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Euclid to Einstein: Barker Builds Beautiful Geometry
Story posted October 12, 2005
Anyone who thinks geometry is merely the study of shapes, angles, and points on a plane has not encountered Mathematics Professor Bill Barker talking about the Erlanger Programm and transformational geometry:
"Geometry is like a skyscraper," he says. "You keep building more and more and get this amazing intellectual universe. It's beautiful."
Anyone who thinks numbers and equations are the sole tools of geometry also is wrong: If you want to understand geometry, look to language. Words such as "symmetry," "equivalence," and "transformation" take on hugely complex meanings in a mathematical setting, but once described, they open up universes of thought.
Barker has had to have an artful grasp on both word and number over the past year. During his 2004-2005 sabbatical, he has been hard at work finishing up Volume I of Continuous Symmetry: From Euclid to Einstein, a new undergraduate textbook to be published in two volumes by the American Mathematical Society in 2006.
The result of nearly a decade of work with his co-author, Yale University's Roger Howe - a world-renowned mathematical researcher - the book promises to be one of the most comprehensive undergraduate treatments of the transformational approach to geometry.
Barker and Howe will present advancing levels of geometry, based on an advanced concept - but designed to be accessible to a wide audience. They cover geometric theory and application from its earliest Euclidean iteration as "geometry of the world" (geo is Greek for earth, and metron means measure), through more modern, abstract systems, including hyperbolic geometry, projective geometry and Lie theory. The book ends with a comparison of two different geometries of space-time that come from classical versus relativistic physics.
The unifying theme throughout this broad survey is the concept of transformational geometry - known as the Erlanger Programm - which Barker says "allows you to think of one geometry as 'sitting inside of' the other."
The Erlanger Programm was developed by the 19th-century German mathematician Felix Klein during a time when certain long-held conjectures about Euclidean geometry were shown to be false, opening up whole new concepts of geometry.
"People started devising other geometries, such as hyperbolic, projective, and elliptic geometry," says Barker. "It was an exciting but confusing time in mathematics, and it spawned the question: What unites these various systems and makes them all geometry? What is geometry?"
Klein came up with one intellectual idea that encompassed all the various geometric systems, a formulation still without serious rival. Simply stated, he defined geometry as the study of properties of objects (tangible or abstract) that do not change under a selected group of movements, the "symmetries" of the geometry.
It's a deceptively simple statement.
"In classical geometry," explains Barker, "the symmetries - or 'rigid motions' - are simply descriptions of any way of moving a plane without changing the distances between any pair of points. You can flip, rotate, or translate the plane - moving it like a cardboard sheet across a desk - and you don't change the distances between two points.
"It's the combinations of these basic rigid motions that give us what we call the symmetries of Euclidean geometry."
Things start to get interesting, however, when the groups of symmetries change. The symmetries of a plane change considerably, for instance, if you allow magnifications by any fixed positive number. Such a magnification from a fixed point is known as dilation (or a contraction, if reduced by a positive number).
Those magnifications produce a group of "similarities" of the plane, a variant of Euclidean geometry known as similarity geometry - well known to high school students studying similar triangles.
One of the most beguiling geometries is what's known as hyperbolic geometry. "It's a form of geometry where parallel lines do something very strange," notes Barker. "In Euclidean geometry, if you are given a point and a line, there is exactly one line that passes through the point and is parallel to the original line. It is what's known as the parallel postulate.
"In the hyperbolic plane, there are an infinite number of such parallel lines. Those 'straight lines' curve and appear as half circles, but they satisfy all the axioms of Euclidean geometry except for the parallel postulate."
It was just this exception to the postulates of Euclidean geometry that unleashed the genie of modern geometry.
"This geometry may seem weird to a non-mathematician," concedes Barker, smiling. "But it makes perfect sense when viewed in the scheme of the Erlanger Programm. We simply have an unusual group of symmetries. In fact, the geometry of relativistic space-time is very much like hyperbolic geometry.
"Viewing geometry this way takes your thinking to another level of abstraction," says Barker. "You're not just thinking about triangles and circles as objects, you're now thinking of symmetries as objects, not just 'movements,' but abstract objects. You end up understanding geometry from different viewpoints. Geometric thinking is at the heart of many applications in science, in art, and at the heart of a huge amount of seemingly non-geometric mathematics. Even space-time can be viewed as encoded by specific symmetry groups."
Barker has been "test-driving" the book's chapters and lessons in his classes at Bowdoin, and reports that this teaching approach not only "works" with undergraduates, but that "students have come up with many improvements; they often have seen a better approach to a specific problem than I have.
"We hope the book will be widely adopted," adds Barker. "We have a serious goal: to make the Erlanger Programm the central organizing theme for undergraduate geometry wherever it's taught."
For Barker, it is something of a crusade: "Students often get turned off to mathematics because they don't see the big ideas. We are not always good at presenting them," he says. "Instead, we get sidetracked by computational details.
"In this book, the whole course is built around this huge intellectual idea: Geometry is the study of invariant properties of objects under a selected group of symmetries. What does that mean? How do all the various geometries fit this scheme? How do you 'do geometry' via transformations? The questions are fascinating, challenging, and unending!"
« Back | Campus News | Academic Spotlight | | Subscribe to Bowdoin News by Email | <urn:uuid:b31f89c5-2a35-4bc9-8c68-31e12fdd6914> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | https://www.bowdoin.edu/news/archives/1academicnews/002546.shtml | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783399385.17/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154959-00073-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.95917 | 1,417 | 3 | 3 |
Vitamin D has many roles in the body and is an important element for overall health. To be honest all vitamins and minerals and all different nutrients are important and necessary so we should not discriminate over any of them.
To the point, researchers and doctors suggest that vitamin D is important for bone health, fighting mental health conditions such as depression, immune function cancer genesis and so on. But what about vitamin D and weight loss? Does vitamin D help with weight loss?
Vitamin D and weight gain
Vitamin D deficiency seems to be a common phenomenon of the westernised lifestyle. A number of different studies have looked at associations between weight and vitamin D levels. Some studies have suggested that there is a link between vitamin D deficiency and obesity.
Moreover, vitamin D deficiency has been associated with metabolic diseases and lipid dysregulations such as diabetes and the metabolic syndrome. Vitamin D is needed for a number of different processes in the body and it seems common sense that deficiency of it would affect all sorts of different aspects of health and the body.
One possible mechanism is attributed to calcium absorption. Vitamin D helps in the absorption of calcium and lack of it has been associated with increased levels of calcium in adipose tissue (fat stored in the body). In result there may be a decreased in lipid oxidation (burning of fat) and therefore in weight gain.
In simple words, lack of vitamin D could lead to weight gain amongst increasing the risk other health conditions.
Vitamin D and weight loss
So if lack of it can make you gain weight does that mean that if you have plenty of it will make you lose it?
Usually the answer would be ‘it is not that simple’ but in this case it may be surprising. There may be however a few ways in which vitamin D is connected with weight loss. Some of which may be:
1. Studies have consistently correlated vitamin D with weight loss. Basically people who take vitamin D in their diet tend to have smaller waists and they seem to lose more weight faster than those who lack of it.
2. The effects of vitamin D in weight loss seem to be more prominent when combined with calcium. Some studies have looked at vitamin D and calcium supplementation in combination. They suggest that vitamin D and calcium supplementation can contribute into weight loss and also into visceral fat reduction (belly fat).
3. Moreover, some studies suggest that there is evidence to show that vitamin D could be stopping the development of adiposities (the cells which store the fat in the body). In result and in simple words it could be stopping people from storing fat.
4. However, here comes the more complicated part of vitamin D and weight. Some studies have shown that the higher the body fat, the lower the vitamin D levels in the body. One reason this may happen is that adipose tissue (stored fat in the body) may store the vitamin D produced by the skin and make it less active; this seems to be truer for women than men and correlated to visceral fat as well (higher belly fat = less vitamin D).
On the other hand, when people lose a substantial amount of weight their vitamin D levels increase.
Here is a little bit like the chicken and egg controversy; what came 1st, the chicken or the egg? As with many things the full mechanism of how vitamin D relates to weight and loss/gain of it are not fully understood.
Either way vitamin D is considered one very important part for health and a number of the body processes. Vitamin D deficiency could lead to weight gain and weight loss itself can help increase vitamin D levels which in result may increase weight loss and also improve a number of other elements also related to weight such as insulin sensitivity, parathyroid hormone, calcium metabolism and absorption. So it is like a cycle going around.
However, do keep in mind that vitamin D exclusively is neither a scapegoat nor a magic solution. Diet and lifestyle does affect weight gain and weight loss, so do evaluate your diet and how is it influencing your weight!
Increasing vitamin D
Vitamin D can be synthesised by the body more specifically by the skin. It does require sunshine however and more specifically to be exposed to sunshine. At last sunbathing is back in fashion! Well kind of… Unfortunately it is not just any sun ray that promotes vitamin D synthesis and a lot of the sun blocks tend to block most the sun rays needed for that job. But don’t give up on your sun protection just yet as the harmful effects of the sun may be worst.
Also with obese people studies have shown that although the rate of vitamin D synthesis may be the same as with non obese, however the levels may be low in the blood. So you may be melting under the sun with not much result.
One reason may be that vitamin D gets stored in fat tissue as mentioned earlier. Moreover, things like pollution, ozone layer issues complete cloud, glass (sunbathing indoors) etc can results in not getting those wanted sun rays at all so again you may be cooking under harmful sun rays without protection, for no reason.
Aim for some sunshine with safety, even if it reduces your vitamin D production.
As with most vitamins you can get vitamin D through food and supplements. Although I am not a strong believer of supplements, with vitamin D you may need that extra boost. This may be especially true through the winter months where sun is scarce.
Which ones are good?
At a quick glance cod liver oil is considered to be very rich in vitamin D, so fish oils may be considered as one of the good vitamin D supplements. However, things to consider when getting supplements:
1. Always go for a reputable company which may guarantee good quality supplement and in an appropriate quantity. Sometimes the very cheap vitamin supplements may either be of poor quality and/or of a very low content so you are not getting a lot, if anything out of it.
2. In addition, look at the label to see if it list the origin and the source of the supplement, is it a natural source etc. The more information provided the better decision you can make. If you don’t know where it comes from or how you don’t really know what you are taking.
3. It is best to aim for those supplements which do carry an approval from an appropriate body such as the FDA. If they are not approved it doesn’t necessarily mean they are bad for health. But if they have an approval it means that they been tested and they should meet some specific standards. Look at Sites such as the FDA or ODS to see if there is a recommended list of supplements
4. Always consult a doctor or dietician (or any appropriately qualified professional) before starting any supplementation especially when any health complaints/concerns/conditions are present.
The table bellow has been taken by the Office of dietary supplements (ODS) in the US and it provides some guidelines for vitamin D needs. These guidelines are calculated with the minimum amount of sun exposure. Therefore, if you are taking vitamin D through diet or you are exposed to the sun as in the summer you may need less supplementation than what the table suggests.
3. Foods reach in vitamin D
I personally am a big fun of getting nutrients from natural sources such as food. Following a healthy balanced diet is probably the best solution as it should contain large variety of foods and from all areas and therefore more likely to provide you with all the nutrients you need.
To be more specific however, aim for oily fish as it may be quite obvious. If fish oils can be rich in vitamin D, then it makes sense that oily fish will be a good source. Salmon, swordfish and tuna are 3 examples and can be cooked in a variety of ways. Try Salmon cooked in lemon and white wine, Moroccan spiced grilled tuna or a fish medley pie.
Add dairy products in your diet such as milk and yogurt. Maybe not as rich in vitamin D as oily fish but they combine calcium as well and as mentioned above the combination may be highly suggested.
Other foods containing vitamin D include legumes, eggs beef and liver. These are just some examples as vitamin D is contained in a number of other foods in small quantities. Include as much variety as possible in your diet and you are more likely to be covering most nutrients.
References used in this article | <urn:uuid:d930444f-ce00-4dcc-aa8e-1cec64c8e456> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.caloriesecrets.net/does-vitamin-d-help-with-weight-loss/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783396872.10/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154956-00060-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.955464 | 1,713 | 2.984375 | 3 |
Founding Mothers: Remembering the Ladies is the children's illustrated version of Cokie Robert's adult book Founding Mothers: the Women who Shaped Our Nation. The book begins with a timeline showing America's history from 1765 with the Stamp Act to 1815 and the end of the War of 1812. There are ten two-page spreads about women who were influential during these years. Some were well known, such as Martha Washington and Dolley Madison, but others I knew nothing about, such as Esther DeBerdt Reed, a woman who raised over $300,000 for the American troops, or Mercy Otis Warren, a woman who wrote plays, poems, and letters about the Revolution. There are other sections with brief mentions of brave women such as Deborah Sampson, who fought alongside the men, and Lydia Darragh, who hid messages to General Washington in her son's buttons. There are links at the end of the book for students who wish to learn more about each of these founding mothers.
Send a Question or Comment to Appleton Public Library. | <urn:uuid:98cba2c2-1056-4111-96bb-87bb49ae7204> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.apl.org/staffpicks/founding-mothers | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783393442.26/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154953-00192-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.969647 | 217 | 3.3125 | 3 |
Sciatica (Lumbar Radiculopathy)
What is it?
The sciatic nerve - which is the body’s longest nerve - runs from the spinal cord through the buttocks and down the back of the legs. Sciatica is pain that radiates along the path of this nerve. As such, sciatica is caused by another condition, such as spinal stenosis or a herniated disc.
Causes, Symptoms and Risk Factors
Since sciatica refers to the pain along the sciatic nerve and is not itself a condition, the causes are other conditions that affect the areas of this nerve. Conditions that can cause sciatica include:
- Herniated discs
- Spinal stenosis
- Spinal tumors
- Spinal injury
Symptoms of sciatica include:
- Radiating pain, numbness or weakness along any part of the path of the sciatic nerve
- A tingling feeling in the foot
The risk factors for sciatica include:
- Aging and normal wear and tear
- Doing work or participating in physical activities that put strain on the spine
- Having a sedentary lifestyle
- Being diabetic
A doctor will diagnose sciatica by performing a physical examination, checking reflexes and muscle strength, reviewing symptoms and medical history, and conducting imaging test, such as X-rays, an MRI or CT scans.
Treatments for sciatica include:
- Physical therapy
- Anti-inflammatory medication
- Steroid injections
If these treatments are not effective, the doctor may recommend surgery to correct the condition causing sciatica. | <urn:uuid:8e441fff-4ab3-48ce-a8dc-32ccbf986b69> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.slhn.org/en/Conditions-Services/Orthopaedic-Services/Conditions-Treated/Spine/Sciatica.aspx | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783399425.79/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154959-00190-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.926426 | 337 | 2.859375 | 3 |
TUESDAY, Nov. 30 (HealthDay News) -- Acupuncture alters the way that the brain perceives and processes pain, a finding that suggests the traditional Chinese treatment can effectively relieve pain, according to a new study.
German researchers used functional MRI scans to measure brain activity in 18 people who received painful electrical currents from a device fitted to their left ankle. The researchers then placed acupuncture needles on the participants' right side -- including between the toes, below the knee and near the thumb -- and again inflicted pain in the left ankle.
Without acupuncture, there was major activation of pain-processing areas of the brain. Activation in these areas was significantly reduced when the volunteers received acupuncture.
The researchers also found that acupuncture reduced activation in areas of the brain that control expectations of pain.
The study was to be presented Tuesday at the annual meeting of the Radiological Society of North America, in Chicago.
"Acupuncture is supposed to act through at least two mechanisms, nonspecific expectancy-based effects and specific modulation of the incoming pain signal," lead author Dr. Nina Theysohn of University Hospital in Essen, Germany, said in a news release from the society. "Our findings support that both these nonspecific and specific mechanisms exist, suggesting that acupuncture can help relieve pain."
The U.S. National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine has more about acupuncture.
-- Robert Preidt
SOURCE: Radiological Society of North America, news release, Nov. 30, 2010
All rights reserved | <urn:uuid:eba083ae-102f-49c4-a3a9-a75fea2373de> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.bio-medicine.org/medicine-news-1/Acupuncture-Really-Does-Help-Relieve-Pain-3A--Study-77448-1/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783408840.13/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624155008-00026-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.933885 | 311 | 2.59375 | 3 |
Of God and His Creatures
That God's Power is His Substance
Active power belongs to the perfection of a thing. But every divine
perfection is contained in God's own being (B. I, Chap. XXVIII). God's power therefore is not different
from his being. But God is His own being (B. I, Chap. XXII); He is therefore His own power.
4. In things the powers of which are not their substance, the said
powers are accidents.* But there can be no
accident in God (B. I, Chap. XXIII), who is
therefore his own power.
2.7 : That there is in God Active Power
2.9 : That God's Power is His Action | <urn:uuid:04e7e3bf-d241-4a3c-b4d0-a7cdb1c731ad> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www3.nd.edu/Departments/Maritain/etext/gc2_8.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783394605.61/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154954-00025-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.953967 | 157 | 2.546875 | 3 |
Opened in 1947, the Grand Marais Art Colony has been the longest lived art colony in Minnesota. It began as an eight-week summer course but became a year-round art colony that unites the natural beauty of the North Shore with Minnesota's vibrant artistic community.
In 1947, Birney Quick set out to organize a summer course on the North Shore. Quick was an instructor at the Minneapolis School of Art, which became the Minneapolis College of Art and Design in 1970. Having grown up in Duluth, Quick thought that Grand Marais was an ideal place to establish an art colony.
In the early twentieth century, many similar art colonies formed in scenic small towns throughout the United States. Quick himself had painted at the Woodstock Art Colony in upstate New York in 1936. He hoped to bring the relaxed art colony atmosphere to his summer session in Grand Marais.
Quick's first class in Grand Marais opened in the summer of 1947. The first group of twenty students registered for an eight week session emphasizing "en plein air," or outdoor, painting. Many of the students in the first session were returning soldiers studying art on the G.I. Bill. They took classes, lived in Grand Marais, and began traditions like the weekly fish fry that became mainstays of life at the art colony.
Quick brought a second group of students to the colony the next year. In 1949, the Minneapolis School of Art chose to move their summer painting course to Red Wing, which was closer. However, after two summers, Grand Marais convinced the art colony to return. In 1952 the colony opened again, located in the Grand Marais town hall and renamed the Town Hall Art Colony.
The art colony became a hub of Grand Marais's cultural life, and residents began holding events that were open to the public. Artists held Monday evening painting demonstrations at the local high school. Residents could drop in for Wednesday evening classes, and there were Saturday morning classes for area children. Murals and sculptures made by art colony residents became part of the Grand Marais landscape. The art colony hosted concerts, lectures, and dances and paved the way for other budding cultural organizations in Grand Marais.
In 1958, the Minneapolis School of Art decided not to continue financing the summer art colony. Quick, along with fellow artist Byron Bradley, reopened the summer painting school as an independent organization, The Grand Marais Art Colony, in 1959. In 1963 Quick and Bradley bought the former St. John's Catholic Church building and moved the colony to its current location.
Many Minnesota artists studied, worked, or taught at the art colony over the years. Keith Havens, a student in the first Grand Marais course, went on to teach in the colony and live on the North Shore. Mike Lynch, one of Minnesota's foremost Modern Realists, studied painting at the Grand Marais Art Colony. George Morrison and Hazel Belvo, along with MCAD faculty members, taught at the colony and influenced its development.
As years went on, student attendance declined. Changes in the art world made landscape painting less popular. Fewer students from the Minneapolis School of Art enrolled in courses. The colony adapted, offering more courses designed for amateur artists. The 1981 death of founder Birney Quick was a significant loss for the colony community. Nevertheless, the organization that he helped establish was able to continue. Highlighting its significance to the community, colony supporters transformed the Grand Marais Art Colony from a private business into a nonprofit organization in the 1980s.
In the decades since its founding, the Grand Marais Art Colony has become a year-round arts and cultural organization. The colony offers courses and workshops in a range of artistic mediums. In 2005, the colony opened a second building next to the St. John's Church building, including space for glass, clay and printmaking studios. Artists from across the United States and Canada come to the colony to participate in its yearly Plein Air Competition. While the Grand Marais Art colony was formed to give art students access to the remarkable landscape of the North Shore, the colony has gone on to leave its own lasting impression on the artistic landscape of Minnesota.
Grand Marais Art Colony. Buss, Christine. "About Us."
The Grand Marais Art Colony. "Facility."
Oakes, Larry, "A Celebration for the Artistic Soul," Minneapolis Star Tribune, July 4, 1997.
Sheehy, Colleen J. "Making A Place for Art: 50 Years at the Grand Marais Art Colony." Minnesota History 55, no. 6 (Summer 1997): 250–266.
In 1947, Birney Quick opens the first session of the Outdoor School of Painting in Grand Marais, which would go on to become the Grand Marais Art Colony.
Birney Quick, an instructor at the Minneapolis School of Art, opens The Outdoor School of Painting at Grand Marais for an eight week summer session.
Citing the difficulties of transporting students to Grand Marais and housing them during the summer, Minneapolis School of Art moves the summer session to Red Wing.
Summer art school reopens in Grand Marais, using the top floor of old City Hall. The program is renamed the Town Hall Art Colony.
After the Minneapolis School of Art withdraws their support for the art colony, Quick and fellow artist Byron Bradley reopen the Grand Marais Art Colony as an independent business.
Quick and Bradley purchase the St. John's Catholic Church Building on Third Street and move the Grand Marais Art Colony to the location it still occupies in the early twenty-first century.
The Grand Marais Art Colony opens a new building next to the existing St. John's Church building. The addition offers a dramatic expansion of colony studio space. | <urn:uuid:0c92d2b6-5cba-44f0-bb39-19529c879aa4> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.mnopedia.org/group/grand-marais-art-colony?width=75%25&height=75%25&title=Birney%20Quick%20painting%20scenic%20view%20%7C%20%3Ca%20href%3D%22/multimedia/birney-quick-painting-scenic-view%22%3EDetails%3C/a%3E&inline=true | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783395039.24/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154955-00013-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.959394 | 1,171 | 2.609375 | 3 |
Here Is the List of Jews You Required
Mayor Lucas Carrer
When the Second World War broke out, there were about 275 Jews living on the Greek island of Zakinthos in the Ionian Sea. Until 1943 the island was under Italian control and the Jews remained unharmed, however after Mussolini’s fall the Germans occupied the Italian territories and on September 9, 1943 a German force landed on the island.
The German commander ordered all Jews to be assembled so that they could be deported to the mainland and from there to the camps in Poland. To prepare for the deportation, the German officer summoned the Greek mayor, Carrer, and ordered him to prepare a list of all the Jews on the island. The mayor went to the local church leader, Metropolitan Chrysostomos for assistance. Chrysostomos volunteered to negotiate with the Germans and told Carrer to burn the list of Jewish names. He then approached the German commander and implored him not to deport the Jews. The Jews were Greek citizens, he said. They had done no harm to their neighbors and did not deserve to be punished by deportation. When the German would not listen and insisted on receiving the list of all local Jews, Chrysostomos took a piece of paper, wrote his own name on it and handed it over. “Here is the list of Jews your required”, he said.
The German authorities were resolved to continue with their plans. Realizing their attempt to stop the deportation failed, the Metropolitan and the mayor warned the Jews on the island, told them to leave their homes and go into hiding in the mountains. Chrysostomos promised that the Greek islanders would provide them with food and shelter. Two thirds of the Jews followed the instructions and stayed in hiding until the island was liberated.
In August-September 1944 three small German boats came to deport the Jews. However the small German force was unable to round up all the Jews, and the community was left relatively unharmed.
In 1978 Chrysostomos and Carrer were awarded the title of Righteous Among the Nations by Yad Vashem. Metropolitan Chrysostomos declared that he was following the example of Archbishop Demaskinos of Greece, who on 23 March 1943, after the first deportation trains left Thessaloniki for Auschwitz, published an outspoken condamnation of the deportation of Greece’s Jews. Demaskinos was known to have said: “I have taken up my cross. I spoke to the Lord, and made up my mind to save as many Jewish souls as possible.” | <urn:uuid:49ce4123-346e-44f3-b2f8-2a0e42816bb1> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.yadvashem.org/yv/en/righteous/stories/chrysostomos_karreri.asp | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783397565.80/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154957-00096-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.976099 | 526 | 3.046875 | 3 |
You've heard of scientists testing drugs on mice — but what if those mice were part human? MIT researchers have developed an artificial liver that can be transplanted into mice, allowing them to metabolize drugs as if they were human beings. This could foster more accurate and efficient drug testing.
In order to create this liver, researchers cultured hepatocytes — human liver cells — in a controlled environment with other factors, such as mouse skin cells. The team then implanted the artificial liver under the skin or inside the body cavity of mice, successfully recreating many of the functions of a human liver.
While previous attempts to engineer "humanized mice" have led to varied, often negative results, MIT's team says this discovery will produce consistently healthy mice that can emulate human liver functionality. This could result in a number of positive applications — researchers could use these mice to test out pharmaceuticals, experiment with metabolic functions, and monitor the interactions between multiple types of drugs — all without using a single human test subject.
Humanized mice can be extremely beneficial to scientists across the world, says MIT researcher Alice A. Chen.
"In the near term, we envision using these mice alongside existing toxicology models to help make the drug development pipeline safer and more efficient," Chen told InnovationNewsDaily.
Scientists can also use the mice to study human livers and develop cures to diseases that normal mice don't contract — like hepatitis C or malaria infections.
The MIT team has been studying the effect of stromal cells, or connective tissue cells, on the human liver for over a decade now, Chen says. Though human liver cells are extremely difficult to culture, the team was able to grow them together with mouse skin cells in a polymer scaffold (assisted by a synthesis-boosting peptide), taking “years of dedicated research” to strike a balance for sustainable liver functions.
Chen says it won't be long before they are able to mass produce and distribute humanized mice, allowing both industrial and academic scientists to use them for research. This could revolutionize the way researchers test drugs.
"Mice and other laboratory animals do not have the full complement of drug metabolism enzymes that humans do," Chen said. "As a result, many of the activities, metabolites and resulting toxic effects of human exposure to new drugs cannot be fully predicted by animal tests."
By using mice with human livers, Chen says, researchers will be able to predict human metabolites and toxicities more accurately than they would in animals — without having to test drugs on humans, which can be pricy and dangerous. | <urn:uuid:0e7dc8ee-3277-431b-a970-f2300c2af8d3> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.livescience.com/14989-humanized-mice-aid-drug-testing.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783397565.80/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154957-00058-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.948024 | 524 | 3.390625 | 3 |
UPPSALA, Sweden, Nov. 21 (UPI) -- DNA from strands of hair found in a 16th century book confirm human remains uncovered in Poland belong to astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus.
Jerzy Gassowski, head of the Archeology and Anthropology Institute in Pultusk, Poland, announced the results of the DNA testing Thursday in a news conference.
Copernicus, who first formed the hypothesis that the sun was the center of the solar system, died in 1543 at the age of 70. The remains were found buried inside Frombork Cathedral in northern Poland in 2005.
While researchers have long believed the skeleton was Copernicus, they could not be sure until the identity was confirmed using DNA found in a book housed in Sweden's Uppsala University, the Swedish newspaper The Local said.
"There has been a project working on Copernicus for some time," Marie Allen, a professor at Uppsala University, told the newspaper. "We tested pieces of bone and tooth from the site in Poland with the hair found at Uppsala. The pieces were tested twice, once in Sweden and once in Poland to ensure the accuracy of the results. The data collected confirmed that the skeleton found in 2005 is that of Copernicus." | <urn:uuid:07648a6f-567d-4f62-8c67-b968442a4441> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.upi.com/Science_News/2008/11/21/DNA-confirms-remains-of-Copernicus/UPI-46361227294934/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783400572.45/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624155000-00121-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.969203 | 260 | 3.453125 | 3 |
First one must contrast titles with captions.
Titles are brief one liners that need not have any grammatical structure.
Captions can be a short sentence of one or more lines, often also called a sub-title..
The terms are often used interchangeably but a photo can have just a title, just a caption or both.
The purpose, in both cases is
Firstly to guide the viewer to see the photo in a particular way.
Secondly to supply some context.
Thirdly to provide additional, explanatory, helpful information. Though this is usually done in a caption/sub-title.
Additionally we use titles to evoke a suitable response to the photo.
Examples could be:
- contrast, contradiction, cognitive dissonance
- pique curiosity
So, in creating title/captions we need to answer the following questions:
- How do we want the viewer to see the photo?
- Does it need context for understanding?
- Will additional information be helpful?
- What reaction are we trying to create in the viewer?
Finally the title gives us a small insight into the mind of the photographer.
Cato the Elder said it best - "Rem tene, verba sequentur" (grasp the subject and the words will follow).
Manual of Style (captions)
The Caption Machine | <urn:uuid:635e819c-5e29-46c3-a913-f8d26d4325b7> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://photo.stackexchange.com/questions/11103/how-do-i-choose-a-title-for-a-photograph/11105 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783397213.30/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154957-00122-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.909884 | 279 | 2.96875 | 3 |
If you start a penny rolling on a table with care, you can make it roll in a circle. The coin leans inward with its axis tilted. The radius of the coin is r, the radius of the circular path it follows is R, and velocity is v. Assuming that the coin does not slip, find the angle theta that the axis makes with the horizontal
The answer is given as
I always have problems figuring out how to start the problems, but the answer usually becomes clear after I get past the first step. The only equation that I can think of that would help is I=.5mb2, but since mass isn't mentioned in the problem it seems useless.
So far what I have done is draw a free body diagram of the penny with the force of the penny's weight acting straight down, the normal force acting straight up, and frictional force directing it toward the center of the circular path it follows.
Where would be a good place to start? | <urn:uuid:d541adba-6a94-490e-9c6f-9f8c48373f6f> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://mathhelpforum.com/advanced-applied-math/53897-physics-rolling-penny.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783395560.69/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154955-00019-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.963129 | 200 | 3.484375 | 3 |
Choose the best answer to the following.
Why does the melting point of hydrocarbons increase as the number of carbon atoms pet- molecule increases?
(a) An increase in the number of carbon atoms per molecules also means an increase in the density of the hydrocarbon.
(b) Because of greater induced dipole-induced dipole molecular attractions.
(c) Larger hydrocarbon chains tend to be branched.
(d) Because the molecular mass also increases. | <urn:uuid:18131354-118f-4f86-8169-6893d525c7af> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.chegg.com/homework-help/conceptual-physical-science-explorations-2nd-edition-chapter-22-solutions-9780321567918 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783395039.24/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154955-00042-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.863765 | 100 | 2.828125 | 3 |
Risa Alyson Cooper, director of Shoresh Jewish Environmental Programs, welcomes me to the organization’s Kavanah Garden, with her trademark smile.
The organic, educational garden near the Lebovic Jewish Community Campus in Vaughan, Ont., was featured in the 2011-2012 Slingshot, A Resource Guide to Jewish Innovation, an annual compilation of the 50 most inspiring and innovative projects and programs in the North American Jewish community. It was the only Canadian project listed.
CJN: Is it really possible to mention agriculture and Judaism in the same breath?
Cooper: Absolutely. Judaism has an incredibly rich agricultural tradition. Our ancestors were farmers, and many of the Jewish holidays reflect this deep connection with the land and its seasons. For example, Pesach, Shavuot and Sukkot are all harvest festivals celebrating the earth’s abundance. They sustained our ancestors and their communities. As well, many of Judaism’s social justice ethics are agriculturally rooted. The law of pe’ah (leaving the edges of your fields untouched so that people in need can come and harvest for themselves) is a form of tzedakah that directly relates to agriculture.
CJN: Do you find that the Halachah’s agricultural rules are relevant today?
Cooper: The majority of the agricultural laws outlined in the Torah are only applicable to biblical Israel. [But] I believe the lessons inherent in these laws are incredibly relevant to our contemporary North American community. These laws demonstrate a strong tradition of a Jewish food justice – of ensuring that everyone in our community has access to healthy and nourishing food. It is incredibly important that we remember that food justice is a Jewish ethic, and that we have a responsibility to ensure equal and fair access to food and life resources in our community.
We start by taking Jewish holidays, rituals and prayers and thinking of how we can use the garden as a setting to teach about these parts of our tradition in a way that is hands-on and meaningful.
CJN: What kind of programs do you run?
Cooper: Shoresh runs a number of different programs. At Kavanah Garden, we run field trips for schools, synagogues and camps. We also host a weekly free family drop-in program [beginning in June] and the Kavanah Kids summer program.
We host an organic gardening workshop for adults and offer volunteer opportunities for bar mitzvah students. As well, we host a weekly Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) program in partnership with a young Jewish farmer, where members receive weekly shares of fresh, local, organic produce.
We also host gardening and environmental workshops across the GTA and seniors programs at Baycrest. We’re currently developing community events for Shoresh’s Bela Farm, our new 115-acre farm, just an hour outside of Toronto.
CJN: Can you draw a profile of your volunteers? What are your other resources?
Cooper: Our volunteers are a diverse group from high school students to seniors, master gardeners to folks who have just planted their first tomato. Our funding comes from grants, individual donors and fee-for-service programs such as our school field trips and CSA memberships.
CJN: What do you grow and what do you do with the harvest?
Cooper: We grow over 100 varieties of organic vegetables, herbs and native wildflowers. Each year, we harvest more than 500 pounds of fresh, organic produce, which is donated to Ve’ahavta. They prepare the vegetables into delicious and nourishing soups and stews for community members in need.
CJN: What is your vision for the future?
Cooper: This is our last year at our current location. Next year we will relocate the garden to a permanent location on UJA of Greater Toronto’s Lebovic Campus. The UJA has supported us from the beginning by giving us access to land and helping us develop our young organization. Our vision is to grow, not only our harvest, but our community of friends who see the garden as an integral feature of Vaughan’s Jewish landscape.
For more information on Shoresh programs, visit www.shoresh.ca. | <urn:uuid:c5e09fb7-bac7-482d-8b99-bba50a67808f> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.cjnews.com/food/agriculture-judaism-blend-kavanah-garden | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783399428.8/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154959-00139-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.94116 | 880 | 2.609375 | 3 |
A paper-thin slice of rock from the 600 million-year-old Doushantuo Formation in South China is examined under a light microscope in the lab. (Date of Image: 2010) [Image 4 of 7 related images. See Image 5.]
More About This Image
Research by Shuhai Xiao, a professor of geobiology at Virginia Tech, has found evidence that animals may have existed before the Cambrian period (542 to 488 million years ago) in the Precambrian period, which spans from 4.5 billion years ago to the beginning of the Cambrian period.
In 1997, Xiao and colleagues discovered in the Doushantuo Formation, thousands of 600 million-year-old embryo microfossils. Then in 2000, Xiao's team reported the discovery of a tubular, coral-like animal in a later stage of development than embryonic.
Xiao and colleagues are trying to learn more about these animals that are between the embryonic and adult stages. Only 80 have been recovered that are in an advanced to intermediary stage of development; the rest have been early stage embryos. These intermediate stage embroyos have a coiled, tubular embryo imbedded in their egg case. The egg cases have a groove on the surface that consists of three clockwise coils. The researchers used microfocus X-ray computed tomography imaging to virtually peel off the egg case and expose the embryo inside. The tubular embryo is also coiled, with three clockwise coils; some specimens showed signs of uncoiling.
"We think it's safe to say these are juvenile or adult stage organisms," Xiao says. "Uncoiling indicates these embryos would have grown into the tubular organisms that we discovered earlier in our research."
The researchers believe the embroyos were animals similar to corals. Although these creatures were soft-bodied (without skeletons), they were well preserved in rocks that predate the Cambrian period. Xiao says this supports the existence of animals in the Precambrian period. "We didn't see the animal fossil, but we saw the trace of the animal," says Xiao, who along with colleagues estimates this animal to be at least 550 million years old (or about 9 million years before the Cambrian period).
Xiao and colleagues are also studying the connection between the rate of evolution, which accelerated in the Cambrian period, and oxygen. Xiao says that one of the reasons the number of animals species exploded during the early Cambrian may have been oxygen. "Suddenly there was more oxygen," says Xiao, "and we know that almost all animals need oxygen to survive."
Evidence of several oxidation events during the time period suggests a connection between oxidation and evolution. Kathleen McFadden, who was a Ph.D. student with Xiao at the time, studied the ratio of carbon and sulfur in the million-year-old rocks at the Yangtze Gorges of South China and determined from the carbon/sulfur cycles, that several significant oxidation events occurred as life was forming.
McFadden and colleagues meticulously analyzed layers of rock at the site of an ancient sea in the Yangtze Gorges. The layers of sediment represent millions of years of deposits. McFadden went through road cuts, bed by bed, measuring and describing the exposed rock and taking small rock samples every few feet. She collected about 200 samples. While the triggers for the oxidation events are still not clear, "these events recorded in the ocean were probably related to oxygen in the atmosphere reacting with sediments on land," McFadden says. Xiao notes that after each oxidation event, there is more diversification of species.
Future research for Xiao includes exploring how these Precambrian animals were preserved and determining if animals in the Cambrian period are descended from the Precambrian animals or can be linked to that period.
This research was a collaborative project involving researchers from Virginia Tech, the University of Maryland, the University of Nevada at Las Vegas and the Chinese Academy of Sciences. The participation of the American universities was funded by the National Science Foundation.
This text was taken from the story "Scientist Searches for Clues About the Beginnings of Life" that appeared in Virginia Tech's Research magazine, Winter 2010. | <urn:uuid:75a78abe-9f67-46fa-a0b6-31efb026528e> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.nsf.gov/news/mmg/mmg_disp.jsp?med_id=72242&from=mmg | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783408840.13/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624155008-00022-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.963104 | 865 | 3.96875 | 4 |
Are you ready for 20-foot milo? According to Texas A&M University, the production of soaring sorghum is part of a new multi-year joint research and commercialization agreement between TAMU and the energy crop company Ceres Inc.
Bill Rooney, plant scientist with the Texas Agricultural Experiment Station, says that sorghum is a near-ideal crop for cellulosic biofuels. “Sorghum produces high yields, is naturally drought tolerant and can thrive in places that do not support corn and other food crops. Sorghum also fits into established production systems and is harvested the year it is planted, unlike perennial grasses, so it fits well in a crop mix with perennial species and existing crops, like cotton.”
According to Rooney, the sorghum plant holds potential for biofuel production because new technologies are making it possible to use the carbohydrates that comprise plant cell walls, called cellulose, in the plant's stems, stalks and leaves.
“As these technologies mature, farmers will transition from growing as much grain per acre as they can to producing as much biomass as they can per acre, with as little energy and agronomic inputs as possible. This means new crops and specialized hybrids like these high-biomass sorghum types will be needed,” said Peter Mascia, vice president of product development for Ceres.
Rooney's first breeding lines — precursors to hybrids — can approach 20 feet in height under favorable conditions, and could produce more than 2,000 gallons of ethanol per acre — more than four times the current starch-to-ethanol process, according to a TAMU press release.
To accelerate product development, Ceres and TAES will work together to expand their marker-assisted breeding efforts. Markers allow plant breeders to identify useful traits in seed tissue or when plants are still seedlings. Large numbers of markers provide a roadmap of the sorghum genome, cutting years off development timelines for new products, and making it easier to improve the makeup of the plants to facilitate processing.
Mascia said Ceres has Texas-sized expectations for the collaboration. “We believe we can double the rate of improvement to biomass yields, while expanding the range of the crop for earlier planting in cooler and drier conditions, especially on so-called marginal or unproductive land.”
He expects that commercial quantities of the initial hybrids will be available in time to meet the requirements of the first cellulosic biorefineries currently being planned.
As part of this agreement, Ceres will obtain exclusive commercialization rights to TAES's high biomass sorghum hybrids developed in the joint research program. The TAES program will receive royalties as well as financial and technology support from Ceres. Other aspects of the collaboration were not disclosed.
“This agreement between Ceres and TAES is a great model of how research institutions and the private sector can collaborate to accelerate existing research programs to solve our country's future energy needs, said Mark Hussey, director of TAES. “Having our scientists work jointly on future bioenergy research is a win-win situation for both TAES and Ceres, and will help meet the growing demand for biofuels through the development of cellulosic feedstocks.” | <urn:uuid:01b57287-1a32-4ad3-8072-8cdc4b459c26> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://southwestfarmpress.com/print/are-you-ready-20-foot-sorghum | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783397695.90/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154957-00182-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.935145 | 672 | 2.71875 | 3 |
The two distinguishing characteristics of common resources, namely subtractability and non-excludability, lead to a number of different economic problems. Ostrom, Gardner and Walker provide a useful simplification that divides the problems associated with common resources into two separate classifications: appropriation and provision problems.
- An appropriation problem results when beneficiaries of a resource are presented with a dilemma of how to exclude others from the use of the resource and allocate the subtractable flow of the resource.
Types of appropriation problems:
Reference: A note on externalities
- A provision problem results when beneficiaries are faced with the problem of maintaining or developing a resource and preventing it from destruction.
Types of provision problems: | <urn:uuid:69ec3cd6-9600-404f-adc4-68c1da549adc> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.econport.org/econport/request?page=man_cpr_issues | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783395992.75/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154955-00155-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.889557 | 139 | 3.078125 | 3 |
Fly the Earth flag to remind children of the relationships between all life on this planet, a theme Montessori spoke of often. She stressed the importance of giving children the whole picture before the component parts.
By exploring Earth, continent, country, state, city, and school in sequence, the child will develop a sense of place within, and an affinity for, our home.
This beautifully reproduced image is a photo transfer from NASA of the first image of Earth from space (Apollo 17) on a dark blue background.
The Earth Flag was created by John McConnell to commemorate Earth Day, which he originated. It is associated with environmental awareness and the celebration of our global community since its creation in 1969.
Suitable for indoor or outdoor use. 100% nylon with metal grommets. 36" x 24". | <urn:uuid:a2fc3601-3fc5-40ca-9575-7c723c689f7e> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.montessoriservices.com/geography-culture/flags-charts-maps/earth-flag | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783397795.31/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154957-00114-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.929436 | 168 | 2.671875 | 3 |
How is debt slavery?
Don’t let anyone fool you… no debt is good. Sure, some debt is better than other debt… but no debt is actually “good.”
Although there are always exceptions to the rule, typically “bad debt” refers to any high interest consumer debt (like credit cards) while “better debt” alludes to low interest debt (like 1st mortgages and student loans.) Whether bad or better, debt is bondage and it presumes upon our future ability to earn.
Let’s examine 3 trust worthy sources to prove the point, then mull over a few ways out. How is debt slavery?
1. The bible tells us so…
While the bible does not equate debt to sin, is does equate debt to slavery.
“The rich ruleth over the poor, and the borrower is servant to the lender.” – Proverbs 22:7
Now let’s apply Proverbs 22:7 to a modern context:
Bankers charge us interest to borrow their money. We labor for the better part of our lives to repay the bankers.
Sounds like debt slavery to me.
2. Common sense tells us so…
Would you rather have debt or be debt free? And therein lies our common sense answer. 🙂
Yes… it is possible to earn more in interest on our investments than we pay in interest on our debts, but it’s risky at best. Getting rid of debt guarantees us a rate of return equal to the interest rate of the debt. While in debt, no investment can guarantee you specific and consistent returns better than eliminating the debt itself.
Ask yourself this question, “If you were debt free… would you continue to work full-time at your current job?” If your answer was even partially no, then you are likely in some form of debt slavery.
Our grandparents knew the dangers of debt slavery… why don’t we?
3. Mathematics tell us so…
If we were to consider neither of the previous points, we can always turn to the concrete wisdom of mathematics.
The less money we borrow the less interest we pay to others, the more we can save, the more we can invest, the more our money pays us, which ultimately translates into less necessary labor and a greater ability to give.
I trust the bible, common sense, and mathematics. What do you trust?
Ways out of debt slavery
1. Sacrifice and repay
Quit acting like you deserve to go out to eat 3 – 5 times per week and get a clue. You’re not alone, me and the misses spent nearly $6,000 dining out in 2008 and thought it was totally normal… our brains were in debt slavery! As a result of this mindset we grew complacent toward our fiscal health and mathematics caught up to us. Our biggest problem wasn’t massive bouts of irresponsible spending but rather a plain old fashioned lack of self-discipline. Now it is time to sacrifice and repay.
2. Consolidate, sacrifice, and repay
Sometimes debt consolidation makes perfect sense, it did for us. If your goal is simply to shift debt around, then you are approaching debt consolidation inappropriately. The healthy purpose of debt consolidation is to combine several higher interest debts into one lower interest loan to be repaid on a graduated scale.
I advise you steer clear of debt consolidation service companies and recommend instead negotiating you own settlements and securing a debt consolidation loan through Lending Club. We used LC to consolidate debt which saved us $500 and a bunch of stamps! 🙂
Use this calculator to help determine if personal debt consolidation is right for your situation.
“If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you.” – Matthew 17:20b
Should you file? I advise against it at all costs and beg you to turn to God instead. Although I do not presume to know the will of God, I do know that he does not desire his children be in debt slavery. In the scriptures Jesus healed people according to their faith and belief in his ability to do so (Matthew 9:27-30) and likewise will help us according to his will and our belief.
If faith in God is not for you then please make sure to consult your attorney and/or accountant to determine if the last ditch effort of bankruptcy is your only viable alternative remaining.
Are you in debt slavery?
What is your plan for getting out?
photo credit to Doug Naugle
Betterment is one of my two favorite ways to earn interest on my savings! They have an awesome program for the Average Joe to save and invest simply and effectively. There are no minimum balance requirements and no transaction fees. Read my Betterment Review or open an account to get started earning now. | <urn:uuid:c2880ceb-2220-4bb4-816a-0551c198f339> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.debtfreeadventure.com/debt-slavery-what-it-is-and-ways-out/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783404405.88/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624155004-00178-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.949463 | 1,018 | 2.625 | 3 |
This file is also available in Adobe Acrobat PDF format
“AIDS knows no boundaries.” For much of the history of the AIDS epidemic, activists and officials around the world have repeated this incantation. As one diplomat described AIDS, “It discriminates against no ethnicity, no gender, no age, no race, no religion. It is a global problem that threatens us all.”1 From a strictly biomedical standpoint the claim is accurate. In 2006, UNAIDS, the lead international organization for AIDS control, estimated that approximately 65 million people—men and women, young and old, rich and poor, black and white, Christian and Muslim, from every continent and virtually every country—had been infected with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) between 1981 and 2006. An estimated 25 million people had died from the constellation of infections and ailments that comprise the syndrome known as AIDS. If ever there was a crisis that revealed the shared vulnerability of humanity, this was it.2
And yet, because the transmission of HIV is a social phenomenon as well as a biological one, boundaries have proven to be incredibly important. At almost every level, leaders and ordinary citizens have interpreted the deaths and illnesses associated with the global pandemic in terms of ethnic and national groups. In 1988, the Panos Institute produced a small volume entitled Blaming Others: Prejudice, Race, and Worldwide AIDS,3 which contained news reports and short essays identifying the worldwide prejudice associated with AIDS. In a thoroughgoing scholarly analysis, Cathy Cohen has documented how race has influenced the politics of AIDS in the United States, arguing that the historical marginalization of African-Americans produced a deafening quiet in political reactions to this stigmatized disease.4 The renowned scholar-activist-medical practitioner Paul Farmer has chronicled the dynamics of blame associated with prevalence of AIDS among Haitians, which in myriad ways has been associated with the politics of race.5 Throughout the history of the epidemic, even as millions fell ill and died, leaders and ordinary citizens have claimed that AIDS was a “foreign” scourge and someone else’s problem. Although evidence of global contagion was reported soon after HIV was isolated, many government leaders and citizens around the world clung to the idea that geographic, social, and political boundaries would insulate them from the contagion. Such ideas often stifled aggressive action against the disease. Unlike microbes, people are keenly aware of boundaries, and successful political leaders—elected and otherwise—manipulate group boundaries to maintain support and stay in power. Tragically, the will to political survival has often led to the underprovision of public policies that might have meant human survival in the face of a viral pandemic. Since AIDS was perhaps the single most important threat to human development in low- and middle-income countries at the start of the twenty-fi rst century,6 the substantive implications are enormous.
To argue that AIDS has been associated with a politics of blame and group prejudice is hardly a novel proposition.7 This book breaks new ground by offering a more careful analysis of how and why the boundaries that divide groups from one another have affected patterns of policymaking around the world. In so doing, it provides more general insights about the relationship between ethnic politics, policymaking, and development. Specifically, it helps to explain why some governments have been more ag gressive in responding to AIDS than others, and it estimates the effects of boundaries on policies relative to other influences. My analyses reveal that the relationship between ethnicity and public policy is channeled largely through political competition over the social status of ethnic groups and the propensity to view risks as pooled, a departure from the existing literature on the effects of ethnic diversity and ethnic competition, which has emphasized problems of coordination; exogenously determined, heterogeneous preferences; rent-seeking behavior; and patterns of distrust.
Although the next chapter will more fully elaborate propositions linking boundaries to policies, a brief preview is in order. Boundaries are institutions that separate groups of people from one another. These include the internationally recognized borders that give shape to more than two hundred states and a few dozen territories around the world, and also the formal and informal practices and markers that reinforce a sense of group difference within and across countries. Boundaries vary tremendously in the degree to which they are recognized and enforced in their various manifestations. In some contexts, boundaries make group membership relevant and clear to almost everyone involved, whereas in other contexts, boundaries are shifting, ambiguous, and permeable. In the former, group identities are more fixed, while in the latter, they are more fluid and undifferentiated.
In a wide-ranging set of investigations, I have found that when countries have strong, internal boundaries dividing societies into substantial and recognizable ethnic groups, the epidemic is also likely to be understood in ethnic terms. In turn, this frame of reference becomes a political constraint on national policies to combat AIDS. In countries so divided, discourses about the risk of being infected and affected by AIDS are infused with ideas about ethnic difference. Ethnic conflicts intensify the near-universal political dynamic of assigning blame and attaching shame to information about the epidemic. As citizens and political leaders seek to avoid the group shame associated with a stigmatized problem, the effect is a dampening of potential support for AIDS policies, leading to weaker and slower responses. While AIDS may aptly be labeled the first disease of the era of globalization,8 the persistence of state-level boundaries has meant that even within regions sharing common social and economic characteristics, resources and responses have been profoundly mediated by those in charge of national states. And those leaders have been sensitive to the politics that surround any major policy issue.
To be certain, other factors have been critically important for policy-making. The extent of the epidemic in countries and regions; the resources available to the government; and the overall pressure to adopt policies from international actors and networks of activists have all been infl uential and are components of a general model of AIDS policymaking. Individual personalities and accidental historical circumstances have also shaped responses. But I approach the analysis of government responses to AIDS as a social scientist, in the sense that I identify general patterns and relationships that go beyond the particularities of any individual country’s circumstances. In this regard, boundaries have been a central and underexplained influence on AIDS politics and policymaking, with dramatic implications for the course of human development. While I consider other drivers of politics and policymaking, I put a spotlight on the effect of boundaries.
This is a book about AIDS, but it is also about global politics and the interlayered process by which political actors attempt to govern and to transform people’s lives through large-scale public policies. While the focus is on AIDS, this study is not an exhaustive account of the epidemic or of AIDS-related policies. It is not a book about why HIV/AIDS has hit some countries harder than others or which practices have been most effective for stopping it. In fact, I do not even assume that the most “aggressive” responses were the best responses from the perspective of maximizing human welfare. Generally speaking, for any given country more AIDS control was probably better than less, but my investigation does not rely on this assumption.
The more narrowly defined question I take on is this: Why have some national governments responded to AIDS more quickly and more broadly than others? More fundamentally, this is a question about the political origins of government effort, and the conditions under which a country’s leaders are willing to take a stand on a politically sensitive issue for the sake of the longer-term development and well-being of its population. By focusing on boundary politics, I take up long-standing questions in the study of comparative politics concerning the effects of ethnic politics on the provision of public goods, and on development more generally. I attempt to wed political science theory and method to the study of public health. In so doing, I am inevitably drawn in to debates about the origins of authority and societal transformation.
In political science a puzzle exists when outcomes diverge from expectations. In this sense AIDS policy is a puzzle, for there is reason to have expected much more convergence in government responses to AIDS than we fi nd.9 While cross-country differences in policies on issues ranging from national health insurance to industrial development can be ascribed to accidents of history, including the timing of certain problems in particular countries,10 AIDS has confronted countries worldwide more or less simultaneously, smack in the middle of an era of heightened global integration. In the relatively short span of two decades, HIV reached virtually every country in the world. Knowledge about how to prevent the transmission of HIV, and how to improve and to extend the lives of HIV-positive individuals, was identified early on, and has been disseminated around the world. Nonetheless, national governments have adopted a wide range of responses to the AIDS crisis, with dramatic consequences for the affected societies. To be certain, rates of infection and the resources available explain some of the cross-country variation. But even in a relatively rich, technically competent, and high-prevalence country like South Africa, the government responded slowly, and life expectancy has declined to levels not seen since the 1950s, largely because of AIDS-related deaths. In other countries, such as Brazil, the epidemic has been contained, and its effects are managed as well as, and in some cases better than, they are in the world’s richest countries. Why have governments equipped with similar resources and similar information respond to the same biomedical phenomenon in such different ways?
The remainder of this chapter provides greater context for this and related questions by situating the problems of AIDS and AIDS policy in broader scholarly and policy-oriented concerns about states, governance, and globalization. I also detail the design of the research and provide an overview of the remainder of the book.
The Puzzle of Explaining Government Policy
The challenge of explaining responses to AIDS forces us to think more generally about why governments differ in their provision of public policies, public goods, and public resources that address the general welfare. What governments do, often in coordination with other partners, can have a huge impact on human development and well-being, particularly in the case of threats to public health. In the face of highly infectious and deadly diseases, such as the fever caused by the Ebola virus, governments in even the poorest of countries have been critical to rapid containment. But most public health threats do not receive such immediate and deliberate attention, particularly in resource-poor settings. In the absence of authorities who take responsibility for providing information and resources, disease can ravage societies, as markets and voluntary action alone may fail to provide the required coverage and action. By examining how and why different governments address a common problem in different ways, we can investigate seminal questions about the political dynamics of resource allocation and social control.
Some readers will question my focus on states, particularly in a book about a problem for which nongovernment actors have been so important. To be certain, other actors, ranging from transnational organizations to small communities, also affect health and well-being in the context of a viral epidemic, and many of them are considered in the pages that follow. And yet in the contemporary era, national states are uniquely positioned to broadcast information and to affect the behavior of people: they control the lion’s share of public resources, and they are a site of negotiation and competition over a society’s priorities. So long as states play a central role in societies and economies, we ought to investigate how and why they respond to important problems.
A study of governments and AIDS provides a lens onto the relationships between states and societies that lie at the core of the study of comparative politics.11 We should assume neither that states will always take the lead in public health epidemics or other major social problems, nor that they will be inconsequential, corrupt, or absent. Instead, we need to consider how and why states adopt varied approaches for particular concerns. AIDS has implied a dramatic role for governments, just at a moment in time when state power appeared to be in retreat.12 Many of the strategies for curbing the pandemic require that states intervene in the most private of matters: sexual conduct, drug use, childbirth and breast-feeding. The nature of the problem requires that political authority focus on bodily fluids, especially blood and semen, substances more amenable to deep metaphor than economic calculation. In the case of AIDS, state authorities have literally asked for blood13 in order to test for the presence of the virus. Just as Charles Tilly explained war-making as the basis for the extension of state authority,14 AIDS has provided a new exigency for state power, as well as for the powers of global governance. Some have described HIV as a security concern in the face of an “invisible enemy,” and analogies to war have persisted among policymakers and scholars alike.15
By focusing on the politics, policies, and actions of national states, I risk contributing to a reified notion of state authority, which in practice is contested and varied across time and space.16 Yet I acknowledge this governmental weakness and unevenness, because it is central to the questions I pose. The AIDS pandemic has provided states an opportunity to assert authority in their own territories and on the world stage. In an international environment in which national states remain the presumptive sources of authority, even if such authority fails to materialize in practice, we require an understanding of what shapes the exercise of power. Heads of state recognized by the international community have been pressured to act and cajoled with resources, and my concern is to understand their responses to these pressures. Within the state, infl uential actors vary in their inclination to adopt policies, depending upon their domain of authority and other personal and professional infl uences. I assume a partial coherence and autonomy in the state as policy-maker, in the sense that we can characterize a “state response” for a period of time, one that reflects the decisions of those at the top of the pyramid of political power. I consider divergent or confl icting responses (more or less aggressive than that of the central government) by particular ministries or localities, as independent political actors with a potential influence on government decisions.
Understanding the politics of AIDS requires that we think about the challenge of gaining compliance and consent more generally. Most AIDS-related policies involve asking citizens to do things that they fi nd undesirable, including wearing condoms, refraining from sex, getting their blood tested, and so on, and the benefit is an uncertain future nonoccurrence (i.e., protection from possible infection). Only late in the epidemic has treatment been part of the policy menu for most low- and middle-income countries. As a result of this ratio of effort to reward, publicizing and implementing AIDS-related policies created by the state in the private lives of citizens can be costly in monetary and political terms. Governments introduce policies related to sex, sexuality, and drugs at their peril. If citizens resent the message, they can challenge the messenger. In this sense, the political bargain over establishing an aggressive policy on AIDS is an instance of the state’s attempt to gain conformity and sacrifice more generally, as in taxation, military conscription,17 and other areas of social transformation, where states seek conformity through the imposition of new ideas, norms, and practices in order to promote “development.” Vaccinations require succumbing to a shot from a uniformed medical worker, which may seem frightening.18 Any major social policy, including the introduction of universal education, demands trade-offs and the reallocation of resources that might have been available for immediate consumption. Transformation often requires sacrifice, and in the development of public policy, actors may strike back when their moral or material interests are jeopardized.
A relatively simple explanation for cross-country differences in policy regimes is the catchall category of culture. That is, we could simply conclude that countries with “modern” cultures and values are more likely to embrace germ theories of disease and to use related technologies to combat viral spread. But if we were to classify cultures as modern according to their responses to AIDS, the proposition would be true by defi nition. It would be a tautology. Another approach would be to assess cultures in terms of potentially relevant beliefs, such as orientation toward “secularmodern” values,19 but as it turns out, measures of those values don’t do a good job of predicting which countries will take up AIDS policies aggressively and which will not.
As a political scientist, I am predisposed to look for the political underpinnings of choices in policy, especially in domains that might otherwise seem to be well guided by technical or biomedical science. I was therefore surprised to find that the comparative study of health and health policy in developing countries has received little attention from political scientists. Apart from a handful of important contributions, the study of AIDS and AIDS policy has been largely ignored.20 The enormity of the HIV/AIDS pandemic is suffi cient justification for anyone to devote time and attention to it. But AIDS is a social and political phenomenon, one of the most profound of the modern era, and deserves greater attention if we have a sincere interest in understanding how and why governments act, or ignore opportunities to act, to improve the human condition in their territories.
Explaining government responses to AIDS requires a comparative approach. Politics and policymaking rarely take place in a national vacuum, in isolation from the rest of the world. For a global problem, in an increasingly integrated world, with expansive global governance, external pressures shape the menu of possible responses and help determine which policies are selected from it. And yet transnational actors walk a delicate tightrope in exerting direct authority over peoples across the globe in a postcolonial era, when norms of sovereignty remain strong, even while many governments exercise little effective authority, and unmet needs are enormous. Any model of national government policymaking for an issue such as HIV/AIDS must take into account the role of transnational infl uences.
Thus, while the primary focus of this book is the effects of internal ethnic boundaries in national states, both the spread of the epidemic and the associated global response reflect the extraordinary movement of people, ideas, and resources across external or national boundaries. Perhaps no phenomenon reveals the interconnectedness of the world’s peoples more than our very human susceptibility to disease, one that is passed on through behaviors associated with an innate desire and need for intimate contact—largely sexual contact and the process of childbirth. If national states are limited in their authority to transform people’s lives, international organizations are even further restricted. In light of the now obvious potential to transmit disease across borders, societies depend on each other to contain the spread of infections, and donors have emerged with large sums of money to support national responses to AIDS. This global consensus heightens our expectation for action and universal conformity to scientific best practices. But in a world still largely governed by national states, “tackling” the global pandemic through deliberate policies and actions still requires state action, and this returns us to the question of why some governments act more aggressively than others.
AIDS as a Laboratory for Comparison: Politics in Really Hard Times
While the interplay of global and domestic pressures on policymaking does complicate the task of providing a parsimonious explanation of government action on AIDS, the unfolding of the epidemic makes it valuable as a case study of the politics of policymaking and state development. From a social scientific perspective, the similarity of the problem for all of the potential “subjects” (national governments) in the research implies a rare degree of analytic control. A range of policies have been considered by other scholars—policies on economic reform, pensions, health insurance, railroads, and labor, among others—but the set of developing countries affected by AIDS provides a unique laboratory in which to study the possible determinants of policymaking.
Perhaps most important among the factors making it a valuable subject of research is that the AIDS epidemic reached every region and virtually every country in relatively short order. In a seminal work, Politics in Hard Times, Peter Gourevitch argues that major transnational shocks and crises are ripe for comparative social analysis:
[They] are to countries what reagents are to compounds in chemistry: they provoke changes that reveal the connections between particularities and the general. If the comparativist can find countries subject to the same stresses, it then becomes possible to see how countries differ or onverge and thereby to learn something about cause and effect.21
AIDS was a shock in the sense that it was unknown before the 1980s. Existing social, economic, and political patterns can thus be treated as largely exogenous, or independent, factors that might infl uence responses to the disease. This is a critically important property because other social scientific analyses of development outcomes—such as economic growth, infant mortality, and more general social policy—may themselves be determinants of, as much as they are caused by, other macro-level variables. While the AIDS pandemic also shapes these broader contexts, we can carry out a “first-order” analysis of government responses and safely treat these other factors as having been generated by processes independent of the one we are trying to explain.
The human immunodeficiency virus that causes the syndrome we now call AIDS existed prior to the 1980s. Blood samples taken in 1959 from the Belgian Congo (later Zaire, and more recently, the Democratic Republic of Congo) were later found to have been infected with HIV.22 There may have been other infections in other parts of the world, and of course, such patterns are important for any full understanding of the spread of the virus. For the purposes of politics, however, the manifestation of these earliest infections was simply unexplained illness and death, generating no political response. The beginning of the history of AIDS is more appropriately dated to 1981, when the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) in Washington, D.C., reported the strange outbreak of a rare pneumonia and a rare skin cancer, Kaposi’s sarcoma, among a handful of gay men in two cities in the United States. By 1985, a case had been reported in every world region, with virtually every country reporting a case by the early 1990s. The epidemic was initially reported among gay men in cosmopolitan cities in the wealthiest countries, but within a few years, the widest spread would occur in the developing countries, with most transmissions occurring through sexual contact between men and women.
Measuring and Interpreting the Size of the Epidemic
It is important to highlight at the outset how I measure and interpret the relative size of the epidemic across time and space. It is critical to clarify that I do not interpret either the share of the population (prevalence) or relative change in the numbers of new infections (incidence) as a proxy for the impact of government action. Doing so would require that we assume the consistent efficacy and immediacy of policies, neither of which I am prepared to do, given clear evidence to the contrary. Many other factors determine patterns of infection, and certain measures may have a counter-intuitive relationship to a government’s efforts to contain the disease. For example, effective treatment may boost the prevalence of AIDS relative to other countries because infected individuals live longer and remain potential sources of infection. A study of the impact of policies would require an entirely different form of research and analysis than what I have endeavored here.
Rather, the point of describing country-level trends in the epidemic is to provide some nuance to the claim that countries all faced the same shock. Regional and subregional patterns of infection have been distinctive, and any complete analysis must ultimately consider these differences. It certainly stands to reason (and I confirm empirically) that countries with bigger epidemics would respond more aggressively than countries with smaller ones.
Unfortunately, it has never been easy to identify reliable data on the number of people infected with HIV. Among other reasons, people have not wanted to get tested for the virus, they have not wanted to report their status, and governments and health facilities have not had the capacity to carry out testing. We do not know exactly how many people have been infected with the virus, but researchers and public authorities have estimated the number by extrapolating from smaller groups of people, just as in surveys of public opinion, and these estimates have been used for discussions of policy. In particular, the World Health Organization (WHO) and the United Nations AIDS agency (UNAIDS), as well as governments and ministries of health, have reported such data. While all surveys draw inferences from samples of a population, in the case of HIV/AIDS, the samples have been particularly unrepresentative. (Only recently have governments authorized nationally representative surveys that actually test for HIV.) Most HIV data have been gathered from public health facilities, voluntary reporting, or focused collections of data among groups presumed to be at high risk for HIV. Not only are such groups not representative of the population at large, but inferences about how trends in these subpopulations are related to trends in the larger population have often been based on erroneous assumptions.
Late in 2007, UNAIDS announced significant revisions to its global estimates of the magnitude of the epidemic based on new data from surveys, as well as new models extrapolating from traditional samples of HIV infection. The estimated number of people living with HIV in 2007 was 33.2 million, whereas in 2006 the number had been estimated at 39.5 million. The report went to great lengths to explain that this difference was due mostly to revisions in the estimation procedures.23 There is reason to believe that most estimates of prevalence previously reported could be improved with these recent procedures. In most cases, the relative ranking of country epidemics would not change, with the one important exception of India—a case discussed in more detail in chapter 5.
Such uncertainty about the size of the epidemic might seem to bedevil the entire social scientific enterprise of studying the AIDS pandemic in comparative perspective. In fact, this is not the case. For politics and policymaking what matters is not the actual number of infected people, but the information that is available to policymakers. For example, on the issue of environmental politics and policy, we do not know for certain what effect carbon dioxide emissions have on the ozone layer, climate change, or human development, and new evidence will almost surely suggest that scientists have under- or overestimated the precise threat. Nonetheless, contemporary political and policy action can be understood only in terms of what scientists have said up until the point that actions are taken. If we were trying to estimate a model of an outcome directly affected by the actual numbers of people infected with HIV, such as infant mortality or overall life expectancy, we would want the best available estimates, corrected retrospectively. Since politics and policy are the outcomes under investigation here, a better approach is to use estimates of HIV infections available during periods of policymaking.
As one source of data for comparative analysis, I have used time-varying estimates of infections provided in a WHO/UNAIDS map.24 These data provide four consistent periods of estimates for almost all countries across the subject regions of Africa, Asia, and Latin America/Caribbean. These estimates are reported as wide uncertainty intervals, refl ecting the low level of precise knowledge about numbers of infections, and I use the midpoints of these intervals as the basis of analysis. Again, if the goal of the analysis were to make predictions about health and epidemiological outcomes, this would be a faulty strategy, because we would want much more precise data. For the study of the politics of policymaking, however, these data provide the best estimates by technical experts on the relative size of the epidemics at different moments in time, which is the most relevant baseline for comparing policy responses. For 2003, more fi ne-grained data on HIV prevalence are available from UNAIDS 2006, and these correlate with the UNAIDS/WHO 2004 data at (Pearson’s) r = .96. This suggests that even when using broad estimates of HIV prevalence, it is possible to sort out relative differences in the size of the epidemic extremely well, giving me confidence that we can use these data as the foundation for comparing the epidemics faced by countries in the three developing regions.
These data are depicted graphically in figure 1.1. As measured by the share of the adult population 25 living with the virus (HIV prevalence), sub-Saharan Africa has been hit hardest, and by the mid-1980s, many countries in central Africa already had widespread epidemics. The African epidemic would become increasingly severe in the southern part of the continent, and by 2003, most southern African countries faced extreme epidemics.26 Latin America, and especially several Caribbean countries, have faced epidemics, but no country in that region has faced an estimated prevalence in the double digits. Overall, HIV/AIDS has come latest to Asia, and there remains a great deal of variance in levels of infection in that region. A few countries in Southeast Asia, including Thailand, Vietnam, and Cambodia, were among the earliest to identify epidemics, and HIV has continued to spread throughout the region.
Implications of the Biology and Science of HIV and AIDS
For the most part, nuanced discussions of biology and immunology are absent from these pages, and I treat the AIDS pandemic as a single biomedical phenomenon. This is a necessary simplification of a complex reality. For example, there are multiple strains of the virus, and some are more virulent than others.27 In the arenas where policies are set, however, these distinctions do not appear to have had any significant effect on the interpretations of AIDS, or on the range of prevention and treatment options available. Good clinicians know that individuals present viral loads and symptoms in a variety of ways and that best practice recommends approaches tailored to the individual. At the macro level of explaining government responses to AIDS, however, such subtleties do not fi gure prominently in the political calculus, and I do not consider them further.
Other facts and properties of the AIDS epidemic are worth highlighting because they shape the visible manifestations of an otherwise invisible virus, and have implications for politics and policymaking. First, as compared with many other viruses, there is a long interval (as long as seven to ten years or more) between infection and onset of the symptoms, a gap during which arguments over risk and the proper role of the state can flourish. In this sense, AIDS is a problem akin to environmental degradation or cardiovascular health, in that by the time one observes the manifestation of the problem, solutions are more costly and less effective than they would have been if it had been addressed earlier. Particularly where germ theories of disease are not universally accepted, a wide range of political interpretations of increased sickness and mortality may come into play, opening up contentious discussions of the proper role for government and “modern” science.28 By contrast, in the case of fast-moving epidemics, such as SARS or Marburg, a swift government intervention, in coordination with international partners, is much easier to justify in political terms. While the time from infection to full-blown AIDS depends on factors including overall health and nutrition, in virtually any person who does not get tested, HIV is a silent killer that breaks down the immune system in an asymptomatic fashion over a very long time.
Second, the virus is contagious, but it is transmitted almost exclusively through intimate and deliberate acts. HIV gets transmitted through the blood, sexual fl uids, and breast milk, primarily through extremely intimate human contact—particularly unprotected sexual relations and between mother and child, either through the process of delivery or breast-feeding. It can also be transmitted by the direct transfer of human blood, most often through blood transfusions or through the sharing of needles in medical facilities or among drug users. By far, sexual contact has been the predominant means of spread. Of particular importance, as compared with other viruses that are transmitted through breathing or sneezing or through food, these properties have important political implications because it is relatively easy to imagine and to discuss risk of infection as a matter of lifestyle. That is not to say that every individual has a full choice about lifestyle or sexual behavior—in particular, sexual violence against women is a leading route for infection—but the transmission routes allow citizens and political leaders to imagine infection as a choice (as contrasted, again, with SARS, for which infection may seem beyond one’s control). Again, such characteristics do not make AIDS unique—other social problems such as poverty and unemployment are often understood in particular contexts to be choices, which can dampen political support for redistributive policymaking.
Because HIV is primarily transmitted through sexual contacts, and because it was fi rst identified with homosexual contact, it has remained a stigmatized problem that elites and citizens have often preferred to ignore.29 For that reason, government policymakers—particularly decision-making chief executives and ministers of health and fi nance—may view international best practices (what I describe in chapter 3 as the “Geneva Consensus”) as a high-cost, low-benefit proposition, and may choose inaction as their preferred strategy. Increasing prevalence, along with domestic pressure from organized activists, physicians, and other groups, and external pressure from a wide variety of sources increases the likelihood of government action, but the impact of such pressures is likely mediated by particular social and institutional environments.
Third, there is neither a vaccination nor a cure for HIV or AIDS. Rather, as chapter 3 discusses, there are strategies for preventing the transmission of the virus, drug treatment therapies that improve and extend the lives of those infected, and policies for mitigating the impact of disease-related disability on the infected and their dependents. Despite ongoing scientific research, to date there is no viable plan to eradicate HIV or AIDS, as was the case for smallpox and polio. As a result, the effects of the pandemic can be mitigated, but HIV and AIDS will not be wiped off the planet until technologies derived from scientifi c breakthroughs are implemented. In fact, the availability of treatment options implies that people infected with HIV will live longer lives, increasing the prevalence of infection, while presumably increasing the quality of life of those infected. Thus, existing technologies allow only the possibility of managing the epidemic, not ending it.
Outline of the Book
In the chapters that follow, I identify general theories and testable implications, and I attempt to analyze available evidence in a rigorous, skeptical, and dispassionate manner. The organization of the book refl ects my attempt to parse out theoretical claims from empirical analyses, and international dynamics from domestic ones. A brief overview will highlight how the analysis and evidence fit together, and provide guidance for those who may choose to skip ahead to a chapter of particular interest.
In chapter 2, I draw upon general theories of politics to develop propositions about how and why governments have responded to AIDS in different ways. I develop more fully the theoretical explanation linking boundary institutions to aggressive policies, through consideration of theories of ethnic politics, social identity, and the construction of risk. I also identify alternative hypotheses, including the effects of state capacities, regime types, and international influences, which help to guide the analyses, particularly by informing the choice of comparisons and control variables in the empirical analyses. While adjudicating among competing explanations of policy outcomes, I avoid investigation of the most proximate explanations. For example, it would be difficult to challenge the conclusion that a government adopted aggressive policies because those in charge of government policy acted aggressively, or that a particular president made AIDS a top priority. The relationship between cause and effect is so close that they are almost indistinguishable. “Leadership” cannot be understood as the “cause” since it is part of the outcome I am trying to explain. Instead, I attempt to make sense of key outcomes and seemingly anomalous events in terms of broader structures and factors, particularly ones that vary across space and time.
Chapter 3 details the globalized environment in which states have faced pressures to respond to AIDS. An elaborate international apparatus has developed to partner with and to cajole governments to respond to the epidemic aggressively and within guidelines. While the ultimate focus of the book is on politics and policymaking in developing countries, we cannot lose sight of the fact that most of the technology, resources, and push for AIDS policies has come from above, through massive efforts at global governance. My prior expectations for similarity in national responses is founded on research pointing to extensive consensus on best practice, as well as far-reaching efforts to disseminate that consensus to every country in the world.
In chapters 4, 5, and 6, I turn to the politics of policymaking in countries, through wide-ranging empirical analyses. The work was completed with a healthy awareness of the potential for bias or spurious fi ndings in any particular approach, and with skepticism about how factors are measured and causal inferences drawn. I have tried to highlight the degree to which analytic findings are sensitive to particular interpretations. The research presented herein was a mixed-method enterprise, combining case study and statistical analyses. This approach allowed leverage over an eclectic array of data sources, and an ability to assess the robustness of my results. Only the most narrowly construed hypotheses are likely to have implications that can be decisively tested by any single research design or set of designs. And yet to the extent that the central explanation can help us to tell compelling narratives of particular countries, while providing a guide for estimating a robust statistical model of variance in AIDS policies, we can conclude that the general model provides real insights into the social and political dynamics of the problem.
Chapters 4 and 5 deploy case studies and structured comparisons 30 for generating and testing theoretical claims. While cross-country statistical analyses (discussed below) may be better suited to the estimation of the magnitude of effects, the generalizability of findings, and the analysis of multiple rival explanatory factors, case studies, conducted with attention to measurement in context, and to exploration of feasible causal pathways, also provide opportunities for evaluating general claims. We ought to be able to tell compelling narratives that link cause to effect, particularly for cases with extreme scores on the central explanatory variable. If we cannot identify a logic in the particularities of a case or set of cases that resonates with the more general theory, and if we cannot conclude that history would have unfolded differently with different scores on the explanatory variable, we lose confidence in our general claims.
On the other hand, we should not expect policymakers to specifi cally identify the political incentives and constraints on their actions in the terms presented in this book. Policymakers who have successfully addressed a problem such as AIDS are likely to highlight their own foresight and problem-solving skills, not the fact that they were unfettered by constraints faced by policymakers in ethnically divided countries. Most policymakers either defend their policies as appropriate and suffi cient, or point to competing demands, or perhaps the morals and values of their culture, as constraints on further action. It is not appropriate to demand, as a test of a social scientific theory, that citizens or elites describe their behaviors with the theoretical framework.31 If everyone were cognizant of the determinants of their behavior, there would be little need for social science. In fact, the policymaking literature has relied too much on actors as the source of explanations, when, of course, their perspectives are biased. My approach has been to look for traces of the consequences of ethnic-based confl ict for AIDS policies, in the form of otherwise unexpected political resistance to them, comparing episodes where boundaries were weaker or stronger.
I examine boundary politics and AIDS policy in Brazil, India, and South Africa, cases that provide a wide range of variation in hypothesized cause and effect. Brazil has earned a reputation as an aggressive (and effective) responder to AIDS, whereas India and South Africa have been criticized for lackluster action. These countries are economic and political leaders in their respective world regions. Each has worn the dubious mantle of containing the largest numbers of infected citizens in its region, attracting a great deal of international attention. There would have been reason to expect aggressive responses to AIDS in all three countries because each had a significant viral outbreak, substantial industrial or governmental capacity, and a relatively open and democratic political regime. Compared with other countries at analogous levels of development and with similar epidemics, Brazil emerges as a relative overperformer and South Africa and India as underperformers. The goal of the analysis in this book is to see whether the location of these cases can be explained through a consistent political model of policymaking, or if they refl ect unexplained “noise” associated with the random nature of social and political life.
The comparative analysis of AIDS policymaking in Brazil and South Africa presented in chapter 4 is a model-building analysis, in the sense that the explanation of differences in the outcome of interest was developed using “backward induction,” subjecting the comparison to theoretically driven hypotheses about why Brazil developed a more aggressive response to AIDS than did South Africa. This puzzle was of particular interest because in my own prior research,32 I was impressed by the similarities between the two countries in levels of economic development, social inequality, and racial diversity. These similarities formed the basis of fruitful comparative analyses. The importance of race politics in the discussions of AIDS in South Africa was evident to me prior to formal engagement with the materials in comparative perspective, and sustained comparative analysis suggested the mechanism linking “race” politics to aggressiveness on AIDS through the transmission of information and notions of risk. While the outstanding Brazilian response has been linked to many factors, including its democratic transition and vibrant civil society, those factors also appeared to be present in South Africa. What is striking in Brazil is that the weakly institutionalized category of race was not politicized for most of the history of AIDS, making possible a politics of national solidarity. In South Africa, discussions of risk, and a politics of blame and denial, broke down along racial lines, lowering demand for and supply of aggressive AIDS policies.
The Indian case was a model-testing analysis in the sense that investigation of the politics of AIDS largely followed the development of the theory. India shares similarities with Brazil and South Africa as a regionally dominant democracy facing an AIDS epidemic, with the capacity in the bureaucratic and private sectors to formulate a response. Like Brazil, it has a history of federalism. But like South Africa, India contains strong boundary institutions, and the national government did not respond aggressively to AIDS for most of the history of the epidemic. Beyond establishing this controlled correlational confirmation of the central hypothesis, the real test was to trace causal processes 33 and to see if I could fi nd compelling evidence linking the hypothesized cause to effect. As I report in chapter 5, I found evidence connecting the country’s ethnolinguistic, religious, and, especially, caste boundaries, to the politics of risk, and to patterns of blaming and shame avoidance, impeding a strong response. I also demonstrate with statistical evidence that variation in interethnic relations across Indian states helps to account for some of the variation in state-level responses to the pandemic in that country.
Analysis of all three countries is based on a wide range of case materials. First, I analyzed a vast library of documentation and data from governments and domestic and international nongovernmental organizations. The domestic and foreign presses have covered politics and policymaking extensively in all of these countries. Moreover, a significant secondary literature describes both politics and the AIDS epidemic in each country. I complemented these materials with targeted field research in Brazil, India, and South Africa (as well as brief stints in Uganda and Thailand) to gain additional information through open-ended, semistructured interviews and brief consultations with political elites, decision makers, activists, and bureaucrats; and to obtain additional materials not otherwise available. I attended dozens of lectures and seminars on these cases, including the two most recent international AIDS conferences (Bangkok 2004; Toronto 2006), where I listened to presentations and met with dozens of scholars, care-providers, government officials, and representatives of international organization doing work in these countries. For the most part, however, I don’t detail insider accounts of AIDS politics and policymaking. In general, insiders have good access to data and to facts, which I have gathered in volumes, but their analyses tend to support their own political or other agendas, noble or not. Instead, I have relied on nonreactive measures, guided by involved actors in the search for facts and data verifying their assessments with additional evidence. As much as possible, I have used widely available news reports, documents, and publicly available data in order to maintain transparency.
While comparative analysis of these three important countries provides insights into the dynamics of AIDS policymaking, especially the ways in which ethnic boundaries shape political dynamics, such analysis leaves key questions unanswered. To what degree does the book’s central proposition “travel” to other countries? Does it apply only to large, regional powers? Does the explanation I offer wishfully interpret the facts? In chapter 6, I present statistical analyses of a multicountry dataset, which helps to answer such questions, to adjudicate among alternative hypotheses, and to obtain estimates of the magnitude of the impact of boundaries on policy.
The domain of analysis was limited to low- and middle-income countries. To be certain, the industrialized countries have differed in their response to AIDS as well, as historians and social scientists have expertly documented.34 But on substantive, methodological, and practical grounds, there is good reason to focus on the poorer countries, where more than 90 percent of the world’s infected population lives, and where, by defi nition, the resources and institutions available for dealing with any threat to public health, especially one as diffi cult as HIV, are limited. The analyses presented in chapter 6 are analogous to a significant body of empirical work that has tested the effects of ethnic fractionalization on the provision of public goods and development across countries.35 However, because those studies have considered policies and outcomes developed over long periods of time, it is difficult to know whether they are causes or consequences of ethnic politics. Because HIV/AIDS is a new and historically specifi c phenomenon, we can be certain that the outcome of AIDS policy is not endogenous to the explanation of ethnic boundaries, even if we assume that AIDS and AIDS policy will affect ethnic demographics and politics over the longer term. Overall, the statistical results confirm the central hypothesis, while bringing to light important differences across world regions and policy areas.
In chapter 7, I conclude by highlighting the ways in which the fi ndings resonate with debates about identity politics, particularly among normative theorists. Scholars such as Amartya Sen and Anthony Appiah have emphasized the intrinsic values of combining cultural diversity with malleable institutional approaches to identity, and Appiah in particular makes an ethical case for cosmopolitanism. My positive empirical analyses emphasize the potential implications of such an approach for development outcomes. Permeable ethnic boundaries facilitate perceptions of interconnectedness and may help authorities to gain sacrifices for the public good. By contrast, the rigid institutionalization of ethnic difference impedes the pooling of risks, and encourages competition instead of cooperation. If well-intentioned international actors want to promote cooperative governance of global public problems, they would do better to promote cosmopolitanism than to strengthen ethnic boundaries.
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File created: 2/24/2009
Questions and comments to: [email protected]
Princeton University Press | <urn:uuid:45ccb370-e572-4fbf-9fd5-c93d9d65abce> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://press.princeton.edu/chapters/s8935.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783397562.76/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154957-00009-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.953457 | 9,729 | 3.25 | 3 |
Thomas F. McDougal
In an earlier paper [McDougal and Hammond 1993], we reported on POLYA, a computer program which proves high school geometry theorems. POLYA is a memory-based problem-solver in the case-based planning tradition [Hammond 1989, Kolodner 1993]. It uses features of the problem (mostly from the diagram) to index into a library of plans. Some of those plans are solutions to entire problems; others apply a single inference. The plans are indexed in memory by the features which predict the relevance of the plan without necessarily guaranteeing it. | <urn:uuid:3ca7b79d-64f0-48fd-b194-38e7236400a7> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://aaai.org/Library/AAAI/1994/aaai94-265.php | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783400031.51/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624155000-00008-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.933888 | 122 | 2.984375 | 3 |
By Don Corace
Harper Paperbacks 2008
Reviewed by Russ Harding
DON CORACE HAS done a service to all freedom-loving Americans by detailing government abuses that threaten a bedrock principal of a free people — the right to own and use private property — in his book "Government Pirates." Corace takes a balanced and reasoned approach in making a case for the constitutional and historic importance of private property rights in the founding and development of our country.
Corace's approach is more practical than ideological, and he makes a concerted effort to stick to constitutional principals. However, he recognizes there is legitimate government use of eminent domain when there is a clear public benefit. From this perspective, Corace details how the courts have expanded the definition of public benefit from such public projects as roads and schools to include economic development. Abuses of this sort culminated in the U.S. Supreme Court Kelo v. New London decision. In the Kelo decision the Supreme Court declared that it is legally permissible for government to take property from a private owner and give it to another private party for the purpose of economic development.
The author places most of the blame for the loss of private property rights on courts that through rulings have disregarded constitutional protection of private property from government takings. While these court decisions play a large part in property rights abuses by government, there is less attention given in the book to the role of elected officials in allowing government bureaucrats to trample property rights while pursuing their own agenda. Many state legislatures have strengthened physical takings protection, but there has been much less progress made to protect property owners from regulatory takings.
The case stories detailed in the book are both real and compelling. The detailed accounts of property owners running afoul of government regulators and planners should send a chill down the spine of any reader. The common thread running through these accounts is one of ordinary law-abiding citizens discovering that government is not an impartial, benevolent institution but rather a police power with the force of law. The outcomes of these accounts vary but the force of government is a constant.
Students of property rights will find "Government Pirates" easy to use as it is subdivided by categories of government takings such as eminent domain, zoning regulations, wetlands and endangered species.
The book should be required reading for any government official with regulatory or zoning authority. Corace has done a great service in telling the stories of real people that have been harmed by the government and makes some excellent recommendations on how to prevent these private property abuses in the future. | <urn:uuid:02ab9225-6d75-42d0-badf-cf02ef273490> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.mackinac.org/10680 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783395546.12/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154955-00179-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.949006 | 509 | 2.546875 | 3 |
“When Abraham prostrated himself, God continued to speak to him: 'My covenant with you is this: you are to become the father of a host of nations.'” Gen. 17:3
Within decades of the crucifixion and resurrection of Christ, the good news had spread from Jerusalem through the Hellenistic culture of the eastern Mediterranean to Rome, and to ends-of-earth places such as India and the British Isles. In the following centuries, holy men and women protected the heritage of Western civilization in monasteries and convents, and then re-evangelized the barbarian-conquered West, thereby helping to create a new entity known as Europe. Over the next two millennia, Christianity built much of what we take for granted in civilization today: universities, economics, a belief in human rights and the dignity of all persons.
Certainly, the house of modern civilization was built on the foundations of Christianity. But is a strong civilization all the Gospel offers? The Gospel is indeed a civilizing force, but certainly it promised more than simply to make us all civil. After all, to what end civilization?
Civilization is important, but Western civilization especially so, for it contains within it a reminder of the point of civilization: the pursuit of God in Christ. When God promised Abraham he would be the father of many nations, it is safe to say he did not have in mind traditions of learning and culture, great works of architecture, or international economic systems. Rather, this covenant was based on the communion of all people with their Creator. And yet, civilization and “divinization” move in the same direction—toward the proper ordering and development of the human person. A true and solid civilization in this world will encourage, assist, and allow persons to pursue their proper ends, which ultimately are not of this world. It is in this sense that philosopher Jacques Maritain can say that “to civilize is to spiritualize.”
And so the nation that would spring from the faith of Abraham would also serve as a springboard for the salvation of all nations. Christ's salvific work, from one nation and for all nations, means that all nations might become more fully themselves, just as it means all persons might become more fully themselves. And in the end, “a great multitude … of every nation, race, people, and tongue” will cry out in a loud voice “Salvation comes from our God” (Rev. 7:9—10). | <urn:uuid:bc1b8e95-ad59-44ea-9d58-1041a659d1ae> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.acton.org/pub/religion-liberty/volume-16-number-4/doubled-edged-sword-power-word | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783396959.83/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154956-00086-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.960037 | 518 | 2.640625 | 3 |
Gastroesopheageal reflux disease (GERD), more commonly known as acid reflux or heartburn, is a digestive system disorder that is being seen in increasing frequency around the world today. This heartburn occurs when acid from the stomach irritates the lining of the lower esophagus. According to an article in Health Day, January 2012, 20% of the population experience symptoms of acid reflux once a week and 7% have daily symptoms. These symptoms are commonly treated with a class of drugs called proton pump inhibitors that block the production of acid in the stomach.
We are all too familiar with over-the-counter medicines such as Prilosec, Zantac, Zegrid and prescription medicines such as Nexium or Protonix. These are all drugs that are currently used for the treatment of acid reflux. Although they belong to different classes of drugs, the end goal is the same: reduction of acid in the stomach that relieves the symptoms. These medicines are the third-highest sellers accounting for $14 billion in revenues.
General population has not yet realized two important points about acid reflux. One, although some of the medicines used for acid reflux are over the counter – they are not completely safe. And two, acid reflux is essentially curable through dietary changes as most cases are caused by poor nutrition.
So what are the side effects of these acid-blocking agents, and what are some consequences of decreasing stomach acid? Long-term use of PPI’s not only reduce the absorption of key vitamins and nutrients such as B12, folate, iron, calcium and zinc – but can also lead to protein deficiency that can lead to anxiety and depression. Moreover, increasing use of acid-suppressing drugs exposes the individual to a higher risk of developing pneumonia and decreased resistance to infections.
As mentioned above, one of the causes of acid reflux is poor nutrition. So why not cure reflux with dietary changes? Infact, refined carbohydrates and sugars actually promote bacterial overgrowth, which has been linked as a cause of GERD. Including organic produce, natural fats and carbohydrate restriction (less than 20g/day), will help with settling the stomach and decreasing the symptoms of acid reflux in a natural way.
Although the acid-reducing medications provide temporary relief from heartburn symptoms, they are not the end-all, cure-all way to go. With a detailed plan of how to start and maintain a low carbohydrate diet, plus an added benefit of 75 low-carb recipes, this book will positively change the quality of your life, and put a stop to GERD. | <urn:uuid:a8743b56-cf67-4c7b-9e22-8e5d187a089a> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://thesilverclouddiet.com/2013/01/gerd-and-low-carb-diet/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783396455.95/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154956-00073-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.945411 | 540 | 3.546875 | 4 |
This 3:25-minute film shares how keeping cows has enabled Margaret Muchina, a dairy farmer from central Kenya, to support and educate her four children, who include Edward Kimani, who sat for his high school exam in 2010 and emerged as one of the country’s best students.
This single mother from Kenya’s Kiambu District started keeping dairy cows on her 2-acre farm in 1985. Her regular dairy income, mostly through daily milk sales, has been critical in enabling her to support her family, including the schooling of her children. Her dairy income is now supporting Kimani’s education at the University of Nairobi, where he is studying for a bachelor’s degree in geology.
Between 1997 and 2005, Margaret was one of many Kenyan farmers who participated in an award-winning Smallholder Dairy Project that carried out research to help improve the country’s smallholder, and largely informal, dairy sector, which trades mostly in ‘raw ‘ (unpasteurized) milk and was then being more harassed than supported by regulatory authorities.
The Smallholder Dairy Project supported a move towards towards a more favourable policy environment that paved the way for significant increases in the number of raw milk traders in the country, which helped milk producers like Margaret sell more milk leading to wider economy wide benefits for small-scale farmers.
Like many other Kenyans keeping one or two dairy cows to help them feed their families and send their children to school, Margaret Muchina is grateful to the Smallholder Dairy Project for information on best farm management and milk handling practices. Mrs Muchina now operates her small dairying with greater freedom and with new support from her government.
The Smallholder Dairy Project was led by Kenya’s Ministry of Livestock and implemented by the Kenya Agricultural Research Institute and the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI).
Find out more about the Smallholder Dairy Project.
ILRI’s current work in dairying focuses on value chain development in Tanzania. Read more here.
Staff of the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) and many other CGIAR centres and research programs will be discussing the successes of Africa’s agriculture, including how its livestock sector can help achieve food security in the continent, at the 6th Africa Agriculture Science Week (AASW6) in Accra, Ghana. This event is being hosted by the Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa (FARA) and the Government of Ghana and runs from Monday–Saturday, 15–20 Jul 2013.
Check out this blog next week for more stories from the 6th Africa Agriculture Science Week. | <urn:uuid:d9a901b9-b111-4d16-8f84-0a1e4b72b7d7> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.ilri.org/ilrinews/index.php/archives/11491 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783397696.49/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154957-00146-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.950705 | 543 | 2.890625 | 3 |
Irony in its broadest sense, is a rhetorical device, literary technique, or event in
which what appears, on the surface, to be the case, ...
Verbal irony definition, irony in which a person says or writes one thing and
means another, or uses words to convey a meaning that is the opposite of the
The term verbal irony refers to the use of vocabulary to describe something in a
way that is other than it seems. Often, but not always, verbal irony is used with a ...
Mar 13, 2013 ... View full lesson: http://ed.ted.com/lessons/what-is-verbal-irony-christopher-
warner At face value, the lines between verbal irony, sarcasm, and ...
Verbal irony is a trope (or figure of speech) in which the intended meaning of a
statement differs from the meaning that the words appear to express.
You already know that irony is when events are words appear to be the opposite
of reality. Verbal Irony is when words express something contrary to truth or ...
Critical Concepts. Verbal Irony. Verbal irony is a figure of speech. The speaker
intends to be understood as meaning something that contrasts with the literal or ...
Teach 3 types of irony: dramatic irony, verbal irony, & situational irony with
storyboards! Teaching irony with has never been easier with irony examples.
Jul 30, 2015 ... In this lesson, we will define verbal irony as we use it in everyday life and its use
in literature, look at the different kinds of verbal irony...
Definition and a list of examples of verbal irony. Verbal irony occurs when
someone says something that is in opposition to the person's true meaning. | <urn:uuid:2f28b5e9-4056-46fb-b0d3-74383fcc769d> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.ask.com/web?q=Verbal+Irony&o=2603&l=dir&qsrc=3139&gc=1 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783395679.18/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154955-00067-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.856762 | 363 | 3.6875 | 4 |
(Lasiurus borealis Muller)From: Saunders, D. A. 1988. Adirondack Mammals. State University of New York, College of Environmental Science and Forestry. 216pp.
Description: Red bats vary in color from brick red to buffy orange. The hairs of the back, and to a lesser extent, those of the chest, are tipped with white. Males tend to be less frosted with white, but are brighter in color than females. Both sexes have a buffy white shoulder patch. The unfurred portion of the tail membrane and wing membranes are brownish black. The short, rounded ears and front limbs are rusty orange. The fur is dense and wooly. The total length is 95-126 mm (3.7-5.0 in). Females are larger than males. Weight varies from 8-15 g (0.3-0.5 oz). When fully extended in flight, the narrow pointed wings have a span of 29-33 cm (11.4-13.0 in).
Range and Habitat: The range is from most of the southern half of Canada to Argentina and Chile, excluding the Rocky Mountains, some central western states, and the southern two-thirds of Florida in the U.S. This summer resident of the Adirondacks may be more widespread than the few records of its occurrence indicates. Its solitary life style makes it less noticeable than colonial bats occupying buildings, mines, and caves. In most of the Northeast, the red bat is uncommon to rare. Merriam regarded this species as one the least common bats of the Adirondacks.
Food and Feeding Behavior: At the onset of its foraging flight 1-2 hours after sunset, the red bat flies slowly in an erratic pattern high over forests, forest edges, meadows, and fields, descending after 15-30 minutes to feed between ground and tree top heights, and adopting a straighter course or flying in a series of arcs. Individuals return to forage nightly over the same areas, usually within 300 m (1000 ft) of their day roosts. Several may forage in close proximity with no apparent antagonism. Bouts of foraging may occur intermittently until dawn, but are most frequent in the hours following sunset and preceding dawn. Beetles and moths comprise 54 % by volume of the diet of a sample of 128 red bats from Indiana, but they also consumed large insects of many orders. Red bats often catch insects attracted to street and yard lights.
Activity and Movement: By day, red bats roost in the foliage of deciduous trees 1-12 m (3-40 ft) above the ground, selecting perches that are open from below to permit easy access, but otherwise densely shaded to hide them from predators. While roosting, this species hangs by one or both feet, and resembles a dead leaf. In September and October, red bats leave the Adirondacks, migrating into the southern parts of the range, and not returning until mid May or June. On a level, straight course, the flight of this bat is swift, and it may attain a speed of 64 km/h (40 mph).
Reproduction: Red bats breed in August and September. Pairs initiate copulation while flying, sometimes fluttering to the ground. Fertilization does not occur until spring. The gestation period is 80-90 days, after which the female produces a litter of 1-5 (average 2 or 3) young, the largest litter size of any bat. Females bear their annual litter in late June or July. The young remain at the roost while their mother forages, grasping her with their wings and teeth to nurse when she returns. The young nurse until 35-42 days old when they become independent and disperse. Little is known about age of first breeding and longevity of the red bat, but the potential life span may be 12 years.
Predators: Blue jays prey upon young red bats. Great horned owls, merlins, American kestrels, sharp-shinned hawks, and opossums are occasional predators of adults.
- Social system - The red bat is promiscuous. For most of its life, this species is solitary except during mating and when a female cares for her young. Temporary associations occur during foraging, and at least for some, during migration (groups of 100 have landed on ships 100 miles from the Atlantic coast). In some parts of the range, red bats swarm at the entrances to caves in August, although they do not use them as winter shelters. Swarming may facilitate mating.
- Communication - While the communication of this species has not been studied, several anecdotal observations suggest a role for vocal and chemical signals in regulating social encounters. Migrating individuals may select the same perches used by red bats during previous nights, perhaps responding to chemical cues placed on the perch. The four sets of facial glands are likely sources of substances. Caged red bats decoy free-ranging individuals, a fact that biologist use to their advantage when attempting to capture this species. In flight, red bats chirp and squeak, as well as emit pulses of high frequency sounds. When handled, they produce raspy, buzzy sounds.
Shump, K.A. Jr., and A.V. Shump. 1982. Lasiurus borealis. Mammalian Species, 183:1-6. | <urn:uuid:44a92256-60e8-4cb9-a3b5-75c868a3e14d> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.esf.edu/aec/adks/mammals/red_bat.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783403825.35/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624155003-00066-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.938627 | 1,120 | 3.4375 | 3 |
The latest news from academia, regulators
research labs and other things of interest
Posted: Oct 24, 2012
Nanomaterials: Bringing crystals into line
(Nanowerk News) The unique magnetic properties of cobalt phosphide nanowires stand them in good stead as future components of high-performance devices. Unlike bulk materials, these ultrasmall elongated crystals consist of single-domain structures that account for their superparamagnetism — a temperature-induced magnetism that arises in a magnetic field. To maintain and fully exploit this behavior, scientists must generate materials composed of precisely positioned and oriented building blocks. Such superstructures are now available, thanks to the development of a method that uses temperature changes to align individual nanowires. Ming-Yong Han from the A*STAR Institute of Materials Research and Engineering, Sinapore, led the research (see paper in Advanced Materials: "Temperature and Chemical Bonding-Directed Self-Assembly of Cobalt Phosphide Nanowires in Reaction Solutions into Vertical and Horizontal Alignments").
Current nanocrystal self-assembly approaches involve depositing a crystal suspension on a solid surface, and then slowly evaporating the solvent. Theoretically, the evaporation enhances the relatively weak attraction forces that exist between the nanocrystals, forcing them to align. However, high degrees of alignment of anisotropic structures — those exhibiting direction-dependent physical properties — remain difficult to achieve.
“We took a distinct pathway from the slow evaporation approach,” says Han. His team’s strategy followed similar principles to those used in chemical synthesis. First, they reacted a cobalt derivative with the phosphide precursor trioctylphosphine (TOP) at high temperature. This produced TOP-coated nanowires. Next, they stored the solution in which the nanowires formed at various temperatures. These storage, or ‘aging’, temperatures produced larger, well-defined superstructures with different alignments.
Washing the nanowires without the latter step resulted in random arrangements or small assemblies (see image). After cooling and aging the reaction mixture at room temperature for two hours, the team observed superstructures composed of nearly one million vertically standing nanowires. In this arrangement, each nanowire was surrounded by six others in a honeycomb pattern. When cooled to room temperature and then refrigerated, the reaction mixture produced extended sheets of nanowires aligned side-by-side horizontally.
The superstructures resisted any high temperature, ultrasound, or organic solvent treatment, indicative of strong cohesive forces between the nanowires. Further investigations revealed that, during the self-assembly, the TOP molecules continually adsorbed and desorbed from the nanowires, bringing them in close contact. This caused irreversible chemical bonds to form between the nanocrystals, facilitating and enhancing their alignment.
The team is currently testing the performance of the superstructures against that of the randomly oriented nanowires to explore their potential use as sensors or electrical components called inductors. “We are also trying to extend this methodology to self-assemble other systems, with a hope to establish a more universal method for aligning anisotropic nanocrystals,” adds Han.
If you liked this article, please give it a quick review on reddit or StumbleUpon. Thanks!
Check out these other trending stories on Nanowerk: | <urn:uuid:95781014-10db-4ef0-ae40-ff3fe3f73399> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.nanowerk.com/news2/newsid=27071.php | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783397428.37/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154957-00043-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.895459 | 705 | 2.90625 | 3 |
The scene outside Sharpsburg, MD., 150 years ago today of Sept. 19, 1862.
“The army advanced about noon and we crossed the field of slaughter. It was a sickening, loathsome sight — a sight that paled the cheeks of men strong of heart and nerve—a sight never to be forgotten. Rebel and Union lay mingled in heaps in this charnel-house, only the rebels had left more of their braves on the field.”
—Campfires of the 23rd
Confederate historians would name the fight for the town of Sharpsburg, MD. Union historians usually named battles for the natural landscape and took the name from Antietam Creek.
In a single day’s fighting the total estimated casualties — killed, wounded, missing and captured — was estimated at 22,717 men. When the final accounting was made the Union had lost about 2,100 more men than the Confederates.
On the scene was George Breck Staniford, age 24, who had enlisted as a private in the 23rd Regiment, New York Infantry.
In this battle alone 10 men from the 23rd New York were killed or died from their wounds. It was their bloodiest single day in their two-year enlistment term.
The morning had opened with the unit hunkered down under artillery fire at the extreme right of the army’s line on the turnpike to Sharpsburg. Under orders from General Doubleday [yes, the baseball Doubleday] the unit moved about the surging front. At one point the Confederates were advancing through the cornfield but were driven back by a flanking attack from the New Yorkers. When the Union troops advanced they found their own right flank exposed and were forced to fall back to a ledge of rocks, ammunition almost out.
In the back-and-forth surge of battle that followed the New Yorkers retreated in an orderly way and reformed their line.
At the same time the enemy poured a brisk fire into our right flank and rear, when we were ordered by you to return, which was done in such perfect order as to elicit the notice and highly complimentary and flattering remarks of Brigadier-General Howard, in addressing his own flying men whom he was nobly but vainly attempting to rally.
That brave officer pointed to us as an example for the disorganized, saying as he did so: “Men! That is the way to leave a field. That regiment are acting like soldiers! Do as they do, men and we will drive them back again in ten minutes.”
H.C. Hoffman, Colonel Commanding.
— From Campfires of the 23rd
Like a previous Tribune editor, Horatio Rembaugh, he enlisted early in the war answering the call of President Abraham Lincoln.
The Antietam had been especially bloody due to the piecemeal Union attack across the Confederate line.
The disjointed engagement allowed the Rebels to move reinforcements across their shorter interior lines to shore up wavering positions.
Though the Union under George B. McClellan lost more men, Confederate General Robert E. Lee was forced to return to the south. His first effort to take the offensive in the north was turned back and several Southern hopes were dashed.
Though the Union Army had recently suffered a series of defeats they were not demoralized.
The invasion would not contribute to election defeat for Republicans or negotiated settlement with the north.
Maryland did not rise up in support of the Rebels.
Union losses would be replaced, however the smaller population of the South made each loss more sorely felt.
Lincoln would review the troops after the battle and declare it a victory. He also issued the Emancipation Proclamation freeing slaves. The president had been waiting for a victory before signing the document to give it more power and for this reason alone the South had to view the campaign as a turning point.
Compromise could no longer be considered an option, war would determine the outcome.
After Staniford’s enlistment period was up he mustered out as second lieutenant, a long way up the promotion ladder from private, recognition of his leadership abilities. He would move to California and in the late 1878-1883, he would be editor of the Tribune in San Luis Obispo and other newspapers in the state. | <urn:uuid:c43826bd-85cd-4209-897c-0f55f2d1d3de> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://sloblogs.thetribunenews.com/slovault/2012/09/the-bloody-banks-of-antietam-creek/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783395621.98/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154955-00141-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.977809 | 900 | 2.859375 | 3 |
This month in EHP
By Ian Thomas
The federal government recently approved Shell’s oil-spill response plans for drilling in the Chukchi and Beaufort seas, setting the stage for exploratory drilling in the Arctic that could begin as early as July. The lead news story in the May issue of Environmental Health Perspectives (EHP) (http://ehp.niehs.nih.gov/) examines Shell’s plans for addressing oil spills in one of the most inhospitable regions on earth.
A second story, titled “Wrangling Reactive Nitrogen: Strategies for Mitigating Pollution,” discusses recent reports outlining proven methods for better managing the flow of reactive nitrogen into the environment from agricultural production, transportation, and electricity generation.
Finally, in this month’s Researcher’s Perspective Podcast, (http://ehp.niehs.nih.gov/category/news/podcasts/) host Ashley Ahearn sits down with guest Kathryn Cottingham, Ph.D., to discuss her study of arsenic contamination in organic brown rice syrup, a common alternative to high-fructose corn syrup in some food products.
Featured commentaries, reviews, and research this month include the following:
• Arsenic, Organic Foods, and Brown Rice Syrup
• Climate Change, Migration, and Health
• Global Mortality and Smoke From Landscape Fires
• Mortality and Particulate Matter: A Canadian National Cohort Study
(Ian Thomas is a public affairs specialist in the NIEHS Office of Communications and Public Liaison.) | <urn:uuid:27b88e4e-b79c-4b54-b845-1a3b56261031> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.niehs.nih.gov/news/newsletter/2012/5/science-ehp/index.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783398869.97/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154958-00123-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.890405 | 328 | 2.53125 | 3 |
The course has been documented online – check out what the students have been working on:
Exploring BioMimetic Interfaces – Using a design thinking approach to design interactive interfaces that take influence from nature.
In contemporary times of extreme technological innovation, Social infrastructures (Facebook, Google, Yahoo) are built upon sourcing individual data to inform collective intelligence. Redesigning urban frameworks for efficient transit options are becoming increasingly critical due to growing urban populations.
Therefore, looking to nature for influence for organising emergent intelligent systems is increasingly crucial for design considerations. This course will approach design as a hybrid combining the digital and biological interfaces.
Prototyping Biomimcry: How can we understand nature better in order to utilise it better?
This week, we will explore how to best use nature as a tool for solving design challenges in practical, conceptual and educational settings. We will take a human- based design approach to consider how to translate biological processes into digital and physical systems that are centered around the user interface. We will spend time in the classroom, as well as outside in the city and outdoor environment.
In the classroom, through lectures and discussion, we will explore theoretical concepts of biomimetic design (including emergence, genetics, evolutionary robotics, cybernetics, collective intelligence, cognition, and self-organization), as used in engineering, architecture, conceptual art, urban design, social networks, and software platforms.
Through design thinking methods, we will engage with a variety of natural materials to discover their physical characteristics. We will then explore methods to represent natural forms and functions using software and hardware. Processing and Arduino will be the primary tools.
Redesign a digital or physical interface using nature as an inspiration.
This will be a continuation of the design process with most of the time spent conducting hands-on work on the projects.
The first part of the week will be spent mostly in the workshop prototyping with Processing, raw materials, and Arduino. We will make use of CIID’s mechanical tools and digital fabrication equipment, such as the laser cutter and 3D printer.
Because human interactivity will be our main focus, we will conduct daily de-briefs, user-feedback sessions, and critique on the design process thus far. We will follow the design thinking framework during each step of the development cycle : defining the problem, ideating the solution, iterating, prototyping, and getting user feedback.
Throughout the week, each person will document their work on a blog. This can include writing about the design process, technical diagrams, code snippets, photographs, and videos. | <urn:uuid:456294d9-ec94-486b-9207-4e8f1254c243> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://ciid.dk/education/summer-school/ciid-summer-school-2013/biomimetic-interfaces/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783395620.9/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154955-00038-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.893699 | 535 | 3.203125 | 3 |
In 2002, Spain had an estimated 346,858 km (215,538 mi) of roadways, of which 343,389 km (213,382 mi) were paved highways, including 9,063 km (5,632 mi) of expressways. The Mediterranean and Cantábrico routes are the most important. There were 16,011,200 passenger cars and 3,271,000 commercial vehicles in 2000.
In 2002, the National Spanish Railway Network encompassed 15,171 km (9,427 mi) of track, of which 6,434 km (3,998 mi) were electrified.
Of Spain's 200 ports, 26 are of commercial significance. The largest are Barcelona, Tarragona, and Cartagena on the Mediterranean, Algeciras on the Strait of Gibraltar, La Coruña on the Atlantic, and Las Palmas and Santa Cruz de Tenerife in the Canaries. The port of Bilbao, on the Bay of Biscay, can accommodate tankers of up to 500,000 tons. Substantial improvements were made during the 1970s at Gijón, Huelva, and Valencia. Scheduled ferry services connect Spain with neighboring countries and North Africa. In 2002, the merchant fleet was comprised of 144 vessels, totaling 1,364,751 GRT.
Spain had 133 airports and airfields in 2001, 93 of which had paved runways. Principal airports include Alicante, Prat at Barcelona, Ibiza, Lanzarote, Gran Canaria at Las Palmas, Barajas at Madrid, Malaga, Menorca, Son San Juan at Palma Mallorca, and Valencia. The state-owned Iberia Air Lines has regular connections with 50 countries and 89 cities in Europe, Africa, Asia (including the Middle East), and the Western Hemisphere. Other Spanish airlines are Aviaco, Air Europa, Viva Air, Binter Canarias, and Spanair. In 2001, 41,469,800 passengers were carried on domestic and international flights, and 879 million ton-km (546 million ton-mi) of freight | <urn:uuid:1cc0ccc2-dd4f-4bb3-88f0-c229665dbd2a> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.nationsencyclopedia.com/Europe/Spain-TRANSPORTATION.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783397749.89/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154957-00084-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.943466 | 441 | 2.640625 | 3 |
Definition of self–activity
: independent and especially self-determined activity
First Known Use of self–activity
Rhymes with self–activity
absorptivity, adaptivity, additivity, affectivity, aggressivity, coercivity, collectivity, compulsivity, conductivity, connectivity, creativity, destructivity, diffusivity, directivity, effectivity, emissivity, emotivity, exclusivity, exhaustivity, expansivity, expressivity, impassivity, impulsivity, inactivity, inclusivity, infectivity, negativity, objectivity, perceptivity, permittivity, positivity, primitivity, productivity, progressivity, reactivity, receptivity, reflexivity, relativity, resistivity, retentivity, selectivity, sensitivity, subjectivity, transitivity
Seen and Heard
What made you want to look up self–activity? Please tell us where you read or heard it (including the quote, if possible). | <urn:uuid:3153e4c6-0f0d-4b0a-9149-826a2dd06b18> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/self-activity | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783394414.43/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154954-00167-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.883888 | 197 | 3.09375 | 3 |
Touch screens are everywhere we look these days, but they’ve actually been around for a lot longer than you might think. Join us on a tour through nearly four decades of touch screen devices that changed the world…
The hardware icons we created for this article are also available for free download.
1972 PLATO IV
One of the first ways touchscreens were deployed was for the PLATO project, originally built by the University of Illinois as a computer-based education system. In 1972, the $12,000 PLATO IV system was put into operation. The system had an orange plasma display and a 16 x 16 infrared touchscreen. For the first time ever, students were able to answer questions by touching a screen.
Released in 1983, the HP-150 was the world’s earliest commercial touchscreen computer. Its 9-inch Sony CRT was surrounded by infrared transmitters and receivers that detected the position of any non-transparent object on the screen. The small holes that housed these parts collected dust and had to be vacuumed periodically to maintain touchscreen functionality.
1985 Home Manager
Perhaps influenced by HP, Unity Systems was formed the same year HP released the HP-150. The company sought to create the world’s first touchscreen-based home automation system. Unity Systems’ Home Manager was introduced in 1985 and was produced by the company until 1999. Service is still available to the nearly 6,000 systems that remain in operation today. Amazing!
GRiD was a pioneer in mobile computing, and many of the technologies in today’s notebooks, tablets, and handhelds would not exist had it not been for them. In 1989, GRiD introduced the world’s first pen-based handheld, the GRiDPAD. It measured 9 x 12 x 1.4 inches and weighed 4.5 pounds. Text was entered directly on the screen with an electronic pen. The procedure was slow, taking one to two seconds for written characters to be redisplayed as computer-generated characters.
The IBM Simon was the world’s first smartphone. Though launched in 1993, the Simon was first shown as a product concept in 1992. It included a calendar, address book, world clock, calculator, note pad, e-mail, and games. The Simon used a touchscreen and optional stylus to dial phone numbers, send faxes and write memos. Text could be entered with either an on-screen “predictive” keyboard or QWERTY keyboard.
Manufactured by Sharp, the Apple Newton MessagePad was one of the first-ever Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs) — a term coined by Apple’s then-CEO John Sculley. Its built-in handwriting recognition was the Newton’s most unique and interesting ability. The handwriting-recognition technology was ultimately ported to Mac OS X, where it’s known as “Inkwell.” It hasn’t really taken off there, either. Two ex-Newton developers founded Pixo, the company that created the operating system for the original iPod.
Pilot was the name of the first generation of PDAs manufactured by Palm Computing in 1996 (then a division of U.S. Robotics). A trademark infringement lawsuit by Pilot Pen Corporation forced them to change the name to Palm Connected Organizers, but not before “PalmPilot” had entered the vernacular as a synonym for PDA, regardless of the brand. Rather than recognizing handwriting, the Pilot used Graffiti, a single-stroke shorthand written by Palm that was efficient and easy to learn.
Introduced to the market in 1999, the Sequoia Voting Systems’ AVC Edge touchscreen voting machine is a freestanding unit that allow voters to select their choices electronically. It was first used in the 2000 presidential election. It can be placed on a tabletop or assembled as a stand with its integrated legs. The AVC Edge eliminates hanging chads, thereby reducing the number of unintentionally spoiled ballots. After the polls close, the system prints polling place totals. These are stored as a permanent record –- further assuring the security and integrity of the election.
The Nintendo DS (which stands for dual-screen) released in 2004, is the first touchscreen handheld gaming system. The clamshell design has two LCD screens inside — with the bottom one sensitive to touch. The touchscreen allows users to interact with in-game elements more directly than by pressing buttons. For example, in the included chatting software, PictoChat, a stylus is used to write messages or draw.
Apple announced the iPhone on January 9, 2007, nearly 15 years after the IBM Simon was first shown. It was the first smartphone to bring many, now standard, technologies to the industry — including multi-touch gestures, full Web browsing, and an accelerometer to flip the screen’s orientation or act as another form of input. And while the iPhone wasn’t the first to allow 3rd-party applications, Apple made purchasing and installing the apps so easy and consumer friendly that 1 billion of them were downloaded in the first nine months.
In 2007, Microsoft announced Surface, a table computer that uses multi-touch technology to allow several users, using their fingers (up to 52), to simultaneously manipulate images and other data right on the screen. It can also sense and interact with objects like cameras, phones, water glasses, and even paintbrushes that are placed on top of it. A similar concept was used in the 2002 movie “Minority Report”. In the commentary section of the DVD, director Steven Spielberg says that the idea came from a consultation with Microsoft during the making of the movie.
Apple’s iPad promises to bridge the gap between laptops and smartphones. A machine designed to handle browsing, email, photos, video, music, games, and eBooks better than any laptop or smartphone on their own. And with an available keyboard dock and plenty of apps just a touch away, the iPad will also serve a market of non-technical and new computer users. The iPad may prove to do for touchscreen tablets what Apple did for smartphones with the release of the iPhone.
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You must be logged in to post a comment. | <urn:uuid:d9c1e913-6ace-46c5-b332-cf5a1d4c70c9> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://blog.guifx.com/2010/01/27/touchscreens-that-changed-the-world/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783394414.43/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154954-00183-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.955934 | 1,286 | 3.265625 | 3 |
|Origin of Name
||From the Greek words hudôr, meaning water and gennan, meaning to
|Date and Place of Discovery
||1766 in England and in France
Cavendish and Antoine-Laurent de Lavoisier
- It is the most abundant element in the universe. It makes up 90% of all atoms.
- It can be found in abundance in stars and gas giant planets like Jupiter.
- It plays an important role in the powering of the universe through proton-proton reactions.
- The United States produces about 3 billion cubic feet of hydrogen per year.
- Hydrogenation of fats and oils
- Methanol production
- Rocket fuel
- Hydrochloric acid
- Reducing metallic ores
- Filling balloons | <urn:uuid:d6300606-a0d6-467b-b774-6d5c41ab1f4f> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.hobart.k12.in.us/ksms/PeriodicTable/hydrogen.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783397428.37/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154957-00116-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.767716 | 166 | 3.046875 | 3 |
If same defect exists in men, it could lead to new treatments, study says,,,,
WEDNESDAY, Oct. 17 (HealthDay News) -- A defect in a gene that's essential for the formation of functioning sperm cells may cause infertility by preventing the head of sperm from being able to penetrate an egg.
The finding, by researchers at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, was based on research with mice. But it might one day lead to treatments for infertility in men, the scientists said.
In experiments with mice that lacked the crucial gene, Jhdm2a, the scientists found that the rodents didn't produce many mature sperm cells, and the sperm that were produced had abnormally shaped heads and nonfunctioning tails.
"We found how the expression of genes that are important for the maturation of sperm is controlled," said lead researcher Yi Zhang, a professor of biochemistry and biophysics at the UNC School of Medicine. The Jhdm2a gene is responsible for packing DNA in the head of a sperm cell, making the head like a hard ball that can penetrate an egg, he explained.
Even though the study mice had a sex drive, they weren't able to impregnate female mice, Zhang said. "The sperm can't swim and cannot enter the egg," he said.
The findings were published online Oct. 17 in the journal Nature.
Because the Jhdm2a gene has an effect on the development of functional sperm, it might be a target for new infertility treatments for men, Zhang added. He and his colleagues are looking at infertility patients to see if the same mutation is present in human males. But it's still not clear if a mutation in the gene is to blame for infertility in men, he said.
"If we identify this mutation in infertile patients, then we may find a way to make the patient's sperm mature," Zhang said. "We don't know yet -- it's just a possibility," he added.
It appears that Jhdm2a plays an important role in the late stages of sperm cell development. The mice lacking this gene had smaller testes, low sperm count, were infertile, and their sperm had abnormally shaped heads and immotile tails, Zhang said.
For more on infertility, visit the U.S. National Library of Medicine.
SOURCES: Yi Zhang, Ph.D., researcher, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, University of North Carolina School of Medicine, Chapel Hill; Oct. 17, 2007, Nature, online
All rights reserved | <urn:uuid:cff3cd01-3f16-4598-a016-100be7d04e4b> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.bio-medicine.org/medicine-news-1/Gene-Mutation-Key-to-Infertility-in-Male-Mice-3964-1/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783397864.87/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154957-00153-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.967905 | 528 | 3.1875 | 3 |
HUMANITY risks causing catastrophic and irreversible environmental damage by crossing ''nine planetary boundaries'', scientists have warned.
In a study from the Resilience Centre at Stockholm University, the scientists found that humans had already stepped over three of those boundaries - climate change, species loss and nitrogen cycles.
The boundaries are levels of environmental damage that humanity cannot cross without changing the Earth's natural functions almost permanently.
Australian National University professor Will Steffen, who was an author of the study, said he hoped the boundaries would spark an ethical and philosophical debate around humanity's role on the planet.
''Really, what we are concerned about is maintaining a planet that humans can thrive on - the sort of planet in the last 10,000 years that we have been able to develop agriculture, villages, cities, civilisations,'' Professor Steffen said yesterday.
Professor Steffen stressed that the boundaries were rough first drafts, which in some cases required further extensive scientific research. Two of the boundaries - chemical pollution and atmospheric aerosol loading such as smog and dust storms - do not yet have a measurable boundary.
The study found boundaries could be crossed for short periods so that humanity could pursue long-term social and economic expansion. But crossing one boundary might trigger consequences in other zones, such as climate change affecting the amount of fresh water on the planet.
Professor Steffen said there had been debate among the scientists about whether any of the boundaries were more important than the others, but climate change and biodiversity loss were clearly the most pressing.
The climate change boundary found that crossing into an atmospheric carbon dioxide concentration of 350-550 parts per million created increasing risk of large polar ice melts. As of March, the concentration was at 387 ppm.
But Professor Steffen said just as crucial was the rate of biodiversity loss, including what is now known as the sixth mass species extinction in Earth's history, and the first caused by humans.
The study said if species extinctions rose above 10 a year for every million on the planet, it would significantly weaken ecosystems, which are essential to natural functioning of the Earth including food growth.
The natural background rate of extinction is up to one species a year for every million. Current rates are estimated to be 100-1000 times the natural rate.
''There needs to be a debate around the philosophical and ethical values of allowing this rate of biodiversity loss to continue,'' Professor Steffen said.
The study will be released in an environmental science journal today. | <urn:uuid:e268cf06-1255-4941-aaf5-39d60eb6539e> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.theage.com.au/environment/humanity-moves-towards-environmental-catastrophe-20090923-g2om.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783397636.15/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154957-00184-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.957257 | 501 | 3.4375 | 3 |
Papua New Guinea Overview
Papua New Guinea (PNG; Tok Pisin: Papua Niugini), officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea, is a country in Oceania, occupying the eastern half of the island of New Guinea and numerous offshore islands (the western portion of the island is a part of the Indonesian provinces of Papua and West Papua). It is located in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, in a region defined since the early 19th century as Melanesia. The capital is Port Moresby.
Papua New Guinea is one of the most culturally diverse countries on Earth. According to recent data, 841 different languages are listed for the country, although 11 of these have no known living speakers. . (A detailed series of language maps of Papua New Guinea may be found at Ethnologue)There may be at least as many traditional societies, out of a population of about 6.2 million. It is also one of the most rural, as only 18% of its people live in urban centres. The country is one of the world's least explored, culturally and geographically, and many undiscovered species of plants and animals are thought to exist in the interior of Papua New Guinea.
Strong growth in the mining and resource sector has led to PNG becoming the the 7th fastest-growing economy in the world as at 2011.Despite this, the majority of the population still live in traditional societies and practise subsistence-based agriculture. These societies and clans have some explicit acknowledgement within the nation's constitutional framework. The PNG Constitution expresses the wish for "traditional villages and communities to remain as viable units of Papua New Guinean society", and for active steps to be taken in their preservation.
After being ruled by three external powers since 1884, Papua New Guinea gained its independence from Australia in 1975. It remains a Commonwealth realm of Her Majesty Elizabeth II, Queen of Papua New Guinea. Many people live in extreme poverty, with about one third of the population living on less than US$1.25 per day. Souce: Wikipedia.org
Overview of Indicators
This section is intended as a guide to the indicators chosen for these profiles. Itprovides a description of the significance of each indicator and what it tells us about the status of development in each of the districts and provinces.
Administration and Governance
The profiles in each district and province begin with administrative information on the numbers of wards and local-level governments as well as the headquarters for each province or district. In Papua New Guinea, the administrative boundaries are coextensive with electoral boundaries. This is a useful situation when it comes to these
profiles, as it is possible to look at political representation directly alongside the development indicators for each unit of government and administration. However, there are also problems associated with having the administrative boundaries linked to electoral boundaries. Administrative boundaries can often be long-standing and rooted
in history, while electoral boundaries need to respond to changing demographics. For instance, electoral boundaries should cover approximately equal population units, so that representation is reasonably equal across the country. This is especially important because PNG has single-member districts, that is, only one Member of Parliament
represents each district. In reality, this is not the case. Across the country, there is no uniformity on the size (in terms of population) of local-level, district and provincial government jurisdictions. The vested interests in the ‘status quo’ have also made it very difficult for the Electoral Boundaries Commission to successfully change electoral
boundaries to bring them more in-line with the demographic characteristics of the country. One challenge in PNG is to get a definitive list of administrative units because the National Statistical Office, the National Mapping Bureau and the Department of Provincial and Local Government Affairs (DPLGA) all have slightly different lists, especially at the local-level government and ward levels. A careful reader will notice that often the district and provincial maps, supplied by the National Mapping Bureau, and the listing of local-level governments, supplied by the DPLGA differ in many districts. This will continue to frustrate any department involved in the collection of statistics until there is some resolution of administrative units, and their names and boundaries, at the national level. The profiles also give some basic information on the political representation within each province and district, by individual and by political party in the period since 2002. This section could be expanded in the future to develop a longer term picture of political
governance in each of the districts and provinces.
Population Data and Indicators by Age and Sex
Population data are disaggregated in each profile by sex and age. This is done for a number of reasons. For example, it is important to know the distribution of population by sex and age: (1) To determine the size of the working age population in relation to that of the children and the elderly (this can help you to assess the degree of dependency in the population); (2) To determine the proportion of females or males in each age group
4 so that planning for facilities and services such as those for health and education is facilitated (e.g. health facilities and services are targeted towards children and females in maternal ages); (3) To have adequate information on the number and sex of the population when deciding on policies and plans that are geared towards gender
equality, equity and empowerment; and (4) To know the size and sex of the working age population in relationship to female and male employment or unemployment differences.
Population density measures the number of persons per square kilometre in a given area (e.g. district, province, country). Care should be taken in interpreting population density as a measure of population distribution. Other geographic factors that effect population distribution, such as deserts, mountains, and forests, should be taken into
consideration. In these profiles, the density is given per total land area in the district and per occupied land area in the district, to capture this difference and to take into account uninhabitable areas. This shows whether the area is thickly or sparsely populated, and reflects the implication of this on the provision of facilities such as schools and health centres as well as the provision of services for health, education, banking and essential commodities. A more meaningful measure of population distribution, in this respect, is population per arable land or population per agricultural land, which could be included in future profiles.
The rate of population growth in the same area would indicate the nature of population change taking place, whether the rate of natural increase is high or low in the area, whether people are moving out of the area, or whether apart from the natural rate of increase, people are moving into the area because of different opportunities, especially
those related to economic activities and availability of services.
Electoral participation is an indicator of the extent to which citizens can freely participate in the processes and institutions of democracy. Typically, high levels of participation can be used to indicate the legitimacy of elected officials and the regimes to which they belong. In Papua New Guinea, indicators of electoral participation also give information about the extent to which the electoral process has been impacted by electoral fraud, which has been prevalent, and some would say is growing, in National General Elections. Voter turnout is usually expressed as the percentage of eligible voters who cast a ballot in an election. In this profile we have used the ‘number of votes cast’ in the 2002 and 2007 elections. This figure represents to the total of formal and informal votes recorded in the counting process. We note that the law does allow some ballots to be excluded from the count if electoral fraud can be demonstrated; therefore in a small number of cases these figures may not represent the total number of eligible voters who cast a ballot in the relevant elections.
In addition, and in the provincial profiles only, the numbers of names on the electoral roll for 2002 and 2007 have been provided. This district level data was not available at the time of printing. Where the numbers of votes cast or numbers of names on the roll are substantially higher than the number of eligible voters, it reveals that the results for these elections have been artificially impacted by instances of multiple voting or of ballots being cast by ‘ghost’ voters, who have benefited from an inaccurate and inflated roll. Where figures are lower than the number of eligible voters, this could be indicative of a number of factors including the deliberate disenfranchisement of groups of voters, the existence of some geographic or other barrier that is preventing citizens from freely participating, or even that some groups of voters may be deliberately boycotting elections. These indicators also develop a picture of the effectiveness of initiatives to curb electoral fraud and ensure free and fair elections. For instance, an entirely new electoral roll was developed in 2006, which was intended to eliminate or reduce the numbers of ‘ghost’ voters who were voting in elections. In theory, this new roll should have brought voter participation more in-line with the eligible voting population, as the 2002 Electoral Roll, with 5.3 million names, was substantially inflated. In the districts of Simbu Province, the over-participation of voters in 2002 was pronounced, with numbers of votes cast totalling more than double the number of eligible voters, in some instances. This has been substantially reduced in the roll used
in the 2007 Elections and is now more in-line with numbers of eligible voters. By contrast, in Western Highlands Province, specifically in Mt. Hagen, it is clear that the preregistration process was less successful. The number of votes cast is well above the number of eligible voters. At the other end of the scale, in the Autonomous Region of
Bougainville, the number of votes cast was well below the number of eligible voters in
both 2002 and 2007. In addition, because growth rates in PNG are unreliable, we have instead presented the figures for eligible voters in the 2000 census along side the numbers of votes cast in the 2002 and 2007 National General Elections. The average national annual growth rate of2.7 % would need to be applied to get an estimated idea of eligible voters in 2002 and 2007.
Type and Number of Schools
Each district and provincial profile shows the number of schools in each level of education, by province and by district, in order to ascertain if there is an adequate supply of space to meet the demand for education. Access and enrolment data seem to suggest that one of the critical factors for the increased number of school-aged children being out of school is the lack of schools. There is an obvious critical shortage of space in all provinces and districts.
Net Admission Rate: Students’ Access to Education
In Papua New Guinea, access to the first level of education is measured in terms of the
proportion of six year old children admitted to elementary prep relative to the population
of six year olds, and this measure is described as the net admission rate. The net admission rate is a useful indicator because it tells us not only the number of students with access to Elementary Prep, but more importantly, the number of students being denied access. The data presented show that East Sepik Province has the lowest
net admission rate (2.8%) while Central Province has the highest net admission rate (32.7%). In terms of districts, data show that Wosera-Gawi has the lowest net admission rate (0.1%), while Kundiawa has the highest net admission rate (49.4%). Generally, the net admission rates for the provinces and the districts show that a large
proportion of children in the population of six year olds do not have access to the first year of formal education. This is caused by the lack of space and qualified teachers, the inability of parents to pay school fees, high incidences of repetition, and the enrolment of over-aged children, amongst other factors.
Enrolment Rates: Students’ Participation in Education
Enrolment rates are used to measure students’ participation in education as well as help us to identify the number of children enrolled in education as a proportion of the population of related school age. The gross and the net enrolment rates are often used to measure students’ participation in education. The gross enrolment rate has been used here because it helps us to know the exact number of children, regardless of age, who are enrolled from Elementary Prep to Grade 8 and, most importantly, those who are not enrolled. The enrolment data presented here
show that the Autonomous Region of Bougainville has the highest gross enrolment rate (109.5%) while Southern Highlands has the lowest gross enrolment rate (51.7%). In terms of the districts, Central Bougainville has the highest gross enrolment rate (130.8%) while Tari has the lowest gross enrolment rate (2.3%). The figures for the Autonomous Region of Bougainville and Central Bougainville suggest that student enrolment in basic education is very high. However, these enrolment rates provide an illusion of high enrolment in basic education. This high enrolment is caused by factors such as the enrolment of a large number of students who are outside the population of
related school age (6-14 years of age). The net enrolment rate has been used to measure students’ participation in basic education because firstly, it helps us to know the actual number of pupils in the population of related school age (6-14 year olds) who are in school and, most importantly, those who are not in school. Secondly, it is a good indicator for measuring province’s and districts’ status of progress toward the attainment of the goal of Universal
Basic Education. The enrolment data presented indicate that Milne Bay Province has the highest net enrolment rate (69.2%) while Oro Province has the lowest net enrolment rate (38.4%). In terms of districts, Ialibu-Pangia has the highest net enrolment rate (82.4%) while Nipa-Kutubu has the lowest net enrolment rate (25.1%). The data seem
to suggest that Milne Bay Province and Ialibu-Pangia District are making good progress towards the attainment of the goal of Universal Basic Education.
Infant and Child Mortality
Health indicators are usually listed as some of the most important social indicators because they reflect whether a national or local government is making progress in improving the living conditions of its people.
The infant mortality rate relates to the environment in which infants are born, how their mothers are taken care of before and after child-birth, and the cultural practices determining how early the infants are exposed to liquids and foods other than their mothers breast milk. In childhood, in relationship to the child mortality rate, the risks to
children are extended through the weaning practices and the nutritional quality of food they are given, the shelter in which they are kept, and the hygienic conditions in which they live, as well as prevailing parasitic diseases such as malaria, and communicable diseases such as measles. All this is summed up by the under five child mortality rate
which combines all the conditions together. Where the rates are high, the living conditions and service provision are relatively poor compared to where the rates are low.
With regard to indicators such as life expectancy at birth, it is useful to provide them by sex because they reflect biological, health and socioeconomic differences between women and men. For example, it is universally known that women survive longer than men, sometimes by more than two or three years. This margin of differences is a reflection of a special biological advantage which is sometimes increased by the hazardous occupations in which men engage as compared to women, or even be reversed because of the sociocultural conditions in which women in some societies live, that is when they are exposed to violence, hard labour, limited access to health and education facilities and services, poor nutrition, lower status for girls than for boys, limited participation in decisionmaking, and other factors. Overall, life expectancy (or average number of years lived from birth in a particular area) summarizes the mortality conditions and provides an embracing indicator of how health and living conditions in a particular area compare with those in another area. Where life expectancy is higher, the conditions are better than where it is lower.
Hence, during distribution of services, facilities and development opportunities, more chances should be given to relatively underprivileged or underserved areas than those which are better served. Population per Health Officer and Health Facility The indicators of population per medical officer, population per nursing officer, population per Aid Post, and population per Health Centre reveal the gaps that exist in the provision of health services in PNG. Hence, during distribution of services, facilities and development opportunities, more emphasis should be given to relatively
underprivileged or underserved areas than those which are better served. Such gaps affect the delivery of services such as those related to maternal health, and infant and child immunization programs, and facilitates policymaking and planning for
The economic activity in a province or district encompasses all activities whereby an individual or company earns awage or income from selling goods or services. This section in each of the provincial and district profiles focuses on agricultural activities at a household level because the majority of Papua New Guinea’s population, particularly in rural areas, participates in the cash economy through agriculture. The census data presented in the provincial and district profiles shows the top five agricultural activities in the province or district in 2000, ranked by the proportion of
citizen households that engaged in these activities. Also shown is the proportion of households that earned cash income from these same activities. These figures give an indication of the importance of the different crops as a source of food and as a source of income. If there is a dominant crop (one that a much higher percentage of households grow than other crops) this suggests there is little crop diversification. Heavy reliance on a single type of crop, particularly if it is also the main source of income, can mean the effects of a crop failure or a problem with disease or pests (such as the cocoa pod borer) could be disastrous. Where the figures show that a high proportion of households are engaged in agricultural activities for cash, this can indicate there are few other sources of income. People in these districts and provinces are likely to be more vulnerable to the effects of floods, droughts, crop failures and agricultural commodity price fluctuations. What these figures don’t show is the volume or value of the crops produced or the relative importance of these crops compared to other food and income sources. In future editions, other measures of economic activity such as average income, formal employment levels, tax revenue or GDP could be considered to give a more holistic picture of the economic activity within the provinces and districts.
The infrastructure in a province or district refers to the network of facilities that supportsthe community in meeting its economic and social needs. This includes roads, ports, wharves, airstrips, communications and energy distribution networks, and water and waste management systems. Infrastructure is important to connect communities to basic services such as health and education, to improve social cohesion and to facilitate access to markets for participation in economic activities. The level of infrastructure within a province or district can affect both whether a community’s needs are met, and the efficiency and effectiveness in which they are met. In the district profiles, because of constraints in accessing data within the time available to prepare this report, this section is limited to a general description of road networks and access to services. This information has been sourced from the Rural Development
Handbook (2001). In future editions, it is hoped that the data can be expanded to
capture additional types of infrastructure. In the provincial profiles, the proportion of the population living within five kilometres of a national road and the number of electricity customers has been included in addition to
the general description of roads and access to services.
The data have been sourced from Food and Agriculture in PNG (2009). In reading the figures for proportion of the population living within five kilometres of a national road, it is important to note that only national roads have been considered, the condition of the roads is not taken into account and the terrain is not factored in as the five kilometres distance is measured in a straight line. However, these figures do provide some indication of a community’s access to services and markets. The distance people have to travel to reach major roads and service centres is an indication of how easy it is for them to access basic services such as health and education. It also signals their ability to participate in economic activities through their access to financial services and markets to buy and/or sell produce. Road networks also enable others to access the community, including delivery of government services, distribution of goods and services, and tourism. The number of electricity customers has been included as an indication of the accessibility of electricity within the provinces. It is acknowledged that this is a crude measure and that the number of customers could reflect the demand for electricity as well as the supply. Access to electricity can improve well-being as it leads to better health care and education services, creates employment opportunities and frees up time for more economically productive (income-earning) opportunities.
Information sourced from: National Research Institute of Papua New Guinea
Important downloadable documents
PNG Vision 2050
Papua New Guinea has 21 provinces. Each province has provincial goverment.
Access the details of each province here > | <urn:uuid:26cd987b-c726-47ba-b4b7-114f7c8b7c9b> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.pngfacts.com/government.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783395560.69/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154955-00036-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.956842 | 4,359 | 3.1875 | 3 |
Gardenias are flowering ornamental shrubs that grow in the southern United States. A popular choice for landscaping, they can grow two to 15 feet high, depending on the variety. Gardenia leaves are oval shaped, and the fragrant flowers are sweet smelling. Gardenias can be grown either indoors in a sunny spot, or outside in partial shade. To ensure healthy growth, address gardenia diseases at the first sign of any problem.
Canker is a common fungal disease that can be deadly to gardenia plants. The condition causes stunted growth and ultimately leads to a slow death. Infected gardening tools and implements spread canker. Identify canker by looking for swelling of the gardenia stem near or below the soil line, according to the University of Rhode Island Landscape Horticulture Program. Cankered gardenia bark has an appearance similar to cork, with numerous cracks. The only way to rid a gardenia of canker is to destroy the plant. Prevent future cases by planting any new plants in a different location.
Gardenia foliage that has turned black indicates the presence of sooty mold. Sucking insects that secrete a black fungus cause sooty mold. The fungus prevents sunlight from reaching the gardenia leaves, thereby stopping the photosynthesis process. Remove the sucking insects with an insecticide recommended by your local gardening center. Wash the gardenia leaves with soap and water after insect removal.
Rhizoctonia Leaf Spot
This fungus affects gardenia plants that receive excess water, or when overcrowding prevents proper air circulation. Avoid this disease by not wetting gardenia foliage when watering the plant. Circular, tan-to-brown spots indicate this disease. The spots begin on older leaves and multiply. Destroy all diseased leaves to prevent spreading.
Bacterial Leaf Spot
Infected gardenia plants have small spots on the leaves that enlarge over time. The center of the spots begins as a pale yellow color, then turns reddish brown with a yellow halo. Severe infections can cause defoliation. Avoid this gardenia disease by not over watering the plants. Do not start new plants with infected cuttings.
Bud drop is the abnormal dropping of buds from gardenia plants. This is usually caused by excessive hot weather and the plant's inability to rehydrate. Insect damage and root injury can also cause bud drop. Keep soil moist to prevent this condition from occurring. | <urn:uuid:5aa2177f-83b5-4adf-81c1-03a2a3d7d12f> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.gardenguides.com/77117-gardenia-diseases.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783398216.41/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154958-00004-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.915988 | 497 | 3.46875 | 3 |
Summaries of the 1911 census have recently been added to the Ancestry websites.
At Ancestry.co.uk and its sister websites, you can now find summaries of the 1911 census of England, Wales, the Isle of Man and the Channel Islands.
The summary pages list:
- No. of schedule;
- Kind of building:
- Name of occupier;
- Whether dwellings or tenements – inhabited;
- Whether dwellings or tenements – uninhabited;
- Whether dwellings or tenements – building;
- Whether buildings not used as dwellings;
- Population – males;
- Population – females;
- Population – persons.
This is quite useful if you want an overview of who lived in an area, but beware if you’re looking for someone in England on the Welsh border. Lydney in Gloucestershire, for example, is included in the Welsh summary books, as it was part of the Chepstow enumeration district.
Also, most of the occupiers are listed without their forenames, so searching with a forename is unlikely to give you any result. | <urn:uuid:ed78deb5-9173-4d00-b856-91bc50777141> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | https://growyourownfamilytree.wordpress.com/2010/12/10/ancestry-adds-1911-census-summary-books/?like=1&source=post_flair&_wpnonce=15d01e1108 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783396027.60/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154956-00070-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.927261 | 236 | 2.890625 | 3 |
Golden Mantella (Mantella aurantiaca)
* Not a valid name but used here for identification
purposes and may be named in the future
The Madagascan Ranidae (typical frog)
subfamily mantellinae consists of two genera. The larger but least familiar is the diverse
genus Mantidactylus consisting of over 40 species of ground dwelling, scansorial and
arboreal frogs. The small yet infinitely more popular is the beautiful genus Mantella
which consists of 11 definite species, several unconfirmed 'species' and a host of
subspecies and geographical forms. Mantella's are currently ranked behind poison dart
frogs (Dendrobatids), horned frogs (Ceratophrys), clawed frogs (Xenopus)
and axolotls (Ambystoma mexicanum), in terms of terrarium popularity. This in
itself has imposed a serious problem on the already dwindling native populations of these
frogs in their natural habitat. Overcollection, the introduction of predatory 'supertramp'
animals, serious deforestation and human encroachment (the all too familiar buzz words of
our age) has resulted in some species declining to the point of near extinction.
Like the unrelated dendrobatids of the new world, their aposematic (warning) colours exhibit combinations of inky blacks and dazzling iridescent blues, oranges, yellows and emeralds reflecting the toxic nature of their skins. They are almost entirely terrestrial in habits (two species are scansorial) with eggs being laid in damp hollows always out of water. They are very small in size, have complicated courtship rituals and are almost entirely active by daylight. Several species are non-poisonous and are said to show Batesian or protective mimicry - imitating the colours of truly toxic species. Mantella's are confined to Madagascar and a few neighbouring off-shore islands.
ACQUISITION & INITIAL CARE
Mantellas are only likely to be seen on
specialist herptile suppliers lists, private adverts in herptile association newsletters
or at herptile sales/exhibitions. Therefore actually viewing a specimen before acquiring
it is likely only in the last case. Like many other amphibians, if they are properly
packaged for transportation they will not suffer undue stress. Proper packaging is a
plastic container loosely filled with damp sphagnum moss into which they will burrow, the
container must be well ventilated and the frogs should travel at a temperature in the 65 -
74°F. range. Unfortunately many mantellas are not distributed in this simple way. A
bruised, languid, dehydrated or dead mantella is an unnecessary yet all-to-common sight
particularly in wild-collected specimens. This is the single reason why, unless the dealer
is a reputable one, wherever possible these frogs should always be viewed prior to
purchase. Otherwise you are taking a potentially expensive risk. Mantella's should always
be given a short 'quarantine'. Introducing even a seemingly healthy mantella into an
existing and healthy colony is a recipe for disaster. They could communicate infections
such as the notorious Aeromonas 'red leg' syndrome or internal parasites. Always make
absolutely certain that new mantellas are as healthy as possible before introduction to a
colony. Mantellas are as a rule territorial and if the new introduction is not physically
strong its health will quickly recede due to bullying from other mantellas.
Another aspect to consider when purchasing mantellas, particularly where there is an intention to induce captive breeding, is the sex ratio. In the wild, male mantellas of most species outnumber females by approximately two to one or higher. Therefore as a yardstick aim to purchase two or three males for every female. This will not only encourage the territorial behaviour but also a more vigorous pairing (see breeding section for sexual dimorphism pointers and reproductive behaviour). However it is not impossible to breed mantellas with just one of each sex, its is just that you stand more chance with more males.
Regardless of their size, mantellas require relatively spacious housing. This is due mainly to the fact that both sexes (but especially males) patrol small territories. Too small a container results in excessive contact and stress. Too large a container results in very little contact and no successful pairing. Start at a 60cm x 30cm x 30cm for 3 or 4 individuals and work up to a maximum of 90cm x 40cm x 50cm for 10 to 12 mantellas.
Types of container do not matter even for nervy species such as Mantella pulchra. An aquarium can be simply but effectively modified by affixing suitable background scenes to the side and back panels. However even for bold species such as the golden mantella I would recommend a custom built wooden vivarium with a glass front mainly because it prevents limb and snout injuries, and heat/humidity control is easier. I like to have 10cm deep glass trays (constructed by my local tropical fish shop) fitted neatly into the bottom of the wooden vivarium. These are easily removed to allow cleaning. Front sliding or hinged glass doors are entirely up to the hobbyist but whichever door or container is used, it must be made escape-proof because I have no hesitation in proclaiming mantellas expert escapists squeezing through the smallest of gaps. Mantellas too expensive and too rare a frog to lose in such a manner. Ventilation is extremely important in mantella set-up. As these frogs excrete large amounts of waste in the form of small droppings, along with the constantly humid conditions required, this equals a paradise for mould and fungi. Simply closing up the container to increase humidity is a bad move as the frogs will quickly succumb to bacterial infection.
The layout itself need not be too complicated. Considering the fact that the whole vivarium will need cleaning out every 5 - 8 days, a hobbyist can spend large amounts of time cleaning therefore it is wise to keep it simple. For a natural layout use a nice spongy sphagnum or java moss base on top of which are laid several decorative pieces of bogwood, rocks and branches. A shallow - 2cm deep - 10cm diameter water pan should be placed to the side furthest away from the light and under- vivarium heater pad source as this allows for a cool retreat in case of overheated mantellas. A few creeping house plants such as snakeskin plant (Fittonia), ivy (Hedera and Helix) and bottle ferns can be left in their pots which are concealed with moss but remember that daylight emitting lighting is required for their survival. Otherwise imitation plants (which often appear like the real thing in any case) are equally suitable.
In my own opinion the synthetic material which retains moisture is significantly advantageous especially where large numbers of mantellas are concerned. Synthetic rubber foam used in upholstery is excellent and should be soaked in water then gently squeezed so that it is uniformly moist. A hole can be cut out for the water pan to be sunk in and bog/driftwood, rocks, barks and leaves of imitation plants can be scattered across the top so it really does look like the natural Madagascan forest floor.
Lighting & Heating
As mantellas are predominantly diurnal, correct photoperiod plays a decisive part in behavioural and reproductive regimes. I have had success with both simple tungsten lighting and full spectrum fluorescent lighting. As these frogs come from the southern hemisphere island of Madagascar, the hours of daylight varies a lot less through the seasons than northern Europe and the seasons are different. I have found few problems in coaxing wild-caught mantellas to adjust our seasons in the UK while captive-bred mantellas present no difficulties whatsoever. The photoperiod however should be 10 - 11 hours during winter and 12 - 14 during summer.
Heating is a much overlooked aspect of mantella care. Many hobbyists presume that because mantellas come from a large island in the Indian Ocean they require tropical conditions. In fact for many species the complete opposite is true because they often inhabit cool montane cloud forests. The only species that demand a true tropical environment are the mainly coastal lowland inhabitants Mantella expectata, Mantella betsileo and Mantella bernhardi. The rest dislike high temperatures, indeed the golden mantella only occurs above 900m where conditions are not unlike those experienced after a rainstorm during a British summer - cool and humid.
To achieve the optimum temperatures for each species (see 'species section') I prefer to use an under-vivarium heater pad which covers approximately half of the vivarium base itself. This is connected to a an adjustable thermostat, the sensor of which is raised just off the base of the vivarium substrate (ie. the moss or foam). If used with fluorescent lighting which emit little heat, optimum temperatures can be accurately provided to within 2 or 3°C.
Also remember at night that all mantellas naturally experience a drop in temperature by 5 - 15°C. and this should be reflected in captivity.
The final aspect of housing involves hygiene. As previously stated mantellas can be quite messy for such a small creature and are rather indiscriminate where discharging their dropping is concerned. Over the course of a week, if they are properly fed, large amounts of waste are excreted, which under humid conditions quickly become blanketed in fungi and mould. The water source will also become fouled and this is best changed every 2 - 3 days. To prevent too high a build up of bacteria and fungus it is wise to thoroughly clean out the vivarium, aquarium or glass tray every 5 - 8 days, soaking imitation plants, bogwood, rocks and bark in boiling water (making sure no mantellas are still hiding unseen in any nooks and crannies!) for ten minutes, swilling or replacing moss and wiping down live plants with a damp cloth. Then wash the glass aquarium or tray with a 'safe' anti-bacterial cleaner such as Dettox making sure it is thoroughly swilled out after, or wipe down the insides of the wooden vivarium. To many hobbyists, me included, this can seen like a laborious task, but going to this much trouble is essential in the successful maintenance of mantellas.
Variety is the essential. Being entirely
insectivorous, offer as wide a range of small invertebrates as possible to provide a
balanced diet. Some species such as the little- known Mantella haraldmeieri are
notoriously fussy preferring only termites (although I managed to coax this species into
taking small black field crickets which looked like the termites). Other species such as
the golden mantella will attempt to eat anything even if they dislike its taste. Crickets
are the obvious year round source of food but to make these more nutritious, the crickets
should be a given a crumbly mixture of bran, finely chopped lettuce and a multivitamin
supplement such as cricket-diet. Don't however feed solely crickets to your mantellas.
Vary it by offering fruit-flies, lesser waxworm, small house-flies, spiders, caterpillars,
small beetles, moths and sweepings. During summer aphids/greenfly/blackfly/whitefly and
cabbage fly are all avidly taken by most species but make sure these have not come into
contact with pesticides. Avoid foods such as mealworm which mantellas find difficult to
digest (although freshly sloughed small mealworm are okay as an occasional treat).
Feeding frequency is equally as important as variety. In the wild mantellas spend most of their day hunting. In captivity offer several small sittings per day rather than a single large one - morning, late afternoon and just prior to lights-off for example. Also beware of overfeeding mantellas. Golden, yellow and green mantellas in particular are very greedy.
Sexing mantella's can prove tricky in some species. Generally, adult male mantellas tend to be smaller and less rotund than the adult female, sometimes more brightly coloured, the skin around the throat is often loose caused by vocalizing and femoral glands are either larger or more distinct (these are the pair of oblong pads located either side of the vent). Obviously less mature female could be confused with an adult male and there is no hard rule in sexual dimorphism where this is the case.
The golden mantella group (aurantiaca-'milotympanum'-crocea) are more easily sexed by observing the ventral surface. These frogs possess lighter coloured ventral surfaces in males through which a narrow pair of pale lines called seminiferous ducts are visible. Such ducts actually have a dual purpose ducts by carrying both sperm and urine (and can therefore also be called ureters). In females although the ureters are in the same position, they are largely concealed by the uterus and oviduct. One final determination method applicable to Mantella bernhardi and Mantella haraldmeieri is the extension of the pale horseshoe marking on the throat. In males this extends to the back of the throat while in females it exists simply as a white band.
Once a sexed pair or a colony has been established then it is a case of waiting for them to settle down. Provided conditions are favourable (although not necessarily perfect), males will become increasingly territorial (as will females to a lesser extent) and vocalization will begin. Perhaps two of the most unexpected mantella species represent the loudest callers. Mantella bernhardi is one of the smallest mantellas yet it is by far the most vocal emitting a shrill whistle sound that is varied in frequency and noise level depending on how excited it is. Mantella 'milotympanum' is the most reticent, nervy and smallest of the mantellas yet males will call loudly from their secretive retreats with a slow, low pitch click for hours on end! Conversely the male of boldest species - Mantella aurantiaca - is often quite reluctant to call. If male mantellas of any species seem reluctant to vocalize then ensure that a wide variety of food is made available and cool mistings of the vivarium on warm days are frequently conducted. Territorial aggression is commonplace in both sexes but especially males. Intruders are likely to be grabbed around the head or upper body and assertively pushed away.
Actual courtship of the two sexes is a rather secretive affair transpiring under bark, logs or rocks although the typical grasping behaviour loosely termed amplexus can sometimes be viewed especially after misting. If the female is not gravid then after repeated flicks and back-flips the male will eventually release her.
Mantella aurantiaca eggs deposited in a hole drilled
in a piece of bogwood after 4 days development
Once in a successful union the female will then begin to search for a suitable egg-laying place. Eggs are never laid directly in water and therefore should not be transfered to an aquarium or water dish. A suitable egg-laying site is almost always somewhere moist and enclosed; depressions in sponge, moss or tissue paper, holes or crevices in logs, gaps at the side of water pans and beneath damp rocks or bark. Egg deposition almost always ensues during nighttime and unless you are prepared to keep a twenty- four hour vigil you will miss the event. The relatively large eggs are encased in a clear gelatinous shell the nucleus of which is usually pale in colour and measures 2 - 3mm in diameter. Numbers of eggs varies with species and age of female with a mature female Mantella aurantiaca able to produce in excess of 100 eggs while the diminutive Mantella 'milotympanum' barely reaches the 20 mark. Eggs can be fertilized either immediately on deposition or up two days after and by several males. Unfortunately a common occurrence in captivity is the high incidence of infertile eggs caused simply by lack of male interaction. You can usually tell that a batch of eggs is not going to be fertile either because there is no sign of embryo development within 18 - 30 hours, or the nucleus starts to shrivel and eventually mould over. If eggs are successfully fertilized they will absorb lots of water and expand accordingly.
Male Mantella aurantiaca 'guarding' eggs
Eggs are best left in situ until the
well-formed tadpoles are ready to hatch out which is usually after the 2 - 6 day mark.
Mist them regularly to ensure they do not dry out. Hatching is a critical time in the
development. Somehow the eggs need to be submersed in water so that tadpoles can wriggle
free. However where eggs are situated in holes or crevice or they are adhered to the
underside of rocks or bark they can be difficult to remove manually without crushing the
tadpoles themselves. If this is the case either remove the entire log, rock etc. and
submerse in water, or remove adult mantellas and begin to fill up the aquarium or glass
Water must be maintained within a relatively small temperature range otherwise tadpoles will quickly succumb. I have found that for lowland species (ie. M.bernhardi, M.betsileo, M.expectata, M.laevigata, some M.baroni and M.viridis) tadpoles require a temperature in the 70 - 78°F. range, while highland species (all other species not mentioned above) 65 - 74°F. is necessary. Although this allows for proper metabolism and good growth, in addition the water quality is just as important. Depending on species, mantella tadpoles metamorphose after 45 - 360 days. During this period they will excrete large amounts of waste which must be removed. Therefore filtrate/aerate the water freely with one of the small semi-submersible pumps now available (although I would recommend gentle aeration for the first 14 - 20 days of development). Water depth can start off at about 2 inches and should comprise of a gravelled bottom with some rocks and a few bunches of Hygrophilia polysperma and eel grass (Vallisnera spiralis). The water itself should consist of pre-boiled 60% rainwater and 40% tap water that has stood for 24 hours. pH (alkalinity) is not critical but it should be in the 6.0 - 7.5 range to be safe (ie. slightly acidic). As tadpoles develop so the water should be gradually raised to about 10cm in depth. 30% partial water changes should be carried out every 2 days and any dead tadpoles must be removed as soon as possible.
Mantella aurantiaca tadpoles - lower tadpole is 43 days old
upper tadpole is 21 days old
Expect approximately a 50% mortality rate even
under seemingly crystalline water conditions. Mantella tadpoles are largely herbivorous
filter feeders nibbling on algal and vegetable matter but also benefit from the occasional
chunk of raw red meat dipped into the water for a day or so. Fish flakes and trout pellets
are also relished. Hind limbs appear 18 - 280 days after the tadpoles hatch while the
forelimbs and the general mantelline shapes appears a further 25 - 80 days later. Tail
absorption is a critical time for the emerging froglets because they can easily drown.
Easily accessible land areas composed of gently sloping, moss-blanketed rocks are
essential and once the 5 - 10mm froglets are seen crawling on to these they must be
removed to individual moss filled plastic containers.
As froglets are so small they are only able to devour sweepings such as springtails and small aphids (even fruitfly are too big). Further losses must be expected at this stage even where food is in abundance and 30 - 50% of the original clutch of eggs is considered a success. After 10 - 12 weeks vivid colours begin to show though and froglets will be about 10 - 14mm in length. Maturity is attained within 12 - 14 months.
Longevity of many mantellas is still unknown mainly because they have not been studied enough. Golden mantella's can attain 8 years but as this is a highland species with a relatively low metabolism, lowland species may have a shorter lifespan.
Practising good terrarium hygiene at all times will go a long way to
ensuring that specimens remain in tip-top condition. The only likely occurrence of
ailments is either when mantellas are first acquired, through mechanical injuries in
easily stressed species or when kept under incorrect conditions.
Malnutrition is unfortunately quite common in wild-caught mantellas which may be in transit for several weeks without food. During this time disease is most likely to strike and therefore an initial quarantine period is important. Initially starved mantellas are dull in appearance and lethargic, often refusing food for the first few days. I know from experience that if warm, humid and shady conditions are provided they'll soon settle down and begin to eat. Liberally dust all foods in a multivitamin powder at this time. If newly acquired mantellas still refuse food after a few days then bathe them several times daily in a shallow dish of luke warm water enriched with a combined multivitamin/mineral solution. This will be absorbed through the skin and can trigger the feeding behaviour.
Mantella's are of a nervous disposition (especially M.pulchra and M.'milotympanum'. They may attempt to leap through the clear glass of an aquarium or glass front of a wooden terrarium sometimes sustaining injuries. These would heal under normal conditions, however if such behaviour persists the wounds can become progressively worse and infected. Treatment is with an effective tropical fish bactericide such as a BSB (Broad Spectrum Bactericide) by dissolving 4 - 5 drops in a pint of water and applying to the wound with a swab of soft cotton wool several times a day. Frogs can even be bathed in the solution for 5 - 10 minutes twice a day where infection is particularly bad. The best method is preventative medicine, ie. blocking off the glass when the mantellas are not being viewed at least until they settle down in captivity.
Bearing in mind their small size, treatment for external/internal pathogens that rare occur in these frogs can prove very difficult. I have found in the past that simply applying those preparations sold for tropical fish at 1½ - 2 times the strength recommended for fish and bathing the specimen in this for 5 - 10 minutes twice daily can prove successful. The only other biological disease to affect mantella's is 'red leg' caused by the bacteria Aeromonas hydrophilia. This can be difficult to detect in its early stages because the femoral glands around the cloaca and the orange/red thigh markings on many species may be mistaken for the characteristic suffusion of red or orange caused by this disease. Use a magnifying glass to closely study the 'affected' area. A tiny network of ruptured capillaries spread across the surface of the thighs and ventral surface will be evident if red leg is rife. Fortunately red leg is extremely rare in mantellas. Treatment involves bathing the whole body of the frog in a 1% solution of copper sulphate (sometimes in the form of the safer 'chelated copper' products used by tropical fish hobbyists) or a 5% topical application of the antibiotic baytril.
Perhaps the most common ailment is HRMSS or 'heat-related-muscle-spasm-syndrome'. I have witnessed this in the golden, green, Malagasy and Cowan's mantella's and is caused by prolonged exposure to high temperatures that such species never encounter naturally. Occasional fluctuations to 80 or 90°F. seem to have no adverse affect, but if such temperatures persist for 3 or 4 days then the mantellas start exhibiting a flicking of the hind limbs almost as if they are attempting to remove irritant parasites. It is actually caused by contraction of the muscle tissue caused by heat. Eventually the whole frog's body stiffens, hind limbs become paralysed and the frog dies what appears to be a very painful death. The effects are catastrophic and even if the mantella's are relocated to cooler conditions, unfortunately this syndrome has a 70 and 90% mortality rate depending on species. Again prevention is the word. I installed AC at great cost to prevent such things happening after I lost a colony of goldens. Fortunately the tadpoles from that colony were unaffected and now form the basis of my new colony.
For descriptive purposes the mantellas can be split up into four groups;
THE YELLOW MANTELLA GROUP
Golden mantella (Mantella aurantiaca)
20 - 26mm. Occurs in several colour forms, each confined to very small locations within the eastern quadrant of Madagascar. It had recently been denoted as a CITES appendix II species. The type orange form is located in the montane Pandanus forests around Andasibe, the pale orange/yellow form in Baparasay and the deep blood orange form in the forests of Anosibe An'Ala. All occur above 900m and therefore conditions must be replicated in captivity accordingly (ie. temperatures no higher than 78°F., preferably around 68 - 70°F., high humidity and quite open, light conditions). This species is very showy in captivity preferring elevated positions out in the open. Males are generally smaller, slimmer and more angular in build than females and not as vociferous as other mantella's. Alternatively sexes can easily be determined through the ventral surface method. Once it has settled down it is one of the easiest species to breed in captivity although unsuccessful fertilization of the eggs is sadly quite a common occurrence. Females can produce eggs at a rate of once every two months given proper care.
The black-eared mantella (Mantella cf. aurantiaca 'milotympanum')
Mantella 'milotympanum' is very different
in both appearance and behaviour from M.aurantiaca
15 - 18mm So different in appearance and behaviour to M.aurantiaca that it must merit being raised to specific status. Occurring in the Fiherenana Valley in central east Madagascar it requires slightly higher temperatures (70°F. minimum) than the golden mantella. Its size makes it the smallest subspecies/species of the mantellas. The dorsum is a slightly drab orange (males brighter than females) while the venter is a greenish yellow (orange yellow in M.aurantiaca). This species is overall much slimmer than the golden mantella, the eyes are oblong rather than round and the skin is much more granular. Raised veins are apparent on the hind limbs, as its name suggests the eardrum (tympanum) is black as is the nostril region and there is a black line apparent from the eye to the nostril. Perhaps most significantly is its very nervous disposition and semi-nocturnal behaviour. In addition males are amongst the most vociferous of the mantellas and will call for many hours. I have just had a spawning from the species and the eggs are quite different from the golden mantella possessing a yellowish-brown nucleus and measuring only 1mm in diameter.
The yellow mantella (Mantella crocea)
Mantella crocea is perhaps the ideal
species for the beginner and settles well in captivity
22 - 25mm. The ideal beginner species.
Occurring at altitudes of 500 - 1000m around Andasibe and Moramanga, eastern Madagascar.
Tolerant of temperatures as low as 62°F. and present no difficulties where feeding is
concerned. Like the golden mantella it is a bold species and males will often perch on the
highest available point and call excitedly. The dorsum is usually a greenish orange with
black flanks and speckled lower back regions. A beautiful lemon yellow form exists (from
which this species gets its name) which is much plumper and slightly larger (to 28mm) than
the type normally occurring in the hobby. The ventral surface is blue-black in the
green-orange form and pale orange in the yellow form, the sexes of the latter being able
to be determined by the ventral method. The eggs are an off-brown colour and about 2mm in
diameter, up to 50 being produced per clutch.
THE COASTAL MANTELLA GROUP
Species of this group do not occur regularly in captivity. There appears to be no real reason for this except that most have rather small distributions.
Brown mantella (Mantella betsileo)
25 - 28mm. Quite an attractive species that is found in small pockets from the central to the north of the island. Quite a large plump species attaining 28mm the dorsum is a light tan while the flanks are black with white/blue reticulation. The venter is blue and white-grey speckled. In captivity it is quite shy preferring a good spread of bark, pebbles and leaves beneath which is will skulk. Sexing presents difficulties as both sexes are very similar. Look as the vent region and you will see well-developed orange femoral pads in males which are much reduced in females. Although there are records of the occasional captive breeding success, this species is not often kept in captivity and therefore details are sketchy.
Green mantella (Mantella viridis)
Mantella viridis is the largest species from a few very
restricted localities on the northern tip of Madagascar
28 - 35mm. The largest species described so far. Only described in 1988 from specimens discovered in a small part of the Montagne de Francais region of the extreme north tip of Madagascar. Two colour forms exist, the most typical being a grey-green colour with dark flanks and stippled hind limbs. The other is a smaller, gorgeous lime green form (potentially a different species!) with well-defined black flanks. Both types have a white band around the top lip and venter coloured in black and blue speckles. Females tend to be larger, more plump and have a rather squarer snout. In captivity although it is an easy species to maintain, it is quite reluctant to breed. It certainly will not breed where mantella of other species are present. I have found the a frequently misted vivarium with plenty of low growing plants (live or artificial) along with plenty of damp logs and bark is preferred. It also enjoys bathing. Temperatures need to be in the 72 - 78°F. range with a slight drop to 68°F. at night.
Blue-legged mantella (Mantella expectata)
Mantella expectata is a beautiful stocky species from the
dry south west baobab forests of south west Madagascar
20 - 30mm. Discovered on the edges of a brook in the drier regions of southwestern Madagascar as recently as 1993. Further exploration revealed small pockets of this frogs along most brooks in the baobab forests of that region. The colours vary quite considerably but the most prized are those with a bright yellow back and stunning blue flanks and limbs. Such frogs, although not rare, appear less frequently than those with slate-grey or brown limbs and a rather green dorsum. Females much larger than males. In captivity it requires a fairly extensive but shallow body of water around which are positioned pebbles and rocks with a scattering of leaves (imitation are quite suitable). The vivarium should be misted less frequently than for other species during most of the year. Although males call continuously, to stimulate these frogs to reach reproductive condition, during late spring to late summer mistings should be more protracted and frequent. It seems that in the wild the brief rainfalls of that region is the stimulus and females will then produce 2 - 6 clutches off 35 or more eggs (one of my own females has just deposited 52 small yellowish eggs which unfortunately have not been fertilized).
THE VARIEGATED MANTELLA GROUP
This group consist of some of the most beautiful of the mantellas and also some of the most confusing in terms of taxonomy.
Cowan's mantella (Mantella cowanii)
Mantella cowanii was, until recently, thought
to be a colour variant of Mantella baroni
22 - 30mm. Patterned largely in black with orange or red bands around the limbs. This species is much shyer athan the closely related M.baroni and rarely ventures from the preferred humid, leafy base of the vivarium apart from the odd bold male specimen in search of a female. Males are quite vocal , the call being reminiscent of a slower crickets chirrup. Breeding is quite a frequent occurrence in captivity with 40 or so eggs being nestled in damp leaves or moss. Temperature-wise it prefers slightly higher than that described for the golden mantella although it is quite tolerant of low temperatures as long as there is sufficient cover.
Painted or Malagasy mantella (M.baroni)
Mantella baroni is very common in the hobby but beware
that this species reacts infavourably to high temperatures
28 - 32mm. Extremely variable in range and behaviour occurring over much of the eastern half of Madagascar. Coloration ranges from a general black dorsum with vibrant yellows, greens and oranges to almost completely melanistic specimens. The distinguishing feature is the light rostral line above the eyes and the tiger-like markings on the hind limbs. It is the largest species after the green mantella. Requires a roomy vivarium with plenty of elevated areas which the energetic males will guard. Many specimens imported as M.cowanii are in fact this species. Occurs at altitude and in the lowlands so it may be worth experimenting with temperatures and set-up if a specimen reacts indifferently or refuses to breed. The skin of this species is known to contain alkaloid derivatives similar to those of the neotropic poison dart frogs and therefore the coloration is said to be aposematic. Always handle with care where necessary.
Parker's mantella (Mantella pulchra)
Mantella pulchra is a shy, seldom kept species.
It also appears to be tolerant of a wide range of temperatures
20 - 25mm. Confusion reigns with this species as most were imported as Mantella cowanii before 1994. It is easy to distinguish because its dorsum (particularly is head) possesses a silvery brown sheen. The flanks nearly always have lime green or blue patches. It is a plump but extremely agile species and is certainly the most nervy mantella although it often searches for food in open daylight and males are quite bold when excited. I have found that it thrives in conditions similar to the golden mantella although it is more tolerant of warm temperatures. Breeding is rather infrequent mainly because females are not easily coaxed into producing eggs.
Haraldmeier's mantella (Mantella
21 - 29mm Discovered in 1981 in the extreme south-east of the Madagascar and is rarely imported into the hobby probably due to the lack of demand. Distinguished from the very similar M.pulchra by the heart-shaped marking on the brownish dorsum. The front limbs also tend to be a whitish-green and the hind-limbs a dull orange. It produces relatively large clutches of 60 or more yellowish-white eggs.
Bernhard's mantella (Mantella bernhardi)
Mantella bernhardi is the most recently named
species and a wonderful vivarium subject
To 21mm (smaller in males). I have to confess
that the behaviour of this very rare species in captivity has made it a great favourite of
mine. All the specimens I have acquired have been in extremely poor condition yet after a
bit of gentle care they have responded magnificently. The male is by far the most
boisterous of the mantellas and possesses a good vocal sac which he is proud to exhibit
given any opportunity. It even attempts to mate with my finger or a pair of forceps! The
general colour is black apart from the inside of the limbs which are a dazzling yellow.
The skin is known to be extremely toxic hence is boldness. It demands warm, humid
conditions and prefers fruitfly or aphids to most other foods. Males are also
distinguished by the horseshoe- shaped throat markings which extends further than the
female. It dislikes enclosed spaces so unlike some species will not survive long being
couped up in a margarine tub or similar container. Unfortunately it is unlikely to be
available in captivity for much longer due to its precarious position in the wild.
THE ARBOREAL MANTELLA GROUP
This is the smallest group yet contains the most divergent species.
mantella (Mantella laevigata)
25 - 30mm. A wonderful vivarium subject and is the only true scansorial species inhabiting plants several metres off the ground. In captivity it requires sturdy branches fixed diagonally which have extensive holes drilled in them. These holes must be lined with moss and regularly dampened down to create the necessary high humidity. Eggs are always laid in such elevated locations (never on the ground) and tadpoles hatch out when such holes fill with water or may even continue development entirely within the egg casing (often devouring each other until just 1 or 2 frogets emerge). Noticeably froglets hatching out from the latter are only half the size of tadpoles that have developed normally. I suggest flushing the eggs out of the holes into an aquarium after 10 - 12 days. Metamorphosis is complete after a further 58 or so days. Climbing mantellas spend much of their time on the ground hunting for grubs, crickets, fruitflies and termites and they especially like small waxworm. The general colour is green with black flanks, limbs and lower head. The venter is black with white stipples. It digits have specifically evolved for its arboreal habits possessing splayed endings.
mantella (Mantella sp.)
To 30mm. From the Marojezy mountains in extreme north-east Madagascar. Discovered in 1993. It differs mainly in having a white line around the lip, a horseshoe-shaped marking on the throat (absent in Mantella laevigata) and specialized digits are absent. This species is not known to actively climb (it is placed here because of its syntopic relationship with the former species and eggs are always deposited on the ground. It particularly inhabits the cool, stony mountain brooks where it is known to feed on small crustaceans that crawl out onto the rocks. I know of someone who feeds this species water shrimp (Asellus) native to the beds of our own UK brooks. Overall it is a slimmer species than the climbing mantella and can attain 32mm. Requires a temperature no greater than 74°F. (preferably cooler) in captivity due to its high altitude distribution.
Field Guide to the Amphibians & Reptiles of Madagascar - Glaw & Vences (2nd edition)
Amphibians in Captivity (TFH) - Marc Staniszewski (1995)
Guide to owning Mantella's (TFH) - Marc Staniszewski (1997) - very brief guide
The Golden Mantella Handbook (Neurergus Books) - Marc Staniszewski (1998)
Mantella's (publisher to be announced soon) - Marc Staniszewski (due out 1999) - large, detailed guide
You can e-mail me at: [email protected]
All rights reserved.
All text and photo's - Copyright ©1996-9 Marc Staniszewski
Most recent revision: 30/09/98
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A famous mountain 18 km to the south east of Anshan, the 708.3-meter-high Qianshan is densely wooded, and abounds in flora and fauna. The name is actually and abbreviation of 'Thousand lotus flower mountains'. The peaks were said to resemble the petals of the lotus flower which had been dropped to earth by a goddess. The park area of 44 square kilometres, is filled with both Buddhist and Taoist temples, monasteries and nunneries. It is one of few locations where both religions are found sharing the same site. Among Qianshan's scenic spots is a new discovery - a nature-wrought statue of the Buddha which stands 70 meters high. It is claimed to be the largest naturally occurring image of Matria Buddha in the world. Several temples have been built on the peaks of the overlooking hills. The park has since become the venue for the Qianshan Great Buddha Festival in June of every year.
The area has a long history of religious worship dating back 1200 years to the Tang dynasty of China. The Emperor Taizong, Li Shimin, of the Tang Dynasty visited the site and added to the temples here. It was enhanced during both Ming and Qing dynasties. Emperors Kangxi and Qianlong visited and the poetry that they wrote while here can be seen. The revolutions of the twentieth century saw the site abandoned and some buildings damaged. The park has since be restored and expanded with new temples of the Matria Buddha.
Nearly 1000 lotus shaped peaks made of granite. You can hike between the different temples and monasteries of Tang, Ming, and Qing style and other attractions.
Flora and fauna
The area is predominantly pine forest on the mountain tops and deciduous in the valleys.
In summer, hot, typically 32 degree centigrade. Winters are very cold, often as low as -20 centigrade. Heavy snow is not uncommon in winter.
The nearest city is Anshan, some 18 kilometers away. Liaoning's provincial capital, Shenyang, lies about 90km to the north. Shenyang airport is the closest to the park. Coaches and trains run between Anshan and Shenyang very frequently. The train will take 50 minutes and the coach about twice that. Alternatively, Dalian city, south of Anshan also has a public airport. Coaches to and from Dalian run about four times daily.
There is a frequent bus service to Qianshan from the bus station in the centre of Anshan near to the train station. Take bus Number 8. The fare is 2 Yuan each way. buses are crowded at times, and rather slow. Return buses wait near the main gate of the park. A taxi will take you from Anshan city centre to the main gate for around 35 to 40 Yuan. You can rely on the meter of the Taxi; it starts out at 6.00 Yuan and starts ticking over from 2km onwards. Taxis are commonly waiting at the park gate for your return journey.
Entrance to the main park is 80 yuan per person from April 1 to October 31 and 60 yuan from November 1 to March 31. Electric bus is 10 yuan per person per journey. Cable cars cost 20 yuan per person at the Great Buddha Scenic Spot and Heaven above Heaven Scenic Spot. The cable car is 30 yuan at the Five-Buddha Summit. In addition, some temples and monistries may charge a small entrance fee upwards of 5 yuan each, however, many are free to enter. The Aviary at the back of the park charges an additional entrance fee. The Qianshan Immortal Summit—China’s Forest Park, costs 30 yuan per person entrance.
Motor cars are not allowed within the park. Tourists must either walk or hire one of the electric shuttle buses which are available for 10 per person per ride. Walking is preferred and is the only method by which to mountain summits may be reached. The main roadway in the valleys is well paved and wide. The mountain tops are gained via well defined, stone laid, paths and stairs. These mountain paths are very steep. For those who are less fit, three cable car routes can convey you up the hill sides. However, none of the cable cars will take you the whole way, leaving you some climbing to do by yourself.
- Maitreya Buddha scenic spot. This is the worlds largest naturally formed image of Buddha. It is fully 70 metres high. On the peak overlooking the Buddha mountain is the Maitreya Buddha temple and pagodas. The site is relatively new, having only been discovered mid 1990's. A stepped path leads up to the summit. Alternatively, a cable car runs part way up the mountain but not all the way.
- Heaven above Heaven. Near to the main gates of the park, this summit can be reached by several routes. Either climb the stairs past Wuliang Taoist Temple or use the cable car. However, the cable car route here is relatively short and there remains a significant climb both before and after the car journey. If you continue along the ridge, you will pass such sites as Seventh Heaven, the Ninth Heaven, the Narrow Path between Rocks, wooden fish, rootless rock, pitiable pine, and the sky-watching frog. The ridge walk will lead you over to and route down to Five Dragon Temple or you can continue on to the Five Buddha Summit.
- Five Buddha Summit. This is the second highest peak in the park. At the top there are five statues of the Buddha. The site is said to date to the Tang Dynasty. Direct access is only by cable car followed by a very steep climb by foot. The ridge way runs to Heaven above Heaven though decent can also be made about half way along via the Longquan Buddhist temple.
- Immortal Summit - China's forest park. To the south of the main park, this area has it's own entrance and separate charges. Here ancient pine trees, many over 100 years old, can be seen as well as Buddhist temples. The peak here, at 708.3 meters above sea level, is the highest in Qianshan park.
- Garden of Birds. Situated towards the back of the park near the cable car to the Five Buddha Summit, the Garden of Birds contains over 100 different types of birds.
- Dragon Spring Temple (Longquan Temple). Legend has it that Taizong, Li Shimin, an Emperor of the Tang Dynasty, drank of the waters here and found them to be sweet. Today two spring waters can be found, one is bitter in taste and the other sweet. The film "The Bell of the Ancient Temple" was made here.
- Qianshan Ski Resort. Situated just outside the main National Park area, this new ski centre has several runs for both novice and accomplished skiers. Ski hire is available on site and the centre is well staffed and has modern equipment. It is only open during winter months.
- Qianshan Hot Spring Resort Area. Several natural hot spring spa baths are situated around the north entrance to the park. Here travellers can relax in the waters and receive other treatments such as massage.
- Qianshan Golf Range. Golf courses are not common in China. In Qianshan district there is a driving range where you can practice your swing.
Hawkers by the roadside sell the usual tourist trinkets in common with other tourist sites in China.
Within the park, there is little food available other than snacks sold by hawkers by the path side. Just outside the park gates, may traditional Chinese country style restaurants flourish. These will prepare traditional dishes at very reasonable prices though they are not always as clean as one might want. Higher class restaurants are also available nearby.
For nightlife, it is best to head back into Anshan City. Nightclubs such as the Coco Club and SOS club can be found there as well as many cheaper bars.
There are several inexpensive hotels outside of the main gates to the park.
- [dead link]Haitang Holiday Mannor, ☎ , fax: . Three star country hotel
- Green Mountain Village Hotel, ☎ . Three star country hotel
- The Rose Mountain Villa, ☎ . Three star country hotel
- Jicui Hotel, ☎ . Three star country hotel
- Xinfeng hotel (鑫丰酒店), Yu Ji Cui Lilac Hill, Qianshan District, Anshan. (鞍山市千山区丁香峪积翠山庄), ☎ , fax: . This three star hotel is near to Qianshan National Park and has 158 rooms.
- Anshan Qiushi Hotel (鞍山秋实宾馆), 1st Street, Qianshan District, Anshan. (鞍山市千山区温泉街1号), ☎ , fax: . This three star hotel has within it a natural hot water spa where you can relax. It is near to Qianshan National Park and has 42 rooms.
Alternatively you can stay in one of the many large hotels within Anshan City, near to the park.
- Anshan International Hotel (鞍山国际大酒店), 219 Yuanlin Ave, Teidong, Anshan. (鞍山市铁东区园林路219号), ☎ , fax: . A five star hotel situated at the edge of Dongshan Park. Contains 306 rooms with 520 beds. ¥680-9,800.
- Wuhuan Hotel (鞍山五环大酒店), 43 Shengli Ave, Teidong, Anshan. (鞍山市铁东区南胜利路43号) (On the corner of Shungli Lu and Xinhua Jie. Within 10 minutes walk of the main shopping centres.), ☎ , fax: . This five star hotel has 328 rooms and 515 beds. Renmen Park, behind the hotel, is a hive of activity in the evenings with people dancing, exercising and practising Taichi. Several "doctors" set up benches here where, from ¥15, you can have a massage.
Mountain paths can be very steep, near vertical in places with handholds and ladders for assistance. Many of them are not for those who have a fear of heights. Young children should be carefully supervised on the mountain paths. Safety barriers run along the most treacherous sections and are sturdy.
- Tanggangzi Hot Springs - famous as the place where the last Qing emperor, Puyi, came to bathe with his empress. About 10km south of Anshan city centre. There are other less well known spas near to Qianshan park gates.
- Jade Buddha Temple - On the eastern edge of Anshan city on Qianshan Jie. The worlds largest statue of Buddha made form a single block of jade.
- Shenyang is the major city of Liaoning province and only two hours away by road. In this city are several major tourist sites including some UNESCO world heritage sites. | <urn:uuid:1d158e93-ab00-4e70-a872-80e73b611df3> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | https://en.wikivoyage.org/wiki/Qianshan_National_Park | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783404405.88/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624155004-00159-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.948858 | 2,390 | 2.578125 | 3 |
September 18, 2001
George Lakoff is Professor of Linguistics at the University of California at Berkeley and a Senior Fellow of the Rockridge Institute. He is the author of Moral Politics (U. of Chicago Press, 1996), a study of how conservatives and liberals see the world, and "Metaphor and War," perhaps the most widely distributed critique of the Gulf War, distributed over the Internet during its early days. He also studies language, metaphorical thought, and the way the mind is embodied.
September 11, 2001
By George Lakoff
The Power of the Images
As a metaphor analyst, I want to begin with the power of the images.
There are a number of metaphors for buildings. We see features — eyes, nose and mouth — in their windows. The image of the plane going into South Tower of the World Trade Center is metaphorically an image of a bullet going through someone’s head, the flame pouring from the other side blood spurting out. Tall buildings are metaphorically people standing erect. Each tower falling was a body falling. We are not consciously aware of the metaphorical images, but they are part of the power and the horror we experience when we see them.
Each of us, in the prefrontal cortex of our brains, has what are called "mirror neurons." Such neurons fire either when we perform an action or when see the same action performed by someone else. There are connections from that part of the brain to the emotional centers. Such neural circuits are believed to be the basis of empathy.
This works literally — when we see plane coming toward the building and imagine people in the building, we feel the plane coming toward us; when we see the building toppling toward others, we feel the building toppling toward us. It also works metaphorically: If we see the plane going through the building, and unconsciously we metaphorize the building as a head with the plane going through its temple, then we sense—unconsciously but powerfully—being shot through the temple. If we metaphorize the building as a person and see the building fall to the ground in pieces, then we sense—again unconsciously but powerfully— that we are falling to the ground in pieces. Our systems of metaphorical thought, interacting with our mirror neuron systems, turn external literal horrors into felt metaphorical horrors.
Here are some other cases:
Our minds play tricks on us. The image of the Manhattan skyline is now unbalanced. We are used to seeing it with the towers there. Our mind imposes our old image of the towers, and the sight of them gone gives one the illusion of imbalance, as if Manhattan we sinking. Given the symbolism of Manhattan as standing for the promise of America, it appears metaphorically as if that promise were sinking.
Then there is the persistent image, day after day, of the charred and smoking remains: it is an image of hell.
The World Trade Center was a potent symbol, tied into our understanding of our country and ourselves in a myriad of ways. All of what we know is physically embodied in our brains. To incorporate the new knowledge requires a physical change in the synapses of our brains, a physical reshaping of our neural system.
The physical violence was not only in New York and Washington. Physical changes—violent ones—have been made to the brains of all Americans.
How The Administation Frames the Event
The administration’s framings and reframings and its search for metaphors should be noted. The initial framing was as a "crime" with "victims" and "perpetrators" to be "brought to justice" and "punished." The crime frame entails law, courts, lawyers, trials, sentencing, appeals, and so on. It was hours before "crime" changed to "war" with "casualties," "enemies," "military action," "war powers," and so on.
Rumsfeld and other administration officials have pointed out that this situation does not fit our understanding of a "war." There are "enemies" and "casualties" all right, but no enemy army, no regiments, no tanks, no ships, no air force, no battlefields, no strategic targets, and no clear "victory." The war frame just doesn’t fit. Colin Powell had always argued that no troops should be committed without specific objectives, a clear and achievable definition of victory, a clear exit strategy — and no open-ended commitments. But he has pointed out that none of these is present in this "war."
Because the concept of "war "doesn’t fit, there is a frantic search for metaphors. First, Bush called the terrorists "cowards" — but this didn’t seem to work too well for martyrs who willing sacrificed their lives for their moral and religious ideals. More recently he has spoken of "smoking them out of their holes" as if they were rodents, and Rumsfeld has spoken of "drying up the swamp they live in" as if they were snakes or lowly swamp creatures. The conceptual metaphors here are Moral is Up; Immoral is Down (they are lowly) and Immoral People are Animals (that live close to the ground).
The use of the word "evil" in the administration’s discourse works in the following way. In conservative, strict father morality (see my Moral Politics, Chapter 5), evil is a palpable thing, a force in the world. To stand up to evil you have to be morally strong. If you’re weak, you let evil triumph, so that weakness is a form of evil in itself, as is promoting weakness. Evil is inherent, an essential trait, that determines how you will act in the world. Evil people do evil things. No further explanation is necessary. There can be no social causes of evil, no religious rationale for evil, no reasons or arguments for evil. The enemy of evil is good. If our enemy is evil, we are inherently good. Good is our essentially nature and what we do in the battle against evil is good. Good and evil are locked in a battle, which is conceptualized metaphorically as a physical fight in which the stronger wins. Only superior strength can defeat evil, and only a show of strength can keep evil at bay. Not to show overwhelming strength is immoral, since it will induce evildoers to perform more evil deeds because they’ll think they can get away with it. To oppose a show of superior strength is therefore immoral. Nothing is more important in the battle of good against evil, and if some innocent noncombatants get in the way and get hurt, it is a shame, but it is to be expected and nothing can be done about it. Indeed, performing lesser evils in the name of good is justified — "lesser" evils like curtailing individual liberties, sanctioning political assassinations, overthrowing governments, torture, hiring criminals, and "collateral damage."
Then there is the basic security metaphor, Security As Containment — keeping the evildoers out. Secure our borders, keep them and their weapons out of our airports, have marshals on the planes. Most security experts say that there is no sure way to keep terrorists out or to deny them the use of some weapon or other; a determined well-financed terrorist organization can penetrate any security system. Or they can choose other targets, say oil tankers.
Yet the Security As Containment metaphor is powerful. It is what lies behind the missile shield proposal. Rationality might say that the September 11th attack showed the missile shield is pointless. But it strengthened the use of the Security As Containment metaphor. As soon as you say "national security," the Security as Containment metaphor will be activated and with it, the missile shield.
The Conservative Advantage
The reaction of the Bush administration is just what you would expect a conservative reaction would be — pure Strict Father morality: There is evil loose in the world. We must show our strength and wipe it out. Retribution and vengeance are called for. If there are "casualties" or "collateral damage", so be it.
The reaction from liberals and progressives has been far different: Justice is called for, not vengeance. Understanding and restraint are what is needed. The model for our actions should be the rescue workers and doctors—the healers — not the bombers.
We should not be like them, we should not take innocent lives in bringing the perpetrators to justice. Massive bombing of Afghanistan — with the killing of innocents — will show that we are no better than they.
But it has been the administration’s conservative message that has dominated the media. The event has been framed in their terms. As Newt Gingrich put it on the Fox Network, "Retribution is justice."
We must reframe the discussion. Susan Bales reminds us of Gandhi’s words: Be the change you want. The words apply to governments as well as to individuals.
There are (at least) three kinds of causes radical Islamic terrorism:
The Bush administration has discussed only the third: The means that enable attacks to be carried out. These include: Leadership (e.g., bin Laden), host countries, training facilities and bases, financial backing, cell organization, information networks, and so on. These do not include the first and second on the list.
The question that keeps being asked in the media is, Why do they hate us so much?
It is important at the outset to separate out moderate to liberal Islam from radical Islamic fundamentalists, who do not represent most muslims.
Radical Islamic fundamentalists hate our culture. They have a worldview that is incompatible with the way that Americans — and other westerners — live their lives. One part of this world view concerns women, who are to hide their bodies, have no right to property, and so on. Western sexuality, mores, music, and women’s equality all violate their values, and the ubiquity of American cultural products, like movies and music, throughout the world offends them. A second part concerns theocracy: they believe that governments should be run according to strict Islamic law by clerics. A third concerns holy sites, like those in Jerusalem, which they believe should be under Islamic political and military control. A fourth concerns the commercial and military incursions by Westerners on Islamic soil, which they liken to the invasion of the hated crusaders. The way they see it, our culture spits in the face of theirs. A fifth concerns jihad — a holy war to protect and defend the faith. A sixth is the idea of a martyr, a man willing to sacrifice himself for the cause. His reward is eternal glory—an eternity in heaven surrounded by willing young virgins. In some cases, there is a promise that his family will be taken care of by the community.
Most Islamic would-be martyrs not only share these beliefs but have also grown up in a culture of despair: they have nothing to lose. Eliminate such poverty and you eliminate the breeding ground for terrorists. When the Bush administration speaks of eliminating terror, it does not appear to be talking about eliminating cultures of despair and the social conditions that lead one to want to give up your life to martyrdom.
Princeton Lyman of the Aspen Institute has made an important proposal—that the world-wide anti-terrorist coalition being formed address the causal real-world conditions as well. Country by country, the conditions (both material and political) leading to despair need to be addressed, with a worldwide commitment to ending them. It should be done because it is a necessary part of addressing the causes of terrorism—and because it is right! The coalition being formed should be made into a long-term global institution for this purpose.
What about the first cause—the radical Islamic worldview itself. Military action won’t change it. Social action won’t change it. Worldviews live in the minds of people. How can one change those minds — and if not present minds, then future minds? The West cannot! Those minds can only be changed by moderate and liberal Muslims—clerics, teachers, elders, respected community members. They need to be recruited to a worldwide full-time effort, not just against terror, but against hate. Remember that "taliban" means "student." Those that teach hate in Islamic schools must be replaced — and we in the West cannot replace them. This can only be done by an organized moderate, nonviolent Islam. The West can make the suggestion, but we alone are powerless to carry it out. We depend on good will and courage of moderate Islamic leaders. To gain it, we must show our good will by beginning in a serious way to address the social and political conditions that lead to despair.
But a conservative government, thinking of the enemy as evil, will not take the primary causes seriously. They will only go after the enabling causes. But unless the primary causes are addressed, terrorists will continue to be spawned.
The Hon. Barbara Lee (D, CA), who I am proud to acknowledge as my representative in Congress, said the following in casting the lone vote against giving President Bush full Congressional approval for carrying out his War on Terrorism as he sees fit:
… I am convinced that military action will not prevent further acts of
international terrorism against the United States. This
is a very complex and complicated matter.
… However difficult this vote may be, some of us must urge the use of restraint. Our country is in a state of mourning. Some of us must say,
let us step back for a moment. Let us just pause for a minute and think through the implications of our actions today so that this does not spiral out of control.
I have agonized over this vote, but I came to grips with it today and I came to grips with opposing this resolution during the very painful yet very beautiful memorial service. As a member of the clergy so eloquently said, ``As we act,
let us not become the evil that we deplore.''
I agree. But what is striking to me as a linguist is the use of negatives in the statement: "not prevent," "restraint" (inherently negative), "not spiral out of control," "not become the evil that we deplore.'' Friends are circulating a petition calling for "Justice without vengeance." "Without" has another implicit negative. It is not that these negative statements are wrong. But what is needed is a positive form of discourse.
There is one.
The central concept is that of "responsibility," which is at the heart of progressive/liberal morality (See Moral Politics). Progressive/liberal morality begins with empathy, the ability to understand others and feel what they feel. That is presupposed in responsibility — responsibility for oneself, for protection, for the care of those who need care, and for the community. Those were the values that we saw at work among the rescue workers in New York right after the attack.
Responsibility requires competence and effectiveness. If you are to deal responsibly with terrorism, you must deal effectively with all its causes: religious, social, and enabling causes. The enabling causes must be dealt with effectively. Bombing innocent civilians and harming them by destroying their country’s domestic infrastructure will be counterproductive — as well as immoral. Responsibility requires care in the place of blundering overwhelming force.
Massive bombing would be irresponsible. Failure to address the religious and social causes would be irresponsible. The responsible response begins with joint international action to address all three: the social and political conditions and the religious worldview and the means with all due care.
I have been working on a monograph on foreign policy. The idea behind it is this: There are many advocacy groups that have long been doing important good works in the international arena, but on issues that have not officially been seen as being a proper part of foreign policy: the environment, human rights, women’s rights, the condition of children, labor, international public health issues (e.g., AIDS in Africa), sustainable development, refugees, international education, and so on. The monograph comes in two parts.
First, the book points out that the metaphors that foreign policy experts have used to define what foreign policy is rules out these important concerns. Those metaphors involve self-interest (e.g., the Rational Actor Model), stability (a physics metaphor), industrialization (unindustrialized nations are "underdeveloped’) , and trade (freedom is free trade).
Second, the book proposes an alterative way of thinking about foreign policy under which all these issues would become a natural part of what foreign policy is about. The premise is that, when international relations work smoothly, it is because certain moral norms of the international community are being followed. This mostly goes unnoticed, since those norms are usually followed. We notice problems when those norms are breached. Given this, it makes sense that foreign policy should be centered around those norms.
The moral norms I suggest come out of what I called in Moral Politics "nurturant morality." It is a view of ethical behavior that centers on (a) empathy and (b) responsibility (for both yourself and others needing your help). Many things follow from these central principles: fairness, minimal violence (e.g., justice without vengeance), an ethic of care, protection of those needing it, a recognition of interdependence, cooperation for the common good, the building of community, mutual respect, and so on. When applied to foreign policy, nurturant moral norms would lead the American government to uphold the ABM treaty, sign the Kyoto accords, engage in a form of globalization governed by an ethics of care—and it would automatically make all the concerns listed above (e.g., the environment, women’s rights) part of our foreign policy.
This, of course, implies (a) multilateralism, (b) interdependence, and (c) international cooperation. But these three principles, without nurturant norms, can equally well apply to the Bush administration’s continuance of its foreign policy. Bush’s foreign policy, as he announced in the election campaign, has been one of self-interest ("what’s in the best interest of the United States") — if not outright hegemony (the Cheney/Rumsfeld position). The Democratic leaders incorrectly criticized Bush for being isolationist and unilateralist, on issues like the Kyoto accords and the ABM Treaty. He was neither isolationist nor unilateralist. He was just following his stated policy of self-interest.
The mistaken criticism of Bush as a unilateralist and as uncooperative will now blow up in his critics’ faces. When it is in America’s interest (as he sees it), he will work with other nations. The "War against Terrorism" is perfect for changing his image to that of a multilateralist and internationalist. It is indeed in the common interest of most national governments not to have terrorists operating. Bush can come out on the side of the angels while pursuing his same policy of self-interest.
The mistake of Bush’s critics has been to use "multilateralism" versus "unilateralism" as a way categorizing foreign policy. Self-interest crosses those categories.
There is, interestingly, an apparent overlap between the nurturant norms policy and an idealistic vision of the Bush administration’s new war. The overlap is, simply, that it is a moral norm to refuse to engage in, or support, terrorism. From this perspective, it looks like Left and Right are united. It is an illusion.
In nurturant norms policy, anti-terrorism arises from another moral norm: Violence against innocent parties is immoral. But Bush’s new war will certainly not follow that moral norm. Bush’s military advisers appear to be planning massive bombings and infrastructure destruction that will certainly take the lives of a great many innocent civilians.
Within a year of the end of the Gulf War, the CIA reported that about a million Iraqi civilians had died from the effects of the war and the embargo — many from disease and malnutrition due to the US destruction of water treatment plants, hospitals, electric generation plants, and so on, together with the inability to get food and medical supplies. Many more innocents have died since from the effects of the war. Do we really think that the US will have the protection of innocent Afghanis in mind if it rains terror down on the Afghan infrastructure? We are supposedly fighting them because they immorally killed innocent civilians. That made them evil. If we do the same, are we any less immoral?
This argument would hold water if the Bush War on Terrorism were really about morality in the way that morality is understood by progressives/liberals. It is not. In conservative morality, there is fight between Good and Evil, in which "lesser" evils are tolerated and even seen as necessary and expected.
The argument that killing innocent civilians in retaliation would make us as bad as them works for liberals, not for conservatives.
The idealistic claim of the Bush administration is they intend to wipe out "all terrorism." What is not mentioned is that the US has systematically promoted a terrorism of its own and has been trained terrorists, from the contras to the mujahadeen to the Honduran death squads to the Indonesian military. Indeed, there are reports that two of the terrorists taking part in The Attack were trained by the US. Will the US government stop training terrorists? Of course not. It will deny that it does so. Is this duplicity? Not in terms of conservative morality and its view of Good versus Evil and lesser evils.
If the administration’s discourse offends us, we have a moral obligation to change public discourse!
Be the change you want! If the US wants terror to end, the US must end its own contribution to terror. And we must also end terror sponsored not against the West but against others. We have made a deal with Pakistan to help in Afghanistan. Is it part of the deal that Pakistan renounce its own terrorism in Kashmir against India? I would be shocked if it were. The Bush foreign policy of self-interest does not require it.
The question must be asked. If that is not part of the deal, then our government has violated its own stated ideals; it is hypocritical. If the terrorism we don’t mind — or might even like — is perpetuated, terrorism will not end and will eventually turn back on us, just as our support for the mujahadeen did.
We must be the change we want!
The foreign policy of moral norms is the only sane foreign policy. In the idea of responsibility for oneself, it remains practical. But through empathy and other forms of responsibility (protection, care, competence, effectiveness, community development), it would lead to international cooperation and a recognition of interdependence.
I have a rational fear, a fear that the September 11 attack has given the Bush administration a free hand in pursuing a conservative domestic agenda. This has so far been unsayable in the media. But it must be said, lest it happen for sure.
Where is the $40 billion coming from? Not from a rise in taxes. The sacrifices will not be made by the rich. Where then? The only available source I can think of is the Social Security "lockbox," which is now wide open. The conservatives have been trying to raid the Social Security fund for some time, and the Democrats had fought them off until now. A week ago, the suggestion to take $40 billion from the Social Security "surplus" would have been indefensible. Has it now been done — with every Democratic senator voting for it and all but one of the Democrats in Congress?
Think of it: Are your retirement contributions — and mine — are going to fight Bush’s "war." No one dares to talk about it that way. It’s just $40 billion, as if it came out of nowhere. No one says that $40 billion dollars comes from your retirement contributions. No one talks about increasing taxes. We should at least ask just where the money is coming form.
If the money is coming from social security, then Bush has achieved a major goal of his partisan conservative agenda — without fanfare, without notice, and with the support of virtually all Democrats.
Calling for war, instead of mere justice, has given the conservatives free rein. I fear it will only be a matter of time before they claim that we need to drill for oil in the Alaskan Wildlife Refuge for national security reasons. If that most "pristine" place falls, they will use the national security excuse to drill and mine coal all over the country. The energy program will be pushed through as a matter of "national security." All social programs will be dismissed for lack of funds, which will be diverted to "national security."
Cheney has said that this war may never be completed. Newt Gingrich estimates at least four or five years, certainly past the 2004 election. With no definition of victory and no exit strategy, we may be entering a state of perpetual war. This would be very convenient for the conservative domestic agenda: The war machine will determine the domestic agenda, which will allow conservatives to do whatever they want in the name of national security.
The recession we are entering has already been blamed on The Attack, not on Bush’s economic policies. Expect a major retrenchment on civil liberties. Expect any WTO protesters to be called terrorists and/or traitors. Expect any serious opposition to Bush’s policies to be called traitorous.
Who has the courage to discuss domestic policy frankly at this time?
Maintained by Francis F. Steen, Communication Studies, University of California Los Angeles | <urn:uuid:16e55967-879f-49f7-a40e-0a8831fbab9f> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.cogweb.net/steen/Politics/Lakoff_9-11-01.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783396455.95/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154956-00194-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.958172 | 5,309 | 2.609375 | 3 |
Grp27: C Clip
Manufacturing Process: Stamped and heat treated.
Function: Clips onto groove at the end of crankshaft. Prevents the crankshaft from slipping out of place,
Inner diameter is .746 inches. Outer diameter is .895 inches.
Steel was selected to make this component because it is very hard and strong. Its elastic strength is good as well, and is does not fatigue easy.
Forces acting on the clip are equal to the forces the clip exerts on the shaft.
Magnitude is estimated at 1lb.
The material choice does effect the process. Different types of metals might take different types of processes.
Each manufacturing process was chosen for this component because it was the easiest, fastest, and cheapest way to do it at high volumes of product.
The bearing has a particular shape to wrap around the shaft and hold it in place so it doesn’t slide out of the aluminum shell.
On a scale from 1-5, 1 being the simple like a ball, and 5 being complex like a engine, this component is a 1. This component is simple. | <urn:uuid:027cb353-6e8b-425c-808d-8dd9e29a4589> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://gicl.cs.drexel.edu/index.php/Grp27:_C_Clip | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783393146.70/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154953-00101-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.932326 | 239 | 2.765625 | 3 |
Change in Diabetic Retinopathy Prevalence, Age 40 and Older
Diabetic retinopathy is a common complication of diabetes. It affects the tiny blood vessels of the retina. Retinal blood vessels can break down, leak or become blocked— affecting and impairing vision over time. In some people with diabetic retinopathy, serious damage to the eye can occur when abnormal new blood vessels grow on the surface of the retina.
Diabetic retinopathy can affect almost anyone with diabetes. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimate that 18.8 million Americans have diagnosed diabetes, while an additional 7.0 million have diabetes that has not been diagnosed.
In general, the longer someone has diabetes, the greater the risk of developing diabetic retinopathy. Eventually, almost everyone with juvenile-onset diabetes will develop some signs of diabetic retinopathy. Those who acquire diabetes later in life are also at risk of diabetic retinopathy, although they are somewhat less likely to develop advanced diabetic retinopathy.
Diabetes also increases the risk of other eye diseases such as cataract and glaucoma. Because of its dangers to good vision, people with diabetes are urged to seek annual dilated eye exams.
Research suggests that the risk of diabetic retinopathy can be reduced through careful control of blood sugar. People with diabetes are also encouraged to control their blood pressure.
Laser treatment, called photocoagulation, has been shown to reduce the risk of sight loss in advanced cases of diabetic retinopathy. Focal photocoagulation can be used to destroy leaking blood vessels. Scatter photocoagulation, where a large number of spots are destroyed by the laser, is used to control the growth of abnormal blood vessels. In some cases vitrectomy, a surgical procedure to remove clouded fluid and gel from inside the eye, can help.
The prevalence estimates for cases of diabetic retinopathy include those with mild or worse retinopathy (grade 14 or higher based on fundus photographs), including definite non-proliferative retinopathy (e.g., microaneurysms, blot hemorrhages), macular edema or proliferative changes.
Diabetic retinopathy affects nearly 7.7 million people. In the decade since the 2002 edition of this report, the prevalence of diabetic retinopathy among Americans age 40 and older has increased significantly. Due to a lack of information about diabetic retinopathy in other races, the prevalence estimates for "other" races are the arithmetic average of those for Whites, Blacks and Hispanics. | <urn:uuid:d5d2860e-e00e-4863-bc04-806a504b862e> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.visionproblemsus.org/diabetic-retinopathy/diabetic-retinopathy-definition.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783396147.66/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154956-00125-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.935054 | 533 | 3.328125 | 3 |
Air travel transformed Hawaii. It made the islands' geographic isolation irrelevant and tourism the foundation of the state's economy. It spurred growth and development throughout the islands. It helped shape Hawaii into the Pacific crossroads of commerce and culture it is today.
All these changes have had costs and consequences–for the islands themselves, their natural inhabitants, and the people who call them home. To some people, Hawaii now seems like a paradise lost. To others it will always remain "the loveliest fleet of islands," the Paradise of the Pacific. | <urn:uuid:1054b34a-ecff-4fdd-bf08-244a29bea163> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://airandspace.si.edu/exhibitions/hawaii-by-air/online/crossroads/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783395620.9/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154955-00071-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.966108 | 109 | 2.765625 | 3 |
Also found in: Dictionary, Thesaurus, Wikipedia.
Property settlements can arise through agreement of the parties, subject to approval by the court, or by court order. Once approved, the settlement functions like a contract for enforcement or modification purposes. Some states use alternate terms to describe a property settlement, such as property agreement, settlement agreement, or separation agreement.
A property settlement involves the property that the couple obtained either before marriage or during marriage. The agreement also may include such issues as maintenance (otherwise known as Alimony) payments to one spouse or even custody of the children.
Two types of property that must be distributed in the settlement are community or marital property and separate property. Community or marital property consists of property that is purchased by either or both of the spouses during the time they are married. Property bought during the time the couple is married is presumed to be marital property regardless of how it was actually purchased. The assumption can be overridden only by "clear and convincing" evidence of the intent for the property to be the property of just one spouse. Separate property is property that is bought by either of the spouses before the marriage. Separate property can also be property received in exchange for other separate property, the interest on separate property, or anything that does not fall into the category of marital property.
When determining how the property will be divided, several problems may arise, including the problems of commingling and transmutation. Commingling occurs when separate and marital property are combined, or dealt with together, in a bank or financial account. When this happens, there is no distinction between separate and marital property. To prevent a finding that the commingled property is therefore marital property, the spouses need to keep separate accounts and records for each item of property. Transmutation involves separate property that the spouses have treated as marital property, making it impossible to tell what type of property the spouses had intended it to be. For example, transmutation occurs when the parties took title to property jointly but in reality only one of the spouses paid for the property. The best way to prevent commingling or transmutation from becoming an issue or hurdle in getting the settlement approved is to keep clear and accurate records.
A third problem that can arise relating to the property involved is the valuation date. The valuation date can sometimes determine which spouse receives property because a meaningful change in the value of some assets can affect their just distribution. Several dates can be applied, such as the date of trial, the date of separation, the divorce date, or the hearing date. Once the property is classified as marital or separate property and valued, the parties then must divide it between them.
The Uniform Marriage and Divorce Act (UMDA), which has been adopted in eight states, guides spouses and courts on what to consider when distributing property. The UMDA has two provisions that deal specifically with the disposition of the couple's property. One explains that the property should be fairly divided between the parties without regard to "marital misconduct." It lists factors to consider when apportioning the property, such as the "duration of the marriage, prior marriage of either party, antenuptial agreement of the parties, the age, health, station, occupation, amount and sources of income, vocational skills, employability, estate, liabilities, and need of each of the parties, custodial provisions, whether the Apportionment is in lieu of or in addition to maintenance, and the opportunity of each for future acquisition of capital assets and income." Contribution of the spouses to the family is also a consideration. The specific facts of each case must be examined to reach a fair and just division of property.
The other option given by the UMDA outlines a slightly different scheme of how property should be divided. First, each spouse's separate property is given to the appropriate spouse, then the rest of the property (the Community Property) is divided without consideration of "marital misconduct." The factors to consider when making a division of the community property include the "contribution of each spouse to the acquisition of the marital property, including contribution of a spouse as homemaker; value of the property set aside to each spouse; duration of the marriage; and economic circumstances of each spouse when the division of property is to become effective." This option retains the distinction between property bought before the marriage (separate property) and property bought during the marriage (community property). Many states have adopted some form of these tests for their courts to use when dividing property at divorce. Once an agreement is decided upon, the property settlement has the same enforceability as a contract.
The settlement will usually be upheld by the courts unless it is found to be invalid. A court will rule that a property settlement is invalid if it is Unconscionable, which means that the agreement is so unfair to one party that it must be modified. Whether an agreement is unconscionable is determined by the facts in each case. An unconscionability finding can be based on several factors relating to property settlement. Lack of disclosure by one of the parties can be one reason to find an agreement unfair. For example, if, when the parties met to discuss and divide their assets, one spouse did not reveal the existence of a particular asset, the other spouse, who later locates or hears of the asset after the property settlement has been approved, may seek to have the settlement overturned on the basis that he or she did not know of the asset at the time of the settlement. The court may modify the settlement to avoid further injustice to one party.
Another factor that could lead a court to find a settlement unfair is whether each party had independent counsel. Independent counsel is recommended when there is a large disparity between the parties' wealth. Independent counsel means that both parties choose their own counsel; if just one party selects counsel, the court could consider counsel to be nonindependent. Lack of disclosure and lack of independent counsel are two of the most common reasons why a court will find a settlement unfair to one of the parties.
The court may also find a property settlement unenforceable because of mistake, Fraud, or Undue Influence. If the parties make a genuine mistake about the terms of the settlement, the court can reform or modify the settlement to correct that mistake. Fraud and undue influence are also reasons to alter or modify a property settlement. If one spouse fraudulently informs the other of property or assets during the process of negotiating the settlement, this action can be grounds for modifying the settlement. Undue influence means that one party used pressure or misrepresentations to force the other to sign or agree to the terms in the property settlement. When a court finds either fraud or undue influence, it modifies the property settlement to correct the unfairness.
Property settlements should be fair both in the process of reaching the settlement, avoiding any unconscionability or fraud, and in the division of the property, making an equal separation of the total marital assets. If the settlement is fair between the parties, the court is likely to enforce it.
American Law Institute. 2003. Principles of the Law of Family Dissolution: Analysis and Recommendations. Philadelphia: Executive Office, American Law Institute.
Clark, Homer H., Jr., and Ann Laquer Estin. 2000. Cases and Problems on Domestic Relations. 6th ed. St. Paul, Minn.: West Group.
Dougherty, Francis M. 1987. "Divorce: Excessiveness or Adequacy of Combined Property Division and Spousal Support Awards—Modern Cases." American Law Reports 55.
Elrod, Linda D. 2002. "A Reaction of the Year in Law." Family Law Quarterly 35.
Feder, Robert D., ed. 2001. Valuing Specific Assets in Divorce. New York: Aspen.
Practising Law Institute (PLI). 1989. Marital Agreements by Glenda A. Fowler. Tax Law and Estate Planning Course Handbook series no. 184. PLI order no. D4-5206.
Smith, Gayle. 2004. Divorce and Money: Everything You Need to Know. New York: Perigee.
Turner, Brett R. 2003. "The Effect of Interspousal Transfers Upon Classification of Separate Property: A 2003 Update. Divorce Litigation 15. | <urn:uuid:dcd9e5fc-4283-4926-a0c7-9b185fd99252> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://legal-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/Property+Settlement | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783396106.71/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154956-00043-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.94342 | 1,694 | 2.59375 | 3 |
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Q: I live in a small, mostly white community. My daughter will begin kindergarten in a private Christian school with only one other black child. This child is in a higher grade. How can I reinforce the fact that she is as special as all the other children there? I do plan to volunteer and maintain frequent contact with her teacher. I may even volunteer for the first grade teacher as well, so that she knows my child and concerns. Do you have any other suggestions, books, or articles which may be of interest to me? Thank you for your time.
A: Because of the community where you live, we assume your child is already accustomed to playing with children of different ethnic backgrounds. If your daughter plays smoothly with other children, school should go quite well for her. At this age, the key to social success is being friendly, playing cooperatively with others, making good suggestions for play, knowing how to have fun, praising other children, and communicating well with peers.
Within the environment of a Christian school, we would certainly expect the teachers to foster warm and caring relationships among all the children and to help them learn how to show respect and love towards each other. When your child's teacher shows that she values all her students, they will regard each other positively. Children learn behavior more from their teachers' attitudes than what the teachers tell them to do.
Just like all parents of children entering kindergarten, you sound anxious. Try not to communicate this to your daughter as it may cause her to fear going to school. If you face this experience with confidence, your child will share your confidence. You have the right idea about volunteering and keeping in close contact with the teacher.
There are several things that you can do to make the start of school easier for your child. Read some "starting to school" books with your daughter and play school with her so she will know what to expect. If possible, visit the classroom and have her meet the teacher. It's also a good idea to let her play on the playground before school starts. One of the best ways to help her get off to a good start is to arrange for her to play with one or more of her future classmates. Then on the first day of school, she will feel comfortable in the classroom because she sees familiar faces.
You will find helpful information at these Web sites: National Network for Child Care and the National Association for the Education of Young Children.
More on: Expert Advice
Peggy Gisler and Marge Eberts are experienced teachers who have more than 60 educational publications to their credit. They began writing books together in 1979. Careers for Bookworms was a Book-of-the-Month Club paperback selection, and Pancakes, Crackers, and Pizza received recognition from the Children's Reading Roundtable. Gisler and Eberts taught in classrooms from kindergarten through graduate school. Both have been supervisors at the Butler University Reading Center. | <urn:uuid:2060de11-2c20-4916-ae86-d3765f36982f> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://school.familyeducation.com/school/race/41132.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783402479.21/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624155002-00150-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.971069 | 602 | 2.953125 | 3 |
The word ‘happiness’ carries multiple nuances that have risen and fallen in significance through time and in diverse cultures and subcultures. Surveying the intellectual history of Western civilization discloses that individual 'happiness' can refer to two distinct though related phenomena. First, ‘happiness’ describes pleasure in the moment: such as feeling happy after having received a compliment, or enjoying a beautiful sunset. In this sense, happiness is a qualitative state of mind, and often of short temporal duration. The second use of the word, and the one that is of the most interest to philosophers, is a long term or overall sense of faring well, of leading or having led a happy life. These two senses of happiness are contrasted in the phrases “I feel happy” as opposed to “I am happy.”
In a socio-politico-economic sense, happiness is a property of the social collective or the body politic as expressed in the terms 'civil happiness' and 'public happiness.' Considered by many leaders of the eighteenth century to entail the essential meaning of happiness, the collective aspect of happiness was largely absent from political and economic theory in the twentieth century. To a Sufi, a Buddhist, a Hindu, or a Christian mystic, the ultimate happiness arises from the merger of individual self with the cosmic divinity, while even apart from mystical practice the surrender of self to God in Christ has promised happiness to Christians since the time of Saint Augustine.
From Plato (c. 428 B.C.E. – c. 348 B.C.E.) to John Stuart Mill and beyond, the concept of happiness has been of interest and importance to ethical theory. In ancient Greek ethics, living a virtuous, or ethically sound, life was (outside influences not withstanding) the path to eudaimonia (loosely translated as happiness). In Utilitarian ethics, overall happiness is the end to which we should aspire and actions that bring about the greatest happiness for all concerned are considered to be right. In other words, for the Greeks virtue was a path to happiness, whereas for the Utilitarians happiness is the benchmark along which right (correct) action is judged.
In more recent developments, in philosophy, there has been a move away from investigation into happiness but rather into that of well-being, a term that many (from both the objective and subjective schools of thought) regard as less ambiguous than happiness. The new school of positive psychology, in contrast, accords great significance to happiness as an overarching concept while also developing several different approaches toward measuring aspects of happiness.
Aristotle’s views on happiness have proved to be influential down to the present day. Aristotle’s basic thought is that happiness (eudaimonia)—living well—depends on a creature’s perfecting its natural endowments. He argues that reason is unique to man so that the function (ergon) of a human being will involve the exercise and perfection of its rational capacities. It follows that the good life for man involves the attainment of virtue or excellence (arête) in reason. Aristotle divides the human excellences (aretai—often translated as ‘virtues’) connected with reason into two groups: moral and intellectual excellence. (He also recognizes bodily excellence (virtue) but this is exclusively non-rational and so does not contribute to a distinctively human (rather than animal) good.) Moral excellences are excellences of character and pertain to action, including dispositions to feel emotions (such as fear) and make certain types of choices. Intellectual excellences (virtues) are excellences of thought including such states as wisdom and intelligence. In general, his claim is that the virtues of character and intellect are ways of perfecting reason and hence indispensable to the good human life. However, although Aristotle emphasizes the importance of cultivating one’s rational capacities, he does not neglect the importance of friends, wealth, and social status in a good life. He says that one is unlikely to be happy if one lacks certain external goods such as ‘good birth, good children, and beauty’. So, a person who is extremely ugly, or has “lost children or good friends through death” (1099b5-6), or who is all alone, is unlikely to be happy. Virtue does not guarantee a happy life, or in other words virtue is necessary, but not sufficient for happiness.
The Stoics on the other hand took Aristotle’s views one step further by claiming that virtue is both necessary and sufficient for happiness. Stoic philosophy begins with Zeno of Citium (334 B.C.E.-262 B.C.E.) and was further developed by Cleanthes and Chrysippus. A basic assumption of Stoic thinking is that the universe itself is governed by laws of reason, and structured in the best possible way. This metaphysical thesis is connected with the ethical view that the good life is one that is lived in accordance with reason. Moral goodness and happiness are attained by mirroring the perfect rationality of the world in oneself and by finding out and living one’s own assigned role in the cosmic order of things.
To many, the above theories would seem intuitively wrong. It can be claimed that there are many vicious people who appear quite happy, or that many virtuous people seem quite unhappy (the latter being a problem with the Stoic’s view rather than Aristotle’s). This has led some to question whether happiness is an adequate translation of eudaimonia, and that perhaps a term such as ‘well-being’ would be better suited, as the latter implies a more objective long-term view.
Later Greek ethical thought is conducted within the Platonic/Aristotelian framework. It is generally agreed that happiness (eudaimonia) is the ultimate human good, and living a good life will involve cultivating and exercising virtues. Epicurus departs from Plato and Aristotle in that his view of eudaimonia is hedonistic. He identifies the eudaimon life with the life of pleasure, understanding eudaimonia as a more or less continuous experience of the pleasure, and also, freedom from pain and distress (ataraxia). But Epicurus does not advocate that one pursue any and every pleasure. Rather, he recommends a policy whereby pleasures are optimised in the long run. Some pleasures are not worth having because they lead to greater pains, and some pains are worthwhile when they lead to greater pleasures. The best strategy for attaining a maximal amount of pleasure overall is not to seek instant gratification but to work out a sensible long term policy.
Epicurus argues that the life of pleasure will coincide with the life of virtue. He believes that we do and ought to seek virtue because virtue brings pleasure. His basic doctrine is that a life of virtue is the life which generates the most amount of pleasure, and it is for this reason that we ought to be virtuous. Famously attributed with the “friends, freedom and thought” path to happiness, he claims that a life of pleasure and absence of pain is what happiness consists in.
Thomas Aquinas developed and extended Aristotle’s ethical theory, a eudaimonistic account of the human good and a focus on virtues rather than discrete actions, into a Christian context. As discussed in the previous section, ancient philosophers agreed that happiness (eudaimonia) is the highest human good—the goal of human existence—and that virtue (arête) is in some way essential for one’s achieving this goal. Aquinas’ adaptation of this idea amounts to his identifying God—the exemplification of perfect goodness—as the goal of human life. Eudaimonia is transposed into perfect happiness (beatitude) conceived as union with God in the afterlife.
The second basic assumption Aquinas inherits from Aristotle is the importance of virtues in perfecting the rational nature of man, and hence their crucial significance in achieving eudaimonia. Here again Aquinas transposes Aristotle’s largely naturalistic theory into a theological context. Aristotle held that the cultivation and exercise of intellectual and moral virtues are the most important components in a good human life. But this conception of a good life is largely that of a biological organism living according to its distinctive endowments. Therefore, given Aquinas’ departure from Aristotle on the final goal of human life, that is, his identifying man’s ultimate end with supernatural union with God, he is required to give some explanation of the relationship between the perfection of man’s natural powers, and his achieving perfect happiness in a supernatural afterlife. To fill this gap, Aquinas introduces the theological virtues of faith, hope, and love, which have God as their immediate object. According to Aquinas, non-Christians cannot display theological virtues, although they can manifest other non-theological virtues such as courage. Therefore, while heathens are capable of eudaimonia in Arisotle’s sense, they are not capable of beatitude, which requires the theological virtues. One important difference between the ‘natural virtues’ and the theological virtues is that the former are within the agent’s power to cultivate and develop. On Aristotle’s analysis, which Aquinas adopts, character virtues such as courage are developed through training. By contrast, theological virtues depend on God’s help in the form of divine grace. Faith, hope, and love are not acquired through voluntary actions but are directly infused by God. (Aquinas’ discussion of the virtues is found in Summa Theologiae IaIIae 49-88 and throughout IIaIIae.)
For the classical utilitarians (most notably Jeremy Bentham and John Stuart Mill), happiness can be described as pleasure and the absence of pain. Individual happiness then, is the accumulation of happy episodes (as in the first sense of happiness discussed above) outweighing painful ones. A happy life would then consist of a series of pleasurable episodes with few painful ones. Utilitarianism deviates greatly from the previously discussed theories in that it maintains that an act is deemed right in virtue of its consequences or results, and that the right is the one which brings about the most overall happiness. This famous Principle of Utility is, in Bentham’s formulation: “By the Principle of Utility is meant that principle which approves or disapproves of every action whatsoever, according to the tendency which it appears to have … to promote or to oppose that happiness.” Similarly, in Mill’s formulation, Utilitarianism “the creed which accepts as the foundation of morals, Utility, or the Greatest Happiness Principle, holds that actions are right in proportion as they tend to promote happiness; wrong as they tend to produce the reverse of happiness.” For utilitarianism then, morality is about increasing the amount of happiness in the world.
Both Bentham and Mill equated happiness with pleasure and in this sense both were hedonists. Bentham believed any particular pleasure or pain has a determinate value, which can be measured, and compared. He attempted to construct a scale of comparison and measurement of pain and pleasure. He called this scale the felicific calculus. He claimed that the value of a pleasure is to be determined by such factors as its duration and its intensity. Bentham’s hedonism may be labeled quantitative hedonism, since all pleasures and pains appear on the same scale, being measured according to the same set of criteria (such as duration and intensity). In contrast with Bentham for whom all pleasures were alike and comparable, Mill distinguished between higher and lower pleasures. “…Some pleasures are more desirable and more valuable than others. It would be absurd that while, in estimating all other things, quality is considered as well as quantity, the estimation of pleasures should be supposed to depend on quantity alone.” Higher pleasures (also called ‘informed pleasures’) include pleasures of the human mind: pleasures of the intellect, imagination, appreciation of beauty, and others. According to Mill, these higher pleasures are vastly superior to lower pleasures of the body or “mere sensations.” They are different in quality, not just quantity.
The hedonism in classical utilitarianism has been widely criticized since Mill’s time. Some argue that utilitarianism’s adding and weighing up of pleasurable and painful episodes in judging happiness is problematic because it leaves out the value of achieving long-term goals—which many regard as a vital ingredient for happiness. However, utilitarianism’s basic idea—that morality is about increasing the amount of good in the world—has remained attractive. Utilitarianism has undergone substantial refinements and has continued to be one of the dominant moral theories up until the present day.
Although the hedonism of classical utilitarian theory has become increasingly unpopular amongst philosophers, positive psychologists such as Daniel Kahneman and Ed Diener have continued to find it a fruitful area of research. So it is in the domain of contemporary psychology that the theories of classical utilitarians, whose theories reduced happiness to positive and negative affect, are defended and further explored.
Some positive psychologists, attracted to the subjective framework in which the utilitarians operated, but not convinced by their hedonistic theories, have advanced a conception of happiness as "life-satisfaction." On this view, the notion of well-being captures the notion of long term assessment of happiness, and the subjective experience of happiness is simply conceived as one part of well-being. Life satisfaction is achieved by accomplishing what we deem most important in life (hence also known as the "list account"). Life satisfaction remains subjective as well-being is based on one’s view on how one's life is going, a judgment rather than a feeling. How one judges how one is faring is somewhat more problematic. As aspirations are so bound up with expectations, it is reasonable to ask whether we are good judges of our own happiness. For certain societies expectations would be much lower, and what a slave regards as a good life vastly different from that of a slave owner. Some have argued that we are only in a position to assess our own well-being when we are both informed and autonomous, which implies that contentment is therefore not the same as overall well-being. Others have argued that we should judge or assess objectively whether a life has been happy or good by using indicators that have independent value, thus imposing an objective assessment on a subjective theory.
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Editors. "Saxon troops invade Bohemia". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 01 February 2011
[http://www.litencyc.com/php/stopics.php?rec=true&UID=16030, accessed 27 June 2016.]
In the Thirty Years War, the Protestant allies take aggressive action. An army from Saxony invades Bohemia, while Gustavus II of Sweden, despite advice to march on Vienna, crosses Thuringia and Franconia, towards the Rhine, in order to try to relieve Protestants under the repressive rule of Maximilian of Bavaria.
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You exercise your body to stay physically in shape, so why shouldn't you exercise your brain to stay mentally fit? With these daily exercises you will learn how to flex your mind, improve your creativity and boost your memory. As with any exercise, repetition is necessary for you to see improvement, so pick your favorite exercises from our daily suggestions and repeat them as desired. Try to do some mentalrobics every single day!
Everyone has had the experience where you have something on the tip of your tongue, but you can't remember it. One way to try to recall the information is to think around it. Another way is to stop thinking about it and let your unconscious mind process it for a while. Sometimes the fact will jump into your mind the moment after you stop thinking about it. Normally, once you remember the fact, it seems obvious and you can hardly imagine why you couldn't remember it in the first place.
This proves a few facts about memory. First, it shows that memory is not all or none. In other words, sometimes you can recall a partial or incomplete memory. Second, just because the information is in your mind doesn't mean you can recall it whenever you want. Organizational problems sometimes prevent recall for information that exists.
Levels of Learning
Meditation Builds the Brain
Fatherhood Increases Intelligence
Short Term Memory Test
Interactively test your short term memory.
Mentalrobics Public Forums
Chat about these articles and other mind related topics.
Sudoku Logic Puzzle
This puzzle requires logic and a good memory. | <urn:uuid:40d8314e-fa4d-42f0-8c3c-f12a4d1d98d7> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.braingle.com/mind/index.php?no=308&id=308 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783395548.53/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154955-00160-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.94478 | 317 | 2.703125 | 3 |
What is the link between RSD and injury problems that result?
For many sufferers of Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy, "RSD and injury" are linked. Though some people with RSD can report no cause for their disease, many people are stricken with it after a particular injury. Possible occurrences linking RSD and injury include sprains, falls resulting in a broken bone, head injury, or an injury that requires splint or cast immobilization.
In cases involving RSD and injury, the first and most prevalent symptom is typically an intensely burning pain near the site of an injury. Likewise, the other symptoms of RSD, which may include swelling and skin discoloration, also typically occur near the site of the injury (especially in the case of a sprain or a broken bone).
Because Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy (RSD) most often occurs in hands, feet, arms, or legs, the chances of having an RSD and injury-linked case is likely. Initial injuries may occur anywhere, from work to home.
In cases involving RSD and injury, it is especially vital for emergency room workers and medical personnel to recognize the symptoms of RSD. This knowledge can prevent many cases of the disease. Though some sufferers of RSD experience abrupt and unexpected remission of the disease, most people with RSD experience chronic, debilitating pain.
Organizations such as the Mental Health Institute are working at providing awareness for Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy (RSD). They are striving to implement more aggressive approaches in hospitals so that cases of RSD may decrease. Until then, in cases of RSD, patients must seek treatment options rather than cure options. These options include topical analgesics, anti depressants, physical therapy, and nerve blockades. However, as with many diseases, there is not a cure-all that works for everyone. Patients must usually go through a trial-and-error period to determine which treatment options provide the best short-term and long-term pain relief options.
RSD is a painful disease that, when diagnosed, can drastically change your quality of life. If you've been diagnosed with RSD and have acquired it after an injury, it's best to contact an attorney early. He or she can provide you with advice that will help ensure you the best possible quality of life.
Car Accidents and Personal Injury - When RSD Strikes
Many complications can arise when car accidents and personal injury occur. Often, drivers and passengers have little or no time to react before an accident is upon them. Sometimes, the victims walk away unharmed. Many times, however, mild to serious injuries result. Unknown to many, these injuries can have dire consequences later on.
How do car accidents and personal injury lead to RSD?
One of the injuries that may result from car accidents and personal injury cases is RSD. Officially called Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy, RSD affects millions of people. A neurological disease characterized by ongoing, often debilitating pain, RSD typically begins with an intense burning sensation of the affected area. The pain is crippling and not consistent with the nature of the injury. Because injuries to the hands, feet, arms, and legs are most common in cases of RSD, people involved in car accidents and personal injury cases are especially prone to contracting the disease. Though many people who contract RSD can find no viable cause for their disease, many people are diagnosed with RSD following an injury.
Causes and Measures
The causes that lead to RSD include the following personal injuries: sprains, broken bones, head injuries, and problems resulting from cast and splint immobilization. Likewise, RSD can exist after surgery resulting from one of the aforementioned injuries. Though all injuries of these types do not lead to RSD, it is important to understand that Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy (RSD) can arise.
At the present time, more aggressive treatment measures are being sought by organizations such as the Mental Health Institute. These measures would require a more proactive approach in emergency rooms and medical establishments at the time of injury. If a more aggressive approach can be enforced, the cases of RSD due to car accidents and personal injury could be greatly reduced.
If Your Injuries Have Led to RSD
If you've been a victim of any number of car accidents and personal injury resulted from them, and you begin to feel an intense burning sensation on or near the affected area, it's advisable that you seek help immediately. Additional symptoms you may experience with Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy (RSD) include excessive sweating, swelling, and skin discoloration of the affected area.
Whether you were the driver or a passenger, and whether you were in an accident on the road or on the job, you have rights. Finding an attorney who specializes in cases such as yours is the first step toward reclaiming your rights. | <urn:uuid:4c9ef8f1-491c-493a-ba62-6d21eba59aab> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.resource4rsd.com/topics/rsdandinjury.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783395548.53/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154955-00142-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.961884 | 1,004 | 2.65625 | 3 |
Introduction to Mobile Telephone Evidence within Legal Cases (1 Day)
Course Title: Introduction to Mobile Telephone Evidence within Legal Cases
Duration: 8 Hours
This course provides an overview to the use of Mobile Telephone evidence within legal cases.
Attendees should gain a basic understanding of the common media contained within mobile handsets, the methods of forensically examining them, and the theory involved in geographic signal triangulation.
Finally, the course informs how mobile telecommunications evidence can be applied within legal cases.
- Introduction to Mobile Telecommunications Evidence
- Types of storage media commonly found within a mobile handset
- Types of evidence commonly found on mobile handsets
- Forensic examination of a mobile telephone
- Mobile Telephone Signal Triangulation
- Case Study
Intended learning outcomes:
Upon completion of the course, students should have a fundamental understanding of how Mobile Telecommunications evidence can factor within legal cases, from forensic evidence files found within the media, to mobile telephone signal triangulation to determine location. | <urn:uuid:38c6b701-5545-4653-8b42-0320f9d0ce1c> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.fieldsassociates.co.uk/course-mte1.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783398209.20/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154958-00183-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.853379 | 202 | 2.734375 | 3 |
It has now become a common practice among women these days to have their baby delivered at the requested date and time by a Cesarean Section for religious regions. The trend may not be all that healthy according to a study which has found // a link between c-section delivery and higher risk of cavities in newborn and has called for special attention regarding the newborns' oral health. This has been the first study to distinguish between bacterial infection in C-section and vaginally delivered babies.
The research has been focused on a caries-causing bacterium that mothers with caries transmit to their newborns. Known as Streptococcus mutans, the bacterium grows on tooth surfaces and in crannies between teeth just above the gum line, where it multiplies and converts foods, especially those containing sugar and starch, into acids that break into the tooth surface.
C-section deliveries were infected by the bacterium almost a year earlier than vaginally delivered infants according to the study. The first signs of the bacterium appeared at an average of 17.1 months of age in C-section babies, compared to 28.8 months in vaginally delivered infants, a significant finding.
The findings suggest that mothers who have dental caries should inform their family dentists if they had a C-section delivery because of the potentially higher risk that the child would also develop caries.
Dr. Li explained that "Vaginally-delivered infants offer oral bacteria a less hospitable environment; they develop more resistance to these bacteria in their first year of life, in part because of exposure to a greater variety and intensity of bacteria from their mothers and the surrounding environment at birth. C-section babies have less bacterial exposure at birth, and therefore less resistance."
Further study is needed to determine if C-section births can be linked to earlier acquisition of this and other oral bacteria in a broader cross-sect
ion of the population, and if a higher incidence of caries follows. It has also to be borne in mind that pregnant women with high levels of oral bacteria associated with dental caries are at risk for delivering preterm low birth weight babies.
Related medicine news :1
. Watch your weight when pregnant2
. Watching television for long hours could lead to agressiveness
. Watch what you eat during summer4
. Watch your weight when pregnant5
. Watching television linked to smoking6
. Watching TV in the bedroom can lower children’s school performanc7
. Stop Watching TV: Toddler Development Affected8
. Watch Out! Pollution hazard from E-waste recycling in India & China9
. For West Nile Virus: Prevention Is The Watchword10
. Watching Violent, Churning Movie Scenes Affect Problem-Solving Ability11
. Watch Station Set Up In China To Monitor Bird Flu Outbreak | <urn:uuid:edb56069-c0dd-436d-bc8b-992e96ed28fb> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.bio-medicine.org/medicine-news/Watch-out-those-of-you-planning-for-a-predetermined-Cesarean-Section--4636-1/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783404826.94/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624155004-00075-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.953344 | 581 | 3.234375 | 3 |
July 5, 2011
THE END OF HISTORY IS WORKING OUT EXACTLY AS WELL AS YOU THOUGHT IT WOULD:
With Little Notice, Globalization Reduced Poverty (Laurence Chandy, Geoffrey Gertz, 5 July 2011, Yale Global)
It is customary to bemoan the intractability of global poverty and the lack of progress against the Millennium Development Goals. But the stunning fact is that, gone unnoticed, the goal to halve global poverty was probably reached three years ago.
We are in the midst of the fastest period of poverty reduction the world has ever seen. The global poverty rate, which stood at 25 percent in 2005, is ticking downwards at one to two percentage points a year, lifting around 70 million people – the population of Turkey or Thailand – out of destitution annually. Advances in human progress on such a scale are unprecedented, yet remain almost universally unacknowledged. [...]
Not only is poverty falling rapidly, it’s falling across all regions and most countries. Unsurprisingly, the greatest reduction has occurred in Asia. But it’s not just the dynamic economies of East Asia, such as China, recording great feats in poverty reduction; South Asian giants including India and Bangladesh, and Central Asian economies such as Uzbekistan also make great strides. Even Sub-Saharan Africa is sharing in this progress. The region finally broke through the symbolic threshold of a 50 percent poverty rate in 2008 and its number of poor people has begun falling for the first time on record.
This stunning progress is driven by rapid economic growth across the developing world. During the 1980s and 1990s, per capita growth in developing countries averaged just 1 to 2 percent a year, not nearly fast enough to make a serious dent in poverty levels. Since around 2003, however, growth in the developing world has taken off, averaging 5 percent per capita a year.
How and why sustained high economic growth in developing countries took hold are questions likely to be debated by economic historians for many decades. Already one can point to a number of probable sources emerging or accelerating around the turn of the century: an investment boom triggered by rising commodity prices; high growth spillovers originating from large open emerging economies that utilize cross-border supply chains; diversification into novel export markets from cut flowers to call centers; spread of new technologies, in particular rapid adoption of cell phones; increased public and private investment in infrastructure; the cessation of a number of conflicts and improved political stability; and the abandonment of inferior growth strategies such as import substitution for a focus on macroeconomic health and improved competitiveness.
These factors are manifestations of a set of broader trends – the rise of globalization, the spread of capitalism and the improving quality of economic governance – which together have enabled the developing world to begin converging on advanced economy incomes after centuries of divergence. The poor countries that display the greatest success today are those that are engaging with the global economy, allowing market prices to balance supply and demand and to allocate scarce resources, and pursuing sensible and strategic economic policies to spur investment, trade and job creation. It’s this potent combination that sets the current period apart from a history of insipid growth and intractable poverty.
Posted by oj at July 5, 2011 5:08 PM | <urn:uuid:c8920553-8ea7-4c73-9d3a-4e8f7569daed> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://brothersjuddblog.com/archives/2011/07/the_end_of_history_is_working.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783397748.48/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154957-00080-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.935757 | 667 | 2.65625 | 3 |
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Virtual possessions 'mean a lot' to teenagers
Virtual possessions are of great significance to teenagers, new research has found. Investigators from Carnegie Mellon University discovered that immaterial artefacts - such as social network updates, digital imagery and online music collections - mean as much to adolescents as prized belongings such as a book once read to them by their parents.
The team from the institution's Human-Computer Interaction Institute and School of Design noted that the fact these possessions are not tangible can serve to enhance their value.
John Zimmerman, Associate Professor of Human-Computer Interaction Design, said: "A digital photo is valuable because it is a photo but also because it can be shared and people can comment on it."
The investigation found that youngsters place more sentiment on a digital image that friends have tagged and annotated than they do with a picture that is stored away in a drawer.
"This reported study can be further explained by developmental research on exploration of novel stimuli. Teenagers developmentally are still intrigued by virtual stimuli - especially that which can be easily manipulated and explored in terms of mental imagery. It has the potential to consolidate the self identity and allow for self elaboration."
Recent research published online in the journal Addictive Behaviors found that teenagers who drink alcohol are more likely to spend greater amounts of time on their computers than those who do not imbibe. | <urn:uuid:1c2c8e95-b8bb-4cd0-a96d-b653064f5a84> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.bps.org.uk/news/virtual-possessions-mean-lot-teenagers | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783396538.42/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154956-00116-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.950555 | 299 | 3.171875 | 3 |
Your heart has four valves that keep blood flowing in the correct direction. The valves open and close once during each heartbeat. Sometimes, the valves don't open or close properly, disrupting the blood flow through your heart to your body. In a condition called stenosis, a valve isn't able to open properly. In a condition called regurgitation, a valve doesn't close properly and can leak.
Heart valve disease includes:
Your heart valve disease treatment depends on the valve affected and the type and severity of the valve disease. Sometimes heart valve disease requires heart valve surgery.
Feb. 06, 2014
- Heart valves explained. American Heart Association. http://www.heart.org/HEARTORG/Conditions/HeartAttack/PreventionTreatmentofHeartAttack/Heart-Valves-Explained_UCM_305656_Article.jsp. Accessed July 15, 2013.
- Longo DL, et al. Harrison's Online. 18th ed. New York, N.Y.: The McGraw-Hill Companies; 2012. http://www.accessmedicine.com/resourceTOC.aspx?resourceID=4. Accessed July 15, 2013. | <urn:uuid:6e11122c-b1a9-473b-891c-cfc91188190b> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/heart-valve-disease/basics/definition/CON-20036065?p=1 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783392099.27/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154952-00199-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.883285 | 245 | 3.25 | 3 |
An Invitation to Classrooms Everywhere, November 15, 2012, 11:35 am to 1:00 pm ET
Latest NCESSE News
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If you missed the webcast, it is now archived here: http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/27045442
In celebration of International Education Week, you are invited to tune in via webcast to a live video-conference between astronauts aboard the International Space Station and grade 5-14 student researchers whose microgravity experiments are aboard Space Station right now. These are student researchers of the Student Spaceflight Experiment Program (SSEP) who were asked to be real scientists, stepped to the plate, and demonstrate that human exploration is exciting, challenging and attainable. These are student researchers that serve as remarkable role models for all our children who might aspire to be the next generation of scientists and engineers.
SSEP is science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) education at its best. It is full immersion in every facet of authentic research, recognizing that we are all born curious, real science is just ‘organized curiosity’, and students are therefore fully equipped to be researchers.
This live video-conference with 9,500 students across 24 SSEP communities in the U.S. and Canada, and its simultaneous webcast by NASA TV and the Smithsonian for classrooms everywhere, is sponsored by the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum, the National Center for Earth and Space Science Education, NASA, and the U.S. Department of Education.
Be part of the Adventure – Invite Your Classrooms to Tune In
Jump to the following pages:
1. ISS Webcast Orientation
2. ISS Webcast Participants and Schedule
3. SSEP Experiments Currently Aboard ISS
4. Educational Resources in Support of the Webcast
5. WEBCAST DASHBOARD: a cool place to watch the webcast
SSEP is a program of the National Center for Earth and Space Science Education (NCESSE). It is enabled through a strategic partnership with NanoRacks LLC, working with NASA under a Space Act Agreement as part of the utilization of the International Space Station as a National Laboratory. SSEP is the first pre-college STEM education program that is both a U.S. national initiative and implemented as an on-orbit commercial space venture. The Center for the Advancement of Science in Space (CASIS) is a National Partner on the Student Spaceflight Experiments Program. | <urn:uuid:42391b5a-85bf-4427-905b-4a1e3e6876aa> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://ncesse.org/events/isswebcast/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783395039.24/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154955-00074-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.92513 | 523 | 2.8125 | 3 |
Internet voting means
|“||the casting of a secure and secret electronic ballot that is transmitted to election officials using the Internet."||”|
There are three types of Internet voting:
Advantages and drawbacks Edit
There are a number of potential advantages to Internet voting, including:
- increased voter registration and turnout;
- reduced state costs to run and supervise elections;
- convenience; and
Potential drawbacks to Internet voting include:
- the problems of the digital divide;
- security and fraud concerns;
- costs associated with creating a secure and functional system; and
- expanding current election laws to allow Internet voting.
Other forms of electronic voting Edit
It is also important to distinguish between the various kinds of Internet voting and other forms of electronic voting, usually referred to as direct recording electronic (DRE) voting. In DRE voting, the balloting process is performed on an electronic voting machine that records and stores the votes internally. It is possible, however, to have these DRE machines send their counts electronically to a central site (typically through a direct dial-up connection but also possibly through a dedicated line). This performs much the same function as a polling place internet voting system, but without connecting to the Internet. | <urn:uuid:6c9a7aeb-b2a3-4ac9-9bad-25af41055415> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://itlaw.wikia.com/wiki/Internet_voting | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783398075.47/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154958-00065-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.945468 | 258 | 3.421875 | 3 |
|Someone is wrong on|
Citizendium ("CZ") is a pretender to the throne of Wikipedia as a free Internet-based encyclopedia project. Wikipedia co-founder Larry Sanger started the project in 2006 to remedy what he viewed as problems with Wikipedia.
Citizendium aims to boost its reliability by having articles vetted by experts and requiring real names for contributions. Articles are managed by workgroups, which until recently included "healing arts," Citizendium's term for alternative medicine — distinct from the workgroup on "health sciences", medical treatment that actually works. This led to the first public sign that something had gone seriously wrong, when a ludicrous puff piece on homeopathy was featured on the main page. While pseudoscience advocates have been protected by site policies, many of the recruited academic experts have left, driven away by Sanger and the site administrators.
The project began with lofty ambitions and heavy media coverage. Participation peaked in early 2008, then gradually declined to the present core of 20 or so regulars and about 50 people making at least one edit per month. By June 2011 Citizendium was moribund, with fewer participants and fewer edits than any full month in its history, and with well over half the month's edits made by just three users. Citizendium illustrates the pitfalls of top-down management of volunteer projects and the dangers of credentialism.
Founding and public launch
The project was founded in 2006 to create a "new compendium of knowledge" based on the contributions of "intellectuals," defined as "educated, thinking people who read about science or ideas regularly." The ambition was to "unseat Wikipedia as the go-to destination for general information online." It was launched with great fanfare and wide coverage in both the blogosphere and the international prestige press.
Citizendium began its closed pilot phase in late 2006 and went public on March 27, 2007. It began as a fork of the English Wikipedia under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, but by the time of the public launch Sanger had decided that starting from a clean slate was the best way to motivate writers. He therefore deleted all Wikipedia-sourced articles that had not been worked on locally. This was a huge gamble, betting that Citizendium's writers would fill gaping holes in content.
Growth and decline
Sanger stated in October 2007 that he foresaw "an explosion of growth...in the not-too-distant future," and that he expected the project to triple, or at least double, in size annually. This did not occur.
Participation grew during Citizendium's first year, peaking in early 2008 before settling in to a long-term decline. The number of words added per day has plummeted by more than 95% from its peak of 17,100 in the second quarter of 2008, to just 700 in the last quarter of 2011. Article creation rate increased from around 14 per day in late 2007 to 18-20 per day in 2010, falling to a mere one or two per day in late 2011. With the growth in article numbers outpacing the growth in words the median article length has correspondingly declined, from 468 words in October 2007 to 138 words (roughly the length of the paragraph you are now reading) in December 2011. At the start of 2012 there were about 14 million words in 24,239 mainspace articles (a mean of 580 words/article).
In late 2011 about 60 individuals made at least one edit per month at Citizendium, down from around 200 at the time of Sanger's "explosion of growth" prediction. It is of course dwarfed by Wikipedia, which had 133,137 editors in the thirty days prior to 1 January 2012. But it's also far behind even narrow, hobbyist wikis such as Muppet Wiki and Wookieepedia (the Star Wars wiki), which had 226 and 832 contributors respectively in December 2011. Or even RationalWiki, where about 300 people make at least one edit in a given month. The project is now dominated by a core of about 20 regulars with almost no new blood.
Authors and editors
Citizendium calls its contributors "Citizens." They are divided into authors (hoi polloi) and editors (the experts) — analogous to print publications. The class distinction is clear and comes from the top: if you're a mere author, your opinions are worthless. (As may be expected, this has left Citizendium a wiki of editors with few authors to supervise.) This contrasts with Wikipedia, where everyone is an "editor." The difference in terminology sometimes leads to confusion when discussing Citizendium.
Editors are supposed to provide "gentle expert guidance" to authors. They can referee disputes over article content and can also enforce style guidelines. But their real power lies in their ability to "approve" articles. After an article is approved it becomes the version displayed to the public and is locked from further editing. Any changes must be made to a separate draft version which can eventually be approved to replace the current public-facing version. The process is cumbersome enough that reapprovals are rare, so even obvious and uncontroversial errors can remain in articles for years. As we shall see later, this also has some interesting implications for the project's coverage of fringe and pseudoscience.
Signing up to contribute
Citizendium has often been criticized for its cumbersome and intrusive signup process. Not only is each member required to use their real name, but they cannot even use common nicknames: if your full name is Joseph H. Bloggs, you can't sign up as "Joe Bloggs."
“”NOTE: IT IS VERY IMPORTANT THAT ALL APPLICANTS USE THEIR FULL, CORRECT NAME IN FILLING OUT THIS REQUEST. If your full name is Richard A. Q. Smith, you may register as Richard Smith, or R.A.Q. Smith, whichever name you most commonly use, and which we can verify, but you may NOT register as Dicky Smith...
|—All emphasis is as in the original. From the Citizendium "Request Account" page.|
In addition to their real names all contributors have to provide a statement of personal interests and education. Not just a sentence or two, but a minimum of 50 words and "preferably a few hundred words." And if the real name policy and requirement for a biography aren't intrusive enough, the project also suggests you provide "rough clues as to age and location" — a cyberstalker's dream. If you want to be an "editor" you also have to submit a curriculum vitae along with links to web materials supporting what you claim in your CV.
The Citizens often express puzzlement as to why they have so much trouble getting people to join.
Sanger was Editor-In-Chief of Nupedia and Wikipedia until resigning in March 2002, the money having run out a month earlier. He resigned from the volunteer position because he did not have the authority from the community to deal with users he felt were being simply disruptive.
Despite his early claims that Citizendium would operate on an open "bazaar" model rather than a closed "cathedral" one, Sanger had worked out in detail how he wanted to run Citizendium early on and kept it under firm control from the start. He surprised prospective contributors who were used to room for opinions and serendipity with such actions as shutting down the project mailing list, thus killing the main venue for community enthusiasm at the time, because he felt it had too much traffic. He was not interested in the ideas of others and tended to react to them as if they were attacks on his detailed plan.
When establishing Citizendium, Sanger announced that he would be resigning as Editor-in-Chief after two or three years. In July 2009 he stepped down from active involvement, to pursue paid work on the WatchKnow educational video initiative. When he tried to report Wikipedia to the FBI over "child pornography" (line art drawings of lolicon) in April 2010, he used the official Citizendium blog to link to his reply to Slashdot commenters, suggesting he still considered Citizendium his personal site and bashing Wikipedia part of the mission. He stepped down as Editor-in-Chief after the Charter was ratified in September 2010, but after a brief absence was elected to the site's Management Council in 2011.
Sanger believes that any lack of participation in or readership for Citizendium is not due to his policies or the behaviour of himself or his "constables" (the wiki administrators), but due to "thuggish--cretinish" Wikipedians who are "trying to beat down the underdog with lies and intimidation."
Sanger offers consulting services as an expert in policy formation for online communities.
Fiscal insolvency: the $65,000 question
In November 2010 an accidentally-revealed forum thread detailed the dire financial straits in which Sanger had left Citizendium. Sanger had told the Citizens in vague terms that more funding was needed but they were blindsided by the immediacy of the financial crisis. Available funds were down to $1800, they were shelling out $700 a month in hosting charges to Steadfast, and within a few weeks they had a payment of $1500 owed to the Tides Center, their parent organization. According to their new Managing Editor they faced the prospect of insolvency by the end of the year.
This revelation brought up significant questions about the project's financial management. Piecing together Citizendium's fragmentary records the project had received around $60,000-$65,000 in contributions; Sanger has put the amount at "$60,000 and change." In March 2007, Citizendium expanded to multiple servers (five!) with Steadfast; two of these were donated and the other three presumably were paid for out of pocket. This put the accumulated infrastructure and hosting costs at an estimated $32,200 by the time of the forum post, leaving about $30,000 to account for. It eventually came to light that Citizendium had been paying the Tides Foundation at least $2000 per year for handling the project's finances plus $1000 per year for liability insurance. Assuming these expenses were paid for calendar years 2007, 2008, 2009 and the first half of 2010 the total paid to the Tides Center would be at least $10,500, leaving around $20,000. By Citizendium’s own records, only Larry Sanger, initial technical director Jason Potkanski, and an unnamed programmer have received any compensation for their work on the project. The total paid to these individuals has not been revealed. We can make conjectures about other expenses — for example if Sanger had to travel extensively for fundraising or promotion this could have eaten up $10,000 fairly quickly. But we just don't know.
$700 a month for hosting is absurdly high. A site of Citizendium's size and traffic (comparable to RationalWiki) could easily be supported by commercial hosting for around $50-$150 a month. That’s around $28,000 wasted on over-the-top network and server infrastructure. Put another way, enough money was blown to support Citizendium for an estimated 23 years. At the end of 2010 the project took steps that reduced their hosting costs to $320 per month; i.e., they have trimmed their costs from "insane" to merely "excessive."
The post also revealed that the major donors to Citizendium were no longer interested in supporting the project. To their credit, the Citizens stepped up with a fundraiser that yielded over $3,800. This was just about enough to keep them afloat for another year at their reduced hosting costs of $320 per month, now that they no longer have financial obligations to the Tides Center; however, as of October 2011, less than four months of hosting funds remained, and donations were not meeting monthly expenses.
Relationship with the Tides Center
The Tides Center is a major non-profit described as an "incubator" for other non-profits. Apparently, Larry Sanger entered into an agreement with them right before he started accepting large donations, with the Tides Center managing donations and providing status as a 501(c)(3) charitable organization under U.S. law. This status is required in order for contributions to be tax deductible; Sanger had said that lack of such status was a "sticking point" for many prospective donors. As noted previously, this arrangement cost Citizendium at least $3000 per year. Citizendium was promised operational independence, and Sanger promised in 2007 that Citizendium would be "independent" within six months. Three years later and $60,000 poorer Citizendium was still a Tides Center project.
Although no official announcement has been made it appears that Citizendium is no longer affiliated with the Tides Center: by May 2011 there was no longer an entry for Citizendium under the Tides Center project directory, and Citizendium staff had quietly deleted most references to Tides from their internal pages.
Citizendium defined itself so completely as the anti-Wikipedia that even technical decisions were made largely on the basis of being different from Wikimedia (such as using PostgreSQL rather than MySQL for the database and incompatible changes to their MediaWiki installation). It has been realised that forking when one doesn't have the technical resources is not such a good idea; the software is being brought back to mainline, and the technical staff now actively contribute to MediaWiki.
“”Note: as it stands, this image is a copyvio because the owners of the separate images need to be credited here. Also, the montage ought to be deleted and re-uploaded to purge the system of an image which is a copyvio. Finally, the images of the tiger and the butterfly violate CZ's 'real name' policy.
|—Comment on the description page of the lead image of one of their approved articlesimg, as of 5 February 2011. Fixing it would evidently be too much work. Incredibly, still there as of 22 December 2011.|
In mid-January 2011 RationalWiki contributors noted extensive and long-standing copyright violations on Citizendium related to their use of images. Citizendium, however, was too busy with infighting and working out complicated numbering systems for their bureaucratic discussions for them to bother with minor matters like breaking the law, and so the report was met with a collective shrug. Eventually most (though by no means all) of the reported images were dealt with to some extent, but no effort has been made to deal with others, of which massive numbers remain.
The concept of expertise on Citizendium
There's much to like in the idea of creating an environment that is welcoming to people who know what they're talking about, in contrast to Wikipedia's grudging concession that "editing in an area in which you have professional or academic expertise is not, in itself, a conflict of interest." But it didn't work out too well at Citizendium.
There's expertise and then there's certification as an expert, which is a social construct made of pieces of paper and (hopefully) accredited standards. All too often the two don't quite overlap. In the quest for expertise — "This article is good and I can explain why" — Citizendium went for credentialism — "This article is good because I have the authority to say so."
Further, the minimum acceptable credentials are inconsistent: Someone wishing to be a general editor in an academic field must prove they have a PhD, or are a tenure-track professor. If they can't prove that, they may be able to get editorship in a small subfield — if they have an M.A. or M.Sc, and at least three published, peer-reviewed articles. If they wish to be approved to take over articles in alternative medicine, they need only prove that they are licensed to practice their branch of alternative medicine.
Attracting and repelling academia
“”My experience of CZ has not impressed me in terms of its chances of its reaching its laudable goals. People discuss and debate, but no matter what we say, Larry comes in and makes some executive decision without really consulting anyone outside of his inner circle.
|—An early (18 January 2007) expression of frustration by a Citizendium academic.|
Wikipedia has plenty of academics and actual experts editing — you can hardly edit without bumping into someone who knows a hell of a lot more than you about a topic. It fails utterly, however, in keeping idiots out of the experts' faces.
So Citizendium promised they'd remedy this and attracted a good number of established experts, such as university professors, in the site's early days. But almost all have left — and it turned out that the people getting in the academics' faces were Sanger and his constables. Heavy-handedness, meddling in article content, censoring user comments, bullying and harassment of academic users were commonplace and extensively documented in the wider world. Others grew exasperated over Sanger's penchant for micromanagement and inability to acknowledge areas of academia he was not competent in, often overruling or pushing out the very specialists he had recruited.
Sanger's guidance was also responsible for driving out established fields of study while encouraging a proliferation of pseudoscience. For instance, in 2006 Women's Studies and Ethnic Studies professors began joining Citizendium. Sanger refused to recognise these as genuine fields of endeavour, saying "I do not want to make CZ 'politically correct,' i.e., appealing especially to one (largely American/Western/Left) ideology," and refused to give them any place in Citizendium's structure. In contrast, he personally recruited "celebrity" homeopath Dana Ullman and gave alternative medicine practitioners their own workgroup with full control over all articles on alternative medicine. He told members who preferred scientific evidence over other parts of the "whole dialectical landscape" that they were "not welcome" at Citizendium, and decreed that Citizendium would treat both scientific and anti-scientific views on an equal footing in manufactroversies such as intelligent design and global warming. When others dared question this approach, he responded:
“”I am sick and tired of reference works, journalists, and professionals generally, simply instructing me what to think, when I know that there are other professionals who disagree with them and who are not given a fair hearing. There is a sort of paternalism about the acceptance of bias in expository writing that I find disturbing. It's not unlike propaganda, ultimately.
Citizendium practice reflected Sanger's philosophy. The article on Intelligent design promoted it in a manner reminiscent of aSK, changing only after Sanger left. Similarly the global warming article included an extended apologia for denialism that was not pared back until after Sanger's departure.
Sanger claims academic credentials, academic expertise, academic credibility and respect for and from academia, and loves the idea of academia. But he has never held a position as professor or the equivalent, and he has no idea what actual working academics do for a living or how to work with them. His idealized vision of academic knowledge production, in which philosophically robust propositions are put forth and formally debated, bears no resemblance to reality, in which academic exchanges are more typified by snatches of hallway conversation or arguments over a beer at a conference — casual semi-social interaction the way humans have always done it. His inflexibility and the emulation of his worst behaviors by his acolytes did the rest. Having run off the recruited academics is not considered a problem by the remaining Citizens.
Citizendium's expert approval is just as much a double-edged sword as is Wikipedia's open editing policy. In some cases the Citizendium approach works fine and avoids the problems with Wikipedia's almost unguided editing that causes articles to degrade. But it also allows people of dubious qualifications to obtain control over articles with relatively little opposition. In this way supposed "experts" can hijack articles on their pet topics and ensure that the articles are as uncritical as possible.
Citizendium's approval process means that once an article is approved, it is locked from further editing and all changes must be made to a draft version that is not presented to the public until it goes through the approval process again. And who controls the reapproval process? You guessed it — the same "experts" who approved the original article. This means that once a fringe enthusiast has managed to get an article approved in their preferred version, it is very difficult for reality-based contributors to undo the damage.
It is certainly not the case that all, or even most, Citizendium contributors are cranks. Some have lamented the project's reputation for fringe topics and point out that it has driven away potential contributors. But the site's policies, such as its emphasis on credentialism, make it especially appealing to cranks. Whereas actual, practicing experts tend simply to get on with their work instead of waving their credentials, cranks compensate for their lack of substance by faking expertise and working for status and perceived credibility. This means cranks will be attracted to and stay on a credentialist project, particularly if those of genuine expertise are driven out.
Citizendium also has a unique protective mechanism that makes it particularly crank-friendly: the rule against attacking other contributors prohibits questioning their claimed expertise. For example, an editor was banned for pointing out that Dana Ullman — a well-known and tireless advocate for homeopathy who was banned from Wikipedia for disruptive advocacy but then became a Citizendium Healing Arts editor — has no medical or homeopathic qualifications and had been arrested for practising medicine without a license. Even an expression of general frustration about homeopathy and other fringe topics will get the smackdown from a pro-altmed constable.
Is the "expert guidance" model working?
The Citizendium process has been critiqued in detail since before the launch. The Citizens quite reasonably replied that the proof would be in the resulting product. Unfortunately, the product did not turn out so well either. The project has been excessively tolerant, even deferential, toward cranks, while driving actual academics away; so it's unsurprising that far too much questionable material appears for a site that prides itself on being "authoritative, error-free, and well-written." Even where pseudoscience is not an issue the presentation is often disorganized and unfocused, or contains obvious errors that should never have made it past a true "expert."
Citizendium's greatest pseudoscientific hits
As an example of the deference to cranks, Citizendium's horrific piece on homeopathy was taken over by Dana Ullman (whom Time magazine has called a "leading proselytizer of homeopathy") at Sanger's personal invitation. The resulting article was so badly skewed that the alt-med promoters at Wiki4CAM copied it almost wholesale to use as their own entry on the topic.. Likewise the article on chiropractic was "owned" by D. Matt Innis, a practicing chiropractor and acupuncturist, who as a Constable removes criticism of homeopathy. Both of these pseudoscience advocacy articles were fully embraced by the Citizendium community. They are both marked as approved articles, and the homeopathy advertisement — which Sanger called "an excellent article, remarkably balanced and neutral" — was even featured in January 2009 on the site's main page. (This version was live when it was featured.) It wasn't until Sanger's departure in late 2010 that the homeopathy article was finally reduced to something better by motion of the project's Editorial Council. In an extraordinary overruling of the project's "expert approval" process the EC not only legislated the new version of the article but ruled that the article was such a blight on Citizendium that they forbade all editing on it for a year, after which they might allow editing again. Their article on chiropractic, however, remains pure advocacy.
Some more examples of pro-pseudoscience articles:
- Alice Bailey — Puff piece on the New Age author; relies heavily on her autobiography for sources on such matters as telepathic transmission of books and the hidden "Masters of Wisdom".
- Cold fusion — Largely written by proponent and advocate Jed Rothwell. Rothwell was banned indefinitely from Wikipedia for disruption and advocacy using an army of sockpuppet accounts. Remained profoundly at odds with the scientific community for over three years, with some of the most blatantly promotional wording finally being redacted in October 2011.
- Critical views of Chiropracticimg — Not what you'd think. It's actually an attack on criticism of chiropractic by the "medical establishment."
- Global warming — An early harbinger of future colonization of Citizendium by pseudoscience advocates who had tried and failed on Wikipedia. The 2007 version was a feast of climate change denial bad enough to attract the attention of experts in the field. It was improved somewhat — by copying from Wikipedia. It was biased enough that the global warming denialists at the Heartland Institute listed it as part of their recommended "Primer on Global Warming." The article was finally brought into reasonable agreement with the scientific consensus in early 2011, after Sanger's departure.
- Pseudoscience — The 2009 version was terrible. The current version is much improved, though written in the rambling and chatty style typical of many Citizendium articles. The article still contains a paragraph defending astrology.
- Qigong — A barely readable promotion which mentions skepticism only in order to dismiss it, and concludes: In spite of the above, there are many accepted, and in the author's opinion, legitimate "Masters" of "Qigong". The promotional version had remained for almost four years; although some Citizens had edited it in the meantime, they did not alter the promotional tone. Cleanup began the day after the article was called out on RationalWiki.
- Reiki — A promotional article on one of the stupidest and least supportable alternative medicine quackeries. Page after page after page of promotion, then, right near the end, two sentences basically amounting to "Some skeptics don't like it" as the only balance, then the rest of the controversies are controversies within reiki. The article was in this state from late 2007 through January 2011, with cleanup beginning five days after it was mentioned on RationalWiki.
- Samuel Hahnemann — Short article heaping praise on the creator of homeopathy.
- Shang reviews of homeopathy — Uses bizarre arguments (e.g., Shang used a different pre-determined definition of "high-quality" than a study homeopaths liked), a discredited data-mining attempt by a pro-homeopathy team led by Ludtke, a letter from a homeopathic organization, and outright lies about the study's methods and findings to attack an innovative, well-respected study. A hit piece, nothing more, and a very strange topic for an encyclopedia.
- Tests of the efficacy of homeopathy — Pooh-poohs large, respected negative studies, lists every single tiny study it can find that ever had a positive result.
- Unidentified flying object — A highly unskeptical article based mainly on the claims of UFO proponents.
- Vertebral subluxation — A pseudoscientific article on chiropractic, written mostly by an unpublished author without any verifiable medical background. That this is one of the site's "approved" articles is especially damning.
Wikipedia, of course, also has lots of pseudoscience. But apart from having many more contributors to help better approximate reality, Wikipedia does not have mechanisms in place that actively promote pseudoscience; to the contrary, its policies forbid its advocacy and mechanisms are in place to allow it to be identified and fixed (at least in principle). Meanwhile, Citizendium considers alternative medicine qualifications as signs of expertise, which allows a user to take over an article, and has neither policy nor sufficient numbers of motivated people to keep these supposed experts in check.
The Scientology article has been heavily edited by at least two well known members of that organization. On 1 May 2007, the article "Scientology" was moved first to "Scientology (the philosophy)" then finally to Church of Scientology. The word "cult" was deleted, as well as any mention of Scientology being banned in a number of countries, and the term "adherent" replaced with "parishioners" by Terry E. Olsen, a public member of Scientology well-known for his Internet advocacy on its behalf as "Terryeo" on Wikipedia and elsewhere.
Shortly afterwards Steven Ferry joined Citizendium. Ferry did not declare his membership of the Church, nor his previous position working in public relations for the Church, prior to editing and purging the article of criticisms. Ferry was subsequently elected to the Citizendium Editorial Council unopposed in 2008, leading to claims the project had been successfully infiltrated by the Church of Scientology. Ferry ceased contributing in mid-2008 and the article was gradually cleaned up over the next two years.
Thank goodness for gentle expert guidance!
“”"Welcome to Citizendium, an endeavor to achieve the highest standards of writing, reliability, and comprehensiveness"
|—Citizendium's Main Page as of January 2012.|
Even on less contentious topics the supposed expert guidance appears worryingly absent at times, with poorly written articles and basic errors that many a non-expert would spot.
- Atomic hypothesis — Appears unable to tell the difference between a hypothesis and a theory in scientific terminology. A hypothesis is a proposed explanation that can be tested. A theory, on the other hand, is a body of knowledge and principles that have been found to (approximately) explain observed phenomena, such as "gravitational theory." Nowhere is it mentioned that in the time since Dalton's proposals the atomic hypothesis evolved into a theory supported by experimental testing. It stops with Dalton and goes no further - it's stuck in the 18th century. IUPAC, Encyclopædia Britannica, World Book and Wikipedia all use "Atomic theory".
- Biology — One of their approved articles, it consists mainly of a rambling, disorganised history of biology. Contains a single paragraph on evolution, while giving disproportionate space to outdated curiosities such as the homunculus. Essential concepts like dominant and recessive genes, chromosomes, mitosis and meiosis are never even defined, just mentioned offhand. There is an enormous amount of irrelevant verbiage, random philosophical musings, and, just for good measure, a see-also link at the top of the article to the one on "healing arts" - Citizendium's term for alternative medicine. Anyone with the slightest understanding of biology could crank out a better article in half an hour.
- Cat — For four years used the redundant scientific nomenclature for the domesticated cat, Felis silvestris catus. The accepted nomenclature is Felis catus, see for example ITIS taxonomy. Note that silvestris is a wildcat ancestor, not domesticated cat. Encyclopædia Britannica, Tree of Life (TOL), Encyclopedia of Life (EOL), and Wikipedia all use Felis catus for domesticated cat. Corrected 12 hours after being reported on this page.
- History of the United Kingdom — A Conservative editor had rewritten British history by removing all mention of Labour governments from the timeline. The vandalism went uncorrected for over six months.
- Jupiter — Claimed for two and a half years that Jupiter has a surface. Gas giants don't have surfaces. Uncorrected despite complaints mailed to the project, corrected less than five hours after being added to this page.
- William Bonham, William Bonham (outlaw) — Claim Billy the Kid's name was William Bonham, a name mentioned in no existing source. The alias most famously used by Billy the Kid was William Bonney. Uncorrected since July 2009.
- HTML5 — The second half of the article is not shown because of an ordinary bug (the Wiki parser crashes on the tag <source>). Either the Citizens that worked on it were too sloppy to preview to the end, where they would have noticed the bug, or they did not know how to fix it.
- Update: later the problem was fixed (with a reference to RW !). Shortly after, two new errors were introduced. The syntactically correct <audio> <source /> <source /> </audio> was "corrected" to the syntactically wrong: <audio> source / source / </audio>. Why would an expert make such a WP-type correction? Isn't an expert somebody who knows when (s)he doesn't know?
- Compton effect — The article defines: "The Compton effect is the name for the primary manner in which energy is absorbed by matter." Thus, the Sun heating the oceans and their beaches is the Compton effect? Arthur Compton, and all textbooks after him, define the effect as the elastic collision of a photon with a nearly free electron. No free electrons on the beaches or in the oceans: absorption of energy by sand and rocks is by exciting lattice vibrations; the oceans absorb energy primarily by water molecules gaining kinetic energy. No Compton effect in sight.
When errors are detected, more often than not they are detected by people outside of the project (such as RationalWiki) — bringing into question how qualified these CZ experts are and whether CZ's expert oversight procedure can be claimed to work in practice at all.
The great Wikipedia killer shows its strength
To be even minimally useful, an encyclopedia needs to have information on subjects people would want to know about. Here is a list of articles which do not exist on Citizendium as of April 2012, and, given the moribund nature of actual editing on Citizendium, as opposed to pissing matches, pointless bureaucracy and elections, probably never will.
- Most of Shakespeare's plays, including King Lear, Othello, As You Like It, Julius Caesar, Richard III, The Merchant of Venice, Anthony and Cleopatra, Much Ado about Nothing, and Twelfth Night. Luckily, no one ever studies Shakespeare.
- Basic parts of the body, like organ, bladder, diaphragm, uterus, or testicles. In addition, skeleton and bone are less than 10 words each.
- Historical figures such as Marco Polo, Hannibal, Cleopatra, Nero, and Caligula.
- The Boer War, The Franco-Prussian War, The Bosnian War, and much of the rest of military history.
- Several nations, including Burkina Faso, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Fiji, Gabon, Gambia, Honduras, Lesotho, Liberia, Madagascar, Malawi, and Panama.
- Many famous scientists, including James Watson, Linus Pauling, Jacques Cousteau, Lise Meitner, and Robert Oppenheimer.
Why Wikipedia wins
Wikipedia is far from perfect, but it is one of the most successful volunteer-driven projects on the World Wide Web, and that makes it hard to compete with. Any other wiki needs something that differentiates them from Wikipedia in order to lure people to them rather than Wikipedia. The successful ones, such as Conservapedia, RationalWiki, and all the various wikis devoted to analyzing video games, television shows, and so on, have a particular focus that does not overlap with Wikipedia's, allowing them to carve out a unique niche. Conservapedia, for instance, caters to right-wing nutjobs. RationalWiki snarks about pseudoscientific topics from a skeptical and scientific perspective. Muppet Wiki has over 24,500 pages (more than all of Citizendium) covering everything anyone might want to know about the various Jim Henson shows, movies, and characters. Whether due to special focus, intentional bias, tone, or obsessive detail, these wikis provide something that Wikipedia cannot.
Citizendium, however, exactly duplicates Wikipedia's focus of being a general encyclopedia. Its major difference is an organizational one, which only affects editors, not readers.
Even worse from a competitive standpoint, Citizendium's content is available under a Creative Commons license - meaning that Wikipedia can import any content it deems good enough. And Wikipedia has done so, setting up WikiProject Citizendium Porting, a group dedicated to reviewing Citizendium's approved articles and adapting them for use on Wikipedia.
- At least 23 of Citizendium's 156 approved articles either were taken from Wikipedia, or both Wikipedia and Citizendium's versions were written by the same person. Of the ones taken from Wikipedia, this was often done without attribution.
- Approximately 150 articles on Wikipedia incorporate some text from Citizendium, though in some cases this was as little as two words.
- Many of Citizendium's approved articles were considered too low quality to use on Wikipedia, either in whole or in part. For instance, the Citizendium article on DNA was considered "a degraded version of the Wikipedia article that tries to deal with too many subjects at once"; and Tux, as in the Linux mascot, has the note "Strongly against porting any more. A little information added from a low quality article." The Citizendium-approved articles on homeopathy, literature, chiropractic, and World of Warcraft, among others, were all considered completely unsuitable for Wikipedia.
- The Citizendium articles on Scarborough Castle, wheat and cypherpunks were singled out for praise. And were copied wholesale to Wikipedia under the terms of the mutually compatible Creative Commons licenses of the projects.
This importing does have some benefit to Citizendium, since each imported article will link to the Citizendium one in perpetuity. But in a bizarre twist, while Citizendium's license allows its material to be freely used elsewhere, the project's Editorial Council has expressly forbidden the importation of articles from any other source, including Wikipedia. Thus when a Citizendium article is better than its Wikipedia counterpart, Wikipedia can use the better one, but when the Wikipedia article is better, Citizendium must make do with whatever it has.
With its best content also available at its much larger competitor, which also has much more user-friendly registration procedures, and with Sanger's behaviour costing Citizendium the initial good will of the academic community, it will be very hard for Citizendium ever to become a viable competitor to Wikipedia.
Rearranging the deckchairs
Citizendium has so far utterly failed to make the bold moves necessary to regain the ground it has lost. Instead, much of its effort has been wasted in petty bickering and in byzantine governance procedures that are inappropriate for such a small project.
A Citizendium Charter was mentioned in the project's inaugural press release of October 2006 and intended to be implemented within the first twelve months. The charter was at last voted in on 23 September 2010. The approved version contains 55 Articles that set up a seven-member Editorial Council, a five-member Management Council, and the three "ancillary positions" of Managing Editor, Constabulary, and Ombudsman — all for a project with less than 10 contributors on an average day. (Note Article 24 promises "a minimum of bureaucracy.") It has obvious typographical and grammatical errors and some of these, when taken literally, reverse the intended meaning of the text. But the committee assigned to create the charter was disbanded, the former members seem pretty burnt out on the process, and personal sniping between them remains a regular feature of the site forum.
A month after the elections for the Management and Editorial councils one of the members of the Editorial Council resigned, citing his frustration with fighting "absolutely pointless bureaucracy":
“”It has been like the scene from Douglas Adams' Hitch-hikers' Guide to the Galaxy where they task the hair-dressers with discovering fire, so they form the Fire Discovery Subcommittee who then decide they need to do consumer focus groups to decide how best to market fire... Look at any successful open source project and you’ll find few if any committees or Councils or quorums or any of that faff. That is a feature, not a bug. I’m not saying we don’t need those things. But we don't need them now. What we need are sensible, mature people who can make a decision without drama and bickering.
|—Tom Morris, "Citizendium Editorial Council: resignation statement"|
While some progress has been made since the charter passed, the fundamental problems remain. The homeopathy article was finally replaced with something reasonably sane by Editorial Council fiat, overriding the vaunted "expert approval" process and implicitly admitting its failure. The Healing Arts workgroup — consisting of alternative medicine practitioners — was disbanded; but according to that decision, no healing arts editor licensed to practice their craft will lose their editorship, instead automatically gaining the right to register as Health Sciences editors, where they can do even more damage. (Dana Ullman is still listed as an editor, though not yet attached to Health Sciences or any other workgroup.) Such spot fixes do nothing to solve the wider problem: many promotional articles on the same level as the old homeopathy article still exist, including "approved" articles such as the one on Chiropracticimg.
Even worse, Citizendium's most crucial problem — its failure to attract and retain members — has been actively exacerbated by the Editorial Council. For example, when a member of the Editorial Council pointed out one of his friends chose not to join Citizendium because he felt the questions being asked were too intrusive, another Editorial Council member responded:img
“”Your friend may be the world's leading expert on whatever subject you say he is, but he's also the world's leading imbecile. And you may tell him that I said so, and use my name as well. What a cretin! And if all the other myriad people you tell us about share his feelings (which I seriously doubt, by the way), then they are cretins too. And we are better off without them.
Welcome to Citizendium.
- ↑ Their main page
- ↑ Wikipedia says so, this week. The question is more than a little contentious, however.
- ↑ Going so far as forbidding its editors from uploading free-to-use images and photographs from elsewhere if the artist works under a pseudonym and can't be convinced to reveal his or her real name: User talk:MGA73, Wikimedia Commons. (Note that the guy's first name is actually known ... and the image wasn't even his.)
- ↑ CZ:Healing Arts Workgroup — originally set up for people interested in native and traditional medical practice from an anthropological perspective, then taken over by present-day alternative medicine advocates.
- ↑ http://en.citizendium.org/wiki?title=CZ:Article_of_the_Week&diff=next&oldid=100440824
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Wikipedia founder's scholarly web venture plays host to a war of words (Times Higher Education, 2009-01-22)
- ↑ Chart: Editors at Citizendium per month
- ↑ Chart: Edits made at Citizendium per month
- ↑ The exact figure is 56.5%; see this chart.
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 Toward a New Compendium of Knowledge (longer version) (Larry Sanger, 2006-09-15)
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 Larry Sanger. "Co-Founder to Launch Edited Version of Wikipedia: Pilot Project for the Citizendium to Launch This Week", Citizendium.org, October 17, 2006.
- ↑ CZ:Press Coverage (archived)
- ↑ Citizendium Press Releases > Mar272007
- ↑ Citizendium forum thread, "Would you contribute more if the wiki were blank?" (January 2007)
- ↑ Larry Sanger: The Citizendium one year on: a strong start and an amazing future
- ↑ This started with a call for stubs in November 2007 and has continued since.
- ↑ CZ:Statistics#Word_count
- ↑ The mean being much larger than the median suggests the distribution is strongly positively skewed: many very short articles and a much smaller number of long ones.
- ↑ By the way, this means the mean is comparable to Wikipedia's, which was 580 words in January 2010.
- ↑ CZ:Statistics, graph Editing users.png
- ↑ Thirty-day running totals at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Statistics.
- ↑ Wikia Statistics - MuppetWiki
- ↑ Wikia Statistics - Wookieepedia, the Star Wars Wiki
- ↑ Active Editors at RationalWiki
- ↑ 25.0 25.1 http://daveydweeb.com/2007/02/07/citizendium-isnt-interested-in-your-opinion/
- ↑ http://forum.citizendium.org/index.php/topic,3299.msg31250.html#msg31250
- ↑ "My personal observation of the articles I have been involved with is that their quality varies enormously... This includes some of the population elevated to 'approved' articles, an ossification process that simply makes any revision of their infelicities impossibly bureaucratic." Citizendium Forum post, 21 September 2011.
- ↑ http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/My_resignation--Larry_Sanger
- ↑ The Hive: The Cunctator (Marshall Poe, The Atlantic, September 2006)
- ↑ "How similar is this project to open source hacker culture, and how similar to the culture of academia?" Citizendium FAQ, as of 23 December 2010
- ↑ Sanger, L. 2005-04-19. "The Early History of Nupedia and Wikipedia, Part II." Slashdot. This article sets out the basic ideas that he attempted eventually to put into practice as Citizendium.
- ↑ Citizendium — A study in momentum killing (Terrell Russell, blog post, 2006-10-13)
- ↑ "I won't point out the various examples of spuriousness but instead keep it to one observation: someone that inclined to perceive hostility where it isn't evident is not going to be a good community manager." (Response to a Larry Sanger blog post)
- ↑ "I can tell you in two words why it failed: Larry Sanger. I found I had moved from anarchy to absolute monarchy. After two or three encounters with Larry's autocratic rudeness, I departed."
- ↑ http://arstechnica.com/old/content/2007/02/citizendium.ars/3 'No dictator for life'
- ↑ http://news.softpedia.com/news/Wikipedia-Co-Founder-Ready-to-Launch-New-Project-120175.shtml
- ↑ https://lists.purdue.edu/pipermail/citizendium-l/2009-July/001418.html
- ↑ http://www.theregister.co.uk/2010/04/09/sanger_reports_wikimedia_to_the_fbi/
- ↑ http://blog.citizendium.org/?p=575
- ↑ http://www.larrysanger.org/ReplyToSlashdot.html
- ↑ The Charter Ratification Vote is Over (Larry Sanger, citizendium-l, 23 September 2010)
- ↑ Citizendium Ballot for the Management Council, June 2011.
- ↑ http://en.citizendium.org/wiki/CZ:Constable
- ↑ 44.0 44.1 44.2 University may be given the keys to Citizendium (comments) — quite vicious analysis in the story comments from academics burnt by Citizendium, with frankly bizarre responses from Larry Sanger and senior Citizendium constables.
- ↑ Consultingimg (larrysanger.org)
- ↑ Screen cap of forum post
- ↑ Citizendium Forum thread, "Message to the Citizendium Community"
- ↑ Citizendium Forum thread, "New hosting solution"
- ↑ Citizendium Donor List ( screencap)
- ↑ Comment by Larry Sanger posted to Wikipedia Review. Interestingly, Sanger's most forthcoming discussion of Citizendium finances appears on a site outside Citizendium.
- ↑ Citizendium press release
- ↑ Citizendium Forums thread, 12 November 2010
- ↑ Citizendium Personnel
- ↑ Citizendium form post: A major reorganization of our server farm
- ↑ Citizendium forum post: "Total donations to date amount to $3,832" ([:Capture_59e14e6c143033b02da9b1ac8ba3a301b137f15b.png screencap])
- ↑ Citizendium's financial report
- ↑ [backPid=115&cHash=db6cf0927d0b217ff33f1e45791700bc]
- ↑ Project Directory at the Tides Center web site
- ↑ Edit to CZ:FAQ by the project's Managing Editor, describing material on Tides Center partnership as "outdated."
- ↑ Edit to CZ:We aren't Wikipedia by the project's Managing Editor, removing reference to Tides Center
- ↑ A look at Citizendium's Backend (Network Performance Daily, 2007-06-11) — "First, to be different from Wikipedia."
- ↑ Upgrading the MW extensions on the live wiki (Dan Nessett, forums)
- ↑ First RationalWiki report and second RationalWiki report of said violations.
- ↑ [http://ec.citizendium.org/wiki/EC:DR-2011-001 Citizendium's Editorial Council engages in its second thinly-veiled attack on the same one of its members.
- ↑ [http://ec.citizendium.org/wiki/EC:I-2011-004/_Motion_mechanics ...the text of passed motions is available under a link of the form EC:I-2011-004 consisting of the namespace "EC:" followed by "R-", "Rec-", "D-", or "I-" (for Regulation, Recommendation, Decision, internal decision), the year "2011" and the number of the ruling "-004"... etc ad nauseum.
- ↑ http://forum.citizendium.org/index.php/topic,3792.0.html
- ↑ Search for images with "unknown" attribution or copyright status.
- ↑ Wikipedia:COI
- ↑ Larry Sanger, Citizendium, and the Problem of Expertise (Clay Shirky, Sep 2006)
- ↑ Or as one Citizendium Editor put it, "when I politely inform you that what you have written is unbalanced and does not represent mainstream academic views, kindly do not ask me for citations."
- ↑ Citizendium Editor Policy
- ↑ Citizendium Editorial Council decision PR-2010-017
- ↑ Citizendium forum post by Professor Russell Potter, 18 January 2007
- ↑ And everyone's faces, really. Summary of the summary: People remain a problem.
- ↑ ProfRAP (Russell Potter), blog comment
- ↑ http://www.kalital.com/archives/2006/11/racism_and_sexism_at_citizendi.html
- ↑ http://rationalwiki.org/wiki/index.php?title=Talk%3ACitizendium&diff=627280&oldid=627218
- ↑ A first hand account by Kali Tal of her experience on Citizendium.
- ↑ A NEW and GOOD Alternative to Wikipedia,especially on homeopathy! (Dana Ullman, otherhealth.com forum post)
- ↑ Talk:Homeopathy > Draftimg (revision as of 22:26, 14 September 2010)
- ↑ 81.0 81.1 Citizendium forumsimg
- ↑ Citizendium forumsimg (multiple posts)
- ↑ http://www.roughtype.com/archives/2006/09/an_expertfocuse.php#c20557
- ↑ Detailed dispute watch rules and procedures
- ↑ Citizendium failure Aleta Curry: "Do you realise that, the people spouting off on the talk pages you quote are, for the most part, disgruntled and vindictive ex-CZers and, unlike your respectable self, (and with a couple of notable exceptions) hiding behind pseudo anonymity?"
- ↑ Lessons from Citizendium (Slides and notes for HaeB's talk "Lessons from Citizendium" at Wikimania 2009)
- ↑ Citizendium forum comment by Tom Morris, 26 April 2009
- ↑ Citizendium forum comment by Howard C. Berkowitz, 1 October 2009
- ↑ Citizendium forum comment by Daniel Mietchen, 9 May 2010
- ↑ Dana Ullman ban announcement
- ↑ Discussion of Dana Ullman's complete lack of any of the qualifications they claim experts are required to have, leading to the user pointing out the issues, Adam Cuerden, being banned by Hayford Peirce.
- ↑ 92.0 92.1 Comment removed by D.Matt Innis from Talk:Memory of Water at 20:39, 20 September 2010 The offending words were "Oh, how I wish homeopathy [i.e., the homeopathy article] and its spinoffs would go away. I may just deal with the frustration by leaving Citizendium, as long as this is the main area of discussion. Desperately waiting for the Charter, hopefully ratification, and the Editorial Council..."
- ↑ On Citizendium
- ↑ http://en.citizendium.org/wiki/CZ:FAQ#What_is_Citizendium_trying_to_achieve.3F
- ↑ http://reinderdijkhuis.com/wordpress/2009/02/12/citizendium-the-encyclopedia-only-pro-homeopathy-editors-can-edit/
- ↑ Homeopathyimg (now-archived version from January 2009 which appeared on Citizendium's main page)
- ↑ "Is homeopathy good medecine?", Time magazine, 25 September 1995
- ↑ A NEW and GOOD Alternative to Wikipedia,especially on homeopathy! (Dana Ullman, otherhealth.com forum post)
- ↑ Talk:Homeopathy > Draft (revision as of 22:26, 14 September 2010)
- ↑ "Homeopathy", article at Wiki4CAM.org
- ↑ Citizendium:Chiropractic
- ↑ Although in fairness, Innis has been a long-term dedicated participant in Citizendium in general, and insightful concerning its problems.
- ↑ http://mail.citizendium.org/pipermail/sharedknowing/2009-February/000110.html
- ↑ Citizendium main page, January 28th 2009
- ↑ Citizendium Editorial Council decision
- ↑ User:JedRothwell block log
- ↑ Citizendium: cr*p or what? (William L. Connolley, Stoat, 2007-05-14)
- ↑ Citizendium is still doomed (William L. Connolley, Stoat, 2008-09-10)
- ↑ 'From http://en.citizendium.org/wiki/Pseudoscience#Astrology: "Astrological researchers often complain that they cannot receive a fair hearing in scientific circles, and find it hard to have their research published in scientific journals. They claim that their scientific critics have wrongly dismissed studies which do support astrology. An example would be Michel Gauquelin's purported discovery of correlations between some planetary positions and certain human traits such as vocations." - What the hell, Citizendium?
- ↑ Lists among its references a page from an online merchant of alternative medicine; hardly the type of source material one would expect for a site with Citizendium's aspirations.
- ↑ For example, "In the final analysis, the researchers included only the 8 largest studies" - that's completely and totally false; the whole point of the study was to see how things changed as study size and quality increased, and those 8 studies are the large, high-quality studies used in the highest rank of the comparison, not the only ones considered.
- ↑ User:Terryeo block log
- ↑ Truth About Scientology: Steven Ferry
- ↑ Scientology discussion
- ↑ 115.0 115.1 Scientologist infiltrates Citizendium (Operation Clambake Message Boards)
- ↑ http://en.citizendium.org/wiki?title=Church_of_Scientology&diff=prev&oldid=100247397
- ↑ http://en.citizendium.org/wiki?title=Church_of_Scientology&diff=prev&oldid=100314730
- ↑ 2008 Council Members
- ↑ http://en.citizendium.org/wiki?title=Welcome_to_Citizendium&oldid=100789411 Welcome to Citizendium
- ↑ Citizendium approved errors (HaeB, Wikipedia)
- ↑ IUPAC
- ↑ Atomic theory Encyclopædia Britannica
- ↑ Due to page moves (and possibly server moves), the article's history is very confusing.
- ↑ RationalWiki edit; Citizendium correction.
- ↑ Nick Gardner worked as an advisor to John Major's government.
- ↑ http://220.127.116.11/~wikipede/index.php?showtopic=25658
- ↑ RationalWiki edit; Citizendium correction.
- ↑ HTML5 audio.
- ↑ http://modernityblog.wordpress.com/2009/02/25/hagiography-and-citizendium/
- ↑ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:HaeB/Some_notes_on_Citizendium
- ↑ 131.0 131.1 131.2 WikiProject Citizendium Porting
- ↑ Figure obtained by counting the number of uses of Template:Citizendium, which is used to notify users that some text in an article has been taken from Citizendium. This figure is likely a bit high, since no attempt was made to subtract non-article usages.
- ↑ WikiProject Citizendium Porting, note for John Logie Baird: "two words ported, citizendium article based off of wikipedia, but sans references"
- ↑ For a sample of this petty squabbling see the Citizendium forum thread entitled Appeal of block 1549 ( screencap)
- ↑ Charter vote (Matt Innis, Citizendium forums)
- ↑ Citizendium Statistics: Daily contributors Accessed 22 March 2012.
- ↑ Citizendium Charter. A couple of examples: Article 5 is mostly a long, convoluted sentence that includes the wording "upon complaint of the aggrieved Citizen, the punishment of which may include..." This literally says that it is the "aggrieved citizen" who will be punished. In Article 12, what is "dispute resolutions should be resolved" supposed to mean? And so on.
- ↑ Citizendium Forums: Comments on "final version"
- ↑ Citizendium Forums: Comments on "final version"
- ↑ Citizendium Forums: Comments on "final version"
- ↑ Post to forum thread, "Openness & the public record", 11 March 2011; reply ( screencap)
- ↑ Citizendium Editorial Council decision
- ↑ Citizendium Editorial Council decision: Healing Arts Workgroup
- ↑ Category:CZ Editors ( screencap)
|Welcome to the Wikisphere. Please proceed with caution:|
|A Storehouse of Knowledge - Anarchopedia - Conservapedia - CreationWiki - EvoWiki - Knowino - Metapedia - New World Encyclopedia - PESWiki - Palaeos - Psiram - RationalWikiWiki - RationalWikiWikiWiki - RationalWiki (français) - Rightpedia - SourceWatch - TV Tropes - Wiki - Wiki4CAM - wikiFactor - WikiIndex - WikiIslam - WikiLeaks - WikiSynergy - Wikipedia| | <urn:uuid:b77d6710-0b19-434b-99ec-d4d13d9a6df8> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://rationalwiki.org/w/index.php?title=Citizendium&oldid=1015889 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783395620.56/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154955-00034-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.948633 | 12,512 | 2.625 | 3 |
Can We Determine the Sex of a Dinosaur?
On August 12, 1990, the most complete Tyrannosaurus rex skeleton ever discovered was unearthed in the badlands of South Dakota by paleontologists Peter Larson and Susan Hendrickson. The animal was nicknamed “Sue” in honor of the latter scientist and, after a lengthy legal battle, her remains were purchased for the hefty sum of $8.4 million by the Chicago Field Museum. Today, she's easily become the world's most famous dinosaur. But what if “Sue” wasn't actually a female?
“We'd given the T. rex that name and always referred to it as 'she' or 'her',” said Larson, “But even at the site, people were asking me 'What if she's a male?' I'd say that we could always point to that Johnny Cash song 'A Boy Named Sue.'”
Country classics notwithstanding, can paleontologists accurately determine the sex of a long-dead dinosaur?
The short answer is yes ... and no.
While Sue's gender remains very much in question, comparatively recent research has shown that at least some dinosaur specimens may be sexed with reasonable certainty by modern scientists. The riddle's solution may very well lie in the bones of present-day dinos—also known as “birds."
Producing eggs is a very taxing process for expectant avian mothers, as the calcium in their shells is biologically expensive to build. When eggs start forming in the womb of a gravid bird, her body releases a heightened level of estrogen. This triggers the growth of what's known as “medullary bone” inside of her hollow leg and arm bones. The specialized medullary bone tissue provides much-needed calcium for the growing eggshells and lingers until their completion, at which point it disappears.
In 2005, paleontologists at North Carolina State University and Montana State University announced that they'd discovered medullary tissue within the limb bones of a T. rex specimen, suggesting that the animal was A) female and B) gravid at the time of its death.
The approach is hardly fool-proof: Only the bones of pregnant female dinosaurs would show any sign of medullary tissue, rendering the technique useless for deducing the sex of the vast majority of dinosaur skeletons. Nevertheless, the findings have excited a number of paleontologists, including one international team which sought to deduce the link between gender and this tell-tale tissue in a group of well-preserved fossilized birds this past February. | <urn:uuid:f4c21a83-f27b-4f92-8e67-d98dbf3d7804> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://mentalfloss.com/article/51227/can-we-determine-sex-dinosaur | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783396538.42/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154956-00184-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.960225 | 534 | 3.625 | 4 |
The International Space Station will be visible in the night sky over the next two days, including tonight starting at 9:18 p.m.
Considered a "moving star," the space station will be visible just above the horizon looking southwest for about five minutes. It will move from 11 degrees above the horizon rising to almost straight above in the night sky before disappearing from view to the northwest.
Two viewing opportunities will occur Thursday.
The first will be 4:05 a.m. when the station rises in the northwest sky just above the horizon and moves across the sky in an east-to-southeast direction for five minutes.
The second opportunity will be 8:27 p.m. Thursday when it moves from 11 degrees across the southwest horizon and then sets in the northwest five minutes later.
The International Space Station has been under construction in Earth orbit for the past decade and now is larger than a three-bedroom home, according to NASA. | <urn:uuid:363acff7-a5cf-4892-9f29-a5f1bb5892aa> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://blog.al.com/breaking/2008/05/space_station_overhead_tonight.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783398209.20/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154958-00182-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.932764 | 194 | 2.671875 | 3 |
Some important indicators for honey fit for human consumption include crucial parameters that are tested by Rwanda Bureau Standards (RBS) laboratories with intention to not only ensure honey quality for trade but help honey processors improve that sector.
Honey is a sweet food made by bees using nectar from flowers. The variety produced by honey bees (the genus Apis) is the one most commonly referenced. Honey that is not produced by bees should have distinctly different properties.
Ally Clair Harerimana from Inorganic Chemistry Section at RBS says, some people prefer honey over sugar and other sweeteners due to its attractive chemical properties for baking, and its distinctive flavor.
Honey is generally made by bees’ transformation results by a process of regurgitation and evaporation. Honey gets its sweetness from the monosaccharides, fructose, and glucose, and has approximately the same relative sweetness as that of granulated sugar.
PHYSICAL AND CHEMICAL PROPERTIES
Honey is denser than water with a density of about 1.37. The physical properties of honey vary depending on water content, the type of flora used to produce it (pasturage), temperature, and the proportion of specific sugars it contains.
Fresh honey is a supersaturated liquid, containing more sugar than the water can typically dissolve at ambient temperatures. At room temperature, honey is a super cooled liquid. This forms a semisolid solution of precipitated sugars in a solution of sugars and other ingredients because the glucose precipitates into solid granules.
Like all sugar compounds, honey will caramelize if heated too much, becoming darker in color and eventually burning. The pH of honey is between 3.4 and 6.1. It contains fructose, which caramelizes at lower temperatures than the glucose.
Honey also contains acids, which act as catalysts and interacting with the flavors, adding the aroma and taste.
Those acids are Gluconic acid which is the most prevalent; formic, acetic, butyric, citric, lactic, malic, pyroglutamic, propionic, valeric, capronic, palmitic, and succinic, among many others.Honey is a mixture of sugars and other compounds.
With respect to carbohydrates, honey is mainly fructose (about 38.5%) and glucose (about 31.0%) making it similar to the synthetically produced inverted sugar syrup, which is approximately 48% fructose, 47% glucose, and 5% sucrose.
Honey’s remaining carbohydrates include maltose, sucrose, and other complex carbohydrates.
Honey also contains tiny amounts of several compounds thought to function as antioxidants, including chrysin, pinobanksin, vitamin C, catalase, and pinocembrin.Addition of sugars originating from corn or sugar cane/commercial sugar in honey can be detected by using Fiehe’s test.
“As with all nutritive sweeteners, honey is mostly sugars and contains only trace amounts of vitamins or minerals,” Harerimana says.
High-quality honey can be distinguished by fragrance, taste, and consistency. Ripe, freshly collected, high-quality honey at 20 °C should flow from a knife in a straight stream, without breaking into separate drops. After falling down, the honey should form a bead.
The honey, when poured, should form small, temporary layers that disappear fairly quickly, indicating high viscosity. If not, it indicates excessive water or moisture content (over 20%) of the product. Honey with excessive water content is not suitable for long-term preservation.
However, this physical appearance examination is not enough to conclude on the quality of honey being good or not. Apart from these physical appearances points, RBS laboratories carry out honey test analysis to ensure the quality and its fitness for consumption. Those parameters include Relative Density, Moisture Content, Indicators of Honey QualityHydroxymethylfurfuraldehyde(HMF), Fiehe’s Test, Total Ash (amount of minerals content), Heavy Metals, Sucrose, Total Carbohydrates, Glucose and Fructose Content, Total Solids, Total Water Insoluble Solids and Acidity.
ORIGIN OF TOXIC CHEMICALS IN HONEY
Various synthetic chemicals, such as insecticides and fertilizers, as well as a variety of naturally occurring
chemicals from plants can intoxicate honey. This intoxication can also result from exposure to ethanol from fermented nectar, ripe fruits, and manmade and natural chemicals in the environment.
The honey produced by bees from these toxic nectars can be poisonous if consumed by humans. HMF (HydroxyMethylFurfuraldehyde) is a dangerous and carcinogenic compound which may be present in
honey. It is used as an indicator of heat and storage changes in honey
THE FOLLOWING REACTIONS CHAIN SHOWS HOW HMF IS FORMED:
1. Fructopyranose 2. Fructofuranose 3. Fructose 4. Dehydration stage of Fructose 5. HMF
In fact, HMF is formed by the breakdown of fructose in the presence of an acid.
Heat increases the speed of this reaction. The increase in speed is exponential with increasing heat.
HMF occurs naturally in most honeys and usually increases with the age and heat treatment of honey.
HMF’s occurrence and accumulation in honey is variable depending on honey type.
HMF is used as an indicator of honey adulteration with invert syrups (syrups of glucose and fructose). Sugar cane (sucrose) is “inverted” by heating with a food acid, and this process creates HMF.
CASE OF PASTEURIZED HONEY
Honey is heated in a pasteurization process in order to kill or destroy yeast spores/cells which requires temperatures of 161 °F (72 °C) or higher. It also liquefies any microcrystals in the honey, which delays the onset of visible crystallization. However, excessive heat exposure also results in product deterioration, as it increases the level of hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF) and reduces enzyme (e.g. diastase) activity. Heat also affects appearance (darkens the natural honey color), taste, and fragrance. | <urn:uuid:3db3155d-593a-4413-b43a-f51751421c97> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.therwandancook.com/rwanda-similarities-of-honey-and-sugar/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783399106.96/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154959-00075-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.916303 | 1,358 | 3.6875 | 4 |
Our nation celebrates Thanksgiving this week, as we’ve done every year officially since 1863 and unofficially since the first immigrants stepped ashore in Florida, Virginia, and Massachusetts in the late 1500s and early 1600s. On this holiday, Americans of all ethnic and racial backgrounds commemorate the spirit of friendship and welcoming exhibited in particular by the Wampanoag tribe in 1621 toward the newly arrived Plymouth colonists.
The early colonists came to this country for new opportunity—to seek their fortune, escape persecution, and provide a better life for themselves and their children. Others came in chains but after the end of slavery slowly found those same opportunities, too. Immigrants come to this country today for similar reasons, and we, like the Wampanoag tribe before us, should welcome them.
In short, we are a nation of immigrants—all of us trace our origins to another land. Our culture is a blended one—from music to food to fashion, traditions from Europe, Africa, Asia, and Latin America come together to form a distinctly American culture. American music would not be the same without its Scotch-Irish and Afro-Caribbean influences, just as California cuisine would not be the same without its Latin and Asian influences. Our history and our destiny are shaped by our diversity.
We are irreparably, irrevocably, and proudly immigrant. From the operating room to the Cabinet Room to the shuttle Discovery, immigrants and their descendants created and continue to contribute to the development of this great nation. We hold parades to celebrate our Irish ancestry, festivals to spread our Caribbean culture, and our calendar is replete with holidays for every faith group and days in which we commemorate and remember our nation’s history.
Yet with each new wave of immigrants come repeated false claims, stereotypes, slurs, and irrational fears of crime, disease, and fewer jobs for the native born. From Catholics and the Irish in the 17th and 18th centuries, to Chinese and eastern European immigrants in the 19th and 20th centuries, repeated attempts were made to stymie the contributions of immigrants. Time and again new arrivals were castigated as less virtuous than the earlier immigrants, and claims were made that they would not assimilate into American culture. All bogus, of course, yet the naysayers of today focus their attention on immigrants from Latin America. The current economic downturn, a stubbornly high rate of unemployment, and a deadlocked U.S. Congress embolden state legislators to pass massively prejudicial laws that harm their state’s economies, their residents, and their immigrants. Today’s immigrants, however, just like each and every wave of immigrants before them, are on track to integrate quite well into American society. They are going to school, learning English, and buying homes at rates higher than the native born.
Reports from Alabama, which recently followed in the ill-advised footsteps of Arizona’s S.B. 1070 anti-immigration law, indicate that the nation’s harshest anti-immigrant law will cost Alabama a minimum of $40 million if only 10,000 undocumented workers leave the state, in addition to $130 million per year in lost tax revenue were they to drive out the entire undocumented community. The Alabama law, which makes it a crime to be without status:
-Requires law enforcement to check the papers of anyone they suspect of being undocumented
-Mandates that public schools check the legal status of their students and their students’ parents
-Abrogates any contract made with an undocumented immigrant
-Make no mistake: This will damage Alabama’s economy, undermine the health and safety of all Alabamans, and jeopardize the welfare of children and families across the state.
Alabama’s law, and those like it, seeks to redefine the American Dream to one where our doors are closed to the tired, the poor, and the huddled masses yearning to breathe free. To do so is against the spirit of Thanksgiving and against the spirit of America. So this Thanksgiving, celebrate by being thankful for one of America’s greatest strengths—our immigrants. We quite literally wouldn’t be here without them.
About the author: William Flanagan is the Special Events Coordinator at the Center for American Progress.
This article was published by the Center for American Progress. | <urn:uuid:a8bdf2a3-4f6e-4a7c-8277-35c63e60c5a4> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://capcityfreepress.blogspot.com/2011/11/william-flanagan-be-thankful-for.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783397565.80/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154957-00058-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.962808 | 889 | 2.921875 | 3 |
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Home Historic Preservation Programs & Officers Federal FHWA
Suicide Prevention and Historic Preservation on the Cold Spring Canyon Bridge
Description of Undertaking
Since its construction in 1963, approximately 45 people have committed suicide by jumping from the Cold Spring Canyon Bridge to the rocky canyon below. While not used as frequently for suicide as San Francisco’s Golden Gate Bridge, the Cold Spring Canyon Bridge, in Santa Barbara County, California, does claim the highest concentration of such fatalities in the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) District 5 (which includes the central coastal counties of Monterey, San Benito, Santa Cruz, San Luis Obispo, and Santa Barbara), and has been a major source of concern to the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Department. Not only are lives lost when individuals jump from the bridge, there is considerable risk to team members on the Sheriff’s Search and Rescue recovery teams who must traverse difficult terrain to recover the human remains.
Based on consultations with the public and a multi-agency Cold Springs Arch Bridge Suicide Prevention Committee, Caltrans proposed construction of a fence-type barrier along the length of the bridge with funding from the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA). Consulting parties and the public are divided on whether a suicide fence will have too great an impact on the significant characteristics of the historic bridge, and whether a barrier is needed at this location. Parties opposing a fence-type barrier argue that call boxes and human intervention are as effective as physical barriers for reducing the suicide rate and would avoid damaging the structural and visual integrity of the historic bridge.
Affected Historic Property
The largest steel arch bridge in California, and one of the first in the country to be built entirely of all-welded steel components, the 1963 Cold Springs Canyon Bridge is considered of exceptional significance for its engineering and architectural design. The structure is significant for its type, period, and method of construction as an important example of bridge design and engineering that demonstrates a maturation of steel arch bridge design and welded steel technology in California, and represents a high aesthetic quality of contemporary design from its period.
Analysis of Consultation and Agreement
Caltrans has assumed responsibility for both National Environmental Protection Act (NEPA) and Section 106 review on FHWA projects in the state of California. Under the authority of Sections 6004 and 6005 of the Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users (SAFETEA-LU), FHWA delegated this authority to Caltrans. FHWA retains auditing and monitoring responsibilities, but does not participate in individual project reviews, except for projects specifically excluded from the assumption. Caltrans is, therefore, effectively the lead federal agency for this undertaking.
Caltrans designed the proposed build alternatives for the suicide barrier in a manner that would minimize the effect of the project on the historic bridge by following the Secretary of Interior’s Standards for treatment of historic properties as much as possible. Its staff examined other bridges in California, throughout the US, and elsewhere in the world to assess potential designs for the barrier on this bridge.
Although Caltrans coordinated with State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO) staff in developing this project, California SHPO Wayne Donaldson decided not to sign the MOA submitted for his signature because of objections raised by citizens who believed a non-barrier alternative would be more effective and had not been considered. Parties opposed to a barrier included, among others, representatives of the Santa Barbara County Historic Landmarks Advisory Commission, the Santa Barbara Trust for Historic Preservation, and individuals opposed to altering the bridge. In order to assist with resolving these issues, the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation (ACHP) became a consulting party and agreed to work with the SHPO and Caltrans to examine concerns that had been raised. After reviewing the comments received from parties with concerns and meeting with Caltrans to review the purpose and need for the project and other possible barrier designs, the ACHP and SHPO agreed that Caltrans could move forward with design of a fence-type barrier that minimizes the visual impacts to the historic bridge.
The resulting Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) was executed among Caltrans, the SHPO, and the ACHP on March 23, 2009. The agreement requires Caltrans to conduct a feasibility study on an arc-type fence barrier proposed by SHPO, which would reduce obstruction of the view to persons driving over the bridge. The MOA also requires photo documentation of the Cold Spring Canyon Bridge according to Historic American Engineering Standards (HAER) standards prior to construction of the barrier, development of an illustrated booklet about the historic bridge for local organizations, and a three-panel interpretive exhibit to be designed by Caltrans.
The Section 106 review process was designed to help Federal agency officials resolve conflicts between project goals and preservation concerns through consultation. Located in rural Santa Barbara County, the proposed suicide barrier project nonetheless had substantial public interest, with members of the Cold Spring Bridge Suicide Prevention Committee seeking the most effective suicide deterrent available; while others opposed construction of a physical barrier that would alter the important scenic, aesthetic, and historic values of the bridge. While preservation of the historic character and views to and from the Cold Spring Canyon Bridge are of great importance, it is difficult to argue that these historic values are of greater importance than trying to save the lives of potential suicide victims. No compromise or middle ground was found to resolve this conflict and parties opposed to the suicide barrier remain unhappy with the outcome, but in the final analysis, the ACHP and SHPO agreed to a barrier design that minimizes the impact to the bridge.
For more information please contact [email protected].
Updated August 17, 2009 | <urn:uuid:7816c5fa-4527-4209-9174-cd5f936d79b2> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.achp.gov/fhwa_section106_california.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783403826.29/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624155003-00158-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.936745 | 1,184 | 2.515625 | 3 |
I have been designing iSCSI backbones lately, and it struck me that the one of the performance problems with iSCSI is that it uses the TCP protocol.
A primary purpose of the TCP protocol is so that OS can ensure that any dropped or lost packets are handled by the TCP/IP stack in the operating system. The application can simply hand off the data to the network driver which will guarantee the delivery of the packet.
However, the use of TCP is processing intensive because buffers, order counting and checksums are peformed. And given that data centre networks are highly reliable, it isn’t even necessary (If FCoE can be reliable over Ethernet, then iSCSI can be reliable over IP).
My question is, then, why hasn’t the storage industry developed a new protocol that just uses IP ?
Precedent – DLSW
For those who remember DLSW (Data Link Switching) for the IBM mainframe, there was a specific protocol developed that allowed for very fast transport of SNA data to the mainframe.
The FST (Fast Sequenced Transport) was an IP Protocol that was stateless and sequenced for carrying bridged or Layer 2 data over IP networks. Because it was smaller and tool less CPU and time to generate packets, it reduced overhead and improved response time.
The network was then configured to provide QoS for the FST/IP protocol and thus ensured high performance.
Block transport over IP ?
The most common criticism of iSCSI is that is requires:
- CPU resources from the Server and Storage Array to process the packets
- adds latency during the TCP Checksum calculation, thus reducing throughput
thus lowering the overall performance of the storage system when compared to FibreChannel or FCoE.
If a new version of iSCSI was to remove the TCP header, and use only the IP header with a small amount of session information in the payload, it could address these issues.
Does anyone know if work has been done in this area ? And I’m wondering why the storage industry hasn’t picked up on the idea because I’m still baffled by the choice to use Ethernet as protocol to transport data. That idea was over in the 1980’s when IBM mainframes lost control of their customers with closed systems. | <urn:uuid:a36dd51d-d073-47a7-b249-06e042eee6f6> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://etherealmind.com/why-does-iscsi-use-tcp/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783400031.51/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624155000-00038-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.944327 | 481 | 2.71875 | 3 |
Views of a Changing World 2003
Chapter 1. Post-War Opinions
The U.S. image in Europe, which plummeted in the days leading up to war in Iraq, has improved somewhat since then. But favorable ratings for the U.S., in Europe and elsewhere, remain far below levels measured in 2002 and 2000
Among major U.S. allies in Western Europe, seven-in-ten British and six-in-ten Italians currently say they feel at least somewhat favorably toward the United States. That represents a significant shift since the prewar survey by the Pew Global Attitudes Project (March 10-17, 2003), when only about half the British (48%) and a third of Italians (34%) expressed favorable views of the United States.
In Germany, France and Spain, favorable views of the U.S. also have increased from their abysmal prewar levels. Even so, fewer than half in all three have positive opinions of the United States (Germany 45%, France 43%, Spain 38%). As recently as last summer, more than six-in-ten French and Germans (61%) expressed favorable views of the U.S.
Aside from Great Britain and Italy, majorities in only five other countries express favorable views of the U.S.: Israel (79%), Kuwait (63%), Canada (63%), Nigeria (61%) and Australia (60%). Even in some of these countries, however, the U.S. image has slipped. Last summer, 77% of Nigerians had positive feelings toward the U.S., compared with 61% in the current survey.
Fewer than four-in-ten Russians (36%) say they have a very or somewhat favorable view of the U.S., compared with 28% in the prewar survey. That is well below the 61% who gave the U.S. positive ratings in the 2002 poll.
People in most predominantly Muslim countries remain overwhelmingly opposed to the U.S., and in several cases these negative feelings have increased dramatically. Fewer than one-in-five Indonesians (15%) have positive views of the U.S., compared with 83% with unfavorable opinions. That represents a complete reversal since last summer, when by a wide margin (61%-36%), Indonesians expressed favorable opinions of the U.S.
Just 15% of Turks have positive feelings toward the U.S., about the same as in March (12%), but far fewer than in 2002 or 2000 (30% and 52%, respectively). Even in Nigeria – aside from Kuwait, the only largely Muslim country in which a majority has a favorable view of the United States – Muslims are far less supportive of the U.S. than are non-Muslims. Only about four-in-ten Muslims in Nigeria (38%) have favorable views of the United States, compared with 85% of non-Muslims.
Anti-U.S. sentiment is virtually unanimous in Jordan and the Palestinian Authority (99% and 98% unfavorable, respectively). The intensity of this opinion is striking. More than eight-in-ten Palestinians (85%) and Jordanians (83%) say they feel very unfavorably toward the U.S., far more than any other public.
U.S. Opinion Also More Negative
Disagreements over Iraq and other policies also have taken their toll on American attitudes toward France and Germany. Fewer than three-in-ten Americans (29%) say they have very or somewhat favorable views of France, while twice as many (60%) feel negatively. In a little over a year, opinion of this traditional U.S. ally has shifted dramatically. In a February 2002 Gallup survey, 79% of Americans had positive opinions of France, compared with just 16% who felt negatively.
Germany‘s image in the U.S. also has taken a hit, though Americans view Germany much more favorably than they do France. The U.S. public is divided in its assessments of Germany – 44% feel favorably, 41% unfavorably. In February 2002, nearly twice as many Americans had positive impressions of Germany (83%).
Positive views of Canada also have slipped since last summer, though they remain overwhelmingly favorable (65% now, 83% then). American attitudes toward Great Britain are by far the most positive of the four countries tested: 82% say they have favorable views of Great Britain, down somewhat from February 2002 (90%).
‘Americans’ Liked, But Pockets of Hostility
Traditionally, people around the world tend to take a positive view of Americans, even where most dislike the United States and oppose U.S. policies. Majorities in 14 of the 21 publics express favorable views of Americans.
But several Muslim populations express negative views of Americans, as well as America. Nine-in-ten Palestinians (92%) and eight-in-ten Jordanians (82%) say they feel somewhat or very unfavorably toward Americans. In Jordan, hostility toward Americans is on the rise; last summer, fully half of Jordanians (53%) had a positive view of Americans, a number that has fallen to 18% in the current survey.
Negative views of Americans are not limited to Muslim populations. Fewer than half of those in Spain (47%), a NATO ally, have a positive impression of Americans. Only about four-in-ten Brazilians (43%) view Americans favorably, down from 54% in summer 2002.
People in most other nations continue to have high regard for Americans. This is the case even in countries like Indonesia, where most have a negative view of the United States. More than half of Indonesians (56%) say they feel favorably toward Americans, though this is down from 65% last year. In South Korea, where the image of the U.S. is mixed (46% positive, 50% negative), an increasing number say they have a good opinion of Americans (74%, up from 61% last summer).
Most Blame Bush
People who have unfavorable views of the United States for the most part base those opinions on their feelings about President Bush, not the United States generally. This view is especially widespread in some Western European countries. In France and Germany, nearly three-quarters of those who have negative views of the U.S. say their opposition is to the president, rather than America generally (74% each). Two-thirds of Italians (67%) and six-in-ten British (59%) who have negative views of the U.S. say the same.
U.S. critics in largely Muslim nations also tend to blame the president, not a more general problem with the U.S. Nearly seven-in-ten Indonesians (69%) who have a negative view of the U.S. cite their feelings about the president, as do majorities in Morocco (66%), Pakistan (62%), Nigeria (60%), Turkey (52%) and Lebanon (51%).
People who have the most negative views of the U.S. – Palestinians and Jordanians – are more divided in their assessments of whether the president or America generally is to blame. A plurality of Jordanians (42%) blames Bush, while a plurality of Palestinians (36%) volunteered “both,” when asked whether the president or the nation is to blame.
South Koreans are divided in their view of the United States, with half expressing an unfavorable view. Overwhelmingly, South Koreans attribute this negative opinion to a general problem with America, rather than a problem with the president (72%-20%).
Boycotts Both Ways
In the United States, anger over France‘s and Germany‘s active opposition to the war with Iraq spurred highly visible protests, including a move to rename French fries “freedom fries,” and calls for boycotts of French and German products. One-quarter of Americans have seriously considered such a boycott, and 14% say they have actually stopped buying products from those countries.
The idea of boycotting American products is far less popular in France and Germany, despite the widespread criticism in those countries of the United States and its policies. Only about one-in-ten in France and Germany (13% and 12%, respectively) say they have considered not buying American products to protest U.S. policies. About half that number in each country (8% and 6%) say they actually have stopped buying U.S. goods.
But anti-American boycotts are more widespread in other parts of the world. Half of Palestinians, nearly as many Jordanians (48%) and more than four-in-ten Turks (43%), say they have considered not buying American products to protest U.S. policies, and a significant proportion say they have actually followed through with that action (37% of Palestinians, 36% of Jordanians and 32% of Turks). Substantial minorities in South Korea (29%), Kuwait (25%) and Indonesia (24%) also have considered boycotting American products.
Views of Things American
The postwar update survey revisited opinions about American ideas, business practices, and cultural products, first reported in last year‘s Global Attitudes survey (What the World Thinks in 2002). The publics of most nations continue to admire the United States for its technological and scientific advances, and strong majorities in many of them also like American music, movies and television. But large majorities in most countries say they dislike the growing influence of America in their country.
If anything, U.S. technology is even more popular than it was last summer. Solid majorities in every country except Russia say they admire U.S. scientific and technological know-how. Even Palestinians, who were not surveyed in 2002 and who generally take a dim view of all things American, have a positive view of U.S. science and technology (62% favorable).
Opinions are more mixed on American business practices and American ideas about democracy. As was the case in last year, people around the world generally view the spread of American ideas and customs as a bad thing. In a handful of cases, these attitudes have shifted since last summer – sometimes dramatically – but there has been no consistent pattern to these changes.
Few Second Thoughts about Iraq War
For the most part, people in the 20 nations surveyed say they agree with the stance their governments took on the war in Iraq, whether it was to participate in military action or to stay out of the conflict. Generally the war did little to change prewar attitudes regarding military action, except in the U.S. and Great Britain, where the success of the war bolstered public support for the use of force in Iraq.
In a prewar poll conducted March 14-16, just 39% of British supported their country joining the U.S. and others in taking military action against Iraq. Currently, 61% of the British feel the government made the right decision to use military force in Iraq. The prewar survey also showed 59% of Americans favoring military action; now, 74% believe it was right to go to war. Spain is the notable exception among the so-called “coalition of the willing.” While Spanish military forces had no combat role in Iraq, the Spanish public, by two-to-one, believes their government 25 did the wrong thing in providing even limited support for the coalition effort (62% wrong decision/31% right decision).
The Kuwaiti public overwhelmingly agrees with their government‘s decision to allow the U.S. to use bases in that country for military action in Iraq. Fully eight-in-ten Kuwaitis (83%) back that decision, while just 9% disagree.
People in countries that stayed out of the war overwhelmingly believe their governments made the right decision. Fully nine-in-ten Israelis (92%) and eight-in-ten French (83%) and Germans (80%) believe their governments made the right decision not to join the allies.
Seeing the War Differently
Globally, people have very different perceptions of whether the United States and its coalition partners did all they could to avoid civilian casualties in Iraq. Publics in countries that participated in the war – the U.S., Great Britain and Australia – strongly believe coalition forces did all they could to avoid Iraqi civilian casualties. But for the most part, that view is not shared in other countries.
Large majorities in most Muslim countries believe the U.S. and its allies did not do enough to avoid civilian casualties. This opinion is virtually unanimous in Jordan (97%) and the Palestinian Authority (95%) and is widely shared in Morocco (91%), Turkey (88%), Indonesia (83%) and Pakistan (81%).
The idea that the United States and its allies did too little to avoid civilian casualties also is prevalent in Western Europe – with the exception of Italy – Russia, South Korea and Brazil. In fact, aside from the nations that participated in the conflict, solid majorities in only three countries – Israel (69%), Canada (62%) and Kuwait (59%) – believe that the U.S. and its allies did all they could to avoid civilian casualties.
Are Iraqis Better Off?
Despite widespread concerns over the way the war was conducted, majorities in most countries – with the exception of several Muslim nations – feel the Iraqi people will be better off because of Saddam Hussein‘s removal from power. However, the United States and its allies receive only middling marks for taking into account the needs of the Iraqi people as they begin the task of rebuilding the country.
Majorities in every Western European country surveyed – even those where there was broad opposition to the war – believe Iraqis will be better off now that Hussein has been deposed. Three-quarters in France and Germany (76% in each) believe the Iraqi people will be better off with Hussein ousted, and seven-in-ten in Spain agree.
But several Muslim publics believe that the Iraqi people will be worse off now that Hussein is no longer in power. Roughly eight-in-ten Palestinians (85%) and Jordanians (80%) think people in Iraq will be in worse shape with Hussein out of power, and majorities in Indonesia (67%), Pakistan (60%) and Morocco (53%) agree. Among Muslim publics, only in Kuwait and Nigeria do solid majorities believe the lot of Iraqi people will improve in the post-Hussein era (80% and 62% respectively).
Rebuilding Effort Criticized
Most Americans (59%) feel that in rebuilding Iraq, the U.S. and its allies are doing an excellent or good job in taking into account the needs of the Iraqi people. But people in other countries express considerable doubt about how well the allies are doing in that regard – and that is the case even among coalition allies.
Roughly half of Australians (53%) and British (50%) say the U.S. and its allies are doing only a fair or poor job in addressing the interests of the Iraqi people. Views of the reconstruction effort are even more negative elsewhere. Majorities in Western Europe, Russia, South Korea and most Muslim publics give the allies a rating of fair or poor for taking into account the needs of the Iraqi people as they rebuild the country. That is the case as well in Israel (60% fair/poor), where people give the U.S. and its allies high marks for their conduct of the war.
Mixed Outlook for Mideast Democracy
There is moderate optimism that the war on Iraq will lead to broad democratization in the Middle East, as many believe the region will become somewhat more democratic. Majorities in the U.S., Canada and most of Western Europe feel the Middle East will become at least somewhat more democratic with the removal of Hussein from power.
For the most part, people in the Middle East do not concur with that opinion. Nearly six-in-ten in Jordan (59%) believe there will be no change in the region as a consequence of Hussein‘s removal, and half of Lebanese agree. A slim majority in Israel (54%) believes the region will become somewhat more democratic. By contrast, just 13% of Palestinians think greater democratization is likely, while 75% expect no change in the region.
Kuwaitis stand out for their optimism that Hussein‘s removal will lead to greater democracy in the Middle East. Fully half of Kuwaitis believe the Middle East will become much more democratic as result of Hussein‘s ouster, more than any country surveyed. Another 21% of Kuwaitis think the region will become somewhat more democratic.
U.N. Less Popular
While there is a growing consensus that the U.N. has become less relevant, overall positive opinions of the world body have also decreased. The percentage of people who say the U.N. has a good influence on their country has declined in nations that took military action against Iraq – including Great Britain and the U.S. – as well as those that bitterly opposed the war. Positive views of the U.N. dropped by 37 percentage points in Great Britain and 29 points in the U.S.; the negative change was nearly as sharp in Germany (33 points) and France (28 points).
In an unusual note of agreement, large majorities of both Israelis and Palestinians feel that the U.N. is having a bad influence (63% among the Israelis, and 78% on the Palestinians). Majorities are negative about the U.N. in Jordan, Turkey, Lebanon, France and Brazil, and pluralities are now negative in the U.S., Great Britain and Pakistan.
U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan receives a vote of confidence from majorities in nine of the 21 publics surveyed in the postwar update, with two-thirds or more of the Germans, British, Australians, and Italians saying they have at least some confidence in him to do the right thing regarding world affairs. But majorities in Indonesia, Israel, Lebanon, Turkey, the Palestinian Authority, and Jordan express little or no confidence in the U.N. Secretary General.
More Opposition to War on Terror
Compared with last summer, significantly fewer people around the world say they support the U.S.-led efforts to fight terrorism. In 10 of the 14 countries where comparisons are possible, the percentage favoring the war on terrorism has declined. And in Pakistan, there was little change in support but a large increase in opposition.
Support for the war on terrorism remains greatest among traditional U.S. allies, including many nations where terrorist attacks have occurred in recent years. Support is strong in Israel (85% favor the U.S. efforts), Italy (70%), Australia and Canada (68% each), Great Britain and Spain (63% each), Nigeria, France and Germany (60% each). But support is down in France and Germany (by 15 and 10 points, respectively). And in Russia, the percentage backing the war on terror has fallen 22 points, to 51%.
Fewer than a quarter support the war on terrorism in Indonesia, Turkey, Pakistan, Jordan, and even in South Korea. Just one-in-ten Moroccans (9%) say they back the war on terror. (This survey was conducted before the May 16 terrorist attack in Casablanca).
Prior to the war with Iraq, President Bush described what many observers saw as a new doctrine asserting the right of military preemption against potentially hostile nations. But majorities in most of the nations polled believe that the use of force against nations that threaten but have not actually attacked one‘s country is rarely or never justified.
Opposition to preemption is particularly widespread in Jordan and the Palestinian Authority, where 93% and 78%, respectively, believe preemption is rarely or never justified. By contrast, majorities in Pakistan, the United States, Israel, Britain, Australia, and Canada say that this policy is often or sometimes justified. Despite their country‘s active opposition to the war in Iraq, a sizable minority in France (42%) supports preemption.
Europeans Want Looser Ties to U.S.
The publics of many America‘s most important allies favor Western Europe taking a more independent approach to security and diplomatic affairs than in the past. But even in the United States, a large minority – 39% – agrees with the idea of loosening the partnership, and 43% of Canadians want their country to have a more independent relationship with the U.S.
In France and Germany, this sentiment is notably higher than it was in April 2002. Currently, 76% in France favor a more distant relationship with the U.S., up from 60% in 2002 and 67% just before the war with Iraq. The change in Germany was smaller, with support for a more independent approach rising from 52% prior to the war to 57% today. About six-in-ten in Turkey, Spain and Italy also favor looser ties with the U.S., all unchanged from prewar levels. The British are divided, with just over half saying the alliance should remain close and 45% favoring a more distant relationship with the U.S.
America is seen by most publics polled as showing little regard for the interests of other countries in making international policy decisions. This sentiment is overwhelming in most Muslim publics, but is shared by majorities in many of America‘s traditional allies. More than eight-in-ten people in France (85%) say the U.S. does not take French interests into account in making policy decisions, and substantial majorities in South Korea (78%) and Spain (74%), Russia (71%), Canada (70%) believe the United States disregards their countries‘ interests. Exceptions to this pattern include Israel, Kuwait, and Nigeria. In contrast, a large majority of Americans (73%) believe the U.S. takes into account the interests of other countries at least a fair amount.
Blair, Annan Get Vote of Confidence in the West
British Prime Minister Tony Blair and U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan are the leaders who command the greatest level of confidence from the publics of non-Muslim nations surveyed. Blair leads in the United States, Canada, and Australia. Annan is the highest rated leader among the British, Italians, Spaniards, Brazilians and South Koreans. Annan ranks lower in Israel, Russia and the U.S., although nearly (45%) express confidence in him.
In France, German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder finished in a virtual tie with President Jacques Chirac (Schroeder 76%, Chirac 75%); but in Germany, Chirac is by far the highest rated leader (84%). Russians express far greater confidence in President Vladimir Putin (76%) than in any other leader named.
President Bush receives a stronger vote of confidence in Israel than in any other country surveyed. Fully 83% of Israelis express at least some confidence in his ability to handle world affairs, and 51% voice a lot of confidence in him. But majorities express confidence in the president in the U.S., Canada, Great Britain and Australia. Bush receives very low ratings in Brazil, Russia, Spain, France and Germany.
Only in Israel does Prime Minister Ariel Sharon get a majority of the public expressing at least some confidence in his ability to do the right thing regarding world affairs. Nearly all of those polled in Jordan, the Palestinian Authority, Lebanon, Morocco and Kuwait say they have no confidence in Sharon, and large majorities in Turkey, Pakistan, and Spain share this view.
Greatest Threats to Peace
With the conclusion of the war in Iraq, North Korea has taken center stage as a threat to peace and stability in the minds of many. Since November 2002, the percentage current government in North Korea as a great or moderate danger to the stability of Asia has risen by 20 points in Germany, 17 points in France, 13 points in Great Britain, and 12 points in the United States. Overall, about eight-in-ten Australians (79%), Germans (77%) Americans (77%) believe North Korea presents a great or moderate danger to regional stability and world peace.
Perceptions are different in the Muslim world. No more than half of the respondents in any Muslim public views North Korea as a great or moderate threat. About one-third or more in Pakistan, the Palestinian Authority, Morocco and Turkey see North Korea as no threat at all.
The U.S. and Israel have somewhat similar perceptions of the Middle East, with two-thirds or more in both countries seeing the current government in Syria and Iran as at least moderate dangers to stability in the region. But Israelis are much more likely than Americans to see these countries as major threats. Nearly four-in-ten Israelis (38%) say Syria poses a great danger to regional stability, compared with 22% of Americans.
By contrast, large majorities in Jordan, Lebanon and the Palestinian Authority see little danger from Syria; 60% or more in Jordan, the Palestinian Authority, Indonesia and Lebanon are unconcerned about Iran, and 57% in Pakistan also feel this way.
SARS: A Connected World’s Downside?
Anxiety about possible exposure to SARS is substantial in many of the nations polled this spring. Worries are greatest in Nigeria (82% very worried), Kuwait (62%) and Russia (59%). About half of Indonesians and Turks are also very worried. Majorities in Lebanon, Spain, Morocco, Italy, Jordan, Pakistan and France are at least somewhat worried.
But the level of worry is not correlated with the actual rates of reported infections around the world. Of the 21 publics polled, Canada and the United States have reported the highest number of cases of the disease. Worries in both countries are very low (9% “very worried” in each). Worries are also very low in South Korea and Australia, despite their proximity to China where the vast majority of the world‘s cases have been reported.
Even though the connected world of global air travel has enabled SARS to spread more easily, opinions about connectedness are mostly unrelated to worries about SARS. In most countries, those who are worried about SARS are just as favorable about growing international trade and faster communication as those who are not worried about the disease. | <urn:uuid:2ca67ef7-7526-4370-82c0-97c940682893> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.pewglobal.org/2003/06/03/chapter-1-post-war-opinions/?src=rss_honduras | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783396887.54/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154956-00156-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.959191 | 5,364 | 2.640625 | 3 |
We Remember Anne Frank Teacher's Guide
- Grades: 3–5, 6–8
In 1945, close to the end of WWII, Anne Frank died at the age of fifteen. Today, her diary and people who knew her survive to tell her story. Scholastic's "We Remember Anne Frank" takes students one step beyond the diary. In this project, students have the unique opportunity to "meet" two heroic women whose endurance of human spirit and courage in the face of horror enabled them to risk everything to help Anne Frank.
In the course of participating in this online project, students will:
- learn about historical events through a time line
- understand how events in Europe during the Nazi's rise to power and the subsequent Holocaust impacted the lives of real people
- develop empathy for people, Jewish and non-Jewish, who were directly affected by the Holocaust
- become familiar with terms and places associated with the Holocaust
- improve content-area reading skills
- learn to do online research
World War II Remember Activities Home Page
Hanneli & Anne: Memories of a Friendship (Grades 3 - 8)
Through vivid text and images, this photo-history album provides the inside story of Hanneli and Anne's friendship during this tragic time in world history.
Miep's Holocaust Story (Grades 3 - 8)
This photo-story tells the story of Miep Gies, the woman who risked her life daily to help hide Anne Frank and her family from the Nazis.
Hanneli's Holocaust Story (Grades 5 - 8)
Through a time line of Hanneli's life, readers discover how, like the Frank family, the members of Hanneli's family were also Holocaust victims. The time line begins with Hanneli's birth and ends with her life in Israel today.
Anne Frank and Her Diary (Grades 5 - 8)
Students find out information about Anne Frank's diary including a time line of events in her life and in history. This section also includes background information about the diary, including the decision to publish its contents, proof of its authenticity, and links to selected entries.
Miep Gies (Grades 3 - 8)
Miep Gies visited the Scholastic Web site in May 1997. At that time, students had the opportunity to ask Miep questions about Anne Frank, her family, and the other people in hiding. This transcript includes Miep's answers to students' questions.
Hanneli Pick-Goslar (Grades 3-8)
In May 1997 and May 1999, Hanneli Pick-Goslar visited the Scholastic Web site. Now your students can read a transcript of that interview and find out about her close friendship with Anne Frank and how she, Hanneli, survived living in a concentration camp.
Stories of Courage (Grades 4 - 8)
Students research and write about a Holocaust survivor or rescuer and explain why the individual they selected is courageous. Students can write about one of the twelve rescuers or survivors listed on the Scholastic Web site or someone students know and can interview.
National Standards Correlations
While students learn about Anne Frank, they will be participating in a project that correlates with many of the national standards for both social studies and language arts. This Learning Adventure helps students meet the following content strands for Social Studies, as set forth by the National Council for the Social Studies (NCSS):
- Culture (Students learn how to understand multiple perspectives that derive from different cultural vantage points.)
- Time, Continuity, and Change (Students study how the world has changed in order to gain perspective on the present and the future.)
- People, Places, and Environments (Students utilize technological advances to connect to the world beyond their personal locations. The study of people, places, and human-environment interactions assists learners as they create their spatial views and geographic perspectives of the world.)
- Individual Development and Identity (Students learn to ask questions such as Why do people behave as they do? What influences how people learn, perceive, and grow?)
- Individuals, Groups, and Institutions (Students study interactions among individuals, groups, and institutions.)
- Power, Authority, and Governance (Students study how people create and change structures of power, authority, and governance.)
- Civic Ideas and Practices (Students study the ideals, principles, and practices of citizenship in a democratic republic.)
We Remember Anne Frank also helps students meet the following standards for English/Language Arts, as set by the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) and the International Reading Association (IRA).
- Students read a wide range of print and nonprint texts to build an understanding of themselves, and of the cultures of the United States and the world; to acquire new information; to respond to the needs and demands of society and the workplace; and for personal fulfillment.
- Students use a variety of technological and information resources (e.g., libraries, databases, computer networks, video) to gather and synthesize information and to create and communicate knowledge.
- Students participate as knowledgeable, reflective, creative, and critical members of a variety of literacy communities.
- Students use spoken, written, and visual language to accomplish their own purposes (e.g., for learning, enjoyment, persuasion, and the exchange of information).
Lesson Planning Suggestions
We Remember Anne Frank includes an abundance of information which can be used flexibly to meet your classroom's many needs. This project can be used over several weeks of class time, or segments of it can be utilized during a shorter time frame. It provides opportunities for group collaboration and exploration as well as for individual learning. Here are suggested ways to use this project in your school or classroom.
Explain to students that they will be learning about Anne Frank and the Holocaust through the stories of two heroic women whose courage in the face of horror enabled them to risk everything. During this first week, you can introduce your students to the heart-rending story of Anne Frank and Her Diary by exploring the interactive time line. This time line includes links to related Web pages that include images and excerpts from Anne's diary, maps of relevant locations, Web sites about concentration camps, and more. Be sure to refer to the Holocaust Glossary when students encounter terms they don't know. As your students read about Anne Frank, remind them that she was just one of millions of very brave Holocaust victims.
Introduce the Stories of Courage publishing activity during this first week. Encourage students to start thinking about whom they might want to write. Show them how to access the list of Holocaust Survivors and Rescuers provided in the activity. Or, help them think about someone they may know who they want to interview for this project.
Once students have some background on Anne Frank's life, they can explore in more depth the stories of those who helped her. Invite your students - either together or independently - to read the Story of Miep Gies. Explain to them that Miep risked her life by helping the Franks and their friends hide from the Nazis. As students read the story, have them take notes on Miep's courageous acts and their consequences. Discuss with your class why they think Miep took such huge risks and how they would have acted if put in Miep's shoes.
Read Miep's interview transcript to find out how Miep felt the day Anne and the others were discovered by the Nazis. Encourage students to find out other information such as: what the Secret Annex looked like; Anne's personality; how Anne's diary was found; and life after the war.
Explain to students that Miep is one of thousands of people who put their lives on the line to help Jewish people during the Holocaust. To find out the stories of other rescuers during the Holocaust, have students read one of the 12 online biographies available through the Stories of Courage activity. Then have them react to what they read by writing a poem, essay, dialogue, etc.
Invite students to discover Anne Frank's friendship with Hanneli by clicking through Memories of a Friendship. As they read the story, ask students to write down questions they have. Then invite them to review the interview transcript to see if any of their questions have been answered.
Have your students learn more about other survivors by participating in the Stories of Courage activity.
When students have finished researching and writing, they can write a story of Courage. Discuss the activity with your class before students begin working. Show them how to access the Stories of Holocaust Rescuers and Survivors. Encourage them to select one person to research further.
Begin this week by reading the interview with Hanneli Pick-Goslar. After reading the interview, have students describe orally or in writing their impressions of Hanneli and what they learned about the Holocaust.
Introduce one or more of the extension activities to your class. Assist students in forming small groups to work on the various extension activities.
Language Arts and Art (All Grades)
- Talk with your school librarian or media center director about recognizing the Holocaust through the library setting, providing reading materials and special resources in a specific area. As an extension, students can write reports about their readings, present oral or written reports, and illustrate favorite passages to be displayed.
- Provide a classroom bulletin board or area in your school where students are responsibile for developing a special display on The Diary of Anne Frank. Assign a group of students the task of designing the bulletin board. The idea could be expanded to include different types of diaries, such as picture (drawing) or electronic journals. Invite other subject area teachers such as the art teacher to participate in expanding this activity.
- Using computer software such as ClarisWorks, Microsoft Word, Microsoft Works, or The Writing Center by The Learning Company, have students create and maintain electronic journals. Allow students to illustrate their work by using the drawing and painting features of the software. This will be an excellent place for keeping notes, creating glossaries of unfamiliar words, storing pertinent questions, and reflecting personal feelings about The Diary of Anne Frank.
Social Studies (Grades 5 - 8)
- Ask your students to each develop a time line that shows what their families were doing during the years 1941 - 1945. Or they can create a time line of their own lives. A time line can be as traditional in format as a listing of events, or it can be represented through a chart, photographs, or objects.
- Anne Frank's life and how it is overwhelmed by war provides a way to discuss the importance and power of storytelling using personal experiences and life-changing events. Discuss with students how first-person accounts, like an oral history, make historical events real. Students can then interview family members and share their histories orally or in writing.
- Display a world map, marking the location of the historical events described throughout this project. Where did the events occur? Research what life was like in your community during World War II. How did the events impact your community? Compare and contrast life then and now.
There are a variety of assessment opportunities built into "We Remember Anne Frank." Throughout the project, teachers can observe and evaluate:
- comprehension and oral discussion of each online reading component of the project;
- note-taking skills and ability to utilize time lines;
- quality of writing and critical-thinking skills, as evidenced by questions students address to Hanneli Pick-Goslar;
- quality of writing and research skills as evidenced by students retelling the story of a Holocaust survivor or rescuer.
Reading List for Children
A Picture Book of Anne Frank by David Adler
I Am a Star: Child of the Holocaust by Inge Auerbacher
Tell Them We Remember: The Story of the Holocaust by Susan Bachrach
Anne Frank: Child of the Holocaust by Gene Brown
A Nightmare in History: The Holocaust 1933 - 1945 by Miriam Chaiken
Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank. Translated by B. M. Mooyaart
The Definitive Edition by Otto H. Frank and Mirjam Pressler
Reflections of a Childhood Friend by Alison Leslie Gold
Clara's Story by Clara Isaacman and Joan A. Grossman
A Fence Away From Freedom: Japanese Americans and World War II by Ellen Levine
Secret Missions: Four True Life Stories by Ellen Levine
Number the Stars by Lois Lowry
Rescue: The Story of How Gentiles Saved Jews in the Holocaust by Milton Meltzer
The Courage to Care: Rescuers of Jews During the Holocaust by Sondra Meyers and Carol Rittner
Smoke and Ashes: The Story of the Holocaust by Barbara Rogasky
The Holocaust: The Fire That Raged by Seymour Rossell
I Promised I Would Tell: Facing History and Ourselves by Sonia Weiz
Night by Elie Wiesel
Reading List for Adults
A History of the Holocaust by Yehudah Bauer and Niki Keren
War Against the Jews: 1933 - 1945 by Lucy Dawisowicz
Children With a Star: Jewish Youth in Nazi Europe by Deborah Dwork
Conscience and Courage: Rescuers of Jews During the Holocaust by Eva Fogelman
Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank. Translated by B. M. Mooyaart.
The Diary of Anne Frank: The Definitive Edition by Otto H. Frank and Mirjam Pressler
Anne Frank Remembered: The Story of the Woman Who Hid the Frank Family by Miep Gies, and Alison Leslie Gold
Isabella: From Auschwitz to Freedom by Isabella Leitner
The Last Seven Months of Anne Frank by Will Lindwer
A Tribute to Anne Frank by Anne G. Steenmeijer
Dry Tears: The Story of a Lost Childhood by Nechama Tec
Anne Frank: Beyond the Diary by Ruud Van der Rol
Anne Frank Remembered. College Art Association, 1996.
Camera of My Family: Four Generations in Germany, 1845 - 1945. Anti-Defamation League.
Courage to Care. Anti-Defamation League.
Daniel's Story. U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum.
Dear Kitty. Anne Frank Center USA.
Just a Diary. Anne Frank Center USA.
The Life of Anne Frank. Films for the Humanities and Societies, 1991.
They Risked Their Lives: Rescuers in the Holocaust. Ergo Media.
Parts of this book and video bibliography are excerpted from The Reader's Companion to The Diary of a Young Girl. Copyright 1995 Doubleday. All rights reserved. Published by the Anne Frank Center USA and Bantam Doubleday Dell. Used by permission of the Anne Frank Center, USA.
Anne Frank Online
This definitive site focuses on Anne Frank and her world-famous diary. It contains excerpts from her diary, a photo scrapbook of her life, and information about a traveling museum exhibit about her.
Cybrary of the Holocaust
Included at this site are images of the Holocaust, survivor accounts, stories of children of survivors, artwork, and other Holocaust-related materials, including a section refuting claims that the Holocaust never happened. CAUTION: Some of the material is too graphic in nature for younger students.
Museum of Tolerance Online Tour
This online tour of the Tolerance Museum is divided into three main areas: The Tolerance Center, focusing on the nature of intolerance; The Holocaust, the history of the Jews in Nazi Europe; and Access to History. It's an all-text site that basically describes the museum exhibits.
The Holocaust Ring
This continually growing site is made up of a list of links contributed by people around the world. It's goal is to contribute to Holocaust understanding, study, research, and dynamics.
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
This museum is the United State's national institution for the documentation, study, and interpretation of Holocaust history and serves as this country's memorial to the millions who were murdered. Photos, text, and other resources provide a full exploration of the Holocaust.
World War II Time Line Starting Page
This online World War II time line begins with one segment for the prewar years to 1938, then covers each year of the war in detail. In addition to student papers, there are also links for photographs, maps, and documents from the University of San Diego History Department collection.
World War II Commemoration
This encyclopedic site provides a collection of World War II historical materials including many articles - with a chronological outline - biographies, photographs, and mini-documentary films on air combat.
The History Place
This Web site is divided into several sections that currently feature John F. Kennedy, World War II, Adolph Hitler, Abraham Lincoln, and the Civil War. "Points of View" provides essays and opinion, and "Speeches of the Week" gives transcripts of famous speeches from history.
The Nizkor Project
The Nizkor Project takes issue with those who deny the Holocaust ever happened. This site is divided into several sections, such as FAQs, features, Shofar Web Project, and The Holocaust Web Project. They contain documentation as to the reality of the Holocaust and refute the position of the deniers, whose arguments are also shown through Web links.
An Auschwitz Alphabet
This site provides information about the experience of prisoners at Auschwitz organized alphabetically with topics ranging from Arbeit Macht Frei (Work Will Make You Free) to Zyklon B (poison gas). It includes commentary by the author, a bibliography, and links to other Holocaust sites.
The Simon Wiesenthal Center
This site provides extensive materials dealing with the Nazi Holocaust as well as current human rights issues. Areas include a biography of Simon Wiesenthal, more than 50 bibliographies of Holocaust resources, audio events, Museum of Tolerance, and biographies of children killed in the Holocaust.
Survivors of the Shoah Visual History Foundation
This site explains the mission of the Survivors of the Shoah [Hebrew for "Holocaust"] Visual History Foundation, which is to videotape and archive the accounts of as many surviving Holocaust victims as possible to provide a record for the future of this shameful chapter of history.
Louisiana Holocaust Survivors
Six Holocaust survivors from Poland are interviewed about their lives before World War II, the changes they experienced as the war neared, and their memories of the Holocaust. | <urn:uuid:36f790ff-ab3a-4001-a645-1990f5a2530e> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www2.scholastic.com/teachers/lesson-plan/we-remember-anne-frank-teachers-guide | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783400572.45/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624155000-00149-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.926621 | 3,824 | 3.984375 | 4 |
Sea turtle catch rates
Following the proposal by NMFS to list loggerhead sea turtles as a threatened species in 1975 and a survey of sea turtles stranding along the SC coast in the same year , SCDNR MRD observers were placed aboard selected commercial trawlers fishing for white and brown shrimp from the GA border through Georgetown, SC in 1976 and 1977 . During 1,412.3 hours of observer coverage during commercial trawling between the months of June and October, 35 live and 17 dead loggerhead sea turtles were documented, which equates to an average of 25 (1977) to 29 (1976) hours to encounter a single loggerhead sea turtle.
Coastal regions off South Carolina where incidental catch of sea turtles in the commercial shrimp fishery was monitored during summer and fall in 1976 and 1977 (this image is Figure 1 in the Ulrich 1978 report).
In June 2000, a second MRD observer program was initiated near Charleston, SC and Brunswick, GA. Trawl times were limited to 30 minutes and shrimp trawl nets were exempt from required use of Turtle Excluder Devices. Time to interact with a loggerhead sea turtle declined appreciably to 6.1 hours (10 loggerhead sea turtles in 61.5 hours of trawling) near Brunswick, GA and 2.0 hours (30 loggerhead sea turtles in 60.9 hours of trawling) near Charleston, SC. Reduced observer monitoring effort was completed near Charleston, SC in June 2001 to 2003 and revealed similar trends (18 loggerheads in 26.2 hours to 54 loggerheads in 27.6 hours).
Although exact spatial comparisons and study nuances such as trawling within channels vs. adjacent shoals and net sizes and numbers cannot be discounted, the dramatic decrease in the time required to interact with a loggerhead sea turtle was consistent with the suggestion of greater relative abundance in coastal waters in the Southeast U.S. Most importantly, the findings of this observer program substantiate the value of requiring shrimp trawls to be equipped with TEDs since the early 1990s.
9 Ulrich, G.F. 1976. Status report on the Loggerhead turtle (Caretta caretta caretta) in South Carolina Waters Relevant to the Commercial Shrimp Trawler Fishery. Special Section Project, For Intra-departmental use only. 7p. plus Appendices.
10 Ulrich, G.F. 1978. Incidental catch of Loggerhead Turtles by South Carolina Commercial Fisheries. Report to National Marine Fisheries Service, Contract nos. 03-7-042-35151 and 03-7-042-35121, 36p. plus Appendices.
11 Maier, P.P., Segars, A.L., Arendt, M.D., Whitaker, J.D., Stender, B.W., Parker, L., Vendetti, R., Owens, D.W., Quattro, J. and S.R. Murphy. 2004. Development of an Index of Sea Turtle Abundance Based Upon In-water Sampling with Trawl Gear. Final Project Report to the National Marine Fisheries Service, National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration Grant No. NA07FL0499, 86p. | <urn:uuid:32673393-d9da-42b5-80d4-95a6954efa26> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.dnr.sc.gov/marine/sturtles/observer.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783397695.90/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154957-00198-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.916877 | 666 | 2.765625 | 3 |
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Developing Persuasive Arguments through Ethical Inquiry: Two Prewriting Strategies
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- Published Comments
December 18, 2013
I would not put research and big names into categories apart from ethos, pathos, and logos. Most claims to authority are logical appeals or ethical appeals. While I understand that they add concreteness, it makes it harder to understand the relationship between rhetorical authority and outside sources.
It might be useful to import some of the Toulmin model of argument to make the relationships between claims and data more apparent.
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Harry S Truman
During his few weeks as Vice President, Harry S Truman scarcely saw President Roosevelt, and received no briefing on the development of the atomic bomb or the unfolding difficulties with Soviet Russia. Suddenly these and a host of other wartime problems became Truman's to solve when, on April 12, 1945, he became President. He told reporters, "I felt like the moon, the stars, and all the planets had fallen on me."
Truman was born in Lamar, Missouri, in 1884. He grew up in Independence, and for 12 years prospered as a Missouri farmer.
He went to France during World War I as a captain in the Field Artillery. Returning, he married Elizabeth Virginia Wallace, and opened a haberdashery in Kansas City.
Active in the Democratic Party, Truman was elected a judge of the Jackson County Court (an administrative position) in 1922. He became a Senator in 1934. During World War II he headed the Senate war investigating committee, checking into waste and corruption and saving perhaps as much as 15 billion dollars.
As President, Truman made some of the most crucial decisions in history. Soon after V-E Day, the war against Japan had reached its final stage. An urgent plea to Japan to surrender was rejected. Truman, after consultations with his advisers, ordered atomic bombs dropped on cities devoted to war work. Two were Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Japanese surrender quickly followed.
In June 1945 Truman witnessed the signing of the charter of the United Nations, hopefully established to preserve peace.
Thus far, he had followed his predecessor's policies, but he soon developed his own. He presented to Congress a 21-point program, proposing the expansion of Social Security, a full-employment program, a permanent Fair Employment Practices Act, and public housing and slum clearance. The program, Truman wrote, "symbolizes for me my assumption of the office of President in my own right." It became known as the Fair Deal.
Dangers and crises marked the foreign scene as Truman campaigned successfully in 1948. In foreign affairs he was already providing his most effective leadership.
In 1947 as the Soviet Union pressured Turkey and, through guerrillas, threatened to take over Greece, he asked Congress to aid the two countries, enunciating the program that bears his name--the Truman Doctrine. The Marshall Plan, named for his Secretary of State, stimulated spectacular economic recovery in war-torn western Europe.
When the Russians blockaded the western sectors of Berlin in 1948, Truman created a massive airlift to supply Berliners until the Russians backed down. Meanwhile, he was negotiating a military alliance to protect Western nations, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, established in 1949.
In June 1950, when the Communist government of North Korea attacked South Korea, Truman conferred promptly with his military advisers. There was, he wrote, "complete, almost unspoken acceptance on the part of everyone that whatever had to be done to meet this aggression had to be done. There was no suggestion from anyone that either the United Nations or the United States could back away from it."
A long, discouraging struggle ensued as U.N. forces held a line above the old boundary of South Korea. Truman kept the war a limited one, rather than risk a major conflict with China and perhaps Russia.
Deciding not to run again, he retired to Independence; at age 88, he died December 26, 1972, after a stubborn fight for life.
The Harry S Truman Museum and Library
U.S. Presidents: United in Service
Born: May 8, 1884 in Lamar, Missouri
Died: December 26, 1972 in Independence, Missouri
Married to Elizabeth Virginia Wallace Truman
Presidents & First Ladies
Events & Traditions | <urn:uuid:d87ff3d0-9a3e-4cb4-a4c1-9b719ef57ec3> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/history/presidents/text/ht33.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783391519.0/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154951-00143-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.972359 | 787 | 3.609375 | 4 |
The Great Wall of China is one of the greatest wonders of the world and attracts more than 4 million tourists each year (1).
In 1987, this gigantic wall, which stretches almost 9,000 kilometres from the East to the West of China and passing across deserts, mountains, plateaus and grasslands, was listed as a World Heritage site by UNESCO.
Besides its architectural splendour and the breathtaking panoramic views, much of the Great Wall of China’s subliminal appeal is its historical significance, which dates back more than 2,000 years.
Beyond the fact that the Great Wall of China is one of the world’s most visited tourist attractions, a great deal of mystery surrounds this great man-made marvel, and comparatively little is mentioned about its origin.
Secrets of the Great Wall of China
The Great Wall’s construction itself lies at the heart of the wall’s secrecy and intrigue. When most people imagine the construction of this monolithic wall, they picture the spectacle of the widely accepted historical description of a great army of manpower, composed of soldiers, prisoners and locals. Those constructing the wall relied heavily on local resources for construction materials as well. (2)
The most widely accepted history of the Great Wall’s origins, was that in 214 BC, after Emperor Qin unified China, he ordered the construction of the wall as a military fortification against intrusion by invading nomadic ancient tribes.
Taking more than a decade to build, the great wall stretched from the Gansu province in Western China to Jilin province in the East. It not only served as a defensive bastion against invaders, but also as a “symbol of power for the proud emperor.” (3)
The history of the Great Wall of China remains somewhat contested, with some challenging the notion that the wall was a product of defensive wars. Those historians claim that most of the time under the Great Wall was actually spent in peace rather than war. (4)
While many historical reports of the Great Wall of China state that construction began in 214 BC, Ancient World Wonders claims construction started seven years later in 221 BC, when emperor Qin Shi Huang built a 5,000 kilometre wall to protect Chinese territories from the Tsin Empire. (5)
Although, instead of being a place of battle and bloodshed, the Great Wall played an important role in the development of commercial relations and exchanges between cultures of European and Asian countries. (6)
The Secret Garden
Another version of the history of the Great Wall’s construction was that during the Qin Dynasty (221 BC – 206 BC), a young man named Fan Qi Liang escaped from the intense labour work at the Great Wall construction site and hid in a private garden where he met Meng Jiang Nu, the daughter of the owner of the garden.
The couple fell in love and were married, but soon after the wedding, Fan Qi Liang was taken away to continue construction work on the Great Wall. Winter came and as her husband had not returned home, Meng Jiang Nu decided to travel to the site to take some warm clothes to Fan Qi Liang.
The story continues that Meng Jiang Nu was told that her husband had died and that his body had been built into the Great Wall. The legend goes that the widow was so stricken with grief that she cried day and night until the Great Wall broke down and exposed the bones of many dead men.
Meng Jiang Nu cut her fingers and dripped the blood onto the dead men and the blood flowed into one of the men. Believing that this was her husband, Meng Jiang Nu buried the man and then drowned herself. (7)
So etched into Chinese culture and the history of the Great Wall is the story of Meng Jiang Nu, that the legend has been made into a movie three times. At Shan Hai Guan, on the eastern side of the Great Wall, there is actually a temple dedicated to Meng Jiang Nu.
A Wall Made With Sticky Rice
The Great Wall’s strength and longevity is another baffling and speculative focus of the site and adds to the unique fascination of the attraction.
One bizarre suggestion to what made the Great Wall so strong is that the secret ingredient is sticky rice!
According to TreeHugger, scientists from Zhejiang University in China discovered that the wall’s ‘secret ingredient’ is that it was made from a sticky rice soup that was mixed with slaked lime and limestone. (8)
The suggestion was originally made in the Times of India, which reported that scientists had discovered that the ‘sticky rice’ paste was used to fill in gaps between the construction blocks, as Bingjian Zhang, the study leader told the Times of India:
“Analytical study shows the ancient masonry mortar is a kind of special organic-inorganic composite material. This inorganic component is calcium carbonate, and the organic component is amylopectin, which comes from the sticky rice soup added to the mortar.
The test results of the modelling mortars shows that sticky rice-lime mortar has more stable physical properties, has greater mechanical strength, and is more compatible, which makes it a suitable restoration mortar for ancient masonry.” (9)
The Longest Manmade Object In the World
However, in an examination of the “Secrets of the Great Wall”, American author Paul Noll talks of how the wall was built out of beaten clay.
According to Noll, much of the Great Wall’s strength and longevity derives from the fact that the soil was selected from at least four inches below the surface so that seeds and grass could not germinate and “thus undermine the strength of the wall”.
Using first a form made of wood, earth was piled and was pounded into a layer of four inches thick then successive layers of this produced a twenty-foot high wall that would “still be standing some 2,000 years later.” (10)
It stands to reason that the Great Wall of China, the longest manmade project in the world, which can be seen from the Earth’s orbit by astronauts in space, and is evidence of the determination and hard work of ancient Chinese people, has evoked many a legend about love, freedom, war and peace.
Its legends and uncertain history play a central role in maintaining the mysticism and intrigue that has surrounded this colossal architectural marvel for centuries. | <urn:uuid:e0ae0bb8-462d-4fe8-8abf-ad3f30a85176> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.topsecretwriters.com/2012/06/the-secret-history-of-the-great-wall-of-china/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783398075.47/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154958-00021-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.959013 | 1,324 | 3.765625 | 4 |
Are regular check-ups with a doctor necessary?
Adults who have Down syndrome need regular health care. Perhaps you have an adult child, brother or sister who has Down syndrome. Your relative needs the same preventive care as an adult who doesn't have Down syndrome. Also help your relative get checked for special medical problems that are more common in people who have Down syndrome. For example, a doctor should check your relative for thyroid disease, arthritis and problems with vision, hearing and the cervical spine.
How can I help my relative with Down syndrome lead a full life?
With a little planning, your relative can lead a more independent life. Common things to plan for include the following:
- Housing options such as group homes, supervised independent living or family-owned independent housing. It's good to make plans for your relative to live independent of you.
- Work options such as sheltered workshops, supported employment and regular employment, with or without a job coach. Employment and social activities add increased meaning to life and may encourage responsible independence in your relative.
- Recreation options such as adult day care, the Special Olympics and other activities that involve exercise, hobbies and interests.
- Special estate planning, education beyond high school and self-help training.
My older relative who has Down syndrome is having some new problems. Could it be Alzheimer's disease?
Symptoms similar to Alzheimer's disease (a kind of dementia) occur at an earlier age in people who have Down syndrome (usually in their 30s). These symptoms include memory loss and personality changes. Don't immediately assume that the change in your relative is caused by dementia. There may be another reason for the change in behavior. Talk to his or her doctor about your concerns.
|Some behavior changes||Possible cause|
|Talks to self
||Stress; some self talk is normal|
|Withdrawal||Depression, stress, medical problem|
|Aggression||Depression, stress, medical problem|
Written by familydoctor.org editorial staff | <urn:uuid:5e32a6ab-39ec-4537-8479-e49bd1a9407d> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://familydoctor.org/familydoctor/en/diseases-conditions/down-syndrome/down-syndrome-in-adults-staying-healthy.printerview.all.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783396106.25/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154956-00150-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.953809 | 414 | 2.5625 | 3 |
1. To empty.
5. To keep away from; to keep clear of; to endeavor no to meet; to shun; to abstain from; as, to avoid the company of gamesters. What need a man forestall his date of grief. And run to meet what he would most avoid ? (Milton) He carefully avoided every act which could goad them into open hostility. (Macaulay)
6. To get rid of.
to avoid, shun. Avoid in its commonest sense means, to keep clear of, an extension of the meaning, to withdraw one's self from. It denotes care taken not to come near or in contact; as, to avoid certain persons or places. Shun is a stronger term, implying more prominently the idea of intention. The words may, however, in many cases be interchanged. No man can pray from his heart to be kept from temptation, if the take no care of himself to avoid it. (Mason) So Chanticleer, who nev 45e er saw a fox, yet shunned him as a sailor shuns the rocks. (Dryden) | <urn:uuid:649e36a0-73da-4c59-8110-bbe4bac4b2c6> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.biology-online.org/dictionary/Avoid | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783395548.53/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154955-00010-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.963502 | 236 | 2.796875 | 3 |
Even if the holdout problem may impede the efficient use of land, it is not the reason for the historical development of governments power of eminent domain. This power originated after the Norman conquest, when English kings granted stewardship of property to subordinates but maintained the right to take property back, and the barons sought to restrict the king's arbitrary takings.
Read the Full Article
(PDF, 10 pages)
|Other Independent Review articles by Bruce L. Benson|
|Winter 2015||The New Scarlett Letter? Negotiating the U.S. Labor Market with a Criminal Record|
|Fall 2014||Lets Focus on Victim Justice, Not Criminal Justice|
|Winter 2007||The Market for Force|
|[View All (8)]| | <urn:uuid:c8994b75-9954-45ab-b471-b6fe84d8bc11> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.independent.org/publications/tir/article.asp?a=669 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783395346.6/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154955-00109-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.791087 | 155 | 3.265625 | 3 |
This impressive book was created by Georg Bocskay to showcase his calligraphic skills. Georg Bocskay was a secretary of the Emperor Ferdinand I.
The book doesn’t have any kind of litterary interest, but it shows some traditional and creative calligraphy of the time. Bocskay experimented with letterform and decorative forms. He also went quite far in his experiments for layout arrangements.
However, the Mira calligraphiae monumenta was only finished fifteen years later, when the emperor Rodolphe II found the book and asked an illustrator to make drawings for it. This book can currently be seen at the Getty Museum. | <urn:uuid:4c20b6d3-37ea-4d03-a9fb-471d2c029ef8> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.designer-daily.com/mira-calligraphiae-monumenta-a-calligraphy-book-from-1561-56951 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783397636.15/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154957-00027-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.981468 | 136 | 2.9375 | 3 |
Can one theory explain everything?
This is the oldest objective of science. We can retrace the question to the pre-Socratics, when Thales in 585 BCE first suggested that everything was ultimately made of water, and that the apparent phases of matter were simply different states of this fundamental water, this blood of the Apsu or ichor of the gods.
What Thales was attempting was a universal theory. We have since moved on from water to the discovery of four fundamental forces: the strong nuclear force, the weak nuclear force, gravity, and electro-magnetism. Between this quartet, our understanding of the universe – however incomplete – hangs both powerfully and delicately. Can they ever be combined into a Grand Unification Theory?
Significantly, electro-magnetism was once deemed to be two separate forces, but James Clerk Maxwell, writing towards the end of the nineteenth century, united them for the scientific world.
Today we have come up with two perfectly wonderful, credible theories to tackle the nature of the universe. We have General Relativity to handle gravity, and we have the Standard Model to handle the other three. As best we can tell, both theories are correct and utterly irreconcilable with each other. It was Albert Einstein’s Holy Grail to reconcile them. He didn’t.
And so the quest continues. Yesterday in New York, seven leading physicists attended the American Museum of Natural History for the 11th annual Isaac Asimov Memorial Debate, and they discussed whether or not it was even possible to come up with the proverbial Theory of Everything.
From the article:
Many physicists say our best hope for a theory of everything is superstring theory, based on the idea that subatomic particles are actually teensy tiny loops of vibrating string. When filtered through the lens of string theory, general relativity and quantum mechanics can be made to get along
Ah yes, string theory. The radical discipline which emerged, almost out of defiance, against the scientific establishment and purported to contain the secrets to explaining everything. The hip brand of new thinking that seemed to merge science and mysticism (more on that later.)
As Brian Greene, professor of physics and mathematics at Columbia University, says, “There’s been an enormous amount of progress in string theory. There have been issues developed and resolved that I never thought, frankly, we would be able to resolve. The progress over the last 10 years has only solidified my confidence that this is a worthwhile direction to pursue.”
I will freely admit that I am a fan of superstring theory. How can you look at it and not gape at its fascinating aesthetics. It seems very Zen, the cosmological picture of simple elegance. When physicists smash particles together and get a shower of seemingly endless smaller particles, there is something enticing about a theory that states this endlessly diverse shower is nothing more than different vibration pitches of the same underlying string-like structure. I’ve attended Greene’s lectures and he is articulate and convincing — he has the Sagan touch for communicating ideas in a lucid and affecting manner.
There’s just one little problem:
Superstring theory isn’t a theory.
Since science works on theories and the ability to test those theories, string theory is a little too radical for its own good. String theory does not lend itself to being tested. It does not make quantifiable predictions. Without these important elements, it is not science by our prevailing definition. It becomes a thought experiment. A philosophy. Perhaps, even, a religion.
From the article:
Neil deGrasse Tyson, director of the museum’s Hayden Planetarium, suggested that string theory seems to have stalled, and contrasted the lack of progress of “legions” of string theorists with the seemingly short 10 years it took one man – Einstein – to transition from special relativity to general relativity.
“Are you chasing a ghost or is the collection of you just too stupid to figure this out?” deGrasse Tyson teased.
In fact, one of the chief components of string theory is that it requires 11 dimensions to work. The instant we involve higher dimensional planes, we stray into phantasmagoric territory. The addition of dimensions becomes something like spackle. Tyson’s offhand reference to ghosts is probably quite calculated and deliberate.
What do we think? If string theory is philosophy and not science, does this suggest that the tools we use are no longer practical in addressing the investigation of the cosmos? Or is it simply a matter of time before we develop those tools? | <urn:uuid:d2d6d5cd-0b23-4fbc-9d94-e23a54e34a39> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://theness.com/roguesgallery/index.php/general-science/physicist-fist-fight-whats-the-deal-with-strings/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783399522.99/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154959-00110-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.943346 | 947 | 2.59375 | 3 |
Many of us have woken up in a sweat in the middle of the night as a result of a nightmare. And those are the dreams that tend to stick with us. Now, new research suggests that nightmares are more likely to impact us emotionally through feelings of sadness, confusion and guilt, rather than fear.
This is according to a study recently published in the journal Sleep.
Dreams are defined as a series of involuntary images, thoughts and sensations that take place in a person's mind during sleep.
According to the study researchers from the University of Montreal in Canada, including Geneviève Robert and Antonio Zadra, exactly why we dream is still unknown.
But the investigators say that in the scientific community, belief holds that everyone dreams, and that these dreams usually take place during rapid eye movement (REM) sleep that most people experience three to five times a night.
The problem with nightmares
According to the researchers, around 5-6% of the population report having nightmares. And for some people, these nightmares can lead to problems.
"Nightmares are not a disease in themselves but can be a problem for the individual who anticipates them or who is greatly distressed by their nightmares," explains Zadra.
"People who have frequent nightmares may fear falling asleep and being plunged into their worst dreams. Some nightmares are repeated every night. People who are awakened by their nightmares cannot get back to sleep, which creates artificial insomnia."
Nightmares can be triggered by traumatic events in everyday life. For example, the researchers say that returning soldiers often report seeing the scenes that caused their injuries in their dreams.
They note that alcohol or psychotropic drug consumption or withdrawal may also trigger frequent or intense nightmares.
Bad dreams vs. nightmares
For their study, the researchers wanted to determine the differences between bad dreams and nightmares, as the majority of people classify these as being the same type of intensity.
To do this, they asked 572 volunteers to keep a written record of all the dreams they remembered for between 2 and 5 consecutive weeks.
Researchers say that although death, health concerns and threats are common themes in nightmares, a threatening feeling or atmosphere can also characterize nightmares.
During this period, 9,796 dreams were reported. The researchers then analyzed the narratives of 431 bad dreams and 253 nightmares from 331 adults.
The participants were asked to write down their dreams as soon as they awoke. Some of the narratives were detailed. For example:
"I'm in a closet. A strip of white cloth is forcing me to crouch. Instead of clothes hanging, there are large and grotesquely shaped stuffed animals like cats and dogs with grimacing teeth and bulging eyes. They're hanging and wiggling towards me. I feel trapped and frightened."
The investigators found that in the majority of bad dreams, the feeling of fear was almost completely absent, with more people reporting feelings of guilt, sadness, confusion and disgust. Fear was also absent in a third of nightmares.
Explaining other differences the team found between bad dreams and nightmares, Robert says:
"Physical aggression is the most frequently reported theme in nightmares. Moreover, nightmares become so intense they will wake you up. Bad dreams, on the other hand, are especially haunted by interpersonal conflicts."
She says they also found that death, health concerns and threats commonly occur in nightmares. However, she notes that sometimes the feeling of a threat or a menacing atmosphere can also characterize a nightmare.
The researchers conclude that although their findings suggest that nightmares and bad dreams have similar phenomenological mechanisms, they also show that "nightmares represent a rarer and more severe expression of the same basic phenomenon."
Last year, Medical News Today reported on a study suggesting that functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) may be able to reveal the visual images the brain creates during dreaming. | <urn:uuid:2ed10f5e-db53-4f2d-a8ca-96ef095110a3> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/271899.php | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783397795.31/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154957-00023-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.965528 | 778 | 3.046875 | 3 |
Pituitary Gland Tumor
(Source: NIH / MedlinePlus) The pituitary gland is a pea-sized endocrine gland located at the base of the brain. The pituitary helps control the release of hormones from other endocrine glands, such as the thyroid and adrenal glands. The pituitary also releases hormones that directly affect body tissues, such as bones and the breast's milk glands. A pituitary gland tumor is an abnormal growth in the pituitary gland, the part of the brain that regulates the body's balance of hormones.
Hormones released by the pituitary gland
- Adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH)
- Growth hormone (GH)
- Thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH)
As the tumor grows, hormone-releasing cells of the pituitary may be damaged, causing hypopituitarism.
Causes of pituitary tumors
The causes of pituitary tumors are unknown. However, some are part of a hereditary disorder called multiple endocrine neoplasia I (MEN I).
Other types of tumors that can be found in the same part of the head as a pituitary tumor:
- Tumors that have spread from cancer in another part of the body (metastatic tumors)
Symptoms of pituitary tumor
Most pituitary tumors produce too much of one or more hormones. As a result, symptoms of one or more of the following conditions can occur:
- Cushing syndrome
- Gigantism or acromegaly
- Nipple discharge
Symptoms caused by pressure from a larger pituitary tumor may include
- Nasal drainage
- Nausea and vomiting
- Problems with the sense of smell
- Visual changes
- Double vision
- Drooping eyelids
- Visual field loss
Rarely, these symptoms may occur suddenly and can be severe.
Treatment of pituitary tumor
Most pituitary tumors are noncancerous (benign)and therefore won't spread to other areas of the body. Up to 20% of people have pituitary tumors. However, many of these tumors do not cause symptoms and are never diagnosed during the person's lifetime. However, as they grow, they may place pressure on important nerves and blood vessels.
Surgery to remove the tumor is often necessary, especially if the tumor is pressing on the optic nerves, which could cause blindness.
Most of the time, pituitary tumors can be removed through the nose and sinuses. However, some tumors cannot be removed this way and will need to be removed through the skull (transcranial).
Radiation therapy may be used to shrink the tumor, either in combination with surgery or for people who cannot have surgery.
The following medications may shrink certain types of tumors:
- Bromocriptine or cabergoline are the first-line therapy for tumors that release prolactin. These drugs decrease prolactin levels and shrink the tumor.
- Octreotide or pegvisomant is sometimes used for tumors that release growth hormone, especially when surgery is unlikely to result in a cure.
Source: NIH / MedlinePlus
Key Point 1
Pituitary gland tumors have many varied symptoms and some, in fact, have no symptoms. Even experts often misdiagnose the condition, or it can go undiagnosed altogether. You must pursue a diagnosis if you are experiencing life altering symptoms.
Key Point 2
Pituitary gland tumor treatment is based on the specific type of tumor it is and the symptoms that it is causing. There are many treatment options, and treatment is very successful. | <urn:uuid:db7b05aa-a7e0-41ea-aa9a-6c78fc4a4e4c> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.secondopinion-tv.org/episode/pituitary-gland-tumor | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783393442.26/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154953-00096-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.937737 | 764 | 3.609375 | 4 |
September 7, 2005: Observations of Ceres, the largest known asteroid, have revealed that the object may be a "mini planet," sharing many characteristics of the rocky, terrestrial planets like Earth. Ceres' mantle, which wraps around the asteroid's core, may even be composed of water ice. The observations by NASA's Hubble Space Telescope also show that the asteroid has a nearly round shape like Earth's and may have a rocky inner core and a thin, dusty outer crust. Astronomers enhanced the sharpness in these images to bring out features on Ceres' surface, including brighter amd darker regions that could be asteroid impact features. The observations were made in visible and ultraviolet light between December 2003 and January 2004.See the rest:
Ceres has a nearly round body and a "differentiated interior," with denser material at the core and lighter minerals near the surface. All terrestrial planets have differentiated interiors. Pictures of asteroids much smaller than Ceres show those objects to be irregularly shaped and to have a uniform composition.
Ceres does not have an atmosphere or liquid water, which are necessary for life as we know it. The water ice that may be present on Ceres is beneath the surface. It may be, however, a natural resource for future space explorers.
Asteroids are composed mostly of rock while comets are made up mostly of dust and ice. The asteroid Ceres, however, may be a layered mixture of rock and ice. The vast majority of asteroids is found in the asteroid belt, a region between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter. Comets, on the other hand, orbit the Sun in paths that either allow them to pass by the Sun only once or that repeatedly bring them through the solar system (as in the 76-year orbit of Halley's Comet). A comet's "signature" long, glowing tail is formed when the Sun's heat warms the coma or nucleus, which releases vapors into space. Asteroids do not have tails. | <urn:uuid:43041c70-2f5d-4044-b1d3-9a44b8860763> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://hubblesite.org/newscenter/archive/releases/solar-system/minor-body/2005/27/results/50/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783393146.70/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154953-00190-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.963905 | 401 | 4.375 | 4 |
Sore Throat and Other Throat Problems - Topic Overview
Sore throats can be painful and annoying. Fortunately, most sore throats are caused by a minor illness and go away without medical treatment.
Several conditions can cause a sore throat.
Sore throats may be caused by a viral illness, such as:
A bacterial infection may also cause a sore throat. This can occur from:
A sore throat that lasts longer than a week is often caused by irritants or an injuries, such as:
- Throat irritation from low humidity, smoking, air pollution, yelling, or nasal drainage down the back of the throat (postnasal drip ).
- Breathing through the mouth when you have allergies or a stuffy nose.
Stomach acid that backs up into the throat, which may be a symptom of gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD). Although GERD often occurs with heartburn, an acid taste in the mouth, or a cough, sometimes a sore throat is the only symptom.
- An injury to the back of the throat, such as a cut or puncture from falling with a pointed object in the mouth.
Chronic fatigue syndrome, a condition that causes extreme tiredness.
Treatment for a sore throat depends on the cause. You may be able to use home treatment to obtain relief.
Because viral illnesses are the most common cause of a sore throat, it is important not to use antibiotics to treat them. Antibiotics do not alter the course of viral infections. Unnecessary use of an antibiotic exposes you to the risks of an allergic reaction and antibiotic side effects, such as nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, rashes, and yeast infections. Antibiotics also may kill beneficial bacteria and encourage the development of dangerous antibiotic-resistant bacteria. For sore throats caused by strep, treatment with antibiotics may be needed.
- Sore Throat: Should I Take Antibiotics?
Check your symptoms to decide if and when you should see a doctor. | <urn:uuid:c3b8f8b0-c30b-4fa9-ae82-c19e80664490> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.webmd.com/cold-and-flu/tc/sore-throat-topic-overview?src=rsf_full-6034_pub_none_xlnk | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783400031.51/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624155000-00032-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.916244 | 410 | 3.203125 | 3 |
The Dish: NASA couldn't do without it
NASA has recruited "The Dish" at Parkes to help them in 2004, when six spacecraft will be converging on Mars - all trying to send their data back to Earth at the same time.
Communication with spacecraft is usually undertaken at three facilities worldwide: in California, Madrid, and here in Australia at a facility just out of Canberra. The Canberra Deep Space Communications Complex is part of NASA's Deep Space Network , which scans the world to keep in constant touch with spacecraft no matter where they are in the solar system.
But in late 2003 and early 2004, the increased number of spacecraft that will reach Mars will be too much for the CDSSC.
"There are limited resources back here on Earth to provide that communication," said the CDSSC station Director, Mr Peter Churchill. "So we have decided to rent the telescope at Parkes - to help out."
The CSIRO Parkes Observatory has been contracted to lend a hand by tracking some of the Mars spacecraft and others from November 2003 to February 2004.
Because of the laws that govern radio waves, the antennas constructed at CDSSC for communicating with spacecraft also happen to make good radio telescopes. This means Parkes can be converted to receive spacecraft communications.
To this end, NASA is providing $3 million to cover Parkes' tracking time, build a sensitive new signal receiver, and upgrade the telescope's surface to make it more sensitive. The latter involves replacing some of the wire mesh panels in the outer part of the dish with perforated aluminium sheet. This will enlarge the smooth part of the dish's surface, making it more sensitive to signals at 8.4Ghz - the spacecraft broadcast frequency.
The CDSSC will provide data to Parkes to enable scientists to point the telescope at the right place. They will remotely operate the equipment to detect and lock onto signals. The data will then be sent back to Canberra, combined with CPSSC data, and transmitted to the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, which manages the DSN.
The Mars spacecraft are NASA's Mars Global Surveyor and Mars Odyssey probes which are already orbiting Mars. In addition, by the beginning of 2003, two robotic Mars Exploration Rovers will be looking for evidence of liquid water and analysing rocks and soil. Nozomi - Japan's first Mars probe - will be studying the upper atmosphere. And Europe's Mars Express will map surface and subsurface structures, dropping a British lander, Beagle 2, to look for signs of water and life. | <urn:uuid:66b28704-78ba-45b2-8553-138a7f71b897> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.abc.net.au/science/articles/2002/09/11/671153.htm?site=science&topic=latest&listaction=unsubscribe | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783395621.98/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154955-00059-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.936336 | 519 | 3.171875 | 3 |
Diet and lifestyle factors play a major role in increasing or decreasing the risk of cancers irrespective of the family history and other genetic factors. Eating habits influence the health to a major extent than expected and the recent research studies show significant reduction in risk of cancer and boost up of immune system with specific healthy diet rich in nutrients. The following are the right foods which help in prevention of cancer. Continue reading
Though there is vast research conducted and there are well proven facts known about cancer, there is always a blind area about some cancers raising questions among public – why they occur?, when they occur? and in whom they occur?. As it is impossible to know about each and every cancer in detail, it is worth knowing about the most common cancers. The awareness of common cancers helps the individual to be away from the modifiable risk factors and causative agents of those cancers and helps to be alert about the early symptoms. Continue reading
The aim of Cancer treatment is to cure or increase the survival rate of the patient. Though some cancers are not curable, opting for the right course of treatment improves the quality of life and helps in relief from miserable pains. It wrong notion among most of the individuals that all cancers are fatal and not curable. The early diagnosis and initiation of treatment is the main key for most of the cancers to limit their spread. Few cancers like seminoma, Acute lymphatic leukemia in children if diagnosed early and treated promptly have high chances of getting cured. Diagnosis of cancer is mostly based on pathological examination if it is a solid tumor or relevant blood tests if it is Blood cancer. After the diagnosis is made, staging of cancer is to be defined with specific investigations which show the spread of cancer to various organs. Depending on the stage and grade of cancer the suitable treatment course can be planned. Continue reading
Cancer is a group of diseases which are considered fatal by most of them. So, the policy of “Prevention is better than cure” exactly holds good for Cancer. Hence the knowledge of the causes of Cancer is very important for every individual in prevention of cancer. Most of the causes of cancer are environmental and a few are genetic related. Environmental factors are mostly modifiable and if extra care is taken to prevent them, the risk of getting cancer can be reduced to a greater extent.
Cancer is due to effect of mutagens, the agents which cause mutation of DNA which is responsible for uncontrolled cell growth. These mutagens are termed as Carcinogens. Not all carcinogens are mutagens. The causative factors of cancer can be broadly divided into: Continue reading
Cancer also termed as Neoplasia and Malignancy is a group of diseases which come under single pathology of uncontrolled growth of cells of a part of body or an organ of body or it may involve a particular system of the body. Though many dreadful diseases are noticed in the practice of medicine, cancer is the most fearful disease amongst the people. The characteristic of cancer which differentiates it from other diseases is its ability to expand, spread throughout the body which is termed as metastasis which when not controlled can lead to death due to dysfunction of various organs of the body. In the recent times, most of the cancers when diagnosed early, prior to metastasis are treatable completely or to some extent and when some of the cancers are not treatable, with initiation of early treatment the 5 year survival rate increases. So, It is important to know the symptoms and signs of the disease which helps the individual to suspect the cancer and to seek the help of the medical professional. Continue reading
Wenn man sich in einem online Casino so umsieht fällt einem sofort auf, dass es neben den klassischen Spielen wie Roulette, Blackjack oder Video Poker vor allem eins gibt: Spielautomaten. Und diese Spielautomaten sind nicht ohne Grund so beliebt und werden rund um die Uhr von Millionen Spielern auf der ganzen Welt gespielt. Einige können es aber überhaupt nicht nachvollziehen warum das so ist. Wenn man sich jedoch einmal ansieht wie viel man dabei wirklich gewinnen kann, dann erübrigen sich wiederum viele Fragen. Continue reading
Für alle, die sich für Casino Spiele interessieren kommt in den meisten Fällen ein Casino Bonus in Betracht. Das heißt, dass man für seine Einzahlung gratis Geld dazu bekommt. Natürlich nicht geschenkt, aber man hat die Möglichkeit davon Gebrauch zu machen wenn man bestimmte Voraussetzungen erfüllt hat. Das sind meistens Umsatzbedingungen. Zahlt man zum Beispiel 100 Euro ein, gibt es 100 als Bonus oben drauf. Continue reading | <urn:uuid:62fb21ce-0907-4c8b-86ec-cccf142f5339> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.focp-uae.org/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783396872.10/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154956-00013-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.766878 | 1,079 | 3.09375 | 3 |
The Coral Reef Acid Test
Worldwide ocean acidity will likely increase, spelling doom for corals.
Posted: April 10, 2009
By Ethan Mizer
I’m gearing up to do some work on my aquariums over the next few weeks, and I’ll be reporting on that here, but in the meantime I want to comment on a recent study published online in Geophysical Research Letters by researchers at the Carnegie Institution and the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
The study used computer models based on data taken from over 9,000 locations to show that, as more carbon is adsorbed by the world’s oceans from the atmosphere, sea water acidity will increase.
This concept shouldn’t be a surprise to any aquarists who have experience injecting CO2 into their setups. We all know that as we increase the level of dissolved CO2 in our aquariums, the pH drops. That’s why planted tank hobbyists used drop checkers or other means to determine how much injected CO2 is affecting pH.
In our planted tanks, this drop in pH isn’t such a bad thing, as long as we are aware of it and monitor our pH to prevent mishaps. Increasing ocean acidity is a huge problem, however, because of the effect lowered pH has on the ocean’s creatures.
Water Chemistry and Corals
Natural sea water generally has a pH of 8.2, as most reef aquarists know. On a global scale, even slight changes in that average reading can have huge consequences for corals and other marine life.
The study concludes that, when combined with rising temperatures and other factors, an increase in atmospheric CO2 to double the levels seen before industrialization occurred, from around 280 parts per million (ppm) in our atmosphere to around 560 ppm (we’re currently around 380 ppm and counting), would cause most corals around the world to dissolve.
That’s right: The authors of this study are suggesting that, if current trends continue, most coral reefs will likely die off. As we add more CO2 to the atmosphere, these scientists argue, we’ll doom the world’s coral reefs to slow dissolution.
Tell Your Friends
I imagine all of this sounds pretty esoteric to the layman. When stories like this are reported in the media, I worry that the gravity of the findings is lost on those who don’t have a background in studying chemistry or climatology.
That’s where I believe hobbyists can really help to get the word out. As I’ve mentioned in past blog entries, I think hobbyists are the “missing link” when it comes to educating the public about a lot of very serious conservation issues.
As I’ve tried to show in this entry, hobbyists often have an understanding of issues that are foreign to non-hobbyists. Because of this, I think we’re primed to act as translators between the scientific community’s jargon and the average person’s understanding of these problems.
Call to Education
That’s where you come in. I’m not saying I have even an inkling of what to do about these problems. I’ll discuss some proposed solutions and other issues related to climate change in a future blog entry.
However, I do know that we can get the word out and create some discussion. The more people know about the issues of climate change and ocean acidification, the better our chances of making the right choices when the time comes.
I want to emphasize that I’m not saying anything about anthropogenic global warming here. I don’t know the truth of the matter yet, mostly because the issue of anthropogenic global warming is vastly more complicated than it is made out to be (I’ll try to give an overview of these problems in a future blog entry).
On the other hand, just because we don’t know the whole truth yet, doesn’t mean we should avoid considering possible courses of action. Let me know your thoughts, and maybe we can get the discussion going here.
If you aren’t familiar with the topics I’ve been discussing, I suggest you take it upon yourself to go out, read about the study I’ve mentioned here and generally get educated on these issues. The more you know, the more everyone around you will probably end up knowing, too, and that, in my book, is a good thing.
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The Coral Reef Acid Test | <urn:uuid:7a9e9d85-8c6f-4795-9479-b2b0512e8e40> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.fishchannel.com/fish-blogs/into-the-aquascape/2009/04/ocean-acidity.aspx | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783396029.85/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154956-00077-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.943785 | 958 | 2.859375 | 3 |
Production and Distribution of Writing
Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development and organization are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience.
With guidance and support from peers and adults, develop and strengthen writing as needed by planning, revising, editing, rewriting, or trying a new approach.
With some guidance and support from adults, use technology, including the Internet, to produce and publish writing as well as to interact and collaborate with others demonstrate sufficient command of keyboarding skills to type a minimum of two pages in a single sitting.
Research to Build and Present Knowledge
Recall relevant information from experiences or gather relevant information from print and digital sources; summarize or paraphrase information in notes and finished work, and provide a list of sources.
Range of Writing
Write routinely over extended time frames (time for research, reflection, and revision) and shorter time frames (a single sitting or a day or two) for a range of discipline-specific tasks, purposes, and audiences.
Presentation of Knowledge and Ideas
Include multimedia components (e.g., graphics, sound) and visual displays in presentations when appropriate to enhance the development of main ideas or themes.
Adapt speech to a variety of contexts and tasks, using formal English when appropriate to task and situation.
Arizona Educational Technology Standards (2009)
- Strand 2: Communication and Collaboration
- Concept 1: Effective Communications and Digital Interactions
- PO 1: Communicate digitally with others by selecting and using a variety of appropriate communication tools.
- Concept 2: Digital Solutions
- PO 1: Contribute to a cooperative learning project and demonstrate effective group behaviors while using digital collaborative resources.
- Concept 3: Global Connections
- PO 1: Communicate with individuals from different cultures or geographic areas to explore a variety of perspectives.
- Strand 3: Research and Information Literacy
- Concept 2: Processing
- PO 4: Use appropriate digital tools to synthesize research information and develop new ideas.
- PO 5: Follow copyright laws when using text, video and images and/or other sources and obtain permission to use the work ot others, and cite resources appropriately.
- Strand 4: Critical Thinking, Problem-Solving and Decision Making
- Concept 1: Investigation
- PO 1: Write an essential question to investigate a topic or issue using digital tools and resources.
- Concept 2: Exploring Solutions
- PO 1: Plan and manage research using credible digital resources to develop solutions to answer a question.
- PO 2: Generate solutions from different perspectives using collected resources and data.
- Strand 5: Digital Citizenship
- Concept 2: Leadership for Digital Citizenship
- PO 1: Exhibit digital citizenship by consistently leading by example and advocating social and civic responsibility to others.
- Students will understand that digital storytelling is an effective way to have their voices heard and make a meaningful connection with others.
- Students will identify a topic, brainstorm ideas around that topic and write a personal narrative.
- Students will demonstrate an understanding of the role images play in a story and will create or find appropriate images to support their story.
- Students will be able to demonstrate an understanding of digital storytelling. They will translate their words and images into a digital story in such a way that others will understand or appreciate their point of view.
- Students will communicate and work collaboratively with peers, teachers and e-Pals.
- Teacher finds schools in other countries who wish to exchange digital stories by using e-Pals, a global exchange site, Skype in the Classroom, or other service to connect with a global classroom.
- Whole class discussion (This can be done face to face or through a Blog post on a class site.)
- Have you ever exchanged conversations of life stories with others of your age from far corners of the world?
- Have you ever wondered about what people your age do in a 24 hour day?
- What do they do at school?
- What do they do for fun?
- How can we learn about people our age who live in other parts of the world?
- Through discussion, plan to implement student idea to create a digital movie, a digital story about themselves..
- What is digital storytelling? Digital storytelling is a term used to describe how ordinary people can use digital media to tell authentic, real-life stories.
- Why do people tell stories?
- What are the elements of a good story?
- How is my personal story the same or different from others?
- Students learn aspects and tips of Digital Storytelling using website(s). (Some guidance from teacher needed.)
- Students will be posed the question, “Suppose you could share one aspect of your life as an extension of friendship with another person of the same age in a village in Africa or another part of the world. What aspect would you share and why?”
- Teacher proposes Digital Storytelling Rubric for use in the project. Students may suggest changes or additions in the rubric.
- Students will be assigned to write a personal narrative story.
- Students are to develop the story topic based on an aspect of their lives or some part of their daily life.
- Students will participate in the writing process to revise and edit written work of their own and shared with a partner or small group.
- Students will create or find digital images from copyright free Internet sites to support their story. Or, use their own digital images.
- Using video editing software, students will transform their written personal narratives into a digital story using an audio narration, digital photographs and images, and music. Students will determine the exact composition of their stories, keeping the rubric in mind.
- Students will export their movies in a format that is suitable to upload to the global exchange site. (Quicktime is a common standard).
- Movies will be shared with peers and assessed by the teacher and themselves with the Digital Storytelling Rubric before being uploaded to exchange site. Teacher may also consider having students assess each others’ stories with the rubric.
- Teacher or student helpers will upload student digital stories to the exchange site.
- Through the exchange of digital “life stories” students from all participating countries will share how and why we do what we do every day, to spark thought and discussion, and to gain new insights about their lives and the lives of others.
- Discussions may take place in e-Pals email exchange, through Skype in the Classroom, or another service.
- To conclude project, students will reflect, in a format of their choice (blog, wiki, collaborative online document, paper, other Web tool), about what they learned most from exchanging movies and email with other students from around the world.
Quicktime is part of the Mac OS systems. No download needed.
- Observation of student motivation and engagement
- Student reflections
- RubiStar Digital Storytelling Rubric ID: 1559941 | <urn:uuid:eac7797c-4302-43b6-b16a-44c6fb2c68b3> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.azk12.org/tim/technology-integration-matrix-collaborative-transformation-lesson-5-8.php | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783393518.22/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154953-00152-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.908388 | 1,429 | 3.703125 | 4 |
Images and text by Garry
Head, Circulating Collections Conservation,
University Libraries Preservation Department
A high-capacity canister
vacuum can be useful for jobs such as getting either wet or dry loose debris out of the way at a disaster site, extracting water from hard floors, and doing a rough preliminary cleaning of shelved books if no mold growth is evident. (If mold growth is evident, see HEPA vacuum.)
Though this is of course a tool, it is included here because a comprehensive list of disaster supplies should include one and because other than general housekeeping, disaster response is our only use for this tool.
(Also listed in "Shop Tools")
Complete Treatments Manual Table of Contents | <urn:uuid:da1b0bd9-cf2d-47b3-a988-f3408b9ac4d4> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.indiana.edu/~libpres/manual/materials/shopvac.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783393442.26/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154953-00158-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.919978 | 145 | 2.609375 | 3 |
The U.S. Fifth Fleet's emblem
|Active||26 April 1944 – January 1947
1 July 1995 – present
|Country||United States of America|
|Branch||United States Navy|
|Part of||U.S. Naval Forces Central Command
U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM)
|Garrison/HQ||Naval Support Activity Bahrain, Bahrain|
|Vice Admiral Kevin M. Donegan, USN|
|Admiral Raymond A. Spruance, USN|
The Fifth Fleet of the United States Navy is responsible for naval forces in the Persian Gulf, Red Sea, Arabian Sea, and parts of the Indian Ocean. It shares a commander and headquarters with U.S. Naval Forces Central Command (NAVCENT). As of 2015[update], the commander of the 5th Fleet is Vice Admiral Kevin M. Donegan. Fifth Fleet/NAVCENT is a component command of, and reports to, U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM).
Established in 1944, the Fifth Fleet conducted extensive operations against Japanese forces in the Central Pacific during World War II. World War II ended in 1945, and the Fifth Fleet was deactivated in 1947. It remained inactive until 1995, when it was reactivated and assumed its current responsibilities.
The Fifth Fleet was initially established during World War II on 26 April 1944 from the Central Pacific Force under the command of Admiral Raymond Spruance. Central Pacific Force was itself part of Pacific Ocean Areas. The ships of the Fifth Fleet also formed the basis of the Third Fleet, which was the designation of the "Big Blue Fleet" when under the command of Admiral William F. Halsey, Jr..[N 1] Spruance and Halsey would alternate command of the fleet for major operations, allowing the other admiral and his staff time to prepare for the subsequent one. A secondary benefit was confusing the Japanese into thinking that they were actually two separate fleets as the fleet designation flipped back and forth.
While operating under Spruance's command as the Fifth Fleet, the fleet took part in the Gilbert and Marshall Islands campaign of November 1943-February 1944, the Mariana Islands campaign of June–August 1944, the Iwo Jima campaign of February–March 1945, and the Okinawa campaign of April–June 1945. During the course of these operations, it conducted Operation Hailstone (a major raid against the Japanese naval base at Truk) in February 1944, defeated the Imperial Japanese Navy in the Battle of the Philippine Sea in June 1944, and blunted the Japanese Operation Ten-Go – sinking the Japanese battleship Yamato in the process – in April 1945.
The British Pacific Fleet operated as Task Force 57 of the Fifth Fleet from March 1945 until May 1945. Halsey then relieved Spruance of command and the British ships, like the rest of the Fifth Fleet, were resubordinated to the Third Fleet, in which the British Pacific Fleet operated as Task Force 37 through the end of the war in August 1945.
The Fifth Fleet's next major combat operation would have been Operation Olympic, the invasion of Kyushu in the Japanese Home Islands, scheduled to begin on 1 November 1945, during which it would have operated simultaneously with the Third Fleet for the first time. The end of the war made this operation unnecessary, and the Fifth Fleet did not return to combat after May 1945, its ships remaining under the Third Fleet's operational control through the end of hostilities.
Prior to the first Gulf War in 1990-1991, U.S. naval operations in the Persian Gulf region were directed by the Commander, Middle Eastern Force (COMMIDEASTFOR). Since this organization was considered insufficient to manage large scale combat operations during the Gulf War, the United States Seventh Fleet — primarily responsible for the Western Pacific and Indian Ocean and normally based in Japan — was given the temporary task of managing the force during the period. However, no numbered fleet existed permanently within the USCENTCOM area of responsibility. By July 1995, a new numbered fleet was deemed necessary. After a 48-year hiatus, the U.S. Fifth Fleet was reactivated, replacing COMMIDEASTFOR, and it now directs operations in the Persian Gulf, Red Sea, and Arabian Sea. Its headquarters are at NSA Bahrain located in Manama, Bahrain.
For the early years of its existence, its forces normally consisted of an Aircraft Carrier Battle Group (CVBG), an Amphibious Ready Group (ARG), surface combatants, submarines, maritime patrol and reconnaissance aircraft, and logistics ships. However, with the War on Terrorism, the naval strategy of the U.S. has changed. The regular deployments of the Cold War are now a thing of the past. Consequently, the policy of always maintaining a certain number of ships in various parts of the world is also over. However, its usual configuration now includes a carrier strike group, Amphibious Ready Group or Expeditionary Strike Group, and other ships and aircraft with almost 15,000 people serving afloat and 1,000 support personnel ashore.
Carrier Group Three formed the core of the naval power during the initial phase of Operation Enduring Freedom in 2001. Commander, Carrier Group Three (Rear Admiral Thomas E. Zelibor) arrived in the Arabian Sea on 12 September 2001 and was subsequently designated Commander Task Force 50 (CTF 50), commanding multiple carrier strike groups and coalition forces. The Task Force conducted strikes against Al-Qaeda and Taliban forces in Afghanistan. Task Force 50 comprised over 59 ships from six nations including six aircraft carriers, stretching over 800 nautical miles.
Fifth Fleet forces peaked in early 2003, when five USN aircraft carriers (CV and CVNs), six USN amphibious assault ships (LHAs and LHDs) and their embarked USMC air ground combat elements, their escorting and supply vessels, and over 30 Royal Navy vessels were under its command.
In the Persian Gulf, United States Coast Guard surface ships attached to the Fifth Fleet were under Commander Destroyer Squadron 50 (CDS-50) commanded by Captain Peterson of the Navy. Boutwell, Walnut, and the four patrol boats were part of this group. The shore detachments, MCSD and PATFOR SWA also operated under the command of CDS-50. For actual operations, the Coast Guard forces were part of two different task forces. The surface units were part of Task Force 55 (CTF-55). Command of CTF-55 actually shifted during OIF. Initially, Rear Admiral Costello, Commander of the Constellation Battle Group, commanded CTF-55. The surface forces were designated Task Group 55.1 (TG-55.1) with Commander Destroyer Squadron 50 (CDS-50) as the task group commander. In mid-April, the Constellation Battle Group left the NAG and the Destroyer Squadron 50 staff commanded TF-55 for the remainder of OIF major combat operations. In the aftermath of the fall of Baghdad in April 2003, the very large force of ships was quickly drawn down.
On 3 January 2012, following the end of the ten-day Velayat 90 naval maneuvers by the Iranian Navy in the Strait of Hormuz, the Iranian Army chief of staff, General Ataollah Salehi, was quoted by the state news agency IRNA as warning the United States to not deploy the Stennis back to the Persian Gulf. On 4 January 2011, Fars News Agency reported that a bill was being prepared for the Iranian Parliament to bar foreign naval vessels from entering the Persian Gulf unless they receive permission from the Iranian navy, with Iranian lawmaker Nader Qazipour noting: "If the military vessels and warships of any country want to pass via the Strait of Hormuz without coordination and permission of Iran’s navy forces, they should be stopped by the Iranian armed forces." Also, Iranian Defense Minister Ahmad Vahidi reiterated that "transnational forces" have no place in the Persian Gulf region. On 6 January 2012, armed Iranian speedboats reportedly harassed two U.S. naval vessels, the amphibious transport dock New Orleans and the Coast Guard cutter Adak, as they transited the Strait of Hormuz into the Persian Gulf.
On 9 January 2012, Carrier Strike Group One, led by the carrier Carl Vinson, joined Carrier Strike Group Three in the North Arabian Sea, with Carrier Strike Group Nine, led by the carrier Abraham Lincoln, en route to the Arabian Sea amid rising tension between the United States and the Islamic Republic of Iran over U.S. naval access to the Strait of Hormuz. On 19 January 2012, Carrier Strike Group Nine entered the U.S. Fifth Fleet's area of responsibility and relieved Carrier Strike Group Three. That same day during an interview on the Charlie Rose program, Mohammad Khazaee, Iran's ambassador to the United Nations, stated that Iran would consider closing the Strait of Hormuz if Iran’s security was endangered.
For December 2012 and January 2013, Carrier Strike Group Three was the only carrier strike group operating with the U.S. Fifth Fleet until relieved by the Carrier Strike Group Ten. This is because of the temporary two-month rotation of the Carrier Strike Group Eight back to the United States in order to resurface the flight deck of that group's flagship, the carrier Eisenhower. Eisenhower, Carrier Air Wing Seven, and the guided-missile cruiser Hue City returned to base on 19 December 2012, and the guided missile destroyers Jason Dunham, Farragut, and Winston S. Churchill were scheduled to return to base in March 2013.
Together with Naval Forces Central Command, Fifth Fleet oversees five naval task forces monitoring maritime activity: | <urn:uuid:b214f56d-9bab-42a0-9315-c27412317f0b> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.mashpedia.com/U.S._Fifth_Fleet | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783391634.7/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154951-00007-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.954614 | 1,978 | 2.578125 | 3 |
World's oldest temple, Göbekli Tepe, built to worship Sirius?
New research has revealed that the world’s oldest known temple, Göbekli Tepe in southern Turkey, was probably built to worship the star Sirius.
Göbekli Tepe is at least 12,000 years old and has been intensively studied by archaeologists since its discovery less than a decade ago. The remarkable site is comprised of numerous temples made with pillars weighing between 40 and 60 tonnes and with intricate depictions of bulls, snakes, foxes, lions and other animals carved into the stone. Yet the awe-inspiring site was supposedly built by ‘primitive’ Neolithic men who lacked sophisticated tools, causing speculation as to how it was built and why.
Giulio Magli, an archaeoastronomer at the Polytechnic University of Milan in Italy, looked to the night sky for an answer to the latter. After all, the arrangement of the pillars at Stonehenge in the UK suggests it could have been built as an astronomical observatory, maybe even to worship the moon.
Magli simulated what the sky would have looked like from Turkey when Göbekli Tepe was built. Over millennia, the positions of the stars change due to Earth wobbling as it spins on its axis. Stars that are near the horizon will rise and set at different points, and they can even disappear completely, only to reappear thousands of years later.
The analysis revealed that the pillars of Göbekli Tepe appear to have aligned with the rising of the ‘dog star’ Sirius. Using existing maps of Göbekli Tepe and satellite images of the region, Magli drew an imaginary line running between and parallel to the two megaliths inside each enclosure. Three of the excavated rings seem to be aligned with the points on the horizon where Sirius would have risen in 9100 BC, 8750 BC and 8300 BC, respectively.
"I propose that the temple was built to follow the 'birth' of this star," says Magli. "You can imagine that the appearance of a new object in the sky could even have triggered a new religion."
The findings will be welcomed by ancient astronaut theorists who maintain that because of the high level of skill that would have been required to build this ancient structure, Gobekli Tepe might have been built with the assistance of extraterrestrials. The finely chiselled columns and other features are believed to have only been possible with tools beyond the technology believed to be available to these ancient people and, in fact, no remains of tools have yet been found to show how it was constructed.
While some may find this conclusion far-fetched, at the very least, Göbekli Tepe and other ancient monuments around the world, point to an advanced knowledge of the cosmos and a belief and reverence in life outside our earthly realm. | <urn:uuid:73ebffe0-18a2-49ee-ac6d-f67f2647cdff> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.ancient-origins.net/news-history-archaeology/worlds-oldest-temple-g-bekli-tepe-built-worship-sirius-00763 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783396100.16/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154956-00101-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.974807 | 592 | 3.546875 | 4 |
|Some of these experiments require a blindfold. Keep in mind that some people do not like to be blindfolded...you could ask them to keep their eyes closed, but don't count on them having their eyes closed for a very long time. You might also be interested in some background information about the ear and hearing.|
What Was That?
It is surprising all the noises that you can hear in the classroom even when everyone is quiet. Well, what are they? Write down everything you can hear when everyone is trying to be quiet. Can you hear the clock? Wind? Talking? Breathing? Cars? Airplanes? Footsteps? See what interesting noises everyone can hear.
It's time to go outside to take a walk-about. Find a nice place to have a seat. Perhaps in a park or on a bench near a busy street. Now listen. Write down everything you can hear. Can you hear the wind? Cars? Airplanes? Go back to class and compare the sounds that everyone heard. Did you hear the same things?
Where can you hear sirens, the wind, musical instruments, the roar of a crowd, a waterfall, and the ocean all in one place.? One place is on a recording. There are many CD, tape and record collections of different sound effects. Play a sound effect and see if everyone can guess what made each sound.
Requires Shockwave Plug-in
Jiggling coins, clinking glasses, clapping hands...think you know what these sound like? Test the ability of people to identify several sounds with this game. People should close their eyes or turn away from the "sound maker." Make each sound and see if everyone knows what it is. Example sounds:
In the Middle
Let's get a little more scientific here (hear?) Blindfold one person and have him sit in the middle of the class. Have the other people form a large circle around the blindfolded person. Point to one of the people in the circle and have him say the seated person's name. The seated person must then try point in the direction of the voice and identify the name of the person who said his name. Try this experiment with the seated person using both ears and then again with one ear closed. How accurate can the center person identify the caller and where the call came from? Are two ears better than one?
Sound Shakers/Noise Makers
Let's make some NOISE!. Explore the sense of sound with these easy-to-make sound shakers (noise makers). Find some plastic film containers, plastic yogurt or cottage cheese cups, or other plastic juice bottles. Make sure that the containers have covers for the tops. Fill the containers 1/2 or 1/4 full with dry seeds, uncooked beans or rice, pebbles or sand. Seal the top of the container with glue or tape (you don't want the seeds, beans, rice, etc. all over the floor). Decorate the container with glue and magazine cutouts, stickers or colored paper, then shake, shake, shake. Compare the sounds made by the different materials.
You could also play a guessing game with your sound shakers: have people guess what is inside of your sound shaker just by listening to the noise your shaker makes.
Mix and Match
In this activity you will use your sense of hearing to find a "sound match." First you need to make your sound pairs just like in the activity "Sound Shakers/Noise Makers," except use the same type of container for all the shakers. Use the same type of film canister or yogurt container for all the shakers. Fill pairs of containers with similar material. For example, you could fill 2 containers with sand, 2 other containers with a few pennies, 2 other containers with marbles. When you shake a container, there will always be one other container that sounds the same.
Mix up the containers and let each student pick one. Students then shake their containers and hunt around the room trying to find their matching noise maker by listening to the sound of the other noise makers.
You hear the ringing of the phone in the middle of the night, but you just can't find it. You can hear it, but you can't see it. Where is that thing? Just how good is the ability to find things using only the sense of hearing. Blindfold a person. Have him cover one ear. Take a watch or stopwatch that "ticks". An electric watch will not work. Ask the student to tell you when he hears some "ticking". Approach the blindfolded person from several different angles and record the distance when the subject says "I can hear the ticking". Keep track of the angles and the distances. Repeat the same experiment with the student's other ear closed. Then do it again with both of his ears opened.
Questions and Comparisons:
Two Ears are Better Than One: Sound Localization
To show the importance of two ears, try this one. Make an X on the floor with tape or chalk or erasable marker. Measure distances in a straight line in increments of 5 ft (1.5 m) from the X and label each of these points with the distance it is from the X (5 ft, 10 ft, 15 ft, etc.) Now for the test. Place a blindfolded subject on the X. Now, you stand on one of the points away from the X. Say the subject's name. The subject must now tell you which line you are standing on. Try it when the subject uses one and both ears. Make it harder with shorter distances from the X. Are 2 ears better than one in judging distance?
For most people, it will be easier to judge distance using two ears. Our brains use the loudness of sounds and the differences in time for sounds to reach each ear to make accurate determinations of sound locations.
Marco Polo is a game that requires people to localize sounds. The game is often played in the swimming pool, but you can play it outside too. One person is "IT". The other players must stay in the pool or within an outlined space (such as a basketball court). The object of the game is for "IT" to tag any other player; the catch is that "IT" must keep his or her eyes CLOSED. To help find other players, "IT" can say, "Marco". The other players must respond with the word "POLO". Using this sound, "IT" tries to tag someone. A person who is tagged becomes the new "IT".
A Penny Saved is a Penny Heard
Here is another way to test your
hearing acuity. Collect 10 or more U.S.
pennies - the more pennies you collect, the better the "sample". Recently,
I noticed that the U.S. government changed the metals that it uses to make
a penny. Pennies are not 100% copper. For one thing, newer pennies look
different - they are more shiny. To me, new pennies also
Try to figure out WHEN they changed the formula of the penny. Take your
collection of pennies and drop them, one at a time, on a hard surface...a
table or floor will work. Newer pennies have a "tinny," "dull" sound.
Older pennies have a more "full," "ringing" sound. Keep track of the
pennies that you think are old and which ones are new. When did they make
the switch to the new penny formula? My guess, based on my perceptions of
the penny sounds, is that 1982 was the last year that they made pennies
with the old metal formula. From 1983 on, I think they made pennies
out of copper-plated zinc.
It's easy to make a model of the eardrum (also called the "tympanic membrane") and see how sound travels through the air. Just stretch a piece of plastic wrap over a large bowl or pot (any container with a wide opening will work). Make sure the plastic wrap is stretched tightly over the container. The plastic represents the eardrum. Place about 20-30 grains of uncooked rice on the top of the plastic wrap. Now you need a noise maker. A tin cookie sheet or baking tray works well. Hold the cookie sheet close to the plastic wrap. Hit the cookie sheet to create a "big bang" noise and watch the rice grains jump.
The "big bang" produces sound waves (changes in air pressure) that cause the plastic sheet to vibrate which causes the rice grains to move. Sound waves vibrate the eardrum in much the same way.
|GO TO:||Hearing||Smell||Taste||Touch||Vision||Working Together|
|BACK TO:||The Senses||Experiments and Activities||Table of Contents|
Neuroscience for Kids | <urn:uuid:cdb8f868-fa6c-46e4-bf74-c2e6959a17ba> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://faculty.washington.edu/chudler/chhearing.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783393442.26/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154953-00150-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.937964 | 1,851 | 4.03125 | 4 |
by Tamara Caulkins*
On May 20, 2014, the OSU Department of Mathematics sponsored a history lecture by Dr. David Pengelley, of New Mexico State University. Dr. Pengelley presented an animated lecture on the French mathematician, Sophie Germain (1776-1831). Dr. Pengelley’s interest in Germain was sparked by his use of primary historical sources in his teaching of mathematics. This led him to a store of Germain’s original manuscripts at the National Library of France, which had not been studied in over two hundred years. Revisiting Germain’s work as a mathematician, Dr. Pengelley found that Germain had developed a sophisticated plan for proving Fermat’s Last Theorem, making significant contributions to number theory. Until recently, her work was known only via a footnote in another mathematician’s treatise (Legendre, Essai sur la Théorie des Nombres, 1823). Particularly in an age when women were not well-educated and when they were excluded from scientific academies, Germain’s substantial achievements were indeed remarkable.
Sophie Germain was only thirteen when the French Revolution broke out, forcing her to spend most of her time indoors. During that period, she turned to her father’s library. Fascinated by books on mathematics, she taught herself against her parent’s wishes (Pengelley relates that at one point they even took away her clothes and candles to prevent her from studying at night!). Germain’s father was a silk merchant so it was not through his mentorship that she developed her abilities but rather through her own effort and perseverance. At one point, Germain took on the identity of a student at the École Polytechnique who had died (Antoine-August LeBlanc). When the professor discovered that it was really a woman who was submitting such fine work under LeBlanc’s name, he was astonished. Germain eventually corresponded with Johann Carl Friedrich Gauss (1777-1855) in Göttingen, one of the most celebrated mathematicians of the time. Pengelley recounts that upon receiving a letter from Germain, Gauss praised the way she contributed to the “charms of this sublime science,” as giving him great joy. Continue reading | <urn:uuid:e4f374e3-3af4-42da-9175-3cec84ea1e42> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://blogs.oregonstate.edu/historyofscience/page/2/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783395346.6/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154955-00059-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.980221 | 489 | 3.40625 | 3 |
The Letter, 1913, by Thomas Benjamin Kennington, England 1856-1916
God wisely provided mothers to train their daughters at home. A daughter should learn about home making, while standing at the elbow of her mother.
Mother-Daughter and Teacher-Student Relationship is Important:
There are several things that take place when daughters are taught at home by their own mothers. Firstly, they develop a relationship with the teacher, which is essential in any kind of worthwhile learning. A mother as a teacher is an authority that is tailor-made for the temperament of her children. If she has stayed home with them and nurtured them, discipled them, and taken responsibility to educate them herself, she is superior as a teacher, to anyone else in the world. A mother is a teacher who loves her child better than anyone else, for she has borne her and knows her from the cradle.
The Home Provides Whatever a Daughter Needs to Grow and Develop into a Future Wife, Mother and Homemaker:
Home is the best place for daughters, and there is nothing anyone else can provide for them that is greater than their home life. The colleges can't give them what they really need, physically, emotionally, or spiritually.
The military cannot give young women what they need to keep their marriages together and their children obedient and loyal.
Careers cannot give women the skills they need for home making. Any knowledge that these places claim you need, whether it be from the military or workplace, can be attained in other ways, if it is really needed.
Ministries are often large youth groups, where daughters are used for washing dishes and sweeping floors--work they could be doing at home, to help their own mothers. Though many claim that they are "counselling" or teaching younger people, they would still be better off under the care of their own families, rather than working in someone else's ministry. Ministries can be worse than the work place, in that they rarely pay the young volunteers. Parents often send money to support them while away from home.
These institutions do not support us in the belief that our daughters are raised to become wives, mothers and homemakers and should be home, practicing for that career. We must, therefore, stop expecting that any agency or person in the world outside of the home can provide the things our daughters need for life and godliness.
As soon as a daughter reaches her teen years, it will seem like everyone has their hand out, beckoning to her to come and join them in college, at work, the military, ministry, and apartment living with friends. These people want your daughter because they can profit from her in some way. If a daughter has learned from her mother to enjoy home making, she will have no trouble resisting the friends and relatives and church members who want her to leave home.
Rest by the Pool, by Friedrich Peter Hiddeman, Germany 1829-1892
Homemaking is a Spiritual Thing, Not Just a Mechanical Thing:
Daughters need to know that anyone can wash a dish or sweep a floor, but it takes a heart of love and concern for the family to become a real home maker. If home making is just a mechanical cleaning of sinks and cooking necessary meals, the heart of it is lost.
Study the Old Paths, See What the Good WalkIs:
Think about the things that produced a feeling of home, sweet home, in the past. It was the mother making homey things: sewing thoughtfully for her family's needs, and making her own table cloth and matching curtains. It was the daughters taking tea on a tray to a guest. It was the grandmothers who tended pretty flower gardens, which grown men can still remember in detail. It was the women who sat in a chair with her feet on a small stool, contentedly knitting, while her husband and children were around her.
Taylor Caldwell remembered the scene of her Aunt Polly's home: "I would visit Aunt Polly for the soothing joy of being in a real home, among soft voices and gentle music, among fragrances and graciousness, topping it off with a real British tea..."
We go into the past because there we find a record of many things that women did when women's place was proudly in the home. Things that factories produce today, women did at home to show their love for their families. Things like handkerchiefs, socks, shawls, sweaters, embroidered cushions, wall pockets, plant boxes, dish cloths, soap, aprons, painted plates, and much more, were lovingly hand made. Tables were lovingly set with plates and cutlery, adorned by hand made napkins. It was not so much the material things that made the house a home, but those humble touches, which made the memories, which made the home feel so differently than it does in our fast-paced world.
One reason I place the 18th century paintings here, is for a peer into the work and leisure time of families, when the women were home focused.
Home is a Place of Freedom to Develop Interests:
The Home Quartet, 1882, Mrs. Lushington and Her Daughters, by Arthur Hughes, English 1832-1915
Home is the best place for grown daughters to develop talents. No other place can provide the kind of atmosphere and encouragement needed to pursue her different interests. I have seen the productiveness of daughters at home. There, they are free to make a beautiful quilt, sew a pretty dress, design a scrapbook to display family memories, make cards and gift-baskets. Music is a wonderful by-product of daughters at home. I have heard sisters sing in harmony while washing dishes. I know women whose homes have that wonderful, homey feeling, because of the talent of their daughters. There is more time at home to perfect these talents.
A Daughter's Presence Warms the Home:
Many women can recall the bleakness of the neighborhood when women went to work, en-masse. Going for walks was a cold and lonely experience, when passing darkened houses with no homemakers to light the home. Daughters at home make it a bright, homey place just by being their for their Papas and Mamas, to provide a pot of tea and serve a snack. I know some girls who are not particularly interested in hobbies, like painting or other arts, but they love to keep house. They get their buzz from seeing a clean floor or a polished table; a cooked meal and a freshly arranged bouquet of garden flowers on the coffee table. There is nothing wrong with that. They will always be happy, as long as there is house work to do. Others find some kinds of work tiring, and will need to have the perks of fancy work or pursue artistic and musical interests. It does not matter, as long as they know that the care of the family and the keeping of the home is what God expects of them. To neglect it is to put God's Word in a bad light.
The Test, by Thomas Armstrong, British 1831-1911
The Privacy of Home:
It is important for daughters to be at home to protect their own privacy. At college, a work place, in an apartment with other girls, in the military, and even in a ministry, there is gossip and false teaching. Remember that the world does not support the real needs of the young woman who has been taught to pursue the Biblical excellence of being a wife, mother and homemaker. If she has been taught these things, there is no reason for her to leave home, except to go into her own home some day when she gets married.
No Need to Ask, "What Will I Do Now That I'm Grown?"
If a daughter has eagerly developed the art of homemaking, there is no need for her, or her mother, to ever ask the question, "Now that I have finished my home education, what should I do? " for she will be busily putting to practice the many things that she has learned. Grown daughters can now let their mothers rest and re-create with their own past times, by doing much of the housekeeping.
Colleges cost a good deal of money, and even the scholarships are not completely free. The little it prepares a girl for a long-lasting marriage and the skills to have a stable home life, it would be better to use the money, if the parents have it, to give to her at her wedding, to help with a down payment on a house.
News From the Front, by Alexander Rossi, Italian, 1870-1903
Look to the Homes, to Find the Wives:
Men who are looking for wives, should inquire of parents if they know of any parents with daughters at home. College, the work place, the military, and sorrowfully, even churches, are not providing the kind of women whose goal is to get married and raise up a generation for the Lord. If you are a man, hoping to find a homemaker for a wife, you will not likely meet her at work, because she will be home with her mother. This is the training ground for future wives. The college is not. The military is not. The workplace is not, nor are ministries or apartment-sharing friends. Women who are learning to be wives, mothers and homemakers, will be at home, helping their mothers, until they are in their own homes with their own families. Young women who have been home, caring for her own family, will adjust more easily to caring for their husbands in their own homes. They will have had the training and the practice that makes it natural and easy to be contented at home.
Expect Insults and Intimidation:
Home is where God put the family. There are forces that have always worked to destroy the home, so that children will no longer respect their parents and follow their guidance. We should always hold on to high standards regarding the responsibility toward daughters. The rest of the world does not think this is "healthy" and wants to separate these young girls from the care and protection of their fathers and mothers, to get them under the control of colleges, employers, captains, ministers, and friends.
God placed parents in their lives for more than just feeding and clothing them and teaching them up to a certain age. As parents grow older, they become more wise and wary of the snares of the world, and are able to advise their daughters better than anyone else. You can expect a lot of resistance to your beliefs, so do not be astonished at the tactics that are used to intimidate you.
Such phrases as: "Don't you think your daughter is old enough to decide for herself" really mean, "I want to decide for your daughter. College recruiters want to decide for your daughter. The military wants to decide. The ministry wants to decide." When you hear phrases like that, you know that they are trying to get the daughters out from under the teachings of their parents, and get them in their college, their factory, their office, their army, their ministry, and their apartment. No one decides for themselves. Either they decide the way they are taught, or the way someone else has taught. There is nothing new under the sun,
Another phrase, "It is none of your business, now that she is 18" is designed to put you off so that they may insert their agenda for your daughter. They say it is none of the parents business, but they are making it their own business. The Bible says to train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old, he will not depart from it. The college recruiters (usually a handsome young man recruiting young women, and a pretty young woman recruiting the men) do not believe that your daughter should continue in the homemaking way she was trained. The military does not want her to stay home and follow the way she was taught; the ministries do not support the family in their efforts to teach their daughters to be keepers at home; the workplace will not reinforce the way she should go. They are all telling her to depart from it. There is no substitute for the government of the home. It is mighty. It produces sons and daughters that marry, have children, practice a religion, make a homelife, and teach their own children to do the same. The family has a right to train up their children in their own beliefs. The world does not think the grown children should continue in the way they were taught. They think they should depart from it.
A Mother's Duty:
As a parent, you are obligated to guide your daughters into the right way of life. The Bible says that younger women should marry, bear children, and keep house, in that order. The world says that young women should spend their youth in colleges, workplaces, military, ministry and apartments. This is a waste of good womanhood, when it should be used to strengthen the home.
The Bible, The Ultimate Guide:
One can present all kinds of reasons for daughters to be home under the care of their parents, but the Bible is our last stand. There is no example of sending daughters off to work, to the military, to college, or even to ministry, just because they are not married. That is a 20th century plan, and a trend, which needs to be unsettled and thoroughly refuted.
Things Daughters Need to Be Doing:
1. Continuing in the good homemaking habits they have been taught by their parents.
2. Making their parents home a clean and lovely place. A mother with more than one daughter ought to have the nicest, cleanest, prettiest house. A large family should not mean a messier house, if daughters will do the work.
3.Making things for their mothers and her home: clothes, quilts, decorative items. They can also make things to sell, like the Proverbs 31 woman. Remember, she gave her products to the merchant, to sell. She did not sit around all day in a shop.
4. Start getting curriculum ready for future children.Make Bible lessons for littleones, complete with little illustrative crafts. Begin a notebook with things in it they might use.
5. Make her wardrobe. If marriage comes suddenly, she will not have time to sew, and if children follow quickly after that, she will be glad she had plenty of clothing.
6. Keep her own room clean enough for it to be a good testimony to her homemaking skills.
7. Learn new skills: ceramics, sewing, knitting, painting, making things from nothing, cooking from basic ingredients and not mixes or cans.
8. Learn to manage money and to substitute no-cost things, such as making cards and gifts, or making her own curtains.
For further research, some readers might find this of interest: The Mis-Education of Women
Tooley, British professor of education, takes to task the U.S and British educational systems for succumbing to feminists in the last 30 years and misdirecting young women into early careers instead of marriage and motherhood. The result is what he calls the "Bridget Jones syndrome," young women suddenly realizing they're squandering their prime opportunities to marry and reproduce. Refuting educational policy in the U.S and Britain that promotes gender equality, Tooley argues that boys and girls are different and should be counseled differently on life and career choices. He counters the arguments of famous feminists Simone de Beauvoir, Germaine Greer, and Betty Friedan with Bridget Jones' Diary and vignettes of unhappy young women who have sacrificed personal lives for careers. Echoing Friedan, Tooley announces that the "problem that has no name" is the misdirection of feminism. First published in England to scathing criticism, this book is sure to spark vociferous debate in the U.S. as well. Vanessa Bush | <urn:uuid:13c227fc-bb38-4e1b-a533-4a6c2b3a4d1c> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://homeliving.blogspot.com/2010/06/daughters-at-home.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783396887.54/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154956-00086-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.979781 | 3,297 | 2.59375 | 3 |
- This object type is currently only implemented in E-on-CL.
An FDRef is an object which wraps the operating system's file descriptors or similar objects. On platforms which have file descriptors, i.e. small integers naming open files, the primary purpose of FDRef objects is to ensure that a file descriptor is closed after, and not before, there are no users of it (that is, when the FDRef is garbage collected). Therefore, all interfaces to system calls which take file descriptors should either take FDRefs or be methods of FDRef.
FDRefs are a low-level interface; they reveal nondeterminism, and may be used to directly perform potentially blocking system calls. They should always be wrapped by higher-level facilities, and exist only to be a useful implementation abstraction and to allow writing said wrappers in E.
Since file descriptors may be explicitly closed, it is possible to have a FDRef which is invalid — having no associated file descriptor.
When a method is applicable to only certain types of open files (e.g. shutdown only applies to sockets), it may be absent from that particular FDRef object. Note: Due to limitations caused by the implementation platform, it may be the case that a FDRef does not have all of the methods it should for its file type if it was obtained in some “generic” way, or it may have methods which are not applicable. XXX Should we obligate implementing __respondsTo/2 to detect the type of file?
XXX finish documenting/specifying. Add all the socket-specific methods from EoCL
XXX Write a single page documenting system call error code conversions to exceptions.
Performs the close() system call, exiting according to ejector if it fails, and marks this FDRef invalid.
XXX What should happen to the state of the FDRef in the event of failure? Is it possible for the FD to not have been deallocated.
- Signature: getFD() :int
Returns the file descriptor, throwing if this FDRef is invalid. Clients should be extremely careful to retain the FDRef until they are done using the file descriptor, and must rely on other clients of this FDRef not to close it.
Performs the shutdown() system call, exiting according to ejector if it fails. XXX Explain direction argument. In current impl, it is a CL symbol.
Performs the write() system call, exiting according to ejector if it fails. Any resulting
SIGPIPE is ignored.
If length is null, then the length of data is used. XXX Better length-start?
Performs the read() system call.
- If read() returns a positive number, the octets read are returned in a ConstList.
- If read() returns 0 (end of file), eofEjector is invoked. XXX specify argument to ejector
- If read() returns -1,
- If the error is EWOULDBLOCK, is returned.
- Otherwise errorEjector is invoked.
The return value is the list of octets read. | <urn:uuid:fd22fa3a-90c5-424d-b354-f6ff1f6ef4a2> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://wiki.erights.org/mediawiki/index.php?title=FDRef&oldid=2152 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783393332.57/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154953-00139-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.864309 | 649 | 2.890625 | 3 |
This attribute defines a path to follow.
|Categories||Path Description attribute|
|Value||<List of movements>|
|Normative document||SVG 1.1 (2nd Edition)|
The d attribute is actually a string which contains a series of path descriptions. These paths consist of combinations the following instructions:
These are combined in a single string. The different commands are case-sensitive; an upper-case command specifies its arguments as absolute positions, while a lower-case command specified points relative to the current position. It is always possible to specify a negative value as an argument to a command: negative angles will be anti-clockwise, absolute x and y positions will be taken as negative coordinates, negative relative x values will move to the left, and negative relative y values will move upwards.
Moveto instructions can be thought of as picking up the drawing instrument and setting it down somewhere else. There is no line drawn between the previous point and the specified point. It is good practice to open all paths with a Moveto command, because without an initial Moveto, commands will be executed with the starting point at wherever it happened to be previously, possibly resulting in undefined behaviour.
M x,ywhere x and y are absolute coordinates, horizontal and vertical respectively.
m dx,dywhere dx and dy are distances relative to the current position, to the right and down respectively.
- Absolute positioning at x=50, y= 100:
<path d="M50,100..." />
- Move 50 right, 100 down :
<path d="m50,100..." />
Unlike Moveto instructions, Lineto instructions will draw a straight line. This line moves from the current position to the specified location. The syntax for a generic Lineto command is "L x,y" or "l dx, dy" where x and y are absolute coordinates and dx and dy are distances to the right and up respectively. There are also the letters H and V, which specify Horizontal and Vertical movements. Their syntax is exactly the same as L, including that the lower-case version is relative rather than absolute.
Curveto commands specify a Bezier curve. There are two types of Bezier curves: Cubic and Quadratic. Cubic Bezier curves are a special case of the Quadratic bezier curve, in that the control point for each end is the same. The syntax for a Quadratic Bezier curve is "Q cx,cy x,y" or "q dcx,dcy, dx, dy". cx and cy are the absolute coordinates of the control point, dcx and dcy are the direction in the x and y directions, respectively, of the control point. x and y are the absolute coordinates of the end point, and dx and dy are the distances in the x and y directions, respectively, of the end point.
There is no comma between the y-coordinate of the control point and the x-coordinate of the endpoint. This is true for both absolute and relative coordinates. If you accidentally place a comma after the control point, the path after that control point may be considered invalid. Use a single whitespace character to separate the control point from the endpoint.
Cubic Bezier curves follow the same concept as Quadratic, except that there are two control points to worry about. The syntax for a Cubic Bezier curve is "C c1x,c1y c2x,c2y x,y" or "c dc1x,dc1y dc2x,dc2y dx,dy", where c1x,c1y, and c2x,c2y are the absolute coordinates of the control points for the initial point and end point respectively. dc1x,dc1y, dc2x,dc2y are all relative to the initial point, not the end point. dx and dy are the distance to the right and down respectively.
There is no comma between any given set of coordinates, i.e. c1y and c2x, or c2y and x. Whitespace must be used to separate the coordinates. If you accidentally put a comma between any two points, the path may be considered invalid from that point on.
For chains of smooth Bezier curves, the T and S commands are available. Their syntax is simpler than the other Curveto commands because it is assumed that the first control point is the reflection about the previous point from the previous control point, or that it actually IS the previous point if there was no previous control point. The syntax for T is "T x,y" or "t dx,dy" for absolute and relative directions, respectively, and is used to create Quadratic Bezier curves. S is used to create Cubic Bezier curves, with the syntax "S cx,cy x,y" or "s dcx,dcy dx,dy", where (d)cx indicates the second control point.
Finally, all of the Bezier curve commands can be made into a "polybezier" by specifying all of the parameters multiple times after the initial command. Consequently, the following two commands will create exactly the same path:
<path d="c 50,0 50,100 100,100 50,0 50,-100 100,-100" />
<path d="c 50,0 50,100 100,100 c 50,0 50,-100 100,-100" />
Sometimes it is easier to describe a path as an elliptical curve rather than a Bezier curve. To this end, Arcto commands are supported in paths. The center of the arc is calculated from the other variables. The declaration of an arcto is relatively complicated: "A rx,ry xAxisRotate LargeArcFlag,SweepFlag x,y". To deconstruct, rx and ry are the radius in the x and y directions respectively, The LargeArcFlag has a value of either 0 or 1, and determines whether the smallest (0) or largest (1) arc possible is drawn. The SweepFlag is either 0 or 1, and determines if the arc should be swept in a clockwise (1) or anti-clockwise (0) direction. x and y are the destination coordinates. Although the xAxisRotate is supposed to change the x-axis relative to the current reference frame, it seems that this argument has no effect with Gecko 7.
Unlike the Bezier functions, the comma placement in an ArcTo function has no real impact. Commas or whitespace can be used interchangably.
The ClosePath command will simply draw a straight line from the current position to the first point in the path. It is the simplest command, and takes no parameters. It will take the shortest linear path to the starting point, intersecting other paths if they fall in the way. The syntax is "Z" or "z", and both will react exactly the same.
The following elements can use the
- Path »
In additon, the same rules here apply to animation paths. | <urn:uuid:785ffe13-358d-4174-abe1-4d91b3e9d911> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/SVG/Attribute/d?redirect=no | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783395621.98/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154955-00155-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.851058 | 1,486 | 3.453125 | 3 |
September 16, 2010
Biomarkers In Blood Could Classify People With Alzheimer’s Disease
(Ivanhoe Newswire) -- Biomarkers in blood serum can be combined with clinical information to accurately classify patients with Alzheimer's disease. If only biomarkers in blood serum could make our tax forms easier and more accurate.
"There is clearly a need for reliable and valid diagnostic and prognostic biomarkers of Alzheimer's disease, and in recent years, there has been an explosive increase of effort aimed at identifying such markers," which authors from the study are quoted as saying. "It has been previously argued that, because of significant advantages, the ideal biomarkers would be gleaned from peripheral blood."Sid E. O'Bryant, Ph.D., of Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center, Lubbock, and his colleagues in the Texas Alzheimer's Research Consortium analyzed proteins in the serum of 197 patients diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease and 203 controls without. The researcher created a biomarker risk score, which included levels of a number of protein biomarkers, including fibrinogen (a clotting protein), interleukin-10 (associated with the immune system) and C-reactive protein (an inflammatory marker).
The concluding biomarker risk score accurately identified 80 percent of the individuals with Alzheimer's disease and correctly excluded 91 percent of the individuals without the disease. When other factors were brought into the equation such as age, sex, education and whether or not the individual had the APOE gene, the score appropriately identified 94 percent of the individuals with Alzheimer's disease and correctly classified 84 percent of the individuals without the disease.
"In addition to offering more accessible, rapid and cost- and time-effective methods for assessment, biomarkers (or panels of biomarkers) also hold great potential for identification of endophenotypes within Alzheimer's disease populations that are associated with particular disease mechanisms," the authors from the study added. In the current study, "a disproportionate number of inflammatory and vascular markers were weighed most heavily in the analyses."
"The identification of blood-based biomarker profiles with good diagnostic accuracy would have a profound impact worldwide and requires further validation," the authors concluded. "Additionally, the identification of pathway-specific endophenotypes among patients with Alzheimer's disease would likewise have implications for targeted therapeutics as well as understanding differential progression among diagnostic cases. With the rapidly evolving technology and the analytic techniques available, Alzheimer's disease researchers now have the tools to simultaneously analyze exponentially more information from a host of modalities, which is likely going to be necessary to understand this very complex disease."
SOURCE: Archives of Neurology, September 2010 | <urn:uuid:fa1c0ddf-de95-443f-8890-7cbd57d09c14> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.redorbit.com/news/health/1918116/biomarkers_in_blood_could_classify_people_with_alzheimers_disease/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783396538.42/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154956-00025-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.952207 | 541 | 2.59375 | 3 |
On this date in 1656, astronomer Edmund Halley was born in the United Kingdom. The Royal Society published a scientific paper by Halley when he was only 19. He cut short his college career to travel to St. Helena, the southernmost point of the British empire, where he cataloged 341 stars, discovered a star cluster, and made the first complete observation of a transit of Mercury. King Charles II conferred a degree from Oxford upon Halley without requiring an exam. At 22, Halley became one of the youngest members admitted to the Royal Society. He had worked with Astronomer Royal John Flamsteed at Oxford and Greenwich. Flamsteed became Halley's enemy and blocked his appointment to Oxford on account of Halley's rationalist views in 1691. Although not well off, Halley urged Newton to write his Principia Mathematica and published it for Newton. Halley remains famous for being the first to predict the return of a comet (named for him). After several posts, Halley finally secured a professorship at Oxford in 1703. When Flamsteed died, Halley became Royal Astronomer in 1720. He was known during his day as "the Infidel Mathematician." While not all his theories proved correct, Halley made many important discoveries, innovations and inventions, such as the diving bell. D. 1741. | <urn:uuid:966a7846-1c40-439e-afa3-519468710dd8> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://ffrf.org/news/day/dayitems/item/14640-edmund-halley | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783396887.54/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154956-00107-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.976217 | 278 | 3.59375 | 4 |
- Historic Sites
The House At Eighth And Jackson
Clues uncovered during the recent restoration of his house at Springfield help humanize the Lincoln portrait
April 1989 | Volume 40, Issue 3
In 1849, Park Service experts now speculate, someone—probably six-year-old Robert or one of his playmates—fed some of his father’s old papers into a crack above the baseboard in the kitchen’s north wall. They were soon obliterated by a shower of plaster shaken down upon them by further alterations to the house. A field mouse then constructed its nest atop the plaster. (When what was left of the papers was uncovered in 1987, the delicate skeleton of the nest’s builder still lay cuddled up inside it.)
There was nothing momentous in this cache; nothing in Lincoln’s own hand, in fact, except part of a franked but empty envelope addressed to the Washington landlady in whose boardinghouse he lived while in Congress. The papers include two more or less intact letters from Illinois political allies, termite-chewed fragments of two additional letters from constituents seeking favors, and a copy of an 1849 speech by a fellow Whig congressman, James Wilson of New Hampshire, opposing slavery’s spread into the lands newly acquired from Mexico, its pages still uncut.
One letter, from David Dickinson, a political backer from Lacon, Illinois, was written in early 1846, while Lincoln was maneuvering to assure his own nomination for the state’s single safe Whig congressional seat. Lincoln believed that he had an agreement with the two other leading party hopefuls—Edward D. Baker (for whom his second son was named) and John J. Hardin—that they would rotate the nomination among themselves, and that 1846 was his turn. But Hardin, a former incumbent (and Mary’s distant cousin), had other ideas and schemed to seize the nomination for himself. Lincoln finally forced him to withdraw, but he was evidently still wary of a last-minute betrayal, for Dickinson wrote to reassure him that he had been scouting Putnam County, on the lookout for Hardin’s “moccasin tracks,” and that all was well.
During his single term in Congress, Lincoln was besieged by letters from constituents demanding services. Two of these survived beneath the mouse nest. One voter asked him to register a patent for a “compound vegetable” elixir that cured “dyspepsia . . . weakness ... or a bad cold . . .”; the other hoped the congressman could arrange for him a commission in the Army, then fighting the Mexican War. “I hope to obtain your interference in my behalf,” the aspiring officer wrote, “and if I succeed rest assured sir that it will never be forgotten by me. . . .” It is unlikely that the young congressman’s interference did his eager constituent much good with the Democratic administration; Lincoln was a freshman and a Whig who believed the current struggle in the Southwest “a war of conquest brought into existence to catch votes.” But it is likely that he did his best; he could not afford to be forgotten by any voter.
Lincoln’s first love may have been politics, but he made his money as a lawyer, at least five thousand dollars annually by the 1850s, and the result was that he wasn’t home much; for up to six months a year he was away politicking and trying cases on the Eighth Circuit, a vast shifting area that once encompassed fourteen counties, one-fifth of the state. “During my childhood and early youth,” Robert Lincoln once recalled, trying to explain why his father had never found the time to tell him much about his own boyhood, “[my father] was almost constantly away . . . attending courts or making political speeches.”
During all that time, year after year, Mary was left to run her household and raise her children largely on her own, and it is understandably her impress rather than her husband’s that is most evident in their house. It was Mary who studied Miss Leslie’s House Book, or Manual of Domestic Economy for Town and Country; who saw to it that the ceilings were freshly whitewashed and the oil lamps were filled and their wicks trimmed; who arranged the seashells on the what-not shelves in the parlor. (Lincoln’s own mussed, intensely masculine world was epitomized by the law office, five blocks away, where he spent most daylight hours when he was in Springfield. It was so disheveled, a clerk recalled, that government seeds brought back with him from Washington actually sprouted in one unswept corner.)
A reporter from upstate New York, ushered through the Springfield house shortly after Lincoln was nominated for the Presidency, reassured his Republican readers that they need not fear that they were being asked to vote for an untamed frontiersman. The candidate’s “house was neatly without being extravagantly furnished,” he wrote. “An air of quiet refinement pervaded the place. You would have known instantly that she who presided over the modest household was a true type of the American lady. There were flowers upon the tables . . . pictures upon the walls. . . . The thought that involuntarily blossomed into speech was—‘What a pleasant home Abe Lincoln has.’” | <urn:uuid:5924f5c4-7a86-4b60-b45f-cf73ba823133> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.americanheritage.com/content/house-eighth-and-jackson?page=3 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783396875.58/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154956-00143-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.984666 | 1,135 | 2.953125 | 3 |
Most children begin learning phonics by sounding out letters and learning what items represent that sound and that letter, i.e. A is for apple; A sounds like “aaaaaaaaaaaaaa”. Children begin learning phonics from parents, siblings, videos, and music at a very early age (2-4 years old) even before entering school.
Phonics and phonemic awareness are comingled when teaching children in this manner. Phonics involves the relationship between sounds and written symbols, whereas phonemic awareness involves sounds in spoken words. Therefore, phonics instruction focuses on teaching sound-spelling relationships and is associated with print. Most phonemic awareness tasks are oral.
Even though parents are the initial teachers, it will take a professional to instill all of the rules of phonics and to teach students decoding skills as they begin to read. Hiring a tutor with experience teaching early learners will ensure a student’s success as they begin elementary school. A professional tutor can also reinforce phonics for those students that were taught the Whole Language approach to reading and are still struggling in 2nd and 3rd grades. Hiring an Advanced Learners tutor is a guarantee that you will receive a professional tutor that can make a difference in a child’s ability to read.
High School Tutors
Is your high school student college bound? Does every grade count towards a scholarship or a college application? High school students are inundated with grades, sports, work, volunteering, activities, and sometimes a little old fashioned teenage fun. When a high school student shows signs of struggling it is important to get them the help they need as soon as possible. Our high school tutors are available when and where you need them the most…in-home and on your schedule! Whether your high school student simply needs a boost of confidence with study skills, some test preparation and encouragement, or on-going semester long subject help, we have just the high school tutors that can help.
San Diego Tutors
San Diego’s emphasis on education is apparent in its notable support of the biotechnology research being conducted at the University of California, San Diego Medical Center. The Census Bureau ranks San Diego as the 9th most educated city in the US with 40% of its population attaining a bachelor’s degree or higher. San Diego is home to some of the most coveted private schools, colleges and universities in America. San Diego hosts four school districts to cover the needs of all its public school students. These residents take their education very seriously and so do we! As a city with students of all ages, we have cultivated an elite group of tutors to help students with any subject necessary. Our highly customized service means that you determine exactly who your tutor will be, where the tutoring will take place, and for how long. Our reputation as a premium service is evident in the multitude of testimonials and referrals we have received from parents, students, and schools throughout the San Diego area.
View Some Of Our High School Phonics Tutor Profiles
Our Tutoring Service
We offer our clients only the very best selection of tutors. When you request a tutor for a certain subject, you get what you ask for. Our tutors are expertly matched to your individual needs based on the criteria you provide to us. We will provide you with the degrees, credentials, and certifications that each selected tutor holds. Equally important is the peace of mind we offer you knowing that each of our tutors has been cleared by a nation-wide criminal background check, a sexual predator check, and social security verification. We want you to have the same confidence in our tutors as we do. | <urn:uuid:f6f8840f-9c02-40a5-9391-45a373dc315d> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.advancedlearners.com/sandiego/highschool/phonics/tutor/find.aspx | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783392527.68/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154952-00061-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.961771 | 753 | 3.234375 | 3 |
Until the U. S. invasion of Afghanistan in 2001, Americans who thought of Afghanistan at all thought of it as a remote, mountainous and landlocked country, first a pawn in the Cold War, then oppressed by the Taliban. The country’s geographical location—north of India, east of Persia and west of China—gave it a prominent place on the Silk Road, the network of trade routes that connected China and the Mediterranean and produced a unique culture.The National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., ...
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Questions about your account or how to access content? | <urn:uuid:f566fab8-0828-4158-992f-06412112bc08> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://nrn.com/print/archive/treasures-afghanistan | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783391634.7/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154951-00175-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.909355 | 242 | 3.0625 | 3 |
Bill Dawers has strong feelings about parking lots, which he shares in his City Talk column, “Another parking lot detracts from downtown’s vibrancy” in today’s Savannah Morning News:
“They tend to rend the residential and retail fabric. They repel pedestrians. They generally generate far less economic activity than more intense uses. They create heat islands. They contribute to problems with drainage and polluted stormwater runoffs.”
And he’s not alone in his thinking. Here’s Donald Shoup quoting Jane Jacobs on how parking lots affect the sidewalks they border and the city at large:
“The presence of open shops and people on the street encourages other people to be out as well. People want to be on streets with other people on them, and they avoid streets that are empty, because empty streets are eerie and menacing at night. Although the absence of parking requirements does not guarantee a vibrant area, their presence certainly inhibits it. ‘The more downtown is broken up and interspersed with parking lots and garages,’ Jane Jacobs argued in 1961, ‘the duller and deader it becomes … and there is nothing more repellent than a dead downtown’.”
John A. Jankle and Keith A. Sculle review Jacobs’ ideas about what parking lots do to neighboring properties:
“A kind of ‘unbuilding’ or running-down process was set in motion. Thus, parking lots were ‘instruments of city destruction that could ‘disembowel’ a city. ‘City character is blurred,’ Jacobs continued, ‘until every place becomes more like every other place, all adding up to Noplace.”
And they offer a quote of their own:
“Nothing over the past century in America has proven as disruptive of the traditional urban landscape as parking. Perhaps nothing has made American cities less memorable…nothing fragmented the urban space more than the parking lot.”
It’s important to remember that the preservation movement in Savannah, which has prevented downtown from becoming “Noplace,” has its roots in a fight over a parking lot.
“Savannah was becoming Anyplace, USA and it was losing its soul. By the mid-1950s, the loss of the Wetter House, beloved City Market and demolition threats to the Isaiah Davenport House sparked the formation of Historic Savannah Foundation. Led by seven visionary women, HSF purchased the c. 1820 Davenport House and thus began the organization’s formal entry into the world of preservation and real estate.”
Why was Davenport House being threatened with demolition? So the land could be used for a funeral home parking lot. The question now is how to promote better uses for spaces left behind by buildings that were not saved.
Dawers offers more thoughts (and photos) on his blog. | <urn:uuid:96ffe6c8-4814-48a4-9ff6-b05a56231a04> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://sustainablesavannah.com/transportation/parking-lots-bring-lots-of-problems-inspire-lots-of-quotes-and-once-upon-a-time-started-a-movement/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783395620.9/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154955-00049-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.968318 | 615 | 2.5625 | 3 |
Minnesota's Lake Superior Coastal Program - Funded Projects
Natural Resources Enhancement, Protection & Management
306-14-11: Bats and Wind along the North Shore of Lake Superior
Provide initial data on locations and relative densities of bats in the Lake Superior coastal zone. It is unrealistic to completely eliminate mortality from wind power sites, but it is realistic to identify preferred sites that would reduce threats to birds and bats. This project will facilitate a more comprehensive site selection process with recommendations for environmentally-sound development of the wind industry in the forested regions of MN by identifying areas of risk to migratory and breeding bats. It is the first study in NE MN on the potential effect of wind power development on bats.
306-13-11: Mitigating Conflicts between Potential Wind Turbines and Migratory Birds on the North Shore - Phase 2
Continue the assessment of the bird migration along the North Shore to best identify consistent patterns in magnitude, location, and flight height of migrating birds. These data will be combined with weather data, topographic features, and wind pattern data collected by Dr. Michael Mageau in a previously funded Minnesota Coastal Program project. It is our overall goal to aid in the future potential development and placement of wind turbines along the North Shore to avoid or minimize potential impacts on migrating birds.
306-STAR06-10: Lake County Courthouse Rain Garden and Green Space
Purchase 1,650 native rain garden plants for a 1,600 square foot rain garden to treat storm water runoff from a newly resurfaced Lake County Courthouse parking lot. The rain garden plants will be selected from locally grown, native species that have proven to perform well in a rain garden situation.
306-STAR01-10: Spring Migration Monitoring (West Skyline Hawk Count)
Spring migration monitoring of birds is important in documenting trends and changes in bird populations. Changes in bird populations serve as environmental indicators and significant data can be collected during the migration seasons to assess these changes. The two raptor count site used are Enger Tower (city park) and the Thompson Hill rest area; both are located along the West Skyline Parkway in Duluth, Minnesota. The topographical features of both count sites concentrate northbound migrants, which collect along the ridge before continuing north. Each year an average of 26,000 raptors have been recorded migrating through Duluth from March through May. This count is among the overall top five highest spring counts in North America, including the top five highest species spring counts for Osprey and Golden Eagles.
306-13-10: Exotic Earthworm Invasions: Intragrated Research & Education to Achieve Natural Resource Protection
Surveys for earthworms in each of 8 state parks in the Coastal Zone (Jay Cooke, Gooseberry Falls, Split Rock, Tettegouche, George Crosby Manitou, Temperance River, Cascade River, and Judge Magney). Walk through surveys of each park will provide distributional data on earthworm presence and absence across each park. A minimum of 12 stands in each park will be surveyed to access the relative abundance and diversity of earthworm populations and the level of impact earthworm invasions are having on forest soils in a range of forest habitat and soil types in relation to human centers of activity in the parks. www.greatlakeswormwatch.org
306-12-10: Mitigating Conflicts between Potential Wind Turbines and Migratory Birds on the North Shore
In order to avoid or minimize ecological consequences on birds that use this major migratory flyway, this project is critical in gathering data needed to aid in the potential development and placement of wind turbines along the North Shore of Lake Superior.
306-11-10: Soil & Water Nonpoint Technical Assistance, County Road Inventory, and Wetland Initiatives
Address specific concerns and objectives identified in the Cook SWCD Comprehensive Plan or the Local Water Management Plan. Targeted and Documented Nonpoint Technical Assistance.
306A-02-09: Storm Water Control - Temperance River State Park Wayside
The purpose of this project is to correct storm water drainage issues on the wayside parking lot at the Temperance River in Temperance River State Park. The project will be a demonstration project and will interpretive information panels that explain water quality issues and natural water control methods being used to reduce the impact from impervious surfaces such as the parking lots. This information will reach a large audience and provides an excellent opportunity to educate the public on important issues.
306A-01-09: Community Center Rain Water Gardens and Site Restoration Area
Phase I of the recreation area plan that was developed encompassing the ~ 50 acres between the Cook County Community Center and Cook County Schools the summer of 2007. Phase I includes moving the hockey rink and building a skateboard park in the 1-2 acres between the Community Center building and the Little League field. Before we can even begin construction we need to address the storm water issues and looking at as many environmentally correct ways to deal with it through rain gardens, pervious pavement and restorative plantings. These environmental projects will enhance and help with our overall environmental plan within those 1 -2 acres and are planned for implementation over a time period from Summer 2007 - Fall 2008.
306-15-09: Erosion & Sediment Control for Temporary Wetland & Stream Crossings Booklet/CD
The objective of the educational booklet/CD is to minimize impacts on water resources by providing instruction on techniques that will reduce erosion and sedimentation. Lake Superior and the streams and wetlands that drain to it within the Coastal Zone are prone to substantial damage due to improper erosion and sediment control practices during construction and silviculture activities. This booklet will provide written instructions and photos demonstrating erosion and sediment control practices for stream and wetland crossings that minimize damage to the resources. The booklet will be distributed to grading contractors, forestry workers, local governments and others that work around streams and wetlands or move dirt. Since it will be in a booklet/CD format, this information will be more readily available to many. It could be distributed by MECA, County staff and others.
306-08-08: Real-time data to estimate sediment, nutrient and Hg loading from Northshore L.Superior streams
DuluthStreams.org, (1) operate this network for 2006-7 and add low level mercury sampling to develop accurate stream discharge/pollutant budgets and models relating "surrogate" sensor values to pollutants of interest (especially Hg and turbidity); and (2) provide an easy access web portal for citizens, businesses, and decision makers to understand the environmental and public health issues and regulatory framework associated with the actual pollutant monitoring data.
306-06-08: Stream Protection at the Lake Superior Zoo: Internal Audit & Best Management Practices Training
The Lake Superior Zoo, City of Duluth's Stormwater Utility and the South St. Louis Soil & Conservation District will conduct an internal audit to assess current maintenance and cleaning policies. The audit will provide a comprehensive plan to implement Best Management Practices (BMPs) for grounds maintenance that will help to reduce erosion and animal fecal waste from entering the water of the creek. Zoo staff will be trained in BMPs.
306-STAR07-07: Reclassification of Portions of Lakes for Resource Protection
In 2005 the Cook County Water Advisory Committee completed a step toward lake reclassification. They used the recently-completed, voluntary MN DNR Alternative Shoreland Standards as a guide in building a data matrix (spreadsheet) displaying lake and shoreline conditions of the 96 developed lakes in the County. The Cook County Soil and Water Conservation District intends to conduct such a study in the coming year as part of a lakes reclassification project. This will ultimately protect water quality in lakes and portions of lakes requiring greater amounts of protection. It will finalize lake criteria to be used for reclassification, design GIS and field data gathering methods and protocols, and select lakes to be studied for the project. Phase two, the GIS phase, will be completed with Clean Water Legacy funds (or other) and will match for the STAR grant. Phase two work includes gathering of GIS data files and interpretation of the data using ArcGIS software. Aerial photo interpretation of cover types, shoreline rectification with parcel layers, lake depth and water quality data, slope and soils analysis, density analysis, and build-out scenarios are operations that will be completed during this phase.
306A-03-07: Green Roof Retrofit: Duluth Motor Pool Building Evaluation
Remove the existing parking surfaces and waterproofing to retrofit the upper most level of the building with a "Green Roof System".
306A-10-06: Landscape Level Restoration Forestry to Benefit Lake Superior's Water Quality
This project will use various techniques to restore long lived conifers on approximately 500 acres of Northern hardwood forest in the watersheds of the Manitou, Caribou, and Baptism Rivers. Restoration efforts will be guided by historical records of conifer abundance and surveys of baseline stands where timber harvesting has not occurred.
306A-04-06: Shovel Point Vegetation Restoration
This project will continue efforts to restore the native vegetation to visitor worn areas of Shovel Point.
306A-03-06: Shovel Point Climbers Platform
This project will continue efforts to protect and restore the native vegetation to visitor worn areas of Shovel Point. Project Summary Sheet 340 kb
306-07-06: Investigation and Design for Sediment Traps for Miller and Coffee Creeks
The City of Duluth would like to install sediment devices to remove material prior to discharge in the St. Louis River. However significant investigative work and initial design work must be done to determine an effective method of removing sediment from a high velocity stream.
306-06-06: Lake Superior Marine Unit
Purchase of a water craft to be used as the primary patrol vessel for the MN DNR Lake Superior Marine Unit. The MN DNR Lake Superior Marine Unit enforces all state natural resource laws and rules on the MN waters and shoreline of Lake Superior. This new water craft will replace a 1988 25' Boston Whaler which has been the primary patrol vessel since 1988 and is 5 years past the projected replacement date. The vessel will be stationed in the Duluth Harbor and patrols all of the MN waters of Lake Superior. The patrol boat will perform the following duties: search and rescue operations for boats and persons, recovery of drowning victims, commercial, charter and sport fishing law enforcement, boat and water safety law enforcement for both recreational boating and fishing activities, and on water support of biological surveys, response and investigation of pollution impacting Lake Superior waters and adjacent shorelines.
306-08-06: Investigation of Potential Wetland Restoration and Creation Sites
The South St. Louis Soil and Water Conservation District seeks funding to complete a project to identify potential wetland restoration and creation sites within the South St. Louis SWCD's portion of the Coastal Boundary and Lake Superior Basin. The deliverable for this project will be a report: Investigation of potential wetland restoration and creation sites with in the South St. Louis SWCD portion of the Lake Superior Basin. The report will be posted on our website, and the posting will be noticed by email to resource managers that have an interest in the Lake Superior Basin.
306-STAR07-05: Interactive Animation and Visualization Tool for Exploring Lake Superior Beach Monitoring Program Bacteria Data
Lake Superior Beach Monitoring Program and Natural Resources Research Institute (NRRI-UMD) staff to developed an interactive online tool for viewing lake and estuary indicator bacteria data with a new perspective. This data visualization tool will be installed on the www.lakesuperiorstreams.org website with appropriate links from the Lake Superior Beach Monitoring website www.mnbeaches.org to allow users to visualize changes in bacteria counts over time compared to temperature, precipitation, wave height and wind direction.
306A-11-05: George Crosby Manitou State Park Land Acquisition
The 260 acre proposed acquisition will consolidate lands into a contiguous unit containing hiking trails, backpacking campsites and protect ecologically significant resources and scenic vistas in the park.
306A-10-05: Lake County Demonstration Forest
Construct hiking trails, install location/educational signs, develop two brochures ("History of the Area" and "Forest Management Tour"), and complete the development of a practical forest management plan utilizing state-of-the-art forest management practices and techniques.
306A-06-05: Two Harbors High School Expanded and Enhanced Wetlands and Native Plant Restoration
Construct retention and wetland basins, restore disturbed areas around the new building with a grass mixture applied by hydromulch. Expand the wetlands area of approximately twice, from 2 to 4 acres total. Reshape the wetlands for emergent vegetation growth, fish life, and bird life. Replant most of the disturbed acreage with native grasses, and forbs rather than a maintained turf. Construct a demonstration pervious parking area for 24 cars.
306-15-05: The Risk to Native MN Beach Grass Posed By Historical Restoration Efforts That Used MI Plants
The long-term goal of this research is to determine the extent and impact of hybridization on Park Point to provide site managers with information to make sound conservation decisions regarding the threatened status of the MN population and guide future management and restoration of Lake Superior coastal populations. This proposal presents the first steps toward this goal. The specific aims of the proposed work are: 1) To determine whether outbreeding depression occurs when MN and MI grasses are intentionally hybridized, 2) To identify morphological traits that distinguish MN and MI plants on Park Point, and 3) To produce a map of Park Point based on historical records and field surveys that shows areas where MI grass is already established.
306-05-05: The Importance of the North Shore of Lake Superior to the Distribution and Abundance of Bats
Surveys that evaluate the importance of the MN Lake Superior Coastal Area to bats. The MN County Biological Survey proposes to (1) document the arrival and department of migratory bats to/from the North Shore, and to (2) locate and evaluate potential over-wintering sites for cave bats along the North Shore coastline.
306-STAR08-04: Special Native Seed Mix for Gitchi-Gami State Trail Development
The purchase of additional special native seed mix that will be planted on the Gitchi-Gami State Trail in Split Rock Lighthouse State Park. This is a great opportunity to improve the vegetation adjacent to the Gitchi-Gami Trail by planting this native seed mix.
306-34-04: Development of a Hydroacoustic Survey Design for the MN Waters of Lake Superior
Design a viable hydroacoustic survey using the present MNDNR vessel and gear to generate annual biomass estimates of prey in Minnesota's portion of Lake Superior.
306-18-04: Rare Herpetofauna and Important Seasonal Ponds within the Minnesota Lake Superior Coastal Region
Conduct surveys for rare and undocumented amphibians and reptiles in the Minnesota Lake Superior Coastal (MLSCP) area and (b) identify important seasonal ponds for amphibians.
306-17-04: Identification of Potential Coaster Brook Trout Spawning Areas Along the Minnesota Shore of Lake Superior
Identify and map critical ground water source areas. These maps will serve as valuable planning tools for the protection and rehabilitation of coaster brook trout in the future.
306A-11-04: George Crosby Manitou State Park Land Acquisition
The 640 acre acquisition consolidated lands into a contiguous unit containing hiking trails, backpacking campsites and protect ecologically significant resources and scenic vistas in the park.
306A-07-03: Lincoln Park Miller Creek Wall Restoration Project
The restoration and preservation of the creek walls. The walls of Miller Creek were built during the City Beautiful Movement, during the Works Progress Administration in the 1930s. Built mostly of large natural stones from the area, they have withstood extremely high water levels during many flash floods over the years; however, this activity has caused a great extent of deterioration to those walls in the lower and central part of the park.
306A-05-03: Northern Hardwoods Management to benefit Lake Superior's Water Quality
Develop methods of selective timber harvest that can maintain or improve the water quality in nearby streams.
306A-03-03: Lake County Wetland Creation to enhance Migratory Bird Habitat
Incorporate county owned gravel pit rehabilitation and closure with the creation of palustrine emergent, and associated palustrine forested and palustrine shrub wetlands, for migratory birds.
306A-02-03: Conifer Restoration to benefit Lake Superior's Water Quality
This project is a pilot effort, initiated in subwatersheds with the greatest opportunity for improvement by forest management activities, to develop methods of selective harvest that can maintain or improve the water quality in nearby streams. All activities will be located on public lands in the Manitou Forest landscape near Finland, MN.
310-14-03: Spring Beauty Northern Hardwoods Scientific and Natural Area Land Acquisition
A 159.5 acre tract of northern hardwoods with old growth forests comprised of sugar maple and eastern white cedar as well as early successional forests. Rare species include white baneberry, Chilean sweet cicely, blunt fruited cicely, and Carolina Spring Beauty. The parcel to be acquired abuts an existing state scientific and natural area. As a natural area, the parcel will be preserved for nature observation, education and scientific research uses consistent with protection of the natural resources found on the site.
310-12-03: Reserve Mining Groundwater and Surface Water Contamination Control
Reserve Mining-Silver Bay Scrapyard and Diesel Range Organics (DRO) Plume Site is located approximately .5 miles from Lake Superior and .1 mile from the west part of the City of Silver Bay, Minnesota. There are two known source areas, the Drum Burial Pit and the Landfill, together called the Scrapyard. The Scrapyard is approximately 4.5 acres and was formerly used as an industrial landfill until May 1980. It contains both hazardous (lead) and nonhazardous drums of leaded grease and diesel range organics. Other contaminants include methyl ethyl ketone, low levels of other volatile organic compounds, dioxim-like PCBs, and metals. The Scrapyard was also reportedly used for disposal and burning of used grease and storage of old transformers. The source of the DRO has not been identified. Soil, groundwater and surface water have been impacted by the source areas, mainly from metals and DRO. This project will only focus on the investigation of groundwater and surface water impacts for the restoration and protection of Lake Superior
310-09-03: Miller Creek Sediment Trap
This project will complete an in-stream sediment trap behind the Miller Hill Mall. Preliminary design has been completed. Agreements and permits with the City of Duluth are also in order.
306-17-02: North Shore State Parks Spruce Beetle Study
The North Shore State Parks Spruce Beetle Study aims to determine the extent of the infestation of D. rufipennis in state parks along the North Shore of Lake Superior. A ground survey of North Shore State Parks and selected state forest lands will be conducted to find areas of spruce beetle infestation and determine beetle population trends. An important outcome of this study will be to provide information to local land managers and interested members of the public on spruce beetle outbreaks.
306-09-02: State Park Vegetation Mapping
MCBS and State Parks produced digital maps showing the location of native plant communities and rare plants and preparing natural history information and management recommendations for three parks along the Lake Superior shore.
306-08-02: Shoreline Plant Communities Survey
A collaborative project between MCBS and State Parks designed to survey vegetation types (native plant communities) along the Lake Superior shoreline that are strongly influenced by the lake. The survey will be designed to evaluate the impacts of high visitor use on public lands, by comparing areas of high use in state parks to areas of moderate and low use on public and private lands.
306A-04-02: Wetland/Upland Restoration Trail and Educational Materials Development Program
Sugarloaf Cove Construction of two sections of trail: extending a boardwalk on an existing portion of the trail on the Scientific and Natural Area at Sugarloaf Cove, and building a spur from the existing trail into the recently restored wetland. Design and build informational kiosks, to be placed along the spur into the wetland. Update the trail guide to include information about the wetland and upland restoration project.
310-02-02: Remediation of Sargent's Creek Dump Site
The project is a complete remediation of the site, utilizing a standard process of evaluation and assessment operations as developed by the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency.
310-03-02: Two Harbors Old City Dump Site Restoration
City of Two Harbors restoration of the old dump site in three phases.
310-01-02: Managed Onsite Wastewater Treatment Systems in the Lake Superior Basin: Outreach and Education
Onsite treatment systems Wastewater Education in the Lake Superior basin.
306-17-01: Lake Superior Drainage Mussel Survey
This project seeks to complete a prerequisite step to sustaining aquatic resources of Minnesota's Lake Superior Coastal region for future generations - taking inventory of our natural assets. Accounting for the mussel resources of rivers and streams throughout Minnesota's Lake Superior Drainage will allow us to better measure our successes and failures in avoiding the decimation that has visited many human civilizations throughout history. As the sentinels of river health, mussels provide us with an important measure of our society's impacts on rivers, and how well we are sustaining these natural resources for our future.
306A-05-01: Minnesota Point Restoration and Protection
Continued protection and restoration of the sand dunes on Minnesota Point on the western end of Lake Superior. The dunes are severely eroded and barely 100 yards separate Lake Superior from Superior Bay. This is a heavily utilized recreation area, and the beach grass that unites the dunes in other areas of the Point cannot grow here due to the relentless foot traffic of beach-goers. | <urn:uuid:3bc87768-d2f4-4dd7-9650-ce0b10f25903> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.dnr.state.mn.us/waters/lakesuperior/sum_nrpe.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783400031.51/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624155000-00025-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.898809 | 4,604 | 2.765625 | 3 |
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