of tonewoods certified as responsibly harvested by the Forest Stewardship Council. Gibson and Martin already make guitars from certified woods: Gibson has manufactured a version of its iconic Les Paul Studio Electric from Rainforest Alliance–certified hardwoods since 1996 (the SmartWood Studio electric, about $1,500), and Martin uses certified woods from a variety of sources in its Sustainable Wood series (look for “SW” models).
Instead of buying a new instrument, search online for a vintage or used guitar. Greener than certified wood, recycling an older instrument ensures that it will keep being played. It might even sound better than a new guitar, because high-quality instruments improve in tone as they age.
This article was reprinted with permission from SimpleSteps.org. | <urn:uuid:8039dce9-024a-4e9e-bf7d-ebef4d66d21a> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.mnn.com/family/family-activities/stories/greener-guitars | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783395346.6/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154955-00083-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.955942 | 387 | 3.375 | 3 |
The first entry in this notebook is dated June 19, 1903, but the correct year is probably 1905 since related entries are dated June and July 1905. There is also a marginal notation dated January 1906. Most entries are by Edison. The book contains notes and drawings regarding storage battery experiments, along with a one-page entry pertaining to ore milling. The beginning of the book contains cell tests, numbered from 646 through 766, using acidic, rather than alkaline, electrolytic solutions. At the end of the book is a series of tube tests, numbered from 1 through 89, dealing with the packing and arrangement of nickel flake in the cylindrical tubes of the storage battery. These tests are continued in a set of thirty-six numbered notebooks designated as "Mix Books" or "Tube Books" (see Notebooks by Edison and Other Experimenters, Group 4: Tube Books, Nos. 1-36). The front cover is labeled "Storage Battery Important Data." The pages are unnumbered. Approximately 180 pages have been used. | <urn:uuid:092b0303-9e98-4f6b-94c4-3fb6b2ad1165> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://edison.rutgers.edu/NamesSearch/glocpage.php3?gloc=NA122 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783396459.32/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154956-00175-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.963475 | 210 | 2.625 | 3 |
Written October 2, 2010
Thanks to addressing Northern Island M9+ EQ, tsunami for USA. I would like to know tsunami (by Southern Island EQ, by Northern Island M9+ EQ)
Will Japan itself have tsunami during its great quakes on the South Island? Where the North Island is on the great N American Plate, and thus generates a tsunami
toward N America when the Pacific Plate pushes under it, the South Island has a complex plate joint. The Philippine Plate is pushed under the South Island but
rather than have the rise of the South Island force a tsunami toward N America, the tsunami will be forced upon the South Island. This is because the Philippine
Plate is tipping at the Marianna Islands side, rolling the water thus against the South Island. Japan is well protected by a tsunami warning system, and these tsunami
are not outside of what Japan anticipates, overall.
Written October 16, 2010
What meters will Big EQ (M9+) in southern Island occur tsunami? For Example, in Tokyo, Osaka, and others. Do Japan new government and ISS Japanese crew know M9 EQ and Poleshift and Plane X? Where will be the epicenter of Southern Island EQ and Northern Island EQ? [and from another] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tsunami Tsunamis are a frequent occurrence in Japan; approximately 195 events have been recorded. The Okushiri, Hokkaido tsunami which struck Okushiri Island of Hokkaido within two to five minutes of the earthquake on July 12, 1993 created waves as much as 30 metres (100 ft) tall-as high as a 10-story building. [and from another] http://www.answers.com/topic/tsunami In Japan, in 1896, a wave that reached a height of about 65 feet (20 meters) killed about 26,000 people in villages around Sanriku.
Historically, Japan has suffered tsunami as high as 100 feet. Japan anticipates such tsunami on its South Island, as plate movement is not new, and the direction of
movement also not new. However, the tipping of the Philippine Plate will be more extreme this time, so in an abundance of caution those concerned about tsunami
should avoid the coastlines that will be affected by quakes in the South Island and allow for a tsunami at a potential height of 100-135 feet. The Japanese
government most assuredly is aware of the presence of Planet X and the tight security that the US and major governments have imposed on this information. They
have been part of the cover-up for over a decade.
All rights reserved: [email protected] | <urn:uuid:8c63e587-613e-48f7-b7e9-cdd7de0cc077> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.zetatalk4.com/7of10/7of10-54.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783395346.72/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154955-00026-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.948628 | 553 | 3.03125 | 3 |
The Golden Age of Theatre in England is generally regarded as being that period from around 1870 through until approximately 1920 (the years suggested being only very approximate and subject to some interpretation). That is not to suggest that theatre in England was unknown before 1870, far from it, theatre as an essential element of English culture dates back much, much further. Nor should it be intimated that English theatre died after 1920, no indeed, it is still very much alive today and hopefully will continue to thrive for the foreseeable future.
But those rough dates do set boundaries to an approximate period when English Theatre flourished to an extent never seen before and never likely to be seen again. The beginning of this period coincided with the end of the Industrial Revolution, which had created a new middle class, raised living standards, and moved the bulk of the population from the countryside into the towns. People needed entertainment, most (to varying extent) had money to pay for it, and in the absence of Television and Cinema live performance was the only form of mass entertainment available.
This led to a great proliferation of Music Halls providing general musical entertainment to the working classes, as well as grander establishments such as theatres and opera houses catering for the more genteel elements of society. Whilst the productions of the former were largely boisterous and unsophiscated, the presentations of the latter ranged from the ever-popular light musical comedies to thought provoking drama and high opera. The profliferation of theatre also led to and/or took advantage of various technological developments, such as the widespread availability of gas and later electric lighting, more realistic sets, and stage machinery capable of quick scene changes and/or reproducing special effects etc. So not only was theatre blossoming, its very nature was changing as was the way in which theatrical productions were presented.The Stars
Of course so many theatres needed lots of performers. And this provided the openings for so many fine singers, dancers and actors to earn a living and in many cases to find fame and fortune. Many of these performers, the most talented or in some cases simply the most beautiful, would become the celebrity superstars of their day. This was due in no small part to another technological innovation which had nothing directly to do with theatre. That was the technology to mass produce photographic images. In the absence of a widespread telephone network, people commonly exchanged postcards as a means of keeping in touch. The advent of photographic postcards provided the sender with both an excuse for writing and a subject matter to comment upon, leading to their increasing popularity. In time some of these cards came to be pre-printed with very short birthday or christmas wishes making them the forerunners of the greetings cards with which we ara all so familiar today. The stars of the stage were an obvious choice of subject matter (among others) for the producers of these cards, and they were so popular and produced in such vast numbers that a bewildering number and variety of them survive to this day. Thus even now, images of the stars of a hundred years ago are not uncommon and it was my interest in these that led to the creation of these pages. - (top)East End vs West End
As theatre boomed the nations capital became a focus and a clear division arose between the types of theatrical entertainments commonly on offer in London's East and West Ends. East End establishments catered for a more earthy class of clientele and this was refelected in the nature of the entertainments on offer. Music Hall was popular (offering a brash and lively hotch-potch of song, dance and comedy) whilst taste in plays tended towards moralistic, sentimental and patriotric fare. West End productions, catering for the middle and upper classes, were by comparison more sophisticated and also more inclined to push the boundaries of public morality. In 1892, Edward Pigott (Examiner of Plays for the Select Committee on Patriotic Licences) concluded that "the further East you go the more moral your audience is" whilst "the immoral and indecent plays are intended for West End audiences". Productions ranged in format from Burlesque to High Opera, with musical comedies being especially popular. - (top)The Decline
Whilst in the heady days at the turn of the century it may have seemed that Theatre would rule forever, the end of the golden age of theatre was already ordained by the arrival of another new invention, moving pictures. Although early cinema lacked sound and colour and early productions were very short, it's novelty value ensured that it quickly caught on. Furthermore, it had the compensating advantage of not being confined to a small stage. Outdoor locations allowed for large scale sets and action sequences that could not possibly be reproduced indoors. In addition, whilst initial production costs could be extremely high (for the more ambitious productions), repeat performance costs were negligible, as the same reel of film could be shown over and over again to different audiences at minimal extra cost. This enabled vast profits to be made whilst keeping admission prices to a minimum. This led to ever more lavish and spectacular productions which easily outstripped the more limited resources of stage productions.
It is perhaps not unrelated either that the same period saw the rise of professional sport as a spectator activity, providing another means of sating the publics craving for entertainment as well as another draw upon their purse-strings.
What is certain is that as these other forms of entertainment grew in popularity, so live theatre waned, and whilst it did not (and hopefully never will) die entirely, increasing competition for dwindling audiences led to the gradual closure of many theatres and the disbandment of many repertory companies. This was exacerbated by the arrival of talking pictures in 1927 which took away the last major advantage live performance still held over cinema.
As cinema gradually took over from theatre as the leading form of mass entertainment, some performers successfully made the transition from stage to silver screen with their careers intact or even strengthened by the new medium. Others were not so lucky, or were too purist even to try. Thus many of the brighest lights of the stage era faded with its passing, to be replaced by new stars born of cinema. - (top)Postscript
Elsewhere on this website you will find galleries (in some cases containing brief biographies) of just some of the stars of the 'Golden Age' of English theatre. Whilst it should not be forgotten that there were many famous and highly talented male actors of the period, it is to the beauty of the female stars in particular that this website is exclusively dedicated, and therefore they alone that you will find here. Just my humble attempt to permit their beauty to light up the world a little longer. - (top) | <urn:uuid:67beb280-911b-4a18-93c9-549a1f090e85> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.stagebeauty.net/th-goldn.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783403823.74/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624155003-00036-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.976972 | 1,363 | 3.28125 | 3 |
self-paced MATLAB training...
What is MATLAB?
word MATLAB stands for MATrix-LABoratory. This
site is where you're going to start your self-paced MATLAB training!
virtual lab is a program for high-performance numerical operations and
visualization. It provides an interactive environment with a lot of
built-in commands and functions for numerical analysis and graphics,
and also provides easy
extensibility with its own high-level
There are numerous prepared commands for
and 3D graphics
as well as for animation. The user is not limited to
the built-in functions; he can write his own functions in MATLAB
language. Once written, these functions work just like the internal
functions. MATLAB's language is designed to be easy to learn and use.
many built-in functions provide excellent tools for linear algebra,
signal processing, data analysis, optimization, solution of ordinary
differential equations (ODEs), and many other types of scientific
There are also several optional 'toolboxes'
available which are collections of functions written for special
applications such as 'Image
Processing', 'Statistics', 'Neural
The basic building block in MATLAB is the matrix.
The fundamental data type is the array.
Vectors, scalars, real and
complex matrices are all automatically handled as special cases of
basic arrays. The built-in functions are optimized for vector
operations. Thus, vectorized commands or codes run much
is a way of computing in which an operation is
performed simultaneously on a list of numbers rather than sequentially
on each member of the list).
A nice thing to realize is that
MATLAB is primarily a numerical computation package, although with the
Toolbox it can do also symbolic algebra. Mathematica, Maple,
and Macsyma are primarily symbolic algebra packages. MATLAB's ease of
use is its best feature since you can have more learning with less
effort, while the computer algebra systems have a steeper learning
In mathematical computations, especially those
utilize vectors and matrices, MATLAB is better in terms of ease of use,
availability of built-in functions, ease of programming, and speed.
MATLAB's popularity today has forced such packages as Macsyma and
Mathematica to provide extensions for files in MATLAB's format.
use of the on-line help. Typing 'help function' in
MATLAB, with the appropriate function or command name, provides
detailed help for any of the functions or commands available.
passive working through this site. The best way to learn
any computer software is to try it out. We believe this and encourage
you to do it.
'MATLAB training' to home
'Matlab training' to 'Matlab Help Menu' | <urn:uuid:f6a82eef-93b8-4960-b161-28584ce77378> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.matrixlab-examples.com/matlab-training.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783404405.88/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624155004-00099-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.900908 | 599 | 2.96875 | 3 |
These two photographs of a flower show how the evening primrose looks in two different wavelengths. The upper panel shows the flower as humans see it in visible light. The lower panel shows the primrose in UV, and reveals the "honey guides" (the dark areas) invisible to the human eye but seen by insects. The dark lines and patches guide the insect to the collection of nectar stored in the center and to the pollen on the anthers.
Image courtesy Dr. Jeremy Burgess, Science Source/Photo Researchers.
Ultraviolet (UV) Radiation
Some kinds of "light" are invisible to us. Ultraviolet (UV) "light" is one kind of "invisible light". UV is a type of electromagnetic
radiation. Some light waves are shorter than others. Short light waves look purple or violet to our eyes. UV waves are even shorter than purple waves. If we could see UV light, it would look "more purple than purple". That's why it is called ultra-violet, or "beyond violet", light.
UV light from the Sun can cause sunburns. Fortunately, our atmosphere blocks most UV radiation from space. The ozone layer of Earth's atmosphere blocks a lot of the UV.
UV radiation carries more energy than normal light. X-rays have even more energy than UV light. X-rays come after UV along the electromagnetic
Shop Windows to the Universe Science Store!
Our online store
includes fun classroom activities
for you and your students. Issues of NESTA's quarterly journal, The Earth Scientist
are also full of classroom activities on different topics in Earth and space science!
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Text for this level has not been written yet. Please see the "Intermediate" text for this page if you want to learn about this topic. To get to the "Intermediate" text, click on the blue "Intermediate"...more
Most of the ozone that we know about is found in the the stratosphere, the second layer of the Earth's atmosphere. Ozone forms a kind of layer in the stratosphere. This layer shields us from the Sun's...more
Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) is a satellite which studies the Sun. SDO carries several telescopes and other instruments for observing the Sun. The cameras on SDO take much better pictures than cameras...more
Have you ever seen the Southern or Northern Lights? Did you know that other planets (besides Earth) have them too? Scientists call these cosmic light shows the "aurora". Saturn is one of the planets that...more
An active region on the Sun is an area with an especially strong magnetic field. Sunspots frequently form in active regions. Active regions appear bright in X-ray and ultraviolet images. Solar activity,...more
Volatile Organic Compounds are also called VOCs. They contain carbon and are a gas at room temperature.. There are many types of VOCs. Hydrocarbons have both hydrogen and carbon atoms. Oxygenates contain...more
Photons are little bits of light. Photons carry energy. When a photon hits a molecule, it adds energy to the molecule. The molecule has chemical bonds (they work a bit like stretchy rubber bands!) holding...more | <urn:uuid:7cd30818-1dc4-408f-951f-58cc7911e7b7> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | https://www.windows2universe.org/physical_science/magnetism/em_ultraviolet.html&edu=elem | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783395621.98/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154955-00116-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.912353 | 667 | 3.71875 | 4 |
The Buddhist Catechism, by Henry S. Olcott , at sacred-texts.com
279. Q. As regards the number of its followers, how does Buddhism at this date compare with the other chief religions?
A. The followers of the Buddha Dharma out-Dumber those of every other religious teacher.
280. Q. What is the estimated number?
A. About five hundred millions (5,000 lakhs, or 500 crores): this is five-thirteenths, or not quite half, of the estimated population of the globe.
281. Q. Have many great battles been fought and many countries conquered, has much human blood been spilt to spread the Buddha Dharma?
A. History does not record one of those cruelties and crimes as having been committed to propagate our religion. So far as we know, it has not caused the spilling of a drop of blood. (See foot-note ante—Prof. Kolb's testimony.)
282. Q. What, then, is the secret of its wonderful spread?
A. It can be nothing else than its intrinsic excellence: its self-evident basis of truth, its sublime moral teaching, and its sufficiency for all human needs.
283. Q. How has it been propagated?
A. The Buddha, during the forty-five years of his life as a Teacher, travelled widely in India and preached the Dharma. He sent his wisest and best disciples to do the same throughout India.
234. Q. When did He send for his pioneer missionaries?
A. On the full-moon day of the month Wap (October).
285. Q. What did he tell them?
A. He called them together and said: "Go forth, Bhikkhus, go and preach the law to the world. Work for the good of others as well as for your own. . . Bear ye the glad tidings to every man. Let no two of you take the same way."
286. Q. How long before the Christian era did this happen?
A. About six centuries.
257. Q. What help did Kings give?
A. Besides the lower classes, great Kings, Râjâs
and Mahârâjas were converted and gave their influence to spread the religion.
288. Q. What about pilgrims?
A. Learned pilgrims came in different centuries to India and carried back with them books and teachings to their native lands. So, gradually, whole nations forsook their own faiths and became Buddhists.
289. Q. To whom, more than to any other person, is the world indebted for the permanent establishment of Buddha's religion?
A. To the Emperor Ashoka, surnamed the Great, sometimes Piyadâsi, sometimes Dharmâshoka. He was son of Bindusâra, King of Magadha, and grandson of Chandragupta, who drove the Greeks out of India.
290. Q. When did he reign?
A. In the third century B.C., about two centuries after the Buddha's time. Historians disagree as to his exact date but not very greatly.
291. Q. What made him great?
A. He was the most powerful monarch in Indian history, as warrior and as statesman; but his noblest characteristics were his love of truth and justice,
tolerance of religious differences, equity of government, kindness to the sick, to the poor, and to animals. His name is revered from Siberia to Ceylon.
292. Q. Was he born a Buddhist?
A. No, he was converted in the tenth year after his anointment as King, by Nigrodha Samanera, an Arhat.
293. Q. What did he do for Buddhism?
A. He drove out bad bhikkhus, encouraged good ones, built monasteries and dâgobas everywhere, established gardens, opened hospitals for men and animals, convened a council at Patna to revise and re-establish the Dharma, promoted female religious education, and sent embassies to five Greek Kings, his allies, and to all the sovereigns of India, to preach the doctrines of the Buddha. It was he who built the monuments at Kapilavastu, Buddha Gaya, Isipatana and Kusinârâ, our four chief places of pilgrimage, besides thousands more.
294. Q. What absolute proofs exist as to his noble character?
A. Within recent years there have been discovered, in all parts of India, 14 Edicts of his, inscribed on living rocks, and 8 on pillars erected by his
orders. They fully prove him to have been one of the wisest and most high-minded sovereigns who ever lived.
295. Q. What character do these inscriptions give to Buddhism?
A. They show it to be a religion of noble tolerance, of universal brotherhood, of righteousness and justice. It has no taint of selfishness, sectarianism or intolerance. They have done more than anything else to win for it the respect in which it is now held by the great paṇ.dits of Western countries.
296. Q. What most precious gift did Dharmâshoka make to Buddhism?
A. He gave his beloved son, Mahinda, and daughter, Sanghamitta, to the Order, and sent them to Ceylon to introduce the religion.
297, Q. Is this fact recorded in the history of Ceylon?
A. O yes, it is all recorded in the Mahâvansa, by the keepers of the royal records, who were then living and saw the missionaries.
298. Q. Is there some still visible proof of Sanghamitta's mission?
A. Yes: she brought with her to Ceylon a branch ref the very Bodhi tree under which the Buddha sat when he became Enlightened, and it is still growing.
299. Q. Where?
A. At Anurâdhapura. The history of it has been officially preserved to the present time. Planted in 306 B C., it is the oldest historical tree in the world.
300. Q. Who was the reigning sovereign at that time?
A. Dêvanampiyatissa. His consort, Queen Anula, had invited Sanghamitta to come and establish the Bhikkhunî branch of the Order.
301. Q. Who came with Sanghamitta?
A. Many other bhikkhunîs. She, in due time, admitted the Queen and many of her ladies, together with 500 virgins, into the Order.
302. Q. Can we trace the effects of the foreign work of the Emperor Ashoka's missionaries?
A. His son and daughter introduced Buddhism into Ceylon: his monks gave it to the whole of Northern India, to fourteen Indian nations outside its boundaries, and to five Greek Kings, his allies,
with whom he made treaties to admit his religious preachers.
303. Q. Can you name them?
A. Antiochus of Syria, Ptolemy of Egypt, Antigonus of Macedon, Margas of Cyrene, and ALEXANDER of Epiros.
:304. Q. Where do we learn this?
A. From the Edicts themselves of Ashoka the Great, inscribed by him on rocks and stone pillars, which are still standing and can be seen by everybody who chooses to visit the places.
305. Q. Through what Western religious brother-floods did the Buddha Dharma mingle itself with Western thought?
A. 'Through the sects of the Therapeuts of Egypt and the Essenes of Palestine.
306. Q. When were Buddhist books first introduced into China?
A. As early as the second or third century B.C. Five of Dharmâshoka's monks are said—in the Samanta Pasâdika and the Sârattha Dîpauî—two Pâlî books—to have been sent to the five divisions of China.
307. Q. Whence and when did it reach Korea?
A. From China, in the year 372 A.D.
308. Q. Whence and when did it reach Japan?
A. From Korea, in 552 A.D.
309. Q. Whence and when did it reach Cochin China, Formosa, Java, Mongolia, Yarkand, Balk, Bokhara, Afghanistan and other Central Asian countries?
A. Apparently in the fourth and fifth centuries A.D..
310. Q. From Ceylon, whither and when did it spread?
A. To Burma, in 950 A.D., and thence gradually into Arakan, Kamboya and Pegu. In the seventh century (638 A. D.) it got to Siam, where it is now, as it has been always since then, the state religion.
311. Q. From Kashmir, where else did it spread besides to China?
A. To Nepâl and Tibet.
312. Q. Why is it that Buddhism, which was once. the prevailing religion throughout India, is now almost extinct there?
A. Buddhism was at first pure and noble, the very teaching of the Tathâgata; its Sangha were virtuous and observed the Precepts; it won all hearts and spread joy through many nations, as the morning light sends
life through the flowers. But after some centuries, bad bhikkhus got ordination (Upasampada), the Sangha became rich, lazy and sensual, the Dharma was corrupted, and the Indian nations abandoned it.
313. Q. Did anything happen about the ninth or-tenth century A.D. to hasten its downfall?
314. Q. Anything besides the decay of spirituality, the corruption of the Sangha, and the re-action of the populace from a higher ideal of man to unintelligent idolatry?
A. Yes. It is said that the Mussalmâns invaded, over-ran and conquered large areas of India; everywhere doing their utmost to stamp out our religion.
315. Q. What cruel acts are they charged with doing?
A. They burnt, pulled down or otherwise destroyed our vihâras, slaughtered our bhikkhus, and consumed with fire our religious books.
316. Q. Was our literature completely destroyed in India?
A. No. Many bhikkhus fled across the borders-into Tibet and other safe places of refuge, carrying. their books with them.
317. Q. Have any traces of these books been recently discovered?
A. Yes. Rai Bahâdur Sarat Chandra Dâs, C.I.E., a noted Bengali paṇ.dit, saw hundreds of them in the vihâra libraries of Tibet, brought copies of some of the most important back with him, and is now employed by the Government of India in editing and publishing them.
318. Q. In which country have we reason to believe the sacred books of primitive Buddhism have been best preserved and least corrupted?
A. Ceylon. The Encyclopædia Britannica says that in this island Buddhism has, for specified reasons, "retained almost its pristine purity to modern times."
319. Q. Has any revision of the text of the Pitakas been made in modern times?
A. Yes. A careful revision of the Vinâya Pitaka was made in Ceylon in the year 1875 A. D., by a convention of the most learned bhikkhus, under the presidency of H. Sumangala, Pradhâna Sthavira.
320. Q. Has there been any friendly intercourse in the interest of Buddhism between the peoples of the Southern and those of the Northern Buddhist countries?
A. In the year 1891 A.D., a successful attempt was
made to get the Pradhâna Nayakas of the two great divisions to agree to accept fourteen propositions as, embodying fundamental Buddhistic beliefs recognised' and taught by both divisions. These propositions, drafted by Colonel Olcott, were carefully translated into Burmese, Sinhalese and Japanese, discussed one by one, unanimously adopted and signed by the chief monks, and published in January 1892.
321. Q. With what good result?
A. As the result of the good understanding now existing, a number of Japanese bhikkhus and samaneras have been sent to Ceylon and India to study Pâlî and Samskrit.
322. Q. Are there signs that the Buddha Dharma is growing in favour in non-Buddhistic countries?
A. There are. Translations of our more valuable books are appearing, many articles in reviews, magazines and newspapers are being published, and excellent original treatises by distinguished writers are coming. from the press. Moreover, Buddhist and non-Buddhist lecturers are publicly discoursing on Buddhism to large audiences in Western countries. The Shin Shu sect of Japanese Buddhists have actually opened
missions at Honolulu, San Francisco, Sacramento and other American places.
323. Q. What two leading ideas of ours are chiefly taking hold upon the Western mind?
A. Those of Karma and Re-incarnation. The rapidity of their acceptance is very surprising.
324. Q. What is believed to be the explanation of this?
A. Because of their appeals to the natural instinct of justice, and their evident reasonableness.
93:* See Appendix. | <urn:uuid:b4428518-a0d7-45b5-bfd2-1b9234e5fd0c> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://sacred-texts.com/bud/tbc/tbc11.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783393997.50/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154953-00080-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.960807 | 2,850 | 2.71875 | 3 |
West Virginia Land Records
This entry was originally written by Johni Cerny, in Red Book: American State, County, and Town Sources.
West Virginia is a State-Land State.
Speculators who formed land companies after 1744 settled much of western Virginia. Companies were awarded 1,000 acres of land for each family they moved into the area. The survey made of each parcel of land was sold to individuals, who then received title to the land in the form of a patent from the secretary of the colony. After 1779, the Virginia Land Office issued the patents. Edgar Barr Sims, Index to Land Grants in West Virginia (1952, reprint, Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., 2003), lists the names of grantees by county. See also the supplement to this index, Making a State: Formation of West Virginia; and Gertrude E. Gray, Virginia Northern Neck Land Grants, 4 vols. (Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1987–1993), particularly volume two, which contains abstracts of grants encompassing the area now comprising Hampshire and Berkeley counties in West Virginia.
Some western Virginia lands were redeemed by Bounty Land Warrants issued to Revolutionary War soldiers. Some settled on the land they were granted, but many sold their warrants. Original surveys, grants, and sales of land in West Virginia can be found at the Office of State Auditor, Capitol Bldg., West Wing 231, Charleston, WV 25305. Other records, on file at the Library of Virginia, appear at www.lva.lib.va.us/siteindex/index.htm.
When the person who received a land grant or patent sold that land, the transaction was recorded in deed books in the county where the land was located. Generally, those deed books have been indexed by grantor (seller) and grantee (buyer). Some county clerks have compiled master indexes to all of their deed books. Copies of deed can be obtained from county clerks; however, the deed books for most West Virginia counties have been microfilmed and can be searched at the Archives and History Library in Charleston and the FHL. The West Virginia and Regional History Collection includes the West Virginia Court Record Index (actually a list by county of records filmed at the courthouse), which can be found at www.libraries.wvu.edu/wvcollection/countycourt/index.htm. | <urn:uuid:ab8ebbf4-47d0-4c00-8289-c9692a7a9ec3> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.ancestry.com/wiki/index.php?title=West_Virginia_Land_Records | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783396875.58/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154956-00120-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.952369 | 494 | 2.96875 | 3 |
I n biblical Greek, “Philadelphia” means “City of Brotherly Love.” One of Carl Sandburg’s poems, “Chicago,” calls this sprawling Midwestern metropolis the “City of the Big Shoulders.” Not a big city like Chicago or Philadelphia, Bethlehem is rooted in the early eighth century B.C. prophecy, Micah 5:2: The town of “Bethlehem, small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come one who will be ruler over Israel.”
The first stanza to “O Little Town of Bethlehem” highlights Micah’s central truth: A town small in size is the source of significant Sovereignty. Portraying a small, still and sleeping town, this carol’s powerful shining stars implode the darkness to radiate Eternal Light’s salvific stream. This Light connects our hopes and conquers our fears.
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By logging in you can see the full story. | <urn:uuid:79a33641-e548-4d9e-9781-0aef95b881b3> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://yoursun.com/sunnews/portcharlotte/portcharlottecolumnist/6134230-694/sunnewspapersthefabricofourfaiththecarolsof.html.csp | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783392527.68/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154952-00032-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.896713 | 218 | 3 | 3 |
Researchers are finding that natural substances in plants called phytonutrients may be important food factors which promote good health. The soy plant is rich in phytonutrients, such as the isoflavones - genistein, daidzein, glycitein, genistin, daidzin, glycitin, as well as saponins and others.
400 pounds of soybeans are used to prepare 1 pound of soy germ, which is then concentrated to make 100% natural EasySoy. No chemicals, solvents or preservatives are used.
Each capsule provides approximately 10mg (10000 mcg) of soy isoflavones. Four capsules provide about the same total isoflavone content as 10 ounces of soy milk.
|Serving Size: 1 capsule|
Servings Per Container: 180
|Ingredient||Amount||% Daily Value**|
|Soy Isoflavone concentrate||500mg|
| ** Percent Daily Value is based on a 2000 calorie diet. Your daily values may be higher or lower depending on your calorie needs.|
† Daily Value not established.
Other ingredients: Gelatin capsule.
Take one capsule one to four times daily at mealtime. Keep bottle tightly closed. Store away from heat and moisture. | <urn:uuid:cbf9c58b-2239-4b7f-a9ee-4bd4971ec768> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.allstarhealth.com/f/carlson-easy_soy.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783393518.22/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154953-00182-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.831079 | 267 | 2.515625 | 3 |
White House Climate Change Report Has Bleak Predictions For Northeast
More flooding, more heat, more air pollution, more damage to aging transportation infrastructure. These are just a few of the bleak predictions about how climate change will affect the Northeast and New England.
The regional forecast is included in the National Climate Assessment released on Tuesday by the White House. The report looks at the entire country, but says the Northeast already experienced a greater increase in extreme precipitation events than any other region in the U.S. between 1958 and 2010. More heavy rains and floods, combined with sea level rise and storm surges, will stress roads and bridges already affected by river flooding, heat waves and intense downpours.
The report notes that the population in Vermont – like that in other mountainous regions – has tended to settle along river flood plains. “More intense precipitation events will mean great flood risk, particularly in valleys, where people, infrastructure, and agriculture tend to be concentrated,” the report says.
The assessment was produced by the U.S. Global Climate Change Program, and includes other findings abut New England and Vermont:
- Lake Champlain. Long-term records show that the ice-in date – when ice closes the lake to navigation – shows the lake freezes approximately two weeks later than in the early 1800s, and over a week later than 100 years ago.
- Health. The hottest days in the Northeast are associated with high concentrations of ground-level ozone, air pollution that poses a major health risk to vulnerable populations such as children, the elderly and those with pre-existing health conditions.
- Ecosystems. The impact of rising temperature is already changing the distributions of species. The report says that a Vermont study found an upslope shift of 299 to 390 feet in the boundary between northern hardwoods and boreal forests in the Green Mountains. Wildflowers and perennials are blooming early, and migratory birds are arriving sooner. “Because species differ in their ability to adjust, asynchronies (like a mismatch between key food source availability and migration patters) can develop, increasing species and ecosystem vulnerability,” the report says. | <urn:uuid:676f4f1f-12e9-45a2-a6cb-aaec3dd6abfd> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://digital.vpr.net/post/white-house-climate-change-report-has-bleak-predictions-northeast | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783399522.99/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154959-00059-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.945079 | 440 | 3.5 | 4 |
In preparation for this Thursday’s Walt Whitman Poetry Reading, we would like to highlight our collection of Whitman materials, as well as this particular poet’s significance to the history of Special Collections. In the late 1940s through the 1950s, a group of Tulsa book collectors known as “The Tulsa Bibliophiles” determined to amass as complete a collection of material by and about Walt Whitman as possible. The result was an impressive compilation of Whitman first editions and critical works, as well as a number of Whitman-related ephemeral objects. The collection was placed on deposit with the University of Tulsa in 1956, and in 1966 the surviving Bibliophiles donated the collection to the university. Although the University of Tulsa had been acquiring rare materials since the first decades of the twentieth century, prior even to the creation of a Special Collections department, the majority of our holdings were Native American materials until we received the Tulsa Bibliophiles donation, which became the foundational gift for our literary collections.
One of our most notable Whitman acquisitions is a first edition Leaves of Grass. First published by Whitman himself in 1855, he continued to edit and revise Leaves of Grass until his death in 1892. Thus, there is great variation between the text of the first edition and that of the final edition. Out of the 795 copies that Whitman produced during the first printing, it is estimated that a mere 200 survive today. Since Whitman employed a handset press, the first edition could not be reprinted as there were no plates. The type was redistributed after Whitman completed the printing. Further, the handset type on the press shifted during the printing, arguably making each first edition unique.
After reading Leaves of Grass, Ralph Waldo Emerson immediately wrote to Whitman, memorably remarking, “I greet you at the beginning of a great career […]”. Please join us this Thursday, April 19, at 7 p.m. in the Ann & Jack Graves Faculty Study for a reading of selections taken from the first edition Leaves of Grass. | <urn:uuid:ac471796-579e-47f9-af01-fe29483bf5b2> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://orgs.utulsa.edu/spcol/?p=1998 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783397636.15/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154957-00174-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.971851 | 415 | 2.609375 | 3 |
A Weekly News Update on Pesticides, Health and Alternatives
See PANUPS updates service, for complete information.
March 8, 2007
USDA violated law by approving Monsanto's GE seeds: Ninth Circuit Federal Court Judge Charles Breyer called the U.S. Department of Agriculture's decision to allow field trials of genetically engineered alfalfa "cavalier". The alfalfa seeds were engineered by Monsanto to withstand Roundup, their glyphosate herbicide. According to the New York Times, the Judge said, "the agency had not adequately considered the possibility that the gene could be transferred by pollen to organic or conventional alfalfa, hurting sales of organic farmers or exports to countries like Japan that did not want the genetically engineered variety." In other recent decisions, "a federal judge in Washington said last week that the Agriculture Department had not done adequate assessments before approving field trials of genetically engineered grass. And last August a federal judge in Hawaii, in a case involving field trials of crops engineered to produce pharmaceuticals, ruled that the Agriculture Department had not adequately assessed the possible impact on endangered species." Organic farmers teamed with the Center for Food Safety to organize the lawsuit that prompted the decision on alfalfa seeds; PAN was one of the plaintiffs in the Hawaii "bio-pharm" suit.
Pesticide damage to Great Barrier Reef greater than feared: Scientists have discovered that pesticide farm run-off is hurting the Great Barrier Reef off the coast of Australia more than previously believed. Satellite images taken by GeoScience Australia using NASA's MODIS satellite in February reveal that sediment plumes containing chemicals are traveling farther out to sea, up to 135 kilometers offshore. According to the Sydney Morning Herald, "Recent studies have shown agricultural chemicals are so poisonous to coral that it can prevent spawning, even when only present in minuscule amounts." Dr. Arnold Dekker, a scientist with the government advisory group, Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation, told the Herald, "It's a no-brainer to say that if farmers are helped to farm as smart as possible, using as little fertilizers, herbicides and pesticides as possible, and only using what the vegetation will take up, then you will have much less run-off of this material."
Russia worries about India's pesticide contaminated rice: The Hindu reports, "Russia may ban rice imports from India because of a risk of pesticide contamination unless India complies with stricter food safety demands. Russia's Federal Agency of Veterinary and Phytosanitary Control, Rosselkhoznadzor, has asked India to provide safety certificates for each shipment of rice containing information on pesticides used for growing and storing rice and indicating dosages and dates of treatment.... In mid-February, Rosselkhoznadzor seized several batches of Indian rice, which allegedly contained a banned pesticide, oil product contaminants and high levels of an insecticide."
Former EPA analyst says farmworkers still at risk from pesticides: E. G. Vallianatos says little has changed in the risk to farmworkers from pesticides since he worked on these issues in the EPA 28 years ago. Vallianatos wrote in the Baltimore Sun, "Scientists at Colorado State University, funded by the EPA, confirmed in the late 1970s what knowledgeable scientists had suspected all along: Nerve-poison pesticides known as organophosphates were affecting the central nervous systems of humans. These products of World War II chemical warfare research, very popular with farmers, were causing immediate and long-term crippling effects on those coming in contact with them. Even one serious exposure could cause lasting brain and nerve damage... The fact is, neurotoxins on the farm or in the home are wounding all living things. A 2006 study by Columbia University scientists made the connection between one of those neurotoxins, chlorpyrifos, and learning disorders in children living in New York City. EPA banned chlorpyrifos from home use in 2001, but not from farms. What about the children in rural America?" Learn more about organophosphates and sign PAN's petition to ban chlorpyrifos.
Focus on Farmworkers: PAN North America, along with United Farm Workers of America, Student Action with Farmworkers, Farmworker Justice, the Cesar Chavez Foundation and many other groups are sponsoring the upcoming Farmworker Awareness Week beginning March 25th. Click here to find out how you can assist farmworkers laid off by the recent citrus freeze, about the important AgJobs policy work in Congress, why EPA is holding hearings in California and Florida on fumigant pesticides and their impact on farmworkers, and other important issues and events celebrating and supporting farmworkers.
New Jersey rejects endocrine disrupting pesticide: The NJ Department of Environmental Protection has turned down a request for a waiver from the state Department of Agriculture (NJDA) to use diflubenzuron (brand-name Dimilin, Uniroyal Chemical Company) to eradicate gypsy moths. The NJDA had planned to allow spraying of the pesticide in 14 New Jersey counties. The state currently uses the common biological pesticide Bacillus thuringiensis (B.t.) for gypsy moth control. Leigh Davis, reporter with the City Belt website writes, "B.t. was chosen after a bitter fight in which environmentalists successfully [previously] challenged the use of Sevin [carbaryl], a broad-spectrum pesticide with serious human health impacts." According to Jane Nogaki, of the New Jersey Environmental Federation, "The EPA has found that Dimilin not only decreased testosterone in birds, but also that 'repeated and prolonged exposure' can cause methemoglobinemia, or 'blue baby syndrome.' In this condition, the hemoglobin molecule cannot effectively carry oxygen to the body's tissues." Despite substantial evidence of their health risks, U.S. EPA does not yet regulate endocrine (hormone system) disruptors.
Alaska railroad denied use of herbicides: The Anchorage Daily News reports that activists and local community members persuaded the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation to deny permission to the Alaska Railroad Corporation to spray some 500 miles of track with herbicides, including glyphosate and 2,4-D. "The railroad has struggled on and off for years to regain the state's permission to spray herbicides along its track. It was blocked in a federal court and by the late Gov. Jay Hammond, who banned state agencies from using herbicides," the News noted. Pam Miller, executive director of Alaska Community Action on Toxics declared, "This is a big victory for people who have fought the railroad's use of herbicides for several decades. We felt the chemical mixture proposed by the railroad would harm water quality, salmon habitat and people's health." PAN Action Center members supported ACAT's campaign with letters to officials. | <urn:uuid:b17d4642-baf7-46bd-81ab-cf458044ecb2> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.panna.org/legacy/panups/panup_20070308.dv.html?quicktabs_1=1 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783395992.75/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154955-00001-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.946281 | 1,385 | 2.578125 | 3 |
Near the Damascus Gate in Jerusalem is a beautiful Armenian mosaic dating from the 5th or 6th century AD. Also known as "the bird mosaic," it was discovered in 1894 along with a small natural cave.
What to See at Armenian Mosaic
Incorporating tesserae of many different colors, the Armenian Mosaic depicts a vinewith many branches and grape clusters, which springs from a vase. Populating the vine's branches are peacocks, ducks, storks, pigeons, an eagle, a partridge, and a parrot in a cage. The elaborate scene is framed by a guilloche border.
Under the southwest corner, a small natural cave contained human bones and lamps dating from the 5th or 6th centuries. The room was clearly used as a mortuary chapel. An inscription at the top of the mosaic reads: "For the memory and salvation of all those Armenians whose name the Lord knows."
Not only the inscription, but the symbolism of the mosaic itself indicates the room was used to ponder death and remember the dead. In early Christian art, birds were common symbols of believers' souls. The bird in the cage represents the soul imprisoned within the body. Other images remind the viewer of the hope of salvation: vine scrolls symbolize the blood of Christ and a basket of fruit represents the flesh of Christ.
The Armenian Bird Mosaic is about 200m north of the Damascus Gate. Go south along Hanevim (Prophet St.) to a house at the corner of a short street on the right.
Quick Facts on Armenian Mosaic
|Visitor and Contact Information|
- Kay Prag, Blue Guide to Israel and the Palestinian Territories (Black and Norton, 2002), 249-50.
- Design in Center and Periphery: Three Generations of Armenian Ceramic Artists in Jerusalem - Interpreting Ceramics
- Photos of Armenian Mosaic - here on Sacred Destinations | <urn:uuid:93d71641-278f-4776-bbcd-d057c537434c> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.sacred-destinations.com/israel/jerusalem-armenian-mosaic/israel/jerusalem | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783397213.30/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154957-00140-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.901247 | 399 | 3.25 | 3 |
Brushing your cat's teeth should be a regular part of his grooming routine. Over time, plaque and tartar will build up on his teeth and will need to be removed, so start brushing at an early age to get your cat used to it and to avoid extensive buildup.
Before beginning to brush, open your cat's mouth and take a careful look at his gums and teeth. The gums should appear pink and healthy, and there should be no broken or loose teeth. When you're ready to get started, put a tiny bit of cat toothpaste on a brush and start brushing, one tooth at a time. Only the outsides of the teeth need to be brushed, because kitty will take care of the insides with his rough tongue. Be sure to gently brush the gums, too.
Taking care of your cat's teeth is important, as neglecting this care can lead to teeth decay and gum disease. You should brush his teeth at least once a week, but more often is even better. You may want to purchase a special "dental" dry cat food, which has been shown to help keep teeth clean between brushings. | <urn:uuid:93bd828d-fec5-404e-a478-026516f5c625> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.petuniversity.com/cats/grooming/teeth-brushing.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783396959.83/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154956-00148-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.973255 | 236 | 2.765625 | 3 |
Also found in: Wikipedia.
The Logan Act (18 U.S.C.A. § 953 ) is a single federal statute making it a crime for a citizen to confer with foreign governments against the interests of the United States. Specifically, it prohibits citizens from negotiating with other nations on behalf of the United States without authorization.
Congress established the Logan Act in 1799, less than one year after passage of the Alien and Sedition Acts, which authorized the arrest and deportation of Aliens and prohibited written communication defamatory to the U.S. government. The 1799 act was named after Dr. George Logan. A prominent Republican and Quaker from Pennsylvania, Logan did not draft or introduce the legislation that bears his name, but was involved in the political climate that precipitated it.
In the late 1790s, a French trade embargo and jailing of U.S. seamen created animosity and unstable conditions between the United States and France. Logan sailed to France in the hope of presenting options to its government to improve relations with the United States and quell the growing anti-French sentiment in the United States. France responded by lifting the embargo and releasing the captives. Logan's return to the United States was marked by Republican praise and Federalist scorn. To prevent U.S. citizens from interfering with negotiations between the United States and foreign governments in the future, the Adams administration quickly introduced the bill that would become the Logan Act.
The Logan Act has remained almost unchanged and unused since its passage. The act is short and reads as follows:
Any citizen of the United States, wherever he may be, who, without authority of the United States, directly or indirectly commences or carries on any correspondence or intercourse with any foreign government or any officer or agent thereof, with intent to influence the measures or conduct of any foreign government or of any officer or agent thereof, in relation to any disputes or controversies with the United States, or to defeat the measures of the United States, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than three years, or both.
This section shall not abridge the right of a citizen to apply, himself or his agent, to any foreign government or the agents thereof for redress of any injury which he may have sustained from such government or any of its agents or subjects.
The language of the act appears to encompass almost every communication between a U.S. citizen and a foreign government considered an attempt to influence negotiations between their two countries. Because the language is so broad in scope, legal scholars and judges have suggested that the Logan Act is unconstitutional. Historically, the act has been used more as a threat to those engaged in various political activities than as a weapon for prosecution. In fact, Logan Act violations have been discussed in almost every administration without any serious attempt at enforcement, and to date there have been no convictions and only one recorded indictment.
One example of the act's use as a threat of prosecution involved the Reverend jesse jackson. In 1984 Jackson took well-publicized trips to Cuba and Nicaragua and returned with several Cuban political prisoners seeking Asylum in the United States. President ronald reagan stated that Jackson's activities may have violated the law, but Jackson was not pursued beyond a threat.
The only Logan Act indictment occurred in 1803. It involved a Kentucky newspaper article that argued for the formation in the western United States of a separate nation allied to France. No prosecution followed.
Kearney, Kevin M. 1987. "Private Citizens in Foreign Affairs: A Constitutional Analysis." Emory Law Journal 36 (winter).Roth, Brad R. 1993. "The First Amendment in the Foreign Affairs Realm: 'Domesticating' the Restrictions on Citizen Participation." Temple Political and Civil Rights Law Review 2 (spring). | <urn:uuid:4692231a-0179-484e-9764-133d86d04570> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://legal-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/Logan+Act | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783397748.48/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154957-00092-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.961626 | 767 | 3.5 | 4 |
The Independent blogger Kate Hilpern pretty much sums it up when she writes that "engineering touches almost everything we do and use." Engineering and the other branches of STEM make up the way most of our society functions. However, Hilpern argues that there are not enough women putting themselves out there in the engineering field. The article goes on to mention how women need role models in the field to whom to aspire.
So how come there aren't nearly as many women engineers as there are men? Working your way up the ladder in the engineering field makes for a lucrative lifestyle. There are plenty of women who are competent for such a profession. So where are the all the girls?
Let's face it: no one is going to look at someone in the engineering field the same way they look at Kate Moss. But that doesn't mean there can't be women engineers who are worth looking up to.
For instance, take a look at Beulah Henry, the female version of Thomas Edison, in The Expert Witness blogger Robin Sjostrom's article about famous women in engineering. Henry created several toys and useful home supplies in the 1920s and '30s. Her inventions helped set the stage for copiers and automatic sewing machines.
Hedy Lamarr was known as a gorgeous movie star in the '40s, but she also created a remote-controlled communications system for the military in the second World War. Bluetooth and Wi-Fi network connections have stemmed from her invention.
The only thing worse than a snowstorm is when you literally can't see anything past the falling sleet. Mary Anderson fixed that problem, however, when she invented windshield wipers after witnessing a man trying clear his car during a storm. Engineers aren't just people who work in a plant fixing pipe leaks. They are inventors and imaginative creators.
Hilpern talks about how engineering is also about art and design as much as it is about technicality. Incorporating these principles into engineering classes in school might just get women a little more intrigued by the idea of an occupation in engineering.
This is where STEAM takes the stage. The 'A' stands for Art, which partners with Design as well. The biggest concern is that art is not emphasized in the classroom so some women automatically ignore the idea of engineering. Integrating art and design into STEM classes will encourage the creative side of young engineers, women included.
Photographer Charles Nѐgre said, "Where science ends, art begins." Science explains while art shows; the two complement each other. They have divergent understandings the universe, yet both conclude in the same beautiful manner and eventually intersect. This is where engineering comes in. Invention and creativity is required in order to further society. Women are not disqualified from this necessity. Having both sexes' viewpoints incorporate both sides of humanity so we can draw from a broader perspective and obtain a wider range of discovery.
For Hilpern's complete article, click here.
For Sjostrom's complete article, click here. | <urn:uuid:cca7a58b-d0bb-48ee-bc14-e12e1348f356> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.plantservices.com/blogs/stem-101/the-females-road-to-discovery/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783397842.93/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154957-00018-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.965939 | 618 | 3.109375 | 3 |
All parents wish for their children to be, and to remain, healthy. If only there were a window onto the future, a way to warn of potential dangers lurking down the road. Will a child be susceptible to heart disease, to diabetes, to infirmities of one kind or another? If only there were a way to know.
Well, on one front, there is, at least to a point. An ongoing study of kids in West Virginia has found that testing for cholesterol levels before puberty may well predict problems that would otherwise not surface until much later on in life.
Because of this, federal officials are now recommending that youths get tested for cholesterol between ages 9 and 11, and then a decade later. This may well point out those who will be at the greatest risk of cardiovascular disease.
The recommendation, from the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute, was immediately backed by the American Academy of Pediatrics.
There is no good reason to oppose the suggestion, which didn’t stop some from quickly finding fault. Said one opponent: There is no evidence that early testing will help to identify at-risk individuals or aid them in any way later on.
Well, there might not have been, but there may well now be, which is what the new study is all about. Others suggested that early testing might be turned into an excuse to put
kids on cholesterol-lowering medications. They’ve got things a bit backwards. The tests will identify youngsters with potential problems ahead. How doctors and parents react to those results is a separate matter.
The best way, of course, is to see if changes in diet and exercise can help. Drugs should be the last resort. What’s most important, though, is information, and that’s what these recommendations are all about. | <urn:uuid:9c2a44b2-530d-4598-82fa-2f9fb41d0209> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.masslive.com/opinion/index.ssf/2011/11/editorial_early_cholesterol_te.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783396100.16/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154956-00033-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.959636 | 369 | 2.9375 | 3 |
Water safety plan: a field guide to improving drinking-water safety in small communities
By Bettina Rickert, Oliver Schmoll, Angella Rinehold and Eva Barrenberg
2014, vi + 90 pages
ISBN 978 92 890 5007 4
This publication is only available online.
Sufficient, acceptable and safe drinking-water is a key prerequisite for good health, economic development and sustainable family livelihoods in rural communities. The water safety plan (WSP) approach is the most effective way of ensuring the provision of safe drinking-water in small-scale water supply systems.
This field guide provides a step-by-step introduction to the WSP approach and a range of ready-to-use templates to assist those locally involved in rural water supply to develop and implement their own WSPs.
The field guide particularly addresses the rural community members responsible for the operation and management of their water supplies, as well as the staff of the local health and water supply offices responsible for safeguarding drinking-water quality and nongovernmental organizations that support drinking-water safety in rural communities. | <urn:uuid:c9039d97-d156-4623-ab5e-7aed02f7da64> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.euro.who.int/en/health-topics/environment-and-health/water-and-sanitation/publications/2014/water-safety-plan-a-field-guide-to-improving-drinking-water-safety-in-small-communities | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783395613.65/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154955-00169-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.889219 | 227 | 3.03125 | 3 |
Where I live in the USA, the season of Summer is fading away. This makes me incredibly sad because Summer is my favorite time of the year. The grass is green, the trees are full, the smell of ripe peaches scents the air in my backyard, and shorts and a T-shirt are the official uniform.
Meals are eaten outside, sports are enjoyed outside, and my bare feet find their way onto the patio when I finally sit to read or write.
Soon it will be Autumn. The air will be crisper. Pumpkins will replace peaches. The trees will blaze with red, gold, and brown leaves, and jeans and sweatshirts will come out of their summer hiding spots.
The landscape will still be beautiful, but the daylight allowed for outdoor activities will shrink. Just like some animals, we humans will have the instinct to hibernate as the temperatures turn colder.
If you live in an area where the seasons change, it’s my hope that you will get outside and enjoy what remains of Summer before Autumn arrives. While you can certainly still get outdoors and do many activities in Autumn, there are some things that are best enjoyed during Summer.
Here are five activities to try before Summer leaves us:
1. Go on a butterfly hunt. Locate areas with brightly colored flowers and see how many different butterflies you can find. Use these sites to help you identify the butterflies you find.
Gardens With Wings
2. Visit the ocean and look for wildlife that inhabits the seashore. What adaptations make these animals able to live by the water? Use these sites to learn more about ocean wildlife.
Monterey Bay Aquarium Cams
3. Hike through the woods. This is a great way to spend a few hours. Pretend you are an explorer on the trail. What do you see? How would you describe your findings to others? What changes will happen when Summer ends?
Hiking Essentials – What to Bring on a Hike
4. Camp out in your backyard. Pitch a tent and spend the night outdoors. While you’re outside, sit quietly and listen to the lullabies of nature. What sounds do you hear that you don’t hear during the day?
Night Animal Sounds
5. Have a picnic outside. Gather some of your favorite healthy snacks, maybe even fruits and veggies you’ve picked yourself at a local farm, and have a meal with Mother Nature. Try to pack the picnic in an environmentally-friendly way so as to reduce your waste.
Environmentally-Friendly Guide to Picnics
If you have other ideas for outdoor adventures, try those too. The more time you spend outside, the healthier and happier you’ll be!
Challenge: Try all of the above activities. Leave comments to tell us about your outdoor fun.
More from ecomii: | <urn:uuid:b9304212-a1b4-427c-90cb-eed2f7ea87fc> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.ecomii.com/blogs/jeff-corwin-citizen-blog/2011/09/08/kids-connect-get-out-there/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783395620.56/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154955-00037-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.946615 | 597 | 2.59375 | 3 |
This is for those who love their Siberian Huskies and are tempted to breed them.
For centuries man has been supervising the breeding of dogs, and exercising his power to choose the characteristics he wished to preserve and eliminate. This process, known as selective breeding, resulted in the many individual breeds of dogs that are known today. Gradually, as breeders became aware of the concepts of genetics, they applied basic genetic principles to their breeding programs. By combining the art of selection with the knowledge of science, breeders were able to refine the breeds of their choice.
Much importance has been placed on pedigrees and much success has been derived from the breeding of closely related dogs that share desirable genetic traits. It was inevitable that, along with the desirable traits, there have come undesirable traits which may take several generations of breeding to manifest themselves. When these undesirable traits finally do surface, breeders must acknowledge that their seemingly normal dogs may transmit defective genes to their offspring and perpetuate the undesirable trait in the breed.
No breed of dog is totally free from inheritable genetic defects, but few breeds have had the good fortune of the Siberian Husky. Not only is the individual dog generally healthy and of good temperament, but throughout the years there has not been an abundance of genetic issues. Additionally, the national breed club, the Siberian Husky Club of America, Inc. (SHCA), has maintained a watchful eye for potential genetic problems and has taken positive action in those instances when the general health and well-being of the breed has been challenged.
Since 1965, the SHCA has maintained a committee whose task is to be aware of the start of genetic problems in the breed and to alert breeders before the defect has begun to spread. Two major conditions have been uncovered in this manner and, in each instance, the board of directors of the SHCA has instituted practical guidelines in order to enable breeders to decrease the spread of the inheritable disorder. These two areas of greatest concern are canine hip dysplasia and inheritable eye disease.
What is canine hip dysplasia? Hip dysplasia is an abnormality of the hip joint in which the head of the thighbone (femur) does not fit properly into its pelvic joint socket (acetabulum). This condition, while not present at birth, develops during the first two years of the dog's life. It is often progressive, causing inflammation, pain, and arthritis of the affected hip. It is aggravated by strenuous exercise and, sitting up, lying down, or climbing stairs.
This disorder afflicts dogs of both sexes, and may be present in one or both hips. The condition may range from mild to severe, and clinical signs may become more evident in dogs under one year of age. It is regarded with utmost concern in our breed because the dysplastic Siberian Husky cannot do the work for which it was bred, nor can it exhibit the freedom and effortlessness of movement so highly prized in the show ring and on the sled.
What is the cause of hip dysplasia? Canine hip dysplasia is an inheritable disease. Its mode of inheritance is termed "polygenic," meaning that it is due to a combination of multiple genes. Because of the polygenic nature of this disorder, some normal dogs produce a percentage of dysplastic offspring. The breeding pair, although physically normal, may each transmit some of the dysplastic genes to their offspring, thus the offspring may receive a combination of complementary genes from both parents which may cause hip dysplasia. The division of defective genes is very uneven, with one parent contributing more defective genes than the other. Environmental factors such as a high caloric diet during the rapid growth phase of a puppy can exacerbate the changes in dysplastic hips, but cannot create a dysplastic dog.
How is hip dysplasia diagnosed? Accurate diagnosis can be established through radiographic examination by a veterinary radiologist. The dog is sedated and the hind limbs are rotated and extended to allow the proper positioning of the hips and femurs. It is recommended that bitches in heat or in pregnancy not be radiographed since the hormones may interfere with joint laxity. After the films are taken, they are mailed to a hip registry organization such as the OFA or Penn Hip. Since the OFA has been the most commonly used hip registry in the world, only the OFA will be discussed.
What is OFA? The Orthopedic Foundation for Animals (OFA) is a private, non-profit organization which disseminates information on orthopedic and genetic diseases to the public. It is the world's largest all-breed hip registry, with over 475,000 dogs. After a veterinarian takes an x-ray of the dog's hips, the x-ray is submitted to OFA for hip evaluation. The radiograph is then evaluated independently by three board certified veterinary radiologists. The final hip grade is decided by a consensus of the three independent radiologists. Only dogs over 24 months of age that receive "excellent," "good," or "fair" evaluations will receive an OFA registry number. This number is reported to the AKC and parent breed club. Abnormal hips are only reported to the owner and referring veterinarian. Dogs under 24 months of age can have a preliminary hip evaluation, but a registry number will not be assigned until new radiographs have been resubmitted at 24 months of age.
How common is canine hip dysplasia in the Siberian Husky? From January 1994 through December 1998, a total of 12,087 Siberian Huskies have been evaluated by OFA for hip dysplasia. Out of this total, 30.5% of the dogs have received "excellent" hip ratings, and only 2.2% have been dysplastic. (Please note that radiographs showing hip dysplasia may not have been mailed to the OFA on the advice of the referring veterinarian.)
Out of the 114 breeds of dogs at risk for hip dysplasia, the Siberian Husky is one of the breeds least affected ranked at #111 out of a possible 114 based upon evaluations from 1974 through 1994. This impressive ranking has been achieved through the cooperation of breeders who followed the breeding program guidelines established by the OFA and the SHCA to decrease the incidence of hip dysplasia.
The Siberian Husky has been one of the few breeds that had a dramatic decrease in the incidence of hip dysplasia from 1980 through 1995. The breed has experienced a change of + 42.1% in the number of OFA "excellent" dogs, and a - 55.6% change in the number of dysplastic dogs.
All potential puppy buyers should ask to see the OFA registry papers of both the sire and dam of the litter.
How can I find out if a dog has an OFA number? The OFA maintains a hip registry open to the public and is available on the OFA website at the following address:
The person to contact for OFA information is:
Jamesa Maulden, SHCA OFA/SHOR Chairperson
PO Box 1611
Chehalis, WA 98532
What are the guidelines for preventing dysplasia? Only those dogs which have been certified free from hip dysplasia by the OFA should be used for breeding. Whenever possible, close relatives to dysplastic dogs should not be used for breeding even if they are physically normal. Vital to the program is the establishment of "pedigree depth" for each individual stud dog or brood bitch. In order to establish pedigree depth, the parents, grandparents, and all close relatives of the stud dog or brood bitch should also be certified by the OFA. Many breeders have already adhered to this protocol and have had an admirable record of dysplasia-free stock for generations of dogs.
Which inherited eye defects occur in the Siberian Husky? Although there are many possible eye defects, only three are of current concern in the Siberian. These are hereditary or juvenile cataracts, corneal dystrophy, and progressive retinal atrophy. Each disorder is present in a different portion of the eye, and will occur in any eye color. Eye defects in the Siberian Husky are serious and should not be understated or overlooked.
What are hereditary cataracts & how are they transmitted? Hereditary or juvenile cataracts are manifested by opacity in the lens of a young dog as early as 3 months of age. These cataracts are different from the non-hereditary cataracts affecting aged or senior dogs. The function of the lens of the eye is to focus the rays of light so that they form an image on the retina. An opacity or cataract on the lens causes less light to enter the eye and sight can be diminished. A cataract can cause a mild decrease in eyesight to complete blindness in severe cases. Cataracts can further be classified by location and stage of development. The most common hereditary cataract in the Siberian Husky occurs on the posterior region of the lens. It is not uncommon for a cataract to develop in one eye months before the other eye shows the effects of the disease. Recent DNA research indicates that juvenile cataracts may be carried by a recessive gene. Genetic research is presently under way to develop a simple DNA test to identify dogs and bitches that carry the recessive gene for cataracts.
What is corneal dystrophy? Corneal dystrophy affects the cornea or the outer transparent portion of the eyeball. In most cases, Siberian Huskies with this disorder have an abnormal collection of lipids in the clear cornea of the eye which results in a hazy or crystalline opacity. Ophthalmologists describe the location of the opacity as anterior, mid, or deep stromal. The Siberian Husky is prone to deep stromal dystrophy which involves triglyceride deposits. Annular dystrophy also occurs and appears as a doughnut shaped opacity in the peripheral cornea. Corneal dystrophy is usually seen in young adult dogs and may affect females more than males. Vision is seldom affected and no effective therapy for the condition exists at this time. Recent genetic tests are suggesting that a recessive gene with variant expression transmits this disorder.
What is progressive retinal atrophy (PRA) & how is it transmitted? Progressive retinal atrophy (PRA) affects the retina, the light-sensitive inner lining of the posterior part of the eyeball. The retina contains two types of specialized cells called rods and cones. The rods are necessary for sight in dim light or night light, and the cones are utilized in in bright light vision. The Siberian Husky has a unique type of PRA that is only found in Siberians and man. This type of PRA is called XLPRA (X Linked PRA) since it is transmitted through the "XX" chromosome of the female. It will cause a loss of night vision followed by a loss of day vision, eventually blindness. The recessive gene for XLPRA is situated on the "X" chromosome of the female. Females who inherit a defective gene on the "X" chromosome from one parent and a normal gene on the other "X" chromosome from the other parent, will not be seriously affected. They will be carriers with very subtle retinal defects and no loss of vision. The male puppy from a carrier dam will receive either a defective gene or a normal gene, depending on what chromosome was copied in the DNA replication. If he has the defective gene, the dog will be affected with PRA since males carry an "XY" chromosome. The disease in males can be devastating with loss of vision as early as 5 months of age.
A genetic test available, through Optigen, to identify Siberians that carry this gene or genes, thus this test can help eliminate XLPRA from breeding programs.
How are eye defects diagnosed? Accurate diagnosis of eye defects requires the expertise of a board certified veterinary ophthalmologist who is equipped by knowledge and training to distinguish hereditary eye diseases from non-hereditary eye disorders. The American College of Veterinary Ophthalmologists (ACVO) is the national governing board for the certification of veterinary ophthalmologists. Since 1974, the SHCA has encouraged local breed clubs to support eye clinics, which make eye examination more convenient and affordable to breeders and dog owners. Today, thanks to the devotion and support of local area clubs, eye clinics are common throughout the country and are available to all breeders.
How prevalent are eye defects in the Siberian Husky? Of the three major eye diseases of the Siberian Husky, hereditary cataracts are the most common, followed by corneal dystrophy, and progressive retinal atrophy. A statistical report conducted by members of the American College of Veterinary Ophthalmologists in 1999 provided the following information regarding the Siberian Husky. Out of 1345 Siberian Huskies examined, a total of 107 dogs had inheritable cataracts (8%), a total of 44 dogs had corneal dystrophy (3%), and 4 dogs had progressive retinal atrophy (less than 1%).
How can genetic eye defects be reduced or eliminated? Research is now being conducted to develop DNA testing for both hereditary cataracts and progressive retinal atrophy. Until these tests are available, the SHCA and the American College of Veterinary Ophthalmologists have established guidelines to help breeders decrease the spread of heritable eye disorders. The guidelines are as follows: Every dog to be used for breeding must be examined by a veterinarian that is board certified by the American College of Veterinary Ophthalmology. This examination must be done during the year that the dog is to be used for breeding. Only dogs with normal examinations are to be used for breeding. Caution must be exercised in the use of those dogs that are closely related to affected dogs, or when a breeder suspects that an individual dog is producing a defect in its offspring. Though the dog itself may not exhibit signs of the eye defect, that dog should promptly and permanently be withheld from further breeding.
Is there a breed registry available for normal eyes? Since eye abnormalities can appear over a period of several years, annual eye examinations are imperative. It is possible for a dog to have a normal eye examination at one year of age and be severely afflicted with an eye disorder one or two years later. In the case of hereditary eye disease, consideration must be given to the possibility that the defect occurs as a genetic recessive gene. In this instance, two normal dogs that are carriers of the defect will pass the eye exam and yet pass the genetic defect to the offspring.
In 1975, a central agency was formed to register annual eye examination reports for all breeds. The agency, named the Canine Eye Registry Foundation (CERF), compiled eye data and reports for all breeds. In addition, upon receipt of an approved eye examination form signed by an ACVO veterinary ophthalmologist, the registry issued adult dog certificates and breed numbers which included the date of the eye examination along with the current age of the dog. The certificate was good for one year.
When CERF disbanded in 1979, the SHCA instituted the Siberian Husky Ophthalmologic
Registry (SHOR). This agency continued the function of registering Siberian
Huskies that had completed an ACVO annual eye examination. In order to receive
a SHOR certification, which is only valid for one year, the dog has to be
at least one year of age. The SHOR registry number consists of three segments:
1. an individual number sequential to the number of previously certified dogs;
2. the month and year of the examination;
3. the age in months of the dog at the examination.
The name of the dog and the registry number are published in the Newsletter of the SHCA, and on this website.
In 1982 the CERF eye registry was reinstituted but was again disbanded in 2014. The Orthopedic Foundation for Animals established an eye registry in 2013 which is now known as the Companion Animal Eye Registry (or CAER). Both the CAER and SHOR registries are available for eye certification.
Reputable breeders of Siberian Huskies provide current eye examination reports by ACVO veterinary ophthalmologists for all breeding stock. All potential puppy buyers should ask to see the eye examination report for both the sire and the dam of the litter.
For SHOR information, contact:
This brochure was researched and written by Jean O'Brien, Kathleen Stryeski,
DVM, and Sheila Blanker, DVM, and approved by the Board of Directors of the Siberian Husky Club of
Updated April 2015
Last update of this page: 04/04/2015.
© 1996-2015 Siberian Husky Club of America, Inc., All rights reserved
Owning Siberians: LOOKING FOR A BREEDER: SHCA Code of Ethics | Guidelines for Ethical Breeding Practices | Guidelines for the Sale of Puppies and Adult Dogs | HEREDITARY PROBLEMS TO AVOID: Your Siberian: Its Hips and Its Eyes | HOW TO FIND A BREEDER: Area Club List | Referral Directory | Puppies/Dogs | Siberian Rescue
| General Information | Club Information | Owning Siberians | Education | Working Programs | Committees | SHOR | Home | | <urn:uuid:d973d575-cdbb-4ad5-a900-602ef2479048> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.shca.org/shcahp4d.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783397864.87/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154957-00056-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.948933 | 3,586 | 2.546875 | 3 |
Six in seven households have received some sort of government benefit, according to a new survey from Pew Research Center. Here are some highlights from the report, plus some extra bits of context. These graphs focus on government spending, as opposed to tax benefits -- such as the Earned Income Tax Credit and the lower rate on investment income -- which can also be considered forms of "government assistance," since a dollar not taxed can perform a similar role to a dollar spent.
1. The big picture is bigger than 'the 47%.' Fully 55% of all Americans -- including a majority of those self-identifying as Democrats, Republicans, liberals, moderates, and conservatives -- have received benefits from one of these six federal programs: Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, welfare (TANF), unemployment benefits, and food stamps (SNAP).
2. ... Actually, it's more than the 70%. If you broaden to households rather than individuals: "71% of adults are part of a household that has benefited" from at least one of those six programs.
3. In fact, it's the 86%. After you add veteran benefits and college assistance, 70% of individuals -- and 86% of households -- receive a government benefit of some kind. Put differently, one in seven households doesn't receive assistance from the federal government.
4. The demographic breakdown. Federal assistance is more likely to go to women than men (61% vs. 49%); to blacks than whites or Hispanics (64% vs. 56% vs. 50%); and to rural residents than urban or suburban (62% vs. 54% vs. 53%).
6. Food Stamps are bigger than you think. You might not guess it from the relative attention paid to each program, but there are nearly as many people on Food Stamps (SNAP) as there are on Medicare.
7. But nothing's bigger than Social Security ... for now. Although Medicare and Medicaid are projected to grow faster than Social Security in the next ten (and, especially, twenty) years, SS is still the biggest benefit program from the federal government.
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- Social Security | <urn:uuid:13f8c503-f850-4309-87c7-d4e92501085c> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://finance.yahoo.com/news/7-facts-government-benefits-gets-193020843.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783395039.24/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154955-00023-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.964019 | 485 | 2.671875 | 3 |
The idea of madness is central to Regeneration. At its simplest level, madness is the problem that plagues the soldiers at Craiglockhart War Hospital, the problem that the psychiatrists long to "heal." The symptoms of madness range from an irrational fear of blood to mutism, from an inability to eat to a vocal protest of the war. In short, madness translates into an inability to act in a manner that normal society considers rational. These "mad" men live outside the bounds of what is socially acceptable, and are therefore removed from their duty, labeled as "shell-shocked," and hidden away in a war hospital in Scotland. For many of the men, such treatment only further exacerbates their problems, leaving them feeling shamed and emasculated over their breakdown.
A deeper level, however, the question of madness is one that Barker leaves unanswered. The most important "regeneration" in the novel is the fact that Rivers begins to question the very nature of madness; as a character, he grows into a new type of person, one who challenges the assumptions of his society. He begins to wonder whether it truly was madness for these men to break down in the face of such horror and death, or whether it was madness that so many men (including Rivers himself) blindly followed a program of war and decimation in the first place. Rivers begins to wonder if he himself is mad for "healing" patients only to send them back to war to be killed. The novel provides no easy answer, but instead provokes further thought about the question of madness and the nature of sanity.
Love and intimate friendship between men is a continual theme in the novel, as all of the soldiers and doctors in the novel are male. On the battlefield, love between men is an accepted and desirable occurrence. Sassoon is complemented on the love and dedication he demonstrates for the men who serve in his division. Such a relationship involves a level of caring and comradeship for fellow soldiers. Society looks upon such love favorably, as it engenders a better army.
However, there are bounds to the acceptable societal level of male emotional interaction in Regeneration. In Chapter 17, Rivers mentions these limits. He tells Sassoon that although comradeship is encouraged, "at the same time there's always this little niggle of anxiety. Is it the right kind of love?" Homosexuality is an implied, but not overt theme in the novel. Rivers suggests that in wartime, the reaction to homosexuality would only be more intolerant than in peacetime, as the authorities would want to make it clear that there are penalties for the wrong kind of love. From this perspective, love between men—and male emotional relationships more generally—are a smaller part of a larger goal of curbing what is deemed socially unacceptable behavior. Homosexuals, like shell-shock victims, are outside the boundaries of normal social interaction. This being the case, Sassoon's homosexuality is an underlying threat to the stability of the social order. Through his sexual preference, he challenges the control of the state exerted in wartime, and his character emerges as a more complicated and controversial figure.
Parenthood is linked in the novel to comradeship and caring. Parent-like protectiveness appears as a natural reaction to having men under one's command or patients under one's watch. Especially in wartime situations—in which control over many aspects of one's existence is so limited—a desire to protect others serves as an outlet for the need for some measure of control. Some examples in the novel are Prior's fatherly feelings for his troops, and the way many of the patients hold Rivers to be a surrogate father figure.
In Regeneration, the idea of parenthood is complicated by unorthodox gendering of protective roles. A former patient of Rivers's refers to him as a "male mother." This comparison distresses Rivers: "He distrusted the implication that nurturing, even when done by a man, remains female, as if the ability were in some way borrowed, or even stolen, from women. If that were true, then there was really very little hope." Here, it becomes clear that fatherhood and motherhood tie into a larger issue of gender roles in society. Rivers's method of treatment requires an expression of emotions, a traditionally female idea. Yet although Rivers resents that nurturing is considered to be a uniquely female trait, he ultimately accepts the idea that he acts in a fatherly and motherly way to his patients. For in the end, good parenthood involves care for the individual. Although war rejects such attention to the individual, as a doctor, Rivers makes his best effort to provide it.
The idea of "regeneration" functions in the novel to inform and develop the concepts of healing, changing, and regrowth. It occurs several times, most notably in the nerve regeneration experiments Rivers practices on Head, and in the figurative regeneration of men's "nerves" in the War Hospital. Rivers also undergoes a sort of regeneration in the novel. Through observations of his patients, reflections on his upbringing, and most importantly his interactions with Sassoon, Rivers questions many of the assumptions of war and duty that he previously held. This motif highlights the comparison between mental and physical healing, and it emphasizes the regrowth and change in a man who has been confronted with the reality of war.
Emasculation appears in the novel in a wide variety of forms. Sassoon remembers the young boy in the bed next to him who has been castrated on the battlefield. Anderson dreams he is tied up with corsets. Prior recalls his weakness against his father and the influence of his mother. Sassoon mentions to Rivers the topic of homosexuality and the idea of an "intermediate sex." Rivers reflects on the "feminine" nature of healing and caring for one another on the battlefield.
Emasculation signals the powerlessness that soldiers feel when confronted with the shocking reality of war. Although they try to do the manly thing by enlisting in the war and fighting for their country, they must face society's judgment that it is decidedly unmanly to suffer a breakdown. In the hospital, Rivers's method of treatment involves more ostensibly unmanly actions, as the patients are forced to release their emotions and discuss their feelings. Willard is so opposed to the unmanliness of his condition that he refuses to believe he has anything other than a physical problem. Yet, Rivers achieves results in a sympathetic manner; he helps his patients to improve and lead a normal life once again. Through further "emasculation" the patients are able to improve. Ultimately, Barker's exploration of emasculation in the novel challenges traditional notions of manliness.
In Regeneration, mutism functions as a symbolic manifestation of the disempowerment and helplessness the men feel. Both Prior and Callan are affected by mutism after extremely horrifying incidents. Rivers reasons that mutism might be caused by an inability to voice dissent or express opinion over any part of one's own life. He notes that mutism occurs most often among regular soldiers, not officers—men who are entirely at the mercy of their commanders. Mutism, however, is in itself an assertion of power. Through silence, these men are disobeying those who have power over them. How Rivers and Yealland differently handle mutism is a reflection on their own need to reinforce control over their patients.
Trenches are symbolic in the novel, much as they are in the poetry of the Great War. The trenches are likened, both literally and figuratively, to graves. Many of the patients have terrible experiences and memories involving trenches. Prior, most notably, remembers waking up in a trench one morning, only to turn around and find two of his men killed by an exploded shell. The trench became the men's grave, as Prior was forced to mix their remains with lyme and use them to reinforce the walls of the trench. | <urn:uuid:825a63b7-d4cc-4f40-81a4-9db6f245187a> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/regeneration/themes.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783396887.54/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154956-00137-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.974575 | 1,610 | 3.09375 | 3 |
Cylinder : A solid generated by the revolution of a rectangular about one of its sides is called a right circular cylinder.
If we take a number of circular sheets and stake them up vertically , we get right circular cylinder.
Base : Each of the circular ends on which the cylinder rests is called base.
Axis : The line segment joining the centers of two circular bases is called the axis of the cylinder. The axis is always perpendicular to the bases of right circular cylinder.
Radius : The radius of the circular base is called the radius of the cylinder.
Height : The length if the axis of the cylinder is called the height of the cylinder.
Lateral surface or curved surface area of cylinder : The surface between the two circular bases is called its Lateral surface. When we cut the cylinder vertically we get a lateral surface in rectangular shape.
Formulas needed for Surface Area of Cylinder :
Lateral Surface Area (LSA or CSA) = 2π r h Area of base = π r2 Total Surface Area = TSA = 2 π r ( r + h)
Surface Area of Hollow Cylinder : A solid bounded by two coaxial cylinders of the same height and different radii is called a Hollow cylinder.
Lateral Surface Area (LSA or CSA) = 2π r h + 2 π R h Area of base = π ( R2- r2) Total Surface Area = TSA = 2 πR h + 2π rh + 2 π( R2- r2)
Some solved examples on surface area of cylinder
1) The curved surface area of a right circular cylinder of height 14 cm is 88 cm2.Find the diameter of the base of the cylinder. Solution : h = 14 cm ; CSA = 88 cm2
CSA = 2 π r h
88 = 2 x 3.14 x r x 14
88 = 87.92 r = 88 r
∴ r = 1 cm
Diameter = d = 2r
d = 2 x 1 = 2 cm
2) The ratio between the CSA and TSA of a right circular cylinder is 1:2. Find he ratio between the height and radius of the cylinder. Solution :
TSA = 2 π r ( r + h)
CSA = 2 π r h
∴ CSA / TSA = 2 π r h / 2 π r ( r + h)
⇒ ½ = h / ( r + h )
2h = r + h
h = r
⇒ h : r = 1 : 1
3) An iron pipe 20 cm long has exterior diameter equal to 25 cm. If the thickness of the pipe is 1 cm, find the whole surface of the pipe. solution :
D = 25 cm ⇒ R = 12.5 cm
r = R – thickness = 12.5 – 1 = 11.5 cm
h = 20 cm
TSA of the pipe = 2 πR h + 2π r h + 2 π( R2- r2)
= 2 x 3.14 x 12.5 x 20 + 2 x 3.14 x 11.5 x 20 + 2 x 3.14 ( 12.52 - 11.52)
= 1570 + 1444.44 + 6.28 ( 156.25 – 132.25 )
= 3014.4 + 148.8
TSA = 3163.2 cm2 Surface Area : | <urn:uuid:4c012783-f69d-47eb-8d8d-25653bef6f97> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.ask-math.com/surface-area-of-cylinder.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783397873.63/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154957-00019-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.824001 | 729 | 4.28125 | 4 |
The shuttle touches down on schedule at the Kennedy Space Center, Florida, under overcast skies. There had been concern bad weather could delay the return, but this was unfounded.
This Nasa TV image shows the runway with superimposed information seen by pilot Mark Kelly as he prepared to land the shuttle after 13 days in space.
As the orbiter lands safely, a parachute is deployed from its rear to bring it to a halt.
Millions of people followed the progress of Discovery as the craft returned to Earth, including the crew of the International Space Station (ISS).
Mission complete, the landed shuttle is towed from the runway at Cape Canaveral.
Nasa administrator Michael Griffin congratulates crew members as they inspect the tyres of their spacecraft.
A close-up image of the tiles on the underside of the shuttle's nose. The orbiter's tiles make up a thermal shield designed to protect it on its journey back to Earth.
Astronaut Lisa Nowak signs a model of the Discovery, as she and colleague Stephanie Wilson relish their return.
After being towed from the runway, the shuttle is rolled back to the orbiter processing facility for a full inspection.
The proud crew speak to journalists about their mission. Seven of them blasted off from Florida - German Thomas Reiter will remain on the ISS for six months. | <urn:uuid:de99ee8a-da94-4c5b-b734-4e1ee5aeb05e> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/in_pictures/5189610.stm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783395546.12/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154955-00133-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.953664 | 270 | 2.859375 | 3 |
1 any substance burned as a source of heat or power, such as coal or petrol
2 the material, containing a fissile substance such as uranium-235, that produces energy in a nuclear reactor
3 something that nourishes or builds up emotion, action, etc.
vb , fuels, fuelling, fuelled
(U.S.) , fuels, fueling, fueled
4 to supply with or receive fuel (C14: from Old French feuaile, from feu fire, ultimately from Latin focus fireplace, hearth)
n any naturally occurring carbon or hydrocarbon fuel, such as coal, petroleum, peat, and natural gas, formed by the decomposition of prehistoric organisms
n a cell in which the energy produced by oxidation of a fuel is converted directly into electrical energy
n a can containing nuclear fuel for use in a reactor
n a system for introducing atomized liquid fuel under pressure directly into the combustion chambers of an internal-combustion engine without the use of a carburettor
n a liquid petroleum product having a flash point above 37.8°C: used as a substitute for coal in industrial furnaces, domestic heaters, ships, and locomotives
n a long tube, often made of a zirconium alloy and containing uranium-oxide pellets, that is stacked in bundles of about 200 to provide the fuel in certain types of nuclear reactor
n a fuel that provides nuclear energy, used in nuclear power stations, nuclear submarines, etc.
1 a domestic or industrial fuel, such as coal or coke, that is a solid rather than an oil or gas
2 (Also called)
solid propellant a rocket fuel that is a solid rather than a liquid or a gas | <urn:uuid:8c96bf1e-bb69-4d43-9517-596b66e08778> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://dictionary.reverso.net/english-definition/fuel%20consumption | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783395620.9/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154955-00122-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.915003 | 356 | 3.375 | 3 |
Pre-Production - The Story Process
Our other “Begin at the beginning” concept is story. "If it ain't on the stage it ain't on the page" is a permanent echo in our halls. All UVU students learn the structure of the feature motion picture. They study how conflict and interesting characters with high concept goals shape engaging stories. They experience how the re-write process refines the story, how the production stage writes the breaths life into the story and how post-production forges the story in the refiners fire.
Production - Putting it All Together
Our students experience the management genius of the pre-production process. They learn what a stripboard is and how to send a scene to the boneyard. They learn how to pay attention to details and how quality planning with industry standard pre-production techniques paves the way for solving unseen problems later in the production process. All production documents for each project are kept in an indexed production book that follows the production through the entire process.
Post Production - Finishing the Project
Most every student in film school has at least on problem finishing the post-production stage of a project. We have addressed this problem by looking at the history of the film industry. Because the very structural foundation of feature films began as a collection of short films, UVU concentrates on short films from 8 to 12 minutes that can be pre-produced, shot and edited in a one semester. As a result students learn how to take projects through the entire process. The principle photography is scheduled to be finished two thirds of the way through the semester, allowing adequate post-production time. If a project is not finished, the student does not pass the class.
Although pre-production and production is a group effort, post-production is individual. Each student in the class production team individually takes the project through the post-production process from rough-cut to color correction to the final mix. They learn first hand what the term “coverage” means and why “we’ll fix it in post” means “nightmare” to the editor. At the end of the semester they compare cuts, which allows them to understand how different editors can take a story in opposite directions. | <urn:uuid:16a779fe-a3ff-413e-8cab-cdc45c1ac110> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | https://www.uvu.edu/dgm/pages/programs/production_process.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783397428.37/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154957-00140-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.938589 | 460 | 2.953125 | 3 |
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