content
stringlengths 71
484k
| url
stringlengths 13
5.97k
|
|---|---|
These days, everyone and their grandfather (and dog) appears to have created a website. The Internet is becoming increasingly crowded, with hundreds of new websites being uploaded every day as you read this piece. It’s becoming increasingly difficult to stand out among the crowd.
Fortunately for us, not everyone appears to understand what makes a web developer successful. Given that web design is largely a creative process, it is more akin to an art than a science. However, because it is really a presenting medium, some rules (or at least principles) apply. Anyone should be able to produce a visually appealing design and move one step closer to popularity by following a few basic recommendations. Okay, it’s not that easy, and talent and expertise are important, but anyone can make their home page look better in minutes.
So, what is it that makes anything beautiful? It isn’t Flash at all. Not to suggest that Flash has no value, but it isn’t enough to make a design decent; there are some nefarious Flash websites out there. Also, to create beautiful designs, one does not need to be a fantastic illustrator. Instead, consider Web design to be a symbiosis of several aspects. The aggregate of the pieces, rather than any single feature, makes a design look beautiful.
1. Make sure your design is well-balanced.
The goal of balance is to ensure that your design does not lean to one side or the other. It’s similar to producing symmetry or asymmetry by balancing weight.
Take a look at the dog in Khoi Vinh’s Subtraction website’s header graphic below. This example comes from Jason Beaird’s book The Principles of Beautiful Web Design. Jason points out how the right-hand cross compensates for the dog’s additional visual weight on the left. It’s a minor point, but it’s important. Try hiding the cross with your hand to see for yourself.
Asymmetrical balance is what we call it, and it’s what balancing is all about. If you don’t pay attention to how you arrange things out, your design will quickly become unbalanced. Color, size, and the addition or removal of elements can all be used to change the visual weight of a design. Making the cross a bright orange, for example, would make it heavier and possibly throw the layout off again. Achieving asymmetrical balance is a particularly delicate topic that necessitates patience and a trained eye to master.
Another example of symmetrical balance is provided below, this time by The First Twenty. Although the header graphic is asymmetrically balanced (can you figure out how it’s done? ), the rest of the design is symmetrical. Asymmetrical balance is more difficult to achieve, yet it makes a design more whimsical.
You’ll notice that every good-looking design has a well-constructed balance underneath it. And each of the seven ideas we discuss is well-represented in each of the designs showcased here. So have a look and see whether they all pass muster by scrolling up and down.
2. Use grids to divide your design into sections.
Grids are strongly tied to the concept of balance. Grids are a set of horizontal and vertical rulers that assist you divide a design into sections. Consider columns. Columns boost readability by making it easier to assimilate information on a page. The usage of the Rule of Thirds (or a similar Golden Ratio) makes things look more balanced.
The Rule of Thirds and the Golden Ratio explain why sidebars are typically a third of the page’s width and why the main content area is roughly equal to the design’s width divided by 1.62. (equalling phi in mathematics). We won’t go into why this is the case, but it appears to be correct in practice. It’s also why, in professional shots, the subject is frequently placed near the intersection of a nine-square grid rather than in the middle (three by three, with two horizontal and two vertical lines).
The grid works especially well in minimalist designs. Derek Punsalan’s novel 5 Thirty One explains why:
While the design isn’t particularly eye-catching, the precise, rigid organization of pieces makes it simple to read. The left column is nearly double the size of the right sidebar, which is logical and something to consider when designing your own layouts.
3. Choose no more than two or three foundation colors for your design.
What if the basic red on The First Twenty’s website (above) was replaced with lime green? Is it going to look good? Almost certainly not. Because it isn’t part of the same hue family (and lime green isn’t the simplest color to work with). There’s a reason why websites like ColorLovers exist. You can’t just pick your colors, weapons blazing, like Rambo. Some colors complement one other, whereas others do not. There are many ideas about colors and their combinations, including monochrome and contrasting schemes, but a lot of it comes down to common sense and intuition.
Find out what works well together for yourself. To obtain a sense of how colors interact with each other, look at as many website designs as possible, such as those shown on any of the many CSS showcase websites (like Best Web Gallery). Choose no more than two or three base colors for your design, and then add tints (lighter colors combined with white) and shades (darker colors mixed with black) to expand the palette as needed.
It’s just as vital to choose pleasant colors as it is to choose the appropriate ones (that is, the right colors for the job). Reds, browns, and other “earthy” tones might work nicely in a Web design for a pleasant little restaurant. Naturally, there is no such thing as a foolproof recipe. Every hue sends a message, and it’s up to you to decipher it correctly.
Bence Kucsan’s website features a distinct color design. It’s mostly monochromatic (shades and tints of one color) and achromatic (black and white) with a pop of color (red):
The black and white transmits stylish and professional, but the red offers a splash of color that makes specific components pop and keeps the design from becoming monotonous; of course, there’s more to this design than simply red. This style was promoted by one brand in particular.
WebDesigner Wall by Nick La is sheer joy in terms of color:
This design shines thanks to all of the gentle pastels. At first glance, the color selections appear haphazard, but closer inspection reveals a well-defined color palette, which is required to ensure that all of the pieces work together harmoniously. The website, particularly its backdrop, also has a fantastic color and visual combination, which gets us to number four…
4. Make sure the graphics complement each other.
Okay, outstanding design does not necessitate the use of flashy graphics. Poor graphics, on the other hand, will wreak havoc on a design. The use of graphics enhances the visual message. Some websites, such as WebDesigner Wall, offer striking images, while others are more subtle.
On his website Max Voltar, Tim van Damme utilizes only a few visuals, but he uses them with great thought and care. Two of the images are a non-intrusive backdrop image and a sophisticated crown. They aren’t particularly eye-catching, but they all contribute to the overall appearance and feel of the website, and none of them are out of place.
Max Voltar has had a different design than the one displayed above for quite some time. But it was undoubtedly one of my favorites for the two months it was available. Because of this, as well as its excellent graphic design, I chose it over the most recent version.
Rogie King’s Komodo Media is far more graphics-heavy, with excellent technical and thematic execution.
You might not be a fantastic illustrator or photographer, but that doesn’t mean your website can’t have outstanding visuals. All you need is a basic understanding of Photoshop, probably some stock photos, and excellent taste. Make sure the graphics complement each other and reflect the style you’re going for. However, we are not all born with the same innate abilities. Some things can be learned from others, but sometimes you just have to choose the style that best suits you (like a clean style if you are not the greatest of illustrators).
5. Improve the typography on your website.
Because it involves so many elements, the art of type is a difficult subject to discuss. While it is considered a discipline of design, learning all of its components can take a lifetime. We will confine our talk to what will aid you in the short term because this is not the place to provide a complete typographic reference.
When compared to print typography, web typography has a disadvantage. The most significant distinction is that, because to the dynamic nature of the Web, we don’t have perfect control over the appearance of type. Dynamic rendering has obvious advantages, but Web designers have limited control over the output, at least for the time being. Web typography is a difficult, if not tedious, operation due to missing fonts on the user’s computer, variances in browser and platform rendering, and generally poor CSS support. While Web typography may have to wait until CSS 3 to fulfill its full potential, we now have the tools to make it seem interesting and, more importantly, lovely.
Stacking Fonts
There are a few simple strategies to improve the typography on your website, three of which we’ll go over today. Font stacking are one of them.
Font stacks are little more than basic CSS. They allow you to specify the sequence in which fonts are presented. To be clear, we’re talking about typefaces, not fonts. Please see Jon Tan’s Typeface!= Font for a decent description of this.
body fonts: “Helvetica Neue,” Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;
The typeface “Helvetica Neue” will be used in the body copy as a result of the property above. This, however, necessitates the installation of that typeface on the user’s computer. Helvetica (Neue) is pre-installed on Macs nowadays, but not on most Windows devices.
The beauty of font stacks is that you can designate “fallbacks,” which means that if a specific typeface isn’t available, the browser will simply look for the next in line. Of course, this means that the design will not be identical for everyone, and we will once again lose control. However, for those who do not want to utilize another solution (such as image replacement), this is the best that pure CSS has to offer right now (until we can use @font-face comfortably).
Wilson Miner makes advantage of the font stack we mentioned earlier. Helvetica Neue is a step forward from Helvetica. While Arial is installed on practically every computer (at least on Windows and Mac computers) and is thus a popular Web font, most designers prefer Helvetica. This way, you get the best of both worlds: Helvetica for those who already have it and Arial for those who don’t.
For his headlines, Jon Tan utilizes a different font stack:
body baskerville, ‘palatino linotype’, ‘times new roman’, serif;
The headers will only be seen by a small percentage of visitors in Baskerville, but that isn’t a problem. It adds a touch of personality to the design while causing no harm to those who don’t have it. Font stacking aren’t a perfect solution, but they do provide a benefit.
Leading and Measuring
Line length is measured in measure, and line height (or vertical spacing) is measured in leading. Measurement can be adjusted in CSS by specifying a width for the contained box (e.g. the paragraph element). Both have an impact on readability. Users won’t be able to read the material if the lines are too short or too lengthy; this is a common issue with fluid layouts. The ideal number of characters per line appears to be between 40 and 80.
The line-height CSS property can be used to raise (or decrease, if you really want to) leading. A line height of 1.5 works nicely for paragraphs in general. This means that when the text size is 12 points, the line height becomes 18 points (12 1.5), giving the text some breathing room.
Bullets and Quotes on the Wall
Hanging quotations and bullets are a third approach to improve readability. Rather than using the default alignment for bulleted lists and quotes, align them horizontally with the rest of the text on the page.
Tim van Damme’s latest rendition of Max Voltar has dangling bullets:
- The red line has been introduced to indicate how the text has been horizontally aligned throughout. You can get the similar effect by setting the padding-left CSS value of the bulleted list to 0.
- Hanging quotations, on the other hand, are more difficult to execute. For quote marks, most designers use a backdrop image and then align them correctly, as Matthew Buchanan did:
- The text flow is not disrupted by the hanging quotation mark. It’s a minor point that’s often overlooked, but it’s definitely worth the effort.
Rules that do not apply should be printed.
Print and the Internet are not the same thing. Although this appears self-evident, many individuals handle them as if they were the same. The difference between print and the web is that print is static and the web is dynamic. It’s hard to have perfect control over how your Web design will seem to everyone.
Vertical rhythm, properly justified text (without hyphenation or rivers), and multi-column layouts are just a few of the print elements that are (nearly) difficult to achieve on the Web. With CSS 3, we have a lot to look forward to. CSS 3 will most likely not be the be-all and end-all solution, and we’ll have to wait a few years before we can fully exploit it. For the time being, we must accept these differences and focus on using the Web’s inherent potential rather than treating it as an online version of print.
A Quick Note on Image Replacement
What about image substitution (the process of substituting images for fonts)? Font stacks have been discussed, but aren’t they inferior to image replacement? That depends on what you value more: the ability to display the precise typeface you want or having dynamic, accessible, and SEO-friendly content. Although certain picture replacement systems have progressed, they still lack the flexibility of plain text. Headers and extracts benefit from image substitution, but it’s not a good answer for body content.
6. Add white space around things to make them stand out.
White space, often known as negative space, refers to what isn’t there. White space, like measure and leading, gives text breathing room and spatial serenity. By surrounding components with white space, you may make them stand out. For example, copy should not be cramped. Make sure paragraphs have enough padding to ensure reading.
Perfume ads, like any other ad for a luxury product, are noted for their use of white space… There’s a lot of it, and a serif typeface thrown in for good measure.
It’s time for a shameless plug, I suppose. The image above is from my personal website, Shift (px). Typography and white space play a big role in the design. About half of the page is presumably taken up by white space. White space is one of the simplest (since you’re not actually adding anything, are you?) and most successful ways to make a design that is both visually appealing and readable.
White space gives a design a lot of class. Don’t be afraid to leave some gaps, even if they’re large. Inexperienced designers are prone to cramming things into every nook and cranny. Design is all about getting a message through. As a result, design components should reinforce this message rather than distract from it.
Another fantastic example of having a lot of white space is this:
Kyle Meyer’s Astheria demonstrates that a pleasant design does not require much. Some people may mix up the terms “minimalist” with “simple.” However, executing such a look is neither simple nor straightforward (even if one does not have to be great with graphics or illustrations).
7. Connect all of the elements.
“Connection” is a made-up phrase for what we’re talking about, but it appears to be the best one. The term “connection” refers to a Web design that is both cohesive and consistent. These two characteristics reflect a designer’s professionalism (and thus its designer). These are fairly wide characteristics. A design’s usage of colors, typefaces, icons, and other elements should all be consistent. All of these factors are important; a design can look fantastic but yet have flaws.
When a design is inconsistent, the user may lose sight of its unity. The terms “unity” and “consistency” are not interchangeable. The term “unity” refers to how a design’s many aspects interact and fit together. Do the colors and visuals, for example, complement each other? Is everything working together to send a single message? Consistency, on the other hand, is found in the space between a design’s pages.
Perhaps the most crucial of the two is unity. A good design is difficult to achieve without unity. Inconsistency, on the other hand, may appear “sloppy,” but it does not necessarily mean the design is “poor.”
The most crucial of the seven principles discussed in this essay is connection. Balance, grid, colors, images, typography, and white space all play a role in how all aspects come together. It functions as a sort of glue that holds everything together. The design would break apart without this adhesive. The design can have lovely text and a fantastic and painstakingly chosen color palette, but if the images are bad or don’t match, or if everything is packed together without thinking, it will fail.
This is the most difficult element of the design process. It’s not something that can be taught easily, or even if it can be taught at all. It is necessary to have some inherent ability and experience. But it is what it is, and in the end, it makes a design appear excellent.
Nick La’s WebDesigner Wall has already received attention for its beautiful visuals, but it is also a fantastic illustration of connectedness. Everything has a hand-drawn watercolor look to it when you look closely at the visuals and style in general: the photos in the articles, the watercolored background images, the hand-drawn doodles and symbols, the poll formatting, and so on. This design shines because of its meticulous attention to detail.
Conclusion
The seven basic principles presented here aren’t the only ones that apply to good Web design. Accessibility, readability, and usefulness are also important considerations.
This is one of the reasons why web design is so challenging. Getting your feet wet in the design world is simple, especially now that there are so many content management systems, blogging tools, and themes to choose from. However, true mastery of all aspects of Web design requires time and, let’s face it, talent. The ability to create beautiful designs is only one facet, but it is a crucial one.
|
https://ritztheaterfoundation.org/how-to-create-appealing-web-design/
|
Creativity is what drives me to innovate. Pumps my heart a little bit faster. Fuels my passion to make the world a better place one pixel at a time.
I am passionate about every aspect of design. For me it is a craft and I love every bit of it. I believe in smart, functional design and sweating the details. I approach each project with the same level of passion and attention to detail. I listen, I understand, I deliver. My philosophy is a simple one, never design for design's sake and I never stop until my clients are happy.
My aim as your creative design partner is to listen carefully to your requirements, understand your needs and work with you to deliver creative solutions closely aligned to your business goals.
PURPOSE
I understand the needs and expectations of my clients and their market so I design with purpose and intent.
My experience has taught me that simplicity is really about comprehension and clarity of purpose. Designing such that people instantly understand what is going on and can make a confident decision about what to do next. As designers we have the ability to design with simplicity whether it be for a complex web application that helps users do more with less or a simple brand mark. I deliver a comprehensive style of clean, bold design, typefaces and color palettes, across all my deliverables.
|
https://www.baileywilsondesigns.com/about
|
LIFE STUDY PARTNERS:
Special Thanks to East Central Wisconsin Regional Planning Commission
<< Back To Home
Environment
Indicators for this Category
7.01 Air Quality
7.02 Water Quality
7.03 Sustainability
7.04 Household Consumption
7.05 Public Transit and Commuting
7.06 Walking and Biking
7.07 Parks
Air
From 2016 to 2020, the Air Quality Index (AQI) shows the Appleton area having good air quality 81% of the time (294 days per year), with moderate air quality 17% of the time. This represents significantly better air quality compared to 2012-2015 (good air quality for just 272 days per year). Unhealthy air days were registered 1.4% (5 days per year). Comparatively, San Francisco, due to its proximity to the sea and prevailing winds is deemed to have relatively good air quality overall, registered 278 good air days in 2018,
(1)
whereas the Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim area, known as among the most populated areas of the United States, registered just 66 good air days in 2019
(2)
.
Water
The percentage of the population exposed to health-related risks through contaminated drinking water is consistently low, with the exception of an unusual spike in Winnebago between 2013 and 2014. Surface water contamination may be linked to the presence of blue-green algae, which results in high phosphorus and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), the most commonly found water pollutants. A water quality advisory was issued by Winnebago Health Department regarding blue-green algae in Lake Winnebago in 2019
(3)
.
Green Living
Renewable energy currently accounts for around 6% of the energy generated in the Fox Cities area. The highest proportion of renewable energy generating power in the Fox Cities region is hydroelectric power, coming from hydroelectric plants in Outagamie and making up more than 80% of the total renewable energy sources in 2015.
Waste recycling has remained relatively stable in the Fox Cities region, with a significant increase in Calumet in 2019, a steady increase in Winnebago, and a steady decrease in Outagamie. The conservation of open space and the creation of public parks have lasting economic and health benefits for communities including reducing storm water management and drinking water costs, reducing air pollution, protecting habitats for wild animals, and promoting physical activity.
Water consumption in all Fox Cities counties, and across Wisconsin, has slightly declined since 2015. All Fox Cities counties had a slightly higher carbon footprint than the state and national averages in 2014 (the most recent data available), with Calumet having the highest CO2 production. The two main culprits of carbon consumption in the region are transportation and housing.
From 2015-2019, carpooling and working from home were two primary alternative commute modes in the Fox Cities region. Rates of public transportation usage in Fox Cities were almost one-third of those in Oshkosh, almost one-third of those in Wisconsin, and about one-tenth of the United States. Calumet had the lowest rate of public transportation usage, and Winnebago had the highest. Public transportation usage in Outagamie and Winnebago declined slightly from 2011 to 2018.
|
http://foxcitieslifestudy.org/indicators/environment/
|
Grady Pridgen, Inc.
Our Mission:
- Create Good Jobs
- Rebuild Communities
- Preserve Natural Resources
We create environmentally responsible, mass transit oriented communities with great places to live, work and play. By incorporating trails, parks and easy access to multiple modes of public transportation, our communities encourage a healthier lifestyle. Reducing energy, water, and sewer demand and reducing waste improves air and water quality. By using native plants in landscaping our communities provide urban wildlife habitat while reducing pollution and excessive irrigation. By using sustainable green building and planning practices, our urban habitats reduce impacts to our ecosystems and create a real world model for sustainable living.
|
http://gradypridgen.com/
|
Traveling safely is one of the public's highest expectations from the transportation system. OCPC is involved in a number of initiatives and projects aimed at promoting pedestrian and driver safety.
Safe Routes to School: The Safe Routes to School program promotes healthy alternatives for children and parents in their travel to and from school. The program educates students, parents and community members on the value of walking, bicycling, carpooling, and taking public transit and the school bus for travel to and from school. The purpose of the program is to enable and encourage children, including those with disabilities, to walk and bicycle to school; to make walking and bicycling to school safe and more appealing; and to facilitate the planning, development and implementation of projects that will improve safety, and reduce traffic, fuel consumption, and air pollution in the vicinity of schools.
Road Safety Audits: A road safety audit is a formal safety performance examination of an existing or future road or intersection by an independent audit team. The audit team reviews existing conditions, identifies deficiencies within the scope of the study area and, working as a team, identifies potential short and long term, low-cost to higher-cost solutions for mitigating those identified deficiencies.
Highway Safety Improvement Plan (HSIP): The Highway Safety Improvement Program (HSIP) was created by SAFETEA-LU for funding safety projects. This program is designed to provide states with funds to institute programs that reduce the fatalities and injuries that occur on the highway system.
In addition, securing the transportation system from threats and disruptions is an overarching concern for all transportation providers. Given these expectations and concerns, our vision is a safer and more secure transportation system for residents, businesses, and visitors. Utilizing a multidisciplinary approach of engineering, education, enforcement, and emergency response to make our communities safer and more secure is one of the priorities of the Old Colony Planning Council. Supporting strategies for mitigating natural disasters, reducing the number of crashes in the region, and identifying emergency evacuation methods are a vital part of this vision.
|
http://www.erubia.com/safety.html
|
On Site Massage Co is committed to strive to achieve environmental and social sustainability. We are an ethical company dedicated to ensuring that we use only those resources required to achieve our business objectives minimising the impact of our activities on the environment. We recognise the importance of living responsibly, in harmony with both our local and global environment and our policy sets out how we aim to achieve this:
- Reduce resources consumption and waste generation by reusing and recycling items wherever possible
- Improve energy efficiency by managing energy use and reducing consumption where possible
- Encourage practitioners to use low impact transport methods where practicable (car sharing/public transport)
- Ensure that social and environmental concerns are considered within planning and decision making processes;
- Give preference to sustainable and/or recycled products and where possible and financially viable purchase eco-friendly & socially responsible products, especially organic and fair trade
- Prioritise supporting local business networks by actively employing local staff and service providers wherever practicable
- Support active participation for charities and environmental projects
- Encourage our representatives to promote our commitment of sustainability to our customers
- Continually improve our environmental and social practices through regular review of our activities and policy
We communicate our policy directly to each of our practitioners and have our policy visible on our website displayed for practitioners and customers to see. We invite practitioners, customers and the community to suggest ways we can further achieve best practice environmental and social sustainability.
|
https://www.onsitemassageco.com/enviro-policy/
|
Sustainable living is a way of life that tries to reduce the use of the natural resources and personal resources of an individual or society on Earth. Sustainability entails more than just lowering energy consumption and emissions; it also entails expanding job opportunities, promoting responsible trade, and lowering poverty rates. Sustainable living advocates frequently try to reduce their carbon footprint by changing their modes of transportation, energy consumption, and diet. From growing your own produce to switching to sustainable products like a stainless steel water bottle, stainless steel kitchen storage containers in kitchen to walking to your work place, sustainability can be practiced at various levels.
10 Tips to Practice Sustainable Lifestyle
There are numerous easy and effective ways to live a more sustainable lifestyle. Here are ten tips for a healthy and sustainable lifestyle.
1. Grow Your Garden
Growing your garden can be a lot of fun. Plants and trees help to reduce the amount of carbon in the atmosphere. Wherever possible, choose native and bee-friendly plants. Any fruits and vegetables you grow will have a much lower carbon footprint than supermarket food. Food must travel only a short distance from the soil to the table, reducing the carbon emissions associated with food transportation. One can leave behind the worry about plastic packaging. You also get complete control over how food is grown, avoiding harmful fertilizers and pesticides.
2. Conservation of Energy and Water at Home
Several energy providers now provide 100% renewable electricity. The most effective will also offset the carbon footprint of their gas supply.
Choosing energy-efficient appliances is another excellent way to make your home more environmentally friendly.
Here are a few more suggestions:
- Use LED lightbulbs that are energy efficient.
- Electrical appliances should not be left with a switch on.
- Before using the washing machine, make sure it is full.
- Instead of using the dryer, try hanging out the clothes for drying.
- Collect rainwater in a bucket and use it to water the garden.
- Select a toilet that has a dual flush.
- Install a water-saving showerhead.
3. Reach Your Workplace by Walking, Biking, Or Carpooling
The lesser the use of your car for personal purposes, the better it is for both of you and the environment. Walking or biking to work not only promotes sustainability by reducing pollution and natural resource consumption; it also improves your health and reduces the strain on public health resources.
4. Carry Your Water Bottle Everywhere
One of the simplest things you can do to conserve resources, reduce waste, and save money. If you still buy bottled water, go to the store and look at the plethora of great stainless-steel water bottles on the market. Don’t leave the house without your BPA-free stainless-steel water bottles, which are a very eco-friendly and healthy option. Make sure to carry your own water bottle to work, school, and around town.
5. Ditching Tissues and Using Handkerchiefs
Germs can be a deterrent for some people, but this can easily be avoided by having clean hankies on hand and throwing soiled hankies directly into the laundry or a reusable wet bag. This environmentally friendly practice saves money, conserves energy, and eliminates (germy) waste in the home.
6. Instead of Paper Towels, Use Reusable Cloths.
On our wasteful heyday, we used to go through massive packages of paper towels. Those massive packages come at a colossal price. And it’s all thrown away! Change to reusable cloths, such as microfiber towels, cotton dishrags, or even old t-shirt squares. Keep a stack of towels in drawers or baskets around the house for easy access when family members need to clean up a spill.
7. Use Stainless Steel Container, Jars, And Serveware
Using stainless steel kitchen storage containers, food jars, and serveware like casserole reduces a lot of waste and saves a lot of money. It is not at all harmful like the plastic or Styrofoam ones. They are easy to clean and they don’t retain any smell of the leftover food.
8. Changing to Eco-Friendly Toiletries
The majority of sanitary products are produced from non-organic cotton, which is a pesticide-intensive crop that degrades soil. Pesticides, fertilizers, and pesticides are used in vast quantities by farmers. Fertilizer processing also uses finite energy sources, producing large quantities of CO2. Soil depletion decreases the ability of soils to absorb carbon dioxide, contributing to global warming. Furthermore, all of those sanitary products eventually end up in a landfill or the ocean.
9. Reuse, Recycle and Repeat
We need to cut back on our consumption. We must also reuse and repurpose as part of our daily lives.
We can reuse by purchasing used items from thrift stores and flea markets. Consider the case of clothing. Extending the life of clothing by three months reduces its carbon, water, and waste footprint by 5 to 10%.
10. When Not in Use, Unplug the Device.
Even when turned off, most electronic devices continue to draw power. Simply unplug the appliance when not in use to save energy. It will assist you in conserving energy and lowering your monthly electricity bill.
|
https://vaya.in/10-ideas-to-get-started-with-a-sustainable-lifestyle/
|
This is a traveling exhibit and mobile laboratory created for the Plastic Pollution Coalition and TrashPatch.org. The mission is to educate the public on the long-term implications of plastic pollution. Through public discourse and community programs, we hope to highlight the importance of reducing, reusing, and recycling plastic, showing how, as a result, we can conserve energy, curb air and water pollution, and make a dent in this ubiquitous waste for future generations.
|
http://fantastica.is/portfolio/plastic-one/
|
3 edition of Joint strategies for urban transportation, air quality and energy conservation found in the catalog.
Joint strategies for urban transportation, air quality and energy conservation
International Group for Studies in National Planning.
Published
1975 by Interplan, Available through the National Technical Information Service in Santa Barbara, Calif, Springfield, Va .
Written in English
Edition Notes
|Statement||Roman Krzyczkowski ... [et al.].|
|Contributions||Krzyczkowski, Roman., United States. Urban Mass Transportation Administration., United States. Environmental Protection Agency., United States. Federal Energy Administration., United States. Urban Mass Transportation Administration.|
|The Physical Object|
|Pagination||xviii, p. in various pagings :|
|Number of Pages||365|
|ID Numbers|
|Open Library||OL17134230M|
|OCLC/WorldCa||2116940|
Is Europe an optimum currency area?
In love and war.
Assessing Learning With Logo
[Theatre Royal Bristol
An important secret come to light
On landed property and the economy of estates
history of scouting in Northampton, 1909-1984
Discourse On The Love Of God And Its Influence On All The Passions With A Discovery Of The Right Use And Abuse Of Them In Matters Of Religion
Soft nanomaterials
The Penguin Pocket Dictionary of Babies Names
International Geological Congress (26th : Paris : 1980) : Espana.
Snowdonia National Park (Its Forest park guide)
Teaching materials on the laws of corporations
token for friends
Design of a device to remove lunar dust from space suits for the proposed lunar base
The item Joint strategies for urban transportation, air quality, and energy conservation, Roman Krzyczkowski [and others] represents a specific, individual, material embodiment of a distinct intellectual air quality and energy conservation book artistic creation found in Indiana State Joint strategies for urban transportation, air quality, and energy conservation / Roman Krzyczkowski [et al.].
[Washington: U.S. Dept. of Transportation, Urban Mass Transportation Administration ; Springfield, Va.: for sale by the National Technical Information Service], Joint strategies for urban transportation, air quality and energy conservation.
Santa Barbara, Calif: Interplan ; Springfield, Va.: Available through the National Technical Information Service, Joint strategies for urban transportation, air quality, and energy conservation / Roman Krzyczkowski [and others].
Local Government Climate and Energy Strategy Series provides a comprehensive, straightforward overview of green-house gas (GHG) emissions reduction strategies for local governments. Topics include energy efficiency, transportation, community planning and design, solid waste and materials management, and renewable energy.
City, county, territorial, Efforts to integrate transportation, land use, and Joint strategies for urban transportation planning have focused predominately on improving air quality and reducing greenhouse gases through the promotion of transit and nonmotorized modes, and on densifying and diversifying urban development to increase the feasibility of such :// transportation costs, improve air quality and public health, and enhance quality of life.
Energy Air quality and energy conservation book In Affordable Housing growth strategies, urban heat island reduction techniques, and transportation control measures to develop integrated plans for community development The network was also renamed as “Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao PRD Regional Air Quality Monitoring Network”.
In addition, the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Joint Regional PM Study was completed at the end ofproviding a robust scientific basis for mapping out further air quality improvement strategies for the :// 10 • Sustainable Design Air quality and energy conservation book Introduction to Sustainable Design diverse, with various forms, volumes, and environmental implications.
The three strategies for the economy of resources principle are energy air quality and energy conservation book, water conservation, and material conservation. Each focuses on a particular resource necessary for ~nppcpub/resources/compendia/ARCHpdfs/ Current energy conservation standards call for energy Joint strategies for urban transportation strategies which are typically adopted incrementally in buildings retrofit and design.
However, there is no doubt about the importance of a holistic approach to turn the inter-related series of building design and operational challenges into new :// Over the past few days, normal life at Harvard has been upended by government, university, community, and business responses to COVID What role do planning and design have in this kind of pandemic.
Recent reports from London’s Imperial College and Harvard Global Health Institute (HGHI) lay out the broad problem. The influential Imperial College report [ ] MARC’s air quality program has a website dedicated to outreach and education.
You can go to to learn about the causes of ozone pollution, individual and community solutions, and workplace tips. The site also provides the daily SkyCast, animated video shorts and Mat Santamouris is the Anita Lawrence Professor of High Performance Architecture in the University of New South Wales in Australia.
He is a past a professor at the University of Athens, Greece and visiting Professor at the Cyprus Institute, Metropolitan University of London, Tokyo Polytechnic University, Bolzano University, Air quality and energy conservation book University and National University of :// Local Government Climate and Energy Strategy Series provides a comprehensive, straightforward overview of green- house gas (GHG) emissions reduction strategies for local governments.
Topics include energy efficiency, transportation, The Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) of India is a statutory organisation under the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (Mo.E.F.C). It was established in under the Water (Prevention and Control of air quality and energy conservation book Act, The CPCB is also entrusted with the powers and functions under the Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, Book: Balanced Urban Development: Options and Strategies for Liveable Cities Keywords: City Water Use, Energy Footprint and Urban Development policy, Institutional Issues and Foods, Water and Energy Call for Papers of Virtual Special Issue on Economy-wide Prospects for Material Recovery and Waste Recycling: Advances in Integrating Input-Output Economics and Industrial Ecology.
The goals of reducing waste and promoting the recycling of materials have defined industrial ecology ever since its dawn as a field for scholarly research in the Planning, Design and Construction Strategies for Green Buildings 3 Disclaimer The following set of Planning, Design And Construction Strategies For Green Buildings has been developed under the Green Buildings BC—New Buildings Program.
This first draft of this document will be subject to changes during the Green The Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) leads U.S. researchers and other partners in making transportation cleaner and more efficient through solutions that put electric drive vehicles on the road and replace oil with clean domestic fuels.
Through our Vehicle, Bioenergy, and Fuel Cell Technologies Offices, EERE advances the Ambient air quality. Ambient air quality is defined as the physical and chemical measure of pollutant concentrations in the ambient.
atmosphere to which the general population will be exposed. In most developing countries, ambient air quality is reported to have deteriorated seriously, especially in urban Energy conservation and the use of renewable fuels provide cost-effective and more sustainable alternatives.
This section contains resources available to make energy use more efficient. Air and Climate Both the natural ecosystem and human health can be adversely impacted by declining air quality and climatic :// 2 days ago Air, land, and water pollution caused 9 million premature deaths inor 16% of all deaths worldwide.
About 92% of all pollution-related mortality is seen in low-income and middle-income countries, with the poor, marginalized, and young hardest hit by the health effects of the :// Publisher Summary. The determining factor of an energy system is the energy sources it makes available. All subsequent steps follow on from this choice: the energy conversion technologies and infrastructure required for its optimal use, and the energy habits, social opportunities, and types of business, as well as the settlement and transport structures which result from :// 2 days ago More Resources The Sustainability Scholars Project Library is a repository for Sustainability Scholars project reports and a body of knowledge to support further research around sustainability.
Reports cover a variety of urban sustainability themes, including climate and energy, green buildings, zero-waste, transportation, food, and social :// Air Quality. Author: Hanlie Liebenberg Enslin on behalf of National Association for Clean Air (NACA) (Article Type: Overview) Public awareness around air pollution has increased dramatically over the past decade.
For many years, air quality management remained on the back burner of environmental policies, mainly because air pollution is not always visible and not restricted by geographical ?topic_id= Public transport is one of the ways to lower energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions in urban motorized transportation.
In recent years, with the popularization of new energy, clean energy, new technology application, and the construction of large-capacity public transport such as BRT in the sector of public transport, the level of energy utilization and emissions of urban public preparation of a new Urban Development Plan, to be submitted for adoption by In our time, however, urban development also means to co-ordi-nate and manage governmental, societal and economic actors.
As presented in this publication, STEP has a predominantly strategic character and, instead of a map-like planning outline, Interests: indoor environmental quality & performance (thermal environment, air environment); energy analysis & conservation (low cost and high efficiency heating system, building energy analysis); building system (analysis for the design of HVAC system, system design and analysis of plumbing system, automatic control) As one of the most scenic states in the country, Maine is an inspiration for many architects and designers.
Citing years of records, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA The plan estimates that “every fully vegetated acre of green infrastructure would provide total annual benefits of $ in reduced energy demand, $ in reduced CO2 emissions, $1, in improved air quality, and $4, in increased property value.”?id= Climate change and energy use.
Public health. New technologies and innovations in transportation. Current and future transportation needs (air, bicycle, bus, pedestrian, rail, roads, water and others.) The plan identifies needs and sets out a budget for federal transportation funds that the metro area expects to receive over the next three :// /Regional-Transportation-Planhtml.
Best management practices are guidelines that help development projects meet necessary legislation, regulations and policies.
For example, legislation might dictate that projects cannot harm a stream, while best management practices provide practical methods to avoid harming a :// /laws-policies-standards-guidance/best-management-practices. Air Pollution Costs refers to harm caused by motor vehicle air emissions, including damages to human health, ecological health and esthetic conditions.
These include exhaust emissions from tailpipes, non-exhaust emissions (NEE) from tire and break wear, and lifecycle emissions that also include air emissions from fuel extraction and refining The 15th Conference on the Urban Environment is sponsored by the American Meteorological Society and organized by the AMS Board on the Urban Environment.
Call for Papers. Helping Cities Manage Climate Variability, Change and Extremes. Urban Integrated System - A pathway to Sustainable Urban /15th-symposium-on-the-urban-environment. Environmental protection is the practice of protecting the natural environment by individuals, organizations and governments.
Its objectives are to conserve natural resources and the existing natural environment and, where possible, to repair damage and reverse :// Globally, towns and cities are rapidly increasing in area and in population; urban area is projected to triple until (BattySeto et al.
).Most urbanization is occurring in regions identified as biodiversity hotspots (Seto et al. ), with profound effects on ecological patterns and processes, including habitat destruction, degradation, and fragmentation; changes to biological Promoting Clean and Efficient Transportation.
Reduce energy consumption and greenhouse gas and air pollutant emissions from motor vehicles: Work together to promote a common continental approach and reduce energy consumption and greenhouse gases, and achieve other important air-quality co-benefits of motor vehicles, including by: California shares and leverages its experiences and policies on climate change, clean energy, and alternative transportation to maximize the benefits of climate action around the globe.
A number of state agencies engage in intergovernmental climate cooperation coordinating activities through the Intergovernmental Climate Action Team (ICAT). /international-cooperation/climate-change-partnerships.
Urban Form, Energy and the Environment: A Review of Issues, Evidence and Policy William P. Anderson, Pavlos S. Kanaroglou, and Eric J. Miller Urban Studies 1, The Abu Dhabi Urban Planning Council was created by Emiri Decree number 23 of the year and is the agency responsible for the future of Abu Dhabi’s urban environments, and the expert authority behind the visionary Plan Abu Dhabi Urban Structure Framework Plan published September Chaired by His Highness Sheikh.
energy infrastructure and resources Resilient energy infrastructure and reduced pdf and water use enhances reliability of the electricity grid while mitigating climate change impacts.
Local governments in the seven-county metropolitan area are required by state law to include an element in their Plan for protection and development of access Infive cities were studied under the Urban Heat Island Pilot Project (UHIPP).
Data was collected using flyovers to measure surface temperatures, identify hotspots, and quantify UHI reduction strategies by analyzing meteorological, air-quality, and energy-demand :// Strategies to ebook the risk of catastrophic loss by increasing the resilience of California’s urban forests are discussed.
1. Introduction Healthy urban forests can produce ecosystem functions, goods and services that benefit humans and the environment. Ecosystem services, or ecoservices, include energy conservation, air quality improvement,
|
https://ramucobawumosyqir.appligraphic-groupe.com/joint-strategies-for-urban-transportation-air-quality-and-energy-conservation-book-18017to.php
|
By HT School Web Desk, Jun 05, 2021 09:30
A clean environment is one of the basic prerequisites for a healthy and sustainable life. In order to raise mass awareness about environmental issues like pollution, global warming food security, sea level increase and drive changes in international policies, UN General Assembly designated June 5 as the World Environment Day (WED) way back in 1972. The theme for WED 2021 is Ecosystem Restoration which includes everything from growing trees, greening cities, rewilding gardens, changing diets or cleaning up rivers and coasts. As we celebrate World Environment Day today, here are some eco-friendly habits that you can inculcate in your children for a healthier, greener Earth.
Energy conservation
This is a very important lesson for becoming a green citizen. Teach your children to turn off lights when not needed, switch off the TV when nobody I watching, and shut down the laptop when they’re not using it. Also, introduce the concept of energy efficiency to them. Encourage your kids to use compact fluorescent light bulbs instead of incandescent ones. They use less energy and last longer.
The Rule of 3 Rs
The 3 Rs include: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle. It is important to educate about these environment-friendly rules during the initial years of their lives.
Reduce: This R can be followed by decreasing waste production. Some of the ways to do so include buying products containing minimal packaging, carrying paper bags from home during grocery shopping to reduce plastic bag usage and not buying things in excess.
Reuse: This includes healthy practices like using refill water bottles, cloth napkins instead of paper napkins, updating devices instead of exchanging, so on and so forth. You can also encourage your children to mend their broken toys instead of throwing them away, decorate their room using old things, and reuse or donate old clothes.
Recycling: Teach your kids to repurpose waste or discarded products like glass, paper, cardboards, etc.
Composting
This is the natural process of recycling leaves and food scraps and turn them into organic solid waste or natural fertilizer that can enrich soil and plants. This method will protect Mother Earth by reducing the need for chemical fertilizers, carbon footprint and waste production. Involve your kids in composting.
Choosing organic food
Organic foods are considered to be environment-friendly choices. This is because pesticides are not used for producing them. Moreover, they are known to enhance biodiversity and yield better soil quality. However, encouraging your child to have organic foods is more than just inculcating an eco-friendly habit. It will motivate him to embrace mindful eating.
Gardening
Gardening is a hobby that comes with a plethora of benefits. One of them is that it inspires green living. Moreover, gardening will motivate your kids to eat healthy. Involve kids in this eco-friendly hobby and get their hands dirty for a greener Earth.
You Must Be Logged In To Post A Comment.
|
https://htschool.hindustantimes.com/editorsdesk/raising-kids/world-environment-day-2021-5-ways-to-raise-an-eco-friendly-child/
|
Energy and water use in buildings accounts for approximately three-fourths of Orlando’s emissions of the gases and air pollution that contribute to public health impacts and climate change.
In 2013, the Green Works Orlando Taskforce, comprised of a broad representation of leaders within the business, NGO, public, and academic communities recommended that the City of Orlando adopt a building energy benchmarking and energy auditing ordinance as a component of a more comprehensive set of actions to reduce the energy and water use in buildings throughout Orlando. These recommendations were accepted by City Council after approving the 2013 Green Works Community Action Plan.
In addition, in 2014 the City of Orlando was selected as one of only ten cities in the United States to participate in the City Energy Project (CEP), a national initiative to create healthier and more prosperous American cities by improving the energy efficiency of buildings through innovative and practical solutions that cut energy waste, boost local economies, and reduce harmful pollution.
Sharing information about energy and water use in buildings will lead to better management of natural resources, and assist building owners in making cost-effective efficiency investments, thereby not only reducing air pollutant emissions from the burning of fossil fuels, but also reducing operating cost, improving indoor comfort, and providing resiliency against drought.
This BEWES policy will make relevant and comparable information on building energy and water usage readily available within the real estate marketplace (e.g. businesses, tenants, residents, lenders, etc.). The policy will require building benchmarking and reporting of energy and water usage in certain large buildings above 50,000 square feet, with minimum or no cost to the building owner. The policy will also require energy audits for certain lower performing buildings (those under the national average), but buildings will not be forced to improve performance, or make investments to make their buildings more energy efficient. Today, this policy has been successfully implemented in more than 15 major cities and counties across the United States, including the City of New York, Washington D.C., Chicago, Atlanta, Kansas City, and more.
Through a more informed real estate marketplace, we will work together to reach the goals set out by the Green Works Orlando initiative to reduce city-wide energy use intensity; lower the emission from air pollutants from energy consumption; encourage efficient use of energy and water resources throughout the built environment; and promote further investments in building a green economy in Orlando.
|
https://orlando.novusagenda.com/AgendaPublic/CoverSheet.aspx?ItemID=41128&MeetingID=796
|
Proper customer segmentation is crucial to drive effective marketing strategies, predict demand and optimize pricing. At its heart, segmentation is about grouping similar customers to describe and predict their purchasing behavior. The key question here is what such grouping must be based on. This is where geospatial data analysis comes in.
One possibility is to select the grouping a priori and then ask about purchasing habits, for example, when we segment customers based on demographics. This approach is useful to characterize behaviors using groups we already have a concept for, like age segments. However, it may be challenging sometimes to decide the best way to split a dimension like age, e.g., how many age groups do we want? What ages should be included in each bin?
Another possibility is to let the purchase data speak for itself and use machine learning to uncover potential clusters. This alternative was discussed in a previous blog entry titled Using Transaction Data for Optimal Customer Segmentation Analysis.
In this article, Mosaic highlights how geography can inform segmentation efforts through spatial analysis, which leverages spatial data, location data, satellite and aerial imagery, or any other form of geographic information to build machine learning models and gather usable insights for customer segmentation. Combining geospatial data with machine learning presents ample opportunity to leverage structured information to inform business decisions.
Geography Based Analytics
The most common way of using geospatial data analysis in customer segmentation is to use spatial divisions such as cities or postal code regions as the basis for different aggregations and stats. Calculations such as click-through and close rates by ZIP code are typical indicators to drive customer acquisition investments and marketing campaigns. Geography-related aspects are also crucial for business location decisions.
One important consideration that must not be neglected is the granularity of the spatial divisions used to segment customers. Indeed, we must be aware that, in general, one limitation of customer segmentation analytics is that we characterize all customers within each segment by a unique vector of attributes.
In other words, we treat everybody in a segment as if they behave the same way, thus losing track of all the intra-segment heterogeneity. While this may be good enough if the low variance, we will likely discover multiple patterns in highly heterogeneous segments. This is particularly noticeable when we use divisions such as postal codes, county lines, or larger regions due to various reasons such as:
- Uneven population density
- Spatial divisions (postal code area, county, state) vary significantly in area
- Seasonality in transportation patterns at daily, weekly, monthly, and annual levels
- Each region has differences in access to services and business, household incomes, purchase power, crime rates, etc..
What do we know about our customers?
The first question to pay attention to is what customer-related spatial information is available. For example, many businesses resort to wide-net marketing strategies driven by proximity to generate leads. Still, lack of mechanisms to track the actual geographic origin of their customers, thus missing the opportunity to identify where the marketing campaign has more resonance.
By contrast, other businesses employ different ways of personalizing their promotions and interactions with current and potential clients, thereby making it possible to know the point of origin of each customer. Strategies such as personalized mail or smartphone apps are ways to collect data about geographic displacements.
Spatial Analysis
Knowing where people work and live and where they go shopping, for example, may be useful for conducting a geospatial data analysis and calculating interesting indicators like market penetration at the postal code level. Indeed, a business located in a particular ZIP code area may be interested in knowing how many customers live in each one of the surrounding zones.
However, as we mentioned before, postal code areas can vary significantly in surface, the density of people, and businesses. Also, some geographic characteristics like landscape, among other things, make people prefer certain routes.
To illustrate the alternative ways of exploiting geographic information, consider the example shown in Fig. 1. Four postal codes areas are highlighted by diverse colors, each of which contains houses (1 to 12), along with supermarkets (A, B) of the same chain, two competing businesses (α, β) and are communicated by a transportation network. The distribution of visits to each commercial destination is shown in the next table.
The most common way of using these results is to aggregate visitors by ZIP of origin. Such a metric yields a penetration for α of 100% in the blue ZIP (3 out of three homes), 75% in the orange ZIP (3 out of 4 homes), 33% in the yellow ZIP, and 100% in the green ZIP. The value for the orange region is misleading because, even though it correctly indicates that 75% of the household in that region have visited α, the likelihood of getting a visit from an orange ZIP household is much lower.
By contrast, when we focus on the spatial patterns at the household level, we see that there is a 35% chance that a customer from household 4 will visit α. If we suppose households choose their destinations independently from each other (a reasonable assumption in many scenarios), we can get the probability P(x,R) that customers from a region R will visit a business x as:
Applying Eq. 1 to the case of the orange ZIP and α we get P(orange, α) = 1 – (1-0.35)(1-0.05)(1-0)(1-0.03) = 0.4. Hence, we can see how the individual trip data is richer and can generate more accurate insights than data at a coarser spatial resolution.
A step forward
While it is true that many businesses do not have access to that level of granularity, it is also true that this type of data is available to many retailers already. For example, many supermarkets and other chains provide their customers with services that rely on GPS data captured by custom apps running on the customers’ smartphones. Moreover, e-commerce has made it common for customers to provide their billing and shipping addresses to retailers, allowing them to exploit these data for spatial analysis even without GPS records.
Suppose the supermarket chain in our example serves the whole area using its two locations, A and B. Table 1 shows a strong preference for customers in the blue and green regions due to distance. However, households in the orange and yellow regions have mixed preferences; some always visit the same location while others visit both with different likelihoods.
Retailers may be interested in influencing groups such as the latter to balance out customer visit distribution utilizing promotions. Indeed, workers at location A, for example, may be overwhelmed, whereas their counterparts at B may have more capacity.
In such a scenario, it makes sense to attract orange and yellow region customers to visit B through some type of promotion. Furthermore, by conducting a geospatial data analysis on the transactions done at A and B by those orange and yellow region customers who visited both, an analyst may find some interesting nuggets such as what pricing and inventory differences drive customers to either location.
Conclusion
Both descriptive analytics and predictive machine learning models can benefit greatly from using geographic information in geospatial data analysis. At Mosaic, we can help you build and implement a custom predictive machine learning model that leverages your geographic data for accuracy and knowledge of segmentation groups. By cleverly using the spatial attributes in the training dataset, we can help you get more robust data analytics and machine learning models for prediction, classification, or clustering.
|
https://mosaicdatascience.com/2022/09/12/geospatial-data-analysis-for-ml-based-customer-clustering/
|
Over the past five years, federal agencies have made notable strides in developing a deeper understanding of their customers but have more work to do to create customer experience (CX) mechanisms that can lead to better program outcomes. Too often, we see well-intended government efforts fall short of their purpose because solution architects overlook key customer characteristics. Most importantly, these failures disproportionately impact racial minorities and other underrepresented communities.
In just one example, the federal Paycheck Protection Program failed Black businesses because it did not consider how historically marginalized business owners could most effectively receive information about the program. Especially in instances when speed of delivery is a top priority, it’s easy to miss how traditional outreach and service-delivery methods, unconscious bias and systemic racism would impact minority citizens’ ability to access benefits.
But there is a solution available to all agencies right now: customer experience methodologies. Focusing on customer experience forces solution designers to use data, human-centered design and continuous feedback to improve customer experiences and journeys. This focus on research, people and data enables us to explore issues impacting marginalized groups and racial minorities to create more equitable experiences and deliver better results.
Current government-wide guidance addresses customer experience, including what it is and how it should be measured. What is missing, however, is specific direction on how to capture nuances within these measures that impact marginalized and underserved groups, whose circumstances may not be easily visible within broad or incomplete data sets.
We know that federal government customers are diverse and complex; our stories can’t be captured by generalizations and unsegmented data. Customer analysis and segmentation can help agencies tailor efforts to various customer subsets. Some of the outputs of this research, often called “ethnographic research,” are customer personas and journey maps. These tools enable us to empathize with customers and more clearly understand their desires and motivations as well as barriers, pain points and frustrations. With this understanding, agencies can better conceptualize and design solutions that yield positive interactions and earn customers’ trust.
And there is a significant need to do just that. Forrester recently reported only 45% of federal customers say they’ve had a positive experience obtaining government services and information. Customer analysis and segmentation would help agencies dig deeper into this statistic to understand the patterns and trends driving negative experiences. Are minorities over-represented among those reporting a negative experience? What about those living below the poverty line or in rural areas?
Segmentation can also pinpoint distinctions between and intersectionality within various customer groups, enabling agencies to build tailored solutions that reach more people. By analyzing customer data and prioritizing empathy, decision makers can craft programs that truly meet the needs of all Americans.
Another CX technique that can help agencies achieve better results is human-centered design (HCD) — a structured framework for designing solutions that address the core needs of those who experience a problem. HCD calls for relinquishing all perceived barriers and focusing on both qualitative and quantitative data about what customers think and feel throughout their journey. Multi-disciplinary teams narrow in on a specific problem and ideate broadly, freely and without limitations to develop solutions.
Our nation’s equity challenges are complex and deeply rooted. Meaningful progress will require creative solutions we have not yet been able to conceptualize. For historically underserved minorities, equity focused human-centered problem solving could help create solutions that go beyond our current understanding of what is possible. Government agencies may discover solutions that once felt radical or impossible are actually easy, affordable and more equitable. Government programs should build in mechanisms to collect and quickly address customer feedback and strive to evolve with their customers over time. Better feedback systems that identify and elevate minority groups will provide insight into sub-cultures and trends that may be otherwise difficult to identify. This data is key to building more equitable programs.
Continuous feedback loops can also help government programs earn the confidence of their customers. Last fall, the Pew Research Center found only 20% of Americans trust the government to do what’s right all or most of the time. Committing to gaining a deeper understanding of customers by listening more, especially to minority perspectives, can help government agencies build better systems of transparency, accountability and oversight — the key to building back trust.
The Biden-Harris administration has an opportunity to leverage the advances made in federal customer experience over the past several years to advance racial equity and strengthen trust in government. Customer experience methods offer powerful strategies and frameworks to use data, human-centered design, and feedback loops to address unconscious bias and patterns of inequity. Chief Customer Experience Officers throughout the federal government would be wise to invest in these tools and techniques – doing so could unearth new solutions to help overcome systemic racism and longstanding racial inequities in government.
This article was originally published in Federal News Network on May 20, 2021.
Contacts:
Our featured public sector insights
No Results Found. Please search again using different keywords and/or filters.
|
https://www.grantthornton.com/insights/articles/public-sector/2021/biden-harris-administration-address-racial-equity
|
Descriptive Analytics refers to a technique that uses descriptive modeling with big data. In this context a machine learning model serves as an explanatory tool in order to distinguish between data objects.. This analytics approach is different from Predictive Analytics or Prescriptive Analytics. An often related term is also Business Analytics. One example of a descriptive analytics process is as follows. If the descriptive model is a classification model then this type of analytics is used to distinguish between instances of different classes. This descriptive model summarizes the data and is able to explain what exact features define a certain class or another.
In customer business environments descriptive analytics are used to describe real-world events and certain relationships between factors that are responsible for such events. This in turn helps the marketing or advertising divisions in companies to better understand their customers. In other words companies are better able to target their marketing and advertising efforts based on a sound descriptive model. One example is customer group clustering according to known factors like demographics, purchasing behavior, or indicated interests for certain products. These known factors are often called descriptive factors. In a subsequent analytics process using statistical methods one can find out which customer groups share similarities or where they differ.
Experts also often use the term segmentation in descriptive analytics. Customer segmentation is the process to partition the customers of a company into groups with having various impacts on marketing and offered services. More strategically value-based segmentation is used to identify and quantify the value of a certain customer to the organization. This can be useful to select the best service person for one of the most valuable customer of a company. Often companies use already behavior-based segmentation that analyzes the customer product usage and a wide variety of purchasing patterns. A more forward looking descriptive analytics process is needs-based segmentation that identifies ways to capitalize on motives that drive a specific customer behavior.
More Details on Descriptive Analytics
The following video provides more details about this topic:
|
http://www.big-data.tips/descriptive-analytics
|
Organizations must be oriented towards their clients, continuously adapting the product or service offered to their wishes to achieve their satisfaction and loyalty. For this, it is very important to know what your requirements are and to analyze the degree of compliance with them, two objectives that can be met with an adequate process of customer satisfaction measurement.
The client must have a preferential consideration within the management of any organization. Such is the case that the first of the eight quality management principles on which the ISO 9000 family of standards is based suggests that organizations adopt a customer approach to their management.
Furthermore, the ISO 9001 standard establishes that organizations must determine the corresponding methods to obtain information about customer satisfaction importance. The final objective is to increase said satisfaction, which is one more example of the importance that is given to the client.
The customer satisfaction measurement should be considered as one more process that the company must integrate into the organization’s management system and guarantee its regular implementation in the most efficient way possible.
We May Collect Information in Two Different Ways to Assess Customer Satisfaction Importance:
Directly: we obtain the customer’s perception of the organization’s compliance with its requirements.
Indirectly: We obtain information related to compliance with customer requirements from existing data in the organization itself.
The advantages that can be obtained in front of the competitors are increasingly difficult to acquire and manage, the reason why a high degree of customer satisfaction importance can be considered as the main source of competitive advantage.
Which Enables:
- Convey a positive image of the organization
- Increase the prestige of the company
- Gain experience to offer services in other markets
- The key factors that makeup customer satisfaction importance can only be known through research into the quality of service perceived by customers.
This Type of Study Must Detect Four Fundamental Types of Client Perceptions:
- Attributes on which satisfaction is projected
- Attributes on which compliance is projected
- Improvements to consider
- Improvements that must be urgently addressed to avoid losing customers
Characteristics of Customer Satisfaction Measurement
For the customer satisfaction measurement to be useful and effective, we must take into account the following aspects or characteristics:
Relevance: We must be clear that what is going to be measured is important for the client to be able to measure those aspects that directly affect their customer satisfaction importance.
Integrity: The sources used in the measurement process must be reliable and as objective as possible to avoid that it is biased.
Segmentation: Sometimes, depending on the type of organization and the market in which it operates and, very especially, depending on the type of clients that the company covers, it may be important to carry out market segmentation to direct our process of measuring the satisfaction to that type of audience that interests us most.
Objectives: Before customer satisfaction measurement of our clients, it is necessary to analyze and define the objectives that we want to achieve with said measurement so that it is useful and effective. It is useless to measure if we do not know what we want to measure.
Trend: It is necessary to analyze the data and results obtained to know if there is a negative or positive trend, analyze the causes and make the appropriate decisions accordingly.
Comparisons: It is equally useful to compare ourselves with our competitors to know what the competition measures, to know the trend they are following and to analyze how they are doing.
What Are the Methods of Customer Satisfaction Measurement?
It is worth mentioning that it is not only important to measure the perception of quality at a given moment, but also to identify what are the aspects that should be worked on to achieve improvements.
The Method to Be Used to Measure Customer Satisfaction Importance Should Be Oriented to Achieve the Following Main Objectives:
- Determine the structure of the customer satisfaction importance evaluation system.
- Define the different aspects that influence satisfaction and the attributes that make them up.
- Obtain the degree of satisfaction and the importance that customers assign to each of the attributes that make up customer satisfaction importance.
- Determine the urgent improvement areas to be faced by the company to improve the degree of customer satisfaction importance.
- Prevent the company from the factors that could become dangers that threaten satisfaction in the future.
- Define areas of strengths on which to support future strategies.
The Main Methods or Tools That Companies May Use to Measure the Satisfaction of Their Customers Are:
Market Research: This is research on all the actual and potential consumers of our products or services to evaluate them with those offered by the competition to identify opportunities and threats.
Customer Panels: A group of customers who know our product or service very well are selected to obtain suggestions and opinions about it.
Hidden Customer: In customer satisfaction measurement method, an evaluator impersonates the company’s customer and simulates a purchase to assess the aspects related to it.
Group Sessions: Meetings are organized with small groups of clients focused on very specific aspects of the product or service.
Personal Interviews: These are regular individual meetings with selected clients in which a large selection of aspects related to our product or service is discussed formally to identify real expectations of the client.
Historical Real Customer Satisfaction Importance Surveys: Consists of conducting surveys using satisfaction questionnaires to three types of customers: new customers, customers who are reducing their purchase volume and customers who have stopped consuming our product.
Satisfaction Surveys: Consists of conducting satisfaction surveys through short questionnaires to selected company clients based on previously defined objective criteria that allow us to obtain the opinion of our clients after purchasing the product or service.
Telephone Surveys: Before conducting a telephone interview, we should ask the client if he has time to answer it.
Personnel Surveys: in cases where certain employees are in direct contact with the client, we can carry out surveys of these employees to obtain direct information about their opinion.
Complaints And Suggestions: Establishing a system for collecting complaints and suggestions is a basic method of collecting information. Complaints are opportunities for improvement.
|
https://www.teamrenzan.com/productivity/customer-satisfaction-measurement/
|
In this online course, “Cluster Analysis”, you will learn how to use various cluster analysis methods to identify possible clusters in multivariate data. In marketing applications, clusters of customer records are called market segments (and the process is called market segmentation). Methods discussed include:
- hierarchical clustering (in which smaller clusters are nested inside larger clusters);
- k-means clustering;
- two-step clustering;
- normal mixture models for continuous variables.
After taking this course, a student will be able to:
- Conduct hierarchical cluster analysis and k-means clustering to identify clusters in multivariate dataÂ
- Apply normalization of data appropriately in cluster analysis
- Identify the assignment of cases to clusters
- Apply mixture models to multivariate data and interpret the output
- Interpret/diagnose the output of different clustering procedures
Course Program:
- Week 1: Hierarchical Clustering
- Week 2: K-means Clustering
- Week 3: Normal Mixture Model
- Week 4: Other Approaches
Important Date:
Contact Institute
Duration:
4 Weeks
Time Requirement:
About 15 hours per week, at time of your choosing.
Fees:
INR 37,740 (assuming $ = INR 60)
Part Time/ Full Time:
Part time
- Marketing analysts who need to cluster customer data as part of a market segmentation strategy;
- Computational biologists (e.g. for taxonomy);
- Environmental scientists (e.g. for habitat studies);
- IT specialists (e.g. in modeling web traffic patterns);
- Military and national security analysts (e.g. in automated analysis of intercepted communications).
Pre-requisite:
Some familiarity with multivariate data is helpful.
|
https://www.analyticsvidhya.com/trainings/cluster-analysis-statistics-com/
|
Cohort analysis is an analytical technique that categorizes and divides data into groups with common characteristics prior to analysis. This technique is typically used to make it easier for organizations to isolate, analyze, and detect patterns in the lifecycle of a user, to improve user retention, and to better understand user behavior in a particular cohort.
FAQs
What is Cohort Analysis?
A cohort is a group of people who share a common characteristic over a certain period of time, such as users that have become customers at approximately the same time, a graduating class of students, or contact tracing individuals during a pandemic.
Cohort analysis is a study that concentrates on the activities of a specific cohort type. A cohort analysis table is used to visually display cohort data in order to help analysts compare different groups of users at the same stage in their lifecycle, and to see the long-term relationship between the characteristics of a given user group.
How to Use Cohort Analysis
Cohort analysis tools for marketing professionals, provided by services such as Google Analytics, generate a cohort analysis report in the form of a cohort table with the website’s acquisition date range by user retention rate. Examples of popular metrics by which to analyze a cohort include: conversion rates, goal completions per user, page views per user, revenue per user, sessions per user, session duration per user, and transactions per user.
Advanced cohort analysis tools also provide further segmenting options, such as acquisition cohorts vs behavioral cohorts, or mobile users vs desktop users, to further narrow down data groups. The date range and cohort size are fully customizable and can be adjusted depending on the scope of the project.
The steps typically involved in the analysis process include:
- extracting raw data: raw data is pulled from a database using MySQL and exported into spreadsheet software, where user attributes can be joined and further segmented.
- creating cohort identifiers: group user data into different buckets, such as date joined, date of first purchase, graduation year, all mobile devices at a particular place and time, etc.
- calculating lifecycle stages: once users have been divided into cohorts, the amount of time between events attributed to each customer is measured in order to calculate lifecycle stages.
- creating tables and graphs: pivot tables and graphs create visual representations of user data comparisons, and help calculate the aggregation of multiple dimensions of user data.
When to Use Cohort Analysis
Customer cohort analysis is particularly useful in business use cases and marketing efforts. Analyzing trends in cohort spending from various periods in time can help analysts gauge whether or not the quality of the average customer is improving throughout the customer lifecycle. This process is known as lifetime value cohort analysis.
Cohort analysis for retention can also provide in-depth insights into user behavior as well as website performance. In comparing different user groups, analysts can identify trends and patterns, and identify which behavioral changes cause different results.
Cohort retention analysis and acquisition cohort analysis are useful practices for reducing early customer churn. Cohort analysis charts will indicate the period of time after which customers churn. If churn occurs within the first few weeks, the typical culprits may be: product is not meeting customers’ expectations; poor onboarding processes; and/or a poor user acquisition model.
Another use case is contact tracing. A combination of data provided by trusted data partners, such as SafeGraph and X-Mode Social, and spatiotemporal cohort analysis capabilities, can help authorities or health professionals track certain individuals via their mobile devices during a disaster or pandemic. Cohorts may be segmented into buckets denoted by particular locations, times, and devices within certain time frames.
Does OmniSci Offer a Cohort Analysis Solution?
OmniSci Immerse offers spatiotemporal cohort analysis capabilities that enable analysts and data scientists to easily visualize, segment, aggregate, and instantly interact with massive cohort datasets. With Immerse, analysts can aggregate multiple levels of geographic and temporal data, and observe and monitor granular patterns of life for different cohorts of users in specific spatiotemporal bins. Immerse can also display dozens of distinct data visualizations in the same dashboard without having to join underlying tables, which saves data preparation time and reveals otherwise undetected multi-factor relationships.
|
https://www.omnisci.com/technical-glossary/cohort-analysis
|
The Australian Bureau of Statistics[i] states that over five million Australians exceed 38 hours of work per week. Statistics presented in a research report published by The Australia Institute suggest that almost four million working Australians neglect to take a lunch break, saying that “they are too busy”. Of those who do take a “break”, 72% admitted to cutting short, working through or postponing their lunch break to an inconvenient time[ii].
Senior psychologist at The Banyans Health and Wellness Residence, Peter Hayton, says continued episodes of long working hours, a heavy workload and few breaks are a perfect recipe for employee dissatisfaction and eventual burnout.
Depending on the professional sector, Australian law varies in employee break entitlements. In general however, employees should receive between thirty minutes to one hour each day. Despite such legislation, workplace culture and management often determines how breaks are distributed and organized, and if they are taken at all. It seems that ‘al desko’ dining is becoming increasingly popular as workers remain seated at their desks, eating their lunch while continuing to work on less pressing tasks, such as emails or social media.
However, research continuously supports that taking short, regular breaks is vital in efficient cognitive processing and refreshing creativity[iii]. Similarly, removing your focus for a short time can readjust your perspective, and improve your ability to create meaningful connections between ideas.
Peter uses the analogy of running a race. “Your cognitive capacity is like an athlete running a race. You can run very fast at the start, and gain a lot of ground. But you begin to lose steam after a while, and you need to walk for a short time to catch your breath. This is similar to your cognitive capacity: in the first half hour to an hour of working on a particular task, you feel highly productive and focused. But this cannot be sustained for your entire workday unless you step away for short periods and allow your brain to refresh.” If you try to work past your attention span, you begin to feel less focused on the task at hand or may struggle to make decisions[iv].
“It is also important that you take time to look away from a screen,” Peter encourages. Looking at the blue light of a computer screen or phone for an extended period of time can result in computer vision syndrome, with symptoms including eyestrain, headaches and blurred vision. “Going for a short walk away from your desk will give your eyes a rest from these devices.” Parents often ask their children to do this, but neglect to practice the ‘off screen’ breaks themselves.
According to an article by The Atlantic, the optimal break time is seventeen minutes, with fifty two minutes of concentration before and after. However, researchers from Cornell University suggest that stepping away for any amount of time can be beneficial. They found that an app reminding office workers to take small breaks was correlated with higher productivity, fewer errors and more effective problem solving. The app reminded employees to resume good posture, go for a walk to the water fountain, or eat a healthy snack[v].
Nutritionist at The Banyans Health and Wellness Residence, Lisa Cutforth, is a firm believer in taking an extended break for a lunch time meal. “Taking at least twenty minutes to half an hour is critical to give your mind and body time to recharge,” she says. Moreover, Lisa highlights the importance of eating a meal full of healthy fats and proteins to avoid an afternoon slump. “There is not a one-size-fits all approach to what a lunch time meal should include. But generally, foods like almonds, avocado, or tuna will sustain you through the afternoon, and feed your brain for efficient cognitive activity.”
“It is important to keep your blood sugar levels stable throughout the day. You cannot just have one meal at lunch time and expect to be performing at your peak,” Lisa recommends. She suggests that raw vegetables (such as carrot sticks with hommus), or foods rich in antioxidants (blueberries for example), are good snack ideas throughout the day.
In addition, physical activities such as stretching or walking have been shown to increase the benefits of taking a break[vi].
Ruth Limkin, CEO of The Banyans and graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors says that it is partly the responsibility of executives and managers to create a workplace culture that values employee wellness as well as employee productivity. “Research continuously supports the idea that a short, regular break increases productivity and concentration,” she says. “Workplace wellness makes sense if you want maximum outcomes from your team.”
“People are less likely to take healthy breaks if they never see their boss lead by example,” Ruth encourages. She says that taking ten or fifteen minutes to touch base with your team in a can promote the expectation of short yet regular refreshments.
The Huffington Post recently published an article on the benefits of employee break rooms, such as a kitchen or board room. They emphasized the importance of keeping the area well ventilated, vibrant and hygienic. This encourages employees to leave their desk and share a meal together in a stimulating, clean environment. Ruth also encourages that shared spaces can be great for improving your employees social wellness, by boosting team atmosphere and preventing feelings of isolation.
The Banyans Health and Wellness Residence offers comprehensive and effective programs for people experiencing depression, alcohol misuse, drug addiction, eating issues, anxiety, burnout, chronic stress and more. If you or someone you love may benefit from one of rehabilitation and recovery programs, please do not hesitate to call +1300 BANYAN (1300 226 926) for a private and confidential discussion. You can also submit an online enquiry here or email [email protected] for more information.
[i] Martin, P. (2018). The 38-hour week a rarity among full-time workers, new data shows. [online] The Sydney Morning Herald. Available at: http://www.smh.com.au/business/workplace-relations/the-38hour-week-a-rarity-among-fulltime-workers-new-data-shows-20151027-gkk1r6.html [Accessed 13 Feb. 2018].
[ii] The Australia Institute (2013). Hard to get a break? Hours, leave and barriers to re-entering the Australian workforce. [online] p.4. Available at: http://www.tai.org.au/sites/defualt/files/IP%2013%20Hard%20to%20get%20a%20break.pdf [Accessed 13 Feb. 2018].
[iii] Korkki, P. (2012). Take Breaks Regularly to Stay on Schedule – Workstation. [online] nytimes.com. Available at: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/17/jobs/take-breaks-regularly-to-stay-on-schedule-workstation.html?_r=0 [Accessed 16 Feb. 2018].
[iv] Bailey, B. (2013). How to be Happier and More Productive by Avoiding ‘Decision Fatigue’. [online] Social. Available at: https://blog.bufferapp.com/are-you-too-tired-to-make-good-decisions-the-rise-of-decision-fatigue [Accessed 16 Feb. 2018].
[v] Lang, S. (1999). When workers heed computer’s reminder to take a break, their productivity jumps, Cornell study finds | Cornell Chronicle. [online] News.cornell.edu. Available at: http://news.cornell.edu/stories/1999/09/onscreen-break-reminder-boosts-productivity [Accessed 16 Feb. 2018].
|
https://www.thebanyans.com.au/eating-at-your-desk-costs-you-more-than-a-lunch-break/
|
When it comes to our professions and work in general, we need to be as productive as possible in order to thrive and flourish. Getting outcomes involves getting things done, but while we’re in this frame of mind, we often sacrifice breaks to make more time.
While this may produce results in the short term, it might eventually lead to burnout and a feeling of mental exhaustion. Because we haven’t taken the time to switch off and take a rest, our productivity will eventually suffer.
Tiredness and exhaustion are the results of our bodies not getting enough time to repair energy, and adding skipped meals to the mix means you’re operating on fumes, lacking the nutrients and energy you need to be the productive person you want to be. Many of us are caught in a terrible loop.
1. Why Don’t We Take Enough Breaks?
It’s a catch 22 that we skip our breaks in order to be more productive yet the more we do this the less productive we actually become. So why do we do it?
No time.
It’s common to feel as if we have more work than time to finish it. Constant emails and meetings mean that when we get to work in the morning, time can easily slip away into the mid-and late afternoon.
Despite this, you feel as if you never finish anything because there are always more emails and meetings to attend the next day.
Afraid of what others think of you.
Even if your boss isn’t particularly demanding, you don’t want to appear to be shirking your responsibilities by taking too many breaks. It’s even worse if you work in an open-plan workplace where everyone can see everything you do.
When you take your third 10-minute break of the day and feel like your coworkers or managers are evaluating you, you may start to feel nervous.
You don’t think breaks are necessary.
Breaks are inconvenient for many people, who believe that sitting down and relaxing for 10 minutes is a waste of time.
When you know you have a lot of work to accomplish, it can be difficult to enjoy yourself. As a result, many people neglect to take that much-needed vacation.
You don’t know how to take a break.
Many workplaces encourage employees to take breaks away from their computers, but if this isn’t the case at your place of business, sitting at your desk can lead to scrolling through your Facebook or Instagram feeds.
While this may appear to be a break, it does not truly relax or provide your mind with the mentally constructive rest it requires.
2. What Actually Happens If We Don’t Take Those Needed Breaks?
Performance decreases.
Working on a task for long periods of time without taking a break has been found to lower overall performance. Taking regular breaks, on the other hand, improves performance on the activity at hand.
Procrastination increases.
It’s fantastic to get into a flow when working, but it doesn’t continue forever. We get bored as humans, which usually leads to procrastination.
Because our brains aren’t built to focus for long amounts of time, taking a break is more useful and helps us get back on track when boredom sets in. To stay focused, we must “deactivate and reactivate” our goals.
Attention span is shortened.
An adult’s average attention span is between 15 and 40 minutes. If you don’t take any breaks, this will drop much further. To put it another way, we end up operating on fumes in terms of cognitive function, which may be remedied by giving our brain a rest.
Fatigue and burnout.
Burnout is frequently the last thing to happen, but it is the result of a collective habit of not pausing to take a break. Tiredness and weariness are frequently the first signs that our bodies are being overworked.
This can cause the task to take longer to complete or cause the person to become ill, resulting in the task not being finished at all.
3. Take Breaks to Increase Your Productivity and Wellbeing
Track and limit the time you spend on tasks.
Do you have any idea how much time you waste on daily tasks? According to research, only about 17% of people are aware of how much time passes when they are working on a task.
Keep track of how much time you spend so you can have a better idea of what a productive schedule looks like and when you should take breaks.
Shift your mindset.
Our largest roadblock is frequently refusing to realize that breaks are for our advantage. Begin to see breaks as a necessity rather than a stumbling block.
Never skip meals.
Scheduling lunchtime meetings or using your lunch hour to keep up with rising work may greatly reduce your productivity.
Skipping meals or hurrying through them will only affect your health and productivity in the long run. Use this time to unwind and think about topics other than work, since this will help to recharge your brain while also nourishing it.
Throw away excuses.
I don’t have enough time’ may have crossed your thoughts a few times, but excuses must go. To clean your mind, make a list of everything you need to get done for the day, but don’t forget to include breaks in this list because they’re just as vital. This will assist in expediting the completion of tasks.
Consider exercise.
Rejuvenating yourself might be as simple as taking a break from your work or taking asleep. However, according to a study published in the Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, including exercise in your workday can help you be more productive.
Join a gym near your workplace, go for a lunchtime run, or take a simple walk to re-energize your brain and get it ready to handle work.
4. Just Take That Break!
Attempt not to persuade yourself that working for long periods of time is the most productive method. Our brain isn’t built to concentrate for lengthy amounts of time, and it needs time to shut off in order to function at its best, according to a study.
One study discovered the secret to the most productive routine: working for 52 minutes and then taking a 17-minute break. This resulted in the most efficient workflow for maximum efficiency.
So get rid of the excuses, don’t work through lunch, take time to eat and recharge, and maybe even go for a run. Whatever you’re doing, make sure to schedule a time to reset your brain and watch your productivity levels soar!
Reference:
|
https://pakoption.org/kit-kats-advice/
|
Disconnecting And Recharging As A Remote Worker
Have you found your flow of productivity?
I love finding a constant flow of productivity, ticking tasks off my to-do list, and feeling energised during the working day; but I also know how important it is to take time to disconnect and recharge. Booking a week, or even a few days off, allows me to return to work feeling motivated and refreshed.
Having been location independent for 3 years now, you’ll mostly find me exploring the cutest cafes in Europe or the spicy (sometimes too spicy) traditional dishes of Asia.
The flexibility of remote working not only allows me to choose my location but how I spend my time when in that location. Some days I’ll head to the beach for a morning walk, set up in a cute cafe with lunch in the sun and other days I’ll find a co-work, followed by an evening sunset. Where possible, I’ll chase the sun all year round!
The main benefit of working remotely? Being able to work from anywhere.
Being able to work from anywhere doesn’t automatically mean that it’s easier to disconnect; you just need to find a balance.
Working from home doesn’t always mean that you can leave your office behind closed doors when you log off every day. Most of the time my “office” is the living room, where I also usually eat, watch Netflix and work-out all in the same space. Of course, I’d still suggest keeping some separation between work and play but understand it’s not always easy, if you have limited space. Anyway, we digress, back to disconnecting and recharging your energy…
How to recharge?
I recharge in order to find my focus, naturally taking regular breaks throughout the day. My day is broken into manageable chunks by following the Pomodoro method. Being able to travel flexibly whilst working, allows me to re-energise by seeing family and friends around the world. Other days I feel just as recharged by getting some peaceful and relaxing alone time!
Spending the majority of your day in front of multiple screens, it’s important to find the time to step away. Focusing my brain on something totally different, especially activities which reduce my screen time like painting, cooking, learning to play the ukulele, exercising or learning a language is the best way for me to 100% switch off. If you want something quick and fun to recharge, usually, a 5-min dance (and sing) in the kitchen allows me to forget about the world around me, switch off and have a laugh (admittedly my partner thinks I am crazy but who cares, I’m recharging my batteries!)
I crave the variety of workspace, switching up where I work from or making sure I get out of the house at least twice a week to find the best coffee shop nearby.
This allows me to stay creative and keep the energy flowing — ensuring that my days are interesting and eventful.
I also love to people-watch so when I’m stuck on a task and I need a break, that’s always fun to do.
How to disconnect?
An ideal break for most would be closing your laptop, setting your Out of Office and disappearing into the sunshine for 2 weeks, disconnecting entirely from work. Excellent idea! But I like to switch things up more often, rather than waiting for those juicy 2 weeks off. I’m more than happy to take 2–3 days off or extend my weekend breaks to switch off and come back feeling motivated.
I’d like to think that I have optimised my routine, although I don’t start and finish at the same time every day. I do the same things in the morning and the same things in the evening to make it easier to switch off — mostly this includes a morning walk and working out after work. I appreciate the flexibility remote work offers so I always make sure I take breaks throughout the day to improve my productivity and stay on track.
I’m also known to take the occasional power nap, it works wonders!
Notifications
This is a big one, disconnect entirely from your phone for the day. Guilty of mindless scrolling? Me too! If you’re able to remove or even just reduce the number of notifications you’ll start to notice the difference and feel way more disconnected!
Making plans for right after work to close out the workday helps avoid the “I’ll just finish this” mentality, as before you know it, it’s dark outside and you’ve still not had dinner! Even on days where I don’t want to leave the house, I’ve found that doing a walk on the spot whilst watching TV really boosts my energy and helps me disconnect from my day job.
Above all, to stay sane, I have to disconnect. There are plenty of activities that can provide a break from work.
I am always trying to find new ways to disconnect and recharge so comment below telling me what you do to disconnect, recharge, and return to work full of renewed energy!
|
https://vocal.media/journal/disconnecting-and-recharging-as-a-remote-worker
|
For many people, a hike through the woods is a great refresher from a long workweek, a trip to a park is a great escape from the stresses of daily life, or a nature wallpaper is a great mid-day inspiration to push through the post-lunch slump. Recent studies show that spending time in nature or even looking at photos of natural scenes can actually improve cognitive function, making spending a little time in the great outdoors even more important than you may think.
A 2008 study published in the journal Psychological Science (PDF) asserted that there may be serious cognitive benefits to spending some time interacting with nature. University of Michigan psychologist Mac Berman took a sample group of 36 people, broke them into two groups, and put them both through a series of rigorous cognitive tests. He then let each group take breaks, one group walking around a city street, and the other through a secluded wooded park. No surprise, the group that took their break in the woods did much better on the second round of tests.
It's not the first study to uncover this, and for many people it's no surprise that we recharge better when we relax in natural settings than busy city streets or crowded breakrooms, but many psychologists believe that it's not just important for us to recharge in natural settings, but it's essential for us to operate at the best of our mental ability. A subsequent study from the same researchers traded the natural setting for just pictures and photos of nature, and found similar results.
Ultimately, if you have the option to take your lunch in a park, stroll through a garden, or get out for a walk in the woods when you need to recharge, it's an option that can not only help you relax and de-stress, but also does wonders for your mind. Nicholas Carr (of The Internet is Making You Stupid infamy), writing for AdBusters, goes on from there to paint some broad strokes about the nature of the way we interact with natural and human-created environments, but the takeaway we thought was most interesting is the importance of nature to our mental abilities.
Do you prefer to take your breaks in natural environments, or do you prefer to relax around other people? Share your thoughts in the comments below.
Photo by Fred Hsu.
|
https://lifehacker.com/466016963
|
America has become a work-obsessed society that tends to shun the notion of taking a lunch. As a result, approximately two-thirds of American employees report feeling fatigue related to job stress.
Most employees quickly eat their lunch at their desks and do not take time for themselves to recharge and finish personal affairs, which consequently results in a scheduled weekend. Psychologists have found that employees who take their daily lunch are able to re-prioritize and manage their time at and away from the office more effectively.
Successful people leverage lunchtime, whether its thirty minutes or an hour. There are countless ways employees can balance their working and personal life during lunch.
Find Ways to Relax at the Office
For the most part, taking a break means you shouldn’t work. Whether you’ve got 15 minutes or an hour, your lunch break is a designated chunk of time for you to unwind and let go of the pressures of work.
Sometimes all you need to do is just enjoy a meal and come back when you’re done. If you really need to clear your head, rest up, and relax, however, there are a few other things you can do.
Meditation is one of them. Clearing your head can be enough to remove any stress you built up during the morning and help you approach your work in the afternoon more clearly.
Your lunch break is also a good time for a power nap. While the term may make it sound like snake oil, science actually backs up the efficacy of the power nap—if you do it right. 20-30 minutes is generally the right length for most people, at that fits wonderfully into your break. Additionally, the best time of day is between 1:00 and 3:00 PM, so you shouldn’t have trouble finding the time either.
Use Your Lunch Breaks to Buy You More Free Time Later
Although actually taking a break is the most important, you can still get things done without adding stress. The important thing to remember is that you’re using your time to do things that help you. Even if that involves a bit of work in the process, doing that work during lunch can buy you more free time when you get home.
A lunch break can be a fantastic time to get in a little bit of exercise. Obviously you can’t go running in business attire, but if you have 45 minutes to an hour during your break you can use that time to hit the gym, shower, and get back. One of the biggest deterrents to exercising is that you often have to do it early in the morning or after you’re done with work. In both cases you’re generally going to be pretty tired and, as a result, it can be hard to find the motivation to get in shape. If you take care of this during your lunch break you won’t have to find time outside of work and you’ll earn yourself some extra energy during the day. Exercise can be time consuming and you probably won’t have much time to have an extravagant lunch, but eating while you work won’t seem as bad if you were able to spend a good chunk of your work day doing something good for yourself.
Don’t Forget to Eat!
When you’re trying to use your lunch breaks effectively, it can be easy to forget that their actual purpose is to eat. One way to make lunch breaks more fun and ensure you have some good food on a regular basis is to start a cooking club at work. If you can find four other people, each of you can cook a meal for everyone else one day of the week. It’s about as easy to cook for five people as it is for one, and every day you’ll have a home-cooked meal while only putting in 20% of the effort.
When employees take a 30 to 60 minute lunch every workday, they can improve their mental and physical wellness while tackling career objectives at the same time.
Marquee Staffing recruiters specialize in placing talent in some of the most desirable areas in Southern California including Irvine, San Diego, Orange County, Oceanside, and Carlsbad. We also provide the benefit of our knowledge and experience to help you improve employee retention, productivity and much more. Contact us today to learn more about our staffing services and beyond.
|
https://www.marqueestaffing.com/2017/04/27/leverage-lunch-hour-become-productive/
|
I’m not shy, but I am an introvert. I recently read Susan Cain’s Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking (2013) in an attempt to understand my temperament – and those of extroverts – better. I’m interested in the psychology behind introversion and how I can communicate, work and empathise with others more effectively.
The book brings together Cain’s experience as an introvert with her research on the topic. Drawing on psychology, biology and sociology, it disputes extroversion’s status as the cultural ideal and demonstrates how introversion can be just as beneficial in our work and personal lives.
I particularly enjoyed the chapter called ‘When should you act more extroverted than you really are?’ Cain tells the story of Professor Brian Little, a former Harvard lecturer ‘described as a cross between Robin Williams and Albert Einstein’. At work, he is eloquent, affable, confident and committed, but he needs quiet time to recover. As Cain notes, Little pioneered Free Trait Theory, which proposes that ‘introverts are capable of acting like extroverts for the sake of work they consider important, people they love, or anything they value highly’. This explains how I can be introverted but also very talkative in particular social settings – I genuinely want to know how people are, learn more about them and work together.
My main takeaway from the book links to this chapter. Professor Little highlights the importance of ‘restorative niches’, which, Cain emphasises, can be physical (think green spaces or bodies of water) or temporal, ‘like the quiet breaks you plan between sales calls’. I’ve realised that I feel mentally and socially tired after a few hours of meetings or seminars, so I now try to factor in regular breaks. This can mean switching off completely over lunch or focusing on a more solitary task, such as website editing.
I also appreciated the chapter on the communication gap between introverts and extroverts. Cain writes: ‘It can be hard for extroverts to understand how badly introverts need to recharge at the end of a busy day’, but ‘[i]t’s also hard for introverts to understand just how hurtful their silence can be’. Preserving energy to give to relationships and conversations outside of work is important too.
Reading Quiet has reminded me that it is fine to need more time to recharge than other people do. It has made me reflect on how my preference for deep conversations with one or a few people (as opposed to socialising in large groups) can enhance relationships. It has also shown me that putting on an extroverted face can be useful and rewarding, but there is no need to do it all the time.
|
https://mollywhyte.com/2016/12/06/on-quiet/
|
5 Easy Steps to Be More Productive
We’re all aspiring to be more productive. What’s holding us back is not a noisy office or poor management, but the wrong perception of workplace productivity. There’s a vast difference between working hard and working smart.
We tend to favor working hard to do what our body and brain really need to be effective. Doing 12-hour workdays or skipping lunch is counterproductive to our achievements and career improvements. We simply often fail to understand it.
If you’re also working hard instead of working productively, this article will introduce you to 5 small changes that will return better results, higher energy levels, and enhance your mood throughout the day.
1. Avoid insufficient sleep and embrace the power of daily napping
There are tonnes of research when it comes to tracking people’s sleep patterns. After all, we spend one-third of our lives sleeping. A study conducted by the US military indicated that “losing one hour of sleep per night for a week will cause a level of cognitive degradation equivalent to a .10 blood alcohol level.”
Another study suggested that performance begins to degrade after 16 hours awake, and 21 hours awake was equivalent to a blood alcohol content of .08 percent, which is the blood alcohol limit for drunk driving in Canada, the US, and the UK.
You don’t have to be a rocket scientist to realize the importance of getting 8 hours of sleep daily. Instead of getting more work done, insufficient rest leads to health problems and a lower mood throughout the day. Being constantly tired impairs our ability to think clearly and results in the opposite of productive work.
People struggling with sleep deprivation also report memory and cognitive impairment, poorer quality of life, and decreased alertness. In a nutshell, being underslept is not a good place to be. If you’re among the 40% of people that report insufficient sleep, it’s time for a change of habits.
If you’re having trouble sleeping 8 hours straight, take naps throughout the day. Research has shown that 20-minute napping has many positive health benefits – they increase alertness, boost creativity, reduce stress, improve perception, stamina, and accuracy.
2. Adjust your perception of the 8-hour workday and stop working overtime
Have you ever been told the story behind the 8-hour workday? The man behind the change was the one credited for quotes such as “Failure is simply the opportunity to begin again, this time more intelligently” and “If I had asked people what they wanted, they would have said faster horses”. Sounds familiar?
On January 5, 1914, Henry Ford took the radical step of doubling pay to $5 a day and cut shifts from nine hours to eight, moves that were not popular with rival companies.
The move had nothing to do with improving employee satisfaction. Instead, Ford had recently been losing many good employees due to rapid burnout. As it turned out, it was one of the wisest decisions in the company’s history that led to doubled profits. And after seeing the increase in Ford’s productivity, and a significant increase in profit margin (from $30 million to $60 million in two years), most competitors and doubters soon followed suit.
3. Know that being “too productive” works counterproductively
Some days, we’re so overwhelmed with work that we simply forget to eat (or have no time to eat). But by skipping one of the three main meals of the day, we’re encumbering our productivity and taking a toll on our health.
According to WHO, adequate nutrition can raise our productivity levels by 20 percent on average. Alternatively, not getting enough calories and nutrients will result in weight loss, fatigue, low productivity, and accidents. Here’s an interesting infographic about healthy nutrition in the workplace.”
We must fuel our bodies and brain to help them work productively throughout the day. To keep your energy levels renewed, combine a healthy lunch with a 15-20 minute break. Taking breaks throughout the day helps to refresh your mind and reset your attention span. Mixed with a hearty lunch containing a sufficient amount of nutrients and Glucose, the lunch break will reset you for the second part of the day.
Here’s what one of Buffer’s resident meditators, COO Leo Widrich has said:
“It seems such a fitting experience to watch TV, work, read or do anything else but solely focusing on eating when we eat. Funnily enough, it almost appears to be a waste of time if we ‘just eat.’ But the latest research on multitasking reveals the exact opposite. Solely focusing on eating doesn’t just help you digest your food better, it also makes you a more efficient worker for any other tasks.”
Taking small breaks to unplug for 10-20 minutes is a must for everyone looking to expand their productivity levels over 8 hours.
4. Make time for the “Make Time” and prevent spending too much time on small tasks
If you’re not the CEO of a company, the chances are you can’t choose to do only the most interesting and perspective tasks. In fact, we all spend way too much time on repetitive tasks instead of focusing on projects that matter.
According to the Pareto Principle, 20% of what we do at work produces 80% of our results. This leaves us with 80% of less productive work we spend the best of our time doing. To reverse the situation, we need to focus on projects and activities that take us further in the long term.
In 2014, a Googler emailed their colleagues a letter explaining the importance of “Make Time”.
“We all need to be makers. The only way to make this successful is to be purposeful. Establish an implementation intention. You need to define precisely when and where you’ll reserve Make Time for your projects.”
To be able to devote the better part of our workdays to Make Time, we need to automate some of the repetitive tasks that are clogging our schedules with boring mechanical work.
Begin by automating small tasks and move on to finding new ways of optimizing your work. To get you started, here’s a list of 29 tasks that can easily be automated, including guidelines to more efficient meetings, smarter email management, and improved workflows.
5. Don’t be nailed to your desk, there’s a fascinating world out there
Sitting behind our desks is where the work happens. So it seems logical that to be productive, we need to spend every minute of the day behind our desk, keeping the nose pointed to a computer screen.
In fact, spending the entire day sitting behind a table can damage our productivity levels a great deal. A 2015 study found that even gentle lunchtime strolls can perceptibly — and immediately — level up people’s mood and increase the ability to handle stress at work.
Staying behind our desk for the entire day is more than damaging to our productivity – research shows that people who sit a lot have an increased risk of diabetes, heart disease, and early death. Not exactly the situation you’d like to be in 10 years, right?
Moreover, researchers from the University of Edinburgh have said that taking a walk through green spaces can lessen our brain fatigue. Instead of being nailed to the desk for the entire day, go for a walk or run small errands to give your brain some rest and restore your productivity levels.
Maybe you can convince your office to install some standing desks for employees to take 30-minute turns working in an upward position. This type of work environment can improve posture, lower blood sugar levels, reduce back pain, and improve mood and energy levels.
Throughout the day, find ways to leave your desk for 5-20 breaks and feel your productivity levels skyrocket. It is best to work 7-8 effectively instead of spending up to 12 hours in the office but failing to present your best self to the challenges ahead.
|
https://www.scoro.com/blog/be-more-productive-work-smarter/
|
There’s a misconception that people who work from home are not accountable and let their home-life distractions spill into their work. When in fact, many remote workers have the opposite problem.
Many find it difficult to set boundaries that separate work from their personal lives. They struggle to unplug, take breaks, to recharge, or decompress at the end of the workday. Sometimes they even struggle to end their workday, checking their email late and leaving their laptop on their bedside table so they can check email one last time before bed.
To address this challenge, employees need to be trained on the importance of setting boundaries, particularly with respect to managing time and workspaces.
Set A Schedule
First, it’s important to keep a structured schedule and be intentional about how time is used. Push team members to set a consistent wakeup time, determine what range of hours they’ll be working during the day and proactively plan what time is reserved for projects and meetings, lunch, exercise, and personal time. Workers also need to schedule breaks and stick to those break times.
There are several built-in breaks for those who work in traditional offices—things like chatting with coworkers at the water cooler, taking a coffee break, or going out for lunch. By contrast, remote employees can easily burrow into their work for several hours without even realizing how much of the day has gone by. By setting a schedule and following it, remote employees can ensure they have time to get their work done but also take time to rest and reset during the day.
Manage Your Energy
It can be easy to dive deep into work, not get up from your desk for hours, and exhaust yourself in the process. This can help high achievers accomplish a lot or it can hamper performance for the rest of the day. We recommend mixing different types of activities along with breaks to notice when energy peaks and wanes.
I like to schedule periods of intense work in the morning—when I am cognitively strongest—for tasks that involve writing and development of new materials. Then, I’ll follow that with a break and reserve the afternoon for meetings and tasks that are discussion-oriented and don’t require as much mental capacity and acute focus.
Separate Your Workspace
Physical boundaries are also important. We encourage employees to have a place in their home that is specifically designated for work. This not only helps you mentally delineate work time, but it also signals to other people in your home when you’re available and when you’re not.
This is especially important, because a person’s partner or children might believe that because they are visible, they’re available. They might be tempted to walk in and ask you a question without realizing you’re actually in the middle of a sales pitch or on a client call.
Not everybody has a room in their home they can designate as an office. In those cases, even setting up a folding table in the corner of the living room or designating a chair at the kitchen table as an “office chair” is an important step toward creating a mental and physical boundary.
Begin and End Your Day with A Buffer
It’s not a good idea to roll out of bed and immediately open your laptop and dive into work emails. I encourage people to set a normal morning routine—have coffee, eat breakfast, read the paper, or even do a morning workout if that’s needed. Then, when you start work, you feel engaged and clear headed, rather than beginning the day feeling stressed about needing to jump out of bed and start working.
At the end of the day, it’s just as important to decompress before stepping back into your home life. Commuting can be a pain, but we often underestimate how much that time in the car or on the subway helps us separate from work on the way home.
Your playbook for the office won’t work perfectly in a remote environment. But using these tips, employees can end the workday happier, more accomplished, and less worn down.
Robert Glazer is the founder and CEO of Acceleration Partners, a completely remote, partner marketing agency ranked #4 on Glassdoor’s best places to work. A Wall Street Journal and USA Today best-selling author, his latest book is titled Friday Forward.
|
https://www.businessnhmagazine.com/article/setting-the-remote-workeramp39s-boundaries
|
Many of our class and study routines have been disrupted with the recent transition to remote learning. If you're finding it challenging to stay motivated right now, you're not alone. Here are some tips to help you get things done and succeed in your classes.
Practice the study cycle
The "study cycle" is an effective strategy that can help you get back into (or start) a routine and be more efficient with your time. There are four steps to the cycle:
- Before class, preview the material you'll be covering. Skim the chapter, pay attention to headings and bold words, review chapter summaries and prepare any questions you have.
- Attend your class—take notes and ask questions.
- Review your notes as soon as possible after class.
- Schedule time in your week to study the material again. Review your notes, handouts and any other readings.
Repeat this process for each of your classes to ensure you are better prepared for finals.
Set up a virtual study group
Study groups can help you stay connected with classmates and improve academic performance. Set up a regular time to meet on a virtual meeting platform, like Zoom or Google Hangouts. Share resources and material with Google Drive, Docs, Sheets and other Google suite tools. Take turns with members in your study group to create an outline or agenda before you meet to help each study session stay on track.
Try the Pomodoro study technique
Taking short breaks during study sessions can help you stay more focused and retain information better. Try the Pomodoro Technique to build short breaks into your study sessions:
- Choose a task to work on—maybe it's reading a chapter, writing an outline or the first several pages for a paper or solving a set of problems.
- Put your phone away and eliminate as many distractions as possible.
- Set a timer for 25 minutes. Focus on the task until the timer goes off.
- Once the timer goes off, reset it for five minutes and do whatever you'd like during this time. Check your phone, get a snack, take a short walk—whatever gives your brain a break!
- Reset your timer for 25 minutes and repeat the process.
Stay balanced
Take care of yourself to stay balanced and keep your energy up. Aim to get 7 to 9 hours of sleep each night, eat regular and balanced meals and make time for physical activity. Taking regular breaks when studying or working on projects is a great way to recharge and avoid burnout.
Ask for help
If you're stuck on a problem or a concept discussed in class, ask for help. Ask a classmate or visit virtual office hours or help labs.
Take advantage of other free virtual resources:
- ASAP Tutoring is available for first-year students and Bear Creek students. Sessions are now held via Zoom, through their app Penji.
- Economics offers a free "drop-in" tutoring lab online via Zoom. Check the updated tutoring schedule to check availability.
- The MARC (Mathematics Academic Resource Center) is offering tutoring via Zoom. Check the updated tutoring schedule.
- The Physics Help Room is shifting to remote sessions via Zoom. You can access the full schedule and corresponding Zoom links on their Resources and Help page under Physics Help Room.
- The Writing Center will be offering all sessions online. See instructions for signing up.
- CU Boulder Libraries will be available via chat, email and phone. Librarians will also be available to meet with students, staff and faculty through Zoom.
Sometimes the hardest part of studying is just getting started. Schedule out time in your week to study, and do your best to get started right away. Having study routines and finding a quiet study spot at home can help you stay focused and motivated with your classes.
|
https://www.colorado.edu/today/2020/04/03/how-stay-motivated-remote-learning
|
“Where was I again?” I often ask myself this question after getting distracted. My attention span is very limited. I find it hard to focus on almost everything. It is pretty annoying when I am often troubled by distractions. The more I am interrupted, the less I am able to concentrate. And when I return… I am not sure where I left off.
How do people manage to stay on track throughout the day? We live in a world filled with diversions. Like today, the stubborn me took over. Instead of working, I am making rounds on my blog, attempting to write about how to focus. It is beyond 7 p.m. anyway.
How can someone like me with a short attention span focus? Here is how I do it.
Arrange My Workspace
Keeping our workspace tidy has a huge impact on our ability to focus. A cluttered desk is distracting most of the time. Before I start working, I make sure everything is tidy and within my reach: my food and drinks. So I do not have to get up to get food or drink in case I get hungry or thirsty.
Create a Task List
It became my habit to make a to-do list before starting work, clocking out, and going to bed. I categorize them according to their importance and due dates. Every time I slash out a task, it motivates me to do everything.
There were times I had to switch from one task to another. Changing tasks makes my brain stay alert sometimes. Oftentimes, it (multi-tasking) is not effective for me. More pending tasks are happening.
Play Some Music
Listening to music could calm my troubled mind and improve my performance. It can even make a tedious chore more enjoyable.
When I am feeling down, I listen to the classics: cellos and violins. When I am bored, I listen to rock music. When you see me wearing my headphones, it means I am either trying to concentrate or I am bored. Whichever of the two. So don’t.
Work Offline
I limit my phone use in order to stay focused and complete my tasks on time. I usually put it aside and concentrate on my work. Notifications easily pull my attention away from what I was doing, so setting it to silent mode can have a significant impact.
Take Mental Breaks
Short breaks are the best thing to do when you cannot focus any longer. Taking a little rest allows our minds to recharge or reboot. Our brains are not capable of working for 3 hours straight. This is why I set my hourly alarm (even though I am at work). I am training myself to focus on a task for 45-50 minutes, then take a 10-minute break from the computer.
When you see me stretching away from my desk, I am taking my mental break seriously.
Distractions are everywhere. And remaining focused is a difficult challenge. Following these can be daunting at first, but with perseverance and dedication, we will increase our focus.
|
https://nikkashem.com/2021/07/how-to-stay-focused/
|
This Is How You Can Deal With Work Stress and Recover From Burnout
Stress and burnout from our jobs is real, folks.
A lot of people are feeling the pressure and feeling overwhelmed to the point where they need to utilize their time off in the right ways if they’re going to be able to relax, improve their lives, and make their lives more livable.
And psychologists and experts are offering strategies that can help people have a better work-life balance.
Not surprisingly, people who need recovery from work-related stress usually have the hardest time finding it. And if you’re really stressed at work, you’re not going to eat well or exercise like you should. This is called the recovery paradox.
People who have mentally and emotionally straining jobs have the hardest time with this and people who do physical labor jobs like construction usually have a much easier time winding down after work.
Researchers have placed the approaches to getting away from work stress into two categories: relaxation and mastery.
Relaxation is any activity that helps you to calm your body and mind and mastery is when you try to get better at a new skill, like a sport or learning how to cook.
A 2019 study showed that people who got better at a skill during their time off had more energy and enthusiasm the next morning. Another study showed that people who spent their free time doing activities and tasks that they were actually interested in were more lively and energetic than people who felt like they were obligated to do something.
So thinking about and doing something other than your job in your free time is key to relieving stress and avoiding burnout and having emotional and mental distance from your job is important. Or, in other words, getting away from thinking about your job and tuning out is key.
Taking mini breaks during the day is important, too. A study showed workers tended to be less emotionally exhausted and were in better moods near the end of the workday if they took small breaks throughout the day to get away from thinking about work.
Research shows that people should also try to relax and engage in light exercise during the workday. This could consist of riding an exercise bike or even taking the time to tense and release muscles. And if you’re feeling overwhelmed, you can even take a short walk.
For people who work from home, it can be harder to separate work from your regular life, so it’s suggested that you dress up like you would if you were going into an office and then change into casual clothes when the work day is done.
Another idea is to put all work-related material away and out of sight at the end of the workday so you don’t even have to see it at night.
Try some of these strategies and see if they help you reduce the stress you experience from your job. Good luck!
|
https://twistedsifter.com/2022/09/this-is-how-you-can-deal-with-work-stress-and-recover-from-burnout/
|
What is meant by the IS-ought gap Why is it important to remember when discussing ethical questions?
The is-ought gap is a fallacy that attempts to make conclusions about the way things should be based on the evidence about the way things are. However, there is no theoretical connection between facts about the world and ethical facts. Appealing to nature in moral and political arguments cannot bridge the is-ought gap.
Is-ought gap moral realism?
Tännsjö is a moral realist who argues that there are intrinsic values—some things are good or bad just for existing. In particular, he believes that pleasure is intrinsically good and pain is intrinsically bad. He thinks we ought to maximize pleasure and minimize pain, and everyone counts.
Is-ought gap simplified?
So when we make arts or moral claims based on facts about the world there is a gap in our reasoning. We somehow think we're obtaining moral knowledge based on natural facts.
What is the is-ought question?
The is–ought problem, as articulated by the Scottish philosopher and historian David Hume, arises when one makes claims about what ought to be that are based solely on statements about what is.
What is the is ought argument?
The is-ought fallacy occurs when the assumption is made that because things are a certain way, they should be that way. It can also consist of the assumption that because something is not now occurring, this means it should not occur.
Is ought problem a solution?
But the fifth is definitely an “ought” statement. So at some point it must be possible to move from “is” statements to “ought” statements without doing anything wrong. Problem solved! This is literally the simplest response to the “is/ought” problem, which is why I reproduce it in full here.
Can you get an ought from an is?
You cannot, according to Hume, derive an “ought” from an “is,” at least without a supporting “ought” premise. So, deciding that you ought not punch someone because it would harm him presupposes that causing harm is bad or immoral. This presupposition is good enough for most people.
Is ought a problem psychology?
The is-ought problem is also known as Hume’s Law and Hume’s Guillotine. A similar though distinct view is defended by G. E. Moore’s open question argument, intended to refute any identification of moral properties with natural properties.
Does ought imply can?
ought implies can, in ethics, the principle according to which an agent has a moral obligation to perform a certain action only if it is possible for him or her to perform it.
Is ought fallacy Bentham?
Bentham criticized natural law theory because in his view it was a naturalistic fallacy, claiming that it described how things ought to be instead of how things are.
Is ought an inference?
We describe an is/ought inference as an attempt to evaluate (i.e., fine-tune, develop, arbitrate between) deontic statements on the basis of descriptive statements.
What does Hume’s Fork tell us about knowledge?
By Hume’s fork, a statement’s meaning either is analytic or is synthetic, the statement’s truth—its agreement with the real world—either is necessary or is contingent, and the statement’s purported knowledge either is a priori or is a posteriori.
What is Hume’s theory?
According to Hume’s theory of the mind, the passions (what we today would call emotions, feelings, and desires) are impressions rather than ideas (original, vivid and lively perceptions that are not copied from other perceptions).
What is Hume’s most famous for?
David Hume is famous for the elegance of his prose, for his radical empiricism, for his skepticism of religion, for his critical account of causation, for his naturalistic theory of mind, for his thesis that “reason is…the slave of the passions,” and for waking Immanuel Kant from his “dogmatic slumber,” as Kant
What are the two kinds of ideas that Hume says we have?
Hume recognized two kinds of perception: “impressions” and “ideas.” Impressions are perceptions that the mind experiences with the “most force and violence,” and ideas are the “faint images” of impressions.
What are Hume’s three principles of connection between ideas?
Hume identifies three principles of association: resemblance, contiguity in time and place, and causation.
|
https://goodmancoaching.nl/can-why-is-close-the-is-ought-gap/
|
In philosophical ethics, the term "naturalistic fallacy" was introduced by British philosopher G. E. Moore in his 1903 book Principia Ethica. Moore argues it would be fallacious to explain that which is good reductively in terms of natural properties such as "pleasant" or "desirable".
Moore's naturalistic fallacy is closely related to the is–ought problem, which comes from Hume's Treatise. However, unlike Hume's view of the is–ought problem, Moore (and other proponents of ethical non-naturalism) did not consider the naturalistic fallacy to be at odds with moral realism.
The naturalistic fallacy should not be confused with a fallacious appeal to nature, a mistaken claim that something is good or right because it is natural (or bad or wrong because it is unnatural).
The term "naturalistic fallacy" is sometimes used to describe the deduction of an "ought" from an "is" (the Is–ought problem).
In using his categorical imperative Kant deduced that experience was necessary for their application. But experience on its own or the imperative on its own could not possibly identify an act as being moral or immoral. We can have no certain knowledge of morality from them, being incapable of deducing how things ought to be from the fact that they happen to be arranged in a particular manner in experience.
According to G. E. Moore's Principia Ethica, when philosophers try to define "good" reductively in terms of natural properties like "pleasant" or "desirable", they are committing the naturalistic fallacy.
Moore argues that good, in the sense of intrinsic value, is simply ineffable: it cannot be defined because it is not a natural property, being "one of those innumerable objects of thought which are themselves incapable of definition, because they are the ultimate terms by reference to which whatever is capable of definition must be defined". On the other hand, ethical naturalists eschew such principles in favor of a more empirically accessible analysis of what it means to be good: for example, in terms of pleasure in the context of hedonism.
In §7, Moore argues that a property is either a complex of simple properties, or else it is irreducibly simple. Complex properties can be defined in terms of their constituent parts but a simple property has no parts. In addition to "good" and "pleasure", Moore suggests that colour qualia are undefined: if one wants to understand yellow, one must see examples of it. It will do no good to read the dictionary and learn that "yellow" names the colour of egg yolks and ripe lemons, or that "yellow" names the primary colour between green and orange on the spectrum, or that the perception of yellow is stimulated by electromagnetic radiation with a wavelength of between 570 and 590 nanometers, because yellow is all that and more, by the open question argument.
Bernard Williams called Moore's use of the term 'naturalistic fallacy' a "spectacular misnomer", the question being metaphysical, as opposed to rational.
Some people use the phrase "naturalistic fallacy" or "appeal to nature" to characterize inferences of the form "Something is natural; therefore, it is morally acceptable" or "This property is unnatural; therefore, this property is undesireable." Such inferences are common in discussions of homosexuality, environmentalism and veganism.
Some philosophers reject the naturalistic fallacy and/or suggest solutions for the proposed is-ought problem.
Sam Harris argues that it is possible to derive "ought" from "is", and even that it has already been done to some extent. He sees morality as a budding science. This view is critical of Moore's "simple indefinable terms" (which amount to qualia), arguing instead that such terms actually can be broken down into constituents.
Ralph McInerny suggests that "ought" is already bound up in "is", in so far as the very nature of things have ends/goals within them. For example, a clock is a device used to keep time. When one understands the function of a clock, then a standard of evaluation is implicit in the very description of the clock, i.e., because it "is" a clock, it "ought" to keep the time. Thus, if one cannot pick a good clock from a bad clock, then one does not really know what a clock is. In like manner, if one cannot determine good human action from bad, then one does not really know what the human person is.
"The naturalistic fallacy and Hume’s ‘law’ are frequently appealed to for the purpose of drawing limits around the scope of scientific inquiry into ethics and morality. These two objections are shown to be without force."
^ W. H. Bruening, "Moore on 'Is-Ought'," Ethics 81 (January 1971): 143-9.
^ Harris, Sam (29 March 2010). "Moral Confusion in the Name of "Science"". huffingtonpost.com. Retrieved 30 March 2011.
^ Harris, Sam (22 March 2010). "Science Can Answer Moral Questions". ted.com. Retrieved 30 March 2011.
^ McInerny, Ralph (1982). Ethica Thomistica. Cua Press. p. Chp. 3.
^ Walter, Alex (2006). "The Anti-naturalistic Fallacy: Evolutionary Moral Psychology and the Insistence of Brute Facts". Evolutionary Psychology 4: 33–48.
Frankena, W. K. (1939). "The Naturalistic Fallacy". Mind. XLVIII (192): 464–77. JSTOR 2250706. doi:10.1093/mind/XLVIII.192.464.
Curry, Oliver (2006). "Who's afraid of the naturalistic fallacy?" (PDF). Evolutionary Psychology 4: 234–47.
Walter, Alex (2006). "The anti-naturalistic fallacy: Evolutionary moral psychology and the insistence of brute facts" (PDF). Evolutionary Psychology 4: 33–48.
|
http://research.omicsgroup.org/index.php/Naturalistic_fallacy
|
These papers explore the possible grounds for regarding the market as an unsuitable framework for certain kinds of social practice, and hence for their exclusion or protection from the market domain. The focus is mainly on activities of a cultural character, such as broadcasting, the arts, and academic research. Unlike much discussion of market limits in social and political philosophy, the emphasis is on the impact of markets on the conduct of production, rather than on the nature of market exchange.
The immediate political context for this research was the radical programme of institutional reform initiated by governments in the UK (and elsewhere) during the 1980s. This included significant extensions of the market domain, and the promotion of commercially modelled forms of organisation in previously non-commercial institutions.
The implications of these changes were explored in interdisciplinary research projects organised by the Centre for the Study of Cultural Values at Lancaster University. My work on market boundaries was initially carried out as part of these projects, some outcomes of which were published in two collections co-edited with Nick Abercrombie and Nigel Whiteley: Enterprise Culture (Routledge 1991; reissued by Routledge Revivals 2012) and The Authority of the Consumer (Routledge 1994). My contributions to these, along with several later papers, were brought together in Cultural Goods and the Limits of the Market (Palgrave Macmillan 2000). I have returned to these issues in some recent papers.
Full bibliographical information is provided in the initial footnote of each paper, and this should be used in any citations.
Consumer Sovereignty and the Integrity of Practices 1990
This paper presents a case for protecting cultural institutions from the market by drawing on Alasdair MacIntyre's conception of social practices, with their own internal goods and standards of excellence. It argues that an especially problematic feature of markets is ‘the sovereignty of consumers’, since consumer judgments may not be based on the same criteria as those employed by cultural practitioners, who may thus have to choose between maintaining the integrity of the practice and securing its material resources.
The Moral Boundaries of the Market 1993
This develops a theoretical framework for thinking about market boundaries, starting from Michael Walzer’s account of the separation of spheres and the risk of market domination. It explores the relationship between Walzer, Marx and Hegel, distinguishes goods-based from justice-based arguments for boundaries, and argues that the protection of various goods from the market requires attention to the conditions of their production rather than their exchange.
Scepticism, Authority and the Market 1994
This paper defends arguments for the protection of cultural practices from the market against the charge of elitism. Distinguishing ‘elitism of access’ from ‘elitism of judgment’, it explores how anti-elitism of the latter kind is supported by scepticism about values, and criticises justifications for the market that appeal to such scepticism. It argues that while the kind of epistemically based authority required by cultural practices implies the rejection of scepticism, such authority is not only compatible with, but conducive to, the autonomy of individuals.
Citizens, Consumers and the Environment 1994
In The Economy of the Earth, Mark Sagoff argues that the basic error in using cost-benefit analysis to make environmental decisions is that it requires people to think and act in their role as consumers, rather than as citizens. In response, is argued that what should also be recognised is that when deliberating and acting as citizens, people must consider the value both of the environment and of consumption, and make collective decisions about the priority to be given to these common goods when they conflict.
Values and Preferences in Neo-Classical Environmental Economics 1997
This paper explores theoretical problems in the use of cost-benefit analysis for environmental decision-making, arising from defects in the neo-classical concept of preferences. It argues that preferences depend on judgments, and that people’s judgments about their own well-being must be distinguished from their ethical judgments about the ‘existence value’ or ‘rights’ of non-human species. Failure to recognise this leads to illegitimate applications of market-modelled criteria to environmental decisions.
Delivering the Goods: Socialism, Liberalism and the Market 1997
This paper explores the relationships between goods-based arguments for market boundaries and wider debates and traditions in political theory. It argues that ‘classical’ justifications for the market, with their focus on human well-being, are more amenable to arguments for non-market provision than ‘liberal’ justifications that focus on contractual exchange, and criticises contemporary neutralist liberalism for excluding the substantive concerns about markets and goods that have been central to socialist and conservative traditions of political thought.
Colonisation by the Market: Walzer on Recognition 1997
Taking up Michael Walzer’s comment that colonisation (or domination) may result from an ‘illicit transfer of meanings’ from one sphere to another, it is argued that his own account of ‘modern’ recognition provides a possible example of this, with its subjective and competitive nature apparently being modelled on features of the market domain. This modern form of recognition, it is suggested, threatens the integrity of social practices such as scientific enquiry which require an objective, non-competitive mode of recognition. [See Science and Recognition (PDF) for a development of this argument]
Market Boundaries and the Commodification of Culture 1999
This paper argues that the protection of cultural practices from the market can be justified by showing how this enhances the ability of markets themselves to contribute to human well-being. The argument is developed through an analysis of how the value of certain kinds of consumer goods is realised outwith the economy, through their use in various social practices, and of how non-market cultural practices enable judgments to be made about the possible benefits of consumer goods.
Market Boundaries and Human Goods 2000
Arguments for the protection of cultural practices from the market are often criticised because they imply the use of state powers to support authoritative judgments about human goods, and thus fall foul of a liberal principle of state neutrality. This paper argues that state support for market institutions is no more consistent with neutrality than its support for non-market ones: in both cases, collective decisions have to be made about the provision of distinct kinds of human goods.
Science and Recognition 2000
Through a critical commentary on sociological analyses of the organisation of modern science, this paper explores generic problems in the institutional design of social practices, giving particular attention to the nature and role of recognition. It argues for the importance of recognition in the form both of ‘moral acknowledgment’ and of ‘epistemic confirmation’, and also points to the damaging effects of the direct and competitive pursuit of recognition, and hence to the dangers posed to science and other practices by market-modelled institutional changes.
Political Philosophy and Public Service Broadcasting 2012
This paper examines possible justifications for public service broadcasting (PSB) in relation to debates in political philosophy about the proper grounds for state action. It argues that the nature of such justifications differs significantly between different kinds of programmes (News, Arts, Soap Opera); that the neutralist liberal exclusion of ethical purposes as grounds for state action unduly limits the legitimate scope of PSB, and that the concept of market failure in neo-classical welfare economies provides an inadequate basis for the justification of PSB.
Bringing Ethics Back In: Cultural Production as a Practice 2012
This paper argues for the importance of specifically ethical concepts in the understanding and critical evaluation of cultural production and its institutional requirements. In doing so it re-visits my earlier use MacIntyre’s concept of practices, with its focus on the kinds of goods promoted by different organisational forms, in the light of more recent work on varieties of capitalism and their implications for the commerce-culture relationship, and of broader issues about the ethical value of cultural production as a practice.
|
http://russellkeat.net/market_boundaries.php
|
The appeal to authority fallacy (a.k.a. argument from authority) is easily one of the most common logical fallacies. This is the fallacy that occurs when you base your claim on the people who agree with you rather than on the actual facts of the argument. This may seem fairly straightforward, but it can actually be quite confusing, and I often see people incorrectly accuse others of committing this fallacy. The problem is that there are clearly times when it is fine to defer to an expert. For example, we constantly defer to doctors, and there is nothing wrong or fallacious about trusting their diagnoses and taking the recommended treatments. My intention is, therefore, to try to clear up some of the confusion about this fallacy and explain when it is and is not appropriate to defer to experts.
There are basically four ways that this fallacy occurs and I am going to deal with each one separately:
- Citing an opinion as authoritative
- Citing people who aren’t actually experts
- Using authority as a logical proof
- Citing a small minority of experts when an opposing majority consensus exists
Citing an opinion as authoritative
This one is fairly trivial and easy to spot. It occurs when you quote someone famous or cite their opinion while overemphasizing the person who said it. You may for example see a meme on Facebook that quotes George Washington and puts his name in enormous, bold caps. Doing that is really a type of inadvertent appeal to authority fallacy because you are essentially asserting that we need to accept the argument in this quote or at the very least take it seriously because of the person who said it. The problem is of course that no one is infallible, and even very intelligent people make mistakes. This is especially true when it is a quote about an opinion, philosophical view, etc. To be clear, you should obviously cite the source of the quote, but whether or not the quote should be trusted or taken seriously must be determined by the actual content of the quote, not the fame and reputation of the person who said it (also, on the internet half of the quotes are fake anyway, but that’s another problem entirely).
Citing people who aren’t actually experts
This is probably the most common occurrence of this fallacy, and it happens anytime that you cite someone who is not actually an expert on the topic at hand. In fact, this mistake is so pervasive that many people actually refer to the appeal to authority fallacy as the inappropriate appeal to authority fallacy. Some cases of this are pretty easy to spot. For example, Jenny McCarthy pretends to be an expert on vaccines, and Vani Hari (ak.a. the Food Babe) has deluded herself into thinking that she is an expert on nutrition, but neither of them have any real qualifications in science (i.e., they have no formal training on the topics they preach about, they have never conducted original research, they have never published a scientific paper, etc.). So if you reference them as an authority on a topic you are committing an inappropriate appeal to authority fallacy. To be clear, the fact that they aren’t experts doesn’t automatically mean that they are wrong or that you can reject everything that they say out of hand. Rather, it means that there is no a priori reason to think that they are right. In other words, you cannot simply defer to them as experts, because they are not experts.
A more common and insidious form of this fallacy occurs when you try to legitimatize a view by citing pseudoexperts. These are people who do have qualifications in some tangentially related field, but are not actually experts on the specific topic at hand. Dr. Sherri Tenpenny and Dr. Mercola are classic examples of this. I frequently see anti-vaccers cite them in an attempt to validate their views. They assure me that their views must be legitimate and scientific because there are people with M.D.s (such as Dr. Tenpenny and Dr. Mercola) who agree with them. The obvious problem is that Dr. Tenpenny and Mercola are both osteopaths. They have absolutely no qualifications in immunology, epidemiology, or any other field that is relevant to vaccines. So even though they have M.D.s, they are not experts on vaccines. You see, in science, being an expert requires that you do original research on the topic that you are purporting to be an expert on. Neither Dr. Tenpenny or Dr. Mercola have ever done any original studies on vaccines, and they frequently demonstrate a fundamental lack of knowledge about how such research is actually done (watch this video for a hilarious example).
This problem is, of course, not limited to anti-vaccers. Creationists love to do this by citing scientists who are also creationists. Dr. Raymond V. Damadian is one of the more famous examples because of his role in the development of MRI technology. The fact that he made important contributions to medical science does not, however, qualify him as an expert on evolutionary theory, and his views have absolutely no bearing on the legitimacy of evolution.
Climate change deniers employ a similar strategy. The fraudulent Oregon Petition is a perfect example of this. It claimed to have accrued the signatures of over 31,000 scientists who disagreed with climate change, but a quick examination of the petition reveals that many signatures are not “scientists” by any reasonable definition (multiple signatures came from veterinarians, for example), and even among the actual scientists, many signatures came from totally unrelated fields. In fact, it appears that only 39 of the signatures came from actual climatologists!
The point is simple: if you’re going to cite an authority, it needs to be someone who is actually an expert on the topic that is being discussed. Otherwise, you are committing a logical fallacy.
Using authority as a logical proof
So far, I have only been dealing with cases where the person being cited is not actually an expert on the specific topic being debated, but what about the cases where he/she is actually credentialed in that field? In this case, you’re welcome to cite them. Anyone who has ever looked at a scientific publication has no doubt seen a lengthy works cited section referencing many other researchers. As I will explain more in the next section, you can even construct a probabilistic argument around a strong consensus of experts. A probabilistic argument is one in which the conclusion is probably true. Unlike deductive arguments, the conclusions of probabilistic arguments are not absolutes, but otherwise, they follow the same rules as deductive arguments, and it is still illogical to reject the conclusion without an evidence based reason for doing so. The key here is that you must always ensure that you are using a consensus as support for your position, not as proof of your position.
For example, roughly 97% of climatologists agree that we are causing the climate to change. That is an exceedingly strong consensus. Nevertheless, it would be fallacious of me to say, “97% of climatologists agree that we are causing climate change, therefore we are causing climate change.” This commits a fallacy because it is always possible that the consensus is wrong. It is, however, unlikely that such an enormous majority of expert climatologists are wrong about such a well studied phenomenon. Therefore, it is not fallacious of me to say, “97% of climatologists agree that we are causing climate change, therefore we are probably causing climate change.”
I will deal with this idea of deferring to a consensus more in the next section, but for now the point is that you can cite legitimate experts as long as you aren’t using them as proof that your position is correct or valid.
Citing a small minority of experts when an opposing majority consensus exists
The final variation of this fallacy is another very common one (it’s actually closely related to an inflation of conflict fallacy). It occurs when you cite a few credentialed authorities as support of your position even though that vast majority of experts disagree with them (note: this strategy is generally fallacious even if you are attempting to make a probabilistic argument). It is important to realize that no matter what crackpot position you choose to believe in, you can find someone, somewhere with an advanced degree who thinks you’re right. So the fact that you found an immunologist who thinks vaccines are dangerous or a climatologist who thinks that the sun is driving climate change does not automatically mean that those positions are correct or even valid.
You should always fact check whenever possible, regardless of the person making the claim. The problem is, of course, that as a layperson, it can be difficult or even impossible to adequately investigate some claims, and all of us have to defer to experts at least some of the time. No one can be an expert on everything. The question is then, how do we do this without acting illogically? In other words, how do we defer to experts without committing an appeal to authority fallacy?
A good rule of thumb is that you don’t need to be an expert to accept a consensus, but you do need to be an expert to reject one. In other words, your default position should always be the one held by the majority of experts in that field, especially if it is a very large majority. To be clear, it is always possible that the consensus is wrong. I’m not advocating that you view a consensus as irrefutable proof of a position. Rather, what I am arguing is that you, as a non-expert, should be very, very cautious about claiming that the majority of experts are wrong. To put this another way, how likely do you actually think it is that you figured out something that the majority of experts missed?
To give a simple illustration of this, imagine that I take my car to 100 mechanics, and 97 of them say that transmission is the problem, and three of them say that it’s my engine. I know a fair amount about cars and I do almost all of my own mechanical work, but I am still far from an expert. So, how am I as a non-expert supposed to decide which mechanics to trust? Well, common sense tells us that it is more likely that the large majority of experts are right. Further, even though I am knowledgeable about cars, it would be absurdly arrogant and presumptuous of me to proclaim that I understood what was wrong with my car better than 97% of professional mechanics.
I could, of course, give many other examples of this. If we go to several doctors with a problem and all or most of them tell us the same thing, we usually have no trouble accepting their diagnosis, because their experts. We defer to expert lawyers, contractors, mechanics, etc. all the time, but for some strange reason, when it comes to science, people suddenly feel empowered to reject the expert consensus and side with some internet quackery instead. This is a very dangerous thing to do. On topics like global climate change where roughly 97% of expert climatologists agree that we are causing it, it seems rather risky to side with the 3% who disagree with the consensus. Again, to be perfectly clear, I am not advising that you should always just blindly follow the popular view. You should always make every effort to learn as much about a topic as you can, but after you have carefully reviewed all of the evidence, if you have reached a different conclusion than the vast majority of credentialed experts, you should be very trepid and cautious about that conclusion. You may be right. That possibility always exists, but you should really think long and hard about the probability that a few hours on the internet allowed you to figure out something that was missed by hundreds of experts with years of experience.
The underlying reason for accepting a consensus relates back to the burden of proof. Remember, the person making the unparsimonious claim is the one who bears the burden. In other words, if you are going to claim that 97% of climatologists are wrong about climate change, every major medical organization in the world is wrong about vaccines, virtually every biologist is wrong about evolution, etc. you need some extraordinary evidence to back up that claim. This is why I stated earlier that you really need to be an expert before you reject a consensus. For example, I am not an archaeologist, and I do not need to be an expert on archaeology to accept the consensus that ancient Egyptians built the pyramids. I do, however, need to be an expert to say that the consensus is wrong and aliens did it. It is not valid for me to make that claim unless I have spent years studying hieroglyphics, examining remains, etc. To give another example, it’s one thing for someone who has spent their entire life doing research in biology to proclaim that they have evidence that discredits evolution. It’s another thing entirely for someone to spend a few hours on the internet, then proclaim that they have found evidence that nearly every biologist in the world is either ignorant of or has chosen to ignore. That is an extraordinary claim, and it requires extraordinary evidence. Further, it’s important to realize that the research and results of these outliers who disagree with a consensus are going to be scrutinized by the rest of the scientific community, and more often than not, that scrutiny reveals fundamental problems with the research.
To recap, a consensus is certainly not infallible, and you should do your best to learn as much about a topic as you can (always by using good sources), but if your conclusion is that the consensus is wrong, you should be cautious of that conclusion and carefully reexamine your evidence. It is possible that you’re right, but if you are honest with yourself, you’d have to admit that it seems unlikely that reading a few websites has endowed you with superior knowledge than you would get from years of careful training and actual experience. So the burden of proof is on you to prove that the consensus is wrong, and you need some extraordinary evidence. Perhaps most importantly, you need actual evidence. The fact that a few experts agree with you does not make your position valid, and it is fallacious to base your argument on the fact that a handful of experts think that you’re right.
Other posts on the rules of logic:
|
https://thelogicofscience.com/2015/03/20/the-rules-of-logic-part-6-appealing-to-authority-vs-deferring-to-experts/?like_comment=137&_wpnonce=7f54fb7af6
|
By William G. Roy
Song, and folks track specifically, is frequently embraced as a kind of political expression, a automobile for bridging or reinforcing social obstacles, and a invaluable instrument for events reconfiguring the social panorama. Reds, Whites, and Blues examines the political strength of folks track, now not in the course of the which means of its lyrics, yet throughout the concrete social actions that make up hobbies. Drawing from wealthy archival fabric, William Roy indicates that the People's Songs stream of the Thirties and 40s, and the Civil Rights flow of the Fifties and 60s applied folks music's social relationships--specifically among those that sang and those that listened--in alternative ways, reaching assorted results. Roy explores how the People's Songsters anticipated uniting humans in music, yet made little headway past leftist activists. by contrast, the Civil Rights circulate effectively built-in song into collective motion, and used tune at the wooden traces, at sit-ins, on freedom rides, and in jails. Roy considers how the movement's Freedom Songs by no means won advertisement good fortune, but contributed to the broader achievements of the Civil Rights fight. Roy additionally strains the historical past of people track, revealing the advanced debates surrounding who or what certified as "folk" and the way the music's prestige as racially inclusive was once now not consistently a given. analyzing folks music's galvanizing and unifying strength, Reds, Whites, and Blues casts new gentle at the courting among cultural types and social task.
Read or Download Reds, Whites, and Blues: Social Movements, Folk Music, and Race in the United States (Princeton Studies in Cultural Sociology) PDF
Similar human rights books
Reviewed via Christine Straehle, college of Ottawa
One of the prospective advantages of an edited selection of essays discussing an past paintings is that, if performed good, it may well offer an outstanding creation to various facets of the amount into consideration whereas additionally reflecting the kingdom of the controversy. this can be the sort of e-book. The members are all deeply engaged with James Griffin's On Human Rights, while additionally supplying a few of their very own perspectives at the ethical foundations of human rights. And even supposing Griffin wonders in his answer on the finish of the booklet how the various commentators can have "managed to so misunderstand" him (211), every one contributor increases very important matters with Griffin's account, prompted through the purpose to supply a believable, defensible and, eventually, ethics-relevant account of the principles of human rights.
One method to disagree approximately this sort of idea is methodological. may still we undertake easy rules because the place to begin of our pondering human rights? Roger Crisp proposes that, to some degree, Griffin adopts such an a priori procedure considering that he adopts an idea of human dignity that's such as Kant's, stipulating that whatever is because of contributors as humans simpliciter. Griffin argues that the protections of human rights are owed to members as people, which leads Crisp to argue that Griffin's concept is at the very least partially Kantian. Griffin, even if, denies this. the $64000 contrast to Kant's ethics is that during his account practicalities function determinants of ethical imperatives, while Kant excludes such attention in his account of what we owe to others (222). The practicalities Griffin has in brain are the bounds to human motivation and human cognition.
Griffin goals to accomplish objectives -- to handle the latent indeterminacy of the ethical foundations of human rights in moral discourse and to insert himself into the controversy concerning the use of the time period 'human right' akin to it really is proposed via "philosophers, political theorists, overseas legal professionals, jurisprudents, civil servants, politicians, and human rights activists" (225). consequently, a bottom-up procedure of defining the ethical content material of human rights should be followed. it truly is alleged to let for either analytical rigour while defining ethical human rights whereas additionally making an allowance for the speculation to have useful clout. Griffin explains that his account of the ethical foundations of human rights "have their flooring in 3 values of personhood: autonomy, liberty and minimal provision" (Griffin, 2008: 51). The ensuing checklist of human rights, then, is much extra limited than people with universal currency.
Carl Wellman wonders how bottom-up an technique is that means and stipulates personhood because the ethical reference element, alongside which to outline what may still count number as a human correct. Why may still we agree at the account of personhood and this one specifically, to simply accept because the ethical beginning of human rights?
A related difficulty is raised via different individuals who ask yourself why we should always privilege normative organisation as: i) the attribute that distinguishes rights bearers from non-right-bearers (Rowan Cruft and Crisp); ii) because the criterion of personhood (David Miller); or eventually, (iii) because the criterion of a great lifestyles (Miller). David Reidy, Cruft and Crisp specifically fear that by way of targeting the skill for normative employer, a few of those that should be such a lot wanting safeguard in their dignity -- the critically mentally handicapped or very young ones, for example -- will be denied the security that human rights are supposed to offer. Reidy asks why we should always undertake the sort of 'threshold' notion of human rights that dangers except for a few (59), whereas Cruft indicates a pleasant modification to extend Griffin's view.
Griffin's solution to those issues is two-fold. First, he argues that these singling out normative enterprise because the criterion of personhood overlook the opposite elements of his personhood account, which, from his point of view, are both vital while opting for what sort of provisions can be safe via human rights. moment, he argues that his personhood account isn't really intended to floor human rights that let "a flourishing life" yet in its place the "more austere lifetime of normative agency" (213). actually, he argues that to gain normative company doesn't rely on attaining one's objectives (224), yet to be "able to shape and enforce a notion of a important life" (213). We might ask yourself approximately this reaction. definitely we will agree at the price of normative organisation as a cost for individuals because it is helping us in achieving whatever precious -- yet why think lifestyles important dwelling, besides the fact that outlined, isn't additionally a flourishing existence?
By manner of this answer, although, we will be able to see how a few of Griffin's commentators could have taken normative organization because the most vital a part of the personhood account. In different phrases, it's not really transparent how the freedom provision and the minimal provision should function otherwise than as permitting stipulations of normative organization. imagine that we settle for that the freedom provision have been independently as vital because the normative employer situation in Griffin's account of personhood. lets then imagine, additional, that Griffin may advise the various present liberty rights as human rights. even if, as James Nickel explains in his contribution, this isn't the case. Nickel discusses the most vital liberty provisions we regularly think to be safe by means of human rights, similar to the precise to residency and democratic rights, neither of which Griffin desires to settle for as sufficiently personhood appropriate to warrant human correct prestige. actually, in line with Nickel, Griffin argues that liberty isn't really constitutive of person overall healthiness and that it's only proper insofar because it permits and fosters normative corporation (193). And whereas Griffin attempts to refute this interpretation in his answer, it really is however the case that during his unique description of the hyperlink among normative enterprise, the freedom and minimal provision, liberty is given an auxiliary position. As I already pointed out, supplier is characterised as having the ability to shape and enforce a perception of a necessary existence, and "we has to be unfastened to pursue that belief. i've been calling this 'liberty'" (231).
Let's flip to the minimal provision. either Miller and Allen Buchanan deal with this a part of Griffin's account. Miller has proposed his personal account of the ethical foundation of human rights as uncomplicated human wishes. According to Miller, a needs-based account of human rights has a minimum of transparent benefits over Griffin's personhood account. A needs-based account of human rights might aid advertise the common personality of the protections human rights goal to supply, seeing that uncomplicated wishes are universally well-known. against this, the categorical form of personhood account Griffin proposes because the ethical starting place of human rights has powerful liberal western overtones. Griffin denies this with regards to the practicalities situation already pointed out, and which he thinks assures universality of his account. i'll go back thus far later on.
Second, in response to Miller, a needs-based account identifies the political nature of human rights claims -- we invoke human rights opposed to states, and never opposed to one another. Griffin turns out to agree. A needs-based beginning of human rights may yield 4 units of rights -- fabric, freedom, social rights and safety rights (161) -- that might enable for the type of political claims for minimum provision that Miller assumes either he and Griffin would wish to morally floor. as an alternative, the fear the following appears to be like that Griffin's minimal provision criterion of personhood isn't sufficiently not easy for use because the foundation of concrete political claims, once more lending help to the view that an important point of Griffin's personhood account is actually normative agency.
Recall the following that Griffin's account is stimulated by way of a priority for human dignity, which based on Crisp should be outlined with Kant as "an absolute internal worthy through which he exacts appreciate for himself" (105). We may well think that a lot of what the minimum provision has to accomplish in a given societal context could be derived from connection with dignity as an interpersonal reliable. although, based on Buchanan, Griffin's account neglects the social-comparative element of human dignity as equivalent prestige in a societal context (105). Buchanan argues thought of human rights must contain an idea of the great and an idea of correct. extra in particular, it must outline the stipulations of a minimally strong lifestyles, in addition to the foundations that aid us appreciate and attain equivalent prestige (110). In his respond to Buchanan, Reidy and John Tasioulas, Griffin argues opposed to equality as an self sustaining price, yet as a "state within the world" that simply turns into correct for moral attention "by having the suitable kind of connection to anything else that's substantively valuable" (217). the worth he proposes to hire is that of normative agency.
I think what's suitable right here -- albeit possibly not easy -- is that Griffin's account attempts to supply for either the ethical foundations for political claims in addition to a precept in line with which interpersonal family members will be assessed. in line with Griffin, "[a] human correct is a declare of all human brokers opposed to all different human agents" (Griffin 2008: 177). We could, with Crisp, fear approximately this expansive use of human rights, in view that herein may well lie a catch of additional indeterminacy. In increasing the area of human rights claims to interpersonal relatives, even though, we may perhaps say that Griffin inserts the social-comparative point of dignity in his account of personhood that Buchanan reveals lacking.
Brad Hooker's bankruptcy is beneficial right here in explaining Griffin's teleology. in response to Hooker, Griffin may well solution Buchanan that his teleological account of pursuing the nice "comprised of normative corporation and different values (such as welfare)" (180) addresses Buchanan's challenge ethical conception of human rights should supply for an idea of the great in addition to an idea of correct (110). the idea of correct in Griffin is composed in "all ethical specifications, a few of which come from different people's human rights" (180). positioned otherwise, the stipulations of normative enterprise bear in mind equivalent prestige inside society.
Buchanan's contribution echoes an extra query concerning the goals of human rights initially raised through Tasioulas and Reidy. As i discussed, all 3 bring up equality as a price worthy preserving via human rights, whereas Griffin denies equality the ethical houses they ascribe it. To Griffin, the purpose of human rights is to guard person personhood in its triadic formula of normative organization, liberty and minimal provision. despite the fact that, Tasioulas and Reidy ask why purely ethical rights may still locate safeguard, and why political rights are excluded from the world of human rights (16). Reidy formulates this problem good while asking what's particular approximately rights, as rights that are supposed to warrant this (63). Tasioulas demands a pluralist account of human rights, particularly if Griffin desires to guarantee, as he indicates in his reaction to Miller, that the type of determinate human rights he defends can declare universality (26). either Reidy and Tasioulas agree that the sort of common declare calls for a pluralist account past personhood because the starting place of human rights. the following, back, Hooker's interpretation of the position of practicalities is helping us comprehend Griffin's conceptual history: when you consider that practicalities usually are not tied to specific areas or sessions of time (see Griffin 2008: 38), the bounds that practicalities impose on our puzzling over human rights are supposed to guarantee universalizability of the human rights as they're morally grounded within the price of person personhood.
Much extra will be acknowledged approximately this significant quantity and its advantages, either as a dialogue of Griffin's paintings particularly and as a normal observation on the most urgent concerns within the philosophy of human rights today.
Reviewed in NDPR by William J. Talbott.
In his assessment, Talbott argues that Griffin's account of the makes use of of normative business enterprise should be associated with Martha Nussbaum's checklist of features any account of human rights may still objective to guard. the excellence Griffin hopes to make among valuable and flourishing lifestyles may also help clarify why Griffin likely neglects Nussbaum's account.
David Miller, National accountability and worldwide Justice, Oxford college Press, 2007; "Grounding Human Rights," Critical assessment of foreign Social and Political Philosophy, 15: 407-427 (2012).
Protest Politics in Germany: Movements on the Left and Right Since the 1960s
Social hobbies and the protests they spawn are extensively considered as vital to the vibrancy of democracy and its skill to reply constructively to alter. within the quick postwar interval, West Germany's was once a "spectator democracy," with the citizenry mostly passive and elites working more often than not via consensus.
- The Concept of Discrimination in International Law: With Special Reference to Human Rights
- The Politics of Truth and Reconciliation in South Africa: Legitimizing the Post-Apartheid State
- Humanitarian Intervention: Ethical, Legal and Political Dilemmas
- Intellectual Suppression: Australian Case Histories, Analysis and Responses
- International Human Rights and Indigenous Peoples
Additional resources for Reds, Whites, and Blues: Social Movements, Folk Music, and Race in the United States (Princeton Studies in Cultural Sociology)
Sample text
2 Conversely, popular music is validated by its broad appeal materialized in the market. Success is signified by gold or platinum records based solely on market success and by the Grammy, bestowed by popularity among intra-genre peers. The institutional setting of folk music is especially important to the story of this book. Though the ideology around folk music portrays an indigenous social setting, with images of rural folk sitting on front stoops plucking a banjo or strumming a dulcimer, music when labeled folk music has been more typically produced and distributed within academic settings, within specialized folk music settings such as festivals or coffeehouses, and by social movements.
Minimalism, emo, alternative country, and acid jazz refer to new sounds and practices both guided by and constituting new genre labels. Thus genres are projects that people decide to affiliate with and work on behalf of, collectively constructing and/or enforcing standards of practice. A sociology of genres must explain why, how, and with what effects people collectively invent, define, reify, and enforce categorized standards of musical practice. For American folk music, this agenda involves how indigenous southern music in the nineteenth century became crystallized into the styles and practices we call folk.
As Eyerman and Jamison suggest, social movements also incubate social relationships and cultural content for the larger society. They are a site where people meet and where institutions interact, shaping both the form and content of culture (1998). For example, the American Communist Party (CP) helped develop institutions of political musicking where progressive musicians could come together to develop and disseminate a vibrant and far-reaching musical vitality. Like churches, schools, and community bands, the CP created noncommercial organizations to use music as a collective activity.
|
http://ashley.wedeking.org/library/reds-whites-and-blues-social-movements-folk-music-and-race-in-the-united
|
Looking at film as text is setting a new direction for investigating the spaces between general approaches to film analyses and meaning-making principles in multimodal texts from the side of modern linguistic analysis. During the last decade numerous traditional semioticians involved in film analyses were trying to define decoding mechanisms by finding and channeling connections and analogies between film and language. Contemporary linguistics, and discourse semantics specifically, saw new methods and approaches which led to the possibility of revision and re-adoption of how the film characteristics are being examine, in the similar vein as language on the text level.The main point of interest is a proper description of the inference processes that need to be operated during the interpretation of film as a narrative text.
These mechanisms are set to guide and prompt the recipient, thus affecting and constraining person’s inferences within the interpretation of the narration, which, in modern linguistic accounts, are defined as central mechanisms of textuality. This is the point of contact between the cognitive approaches to film analysis and the linguistic analyses of its meaning-making strategies. Making it possible to point out exactly how meaning in film can be pursued and constructed.
Since its early beginning, film theory was dealing with the notion of film as text and it was pursued from this perspective. It was always of central interests in film analysis to search for meaningful connections between filmic devices and systematically outline these connections. Literary approaches often served as a basis for examinations of film’s narrative with the primary source for the comparison between film and text has been, and still is, the general structural composition of the film. The final significance of the film is in the way the elements are order much more than in their objective content. That is where the substance of the narrative is derived from – relationships between those elements, no matter how realistic is the individual image.
For this reason, in order to analyze the ability of film to create coherence in time and space, the questions on how montage and composition of film work in general has always been put forward and considered as significant. This very idea of the film and text, or language of the text, sharing comparable and relevant elements is considered to be one of the more innovative assumptions of film theory followed and investigated for years. Following this route, early theorist of film, notably Pudovkin in 1926 and Eisenstein in 1949 were trying to apply basic linguistic methods (e.g. syntactic structure) to film structure, to illustrate and/or establish logical relations in the shot structure. From other examples, Tseng (in 2009 and 2013) contained a short summary of Russian formalist work in this direction.
Nevertheless, they also feature basic qualities of traditional verbal texts. Gunther Kress, for example, outlines the following attributes built-in multimodal texts, in general. He defines text as a “multimodal semiotic entity” that is seen “having completeness” only by those who engage with it. The sense of completeness comes from understanding of the specific social action or event in which it was produced, in which it functions, or which it has references to. According to Kress, the text has features of internal and external cohesion and, as an integrated meaning-entity, of coherence.
Thus, a meaningfully structured, some what concrete definition of film as perceived from the perspective of a multinodal text can be drawn. It is a dynamic, but formally confined artefact in chronological, linear order. It might contain various correlation within the contexts, base itself on the intertextual references to other text types and produce communicative variations.
Both definitions point out the qualities of coherence and structure, that are perceived as crucial basis for the film interpretation. This goes back to the generally accepted postulate that coherence in discourse is a precondition and its absence will certainly lead to a misunderstanding of the meaning of any text.
This accounts as well for filmic meaning, that is usually based around the viewers’ knowledge of the world, in general, and also linked to the context and is needed to be activated during the process of interpretation. The way the meaning is expressed today is a familiar route for the film viewer, who have a basic idea of how the films are created. It can therefore be assumed that there is a general ability for film understanding, which, as has been suggested in the analysis above, functions in great part similarly to the understanding of verbal texts.
Text interpretation, both for verbal and filmic discourses, is an interactive process to activate and make sense of meanings within which the viewer is trying to establish links between various entities. Following the tracks back historically, Aristotle envisioned text connection and coherence through relationships between its clauses. For him, the meaning of relations is covered in properties that are characterised by causing connections. Therefore, in order to generate a coherent text one has to deal with the overall relatedness of discourse which hold the text.
film analysis and interpretation is based around inferential reasoning combining the content of the film, the events that take place in the story, their functional and social connection within the context of the film, participants involved, etc. In reasoning about the discursive relationships which maintain these principles, the viewer is trying to find various interconnected circumstances in the film and its story.
Exploring the dynamic of the viewer’s prediction of film’s meaning, from the perspective of the fundamental narrative is indeed relative in the context In order to relate the fabula (which is the actual representation of the film’s story inferred by as a cognitive construct)to the plot, the articulation of story events by montage and cuts in a film, the recipient constructs certain patterns among those events. These are the patterns of time and space as well as the narrative logic.Mainly the pattern of time plays a central role in film, since the filmic content unfolds in temporal succession and, at the same time, the film as a medium is played linearly in narrative time. Spatial information is often additionally provided, for example is described visually by depicting the setting, etc, or giving, citing specific location. This information represents the fabula in a “spatial frame of reference, however vague or abstract”. Finally, the narrative logic explores relations among the events which are primarily causal or feature more abstract, comparative principles. Thus, the narrative can be defined as discursive phenomenon which is used to organize segments of the film (or discourse, in general) to provide meaningful unfolding.
Chapter 1: Memes and Misogyny
“Meme” the meme, as a term, was first used by Richard Dawkins in his 1976 book The Selfish Gene. He defined “meme” as a cultural unit to transmit data that spreads between people by means of copying or imitation. He was trying, in a larger scale, to apply evolutionary theory to cultural change and used genes as analogy. Dawkins further illustrates the concept through various examples of memes such as catchphrases, Melodies, outfit fashion, and other cultural artifacts, as well as various abstract and religious beliefs. He suggested memes to act as replicators, similarly to genes. Thus, these, as we know from the genes analogy, are subjects to selection, variation, competition, and retention. Memes are constantly fighting for the attention of hosts. Those fitting the particular social and cultural environment is spreading successfully, while the others drop out. It was also cited that certain groups of co-adaptive memes tend to be replicated together – strengthening each other in the process. Dawkins called such groups “co-adaptive meme complexes”.
The word “meme” derives from the Greek mimema, meaning “something which is imitated,”. Dawkins’ version shortens it in the same vein as “gene.” Nearly a century before it, Ewald Hering, Austrian sociologist, used the term “die Mneme” (from the Greek mneme, meaning memory), which was used by Richard Semon, German biologist, who used it for the title of his book in 1904. Unaware of this existing terminology, ironically, Dawkins’s “imitation” version proved to be successful as his concept survived and developed in the scientific world.
More than a decades in existence, memetics—described by Francis Heylighen and Klaas Chielens as “the theoretical and empirical science that studies the replication, spread and evolution of memes” – operated as an active research program in 1990s and enlisted a vast number of scientists from different fields. Important contributions on this way included those from the influential philosophers as Douglas Hofstadter, Daniel C. Dennett, etc, the creation of the Journal of Memetics in 1997 and its publication until 2005, and the publication of several meme-oriented books. Susan Blackmore’s The Meme Machine from 1999 remain the most disputed one, as well as, arguably being the most influential.
Since it first emerged, memetics has drawn several discussions. Two controversies surrounding memes – one of these is based around likening memes to genes and viruses, in order to explain their mechanics. It suggests meme to operate the same way as disease agents. It considers memes as the cultural equivalents of flu bacilli, from epidemiological perspective. With it being transmitted through the communicational equivalents of sneezes. In Internet culture, this metaphor is spread in the highly visible discourse on viral content. It was asserted the metaphor to be used in a negative way. It was believed to envision people as helpless and passive creatures, who are unable to sustain the domination of so-called media “snacks” that intoxicate their minds.
The other metaphor for memes – derived from Dawkins’s own work – takes evolutionary genetics as its model. Some works, though, have taken this analogy too far, in seeking cultural parallels and connection between memes and various evolutionary concepts as genotype, phenotype, transcription, etc. This idea was criticized due to “oversimplification” of the human behavior that were obvious due to the way memes behave. Indeed, it is not necessary to think of biology when analyzing memes. Memes main aspects and ideas of replication, adaptation to a certain environment can be analyzed from a purely sociocultural perspective.
The second fundamental controversy in memetics, relates to the human participation in the process of meme transition and diffusion, suggesting to envision people as actors behind the process of cultural transmission, rather then the vectors of the process. Therefore, the distribution of memes is based around intention of agents that posses decision-making powers.
Therefore, “meme” can also be defined as memory which has a potential to be transferred and is transferred. It may involve transfer from person to person or though various mediums, such as books, recordings, digital media means, etc. So it is similar to the replicator, in it principles. It can occur in two forms – as a direct copy, or replication, or through the transmission to the brain, other brain, etc. Within the brain, replication may occur through direct contact with other neurons and conferring the memory to them, or through reinforcement of the memory within the neuron which results in increased potential for the meme to reach consciousness and thus to be broadcasted or transmitted to other brains or media. Another crucial side of Memes is that they need not be consciously transferred to be spread effectively, or in any way at all. Imitation is an example in which memes are created by simple observation. Such memes created through imitation may be either transmitted consciously in language or transmitted nonverbally through imitation by others. The critical point here is that the imitated behaviour is remembered and, therefore, has a potential to be further transferred. Here is a quick example of such process. Karl Marx wrote Das Kapital, and gave rise to the communismmeme. It spreader from brain to brain, resulting in the meme taking over the governing structures of many countries during the twentieth century. It also evolved differently in different locations, so that the communisms practiced in different countries, e.g., Soviet Union, China, North Korea, Hungary, were very different. The complex memeplex that is communism consisted of many memes, or sets/ divisions of memes, including ideas concerning economics, equality, labor, profit, collectivism, universalism, nationalism, etc.
It is worth noticing that various ideas inside this memeplex are of contradictory nature, on the other hand, other, reinforce each other. Thus, the complex can be replicated in various forms according to the context, adapting to it, while maintaining some elements of the original meme. Various structures and formations, such as political and religious organizations reinforce the memes, and schools and institutions replicate themselves in fresh brains. Memes have been compared to a virus, which can replicate itself only when it finds a suitable cell for the task. Memes are more like prions. Once a prion is in contact with a suitable protein, it changes the configuration of the existing protein, which, in turn, changes the configuration of an adjacent protein. So does an infected brain change adjacent brains through communication. With the information age, memes have acquired the means of self-replication, thus no longer need brains to be actualized or copied.
Misogyny is another type of meme entirely. The women’s movement and the quest for equality has a significantly larger historical footprint, and the ideal of gender equality had gained adequate acceptance to render it comparatively less controversial or revolutionary in mainstream Western/American public discourses and ideology. The reality, is that gender equality still remains more an ideal than a fully practiced norm. Although certainly more progressive, particularly in the public and professional domains, than in other world, gender tensions and anxieties still exist, only much of the resentment and frustrations appear to have been driven in uneven directions.
Although Hollywood has a tendency to consider itself a liberal industry, scholarly studies of mainstream Hollywood film in general, and horror film in particular, tend to stress chauvinism and misogyny that continues to accompany most cinematic narratives and thematic content. It can be envision on the examples of certain sub-genres of Hollywood horror, in which the notion of the monstrous feminine and the connection of femininity with otherness, with destructive forces, etc are shown at best. This, by the way, is true for the ghosts in many Hollywood films.
In The Uninvited, the supernatural forces and their victim are all female: Stella, the victim, is haunted by her mother’s ghost and terrorized by the ghost of her father’s mistress. The film’s male hero saves Stella after exorcizing the ghosts. The House on Haunted Hill’s main villain is the manipulative and murderous Annabelle, who is discovered and defeated by her intended male victim. The Tormented’s human villain, Tom, is matched against the ghostly Vi, whose relentless romantic pursuit of Tom takes on supernatural and demonic dimensions. In The Haunting, the supernatural events center around the haunted Hill House’s dead mistress and Nell, a mentally vulnerable young woman staying at the mansion. Moreover, The ghosts of the Blair Witch and the murdered mistress in What Lies Beneath continue Hollywood’s equation of evil and horror with the feminine.
Historically, after WWII, many women were forced to leave jobs the’ve taken during the time American men were fighting on the front. One can argue those tendencies to have then proceeded with second-wave feminism movements that had peaked in 1960s and continued till 1990s that might as well contributed to the depiction of the monstrous females in a wide range of horrors like Psycho (Alfred Hitchcock, 1960), David Cronenberg’s Rabid (1977) and The Brood (1979), and the sci-fi horror series Alien (Ridley Scott, 1979; James Cameron, 1986; David Fincher, 1992; Jean-Pierre Jeunet, 1997).
In all of these films, the terrifying nature of the feminine is based around two main principles. The first is female sexuality, which most of the time is depicted as avid and uncontainable, usually channeling some disgust on the way. The second one is certain representations of maternity that are envisioned, or presented as monstrous because they operate without the contribution and managing from the side of the male paternal. These sides and aspects female threat and monstrosity have remained popular elements of terror in Hollywood horror film and continue to structure the American horror remakes.
On the other, hand, Japan, which we are going to discuss further in the work, due to it’s contribution to the phenomena of horror and, eventually, being involved in various remakes, both local and international, has similar misogynistic traditions throughout the history of film. Moreover, the patriarchal values, are endured also through the influence of Western notions of gender equality, that assume views of female submission to male.
References to women who work outside the home continue to evoke stereotypes of the Japanese tea girl and office lady, women who are hired by Japanese companies essentially to serve tea and perform largely menial tasks that support their male coworkers and ‘decorate’ the office environment with their youth and beauty. A perspective that takes its roots from Confucian beliefs that shaped the hierarchies and relationships at familial and state levels during the Tokugawa/Edo era (1603–1868). Confucianism, which has a significant impact on the ideological and social foundations of Japan, as well as many other Asian cultures in the twenty-first century remain highly conservative and intensely hierarchical male-dominated society. According to the Confucian thought, women were subordinate to man. There were also obliged to serve and obey their men. This notions supported by the belief that male were protecting, defending and guiding them. Though, it also meant that men had to unsure women’s well-being and protection. If a ruler, a father do not fulfill their duties the way he is supposed to, or they abuse their power which leads to the collapse of ritual property and causes social disorder and political chaos, the teaching states that is allowed and even necessary for the subordinates to rise against these authority figures, in order to reestablish the order. This perspective is clearly dramatized in the popular historical Japanese narratives of female onryō.
In contemporary Japan, though, the traditional vision on gender equality is being argued by the new generation of women who are not willing to follow the idealized gender roles and behavior models. From 1970s, an increasing number of women entered workplace rejecting to obey the traditional identities. In 1990s, though, Japan public was concerned about growing number of high-school girls’ engagement in part-time prostitution and the phenomenon of young-adult Japanese women traveling to the West with the planned intention of engaging in sex with ‘foreigners’. This led to a public debate playing out in the media and in Japanese popular culture in general with women becoming increasingly other, unreachable, having demonic qualities in contemporary Japanese cinema and fantasy literature as well as horror films.
Chapter 2: Parody and Pastiche
Parody derived from the Ancient Greek parodia, parody has accumulated a range of differing meanings in its long history. It is generally used as the generic term for a range of related cultural practices, all of which are imitative of other cultural forms, with varying degrees of mockery or humour. In Greek and then Latin usage, parodia signified a specific form of mock poetry or ode, which used the manner and diction of the high forms and applied them to a trivial topic. But it also uses a more widespread and more neutral practice of quotation. In neoclassical usage (about seventeenth and eighteenth centuries), parody could mean no more than an extended allusion to another writer included in a longer work. The predominant modern usage defines parody as a mocking imitation, which seeks, first – to a more neutral or neoclassical usage in which the element of mockery would be absent – in which case parody would be more like the practice of imitation. The second, to reconnect it with the fully comic practice of parody.
A helpful distinction can be made between specific and general parody. The former consists of a parody of a specific art-work or piece of writing. General parody, by contrast, takes as its hypotext not one particular work but a whole genre, style or discourse. The practice of general parody, is indeed very close to pastiche, and both forms can move into and out of a satirical or ironic distance from the manner imitated.
Pastiche is a French word pastiche has now largely replaced the Italian pasticcio, but in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries the latter was actually the more usual term. In Italian, the word means a pie made of various ingredients; by metaphorical extension principally to art and music criticism, pasticcio or pastiche denoted a musical medley or pot-pourri, or a picture made up of fragments pieced/glued together. It is in painting the term took on the meaning of imitation of another style without critical distance, and it is this meaning that has come to be dominate in contemporary usage of the term. In literary usage, pastiche denotes the more or less extended imitation of the style or manner of another writer or literary period. The term pastiche has been given particular currency by Fredric Jameson in the essay ‘Postmodernism, or The Cultural Logic of Late Capitalism’, in which he distinguishes pastiche from parody on the grounds that pastiche takes no critical distance from the material it recycles: pastiche, in fact, is ‘blank parody’. Pastiche is then seen as characteristic of postmodernism and thus expresses the cultural logic of late capitalism, since the absolute extension of the commodity system prevents the recourse to any discourse of nature or tradition (as in earlier Modernism) which could be used to measure or ironise the forms that are pastiched.
Karaoke Culture
At the level of high culture, architecture and possibly other arts, parody is one of the ways in which artists and writers can invoke the cultural past, or other contemporary discursive modes, to ‘double-code’ their understanding of the present. The particular ways in which individual writers manage this double-coding, and the particular relations that they have to their hypotexts, vary remarkably, and require careful and individual analysis; these attitudes, however, can include loving reconstruction as well as political outrage, more or less explicit structural parody as much as outright verbal imitation. Postmodernism in this context alludes to a variety of cultural practices whose only common characteristic is the inclusion of references to other discursive possibilities in a way that makes discourse itself a part of the topic of the art work. These postmodernist works of art or of literature are not insignificant; they represent an important and indeed powerful current in contemporary culture, which can be inflected in different ways and in differing political directions; it is a current which includes some of the major cultural renegotiations of the present moment. But it is equally possible to list other modes, conventions and cultural productions which are in no sense ‘postmodernist’ and in which parody plays no part.
At the level of popular culture, this infinite cycle of parody and its similar forms, manifested though constant reconfigurations and recycling, can be defined as “karaoke culture”. In a world with no cultural hierarchy, parody is not only that ‘high’ by the ‘low’. It usually utilizes other products of popular culture, when comedians and celebrities parody each other, pop musicians and Djs sample and remix each other, in a similar vein as karaoke gives a chance to mock or mimic constantly reemerging voices of popular music.
Just as the specific techniques of the postmodernist novel have mostly been anticipated in the history of the novel, so too the parodic practices of contemporary popular culture can often be found in the systems of popular entertainment in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. What is different about the present moment is the dominance and scale of penetration of the culture industries, made possible by specific technical innovations; this in itself is a massively important transformation. Some of this parody is sharply directed at deflating self-importance, and is politically and socially pointed and telling. Other parody, meanwhile, is done simply for the fun of it. There is no general politics of parody; you cannot decide in advance whether it seeks to contain the new or to deflate the old. Equally, at the level of popular culture, no general decisions can be made in advance about the cultural value of parody. Karaoke too can be a mode of empowerment, if that does not seem too preposterous a claim for it: it permits people to assimilate and transform the productions of contemporary popular culture in a peculiarly intimate and powerful way.
Parody and Intertextuality in “Scream”
Scream (1996) is one of the more popular slashes of 90s, is different comparing to earlier genre production titles, mainly, due to in its multiple references and allusion to other horros and various art forms that preceded it. Its uniqueness based around the fact that while it is composed of fragments of previous ‘texts’ (or films of the genre), these are reconfigured in order to create a set of revised aesthetic and specific narrative elements for the genre, which, eventually provides a template for slasher films to follow.
Moreover, although these intertextual references are pointed towards an audience who can relate to the earlier titles and specific elements of the genre, the film is horrific indeed, partly because its scenes of death while offering homage to the slashers classic also stress the overwhelming aspects of the genre. In short, it displays both visual and intertextual excess and numerous cross-references signals. It manages to maintain its self-referentiality despite the amount of references being dropped, including certain directors and their style associated with the genre.
Moreover, while the use of intertextuality reflects the postmodern path, in this particular case, it occurs to such an extent that it becomesthe film’s text. The Scream films take the previously subtle intertextual references and transform it into an overt, discursive act. Such aspects become more apparent throughout the whole franchise with each film looping up its textual fragments. It not only takes account of its postmodern characteristics and revised characterization, as others have already done, but also considers its aesthetic devices, particularly those that intrinsically horrify.
Even though Scream could be perceived as just simply unoriginal and banal, due to allusion that is sums up the slasher that came before, one might argue that, in fact, it distances itself from them. Narrated as idiotic and unselfconscious, it, in fact, presents an ironic twist on the genres norms and traditions. Interestingly enough, It also contains endless references on Halloween, addressing itas a central text within the slasher movie. Many critics at the time saw it as a clearly clever, knowing and self conscious play with the genre, though it is questionable that Carpenter have seen Halloween as a slasher movie because there was no such category at the time.
Scream has similar mystery of masked killer theme, that is reappearing though the series. One of the more interesting details that is obvious in all films of the series is a rule of the killer who is trying to catch up his female opponent, with woman not only survive the threat but face a new “villain” each movie. This reversal is worth noting because in doing so, the trilogy preserves the significance and importance of the (female) survivors over that of the killer, while inverting the genre’s traditional formed conventions. The female survivors ultimately displace the killers as the recurring characters and effectively adopt the central narrative roles thought the series. This effectively allows the female characters to develop and evolve across the film’s various installments.
Despite constantly coping elements from various past films and series (everything from artworks through some particular scenes, twists, etc) Scream conjures the sense of irony that moves past the notions of parody and pastiche. According to Richard Dyer, pastiche can also be defined as recreation that imitates other art, as opposite to the real life, in such a way as to make consciousness of this fact central to its meaning and affect.
It is therefore also suggested here that Scream moves beyond parody, since, its qualities, though clearly referencial to previous slasher films, remain autonomous of them and reinterpret them as film’s own. Moreover, the film lacks any traces of overt humour or elements of comedy which are the significant elements of parody. As Mark comments, “I do not believe the films themselves are comic parodies of the slasher genre. While characters in the Scream films offer ironic observations about the conventions of slasher films, the films themselves remain “straight” slasher films.”
Some argue, Scream’s allusiveness is more akin to a heightened or advanced level of intertextuality that some scholars refer to as the ‘hyperpost-modern’ and which is essential to the text itself. the Scream is packed withinter texts to the extent that it becomes its structure, it is constructed of them. Such approach can be traced as an advanced form of postmodernism, which is sometimes referred to as ’hyperpostmodernism’, and is explained as:
(1) a heightened degree of intertextual referencing and self-reflexivity that ceases to function at the traditional level of tongue-in-cheek sub-text, and emerges instead as the actual text of the films; and
(2) a propensity for ignoring film-specific boundaries by actively referencing, ‘borrowing,’ and influencing the styles and formats of other media forms, including television and media videos – strategies that have further blurred the boundaries that once separated discrete media.
Chapter 3: Simultaneous Impossible, Possible
Drawing the ideas stated above, I want to try and compare horror films from 1970s and their remakes from 2000s and argue the differences between them, and/ or try to establish some correlation in the sense of ongoing discourse inside this “genre”. Starting with 70s titles such as The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974), The Hills Have Eyes (1977), and Dawn of the Dead (1978) in terms of their politics, all three films attack an American way of life that rests on an alliance between consumer society and the nuclear family, and denies its own violent historical foundations. When compared to remakes – Texas (2003), Dawn (2004), Hills (2006), later is argued to end up sacrificing the critique in favor of the intensification of danger through aesthetics, notably, disgust and danger. The subversive potential of the horror film can be correlated to the unstable balance between “human” and “monstrous” that must be played out across the spectrum of characters to deliver a subversive political subtext.
All of these films reflect concerns specific to their times, but the remakes tend to establish their politics explicitly, while, in the independent films of the 1970s, these concerns are more subterranean, organized, notably, on the level of narrative structure and the handling of space. The aesthetics and politics of Halloween (2007) are especially well-aligned as both inform the remake’s meta fictional critique of Halloween (1978) and the slasher.
It should also be reasonable to address the meaning of “disturbing” in this context to see the way in which films revisit, update, modernize the conventions of horror genre, which can be argued to be its “originality” and the way it produces various forms of emotions within the framework. There is no clear-cut difference between the films of the 1970s and the remakes of the 2000s in their use of intertextual references, though the popularity of Tarantino’s films and the Scream franchise (1996) might have led us to expect them to fully engage with film history and film genre. The remakes also pursue two other trends that developed at the same time: the emphasis on danger rather than disgust in the representation of the monstrous, and the insistence on character motivation. The implications are both political, involving, as previously mentioned, the dialectic between the “monstrous” and the “human,” and aesthetic. As stated by Robert C. Solomon, for more time is devoted to worrying about the “monstrous” character’s potency, less to contemplating its monstrousness.
Therefore, this emphasis on danger is clearly visible in contemporary horror (mainly Hollywood) cinema to be synonymous with effects, gory violence, and physical pain. This approach is also informed by strategies through which the film is presented or told, that is based on typical slasher conventions – the linear progression from dread to terror to horror, from the complete to partial absence of the presence to the presence of a presence whose interpretative frameworks are momentarily absent.
On the other hand, the approaches from the 1970s are somewhat different. One of the great examples to illustrate it is being Halloween (1978). “Monstrous” characters often being slow and vulnerable in the flicks of the time, which enables (or rather pushes) to produce less predictable relationship between dread, terror and horror. The visual style of the Hollywood remakes of the 2000s, which favors close singles, mobile cameras, and fast-paced editing, is symptomatic of the contemporary Hollywood style. With the viewer encountering sudden graphic images of bloodshed that is there to trigger disgust, so that there is a ‘rapid alternation between registers – between something like “real” horror on one hand and a camp, self-parodying horror on the other – is by now one of the most conspicuous characteristics of the tradition’.
One can argue it to diminish their potential to “disturb” the spectator’s expectations, and allow for less variation than in the independent films of the 1970s, though I envision it to be a “logical” progression of the “genre” with the technology presenting some “fresh” production values. Still, the 00s remakes could be described as “normative,” adaptations of the originals, referring to the words by Thomas Leitch who has stressed the “paradoxical promise” the remake make to the audience: “that [it] is just like its model, and that it’s better”. This statement makes an interesting point of what exactly it can be better in. It’s, of course, mainly used for the marketing purposes, because if it were not better than the original then viewers might as well watch the original instead.
Rob Zombie’s direction to the cast in Halloween (2007) was: “Keeping it real is what it’s all about, you know, even if it seems like something ridiculous.” Surely, he is not referring to the film itself being in any sense realistic, with all the living dead, mutants zombies, etc. Rather the attitude towards the genre as a continuum, in the sense of drawing originals production values and various elements and mock them, in the “real” way. In this respect, the American independent horror films of the 1970s are more “realistic” than the remakes of the 2000s, which, also dramatically increase the superhuman quality of the “monstrous” characters. In this context they are envisioned as “original”, eventually being mocked, remade.
John Romero and producer Richard P. Rubinstein describe the violence in Dawn (1978) as, “not quite so realistic”, comic-booky, and silly. In this case, Romero dresses his distaste for slow-motion in the action scenes. This devotion to the “genre” or particular “style” is best described by Bazin who used the term “total cinema” which was based on an integral realism, a recreation of the world in its own image. Bazin addresses an evolutionary model of the cinema, and comments that old films, even ones from the not too distant past, draw attention to the premature obsolescence of film technology and style, thus asserting the regular if not constant mobility of cinematic conceptions of reality and, thereby, filmic aesthetics of realism.
This argues the idea that films, due to extremely dynamic nature of technological progress, become outdated just in few years. Thus, remakes attempt to compensate for this. Therefore, envisioning remakes as some form of restoration, where the team tries to use modern technologies to “improve” the “outdated” film. As Thomas Leitch noted, “true remake is pretending, that it has no discourse of its own to become outdated”. Thus, “paradoxical promise” involves two contradictory positions, firstly it is “classical” essence of masterpieces and cult films, and that of the ephemeral nature of technology and the cinematic experience, or the illusion of reality.
Nevertheless, it is seen how certain technical constraints can sometimes contribute to a film’s “disturbing” quality. Moreover, this “style” that is built upon using outdated technologies can be mocked in order to achieve a certain quality and eventually certain atmosphere. In fact, the films of the 1970s are more “disturbing” not because they look more realistic than the remakes of the 2000s. Rather, the “disturbing” quality has to do with the tension between various elements force the creators to discover “fresh” ways to convey certain emotions. In no way I’m arguing modern film technologies to be somewhat “untrue to the form”, rather try to point out the importance of the “involvement” and interest in the obscure sides of films, no matter how outdated they are.
Finally, I want to touch on how the horror films are perceived according to the cultural background of the viewer, and the film itself. One of the amazing contradictions of the horror films is that even as every film draws from and is based around similar values and explores some known topic and concerns, usually they are unable to gain universal popularity which could be explained through fundamental inability to transcend its cultural particularities and appeal to broader audiences worldwide.
The value in pushing together and comparing popular Japanese and Hollywood horror films lies in the complex insights that could provide into the dominant sociocultural realities and concerns of the society producing and consuming these texts, while also acknowledging the ways in which key anxieties and fears transcend their social and cultural roots to offer evidence of shared concerns that extend beyond nation-specific perspectives to infect and affect a larger global imagination. This tension between the culturally specific and the universally common lies at the core of investigation of the distinctly different ideologies and their specific narrative tendencies that shape each nation’s cinematic representations of films, and horror, in particular even though the ways in which many of the concerns and fears expressed in these films, and felt in these cultures, often overlap and intersect.
Mass culture articulates social conflicts, contemporary fears, and utopian hopes and attempts at ideological containment and reassurance. The traditional horror film narrative centers on a world organized around accepted norms that are disrupted and threatened by the arrival or appearance of a terrifying, horrifically destructive force. Although this very basic, and admittedly simplistic, structure is common to both the Japanese and Hollywood horror film tradition, the underlying attitudes toward these oppositional forces are notably distinct and different in a number of ways.
All the contemporary Japanese horror films in this study offer a treatment of the supernatural, the unknown, and the mysterious as unambiguous and accepted elements within reality. It is also worth noting that despite the presence of the supernatural within the natural/physical realm, the relationship between the two is characterized less by a sense of conflict and opposition, in which one must defeat or destroy the other, and more by a quest to reestablish equilibrium and to correct a wrong. To anyone more grounded in Western religious traditions it is a strange fact that supernatural forces are not necessarily considered ‘Evil’ or shunned by Buddhists. Japanese depictions of supernatural forces are not founded in ideals of good and evil, nor is there a sense of a constant battle between these forces in order to reach dominance
Rather, Eastern views of the supernatural are also dualistic, encompassing both positive and negative potential. This side is also expressed in Shintoism, another significant and ancient Japanese religion embraced by the Japanese people. The Shinto tradition does not believe that there is an absolute dichotomy of good and evil. Quite the contrary, all phenomena, are believed to poses different sides, both positive and negative, and it is possible for either of this opposites to be manifested in the given context.Thus, the supernatural from Japanese perspective, as depicted in these films has both positive and negative potential, which introduces another degree of duality.
Another fascinating side of traditional Japanese culture is in the fact that the Japanese worldview pays much more attention to notions of right and wrong doing, than to ideals of good and evil as stated above. The Japanese perspective is founded on the notions of morality that are determined by questions of responsibility, honorable behavior, which are most commonly equated with honoring one’s social and communal responsibilities. Therefore, Japanese cultural narratives are less interested in evaluating characters and their actions in terms of any preset notions of good and evil, and more interested in examining them in the light of right or wrong, or to be more precise, socially acceptable or socially irresponsible behaviour.
Unlike Western/Judeo-Christian notions of ‘good’ and ‘evil’ that are often in relation with notions of God in opposition with Satan or the Devil, Japanese supernatural spirits and demons are perceived as revenants with ‘unfinished business’ in the physical realm.
Bibliography
Klein, Ann; Palmer, R. Barton. Cycles, sequels, spin-offs, remakes, and reboots : multiplicities in film and television. University of Texas Press, 2016
Wildfeuer, Janina. Film discourse interpretation: towards a new paradigm for multimodal film analysis. Routledge Studies in Multimodality, 2014
Hoyle, Leigh. Genes, Memes, Culture, and Mental Illness Toward an Integrative Model. Springer, 2010
Dentith, Simon. Parody The New Critical Idiom. Routledge 2000
Shifman, Limor. Memes in Digital Culture. MIT press 2014 Pheasant-Kelly, Fran. “Reframing Parody and Intertextuality in Scream: Formal and Theoretical Approaches to the ‘Postmodern’ Slasher” from Clayton, Wickham. Style and Form in the Hollywood Slasher Film Palgrave 2015
Roche, David. Making and Remaking Horror in the 1970s and 2000s. Why Don’t They Do It Like They Used To. University Press of Mississippi 2014
Wee, Valerie. Japanese Horror Films and their American Remakes. Routledge 2013
Klein, Ann; Palmer, R. Barton. Cycles, sequels, spin-offs, remakes, and reboots : multiplicities in film and television (Austin: University of Texas Press, 2016), p 2-3
Ibid.
Ibid.
Ibid, 5-7
Ibid.
Ibid.
Ibid., 7-20
Ibid.
Ibid.
Ibid.
Ibid.
Ibid.
Ibid.
Ibid.
Wildfeuer, Janina. Film discourse interpretation: towards a new paradigm for multimodal film analysis. (New York: Routledge, 2014), p 2-19
Ibid.
Ibid.
Ibid.
Ibid.
Ibid.
Ibid.
Ibid.
Ibid.
Ibid.
Ibid.
Ibid.
Ibid.
Ibid.
Ibid.
Ibid.
Klein, Ann; Palmer, R. Barton. Cycles, sequels, spin-offs, remakes, and reboots : multiplicities in film and television. University of Texas Press, 2016, p 19
Wildfeuer, Janina. Film discourse interpretation: towards a new paradigm for multimodal film analysis. Routledge Studies in Multimodality, 2014, p 2-19
Ibid.
Ibid.
Ibid.
Ibid.
Ibid.
Ibid.
Ibid.
Ibid.
Ibid.
Ibid.
Ibid., 19-21
Ibid.
Ibid.
Shifman, Limor. Memes in Digital Culture(US: MIT press, 2014), p 20-27
Ibid.
Ibid.
Ibid.
Ibid.
Ibid.
Ibid.
Ibid.
Ibid.
Ibid.
Ibid.
Ibid.
Ibid.
Ibid.
Ibid
Ibid.
Ibid.
Hoyle, Leigh. Genes, Memes, Culture, and Mental Illness Toward an Integrative Model (New York: Springer, 2010), pp 91-93
Ibid.
Ibid.
Ibid.
Ibid.
Wee, Valerie. Japanese Horror Films and their American Remakes. (New York: Routledge, 2013), p 73
Ibid.
Ibid.
Ibid.
Ibid.
Ibid.
Ibid.
Wee, Valerie. Japanese Horror Films and their American Remakes. (New York: Routledge, 2013), p 68
Ibid.
Ibid.
Wee, Valerie. Japanese Horror Films and their American Remakes. (New York: Routledge, 2013), p 71
Ibid.
Ibid.
Dentith, Simon. Parody The New Critical Idiom (London: Routledge, 2000), p 154-170
Ibid.
Ibid.
Ibid.
Ibid.
Ibid.
Ibid.
Ibid.
Ibid.
Ibid.
Ibid.
Ibid.
Ibid.
Ibid.
Ibid.
Ibid.
Ibid.
Ibid.
Ibid.
Ibid.
Ibid.
Ibid.
Ibid.
Ibid.
Ibid.
Pheasant-Kelly, Fran .“Reframing Parody and Intertextuality in Scream: Formal and Theoretical Approaches to the ‘Postmodern’ Slasher” from Clayton, Wickham. Style and Form in the Hollywood Slasher Film (UK: Palgrave, 2015), p 149-154
Ibid.
Ibid.
Ibid.
Ibid.
Ibid.
Ibid.
Ibid.
Pheasant-Kelly, Fran .“Reframing Parody and Intertextuality in Scream: Formal and Theoretical Approaches to the ‘Postmodern’ Slasher” from Clayton, Wickham. Style and Form in the Hollywood Slasher Film (UK: Palgrave, 2015), p 154
Ibid.
Ibid.
Ibid.
Ibid.
Ibid.
Roche, David. Making and Remaking Horror in the 1970s and 2000s. Why Don’t They Do It Like They Used To. (US: University Press of Mississippi, 2014), pp 273-278
Ibid.
Ibid.
Ibid.
Ibid.
Ibid.
Ibid.
Ibid.
Pheasant-Kelly, Fran .“Reframing Parody and Intertextuality in Scream: Formal and Theoretical Approaches to the ‘Postmodern’ Slasher” from Clayton, Wickham. Style and Form in the Hollywood Slasher Film (UK: Palgrave, 2015), p 154
Roche, David. Making and Remaking Horror in the 1970s and 2000s. Why Don’t They Do It Like They Used To. (US: University Press of Mississippi, 2014), pp 273-278
Ibid.
Ibid.
Ibid.
Ibid.
Ibid.
Ibid.
Ibid.
Wee, Valerie. Japanese Horror Films and their American Remakes. (New York: Routledge, 2013), pp 56-60
Ibid.
Ibid.
Ibid.
Ibid.
Ibid.
Ibid.
Ibid.
Ibid.
Ibid.
Ibid.
Ibid.
Ibid.
Ibid.
Cite This Work
To export a reference to this article please select a referencing stye below:
Related ServicesView all
Related ContentAll Tags
Content relating to: "Media"
Media refers to large-scale communication, delivering content, entertainment and information to viewers. Media can include television, radio, the Internet, online and physical publications, billboards, and much more.
Related Articles
Radio Resource Management in OFDMA Networks
1 Introduction The convenience and popularity of wireless technology has now extended into multimedia communications, where it poses a unique challenge for transmitting high rate voice, image, and da...
How Changes in Media Influence the Way People Experience Political Campaigns
Introduction Media communication technologies control and shape society. Most voters gain their political knowledge via the media which can influence their behaviors and beliefs. Notoriety and...
Determining if Comments on Online News Sites Effect Perception
This work proposes an online experiment to tease possible effects of comment sections of a policy news story in which the comment sections includes comments of similar viewpoint, and if any affect is dependent on topic relevance to the reader....
DMCA / Removal Request
If you are the original writer of this dissertation and no longer wish to have your work published on the UKDiss.com website then please:
|
https://ukdiss.com/examples/intertextual-messages-horror-films-9553.php
|
This first critical collection on Delarivier Manley revisits the most heated discussions, adds new perspectives in light of growing awareness of Manley’s multifaceted contributions to eighteenth-century literature, and demonstrates the wide range of thinking about her literary production and significance. While contributors reconsider some well-known texts through her generic intertextuality or unresolved political moments, the volume focuses more on those works that have had less attention: dramas, correspondence, journalistic endeavors, and late prose fiction. The methodological approaches incorporate traditional investigations of Manley, such as historical research, gender theory, and comparative close readings, as well as some recently influential theories, like geocriticism and affect studies. This book forges new paths in the many underdeveloped directions in Manley scholarship, including her work’s exploration of foreign locales, the power dynamics between individuals and in relation to states, sexuality beyond heteronormativity, and the shifting operations and influences of genre. While it draws on previous writing about Manley’s engagement with Whig/Tory politics, gender, and queerness, it also argues for Manley’s contributions as a writer with wide-ranging knowledge of both the inner sanctums of London and the outer developing British Empire, an astute reader of politics, a sophisticated explorer of emotional and gender dynamics, and a flexible and clever stylist. In contrast to the many ways Manley has been too easily dismissed, this collection carefully considers many points of view, and opens the way for new analyses of Manley’s life, work, and vital contributions to the full range of forms in which she wrote.
|
https://www.routledge.com/New-Perspectives-on-Delarivier-Manley-and-Eighteenth-Century-Literature/Hultquist-Mathews/p/book/9780367878580
|
Ros Auld (ceramics) and Claire Primrose (painting) are both concerned with expressing an authentic connection with their natural world. Auld’s works aims to express both the strength and fragility of nature using materials from the earth, with an interplay between monumental forms and delicate surfaces. Primrose’s work is inspired and informed by many different locations within the Australian landscape with an interest in recreating the surfaces, textures and colours evocative of a particular place.
This exhibition of individual and collaborative works brings together two artists who share a similar sense of expressive gestural qualities in their work.
For more information visit the website or contact the gallery on (02) 48234494 or [email protected].
|
http://regionalartsnsw.com.au/event/goulburn-art-regional-gallery-presence-two-visions-of-a-landscape-ros-auld-and-claire-primrose/
|
Shirley Bricout, Politics and the Bible in the Leadership Novels
Shirley Bricout, Politics and the Bible in the Leadership Novels. Montpellier : PULM, Université Montpellier III, 2014, 350 p. ISBN : 978-2-36781-104-8. 29 €.
Texte intégral
1In this study Shirley Bricout explores the imaginary world of D.H. Lawrence and comments on his prophetic quest. In the introduction the author underlines the importance of the Bible for Lawrence, quoting from his “Introduction to The Dragon of the Apocalypse, by Frederick Carter”: “I was brought up on the Bible, and seem to have it in my bones. From early childhood I have been familiar with Apocalyptic language and Apocalyptic image” (18). The Bible appears as “the archetype of literary texts” (19). The book sheds new light on the “Leadership Novels” (Aaron’s Rod, Kangaroo and The Plumed Serpent). Shirley Bricout studies the intertextual relationship between the trilogy and the Bible—a subversive relationship. The novels are analysed through Biblical references. Lawrence was both a writer and a traveller. The author shows that the three novels, with their associations with Italy, Australia and Mexico, abound in biblical symbolism.
2Chapter one (“The Genesis of the Written Word”) deals with methodological considerations and contemporary critical theory: the names of Bakhtin, Barthes, Kristeva, Genette, Derrida, Ricoeur are mentioned. The critical approach is based on narratology and semiotics. The author underlines Lawrence’s use of parody, pastiche and burlesque travesty. The impressive forty-page tables of biblical resonances that take this first part to a close reveal the complex notions of dissemination and graft.
3Chapter two (“The Break from Europe”) considers the narrative function of the biblical borrowings. Shirley Bricout comments on the hermeneutic process of Lawrence’s writing and its connections with the “displacement of the sacred text” (107). Evoking the main moments in Christ’s life, she offers a new interpretation of crucifixion, making seminal comments on the cross symbolism. She also convincingly analyses the dialogic relations between the biblical hypotext and the Lawrentian hypertext in the passages dealing with the issue of war in the three novels, especially the proleptic dimension of the “Nightmare” chapter in Kangaroo. Biblical intertextual allusions allow Lawrence to create different representations of women: the priestess in Aaron’s Rod; the prophetess in Kangaroo; “the archetypal Woman before the Fall” (153) in The Plumed Serpent.
4In chapter three (“The Quest in Exile: a Second Creation”), Shirley Bricout focuses on the evolution of the linguistic quest of the characters from one novel to the next. The protagonists of Aaron’s Rod question the political power of the “Word”. In Kangaroo, the profusion of different tongues evokes the Tower of Babel of Genesis. In The Plumed Serpent language is a non-verbal experience in which “Kate unlearns the Word” (178). In this chapter Shirley Bricout also addresses Lawrence’s geopolitical vision through the themes of ethnocentrism and logocentrism. According to her, Lawrence’s rejection of colonialism appears in his subversion of the biblical hypotext. Shirley Bricout evokes the social perspective of the Lawrentian quest, illustrated by Rananim, the ideal community that Lawrence wished to establish. In the trilogy, this social concern is illustrated by the Parable of the Good Samaritan - the biblical episode being revealed through pastiche in Aaron’s Rod, diversion and dissemination in Kangaroo, and burlesque travesty in The Plumed Serpent. Shirley Bricout implies that, in the Mexican novel, Lawrence resorts to primitive myths to develop his cosmic quest, associating Indian and Celtic mythologies through the character of Kate. Social deconstruction is thus achieved through biblical borrowings.
5The last chapter (“the New Alliance: Exploring Political Thought”) explores Lawrence’s political thought, placing Fascism and Marxism in relation with the trilogy, and considering the apocalyptic dimension of his writings. According to Shirley Bricout, the study of the biblical hypotext reveals Lawrence’s answer to Fascist ideology. In Kangaroo, the elitist mission of the new saviour, “the fictitious Fascist leader” (233) is caricatured, “the kangaroo of Judah… being substituted for the lion of Judah” (237). In the same way, the emblems of the primitive god Quetzalcoatl in The Plumed Serpent (the serpent and the eagle) might suggest a Fascist influence; yet they more probably evoke the phoenix (the great Lawrentian symbol) and the Ouroboros, which, in Lawrence’s interpretation, are “grounded in a cosmic understanding of human relationships” (254). Commenting on the connections between Lawrence’s use of biblical metaphors in the Leadership Novels and Marxist theories, Shirley Bricout convincingly analyses Engels’s and Marx’s visions of Christianity, and compares the three novels with Marx’s Capital, seeing in Kangaroo, for instance, “clear echoes of a complex palimpsest” (274). The last part of the chapter deals with the apocalyptic trend in Lawrence’s works. The author suggests a chromatic reading of the riot scenes in the novels, with reference to the four colours of the Horses of the Apocalypse (white, red, black and “pale”). She notes a return to the primitive symbolism of the colour white in The Plumed Serpent. Shirley Bricout finally considers two emblematic Lawrentian symbols: the serpent and the rainbow. The serpent of Genesis—another version of the Dragon of the Apocalypse—undergoes several changes in the trilogy: the “swollen head” (297) of the dragon figure in Aaron’s Rod is transformed into an inner dragon in Kangaroo, and eventually becomes Quetzalcoatl, the symbol of the primitive centres in The Plumed Serpent. The rainbow is considered in all its complexity. An eschatological symbol in Aaron’s Rod, it is linked with the theme of water and with the flood motif in Kangaroo. In The Plumed Serpent, Shirley Bricout remarks, the rainbow is replaced by the Morning Star, a symbol of cosmic harmony.
6Through biblical intertextuality, she concludes, Lawrence cleverly deconstructs political connections and endows his writing with an apocalyptic vision of destruction-creation: “The cyclic progression evidences that the working of intertextuality leads to one text being consumed by another only to rise from its ashes, just like the phoenix, the Lawrentian symbol of life” (319).
7Published with a preface by Keith Cushman, this impressive work, which is a brilliant translation by the author of an earlier work in French, is clear and accurate. It contains relevant examples, quotations and notes, as well as an exhaustive bibliography. Revealing Shirley Bricout’s passionate interest in Lawrence’s writings, it will undoubtedly be a valuable resource for English-speaking Lawrence scholars.
Pour citer cet article
Référence électronique
Christine ZARATSIAN, « Shirley Bricout, Politics and the Bible in the Leadership Novels », E-rea [En ligne], 14.1 | 2016, mis en ligne le 15 décembre 2016, consulté le 25 juin 2021. URL : http://journals.openedition.org/erea/5526 ; DOI : https://doi.org/10.4000/erea.5526Haut de page
Droits d’auteur
Haut de page
E-rea est mis à disposition selon les termes de la licence Creative Commons Attribution - Pas d'Utilisation Commerciale - Pas de Modification 4.0 International.
|
https://journals.openedition.org/erea/5526
|
Intertextuality in The Simpsons
Björn Erlingur Flóki Björnsson argues that The Simpsons’ comedy rests on ‘intertextuality’. This is a narrative form that involves referencing oneself and/or other popular culture and historical texts as part of its comedy. The Simpson’s intertextuality is self-reflexive because it often references its creator (Matt Groening) and the show’s producers, as well as past storylines. For example, in one episode The Simpsons children make reference to Marge’s gambling addiction and Comic Book Guy walks past saying ‘Worst episode ever’.
Björnsson establishes that The Simpsons’ humour rests on the postmodernist concept of pastiche (a form of parody that mimics other works without the satire). The Simpsons superimposes its characters and landscape into other beloved books, iconic films, significant historical events, and other cultural forms of art. The Simpsons achieves pastiche by using celebrities to do voiceovers and by incorporating the likeness of characters, sets and plots from other cult texts.
Björnsson uses the episode Bart of Darkness as an example of pastiche. The title of this episode is an allusion to Joseph Conrad’s book Heart of Darkness, and the plot is similar to Hitchcock’s film Rear Window (in which Bart is forced to stay indoors with a broken leg, consequently spying on his neighbours and possibly witnessing a murder). This episode also uses many of the same camera angles from Hitcock’s film.
The Simpsons has referenced several cartoons such as Family Guy, Tom & Jerry, The Flintstones, The Road Runner Show, The Jetsons and Yogi Bear. The Simpsons has also emulated the period scenery and visual styles of films such as Tron; the classic plays The Odyssey and Henry VIII; renowned films such as Orson Welles’ Citizen Kane, and Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey, as well as The Shining. Björnsson writes:
The Simpsons is easily able to represent its borrowed works’ visual styles by taking full advantage of the medium of animation. The endlessly mutable forms of animation allows The Simpsons to mimic particular settings, moods, lighting techniques and camera angles with accuracy, and incorporate it into their story in any way they please. This distinguishes The Simpsons from live-action television shows employing similar intertextual techniques: its possibilities of representation are seemingly infinite.
I use the clip above as an example of intertexuality. The clip comes from The Simpsons’ first Treehouse of Horror special. This episode uses pastiche to represent Edgar Allan Poe’s classic poem The Raven in its entirety, yet with a Simpsons spin. Christopher Maligec argues that Poe’s poem is influenced by a Greek style of poetry known as a ‘love elegy’ (paraclausithyron) used to convey a lover’s ‘sorrow, helplessness, and self-pitying despair…’. Poe’s poem has been referenced in countless popular culture media. (Also see my Raven posts.) The Raven is used as a narrative trope to evoke despair and anguish. Ravens and other corvids are used to establish an ominous sense of gloom in many films and TV shows, but in animation, they have also been used as a comedic device to frustrate hapless characters. In The Simpsons version, the raven reflects both an omen of despair and a trickster persona.
In this pastiche production, Homer plays the haunted man reminiscing over his lost love, Lenore (personified by Marge in a portrait hanging on Homer’s wall). Bart plays his tormentor, the raven. The Simpsons brings Poe’s masterful words into the realm of popular culture by having James Earl Jones recite the poem. Jones has one of the most recognisable voices in English-language popular culture (having voiced Darth Vadar in the original Star Wars trilogy, Episodes IV-VI). The Simpsons have regularly referenced Star Wars, so Jones’ appearance is a reference within a reference. Moreover, this retelling of Poe’s story also references The Simpsons’ own mythology by having Bart-the-raven jovially bringing the narrator/Homer to anger, which is a recurring source of comedy on the show.
It is specifically the medium of animation that makes possible the translation of Poe’s narrative of love and loss into a self-referencing story for a new audience.
(Check out my other Simpsons posts or my other examples of the sociology of animation.)
Video: The Simpsons use of parody to tell Edgar Allan Poe’s The Raven.
|
https://othersociologist.com/2012/05/26/the-simpsons-the-raven/?shared=email&msg=fail
|
At which point does intertextuality slip into speculation?
[p. 68]
about a knight with a sleeve told in French.6 He then went to another place and retold this Flemish story in French disguise in Irish to our Brian. As this Brian can in all probability be identified with the Brian Ó Corcráin who wrote poems for Cú Chonnacht Maguire, an Irish lord who also fled to the Continent after the revolt against the English failed (with a probable first stop in Louvain),7 especially the latter chain of events is very tempting, opening up even more new areas of research. I have inserted this attractive set of speculations in order to demonstrate that anybody can think up all sorts of explanations and possibilities when seeing similarities in structure or motifs. I have not even taken into account here the theory that the Roman van den Riddere metter Mouwen could be based on a lost (French) story which in turn was based on the French Richars li Beaus ... The horizon becomes wider and wider. However, there is a very serious problem with this way of thinking, and with a thump we land on solid ground again: we do not have any proof that this hypothetical Flemish merchant or Irish visitor to Louvain either (or both?) listening to a Flemish tale told in French ever existed. We simply have no written accounts of these things happening; all of it is conjecture (very probable I add stubbornly, but still conjecture). In this case we very definitely have crossed the boundary of the intertextuality method when studying old romances.
My speculations have been provoked by a recently published study on the presumably indigenous Middle Dutch Arthurian romance Walewein ende Keye, one of the seven inserted romances in the Lancelot Compilation. No direct source text, whether in Dutch or in any other language (not even a reference to the possible language of a possible source text), is known to this date, and this of course determined the way in which Marjolein Hogenbirk has approached the study of this short but interesting romance. Her book ‘focuses on “Walewein ende Keye” as a text which combines a variety of conventions and common characteristics which in the course of the thirteenth century became part of the genre of Arthurian romance’ (p. 173). Hogenbirk's aim is to provide an insight in the way in which these conventions and innovations have been combined ‘to form a new, and, as we shall see, remarkable creation encompassing themes which are entirely its own’ (p. 173). To study a romance for which no source text is known, to see how conventions and innovations encompassing an entire genre have been used, is a difficult task. For confronting such tremendous problems Hogenbirk is to be lauded, but unfortunately she has not always been aware of the dangers of her chosen approach.
Her first premise (p. 21) is that in most Arthurian romances a more or less carefully created connection between adventures is to be recognized. Analogies, contrasts, parallels and the doubling of motifs all form clues for the interpretation of texts. Thus, there is always a connection between conjointure and the sen of the tale.8 She then asks herself the question whether or not this is also the case in Walewein ende Keye. To get an answer she analyses the structure of the adventures and the connections between the events. However, how can one assume a connection between conjointure and sen when all we have is a secondary reception of the text in question? Given the fact that Hogenbirk readily assumes Walewein ende Keye as transmitted in the Lancelot Compilation to be a secondary reception of a primary text which has not survived. Can deviations of conjointure and sen in the surviving tale be taken as evidence for the existence of a better structured original? What happens when the author of the hypothetical original source text himself was not capable of creating deliberate connections? We have to be careful, as Norris Lacy has pointed out a few years ago, stories can be just badly composed.9 A discussion or even an acknowledgement of this problem would have made Hogenbirk's case a lot stronger.
[p. 69]
Her second premise is found two pages further on when she postulates that variations in the characterization of a figure can be important and significant. This is undoubtedly true and Hogenbirk therefore studies the characterization of the dramatis personae and questions whether or not the author fits in with or deviates from the conventions and why he does so. This is intertextuality in character portrayal, although she does not call it so and presents intertextuality as a third premise (p. 24). Here we encounter another problem: with which Walewein or Gauvain is the main character of this story compared? Walewein's character undergoes a change from the earliest time onwards in Welsh texts to the dramatic negative portrayal in later French romances. In her introduction Hogenbirk states that Walewein is presented as the perfect knight and described without ironic aloofness (p. 24, but see my problems with this statement further down). This she demonstrates, for example, with an analysis of the adventure in which Walewein is confronted with a jealous knight who has put his lady in a well because she considers Walewein a better knight than her own lover. Hogenbirk explains that similar confrontations are described in Old French romances, but that the damsels there always fall in love with the image they have created for themselves of Gauvain, without knowing him in person and often not readily accepting that the knight they have in front of them is the Gauvain they seek (after which they of course share his bed). According to Hogenbirk this scene in Walewein ende Keye needs to be read against this backdrop. The author of the Middle Dutch romance has changed this motif by uncoupling the esteem for Gauvain from love for or by him: his lady is not in love with Walewein, and Walewein does not want to share his bed with her (p. 48-49). This presumption cannot be denied, but is it the complete picture? If the author really deliberately constructed this connection between the French genre and the Middle Dutch romance, he must have had a great knowledge of Arthurian romances.10 And the problem is that we cannot know which texts the author knew. In fact this discussion says more about Hogenbirk's wide reading than about the author's familiarity with other Arthurian texts. If one looks a little further, other possibilities come afore.
Hogenbirk restricts herself to scenes in which Gauvain/Walewein plays a role in French and Dutch romances. But why not compare this scene with other similar scenes in which Lancelot plays the leading role in the Lancelot proper,11 which is transmitted in part in the same manuscript as Walewein ende Keye (and which was translated into Middle Dutch at least three times)? Such a comparison could also have led to interesting conclusions about the rehabilitation of Walewein in the Middle Dutch Lancelot Compilation: as is well-known, attempts by Middle Dutch adaptors to rehabilitate Gauvain are a favourite explanation by modern scholars accounting for Walewein's presentation as the ideal knight in Middle Dutch romance.12 No doubt other characters in the Arthurian genre can be found in similar circumstances and can be compared with the Walewein portrayed in Walewein ende Keye. Can one limit oneself to adventures experienced by one and the same character when one looks for intertextuality in medieval romances? I do not think so. Of course such scenes have to be taken into account,
[p. 70]
but any medieval author could easily have modelled his own scene featuring Gauvain as protagonist on an adventure a different character experiences in another text. As long as there is no direct borrowing in phrases between two scenes, such comparisons remain a little bit speculative. We do not know anything about the author of Walewein ende Keye, so speculations about what he must have known need to be presented in a very delicate and carefully worded manner. And although Hogenbirk sees interesting connections with a whole range of (mainly Old French) romances,13 the presentation lacks in understanding the underlying problem of intertextuality.
The problem becomes more complicated when she draws in stories belonging to the epic poetry around Charlemagne. For example, scenes portraying Keye as a traitor are traced back to this genre, and parallels are adduced in which traitorous seneschals appear to deceive credulous kings (p. 36-39). But in this instance there is no need for an excursion into Charlemagne material, as a traitorous seneschal also appears in the beginning of the Lancelot proper, where king Ban (Lancelot's father) is betrayed by his seneschal. The betrayal results in the kidnapping of Lancelot, the capture of Lancelot's nephews, Bohort en Lyonel, and Ban's death.14 Another influence from the chansons de geste is seen by her in Walewein's dream in which he is attacked by a lion (p. 39-41). However, an opponent appearing as a lion in a dream can also be found in the Lancelot proper.15 So why assume per se an influence from this totally different genre? One would expect a little elaboration, motivating why the author should prefer a borrowing from a different genre over an Arthurian text containing the same motif, dang lamor at least substantiating that the chansons de geste literature was popular in circles in which the author moved, but such a foundation of her argument is lacking. In fact she never explicitly explains with which texts she compares Walewein ende Keye and why she does so. According to p. 28, her preferred source texts belong especially to the Old French and Middle Dutch tradition. She is not specific, however, whether she compares mainly with romances in verse, or also with prose texts such as the Vulgate Cycle (although the above-mentioned parallels suggest that she did not consider this cycle). The comparisons with the chansons de geste are in flagrant contradiction with her alleged intention that she will compare this Dutch tale to the genre of Arthurian romance (p. 10), and that she will not explore more genres; the comparison with the chansons de geste genre comes rather as a surprise.
Hogenbirk's comparison between Walewein ende Keye and Chretien de Troyes' Yvain ou le Chevalier au Lion rests on more solid ground (p. 71-75). This supports the observation of Keith Busby that Yvain had already become ‘part of a supra-regional canon’ by the time Walewein ende Keye was written.16 More interesting are her observations that not only Yvain, but also L'Âtre Périlleux, transmitted more than once together with Yvain, could have been known to the author of Walewein ende Keye (p. 50-52).17 Although Hogenbirk mentions this combination, she does not speculate on its significance for the similarities of Walewein ende Keye with precisely these two texts. It could be possible that the author of Walewein ende Keye heard (or read) both texts because they were present in the same manuscript (to which he then had access). In this respect I refer the reader to Hogenbirk's lucid article ‘Gauvain, the Lady and her Lover’.18 Also, her arguments that the author could have known the Middle Dutch Fergus translation, Ferguut, are very reasonable. She compares lines in Ferguut with lines in
[p. 71]
Walewein ende Keye (p. 63). In Walewein ende Keye it is said that it was raining ‘starc ende groet’, as it does in Ferguut (‘herde groet regen’). She could have substantiated her argument that here the author of Walewein ende Keye betrays knowledge of the Ferguut and not its source, by citing the French text in which it only drizzles (l. 904-905: ‘Il commencha a plovenir/Une pluiete molt menue.’).19
Hogenbirk's discussion of the dominating theme of Walewein ende Keye, which is the contrast between hubris and humility, is carefully done (p. 107-126). She shows that all different layers of meaning of Walewein ende Keye Walewein's epithet ‘der avonturen vader’ are present in this tale and she shows that Walewein's adventures form a coherent unit with analogies, parallels and an increase in complexity. This chapter is a pleasure to read, and although many of the main observations have been made by others and herself already, she digs deeper and presents all possible arguments. All in all Hogenbirk is strong when she limits herself to the internal structure of Walewein ende Keye, although a more balanced discussion of the jocular scenes with Walewein would have been welcome. It is regrettable that she was not able to use Veerle Uyttersprot's discussion of Walewein in Roman van Walewein, where this character is treated with irony, although he is also presented as the shining example for all knights both by the narrator, and by the characters in this romance.20 I cannot help but thinking that this might be the case in Walewein ende Keye as well, for example in the initial scene, in which Keye accuses Walewein of boasting that more adventures would befall him in the space of a year than would all those present at court (l. 46-53). The reaction of Walewein is multi-staged; first, he says that he is an imperfect man (l. 119), so why would he boast. But when knights of the court have implored him to set aside his anger, Walewein announces that he shall only return to court after he has fulfilled the boast Keye has accused him of (l. 155-160). This comes as a surprise. If Walewein is indeed portrayed here as the example of humility, why does he not put aside his anger? Now he brings the court in disarray, giving the seneschal exactly what he wants, and with that he shows he is not beyond the sin of pride. Also, the humorous scene in the opening of the romance, in which Walewein falls out of bed after a fight with a lion attacking him in his dream, shows that Walewein is not the perfect hero Hogenbirk thinks him to be. In Hogenbirk's view (p. 126), Walewein's fall makes him human. By portraying him as a human being, the author makes it possible for youngsters among the audience to identify themselves with their exemplary hero. But could this scene not refer to someone praying prostrate on the ground? In another scene (l. 734-767), Walewein puts his head in a reliquary (scrine).21 He does so to help a damsel, who had bound herself by a promise to capture his head in a reliquary. Can this scene be explained as a portrayal of Walewein as a mere human being? I do not think so. In fact this scene is humorous because of the nature of the box in which Walewein has to put his head. The function of a reliquary is to shelter the remains of a saint. 22 So in this scene, in the eyes of a medieval public, Walewein is compared to a saint! If one remembers that Walewein's first appearance on the scene is when he is praying in church after he had an disturbing dream about an attacking lion, I cannot but wonder whether or not the author of Walewein ende Keye plays a game with the more religious tinted Arthurian tales (and not completely in Walewein's favour). It seems to me that in Walewein ende Keye we can see the same mixed portrayal of Walewein as in Roman van Walewein and that Hogenbirk's claim that Walewein is the ideal knight has to be modified.
[p. 72]
Her last premise (p. 26) is based on studies on other interpolated romances in the Lancelot Compilation, in which it has been shown that the compiler of this manuscript has used existing tales and has modified them to suit the context in which they were put. According to Hogenbirk, it seems likely on the basis of these parallels that the extant version of Walewein ende Keye is an adaptation of an earlier tale, in all probability a Walewein-tale (without a substantial part of Keye). In chapter 7, she evaluates the compiler's editorial interventions elsewhere in the compilation, and she compares these interventions with the state in which Walewein ende Keye has come down to us. In this tale, a number of adventures shows ‘such a standardized, rapid development of events that it has occasionally obscured the course of events’ (p. 178-179), while on the other hand other episodes ‘do not seem to have suffered much abbreviation, possibly because they are central to the overall theme’ (p. 179). In this part of her study (p. 127-161) her observations are quite acute. There is no doubt that there are great differences to be seen in the way episodes have been treated, implying interferences from a person other than the author. Her arguments that the adventure of Keye has been inserted by the compiler and was not originally part of Walewein ende Keye seem sound to me. The structure of Keye's adventure does stand apart from the other adventures. Of course one could argue that the author did this deliberately in order to create a contrast between the two major characters, but I think Hogenbirk is right in arguing that not only the structure of his adventure stands apart, but that also the portrayal of Keye is not consistent through the story as a whole. However, although I do believe her when she says that Keye's last appearance in the last scene of the story betrays the compilers hand, I cannot accept her interpretation of the chapter heading in the manuscript. The original title ‘Hoe si alle quamen te hove die hi verwonnen hadde’, has been supplemented with an additional phrase ‘ende van Keien’ (p.138-39). This ‘ende van Keien’ has indeed been added, but the addition is not in the same hand. Thanks to an illustration (p. 139), one can observe that these words have been added by a different hand. The colour of ink is not important here, but the shape of the letters, notably ‘e’ and ‘a’, is. This addition could therefore have been written (much) later, and it is not an argument that the last part of Walewein ende Keye has been written by the compiler to fill the last leaf of a separate quire. But her arguments that Walewein ende Keye is a reworking of an original (but lost) Walewein-romance did convince me.
This study of Walewein ende Keye brings home to us that intertextuality can be a risky business. When can it be assumed that a source text was known to an author (which is, of course, a prerequisite for intertextuality)? The most obvious assumption is that this is definitely the case when an explicit reference is made to a source text, either because the name of the text is mentioned or because a character appearing in one text is explicitly referred to in another tale, although one must hastily add that the mention of the name of a tale does not imply that the author knows the contents of that tale. But when the mention of the tale is accompanied by similarities or contrasts in contents, one can assume that the contents of the mentioned tale were known to the author. Referring to a character is even more complicated, since some figures are appearing in more than one tale, or even belong to a standard entourage.23 So while the Brangien reference in Chrétien's Erec et Enide can safely be interpreted as a deliberate connection made by Chrétien to the Tristan story,24 a reference to Gauvain cannot be interpreted in any other way than as a reference to the complete Gauvain-complex, from the ideal courtly knight to the one who will fail terribly in the Grail-quest because of his womanizing. This latter could be called generic intertextuality as in the words of Bart Besamusca.25
Implicit references are even more difficult to cope with. References to certain episodes can be expressed in several ways. In fact the possible connections between adventures within a tale (the conjoin-
[p. 73]
ture and sen discussion), have with the help of intertextuality been transferred to connections between adventures in different tales. So in intertextuality research one finds an abundance of analogies, contrasts, parallels and motif doubling. But adventures are easily invented, especially if one understands the basic structure of adventures in Arthurian tales: Information, Provocation, Information, Determining the Hierarchy (or Fight) and Information.26 With the fixed clustering of function and type of character, all adventures can be classified in two basic types of ab ovo and in medias res.27 I have argued that these basic types help the public in following the tale.28 But it also aids the author. I once started a paper with a summary of an adventure. Readers of that (unpublished) paper accepted that adventure as existing in the Arthurian romance I was studying at the time. Afterwards, I revealed that I had made up that adventure. It was not based on any particular one in the romance, but one of the readers immediately saw connections to several other episodes, episodes I knew, but had not thought of when writing the adventure ... Implicit references can be misleading for intertextuality, provided that we define intertextuality as the study of deliberately introduced connections between tales. There is a gliding scale of possibilities between a near certainty that an author deliberately made the connections, to the conviction that there is no intertextuality to speak off. We cannot just simply compare an episode to all sorts of other episodes and conclude that a given episode has been the source for any given other episode, the only argument being that the earlier episode resembles the other one. Only when more than one episode (or the complete romance) seems to be modelled on another text, we can, with all caution, posit on the basis of implicit references that the author of the chronologically later text knew the earlier text. Hogenbirk has proceeded without sufficient safety measures when using the in itself valid methodology called intertextuality in her study Walewein ende Keye against the back-drop of the genre of Arthurian romance. Her observations on which romances the author of Walewein ende Keye probably and possibly knew have to be treated with the utmost caution. In this instance all we can say is that the author of Walewein ende Keye knew Arthurian lore and invented his own romance (not ‘providing the most idealized, and therefore least human Walewein portrait of Arthurian romance’).29 In this the author posits himself clearly in the Dutch Walewein tradition, as modified by Uyttersprot in her doctoral thesis, but it says nothing of the specific texts he knew. We will never get a satisfactory answer on questions of intertextuality, but it does not mean that we have to chuck in its whole conception. We just have to be careful in what we do, how we do it and how we present our case. If we do not do that, intertextuality slips into speculation.
|
https://www.dbnl.org/tekst/_que002200601_01/_que002200601_01_0008.php
|
Hybridity and Postcoloniality: Formal, Social, and Historical Innovations in Salman Rushdie’ s Midnight’s Children 10. Manzoor, Sarfraz. The South Asian Britain of My Beautiful Laundrette 11. Merila, Isabela. Changing Textual Identities in Salman Rushdie’s Midnight’s Children 12.
National consciousness and national cultures are inseparable from each other and anti-colonial resistance cannot succeed without them. Writers, artists and intellectuals play a vital role in imagining the nation and in this way they participate centrally in resisting colonialism. A detailed analysis of the novel Midnight 's Children shows that in many respects it is concerned with the issues and purposes which are central to diasporic literature.It can be said that Midnight 's Children recreates Rushdie’s sense of an ‘India of the mind’ through the novelistic conventions established by Rushdie for postcolonial novels written by immigrant writers. Rushdie’s Midnight 's Children is a novel about the enabling power of hybridity which is an important issue of diasporic
The distinct nature of post modernity is analyzed through the various forms of fragmentation employed in the novel. The ideology of postmodernism seems very much like modernism. But in the case fragmentation, the dividing line occurs. In modernism fragmentation is mourned and is lamented over. Postmodernism, in contrast,
It is usually easy to identify the discrepancies which subsist in one period of political thought from another but explaining the divergence of postmodernism from its predecessor, modernism, may be a lot more complicated than usual. This is because first, etymologically, postmodernism does not necessarily mean “the period right after modernism” but rather an “effective reappropriation of memory” (Brann, 1992). More than that, it is a reaction to modernism (ibid). According to Lyotard, postmodernism should be understood in the context of the paradox of the future coming after the just now in a sense that the work is not “composed in accordance with any previous universal rules, or, as he calls it, any metanarrative” (ibid). Simplified, postmodernism
The Indonesian cuisine had been influenced by Indian, Chinese, and Western cultures. The American cuisine has also been influenced by a variety of cultures. Indonesians may prepare dim sum, a Chinese dish, while Americans enjoy tacos. In this way Indoensian and American cultures both enjoy food from a variety of different cultures. A second similarity between my culture and Indonesian cultures is that, in both places, a variety of different religions are practiced.
It has always remained a problem of countless questions that either postmodernism is applicable to IWE or not! Even Rushdie’s Midnight’s Children is seen as a cautious imitation of the western literary model by few critics. But on the other hand with the emergence of the nineties, the nature of Indian reality and society transformed due to drastic changes in cultural, political, social, and familial patterns. Post- Rushdie generation has
Postmodern attempts to develop a new conceptual language to represent world politics beyond the terms of state-centrism in order to rethink the concept of the political. Postmodernism’s ethical critique of state sovereignty needs to be understood in relation to the deconstructive critique of totalization and the deterritorializing effect of transversal struggles. To rethink questions of political identity and community without submitting to binary oppositions is to contemplate a political life beyond the paradigm of sovereign states. There are two strands of ethics which develop out of postmodernism’s reflections on international relations. One strand challenges the ontological description on which traditional ethical arguments are grounded.
Post-modernist literary styles and ideas serve to dispute, reverse and reject the principles of modernist literature (Postmodernism in Literature) This plays in the fact that artists of the postmodern period tend to abstain from bringing out the possibility of meaning whereas this is opposite case in modernist fiction. The postmodern product is presented across as a parody of the modernist literary quest for meaning (Postmodernism in Literature). Some of the characteristics which run commonly in postmodernists texts include: magic realism, intertextuality, maximalism, metafiction, temporal distortion, pastiche, etc. I have analyzed two of the major ones: intertextuality and magic realism. Post-modernist fiction entails within it the element
of the most eminent postcolonial writers, he is also generally known as one of the most momentous representatives of magic realism outside Latin America. Salman Rushdie, one of the most renowned writers of Indian Diaspora, settled in England, shot into fame through his magnum opus, Midnight’s Children. He was born to an affluent Muslim family in Bombay on 19 June 1947. He grew up in Mumbai and graduated with honours from King’s College, Cambridge. Settled in England, Rushdie’s literary career started with his first novel, Grimus (1975), which was a meagre seller.
|
https://www.ipl.org/essay/Postmodern-Literature-In-Midnights-Children-FJ9JZNQNEFG
|
In the situational theory of leadership, some of the philosophers and the researchers realised that a person can still be a leader if the universal leadership behaviours or traits are not reflected by him/her. This thought eventually led to the development of the situational theory. It was emphasised by this theory that from situation to situation, the leadership within a person can change significantly.
This is the key reason due to which failures may be faced by some leaders in some situations. Moreover, this theory also proposes that the perfect action course is selected by the leaders based upon the different situational variables. For specific kinds of decision-making, different leadership styles may be appropriate more. For instance, the authoritarian style may be the most suitable one in a scenario where the leader is the most experienced and knowledgeable group member. On the other hand, democratic style may be more efficient in the case where members of the group are skilled experts.
The behavioural theory is one of the next stages in the development of the theories of leadership. Instead of the inborn traits of an individual, the behaviour or the leadership style is mainly focused on this theory. In comparison to the social, physical or mental characteristics of the leaders, the behaviours are mostly focused on this theory.
Thereby, the factor that influences the relationship between the particular human behaviours from leaders was measured by the researchers through the evolutions in psychometrics, especially the factor analysis. In particular, it has been emphasised by this theory that a positive influence will be imposed on the efficiency of the followers by the behaviours of leadership. Instead of the internal states or mental qualities, the actions of the leaders are mostly focused on this theory of leadership that is rooted in behaviourism. As per this theory, through means of observation and teaching, individuals can learn to become leaders. Leaders are mostly categorised into two types by the behavioural theory, that is, those who are concerned with the followers and those who are concerned with the tasks.
|
https://www.academichelper.com/essay-situational-behavioural-theory-leadership/
|
Boda, Mark J., Russell L. Meek, and William R. Osborne, eds. Riddles And Revelations: Explorations Into The Relationship Between Wisdom And Prophecy In The Hebrew Bible. Library of Hebrew Bible/Old Testament Studies 634. New York: T&T Clark, 2018, pp. xvi + 306, $114, Hardback.
The rise of intertextual theory in the last five decades has sparked numerous studies into the relationships between various sections of the Hebrew Bible. Most often relationships are drawn from the Pentateuch to other books (e.g. this is what we find in Michael Fishbane’s seminal work Biblical Interpretation in Ancient Israel, [Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1989]). Pentateuchal priority, however, is giving way to considerations of intertextuality throughout the OT and this collection of seventeen essays is proof of that. Following in the footsteps of similar LHBOTS monographs (e.g. Dell and Kynes, eds., Reading Job Intertextually, LHBOTS 574, [New York: T&T Clark, 2013]; Dell and Kynes, eds., Reading Ecclesiastes Intertextually, LHBOTS 587, [New York: T&T Clark, 2015]), this work seeks to provide a survey of soundings for sapiential and prophetic interplay within the OT. These essays adeptly advance the methodological question and bring new light to how both wisdom and prophetic texts may mutually build upon each other.
A brief editorial preface outlines that the goal of this work is a reexamination of presuppositions and methods regarding the relationship between Wisdom and Prophecy. Russell Meek’s opening chapter, the true introduction to the book although not listed as such, outlines the history of methodology concerning prophetic and wisdom interconnectedness from Johaness Fichtner’s work in 1949 through the present. Meek highlights that a fundamental issue facing the essayists of this volume is the definition of what constitutes wisdom as a genre. This issue, Meek argues, is not insurmountable, however, and despite difficulties in defining what constitutes a paideia or wisdom tradition, form criticism enables scholarship to isolate defining characteristics of wisdom literature sufficiently for the purposes of inner-biblical study. Drawing on the work of Hays, Miller, and Leonard, Meek proposes that scholarship should adapt an author-oriented way to define inner-biblical allusion for comparing wisdom and prophetic passages. The remaining essays flow from this opening and are divided into four sections based on their function. They are (1) Methodology, (2) Wisdom Among the Prophets, (3) Prophecy Among the Sages, and (4) Responses.
For sake of brevity, I will highlight a representative essay from each section to demonstrate the editorial and scholarly aim of the volume. From section one, Will Kynes actively questions whether wisdom as a term is a hindrance since it lacks a clear historical definition. He further doubts if form criticism is the correct starting point for proper methodology seeing as it lacks sensitivity toward the myriad of ways texts can be defined. In section two, William Osborne highlights that Ezekiel uses משל more than any other OT work. This usage is especially found in Ez 26 to demonstrate the futility of Tyre’s worldly wisdom in contrast to wisdom found in the fear of YHWH. From section three, Martin Shields shows that Job and his interlocutors’ function as sages for the bulk of the story, but it is only when direct special revelation occurs (“prophecy”) that the full point of the story is understood. Through an intertext reading with the Suffering Servant in Isaiah, the reader is to see that “Job’s author knew that accounting for individual circumstances was well beyond the means of even the most exceptional sage without the benefit of divine guidance” (197). From the final section, Tremper Longman evaluates each preceding essay and concludes that the best question raised by this study in the role of divine revelation within sapiential works and calls for a furthering of this scholarly question.
There is much that is commendable in this volume, but it truly shines in its exploration of methodology. For those new to considerations of intertextuality and its application, Meek’s essay is an excellent primer that highlights the significant developments in the field over the past seventy years. His ample references to other works will enable readers to identify and engage with many critical volumes in this field. Similarly, Kynes and Dell’s essays, both of which probe the problem of genre classification and the depth of intertextuality as a discipline, are tremendous essays that call future scholars toward a more careful and nuanced approach to this topic. Kynes particularly, drawing on the prior work of James Crenshaw, calls scholars to avoid modern and anachronistic categories in genre but instead to engage with categories as the ancient Israelite would have understood them. The middle of the book, while not up to the stellar bar set by the book’s opening and concluding sections, still has several excellent essays. In one of the better entries, Eric Ortlund explores the use and subversion of wisdom themes in Isaiah. Ortlund demonstrates that the prophet skillfully highlights the necessity for wisdom to be tied to YHWH and that separated from Him wisdom becomes merely a part of the spiritual blindness within the people. This view of wisdom, as either moral or immoral depending on its source, concords with what many of the other essays also conclude.
One persistent difficulty facing this work is that the breadth of disciplines it seeks to engage necessarily limits the depth to which it can engage any discipline. This can be seen by a lack of critical discussion on the distinction between diachronic (“author-oriented”) and synchronic (“reader-oriented”) intertextuality. Lacking such a section, which could have nicely prefaced the work, the reader is left unaware of the deeper questions and possibilities in intertextual study. Additionally, the problems related to category or genre definition, viz. the issues raised by Kynes, are present throughout and are not always adequately addressed by specific essays. The problem of category in another sense can be seen in the inclusion of Andrew Steinmann’s essay on Daniel as a prophetic book, a classification that is not without some historical problems. Such issues though do not materially restrict the value of this volume, rather they sound a clarion call for further and fuller work to be done here.
Overall, this work accomplishes its purpose in calling a new generation of scholarship to consider and explore critical questions on intertextuality between sage and prophet. These essays advance the question of textual influence between wisdom and prophecy as presented from the texts while keeping the biblical text front and center throughout. A rich diversity of opinion is carefully captured by the editors, and the breadth of collegial discussion within is to be commended. Those interested in wisdom literature, prophetic literature, intertextuality, or all of the above, should benefit from the robust and clear scholarship found in this volume.
|
https://jbtsonline.org/review-of-riddles-and-revelations-explorations-into-the-relationship-between-wisdom-and-prophecy-in-the-hebrew-bible-edited-by-boda-meek-and-osborne/
|
Use this HTML code to display a screenshot with the words "Click to Run".
|
|
About
Topics
- Quantum Mechanics
- Photons
- Electrons
- Atoms
- Particles
- Waves
Description
When do photons, electrons, and atoms behave like particles and when do they behave like waves? Watch waves spread out and interfere as they pass through a double slit, then get detected on a screen as tiny dots. Use quantum detectors to explore how measurements change the waves and the patterns they produce on the screen.
Sample Learning Goals
- Visualize a photon, electron, neutron, or helium atom as a wave packet that collapses upon detection.
- Visualize what happens to the wave between slit and screen.
- Justify how the double slit experiment explains that matter and light behave as waves.
- Describe the behavior of a wave function in the presence of a detector, and explain how putting a detector over a slit destroys the interference pattern. Determine how the interference pattern will change if you change the mass, speed, or wavelength.
- Recognize large range of size scales involved in quantum interference experiments.
- Recognize that two coherent light sources can interfere, but only if they have the same wavelength.
|
https://demo-clix.tiss.edu/phet/en/simulation/legacy/quantum-wave-interference.html
|
I understand the nature of light can be complex and has extensive theories/experimental data. We hear light can be both a wave and particle, so why can't it be both, a wave of particles?
-
5$\begingroup$ What is a wave of particles? Do you mean a wave composed of particles? $\endgroup$ – jinawee Mar 18 '14 at 18:03
-
$\begingroup$ cue mariachi music $\endgroup$ – Milo Mar 19 '14 at 0:51
-
1$\begingroup$ I think the reason we can't have a "wave of particles", whatever that means, is because there's no experimental data supporting that interpretation. $\endgroup$ – nitro2k01 Mar 19 '14 at 4:40
-
1$\begingroup$ I think there is a bit of a misunderstanding of the concept on your side. It is not both wave and particle or sometimes particle, sometimes wave. It is just what it is all the time. This wave-particle interpretation is merely a model which makes our understanding more clear, since it is expressed in terms known to us. We say it sometimes behaves like particle, sometimes like wave, but actually all the time it just behaves like itself and it is described by some complex equation, which sometimes can be approximated by a simple particle or a wave. $\endgroup$ – sashkello Mar 19 '14 at 5:30
The problem is that light is not a wave and it's not a particle. Light is a quantum field, or at least that's our current best description of it.
Quantum fields can behave in ways that appear to be wave like, and they can also behave in ways that appear to be particle like, and this the origin of the claim that light is both a wave and a particle. It's more accurate to say that light can behave like both a wave and a particle.
Anyhow, as far as I know quantum fields can't behave like a wave and like a particle at the same time. Generally speaking they behave like waves when propagating and like particles when exchanging energy. So we can't have a wave of particles or a particle of waves. It's one or the other.
Incidentally, this applies to all particles and not just light.
-
$\begingroup$ Isn't specular reflection a nice case that's explained by both light-as-a-particle and light-as-a-wave? Also, the "it's not either" nature seems to me to be neatly illustrated by diffraction mirrors and similar technology; if it were a particle, it should have a randomness in the angle of reflection (did the particle hit the ridge or the valley?). And really, the same would apply for a wave, wouldn't it? The fact that you can shine a laser (or send an atom) and have it reflect at a given angle IMO isn't explained be neither the particle nor the wave approximation. Or am I missing something? $\endgroup$ – Luaan Mar 19 '14 at 10:37
-
$\begingroup$ @Luaan: A particle explanation of specular reflection strikes me as hard. After all, a surface is lumpy because it's made up of a collection of electrons and nuclei, and it's not obvious why light particles interacting with all those other particles would give rise to specular reflection. With a wave model specular reflection is easy to explain. I'm not sure what you're asking about diffraction mirrors. Maybe it's worth asking as a separate question? $\endgroup$ – John Rennie Mar 19 '14 at 10:46
-
$\begingroup$ I was thinking about specular reflection in metals. Doesn't the "electron cloud" produce a relatively flat surface (compared to the "size" of the "particles" involved)? I'll see if I can form a good question out of the diffraction mirrors / gratings thing :) $\endgroup$ – Luaan Mar 19 '14 at 10:58
-
$\begingroup$ compared to the "size" of the "particles" involved - and what would the size of the photon be? $\endgroup$ – John Rennie Mar 19 '14 at 13:54
-
$\begingroup$ Well, that's part of the issue of photons as particles, isn't it? In the context, I'd say a reasonable definition of that might be the size of a slit that no longer produces a (significant) diffraction pattern for a particular photon wave-length. The fact that photons aren't little balls does make this a bit complicated, but this sounds reasonable to me if you subscribe to the particle definition - in a way, it's the diameter, at which the photon no longer seems to throw away particle-like characteristics in favour of wave-like ones. Now, what is the wave-length of the metallic surface? :D $\endgroup$ – Luaan Mar 19 '14 at 14:24
In the non-quantum sense, most waves we experience in the everyday world are waves of particles. Ocean waves and sound waves are the transmission of energy through a bunch of particles/the medium
If the wave function was a wave of particles, then you wouldn't get an interference pattern if you did a double slit experiment with one particle at a time going through the apparatus. But there are many experiments in which an interference pattern is observed when particles are sent through double slits one at a time.
The only satisfactory explanation of single particle interference that I am aware of is the many worlds interpretation of quantum mechanics as described by David Deutsch, see Chapter 2 of his book "The Fabric of Reality".
IT seems that wave phenomena (properties) can possibly be applied to atoms, and then molecules - ie. a bunch of particles (properties) in coherent form, here:
The quantum superchemistry of the out-coupled hybrid matter waves is studied by using the powerful tool of positive-P representation in quantum optics. We identify the stimulated effects of the molecular output step and atomic revivals by steering the rf output couplings. The coherent conversion of atoms to molecules is robust, with the noise-induced molecular damping occurring near the total conversion. If these effects are typical, then the quantum superchemistry in an atom laser can be tunable and potentially useful for, e.g., making a continuous molecule laser.
Also here: An article (not copy/pastable) regarding interferometry of molecules -only 9 pages, worth a read.
I think you need to read de broglies Noble lecture:
I thus arrived at the following overall concept which guided my studies: for both matter and radiations, light in particular, it is necessary to introduce the corpuscle concept and the wave concept at the same time. In other words the existence of corpuscles accompanied by waves has to be assumed in all cases. However, since corpuscles and waves cannot be independent because, according to Bohr’s expression, they constitute two complementary forces of reality, it must be possible to establish a certain parallelism between the motion of a corpuscle and the propagation of the associated wave. The first objective to achieve had, therefore, to be to establish this correspondence.
From this I believe you are right in saying that at the same time, each photon is accompained by waves.
-
$\begingroup$ That was in 1929, quantum mechanics has evolved since then. $\endgroup$ – jinawee Mar 18 '14 at 17:47
-
$\begingroup$ I will be happy to know, if any article source is provided which proves this to be false i.e photons are associated with waves. $\endgroup$ – Immortal Player Mar 18 '14 at 17:51
-
1$\begingroup$ See this question: physics.stackexchange.com/questions/103196/…. The "wave" associated to matter is not a wave in the classical sense. And there are other formulations which don't use the concept of wave at all. $\endgroup$ – jinawee Mar 18 '14 at 18:01
-
$\begingroup$ Would you like to say de broglies hypothesis has been proved false? $\endgroup$ – Immortal Player Mar 18 '14 at 18:04
-
1$\begingroup$ You could say it has been reformulated. $\endgroup$ – jinawee Mar 18 '14 at 18:05
Light is neither particle nor wave. It's something different we haven't fully understood. When we try to find behavior of light assuming it's particle, light says affirmative. When we try to find behavior of light assuming it's wave, light says affirmative again. Means, light is behaving like particle and wave at the same time.
But, here your problem starts: Why can't we accept from behavior that light is both? Ok, natures of particle and wave are different, but why can't it be a wave of particles?
Answer:
A wave of particles is disturbance in the medium. When you fire sound waves, you actually fire disturbance not air molecules. So, if light is reaching a dark place from a distance, it'd be dumb to assume Photons are already there. And, if there aren't any Photons already, a Wave of Photon isn't possible.
Even if you fire one Photon, it'd spread out like wave (which you shouldn't accept with one particle) and make interference patterns with other one Photon.
A simple question about light is, "where is it?"
The wave model says that there's no single precise answer. It's spread out.
The particle model says that each photon has a place in space.
A model that assumes both at the same time doesn't have a good answer to this.
|
https://physics.stackexchange.com/questions/104037/why-cant-we-have-a-wave-of-particles?noredirect=1
|
Fiona Burnell is a condensed matter theorist who studies exotic phases of matter. These are materials which do not display long-ranged order at low temperatures (which is typical of low-temperature behaviour in many materials, such as magnets), but are also not ordinary metals. One of the most bizarre examples of an exotic phase is a fractionalized system, where there appear to be particles that carry a fraction of the charge of the electron. “This seems very surprising because we know that you can’t subdivide an electron,” Burnell explains.
Fractionalization is an example of a collective phenomenon where the whole can behave differently than the sum of its parts. Burnell explains that if you want to understand waves in the ocean, the best approach is not to study the motion of the individual water molecules, but to consider the behaviour of the fluid as a whole. Similarly when you zoom in closely on a fractionalized system, you’ll see only the electrons from which it is made. As you zoom out, though, you’ll see the collective behavior that makes it look like you have particles carrying (say) a third of a charge of the electron.
One potential application of fractionalized phases is quantum computing. In a quantum computer, information is stored and manipulated in a quantum system. For example, imagine using the presence or absence of an electron in a nano-scale "box” to represent one of the bits in a hard drive (either a one or a zero). Quantum mechanics tells us that the electron can be simultaneously in the box and not in the box. This strange fact allows information to be manipulated in ways that are not possible on conventional hard drives, making certain problems that are difficult using conventional computers much easier. One big challenge with quantum computing is ensuring that the information captured in these quantum bits is not lost over time: a single electron interacts with the outside world, so that typically your quantum bit will quickly change its state randomly between 0 and 1. One of the exciting things about the fractionalized systems that Burnell studies is that they encode information in a non-local way, meaning that it is stored in the pattern of correlations of all of the constituent particles of the system, rather than in a particular particle at a fixed location in space. This opens the possibility of more robust ways to store and process quantum information.
One device that Burnell has studied which could be promising for quantum information involves tiny “topological superconducting” wires. In these systems the state of the bit --whether it is counted as a one or a zero--is distributed between the two ends of the wire. The hope is that physicists will be able to change the bit by using a series of manipulations involving other wires. “We are a long way from that right now,” she says. “The current challenge is to determine whether the systems that are being built in the lab are actually storing electrons in the way that theorists have predicted.” Burnell’s proposal suggests a way to test such devices to see if they behave in a way that is useful for computation.
|
http://www.physics.umn.edu/about/news/spotlight/7581/Exotic_Phases_of_Matter.html?year=2018
|
I have seen many questions on SE on the dual nature of electrons behaving in certain circumstances as particles and as waves in some other circumstance. There is one thing I couldn't get a clear answer on.
When making double slit experiment, we all agree that the electrons behave as waves. The same is true in atoms, where electron levels are described by Schrödinger equation. However, if we speak about a field like plasma physics (my field of work) and maybe beam physics, electrons are treated classically as particles with applying Newton's equation to describe their motion. The models built on particle treatment of electrons show an excellent agreement with experimental results.
From experimental results and testing, we know that electrons behave like waves (in double slit experiment) or as particles (gas discharge models). My question is, is experimenting the only way to decide which model (wave/particle) describes electrons better in particular circumstances? Isn't there any theoretical frame that decides whether electrons will behave as particles or wave in particular circumstance??
|
https://physics.stackexchange.com/questions/79123/how-to-tell-theoretically-whether-an-electron-behaves-as-wave-or-particle
|
NASA’s Juno spacecraft went into Jupiter’s massive magnetic field on June 24, 2016 and recorded the experience. Scientists converted the radio waves into sound waves. Listen to NASA’s “Sounds of Space” with lightning on Jupiter and starlight percussion heard on a galactic journey through space. The plasma waves sound similar to ocean waves crashing on our planet’s shores. Other particles hitting the instruments sound like strange crackles, whorls and snarls.
Saturn seems to produce the most sound of any planet in our solar system, most likely caused by its massive rings and many moons. As these planetary objects float in their repeating pattern, their gravitational pulls create rhythms that can then be converted into musical harmony.
‘Wherever there is resonance there is music, and no other place in the solar system is more packed with resonances than Saturn,’ said astrophysicist Matt Russo, a postdoctoral researcher at the CITA in the Faculty of Arts and Science at U of T.
NASA’s SoundCloud playlist also includes sounds of Saturn’s moons and rings that astrophysicists converted into music. Before the Cassini probe observing Saturn crashed into the gaseous planet, completing it’s 7-year mission, it also discovered some new faint rings of Saturn that added to the unusual sounds emanating from the planet. For some reason, NASA was expecting the gap between the rings and the planet would have lots of dust and debris but, to their surprise, Cassini only encountered a few particles as it crossed the gap and nothing larger than what we find in smoke (about 1 micron across).
In honor to the historic Cassini mission, Canadian Institute for Theoretical Astrophysics (CITA) researchers composed two pieces of music based on Saturn’s moons and rings.
|
https://www.beyondsciencetv.com/2017/11/13/the-spooky-sounds-of-space-nasa-releases-compilation-of-eerie-noises-converted-from-the-radio-emissions-of-planets-and-stars/
|
How a nanoparticle behaves in the body is determined by the properties of the substance it consists of. The size of the particles is of secondary importance. If a biological effect is present, it can often be weakened by a technique known as functionalization. These are results of the NanoGEM (Nanostructured materials – Health, Exposure and Material Properties) project initiated by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) and involving 19 research institutions and companies, which have been working together for three years. Research topics included the absorption and distribution of nanoparticles in the human body depending on their size, structure and surface properties. The project, on which the BMBF and industry have jointly spent about €6.5 million, was led by the Institute of Energy and Environmental Technology (IUTA) in Duisburg, Germany.
Altogether 16 different materials were examined by the researchers over the last few years, among other things to find out what happens to different nanoparticles when they are inhaled or ingested and how they behave inside the body. Test substances were silicon dioxide (SiO2) and zirconium dioxide (ZrO2), which are applied, for example, in paints to increase their scratch resistance, as well as silver particles (Ag) used in printing inks for solar technology. For the first time, not only the pure particles but also the functionalized particles were tested. In the latter, organic molecules are bound to the surface of the particles to improve properties such as processability, solubility or stability of the products.
The result: “The main factors that determine whether there is a toxic effect are the actual material properties, in this case of silicon dioxide, silver or zirconium dioxide,” explained Dr. Wendel Wohlleben, who headed BASF’ s activities. The company has contributed to the manufacturing and characterization of the nanomaterials, analyzing the lifecycle and toxicity, as well as to the risk assessment. A toxic effect that was the same for all nanomaterials and triggered alone by the small size could not be verified emphasized Wohlleben. “One important result of the study is that an existing toxic effect can be reduced through functionalizing the nanoparticles by adding a functional group of the kind present in the finished product,” he added. This is because potential reactions on the particle surface are shielded by the functional groups. Moreover, some particles are eliminated again from the body more easily.
These findings will also help researchers in risk assessments of other nanomaterials. “If this result is confirmed in further studies, in future we would no longer have to examine all differently functionalized particles of a material to conduct a safety assessment, but could organize the materials into groups,” said Wohlleben. ”A reliable risk assessment would then be easier and take less time.” This is a great advantage, especially when studying the effect of nanoparticles that are inhaled.
|
https://www.advancedsciencenews.com/nanogem-group-releases-nanotoxicity-findings/
|
Jasmine is an artist and art psychotherapist who is strongly passionate about mental health and the healing benefits of therapeutic art making. With over 15 years experience working in the arts as a therapeutic practitioner encompassing community, health and education settings, in both adolescent and adult psychiatric environments. Located in Leichhardt, NSW Australia and established in 2020, Jasmine Steven Art Therapy studio aims to provide individual and group art psychotherapy sessions in a nurturing, non-judgmental and therapeutic environment.
Services
Individual art therapy provides a safe, confidential and non-judgmental space to explore and work through one's internal emotions, thoughts and memories. Art making and reflection offers a new way of communication which can assist emotional growth and well-being in a safe therapeutic relationship. No art experience is needed to benefit from art therapy, these sessions are also valuable for those who consider themselves to be doing OK, but want to learn how to feel and function better.
|
https://marketplace.globalsisters.org/promo/featured-sister-jasmine
|
What is the Margaret River Artisans?
The Margaret River Artisans is a network of independent artists/craftworkers and supporting galleries in the Margaret River Region of WA. Our main purpose is to promote the work and interests of artisans producing work here. It is also to provide a sense of community among artisans, and foster an environment of trust and mutual support in building this region as a centre for artistic excellence.
Aims of the Margaret River Artisans Association:
- Identify and promote art and craft produced in the Margaret River region.
- Promote the the Margaret River Region as an arts and crafts centre.
- Encourage excellence in arts and crafts.
- Share experiences for the collective good.
- Lobby government and business on issues relating to arts & crafts.
- Educate the public of the value of arts & working artisans in the community.
Who can become a member?
Anyone with an interest in the arts can be a member however, to become a full member with voting rights, you must satisfy certain requirements.
- You live and work in the Margaret River Region – Cape to Cape,
- The majority of your income is from the sale of your creative work (may need verification),
- You have a current ABN.
This reflects the nature of the association being guided by professional artisans.
|
https://margaretriverartisans.com.au/join-us/
|
Goal of the program:
The Mothers of Multiples Group is a breastfeeding mother-to-mother support group. The group is open to all mothers of multiple children. Mothers are invited to a safe space where they can connect & discuss their challenges and experiences.
Description of Volunteer Role:
• Assist with registration of participants
• Assist with the physical set up of room and any activities.
• Promote play among children
• Assist with cleaning and putting away items after the sessions, including toys, dishes, floors, surfaces.
• Promote safety.
Qualifications:
• Ability to work in a challenging environment
• Demonstrated genuine interest in children
• Good communication skills, ability to speak in English (other languages, such as Somali, French, Spanish, Arabic, Chinese, an asset)
• Caring, patient, non-judgmental, and understanding of children and children’s needs
• Punctual, reliable, and dependable.
• Sensitive to multicultural issues
• Sensitive to issues facing low-income population.
• Ability to maintain confidentiality.
• Ability to obtain an appropriate Police Records Check.
|
http://www.carlington.ochc.org/opportunities/volunteer-information/volunteer-position-mothers-of-multiples-program-assistant/
|
Notes from the Field includes reports from young people volunteering in ministries of Catholic sisters. A partnership with Catholic Volunteer Network, the project began in the summer of 2015. This is our fifth round of bloggers: Katie Delaney is a Good Shepherd Volunteer with the Fundación Madre Josefa (Mother Joseph Foundation) in Santiago, Chile, and Lauren Magee is a Good Shepherd Volunteer at Hands of Hope, an income-generating project that provides dignified employment for villagers living with HIV/AIDS in Nong Khai, Thailand.
"I feel there is nothing more artistic than loving people." —Vincent Van Gogh
Both of my volunteer years have proven to me that I thrive in a work environment that fosters creativity.
Currently, I serve at Hands of Hope, an income-generating project that has produced 599 designs, including cards, notebooks, decorative wall hangings, and earrings, since its founding in 2005. We have a group of 35 producers that handcraft each and every product, and I enjoy when I get to step away from the computer and join them in the production process.
I contributed to our annual design workshop in December and have been challenged to handcraft more than 50 notebooks for a variety of customers. Creativity can be expressed in many different ways, but for me, the tactile nature of our work is therapeutic and allows me the space to think more clearly.
Lauren Magee's example of an activity where patients were prompted to create drawings off of five of their fingerprints. (Lauren Magee)
Before I arrived in Nong Khai, I had heard that one of the sisters led a weekly art therapy session with the patients at the Care and Life Centers. Even though I knew I was going to be surrounded by art at Hands of Hope, I was eager to participate in the sister's lessons and became involved almost immediately after I arrived. As the sister's schedule become more and more overloaded with tasks and meetings, I began to take on more responsibility and facilitate the art sessions myself.
Americans pride themselves on their confidence, individuality and self-identity. Young Americans are often raised to believe that they are special, unique, that they have the ability to make anything happen. I've carried these beliefs with me throughout my life, and I often expect the same of others. Many of the art therapy exercises I was exposed to in the United States centered around self-awareness and building a greater understanding of self, so I prepared my first lesson on just that. I wanted to challenge the patients to define themselves, and the results were surprising.
The prompt was to place five fingerprints on a piece of paper and turn them into five drawings that described you. It seemed simple enough, and I even displayed my own example, but the only response I got was confusion.
I had one of the staff members assist me with my Thai, and slowly but surely, the patients began to pick up their markers and create. Many combined their fingerprints into one drawing of natural scenery, and I asked each of them to explain what they had made.
They said what defined them were the trees, the water, and maybe a small shelter among the fields. Some patients even drew the Care Center to represent that they were a product of their home. I have always strived to maintain my individuality, but the patients simply wanted to belong to the Earth.
In general, decisions in Thai culture are made by a whole community rather than by one individual. People tend to share their personal burdens and successes and take on those of their close family and friends, as well. I was seeing in this activity that it was impossible for some of the patients to think about their existence without the presence of others.
A few weeks later, I focused on goal visualization and instructed them to illustrate their biggest dream with paint. I thought some would dream of wealth or fame, but most painted modest houses set in rice fields. They didn't want luxuries. They just wanted their own land and the freedom to maintain it.
In our Western consumer-driven culture, we are constantly striving for more. If your happiness is reliant on materialistic success, you may live life forever disappointed. However, if you are content with just the necessities, every day brings happiness.
A variety of hand-decorated krathong during the Loi Krathong celebration for the Garden community (Lauren Magee)
Although our dreams differ, we were all joined in an activity in another art therapy session that called us to write or visibly represent our burdens on rocks so we could then throw them into the small lake on our property. I was inspired by the Loi Krathong festival, which is celebrated every November. People purchase or make decorative krathong out of banana leaves and flowers to send into the river to both purify themselves and express their gratitude toward nature.
I didn't ask the patients to share their burdens, and I didn't share my own, but we all supported each other mentally and physically as we made the short walk to the lake and rid ourselves of the rocks — the burdens — that had been weighing us down.
It can be difficult to ask for help carrying our burdens because we don't want to weigh anyone down or prevent them from managing their own burdens. Additionally, we can feel restricted by our burdens to the point where we don't realize the strength we are capable of.
In another art therapy exercise, we outlined both of our hands on a piece of paper. The first represented the ways we could help others, and the second, ways others could help us. My goal was to empower the patients who felt weak and encourage them to contribute in small ways. We discussed that helping others could be done with a smile or a compliment. Actions don't have to be grand to make a difference.
This activity also allowed us to share what we needed from our community. I requested patience, especially in conversation, because I would get easily flustered when trying to both speak and understand Thai.
In order to represent the each patient's individuality, Lauren Magee has them write their names and decorate them in their own artistic style. (Lauren Magee)
Art therapy has become my favorite way to bond with the patients because we can connect without the pressures of language. I hear them in a new way when they speak through their art, and it allows me to see nuances in their personalities that would otherwise go unnoticed. It's a time for us to connect through our shared experience and to broaden our understanding of our differences. We aren't creating artistic perfection. We are creating a relationship, which is a masterpiece in itself.
|
http://www.buonpastoreint.org/en/news/art-therapy-we-bond-without-pressures-language
|
Research has shown that the most important factor in predicting success in psychotherapy is the quality of the relationship between the therapist and the client. When I enter the room with my client, it is with a healing intent. By being genuine, observing closely, listening attentively, and reflecting the feelings underneath the words, I create a safe environment for my client to express their deepest feelings and thoughts. My client and I work together to “make sense” of how their relational histories and life experiences have organized their sense of themselves and their view of the world. This “making sense together” may result in my client being able to better “hold their own” in all their relationships, tolerate and manage their unpleasant feelings, and become more resilient, less easily injured, and calmer in the face of adversity.
How I Work With Couples
My role as a couple’s therapist is to create a safe environment where I can help my clients acquire the tools they need to clarify what they need and want from each other, including whether to stay together or to separate. I was trained in Imago therapy, the goal of which is to move from an “unconscious” relationship, characterized by “power struggles” to a “conscious” relationship. The tools of Imago Therapy allow couples to have greater empathy and compassion for each other, and to communicate with each other in a way that is respectful and, if the decision is made to stay together, intimacy promoting. I have also completed Level 3 Training in Gottman Method Couples Therapy and use its method in my work. If a couple has decided that they want to separate, I help them to do so in the healthiest way possible.
How I Work With Families
I work with families using concepts and techniques from Multi-Generational and Structural Family Therapy. During initial sessions, I ask each family member to describe their view of the issues that have brought them into Family Therapy. In subsequent sessions we might look at relational patterns in previous generations to identify how they might be influencing current relationships. I teach family members communication skills to help them communicate effectively during the sessions, and hopefully at home. Throughout therapy I observe the relational patterns among the family members, share my observations and suggest modifications to behaviors that are creating problems. Finally, I may work with different subsystems of the family, e.g., parents or siblings, to reinforce changes in dynamics that may be necessary to promote healthier functioning in the entire family.
|
https://vgoldfarb-jd-lmft.com/psychotherapy
|
Are you having a difficult time handling the struggles in your life?
Could you use a non-judgemental ear to listen, somebody who really understands what you’re going through?
Do you wish you had more of a sense of community in your life, instead of feeling alone?
If you answered “yes” to any of these questions, then group therapy could be the solution you’ve been seeking. Group therapy differs from individual therapy by holding therapeutic sessions in a group setting run by a therapist. In these group sessions, patients share their thoughts and experiences with the whole group, allowing them to support one another while being supported by a group of people who understand what you’re going through.
Group therapy’s effectiveness lies in its ability to help you find connections with other people and their experiences. These therapist-guided sessions will help you learn more about yourself and how to improve the way you feel while feeling support from others who understand your experience.
If you’re looking for help in improving your everyday life – or for a more community-oriented therapy experience – you would be a great fit for our group therapy services. Please reach out to us today for an assessment for group therapy or to schedule your first appointment.
|
https://empowermentcounseling-coaching.com/group-therapy/
|
Project Zazi is the name for our work with young black people and young people of colour and supports them in exploring culture and identity and tackling issues of inequality and oppression.
Just like all projects at OTR some Project Zazi services have moved online temporarily throughout the pandemic and lockdown. Read more about OTR’s availability here.
Zazi means ‘Know Yourself, Know Your Strength’. The project offers a mix of one-to-one support and different kinds of group work (both digital and face-to-face). In all these spaces we aim to provide safe and brave atmospheres where you can explore your identity and culture, try new activities and learn new skills. The aim of Project Zazi is to promote good physical and mental health, healthy relationships and positive lifestyles.
Right now, because of COVID 19, some of our work in school settings and face-to-face may be put on hold until we are assured that safety in that space can be guaranteed. For now though, we are continuing to offer our support on-line and we have a new digital group therapy called “Speakers Corner”, which you can use the pink sign-up button above to access and sign up for. Here is some info:
Speakers Corner
Speaker’s Corner is a safe space for black people and people of colour to discuss identity in a non-judgmental way with the focus being on you and your views. In these virtual sessions we discuss and debate various aspects of culture such as – where do we feel like we belong? How can we feel safe? What does a healthy relationship look like? What are the impacts of expectations from others? How does gender play a role in our identity? Is it okay to forgive? How can we heal?
This group is aimed at young people aged 16-25 and takes place online, on Tuesday evenings. Those who identify as male, female and non-binary are all welcome!
Black Bristol
Black Bristol is an interactive digital exhibition put together by project Zazi and the Black community of Bristol with the aim of creating a narrative that is owned and controlled by the people. It provides an introduction to Black history in the city and acknowledges and celebrates how it has been shaped by the Black community across time. You can view the Black Bristol website here.
OTR Writes
OTR Writes is a five week course focussing on self expression through spoken word and poetry, our next project is being led by Zazi Project Manager Tanya Williams/Muneera Pilgrim. Interested? Check out the OTR Writes page and sign up.
|
https://www.otrbristol.org.uk/what-we-do/zazi/
|
Reporting to the Clinic Manager, the Behavioral Health Clinician will provide behavioral health services to Eleanor Health patients facing complex health and social challenges associated with substance use disorder and opioid use disorder. The Behavioral Health Clinician will drive all psychosocial aspects of the patient’s treatment plan, in close collaboration with the entire care team. The Behavioral Health Clinician is primarily responsible for driving all therapy activities in the clinic, serving as a crisis management resource, and supporting patients in defining and reaching their recovery goals.
Candidate Responsibilities
Conduct behavioral health assessments of all new and re-enrolling patients to determine the appropriate level of care for each patient
Co-manage the treatment of patient psychiatric, psychosocial, physical health-related and behavioral health needs throughout the patient’s treatment journey
Conduct individual therapy sessions with patients
Lead regular group therapy sessions with five to ten patients, focused on specific topics and targeted for specific patient populations
Collaborate with Community Recovery Partners to reinforce behavioral health principles and interventions during navigation sessions
Coordinate with external behavioral health treatment facilities, assisting with referrals to and from higher levels of care when needed
Proactively identify methods to improve Eleanor Health’s program based on feedback from patients, including ideas for new services to offer to certain patient populations
Candidate Qualifications
Fully Licensed LCSW
LCAS preferred
Masters degree in psychology, counseling, social work, family therapy, or related field
Experience providing mental health treatment and substance use treatment to patients with substance use disorder (SUD) and/or opioid use disorder (OUD)
Excellent working knowledge of evidence-based treatments for behavioral health conditions
Highly skilled in behavioral therapy, cognitive behavioral therapy, dialectical behavioral therapy, relapse prevention therapy, contingency management, and motivational interviewing
Experience working with patients with multiple medical and behavioral health diagnoses is preferred, but not required
Strong interpersonal communication skills with exceptional active listening abilities
Highly empathetic, non-judgmental, and open-minded
Experience in a collaborative team environment
Mission driven and motivated to join an organization that will transform the way we deliver accessible, evidence-based, and clinically excellent care in the opioid use disorder space
Located in or willing to relocate to Cary area; able to travel to clinic site on a daily basis
About Eleanor Health
Eleanor Health provides a revolutionary new approach to turn the tide of this epidemic: bringing the first comprehensive, ‘whole person’ care solution to the communities that need it most. Our goal is to help people heal, inside and out, for good. Through a combination of exceptional medical and psychological care, engaged community partnerships, and best in class technology, we provide an unparalleled approach to recovery support that serves individual needs in an integrated way.
Combined with our unique partnerships with payers and providers, Eleanor is able to provide accessible, personalized care at a scale that was previously impossible. This is a rare chance to put a personal stamp on helping to build a business that will impact millions of lives in a profound way, and be a critical partner in re-thinking addiction treatment towards a value-based payment model. You’ll be joining an incredibly passionate, inspiring, supportive, and fun family.
|
https://ssw.unc.edu/job/lcsw-cary-nc-sud-w-eleanor-health/
|
At Flourish Foundation, we have a team of qualified art therapists who deliver art therapy sessions around the world.
Founder & Art Psychotherapist
Missy Regan
I’m the founder and lead art psychotherapist of Flourish Foundation.
Born in New Zealand, I moved to the UK to study fashion design at Central Saint Martins in 2008. After graduating, I was working in fashion design in London at the time major earthquakes happened in my hometown in New Zealand. I remember I was on my way to work unable to contact family and friends to see if they were safe. When I arrived at work that day, there was a huge fuss made over a zip not matching the colour of a dress for a celebrity. It was at this moment I walked out and reassessed my purpose in life.
Art therapy had always fascinated me, so I decided to put my creative talents to use in a more meaningful way and began studying an MA in Art Psychotherapy at Roehampton University.
During my studies I formed Flourish Foundation, to provide therapy in areas of the world for people that would not be able to access mental health support services, which is where it is often needed the most.
For me it’s an honour to meet such incredible, resilient people and to witness such positive changes after everything they have been through.
Art Psychotherapist
Eva
I am a qualified art psychotherapist (BAAT and HCPC registered) specialising in mental health and trauma care.
With a background in philosophy, I’m able to provide the opportunity to explore and work with an existential approach. I have worked in a variety of different contexts across Scotland and Greece including a low secure psychiatric clinic, an organisation for children most acutely affected by adverse circumstances due to drug and alcohol abuse within their home environment, a day centre offering support to young Syrian refugees and a palliative care project.
In providing art psychotherapy across these different settings, I have come to recognise the importance of fostering compassion and hope to help individuals express and explore their thoughts and feelings in a safe and non-judgmental environment. Creating art, I feel that it is a great means of expression when words fail to portray emotions
Art Psychotherapist
Athina
I am an art psychotherapist (EAP registered) and I have also studied Theatre specialising in stage design.
I have worked for many years with children and adolescents providing art and theatre workshops. During my clinical practice I worked with a variety of people, such as psychiatric patients, patients with personality disorders, elderly people, patients with multiple sclerosis, inmates with drug abuse issues and more.
I have also worked in a shelter hosting women and children refugees and in a shelter for unaccompanied minors. I have a keen interest in the intercultural facet of art psychotherapy and its application to people with multicultural backgrounds. I believe that art offers unlimited possibilities. Based on my experience, I consider that art can help people to express thoughts and feelings that they are unable to express using words. It also helps them to detect their strengths and feel safe.
Past team members
Lead Art therapist
Katie
Katie is an artist and registered art psychotherapist who has directed her art making towards collaborative projects and participatory art workshops. Katie has worked as a community artist with hard to reach youth in London, Brighton, and Latin America. In her final year of training as an art psychotherapist, she spent her time between London and Calais facilitating art workshops for children and unaccompanied young people in the ‘Jungle’ refugee camp in Calais and those seeking asylum in the UK. Katie is fascinated by the potential of art to transcend the confines of language. Her personal and professional experience has shown her that through art, people can escape isolation and find that others can relate to their experience of the world.
Lead Art therapist
Emily
Emily is a registered Art Psychotherapist specialising in working with people who have been displaced. She has extensive experience of facilitating art therapy informed psychosocial groups with children, young people and adults. She is interested in empowering the individual to acknowledge their resilience and abilities by using art making alongside an Art Therapist in a safe and culturally respectful way. She is also an author and visiting lecturer on the foundation art therapy course at Roehampton University.
Volunteer Art Therapist
Charlie
Having trained as a textile designer, most of my professional life has been spent as the owner and designer of a fashion label. I was based in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, which I loved. After 7 years I wanted to do something different, all I knew was that I wanted to work with children. I returned to the UK and through various jobs teaching art and textiles in different schools and charities across London, I discovered Art Therapy and immediately knew that was for me. I then trained at Roehampton in art psychotherapy, MA. Using creativity as a way to support and communicate with the most vulnerable, in a safe and non judgmental way, made and continues to make totally sense to me. It is the language that children speak, where ever they come from. I am incredibly lucky to love and be humbled by what I do.
|
https://flourish-foundation.org/meet-the-team/
|
- Does the iPad Night Shift mode reduce melatonin suppression?
- Sunset time affects when people want to sleep (observational meta-analysis, 36k)
Aromatherapy
- Effect of Inhaled Lavender and Sleep Hygiene on Self-Reported Sleep Issues: A Randomized Controlled Trial
- An olfactory stimulus modifies nighttime sleep in young men and women
Air quality
Nutrition
Physical activity
Genes
- Screening of clock gene polymorphisms demonstrates association of a PER3 polymorphism with morningness-eveningness preference and circadian rhythm sleep disorder.
Thermoregulation
- Effects of feet warming using bed socks on sleep quality and thermoregulatory responses in a cool environment
- Sleep and thermoregulation
- Warm feet promote the rapid onset of sleep
- Skin temperature and sleep-onset latency: changes with age and insomnia.
- Before-bedtime passive body heating by warm shower or bath to improve sleep: A systematic review and meta-analysis.
- A shower before bedtime may improve the sleep onset latency of youth soccer players.
- Bathing before sleep in the young and in the elderly
- Functional link between distal vasodilation and sleep-onset latency?
Big analyzes of various factors
- The Role of Sleep Hygiene in Promoting Public Health: A Review of Empirical Evidence
- Can Slow-Wave Sleep Enhancement Improve Memory? A Review of Current Approaches and Cognitive Outcomes
The importance of sleep quality, not just quantity
- Sleep quality versus sleep quantity: relationships between sleep and measures of health, well-being and sleepiness in college students.
- Is Sleep Quality More Important than Sleep Duration for Public Health?
Other:
- The Pittsburgh sleep quality index: A new instrument for psychiatric practice and research https://www.opapc.com/uploads/documents/PSQI.pdf
- Evaluating the Validity of Current Mainstream Wearable Devices in Fitness Tracking Under Various Physical Activities: Comparative Study
- The effect of sleep on the risk of viral diseases. RCTs with huge CI
- Melatonin and pancreatic islets: interrelationships between melatonin, insulin and glucagon.
- Increased Risk of Upper Respiratory Infection in Military Recruits Who Report Sleeping Less Than 6 h per night.
- Climate change and sleep: A systematic review of the literature and conceptual framework
- Functional link between distal vasodilation and sleep-onset latency?
- Sleep deprivation and neurobehavioral dynamics.
- Cumulative sleepiness, mood disturbance, and psychomotor vigilance performance decrements during a week of sleep restricted to 4-5 hours per night.
- The benefits of a nap during prolonged work and wakefulness
- Sleep loss causes social withdrawal and loneliness
- The future of sleep health: a data-driven revolution in sleep science and medicine
- The relationship between subjective sleep quality and cognitive performance in healthy young adults: Evidence from three empirical studies
- Short sleep is associated with higher prevalence and increased predicted risk of cardiovascular diseases in an Iranian population: Fasa PERSIAN Cohort Study
- The association between alcohol consumption and sleep disorders among older people in the general population
- Effects of Catecholamine Depletion on Alertness and Mood in Rested and Sleep Deprived Normal Volunteers
- J-curve relation between daytime nap duration and type 2 diabetes or metabolic syndrome: A dose-response meta-analysis
- Health, happiness, and a good night's sleep
- The Relationships between Life Satisfaction and Sleep Quality, Sleep Duration and Variability of Sleep in University Students
- Nighttime temperature and human sleep loss in a changing climate
- Effects of Relaxing Music on Healthy Sleep
- Genetic analysis of sleep
- Interactions between sleep, stress, and metabolism: From physiological to pathological conditions
- Positive upshots of cortisol in everyday life
- Sleep loss results in an elevation of cortisol levels the next evening.
- The Role of Cortisol in Sleep
- Небольшой исследование: связь сна и размера тестикул
- The effect of mindfulness meditation on sleep quality: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.
- Meditation and Its Regulatory Role on Sleep
- Clinical effects of mindfulness meditation and cognitive behavioral therapy standardized for insomnia
- Heartfulness meditation improves sleep in chronic insomnia
- Mindfulness Meditation and Improvement in Sleep Quality and Daytime Impairment Among Older Adults With Sleep Disturbances
- Mindfulness meditation for insomnia: A meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials
- Chronic Sleep Disruption Alters Gut Microbiota, Induces Systemic and Adipose Tissue Inflammation and Insulin Resistance in Mice
- Deep sleep maintains learning efficiency of the human brain
- Sleep modulates haematopoiesis and protects against atherosclerosis
- New perspectives on the role of melatonin in human sleep, circadian rhythms and their regulation
- Sleep and immune function
- A single night of partial sleep deprivation induces insulin resistance in multiple metabolic pathways in healthy subjects.
- Growth hormone secretion during sleep
- Association between objectively-measured physical activity and sleep, NHANES 2005–2006
- Melatonin in patients with reduced REM sleep duration: two randomized controlled trials.
- Melatonin and S-20098 increase REM sleep and wake-up propensity without modifying NREM sleep homeostasis.
- Sleep timing is more important than sleep length or quality for medical school performance
- Early versus late bedtimes phase shift the human dim light melatonin rhythm despite a fixed morning light on time
- Short sleep and late bedtimes are detrimental to educational learning and knowledge transfer: An investigation of individual differences in susceptibility.
- The Effects of Bedtime and Sleep Duration on Academic and Emotional Outcomes in a Nationally Representative Sample of Adolescents
- Physical exercise at night blunts the nocturnal increase of plasma melatonin levels in healthy humans.
- Exercise can improve sleep quality: a systematic review and meta-analysis
- Sleep onset is disrupted following pre-sleep exercise that causes large physiological excitement at bedtime
- Exercise training improves sleep quality in middle-aged and older adults with sleep problems: a systematic review.
- Effects of Evening Exercise on Sleep in Healthy Participants: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis
- The effect of physical activity on sleep quality
- Regulation and Functional Correlates of Slow Wave Sleep
- The potential therapeutic effect of melatonin in gastro-esophageal reflux disease
- Melatonin: Buffering the Immune System
- Melatonin, immune function and aging
- Pharmacological interventions for sleepiness and sleep disturbances caused by shift work.
- Melatonin for the promotion of sleep in adults in the intensive care unit
- Meta-Analysis: Melatonin for the Treatment of Primary Sleep Disorders
- How does diurnal intermittent fasting impact sleep, daytime sleepiness, and markers of the biological clock? Current insights
- Associations between chronotype, morbidity and mortality in the UK Biobank cohort
- Associations of Chronotype and Sleep With Cardiovascular Diseases and Type 2 Diabetes
- Свежий документ от ВОЗ. Является ли ночная работа канцерогеном
- Exposure to Room Light before Bedtime Suppresses Melatonin Onset and Shortens Melatonin Duration in Humans
- Melatonin the "light of night" in human biology and adolescent idiopathic scoliosis
- Metabolic Consequences in Humans of Prolonged Sleep Restriction Combined with Circadian Disruption
- Resetting the late timing of ‘night owls’ has a positive impact on mental health and performance
- Serum melatonin levels and antioxidant capacities after consumption of pineapple, orange, or banana by healthy male volunteers.
- Time for Food: The Intimate Interplay between Nutrition, Metabolism, and the Circadian Clock
- Short Sleep Duration Is Associated with Reduced Leptin, Elevated Ghrelin, and Increased Body Mass Index
- Meta-Analysis of Short Sleep Duration and Obesity in Children and Adults
- Does poor sleep quality affect skin aging?
- Effects of environmental noise on sleep
- The Effect of Room Acoustics on the Sleep Quality of Healthy Sleepers
- Effect of White Noise on Sleep in Patients Admitted to a Coronary Care
- White noise and sleep induction.
- Environmental noise and sleep disturbances: A threat to health?
- Effects of earplugs and eye masks on nocturnal sleep, melatonin and cortisol in a simulated intensive care unit environment
- Electronic device use in bed reduces sleep duration and quality in adults
- A meta-analysis of the effect of media devices on sleep outcomes
- Heart rate variability predicts sleep efficiency
- Children’s Sleep and Autonomic Function: Low Sleep Quality Has an Impact on Heart Rate Variability
- A Sleep Analysis Method Based on Heart Rate Variability
- Measures of Sleep and Cardiac Functioning During Sleep Using a Multi-Sensory Commercially–Available Wristband in Adolescents
- Changes in respiration, heart rate, and systolic blood pressure in human sleep
- Failure to de-arouse during sleep-onset transitions in the heart rates of individuals with sleep-onset insomnia
- Reading from an iPad or from a book in bed: the impact on human sleep. A randomized controlled crossover trial.
- Consolidation during sleep of perceptual learning of spoken language
- Cardiac activity during sleep onset
- Associations between sleep loss and increased risk of obesity and diabetes
- Effects of poor and short sleep on glucose metabolism and obesity risk
- High-glycemic-index carbohydrate meals shorten sleep onset
- Relationship between Food Intake and Sleep Pattern in Healthy IndividualsShort Sleep Duration Is Associated with Reduced Leptin, Elevated Ghrelin, and Increased Body Mass Index
- Relationship between Food Intake and Sleep Pattern in Healthy Individuals
- Effect of kiwifruit consumption on sleep quality in adults with sleep problems.
- Isocaloric diet changes and electroencephalographic sleep.
- Effects of Diet on Sleep Quality
- Effects of Diet on Sleep Quality1,2
- Diet promotes sleep duration and quality
- The Influence of Diet on Sleep
- Does Cigarette Smoking Increase Sleep Problems?
- Sleep disturbances associated with cigarette smoking
- Effect of night smoking, sleep disturbance, and their co-occurrence on smoking outcomes.
- How smoking affects sleep: A polysomnographical analysis
- Alcohol and Sleep I: Effects on Normal Sleep
- The within-person association between alcohol use and sleep duration and quality in situ: An experience sampling study
- Circadian rhythms, alcohol and gut interactions
- Evening alcohol suppresses salivary melatonin in young adults.
|
https://teletype.in/@artyom_zhuravlev/egAnqhnYs
|
Using mindfulness to promote positive emotion
Wu, Pi Yu Jasper
Share :
URI:
https://hdl.handle.net/10133/3062
Date:
2009
Keywords :
Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy
;
Emotions -- Health aspects
;
Meditation
;
Meditation -- Therapeutic use
Supervisor(s) :
Hammond-Meiers, Jo Ann
Abstract:
This paper highlights the research literature on emotion, mindfulness, and the related brain sciences, as well as presents a client booklet based on research findings. One function of emotions is that they serve to solve problems. Negative and positive emotions are valuable in some contexts. Emotional modulation and dysfunctional regulation strategies are part of everyday life. Evidence suggests an association between positive emotion on the one hand and physical health and psychological well-being on the other. Interventions based on mindfulness training and designed to promote positive emotions have burgeoned in recent years. Mindfulness is an intentional way of orienting oneself to current experiences in the present moment with an attitude of nonjudgment and acceptance. The benefits of mindfulness are closely linked to the following mechanisms: exposure, cognitive and behavioural change, self-regulation, relaxation, and acceptance. This paper highlights three types of mindfulness—sitting meditation, walking meditation, and mindfulness in everyday life—and their application in psychotherapy. Scientific findings are presented about how brain activities associated with positive and negative emotions differ. Research on the effects of mindfulness on the brain is critiqued. Despite the abundance of studies on the effectiveness of mindfulness practice, methodological rigour needs to be the next focus for the research. Guidelines for teaching mindfulness in counselling settings are discussed. Finally, a psychoeducational booklet is provided in order that professionals can offer material to clients interested in using mindfulness to promote positive emotion.
Description:
x, 106 leaves : ill. ; 29 cm
Show full item record
Files in this item
Name:
wu, jasper.pdf
Size:
439.1Kb
Format:
|
https://opus.uleth.ca/handle/10133/3062
|
Because Nicaraguan Sign Language is only about 35 years old, and still evolving rapidly, the language used by the younger generation is more complex than that used by the older generation. This enables researchers to compare the effects of language ability on other abilities. A recent study found that younger signers (in their 20s) performed better than older signers (in their 30s) on two spatial cognition tasks that involved finding a hidden object. The findings provide more support for the theory that language shapes how we think and perceive.
Latest Research News
|
|
|
|
|
|
Some years ago I wrote an article discussing the fact that the so-called Mozart effect has proved very hard to replicate since its ‘discovery’ in 1993, but now we have what is regarded as a definitive review, analyzing the entirety of the scientific record on the topic (including a number of unpublished academic theses), and the finding is very clear: there is little support for the view that listening to Mozart improves cognitive (specifically spatial) abilities. First of all, in those studies showing an effect, it was very small.
|
|
Another study showing the cognitive benefits of meditation has revealed benefits to perception and attention. The study involved 30 participants attending a three-month meditation retreat, during which they attended group sessions twice a day and engaging in individual practice for about six hours a day. The meditation practice involved sustained selective attention on a chosen stimulus (e.g., the participant’s breath).
|
|
Love this one! A series of experiments with college students has revealed that a glowing, bare light bulb can improve your changes of solving an insight problem. In one experiment, 79 students were given a spatial problem to solve. Before they started, the experimenter, remarking “It’s a little dark in here”, either turned on a lamp with an unshaded 25-watt bulb or an overhead fluorescent light. Twice as many of those exposed to the bare bulb solved the problem in the allotted three minutes (44% vs 22%).
|
|
A study in which 60 young adult mice were trained on a series of maze exercises designed to challenge and improve their working memory ability (in terms of retaining and using current spatial information), has found that the mice improved their proficiency on a wide range of cognitive tests, and moreover better retained their cognitive abilities into old age.
|
|
An intriguing set of experiments showing how you can improve perception by manipulating mindset found significantly improved vision when:
|
|
Great news for those who crave the benefits of meditation but find the thought a bit intimidating! While a number of studies have demonstrated that long-term mindfulness meditation practice promotes executive functioning and the ability to sustain attention, now a small study involving 49 students has found that as little as four sessions of 20 minutes produced a significant improvement in critical cognitive skills, compared to those who spent an equal amount of time listening to Tolkien's The Hobbit being read aloud.
|
|
A six-week study got a lot of press last month. The study involved some 11,000 viewers of the BBC's science show "Bang Goes the Theory", and supposedly showed that playing online brain games makes you no smarter than surfing the Internet to answer general knowledge questions. In fact, the main problem was the media coverage.
|
|
Despite the popularity of brainstorming as a strategy for producing ideas and new perspectives, it appears that participation in a group actually reduces the number of ideas produced (compared to the number of ideas that would be produced if the participants thought independently)1.
Three possible explanations have been investigated:
Basden, B.H., Basden, D.R., Bryner, S. & Thomas, R.L. III (1997). A comparison of group and individual remembering: Does collaboration disrupt retrieval strategies? Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory and Cognition, 23, 1176-1189.
|
|
A number of studies have demonstrated the effectiveness of the keyword mnemonic for short-term recall, for example:
Wang, A.Y. & Thomas, M.H. (1995). Effect of keywords on long-term retention: help or hindrance? Journal of Educational Psychology, 87, 468-475.
|
|
When a group of people work together to remember an event, the group do appear to recall more than an individual working alone, but do they recall more than the sum of the memories each individual recalls?
Studies have found that "brainstorming" groups actually produce fewer ideas than groups that are groups in name only1. And in many tasks, from rope-pulling to vigilance tasks, it has been found that people contribute less when they are part of a group than when they are working alone2.
Weldon, M.S. & Bellinger, K.D. (1997). Collective and individual processes in remembering. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory and Cognition, 23, 1160-1175.
|
|
It has long been known that spacing practice (reviewing learning or practicing a skill at spaced intervals) is far more effective than massed practice (in one heavy session). It is also well-known that people commonly over-estimate the value of massed practice, and tend not to give due recognition to the value of spacing practice, despite the fact that most memory improvement and study programs advise it.
Landauer, T.K. & Ross, B.H. (1977). Can simple instructions to use spaced practice improve ability to remember a fact? An experimental test using telephone numbers. Bulletin of the Psychonomic Society, 10, 215-218.
|
http://memory-key.com/research/news/all/Strategies?page=3
|
Using Mindfulness Approaches to Treat Urge Urinary Incontinence in Older Adult Women: A Scoping Review
- urge urinary incontinence,
- mindfulness,
- older adults,
- older adult women,
- complementary and integrative therapies
Copyright (c) 2019 Felsted et al.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Abstract
Objectives: The research literature was examined to evaluate evidence of mindfulness approaches to treat urge urinary incontinence in older adult women. Older adult women with urge urinary incontinence are not sufficiently treated with current practices, yet the potential application of mindfulness-based stress reduction to urge urinary incontinence is relatively unknown.
Methods: A scoping review was conducted to locate scientific literature using mindfulness to treat urinary incontinence in older adult women. No studies examined mindfulness for urinary incontinence specifically in an older adult female, or older adult, population. No mixed gender studies, nor studies only on men, with mindfulness as treatment of urinary incontinence were discovered.
Results: Two studies met the expanded inclusion criteria of mindfulness as a treatment for urinary incontinence in adults (not specifically older adults). Both demonstrated that mindfulness-based stress reduction reduced urge urinary incontinence symptoms and increased health-related quality of life and global impression of improvement after completion of the intervention and at follow-up.
Conclusions: Mindfulness-based stress reduction remains a novel approach. Preliminary research indicates mindfulness-based stress reduction works in the general population to reduce urge urinary incontinence, but has not been examined in large clinical trials, or in special populations such as adults 65 and older. There is a paucity of research investigating urinary urge incontinence in older adult women, notably studies which evaluate both conventional and integrative approaches. As such, future research is indicated to identify efficacious treatment approaches to address this distressing and common condition.
|
https://www.gratisoa.org/journals/index.php/IJNH/article/view/1453
|
BROOKDALE EAGAN is an assisted living community in EAGAN, MN in the 55123 zip code area that provides assisted living to elderly individuals in Dakota County.
CARDENAS FRIENDSHIP HOUSE is a senior living community in EAGAN, MN in the 55123 zip code area that provides assisted retirement living to elderly adults in Dakota County.
EAGAN POINTE SENIOR LIVING is a care facility for older adults in EAGAN, MN in the 55122 zip code area that provides assisted retirement living to elderly adults in Dakota County.
HOMETOWN SENIOR LIVING OF EAGA is an assisted living home in EAGAN, MN in the 55122 zip code area that provides assisted living to seniors in Dakota County.
KEYSTONE EAGAN is an assisted living community in EAGAN, MN in the 55122 zip code area that provides long term care to elderly adults in Dakota County.
LEXINGTON HOUSE is a care facility for older adults in EAGAN, MN in the 55122 zip code area that provides assisted senior living to seniors in Dakota County.
LIVING WELL POPPLER is an assisted living facility in EAGAN, MN in the 55122 zip code area that provides assisted retirement living to up to 6 elderly individuals in Dakota County.
OWAKIHI is an assisted living community in EAGAN, MN in the 55121 zip code area that provides senior assisted living to seniors in Dakota County.
OWAKIHI is a care facility for older adults in EAGAN, MN in the 55121 zip code area that provides assisted living to senior citizens in Dakota County.
OWAKIHI is a care facility for older adults in EAGAN, MN in the 55121 zip code area that provides assisted senior living to elderly adults in Dakota County.
THE COMMONS ON MARICE is a senior living facility in EAGAN, MN in the 55121 zip code area that provides assisted living to elderly adults in Dakota County.
THE GENEVA SUITES is a senior assisted living facility in EAGAN, MN in the 55122 zip code area that provides assisted senior living to senior citizens in Dakota County.
Numerous studies reveal the perks of mindfulness meditation and other similar practices for older adults. It is the primary reason many assisted living facilities in Eagan incorporate the practice as they offer residents safe and beautiful homes. These are activities that play a huge role in stress reduction and increasing self-awareness. They also help to reduce health care expenses because they can enhance a range of health measures in the elderly including blood pressure, mental health and cognition.
Personnel at assisted living communities in Eagan report that the physical effects of mindfulness meditation are astonishing. For instance, it helps to boost the immune system. Seniors who go through the programs show low levels of inflammation, an immune reaction that is responsible for a myriad of health conditions. Additionally, it can also help to slow progression of various diseases. It is because it contributes to reducing the loss of immune T-cells. Note that mindfulness also increases mental engagement that has a protective reaction to cognitive decline that professionals associate with dementia and Alzheimer’s. Most people also know that it reduces depression and stress, especially in individuals who engage in Buddhist walking meditation and activities and exercises that keep them fit.
Experts agree that senior adults who occupy Eagan senior living facilities and practice mindfulness have fewer chances of experiencing adverse effects of loneliness. The classes teach the brain to focus on future life instead of dwelling in the past. It successfully reduces feelings of isolation, which experts link to poor physical and mental health outcomes. The elderly are also pleased with the fact that practicing mindfulness helps to slow down the aging process.
If you are looking for senior housing in EAGAN, you may want to consider Senior Apartments in EAGAN, MN that include assisted and independent living apartments.
Does your loved one have dementia or Alzheimer's disease? If so, please see memory care facilities in EAGAN, MN and explore all dementia and Alzheimer's care housing and service options.
|
https://www.seniorguidance.org/assisted-living/minnesota/eagan.html
|
Emily L. B. Lykins's research while affiliated with Eastern Kentucky University and other places
What is this page?
This page lists the scientific contributions of an author, who either does not have a ResearchGate profile, or has not yet added these contributions to their profile.
It was automatically created by ResearchGate to create a record of this author's body of work. We create such pages to advance our goal of creating and maintaining the most comprehensive scientific repository possible. In doing so, we process publicly available (personal) data relating to the author as a member of the scientific community.
If you're a ResearchGate member, you can follow this page to keep up with this author's work.
If you are this author, and you don't want us to display this page anymore, please let us know.
It was automatically created by ResearchGate to create a record of this author's body of work. We create such pages to advance our goal of creating and maintaining the most comprehensive scientific repository possible. In doing so, we process publicly available (personal) data relating to the author as a member of the scientific community.
If you're a ResearchGate member, you can follow this page to keep up with this author's work.
If you are this author, and you don't want us to display this page anymore, please let us know.
Publications (18)
Four experiments, three cross-sectional and one longitudinal, tested the hypothesis that contemplating one’s own death produces a shift toward the use of positive emotion words. Participants who wrote about their own death, compared with those who wrote about dental pain, uncertainty, and meaningless, used more positive emotions words in their narr...
Spiritual engagement has long been argued, and often empirically supported, as important to well-being. Recent work suggests mindfulness must be considered when investigating relationships between spirituality and health. Mindfulness, which involves the intentional direction of attention to the present moment with an accepting and nonjudgmental att...
We investigated whether three different meditation practices that are commonly used in mindfulness-based interventions lead to differential changes in psychological health outcomes when presented separately. Participants included 141 undergraduates assigned to a sitting meditation, body scan, or mindful yoga condition. Participants in all condition...
Mindfulness training has well-documented effects on psychological health. Recent findings suggest that increases in both mindfulness and self-compassion may mediate these outcomes; however, their separate and combined effects are rarely examined in the same participants. This study investigated cross-sectional relationships between self-reported mi...
Several authors have argued that because mindfulness training involves repeated practice of the self-regulation of attention, it should lead to measurable improvements in attentional skills and related memory processes. Although a few studies have shown relationships between mindfulness training and performance-based tests of attention and memory,...
A recent study of the Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire reported high levels of differential item functioning (DIF) for 18 of its 39 items in meditating and nonmeditating samples that were not demographically matched. In particular, meditators were more likely to endorse positively worded items whereas nonmeditators were more likely to deny nega...
Mindfulness is typically described as a form of nonjudgmental, nonreactive attention to experiences occurring in the present moment, including cognitions, emotions, and bodily sensations, as well as sights, sounds, smells, and other environmental stimuli. The cultivation of mindfulness is a central component of Eastern meditation traditions and lie...
Although mindfulness meditation traditionally is viewed as a lifelong practice, much current knowledge about its effects is based on short-term practitioners who have participated in mindfulness-based treatment. In the current study, long-term meditators and demographically similar nonmeditators completed self-report measures of constructs expected...
S. L. Shapiro and colleagues (2006) have described a testable theory of the mechanisms of mindfulness and how it affects positive change. They describe a model in which mindfulness training leads to a fundamental change in relationship to experience (reperceiving), which leads to changes in self-regulation, values clarification, cognitive and behav...
No research has examined how cancer diagnosis and treatment might alter information source preferences or opinions. We examined data from 719 cancer survivors (CS group) and 2012 matched healthy controls (NCC group) regarding cancer-related information-seeking behavior, preferences, and awareness from the population-based 2003 Health Information Na...
Mindfulness-based interventions have been developed for a wide range of problems, disorders, and populations and are increasingly available in a variety of settings. Empirically supported interventions that are based on or incorporate mindfulness training include acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT; Hayes, Strosahl, & Wilson 1999), dialectical b...
Research suggests individuals possess multifaceted cognitive representations of various diseases. These illness representations consist of various beliefs, including causal attributions for the disease, and are believed to motivate, guide, and shape health-related behavior. As little research has examined factors associated with beliefs about cance...
The prevalence of both negative (distress) and positive responses (growth, well-being) to the cancer experience is examined and difficulties in establishing the prevalence of these responses discussed. A conceptual framework for understanding factors associated with psychological health in cancer survivors is presented. Finally, strategies for prom...
Previous research on assessment of mindfulness by self-report suggests that it may include five component skills: observing, describing, acting with awareness, nonjudging of inner experience, and nonreactivity to inner experience. These elements of mindfulness can be measured with the Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire (FFMQ). The authors investi...
Reviews the video, Mindful Therapy with Lorne Ladner (2007). Mindfulness has become a topic of great interest to therapists of many theoretical orientations and clinical backgrounds. Interventions that incorporate training in mindfulness skills have been developed for a wide range of populations, problems, and disorders and are now widely available...
Research findings within posttraumatic growth (PTG) and terror management theory (TMT) currently appear contradictory. Following confrontations with mortality, PTG research demonstrates intrinsic goal shifts, whereas TMT suggests extrinsic shifts. The current studies examine factors contributing to these inconsistent results. Study 1 demonstrates t...
Cancer screening research relies on reliable and valid measurement of cancer screening behavior. Self-reports of screening constitute a cost-effective approach to measuring screening behavior; however, demonstration of suitable validity of these self-reports is critical. We evaluated the validity of self-report of return for repeat, routine, annual...
Mindfulness is increasingly recognized as an important phenomenon in both clinical and empirical domains, though debate regarding the exact definition of mindfulness continues. Selfreport mindfulness measures have begun to appear, which is important as each measure represents an independent attempt to conceptualize mindfulness. Baer, Smith, Hopkins...
Citations
... Meditation is an ancient technique that helps to sharpen the mind. Meditation teaches to do a deed with a zeal that the universe's future depends upon it but laugh at everything as if the resultant consequences do not affect your happiness (Rastogi et al., 2021;Lykins, 2014). While engaged in any activity, he forgets everything so that only the work remains. ...
... Recently, mindfulness training has turned out to be a very popular topic in management publications, which is emerging as a new method of leadership development . The concept of mindfulness is employed to describe a state, a trait, and a method of training the mind . A state mindfulness is when one is attentive in a state of full awareness and when one is focused on a clear goal with a non-judgmental attitude . ...
... Indeed, 80% of the statements that they sampled contained more positive emotion words than negative ones. They also compared the statements with results from a study where participants were asked to contemplate their own death (Kashdan et al., 2014) as well as suicide notes preceding actual or attempted death (Handelman & Lester, 2007), and in both cases found that the statements contained a higher proportion of positive emotion words. ...
... Mindfulness meditation and loving-kindness or compassion meditation are qualitatively distinct, and their expected effects may differ accordingly . Moreover, among mindfulness-based interventions, there is a possibility that sitting meditation, body scan, and mindful yoga may have different effects on the participants . However, since the program used in this case series is composed of heterogeneous mind-body exercises, the individual effects of each element cannot be estimated. ...
... Acting with awareness was also a facet that predicted all dimensions of psychological well-being (p<0.05). Our finding differs from those of Lykins (2006), who found that all facets of mindfulness are correlated with all dimensions of psychological well-being in middle-aged adults, except for acting with awareness facet which was only significantly correlated with two dimensions. However, Lykins (2006) specifically studied a sample that was comprised of people with experience in meditation, and therefore this study provides new findings on the involvement of acting with awareness as a predictor of psychological well-being in middle-aged working parents. ...
... Their stage of development and the search for identity does not make things easier for them either. Depression and anxiety are among the most emphasized psychological and physical health effect of social media addiction (Goel et al., 2013) and depression and anxiety symptoms may worsen as an outcome of addiction (Baer et al., 2012). Furthermore, Arora et al. (2015) commented that other symptoms and effect of logging on African Musicology Online Vol. 9, No. 2, pp. ...
... However, studies also found null effects on inhibition (Josefsson & Broberg, 2011;Kozasa et al., 2012;Lykins et al., 2012;Melloni et al., 2013) as well as shifting and updating (Lykins et al., 2012). Lykins et al. (2012) note that the insignificant group differences in their study may result from a poor match between meditators and non-meditators. ...
... There is a growing body of literature supporting the efficacy of mindfulness-based interventions (e.g., Grossman et al., 2004;Hayes et al., 2006;Robins & Chapman, 2004) as an integral part of the cognitive-behavioral therapy (see Hayes, 2004 for a detailed discussion on the third wave of the cognitive-behavioral tradition). Among not-clinical populations, Lykins and Baer (2009) demonstrated that dispositional mindfulness increases the ability to selfregulate behavior regardless of emotional state (see also Shapiro et al., 2006;Vago & Silbersweig, 2012). More recently, Lundwall et al. (2019) investigated mechanisms explaining the beneficial effects of dispositional mindfulness for subjective well-being. ...
... In consonance with this variable, only the 'observing' facet of mindfulness was significantly associated with emotional eating. A possible explanation is that higher observing scores indicate better sensitivity to sounds, smells, and visual elements (51). This could be attributed to the phenomenon of external eating as a moderator between higher stress and snacking (52) caused by ease of access to hyperpalatable food and the influence of food visualization in social media advertisements (53) as a result of more frequent social media engagement among emotional eaters in this study. ...
... The holistic approach to mindfulness of Buddhism is not characteristic for the secular mindfulness trainings without any Buddhist roots (e.g., Hanley et al., 2014;Mejia, 2013;Purser & Milillo, 2015). However, from a Western perspective, studies agreed that dispositional mindfulness exists as a natural human capacity that varies across individuals (e.g., Abujaradeh et al., 2020;Baer et al., 2006Baer et al., , 2011Burzler et al., 2019;Golley, 2017;Kaplan et al., 2018;Tomlinson et al., 2018) and is determined by multiple factors, ranging from the environment to genetics, conscious efforts, and behaviour change (e.g., Baer, 2019;Lal & Jayan, 2019;O'Connor, 2015). From a theoretical perspective, dispositional mindfulness might be linked to more veridical appraisals of ongoing experiences and a reduced tendency to evaluate the present moment, based on own expectations and beliefs (e.g., Hanley et al., 2016). ...
|
https://www.researchgate.net/scientific-contributions/Emily-L-B-Lykins-38630415
|
Participating in artistic activities (i.e., singing, music, crafts, painting, drawing, dance, theatre, creative writing, photography and film) can help to reduce loneliness and social isolation.
Taking part in artistic activities has positive effects on the health and well-being of older adults, including their memory, level of creativity, ability to solve problems, ability to carry out daily activities, and reaction time.
Toolkits can help you plan and support arts and crafts activities for older adults in your community.
Wood carving, creative writing, knitting, photography, piano, painting, tango, theatre... and so on. Alone or in groups, older adults often engage in art, music, crafts and other creative activities. With more free time, many people see retirement as an opportunity to finally get back to their artistic passions.
Taking part in any of these artistic activities may also be beneficial for older adults living in the community.
Studies examining the quality of life of older adults have looked at the effects of various participatory forms of art (rather than older adults being mere spectators), including singing and music, crafts, painting and drawing, dance, theatre, creative writing, photography and film. Interestingly, these studies have not defined "quality of life" in the same way.(1) Some have focused on the physical and mental health of older adults, their social interactions, their ability to learn new things, their cognitive abilities, or their level of creativity. Few studies have examined the comparative effectiveness of these different artistic activities.(1) That being said, research evidence shows the positive effects on the health and well-being of older adults, their memory, their level of creativity, their ability to solve problems, their ability to carry out daily activities, and their reaction time, but also the capacity of participatory arts to reduce loneliness and social isolation.(1; 6; 7) Some studies also reveal that arts and crafts can foster more harmonious intergenerational relationships,(8) which may help to promote linguistic and cultural heritage (particularly for older adults living in linguistic and cultural minority situations).
The latest scientific evidence on this topic was reviewed by the Social Systems Evidence team. This Blog Post was written by a professional writer, assessed for accuracy by Dr. François-Pierre Gauvin, and edited by a professional editor. There are no conflicts of interest.
Fraser KD, O’Rourke HM, Wiens H, Lai J, Howell C, Brett-MacLean P. A scoping review of research on the arts, aging, and quality of life. The Gerontologist. 2015;55(4):719-729.
Kongkasuwan R, Voraakhom K, Pisolayabutra P, Maneechai P, Boonin J, Kuptniratsaikul V. Creative art therapy to enhance rehabilitation for stroke patients: a randomized controlled trial. Clin Rehabil. 2016 Oct;30(10):1016-1023.
Uttley L, Scope A, Stevenson M, Rawdin A, Taylor Buck E, Sutton A, et al. Systematic review and economic modelling of the clinical effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of art therapy among people with non-psychotic mental health disorders. Health Technol Assess. 2015 Mar;19(18):1-120, v-vi.
Elliott M & Gardner P. The role of music in the lives of older adults with dementia ageing in place: A scoping review Dementia. 2018 Feb; 17(2): 199-213.
Poscia A, Stojanovic J, Iganzio La Milia D, et al. Interventions targeting loneliness and social isolation among the older people: An update systematic review Experimental Gerontology. 2018, 102: 133-144.
Noice T, Noice H, Kramer AF. Participatory arts for older adults: A review of benefits and challenges. The Gerontologist. 2014;54(5):741-753.
Anderson S, Fast J, Keating N, Eales J, Chivers S, Barnet D. Translating knowledge promoting health through intergenerational community arts programming, Health Promotion Practice, 2017 Jan;18(1): 15-25.
Smiraglia C. Targeted Museum Programs for Older Adults: A Research and Program Review. Curator - The Museum Journal, 2016, 58(1): 39-54.
|
https://www.mcmasteroptimalaging.org/blog/detail/blog/2018/09/26/get-back-to-your-artistic-passions-to-boost-your-health-and-well-being
|
Treatment component studies: Are treatment mechanisms specific to MMBI?
As the foregoing review indicates, there is accumulating evidence that MMBI may affect therapeutic change through attention regulation, enhanced body awareness and emotion regulation, and changes in the sense of self. Because MMBIs are group-based multi-component interventions, dismantling studies are needed to isolate the treatment components and differentiate them from non-specific effects of treatment, such as therapist effects or the benefits of group support, and from other active treatment components, such as breath- focused awareness practiced outside of mindfulness meditation, exercise, and cognitive therapy. Dismantling and other treatment component studies could also address questions about whether mindfulness as a form of attending to the present is specific to Buddhist-based mindfulness interventions or is a more broadly evoked capacity.
Some studies of MMBI components suggest that mindfulness may be the product of both attention and breath regulation that is not specific to mindfulness meditation. A single-session mindfulness versus sham meditation study of college students found that both were associated with increased states of mindfulness and improved mood and distress relative to a book-reading control group. A convincing sham condition would control for the demand characteristics and expectancy effects associated with mindfulness practice; in this study the sham and mindfulness groups did not differ in the extent to which they felt they were meditating during the exercises (Johnson et al. 2013). The sham directions to sit quietly and breathe deeply suggest that attention to breath regulation may be associated with increased mindfulness and other outcomes, a possibility explored by studies of the effects of breathing exercises. A study of inhalation/exhalation (i/e) ratio found that lower ratio breathing was associated with greater mindfulness than the high ratio condition (Van Diest et al. 2014). Although mindfulness instruction typically doesn’t suggest modifications to respiratory rate, mindful awareness of breathing often results in spontaneous breath slowing (Kristeller and Rikhye 2008), which is in turn related to a shift toward lower i/e ratio (Van Diest et al. 2014). Even a brief, 15-minute period of breath-focused attention was associated with better mood and emotion regulation among college students relative to unfocused attention and worrying (Arch and Craske 2006), suggesting that breath-focused attention, rather than extensive training in OM mindfulness, was associated with better outcomes.
The effects of MMBI components on psychological well-being have been tested in sham-controlled designs. For example, a three-session mindfulness intervention with college students significantly reduced overall negative mood and heart rate relative to sham meditation and a control, though the sham meditation also produced pre/post reductions in state anxiety and tension (Zei- dan et al. 2010), suggesting there was a common factor to both conditions.
Physical exercise is a component of MBSR and related MMBI in the form of hatha yoga. Exercise is well known to produce substantial treatment effects on depression (Josefsson et al. 2014), which raises the question of the relative contributions of MMBI treatment components to mood and well-being outcomes. Pre/post comparisons of participants in MBSR classes revealed that practice time for mindful yoga was associated with more improvements in outcome variables than body scan, sitting meditation, or practice in daily life; notably, amount of practice in daily life was unassociated with pre/post improvements (Carmody and Baer 2008). Similar findings of the differential effectiveness of hatha yoga come from a randomized study of the three primary components of MBSR-related MMBI, namely sitting mindfulness meditation, mindful yoga, and body scan, which found that yoga was associated with greater improvements in psychological well-being than the other two components, and that both sitting meditation and hatha yoga were associated with greater pre/post improvements in emotion regulation than body scan. Participants in the sitting meditation condition had greater improvements in non-evaluative attention than the body scan participants, as might be expected given the repeated and explicit instructions against judging experience in mindfulness meditation (Sauer-Zavala et al. 2012). Intriguingly, an RCT of MBSR versus aerobics for social anxiety disorder found that MBSR and aerobics had equal therapeutic outcomes (Jazaieri et al. 2012). Similarly, a comparison of MBSR and Argentine tango for major depression reported nearly identical effect sizes for MBSR and tango in terms of depression but found that only tango reduced stress levels (Pinniger et al. 2012). In addition, pre/post increases in mindfulness were associated with being in the tango, but not the mindfulness, class. These two studies in which outcomes of physical activities matched those of the mindfulness conditions suggest the possibility that the physical exercise component of MMBI contributes much to the observed treatment effects.
Likewise, CBT is known to have potent treatment effects and is a component of MMBIs such as MBCT and MBRP. A randomized dismantling trial of MBCT for depressive remission found that relapse rates were equivalent across the three treatment arms of MBCT (46%), an active cognitive treatment (50%), and treatment-as-usual (53%), though when considering those with a history of severe childhood trauma, MBCT was associated with lower relapse rates (41%) than treatment-as-usual (65%) and cognitive treatment (54%) (Williams et al. 2014).
Taken together, studies indicate that components of MMBI that promote capacities such as attention and emotion regulation are effectively taught in MMBI, though these capacities can be evoked through other means, such as practice of breath-focused attention in non-meditation contexts, hatha yoga and other types of exercise, and CBT. Much of the work in isolating treatment components has used college students as participants, so implications for work with persons with symptoms of clinical severity are unclear.
|
https://ebrary.net/100885/psychology/treatment_component_studies_treatment_mechanisms_specific_mmbi
|
Traditional Cuisine and Social Gastronomy
Hatay hosted 13 of the 23 civilizations; a city where Arabians, Turkmen, Circassians, Christians, The Jewish, Armenians, Nosairians and Sunni people lived together for hundreds of years, and civilizations and cultures were united. Due to the richness of all these ethnic origins and religions, the cuisine culture is also well-developed. Located on the Spice and Silk Roads, being a door to Mesopotamia and the Middle East, Hatay is a quite rich city in terms of its cuisine culture, the kitchen utensils that have been used for hundreds of years, and preservation of the local recipes and passing them from generation to generation.
The answer to the question “Live to eat or eat to live?” in Hatay is “Live to eat”. Hatay community consists of people that live thinking what to eat the next day, that are fond of having pleasure, and each and every of them are gourmets due to their fertile soil, climate, abundance and cheapness of fruits and vegetables, and high welfare and living conditions.
The “Be cheerful, live your life” mosaic, descending to 3rd century B.C. also supports this thesis. In Hatay cuisine, fresh vegetable, olive oil, legumes and grains are used, in short, it involves all the ingredients that are used in a typical Mediterranean cuisine. Grains, legumes, vegetables, fruits, indigenous herbs and spices growing in Hatay resulted in Hatay cuisine having more than 650 its own dishes. There is a large variety of cooking techniques of the vegetables, grains, and legumes in Hatay, such as boiling and frying. And they are stored through sun-drying and conserving. These agricultural ingredients are cooked through marinating, boiling, sautéing, frying or grilling along with meat, chicken, and fish.
Fruits are consumed fresh, and used for making juices, fruit stew, jam, vine and raki, as well as being sun-dried and used in desserts and pastries. Meat is also consumed with pastries a lot in Hatay.
While Christians and Nosairians prefer to eat meat without tomato paste and with little spice, Sunnis prefer it with lots of tomato paste and spice. Thus, there is an increase in variety and richness of the dishes in line with the tastes of different cultures. Hatay is a Mediterranean climate city, and is cover with the Mediterranean vegetation. There are 251 endemic vegetables growing on Amanos Mountains in Hatay. “Kömeç” a cure-all dish made of mixed herbs that are picked up from the mountains especially during springs, is an example of the such vegetables. Another example is of such endemic vegetables is thyme, wild herb growing on the mountains. In can be used in salads or tea brewing when fresh, and as a spice when dried. It is brined in olive oil, and preserved to be consumed during winter.
Since Hatay is located on the “Spice Road”, variety and use of spice, which differs Hatay cuisine from other cuisines, has emerged. Some examples of the spices are; thyme, fennel, sesame, nutmeg, basil, and cilantro. It is a city that produces its own olive and olive oil, and even has enough capacity, production and employment to sell them all over Turkey. Due to the convenience in climate, water, agricultural land, and stock breeding, it produces the basic ingredients of the dishes itself, and this results in natural, organic and low-budget tastes, in short, ingredients such as meat, vegetables, spices, tomato paste, and olive oil are produced in Hatay.
“Stone oven” and “tandoori” tradition still continues, each neighborhood is certain to have both. Paper kebab, tray kebab, stuffed meatballs, buns wit sesame, melt-away cookies, sweet and crispy buns, gata, small ground meat pizzas, cookies with farina, pita bread, and pita are made in stone ovens. And in tandooris, tandoori bread, and breads with peppers, seasonings, and spinach are baked. In Hatay, fruits are consumed fresh as well as storing them for summers or winters through traditional methods. When summer arrives, winter preparations begin. Fresh grape leaves are brined and potted. Within the period between 15th of August and September, which is called the Pepper-Hot Days (the drought whether that is very hot during days and very chilly during nights), peppers are threaded and sun-dried to be used in stuffed vegetables, as a whole in dishes, and side meal in meatballs.
They are also used in paste making, and pulverized for using as a spice. Mints are sun-dried, and pulverized to be used as a spice as well. In Augusts, ripe tomatoes are used in making tomato paste in cauldrons, and then sun-dried. Cucumbers, peppers, tomatoes, garlics, swedes, and purple carrots are pickled. “Salty yogurt” is made through cooking the yogurt, made of indigenous milk, in cauldrons to be used in soups and meals with yogurt in winters. Pomegranates are picked up, and its syrup cooked in cauldrons to be used in salads, an appetizers and meals. Moreover, figs, walnuts, loquats, orange blossoms, carrots, petitgrains, bergamots, eggplants, citrons, zucchinis, mulberry and apricot jams, local molasses (made of local grapes), carob molasses are boiled in summer as winter preparations.
Syrups are consumed a lot due to the hot climate in summers. Orange, lemon and black mulberry syrups are made in summer. And they are preserved to be consumed in winter. Licorice is juice made of licorice roots, and consumed throughout the summer. Eggplants, peppers, zucchinis, and okras are threaded and sun-dried to be used in dishes during winter. Fresh broad beans are sun-dried and prepared for winter, both to be consumed as a paste in breakfasts and used in dishes (bulgur pilaf). Many vegetables are conserved in order to prepare for the winter and practice kitchen economy. These can be exemplified as beans, okras, green peas, tomatoes, and black eyed peas. “Firik” (pounded wheat), which is used in dishes prepared obtained from burnt wheats in farms (such as bulgur pilaf), and in stuffed vegetables, is also prepared in summers.
And when it is winter, olive preparations begin. There are two types of preserving methods. One is through flavoring the olives with the right amount of salt, and the other one is flavoring through changing its water with caustic water. Olive types are local halhalı olives, attün olives, saurani olives, cracked green olives and caustic green olives. Between 15th of April and May, dehydrated fresh cheese; dried thyme, and black cumin are potted into a large earthenware jug along with cottage cheese, and are buried to be dug out in January. Cheese and cottage cheese can be consumed separately. Cottage cheese (local blue cheese); can be consumed fresh in salads when the milk is curdled, and can be consumed after flavored with thyme and other spices and moulded.
There are also many types of cheese in Hatay, such as the local blue cheese, pressed cheese, cheese with gum mastic, twisted cheese, kake cheese, carra cheese, squeezed cheese, cut cheese, and string cheese. However, the most important one is the kunafah cheese, which is also indigenous. It is used both in kunafah made of shredded dough, and in halva making due to its rope and consistency. When we look at the history of the city, we see that it hosted many civilizations.
And of course, we cannot see such exact civilizations today, nor can we say that their marks are completely gone. Following the tracks left by a tradition is like being a detective within the archives of the history. Revealing the cultural histories of food is like revealing the cultural histories of the civilization. The famous traveler and explorer Evliya Çelebi visited Hatay when he was going to Damascus in 1648. He stated that the bazaar consisted of three hundred shops during that time.
He provides information on agricultural products, stating that white large wheats, local bread, and fruits of Hatay such as lemon, petitgrains and cane are very well-known. It is possible to come across with lots of information on copper utensil in legal records also in Ottoman era. It is known in Hatay that stuffed sheep intestines comes from Roman cuisine, and that chard with seasoned yogurt comes from Ottoman cuisine. Revealing the origins of a certain dish may be important, but what is more important is to state that Hatay cuisine is integrated with the Middle East cuisine, and that Hatay shares many common traditions with Anatolia. In this city, eating has a deep place in every aspect of life. There is no fun without food, no guests are hosted, and no weddings are held without food.
Traditional dishes must be presented one by one, and kunafah must be shared. When the dinner table is being prepared, you may get confused about which one of the appetizers, soups, meatballs, vegetable dishes, meat dishes, salads, and desserts to eat. Especially the seasonal greens placed on the center of the table is like an unspoken rule, and it never gets too old. There are all kinds of things in Hatay cuisine; taste, visual quality, sharing, tradition, and modernity.
Richness of Hatay cuisine is due to the convenience of the environment it is located in above all others. Being located on a convenient place for growing all kinds of foot products in terms of climate, water, agricultural fields, and stock breeding. As the main ingredient of the dishes, which are a component of the kitchen, are provided with low cost again with the city’s own production. Both convenient production and affordable costs result in shaping a substantial cuisine culture.
Thus, Hatay cuisine is indeed one of the richest cuisines of Anatolia with its meat dishes, stuffed vegetables, vegetable dishes, jams, pickles, pilafs, food, appetizers and salads, dishes made of herbs picked up naturally, pastries, dairy products, and dried food. Calling it the richest one as it is today may not be a wrong statement. In Hatay, where people eat three main meals a days, being in the breakfast, lunch, and dinner, tables almost always include rich menus. One of the most important distinctive characteristic of Hatay dishes are spices. Spices are used in almost all dishes, and even in breakfast products, both as a flavorer, and as a plating element.
Cumin, black pepper, mint, sumac, flaked pepper, cinnamon, clove, and black cumin as well as many other spices which have specific local names, such as fennel, cilantro, thyme, and basil. Long Bazaar, located in central Antakya, provide us with may clues about the Hatay cuisine. Tomato paste, spice, various cheeses, meat, pastry, kunafah, olives, dried vegetables and thyme sellers are all together lined up one after another. In Long Bazaar, where traditional food is sold, there are also shops in which traditional kitchen utensils are sold. Thyme is used in a completely different way in Hatay compared to other regions of Anatolia.
Food obtained from thyme, picked up from mountains during spring, set the best example of the relationship between Hatay cuisine and natural herbs. Thyme has recently been grown in house gardens due to the increased demand. Thyme that is just picked up and sold fresh is used in salads. If out of season, it is stored by brining in olive oil, or sun-dried. Dried thyme is used in cottage cheese, and in dishes. Another distinctive characteristic of this cuisine is the intense use of olive oil. Another irreplaceable flavorer of Hatay cuisine dishes with both meat and olive oil is pomegranate syrup. Apart from pomegranate syrup and olive oil, a very important vegetable is red pepper, which has local names for both fresh and the dried versions.
While especially the hot red pepper is consumed along with many dishes when fresh, dried pepper is also consumed widely. It is a distinctive characteristic of this cuisine along with the spices. Traditional vegetable dishes are also important elements of the cuisine. Many meat dishes are cooked at homes. However, making some of the traditional meat dishes take place within a relation between the meat, the butcher, and the bakery.
For example, tray kebab is not made at homes, but rather ordered to the butcher of the neighborhood according to the number of people. There is absolutely a bakery next to, or really close to the butcher. Filling ingredients, used in traditional food apart from tray kebab such as paper kebab, bread with peppers and seasonings, stuffed meatballs, buns with sesame, sweet and crispy buns, and pastry with spinach, are prepared at homes, sent to the bakery, baked and brought back to home. Another irreplaceable dishes of Hatay cuisine is doner kebab. Especially chicken doner kebab is served a lot differently.
Meat doner is also wrapped into a bread with special sauce, just like chicken doner. There are many doner shops that sell chicken and meat doner. It is often ordered from home, and is highly consumed. Apart from butchers and bakeries, important traditional products such as shredded dough for kunafah, kunafah cheese, fried kadaif, and cookie with farina, which are not commonly made at homes, are sold in shops making these food in the Long Bazaar.
With the foamy product made of gypsophila roots, and home-made cookie with farina, pastries are also a distinctive characteristic of Hatay cuisine. The primary pastry, which is important in terms of traditional culture due to its varieties and intense consumption, is bread. Tandoori is irreplaceable in Hatay cuisine.
Tandoori bread is also baked in ovens as well as tandooris. Made both with and without dandruff, tandoori bread can be kept for a long time without becoming stale. Tandoori bread, which can be kept in freezers for a long time without becoming stale, thaws in the room temperature without any need of heat after taken out of the freezer, and becomes very soft. Apart from tandoori bread, pita bread, pita, doner and kebab breads are also very important. Besides pastries, while some dairy products share a common tradition with Anatolia, some differ completely.
Some dairy products such as string cheese, braided cheese, local blue cheese, round cheese, carra cheese, cottage cheese, blue cottage cheese and salty yogurt are characteristic diary products of Hatay cuisine with their different aromas and production techniques.
Made by flavoring the fresh cottage cheese with 40 different spices, sun-drying and then preserving, blue cottage cheese has a strong taste and odor. It is consumed with lots of olive oil due to having lost of spices and a strong odor. Obtained from both goat’s and cow’s milk, salty yogurt is an absolute must of this cuisine. It has a really wide range of uses within the traditional dishes. For example, yogurt soup with meatballs and grains cannot be made without salty yogurt.
In addition to dairy products, desserts and jams are essential traditional food of the Hatay cuisine. Importance of kunafah in the cuisine culture amongst desserts cannot be underestimated. In Hatay, many traditions are hand in hand in the process involving the production and consumption of the kunafah food. It is possible to understand the importance of kunafah in Hatay when considering the frequency of kunafah shops in every neighborhood.
Apart from cooked kunafah shops, there are also shops of kunafah ingredients for those who want to make it at their homes. In these shops, shredded dough, cheese and butter, which are the ingredients of kunafah, are sold all together. Besides kunafah, pumpkin with syrup and walnuts made in lime putty is also extremely delicious. Pumpkin dessert, hard outside and soft inside, is traditionally presented with tahini and crushed walnuts after being sliced into squares.
In Hatay, jams made of eggplants, petitgrains and walnuts are offered to guests both as a jam and as a dessert. Although these fall into the category of jams, the way it is consumed is more of a dessert.
|
http://hataygastronomi.com/en/cuisine-of-civilizations
|
Üsküdar University Health Services Vocational School Food Technology Program Lecturer Selen Akbulut made evaluations about moldy foods and shared her recommendations on the consumption of moldy foods.
Stating that molds have a very important place in food microbiology, especially in the deterioration of foods, Food Engineer Selen Akbulut said, “Foods are an invaluable source for the development of microorganisms with the diversity of the components they contain and the water they contain. For this reason, especially molds, yeasts and bacteria can easily develop and deteriorate the quality of the food if the products are not packaged and stored under appropriate conditions. Many consumers can find mold on the surfaces of their food, even if they are refrigerated or stored in suitable conditions. In fact, although we can only see it on the surface, this formation has reached the upper part from the lower layers of the food. So this is just the visible part of the molds.” said.
Food Engineer Selen Akbulut, 'Can the mold on the surface of a food that has mold on the surface be cleaned and reused?' He said that the basic answer to the question is hidden in the quality of the food and continued his words as follows:
“If the food has a hard structure, mold fungi cannot penetrate deep into the food. Therefore, there is no problem in cutting and using moldy parts. On the contrary, we can re-evaluate our food with an approach that prevents food waste. However, if the food has a soft texture, unfortunately, it will not be enough to clean the molds on the surface. These foodstuffs need to be disposed of properly. Consumption of such moldy foods also causes toxicological formations created by molds called 'mycotoxins' to be taken into the body. These substances accumulate in our body over time and play a role in the formation of chronic diseases, especially cancer types.
Stating that molds can easily grow in high humidity and oxygenated environments due to their nature, Food Engineer Selen Akbulut said, “Since molds are creatures that reproduce by spores, these spore cells can easily be carried on other foods by air and spoil them. Most of the time, even if we think that our food is safe when we store it in the refrigerator, we witness it moldy.” He said, and listed the things that should be done to store food more safely, with a few items as follows:
- Refrigerator interior cleaning should be done regularly,
- High humidity formation should be prevented in the areas where we store food,
- Storage containers should be hygienic against mold formation and their mouths should be well closed,
- Leftover food should be consumed without losing much time,
- The kitchen should be ventilated regularly.
Reminding that our country has hundreds of cheese types produced with very different methods in terms of cheese diversity, Food Engineer Selen Akbulut said, “Cheese is also a good source of protein and fat. Cheeses molded with natural or industrial production methods are consumed in our country as well as in many other countries. The famous Roquefort Cheese of the French, Blue Cheese of the British, Gorgonzola of the Italians are nutritious moldy cheeses. In our country, especially Erzurum, Sivas, Kars, Ardahan, Erzincan and Konya are the most common places where moldy cheese is produced and consumed. Our cheeses, which we call mostly moldy curd cheeses, and local civil cheeses, are produced by molding and consumed with the mold on it. First of all, it should be noted that for this situation, "he said.
Akbulut continued his words as follows:
“When producing these cheeses, mold fungi are used, not bacteria or yeast cells. It has been proven by scientific studies that these molds do not have a negative pathogenic effect on human health. However, one of the most important features to pay attention to is: We usually see green mold on these cheeses. This used Penicillum spp. type indicates the presence of mold. If mold formation is observed in the form of black and red spots other than this color, those cheeses should not be consumed. These molds may be the mycotoxin producing molds mentioned earlier. These types of mold are harmful to human health.”
Stating that the cheeses sold as 'moldy cheese' in our country are varieties produced within our own culture, Üsküdar University Food Technology Program Lecturer. See. Selen Akbulut said, “Konya (Divle Cheese), Erzurum (Kerti Cheese), Hatay (Cooked Surk Cheese), Burdur (Moldy Coke) and Ardahan (Moldy Cheese) are among the cities where moldy cheese takes different names and is consumed. The main issue that consumers should pay attention to when purchasing these cheeses is to obtain them from reliable vendors. Cheese producers, on the other hand, should use reliable starter molds with defined type and type, and molding of the food should be carried out in accordance with its quality. Purchasing cheese produced in our villages in Turkey and molded naturally may have irreversible toxic effects for consumers. There are many scientific studies that show that unhygienic and uncontrolled molded cheeses produced in our villages can be harmful.” he said.
|
https://www.raillynews.com/2023/01/kuflu-gida-temizlenip-kullanilabilir-mi/
|
Definition:
Cheese is a food obtained from coagulated milk or dairy products, such as cream (milk very rich in fat), then a draining followed or not fermentation and possibly refining (ripened cheese). The cheese is made from cow’s milk mainly, but also sheep, goat, buffalo and other mammals. The milk is acidified, usually using a bacterial culture. An enzyme, rennet or a substitute such as acetic acid or vinegar, is then added to cause coagulation and form curd and whey (whey). Lactose is then partially converted into lactic acid. Some cheeses contain mold, on the outer crust and or inside the cheese. The whey can be reused for another serac-type cheese.
The cheese family:
Thousands of types of cheese are produced worldwide. Their different styles, tastes and textures depend on the origin of the milk, including the animal’s diet, its heat treatment (raw, thermised or pasteurized milk) or mechanical (microfiltration, ultrafiltration), the percentage of fat, selected bacterial and mold species, the processing method, and the ripening time. Herbs, spices, or smoking can be used to vary the taste.
For some cheeses, the milk is curdled with an acidic agent, such as vinegar or lemon juice. Most cheeses are acidified with bacteria that convert lactose into lactic acid, with curdling being provided by the addition of rennet, or exceptionally milk kefir grains.
Cheese is a complete staple, rich in fat, protein, calcium and long-life phosphorus compared to the shelf life of the milk from which it is made.
Cheeses are usually distinguished according to their method of production:
Cooked pasta cheeses.
Uncooked pressed cheese.
Half-cooked pressed cheese.
Cheeses with soft pasta, seeded on the surface with a mold that causes by ripening in the cellar the appearance of a crust, and which are divided into:
Soft cheeses with a flowery crust.
Soft cheeses with washed crust.
Soft cheeses with mixed crust.
Fresh pasta:
Fresh cheeses
Spun cheese
Processed cheese, manufactured according to an industrial process.
Cheeses with marbled paste or internal mold paste. The curd is seeded and pierced for the fungus to grow.
Cheese from whey: this is the case of serac.
Cheese can also be distinguished according to: milk used from different animal species; the use of raw milk; its farmer, artisanal or industrial character (the French administration indistinctly classifies the last two as dairy cheese).
Farm cheese
A farm cheese (or farm cheese or any other appointment that might suggest that the cheese is made by the dairy farmer) can only be described as farm-made cheese by farmers. It will come exclusively from the milk produced by the animals of this farm.
The interest of such cheeses lies in the fact that they result from a single and unique know-how (generally family and sometimes ancestral) in various fields that can be decisive as to the quality of the cheese: the choice of the breeds of animals; the management of the flora covering the grasslands; the good behavior of the cattle in the pastures and their well-being; the « knack », the recipe for cheese and its ripening; the farm-specific microbiota installed in the milk processing equipment (woodwork, seedlings, etc.).
For the most part, farmer farmers process their milk raw and whole. Every day, the cheese processing begins just after the morning milking. This hot milk will be mixed with the one from the evening milking (processed the day before) and which will have matured during the night.
Artisanal cheese
A cottage cheese comes from a relatively small and unmechanized processing workshop where the artisan transforms the milk he buys to one or more farmers. In this type of relationship between two trades, the commercial relationship is contractual. The milk (s) will reach the artisanal dairy in the raw and refrigerated state. The craftsman will leave it raw or apply a possible pasteurization, thermization or microfiltration and then turn it into cheese. Procurement processes are sometimes old.
History
The origin of the cheese probably dates back to the beginning of agriculture and breeding in the Fertile Crescent. There is no tangible evidence of the earliest cheese making locations in Europe or Central Asia rather than in the Middle East, but the practice spread to Europe before the period of ancient Rome. According to Pliny the Elder, the practice was sophisticated during the period of ancient Rome.
Hypotheses place the origins of cheese making around 8000 BC. J. – C., with the domestication of the sheep. The first cheeses were probably made by people from the Middle East or Turkish nomadic tribes in Central Asia. Since animal skins and internal organs are therefore used for the storage and transport of foodstuffs, it is likely that the cheese-making process was accidentally discovered by storing milk in a container made from a belly stomach. animal, resulting in the transformation of milk into curd and whey due to the natural presence of rennet (lactase enzyme) in the stomach.
According to another hypothesis, the manufacture of the cheese would have started independently, the consequences of the salting and the pressing of the milk to ensure its conservation. The observation of curdled milk in the stomach of a suckling animal (calf) probably led to the addition of rennet in the form of caillette strips as was still done in the Alps at the beginning of the 20th century.
Finally, the latest hypothesis comes from the Taklamakan desert. The mummies of Tarim, took in their last journey of the cheese in the form of small cubes of the order of the cm. They were identified by scientists from the Max Planck Institute in Dresden and the Beijing Institute of Science on the mummies of De Xiaohe Cemetery. These are cheeses from milk kefirs that do not require the slaughter of calves. The first grains of kefirs would be lumps of sugar and curd, the amalgam of polysaccharides over the uses of the bottles as containing milk.
Kefir grains are a symbiont of bacteria and yeasts, here lactobacillus and saccharomyces which form 80% of the mass and would have formed spontaneously from those present in milk and the environment. The result was a low lactose cheese suitable for those populations that did not yet have the gene for digesting lactose, a slightly alcoholic fermented cheese. Protein analysis of these cheeses showed that most milks were from cow and two from sheep and goat. They would be 3,500 years old.
On the other hand, a team of researchers (Melanie Roffet-Salque, Richard Evershedest) is currently in the forefront analyzing and dating fats on pottery funds in Poland and Turkey. The earliest archaeological evidence of cheese making is over 7,000 years old: fragments of ceramic faisselles were discovered and characterized in Poland, in the Kuyavian region, 150 kilometers south of Gdańsk (ribbon culture ). It could also be kefir cheese. It is not strictly speaking fragments of cheese but trace.
Another « older cheese » directly discovered would be 3,200 years old. It was in the archaeological excavation of a tomb of the ancient capital of the first nome of Lower Egypt Memphis that it was discovered. It would have been made from a mixture of milk half cow, half goat (or sheep). Traces of deadly bacteria were also detected, including those causing brucellosis.
Exceptional archaic texts from the Uruk and Warka periods were discovered by H.J. Nissen and colleagues (1990), who mention cheese (GA’AR), butter and yoghurt (KISIM). These texts dated 3,200 years BC. J. – C., are written on tablets of clays, in archaic characters which will later become the cuneiform writing. These are books of accounts that indicate the number of dairy products and animals (cows, ewes, goats) that shepherds must provide.
Other traces, on wall paintings in tombs from the time of ancient Egypt, date from 2000 BC. These first cheeses had to be sour and salty, similar in texture to cottage or feta cheese.
Cheeses produced in Europe, where the climate is colder than in the Middle East, required less salting for their preservation. Less salty and less acidic, these varieties of cheese have become an environment conducive to the development of bacteria and molds, giving them a particular taste and texture.
Ancient Greece and Roman period
Greek mythology attributes the discovery of cheese to Aristea. Homer’s Odyssey describes the Cyclops making and storing sheep’s and goat’s milk cheese.
At the time of ancient Rome, cheese was an everyday dish, and its making an art whose technique remains similar to that used today. The Libri treatise of Re rustica de Columelle (around 65 AD) details a manufacturing process using coagulation of milk with rennet, pressing of curd, salting and aging.
Pliny the Elder dedicated in his work Natural History (77 AD) a chapter (XI, 97) describing the variety of types of cheese appreciated by the Romans of the First Empire. He writes as follows: « The most esteemed cheese in Rome, where the productions of all the countries are judged in the presence of each other, is, among the cheeses of the provinces, that which comes from the country of Nimes, Lozere and Gevaudan. However, it specifies that these cheeses do not keep well in time and must be eaten fresh. In addition, cheeses from the Alps and the Apennines were as much noticed for their variety as now. Pliny also reports a variety of cheese made by Ligurians, mainly from sheep’s milk, some of which could reach a weight of about one hundred pounds each. Goat’s milk cheeses brought a new and appreciated taste to Rome. The taste was notably improved by the smoking process inspired by Gallic practices and rendering a medicinal taste. Pliny also referred to cheeses from more distant origins, beyond the seas, like those of Bithynia in Asia Minor.
In Europe
If Pliny praises Nîmes cheeses, the Romans disdain the cheeses of the peoples of the North, who only produce curdled milk, in favor of the hard cheeses whose production they introduce, notably to the Burgundians settled in the Alps and in Franche-Comté. County.
Cheese becomes the staple food for Benedictines. It is still monks, this time the Cistercians, who will maintain the growth of cheese making, much consumed during the Middle Ages, especially among the poor and peasants. The cheese will not really win the palace of the rich until the end of the Ancien Régime. The cheese platter, which appeared in the 19th century, becomes a habit at the end of the meal. The appearance of the railway contributes to the distribution of regional cheeses. Finally, pasteurization paves the way for the industrial production of cheese, a path that will be followed by the first, Léon Bel, in 1919.
End of meal meal, cheese has also become one of the major ingredients of cooking thanks to a French master-cheese maker, Pierre Androuet. Robert Courtine, a food critic, explained: « Pierre Androuet is Monsieur Fromage, his historian and his poet. The man without whom cheese would be just what he is. Without the cheese cuisine and the hundreds of recipes he has developed. It was Androuet who brought the cheese to our plate … through the kitchen « . Its recipes have come out of the domestic environment where pies and cheese puddings have been known since the medieval period and, a fortiori, « the use of grated Gruyère on macaroni ». He discovered that cheese cooking covers everything from simple and easy recipes to « rich, generous, varied recipes with countless combinations of flavors ».
Etymology
The term « cheese » is attested as early as 1135 in this form.
More precisely, it comes directly from a low Latin formāticum « cheese », derived by ellipse from cāseus formaticus « molded cheese », whose caesus element has been erased. Formaticus means « what is made in a mold », derived in -icus from Latin forma « mold ». The adjective substantivé has regularly evolved into old French formage, become cheese.
The loan to French also gave the Italian formaggio (in front of cacio), Walloon froumadje, Occitan and Catalan formatge, the Breton formaj (in front of keuz).
Forma is perpetuated in Occitan fourmo (modern Occitan spelling) or forma (Occitan standard spelling), the current regional linguistic appellation of Forez, Auvergne (in the sense of the former province) and Rouergue and Frenchized in French. by the trade names of certain cheese specialties of these territorial zones.
On the other hand, the Latin noun cāseus « cheese » disappeared in Gallo-Romanesque, but was perpetuated in the other Romance languages: Spanish queso, Italian cacio, Portuguese queijo and Romanian caş, whereas the French knows only two derivatives, one casein scholar21, and the other chésery, used in place names in the Alpesn 3. The borrowing from Latin was done in Western Germanic languages: English cheese (césse, c ense in Old English), German Käse (old High German chāsi), Western Frisian Tsiis, Dutch kaas, etc. through a hypothetical form of the common Germanic kāsijaz. They all mean « cheese » in these different languages.
Celtic languages have also borrowed caseus Latin: Irish Cáis, Breton Keuzn and Welsh Caws.
The Latin caseus is also at the origin of the Malay word keju (borrowed from the Portuguese word queijo).
Transformation of milk into cheese
The physical state of the milk varies according to the age and the race of the animal: the Normans give a milk rich in fat while the Holstein gives a very abundant but poor milk. the quality of the grassland (cultivated or natural, diversity of flora in the mountains), the bacterial flora (microbiota) which varies greatly depending on the soil, the environment of origin (giving rise to PGI, INAO) but also of the laboratory where it is produced: the old farms without sanitized laboratories had a microbiota in their own balance, which controlled the bad bacteria by maintaining a wealth of different strains of interest to the consumer (probiotics) of food quality and other cakes (pesticides or even GMOs in some soya cakes imported from South America), The apples used to make cider in Normandy were traditionally given to cows but gave a strong taste to milk, butter and cheese. It’s the same with silage. From the season (spring grass rich in omega 3 and growing plants), the climate of the day.
A difference in quality also exists between a preserved milk and a milk directly from the refrigerated time milking and transport. The cheese maker will take into account the condition and quality of the milk he processes.
Of the twelve manufacturing steps described below, four are essential: renneting, draining, molding and salting.
Skimming (if any): collect the creamy portion on the surface of the milk, which will be used to make the cream or butter. This practice gives lean cheeses, not very creamy. The cream (fat) is lighter than the water constituting the majority of the milk. The operation is carried out by centrifugation.
Heating (if applicable): Only applies to the milk (s) kept in refrigerated tanks due to delayed processing. The milk is heated to restore its temperature out of the body of the animal, a physical condition essential for renneting. The county for example is lukewarm at 40 ° C. Beyond, the milk loses the name « raw milk ». The operation is sometimes called « ripening ».
Pasteurization (if any): the milk is heated to a determined process to eliminate pathogenic bacteria (harmful to humans) and increase the DLC. In contrast, beneficial bacteria are also destroyed. This practice significantly reduces the cost of cheese processing, because the milk is no longer « alive » it no longer requires costly and time-sensitive bacteriological analyzes. This aspect is of prime importance in agribusiness.
Inoculation of pasteurized or micro-filtered milk (optional): an essential practice for these processed milks; only a limited number of bacterial strains are seeded, which leads to a standardization of sensory characteristics. This is one of the flaws of this technique. Pasteurized or even sterilized milk (UHT process) will need to be enriched with calcium chloride to be chewable.
Renneting: the cheese maker adds rennet or ferment to the milk to curdle it (the milk separates into two distinct dairy products: curd and whey). Lemon juice or vinegar may be used (household cheeses). Some use the method of spontaneous acidification. The balance between rennet, sowing and acidity is decisive: the rennet character dominates for example in the bridge-the bishop, the lactic character in brie Melun, with between the two the case of Camembert (in industrial manufacture). We should also mention the method of milk kefir which is no longer used for cheese only in a restricted area in the family circle (Tibet, Middle East, Caucasus) and in the family circle, but could be at the origin cheese.
Flaking (if any): The cheese-maker passes through the curd mass using knives to obtain larger or smaller grains depending on the type of cheese desired, and to express the whey.
Drain (systematic): It reduces the moisture content of the cheese. During this stage, the whey and the curds finish to separate. The utensils used are stamen (operation performed before molding) or the mold or perforated form (two functions: draining and molding). The operation can be completed by heating, in the case of the county to around 55 ° C to « dry grain »
Casting: Molding or forming is done in large molds to obtain grinding wheels, in smaller ones for cheeses like fourmes, or even very small ones for Camembert, Picodon, Pérail, etc.
Pressing: The pressing, very physical operation if the method is really artisanal, allows to eliminate the excess of water. It is done with the hands, with a weight or with a mechanical press.
Salting: Immersion in brine or salting by hand for small cheeses.
Stitching (if any): This operation is practiced for the manufacture of « bruises » by piercing the cheese to inoculate a mushroom. The perforations also serve as oxygen corridors which, together with the internal humidity of the cheese, create an atmosphere conducive to the development of the mushroom.
Refining: This is the longest operation and requires great attention. It is done in a cellar. Each cheese is flipped and salted on each side for crust formation. This operation requires several days of work and a particular attention to the maturation of the cheese; the artisan cheese maker must have good sensory dispositions such as observation, smell, taste and touch, all combined with good physical strength in the case of large cheeses (mechanization possible). Experience in this area is crucial. The hooter (often electric) can take care of the period of drying. Sometimes, the walls of the cellar, thanks to their porosity, serve as a reservoir for a certain microbial biodiversity, which can contribute to the particularity of a cheese, as well as the grass consumed or the race used to produce the cheese. milk.
For a successful ripening, each type of cheese requires a particular atmospheric atmosphere (temperature, hygrometry) which makes it impossible to ripen different cheeses in the same cellar.
Finally, note the technique of serac, made from whey by-product of other cheeses (Tomme d’alpage, Munster …) from the Vosges to the Alps via the Jura. Whey contains lactose (sugar) and serum proteins, dissolved in water that will be heated to 80 or 90 ° (hence the name recutta in Italy) and coagulated with an acid (vinegar).
Curdling
decurdling.
decurdling.
Drainage, transfer of curd into the molds.
Drainage.
Molding.
Molding.
Pressing.
refinement.
The microbial ecosystem
According to INRA researcher Marie-Christine Montel, « Cheese is an ecosystem populated by bacteria, yeasts of mushrooms that live there as in society, each doing a specific job, all living in a delicate balance between competition and cooperation. (…) The cheese is thus the fruit of the digestion carried out by the microbes that invite themselves to the milk table. And they are many ! We have described more than 200 species in cheeses (…) « .
Depending on whether they have been well preserved or not and made with milk of satisfactory sanitary quality or not, we can distinguish two types of sprouts in cheeses:
Pathogenic germs such as the Listeria monocytogenes bacteria responsible for the dreaded listeriosis.
According to researchers at INRA:
A study, made to determine whether the microbial diversity present on the surface of raw milk cheeses can act in favor of safety, shows that 10 out of 34 microbial groups, naturally present on the crust of raw milk cheeses, can self-protect against Listeria monocytogenes, compared to a commercial surface ferment.
Some bacteria degrade amino acids and fatty acids, more slowly, and are sources of flavor.
Conservation methods
The best way to preserve a cheese, or even perfect its ripening, is to leave it in its cellar maturation, that is to say a cool, dark, airy and slightly humid.
The bottom of a refrigerator, under a cheese bell, can also do the trick but, by its lack of air renewal, will bring a different organoleptic result (a little stronger).
The majority of commercial cheeses are packaged, some hermetically. These have gone from an aerobic environment to an anaerobic environment which has changed their initial organoleptic qualities: they have become strong or even pungent. A return to the open air for several hours will make them recover their original characters.
It is always possible to freeze a cheese but without exceeding three months. If it’s suitable for pressed pasta cheeses such as Gouda, Parmesan, etc. It is not recommended to freeze cheeses with soft pasta.
Nutrition
Since cheese is made from concentrated milk (by partial removal of water), its nutritional value is high, with a composition similar to that of milk, but more concentrated. However, fermentation by bacteria and rennet may possibly reveal some complex nutrients (amino acids, sugars, vitamins …) not originally present in the milk. Cheeses contain both protein, sugars and lipids in good quantities, and therefore represent a very energizing and relatively « complete » food, which has allowed many cultures to make a pillar of their diet. They are also a source of vitamins A and B, mineral salts (Ca, P, K, Na, Mg …) and in particular rich in calcium. Cheeses are however rich in saturated fatty acids which have a detrimental effect on cholesterol levels: overconsumption is therefore not recommended for certain sensitive people (diabetics, people with high cholesterol, overweight people, people at risk of a point vascular view …).
Calcium intake is subject to controversy. Highlighted in nutritional campaigns and by the food industry, it is real but this calcium is not bio-assimilable (30%) and therefore partly rejected. It requires other components to improve this assimilation (vitamin D) or interacts with others (magnesium). As a reminder, Brussels sprouts have a rate of 64%, which must be weighted by the high amount of calcium in the cheese. Osteoporosis occurrence rates remain high in the Scandinavian countries despite a high consumption of dairy products, knowing that vitamin D is also below recommendations because of lack of sun.
Young cheeses and soft cheeses have high levels of lactose, but cooked pasta and pasta have the defect of being more acidifying for the body. The PRAL index is thus 13 for Camembert but 28 for Parmesan cheese.
Unpasteurized cheeses contain probiotics by their method of manufacture, which are further protected by the nature of the cheese as they pass through the acidic environment of the stomach and are more likely to survive, making a good contribution for the microbiota and therefore the immune system, but less than yogurt and even less than the milk kefir.
Finally, the composition and the nutritional values of the cheeses can vary enormously from one type to another, according to the manufacturing method (more or less skimmed milk cheese, cooking …), the fermentation, the ripening, or the type of milk used (the milks of equines being the least fat, and those of ewes and buffalo fatest (5.9%).
Studies on the benefits or misdeeds vary greatly for this reason, without giving a clear direction despite the temptation of industry to promote only those that are favorable.
Contaminants possible
Contaminants can be microbiological (viruses, fungi, unwanted bacteria). The bacteria are Salmonella, Listeria monocytogenes, Campylobacter (thermophilic), Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli.
In the European Union, the share of cheese devoted to trade is subject each year to a mandatory monitoring plan. In 2004, the European Commission focused its surveillance on the microbiological quality of raw milk cheeses and raw milk. Unexpectedly, the balance showed a presence of germs or pathogenic toxins weak.
Regulatory definition for commerce
In the European Union, a 2007 « single CMO » regulation requires that the name « cheese » be reserved for dairy products (« products derived exclusively from milk, it being understood that substances necessary for their manufacture may be added, provided that these substances are not used to replace, in whole or in part, any of the constituents of milk « ). Thus a cheese substitute can not be marketed as « cheese » in Europe.
In France, a decree of 27 April 200741 defines the commercial name « cheese » as being reserved for « fermented or not, obtained by coagulation of milk, cream or their mixture, followed by draining ».
The characteristics of the dry extract, the fat content and the origin of the milk must appear on the labeling.
Fresh cheeses (white cheese, Swiss cheese, semi-salt …) are rich in water (70% to 82%), and do not undergo ripening. The minimum dry matter for cheeses other than fresh is fixed at 23%. It is allowed to add a qualifier to the word cheese: a « triple cream » contains at least 75% fat; a « double cream » contains from 60% to less than 75%; a « fat cheese », from 50% to less than 60%; « low fat cheese » (and no added sugar) from 20% to less than 30%; a « lean cheese », less than 20%.
Article 7 of the Decree specifies that the name « cheese » may be used for any combination or combination of products defined in Articles 1 to 3 (white cheeses and blue cheeses), provided that the mixture or blend does not no other ingredients than those allowed in these cheeses.
The farm cheeses are made on the farm or in the place of summer pasture, by the farmer or an employee, exclusively with the milk that the breeder produces. This type of production, if offered for sale, may show on its labeling the words « unspecified fat » and has the right to derogate from the indication of nutritional values.
The term ‘raw milk’ is reserved for cheeses obtained with milk whose temperature has not been raised above 40 ° C and which has not been ultrafiltered or microfiltered.
Since June 20, 1992 (Decree of February 19, 1991), all cheeses produced on the farm, refined, must include the indication of a deadline of optimal use (DLUO), and the fresh cheeses a date of limit of consumption (DLC).
Economy
Cheese is one of the world’s leading agricultural products. According to the FAO, world production was more than 18 million tonnes in 2004. This is more than the cumulative annual production of coffee beans, tea leaves, cocoa beans and tobacco. According to the FAO, production of dairy products in 2010 accounted for 4% of man-made greenhouse gas emissions worldwide. The world’s largest producers of cheese are the United States (about 30% of the total), followed by Germany, France and Italy.
Producing countries
The advertising slogan « the other country of cheese », which was used to promote the production of the Netherlands on the French market, implicitly designates France as « the » country of cheese. However, Switzerland, in promoting its own productions, is also referred to as « cheese country ».
The world has about 10,000 cheeses. Traditionally, the number of varieties produced in France between 350 and 400, which translates the adage « a cheese per day of the year ». In fact, this country now produces more than 1,000 different cheeses and Britain more than 700. As for the cheese factories and mountain pastures in Switzerland (where the first big dairy for cheese making was opened on February 3, 1815, they produce more than 450 varieties.
The United States is the world’s leading producer of cheese. However, they occupy a marginal place in world cheese exports, with most of their production destined for the domestic market. France is the world’s largest exporter of cheese in value, while Germany is the largest in quantity. Of the top ten exporters, only Ireland, New Zealand, the Netherlands and Australia have a predominantly export-oriented cheese production: 95%, 90%, 72% and 65% respectively of their exports. cheese production is exported. Only 30% of French production is exported.
Greece, with an average consumption of 30.0 kg per capita, is the largest consumer country of cheese in the world (feta accounts for three-quarters of this consumption). France is the second largest consumer of cheese, with 24 kg per inhabitant. French industrial emmental (used mainly as a cooking ingredient), and camembert are the two cheeses most consumed in France. Italy is the third largest consumer country with 22.9 kg per capita. In the United States, cheese consumption is growing rapidly and almost tripled between 1970 and 2003. Consumption in 2003 was 14.1 kg per capita. The favorite cheese of Americans is of Italian origin, mozzarella: it represents about a third of consumption, mainly because it is one of the main ingredients of another typical Italian food, pizza.
|
https://fromexpress.com/definition-fromage-en-anglais/
|
There are quite a few different types of dishes, which are sometimes included under a generic term; for example, the category ciorbă includes a wide range of soups with a characteristic sour taste. These may be meat and vegetable soups, tripe ( ciorbă de burtă ) and calf foot soups, or fish soups, all of which are soured by lemon juice, sauerkraut juice, vinegar, or borș (traditionally made from bran). The category țuică (plum brandy) is a name for a strong alcoholic spirit in Romania.
In the history of Romanian culinary literature, Costache Negruzzi and Mihail Kogălniceanu were the compilers of a cookbook "200 rețete cercate de bucate, prăjituri și alte trebi gospodărești" (200 tried recipes for dishes, pastries and other household things) printed in 1841. Also, Negruzzi writes in "Alexandru Lăpușneanu": "In Moldavia, at this time, fine food wasn't fashioned. The greatest feast only offered a few types of dishes. After the Polish borș, Greek dishes would follow, boiled with herbs floating in butter, after that, Turkish pilaf, and finally cosmopolitan steaks".
Cheese has been a part of Romanian cuisine since ancient history. Brânză is the generic term for cheese in Romanian; it is originally a Dacian word. Traditional Dacian cuisine included vegetables (lentils, peas, spinach, garlic) and fruits (grapes, apples, raspberries) with high nutritional values. The Dacians produced wine in massive quantities. Once, Burebista, a Dacian king, angered by the wine abuse of his warriors, cut down the vines; his people gave up drinking wine. Legend says that the Dacian people created their own beer.[ citation needed ] Romans helped introduce different pastries made with cheese, including alivenci, pască , or brânzoaice. They also introduced different variations of millet porridge.
Maize and potatoes became staples of Romanian cuisine after their introduction to Europe. Maize, in particular, contributed to health and nutrition improvements of Romanians in the 16th and 17th centuries, resulting in a population boom.
For more than four centuries, Wallachia and Moldavia, the two medieval Romanian principalities, were strongly influenced by their neighbor, the Ottoman Empire. Ottoman cuisine changed the Romanian table with appetizers made from various vegetables, such as eggplant and bell peppers, as well as various meat preparations, such as chiftele (deep-fried meatballs, a variation of kofta) and mici (short sausages without casings, usually barbecued). The various kinds of ciorbă/borș (sour soups) and meat-and-vegetable stews, such as iahnie de fasole (beans), ardei umpluți (stuffed peppers), and sarmale (stuffed cabbage) are influenced by Turkish cuisine. The Romanian tomato salad is a variation of the Turkish çoban salata . Many traditional desserts and pastries combine honey and nuts, such as baclava , sarailie (or seraigli), halva , and rahat (Turkish delight).
Romanian recipes bear the same influences as the rest of Romanian culture. The Turks brought meatballs ( perișoare in a meatball soup), from the Greeks there is musaca , from the Austrians there is the șnițel , and the list could continue. The Romanians share many foods with the Balkan area (in which Turkey was the cultural vehicle), and Eastern Europe (including Moldova and Ukraine). Some others are original or can be traced to the Romans, as well as other ancient civilizations. The lack of written sources in Eastern Europe makes it impossible to determine today the exact origin for most of them.
One of the most common meals is the mămăligă , the precursor of polenta, served on its own or as an accompaniment. Pork is the main meat used in Romanian cuisine, but also beef is consumed and a good lamb or fish dish is never to be refused.
Before Christmas, on December 20 (Ignat's Day or Ignatul in Romanian), a pig is traditionally sacrificed by every rural family. A variety of foods for Christmas are prepared from the slaughtered pig, such as:
The Christmas meal is sweetened with the traditional cozonac , a sweet bread made with nuts, poppy seeds, or rahat (Turkish delight).
At Easter, lamb is served: the main dishes are borș de miel (lamb sour soup), roast lamb, and drob de miel – a Romanian-style lamb haggis made from minced offal (heart, liver, lungs), lamb meat and spring onions with spices, wrapped in a caul and roasted. The traditional Easter cake is pască , a pie made from yeast dough with a sweet cottage cheese filling at the center.
Romanian pancakes, called clătite, are thin (like the French crêpe) and can be prepared with savory or sweet fillings: ground meat, cheese, or jam. Different recipes are prepared depending on the season or the occasion.
Wine is the preferred drink, and Romanian wine has a tradition of over three millennia. Romania is currently the world's ninth largest wine producer, and recently the export market has started to grow. Romania produces a wide selection of domestic varieties (Fetească, Grasă, Tămâioasă, Busuioacă, and Băbească), as well as varieties from across the world (Italian Riesling, Merlot, Sauvignon blanc, Cabernet Sauvignon, Chardonnay, and Muscat Ottonel). Beer is also highly regarded, generally blonde pilsener beer, made with German influences. There are also Romanian breweries with a long tradition.
According to the 2009 data of FAOSTAT, Romania is the world's second largest plum producer (after the United States), and as much as 75% of Romania's plum production is processed into the famous țuică , a plum brandy obtained through one or more distillation steps.
Followers of the Romanian Orthodox Church keep fast during several periods throughout the ecclesiastical calendar amounting to a majority of the year. In the Romanian Orthodox tradition, devotees keep to a diet without any animal products during these times. As a result, vegan foods are abundant in stores and restaurants; however, Romanians may not be familiar with a vegan or vegetarian diet as a full-time lifestyle choice. Many recipes below have vegan versions, and the Vegetables section below contains many common fasting foods.
The generic name for cheese in Romania is brânză , and it is considered to be of Dacian origin. Most of the cheeses are made from cow's or sheep's milk. Goat's milk is rarely used. Sheep cheese is considered "the real cheese", although in modern times, some people refrain from consuming it due to its higher fat content and specific smell.
Hungarian or Magyar cuisine is the cuisine characteristic of the nation of Hungary and its primary ethnic group, the Magyars. Traditional Hungarian dishes are primarily based on meats, seasonal vegetables, fruits, bread, dairy products and cheeses.
Tripe is a type of edible lining from the stomachs of various farm animals. Most tripe is from cattle, pig and sheep.
Ukrainian cuisine is the collection of the various cooking traditions of Ukrainian people accumulated over many years. The cuisine is heavily influenced by the rich dark soil (chornozem) from which its ingredients come and often involves many components.
Tripe soup, tripe stew or tripe chorba is a soup or stew made with tripe. It is widely considered to be a hangover remedy.
Slovak cuisine varies slightly from region to region across Slovakia. It was influenced by the traditional cuisine of its neighbours and it influenced them as well. The origins of traditional Slovak cuisine can be traced to times when the majority of the population lived self-sufficiently in villages, with very limited food imports and exports and with no modern means of food preservation or processing.
Bulgarian cuisine is a representative of the cuisine of Southeast Europe. It shares characteristics with other Balkan cuisines. Bulgarian cooking traditions are diverse because of geographical factors such as climatic conditions suitable for a variety of vegetables, herbs, and fruit. Aside from the vast variety of local Bulgarian dishes.
Serbian cuisine consists of the culinary methods and traditions of the Republic of Serbia. Its roots lie in Serbian history, including centuries of cultural contact and influence with the Byzantines, the Ottomans, the defunct state of Yugoslavia, and Serbia's Balkan neighbours. Historically, Serbian food was characterised by strong influence from Byzantine (Greek) and Mediterranean cuisines, but also by Ottoman (Turkish), and to a lesser extent Central European cuisine.
Cypriot cuisine is the culinary traditions and practices originating from Cyprus. It is heavily influenced by Arab, Greek and Turkish cuisines, whilst also sharing similarities with the cuisines of Italy and France
Czech cuisine has both influenced and been influenced by the cuisines of surrounding countries and nations. Many of the cakes and pastries that are popular in Central Europe originated within the Czech lands. Contemporary Czech cuisine is more meat-based than in previous periods; the current abundance of farmable meat has enriched its presence in regional cuisine. Traditionally, meat has been reserved for once-weekly consumption, typically on weekends. The body of Czech meals typically consists of two or more courses; the first course is traditionally soup, the second course is the main dish, and the third course can include supplementary courses, such as dessert or compote. In the Czech cuisine, thick soups and many kinds of sauces, both based on stewed or cooked vegetables and meats, often with cream, as well as baked meats with natural sauces (gravies), are popular dishes usually accompanied with beer, especially Pilsner, that Czechs consume the most in the world. Czech cuisine is also very strong in sweet main courses and desserts, a unique feature in European cuisines.
Smetana is a type of sour cream from Central and Eastern Europe. It is a dairy product produced by souring heavy cream. It is similar to crème fraîche, but nowadays mainly sold with 9% to 42% milkfat content depending on the country.Its cooking properties are different from crème fraîche and the lighter sour creams sold in the US, which contain 12 to 16% butterfat. It is widely used in cooking and baking.
Bosnian cuisine is balanced between Western and Eastern influences. Bosnian cuisine is closely related to Turkish, Mediterranean and other Balkan cuisines, along with some Central European influence. Many of the traditional dishes have been made from the same recipes for hundreds of years.
Chorba or shorba, refers to several kinds of soup or stew found in national cuisines across the Balkans, Algeria, Central Europe, Eastern Europe, Central Asia, Middle East and the Indian subcontinent. It is often prepared with added ingredients but served alone as a broth or with bread.
Armenian cuisine includes the foods and cooking techniques of the Armenian people and traditional Armenian foods and dishes. The cuisine reflects the history and geography where Armenians have lived as well as sharing outside influences from European and Levantine cuisines. The cuisine also reflects the traditional crops and animals grown and raised in Armenian populated areas.
Georgian cuisine is a traditional cuisine of Georgia. Georgian cuisine has similarities with Caucasus cuisine. Every region of Georgia has its own distinct style of food preparation. Eating and drinking are important parts of Georgian culture.
Moldovan cuisine is a style of cooking related to the people of Moldova and its breakaway region of Transnistria. It consists mainly of ingredients such as beef, pork, potatoes, cabbage, and a variety of cereal grains. The local cuisine is very similar to Romanian, and also draws inspiration and elements from other cuisines in the region, including Greek, Polish, Ukrainian, and Russian, with a great influence left by the Ottoman cuisine.
A meatball is ground meat rolled into a small ball, sometimes along with other ingredients, such as bread crumbs, minced onion, eggs, butter, and seasoning. Meatballs are cooked by frying, baking, steaming, or braising in sauce. There are many types of meatballs using different types of meats and spices. The term is sometimes extended to meatless versions based on vegetables or fish; the latter are commonly known as fishballs.
Borș is either (1) a liquid ingredient used in Romanian and Moldovan cuisine or (2) the sour soup (ciorbă) typically made with this ingredient.
A stew is a combination of solid food ingredients that have been cooked in liquid and served in the resultant gravy. Ingredients in a stew can include any combination of vegetables and may include meat, especially tougher meats suitable for slow-cooking, such as beef, poultry, sausages, and seafood. While water can be used as the stew-cooking liquid, stock is also common. A small amount of red wine is sometimes added for flavour. Seasoning and flavourings may also be added. Stews are typically cooked at a relatively low temperature, allowing flavours to mingle.
|
https://wikimili.com/en/Romanian_cuisine
|
What is cheese? Cheese is a fermented milk product that likely dates back to Neolithic times. Historically serving as a means of preserving milk, today, a fine cheese is viewed as a delicacy rather than a means of survival. Millennia of cheesemaking has led to a diversification of cheese styles and production methods, and more recently, to detailed technical knowledge of the science behind the process. Communities of microbes catalyze the transformation of milk into cheese and remain active participants in the development of a cheese throughout the aging process.
How is cheese made? Cheesemaking occurs in three main stages. In the first stage, milk is transformed into solid curds and liquid whey through the coagulation of the milk protein casein. The coagulation of casein is usually accomplished through two complementary methods, acidification and proteolysis. Acidification occurs when lactic acid bacteria ferment the disaccharide lactose, to produce lactic acid. Originally, cheesemakers relied upon naturally occurring lactic acid bacteria in the milk, but today, the process is usually standardized by the addition of domesticated bacterial ‘starter’ cultures, including strains of Lactococcus lactis, Streptococcus thermophilus and Lactobacillus sp. The production of acid by these bacteria causes casein to slowly coagulate. This process is often assisted by the addition of the enzyme chymosin, the active ingredient in rennet. Rennet is traditionally made from an extract of the intestinal lining of a milk-fed calf, which produces the protease chymosin to aid in the digestion of milk. Chymosin removes a negatively charged portion of casein, resulting in the rapid aggregation of casein proteins.
In the second stage of cheesemaking, cheesemakers separate the curds, containing the casein and milk fat, from the whey. Depending on the type of cheese, the curds can be heated, salted, pressed, and eventually formed into wheels of various shapes and sizes. Cheese can be eaten fresh at this point, or the wheels can be left to age in a damp, cool place.
It is during the aging stage of cheesemaking that cheese is truly transformed — from fresh cheese into the myriad flavors, aromas, and textures of mature cheese. As a normal part of the aging process, starter cultures and non-starter lactic acid bacteria continue to grow and metabolize the interior of the cheese, while the surface of a cheese is colonized by bacteria and fungi that form a multispecies biofilm, termed the ‘rind’ of the cheese (Figure 1).
How do microbes impact the flavor, smell, and texture of cheese? Much of the diversity in the flavor, smell, and texture of cheese can be attributed to microbiology. Microbes have a rich assembly of metabolic capacities, and through the production of digestive enzymes and small molecules, microbes contribute to the distinct character of a cheese. However, variations in cheese production can lead to the preferential growth of different groups of microbes. First, the source and treatment (i.e., raw vs. pasteurized) of milk used for cheesemaking can lead to differences in microbial diversity. Subsequently, changes in the pH, salt, moisture, and temperature of a cheese during the initial stages of cheesemaking, or during aging, can dramatically impact the physiology of cheese-associated microbes.
The contribution of certain microbes to cheese has been well characterized, and pure cultures of these microbes are commonly used by cheesemakers. Besides the lactic acid bacterial starter cultures, various species of bacteria and fungi can be added to give a cheese very specific characteristics.
What is the white fuzzy rind on Camembert? Spores of the filamentous fungus Penicillium camemberti are inoculated into milk during the production of bloomy rind cheeses such as Brie and Camembert. P. candidum is an aerobe and grows preferentially on the surface of the cheese, where it forms a rind made of a dense mat of hyphae (Figure 1A). During growth, proteases are secreted from the hyphae into the cheese. The proteolysis of the casein destroys the structure of the underlying curd, slowly liquefying the cheese and giving Camembert its oozy texture.
What is the blue in blue cheese? A related fungus, Penicillium roqueforti, is the key microbe in blue cheese (Figure 1B). While this fungus can be found growing naturally in the limestone caves of southwestern France where the classic cheese, Roquefort, is produced, it can also be inoculated into milk destined to become blue cheese. Because P. roqueforti is a microaerophile, it prefers to grow in crevices created by puncturing a cheese with metal spikes after the wheels are formed. P. roqueforti produces lipases that convert the fats in cheese to peppery free fatty acids and the methyl ketone 2-heptanone, which gives the characteristic blue aroma. The blue pigment seen in blue cheese is produced by P. roqueforti during sporulation.
Why are some cheeses so stinky? Washed rind cheeses, such as Epoisses and Limburger, are regularly washed with a brine solution during the aging process. This creates a moist, salty environment on the surface of the cheese in which certain species of fungi and bacteria thrive. One of the best-known species is the actinomycete bacterium Brevibacterium linens (Figure 1C). B. linens contributes to the reddish-orange color typical of these cheeses through the production of carotenoid pigments. Additionally, B. linens metabolizes the casein proteins to a variety of volatile compounds, including amines and sulfur compounds, giving these cheeses their funky, sweaty aromas. The related bacterium B. epidermidis can be found growing on human skin and, not surprisingly, is thought to contribute to body odor.
What causes the holes in Swiss cheese? The holes in Swiss cheese result from the growth of the bacterium Propionibacterium freundenreichii (Figure 1D). P. freundenreichii ferments the lactic acid present after the growth of the lactic acid bacteria. The products of this fermentation include propionic acid, which is one of the characteristic flavors of Swiss cheese, and CO2. Because P. freundenreichii prefers anaerobic conditions, growth occurs inside the wheel of cheese, and the CO2 produced during fermentation is trapped and forms the typical bubbles, or holes, found in Swiss cheese.
What other microbes are found in cheese? The microbial components of cheese are only partially dictated by the pure cultures inoculated by cheesemakers. A wheel of cheese is home to a whole community of microbes, and the rind in particular may be colonized and dominated by species derived from the local environment rather than by starter cultures. Although the identity and function of these additional species is only beginning to be uncovered, cheesemakers have learned, through trial and error, how to reproducibly cultivate specific communities by manipulating the conditions to which a cheese is subjected during the aging process. Each variety of cheese represents the output of a slightly different microbial community. Because the metabolism of cheese-associated microbes greatly impacts the sensory attributes of cheese, differences in microbial diversity result in tangible changes in flavor, odor, texture, and color that are tracked (and often influenced) by the cheesemaker. Conditions that produce distinct microbial communities have been documented and passed down by generations of cheesemakers.
What can we learn from the microbial communities on cheese? Very little is known about how microbes behave in the context of a community. Since studies have recently demonstrated that microbial communities living in and on the human body greatly impact our health, the importance of understanding how microbial communities function and how we can manipulate them is now widely recognized. By studying microbial communities that we already know how to manipulate, like those on cheese, we may readily find answers to questions about which forces are most important in determining succession of species within a microbial community, how species cooperate or compete within a community, and how whole communities respond to perturbations, like invasion by pathogenic species. The adaptation of cheese communities into a laboratory model system can help to delineate the principles that govern microbial communities.
Why will cheese be such a good model system for studying microbial communities? A good model system must be simple, easily cultivated in the lab, and reproducible. The rind communities that form a biofilm on the surface of an aged cheese exhibit all of these properties. Because cheese communities have relatively few members, linking species to function will be experimentally practical. Since these communities grow on cheese, a defined substrate, their natural habitat is easily reproduced, and member species may be isolated in the lab. This will make it possible to reconstruct whole communities and observe their development. The simplicity, culturability, and reproducibility of cheese microbial communities will provide a unique, experimentally practical system that will help us understand how microbes live together.
Where can I find out more?
- Cheese and Culture: A History of Cheese and its Place in Western Civilization.Chelsea Green Publishers, White River Junction, VT2012
- On Food and Cooking: The Science and Lore of the Kitchen.Scribner, New York2004
Article info
Identification
Copyright
© 2012 Elsevier Ltd. Published by Elsevier Inc.
User licenseElsevier user license |
How you can reuse
Elsevier's open access license policy
Elsevier user license
Permitted
For non-commercial purposes:
|
https://www.cell.com/current-biology/fulltext/S0960-9822(12)00659-8
|
The production of cheese is a process of concentrating milk by the interaction of the milk, starter cultures, and, in most cases, rennet. Traditionally, cheese has been produced in small vats, but during the past 3 to 4 decades, processing has become increasingly industrialized. Before industrialization, little attention was directed toward the hygienic aspects of cheesemaking, partly because the batch sizes were small and partly because methods of analysis were not well developed; consumption of cheese would normally cause only a few of disease cases. In recent years, more attention is being given to the hygienic aspects for several reasons: methods for detecting pathogens have improved; more focus on emerging pathogens such as Listeria and E. coli H7:O157; and the larger batch sizes increase risk to larger numbers of consumers, if pathogens are present. Furthermore, because of the large batches, economic losses will be substantial if the quality is not acceptable. Finally, an unacceptable quality in just a few batches from a producer may lead to loss of market shares. All these reasons have led to a considerable increase in attention on the hygienic aspects of cheesemaking. These aspects include a range of factors such as hygiene, environmental and technological factors, interactions between microorganisms, and the setting up of control systems in order to prevent contamination or at least to inhibit the growth of pathogens.
Complications in doing this arise from the fact that there are many different cheese varieties, such as yellow (with or without surface ripening), fresh, blue-veined, white-molded, and cottage cheese, each with its own risks for the presence or growth of pathogens or spoilage microorganisms. In this chapter, the most important physical, chemical, and microbiological factors required for inhibiting or avoiding pathogens or spoilage microorganisms are described. The creation of a comprehensive control system is discussed.
Cheeses comprise a huge number of varieties and thus the composition also varies. The chemical composition of a cheese results from production under either high or low acidification, depending on the type of cheese, and the starter culture, which also plays a role in formation of the metabolic profile. As an example, the starter culture is able to form lactic acid as the major component, diacetyl, ethanol, acetic acid, benzoic acid, and bacteriocine (1).
Depending on the type of cheese, the water content varies from very low in Grana cheeses to very high in cottage cheese, and the pH may vary from very low in in blue-veined cheeses and Feta (4.6-4.8) to very high in Queso Fresco (6.2-6.5). As pH varies, so does the lactic acid content. The sodium chloride content varies from very high (4-6%) in some blue-veined cheeses and Feta to very low (0.8-1.0) in cottage cheese. The sodium chloride content, dry matter, and other salts in cheese are responsible for the water activity, which is a very important growth determinant for microorganisms.
Regarding growth of microorganisms on the surface of cheeses, the packaging conditions are very important because the oxygen barrier varies, depending on the packaging material. The choice of packaging material depends on the type of cheese to be packed. Curing times for some cheeses may vary from short (1-6 days) or longer (up to 2 years) time intervals. This factor challenges the hygienic conditions in the curing rooms in relation to the chemical composition of the cheeses. Another challenge in this respect is the variation in temperatures that may occur in curing rooms. The temperature may vary from very high (20-22°C), for example for some Swiss-type cheese varieties, to very low (2-5°C) for fresh cheeses or special varieties. During the curing time, temperature is elevated or lowered depending on the cheese type to be produced. Finally, the addition of nitrate or lysozyme to prevent growth of primarily Clostridia is an antimicrobial factor to be considered (2).
From a hygienic point of view, the cheese process in itself is a stabilizing factor. Starter culture is added to the cheese milk at 30 °C and, together with the action of rennet, the milk coagulates to form a gel. As pH drops through the formation of lactic acid from the starter culture, the water-binding capacity of the proteins drops. This, together with cutting of the formed gel, separates the milk into cheese and whey. After about 90 min, depending on type of cheese to be produced, the pH has dropped from 6.7 in fresh milk to about 6.0. After this initial cheese process, the cheese mass is pressed and anaerobic conditions are created. After pressing, the cheeses are left to complete acidification to the minimum pH (5.2), typically requiring 24 hr. Most cheese types are then cured in curing rooms at different temperatures, and they may be ripened with or without a surface ripening culture. Some cheeses are packed in different foils in the curing room. Some fresh types of cheeses, however, are packed directly, then stored at 5°C and consumed within a few weeks.
III. ENVIRONMENTAL AND TECHNOLOGICAL FACTORS A. Organic Acids and pH
The starter culture consists of lactic acid bacteria (LAB), and within 24 hr, the minimum pH is usually achieved. The minimum pH may vary, but in most cheeses it is about 5.2 or lower; for Cheddar pH of 5.0 is normal, and in Feta the pH may be as low as 4.6. The buffer capacity of the cheeses is high due to the high protein content, but the amount of lactic acid formed in the cheeses is also very high, up to 1.5% for some cheese types. This amount of lactic acid, and the relatively low pH, achieves inhibition of many pathogens and spoilage microorganisms, especially gram-negatives. However, the gram-positives will also be inhibited under these conditions. Yeast and molds are only affected a little by the low pH and high amount of lactic acid. Depending on the type of starter culture, certain amounts of other organic compounds will also be formed (1). When gas-producing mesophilic LAB are used as starters, diacetyl is formed in amounts that are able to cause a little inhibition of pathogens and spoilage microorganisms. Due to the metabolism occurring in the cheeses, the starters will also form acetic acid; up to 250 ppm is normal. This amount is not enough to prevent the growth of pathogens or spoilage microorganisms and has little impact. Other organic compounds such as benzoic acid and ethanol may also have an impact on the growth of pathogens and spoilage microorganisms.
Although the amounts of organic compounds formed are difficult to control, it is easy to control pH and it is important to keep it as low as possible without altering the desirable organoleptic properties of the cheeses.
Temperature and curing duration are important variables from a technological and hygienic point of view. Although the curing temperature and time may improve the organo-leptic properties of the cheese, it may also possibly lead to microbial growth. At jC, given the right conditions, Listeria is able to grow (3), whereas others such as Clostridium tyro-butyricum are not able to grow below 8°C (4). Therefore, it is important to monitor the interaction between the curing temperature and time, in relation to the growth of selected microorganisms, and the cheese's organoleptic properties. From a hygienic point of view, the temperature should be kept as low as possible.
At a high NaCl content, and/or low water content, many microorganisms are prevented from growing (5). In such cheeses, Staphylococci, Listeria and yeast are chief concerns, because they are salt tolerant (6). In fresh cheeses of which the water activity is high and the NaCl content is about 0.8-1.0, the risk of growth is high: these are physiological conditions. It is not possible to lower the NaCl amount because it originates from the milk, and, in many cases, it is not possible to elevate the amount due to changes in the organoleptic properties. In these cases, other means must be used to prevent growth of pathogens and spoilage microorganisms.
Nitrate and lysozyme are often added to cheese milk in order to prevent late blowing from Clostridium tyrobutyricum (2-7). In most cases, these additives also inhibit the growth of other microorganisms. But it is worth noting that the activity of the starter may also be slightly inhibited, causing a slower decrease in pH during the fermentation process, resulting in less inhibition of pathogens and spoilage microorganisms during the acidification process.
IV. ANTAGONISTIC/SYMBIOTIC ACTIONS IN CHEESES
For several years, nisin, a bacteriocin produced during fermentation, has been recognized as preservative in a variety of cheeses. Nisin is produced by Lactococcus lactis subsp. lactis, one of the species used for acidification. The ability to produce nisin is strain dependent.
Nisin can be added to cheese milk or processed cheese as a powder for inhibiting grampositives. Use of a living nisin-producing Lactococcus in cheese production is not widespread because inhibition of the starter culture may be a problem. Other bacteriocins are known (8,9). The starter culture used in the production of surface-ripened cheeses consists of a mixture of yeast, Brevibacterium linens, other coryneform bacteria, Micrococcus, Staphylococcus (primarily equorum and xylosus), and gram-negatives in limited numbers (10). Bacteriocins from B. linens and Staphylococcus have been reported, and this is considered to be one way to control Listeria on surface-ripened cheeses (11-13). Enterococcus sp. has also been reported to produce bacteriocins, and this production may also have an impact on the control of harmful gram-positives on cheeses.
Apart from producing organic inhibitors and bacteriocins, the starter culture may also inhibit other microorganisms by direct competition for substrate. The starter culture ferments lactose into lactic acid/lactate, and thus inhibits the growth of harmful lactose fermenting microorganisms like coliforms or spoilage bacteria (e.g., heterofermentative lactobacilli). Other substrates converted by the starter culture during cheesemaking are citrate and protein fragments, which means that these compounds cannot serve as substrate for pathogens. The formation of lactic acid/lactate will in turn promote the growth of lactate-fermenting microorganisms (e.g., certain Clostridia). The best known is Clostridium tyrobutyricum, which causes late blowing in cheeses; however, there are means available to prevent this (see Sec. VI.A).
Was this article helpful?
Discover How To Surprise Family and Friends With Homemade Bread? Is Your Bread Coming Out Doughy Or Crumbly? Well, you don't have to be frustrated anymore by baking bread that doesnt rise all of the way or just doesn't have that special taste.
|
https://www.buffalobrewingstl.com/beverage-fermentation/cheese-production-quality-control-and-sanitation.html
|
Implantation symptoms may occur during the process of embedding the fertilized egg in the lining of the uterus (also called the endometrium). Nausea, weakness, increased appetite, changes in taste preferences and food may be the symptoms of successful implantation and early pregnancy.
For a quick guide on possible implantation symptoms you will want to know, check out the following video.
If implantation of the ovule occurs, the so-called “implantation bleeding” may occur, usually a couple of days after implantation. Usually, women notice a light spotting. Some women may notice the bleeding of the implant just once and others may present it for a day or two.
As a general rule, implantation occurs between days 6-7 after ovulation . This process is divided into two stages. First, the blastocyst simply adheres to the walls of the uterus.
In the second stage it is deeply embedded with the help of special enzymes. Now the egg is in the endometrial cavity, the endometrium grows progressively and envelops this cavity more and more.
Implantation is the process from which pregnancy begins . After it, the fetus begins to grow rapidly and produces some waste that can accumulate in the mother’s organism. This usually causes a lot of changes in your body.
The symptoms of implantation can be divided conditionally into three groups:
Symptoms of success , that is, those that mean that a successful implantation has taken place.
Warning symptoms , which should be discussed with a specialist.
False symptoms , have nothing in common with the implantation process, but they are very similar to signs of pregnancy, so they can be easily confused.
Implantation Symptoms – The Successful Indicators
The implantation symptoms that indicate the successful fixation of the ovule and the
beginning of pregnancy are:
Sickness
Food aversions and changes in taste
Slightly significant increase in body temperature
Increase in basal body temperature
Absence of menstruation
Sensitivity in the breasts
Nausea during pregnancy : The feeling of nausea appears even before the menstrual period is missed, usually in the morning or on an empty stomach, and may be accompanied by dizziness.
It is experienced mostly during the first weeks of pregnancy (and at the time of implantation). It usually appears as a reaction to strong odors. For example, the pregnant woman may feel an aversion to fried meat, fish and vegetables.
In the same way you can dislike certain fragrances of perfume and cigarette smoke. These odors cause sudden nausea and even vomiting.
This symptom can be alleviated by eating something bittersweet, for example, a sweet or an apple, or by drinking a little juice. Sometimes the nausea is so strong, that you can feel aversion to all foods.
Changes in appetite and food preferences :
Craving the taste of salt is one of the possible changes in food preferences, which appears in the first stage of implantation, even before menstruation disappears .
Sometimes pregnant women also feel strong aversion to meat and fish, or may feel some unexpected cravings for certain foods they hated before pregnancy and vice versa. Pregnant women often feel bitter and metallic tastes in their mouths, usually on an empty stomach.
Insignificant increase in body temperature :
A slight increase in body temperature is considered as a common symptom of implantation . It is known that the body’s normal temperature rises to approximately 36.6 degrees.
However, for successful implantation a defined amount of progesterone is needed, since it helps the development of pregnancy. This hormone accelerates the metabolic processes in the body and intensifies blood flow, therefore, body temperature rises.
In general, these changes can not be felt, but in any case, do not be alarmed until there are additional symptoms, for example, pain, colds or nasal fever.
Increase in basal body temperature: Basal body temperature (measured rectally) is a more accurate indicator than the temperature we take in the armpit, since it is not influenced by environmental factors.
That is why obstetricians use the BBT (Body Basal Temperature) method to confirm implantation and successful conception. During this period the basal temperature can reach approximately 37.4 or 37.5 degrees.
Absence of period: The absence of menstruation is the most common symptom of pregnancy and correct implantation. If your menstrual cycle is regular, the first thing that should come to mind when your period is delayed is a possible pregnancy.
The absence of menstruation without implantation is abnormal.
Sensitivity in the breasts: The levels of estrogen and progesterone are growing rapidly during the first weeks of pregnancy. These female hormones cause swelling and tenderness in the breasts.
Sometimes, this increased sensitivity is so pronounced that discomfort can be caused even by underwear. After each contact you may feel persistent pain, even at the most minimal contact. The nipples also become very sensitive and the breasts may increase in size, but the skin without redness.
Implantation symptoms – The Warning Signs
In addition to the aforementioned symptoms, which are common for the embedding process of the ovum, there may be other signs, these are the so-called implantation warning symptoms.
Implantation bleeding:
If instead of the usual menstrual period, a slight spotting is experienced, attention should be paid to this symptom.
This discharge may also appear in case of late implantation, deficiency in pregnancy hormones, inadequate development of the fetus or its incorrect location (for example, fetal development in the part of the uterus or in the fallopian tubes, which is known as ectopic pregnancy).
If you have spots before the period and you think they may be caused by implantation, consult your doctor immediately.
If after the pelvic examination and an ultrasound, the gynecologist observes that the fetus is in the uterine cavity and there are no abnormalities, hospitalization is unnecessary. It will surely recommend you avoid any physical training and sexual relations.
Pain after the absence of menstruation: The presence of persistent and straining pains after the absence of menstruation can be caused by uterine contractions. Remember that every pain begins when the body asks you to pay attention to one or another health problem.
If your period is absent and you feel pain, you have to visit the doctor to confirm or rule out a possible pregnancy. If the blood test and a pelvic exam show that there was successful implantation, the gynecologist can advise you about the new lifestyle.
False implantation symptoms
Heavy cramping during implantation is considered abnormal. The blastocyst is smaller than a speck of dust and it is impossible to feel it physically. However, some women claim that they may feel cramping when the ovum is released from one of the ovaries.
In the same way, the presence of sharp, sharp or cutting pain in the lower abdomen is abnormal during the implantation process. These sensations can be connected in some way with intestinal spasms, since the intestine is just behind the uterus.
Therefore, the pregnant woman may think she feels pain in the uterus. During pregnancy many future mothers have digestive disorders, for example constipation can be the reason for strange cramps in the lower abdomen.
Feeling cramps before the absence of the period can be a symptom of inflammatory processes or simply mean the beginning of regular menstruation.
Having a spot in the middle of the menstrual cycle does not always mean successful implantation. Sometimes (although rarely) a short-term bloody discharge is experienced after ovulation, but attention must be paid to these signals. Without the examination of a specialist it is impossible to define the exact cause of this type of bleeding.
How to confirm successful implantation
The most accurate way to confirm early pregnancy is to do a blood test to look for the presence of the hormone hCG, abbreviations that mean human chorionic gonadotropin. This hormone is actively produced after implantation and can be detected in urine and blood. The second line in pregnancy tests shows the emergence of this hormone level.
The first test should be done approximately three days after the delay in the period.
The second way to confirm pregnancy is to do an ultrasound. This helps to define the location of the embedded egg. The fetus can be seen in the uterus 3-4 weeks after implantation.
However, it is not wise to do the ultrasound exam too often and without the approval of a gynecologist. The implementation process is very delicate and every manipulation, even the most careful one, can end it.
Lifestyles and diet during implantation
During the period of possible implantation it is necessary to exclude certain daily routines
such as spas, treatments such as solarium and saunas. It is also not advisable to stay in the sun for a long time. The diet should include:
cereals and whole grain bread
fruits and vegetables
meats and fish (low in fat)
dairy products
The proteins (meat, fish, cheese) should not be included in the diet, because they are necessary for the development of embryonic tissue. Meals should be eaten frequently and divided into small portions. If you are constantly nauseated during the implantation of the ovum and its subsequent growth, it is good to always carry a bottle of water and candy.
Adequate nutrition and healthy lifestyle can relieve nausea, protect the uterus from contractions after implantation (which can lead to the threat of miscarriage), as well as ensure the full and proper development of the embryo.
Not all pregnant women experience such implantation symptoms as nausea, dizziness and changes in their tastes. Do not feel afraid if you do not feel something special or different. Otherwise, do not worry too much, all the unpleasant symptoms usually disappear after the 12-13 week of pregnancy.
Recommended resources:
|
https://remarkablog.com/implantation-symptoms/
|
From the University of California at Davis, Davis, California; Actiotech, Paris, France. Requests for Reprints: Paul A. Davis, PhD, Department of Internal Medicine, TB156, University of California at Davis, Davis, CA 95616. Acknowledgments: The authors thank Rita Tezanos-Pinto, MT, and the Lipid Assay Laboratory staff for their assistance in analyzing the lipoprotein samples; Drs. Stephen Phinney and Anna Tang of the University of California, Davis, CNRU Lipid Metabolism Core Unit for the fatty-acid analysis of the modified-fat cheese product; and Christine Trapp for her expert handling of the study participants with respect to dietary surveys, cheese distribution, and compliance follow-up. Grant Support: In part by University of California, Davis, National Institutes of Health Clinical Nutrition Research Unit (DK 35747) and Sorrento Cheese Company, Buffalo, New York.
To test the effect of substituting a modified-fat cheese product into the diets of hypercholesterolemic adults.
A 4-month, randomized, double-blind, crossover substitution trial.
Twenty-six healthy adult volunteers (17 men, 9 women) with moderate hypercholesterolemia (total cholesterol >5.69 mmol/L but < 7.24 mmol/L).
Daily substitution of 100 g of cheese, either partial skim-milk mozzarella or modified-fat (vegetable oil) mozzarella cheese product, into participants' normal diets. Participants consumed an assigned cheese for 2 months, at which time they crossed over to consume the other study cheese.
Plasma lipid and apolipoprotein levels were measured at baseline and at 2 and 4 months after initiation of the study. Compliance was assessed by body weight and by biweekly dietary records and interviews.
No differences in weight or in the amount or type of calories consumed were found during the study. No statistically significant changes in lipid values resulted from consumption of mozzarella cheese. Modified-fat cheese substitution resulted in a decreased low-density lipoprotein cholesterol level when compared with levels at both baseline ( 0.28 mmol/L; 95% CI, 0.14 to 0.42 mmol/L) and during consumption of the skim-milk mozzarella cheese ( 0.38 mmol/L; 95% CI, 0.2 to 0.70 mmol/L). Findings for total cholesterol were similar. High-density lipoprotein cholesterol, plasma triglyceride, and apolipoprotein A-I and B-100 levels were unaltered. Both sexes responded similarly.
A linoleate-enriched cheese product, in the absence of any other changes in diet or habits, substituted into the normal diets of hypercholesterolemic adults reduced low-density lipoprotein and plasma cholesterol levels.
Published: Ann Intern Med. 1993;119(7_Part_1):555-559.
The Quest for a Cholesterol-decreasing Diet: Should We Subtract, Substitute, or Supplement?
|
https://annals.org/aim/article-abstract/668733/linoleate-enriched-cheese-product-reduces-low-density-lipoprotein-moderately-hypercholesterolemic
|
Mesopotamia is renowned for the unique tastes of its cuisine, as well as for its historical and cultural values. It is home to Mardin, the “Shining City of Mesopotamia”, and the largest city in the province, Midyat, where the highly-acclaimed and popular 2019 Turkish TV series Hercai (A Fickle Heart) is currently being filmed. Watching this TV series heightened my interest in this ancient region of Turkey. Having written about the area of Mardin in a previous blog, learning about the cuisine of the region was a logical next step. Different cuisines and foods are a particular love of mine as well.
The food is spicier in the Southeast Anatolia Region than elsewhere in Turkey. Peppers grow best in this area. The sweet-spicy pepper flakes of Maras; the hot, dark-red pepper flakes of Urfa; and Antep red pepper paste are choice souvenirs for visitors to take back home. Cooks use the pepper paste like tomato paste, often combining tomato and pepper pastes in stews and grain dishes. Pepper paste is also useful in marinades for grilled meat and adds a wonderful flavor to Turkish tabbouleh, known as kisir, which is often flavored with pomegranate paste.
Agriculture might be described as the first revolution in the history of humanity, and took place 10-12 thousand years ago. It occurred within the area of Turkey known in historical geography as Upper Mesopotamia, and in modern times as the Southeast Anatolia Region.
The cultivation of wheat was vital in the cuisine of the region, being used in many kinds of breads. Wheat was also an important source of nutrition in the form of bulgur and coarsely ground wheat, until rice production started in the region. The picture is of Lahmacun, the Southeastern Turkey Flatbread with Spicy Lamb Topping. Described by many as meat-topped pizza, it is very popular throughout Turkey.
Using wood ovens in the cuisine of Southeast Anatolia is a reflection of the culture that existed 12,000 years ago. Various dishes are still cooked in wood ovens and eaten with wheat breads such as flatbread, thick bread, cracker bread, and rusk. The word “Nan” – which means “bread” in Sumerian, Hittite and Kurdish – is still the same name for bread being used today.
Chickpeas were cultivated and their consumption has become very high in the region. For example, a popular breakfast in the Birecik district of Urfa Province is the Chickpea Wrap. It is prepared by wrapping chickpeas baked in the oven with thin flatbread then chili pepper, black pepper and salt are added. Tahini is used in savory dishes in Southeast Anatolia, and Hummus is more popular in this region than in other areas of Turkey.
The Southeast Anatolia Region is the second smallest region of Turkey. Most of the region is far from the sea in a high altitude with semi-arid climate. This brings very hot and dry summers, and cold and often snowy winters. Since it is colder, the region specializes in livestock farming, and grain and cereal production.
Mesopotamia and Anatolia are geographic locations where, since ancient times, sheep have been domesticated and raised. Anatolian mutton is the ancestor of present-day domestic sheep. The rich outdoor environment is surrounded by large steppes and suits raising sheep. To survive on the steppes, sheep increase their fat mass in the summer. This becomes fuel for them in the winter season when they cannot easily find food. Containing fatty meat and milk, sheep are a fundamental source of food.
The tail fat from sheep is widely used. Several kinds of kebabs are prepared with sheep meat and this kind of fat. A so-called “plain butter” is produced from the milk of these sheep. It can be defined as a refined type of butter and is made only in the Urfa region. Ayran, one of the most consumed beverages in the region, is made of yogurt derived from this very fatty sheep’s milk.
Peppers, eggplant, tomatoes and various spices are the main nutritional elements in the Mesopotamia region. They emerged in the region later in the 16th Century – through Spain, South Africa, the Red Sea and the Persian Gulf. Many kinds of vegetables and fruits were then cultivated in the rich, alluvial soils at the coast of the Euphrates and Tigris Rivers. The indispensable vegetables of all Anatolian cuisines entered through Mesopotamia, gradually transforming the region into a vegetable-oriented cuisine.
Hundreds of years ago, refrigeration was not available. Meat that would decay in the summer heat was cooked with Capsicum annum (isot) and various spices. It became known as the “taste of the Urfa district”, or çig köfte. Isot is a word composed of “ısı” (hot / heat) and “ot” (weed).
The Gaziantep pistachio is another important taste of the region. The pistachio is the product of the arid climate and semi-desert conditions. It is widely cultivated in Gaziantep, Mardin, Siirt and Urfa. In terms of nutritional value, 100 grams of pistachio is more valuable than 100 grams of veal. A paste of dough made with wheat (the main element of the regional cuisine), butter (made from the fat of sheep raised in the region), and sherbet (made of honey in ancient times and sugar in modern times) creates a scrumptious baklava. The sheets of dough are layered with ground or finely-chopped pistachios until the desired number of layers have been prepared.
An incredible gastronomic richness exists in the Southeast Anatolia Region due to the wealth of its natural resources. The similarities and differences that developed from these resources are primarily seen in larger city centers like Gaziantep, Sanliurfa, Mardin, Diyarbakır and Siirt. For the sake of some brevity in this article, we will only look at Gaziantep, Sanliurfa, and Mardin.
Cuisine of Gaziantep (or Antep): A specialty is yuvarlama, a rich soup with chickpeas, tiny chickpea-size meatballs and lamb cubes, which is garnished with a sprinkling of mint. Another favorite soup is Antep-Style Beyran Soup. A lamb-based broth, it has white rice, strands of lamb meat, minced garlic, and red pepper flakes. In Gaziantep, it is considered a breakfast soup. In contrast to this, it is enjoyed all day long in Istanbul, especially late at night or early morning after a long night of drinking.
A memorable treat in Gaziantep is a sweet pastry called Katmer. It is an ancient flaky pastry of Anatolia with history that might date back to the 11th Century. It is prepared much the same way as flatbread (yufka) or baklava. What makes it different, and so indulgent and delicious, is the generous amounts of butter and oil used in the preparation of the pastry.
Katmer is served plan or filled, sweet or savory. As with many traditional Turkish foods, each region tends to serve their own variations. In Afyon in central Turkey, it is filled with poppy seed paste. In Konya, only a few hundred kilometers away, it is usually filled with tahini (sesame seed paste) and served as a sweet topped with pekmez (fruit molasses) or icing sugar. However, Gaziantep-style Katmer is the tastiest and best-loved version. A sweet pastry, it is filled with both clotted cream and pistachios.
Cuisine of Sanliurfa: It has been nominated as UNESCO’s City of Gastronomy. The city’s rich cuisine is famous for its liver kebabs (seen in this picture). On-the-street vendors are on many street corners around the city, and open 24 hours a day so there is always smoke in the city. Also eggplant kebab, kıymalı (known as lahmacun, a kind of pancake with spicy meat filling), lebeni (cold soup prepared with yogurt), meatball with eggs and a special bread called tırnaklı, çig köfte (raw meatballs) and Mırra (a traditional type of bitter coffee, served in several provinces of Turkey, including Mardin.)
Cuisine of Mardin: A significant contribution to the cuisine culture of Turkey comes from Mardin. Containing traces of at least 30 civilizations that lived on these soils for ages, a unique and original cuisine developed from a blend of these different cultures. It has been nominated to enter the UNESCO World Heritage Cities List with its rich cultural and historical history.
Because Mardin is the settlement center of many civilizations throughout history, this rich cultural texture is reflected in its cuisine. Mardin cuisine is based on the cultural diversity of Mesopotamia. The oldest food production and production techniques in the world were developed in this region.
Mardin cuisine is not vegetable-oriented or spicy like the Aegean region. It is not kebab-oriented like the Gaziantep and Urfa cuisines. It is a special cuisine filled with delicious tastes and combinations. Meat comes together with bulgur, and vegetables come together with spices, creating a great harmony where extraordinary tastes can emerge.
Here is a sample of Mardin dishes that are rich in spice: Ikbeybet (boiled, stuffed meatballs). Irok (roasted, stuffed meatballs). Bacanak soup, stuffed lamb ribs, seasoned rice with almonds, and pomegranate salad. Keskek, sembusek, dobo, kitel raha (boiled meatball on metal tray). Cig köfte, sarma, frik rice, alluciye (plum dish with meat). Pumpkin with sesame oil, syrup and walnuts.
Other important tastes of Mardin are Assyrian wine, gingery lemonade and Mardin mahaleb liquor. Kiliçe (Mardin muffin), kakuleli mırra, hariri dessert. Bread and biscuits with cinnamon, sugared almonds, and roasted chickpeas.
Cheeses of Southeast Anatolia Region: It would be an injustice to close this article without paying a small tribute to Cheese!
Five different types of cheese are produced in southern Turkey (Mesopotamia), due to the richness of its dairy products. The region is covered with wide plains and prairies. Sheep and goats are raised on a widespread scale. Although small in number, these five cheeses are renowned throughout Turkey: Urfa White Cheese, Antep Sikma Cheese, Örgü (Braided) Cheese, Otlu (Herb) Cheese, and Künefe Cheese.
Urfa White Cheese: A regional cheese typical of the province of Sanliurfa. It has a smooth appearance and is also called Kiz memesi (maiden’s breasts).
Antep Sikma (Hand Pressed) Cheese: Widely consumed in the province of Gaziantep and the surrounding regions. Not generally produced by standard methods, each family makes the cheese according to its own knowledge and experience. Mainly eaten at breakfast, it is also sprinkled over regional dishes cooked on bricks, and used in desserts.
Örgü (Braided) Cheese: Produced in Mardin, Siirt and Sanliurfa, it accounts for 60–65% of the cheese consumed in the region. This cheese is mostly made in households and frequently comes in the form of a braid.
Herb Cheese: Produced in rural areas primarily in the Eastern Anatolia Region, but it is also made in the provinces of Diyarbakir and Siirt in the Southeast Anatolia Region. Classed as a White Cheese, the herbs added to it give it a distinctly different flavor. The herbs vary according to the province.
Künefe Cheese: This cheese is not a special cheese variety, since it is similar to the commonly known White Cheese. However, special care is taken in its production to use milk containing a high level of fat. Because it is used on a daily basis, it is made without salt and without being given a particular shape. Its name derives from its use in the preparation of künefe pastry in the Southern provinces.
MESOPOTAMIA, BEYOND A LAND:
Mesopotamia, the place where the story began and continues to endure. Mesopotamia, the land of the oldest and the land of firsts. Discover a legendary history, a legendary culture, a legendary nature, and legendary tastes in Mesopotamia.
Mary Bloyd is a retired corporate manager, living in Centerville, Ohio, USA with her husband, Jon. A mother of one daughter and grandmother to four beautiful children, Mary loves cooking for family and friends. Taught by a professional chef how to use spices and herbs, make stocks and mother sauces, she developed a curiosity about all manner of foods and cuisine. After discovering the wonderful storytelling of Turkish dizis and films, Mary became interested in and has written many articles about Turkish cuisine, traditions, and culture. Mary loves to travel, is a journal-keeper, writer of short stories and poetry, and is currently working on her first book, a personal memoir.
|
https://www.northamericaten.com/epic-tastes-of-mesopotamia-the-southeast-anatolia-region/
|
Ainuzzi is a stretched curd cow’s milk cheese, produced in the province of Agrigento, and a traditional product included in the list of traditional Italian agri-food products (P.A.T) of the Ministry of Agricultural, Food and Forestry Policies (Mipaaf).
Origins and History –
Ainuzzi is a typical cheese from the hinterland of the province of Agrigento and in particular from the municipalities of Cammarata and San Giovanni Gemini.
This cheese is linked not only to local food traditions to some religious festivals such as that of Corpus Domini or the patron saint. On that occasion, the brotherhoods carried their patron saint in procession and many of the decorations were made with the shapes of Ainuzzi. At the end of the celebrations, the cheese was distributed to the poor and the faithful to be consumed.
Geographic area –
Ainuzzi is a Sicilian cheese and processed in a restricted area of the Sicani territory of the province of Agrigento and especially in the municipalities of Cammarata and San Giovanni Gemini.
Raw material –
Ainuzzi is a fat, very fresh, raw, stretched and semi-hard cheese, produced from cow’s milk obtained from the milking of cattle raised in the area.
Description –
This cheese, linked to the tradition of the municipalities of Cammarata and San Giovanni Gemini (which are confined and neighboring), is processed in small shapes of varying sizes in the shape of animals (deer, fallow deer, goats, etc.): the ainuzzi.
These can reach a weight of 100 ÷ 200 g; they have a slightly rigid skin, white – pale straw yellow in color; the paste is white and compact, quite soft and elastic; the flavor is sweet and delicate with low intensity and persistence; it has a low intensity odor and aroma which highlights the recognition of cooked lactic type (cooked milk, melted butter).
Production Method –
For the production of Ainuzzi cheese, the milk of two consecutive milks is heated to a temperature of 37 ° and added with lamb rennet. The rennet curd undergoes a break with the “rotula”, a typical wooden tool, the size of a grain of corn. Hot water at 65-70 ° C is added to the boiler, then the paste remains under the whey. When the temperature drops to 30 ° C, it is extracted and placed on sink tables, covered with sheets, where it remains for 24 hours. At the end of the acidification phase, the dough is stretched and formed. The salting is in brine.
Gastronomic use –
Ainuzzi is usually consumed as it is during the celebrations for the feast of Corpus Domini and can be accompanied with a white wine, young, quite light and with a delicate aroma (obtained for example from vines such as Grillo or Grecanico).
Guido Bissanti
Sources
– National list of traditional agri-food products, of the Ministry of agricultural, food, forestry and tourism policies, pursuant to art. 12, paragraph 1, of the law 12 December 2016, n. 238 and subsequent amendments
– Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
|
https://antropocene.it/en/2022/01/07/ainuzzi/
|
On a theoretical level, the project will seek to provide a model for the relationship between literary and material culture, addressing questions such as whether the choice of means of commemoration (e.g. through particular objects or depictions of the poet) has had an effect on the reputation of individual poems or approaches to the writer's life and whether literary and material culture diverge or converge in the significance they grant the reputation of the poet. It will seek to provide outcomes which can act as a basis for the examination of the use of material and commemorative culture as a formative influence in the reception, reputation and canon of other writers.
On a policy level, Inventing Tradition and Securing Memory will contribute, through its work with the curator David Hopes, to the interpretation of Burns at the Robert Burns Birthplace Museum, the single most important Burns site in the world. The RBBM is in the process of final planning and development with £17M of the final £21M budget raised as of January 2009, and the current project will provide invaluable policy input at a crucial stage in the RBBM's crystallization as a major modern tourist venue. Burns is worth £157M to the Scottish economy (2003 figures), and the cutting-edge interpretation of his memorialization-itself so publicly visible in so many parts of the world-will be of great interest to the combined 100 000+ visitors a year expected at the Museum. It is expected that the dissemination of the research work to Glasgow Museums and to the Wordsworth Trust will also prove invaluable to the development of interpretative material in other venues.
Inventing Tradition and Securing Memory will provide a lasting web resource, a set of scholarly outcomes, and an engagement with the wider heritage, cultural and tourist industries through established collaborative agreements. Its methodologies will include:
i. The gathering of a comprehensive list of public commemorations through archives, newspapers, photograph collections and existing digital and secondary sources.
ii. The intensive use of archives to create a sense of the development of commissioning, fundraising and impact of public Burns commemoration in particular instances.
iii. The design of a taxonomy of domestic objects associated with Burns.
iv The consideration of Burns' memorialization as a form of invention of tradition (Hobsbawm and Ranger (1983)) and its use to 'compose' memories of who the poet was and what he represented.
v. Building on existing research, to establish ways in which material culture may be considered a legitimate part of the reception history of a text or author.
Publications
Mackay P (2011) Beyond Text: Burns, Byron and Their Material Cultural Afterlife in The Byron Journal
Pittock M (2016) Thresholds of Memory: Birch and Hawthorn in the Poetry of Robert Burns in European Romantic Review
Pittock M (2014) Poems and Festivals, Art and Artefact and the Commemoration of Robert Burns, c .1844- c .1896 in The Scottish Historical Review
Pittock, M (2016) 'Who Wrote the Scots Musical Museum ? Challenging Editorial Practice in the Presence of Authorial Absence' in Studies in Scottish Literature
|Title||Exhibition at Hunterian Art Gallery|
|Description||Exhibition of Burns memorabilia designed to show how they contributed to how the poet was remembered|
|Type Of Art||Artefact (including digital)|
|Year Produced||2011|
|Impact||Available to 25 000 visitors|
|Title||Exhibition at Mitchell Library of Burns materials and memory studies, 2011, 2013|
|Description||Exhibition: Treasures of the Month|
|Type Of Art||Artefact (including digital)|
|Year Produced||2011|
|Impact||Available to c90 000 visitors to the Mitchell Library, Glasgow in 2013 and 120 000 in 2011.|
|Title||Exhibition at Robert Burns Birthplace Museum|
|Description||An exhibition designed to show how C19 and C20 memories of Highland Mary were created by objects|
|Type Of Art||Artefact (including digital)|
|Year Produced||2011|
|Impact||Major press coverage, including The Sun; controversy; open to 78 000 visitors.|
|Description||The key discovery is that memory in the nineteenth century could be composed (ie altered, changed) by objects and public ceremonies, just as it can be today by the electronic media|
|Exploitation Route||In examining the role of public events and festivals on cultural memory of a place or person historically & in the present.
|
https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=AH%2FH008586%2F1
|
Dairy Sci. Technol.
Volume 90, Number 1, January–February 2010
|Page(s)||3 - 26|
|DOI||https://doi.org/10.1051/dst/2009036|
|Published online||16 October 2009|
Review
Split defect and secondary fermentation in Swiss-type cheeses – A review
Swiss型干酪的开裂和后发酵作用——综述
Défaut de lainure et fermentation secondaire des fromages à pâte pressée cuite – une revue
1
Moorepark Food Research Centre, Teagasc, Fermoy, Co. Cork, Ireland
2 Department of Food and Nutritional Sciences, University College, Cork, Ireland
* Corresponding author (通讯作者): [email protected]
Received:
15
December
2008
Revised: 25 May 2009
Accepted: 4 September 2009
Split and secondary fermentation defects in Swiss-type cheese varieties are manifested as undesirable slits or cracks that may lead to downgrading of the cheese. Split defect is associated with an excessive production of gas or an unsuitable cheese body that cannot accommodate gas produced, or a combination of both factors. Secondary fermentation is the apparent production of gas after the desired propionic fermentation of the warm room has taken place. No consensus exists as to the definitive causes of the defects, but possible causes are reviewed under factors that are associated with rheological behaviour (including cheese manufacture, acidification, intact protein content and proteolysis, seasonality of milk supply and ripening or storage temperature and duration) or with overproduction of gas (including milk microflora, propionic acid bacteria (PAB) – in particular strains with high aspartase activity and ability to grow at low temperatures, lactic acid bacteria, interactions between starter bacteria, facultatively heterofermentative lactobacilli (FHL) and other sources of gas including butyric acid fermentation). The influence of other parameters such as copper concentration, air incorporation, salt content, rind formation and cheese wrapping materials is also considered. Methods to reduce the prevalence of the split defect and secondary fermentation include addition of water to improve elastic properties by the removal of unfermented carbohydrate and the use of FHL to control PAB activity to prevent the production of excessive gas.
摘要
由于后发酵作用引起 Swiss 型干酪出现的开裂和裂纹缺陷使得产品的等级下降。开裂和裂纹与过量的气体产生和不适宜的干酪结构形成有关，不适宜的结构无法容纳产生的气体。后发酵是指在温室中丙酸发酵后产生的气体。至于缺陷产生的原因至今没有一个共识，但可能与干酪流变性（包括干酪生产、酸化、完整蛋白质含量和水解、泌乳季节，以及干酪成熟或贮存温度和时间）或与过度产气（包括牛乳的微生物菌群、丙酸菌特别是一些高天冬氨酸酶活性和低温生长的菌株、乳酸菌、发酵剂菌株之间的相互作用、兼性异型发酵乳酸菌和丁酸发酵产生的气体）相关。其他影响参数，如铜离子浓度、空气进入量、含盐量、外层表皮的形成和干酪包装材料的影响也需要考虑。减少裂纹缺陷和抑制后发酵的方法有加水除去未发酵的碳水化合物以改善干酪的弹性，使用兼性异型发酵乳杆菌来控制丙酸菌的活性也可以防止产生过量气体。
Résumé
Les défauts de lainure et de fermentation secondaire des variétés de fromage à pâte pressée cuite se manifestent sous forme de fentes ou fissures qui peuvent entraîner le déclassement du fromage. Le défaut de lainure est associé à une production excessive de gaz ou à une pâte fromagère inadaptée pour contenir le gaz produit, ou à une combinaison des deux facteurs. La fermentation secondaire est la production apparente de gaz après que la fermentation propionique désirée dans la cave chaude ait eu lieu. Il n’existe pas de consensus sur les causes définitives de ces défauts, mais des causes possibles sont présentées au regard de facteurs associés au comportement rhéologique (incluant la fabrication fromagère, l’acidification, la teneur en protéines intactes et la protéolyse, la saisonnalité de l’approvisionnement de lait, et la température et la durée de l’affinage et du stockage) ou associés à la surproduction de gaz (incluant la microflore du lait, les bactéries propioniques, en particulier les souches ayant une activité aspartase élevée et l’aptitude à croître à basses températures, les bactéries lactiques, les interactions entre les bactéries du levain, les lactobacilles hétérofermentaires facultatifs et d’autres sources de gaz incluant la fermentation butyrique). L’influence d’autres paramètres tels que la concentration en cuivre, l’incorporation d’air, la teneur en sel, la formation de la croûte et le matériel d’emballage du fromage est aussi examinée. Les méthodes pour réduire la prévalence du défaut de lainure et la fermentation secondaire incluent l’addition d’eau pour améliorer les propriétés élastiques par retrait des glucides non fermentés, et l’utilisation de lactobacilles hétérofermentaires facultatifs pour contrôler l’activité des bactéries propioniques pour prévenir la production excessive de gaz.
Key words: Swiss-type cheese / split defect / secondary fermentation / eye formation
关键字 : Swiss干酪 / 开裂缺陷 / 后发酵 / 眼状结构形成
Mots clés : fromage à pâte pressée cuite / défaut de lainure / fermentation secondaire / ouverture du fromage
© INRA, EDP Sciences, 2009
1. SWISS-TYPE CHEESE
Swiss-type cheese is a generic term for hard cheeses that were initially produced in the Emmen valley in Switzerland . They are easily identifiable by characteristic round regular eyes that vary in size from 1 to 3 cm in properly produced cheese. The body of the cheese is hard to semi-hard. Examples of Swiss-type cheese include Gruyère, Jarlsberg, Comté, Maasdammer, Appenzeller, Leerdammer and the most commonly produced cheese with large eyes, Emmental (often referred to simply as “Swiss cheese”) [31, 105], although it should be noted that French Gruyère contains a small number of eyes, while Swiss Gruyère is blind. There is no internationally recognised definition of Swiss-type cheeses that differentiates them from other varieties; however, a propionic acid fermentation that either occurs spontaneously or through the application of a culture of selected propionic acid bacteria (PAB) is characteristic .
Swiss-type cheeses are produced widely in Europe and in the US. Approximately 466 000 tonnes of Emmental are produced annually in Europe, with France and Germany as the biggest producers and consumers of this cheese. In 2004, France produced 252 700 tonnes making it the biggest producer of the Emmental cheese and accounted for ~ 25% of all French ripened cheese produced . Germany produced 85 200 tonnes in 2004 , while in the US 142 200 tonnes of Swiss cheese were produced in 2007 making it the fifth most important cheese type in the US accounting for ~ 3.23% of the total cheese produced .
The biochemistry and microbiology of Swiss-type cheeses has been reviewed extensively [30, 76, 79, 105]. In summary, two major desirable fermentations by bacteria occur, lactic acid and propionic acid fermentations. Lactic acid fermentation occurs early in manufacture where lactose is converted to lactic acid. Swiss-type cheese starter cultures contain thermophilic species such as Streptococcus thermophilus, Lactobacillus helveticus and Lactobacillus delbrueckii subsp. lactis and may also include mesophilic species such as Lactobacillus lactis subsp. lactis and L. lactis subsp. cremoris [1, 30, 105]. Other Swiss-type cheeses such as Maasdam are made with mesophilic cultures only or with L. delbrueckii subsp. bulgaricus . Lactose is metabolised by S. thermophilus to galactose and L-lactic acid during the first 24 h of ripening [29, 111]. The lactobacilli ferment the galactose to L-lactic acid and/or D-lactic acid depending on the species . This lactic acid fermentation has a major influence on cheese quality due to its effects on pH, syneresis, the inhibition of other bacterial growth, removal of calcium and also in providing the substrate for propionic fermentation . Thus, the selection of correct starter cultures for cheese production is vital to cheese quality .
Propionibacterium freudenreichii is the main species used as ripening culture in Swiss-type cheese. The propionic acid fermentation produces metabolites (propionic acid and acetic acid) that are essential contributors to the development of the characteristic nutty-sweet flavours of Swiss-type cheeses. The CO2 produced is responsible for eye formation [31, 105].
2. SPLIT DEFECT AND SECONDARY FERMENTATION: AN OVERVIEW
Split defect manifests as an undesirable opening and appears as slits and cracks that are visible in the cut cheese loaf and may lead to downgrading of the cheese . It occurs commonly in Swiss cheese and usually during the cooling period of the production process [46, 91]. Generally, split defect is due to increased gas production such as secondary fermentation and/or unsuitable texture within the cheese, which impacts negatively on its openness and elasticity of the cheese . Secondary fermentation is linked with split defect as an apparent resumption of gas production and occurs during the cold room ripening (after the desired propionic acid fermentation of the warm room ripening), causing splitting and variation in eye size of the cheese. The result is a cheese, due to structural reasons and/or excess gas production, that cannot withstand the gas pressure and therefore cracks and split form [31, 46].
There is a certain ambiguity in the published literature due to the close relationship between secondary fermentation and split defect. Thus for this review, they are considered as two separate defects, but with an inference that secondary fermentation contributes to causing split defect.
There is no consensus on why or how a split defect occurs and how it can be avoided. Different studies have advanced the issue. Park et al. demonstrated that gas splitting was dependent on the strain of PAB used; however, no obvious reason for this dependency was established.
Fröhlich-Wyder et al. investigated PAB interactions between starter and non-starter lactic acid bacteria (NSLAB) and found that secondary fermentation is affected by the aspartase activity of PAB, the presence of facultatively heterofermentative lactobacilli (FHL) and the use of L. helveticus as a component of the starter. Jimeno et al. showed that FHL inhibited the growth of PAB and reduced the prevalence of splits. White et al. reported that the combination of PAB and Lactobacillus cultures used for the manufacture influenced split formation. Studies undertaken to establish a relationship between the defect and proteolysis by White et al. were unable to provide a clear explanation as to the causes and control of the defect.
3. MECHANISMS OF OPENINGS
The formation of the characteristic eyes of Swiss cheese is coupled with the production of CO2 during the warm room ripening stage ; the CO2 gas pressure is the mechanical means by which the curd is opened up to form eyes . Propionic fermentation of lactate is the main source of CO2 in Swiss-type cheeses, e.g. in traditional Emmental cheese lactate is transformed into propionate, acetate and CO2. A number of factors are essential for proper eye formation.
3.1. The presence of nuclei
Nuclei are microscopic bubbles that are trapped in the curd structure and serve as sites into which CO2 dissociates from solution to accumulate as gas, and thus to develop into eyes . Originating from microscopic bubbles of air, formed from foam produced by milk handling treatments or associated with particulate material in the milk, they become attached to curd particles and contain nitrogen as the principal gas component as oxygen is removed by starter bacteria activity . The number of eyes developed is determined by the extent of nucleation and the shape is determined by the cheese consistency with both dependent on gas production . Physical openness and inhomogeneity within the curd lead to a greater number of eyes being formed. The number of eyes can be increased by manufacturing procedures such as thermisation and by applying a vacuum to the cheese during the filling and pressing processes. Accidental incorporation of H2-producing microorganisms within the cheese may also contribute to increase the number of eyes .
Similar to the importance of nuclei for correct eye formation, it is also necessary that the dipping (pitching of curds under whey), draining and pressing processes undertaken during cheese manufacture should prevent air inclusion in the curd and unnecessary mechanical stress that could disturb the knitting of the curd should also be avoided [79, 91]. During Swiss-type cheese manufacture, the curds and whey may be pumped together into a special vat where the curds are allowed to settle and collect under the whey . The curd is then pressed and the whey removed. Pressing should produce a knitted curd that is uniform and unbroken with no entrapped air within the structure .
3.2. Suitable conditions for the growth of PAB and adequate gas production
It is necessary to ensure that conditions (pH, temperature and a w) of the curd are sufficient for preferential growth of PAB so as to achieve correct and adequate CO2 production [85, 111]. In particular, curd pH at the time of transfer to the warm room greatly influences the eye formation in Swiss-type cheese . A curd with a low pH (< 5.2) at day (d) 1 after manufacture decreases the probability of a correct subsequent eye formation due to lack of growth of PAB, whereas a high pH (> 5.4) increases the chances of excessive gas production . A pH of 6.5–7 is the optimal growth range for PAB .
3.3. Gas formation and accumulation
In traditional Emmental cheese, eye formation occurs at the nuclei in about 20–30 days . As concentrations of CO2 increase, the gas will diffuse into any small nuclei present, and as gas production continues an overpressure (1–1.5 bar) will be established and small eye/holes formed in the curd [2, 79, 117]. Eye formation is dependent on the length of time CO2 is present, the amount and intensity of CO2 production and the pressure and diffusion of CO2 within the cheese . After ~ 50 days, CO2 production has continued with a subsequent enlargement and increase in the number of eyes. The appearance of new eyes decreases as the CO2 production declines when cheese is placed in the cold room . The pressure of gas is dependent on diffusion rates from the cheese and on the solubility of gas within the cheese loaf. The solubility of CO2 is dependent on pH and temperature, with increases in both factors resulting in a decreased solubility of CO2 . In an 80-kg loaf, ~ 120 L of CO2 gas can be produced before cheese is sufficiently ripened for consumption with ~ 60 L dissolved in the cheese paste, ~ 20 L present in the eyes and ~ 40 L diffused from the loaf . The rind or packaging material functions as a physical barrier and, in eye development, it dictates the rate of CO2 loss from the surface, and hence the loss of the CO2 from the cheese to the surroundings, thereby influencing the CO2 partial pressure within the cheese [31, 46].
3.4. Curd texture and its ability to accommodate the gas formed
It is necessary to have a curd that is elastic and pliable enough to accommodate the gas that is formed without any defects occurring. The relatively low production of acid before the point of drainage is the main reason for the elastic texture that is associated with Swiss-type cheese as a higher pH results in high mineral content of the curd and contributes to elasticity of the curd [59, 66]. High water and fat content also contribute to the soft elastic structure of Emmental, which helps in maintaining the integrity of the curd during eye formation .
Nuclei will more readily expand into holes if the biaxial elongation rate of the cheese curd is high, which will occur if the biaxial elongational viscosity is low, as there is less resistance against the extension of the hole. The onset of hole formation results in an initial fracture, as the overpressure in the nuclei is large and the hole grows relatively fast, after this the hole would ideally expand by flow and form a spherical eye . Split formation in the cheese mass is likely if the elongational viscosity is high or/and the fracture stress is low (i.e. fracture occurring at low deformation) [66, 117, 123], particularly if the gas production rates are high.
4. FACTORS AFFECTING THE FORMATION OF EYES OR SLITS AND CRACKS IN SWISS-TYPE CHEESE: RHEOLOGICAL BEHAVIOUR
4.1. Manufacture parameters
Eye formation in Swiss-type cheese requires appropriate physicochemical and mechanical properties of the protein matrix which determine the structural properties of cheese thus influencing openness . Physicochemical properties are related to cheese composition, while mechanical properties are related to both cheese composition and proteolysis [15, 79]. Swiss-type cheeses have high elastic properties, high deformability or high cohesion (fracture strain) and high fracture stress expressing high mechanical resistance .
4.1.1. Acidification during cheese manufacture
Acidification during manufacture of Swiss-type cheeses influences the cheese texture due to its effect on bacterial growth, colloidal calcium phosphate (content and solubility) and its effect on pH and compositional parameters. Lower pH is associated with a greater probability of slit formation due to the propensity of a cheese to develop slits with shortness of the cheese texture . The model of Horne for casein interactions suggests that the para-casein matrix is stabilised by crosslinking of different casein molecules and chains by hydrophobic interactions which is mediated by colloidal calcium . Emmental contains ~ 1000 mg calcium/100 g of cheese (~ 50% more than Cheddar cheese), and these high levels are mainly due to the higher pH at separation of curds and whey of Swiss-type cheese and confer an elastic texture to the cheese . Berdagué et al. reported a correlation between the occurrence of split defect in Comté cheeses with decreased calcium content at 20 h after manufacture.
Low acid development and thus higher cheese pH is associated with high cooking temperatures that are used during the manufacture of certain Swiss-type cheeses . Syneresis is also influenced by acidification, with decreasing pH increasing the rate of syneresis within the curd [62, 121]. In turn, this determines the moisture content, proteolytic activity and other related constituents of the cheese, in particular the proportion of undissolved calcium associated with the casein matrix [60, 66]. Notz et al. reported increased elasticity and decreased mechanical resistance in Comté-type cheeses with increased fat contents due to a higher moisture content resulting from reduced levels of syneresis. Acidification also influences casein hydration and electrostatic and hydrophobic interactions between casein molecules , and the cohesion and mechanical properties of the cheese are influenced by interactions between minerals, water and protein and particularly pH at 24 h which affects the structural state of the protein . The activity of plasmin and chymosin is also dependent on pH (as well as on salt to moisture and casein to moisture ratios) .
Water may be added to milk or the curd/whey mixture (up to 20% of the milk weight for Emmental cheese and up to 35% for Masdaam cheese) during cheese manufacture to avoid producing a cheese with a low pH . This dilution causes a decreased amount of fermentable lactose to be present and therefore a decrease in the overall lactic acid content of the curd. This results in cheese with a higher moisture content and a higher pH that is favourable to PAB growth, but also results in a more elastic texture and the levels of fracture stress and strain are increased . Luyten reported that at a given pH, the rheological stiffness of a cheese was decreased by increasing the moisture during maturation. Thus, the risk of late fermentation which is higher in cheeses with inappropriate elasticity may potentially be reduced by water addition during manufacture of Emmental cheese .
4.1.2. Influence of manufacture parameters on protein and proteolysis
αs1-Casein is the primary casein involved in maintaining the elastic structure of Emmental and is vital to maintaining the integrity of the curd during eye formation as the elastic protein structure will bend and accommodate the accumulation of CO2 [36, 119]. Emmental has a higher level of native protein (intact αs1 + αs2 + β-CN) than other Swiss-type cheese varieties such as Comté and Beaufort and as a result Emmental has higher elastic properties . More native caseins in the protein matrix contribute to the cheese having increased firmness and deformability, properties that are appropriate to openness .
Research has not shown a strong correlation between degree of proteolysis and prevalence of the split defect [97, 119]. However, proteolytic action would be a logical factor that contributes to split defect. Fracture strain (longness) decreases as proteolysis increases and shortening of cheese texture due to loss of elasticity by proteolysis may contribute to splitting occurring due to an inability of the texture to cope with the gas pressure . Berdagué et al. and Grappin et al. related split intensity to higher levels of secondary proteolysis as measured nitrogen levels soluble in phosphotungstic acid.
In Swiss-type cheese, plasmin and the proteinases and peptidases from starter, non-starter and secondary starter [34, 35] are the principal proteolytic agents [25, 93]. The activity of proteolytic enzymes in cheese is influenced by a w, copper content, water content, lactic acid concentration, pH, storage temperature and time . The greater role of plasmin in proteolysis in Swiss-type cheese is due to the greater conversion of plasminogen to plasmin, as inhibitors of plasmin activators and plasmin are inactivated or are lost in the whey by the use of relatively high cook temperatures, up to 55 °C . Chymosin is associated with the initial shortening (reduction in yield force) of Cheddar cheese texture via hydrolysis of αs1-casein . However, the coagulant is inactivated to a degree dependent on the cooking temperatures used during manufacture of Swiss-type cheeses. Cooking temperatures during Emmental manufacture exceed 50 °C resulting in little residual coagulant activity [37, 90], while cooking temperatures of ~ 36–40 °C used in Maasdam/Leerdammer and Jarlsberg manufacture result in higher residual coagulant activities with greater hydrolysis of αs1-casein or its breakdown products . There is a greater degradation of αs1-casein in cheese manufactured from raw milk which is attributed to the microflora of the raw milk and their associated enzymes [21, 23] and also possibly to the indigenous milk enzyme, cathepsin D . Studies have also suggested a putative role for cathepsin D and for thermophilic lactobacilli [7, 33] in the hydrolysis of αs1-casein during ripening of Swiss-type cheeses. Low activity of plasmin towards αs1-casein compared to β- and αs2-casein also enhances the role of αs1-casein in Swiss-type cheese structure [5, 114].
4.2. Ripening parameters
4.2.1. Rheological profile during ripening
Flückiger investigated changes in rheological properties during ripening of Emmental cheese using compression (and relaxation) tests on cheese samples at ripening and other temperatures. Those authors reported that elasticity decreased during the ripening period independent of temperature. Measurements of firmness were lowest in cheeses in the warm room, while those of fracture stress decreased sharply on entering the warm room. Fracture strain increased at the beginning of the warm room and then decreased throughout ripening with a rapid change observed on transfer to cold storage. Noël et al. observed from that study that during the warm room phase of ripening when gas production was greatest, the cheeses had the lowest firmness and a higher elastic modulus supporting a higher deformation before breaking and showing a relative resistance to fracture, and thus attaining appropriate mechanical properties for eye formation.
Noël et al. suggested that openness is related to local phenomena as CO2 content in Emmental was observed to be heterogeneous . Akkerman et al. predicted that a slit would be formed instead of an eye if the local overpressure is higher than the local fracture stress. Ruegg and Moor studied the size, shape and distribution of curd granules in some hard and semi-hard cheeses produced in Switzerland and reported that pressing of the cheese loaves flattened the granules. It was also reported that slit formation occurred in Raclette cheese late in maturation and slits followed the granule borders, but also cut through granules; eye formation occurred best where the curd granules were apparently completely fused together . Grappin et al. studied splits in Comté cheese and reported that splits are usually parallel to the surface that is perpendicular to the press direction. Tests on the samples of cheese perpendicular to the press direction showed higher stress and strain values at fracture compared to the samples tested parallel. It was postulated that if there is a large difference between rheological results from two different directions of a cheese sample, the formation of eyes may result in a slit being formed instead of proper eyes .
4.2.2. Temperature and duration of ripening and storage
In general, the longer the cheese is stored the greater the prevalence of splits within a cheese prone to splitting . Once the cheese has been transferred to the warm room, few measures can be taken to affect the quality of the cheese . The optimum growth for PAB is between 25 and 35 °C and temperatures of ~ 20–24 °C are used for the warm ripening to promote PAB growth and CO2 formation . The high temperature used during the warm room phase contributes to maintaining the soft elastic structure of the cheese and increases the ability of the cheese to support eye formation [31, 119]. As the temperature increases, the molecules, particles and strands in the cheese possess more thermal energy and a greater motion causing relaxation of protein interactions and change in the cheese towards a more liquid-like state .
For a cheese to stretch, casein molecules must interact with each other and be pliable enough to release stress (i.e. the pressure of gas is reduced by eye formation), but also maintain sufficient contact between the molecules to prevent rupture. Time during which the gas is evolved is important, if gas is produced slowly stretch properties may be retained, whereas if gas is evolved quickly the cheese is more likely to crack or split as the cheese is rapidly stretched [117, 119].
Cheese texture may change with the physical state of the fats depending on the storage temperature and time . Crystallisation of milk fat influences its rheological properties as fat in cheese is composed of different triglycerides that have different melting temperatures spanning from approximately −40 to 40 °C . Lopez et al. monitored the thermal properties and solid fat content in Emmental cheese using differential scanning calorimetry and reported that crystallisation of fat occurred on cooling to about 15 °C. Thus, during ripening of Swiss-type cheeses, e.g. Emmental, the ripening temperatures (~ 22–4 °C) greatly influence the solid fat content, and thus the rheological properties of the cheese and its ability to accommodate further gas production.
Proteolysis takes place mainly in the warm room [109, 113]. Thierry et al. studied the kinetics of the microbial and biochemical changes of the aqueous phase of cheese in three Swiss-type cheeses industrially manufactured and observed that levels of nitrogen soluble at pH 4.6 and in 12% TCA and levels of free amino acids (FAA) increased during ripening, at a rate dependent on the ripening room temperature. An increase in the ripening temperature increases proteolytic activity and promotes greater gas production within the cheese, with even a 1 °C increase in temperature resulting in a measurable difference . Levels of FAA increased, but their relative proportion remained essentially constant, apart from amino acids catabolised by bacteria (Arg and Asp, in particular) .
After warm room ripening, cheese is transferred to maturation rooms at lower temperatures or to cold storage (2–13 °C) . Cheese loses some of its elasticity as at lower temperatures the rheological properties of the cheese change resulting in a greater tendency to fracture upon increased CO2 pressure (as fat is in a more solid state) [43, 46]. At low temperatures, the cheese curd may also become supersaturated with CO2. An unintended increase in temperature decreases gas solubility and this increases the CO2 pressure possibly resulting in splitting of the cheese, due to the higher resistance to gas compression of the cheese mass. Therefore, it is imperative to ensure that temperature fluctuations be prevented [46, 86].
Reinbold et al. varied the materials of the cheese storage container and temperature profiles and showed that rapid cooling produced uneven temperature in the cheese. This can affect moisture and bacterial activity within the cheese by forming localised areas of difference. The outer zone of the cheese cools down more quickly than the inner zone resulting in more proteolytic microflora in the outer zones of the cheese, and hence a shorter and firmer body . It is therefore more desirable to have a uniform cooling and also to arrest propionic fermentation before excess gas is produced .
4.3. Seasonality of milk supply
Season of manufacture of cheese has been linked to variations in milk composition, cheese moisture, cheese yield and quality [12, 60]. Plasmin content of milk also varies with stage of lactation . In countries with seasonal milk supply, cheeses manufactured from early lactation milk have poorer eye development and this may be partly attributed to a lower concentration of plasmin in the milk .
Fröhlich-Wyder and Bachmann reported that cheese made from winter milk from cows fed on hay and silage has a slightly slower rate of acidification and shows a greater occurrence of secondary fermentation compared to grass-fed summer milk. Gilles et al. reported that slower rates of acidification during the manufacture of Swiss-type cheese resulted in a higher moisture content in the final cheese. However, White et al. reported that the production of cheese from summer milk resulted in a higher moisture content compared to cheese manufactured in the winter season and that the former had a greater tendency to split compared to the latter. A higher cheese moisture may result in higher levels of proteolysis, which could result in an altered texture and variable rates of release of small peptides and amino acids that could contribute to secondary fermentation . Furthermore, cheese with an increased moisture content due to poor initial acidification may lead to an increased unfermented carbohydrate content after 24 h in the curd and, by subsequent fermentation, may result in low curd pH resulting in undesirable texture and elasticity of the curd .
Rohm et al. observed from large-scale experiments that Emmental cheese produced during the winter months showed a significantly firmer body, accelerated fermentations of lactate and propionate as well as reduced proteolysis compared to cheese produced in the summer season. Firmness was the parameter that was most heavily influenced by the season of production resulting in differences in fracture properties. This is consistent with the results obtained by Ginzinger et al. for Austrian Bergkäse and may possibly have negative consequences in relation to split defect . The change in firmness of the Emmental with season was attributed to the difference in milk fat composition with increases in liquid proportions in the fat phase of cheese increasing from winter to summer .
The diet of the cow (e.g. hay and fodder beet) can cause an elevated saturated fatty acid content in milk used for cheese manufacture and has been shown to be partly responsible for a hardening of the cheese . The diet can be supplemented in order to increase the unsaturated fatty acid content of the milk and produce a softer cheese texture [13, 49, 76].
5. FACTORS AFFECTING THE FORMATION OF EYES OR SLITS AND CRACKS IN SWISS-TYPE CHEESE: OVERPRODUCTION OF GAS
5.1. Milk
Milk for the manufacture of Swiss-type cheese must be of high quality containing as few bacteria as possible to ensure optimum starter activity and prevention of secondary contamination [76, 91]. In Switzerland where Swiss-type cheeses are made from raw milk, strict measures and laws in relation to the milk quality are applied . Somatic cell counts (SCCs) are a general indication of the quality of milk and vary depending on the period of lactation. Elevated SCC can correlate with a change in milk composition and increased SCC has been associated with increased proteolysis during cheese ripening. Therefore, it is desirable to have a low SCC to produce quality cheese .
The heat treatment of the milk before cheese manufacture may impact on split defect. Swiss cheese is prone to split defect whether it is made from pasteurised or raw milk; however, no detailed work to compare both treatments in relation to this defect has been published. Higher numbers of lactobacilli (FHL), enterococci and coliforms are found in Bergkäse cheese made from raw milk compared with cheeses made from pasteurised milk . Pasteurisation reduces the growth of microorganisms in general during ripening of Emmental . A greater diversity of microorganisms exist in cheese made from raw milk, but this diversity declines during ripening . Also, raw milk may contain wild PAB and NSLAB strains that may promote secondary fermentation . As previously discussed, there is a greater degradation of αs1-casein in cheese manufactured from raw milk attributed to the raw milk microflora, their associated enzymes [21, 23] and also possibly to cathepsin D .
Baer and Ryba showed that the influence of raw milk microflora stimulated PAB growth through their proteolytic action, and Beuvier et al. reported that cheeses made with raw milk show greater proteolysis and stronger propionic acid fermentation, although other studies have shown no difference in cheese texture between cheeses made from pasteurised and raw milk [9, 39]. Further research is required to determine if greater levels of proteolysis and enhanced propionic acid fermentation may promote the occurrence of split defect or secondary fermentation in cheeses made from raw milk in comparison to those made from pasteurised milks.
5.2. PAB
Selected PAB of the species P. freudenreichii are the main and desirable gas and eye formers in Swiss-type cheese . However, it has been shown that excessive growth of PAB is a major factor that contributes to split defect . Low numbers of P. freudenreichii may gain access to the milk via the environment; however, nowadays they are usually added intentionally . Inocula of PAB in cheese milk range from 103 to 106 cfu·mL−1 [79, 86]. When the desired eye formation has been attained, the PAB have often reached levels of 108–109 cfu·g−1 in cheese . White et al. showed that the selection of the PAB subspecies and strain is vitally important, as the strain of PAB used for manufacture had the most obvious effect on split formation.
The metabolism of PAB involves several complex pathways and is not fully understood . PAB can utilise a variety of substrates; however, lactate is the main energy source for propionic fermentation. The classical metabolic pathway of propionic acid fermentation in Swiss-type cheese is where lactate is fermented to propionate, acetate, CO2 and H2O :
However, the results of these theoretical equations are rarely found in Swiss-type cheese and the relative concentrations of propionate, acetate and CO2 may be different .
5.2.1. PAB with high aspartase activity
The enzyme aspartase, which catalyses the deamination of aspartate, is found in PAB and aspartase activity varies widely from strain to strain of PAB . Lactate is coupled with the fermentation of aspartate, if present, to acetate, CO2, succinate and NH3 with no propionate produced .
This would lead to an increased production of CO2 during lactate utilisation . L-Lactate is again preferentially used as the aspartate is metabolised . More lactate is fermented to acetate and CO2 as opposed to propionate in cheese where strains with a high aspartase activity are used. Aspartase activity is therefore important as strains with high aspartase activity have a greater tendency towards secondary fermentation . Piveteau et al. monitored changes in the amino acid composition of whey during PAB fermentation and reported that succinate was only produced when aspartate was present. Comparison of 30 Swiss-type cheese samples revealed that the deamination of aspartate to succinate by PAB increased the risk of secondary fermentation . This was attributed to CO2 production by aspartate metabolism and fermentation of lactic acid. A careful selection of PAB strains is necessary as high aspartase activity may result in secondary fermentation, but a low aspartase activity may result in negative effects in relation to openness and flavour intensity and prolong ripening times .
However, it has still not been proven conclusively whether aspartase activity is the cause or merely an indicator of secondary fermentation .
5.2.2. Ability of PAB to grow at low temperatures
Strains of P. freudenreichii were observed to grow at 3.8 °C in sodium lactate broth . Park et al. demonstrated that some strains of P. freudenreichii grew well at 7.2 °C, a temperature used for the storage of Swiss-type cheese after warm room ripening. Cheeses made with these strains showed a larger eye volume and a greater tendency to split compared to those made with strains that were inhibited more at low temperature . From experimentation on two PAB cultures, it was shown at 24 °C that there was little difference in the growth rate between the two strains, whereas at 12–14 °C only one strain was capable of growth at the lower temperatures and this was the strain most prone to causing secondary fermentation . The ability of gas-producing organisms to grow at low temperatures is a crucial parameter in the cause of secondary fermentation, and this should be taken into consideration when selecting a strain of PAB .
5.3. Lactic acid bacteria
Before whey drainage and brining, the primary acid-producing starter (S. thermophilus) has the greatest influence on pH . Lactobacillus helveticus theoretically releases a racemic mixture of D- and L-lactic acid in a 1:2 ratio . D- and L-lactate are the substrates for propionic fermentation . PAB utilise L-lactate preferentially, and this is explained by the fact that L-lactate metabolism results in high intracellular pyruvate concentration that has a stronger inhibitory effect on D-lactate dehydrogenase activity than on L-lactate dehydrogenase activity . Berdagué et al. reported a correlation between occurrence of split defect in Comté cheeses with increased D-lactate levels at 20 h after manufacture.
Acidification due to lactic acid bacteria (LAB) during cheese manufacture influences bacterial growth, calcium associated with the casein matrix, syneresis, pH and composition and enzyme activity. As previously described in Section 3.2, correct pH is vital to eye formation, while lower pH is associated with a greater probability of slit formation due to shortness of the cheese texture .
5.3.1. Interactions between starter LAB and PAB
The interactions and effects of mixed cultures of some strains of lactobacilli and PAB are well documented [82, 110]. White et al. reported that the incidence of splits can be controlled by a correct selection of L. helveticus and P. freudenreichii cultures. Different strains of LAB and PAB can have stimulatory effect on the propionic fermentation . Using a whey medium, strains of L. helveticus and S. thermophilus have been shown to increase the PAB growth with an increase in biomass and fermentation products; in particular, there was a large increase in propionic acid produced . Research on the interactions between L. helveticus and P. freudenreichii showed that fermentative capability of both microorganisms was enhanced when grown as mixed cultures in a complex medium . Piveteau et al. [85, 87] reported that when the growth rate of P. freudenreichii increased as a result of the stimulation by L. helveticus, a greater conversion of lactate to propionate and acetate was observed, and thus presumably a larger CO2 production. Thierry et al. reported thermophilic LAB to influence PAB growth with significant differences observed in doubling times and lactate consumption by the PAB, to a degree dependent on strain when grown on an Emmental juice-like media .
Piveteau et al. studied the interaction between 14 strains of LAB with 4 strains of PAB in whey and showed that none of the LAB strains had an inhibitory action on PAB activity. Stimulation of PAB strains by strains of LAB varied widely from strain to strain and strain pairing used with some showing no apparent interaction. All except one of the LAB strains used stimulated at least one of the four strains of PAB. It was reported from that study that L. helveticus was the most consistent stimulator of PAB as the four strains of PAB were stimulated by the three strains of L. helveticus used. However, Kerjean et al. reported that the greatest stimulation of five strains of PAB, as measured by the production of propionic acid in a whey-model system, was achieved by four of six strains of L. delbrueckii subsp. lactis tested and that the lowest level of stimulation was achieved by one of five strains of L. helveticus. In general, those authors reported that stimulation of PAB was higher with L. delbrueckii subsp. lactis than with L. helveticus, although variations between strains occurred.
5.3.2. Interactions between starters LAB and PAB: proteolysis
LAB are generally weakly proteolytic; however, they do possess an extensive proteinase/peptidase system and are capable of proteolysis . Lactobacillus helveticus is recognised as possessing efficient protease and peptidase activities with respect to milk proteins [26, 73]. L. helveticus autolyses rapidly during ripening and releases active peptidases in the cheese [35, 113], and increases in the levels of amino acids and peptides in whey and most amino acids produced were shown to be utilised by the PAB . Strains of L. helveticus used for cheese manufacture have been shown to have an influence on secondary fermentation . White et al. studied split formation caused by two different strains of L. helveticus and found that one strain produced more splits. The reason for this was not ascertained as the degree of measured proteolysis for both strains was the same, but it was postulated that a difference may have occurred in small peptides and/or in the levels of amino acids produced by the starter cultures.
PAB possess proteolytic enzymes ; however, most of them are intracellular and are poorly released within the cheese. Fröhlich-Wyder et al. proposed that proteolysis and amino acid catabolism may result in a higher pH, and thus better growing conditions for the PAB, and hence a greater gas production. Amino acid catabolism may also contribute to further gas production as decarboxylation produces additional CO2 .
Research by Baer and Ryba reported that under the experimental conditions used for their study, stimulation of PAB by LAB was due to FAA. If FAA are present, they could result in increased growth rates and as a result more CO2 being produced, which is correlated to an increased risk of secondary fermentation. From experimentation on 30 Emmental cheeses, it was found that there was a correlation between FAA levels in the cheese and secondary fermentation as assessed by a professional panel . Aspartate, alanine and serine can be used by PAB , but aspartate is the main amino acid used by PAB and the greatest stimulator of growth . Crow demonstrated that aspartate was the amino acid that was most readily metabolised in a Swiss-type cheese environment by PAB. The addition of aspartate had an apparent stimulatory effect on the growth of P. freudenreichii in control whey and reduced the amount of lactate converted to propionate, but not the amount of lactate converted to acetate. It is thought that this may have importance as aspartate may be released due to proteolytic activity .
Conversely, Piveteau et al. showed in a simple whey-based model that tetra-, penta- and hexa-peptides produced by proteinases associated with the cell wall of L. helveticus from αs- and β-casein had a greater stimulatory effect on the growth of P. freudenreichii than amino acids. In this study, no evidence was found that the amino acids produced (proline and alanine were found in the greatest quantities) had any stimulatory effect on PAB. Attempts to purify the stimulant were unsuccessful. However, nine peptide peaks were obtained from HPLC of which six were stimulatory for P. freudenreichii, the stimulation was less than the stimulation observed in the unfractioned material, which implies that more than one peptide may be involved. Thierry et al. reported that propionibacteria were stimulated by high peptide levels and low levels of FAA as well as low salt levels, low proportions of L(+)-lactate and other undetermined factors.
5.4. FHL
The NSLAB in Swiss-type cheese are mainly composed of FHL that begin growth at the beginning of ripening and eventually reach ~ 108 cfu·g−1 . In a study by Demarigny et al. , L. paracasei, L. plantarum, L. rhamnosus and L. brevis were all detected in Swiss-type cheese, but as the cheese ripened L. paracasei began to dominate the NSLAB flora.
In artisanal cheese manufacture in Switzerland, FHL are often inoculated into the milk to control PAB activity and reduce secondary fermentation . The suppression of the PAB growth by FHL may be explained by the fact that both these microorganisms compete for some of the same nutrients, which results in less nutrients available to PAB for growth . However, Jimeno et al. attributed the inhibition of the PAB by FHL to citrate metabolism in Emmental cheese. Martley and Crow demonstrated citrate utilisation by L. plantarum in Emmental and showed in cheese with citrate-fermenting organisms that less lactate was fermented and less propionic acid was formed compared to cheese manufactured without citrate-fermenting organisms. Weinreichter et al. reported that propionibacteria developed more readily in cheeses made with citrate negative strains of FHL in comparison to citrate positive strains.
Jimeno et al. showed that FHL strains such as L. rhamnosus and L. casei with high peptidolytic activity and fast autolysing nature are present in significant numbers in Swiss-type cheese, and inhibited the growth of PAB and reduced the prevalence of splits. All citrate initially present was consumed during the growth of added L. rhamnosus. Competition for citrate by itself did not account for the inhibition of PAB growth, as PAB do not utilise citrate directly. FHL metabolise citrate to acetate, formate and CO2, acetate and formate appear to have an inhibitory effect on PAB growth. Other factors may also contribute to this inhibition; a higher copper level, previously chelated by citrate, was found in juice extracts from cheese manufactured with FHL, and it was observed that the ratio of copper to citrate played an important role in PAB inhibition. Diacetyl inhibits the growth of PAB and is produced by L. rhamnosus with citrate as the sole energy source and inhibition was shown at a value of 0.5 mmol L−1 of milk, which is a level observed in the cheese during FHL growth .
However, higher concentrations of formate, diacetyl and acetate compared to those found in Swiss-type cheese are required in defined growth media for minimal inhibition of PAB . Cheese manufactured with FHL had less intensive proteolysis, as measured by the levels of FAA, compared to cheese manufactured without these microorganisms, possibly due to an inhibitory effect on the proteolytic activity of lactobacilli . Conversely, Jimeno et al. noted that aspartate was present in the cheese manufactured with FHL in much greater quantities (three times higher than the cheese manufactured without FHL) and that the inhibition effect of FHL on PAB was more pronounced in PAB with low aspartase activity. The reason for this observation is unknown .
5.5. Other sources of gas
Flückiger reported that 70–80% of the CO2 gas produced in Emmental cheese is due to the propionic fermentation during warm room ripening. However prior to warm room ripening, lactic acid fermentation by native milk and starter microflora may contribute 10–15 mL of CO2/100 g of cheese . In other cheese varieties with eyes but without propionic acid fermentation, e.g. Edam, Gouda and Herrgardsöst, CO2 is produced from citrate by mixed strain mesophilic starters and Lactococcus sp. . CO2 can also be formed from other substrates such as citrate, lactose, urea and amino acids . Martley and Crow demonstrated that citrate metabolism can occur in Swiss-type cheese resulting in the complete utilisation of the citrate; it was suggested that non-starter Cit+ lactobacilli may be responsible. Certain pathways of amino acid degradation can result in CO2 production ; decarboxylation of amino acids results in the liberation of CO2 and the conversion of amino acids to amines . For example, decarboxylation of glutamic acid to γ-aminobutyric acid by mixed strains of thermophilic cultures is the main source of CO2 in some Gouda-type cheeses .
5.5.1. Other sources of gas: butyric acid fermentation
Butyric acid fermentation in cheese can lead to the production of CO2 and H2 gas . H2 is only sparingly soluble in the cheese compared to CO2; therefore, a small production of H2 can lead to large openings and blowing of cheese . Germination of spores from spore-forming anaerobic bacteria such as clostridia, which contaminate milk mainly via silage, can cause this defect . The most common species involved are C. tyrobutyricum and C. butyricum; however, research also points to an association of C. beijerinckii and C. sporogenes in contributing to and promoting the defect. Recent research by Le Bourhis et al. showed the ability of C. beijerinckii to grow in cheese and suggested that the species could have implications in relation to split defects.
Preventative measures to avoid contamination with Clostridium spores include prohibition of milk from silage fed herds, e.g. as is practised in Switzerland [105, 115]. Bactofugation can remove 95–99% of spores prior to cheese production . Addition of nitrate and lysozyme to cheese milk prevents the growth of butyric acid bacteria . Germination and growth of the spores can also be inhibited by ensuring that correct brining is carried out and a low ripening temperature used . A biological control system may serve as a biological barrier to control and inhibit the proliferation of Clostridium spores [11, 80].
5.6. Other selected factors related to overproduction of gas
5.6.1. Copper
Manufacture of cheese in copper vats results in cheese with a copper concentration of up to 17 ppm, while cheese made in stainless steel vats contains concentrations of 0.5–1.5 ppm of copper . Copper helps to control PAB activity in the manufacture of artisanal Swiss-type cheese . It influences propionic fermentation as it inhibits lactate dehydrogenase of LAB and PAB, particularly of the latter. A relative increase in D(−)-lactate occurs as copper inhibits L(+)-lactate dehydrogenase to a greater extent [54, 55]. An increase in copper concentration depressed the rate of CO2 formation and growth of three strains of PAB used in a study by Mueller et al. ; however, total CO2 production after 13 days was approximately the same for all levels of copper used. Increasing copper concentrations with cupric sulphate solution in Swiss-type cheese increased the levels of proteolysis, but decreased gas production by the PAB, which resulted in a longer stay in the warm room . Mueller et al. reported that a copper content of 18 ppm in cheese had undesirable effects on cheese quality, particularly in relation to body, flavour and eye formation.
5.6.2. Salt
Swiss-type cheeses are salted by immersion in brine and brine times are adjusted to achieve desired salt/salt-in-moisture (S/M) levels . Salt is added to control microbial growth (including LAB), enzymatic activity, syneresis, and it also influences cheese texture through physical changes in cheese proteins . PAB are sensitive to salt , and inhibition of P. freudenrichii is expected in Emmental cheese even though salt levels are low; ~ 0.3–0.7% w/w. Growth of PAB at pH ~ 5.3 is strongly inhibited above a level of 3% . Increased S/M levels also result in reduced production of CO2 as a result of reduced propionic acid fermentation . Similarly, lower levels of acetic and particularly propionic acid were reported in brine salted cheeses with higher salt concentrations .
Richoux et al. suggested that strains of PAB which are more tolerant to salt would be more prone to secondary fermentation than strains that are sensitive to salt due to greater activity of the salt-tolerant strains at a given salt concentration. These authors suggested that the defect may be controlled more effectively by the use of the PAB with defined salt tolerances.
Brining also results in a firm dry rind that inhibits diffusion of CO2 from the loaf and in variations in a w values between different regions of the cheese (with a w values usually higher near the centre ). This can result in zonal variations in cheese composition and proteolysis within the cheese, which can result in differences in the textural and functional properties of the cheese [44, 67].
5.6.3. Wrapping materials and rind formation
In Swiss-type cheese manufacture where a permanent rind is produced, the firm dry rind inhibits the loss of CO2 from the loaf and provides physical protection . In rindless block Emmental, wrapping material is required. In an experiment to study the effects of four different wrapping materials, Hettinga et al. found that impermeable wrapping (or equivalent rind) would produce a block Swiss-type cheese that has a greater disposition to split formation as CO2 would not be able to diffuse out of the cheese. Therefore, selection of a wrapper with permeability sufficient only to stop mould growth and give proper eye formation is required. Handling of the cheese is also important as unprotected blocks may split and distort the eye shape if handled carelessly .
6. TECHNIQUES FOR THE MEASUREMENT OF CHEESE MICROSTRUCTURE, EYE FORMATION, CO2 CONTENT AND POTENTIAL INDICATOR COMPOUNDS
6.1. Measurement of the microstructure of cheese
The microstructure of cheese significantly affects its processing characteristics and texture properties, and thus may provide understanding and a means of controlling eye formation and other cheese properties .
Ruegg and Moor examined the size distribution, shape and junction pattern of curd granules in cheeses using light microscopy and digital image analysis. The micrographs obtained facilitated visualisation of the fine structure around eyes within the cheese. Confocal laser scanning micrography may be used to observe the fat and protein microstructure by staining the protein and fat network of thin slices of cheese . Lopez et al. [63, 65] used confocal laser scanning microscopy to monitor the organisation of fat and disruption of the milk fat globule membrane during the manufacture and ripening of Emmental cheese and also to observe the curd junctions formed in Emmental and the changes in curd structure during the cheese development. Rousseau et al. studied the structure of Emmental cheese using scanning electron microscopic techniques. Casein and fat globule structure were monitored during manufacture and curd granule junctions, gas microbubbles and microcolonies of internal cheese flora were also observed.
6.2. Measurement and detection of eye formation or slits and cracks
A number of techniques may offer potential for the analysis and detection of both eye formation and defects associated with eyes such as split defect in cheese. Rosenberg et al. investigated the use of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to evaluate eye formation in Swiss-type cheese. A sample cheese was subjected to MRI prior to evaluating the cheese in a traditional manner by cutting the cheese and photographing the cross-section. Both techniques were compared, and the MRI analysis was shown to be an effective non-destructive, high-resolution tool for the evaluation of structural features of eye formation. Caccamo et al. photographed the slices of cheese using a digital camera and measured the surface area of the cheese slice and the area occupied by gas holes developed using image analysis software. Eskelinen et al. proposed that ultrasonic methods are capable of monitoring gas-solid structure of the cheeses and providing a detection method for eye formation and associated eye defects within the cheese. The advantages of this method are that it is non-destructive, relatively inexpensive and could aid in quality control. However, it has limitations for use as there are drawbacks in relation to penetration depth and speed in scanning the entire cheese volume.
6.3. Measurement of cheese CO2 content
An accurate method for the determination of the CO2 content of cheese would facilitate determination of whether correlations exist between the CO2 content of cheese and split defect by comparing cheese with a proper eye formation to those cheeses that have a split defect. Previously CO2 produced by PAB was quantified by determination of the intermediate compounds and final products of metabolism; however, this only gives a very rough estimate of the CO2 levels . Girard and Boyaval measured the CO2 content in a Swiss-type cheese by treatment of the sample by the method outlined by Bosset et al. where samples were blended under a partial vacuum, sulphuric acid was added and the liberated CO2 was analysed by GC. Enzymatic techniques may also be used to determine CO2, but only small quantities of cheese sample can be used, which may not be representative of the whole cheese due to variations in CO2 concentration within the cheese .
Nelson et al. determined the CO2 content of Cheddar cheese by a modification of the method described by Ma et al. using a method of standard addition, i.e. determination of the CO2 concentration of the unknown cheese sample by comparison to a set of samples of known concentration. Cheese samples were blended and degassed purified water and sulphuric acid added in an airtight blender. The head space was sampled by a needle connected to an infrared CO2 analyser. This technique was repeated a number of times, using increasing increments of sodium bicarbonate standard solution that increases the CO2 content, thus facilitating the formation of a method of standard addition linear regression equation. The CO2 content of individual samples could be determined by extrapolation of the equation.
6.4. Potential indicators of split defect or secondary fermentation
No reliable indicators have been determined to predict the occurrence of split defect, although some studies have shown correlations between levels of certain biochemical parameters and cheeses with secondary fermentation defect. Lower levels of D-lactic acid and overall lactic acid were observed by Steffen et al. in cheeses with secondary fermentation, and higher contents of acetate, succinate, glutamate and p-benzoquinone. It was suggested that proteolysis and propionic fermentation were more intensive in cheese with secondary fermentation . Steffen et al. reported that a combination of p-benzoquinone and acetate could be used to differentiate between good quality cheese and those with secondary fermentation. Steffen et al. reported that Emmental cheese susceptible to secondary fermentation had high aminopeptidase and low lactate dehydrogenase activities and had elevated acetate, succinate and glutamate levels. White et al. found no direct correlations between split defect/secondary fermentation and moisture and fat contents, protein, pH or D/L lactate ratio.
7. CONCLUSIONS
Split defects are associated with excessive production of gas or an unsuitable cheese body that cannot accommodate the gas produced, or a combination of both factors, resulting in a cracking or splitting of the cheese. Secondary fermentation is an apparent resumption of gas production during cold room storage of the cheese. The interrelationship between split defect and secondary fermentation has led to a degree of ambiguity in the published literature concerning both defects. The causes of secondary fermentation are implicated with the causes of split defect as gas production in the cold room is associated with split defect, whereas the causes of split defect not only encompass secondary fermentation, but also inadequacies in the texture and body of the cheese.
Rheological and structural properties that influence eye or slit and crack formation in cheese are dependent on the appropriate physiochemical and mechanical properties of the cheese protein matrix. Acidification during cheese manufacture and its effect on the levels of calcium associated with the casein matrix and on interactions between minerals, water, protein and curd pH at 24 h influence casein hydration, electrostatic and hydrophobic interactions between casein molecules, and thus cohesion and mechanical properties of the cheese. Similarly intact casein is important in maintaining the elastic structure of the cheese and in accommodating eye formation after accumulation of CO2. Although a strong correlation between proteolysis and prevalence of the split defect in Swiss-type cheeses has not been reported, a shortening of cheese texture and a loss of elasticity due to proteolysis may potentially contribute to split defects due to an inability of the texture to cope with the gas pressure, and one report has linked increased slit intensity with increased levels of secondary proteolysis. Season of manufacture produced a variable response; a firmer body was observed in cheese made during the winter months, and secondary fermentation in cheeses was linked to slower rates of acidification in winter milk, but split defects were also linked to higher moisture levels in cheeses made from summer milk. Rheological properties of the cheese in the warm and cold rooms are also of great importance. The high temperatures used during the warm room phase contribute to maintaining the soft elastic structure of the cheese and increase the ability of the cheese to support eye formation; however if gas is developed at a high rate, the cheese may be more prone to split. On transfer to the cold room, cheese loses elasticity and may also become supersaturated with CO2; an unintended increase in temperature at this point decreases gas solubility, increases the gas pressure and may result in splitting of the cheese.
Overproduction of gas is the other primary influence in the formation of eyes or slits and cracks in Swiss-type cheeses. Heat or non-heat treatment of cheesemilk influences milk microflora, their proteolytic activity and their influence on subsequent propionic acid fermentation and production of CO2 in cheese. The strains of PAB used are of great importance and in particular their level of aspartase activity and their ability to grow at storage temperatures. Similarly, stimulation of PAB by some LAB may be due to the release of peptides and amino acids resulting from proteolytic activity. This process is very strain specific and the exact mechanisms of this stimulation process are unclear. It has been reported that the artisanal cheese industry in Switzerland has controlled this defect by the use of FHL. FHL inhibit the activity and growth of PAB resulting in the production of lower levels of CO2 possibly due to: citrate metabolism, the inhibitory effects of acetate and formate towards PAB, reduction in proteolytic activity and/or by competition for nutrients with PAB; however, a definitive explanation has not yet been established. Other sources of gas have been considered including that from butyric acid fermentation, while parameters that also influence CO2 production also include copper concentration, air incorporation, salt content, rind formation and cheese wrapping materials.
Development of secondary fermentation and/or split defects in Swiss-type cheeses is a multi-factorial issue where many of the causes of the defect and factors influencing the quality of the cheese are interconnected. Further research is required in particular to determine if proteolytic activity that has been postulated as a cause for split defect is responsible and through which mechanism. Similarly the exact mechanism of control of the defect by use of FHL is still unknown. At an industrial scale, research is required to elucidate why some cheeses from the same day of production may be free from the defect, while others may not. In conclusion, although much research has been undertaken in this field, further research is required to elucidate the mechanisms leading to this defect and the development of recent and more sophisticated analytical techniques may offer opportunities to achieve this.
Acknowledgments
This review was funded by Tipperary Co-operative Creamery Ltd.
|
https://www.dairy-journal.org/articles/dst/full_html/2010/01/dst0880/dst0880.html
|
Some individuals, with a particular behavior, medical problem or relevant biological factor are of particular risk to cavities because of dietary factors.
Who Needs Diet Guidance Cavities Prevention
Dietary education and guidance are important for the prevention and control of tooth decay. Since tooth decay is a multifactorial disease the relationship is not simple. It cannot be said that all in a particular group will have problems with cavities but should be taken note by dental professionals.
- Infants and toddlers with prolonged breast-feeding on demand.
- Infants and toddlers provided with a feeding bottle at bedtime.
- Individuals with an increased frequency of eating because of a medical problem, for example eating disorders or uncontrolled diabetes.
- Those with an increased carbohydrate intake due to a medical problem, for example Crohn’s disease, chronic renal failure or malnutrition.
- Those with reduced salivary secretion leading to a prolonged clearance rate of sugars, for example those on medications that cause reduced salivary flow, Sjogren’s syndrome or radiation therapy.
- Athletes taking sugar-containing sport supplement drinks.
- Workers subjected to occupational hazards such as food sampling and those working in the confectionery and bakery industry.
- Drug abusers who have a craving for sugar.
- Individuals, of any age, on long term and/or multiple medications which could be sugar-based and/or cause dry mouth.
Effects of Eating Patterns and Physical Form of Foods
Other dietary factors that may hinder or enhance development of cavities include:
- the frequency of eating,
- the physical form of the carbohydrate (liquid vs. solid),
- retentiveness of a food on the tooth surface,
- the sequence in which foods are consumed (for example cheese eaten before a sweet food limits the pH drop), and the
- presence of minerals in a food.
Frequent between-meal snacking on sugar or processed starch-containing foods increases plaque formation and extends the length of time that bacterial acid production can occur. Frequent snacking between meals keeps the plaque pH low and extends the time for enamel and dentin demineralization to occur.
Bacterial fermentation can continue as long as carbohydrate sticks to the enamel and exposed dentinal tooth surfaces. Even though starchy foods vary in their potential to cause cavities, the highly refined starchy foods, such as soft bread and potato chips, which are retained on tooth surfaces for prolonged periods of time, result in a lowered pH which may last up to 60 minutes. High-sucrose confectionery foods deliver high levels of sugar to the oral bacteria immediately after the foods are consumed, whereas high-starch foods deliver progressively increasing concentrations of sugars over a considerably longer period of time.
The sequence in which foods are eaten affects how much the plaque pH falls. Sugared coffee consumed at the end of a meal will cause the plaque pH to remain low for a longer time than when an unsweetened food is eaten following intake of sugared coffee.If peanuts are eaten before or after sugar-containing foods, the plaque pH is less depressed.
Some components of foods are protective against tooth decay. Protein, fat, phosphorus, and calcium inhibit cavities in experimental rats. Aged natural cheeses have been shown to stop the progress of tooth decay. When cheese is eaten following a sucrose rinse, the plaque pH remains higher than when no cheese follows a sucrose rinse. The protective effect of cheeses is attributed to their texture that stimulates salivary flow, and their protein, calcium, and phosphate content that neutralizes plaque acids. Fluoride found in drinking water, foods, and dentifrices increases a tooth’s resistance to decay and enhances remineralization of cavities.
Lipids or fats seem to accelerate clearance of food particles in the mouth. Some fatty acids, linoleic and oleic, in low concentration, inhibit growth of mutans streptococcus bacteria. Lectins, proteins found in plants, appear to interfere with microbial colonization and may affect salivary function.
‘Safe’ snacks
It is difficult to draw up a list of snacks that are safe in all aspects. Although cheese is safe for teeth, its high content of saturated fat may not please cardiologists. Fruit is less decay-producing than sweets, but contains natural sugar. Dried fruits such as raisins and apricots have high sugar content and cannot be considered as ‘safe’ snacks. Many fruits are very acidic and excessive use of such fruits or their juices may cause acid erosion of teeth. However, used in moderation, fruit is safer than sweets. Nuts are a safe snack for older children and adults.
Recommendations for reducing the risk of cavities
- Reduce frequency of eating sugar-containing foods and drinks especially between meals.
- Reduce frequency of drinking fruit-based drinks, even those labeled ‘no added sugar’.
- A few snack foods are ‘safe’ (for example cheese and nuts) but foods containing artificial sweeteners may be less decay-producing.
- Foods containing starch and sugar in combination (for examples cakes and biscuits) and carbonated sugary drinks are especially cavity-producing.
|
http://www.intelligentdental.com/2011/09/26/foods-for-good-teeth-and-gums-part-2/
|
It’s so funny reading this 2 weeks on, this was my post that I forgot to schedule from a week before…if only I could turn back time!
"I must apologise for my absence over the last few weeks, my mind has been consumed with meal choices, cheese, pork pies, wedding cakes, disposable glasses and decorations mostly….but this is it, we are so nearly there!
It was officially 1 week until the big day on Saturday and I couldn’t be more excited now (and maybe a smidge anxious!) everything seems to be coming together. However it’s hard to relax as if you’re anything of a perfectionist like me you’ll be thinking about all the tiny aspects that need to come together…I think I need to relax a little. All the major things are done now so if we have missed anything it won’t be the end of the world.
I have also been trying to eat more healthily in the run up to the wedding, not to lose any weight as my dress fits like a glove, but just to make sure I feel the best possible on the big day, and also to try and fend off any illness.
|
http://www.lulaandrye.com/blog/tag/T+Minus+1+Week
|
Dramatic political developments in Westminster in recent weeks has brought the prospect of a hard Brexit into sharp relief. Unless the UK government finds a viable alternative to the current deal agreed with the EU, and as of today they seem no closer to achieving that, the UK may crash out of the EU on 29th March with potentially devastating consequences for Ireland – and that’s just 57 days away!
Despite a vote this week in the House of Commons against leaving the EU without a deal, there is still considerable appetite in the UK for this option, both with MPs and with the general public.
Up to now both Government and Irish businesses have had a tough decision to make about investing substantial resources in something that might never happen, and hopefully still won’t. There is no escaping the fact that a no deal Brexit is now a real possibility and if it happens it will have serious consequences for Ireland and Irish businesses.
The countdown has begun, if you haven’t already done so, the time is now to invest in a No Deal Brexit Plan.
According to Bord Bia, Dairy products account for approximately 37% of total Irish food and drink exports. In 2016, 34% of Ireland’s dairy exports went to the UK, representing 53% of cheese exports, 29% of butter and 12% of SMP (skim milk powder). The UK is Ireland’s largest export market for cheese. Exports of cheddar cheese were 78,000 tonnes, representing 82% of all cheddar imported by the UK in 2016. Ireland is the only significant exporter of cheddar to the UK market and the UK market is the only market of significance for Irish cheddar – it’s simply not a popular choice anywhere else. The figures speak for themselves.
A recent survey carried out by the Department of Business, Enterprise and Innovation provides some insights into the concerns of the Dairy and Retail & Wholesale Sectors of the Irish Economy.
Imposition of trade tariffs. 75% of firms deem this to be a critical factor. “EU import tariffs on dairy products are very high…and will have a market distorting effect if replicated by the UK on dairy imports from Ireland”. Assuming any EU tariffs on products such as milk and cheese in a WTO rules context imposed by the UK would be reciprocal, it would significantly reduce competitiveness of Irish dairy exports in the UK market.
Absence of custom union and other common areas. 67% of firms deem this to be a critical factor. Removal of Northern Ireland from the Common Agricultural Policy could have a detrimental impact on milk production in Northern Ireland and knock-on consequences for the all-island milk market, as well as divergent product and operational standards, in addition to the segregation of Northern Ireland milk producers from the Irish manufacturing pool.
Re-establishment of physical UK border. 58% of firms deem this to be a critical factor. Concerns have been expressed about the administrative and logistical cost implications on the cross-border movement of dairy products in raw and final product forms. The prospect of supply chain inefficiencies and higher risk of product perishability has also been raised.
Imposition of rules of Origin. 50% of firms deem this to be a critical factor. In the case of an imposition of a rules of origin regime, such as under the WTO, it is feared we will face increased competition from cheaper non-EU imports to the UK or perhaps campaigns to support indigenous UK production. Another concern is that Northern Irish milk may no longer be competitive for import to the Republic of Ireland if unable to do so under ‘EU origin’ terms and the knock-on consequences in the supply chain.
No mutual recognition of specifications or agreed technical specifications. 25% of firms deem this to be a critical factor and the remaining 75% identified it as being of moderate concern. A number of firms identified that divergent SPS (Sanitary and Phytosanitary) standards in the UK would be costly for Irish exporters, other firms considered that there may be different packaging and labelling requirements in different jurisdictions, increasing costs.
Imposition of trade tariffs. 100% of firms deem this to be a critical factor. A high level of concern was expressed for the cost increases businesses may face from any new tariff regime. Currently Ireland and the UK are one integrated market for wholesale and retail. Tariffs/admin and rules of origin limitations could increase cost of goods sold and reduce operating margins. Where there is a lack of alternative supply, firms may have little choice but to absorb increased costs.
Imposition of rules of origin. 100% of firms deem this to be a critical factor. Concern was expressed that defaulting to World Trade Organisation ‘rules of origin’ would impose tariffs on both the import and export of products, and in particular food products.
Re-establishment of a physical border with the UK. 100% of firms deem this to be a critical factor. Concerns exist about logistical arrangements and delays as a result of border controls between Ireland and Northern Ireland. The border will impact on any ‘next day delivery promise’ made to customers across all channels including online.
Absence of a customs union and other common areas (including fisheries). 100% of firms deem this to be a critical factor. Additional costs and constraints on operations as a result of having to operate outside a free-trade area in the UK have been identified. Additionally in the event of a ‘hard’ Brexit, differing customs arrangements historically generate distortions which typically increase smuggling activity, with consequent damage to legitimate retail businesses.
Removal or change in reciprocal Ireland/UK work, living, social and tax entitlements. 33% of firms deem this to be a critical factor, with the remaining 67% considering it to be a factor for moderate concern. Concern was expressed about the ability to move Irish staff to UK operations, or about our ability to attract talent and skills from the UK that we don’t always have readily available here.
Download our Brexit Business Support information here.
|
http://www.buckleykiely.ie/business-ready-brexit-outcome/
|
# Vermont dairy industry
Dairy is a significant part of the total agricultural output of the state of Vermont. The state has 645 dairy farms milking cattle, sheep, and/or goats which produced 2.7 billion pounds of milk in 2019. Vermont ranks 15th in the United States for raw milk production.
Dairy farming in Vermont, like in much of the US, is increasingly scaling upwards due to market and governmental pressures. Each year, Vermont loses dairy farms. In 2019, the state lost an average of 48 dairy farms. Over the years of 2018 and 2019, the state lost about 140 dairy farms.
Family farms with small herds of dairy cows have historically defined Vermont agriculture and the cultural landscape of the state. A 2019 survey found that Vermont's Dairy Industry is considered very important to 72% of Vermonters.
Vermont produces a significant amount of cheese, butter, and yogurt that are consumed across the United States. There are over 140 firms in the state that process milk into dairy products. Some of its better known producers are Vermont Creamery, Cabot Creamery, Ehrmann Commonwealth Dairy, Jasper Hill Farm, and the Grafton Village Cheese Company.
The Crowley Cheese Factory in Healdville, Vermont is believed to be the oldest indigenous manufacturer of cheese in the United States.
The dairy industry is celebrated by various parades and festivals throughout the year. The two most notable are The Strolling of the Heifers parade in Brattleboro and the Vermont Dairy Festival in Enosburg Falls. Each year the Vermont Cheese Council runs the Vermont Cheesemakers Festival.
The COVID-19 pandemic lead to milk dumping.
Vermont dairy farms donated milk to schools during the pandemic.
## History
Dairy farming is the primary source of agricultural income in Vermont. In the second half of the 20th century, developers had plans to build condos and houses on what was relatively inexpensive, open land. Vermont's government responded with a series of laws controlling development and with some pioneering initiatives to prevent the loss of Vermont's dairy industry. Still, the number of Vermont dairy farms has declined more than 85% from the 11,206 dairy farms operating in 1947. In 2003 there were fewer than 1,500 dairy farms in the state; in 2006 there were 1,138; in 2019 there were 658. The number of dairy farms has been diminishing by 10% annually. 80% of open land is controlled by dairy farms.
The number of cattle in Vermont had declined by 40%; however, milk production has doubled in the same period due to tripling the production per cow. While milk production rose, Vermont's market share declined. Within a group of states supplying the Boston and New York City markets (called "Federal order Class I"), Vermont was third in market share, with 10.6%; New York has 44.9% and Pennsylvania has 32.9%. In 2007 dairy farmers received a record $23.60 for 100 pounds (45 kg) (11.63 gallons at $2.03/gallon) of milk. This dropped in 2008 to $17 ($1.46/gallon). The average dairy farm produced 1.3 million pounds of milk annually in 2008.
The dairy barn remains an iconic image of Vermont, but the 87% decrease in active dairy farms between 1947 and 2003 means that preservation of the dairy barns has increasingly become dependent upon a commitment to maintaining a legacy rather than basic need in the agricultural economy. The Vermont Barn Census, organized by a collaboration of educational and nonprofit state and local historic preservation programs, has developed educational and administrative systems for recording the number, condition, and features of barns throughout Vermont.
In 2009, there were 543 organic farms. Twenty percent of the dairy farms were organic and 23% (128) vegetable farms were organic. Organic farming increased in 2006–07, but leveled off in 2008–09.
A significant amount of milk is shipped into the Boston market. Therefore, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts certifies that Vermont farms meet Massachusetts sanitary standards. Without this certification, a farmer may not sell milk for distribution into the bulk market. In 2019, two-thirds of all milk in New England was produced by Vermont dairies.
|
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vermont_dairy_industry
|
Ms Shoni Mulibane
Following a lot of backlash regarding the “testing” of vaccines in Africa, we thought we should get a better understanding of the processes involved in these testing and how vaccines and medicines are developed for human consumption.
Modern medicine has evolved from processes where medicines were made from plants and animals. These days most medicines are produced through chemical processes where scientists conduct research, study and test chemicals in plants and animals that are then used to produce medicines. Medicines includes medicines that are used to treat diseases, prevent diseases (e.g. vaccines) and medicines that are used in special investigations (such as medicines used during special X-ray examinations).
Any medicine that becomes available for human consumption undergoes clinical trials. This is a research or study, or investigation intended to test safety, quality, effectiveness and efficacy of a new and/or existing or old medicines, medical devices and/or treatment options using human participants. New medicines or devices are studied in great detail over a long period, in the laboratory and in various animals to establish initial safety and effectiveness. Trials or testing of medicines or medical devices in people only takes place after they have been tested thoroughly in the laboratory on animal studies. Under normal circumstances it could take 10 to 15 years to produce any medicine. During a pandemic situation, the drug development process can be fast tracked to respond quickly to the pandemic, but scientists usually want to take a more cautious route to avoid a bad vaccine or product to enter the market that could lead to serious health problems or have a vaccine that is not effective. As such drug development process is designed to be deliberate, peer-reviewed, evidence based and reflective. In the case of COVID-19 pandemic, vaccine development has been fast tracked as this is not the first Coronavirus outbreak. The genetic code for SARS-CoV2 virus was modelled on other vaccines for influenza and Zika that already exists. It is for this reason that vaccine trials have started in the US and in China.
Any company that wishes to develop any medicine and conduct clinical trials, they must apply for approval to conduct clinical trials with a regulatory authority. Many countries have their own Medicine Regulatory Authorities. In the United States, they have the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), in Europe it is called European Medicines Agency. China’s equivalent is the National Medical Products Administration, also known as China Food and Drug Administration. The South African regulatory authority is called South African Health Products Regulatory Authority (SAHPRA). As part of the international pact to make trial information publicly available, South Africa keeps a register of all clinical trials conducted in the country in the South African National Clinical Trials Register. All the information on clinical trials on human participants being conducted in South Africa is available on this register, with information on the purpose of the trials, who can participate, where the trial is conducted and their contact details. This is also pushed from the World Health Organisation by providing a Clinical Trials Register platform. This platform provides for better coordination and promotes collaboration among researchers, the private sector and the community through sharing of information. This also reduces duplication of effort as the platform promotes best use of limited research resources.
Clinical trials or testing of drugs follows four phases:
Phase I: a new drug, vaccine or medical device is tested in a small group of usually healthy people for the first time to test if the medicine or vaccine is safe, to determine the correct dosage and possible negative or undesirable effects of the new medicine.
Phase II: the drug, vaccine or medical device is tested in a larger group which could be a several hundred people. At this stage people with the disease are also given an opportunity to participate in testing the drug to test the safety and effectiveness of the new drug, vaccine or medical device. In a case of vaccines, the trial examines how well the vaccine works in creating an immune response.
Phase III: the new drug, vaccine or medical device is tested in a larger group of several hundreds to thousand of people who suffer from the disease for which the drug, vaccine or medical device is intended. The effectiveness and possible side effects are evaluated in more depth during this phase. The new drug can also be compared with existing drugs for alternative treatment options. In a case of vaccine, this phase depends on the virus remaining active long enough for the participants to be exposed to it.
Phase IV: This is the phase where clinical trials are done after the drug is registered and licensed for sale. The drug is tested on several thousand people to define its safety, effectiveness and long-term undesirable effects. During this phase, the drug is also tested in certain high-risk sectors of population like children, elderly, people with liver and kidney diseases. It also possible to find new uses for the drug in this phase.
All participants in clinical trials are closely monitored and assessed for possible side effects or adverse events.
|
https://teasa.org/2020/06/11/vaccines-trials-and-drug-development/
|
People rely on us to manufacture high-quality medicines and vaccines, the safety and effectiveness of which is well documented. Clinical trials represent a critical step in the medicine development process.
Before a prospective medicine or vaccine is authorized for use, it must undergo rigorous and systematic testing on volunteers. The objective of this process is to evaluate whether a new tested drug is suitable to be approved for use on the wider population.
Each clinical test is designed to answer specific research questions. The tests follow predetermined criteria to ensure the safety and accuracy of the results. Each phase of testing fulfills a different purpose in the development of a specific medicine or vaccine:
Phase I
Researchers first test the experimental medicine or treatment method on a small group of people (20-80 persons) to assess its safety, determine the exact dosage, find out how the substance reacts in the body, and start to discover any side effects.
Phase II
The tested medicine or treatment method is trialled on a larger group of people (100-300 persons) suffering from the specific disease to prove preliminary effectiveness and to again assess the safety of the medicine or treatment. If the proven effectiveness and anticipated side effects appear acceptable, the medicine or treatment method can advance to the next phase.
Phase III
This phase of testing the potential future medicine or treatment takes place with a bigger group of people suffering from the specific illness (1000-3000 persons) and again monitors the effectiveness and side effects which occur. In some cases, the treatment is compared during this phase to a standard treatment method (if it exists in an accessible form).
Phase IV
At MSD, clinical trials are always designed, managed and monitored according to the same standards, regardless of whether they are carried out in the USA, in the Czech Republic or elsewhere in the world. During clinical testing, we also follow a harmonized good clinical practice directive.
The results of clinical trials that have been carried out with the financial backing of MSD
We always register clinical testing on patients properly and in a timely manner and publish the results, regardless of the final evaluation. We provide balanced and accurate information about our trials and have created clear and binding guidelines for their publication. In addition to publishing the results of our clinical trials in professional medical journals, we present the results of testing for products that we have launched on the market on ClinicalTrials.gov.
|
https://www.msd.cz/en/lidske-zdravi/klinicke-studie/
|
Discerning between moments of trials versus moments of temptation is an important element of the Christian life, and can guide believers in their quest to follow God’s will. Many volunteers must be screened to find enough people for a study. Generally, you can participate in only one trial or study at a time. Different trials have different criteria, so being excluded from one trial does not necessarily mean exclusion from another. To carry out a series of tests on (a new product, procedure etc.) before marketing or implementing it. The warning system was extensively trialed before being fitted to all our vehicles.
- This is often evaluated in a small number of patients (~20-100), depending on the size of the population and the different variables being tested.
- The purpose of a Phase III clinical trial is to try and prove whether a new medical approach, drug, or device works, while continuing to monitor side effects.
- Food and Drug Administration approves a clinical trial to begin, scientists perform laboratory tests and studies in animals to test a potential therapy’s safety and efficacy.
- Yes; if the ancillary study adds an additional prospectively assigned intervention to patients or a sub-population of patients within the larger clinical trial and all elements of the NIH clinical trial definition are met.
- Regulatory agencies in the US , Europe, and other countries use these guidelines to standardize evaluations of medical products prior to their approval for sale.
This infographic from the Massachusetts Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center helps anyone interested in participating in research understand the difference between clinical trials and observational studies. Medicine authorities like the Food and Drug Administration in the US or the European why not try these out Medicines Agency in the EU require clinical trials proving the safety and efficacy of a drug before they will allow it on the market. They often then require the company or research institute that developed an approved drug to monitor its safety and efficacy over time through observational studies. In interventional studies – clinical trials – an intervention is tested in a group of participants, usually compared to a control group that does not receive the intervention but a placebo in its place.
Welcome to the Hart GCP knowledge series where we are reviewing key definitions found in the Good Clinical Practice guidelines. In this entry, we are looking at the terms Clinical Trial and Clinical Study. FAST is committed to assisting individuals living with Angelman syndrome to realize their full potential and quality of life.
Biblical Illustrations Of Testing Vs Temptation
Medical Biochemistry and Biophysics Basic research and higher education, the aim with our research is to understand fundamental cellular processes and their role in disease. Medical Epidemiology and Biostatistics Focus on research and teaching within the fields of epidemiology and biostatistics, host to KI Biobank and the Swedish Twin Registry. Microbiology, Tumor and Cell Biology Focus on immunology, infection biology and cell and tumor biology.
What Are The Different Types Of Clinical Research?
Some join a trial because the treatments they have tried for their health problem did not work. Others participate because there is no treatment for their health problem. By being part of a clinical trial, participants may find out about new treatments before they are widely available. Some studies are designed for, or include, people who are healthy but want to help find ways to prevent a disease, such as one that may be common in their family. Food and Drug Administration approves a clinical trial to begin, scientists perform laboratory tests and studies in animals to test a potential therapy’s safety and efficacy.
The researchers evaluate the treatment’s safety, determine a safe dosage range, and identify side effects. The regulations and procedures for registering and reporting results for clinical trials differ than those for clinical studies. Understanding these differences are essential in respect to legal and regulatory requirements. After a clinical trial ends, the researchers carefully review information collected during the study. These results drive the decision to continue or stop the clinical trial.
Clinical Trials Versus Observational Studies Infographic
Oncology-Pathology Conducts basic, translational and clinical research and educational activities related to cancer. Read and share this infographic to learn why researchers do different kinds of clinical studies.Clinical trials are research studies performed in people that are aimed at evaluating a medical, surgical, or behavioral intervention. They are the primary way that researchers find out if a new treatment, like a new drug or diet or medical device is safe and effective in people. Often a clinical trial is used to learn if a new treatment is more effective and/or has less harmful side effects than the standard treatment.
The terms clinical trial and clinical study are synonymous (as per Section 1.12 of ICH E6). The regulations for registering and reporting a clinical trial differ than those for a clinical study, therefore, distinguishing the differences between these two terms are very important. Information regarding the different regulations for clinical trials and clinical studies can be found on the “Regulations and Requirements” webpage. The distinguishing characteristics of this definition are the terms interventional and observational.
A clinical trial could be testing a potential drug, procedure or device. Clinical trials have evolved over hundreds of years and have a structured framework. Share this infographic and help spread the word about the benefits of participating in clinical trials and studies.Researchers know that it may be hard for some older people to join a clinical trial.
As Verbs The Difference Between Study And Trial
Women’s and Children’s Health The research at the department deals with both basic and clinical science in women’s and children’s health. Laboratory Medicine Our research is of immediate significance to human health and we contribute the skills needed for training of future healthcare personnel. Learning, Informatics, Management and Ethics Focus on research, development and education in medical education, ethics, informatics, medical management, statistics and prevention. Medicine, Huddinge Education and research within a wide range of the medical field, covering all internal medicine specialties, infectious diseases and dermatology. Medicine, Solna Education for medical as well as biomedical students, post-graduate education and research in different areas of biomedicine.
|
https://betaalbareverhuizer.nl/2021/08/21/observational-why-not-try-these-out-studies-vs-clinical-trials/
|
A clinical trial is a research study in which volunteers receive investigational treatments under the supervision of a physician and other research professionals. These treatments are developed by pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies who select qualified physicians, also known as investigators, to conduct clinical trials to determine the benefits of investigational drugs.
Clinical trials are studies performed with human subjects to test new drugs or combinations of drugs, new approaches to surgery or radiotherapy or procedures to improve the diagnosis of disease and the quality of life of the patient.
All clinical trials have guidelines about who can participate. Before joining a clinical trial, a volunteer must qualify for the study. The factors that allow volunteers to participate in a clinical trial are called “inclusion criteria” and the factors that disallow volunteers from participating are called “exclusion criteria.” These criteria can include age, gender, the type and stage of a disease, previous treatment history, and other medical conditions.
Some research studies seek participants with specific illnesses or conditions to be studied in a clinical trial, while others require healthy participants. It is important to note that inclusion and exclusion criteria are used to identify appropriate participants, promote participants’ safety, and ensure that researchers learn the information they need.
In a clinical trial, a volunteer is usually assigned a specific study group. Volunteers in one study group may receive an investigational treatment or study drug while other volunteers may receive a placebo or a treatment already available.
A placebo is an inactive product used to assess the experimental treatment’s effectiveness. The participant, physician, and research staff may not know which volunteer receives a placebo and which receives the active treatment. Not knowing which participants are receiving the active treatment allows the physician and research staff to objectively observe the volunteers during the study. Regardless of which treatment volunteers receive, however, the level of medical attention and care that each receives is the same.
None of the existing treatments result in a cure of all patients, nor are they without side effects, and doctors continue looking for better ways to treat the disease.
Clinical trials are also organized into different phases of research, in order to build up a greater understanding of the new treatment, before it is approved or recommended for routine use.
Phase I – the first studies in humans are Phase I trials. They are performed with small numbers of patients or healthy volunteers and are used to answer questions such as what dose of the drug is likely to be effective and what side effects might occur.
Phase II – these trials continue this process with larger numbers of patients. They have a greater focus on how well the treatment or procedure works, perhaps in particular situations or groups of patients.
Phase III – these trials enroll large numbers of patients and are used to compare the effectiveness and safety of the new treatment with that of the standard existing treatment. Information obtained from large Phase III trials that demonstrate the benefits a new drug over the existing treatments is sometimes presented to regulatory authorities in order to obtain a license to market and sell the drug.
Patients considering participating in a clinical trial should talk about it with their physicians and medical caregivers. Potential volunteers should also understand the credentials and experience of the staff and the facility involved in conducting the study.
Questions to ask a physician or medical caregiver for any clinical trial.
- How long will the trial last?
- Where is the trial being conducted?
- What treatments will be used and how?
- What is the main purpose of the trial?
- How will patient safety be monitored?
- Are there any risks involved?
- What are the possible benefits?
- What are the alternative treatments besides the one being tested in the trial?
- Who is sponsoring the trial?
- Do I have to pay for any part of the trial?
- What happens if I am harmed by the trial?
- Can I opt to remain on this treatment, even after termination of the trial?
You will never be enrolled in a clinical trial without being asked first and also having given written consent to take part. However, you can, for any reason, decide not to continue to take part in the trial and your doctor will then offer you the existing treatment for your particular condition.
You can withdraw from a clinical trial, without explanation, at any time.
Access to personal information is usually available to the investigator and research team conducting the clinical trial. In some circumstances, the IRB overseeing the research and the sponsor or contract research organization coordinating the trial will also have access to personal information. This is explained more specifically in the consent form that participating volunteers are asked to sign. As a clinical trial progresses, researchers report the results of the trial at scientific meetings, to medical journals, and to various government agencies.
After a study phase is complete, the data is collected to determine the drug’s effectiveness, if it is safe and if there are any side effects. Depending on the results, researchers then determine whether to stop testing or move to the next phase of study. After phase III of a study is complete, researchers decide if the results are medically important and may submit them to journals for peer-review. Data then may be submitted to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for approval.
If a drug is approved, pharmaceutical companies may continue to conduct studies that compare the new drug—in terms of its safety, effectiveness, and cost—to other drugs already on the market or assess a drug’s long-term effectiveness and its impact on the quality of a person’s life.
|
https://agaclinicaltrials.com/faq/?lang=es
|
Brain tumor, breast cancer, colon cancer, congenital heart disease, heart arrhythmia. See more conditions.
Featured conditions
Cancer-related trials contact form
Phone: 855-776-0015 (toll-free)
International patient clinical studies questions
Tab Title Description
Describes the nature of a clinical study. Types include:
During the early phases (phases 1 and 2), researchers assess safety, side effects, optimal dosages and risks/benefits. In the later phase (phase 3), researchers study whether the treatment works better than the current standard therapy. They also compare the safety of the new treatment with that of current treatments. Phase 3 trials include large numbers of people to make sure that the result is valid. There are also less common very early (phase 0) and later (phase 4) phases. Phase 0 trials are small trials that help researchers decide if a new agent should be tested in a phase 1 trial. Phase 4 trials look at long-term safety and effectiveness, after a new treatment has been approved and is on the market.
The purpose of this research study is to evaluate a treatment regimen called IRD which will be given to participants after their stem cell transplant in an effort to help prolong the amount of time the participants are disease-free after transplant. IRD is a three-drug regimen consisting of ixazomib, lenalidomide (also called Revlimid), and dexamethasone. After 4 cycles of IRD, the participants will be randomized to receive maintenance therapy either with ixazomib or lenalidomide. 09/23/2019: Upon review of the interim analysis that suggested inferior progression-free survival in the ixazomib maintenance arm, there will be no further randomizations into the maintenance portion of the trial. All patients will be enrolled into the lenalidomide arm with the exception of those who discontinue lenalidomide during the consolidation phase due to toxicity. Patients who discontinue lenalidomide may be enrolled into the ixazomib arm following approval from the principal investigator.
Participant eligibility includes age, gender, type and stage of disease, and previous treatments or health concerns. Guidelines differ from study to study, and identify who can or cannot participate. There is no guarantee that every individual who qualifies and wants to participate in a trial will be enrolled. Contact the study team to discuss study eligibility and potential participation.
Inclusion Criteria:
Each patient must meet all of the following inclusion criteria to begin IRD Consolidation:
Exclusion Criteria:
Eligibility last updated 12/2/21. Questions regarding updates should be directed to the study team contact.
Study statuses change often. Please contact the study team for the most up-to-date information regarding possible participation.
Mayo Clinic principal investigator
Francis Buadi, M.D.
Closed for enrollment
Cancer Center Clinical Trials Referral Office
(855) 776-0015
Mayo Clinic is a nonprofit organization and proceeds from Web advertising help support our mission. Mayo Clinic does not endorse any of the third party products and services advertised.
A single copy of these materials may be reprinted for noncommercial personal use only. "Mayo," "Mayo Clinic," "MayoClinic.org," "Mayo Clinic Healthy Living," and the triple-shield Mayo Clinic logo are trademarks of Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research.
|
https://www.mayo.edu/research/clinical-trials/cls-20366154
|
All of the Egyptian pyramids were erected on the west bank of the Nile, which was connected with the realm of the dead in Egyptian mythology as the location of the sinking sun. Therefore, these monuments were designed to be a place where people could go to meet their gods after they died.
The construction of the pyramids is considered one of the greatest achievements in human history. The Egyptians constructed over 300 pyramids, many of which are still standing today.
The king or queen who ordered the construction of the pyramid was also responsible for choosing the builders who would work on the project. Usually, only members of the royal family or other high-ranking officials were allowed to take part in such a prestigious project. However, there are some examples of common people being chosen to build pyramids. For example, the pyramid of Kha and his wife Meryet may have been built by commoners who wanted to show their appreciation to the king for some reason not related to death rituals. There are also reports of slaves being given the opportunity to construct their own pyramids. Although this practice is not well documented, it does indicate that common people were not excluded from such projects.
The pyramids were constructed for religious reasons. The Egyptians were among the first to believe in an afterlife. They thought that every human being has a second self, known as the ka. Three pyramids were built at Giza, and several lesser pyramids were built around the Nile Valley. The largest pyramid is that of Khufu (also called Cheops). It is more than 4800 square meters (51,000 sq ft) and 160 feet (50 m) high.
Building the pyramids required intensive labor. Many workers may have been forced into slavery. However, some historians believe that most people were willing to work for cheap wages. There are many theories about how the Egyptians managed to pull off such a task without modern tools or equipment. Some experts believe that they used ropes to hoist stones because there are no machines that could have possibly done this job.
The presence of monkeys at Giza suggests that the Egyptians might have used leeches to treat wounds. If a monkey was used as a leech porter, it would carry leeches on its body until they dropped off when it was time to be healed. This theory is supported by evidence that ancient Egyptians used leeches to treat injuries and disease.
Another theory says that the Egyptians used water channels to transport rock because there were no vehicles at that time. If true, this would mean that the Egyptians had advanced engineering skills that we still do not know much about.
The smooth, angled sides of the pyramid represented the sun's beams and were intended to enable the king's spirit rise to heaven and join the gods, notably the sun deity Ra. The pyramids became the focal point of a worship of the deceased monarch, which was expected to last long after his death. Modern researchers believe that many other people may have contributed to building the pyramids, but that these contributions are not reflected in their construction.
The pyramid shape was also used for religious reasons by several cultures including Indian Buddhism and Chinese Taoism.
In Egyptian mythology, the pharaoh was said to have risen to the heavens upon reaching maximum elevation on the second day of the year. The pyramid was therefore a symbolic representation of the soul's journey to paradise after death. It was believed that if a person built himself a well-designed pyramid, then he would be able to climb inside it and travel around inside its chambers after he died. The farther up the pyramid you went, the higher you would be from the ground; thus, the idea of climbing into the sky after death was intertwined with the concept of heaven.
In conclusion, the pyramid symbolized the soul's journey to paradise after death because it was believed that if someone designed himself a well-designed pyramid, then he would be able to travel around inside it after he died. This idea is intertwined with the concept of heaven.
This ka is not just an idea but rather a real physical entity that cannot exist alone. It needs its body to be connected to it so that it can travel and see everything that the person saw while alive.
To reach this netherworld, the ka needs something to transport it. Therefore, the pharaohs built these huge monuments so their kas would have a place to stay. In addition, the pyramids served as tombs for the pharaohs. They believed that the ka of a king needed to be close to that of god in order to succeed after death.
Although the original purpose of the pyramids was religious, they also played an important role in society as well. The Egyptians used rock-solid granite for their buildings, which makes them difficult to destroy. The pyramid shape is efficient at containing energy because all the parts of the structure are related to each other. This relationship creates a stable environment; therefore, it was appropriate for use as a source of power for tools and machinery.
The Egyptians invented many things that we still use today, such as the wheel, paper, and the calendar.
The Egyptians, however, established the pattern for what most people remember as traditional pyramid design: huge constructions with a square base and four smooth-sided triangular sides rising to a point. The pyramid's form is said to represent the sun's beams. Actually, it's more like a shaded space within which the body would have been placed for burial.
In fact, these are not true pyramids at all but rather foursquare buildings used for storing grain. The Egyptians called them "house of life" or "house of death&qu't because they expected everyone to live as long as the structure did. No one was supposed to die before their time!
It may come as a surprise then that true pyramids actually have very little to do with death. They were primarily religious monuments built to honor the dead. However, since they were always intended to be occupied for many years after a person died, they were designed to be self-sustaining: food could be brought in while water would be drained out through an outlet at the bottom of the pyramid.
This concept arose because the ancient Egyptians didn't have any metal tools or vehicles. All they had were wooden props for building their structures and animals for transport. Without the use of concrete or steel, anyone occupying a pyramid during its lifespan would have starved to death.
|
https://bindleyhardwareco.com/where-were-the-great-pyramids-of-egypt-built
|
They are formed in the shape of sun rays. Most pyramids had a polished, highly reflecting white limestone surface that gave them a gleaming look from afar. This made them attractive landmarks for travelers.
The ancient Egyptians built many different types of pyramids to contain the bones of their dead kings and gods. Some were only three steps high, others were more than forty steps high. The tallest pyramid was called the Great Pyramid at Giza which is today just outside Cairo. It was constructed for King Khufu around 2580 BC. The pyramid took about twenty years to build and it was completed by his son King Khafre.
The Egyptians believed that after death, you went back to earth again to live forever as a god. So they wanted their dead kings to be well-preserved so that they could enjoy eternal life. The way that they did this was by building a huge pyramid out of stone, since wood is used instead today. The better-preserved the body, the greater the chance that scientists will be able to study it under a microscope with no damage being done to the remains.
In addition to the king's body, his tomb also included a temple where he would be reborn after death. The Egyptians thought that if they built beautiful things, then the afterlife would be happy and fruitful.
The pyramids' form may have been intended to imitate the sun's rays pouring between heaven and earth. The colossal pyramids of Giza have another link to the heavens: they are massive enough to be seen from space and are easily identified on satellite images. Also, the Great Pyramid is aligned exactly with the summer solstice sunrise on its eastern side.
The pyramid shape is also used for symbolic purposes. They are often included in funerary complexes because it was believed that the structure would act as a shelter for the dead man's soul. This idea comes from ancient Egyptian mythology which sometimes included the spirit of the deceased king in daily life events to show that he still had power over others even after death. The pyramid shape was also used as a symbol for eternity due to its defining characteristics: it has two perfect faces, one at each end. These faces represent the sky at daybreak and nightfall, thus representing eternity.
Finally, the pyramid shape was used as a tool to bring people together in community. When constructed, these structures were meant to be admired by all who saw them; once finished, they were left alone so that everyone could appreciate their beauty. In addition, archaeologists believe that the Pharaohs used the pyramid shape as a means of gaining respect from their people because they were the only ones who could build such large structures.
These are just some examples of why the pyramid is unique.
The smooth, angled sides of the pyramid represented the sun's beams and were intended to enable the king's spirit rise to heaven and join the gods, notably the sun deity Ra. The pyramids became the focal point of a worship of the deceased monarch, which was expected to last long after his death. Ancient Egyptians believed that the soul could not be released unless it experienced some sort of vision of paradise. Therefore, they built these monuments so the dead king would have a place where he could be venerated.
Pyramidology is the study of how people made decisions about building pyramids. It is known from ancient writings that kings commissioned builders who knew how to use stone properly, cut it properly, and assemble it properly. From this we can assume that they must have had someone supervising the work sites. This person could be an architect, but more likely was a senior official named "superintendent of works". He would have been responsible for choosing the site for the pyramid, appointing other officials to help with this task, and then assigning them to groups to work on specific aspects of the project. When the king died, this official would announce a period of mourning and forbid any more pyramids from being built during this time.
After several years had passed, the superintendent would raise enough money to pay for major projects such as building new cities or enlarging existing ones. He would then ask citizens for donations, which would go toward funding these projects.
Because the pyramid signified the form of the physical body emerging from the soil and climbing towards the light of the sun, the ancient Egyptians considered it as a technique of resurrecting the dead. They believed that by constructing pyramids, they were preparing the way for their own rebirth.
The pyramid was important to the ancient Egyptians because it was believed to have magical powers. These powers included being able to protect those who stood inside it from evil spirits and other dangers in the afterlife. In addition, it was believed that if someone committed suicide within the limits of an active pyramid site, his or her soul could find its way into the afterlife with no trouble at all.
There are several theories about the true meaning of the pyramid. Some believe that it is only a three-dimensional shape used for storing and protecting treasures. Others think that it has nothing to do with death or resurrection but instead marks the location of a sacred spot where souls of people buried there can be found. Still others believe that the pyramid symbolizes the universe or even everything existence includes physically and spiritually.
In conclusion, the pyramid represents a body emerging from the soil and reaching toward the sun (which is also represented by a ray of light entering from above), thus resurrecting itself like plants grow toward the light of day.
A pyramid (from Greek: puramis pyramis) is a structure with triangular outside surfaces that converge to a single step at the summit, giving the shape the shape of a pyramid in the geometric sense. A pyramid's base can be trilateral, quadrilateral, or any polygon form. The word "pyramid" comes from Ancient Egypt where they were used to bury the dead.
In mathematics, a pyramid is a solid whose three mutually perpendicular faces each contain the same number of edges or sides. Thus, a pyramid has twice as many edges on its base plane than on its top plane. In geometry, a pyramid is a three-dimensional figure having two parallel planes and one common edge between them. There are several other terms used for specific shapes in geometrical drafting: prism, cube, dodecahedron, tetrahedron.
The first known use of the term "pyramid" was by Aristotle who called these figures "pyramids". They have been important in many cultures around the world because they provide convenient storage spaces within their limits. In architecture, the pyramid is the most efficient way to increase internal space while maintaining strength and stability when used as a building block. It also serves as a marker defining the position of a site on which it is built.
In astronomy, a pyramid is an astronomical object with three lateral sides equal in length. The four vertices of the base are equally distant from the center of mass.
|
https://bindleyhardwareco.com/why-is-pyramid-shaped
|
The Giza pyramid complex, located just over the Nile from Cairo, is Egypt's most famous landmark. The Great Pyramid of Cheops, or Khufu, is the sole remaining ancient global wonder; the other six have all been destroyed by time and human civilization. It is estimated that the pyramid was built between 270 and 245 BC at a cost of 10,000 slaves per year. Its height is 481 feet (145 m), making it the oldest surviving monument on Earth. By volume it is the largest single stone structure in the world.
The Great Pyramid of Giza was not the only pyramid built under King Khufu. There are another three pyramids at Giza bearing his name. Two of them are intact today, while the third one has weathered away due to wind and rain. Also under King Khufu were constructed two large mastabas, or stone coffins. One of these contains the remains of Khafre, who succeeded his brother as king, and the other contains those of Menkaura, who also served as king for a few years after Khufu's death. There are also several other pyramids and mastabas attributed to various other kings during the Fourth Dynasty era.
After the Fourth Dynasty, royal interest in building pyramids waned because no new kings came to the throne. Only one king is known to have built another pyramid: Inti I.
The most renowned Egyptian pyramids may be seen on the outskirts of Cairo at Giza. Several of the Giza pyramids are among the biggest buildings ever constructed. Giza's Pyramid of Khufu is the greatest Egyptian pyramid. It is the sole surviving example of one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. Other famous pyramids found near Cairo include those of Chephren, Mykerinus, and Amenophis III. In addition to these larger pyramids, many smaller ones can be found throughout Egypt.
The pyramids were not only important tools for storing Pharaohs' treasures but also as a symbolic monument representing eternal life. The Egyptians believed that after death your body was preserved and then eventually buried with all of your possessions including your weapons and jewelry. Your bones were thought to re-enter the earth over time through natural processes without being disturbed by humans or animals. Your soul was believed to go to heaven or hell depending on how you lived your life here on Earth.
In addition to their spiritual significance, the pyramids served another purpose: they were used as tombs. Each pyramid was designed to reflect its owner's status and wealth. The higher up you went in the pyramid, the richer you were considered to be. The most valuable items from the outside world were brought inside the pyramids and placed inside their royal graves. These included fine clothes, precious stones, and even some animals (such as cats).
Giza is located on the west bank of the Nile, about 13 miles southwest of Cairo. Giza is home to the Great Pyramid of Cheops, the oldest and only surviving representation of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, which dates back to around 2690 BCE. The pyramid was built for Pharaoh Khufu and is therefore around 5500 years old.
The oldest object preserved in glass is a jug from China that dates back 7,000 years. Other ancient glass items include bottles from Egypt and Greece that are more than 3,000 years old.
In conclusion, the oldest place on the Nile River is Giza in Egypt.
|
https://bindleyhardwareco.com/what-is-the-closest-pyramids-to-the-nile-river
|
The Step Pyramid was the early inspiration for majestic pyramids such as those at the Giza complex.
By stacking and stepping the original burial building of Egyptian nobility, the first pyramids were born.
The Mastaba was a flat roofed structure with sloping walls. It was built out of mud bricks, or stone, and was rectangular in shape.
The building itself was more of a shrine than a tomb, as the body was contained at the end of a long shaft going underground. Priests and family of the deceased made their offerings in a chapel equipped with a false floor.
It was a standard tomb for the Pharaoh and his family.
What an all-round superstar. Founder of architecture, medicine and a demi-god to boot, it was Imhotep who was credited with the design for the first pyramid.
By shortening the shape of the Mastaba to a square and then building another smaller one on top, and then another and another - the step pyramid rose up from the swirling hot desert sands.
A stone structure of this size had never been achieved before in ancient Egypt. It was a total of six steps high.
It was the Pharaoh, Djoser, that would be buried in the first pyramid. It was known as the Pyramid of Djoser.
What would the Pharaoh have thought at such a radical evolution of the traditional burial structure?
Would he have felt that this huge triangular looking construction would safely aid his journey to the afterlife?
With a shining limestone surface it must have seemed in those primitive days of construction that the narrow tip of the pyramid was piercing the sky like a gateway to the stars and heavens above.
Saqqara is the name of the area Djoser's pyramid resides in. Although there are other pyramids around, it seems the first one built is the most impressive.
The Pyramid of Teti was not a step pyramid, but rather, a true pyramid that is now nothing more than a well rounded large mound. Inside though, it is well preserved.
Sekhemket's pyramid never made it past the first stage. Although it could have potentially been bigger than Djoser's pyramid, it was not completed. It is now known as the Buried Pyramid.
Built for the Pharaoh Huni, the pyramid at Meidum started out as a seven tiered structure. It now has only three visible steps nestled in a massive pile of rubble.
|
https://www.epiceras-ancientegypt.com/step_pyramid.html
|
Her sacred animals include the cobra, ichneumon ( a mongoose-like animal), and shrew (tiny mice). Wadjet & Nekhbet Seated on a Basket. Omissions? This solidified her association with growth in the earth. Depicted as a cobra twined around a papyrus stem, she was the tutelary goddess of Lower Egypt. Together with Nekhbet (her twin Sister and representation of Upper Egypt), they are combined as one Egypt and are found in the crown of the Pharaoh’s “nebty” name signifying his rule over the two lands. The Ancient History Encyclopedia logo is a registered EU trademark.
Corrections? So the two goddesses known for their devouring and sustaining traits must be identified within us as the “sisters” they truly are. These Greek rulers embraced the Ancient Egyptian traditions, albeit with their own differing interpretations and styles and, at times introducing concepts that the Ancient Egyptians would not have represented, that were based upon parallels made to their Greek traditions and concepts. In the depiction of ‘Two Ladies’, the wings of these two goddesses represent their protective nature towards the pharaohs of Egypt.
She often appears with her sister Nekhbet who was in as a snake or woman. Wadjet is often described as an agressive deity while while her sister Nekhbet was thought of as a more matronly protector. The images of these two primal goddesses became the protecting deities for all of Egypt, also known as the "two ladies." We have also been recommended for educational use by the following publications: Ancient History Encyclopedia Foundation is a non-profit organization registered in Canada. Indeed, for generations the Egyptians celebrated The Going Forth of Wadjet on December 25 because it acknowledged the serpent in the sky (who meandered across 100 degrees of the heavens) as the goddess of rebirth. Eventually we accept death and rebirth as a simultaneous event. In this form, she is a lion-headed woman wearing the headdress of a sun disc surrounded by the Uraeus. As a patron deity she was often depicted as a rearing Egyptian cobra that was a snake common to the delta region. However, she also had her gentler side. Ancient History Encyclopedia. The Lady of Spells Above: the indigo colour of the Eye of Horus was manifested in lapis lazuli. Copyright © Egyptian-Gods.org. In mythology, Wadjet was nurse to the infant god Horus and helped Isis, his mother, protect him from his treacherous uncle, Seth, when she took refuge in the delta swamps. By signing up for this email, you are agreeing to news, offers, and information from Encyclopaedia Britannica. When the two parts of Egypt were joined together, there was no merger of these deities as often occurred with similar deities from various regions and cities. From the Eighteenth Dynasty the queens also added one or two snakes to their headdresses representing Wadjet and her sister. In the Pyramid Texts it is suggested that she created the first papyrus plant and papyrus swamp. After the unification, the image of Nekhbet joined Wadjet on the uraeus, thereafter, they were shown together as part of the crowns of Egypt. The Lady of the Flaming Waters The Eye (of Maat Horus, Ra, Ptah, Thoth or Amun depending on the dynasty). Wadjet who wears the Red Crown, mighty in ancient Memphis, companion of Nekhbet with whom you ward the two lands, yours is the delta, the many fingers of the Nile, the dark and fertile soil; O Wadjet who is green, who is of the flourishing lands, I call to you. However, she also had her gentler side. This role made her associated with the other goddesses of the same function including Tefnut, Sekhmet, Bastet, Hathor, Isis, and her sister and twin, Nekhbet. 02 Nov 2020. In her form of the "eye of Ra"she was depicted as a lion-headed woman wearing a solar disc and the Uraeus (cobra). Some Rights Reserved (2009-2020) under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike license unless otherwise noted. Wadjet is often described as an agressive deity while while her sister Nekhbet was thought of as a more matronly protector. Last modified October 05, 2020. The ichneumon represented day and the Shrew represented night according to traditional Egyptian beliefs. Web. She was depicted as a lioness and the pharaoh-as-warrior was said to be her son, therefore, a lion. In the text he is referred to as Nebmaatra. The references about fierce-eyed lions is another euphemism, related to the war deity, Sekhmet, the fierce warrior goddess of Egypt who protected the pharaoh in battle, conquered his enemies, and brought victory. A limestone relief depicting a vulture (possibly the goddess Nekhbet) and a rearing cobra (representing Wadjet) perched on a basket. This serpent goddess was probably the source for the oracular tradition that spread from there to Delphi. Eventually, Wadjet was claimed as the patron goddess and protector of the whole of Lower Egypt and became associated with Nekhbet, depicted as a white vulture, who held unified Egypt. She was sentimental in the punishment of Geb who raped his mother Tefnut. The Lady of Devouring Flame (the creative force of the sun god) All of Geb´s retinue died and the god himself was badly injured. To Wadjet, great one of Lower Egypt, I offer my praise. The Uraeus
Nekhbet (Nekhebet, Nechbet) was the patron of Upper Egypt, appearing as one of the “Two ladies” in the Nebty name of the pharaoh (with her counterpart Wadjet).She was often called “Hedjet” (White Crown) in reference to the crown of Upper Egypt and regularly appears as … Wadjet was believed to have helped Isis nurse the young Horus and to help mother and baby hide from Set in the marshes of the delta.
Copyright © 2005—2020 Richard Donald Nekhbet usually was depicted hovering, with her wings spread above the royal image, clutching a shen symbol (representing infinity, all , or everything ), frequently in both of her claws. He was so happy when they returned that he cried and created the first human beings from his tears. Egypt. Regnal Year 5, third month of Inundation, day 2. She may also be seen as a woman with the head of a cobra, a winged cobra or a woman with the head of a lion. Although most often described as a fierce goddess, she also possesses a gentler side. Please support Ancient History Encyclopedia Foundation. Apr 27, 2014 - Explore Sable Feather's board "Nekhbet Wadjet" on Pinterest.
Both goddesses were retained because of the importance of their roles and they became known as the Two Ladies, who were the protectors of unified Egypt.
Since Egyptian times, it marked the symbolic death and rebirth of the Sun. Updates? However, she also had her gentler side. This item is in the public domain, and can be used, copied, and modified without any restrictions. Typically, this name is not framed by a cartouche or serekh, but always begins with the hieroglyphs of a vulture and a cobra, each resting upon a basket, symbolizing the dual noun "nebty". Her link to the papyrus is strengthened by the fact that her name was written using the glyph of a papyrus plant and the same plant was the heraldic plant of Lower Egypt. Numerous educational institutions recommend us, including Oxford University and Michigan State University and University of Missouri. As the gradual lengthening of the nights and the shortening of days came to an end, the Sun was recast in the sky. She (and her sister) also protected the adult Horus from the followers of Set. In art, Nekhbet was depicted as a vulture. [The pharaoh] reached them like the wing stroke of a falcon... Ikheny, the boaster in the midst of the army, did not know the lion that was before him. As the late John Anthony West put it: When death is regarded not (as with us) as an ultimate dissolution, but rather as a transitional (and crucial) stage of the journey, then the apparent Egyptian preoccupation with death becomes exactly the opposite of what it seems to be. Humanity was saved when she was tricked with some beer which had been dyed red with pomegranate juice to resemble blood.
The … she was closely linked to the pharaoh as a protective deity. Upon their return, she is the same eye that shed tears that brought forth the first human beings. Nekhbet and Wadjet were known as the "Two Ladies", representing Upper Egypt and Lower Egypt respectively. On depictions of the Udjat, She is often accompanied by In the relief to the right the two goddesses are shown crowning a Ptolemaic pharaoh with the double crown derived from the combination of their separate crowns. Horus pursued them in the form of a winged sun disc and Nekhbet and Wadjet flanked him in the form of crowned snakes. Nekhbet and Wadjet form the uraeus (two cobras around the sun disc) in the crown of the pharaoh – a unification emblem and royal insignia of the whole Egypt. She who brings Truth and Justice Ancient Egypt Wiki is a FANDOM Lifestyle Community. According to another myth Wadjet was the daughter of Atum (or later Ra) who was sent her as his "eye" to find Tefnut and Shu when they were lost in the waters of Nun.
Moneyatti Master P, Ryan Friedlinghaus Son, Bury Me Alive Oliver Tree, Savage Fenty Promo Code Reddit, Frozen Yorkshire Pudding Walmart, Cart Cad Block, Work Done Without Permit By Previous Owner, Grundig Remote Control, Yugioh Card Art Database, Bailey's Gift Set Costco, Save The Country Chords, Hans Zimmer Piano Sheet Music Pdf, Modern Warfare Easter Egg Maps, Non Itchy Rash, Cougar Ranger Uk, Zions Bank Ceo, Significado Del Nombre Raquel, Hatfield Estate Worth, Judiah Name Meaning, Fuji X100f Digital Zoom Review, Jamie Siminoff Wife, Throne Of Glass Does Aelin Die, 6play Au Canada, Divyenndu Net Worth, Adagio Cantabile Tempo Bpm, Buscar Repuestos Por Vin, Basecamp Pricing Case Study Slideshare, Joey Mullen Wife, Super Sentai 2020, What Ethnicity Is Paloma Jonas, Si Supieras Chavela Vargas Letra, Once Again Ep 1 Eng Sub Dramacool, Woolly Rhino Ark Spawn, D Essence Smiley Wiki, Famous Twins In Mythology, Bumblebee Full Movie, Erika Take Me Out, Be Safe Text Message To Boyfriend, Brettus Repo 2019, Decorative Door Hangers Craft, Thesis Statements About The Middle East, Why Would A Dog Die After Being Neutered, Vw Trike Frame, Leeyan Granger Wikipedia, Cornell University Vet School Tuition, Chanson Douce Pdf, 4 Wheelers For Kids, Grade 2 Math Workbook, Rapid City Cbs Tv Schedule, Nicaraguan Baseball Players, Golf Rival Hints, Mccanna Anthony Sinise, Shireen Jamil Religion, How To Make A 9anime Account, Albert T Robles 2020, Sun Moon Rising Symbols, Dawn Beaudin Lisa Now, Harvey Jason Brownface, Twitch Bit Sale, Who Is Ivy Queen Married To, Drill 808 Midi, Massage Tijuana Revolucion, Longhorn Beetle Bite, What Happened To Channel 7 In Dayton, Ohio, How To Find The Length Of A Cuboid Given The Surface Area, Signet Jewelers Virtual Job Tryout Answers, Minecon 2020 Cancelled,
|
https://atrojapan.com/journal/article.php?page=f5d1e6-wadjet-and-nekhbet
|
What is the sky for us? When we peer at the bewitching view of the night firmament, unwittingly arises a sensation of perishability of our existence compared to the eternal silence of trillions of shining stars. There is a feeling that the starry arch is a gate to the incomprehensible, which begins right here on the earth. Perhaps, for this very reason since ancient times people believed in a heavenly divine being that had created the world. The prayer most widespread in the world is addressed to the Heavenly Father: “Our Father, Who art in heaven...”
The main symbol of the sky / heaven among various ancient peoples was a circle or its section representing a heavenly hemisphere or vault. The ancients believed the visible universe was cupola-shaped and resting upon 4 pillars, or 4 basic elements: water, fire, earth and air. A circle for the ancients represented absolute equality, unity, infinity, completeness and eternity, since the circle line has neither beginning nor end, and all points on it are equivalent. Therefore, God was often depicted as a circle.
A circle is the only geometric shape that cannot be divided into similar shapes, though in principle it may contain numerous other circles inside. Hence, every being of a higher dimension absorbs characteristics and qualities of all dimensions contained in it.
In Slavonic folk arts such feature manifested itself in nesting dolls, whereas the Bible and the Koran mention 7 heavens, though contemporary science distinguishes only 5 atmospheric layers.
A circle is also an ancient symbol of the Soul as a particle of God, i.e. the true antimatter, or the Void in the material world. This surely echoed in arts and rituals all over the world: ritual dances around a fire or an altar, round shapes of yurts and marquees, round squares in the centre of ancient cities, sitting of sages in a circle, where the middle of the circle was empty to symbolize the Spiritual Nature. The entire human lifestyle in the past was a symbol of reverence for the Divine.
Ysyakh, the annual Yakut festival of the Sun
Hopi Indian women dancing
Yurt – a traditional house of Central Asian peoples
Wigwam – a house of North American Indians
Arkaim ancient settlement, temple and observatory (satellite image)
In some myths the sky is represented as a summit of the world mountain (the Sumerians) or the mountain that supports the sky where gods live (Olympus of the Greeks, Tlaloc of the Aztecs, Brahmaloka at the top of Mount Meru in Hindu, Jain and Buddhist traditions), because a mountain symbolizes the ascent to Heaven. Ideas of the multilevel Heaven are widely present in architecture: pyramids, pagodas, ziggurats, multi-storey towers, etc. Steps, stairs or a ladder signify the way to the highest, usually the 7th sky, while a temple roof or dome symbolizes the sky / heaven itself.
Ziggurat in Ur, Iran
Pagoda, Japan
At that, while studying symbols of the sky of various peoples one can note such symbols, one way or another, also contain signs of the four cardinal directions.
For instance, in one of ancient cultures, which dates back to the 5th millennium BC and was widespread among Turkic and Mongolian nations across the Asian continent from Kamchatka to the Sea of Marmara, there was a cult of the sky deity Tengri. His symbols were the sun and shanyrak – a round aperture with a latticed crosspiece in the middle of a yurt cupola, the crosspiece being oriented to the four cardinal directions.
The entire nomad lifestyle was dedicated to the heavenly deity, which among other things was reflected in the shape of houses – light domelike movable yurts, since Tengri worshippers believed the sky had a shape of a cupola. The latticed crosspiece on the yurt cupola was oriented to the four cardinal directions, and it was possible to determine time by the sun position. The yurt door was oriented to the east – towards the rising sun, the sovereign of the sky.
The light of the clear sky penetrated into the yurt through shanyrak, so people preserved direct contact with the sky deity Tengri even when they were inside the yurt. Therefore, for nomadic peoples shanyrak represented a door to the spiritual world, the shortest way to God, which has echoed in the national symbols of the Kazakhs, Kirghiz and Tuva.
For ancient Egyptians, the goddess of the night starry sky or the Mother of Stars was Nut represented by a cow on the head of which there was a round disc or sun – god Ra, whereas the starry milk of the Heavenly Cow symbolized the Milky Way.
In Egyptian myths, the Cosmic Cow Nut lifts the sun Ra on herself to the heavenly heights, but at a great altitude she feels giddy, and her legs shake. To prevent her from flying away, 8 deities – the heavenly pillars support her by her feet, and the god of airspace Shu holds her by the belly.
Sometimes Nut was depicted as a woman bent in a shape of a cupola, stretching along the horizon over the ground, and leaning with her fingertips and tiptoes, as if via 4 pillars, on the earth god Geb. Nut separated the invisible, impenetrable, eternal part of the universe from the visible, fleeting life, separated the divine world from the material, perishable world.
The ancient Chinese believed that a turtle – one of the four sacred animals – embodied the whole universe: its cupola-shaped shell was associated with the round sky and its flat belly with the square earth. This echoed in the symbols of Chinese altars and pavilions dedicated to the sky / heaven, which have a round shape, whereas multilevel pagodas are a symbol of steps of one’s ascent to the heaven.
The Temple of Heaven – Tiāntán (Beijing, China)
In Hindu myths, the thunder and lightning deity Indra rules Svarga (the Heaven) – the paradise located on the top of Mount Meru, surrounded with 7 skies. Symbols of Indra were a double intercrossed vajra placed inside a circle and a mighty bow looking like a rainbow.
Vajra is a symbol of lightning and the enlightened mind, since such state may be achieved as a result of sudden enlightenment; therefore vajra edges have a shape of 4-petal lotuses – the symbol of spiritual enlightenment. The superior spiritual power is invincible like a diamond, and vajra actually means diamond in translation from Sanskrit. A double vajra symbolizes the dual nature of the world, while the sphere in the centre symbolizes the universe. A vajra surrounded with a wheel preserves the ancient heavenly wisdom of Gods, so that anyone who comes with evil thoughts would be struck by thunder. However, in my opinion, the wheel around the vajra is also a symbol of the sky / heaven.
In Slavonic mythology, Svarog is the god of the firmament and the father of Dajdbog (the god of the sun) and Perun Svarozhich (the god of the heavenly thunderstorm). In the Old Slavonic language, svarga means “the heaven”, and owing to the second syllable rog, the name Svarog indirectly points to the domelike shape of the sky. However, since the root svar also means “creation”, Svarog was also given such epithets as the Heavenly Creator, the Heavenly Fire, or the Heavenly Farrier. In the chronicles of Johannes Malalas, the Byzantine author of Chronography (circa 491-578), Svarog is the farrier god as well.
Svarog created the entire universe. He sees to preservation of the balance of energies in the universe. For this reason our ancestors depicted him with four faces, meaning he knows everything that takes place in all the four cardinal directions. Nowadays various symbols of Svarog may be found on the web, but in any case they contain the number 8. From the AllatRa book by A. Novykh we know that a four-element shape symbolized a cube put on one of its corners, which is a symbol of spiritual transformation and victory over matter.
А) The symbol of Svarog
B) The square of Svarog
C) The circle of Svarog
Furthermore, we can see that symbols of Svarog contain rhombuses and swastikas. A rhombus inscribed in a square, a rhombus overstepping the edges of a square, thus forming eights corners, or an eight-pointed star are all symbols of the Primordial Knowledge of human spiritual liberation. Hence, Svarog is beyond the material world and symbolizes the ultimate human goal – spiritual liberation. According to the AllatRa book, a swastika directed clockwise is a symbol of the expanding universe, of the feminine power of Allat by which the Heavenly Creator created the whole world.
Even in the design of cross-domed churches each of the four sections of the building is ended with a cupola-shaped curvature signifying the firmament.
Inside the central (subsequently the eastern) cupola, as a rule, Virgin Orans (Oranta) supporting the heaven was depicted.
Virgin Orans (Oranta) in St. Sophia’s Cathedral (Kiev, Ukraine)
St. Andrew’s Cathedral (Patra, Greece)
St. Simon the Canaanite Monastery (New Athos, Abkhazia)
Why did ancient peoples emphasize the four cardinal directions in symbols of the sky / heaven, depicting a cross, a square or a cube? Did they intend only to depict the cardinal directions, or may there have been something more significant? Which knowledge did the ancients want to communicate by means of such symbols, given that in ancient times the entire human lifestyle represented service to the divine forces and spiritual goals?
The AllatRa book contains the Primordial Knowledge of the invisible human structure – the four-sided pyramid with a detached top, which was known to humanity since remote antiquity.
According to the AllatRa book, each face of the human pyramid represents an energy Aspect having its special characteristics, which in ancient times were symbolized by the four cardinal directions or an equilateral cross. The four Aspects were symbolically depicted as animals or human beings together with animals, e.g. in Orthodox churches a lion, a calf, a human being, and an eagle are depicted at four corners of the central vault. Such symbols are also used on icons of Our Lady the Burning Bush and of the Saviour in Power.
When a person works hard on spiritual self-development and achieves fusion with his or her Soul, he or she liberates oneself from the influence of matter, and correspondingly from those four Aspects, and enters the seventh dimension, the seventh sky, i.e. the invisible spiritual world, the world of God. Residing in the material world, we are as if in the Godmother’s womb (the nesting doll principle), so it is exactly the Mother of God who opens a way to paradise, to the Heavenly Father for us, and this is also reflected in Christian wall paintings and on Christian icons. Not without reason on some icons Our Lady is portrayed on a key (the Key of Understanding) or as a keyhole (the Addition of the Mind), while in the centre, right in Her heart Baby Christ – God – is depicted (Our Lady of the Sign, the Inexhaustible Chalice, the Life-Giving Spring).
The Key of Understanding icon
Icon of Our Lady Addition of the Mind (Giver of Wisdom)
Icon of Our Lady of the Sign
Thus, a square or the four cardinal directions symbolize matter, whereas a circle or a rhombus is a symbol of the victory of spirit over matter and transfer to the divine spiritual world.
It is noteworthy that contemporary researchers engaged in quantum physics and neurophysiology have come to the conclusion that our universe is fractal and holographic, and modern computer technology already makes it possible to create holographic 3D images based on a transparent pyramidal structure with four symmetric images near each of the faces. When such images move on a plane surface and are mutually reflected on transparent faces of the pyramid, an illusion of a 3D object emerges in the centre.
Such products evidence the presence of an invisible pyramidal structure in a human being. If a human being was created in God’s image and likeness, then the firmament and the four cardinal directions represent a giant fractal pyramidal structure that produces an illusion of the reality of the three-dimensional material world. At that, in ancient times people who lived in different parts of the world were aware of this. They used diverse symbols to communicate to descendants that the material world is illusive, that everything in this world was created by God, and only true service to God is a worthy purpose of human existence on earth. Hence, the entire lifestyle of the ancients represented gratitude to and praise of the Heavenly Creator for the life He gave.
The world is integrated. All the knowledge comes from a single source, and we can clearly see this in symbols of the sky used by various peoples in various ages.
|
https://rgdn.info/en/simvolika_neba
|
This week we begin a two part series visiting Egypt. In week one we'll look back in time with a visit to the Pyramids at Giza and the ancient Necropolis of Saqqara. Next Sunday we'll take a walk around Alexandria for a more modern day glimpse of Egypt.
The ancient Egyptians devoted tremendous energy, time and resources to making elaborate preparations for the afterlife. For 3,000 years massive mastabas and pyramids were constructed for the 31 dynasties that ruled ancient Egypt. While the common people probably sought the afterlife, only rulers and the most revered and wealthy Egyptians had the ability to construct these grand funeral chambers and plan for a life after death of such extravagance. The Great Pyramid, constructed for Pharaoh Khufu around 2560 BC, took an estimated 20 years to build and required 2.3 million limestone blocks. Enormous even by today's standards, it stood as the tallest man made structure in the world for 3800 years.
Examples of the smooth casing stones that once covered the pyramids can be seen at the top and base.
Surface detail of the underlying limestone blocks.
Pharaoh Menkaure's Pyramid is the smallest of the big three on the Giza Plateau.
The even smaller pyramid structure beside it is one of the three Queen's Pyramids.
The structures to the right of the pyramid are examples of mastabas or "eternal houses"
Both a forerunner and a more modest alternative to a pyramid, they too house funeral chambers.
Mastabas are constructed from either stone or bricks made of mud.
Father and son entrepreneurs offer camel rides around the pyramids.
Modern day Giza, a city of over 7 million people, lies at the foot of the pyramids.
The Great Sphinx is one of the great enigmas of ancient Egypt. Its original name is not known - Sphinx being the name bestowed upon it 2000 years after its construction (translating to "the terrifying one" in Arabic). Nor is anything known about its creation or its purpose. Theories abound, but the half man/half lion whose gaze is forever fixed upon the desert horizon is a mystery waiting to be solved. Dated to 2558-2532 BC, it is carved from a single stone making it the largest monolith statue in the world.
The Necropolis of Saqqara was the funerary complex of the rulers and elite residents of nearby Memphis, Egypt's Old Kingdom capital. Sixteen kings are known to have constructed funeral chambers here. The most famous structure at Saqqara is the Stepped Pyramid constructed for Pharaoh Djoser, ruler of the 2nd or 3rd dynasty. Its uniqueness lies in the fact that it is the first known monumental structure made of stone and that its architect is believed to have been Imhotep - the man credited for being the first architect, engineer, and physician in early history. A man of great intellect, he was so well respected and valued by Egypt's rulers that it is believed he has his own yet to be discovered tomb located somewhere at Saqqara.
Stepped Pyramid of Pharaoh Djoser at Saqqara.
Dig underway at Saqqara funerary complex.
Entrance to the tomb of Idut, grand daughter of Pharaoh Unas.
Building details at Saqqara funerary complex.
Even with the numerous photos and articles published about the pyramids in Egypt, yours seem to be different and unique, nice to read and informative. They never fail to amaze me, and I am always envious of your style for travel. I wish i can do the same, Egypt is one in my wish list to reach in this lifetime.
|
http://www.ouradventureshousesitting.com/2013/03/egypt-part-i-somewhere-sunday-post.html
|
|This article is about a/an manga chapter in Kamen Rider Spirits.|
Pride of the Hot Sand (Part Two) (熱砂のプライド・後編 Nessa no Puraido Kōhen) is the fifth chapter and the conclusion of the Pride of the Hot Sand story arc in the manga Kamen Rider Spirits. It is also the final story of the first tankobon. It introduces readers to Kamen Rider V3.
Synopsis
Shiro Kazami somehow finds himself in the "Land of the Dead", reunited with his family. Once he awakens, he then is offered a place as a pharaoh by a mechanical Egyptian woman who is holding the rest of the archeological expedition team hostage. With only 30 minutes remaining on his time limit to transform again, can Shiro resist what he deeply desires the most from death?
Plot
The next chapter opens up with a flashback to the first episode of V3's series, showing the Kazami family being murdered by Scissors Jaguar and then later Shiro pleading to the Double Riders to make him a cyborg like them. Back in the "Land of the Dead", Shiro's sister Yukiko reaches out to him, wanting him to come with her and Shiro's mother and father to the other side so they can be a family again. Shiro cries tears of joy, tempted by the offer, only for a shadow of his Rider form to appear behind him waking him from the dream.
He sees the Anubis woman and asks where he is only to realize he is still in the pyramid. She asks why he has forgotten the face of his queen, referring to him as "Pharaoh". She says that she's waited 3,000 years from him, kissing him affectionately. Shiro realizes her body is cold and hard and upon gazing into her eyes, realizes that she is a machine. Shiro questions why she calls him "pharaoh", only for her to respond that his immortal body is fit to be a pharaoh's as she looked into his mind and saw his memories. She says it is time for the ceremony, showing the archaeologists who had been missing tied up and held captive by her minions. She says that the ceremony is the ceremony of immortality and they will be converted into loyal servants as the archaeologists sink into the sand. Shiro tries to save them, but is restrained and still does not have enough energy to transform as the time limit is now at 30 minutes. Vega arrives and helps rescue the archaeologists despite Shiro at first berating him for not running away and going back home. The android woman summons her handmaidens pursue Vega. She tells Shiro that 3,000 years ago, her pharaoh passed away and she fell in great despair only for a being called "the perfect one" to appear. It proposed that if she became the god Anubis and waited for the time of resurrection, a man with a body fit to be a pharaoh's would come. Those that were unfit would be turned into soldiers.
As Vega and the archaeologists go deeper into the pyramid, they find a chamber full of mummies and the handmadiens cornering them. Vega grins and then sprouts wings, much to the shock of the archaeologists.
The Android woman tells Shiro how lonely she has been waiting for him, actually crying tears like like a human. Shiro pushes her aside, with the android asking why. Shiro asked how many people as she has tempted with the name "Pharaoh" before turning them into monsters. He tells her that in his world, there is no need for kings or soldiers. She uses her mummy forces to attach a burial mask to Shiro's head, trying forcefully for him to accept the memories of a king and to destroy his human soul by driving it into the underworld.
Shiro once again sees the image of his family with Yukiko pulling him towards the light. Shiro lets go and apologizes to his sister, saying that he cannot go yet, doing his transformation pose as she cries a single tear before fading away with Shiro crying as well. Shiro transforms into V3 and breaks the burial mask using a surge of his transformation energy to break free and destroy the Mummy Makers. A voice calls out saying that it is a pity he couldn't brainwash Shiro as he would've made a good partner for him, revealing Vega to be a monster. He then kills the android and says that the only person who shall be a Pharaoh is him. Vega states that while it may not have been 3,000 years, he is happy to accept the 30,000 soldiers that she has manufactured for him. V3 is shocked realizing that and Vega tells him that the black pyramid is a cyborg conversion factory and the queen is a production program which will activate the soldiers.
The mummies moved towards the archaeologists as they beg V3 to help them, with the black pyramid lifting upwards into the air and floating. Vega offers the V3 to join him, telling him that he will be one of the "chosen people". V3 laments the death of the android, as despite being a program she had feelings of sorrow from being forced to do evil's bidding for 3,000 years, using the dead and hurting their loved ones along the way and all the while shedding her tears of sadness. V3 refuses the offer and prepares to attack Vega, leaping to do a V3 Kick only for the bird do swiftly dodge it. Vega mocks V3 for being unable to fly and hits him with exploding feather projectiles, then telling him everyone will die if he destroys the black pyramid. The android somehow reactivates and stops her forces from moving, then silently orders 3 of her soldiers to destroy the pyramid's main power core hidden in the eye of a giant Anubis hieroglyph. This destroys the mummies, vaporizing them to dust. Enraged, Vega uses his feathers and destroys the android who begs her "Pharaoh" to run before shutting down for good.
Vega files out as he sees the pyramid crumble and fall back into the desert sand, annoyed he did not get his army but happy that V3 is seemingly trapped and will die in there. His thoughts are interrupted however by a light in the sand; the Hurricane rushing towards him and V3 behind him on the floating ship. V3 jumps off the boat as the Hurricane leaps into the air towards its owner. As the motorcycle begins to descend out of its jump, V3 then rebounds off the Hurricane's rear wheel with his foot which puts his body into a high speed spin. Vega mocks his efforts as he once again dodges the attack but V3 turns then himself around in midair back towards him. Vega panics and tries to outpace him by flying at top speed, but it is no use as V3 executes his fastest attack: The V3 Mach Kick. The attack bisects Vega across his torso and he tells Shiro that he has lost and that he became a cyborg to help his family as far as he can remember so that much about him was true. He says he couldn't go back to them the way he is now, asking Shiro before he dies if he feels the same way. Shiro says that may be the case, but for now, his body is his pride.
Characters
|Kamen Rider V3||Shiro Kazami|
Enemies
- Vega
- Scissors Jaguar (flashback)
Notes
- One minor error is that Vega said V3 cannot fly, when in reality V3 possibly can if he used one of his 26 Secrets: The Gliding Muffler.
- If this story was in continuity, it would take place long after the events of the final episode of V3.
- The final image of Shiro's shadow taking the shape of his V3 Rider form rather than his human form is reminiscent of certain Batman comics, where Bruce Wayne's shadow would be in the silhouette of Batman.
|
https://kamenrider.fandom.com/wiki/Kamen_Rider_Spirits_Chapter_5:_Pride_of_the_Hot_Sand_Part_2
|
Religious anthropologists have long attempted to trace religion back to its source. Due to the antiquity of Egyptian civilization, it is not uncommon for those dabbling in religious anthropology to wonder, “Is Egyptian religion the oldest?”
Mesopotamian religion preceded that of ancient Egypt, though some claim that Egyptian animism is older. According to the biblical perspective, all religious systems ultimately branched off from the promises made to man in the proto-Evangelium that foretold the coming of the Messiah.
Still, Egyptian religion was one of the largest, most organized, and earliest state religions of antiquity. In this article, I’ll review the antiquity of Egyptian religion in comparison to Mesopotamian religion while discussing the rise of polytheism out of early monotheism.
How Old Is the Egyptian Religion?”
Archbishop of Armagh James Ussher (1625–1655), based on the calculations of the Byzantine chronicler Constantinus Manasses, dated the establishment of the Egyptian state to 2188 BC. Meanwhile, the secular scholarship would date this to around 3000 BC.
In addition, there is evidence in the archaeological record for some form of religion during the Predynastic Period in the Badarian Culture, which secular archaeologists typically date to around 4000 BC. In contrast, Ussher would have dated this after the Tower of Babel, circa 2242 BC.
The earliest surviving literature tends to coincide with the formation of the city-states of Mesopotamia and the Kingdom of Egypt. Still, the archaeological records provide some clues to prehistoric religion in these regions.
Göbekli Tepe and Nabta Playa
Megalithic structures are an obvious sign of communal effort, and, according to German archaeologist Klaus Schmidt, Göbekli Tepe is the oldest known temple in the world (source). Located in the Mesopotamian region of Eastern Turkey, secular archaeologists date this structure to around 10,000 BC (source).
Egypt’s earliest comparable megalithic structure would be the Nabta Playa circle, which allowed cattle herders to mark the summer solstice (source). In fact, the Nabta Playa circle is the oldest confirmed astronomical site in the world, and UNESCO dates the Nabta Playa structures to around 4,600–3,400 BC (source).
The Göbekli Tepe temple is also notable for the strange carvings pointing to an ancient skull cult (source). Similarly, the remains from prehistoric sites such as Çatalhöyük and Jericho of plastered skulls suggest an early form of ancestor worship.
While this skull cult does not appear in Egypt, the presence of grave goods in the Predynastic Badarian Culture might indicate a view of the afterlife as similar to that on earth or a concern to appease the dead (source).
Badarian Culture Idols and Fertility Figurines
Additionally, the graves of the early Predynastic Merimde and Badarian cultures provide the earliest representations of the human form from Egypt.
For example, the British Museum houses an ivory fertility figurine of a woman from the Badarian Culture, while the Museum of Egyptian Antiquities in Cairo houses a clay head from the Merimde Culture.
Such female figurines were common throughout the prehistoric world, and many believe these were fetishes, objects the users believed had magical or protective powers.
What Is the Oldest Religion in the World?
From the conservative Jewish, Protestant Christian, and Roman Catholic perspectives, the Egyptian religion would have ultimately degenerated from true monotheism passed down through the Patriarch Noah.
In agreement with this essential view, the Jesuit anthropologist Wilhelm Schmidt (1868–1954) coined the term Urmonotheismus, meaning “original” or “primeval monotheism.”
According to his theory, monotheism became degraded as people worshiped their deceased ancestors, some of which they elevated as gods. Thus, combined with the personification of natural forces, this became the basis for polytheism.
The Proto-Evangelium
Prior to the Abrahamic and Mosaic Covenants, Yahweh established the Noahic Covenant with all of humanity. In it, He established the rudiments of government and pledged to preserve the stability of nature (source).
Following the Genesis account of Adam and the fall, the descendants of Noah would have passed down the worship of the one true God as well as the promises that one day the “Seed” of the woman, foreshadowing the Messiah, would one day crush the head of the serpent, representing Satan.
Theologians refer to this promise in Genesis 3:15 as the “proto-Evangelium,” meaning the first Gospel. Thus, the universal primeval knowledge of this promise helps explain such pagan motifs as the Egyptian god Horus slaying an evil serpent by piercing its head.
Noting this motif in The Manners and Customs of the Ancient Egyptians (Volume III, p. 121, 123), British Egyptologist John Gardner Wilkinson connected this representation of Horus “to the Bible history” and to Isaiah 27:1.
The Sacralization of Nature
However, this universal primeval knowledge became distorted and corrupted over time, particularly after the rebellion of humanity at the Tower of Babel, where the people built a tower “unto heaven” to “make a name” for themselves.
In The Existence and Attributes of God, Stephen Charnock (1628–1680) noted that since the heavens themself declare the glory of God, the earliest idolatry probably involved the worship of the heavenly bodies in the days of Nimrod (42-43).
Furthermore, in Against the Heathen, the great Alexandrian Bishop Athanasius (AD 328–373), following Romans 1:25, described the shift from worshiping the Creator to venerating the creature through a fixation on bodily appetites as the ultimate good (source).
Mediators Between Heaven and Earth
Such wrongly motivated attempts to approach God, and the subsequent alienation that resulted from it, perhaps led them to perceive God as a “deus otiosus” or indifferent god.
Cultures that adopt this view often believe that they must approach God through various mediators, such as ancestors, nature spirits, demons, lesser deities (especially goddesses), or, eventually, sacred kings.
We can see the seeds of this in the astronomical observations at Nabta Playa and hints of ancestor worship and idolatry.
Later, the development of larger urban religions resulted in the emergence of polytheism as influential priests combined local deities or spirits into larger complex systems, effectively depicting the world as run by a heavenly bureaucracy.
Egyptian Ancestor Worship and the Ka
Reflecting their materialistic view of the world, the Egyptian word for spirit or life was “Ka,” the hieroglyphic symbol of which was a flowering plant. The Ka stood for the imperishable part of man that would represent him in the netherworld or Duat (source).
Thus, when presenting offerings to the dead, the Egyptians believed they presented them to that person’s Ka.
In contrast, the Egyptian word that we often translate as “god” was “netjer,” which could refer to a deity, demon, or venerated spirit, such as a deceased ancestor or king. However, only the king held this title in life.
Egyptian Solar Henotheism or Pantheism?
While the Egyptian religion most of us are familiar with was largely polytheistic, having many gods, the theological underpinnings of Egyptian religion may actually have been closer to pantheism.
In his work Miracles (1947), Christian apologist C.S. Lewis noted that pantheism “is almost as old as we are” and that it might have been “the most primitive of all religions.”
One-Ism vs. Two-Ism
According to Dr. Peter Jones of Westminster Seminary California, we can divide all forms of spirituality into two basic categories: “one-ism” and “two-ism” (source).
He defines “one-ism” as a system where devotees worship and serve the creation itself as divine. This system, similar to the Hindu concept of Advaita (non-duality), seeks the elimination of all distinctions, merging all into one as divine, including individual persons (source).
In contrast, “two-ism” is a system that recognizes God alone as divine and distinct from His creation. God is holy and transcendent yet deeply and sovereignly involved in His creation.
This is essentially the distinction between classical theism and pantheism, the latter of which identifies God with the universe itself (source). Pantheism also tends to be monistic, seeing everything as part of an unchanging whole with any change being a mere illusion (source).
Pantheism in the Pyramid Texts
Interestingly, in his Development of Religion and Thought in Ancient Egypt, the American Egyptologist James Henry Breasted (1865–1935) noted the sun god became so central to Egyptian theology that he detected a hint of “solar henotheism” or pantheism in the Pyramid Texts (source).
Henotheism, or monolatry, is a form of polytheism that accepts the worship of a supreme deity while believing in the existence of other deities (source). Meanwhile, others seeing the language of monistic pantheism in the Pyramid Texts mistakenly refer to it as monotheism.
For instance, in describing what they call “Egyptian monotheism,” the Tehuti Research Foundation refers to monotheism representing the “One” and polytheism referring to the “All.” According to the authors, the Egyptian solar deity Ra was the perfect representation of the “One Who is the All” (source).
While using the term “monotheism,” the language is instead monistic, viewing the various deities as attributes of a single deity.
In this way, the Egyptian religion may have been similar to Hinduism, where the priestly class seems to have favored a form of monistic pantheism, while others held to some form of henotheism or polytheism.
The Circle as a Symbol of Monism
It is also interesting to note that the circle, ever prominent in the Egyptian solar cult, is a common pagan expression of monistic unity, representing infinity and wholeness.
For instance, the circular ouroboros originated as an Egyptian symbol, first appearing in the Enigmatic Book of the Netherworld from a shrine of Tutankhamun (source).
The ouroboros consists of a serpent devouring its tail, symbolizing the Egyptian concept of eternal destruction and rebirth. By at least the time of Origen (c. AD 185–253), it came to represent “the soul of all things” (Contra Celsum 6.25), aligning with the Stoic concept of the material soul and the World Soul.
Another important Egyptian symbol using the circle was the shen ring (Gardiner V9), representing eternal protection, which is why the Pharaohs had their name placed in a cartouche (Gardiner V10), which was essentially an oval shen ring.
The Monist Influence on Religious Anthropology
The evolutionary perspective on religion owes much to Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel (1770–1831), who proposed that all religions developed through evolutionary processes, starting with primitive cavemen.
Interestingly, Hegel was also a pantheist who believed that God and nature were one and that truth itself was an evolutionary process. Similarly, much of modern scholarship relies on a one-ist system of scientific materialism, naturalism, or physicalism.
Additionally, Hegel was greatly influenced by the ancient Greek philosopher Heraclitus (c. 540–480 BC), who believed that all was in flux or in a permanent state of becoming instead of being. Like Heraclitus and much of the ancient pagan world, he also held a predominantly cyclical view of time and history.
Egyptian Animism
In contrast to the theory of Urmonotheismus, most religious anthropologists hold that all religions originated in a primitive state from an earlier system like shamanism, animism, or totemism, developing into polytheistic systems and eventually to monotheism (source).
In particular, many religious anthropologists have attempted to trace religion to animism, the belief that spirits inhabit objects, whether animate or inanimate (source). There are even modern religions, such as Egyptian animism or Yaananism, that claim to have preserved Egyptian animism as the oldest in the world.
However, animism never appears on its own but is always tied to the belief in a Supreme Being.
At the same time, totemism appears to have contributed significantly to the formation of Egyptian religion, with the Egyptians earning a reputation for their zoomorphic or animal-headed deities.
Totemism is where a group of people believe they share kinship or some special relation with a spirit-being that they take on as an emblematic of their people, such as an animal or plant.
What Are the Most Ancient Religious Texts?
The three oldest and most influential religious texts in the Near East are the Egyptian Pyramid Texts, the Sumerian Kesh Temple Hymn, and the Hebrew Pentateuch. Though the Pentateuch came later, the toledoths contained within the Book of Genesis may have been directly passed down from the earliest generations.
The Pyramid Texts
The Pyramid Texts appear during the reign of King Unas of the Fifth Dynasty, which secular archaeologists generally date somewhere around 2465–2325 BC. They consist of spells, hymns, and prayers that priests designed to protect the deceased king or queen and to sustain them in the afterlife (source).
The Pyramid Texts are the oldest surviving corpora of Egyptian religious writings and among the oldest religious texts in the world.
The Kesh Temple Hymn
However, modern scholars generally accept the Sumerian Kesh Temple Hymn and the Instructions of Shuruppak, which they typically date to around 2500 BC, as the oldest surviving religious texts as original copies (source).
Notably, we also have evidence for contact between Egypt and Mesopotamia in the Predynastic Period from the Egyptian Narmer Palette, which depicts two long-necked behemoths or “serpopods” (source).
Interestingly, a cylinder seal from Uruk dating to roughly the same period, now housed at the Louvre, bears the same creatures in the same posture, with their necks intertwined (source).
The Book of Genesis and the Toledoths
In contrast, Moses wrote the first book of the Pentateuch, Genesis, shortly after the Israelite Exodus from Egypt. James William Jack dated the Exodus to around 1445 BC in The Date of the Exodus in the Light of External Evidence (1925). However, Kenneth Kitchen and other Egyptologists have attempted to date this to the 13th century BC.
“Pentateuch” is Greek for five scrolls, and Moses would have written on perishable material. For that reason, we do not have the original manuscripts of Genesis or the other books of the Pentateuch but copies that scribes have reproduced and passed down to us.
The oldest surviving fragment of the Pentateuch is on the silver Hinnom Scrolls, dating to the 7th century BC and containing the benediction from Numbers 6:24-26 (source). For comparison, while Aristotle wrote his Poetics in the fourth century BC, the earliest surviving evidence for this work dates 1400 years later (source).
The Toledoths
Significantly, though Moses himself lived and wrote much later than the earliest Mesopotamian and Egyptian sources, there is evidence in Genesis that he used sources dating to the earliest periods (source).
German theologians Carl Friedrich Keil and Franz Delitzsch held this view, noting Moses would have copied much of the early part of Genesis from documents handed down from the earliest ages (Commentary on the Old Testament, 1861, p. 17).
They and other scholars point to the use of the Hebrew term toledoths, meaning “generations” or “genealogical registration.” For instance, Genesis 5:1 states, “This is the book [sepher] of the generations [toledoths] of Adam” — the Hebrew term “sepher” pointing to an actual document.
There are also toledoths of Noah (6:9), Shem (10:1), and Terah (11:27), the father of Abraham. So the toledoths of Genesis are critical in that they record the line of promise from Adam to Noah and his son Shem onward, leading ultimately to Jesus Christ in the New Testament (source).
The Emergence of the Egyptian Religious System
Egyptian religion deified nature and natural forces, and Egyptologist James Henry Breasted noted the sun and the Nile were the two most important natural phenomena that influenced the development of Egyptian religion.
Like other ancient religious systems, the agricultural cycle also had a vital impact on the development of their perception of life, death, and rebirth. Likewise, the rise of the Egyptian state had a profound impact on Egyptian religion, including their notions of paternal kingship.
Sky Gods and Solar Theology
As with many ancient polytheistic systems, sky and solar deities were prominent among the Egyptians, such as Horus, Atum, and Ra, which the Egyptians largely integrated.
Eventually, they became personifications of different sun phases: Ra-Horakhty (Horus of the Horizon) at dawn, Ra at the sun’s zenith, and Atum-Ra in the evening.
The Egyptians referred to their creator god as Atum or Ra-Atum, while Egyptologists have described the falcon god Horus as a sky god or solar deity.
The Ascendency of Ra
Ra did not actually become the head of the pantheon until the Fourth Dynasty when his name appeared as part of the name of King Djedefra in the third millennium BC.
The rise of Ra to prominence was probably due to the influence of Imhotep, a priest of Heliopolis, the center for the solar cult. He was responsible for the construction of Djoser’s Step Pyramid in the Third Dynasty, and the Great Pyramids of Giza from the Fourth Dynasty were symbols of solar theology.
By the Fifth Dynasty, the Pyramid Texts viewed the Egyptian king as the son of the sun god by an earthly mother. The Egyptians also viewed Ma’at, the goddess of truth, justice, and order, as the daughter of Ra.
Still, the head of the pantheon would change in later dynasties, though the ruling dynasty would often append the name of Ra to the head of their pantheon. For instance, the Theban deity Amun was preeminent by the Middle Kingdom Period, but the Egyptians appended his name to Ra as Amun-Ra.
Did Akhenaten Invent Monotheism?
While many assert that Akhenaten’s Atenism led to the development of monotheism, his movement was very short-lived and resembled monistic pantheism instead.
While attempting to overthrow the powerful priesthood of Amun-Ra at Thebes, Pharaoh Amenhotep IV or Akhenaten (c. 1379–1362 BC) promoted the worship of another solar deity, the Aten.
However, instead of monotheism, the artwork of the Amarna Era and the statues of Akhenaten himself reflect the classic one-ist philosophy of merging all opposites, particularly in combining male and female elements (source).
Also, as even the Encyclopedia Britannica points out, Atenism was not truly monotheistic since the Egyptians still venerated the Pharaoh as a god.
Rejuvenation of the Sun
Unlike the Hebrew view of Yahweh, the Egyptians did not view their gods as eternal and immutable. Instead, the gods, including Ra, aged and required the Pharaoh’s intervention through his ritual performance to rejuvenate the sun daily.
Thus, the Egyptian people looked to the Pharaoh for the maintenance of the cosmic order itself.
The Egyptians believed that Ra traveled through the underworld (Duat) every night upon his solar barque, where he combatted the forces of chaos, often represented by a serpent.
The hieroglyphic symbol for the Duat (Gardiner N15) was the five-pointed star or pentagram, representing the morning star, surrounded by a circle (source). This is also the origin of the ouroboros symbol.
Horus, Osiris, and Deified Kings
Horus is one of the earliest and most central deities of Egyptian religion, as the Egyptians also saw their reigning king as a manifestation of Horus. In contrast, Osiris, the father of Horus through his wife/sister Isis, represented the deceased king reigning in the underworld.
We have evidence for the falcon god Horus as early as the Predynastic Period, while Osiris appears much later. Yet the concept of sacred kingship was common in the ancient Near East, and early experiments with it apparently had disastrous results.
For instance, at Abydos, there is evidence for human sacrifice in the subsidiary graves of the Early Dynastic Period kings.
Most Egyptologists accept that these contained servants deliberately killed to serve the king in the afterlife (source), and the tomb of First Dynasty King Djer contained an astonishing 338 subsidiary burials (source). Later, Djer’s tomb even became a monument to Osiris during the Middle Kingdom Period.
Similarly, we have evidence for human sacrifice in Sumerian Ur during roughly the same timeframe from the Great Death Pit of Ur, discovered by Sir Leonard Wooley.
While this might seem distant and alien to us, there are more recent parallels where a religious cult leader took numerous lives along with him in his hubris. For instance, during the 1978 Jonestown Massacre, cult leader Jim Jones convinced at least 900 cult members to commit ritual suicide with him in Guyana, South America (source).
Similarly, while Egyptian monuments such as the Great Pyramids of Giza remain as amazing testaments to ancient engineering, they also bear witness to the particular presumptuousness of certain men in their thirst for power, immortality, and even deity, seeking to be worshiped as God.
Osiris, Death, and Rebirth
The Egyptians associated Osiris with the Nile, and, consequently, the myths concerning his life, death, and revival reflected the agricultural cycle.
Dying god myths connected to the agricultural cycle were common in the ancient world, and the cult of Osiris remained one of the most influential even into the Roman period in the form of the Ptolemaic god Serapis (source).
The Greeks and Romans admired the antiquity of the Egyptian cults, and the Greek Ptolemies incorporated them into their mystery cults.
The preservation of the Osiris myth also owes much to the late first- to early second-century author Plutarch, who tells us that Osiris’ brother Seth/Typhon killed and dismembered Osiris. Plutarch goes on to tell us that Osiris’ sister/wife Isis gathered and assembled the body parts (source).
He next tells us that Osiris awakened in a mummified state to have a child with Isis — the god Horus. In the older Pyramid Text version, Osiris would go on to rule the underworld, while Horus ruled the living in the form of the reigning Pharaoh.
The Theory of Pagan Derivation
The theory that Christianity originated from the pagan myths of Osiris, Isis, and Horus originally came from the History of Religions school from the likes of August Conrady, Hugo Gressmann, and Richard Reitzenstein (source).
While their arguments have largely fallen out of favor even among secular scholars, many are still floating around in popular culture and the internet. For example, we can see the promotion of this theory in The Da Vinci Code (2003) and Bill Maher’s Religulous (2008).
Plutarch’s Moralia
One of the major flaws in the pagan derivation theory is that it rests upon sources that post-date the Gospels, such as Plutarch’s Moralia. In doing so, they compare later versions of the Egyptian myths that underwent a significant degree of syncretization and modification by that point.
While the earliest surviving fragments of the Gospel of Luke date to around the time Plutarch would have written his work during the reign of Trajan (AD 98–117), Luke wrote that Gospel around AD 60–61, during the reign of Nero.
In contrast, the earliest manuscripts of Plutarch’s Moralia, which contains the account of Isis and Osiris (source), date to the 11th–13th centuries AD.
American theologian J. Gresham Machen (1881–1937) made this point when he wrote a refutation of Hugo Gressmann’s theory, which was largely based on attempts to show similarities between the account of Plutarch on Osiris and Isis and Luke 2:1-20 (source).
Similarly, he refuted Conrady’s link to the second-century gnostic Protoevangelium of James and Reitzenstein’s attempt to use a sixth-century fragment to justify his theory.
Did Isis Become the Virgin Mary and Horus Jesus?
No, the pagan comparisons to the virgin birth are highly absurd as the earliest versions of the myth describe the very physical nature of Horus’s conception (source).
Meanwhile, the statement that images of Isis nursing Horus the Child influenced similar Catholic images purportedly of the Virgin and baby Jesus are technically true but misleading.
The appearance of such images was rather late, emerging mainly after the Byzantine Emperor Justinian (AD 527–565) closed the Temple of Isis at Philae. Thus, the adoption of such pagan imagery resulted mainly from the efforts of late Roman or Byzantine emperors at mass conversions.
Subsequently, pagan images supposedly representing Mary nursing the baby Jesus found their way into Coptic and Palestinian iconography (source).
The “Resurrection” of Osiris
Additionally, biblical skeptics have attempted to equate the death, dismemberment, and resuscitation of Osiris with the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Yet, such a comparison attempts to read biblical terminology back into the ancient sources (source).
Also, the stories tell us that, when revived, Osiris remained in mummified form and a state of semi-consciousness, unlike the glorified body of Christ (source).
Furthermore, while the pagan gods of the ancient mystery cults died and arose every year, the substitutionary death of Christ was a one-time event. Also, Christ also died willingly and as a sacrifice for the sins of believers, not because he was duped by an evil brother.
What Is Civilization?
One of the key marks of a civilization is the ability to write and keep records, in addition to the emergence of advanced political and social institutions (source). “Civilization’ comes from the Latin word “civilis,” which is related to public life and citizenship (source).
That some of the earliest records we have are of a religious nature should indicate something of man’s natural predisposition toward religion and evidence the knowledge of God written on men’s hearts (Romans 2:15).
Yet, for much of human history, the statement of French sociologist Emile Durkheim rings true when he said, “religion is society worshiping itself.” This article was written for strategiesforparents.com.
For more on civilizational development, make sure you read “Country vs. Nation: Similarities and Differences” and “Empire vs. Kingdom: What’s the Difference?”
Final Thoughts
Egyptian religion was one of the most influential religions to break away from the worship of a single God. Instead, they directed their affections to the realm of natural phenomena, such as the heavenly bodies, the earth, and various animals.
The common people seem to have accepted some form of polytheism, while at least some within the priestly class held to a system of monistic pantheism. Ultimately, in their attempt to bridge the gap between heaven and earth, they sought to bring God down to their level.
|
https://strategiesforparents.com/is-egyptian-religion-the-oldest/
|
The Sphinx was built in between 2550-2500 BCE by the pharaoh Khafre (4th king of Fourth dynasty).The body is 72.55 meters in length and 20.22 meters tall. The Sphinx is thought to be primarily a guardian figure, protecting the tomb of the Khafre by warding off evil spirits. Arabs know the Sphinx of Giza by the name of Abu-al-Hawl, or "Father of Terror. "The Sphinx's face was mainly damaged during French occupation around 1800, when Mameluke troops used it for target practice for their field cannons, but its body has been weathered by the elements for thousands of years.The material of the Sphinx is the limestone bedrock of what geologists call the Muqqatam Formation,the Sphinx is one of
It is the oldest of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. It is not only the oldest it is also the last standing. Egyptologists believe that pyramids were built as tombs for the Fourth Dynasty Egyptian pharaoh Khufu. Based on these estimates, building the pyramid in 20 years would involve installing approximately 800 tonnes of stone every day. Additionally, since it consists of an estimated 2.3 million blocks, completing the building in 20 years would involve moving an average of more than 12 of the blocks into place each hour, day and night.
Pharaoh Hatshepsut ruled from about 1473 to 1458 B.C.E. Pharaoh Ramses II ruled Egypt for 60 years. It’s believed he lived around 1303 BC and died July o August 1213 BC; reigned 1279-1213
The Nefertiti Bust is a picture that is believed to be 3300 years old. It was a stucco coated bust of Nefertiti made of and is made of limestone. Nefertiti was regarded as the great royal wife of the then Egyptian Pharaoh known as Akhenaton. Sculptor Thutmose is believed to have crafted the work in the year 1345 BC since it was discovered in his workshop found in Amarna in Egypt. The art is one of the arts that has been copied severally in the ancient Egypt.
In “The Epic of Gilgamesh”, Gilgamesh believes that fear is not and never will be “Justified”. This story was retold by Herbert Mason but no one truly knows who began the tale. “The Epic of Gilgamesh” is a well known epic poem that was created in ancient Mesopotamia around the time of 600 B.C. The point of view in which the story is told in is third person, in the perspective of Gilgamesh himself. The setting of the story is around the time of 2700 B.C.
It exhibits several character traits that were common to the Olmec people. It is made out of stone, and appears to have a greenish faint to it. It is old-style, but holds monumental value to a prehistoric culture. Consequently, the mask didn’t belong to the Aztecs, due to its age. It belonged to the Olmec culture that began to thrive between 1500 and 1200 B.C.E.
Anubis is the ancient Egypt god of the dead. Anubis is how his name is spelled in the Greek version, and Anpu is how the ancient Egyptians knew him. Anubis is an extremely ancient god who appears in the Old Kingdom. He also protects and guards the dead in the Pyramid Texts. He was originally the god of the dead, but then he was switched to being the god of the embalming process and funerals.
The practice of mummification dates back to the third Dynasty, to around 2600BC, but it was only in 21st Dynasty, in c. 1000BC, that the technique was perfected. It took centuries of experiment, and repeated failures, before the ancient Egyptians mastered the complex art of preserving in their dead the appearance of the living. According to Assmann (2014), at the end of the third Dynasty, the embalmers began removing the body’s abdominal organs. This is a fact that is indirectly confirmed by the appearance of Canopic jars, the stone vessels designed to hold these organs. There are seven steps in the process of mummification which are announce the death, embalm the body, remove the brain, remove the internal organs, dry out the body, wrap the body, and execute the final possession (refer to Figure 1 in Appendix 1).
Thutmose III is one of the greatest kings of ancient Egypt. His name means ‘son of Thoth’, who is Egyptian god of wisdom. Thutmose became king when still a child and ruled for about 55 years, from about 1479 to 1425 B.C. For about the first 20 years of his reign, his aunt and stepmother Hatshepsut was the temporary ruler (regent).
Pharaoh Akhenaten and Arachne In Egyptian antiquity, Akhenaten was a real pharaoh of the 18th Dynasty who ruled for 17 years and died perhaps in 1336 BC or 1334 BC. He was also known as Amenhotep IV and sometimes by the Greek name Amenophis IV meaning God “Amun is satisfied”. Akhenaten is noted for abandoning traditional Egyptian polytheism and introducing worship centered on the Aten, which is sometimes described as monolatristic, henotheistic, or even quasi-monotheistic. Akhenaten culture shifts from Egypt's traditional religion were not widely accepted. After his death, his monuments were dismantled and hidden, his statues were destroyed, his 11 name was excluded from the kings’ lists, and traditional religious practice was gradually restored.
|
https://www.ipl.org/essay/Ancient-Egyptian-Pharaoh-Menkauhor-Kaiu-FK8JJPH428TT
|
…may thy ba not be repelled from what it desires….
In 1991 the McClung Museum acquired by purchase from the Toledo Museum of Art, Toledo, Ohio, a number of ancient Egyptian objects, including a figure of a ba-bird (MM: 117/648). The object is made of polychromed gesso on wood, and it measures 11.5 cm long x 9.2 cm high; its provenance is unknown.
An examination of the object was undertaken and comparisons were made with similar examples in other museum collections, to determine the function and meaning of the object and the probable species represented. The results of the study show that such figures are more common after 660 BC, suggesting a late date, circa 660-30 BC, for the McClung Museum’s figure. As is the case with the Museum’s example, these figures were made of polychromed gesso on sycamore(?) wood. Although wooden figures must have been produced during earlier periods, this investigation did not find any dating earlier. Also noted was that, in publications, the ba is frequently referred to as a person’s “soul,” a term that turns out to be misleading. There is every indication that, to the ancient Egyptians, theba was the complete whole of the deceased.
In our figure, the ba is imaginatively represented as a bird with a human head. As is usual, the figure rests on a slightly tapered rectangular base which originally may have been attached to the top of a wooden sepulchral tablet or shrine, or perhaps the corners of a wooden outer box enclosing the coffin. These locations suggest places where the bird might alight.
Typically, the ba-bird wears a black wig, with lappets on the chest. The wig has raised edges creating a relief effect. The face, which represents that of the deceased, is a light tan with facial details in white and black and with a brown mouth. The deep-cut body has a green back and wings, and the feathers are well detailed in black. The tail is solid black and the feet are terra cotta color. Five fine horizontal black lines on the tan-colored chest suggest a wesekh-collar, or “broad collar,” in reality usually made of beads. The chest is also decorated with vertical black strokes, or short lines, and the feathers above the legs with two horizontal lines.
A sun disk or headdress may have surmounted the head, a uraeus may have been placed above the forehead, and a chin beard may have been attached under the chin where oval sections of the gesso have broken away from these areas of the head. There is a repaired break across the feet and tail, and an undetermined hole at the proper right below the wing, between the tail end and the front leg. The painted gesso is chipped off most of the base and areas of the figure.
More than likely the ba was not considered a duality, a composite of body and soul, or one composed of material and immaterial elements, but represented the whole of all of the deceased’s qualities.
“May it see my corpse, may it rest on my mummy, Which will never be destroyed or perish.” PAPYRUS OF ANI, New Kingdom, Dynasty XVIII, Collection of The British Museum.
The ba was not a separate being, but a powerful aspect or expression of the same person that was within the person even before birth. As the ba was not usually associated with the living, it was believed to become manifest at the time just at the point of death, before resurrection.
Painted reliefs depict the ba fluttering above the deceased in the tomb chamber or on its way down the tomb shaft on its return to the body in the tomb, after having flown about the marshes, fields, and thickets outside in the earthly world.
Illustrations of the bird in the McClung Museum exhibition are depicted on a painted coffin fragment and on the sarcophagus of Djed.
As an animated version of the motionless deceased, the ba possessed the power to move at any time, change its shape, go on excursions, and return to the body.
The ba of a noble and common person had the nature of a human body and performed all earthly functions. These bas of the dead represented past generations. The Egyptians, as do people of many cultures, believed people survived after death, so the ba was believed to live on into eternity.
Several other concepts concerning the ba may be mentioned here. The ba of a pharaoh, whether living or deceased, was the manifestation of the king’s special power associated with his position with the gods. Queen Hatshepsut of the New Kingdom claimed her ba was given to her by the god Amon.
Each god also had a ba, identified with the special power of that particular deity. The ba of the Apis bull-god, for example, was the manifestation of the ba of the god Osiris so that Apis had his power.
Through the bas then, the gods could become part of and communicate themselves to other gods, celestial bodies, animals, and inanimate things — and be manifested in them.
In terms of the king, the ba is explained as his great power among the gods. The Great Sphinx, representing a king, was considered “great of Bas” and therefore a manifestation of the great power of the king.
Architectural features, such as the pylons of temples as found at Karnak and Luxor as entrances to sacred precincts, and sacred writings, such as the Pyramid Texts in their divine words, also possessed the power of bas in them.
In conclusion, the findings of this study indicate that the Museum’s ba-bird is typical, and to the ancient Egyptians represented the complete whole of the deceased and not a being separate from the body and having its own identify.
The body of the figure manifests the characteristics of a stylized sparrowhawk (Accipiter nisus) or a small falcon (Falco sp.). In general, however, artists emphasized the symbolic and decorative aspects of some species rather than their actual characteristics, so that the true species may never be certain. The bird form was no doubt chosen because of its ability to navigate land, sea, and air.
|
https://mcclungmuseum.utk.edu/1993/11/01/ba-bird/
|
Being in a long-term relationship can be challenging at times. There may be conflicts, disagreements, and tough decisions to make. However, many couples overcome these challenges and stay happy and committed to one another. We all want to be happy in our relationships, but sometimes it can be hard to know what steps to take to get there.
If you are in a long-term relationship and are looking for ways to maintain happiness, here are five secrets of happy couples:
They communicate openly and honestly
This one is pretty much a no-brainer, but it bears repetition. To maintain a healthy relationship, you need to be able to communicate effectively with your partner. That means being open and honest about your needs, wants, fears, and feelings. It also means listening to your partner when they share their thoughts and emotions with you. Active communication will help you understand each other better and avoid misunderstandings down the road. When you have good communication, you can build trust and intimacy, both of which are essential for a happy relationship.
They spend time together
In our busy lives, it’s easy to let quality time with our significant other fall by the wayside. If you want your relationship to thrive it’s important to make time for each other and make that time count. Schedule regular date nights (or days), even if that just means cuddling up on the couch watching a movie after the kids are in bed. Put away phones and be present with each other during this time. Listen when your partner talks and try to engage in thoughtful conversation. Small actions like these will help keep your connection strong even when life gets hectic. Happy couples make time for each other regularly. It’s important to keep the spark alive in your relationship by making time for each other, even when life gets busy.
Suffering from relationship burnout? Here are three easy ways to deal with it
They support each other
A key ingredient in any happy relationship is mutual support. When you and your partner are there for each other during the good times and the bad, it can help you weather any storm. Whether you are cheering each other on during a challenging situation or simply being a shoulder to cry on, supporting each other is an essential part of being in a healthy relationship.
They respect each other
Respect is another important element of any happy relationship. This means listening to each other, valuing each other’s opinions, and making an effort to understand each other’s points of view. When you respect each other, it helps create a strong foundation for your relationship that can overcome any hurdle that comes your way. Couples who respect each other’s differences tend to be more compatible and have longer-lasting relationships.
They are willing to compromise
No relationship is ever going to be 100% smooth sailing all the time — there will be disagreements and conflict. What matters is how you handle those disagreements when they arise. Happy couples know how to compromise effectively so that both partners feel heard and valued.
At the heart of any successful long-term relationship is a shared emotional connection and the ability to communicate honestly with your partner. This means being able to freely express your thoughts, emotions, and needs without being afraid of judgment or rejection. When two people can truly understand and support each other, they create a solid foundation for growth and happiness that can last a lifetime. If you are lucky enough to have found a partner who makes you feel truly loved and valued, embrace the ups and downs of long-term love. You’ve got this. And together, you’ll go far.
|
https://times.maktaba.co.in/five-secrets-of-happy-couples-in-a-long-term-relationship/
|
Conflict can threaten relationships. Conflict, a natural state between people learning to live together, needs to be embraced as a natural part of the relationship, not a reason to breakup.
It is our nature to be in conflicted situations. So why do we try to avoid it?
People shy away from conflict thinking that by avoiding conflict they are making their lives better, more serene. In fact, they may be allowing a bigger, underlying problem to fester and grow.
People enjoy solving problems and puzzles. This is the creative part of dispute resolution, identifying and solving problems.
Typically there is an underlying problem causing two people to disagree on small, unimportant issues. Engaging in a healthy dispute resolution process may reveal unexpected relationship obstacles or problems. If these underlying problems are identified and addressed constructively, this process can lead to a healthier, happier relationship.
Negotiating or conflict resolution is about finding ways to work with another person or group to resolve differences, differences that naturally and inevitably occur in any relationship. How we choose to handle such conflict determines if we improve or impair our relationships.
In Seven Secrets to WINNING Without Losing a Friend, I discuss the importance of finding mutually viable solutions to challenges in our relationships at home, with friends, at school or at work.
|
http://how-to-negotiate.com/embracing-conflict.html
|
Improving Communication and Problem Solving in Intimate Relationships
We all want to be in a loving relationship that is healthy and “works”. But most of us haven’t been taught the skills that make for successful relationships, and we carry issues from our childhoods and past relationships into the present as well. So what can we do to give our intimate relationships the best chance of long term success? In this article, therapist Teyhou Smyth looks at two interconnected skills that can be learned and improved upon over time to give your relationship the best chance of success.
Couples who are in it for the long-haul are often looking for ways to make the relationship better. The two most important areas for couples to focus on for a healthy relationship are communication and problem solving. Strong skills in these areas can help couples overcome obstacles that could become quite destructive if left unresolved.
Common areas of conflict within relationships include:
- finances
- division of labour
- trust issues
- coparenting
- sex & intimacy and
- problems with extended family.
Tackling these areas and finding ways to resolve issues compassionately and with effective communication can help couples become stronger and closer than ever.
Tips for Better Communication
Communication can become a barrier for many reasons in relationships. To overcome communication problems, couples can commit to strategies that reduce conflict and open avenues to greater understanding. Here are some methods that help people achieve better communication in their relationships.
Listen to understand, not form a rebuttal: Often when couples disagree on a topic, they end up not listening to their partner and instead focus on their next statements or arguments. Staying attentive to your partner’s thoughts and trying to understand their point of view can help reduce the feeling of not being heard and increase the odds of your partner listening to you with the same intent to understand.
Agree to keep voices calm and not interrupt: During conflict, emotions can easily escalate. Make an agreement with your partner in advance that there will be no yelling or interrupting. Conversations can be far less stressful when ground rules are set and both parties respect the boundaries in place. If it becomes difficult to abide by these ground rules, agree to take a half hour cool down period to be alone and then resume the conversation.
Make eye contact: As simple as it sounds, maintaining eye contact during conversation is a sign of respect and attention. Couples naturally begin to make less eye contact over time, and it happens gradually. To improve communication, try to resume eye contact and use non-verbal cues to show that you are engaged in your partner’s thoughts and feelings.
Problem Solving Skills
All couples face challenges together during a relationship. The way couples choose to solve those problems as a unit can either reinforce the bond or break it down. Communication during problem solving is one important aspect, as well as giving a problem adequate time and attention it needs to achieve resolution.
Create a pros and cons list: For some challenges, couples may find that listing the positives and negatives of an issue may be helpful. It can help uncover objective points and move away from emotional reasoning.
Establish parameters: Some couples do well with creating a set of expectations for themselves around decision making and problem solving. For example, if a couple is trying to deal with financial problems, it may help to discuss all spending over a certain dollar amount or create a budget together that takes into account financial goals and needs.
Parenting: For problem solving around raising kids, couples should agree to make decisions together to avoid one or the other always being the “strict” one and model healthy communication skills as a family.
When couples are intentional about their efforts toward better communication and problem solving, relationships can improve dramatically and stand the test of time. A healthy relationship is well worth the hard work and effort to make it last, and by committing to communication and problem-solving strategies, couples can observe the fruits of their efforts relatively fast.
|
https://www.counsellor.ie/improving-communication-and-problem-solving-in-intimate-relationships/
|
Subsets and Splits
No community queries yet
The top public SQL queries from the community will appear here once available.