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“If everyone else jumped off a cliff, would you?” irritated parents everywhere ask when their kids argue that they should be allowed to do something just because “everyone else is doing it.” A new paper in the journal Evolution and Human Behavior suggests that societies | “If everyone else jumped off a cliff, would you?” irritated parents everywhere ask when their kids argue that they should be allowed to do something just because “everyone else is doing it.” A new paper in the journal Evolution and Human Behavior suggests that societies may engage in such self-destructive conformity when they face unexpected environmental crises.
A model generated by Hal Whitehead, a biologist at Dalhousie University, and Peter Richerson, a professor of environmental science policy at the University of California at Davis, suggests that people tend to conform to what are perceived as socially successful strategies when they live in stable environments. As a result, odd individuals become rarer and societies lose their ability to learn new coping skills.
Whitehead and Richerson speculate that political systems might become dominated by conformists and stifle the ability of individuals to make timely adaptations to changed circumstances. They cite the Norse communities of medieval Greenland and the Mayan civilization in Mesoamerica as possible examples of societies that collapsed because of excessive conformity. Whitehead and Richerson think their research is relevant to dealing with current global environmental problems, arguing that “the risk of population collapse may be reduced by promoting individual learning and innovation over cultural conformity.” |
By: Larry Studt, M.D., Occupational Health & Medicine Program, Sacred Heart and St. Joseph Hospitals
If you enjoy a good glass of Merlot with your evening meal, you probably welcome the news stories that say a glass of wine | By: Larry Studt, M.D., Occupational Health & Medicine Program, Sacred Heart and St. Joseph Hospitals
If you enjoy a good glass of Merlot with your evening meal, you probably welcome the news stories that say a glass of wine at night is good for your heart. But is this truth or fiction? There really isn't a clear cut answer. Research has suggested red wine has more heart-healthy benefits than other types of alcohol due to certain substances in red wine called antioxidants and resveratrol. But you really can't say red wine is the magic bullet to maintaining good heart health.
Moderate amounts of wine may increase "good" and reduce "bad" levels of cholesterol, prevent blood clots, and prevent damage to blood vessels. But when pouring that glass of vino, remember moderation is essential because too much alcohol can have harmful effects on your body. Four ounces of wine is equivalent to one serving. Men will benefit from one to two servings per day; women, one serving per day. However, I don't recommend you start drinking alcohol just to prevent heart disease. You'd be much better off eating healthy and getting enough exercise, rather than drink a glass of wine, to ensure a healthy heart.
To learn more, watch the "Ask the Doc" video!
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The Meridian Clock: A Taoist Cosmological Imaging System, Part One
By David Twicken, DOM, LAc
The meridian clock is a multidimensional energetic model used in the practice of Chinese medicine, but the depths of | The Meridian Clock: A Taoist Cosmological Imaging System, Part One
By David Twicken, DOM, LAc
The meridian clock is a multidimensional energetic model used in the practice of Chinese medicine, but the depths of its theory and clinical applications have not been presented to the acupuncture community.
The meridian clock is a profound energy system, containing and integrating many principles found in the classic Taoist texts I Ching and Nei Jing. This article presents classic Taoist concepts and theories that explain the building blocks of the meridian clock and how it is the origin of foundational aspects of Chinese medicine.
All students of acupuncture are presented channel pairings on the legs and arms, but with no strong theory supporting the groupings. This article presents, in a step-by-step basis, how the meridian clock is a model supporting the channel groups of the three leg yang, the three leg yin, the three arm yin and the three arm yang channels. Additionally, a comprehensive meridian clock reveals why the Lung channel begins the clock flow at 3 a.m. through to 5 a.m.
As a cosmological imaging system, the meridian clock originates as a mirror image of the energetic flow of nature: yin descends and yang ascends, or the energetics of water and fire.
Yin-yang expands to the Five Elements and their energetic flow. Below is a traditional presentation of the elements. Water and Metal are yin and descend, while Wood and Fire are yang and ascend. The positions and energetic flow of the four cardinal positions and their corresponding elements are presented. Notice in this presentation that the Earth element is in the central palace or position. It is the only palace that touches or connects to every other palace and element. It is the transformer, and will be further discussed in this article.
The Five Elements
The following three diagrams contain integral correspondences that build the meridian clock.
Fire Yang South
Wood Yang East
Metal Yin West
Water Yin North
Daily Time Periods
Fire Yang Noon
Wood Yang 6:00 am
Metal Yin 6:00 pm
Water Yin Midnight
Twelve-Stage Growth Cycle The 12-stage growth cycle is an extension of yin-yang and the Five Phase cycle of expansion, peak, harvest, decline and regeneration, or waxing and waning. Each of the Five Phases represents a season, as well as certain months of the year. The 12-stage growth cycle is comprised of the 12 branches, or Chinese zodiac animals, which are classic Taoist tools that communicate the energetics of hourly patterns. The following table lists each of the Five Elements and their corresponding season.
Indian summer, or the transition times from season to season
Wu Ji views life as one integrated whole. Yin-yang views the whole in two interdependent aspects. The 12-stage growth cycle views the same whole in 12 aspects or energetic phases, with each phase having a relationship to the whole, as well as the other phases. Yin-yang, the Five Phases and the 12-stage growth cycle can perceive and reveal different conditions within the same situation, offering a variety of analytical tools and treatment methods.
Listed below is a 12-stage growth cycle table and diagram. This cycle is one of the most important principles in Chinese astrology, feng shui, and numerous Taoist arts.
The 12-stage growth cycle identifies the growth and decline stages in a cycle. The most favorable and potent stages for many applications of the Taoist arts are stages four and five, or adult and prime (Wang). Every pattern has these cycles, which can provide opportunities. For example, in flying stars feng shui (xuan kong fei xing), we identify the Wang stars and activate them to generate auspicious and prosperous energies and influences. The 12-stage growth cycle is the energetic structure of the meridian clock. Numerous methods of identifying acupuncture and herbal treatment methods exist within this energy pattern.
1. Birth - Chang Sheng - needs energy
2. Childhood - Mu Yu - needs energy
3. Adolescence - Guan Dai - needs direction
4. Adulthood - Lin Guan - rising, growth
5. Prime - Di Wang - peak
6. Decline - Sui - harvest, decline
7. Aging - Bing - weakening
8. Death - Si - depletion
9. Dormancy - Mu - buried, storing
10. Void - Jue - preparation
11. Embryo - Tai - beginning
12. Pregnancy - Yang - new creation has begun
In traditional Chinese medicine, the 12 branches (Chinese zodiac animals) correspond to the elements and directions. Table 1 (below) expands the previous diagram to include the 12 branches and their corresponding elements.
These animals and their associated acupuncture chan |
Edward, Count Palatine of Simmern
|Luise Marie of the Palatinate
Anne Henriette, Princess of Condé
Benedicta Henrietta, Duchess of Brunswick-Lüneburg
|House||House of | Edward, Count Palatine of Simmern
|Luise Marie of the Palatinate
Anne Henriette, Princess of Condé
Benedicta Henrietta, Duchess of Brunswick-Lüneburg
|House||House of Palatine Simmern|
|Father||Frederick V, Elector Palatine|
5 October 1625|
The Hague, Netherlands
|Died||13 March 1663(aged 37)|
|Religion||Protestant, converted to Catholicism|
Count Palatine Edward of Simmern (Prince Palatine Edward) 5 October 1625 – 10 March 1663, was the sixth son of Frederick V, Elector Palatine (of the House of Wittelsbach), the "Winter King" of Bohemia, by his consort, the English princess Elizabeth Stuart.
Edward was born in The Hague, where his parents lived in exile after his father lost the Battle of White Mountain and was driven from the thrones of both Bohemia and the Palatinate. His father, a Calvinist, died on November 29, 1632, when Edward was seven years old.
On April 24, 1645, Edward married in Paris a French princess of Italian extraction, Anna Gonzaga (1616–1684). Nine years older than Edward, she was a daughter of Carlo I, Duke of Mantua and Catherine de Lorraine-Guise-Mayenne, and had been spurned by her alleged previous husband, the fifth Duke of Guise. She had been raised in France, where her father held the dukedom of Nevers prior to inheriting the Italian duchy.
He was embarrassed financially, she by scandalous pursuit of a cousin who had repudiated her to wed another, and both by a connection forbidden by their warring faiths, thus they married in secret. But Edward's prompt conversion vindicated the couple at the French royal court, despite his mother's threats to disown any of her children who embraced the Catholic church.
The couple took up residence in Paris, where they were referred to as the Prince and Princess Palatine, her inheritance and the king's generosity enabling them to live according to their rank as princes étrangers. Elizabeth soon resumed correspondence with her son. In 1649 he received England's Order of the Garter.
Edward and Anna Gonzaga were parents of three daughters:
- Luise Marie of the Palatinate (23 July 1647 – 11 March 1679). Married Charles Theodore, Prince of Salm;
|
- Several Arab political parties and movements have been named "al-Nahda": For the Tunisian political party, see Ennahda Movement; for the Algerian political party, see Islamic Renaissance Movement.
- For the Omani football club, | - Several Arab political parties and movements have been named "al-Nahda": For the Tunisian political party, see Ennahda Movement; for the Algerian political party, see Islamic Renaissance Movement.
- For the Omani football club, see Al-Nahda (Omani football club). For the neighbourhood in Dubai, see Al Nahda, |
Published: October 20, 2011
CLEMSON — The National Science Foundation (NSF) has awarded $3 million to Clemson University to design, develop and deploy a basinwide network of computerized sensors to monitor water quality along | Published: October 20, 2011
CLEMSON — The National Science Foundation (NSF) has awarded $3 million to Clemson University to design, develop and deploy a basinwide network of computerized sensors to monitor water quality along the entire length of the Savannah River.
“The Intelligent River research represents a ‘big idea’ worthy of Thomas Green Clemson, who founded our university to improve economic conditions through scientific research and education,” said Clemson President James F. Barker.
A battery-operated computer smaller than a Rubik’s Cube is at the heart of the endeavor to deploy a network of environmental sensors along the 312-mile Savannah River — from the headwaters in North Carolina to the port in Savannah. This network will provide real-time data on water quality and flow rate at a scale that until now was cost-prohibitive. The data is critically needed to improve water resources management as demand increases for drinking water, hydroelectric power, recreation and industrial production.
Called a “MoteStack,” the technology allows an unprecedented number of sensors to be deployed across a large area and operate as a highly efficient network. The MoteStack is inserted into a buoy system anchored to the river floor. External sensors collect data on water temperature, flow rate, turbidity, oxygen levels and the presence of pollutants.
The MoteStack processes the data and transmits it to Clemson's high-performance computing system. Information is displayed on an interactive website where water resource managers can view multiple data sources and locations at the click of a mouse.
“The Intelligent River seeks to transform the science and business of managing natural resources at the landscape-scale and reflects the worldwide quest for earth-monitoring technologies,” said Gene Eidson, director of Clemson’s Institute of Applied Ecology.
He initiated the Intelligent River program in 2007 with seed funding of $1.75 million from Clemson Public Service Activities.
“Our goal is to utilize the Intelligent River technologies to safeguard our natural environment, the principal driver in South Carolina’s strong tourism, forestry and agricultural economies,” he said.
The Intelligent River is a campuswide interdisciplinary research initiative, administered through the Institute of Applied Ecology, that joins the forces of computer and environmental scientists to develop new technologies for linking land use, energy production, climate change and water resources. It also is a key component of the new S.C. Center of Economic Excellence in Sustainable Development that focuses on green job creation around these technologies.
Jason Hallstrom, an associate professor in the School of Computing and a Clemson IDEaS Professor, is the principal investigator for the NSF award.
“We are delighted to receive the support of the National Science Foundation for this important task,” Hallstrom said. “Our goal is to develop a cyberinfrastructure-enabled instrument that will serve as a world model for managing water resources. It takes an incredibly talented and dedicated team that spans multiple disciplines to achieve this. We have that team at Clemson.”
The team includes hardware developers, software engineers, river ecologists, visual effects scientists, forestry and natural resource scientists, information technologists and applied economists.
The same technology that is being used to monitor rivers can monitor many other things. Plans already are in the works for an Intelligent Farm and Intelligent Forest, and even Intelligent Buildings and Intelligent Roads.
“This technology has the potential to create a new knowledge-based industry in South Carolina that can bring high-tech jobs and protect the environment,” said John Kelly, Clemson vice president for economic development.
In announcing the grant, NSF officials made it clear there is a critical need for this research.
The grant announcement on the NSF website reads: “It is evident that the growing mismatch between water supply and demand impacts us all: USA watersheds are in peril! This project does something about it with support from EPA and USACE (U.S. Army Corps of Engineers). Within the reach of environmental science, this work explores the connections among land use, energy production, climate effects and water resources applying information and computing systems.”
James D. Giattina, EPA water protection division director, said, “The proposed watershed-scale monitori |
At least 111 manatees, 300 pelicans, and 46 dolphins — emaciated to the point of skin and bones — were all found dead in America’s most biologically diverse estuary.
Something is seriously wrong. The | At least 111 manatees, 300 pelicans, and 46 dolphins — emaciated to the point of skin and bones — were all found dead in America’s most biologically diverse estuary.
Something is seriously wrong. The northern stretches of the Indian River Lagoon of Florida has a mass murder mystery that biologists are racing to figure out. The lagoon contains more species than anywhere else in the U.S. It is a barrier island complex stretching across 40 percent of Florida’s coast, around Cape Canaveral, and consisting of the Mosquito Lagoon, the Banana River and the Indian River Lagoon.
The lagoon has always been polluted by nutrients and fertilizers running off lawns and farms, but in recent years it appears to have reached some sort of tipping point, says Marty Baum of the Indian Riverkeeper.
“The lagoon is in a full collapse, it is ongoing,” he said.
In 2011, an algae superbloom covered 130,000 acres that killed off an unprecedented 60 percent of sea grass. A sea grass meadow serves as a shelter and spawning grounds for fish, and in terms of diversity, rates up there with tropical rainforests and reefs. It is also an important food source for manatees.
Manatees began dying in July 2012, 43 of them in just one month. A total of 111 have died, and many of their stomachs were filled with various species of macro-algae. Given their primary food source of sea grass was no longer available, their deaths could have been liked to the diet change, says Kevin Baxter, spokesman for Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWCC).
In August 2012, a brown tide of the algae Aureoumbra lagunensis spread through the lagoon.
The situation has not improved this year. The brown tide began in April and has crept through the water body.
People have reported between 250 and 300 dead pelicans since January to the FWCC. The birds are emaciated and have heavy parasite loads.
Since January, the number of dead bottlenose dolphins has reached 46. Researcher Megan Stolen at the Hubbs-SeaWorld Research Institute calls this an unusual mortality event, with numbers more than double the average recorded in previous years.
The dolphins also look emaciated, similar to the pelicans. This is not the first dolphin mortality event in the Indian River Lagoon. There were die-offs in 2001 and 2008 where the cause of death was undetermined, says Stolen. It has been difficult to isolate a cause because there may not be any one particular smoking gun, she says.
“If lots of bad things are happening all at once, we may not find a consistent cause of death,” she says.
And bad things are happening in the Indian River Lagoon, Baum stresses.
There is so much farmland and laws in Florida that fertilizer is flooded into coastal waters. This is ideal for algae, which need high levels of nutrients and salinity to survive, and which triggered the death of the sea grass.
Florida has historically not set |
The Monte Corchia cave system, one of the most famous and popular caves in Italy, has in recent times been the subject of investigation on its speleothems as paleoclimate archives. This paper describes the geology, geomorphology | The Monte Corchia cave system, one of the most famous and popular caves in Italy, has in recent times been the subject of investigation on its speleothems as paleoclimate archives. This paper describes the geology, geomorphology and water chemistry of the cave system with the aim to elucidate the processes that have generated these speleothems and the properties they contain that are so useful for paleoclimatology. Some general conclusions can be drawn: i) the Corchia system is a cave developed over different altitudes during progressive uplift of the mountain chain in which it is located, probably under drainage conditions very different to those of the present. This has allowed the development of a large (ca. 60 km) and deep (-1187 m) karst system; ii) the dewatering phases have left the deepest chambers far away from clastic input and with long drip pathways; iii) the peculiar geological context has permitted the water to intercept and dissolve a significant source of U (still unknown) that facilitates radiometric dating; iv) in the last 1 Ma at least, no significant changes have occurred in the relief and in the epikarst, in the sense that speleothems have grown under very similar conditions. In addition the extremely low Ca concentration of drip waters have permitted low speleothem growth rates and, at least for the “Galleria delle Stalattiti”, the zone under paleoclimate studies, a stable plumbing system (i.e. chemistry and stable isotopes of drip waters) has produced calcite close to isotopic equilibrium.
International Journal of Speleology Vol. 37, Issue 3, p. 153-172 |
Rectal Prolapse Repair
Rectal prolapse repair surgery treats a condition in which the rectum falls, or prolapses, from its normal anatomical position because of a weakening in the surrounding supporting tissues.
A prolapse occurs when an | Rectal Prolapse Repair
Rectal prolapse repair surgery treats a condition in which the rectum falls, or prolapses, from its normal anatomical position because of a weakening in the surrounding supporting tissues.
A prolapse occurs when an organ falls or sinks out of its normal anatomical place. The pelvic organs normally have tissue (muscle, ligaments, etc.) holding them in place. Certain factors, however, may cause those tissues to weaken, leading to prolapse of the organs. The rectum is the last out of six divisions of the large intestine; the anus is the opening from the rectum through which stool exits the body. A complete rectal prolapse occurs when the rectum protrudes through the anus. If rectal prolapse is present, but the rectum does not protrude through the anus, it is called occult rectal prolapse, or rectal intussusception. In females, a rectocele occurs when the rectum protrudes into the posterior (back) wall of the vagina.
Factors that are linked to the development of rectal prolapse include age, repeated childbirth, constipation,
The overall incidence of rectal prolapse in the United States is approximately 4.2 per 1,000 people. The incidence of the disorder increases to 10 per 1,000 among patients older than 65. Most patients with rectal prolapse are women; the ratio of male-to-female patients is one in six.
Surgery is generally not performed unless the symptoms of the prolapse have begun to interfere with daily life. Because of the numerous defects that can cause rectal prolapse, there are more than 50 operations that may be used to treat the condition. A perineal or abdominal approach may be used. While abdominal surgery is associated with a higher rate of complications and a longer recovery time, the results are generally longer lasting. Perineal surgery is generally used for older patients who are unlikely to tolerate the abdominal procedure well.
Abdominal and laparoscopic approach
Rectopexy and anterior resection are the two most common abdominal surgeries used to treat rectal prolapse. The patient is usually placed under general anesthesia for the duration of surgery. During rectopexy, an incision into the abdomen is made, the rectum isolated from surrounding tissues, and the sides of the rectum lifted and fixed to the sacrum (lower backbone) with stitches or with a non-absorbable mesh. Anterior resection removes the S-shaped sigmoid colon (the portion of the large intestine just before the rectum); the two cut ends are then reattached. This straightens the lower portion of the colon and makes it easier for stool to pass. Rectopexy and anterior resection may also be performed in combination and may lead to a lower r |
The Brussels administrative unit
In 1998, the Senate set up a permanent administrative unit (fr) in Brussels to carry out direct relations with all the European institutions: the Commission, the Parliament, the Council, etc. As such, this | The Brussels administrative unit
In 1998, the Senate set up a permanent administrative unit (fr) in Brussels to carry out direct relations with all the European institutions: the Commission, the Parliament, the Council, etc. As such, this administrative unit has an office within France's permanent representation to the European Union and another office at the European Parliament.
The main role of this unit is to provide senators with the information required for expedient action, for example, on initiatives planned at European level before formal decisions thereto are made.
This unit is also responsible for supplying senators with all the required information for incorporating the European dimension into the scope of national debates. |
This is dedicated to the memory of my beloved maternal grandfather, Abraham – “silver in his hair and gold in his heart”
“In nomine Patris, I baptise thee Jo……...” the priest had pronounced during that ceremony held many years ago | This is dedicated to the memory of my beloved maternal grandfather, Abraham – “silver in his hair and gold in his heart”
“In nomine Patris, I baptise thee Jo……...” the priest had pronounced during that ceremony held many years ago at Santa Cruz Cathedral (Basilica) at Fort Cochin (Kerala, South India). When those words were quoted to me by my maternal grandfather Abraham eight years later, it was decisive in arousing in me a curiosity for that cathedral and its origins that stretched back to the arrival of the Portuguese.
It is a place where I had witnessed many similar functions and weddings – including some of the festivals that dotted its annual calendar. Living on the mainland of Cochin (earlier Cocym, Cochym, Cochim,.… now, Kochi), those occasions were opportunities for me to hop over to Fort Cochin and be with my maternal grandparents.
Until the age of nine, the Cochin that existed before 14th century was rather shrouded in obscurity to me. My earliest knowledge of Fort Cochin at that time was fixated on an event said to have occurred in 1341 which occasioned it’s emergence as a prominent village consequent to the great flood of the River Periyar – during which a natural harbour was formed when the sea mouth of the Vembanad estuary opened up, and eventually ushered in trade and colonialism.
It is generally held that, it was due to this natural calamity that, Mahodayapuram (Mahodaya Pattanam) and its ancient port of Muziris (Kodungallur), which had silted up, lost their importance.
History has taught us that Fort Cochin had seen the presence of the Arabs, then the Chinese before the Portuguese came along, followed by the Dutch and finally, the British. The fact remains that during the second half of the fifteenth century the intercourse between China and Malabar has waned, until at last it ceased altogether, leaving some tangible symbols in the form of Chinese Nets, pagoda-style roofs, palm-woven, broad-brimmed hats of the fishermen, Chinese style porcelain, clay pots (Cheena chatti), etc.
And when the Portuguese came to India in 1498, suffering losses by shipwreck, disease and hunger, in due course they realized that, they were not conquering some kind of uncivilized and uncultured people – indeed, they were confronted by a civilization different from theirs, superior in some and inferior in many respects.
I have often thought that it is my privilege to have been born in Fort Cochin reaped with legends and vibrant history. Primarily, I was fortunate to be the grandson of Abraham, once a teacher with Santa Cruz School (less than 200 meters from his house), who, with his useful and reliable knowledge about the East and the West, had sowed the first seeds of fascination in me for geography and history, especially about Fort Cochin. He had told me of names I haven’t heard before, ….. Zheng He (Cheng Ho – 1371–1433), Marco Polo (c. 1254-1324), Ibn Battuta (1304– 1368/1369), Dom Vasco da Gama (c. 1460/9–1524), Dom Pedro Álvares Cabral (c. 1467/68–c. 1520), Dom Afonso de Albuquerque (c. 1453–1515), Dom Francisco de Almeida (ca. 1450-1510), etc…
Over the years, it was from him that I first learned of Fort Cochin being the fundamental reference point for many firsts in Kerala, even in India. It was the first place of European settlement in India; the first place where a foreign Fort was built; the first place in India where European food was served; cake and hot bread was baked; wine fermentation was tried; vindaloo (derived from the Portuguese dish “carne de vinha d’alhos”) made its first appearance in its original form using wine instead of vinegar.
Most likely, it is the place where tobacco, potato, cauliflower, and new species of fruits such as pineapple, papaya, cashew, guava, custard apple, etc., were initially introduced. The chillies came from the West Indies and revolutionized the palates of locals. I savoured all this in small doses whenever I was in Fort Cochin until 1970, sitting before him, during long balmy evenings that stretched into the late hours.
In the course of time, further readings led me to complement my list with more firsts: It is certainly the birthplace of Cochin Creole Portuguese, the language that came into existence with the contact of Portuguese language with the local languages and developed hand-in-hand with the formation of Catholic and Indo-Portuguese households. Since the Portuguese occupied Goa only by 1510, Fort Cochin, a citadel of peaceful coexistence, could probably be the first place where the concept of Mestiços or Luso-Indians (people of mixed and Portuguese descent through Indian women or even, órfãs del rei/young orphan Portuguese girls) emerged – the forerunners to Anglo-Indians who, imbibed in the European way of living, can be called the first moderns of India.
No doubt, the true success of Kerala would remain in its ability to |
6 Things You Don’t Know About Tantrums
What research tells us about meltdowns, including the scientifically proven way to stop them
My daughter threw her first tantrum on my birthday. We were out at a restaurant, trying to | 6 Things You Don’t Know About Tantrums
What research tells us about meltdowns, including the scientifically proven way to stop them
My daughter threw her first tantrum on my birthday. We were out at a restaurant, trying to celebrate, reluctant to exclude our eighteen-month-old by hiring a babysitter. Bad mistake: As soon as dinner arrived, she wanted out of her highchair. Then she started wailing, so my husband whisked her out of the restaurant. I ate a few bites of my dinner, alone, before I gave up and doggy-bagged the rest. Happy birthday? Yeah, right.
Since then, my daughter’s outbursts have grown longer, stronger, and more varied in pitch and pacing. They’ve made me wonder: Is this normal? And, dear god, how can I make them stop? I was soon relieved to find that tantrums aren’t just the bane of parenthood, but a subject of serious scientific study. At the University of Minnesota, highly sensitive microphones were sewn inside onesies to record meltdowns at close range. At the University of Medicine and Dentistry in New Jersey, researchers gave toddlers toys, then took them away to see how they’d react (in general, not good). Researchers at Northwestern University have developed a 118-question quiz called the Multidimensional Assessment of Preschool Disruptive Behavior to gauge the difference between a normal hissy fit and a potential sign of mental problems. All of this has heralded in a wealth of research that can give parents a fresh perspective.
Consider these six surprising facts to help you cope during your child’s next meltdown so you don’t lose it, too.
1. Tantrums follow a predictable pattern
They may look like pure chaos, but tantrums are actually more like a symphony, with predictable peaks and denouements. Phase one involves yelling and screaming; phase two throwing objects or oneself on the floor. While the flailing of phase two may seem like an escalation, it’s actually a sign the tantrum’s past its apex and headed downhill, giving way to phase three: crying and whining. Parents should wait until phase three before intervening to comfort their child. Only what should you do to soldier through phase one and two? |
Touchdowns are usually scored by the offense. However, the defense can also score a touchdown if they have recovered a fumble or an interception and return it to the opposing end zone. Special teams can score a touchdown on a kickoff or punt | Touchdowns are usually scored by the offense. However, the defense can also score a touchdown if they have recovered a fumble or an interception and return it to the opposing end zone. Special teams can score a touchdown on a kickoff or punt return, or on a return after a missed field goal attempt. In the NFL, a touchdown may be awarded by the referee as a penalty for a "Palpably Unfair Act".
When the touchdown was introduced into American football in 1876, it did not award a score; instead, it only allowed the offense the chance to kick for goal by placekick from a spot along a line perpendicular to the goal line and passing through the point where the ball was touched down, or through a process known as a "punt-out", where the attacking team would kick the ball from the point where it was touched down to a teammate. If the teammate could fair catch the ball, he could follow with a try for goal from the spot of the catch, or resume play as normal (in an attempt to touchdown the ball in a spot more advantageous for kicking).
In 1881, the rules were modified so that a goal kicked from a touchdown took precedence over a goal kicked from the field in breaking ties.
In 1882, four touchdowns were determined to take precedence over a goal kicked from the field. Two safeties were equivalent to a touchdown.
In 1883, points were introduced to football, and a touchdown counted as 4 points. A goal after a touchdown also counted as 4 points.
In 1889, the provision requiring the ball to actually be touched to the ground was removed. A touchdown was now scored by possessing the ball beyond the goal line.
In 1897, the touchdown scored 5 points, and the goal after touchdown added an additional point.
In 1900, the definition of touchdown was changed to include situations where the ball becomes dead on or above the goal line.
In 1912, the value of a touchdown was increased to 6 points. The end zone was also added. Before the addition of the end zone, forward passes caught beyond the goal line resulted in a loss of possession and a touchback. (The increase from 5 points to 6 did not come until much later in Canada, and the touchdown remained only 5 points there until 1956.)
The ability to score a touchdown on the point-after attempt (two-point conversion) was added to NCAA football in 1958, high school football in 1969, and the NFL in 1994. |
Arts & Crafts, Creative Product, Educational Skills, Green Product, Other, Socially Responsible, Unique Product
The Christmas Pumpkin is an illustrated children’s book inspired by the author’s son and the students in preschool. BeeBop Books Publishing | Arts & Crafts, Creative Product, Educational Skills, Green Product, Other, Socially Responsible, Unique Product
The Christmas Pumpkin is an illustrated children’s book inspired by the author’s son and the students in preschool. BeeBop Books Publishing and The Christmas Pumpkin are examples of inspiration, self-confidence, family values, eco-awareness, and joy in personal accomplishment. The story recounts the experience of a young boy named James, who decides to decorate a neglected green pumpkin for Christmas. The people in his neighborhood ask him, “What would you do with a pumpkin for Christmas?” They tell James that pumpkins are used for Halloween and autumn decorations, and for Thanksgiving, but not for Christmas. His parents support his creativity and he dreams of how he would decorate his pumpkin. When a man that seems to resemble Santa offers him a candle, James knows exactly what to do. With self confidence and his parents help, he carves a star and lets his light shine. Soon everyone begins to understand what a green pumpkin can do for Christmas. The book includes a coloring page that allows children to decorate their own Christmas pumpkin. BeeBop Books has a nationwide contest for coloring pages and decorating green pumpkins Originally published in paperback, the book will be available in a larger hardback edition.
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by, 10-28-12 at 06:04 PM (428 Views)
The first Decoration Day was 30 May 1868, three years after the end of the American Civil War.
Gen. John A. Logan, U | by, 10-28-12 at 06:04 PM (428 Views)
The first Decoration Day was 30 May 1868, three years after the end of the American Civil War.
Gen. John A. Logan, U.S. Army, commander of the Grand Army of the Republic, initiated the day of remembrance.
He ordered that all Army posts decorate the graves of fallen Civil War comrades with flowers and a "suitable ceremony," and that flags be flown at half mast until noon.
Decoration Day later got a new name, Memorial Day. On this day the nation now honors those killed-in-action from all branches of the armed forces.
This day of honor has been further expanded to include all wars and conflicts in which American servicemen have made the Supreme Sacrifice for their country. And, in a solemn ceremony, a wreath is laid at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier (more about that later).
Since the late 1950s on the Thursday before Memorial Day, the U.S. Army has placed small American flags at each of the quarter-million-plus graves in Arlington National Cemetery. The Army also stands guard in the cemetery through Memorial Day to ensure that the flags remain in place.
In 1968 (the height of the hippie and flower power generation), Congress changed the observance date from 30 May to the last Monday in May. However, in 1999 bills were introduced in both the House of Representatives and the Senate, proposing restoration of 30 May as the day of observance.
According to tradition, Memorial Day is observed by placing flowers or small flags on the graves of American servicemen who have fallen in battle.
Americans are encouraged to visit military memorials and to fly flags at half mast until noon. They also are asked to fly the relatively new "POW/MIA" flag, per the 1998 Defense Authorization Act.
Further, all Americans are asked to |
Swine fever outbreak threatens Caucuses countries, warns FAOListen /
The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) is urging authorities in the Caucasus region to scale up prevention methods following an outbreak of African swine fever in Ukraine.
The | Swine fever outbreak threatens Caucuses countries, warns FAOListen /
The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) is urging authorities in the Caucasus region to scale up prevention methods following an outbreak of African swine fever in Ukraine.
The disease is caused by a highly infectious virus that affects domestic and wild pig populations, and can result in high numbers of deaths.
African swine fever does not affect humans, but it can also be spread by people who feed pigs food scraps and other leftovers which contain contaminated pork products.
Dianne Penn reports.
The first-ever detection of African swine fever in Ukraine occurred in a village, and FAO says the authorities responded quickly by imposing a quarantine zone and destroying affected pigs.
FAO warns that although control measures appear to have temporarily halted the disease's spread, it has established a foothold in the Caucasus region.
The agency says other parts of Ukraine, and countries like Moldova, Kazakhstan and Latvia—which have large pig populations raised on household or family farms—are now at high risk.
FAO reports that African swine fever outbreaks in the Russian Federation last year led to the death or culling of up to 300,000 pigs, resulting in an estimated $240 million in losses.
Dianne Penn, United Nations. |
Today, we are talking about everyone’s favorite topic: cursing in novels. Uh oh, I know. Cursing is a touchy-feely subject. In one hand, we have writers like Stephen King who allow their characters to curse | Today, we are talking about everyone’s favorite topic: cursing in novels. Uh oh, I know. Cursing is a touchy-feely subject. In one hand, we have writers like Stephen King who allow their characters to curse mellifluously. In fact, Mr. King made cursing a creative art by writing a full paragraph with various derivatives of the f-word. On the other side, we have writers who rarely or never allow their characters to express themselves in expletives. I can think of a few such as Joyce Carol Oats and (maybe) Toni Morrison.
I remember in book 4 of Harry Potter, J.K. Rowling allowed Harry to express himself too much by writing some of his dialog in caps. She had a backlash from readers who expressed their dislikes toward Harry’s rage. In the subsequent volumes, when Ron was angry, Ms. Rowling described it as “Ron cursed profusely” without getting into details of the exact curse words.
It’s easy to understand since Harry Potter is a children’s book. However, when it comes to books written by adults for adults, what is the exact guideline for writers? Should you go the Stephen King way or the Joyce Carol Oats way? I was confused at first so I consulted a whole bunch of books about writing. The common denominator in this subject is: respect the language, don’t allow your characters to curse too much.
While I love Stephen King’s creative cursing, I decided to come up with my own solution regarding the f-bombs, a-trains, and their relatives: I would use them as special effects. For example, I have this character who is basically a quiet guy. He doesn’t talk much but whenever he does, people just tend to ignore him. At first, he doesn’t mind and keeps it to himself. One day, things really happen and people are looking for a solution. As usual, nobody listens to him.
So, he stands up, opens his mouth, and starts his speech with an f-bomb.
Everybody swings their heads back and begins to listen.
That, my friends, is how I would like to use profanities. Special-effect profanities, that is. |
A preliminary study suggests a history of childhood trauma among adults displaying post-traumatic stress disorder may cause accelerated aging.
Researchers at the San Francisco VA Medical Center and the University of California, San Francisco discovered that individuals with PTSD had altered chromosomes.
For these | A preliminary study suggests a history of childhood trauma among adults displaying post-traumatic stress disorder may cause accelerated aging.
Researchers at the San Francisco VA Medical Center and the University of California, San Francisco discovered that individuals with PTSD had altered chromosomes.
For these individuals, the part of the chromosome called the telomere — a DNA-protein complex whose function is to protect the chromosome from damage and mutation — was shortened and thus damaged.
Short telomere length is associated with an increased risk of cancer, cardiovascular disease, and autoimmune and neurodegenerative diseases, as well as early death.
The study is found in the online Articles in Press section of the journal Biological Psychiatry.
In the investigation, the authors collected DNA samples from 43 adults with PTSD and 47 matched participants without PTSD.
Initial analysis showed that many of the subjects with PTSD had shorter telomere length than those without PTSD.
“This was striking to us, because the subjects were relatively young, with an average age of 30, and in good physical health,” said lead author Aoife O’Donovan, PhD. “Telomere length was significantly shorter than we might expect in such a group.”
The authors then looked at incidence of severe childhood trauma, including neglect, family violence, physical abuse, and sexual abuse.
They found that, among the subjects with PTSD, the more childhood trauma a subject had experienced, the higher the risk of shorter telomere length. “People who had multiple categories of childhood traumas had the shortest telomere length,” said O’Donovan.
In contrast, subjects with PTSD but without childhood trauma had telomere length equal to those of the matched healthy subjects.
The results are meaningful as they may explain why some people with PTSD are more susceptible to disease and have problems with aging. Also, people with cumulative bouts of PTSD may, as a result, have a shortening of telomeres.
According to O’Donovan, however, the major drawback of the study was that, because the subjects without PTSD did not in general have high levels of exposure to childhood traumas, the authors were “unable to tease apart the relative contributions of childhood trauma and adult PTSD to shorter telomere length.”
Follow-up research will look at telomere length |
Frida Kahlo: Public Image, Private Life.
A Selection of Photographs and Letters
July 6, 2007-October 14, 2007
The National Museum of Women in the Arts
1250 New York | Frida Kahlo: Public Image, Private Life.
A Selection of Photographs and Letters
July 6, 2007-October 14, 2007
The National Museum of Women in the Arts
1250 New York Avenue, N.W., Washington, DC
In a 1972 study, Stanley Milgram found that “familiar strangers” who share a repeated experience (like riding the same bus every day) are likelier to communicate when cast into an unfamiliar setting, than are two strangers with no such shared experience. Apparently, Milgram found, strangers recognize some form of “real” relationship in chance encounters, in which they do not communicate or even know each other’s name. Perhaps Jews who seek to claim celebrities like Chagall hope to share a similarly “familiar” religious experience with him. Many artists who are claimed as Jewish do not identify as such, like non-Jewish painters Paul Klee and Max Ernst, whom the Nazis denounced as Jewish “degenerate” artists. Indeed Chagall painted not only shtetl scenes, but also crucifixions, and many historians consider Chagall a Christian artist, as Rowena Loverance of the British Museum argues in “Christian Art” (Harvard UP, 2007).
Klee and Ernst would have preferred that Hitler not identify them as Jews, but Mexican-born painter Frida Kahlo (1907-1954) happily celebrated her “perceived” Jewish lineage, at least in the narrative of the show “Frida Kahlo: Public Image, Private Life” at the National Museum of Women in the Arts in Washington, DC. According to the exhibit wall text, Kahlo, who was the third of four daughters born to “a German Hungarian-Jewish father and a mother of Spanish and Mexican Indian descent,” strongly identified with native Mexican traditions, though her public identity and personal reality were complex and multifaceted. “She was equally proud of her father’s German Hungarian-Jewish heritage, spoke perfect English, studied German, and was well acquainted with European intellectual currents,” the text claims. “Frida Kahlo’s identity, public and private, was a unique synt |
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MARYVILLE, MO (2010-1-26) More information on a story the Maryville middle school principal is warning parents about.
The "Choking Game" is where | This website is best viewed in a browser that supports web standards.
MARYVILLE, MO (2010-1-26) More information on a story the Maryville middle school principal is warning parents about.
The "Choking Game" is where kids use various ways to cut off blood flow and oxygen to the brain giving them a buzz. Principal Kevin Pitts says he heard of at least 2 incidents where Maryville students have participated in the game. Pitts sent out a letter to the parents to let them know what's going on. Pitts says now, communication by parents is key. Pitts says school professionals are standing by to help if you suspect of someone participating in the choking game.
© Copyright, KXCV |
Hillandale Elementary Quilting Club
Updated: Thursday, October 24 2013, 03:25 PM EDT
It's a classroom assignment that requires, scissors, a needle and a whole lot of thread.
With a | Hillandale Elementary Quilting Club
Updated: Thursday, October 24 2013, 03:25 PM EDT
It's a classroom assignment that requires, scissors, a needle and a whole lot of thread.
With a lot of encouragement and some good guidance, members of the Quilting Club at Hillandale Elementary School are learning how to sew. Their art teacher, Mrs. Bryan is showing each student how to make a square. Once they're finished, the squares will be sewn together to make a quilt.
Students say they've had a lot of practice and they're getting pretty good at it.
"But the one thing that isn't easy is to keep like doing it and sometimes you get mixed up," said Juan.
"The hardest thing to do is back sew. It's where if you make a mistake you have to back sew," said Baylee.
Once the quilt is complete, the students will hang it in the hallway at Hillandale for the community to enjoy. Ms. Bryan says the quilting also helps the students with their geometry because they talk about shapes and patterns. Sewing is also a practical skill they will be able to use for a life time. |
2011 marks a 75th anniversary that many would prefer to forget: of the first lobotomy in the US. It was performed by an ambitious young American neurologist called Walter Freeman. Over his career, Freeman went on to perform perhaps | 2011 marks a 75th anniversary that many would prefer to forget: of the first lobotomy in the US. It was performed by an ambitious young American neurologist called Walter Freeman. Over his career, Freeman went on to perform perhaps 3,000 lobotomies, on both adults and later on children. He often performed 10 procedures or more a day. Perhaps 40,000 patients in the US were lobotomised during the heyday of the operation - and an estimated 17,000 more in the UK.
This programme tells the story of three key figures in the strange history of lobotomy - and for the first time explores the popularity of lobotomy in the UK in detail.
The story starts in 1935 with a Portuguese doctor called Egas Moniz, who pioneered a radical surgical procedure on the brain. Moniz was a remarkably distinguished figure, a diplomat as well as a doctor, who had invented the technique of cerebral angiography which is still used today. With very little evidence, he speculated that cutting the links between the frontal lobes and the rest of the brain would relieve symptoms of mental disorder. His results were seized on with enthusiasm the following year by Freeman, the grandson of one of the US's most famous surgeons. Freeman was a relentless self-publicist and managed to convince many of the efficacy of his procedure. Freeman's promotion of lobotomy as a cure for mental illness was instrumental in Moniz receiving the Nobel Prize for medicine. The operation was also taken up by the most celebrated British neurosurgeon of the time, Sir Wylie McKissock. Like Freeman, he travelled the country, performing numerous lobotomies in single sessions. For this programme, Hugh Levinson interviews McKissock's former colleagues and hears in detail about how he performed several thousand lobotomies, or leucotomies as they were known in the UK.
The operations were successful in subduing disturbed patients, usually with immediate positive results, which sometimes persisted. Freeman argued that this was better than letting mentally ill patients rot away for decades in squalid institutions, untreated and unattended. However, further monitoring showed very mixed results. While a significant number of patients with affective disorders seemed to become better, a large proportion were unaffected or got worse. Many patients reverted to a child-like state. A significant proportion died as a direct result of the procedure.
In the 1940s, Freeman pushed on, devising a faster and cheaper procedure. He hammered an icepick (originally taken from his home fridge) through the top of each eye socket, directly into the skull. He then swept the icepick from side to side, destroying the connections to the frontal lobes. Other surgeons were horrified by the random nature of the operation. He recorded with satisfaction in his diary when attending doctors ended up vomiting or fainting. His closest aide refused to participate. By the late 1950s the lobotomy craze was over, and only a very few continued to be performed in special cases. In the late 1960s, Freeman was banned from operating.
The stories of Moniz, Freeman and McKissock - all commanding and dynamic figures - raise profound questions about our ideas both of mental health and science. Is a patient "cured" just because he becomes subdued? And how come the lobotomy became so popular despite the lack of evidence of its efficacy - and the rapid dissemination of evidence of its potential for harm? To what extent is science independent of powerful personalities, economic considerations and media pressure? |
MILWAUKEE, WI – September is Healthy Aging Month, an opportunity to acknowledge the positives of aging and for senior adults to improve their physical and mental health. As individuals age, it’s essential that they take charge of their own | MILWAUKEE, WI – September is Healthy Aging Month, an opportunity to acknowledge the positives of aging and for senior adults to improve their physical and mental health. As individuals age, it’s essential that they take charge of their own health, stay active, and maintain their independence. TOPS Club, Inc. (Take Off Pounds Sensibly), the nonprofit weight-loss support organization, offers tips for adults to keep their bodies and minds healthy.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, about one-third of adults over the age of 65 experience at least one fall each year. Muscle strength, reaction time, and stability can also decline dramatically after the age of 50. With these age-related factors, it’s essential that senior adults remain active to maintain their mobility, prevent falls, and make everyday tasks easier. Senior adults should focus on these four areas of exercise:
• Endurance – The National Institute on Aging (NIA) suggests that senior adults participate in at least 30 minutes of physical activity that increases their heart rate, such as walking, jogging, biking, swimming, or raking, every day. If you don’t have a 30-minute time frame to spare or if you’re just starting to exercise, you can break your workout into 10-minute increments.
• Strength – It’s also essential that older adults continue working their muscles, so they can easily get up from a chair, climb stairs, carry groceries, and perform other daily tasks. According to the NIA, senior adults should exercise their major muscle groups at least two days per week for 30 minutes. Weights, resistance bands, and other common objects, like soup cans, can be used to train muscles. If you’re new to weightlifting, start light and gradually increase the amount of weight.
• Balance – Improving your balance can reduce the risk of falling. When you’re starting out, you may need to use a chair or wall as support. Balance exercises, such as standing on one foot, walking heel-to-toe, and practicing standing up and sitting down without using your hands, can be done anytime and anywhere.
• Flexibility – Don’t forget to stretch, so you can continue to move freely and maintain your range of motion. Having and maintaining flexibility makes tying shoes, reaching items on a shelf, and other actions easier. The NIA recommends that older adults stretch three to five times each workout session, slowly stretching to a position and holding it |
LAND AREA: 870.67 square miles
Black/African American: 9,269
American Indian: 291
Pacific Islander: 18
Two or more races: 934
Hispanic/Latino: 3 | LAND AREA: 870.67 square miles
Black/African American: 9,269
American Indian: 291
Pacific Islander: 18
Two or more races: 934
Hispanic/Latino: 3,194 (of any race)
From the 2010 Census, US Census Bureau.
Biographies for
Pender County
Coastal Plain
Pender County, located in the Coastal Plain reg |
You must have heard the term KERS being thrown about a lot. KERS stands for Kinetic Energy Recovery System.
The device recovers the kinetic energy that is present in the waste heat created by the car's braking process. It stores that | You must have heard the term KERS being thrown about a lot. KERS stands for Kinetic Energy Recovery System.
The device recovers the kinetic energy that is present in the waste heat created by the car's braking process. It stores that energy and converts it into power that can be called upon to boost acceleration. There are principally two types of system --battery (electrical) and flywheel (mechanical).
Electrical systems use a motor-generator incorporated in the car's transmission which converts mechanical energy into electrical energy and vice versa.
Once the energy has been harnessed, it is stored in a battery and released when required. There is one other option available - - hydraulic KERS, where braking energy is used to accumulate hydraulic pressure which is then s |
Canadians were given an education in pipeline politics in 2012, as the efficient and largely invisible movers of petroleum products became the latest proxy for the continuing battles over the oilsands and native land rights.
The National Energy Board hearings on the Northern | Canadians were given an education in pipeline politics in 2012, as the efficient and largely invisible movers of petroleum products became the latest proxy for the continuing battles over the oilsands and native land rights.
The National Energy Board hearings on the Northern Gateway bitumen line to Kitimat opened in January with coastal B.C. First Nations unwilling to budge on their refusal to consider the proposal, while at the same time strongly supporting liquid natural gas exports to Asia.
While Enbridge outlined its safety procedures and the economic benefits, opponents dwelled on the risk of an oil spill. B.C. Premier Christy Clark joined the fray to demand a share of Alberta’s royalty revenue from oilsands development.
While the NEB is expected to deliver its report to the federal government by the end of 2013, it is likely that First Nations lawsuits and political risk for the Conservatives may delay the $5.5-billion project.
In the U.S., President Obama kicked off the year by refusing to approve the Keystone XL, which has become the target of a well-organized anti-oilsands environmental campaign. However, it was state opposition to the initial route through the fragile Sand Hills of Nebraska that has delayed the project.
But then in March, Obama encouraged officials to speedily approve the southern leg of the line between Cushing, Okla., |
Penn State DuBois OTA Students Help Children Learn Focus
Students in the honors section of the Penn State DuBois Occupational Therapy Assistant (OTA) Program are helping elementary school students learn concentration and focus that will help them complete their school work and | Penn State DuBois OTA Students Help Children Learn Focus
Students in the honors section of the Penn State DuBois Occupational Therapy Assistant (OTA) Program are helping elementary school students learn concentration and focus that will help them complete their school work and other tasks. The six OTA honors students meet weekly with students in grades three, four and five, at Wasson Elementary School in DuBois, and lead the youngsters in a program called, How Does Your Engine Run?
"Using an analogy of a car engine, it helps children to identify how to get their engines just right in order to be able to concentrate on tasks," said senior instructor and fieldwork coordinator for the Penn State DuBois OTA Program Marge Pendzick. "With different hands-on activities and discussions, the children learn to recognize when their engine is running too slow or too fast, and learn different strategies to change their engine speed."
Exercises in the program include arts and crafts, and object manipulation, and various other activities that require concentration and focus. One activity involved students filling balloons with dried beans to make a "stress ball". This not only provided practice in concentration to make the stress ball, but the finished product can also be rolled through the hands to quell stress and anxiety later when students need some relief.
Other activities in the program teach techniques for controlled breathing, and for using sensory stimulation to regulate the body's energy.
"It helps students self-regulate and moderate their behavior using a sensory-cognitive approach," Pendzick said.
For the Penn State DuBois students, it provides hands-on learning opportunities that will help prepare them for their career.
"I want to work in pediatrics and work in a school," said OTA major Kylie McGarry of Curwensville. "This is a really good learning experience for me, because I could end up using programs just like this when I start a career."
Pendzick said the variety of therapy options used with real patients in this program provides invaluable lessons for her OTA majors. She said, "It's nice for our students to work with these kids closely, learning how to change therapy if it doesn't work, or to stay with therapy that does work." |
||11 Northeast and Mid-Atlantic states have committed to developing a regional Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS) in order to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey | ||11 Northeast and Mid-Atlantic states have committed to developing a regional Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS) in order to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and Vermont will work together to create a common fuel standard that will reduce GHG emissions on a technology-neutral basis.
The initiative will focus on developing a LCFS that would apply to the entire region, creating a larger market for cleaner fuels, reducing emissions associated with global climate change, and supporting the development of clean energy technologies. In January 2009, the heads of environmental protection agencies from the participating states and, in some cases, energy agencies signed a Letter of Intent to work together to tackle the challenge of reducing GHGs from fuels.
A Low Carbon Fuel Standard is a market-based, technologically neutral policy to address the carbon content of fuels by requiring reductions in the average lifecycle GHG emissions per unit of useful energy. Such a standard is potentially applicable to transportation, buildings, industrial processes, and electricity generation. California was the first state to commit to a LCFS for motor vehicles, which it is now in the process of developing. Fuels that may have potential to reduce the carbon intensity of transportation include electricity and advanced biofuels that have lower life cycle carbon emissions and are less likely to cause indirect effects from crop diversion and land use changes than those on the market to |
Hansford County History
Source: The Handbook of Texas Online
Hansford County, on the northern edge of the Panhandle, is bordered on the north by Oklahoma, on the west by Sherman County, on the south by Hutchinson County | Hansford County History
Source: The Handbook of Texas Online
Hansford County, on the northern edge of the Panhandle, is bordered on the north by Oklahoma, on the west by Sherman County, on the south by Hutchinson County, and on the east by Ochiltree County. The approximate center of the county lies at 36°15' north latitude and 101°20' west longitude.
Spearman, the county seat, is in the southeastern part of the county, about ten miles from the county center and approximately eighty miles northeast of Amarillo. The county, named for John M. Hansford, comprises 907 square miles of level and rolling prairies cut by the intermittent Frisco, Coldwater, Palo Duro, and Horse creeks. The region's black, sandy, and loam soils support abundant native grasses as well as wheat, corn, sorghum, oats, and other small grains.
Hansford County, on the High Plains, ranges from 2,950 to 3,300 feet in altitude and receives an average annual rainfall of 22.16 inches; it has an average maximum temperature of 94° F in July and an average minimum of 20° in January. The growing season averages 186 days year.
An Apachean culture occupied the Panhandle-Plains area in prehistoric times; the modern Apaches emerged subsequently but were pushed out of the region about 1700 by the Comanches, who dominated the area until the mid-1870s. During the early 1870s buffalo hunters traversed the area from the east, slaughtering the great southern herd as they went.
In 1873 James H. Cator and his brother Robert, both buffalo hunters from England, established an outpost in what became Hansford County. They named this semipermanent camp Zulu, and it soon became known as Zulu Stockade. Over the next four years the buffalo were wiped out. In the Red River War of 1874 the Comanches were conquered; they were removed to Indian Territory in 1875 and 1876.
The two Cator brothers and their sister Clara, together with some other hunters, remained to take up ranching and were soon joined by others seeking new ranges for beef cattle. In 1876 the Texas legislature marked off Hansford County from land previously assigned to Young and Bexar districts; the new county was administered by authorities in Wheeler County.
By 1880 the United States census counted eighteen people living in the county. That same year the county's first town, Farwell, was established near the center of the county; in 1887 Hansford, a stage stop on the old Tascosa-Dodge City Trail, was established near Farwell on Palo Duro Creek. In 1889, when the county was politically organized, Hansford outpolled Farwell in a county-seat election.
Though ranching early became the mainstay of the county's economy, it did not develop as quickly or on as large a scale as in other counties of the western and southern Panhandle. As late as 1890 only twenty-three ranches were in operation in the county; the agricultural census reported 4,704 cattle that year.
By 1900 the number of ranches had dropped to twenty-two, with 15,715 cattle and nineteen sheep reported. No crops were mentioned in the census. Much of the county was at one time owned by the huge Turkey Track Ranch, while the rest was occupied by more modest ranching operations that cultivated farm crops in the creekbottoms. The census counted 133 residents in 1890 and 167 in 1900. Farwell and Hansford were still the only towns in Hansford County at the beginning of the twentieth century.
After 1900 farmers began to move in. Land speculation and the foundation of several local land companies after 1900 led to the arrival of both Anglo-American and immigrant farmers. In 1909, for example, the Anders L. Mordt Land Company began to bring in Norwegians from the upper Midwest.
For the next two decades these farmers settled the northern part of the county, centering around a rural community they called Oslo. A Lutheran church, a school, and the Norwegian-language Oslo Posten (printed in Guymon, Oklahoma) formed the nucleus of the community. By 1910 Hansford County had 152 farms and ranches and the population had increased to 935. The agricultural census reported 11,239 cattle and more than 6,300 sheep in the county that year.
Crop farming was slowly being established. Wheat was planted on about 3,900 acres and sorghum on 3,942 acres. By 1920, 221 farms and ranches had been established in the county, and almost 32,500 acres was dev |
IEA Clean Energy Report Says Progress Too Slow To Limit Climate Change
"LONDON -- The development of low-carbon energy is progressing too slowly to limit global warming, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said on Wednesday."
"With power generation still | IEA Clean Energy Report Says Progress Too Slow To Limit Climate Change
"LONDON -- The development of low-carbon energy is progressing too slowly to limit global warming, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said on Wednesday."
"With power generation still dominated by coal and governments failing to increase investment in clean energy, top climate scientists have said that the target of keeping the global temperature rise to less than 2 degrees Celsius this century is slipping out of reach.
"The drive to clean up the world's energy system has stalled," said Maria van der Hoeven, the IEA's executive director, at the launch of the agency's report on clean energy progress.
"Despite much talk by world leaders, and a boom in renewable energy over the past decade, the average unit of energy produced today is basically as dirty as it was 20 years ago."
Global clean energy investment in the first quarter fell to its lowest level in four years, driven by cuts in tax incentives at a time of austerity, according to a separate report by Bloomberg New Energy Finance this week."Source: Reuters, 04/18/2013 |
|Hind- and mid-brains; postero-lateral view. (Pulvinar visible near top.)|
|Thalamic nuclei: |
MNG = Midline nuclear group
AN = Anterior nuclear group
MD = | |Hind- and mid-brains; postero-lateral view. (Pulvinar visible near top.)|
|Thalamic nuclei: |
MNG = Midline nuclear group
AN = Anterior nuclear group
MD = Medial dorsal nucleus
VNG = Ventral nuclear group
VA = Ventral anterior nucleus
VL = Ventral lateral nucleus
VPL = Ventral posterolateral nucleus
VPM = Ventral posteromedial nucleus
LNG = Lateral nuclear group
PUL = Pulvinar
MTh = Metathalamus
LG = Lateral geniculate nucleus
MG = Medial geniculate nucleus
The pulvinar is the caudal-most nucleus of the thalamus that is conventionally divided into oral, inferior, lateral, and medial subnuclei.
- The lateral and inferior pulvinar have widespread connections with visual cortical association areas.
- The oral pulvinar predominantly has connections with somatosensory cortical association areas.
- The medial pulvinar has widespread connections with cingulate, posterior parietal, and prefrontal cortical areas.
The Pulvinar is usually grouped as one of the lateral thalamic nuclei.
|This page uses Creative Commons Licensed content from Wikipedia (view authors).| |
North American zone established to limit air pollution from ships
Posted Mar. 26, 2010 / Posted by: John Kaltenstein
On March 26, 2010, an international body governing the shipping industry approved rules to limit | North American zone established to limit air pollution from ships
Posted Mar. 26, 2010 / Posted by: John Kaltenstein
On March 26, 2010, an international body governing the shipping industry approved rules to limit harmful air pollution from ships in most U.S. and Canadian waters. The rules are expected to prevent millions of illnesses and 14,000 premature deaths by 2020. The rules will begin to take effect in 2012. By 2015, ships traveling within 200 miles of U.S. shores will be required to cut their air pollution by 80 percent or more.
Friends of the Earth spent ten years working to achieve these protections, beginning with a legal petition to the D.C. Court of Appeals in 2000 to compel EPA to reduce health-harming air pollution from large ships. After years of legal battles, in 2009, EPA issued a rule requiring large ships registered in the U.S. to dramatically reduce air pollution. In 2009, EPA also submitted an application to the International Maritime Organization (IMO), in conjunction with Canada, seeking an Emission Control Area for large ships along the North American coastline. As one of only a handful of environmental groups with formal observer status at the IMO, Friends of the Earth supported the application and successfully advocated for passage of the protective Emission Control Area.
The EPA estimates that by 2030, implementation of these limits on ship air pollution will prevent up to 31,000 premature deaths, 1.5 million work days lost, and more than 5 million cases of acute respiratory symptoms. Further, the health benefits could be worth $270 billion and outweigh costs by a factor of between 30:1 and 90:1, making it one of the most cost-effective regulatory endeavors ever undertaken by the EPA. The rules will also have the effect of preventing most ships from using dirty bunker fuel while traveling in protected U.S. waters.
While the rules will apply to heavy polluters such as container ships, oil tankers, and cruise ships, and force massive pollution reductions, they will not address greenhouse gas emissions or the severe problem of black carbon emissions. Friends of the Earth will continue to fight for additional regulations to address these threats.
Oceans and Forests
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A goddess is a female deity. Many cultures have goddesses. Often deities are part of a polytheistic system that includes several deities in a pantheon. The historical records from Ancient Egypt, among the earliest known, designate a deity | A goddess is a female deity. Many cultures have goddesses. Often deities are part of a polytheistic system that includes several deities in a pantheon. The historical records from Ancient Egypt, among the earliest known, designate a deity with special hieroglyphs that preced the name. The earliest Egyptian hieroglyph for a goddess is shown to the right.
Pantheons, those deities worshiped in one culture, may include goddesses, gods, and in some cases, abstract concepts. An abstract concept as a deity may indicate a principle or entity that is not seen as in any way resembling a human or an animal, although it may be believed to be capable of some sort of cognitive activity affecting the lives of humans that may be benevolent or malicious. In both ancient and modern cultures, the symbolism of deities assigned a gender may be open to a wide variety of interpretations.
The primacy of a monotheistic or near-monotheistic goddess is advocated by some modern matriarchists and pantheists as a female version of, preceding, or analogue to, the Abrahamic god thought to be the first monotheistic religion among those of historical record. In some feminist circles the Abrahamic god is perceived as being rooted in the patriarchal concept of dominance — to the exclusion of feminine concepts.
Among some duotheists, such as Wiccans, the primary deities are one goddess and one god, who are seen as together making up a larger whole that is both the transcendent divine and the substance of all creation.
Among the earliest of historically documented goddesses are those of Ancient Egypt. The earliest deities of the two cultures that became the united country of Egypt had religions that seem to have begun with goddess worship and evolved to paired deities and abstract concepts as well.
Many goddesses are documented in the Nubian historical records. Some of their religious practices were imported into Ancient Egypt, however, the Nubians had an ancient tradition that preceded its contact with Egypt, and that reflected closer ties to the cultures around the Sahara desert.
Many goddesses wielded extensive power among the deities of the cultural groups who lived south and west of the Sahara Desert in Africa.
The goddesses of southern Africa often were represented as a triad and many carvings.
Hinduism is a complex of various belief systems that sees many gods and goddesses as being representative of and/or emanative from a single source, Brahman, understood either as a formless, infinite, impersonal monad in the Advaita tradition or as a dual god in the form of Lakshmi-Vishnu, Radha-Krishna, Shiva-Shakti in Dvaita traditions. Shaktas, worshippers of the Goddess, equate this god with Devi, the mother goddess. Such aspects of one god as male god (Shaktiman) and female energy (Shakti), working as a pair are often envisioned as male gods and their wives or consorts and provide many analogues between passive male ground and dynamic female energy.
For example, Brahma pairs with Sarasvati. Shiva likewise pairs with Parvati who later is represented through a number of avatars (incarnations): Sati and the warrior figures, Durga and Kali. All goddesses in Hinduism are sometimes grouped together as the great goddess, Devi.
A further step was taken by the idea of the Shaktis. Their ideology based mainly on tantras sees Shakti as the principle of energy through which all divinity functions, thus showing the masculine to be dependent on the feminine. Indeed, in the great shakta scripture known as the Devi Mahatmya, all the goddesses are shown to be aspects of one presiding female force, one in truth and many in expression, giving the world and the cosmos the galvanic energy for motion. It is expressed through both philosophical tracts and metaphor that the potentiality of masculine being is given actuation by the feminine divine. Local deities of different village regions in India were often identified with "mainstream" Hindu deities, a process that has been called "Sanskritization". Others attribute it to the influence of monism or Advaita which discounts polytheist or monotheist categorization.
While the monist forces have led to a fusion between some of the goddesses (108 names are common for many goddesses), centrifugal forces have also resulted in new goddesses and rituals gaining ascendance among the laity in different parts of Hindu world. Thus, the immensely popular goddess Durga was a pre-Vedic goddess who was later fused with Parvati, a process that can be traced through texts such as Kalika Purana (10th century), Durgabhaktitarangini (Vidyapati 15th century), Chandimangal (16th century) etc.
So the concep |
To understand the origin of the modern central bank—its institutional structure and monetary policy—one must understand the history of the Bundesbank. The narrative history offered here examines the evolution of that institution, from the start and the collapse of the Bretton Woods | To understand the origin of the modern central bank—its institutional structure and monetary policy—one must understand the history of the Bundesbank. The narrative history offered here examines the evolution of that institution, from the start and the collapse of the Bretton Woods system, to the experiment with aggregate demand policies in the 1970s, to the emergence of stability policy in the 1980s. The story concludes with the role the Bundesbank played during the creation of the European Central Bank.
Amanda L. Kramer
To receive a notification by email when Economic Quarterly is posted online or to order single copies of past issues, click on the links below (published online only since 2012). |
Epidemiology & Behavioral Research
Epidemiology and behavior research address several areas of dentistry: fluoride issues include the epidemiology of fluoride intake and dental fluorosis, dietary fluoride supplement use, and fluoride assays of local water supplies. | Epidemiology & Behavioral Research
Epidemiology and behavior research address several areas of dentistry: fluoride issues include the epidemiology of fluoride intake and dental fluorosis, dietary fluoride supplement use, and fluoride assays of local water supplies. Instructional technology issues focus on designing, producing and evaluating computer-based patient simulations; creating, storing and retrieving digital images, and collaborating with organizations outside the dental school to develop computer-based for assessing dental students and practitioners. Research includes evaluating clinical problem-solving and cognitive skills through the use of patient simulations and also new technologies (hardware and software).
- Primary researcher: Dr. Veerasathpurush Allareddy
Dr. Allareddy's research interests include infant orthopedic outcomes evaluation,
early versus late alveolar bone grafting outcomes, quality of care, access to care, and health
services research and policy.
- Primary researcher: Dr. Dan Caplan
- Dr. Caplan’s research interests are related to endodontic therapy (decision-making, outcomes), links between oral and systemic diseases, diagnostic testing, and outcomes of clinical dental procedures.
- Primary researcher: Marsha Cunningham-Ford
- Ms. Cunningham’s research interest is educational research. She has published twenty articles in peer-reviewed professional journals, three text book chapters and presented over thirty-five abstracts at national professional meetings.
- Primary researcher: Dr. Justine Kolker
- Dr. Kolker’s primary interests are in the areas of oral epidemiology and clinical research. Specifically, she is interested in clinical cariology including the use of the International Caries Detection and Assessment System (ICDAS) in education and clinical research.
- Primary researcher: Dr. Raymond Kuthy
- Dr. Kuthy’s primary research interests include effect of extramural dental school programs on willingness to treat underserved populations; oral health needs assessment for local and state level policy development; outcomes of continuing dental education; the dentist workforce; and dental student career decision making.
- Primary researcher: Dr. Steven Levy
- Dr. Levy's research includes various aspects of oral epidemiology. His research with an extensive team of collaborators on the Iowa Fluoride Study (IFS) is investigating the epidemiology of fluoride intake and dental fluorosis; fluoride intake, dietary patterns, and dental caries; esthetic perceptions of dental fluorosis and other conditions; the relationship between infants' and young children's feeding and sucking patterns and dental growth as well as development and malocclusion. Genetic aspects are now being studied concerning dental fluorosis and caries, with expansion to malocclusion about to begin. The bone growth portion of the IFS is called the Iowa Bone Development Study and it also looks at dietary, genetic and physical activity as determinants of bone development in adolescents. Dr. Levy is also part of the interdisciplinary collegiate team involved in early childhood caries prevention. A major study of early childhood caries (ECC) risk assessment will be initiated soon. Other current and recent research projects include health services research concerning the use of water fluoride assay and dietary fluoride supplements, the use of dentifrice by preschool children and the effect of dentifrice flavor, and the validity of, and change in, patient medical histories. His past research projects also include the importance of medication use in dentistry, the measurement and prevention of incipient root surface caries, Alzheimer's disease and oral health, and the epidemiology of oral disease among the elderly, including periodontal disease and factors related to tooth loss.
- Primary researcher: Dr. Teresa Marshall
- Dr. Marshall’s research interests focus on nutrition, oral health, and systemic health.
- Primary researcher: Dr. Michelle McQuistan
- Dr. McQuistan’s research investigates issues associated with access to dental care. Her research explores three main topics: oral health literacy, the dental workforce, and the short- and long-term effects of dental students' participation in community-based clinical experiences.
- Primary researcher: Dr. John Warren
- Dr. Warren's current research includes several studies of factors related to dental caries in early childhood and the prevention of this disease; longitudinal sucking patterns and dental arch development; and longitudinal study of fluoride exposures and dental fluorosis. Dr. Warren is also the director of the College of Dentistry's student research program and the graduate program in dental public health.
- Primary researcher: Dr. Karin Weber-Gasparoni
- Dr. Weber-Gasparoni's research specialties include dental care of patients with special health care needs and infants, toddlers, and children of low-income, hig |
- 365: Chemistry for Life
This site was created by the American Chemical Society as part of the 2011 International Year of Chemistry celebration.
- Atomic Spectra Database
One of the over 80 databases accessible through the NIST Data | - 365: Chemistry for Life
This site was created by the American Chemical Society as part of the 2011 International Year of Chemistry celebration.
- Atomic Spectra Database
One of the over 80 databases accessible through the NIST Data Gateway (see also that entry). This database "contains data for atom and ion transitions, and energy levels. Lines are included for the first 99 elements in the periodic table. The energy level tables also contain ionization limits. ASD contains data on about 950 spectra."
This site states that is a "virtual library of biochemistry, molecular biology and cell biology." It is divided into the following 19 subject pages: angiogenesis, apoptosis, carbohydrates, cell adhesion & ECM, cell cycle, cell senescence, chemical biology, cytoskeleton & motility, development, enzymes, genes, lipids & membranes, metabolism, microscopy, organelles, proteins, signaling, structural biology, and systems biology."
- ChemDex Index - Sheffield
This site is a directory of links to over 5,000 chemistry resources.
- Chemical Education Digital Library
This site is a group of resources, collections, and communities. Resources include: Models 360, Periodic Table Live!, and a Glossary. Collections include: Biographies of Chemists, Featured Molecules, and Living Textbooks. Communities include: Chemistry Laboratories, Inorganic Chemistry, and Physical Chemistry.
This site is produced by the National Library of Medicine and is a database of over "390,000 chemical records, of which over 299,000 include chemical structures, and is searchable by Name, Synonym, CAS Registry Number, Molecular Formula, Classification Code, Locator Code, Structure, Toxicity, and/or Physical properties." It comes in two different versions: Lite and Advanced.
- Chemistry: the website of the American Chemical Society
This is the primary ACS site.
- Chemistry Web Book
One of the over 80 databases accessible through the NIST Data Gateway (see also that entry). This database provides access to thermochemical, thermophysical, and ion energetics data.
- Classic Chemistry
The principal purpose of this site is to "post the texts of several classic papers from the history of chemistry." In addition, there are also links to classic calculations, to a history of chemistry calendar, and to glossary of archaic chemical terms.
- Eric Weisstein's World of Chemistry
This site is an online chemistry encyclopedia, which is subdivided into the following categories: Chemical Reactions, Experimental Chemistry, Geology, Inorganic Chemistry, Mineralogy, Organic Chemistry, Petrology, and Quantum Chemistry.
- Hazardous Substances Data Bank
This data file is maintained by the National Institutes of Health and provides access to information on the toxicity of approximately 5,000 chemical substance or mixtures of substances.
- Links for Chemists
This site is an index of over 8,400 chemistry resources on the World Wide Web.
- Molecule of the Month
This site features a new molecule each month. The information provided depends on the contributor, but often there is information on the history of molecule and some bibliographic references. After the name of the featured molecule, there are links to five different viewing formats. To view the information on the molecule, click on your preferred viewing format.
- NIST Data Gateway
The National Institute of Standards & Technology (NIST) provides access at this site to over 80 databases of numeric data. These include the Atomic Spectra Database and the Chemistry Web Book (see those entries for more information about these databases). It is possible to search by keyword, property, and substance name.
This site is a free service consisting of three databases: PubChem Compound, PubChem Substance, and PubChem Bio-Assay. They contain information regarding the chemical structures and the biological activities of small organic molecules.
- U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board
This board is an is an "independent federal agency charged with investigating industrial chemical accidents." This site has links to current and past investigations as well as to the recommendations made as a result of these investigations. There are also a number of safety videos available at this site.
This is the primary site on the World Wide Web for information relating to the periodic table. A scholar edition of this site is available for university students.
- The Wired Chemist
This site has four main divisions: Chemistry, Mineralogy, Environmental and NMR. The four divisions are then subdivided into three sections. The Instructional section under Chemistry links to general chemistry lecture notes, tutorials, problem sets, lab exercises, and animated demonstrations. |
Nueces Bay, Texas is too salty for marine life and fish. That's according to researchers from Texas A&M, Corpus Christi, who test salinity levels in the Bay on a regular basis.
"The latest salinity value was about | Nueces Bay, Texas is too salty for marine life and fish. That's according to researchers from Texas A&M, Corpus Christi, who test salinity levels in the Bay on a regular basis.
"The latest salinity value was about 41 [parts per thousand]," said Larry Lloyd, a researcher from Texas A&M Corpus Christi's Conrad Blucher Institute. Lloyd was speaking with Rachel Cole of KRIS-TV in Corpus Christi. "The only thing that can counter-act that is heavy rain, and even though we've gotten some rain recently, the salinity is still way above average."
The natural flow of fresh water from the Nueces watershed into Nueces Bay was reduced when the Choke Canyon Reservoir was built in 1985. The City of Corpus Christi and the Division of Nearshore Research (DNR) monitor salinity levels in the Nueces Estuary, alerting management action when freshwater movements into Nueces Bay do not mimic natural flows.
Popular recreational fishing species, such as seatrout, could be affected if the salinity levels do not decrease. Seatrout inhabit waters with a salt content ranging from 0.2 to 77 parts per thousand (ppt), according to the US Fish and Wildlife Service. But abrupt salinity changes could cause movement of fish out of the high-salinity areas. According to past lab studies, seatrout spawning does not occur in Texas waters higher than 45 ppt. On Wednesday, Oct. 17 salinity levels reached as high as 42.7 ppt.
The recent drought conditions have been the main cause of the increase in salt content. Lloyd and his team are recommending that the City of Corpus Christi release fresh water into the bay from the Nueces River, reports KRIS-TV. "They'll release fresh water as long as there's fresh water available for release," Lloyd said. |
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Yakut Citations Yakut Links Select a New Language
Number of Speakers: 363,000
Key Dialects: See below
Geographical Center: | Search for resources by:
||Definitions of materials
||Definitions of levels
Yakut Citations Yakut Links Select a New Language
Number of Speakers: 363,000
Key Dialects: See below
Geographical Center: Republic of Sakha (Yakut Autonomous Republic, Autonomous Republic of Sakha, Yakutia), Russia.
Yakut is spoken in Republic of Sakha (formerly known as Yakut Autonomous Republic of Russia), as well as the Amur, Magadan, and Sakhalin regions of Russia, and the autonomous districts of Taimyr and Evenki in Russian Siberia.
Yakut belongs to the Northern group of the Turkic branch of the Altaic language family. Other languages, belonging to the same group include Altai, Dolgan, Karagas (Qaragas), Khakas, Shor, and Tuvin. According to another classification, Yakut belongs to the atax-, or t-group of the Turkic languages.
Yakut is quite homogenous, and in general it is not divided into dialects as such. Unique phonetic, morphological, syntactic and lexical features can be found in all the regions of Yakut Republic, but they are so small that it is impossible to speak of different “dialects” of Yakut. Ubriatova (1982) distinguishes four sub-dialectal (Mundart) groups: central, Viliui, north-western and Taimyr. Some scholars (e.g., Campbell 2000) also consider Dolgan a dialect of Yakut, but the two languages are not mutually intelligible, and therefore it is more proper to classify them as two separate languages. Originally, Dolgan was a dialect of Yakut, but it was isolated from Yakut early, and developed in its own way. Dolgan exhibits considerable influence from Evenki (Ubriatova 1998).
The first book in Yakut appeared in 1819. It contained a short catechism, translated from Russian into Yakut, and an introduction to the spelling of Yakut. The spelling in this book, created by the priest G. Popov, was based on the contemporary Russian alphabet (graždanskij alfavit). This system turned out to be unsuitable for Yakut, and therefore was soon abandoned. Another attempt to create a writing system for Yakut was undertaken by a German scholar Otto Boehtlingk in 1851. This writing system was based on the Cyrillic alphabet, with some additional symbols. It represented the Yakut sounds much more precisely, and several major works on Yakut were written in Boehtlingk’s system, among which one could mention E. K. Pekarskij’s Yakut dictionary (1907-1930) and the collection of Yakut folk-literature (1907-1918). In 1853 another Yakut alphabet was created by a missionary, D. Xitrov. However, this system was was abandoned after some time. After the failure of Xitrov’s system, the so-called Kazan transcription was used for a short time. A major Yakut grammar (by S. Jastremskij) was written in this script. In 1917, a script based on Latin alphabet was proposed by a Russian scholar S. Novgorodov. In addition to the standard Latin letters, Novgorodov’s system included additional symbols. This system was used more or less successfully until 1938, when a new system was created, based on Cyrillic. Special symbols were created to denote the sounds that were absent in Russian. This system has 40 graphs, and has been used for Yakut ever since.
Yakut has 18 consonants, 2 affricates, 8 vowels (with allophones) and 4 diphthongs. Yakut stops and affricates can be voiced or voiceless. The vowels and certain consonants can be short or long. Yakut has vowel harmony. The stress falls on the word-final syllable. Longer words can also have secondary stress, which will fall on the root-syllable.
Yakut is an agglutinating language. The noun has the categories of number (singular and plural), possessivity, case (nominative, accusative, commitative, partitive, dative, comparative, instrumental, ablative) and person. The nouns have two types of declension: simple and possessive. The possessive marker always precedes the case ending. Nouns can be inflected in persons only when they are a part of a verb phrase, cf. uol ‘boy’ > uol-bun ‘I am a boy’, uol-gun ‘you are a boy’, etc. Yakut possesses a class of nouns, called “auxiliary nouns”, which generally express spatial relationships and are used together with notion nouns, e.g. suol taha ‘a place by a lake’; son taha ‘the surface of a coat’, kinige taha ‘the back of a book’; et taha ‘the outer (fat) layer of meat’, etc.
The rich verb system has the categories of aspect, mood, number, person, tense and voice. Yakut possesses a great number of derivative suffixes. In Yakut, negation can also be formed with the derivative suffix -(y)ma-, cf. sanaa- ‘think’ > sanaa-ma- ‘not-think’, syt- ‘lie’ > syt-yma- ‘not-lie’. Modal and auxiliary verbs are widely used in Yakut as well. Yakut is an SOV language.
ROLE IN SOCIETY
Yakut is the official language of the Yakut Autonomous Republic, |
Date: 02/17/99 at 04:30:06 From: Greg Subject: Anomalous Addition I heard from someone that a physicist by the name of Richard Feynman proved that 2 + 2 is sometimes not | Date: 02/17/99 at 04:30:06 From: Greg Subject: Anomalous Addition I heard from someone that a physicist by the name of Richard Feynman proved that 2 + 2 is sometimes not equal to 4. Can you clarify what this is? If it is true, when does it occur and why?
Date: 02/17/99 at 09:57:04 From: Doctor Mitteldorf Subject: Re: Anomalous Addition "2 + 2 is sometimes not equal to 4" Physicists will often say things like this, but of course they do not mean it literally. Literally, you know very well how to add 2 and 2, and you will always have the right answer. But here is an example of the kind of thing that sounds like a violation of the laws of simple addition. Suppose a train is going by at 20 km per hour, and there is a boy running through the aisles of the train at 20 km per hour. You are standing on the platform next to the train, and you mark where the boy is, and click your stopwatch. You can mark where he is a few seconds later, click your stopwatch again, and divide the distance he moved by the time distance to determine how fast he is going. Of course, you will find he is going at 40 km per hour, because 20+20 = 40, and his speed is just added to the train's speed. It is almost inconceivable that it could be otherwise. It seems like just simple addition. But the rules of relativity that Einstein derived in 1905 tell us it is not quite true. In fact, if the train had been going at 200,000 km per second instead, and if the boy had been running at 200,000 km per sec, then when you measured his speed you would not get 400,000 km/sec but 277,000 km/sec. When speeds get close to the speed of light, they do not behave the way you think they do. The sum of 200,000 and 200,000 is still exactly 400,000 but adding is not the appropriate way to combine these two speeds, even though it seems "obvious" that it should be. - Doctor Mitteldorf, The Math Forum http://mathforum.org/dr.math/
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What did scientists know and say about climate change and global warming in the 1970s? I keep running into claims by modern climate change denialists that scientists in the 1970s firmly predicted a pending ice age. This is usually pos | What did scientists know and say about climate change and global warming in the 1970s? I keep running into claims by modern climate change denialists that scientists in the 1970s firmly predicted a pending ice age. This is usually posited to establish that scientists are fools, and that concerns about warming now are probably displaced because the same scientists were in error 40 years ago.
I worked in air pollution studies way back then. That’s not how I remember it at all. I remember great, good-natured debates between Ph.Ds in the Department of Biology at the University of Utah, and other scientists from other institutions passing through and working in the field with us. Greenhouse effect was very well understood even back then, and the discussions were on the nature of just how much human pollution would affect climate, and in which way.
Savvy scientists then well understood that there were two competing trends in air pollution: Greenhouse gases and particulates and aerosols. Greenhouse gases would warm the climate, but they were offset by particulates and aerosols that reflect solar radiation back into space before warming can occur. At least, back then, the particulates and aerosols counteracted the greenhouse gases.
Not fresh air - EPA photo
Looking for something else I took off my shelf a book we used as a text in air pollution courses in the 1970s, Whatever Happened to Fresh Air? by Michael Treshow. Treshow taught at Utah. He was deeply involved in several research projects on air pollution. He was also a great conversationalist and competitive tennis player. His book was a good text, but he intended it to be read by lay people, especially policy makers, also. It’s easy to fathom, intentionally.
Here, below, is what Treshow wrote in the early pages about carbon dioxide as an air pollutant, in sketching the global problems of air pollution. Notice that, while he makes note of the predictions of what would happen with uncontrolled particulate and aerosol pollution, he gives the science straight up, telling what pollution can do, depending on local circumstances and global circumstances. Treshow notes the research that the denialists cite now, but he explains enough of the science so that any reasonable person should be able to see that, if one form of pollution is controlled and another is not, the effects might be different.
Over the past several million years, the earth’s animal and plant life have reached a workable equilibrium in sharing this atmosphere and keeping the oxygen and carbon dioxide concentrations in balance. But man, by burning fossil fuels (particularly coal) at an accelerated rate and by removing vegetation at the prodigious rate of 11 acres per second in the U.S., may be upsetting this equilibrium. Many scientists believe this carbon dioxide build-up is one of the major threats to man’s environment.
Carbon dioxide (CO2) is occasionally regarded as an air pollutant for this reason, even though it is a natural and essential component of the atmosphere. Certainly the present concentrations are not dangerous; but what would happen if the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere should increase appreciably? What hazards would be imposed?
An increase in carbon dioxide would benefit the green plants since they need it for photosynthesis. But what effect would it have on man and animals? Or on the physical environment? The main hazard lies in the effect that carbon dioxide has in absorbing the infrared radiation which normally radiates from the earth back to the atmosphere. If the carbon dioxide content of the lower atmosphere were to increase, it would prevent the infrared heat absorbed by the earth from the sun from reradiating into the atmosphere. Heat energy would accumulate and cause a general increase in the earth’s temperature. Such an increase in temperature, often called the “greenhouse effect,” could cause the ice caps to melt, raising the level of the oceans and flooding most of the world’s major cities.
It is awesome to realize that sea level is actually rising. It is now 300 feet above what it was 18,000 years ago, and is reportedly rising nearly nine inches higher each century. Beaches are being wasted away and tides lap ever closer to the steps of coastal homes. But is the displacement of our beaches more closely related to increasing carbon dioxide concentrations or to the normal warming process between ice ages?
Not everyone agrees that carbon dioxide is to blame. Concentrations vary greatly around the world. Near urban areas, where fossil fuels are burned, concentrations are high; over forested areas, where plants are rapidly removing the gas, they are low. Concentrations also vary with the height above the ground, the latitude, whether over the ocean or land and even with the time of day and season of the year. All of these variables make it difficult to agree on a reasonable average carbon dioxide concentration.
Despite some disagreement, it is generally conceded that carbon dioxide has been added to the atmosphere at an alarming rate during the past century. A |
There exists a subtle intangible world that is infinitely vast compared to the entire tangible world that we know of. This subtle world vastly influences our life. Hence it becomes imperative that we know about it. Since this world is in the subtle dimension, | There exists a subtle intangible world that is infinitely vast compared to the entire tangible world that we know of. This subtle world vastly influences our life. Hence it becomes imperative that we know about it. Since this world is in the subtle dimension, it cannot be perceived with our gross sense organs, mind and intellect and can be perceived only via the medium of the sixth sense. This section is devoted to help the readers to test and train their sixth sense and also monitor its development.
1. What is a subtle experiment to test our sixth sense (ESP)?
Our sixth sense (ESP) is our ability to perceive the subtle dimension or subtle world. A subtle experiment is a means of testing and training ourselves to use our sixth sense (ESP).
We define the subtle dimension or subtle world as the world which is beyond the understanding of the five senses, mind and intellect. The subtle world refers to the unseen world of angels, ghosts, heaven (Swarga), etc. which can only be perceived through our sixth sense (ESP).
2. What is the aim of this section of the website?
We are all well accustomed to using ou |
Recently in the Objects Conservation lab at the Walters, in collaboration with Curator of Renaissance and Baroque Art at the Walters, Dr. Joaneath Spicer, this 15-16th century Spanish Processional Cross has been the subject of a | Recently in the Objects Conservation lab at the Walters, in collaboration with Curator of Renaissance and Baroque Art at the Walters, Dr. Joaneath Spicer, this 15-16th century Spanish Processional Cross has been the subject of a year-long in-depth study and conservation treatment, funded by the Samuel H. Kress Foundation.
This study was undertaken to learn more about the cross’ history and to carry out conservation treatment in order to make the cross stable enough to be on display in the galleries.
The cross is a part of the original Walters collection, purchased by Henry Walters in 1909 from a Parisian art dealer, and on display in the Walters Art Gallery for many years, but in-depth study and research of this piece had not been done. Also, cross was in great need of conservation treatment to make it strong enough to be displayed in the galleries. In 1989 it was found to be leaning and unstable while on view, and since then has been secured in art storage at the museum. It is a large undertaking to conserve this piece, which has been made possible through generous funding was provided to the Walters from the Samuel H. Kress Foundation.
Through thorough visual examination, study of comparable objects, and technical analysis, the goals of the project are to answer the following questions: What is the history of the cross? Where did it come from? What alterations made have been made to it over time, either during it’s “life” as a religious object or it’s later life as an art object? When were these changes made? How was the cross constructed, and it is currently assembled “correctly?” How does it compare to other crosses like it?
We hope you will follow along with our discoveries about the cross and its treatment! |
OzCLO is a contest for high school students. It challenges them to develop their own strategies for solving problems in fascinating real languages. The program is designed for high school students from year 9 to year 12. Any secondary school student | OzCLO is a contest for high school students. It challenges them to develop their own strategies for solving problems in fascinating real languages. The program is designed for high school students from year 9 to year 12. Any secondary school student who enjoys the sample problems is a potential contestant.
Posted on Mon, 11 Feb 2013 09:36:29 +1100
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VHP Photo Glossary: more images of lava drainback
Photograph by C. Heliker on 6
Kilauea Volcano, Hawai`i.
Night view of drainback on the east rift zone of Kilaue | VHP Photo Glossary: more images of lava drainback
Photograph by C. Heliker on 6
Kilauea Volcano, Hawai`i.
Night view of drainback on the east rift zone of Kilauea Volcano. The
lava was erupted from a fissure about 100 m to the NW and cascaded
over a 10-m high fault scarp before disappearing into a gaping crack.
Photograph by R.B. Moore on 25
Mauna Loa Volcano, Hawai`i.
Part of a large `a`a flow is pouring into a crack on the upper
northeast rift zone of Mauna Loa during the 1st day of its 1984
eruption. A red cloud of ash billows from the crack. The flow is
moving from left to |
Thinking Outside the Book: Reading the World with Google Earth
Book Links May 2008 (Vol. 17 no.5)
By Jill Castek and Jessica Mangelson
Extend the enjoyment of literature with three-dimensional annotated maps of the | Thinking Outside the Book: Reading the World with Google Earth
Book Links May 2008 (Vol. 17 no.5)
By Jill Castek and Jessica Mangelson
Extend the enjoyment of literature with three-dimensional annotated maps of the world.
Great books take us to new places, spark our imagination, and make it possible to experience the world in new ways. Google Earth is an interactive geography tool that can enhance learning in a variety of content areas. In a language arts curriculum, Google Earth can transport readers around the world to see the settings in their favorite books up close and firsthand. This free software allows students to visit sites and learn more about the places where book characters lived, traveled, struggled, and triumphed. These virtual tours enhance the enjoyment of books and support readers in visualizing the incredible journeys portrayed in books. Google Earth, used in conjunction with reading experiences, encourages higher-order thinking skills, such as interpreting, analyzing, comparing, and explaining. These skills are important to content learning as well as literacy.
Google Earth Teaching Resources
To learn about Google Earth’s easy-to-use features, you’ll first need to download the free Google Earth program and explore the tutorial. Most educators begin by locating their school. You’ll be amazed at how Google Earth displays a map’s worldview and then quickly zooms in on your continent, country, state, and region, arriving ultimately at your school and surrounding neighborhood. Once you have a general sense of the tool, visit “ Google Earth 101 for Educators.” This free site offers a series of screen casts and help sheets that introduce the wide array of Google Earth features. Visit the “ Curriculum Ideas” link for a list of teaching ideas organized by grade level.
“ Google Earth Lessons” contains free resources, such as “World Wonders,” “Exploring Time Zones,” “Personal Heritage and History,” and “Sir Francis Drake’s Circumnavigation.” Visit Wiki Chicks’ “ Google Earth for Teachers” page to find other great lessons, ideas, and resources for using Google Earth with your students. “ Google Earth Blog” and “ Google Earth Education Community” both contain sections that address literature connections.
Google Lit Trips
Google Lit Trips are virtual expeditions created by teachers and their students for use in classrooms. These free resources offer a unique reading experience that pairs the exploration of geography with great literature. Google Lit Trips enhance popular stories at all grade levels by taking students on a new form of road trip. Readers will enjoy visualizing scenes and activating their imaginations as texts come to life in full-color imagery. Resources are organized into four grade ranges, from kindergarten to higher education. To orient yourself to the Google Lit Trips format, watch a step-by-step video introduction on Teacher Tube. Then explore the trips that accompany the literature. Once you see how easy it is, you’ll be inspired to create your own trip!
Lit Trips for K–5 Students
The Lit Trip based on Make Way for Ducklings by Robert McCloskey (Viking, 1941) invites readers to follow the path of Mr. and Mrs. Mallard as they find a safe home to raise their ducklings. Along the way, the Lit Trip highlights 14 points of interest in and around Boston and the St. Charles River. Each place mark matches up with a corresponding aspect of the story. At the end of the trip, readers arrive at the pond in the Public Garden and see where the duck family settles down to live. This journey is a perfect introduction to rivers, lakes, and streams. Young children will be engaged by the Lit Trip’s visuals and will appreciate the book in a new way.
Paddle to the Sea by Holling Clancy Holling (Houghton, 1941) remains timely 67 years after its initial publication. This story traces the path of a young American Indian boy’s hand-carved toy canoe through the Great Lakes to the Atlantic Ocean. The Lit Trip resources that accompany this book include place markers, plot summaries, geographic features, discussion questions, and links to kid-friendly Web sites.
The Lit Trip based on The Yellow Balloon by Charlotte Dematons (Front Street, 2003) was developed by first-grade students. The trip takes you on a tour around the world to discover the geographical features mentioned in the book. Along the way, landmarks, directions, landforms, and water features are discovered. To create this trip, students chose the places they wished to visit from the book. They told their teacher where to place the markers in Google Earth and what information to list. When the students completed their trip and returned home to their school, they placed a picture of their |
No programmer is perfect, but some mistakes are more dangerous than others. While some mistakes might just slow down your site, others can open up vulnerabilities that expose your code, your database and even your users to all manner of attack.
To help you | No programmer is perfect, but some mistakes are more dangerous than others. While some mistakes might just slow down your site, others can open up vulnerabilities that expose your code, your database and even your users to all manner of attack.
To help you identify the more serious errors common in programs of all types, a group of top software security experts in the US and Europe have released their Top 25 Most Dangerous Programming Errors.
Unsurprisingly, cross-site scripting vulnerabilities and improperly handled SQL top the list of common and dangerous mistakes. Remember kids, sanitize your database inputs; you just never know when someone is going to name their child: “Robert’) DROP TABLE Students;”
While not all the errors in the list are common in web programming, some of the more serious things are concerns for web developers — cross-site request forgeries, missing encryption of sensitive data and unrestricted file uploads are all common web programming issues.
Also interesting is the weaknesses by language section, which breaks down common mistakes in PHP, Java, Perl and C/C++. No doubt web developers would like to have seen Python and Ruby in that list, but it should at least be useful for PHP and Perl programmers.
As a computer science term, data binding is the substitution of a real value in a program after it has been compiled.
For example, during compilation a compiler can assign symbolic addresses to certain variables or instructions. When the program is bound, or linked, the binder replaces the symbolic addresses with real machine addresses. The moment at which binding occurs is called “bind time” or “link time.” In dHTML, data binding allows the client to look into a database and retrieve the content. This data can be automatically displayed in your table using the HTML data binding extensions, or you can manipulate the data with a script.
Have you ever written a database call that went something like… select * from posts where id=3;? We probably all have, but it’s bad for several reasons. Four of them, according to a programmer that goes by pizza_milkshake.
To database administrators and advanced programmers, this may not come as news. Even many seasoned coders could use a reminder not to be lazy.
pizza_milkshake’s Four Reasons Not to Select All
If you include the field names, your code is self-documenting
When a field name changes, you want to know with a query error, not later
Asking for more than you need is just wasting resources
Without naming the fields, you can’t be certain of the order you’ll receive them
I hope these reasons are good enough to encourage your next query to not start select *. |
Since the fall of the Taleban, that number has increased to 28 out of 32 regions. That is a major factor in worsening violence this year as people struggle to survive and fight for control of this illegal, socially damaging but lucrative resource | Since the fall of the Taleban, that number has increased to 28 out of 32 regions. That is a major factor in worsening violence this year as people struggle to survive and fight for control of this illegal, socially damaging but lucrative resource.
Afghan farmers produce opium that is sold for some $2.3bn, according to United Nations estimates.
Its value is vastly inflated beyond that by the time it reaches its Western consumers.
Despite this, Afghanistan remains one of the poorest places on Earth.
Collectively the farmers receive less than half a per cent of the wealth generated by their illegal crops. Much of the revenue ends up with local militias.
The organisation I work for, Spirit Aid, has developed a plan to replace Afghan opium - 75% of the global supply - with industrial hemp.
The hemp tree is part of the cannabis species, which includes marijuana plants. However, leaves from hemp trees carry very little of the psychoactive components of the marijuana plant that makes it popular among drug users.
It can be used to produce heating and cooking fuel, thereby ending the need for people to cut down and burn their remaining forests during severe winters.
Using hemp in this way would also help prepare areas of land for future tree planting projects.
At the moment many Afghan children are malnourished. Hemp produces a fruit boasting the nutritional qualities of soya, oily fish and wheat combined.
Hemp can produce quantities of wood equivalent to four times that of trees over a similar period of time. This biomass can be used in the production of clean, renewable energy, biodegradable plastics and building composites.
Hemp is currently being grown for these purposes in 36 countries around the world, including Canada and some European Union countries.
The world would become a cleaner, healthier and more secure place as the need to cut down old growth forests and burn the remaining oil, coal and gas reserves is reduced.
Industrial hemp is perhaps the only economically and environmentally viable alternative to opium cultivation in Afghanistan.
Is Afghanistan heading the way of Colombia?
It presents an opportunity to satisfy the immediate fuel, fibre and monetary requirements of two million farming households struggling to survive in one of the most dangerous countries on Earth.
Hemp cultivation also presents a unique opportunity for environmental improvement in Afghanistan.
Crucially the international community has a moral obligation to prevent a Colombian-style "war on drugs" from taking hold in Afghanistan because if this happens we can be certain the violence, and supply of opium, will never end.
Below is a selection of your views on this column.
One can actually run diesel engines on hemp oil and thereby conserve our dwindling resources
We should all be growing hemp
Rohen Kapur, Uk
The Taliban had tackled Afghanistan's drugs trade and it was then minimal however with the new regime in Afganistan this country now produces 75% of the worlds supply, perhaps the Taliban got somethings right.
To Tony, Welling Kent,
We already do get excellent hashish and cannabis from Afghanistan, just not much of it unfortunately! What they're proposing is to grow a crop that doesn't get you stoned. They just have to get around the problem of the multinationals, the World Bank and the Oil companies who really don't want developing countries producing viable home-produced alternatives to their oil and wood-derived products. It used to be a criminal offence NOT to grow hemp in both the U.S and the U.K until the advent of the petrochemical industry and the little "war on drugs" it started to ensure that oil became the raw material, not hemp.
A really great idea - hope it succeeds.
Steve, London, uk
What an excellent idea - however the fear factor shouldn't be discounted. There's an enormous amount of pressure on farmers, from warlords, to grow opium poppies in place of more useful crops. The new Afghan government needs to rein in the warlords for many reasons, not just this one (as a visitor to remote areas in the country, I was horrified at the blatant abuse of power on their part, including a village missing all its young women and teenage girls, kidnapped for the warlord's harem), however a first step might be to convince them of the benefits of hemp over opium. Perhaps they should be reminded that there is a growing heroin use problem in Afghanistan, not just in the countries it exports to, and that heroin use is extremely un-islamic. Then there's the problem of policing the hemp farmers and making sure that they're growing the low THC variety because, contrary to earlier comments, there is plenty of cannabis already in Afghanistan, and we have been getting |
In Depth: Skeletal
Although the cranium—the largest section of the skull—might seem like one solid bone, there are actually 22 bones that house the brain. Twenty-one of those pieces are fused together by sutures, nearly rigid | In Depth: Skeletal
Although the cranium—the largest section of the skull—might seem like one solid bone, there are actually 22 bones that house the brain. Twenty-one of those pieces are fused together by sutures, nearly rigid, fibrous joints found only in the skull. Similar connective fibers are found in teeth and the spine.
These sutures give the appearance of cracks. These are easiest to see on the side of the head where the temporal bone meets the parietal bone and in the back where the occipital bone adjoins the temporal and parietal bones.
The skull consists of the cranium and the mandible, or jawbone. It is the semi-circular bone at the bottom of the skull and attached to the cranium at the jaw. The mandible is responsible for the up and down motion of the jaw.
The mandible also holds the bottom row of teeth; the maxilla holds the upper row. Mammals, including humans, develop two sets of teeth during their lives.
The shape and structure of human teeth serve many purposes. As most humans are omnivores (eat both plants and animals), their teeth must serve many functions to ensure proper chewing of food. The thin incisors and pointed canines help rip and tear meat, and the premolars and molars help grind down substances so they are easy to swallow.
Because teeth play a role in the way your body receives nutrients, proper tooth care is important. Common tooth ailments include:
- Plaque and buildup: Accumulation of mouth bacteria that can lead to cavities
- Cavities: Areas of decay that develop in the teeth
- Gingivitis: Irritation of the gum line that can result in tooth loss
The skull also provides housing for the eye and optic nerve. This portion of the skull is called an orbit, but it is more commonly known as the eye socket. Seven different bones make up the eye socket:
- Frontal bone
- Lacrimal bone
- Ethmoid bone
- Zygomatic bone
- Maxillary bone
- Palatine bone
- Sphenoid bone
The eye is protected from the hard edges of the bone by fat tissue, which makes movement of the eye smooth. Nerves, blood vessels, ligaments, and other important tissues occupy the rest of the orbit. |
The aim of this study was to explore and describe the use of music therapy during intervention with primary school girls who have been sexually abused. An empirical study of limited extent was undertaken, which was qualitative in nature and conducted from the interpretivist paradigm. | The aim of this study was to explore and describe the use of music therapy during intervention with primary school girls who have been sexually abused. An empirical study of limited extent was undertaken, which was qualitative in nature and conducted from the interpretivist paradigm. In depth case study was used as research design, whilst educational psychological assessments, intervention and re-assessments, observation, interviews, analysis of documentation, field notes and a reflective diary were employed as data gathering methods. Two primary school girls in a place of safety were selected as participants in the study. Despite the fact that these girls had to cope with the trauma of sexual abuse, they had to deal with emotions and behaviour closely related to such trauma, including depression, aggression, fear, hate, inappropriate interpersonal relationships, sleeping disorders, low self-concept and behavioural difficulties.
The findings of the empirical study are supported by literature, namely that music therapy can provide a safe setting to children for revealing their emotions, fears and needs related to trauma, such as sexual abuse. Music therapy had a positive effect on both cases, who illustrated positive change during the process of intervention and were able to replace negative experiences with positive emotions. Further findings of this nature include an impr |
Description: Natural Order, Compositae. Genus ACHILLAE: Involucre ovoid, of unequal, imbricated scales. Rays five to ten, short, pistillate, white. Receptacle flat, | Description: Natural Order, Compositae. Genus ACHILLAE: Involucre ovoid, of unequal, imbricated scales. Rays five to ten, short, pistillate, white. Receptacle flat, chaffy. Achenia oblong, flattened, marginal, without pappus. Perennial herbs common to the pastures of Europe and America, with small co |
Peter Macdiarmid/Getty Images
Safety or racism? That’s the question when it comes to Microsoft’s newly granted patent for a GPS feature media-dubbed the “avoid ghetto” app. The app, as yet unnamed and not yet | Peter Macdiarmid/Getty Images
Safety or racism? That’s the question when it comes to Microsoft’s newly granted patent for a GPS feature media-dubbed the “avoid ghetto” app. The app, as yet unnamed and not yet available, was created as a way for pedestrians to avoid “traveling through an unsafe neighborhood or being in an open area that is subject to harsh temperatures,” according to its patent. Using crime statistics, weather reports, demographics and maps, the app would guide people instead through lower-crime and presumably less tornado-prone neighborhoods. Critics are howling that the app promotes racism and classism and reinforces stereotypes about minority neighborhoods being crime havens.
Is this GPS feature racist or a fair safety practice?
Sarah E. Chinn, English professor at Hunter College in New York and author of the book “Technology and the Logic of American Racism.”
Rob Enderle, a technology analyst and president of San Jose-based Enderle Group, providing guidance for regional and global companies |
The surrender concluded a standoff that began with South Carolina's secession from the Union on December 20, 1860. When President Abraham Lincoln sent word to Charleston in early April that he planned to send food to the beleaguered g | The surrender concluded a standoff that began with South Carolina's secession from the Union on December 20, 1860. When President Abraham Lincoln sent word to Charleston in early April that he planned to send food to the beleaguered garrison, the Confederates took action. They opened fire on Sumter in the predawn of April 12. Over the next day, nearly 4,000 rounds were hurled toward the black silhouette of Fort Sumter.
Inside Sumter was its commander, Major Robert Anderson, 9 officers, 68 enlisted men, 8 musicians, and 43 construction workers who were still putting the finishing touches on the fort. Union Captain Abner Doubleday, the man often inaccurately credited with inventing the game of baseball, returned fire nearly two hours after the barrage began. By the morning of April 13, the garrison in Sumter was in dire straits. The soldiers had sustained only minor injuries, but they could not hold out much longer. The fort was badly damaged, and the Confederate's shots were becoming more precise. Around noon, the flagstaff was shot away. Louis Wigfall, a former U.S. senator from Texas, rowed out without permission to see if the garrison was trying to surrender. Anderson decided that further resistance was futile, and he ran a white flag up a makeshift flagpole.
The first engagement of the war was over, and the only casualty had been a Confederate horse. The Union force was allowed to leave for the north; before leaving, the soldiers fired a 100-gun salute. During the salute, one soldier was killed and another mortally wounded by a prematurely exploding cartridge. The Civil War had officially begun. |
Objectives of Civil society
In the modern state and society especially in democracy, the role of civil society such as many-
First, civil society provide the basis for the limitation of state power here for the control of the state from society and, | Objectives of Civil society
In the modern state and society especially in democracy, the role of civil society such as many-
First, civil society provide the basis for the limitation of state power here for the control of the state from society and, therefore, the democratic political institutions (political party) as the most effective means to exercise such control.
Secondly, the mobilization of civil society capable of detecting anti-democratic abuses prevalent in society and weaken the legitimacy of these regimes. Over the past two decades, civil society has played an important role in many democratic transitions.
Thirdly, civil society is essential to contain the inevitable power of democratic governance, protecting the power abuses and violations of laws and submit to the government of public safety, in essence, civil society is essential for the consolidation and maintenance of a democratic setup, rather than do the. Civil society can create limited to, moderation and willingness to compromise and respect for opposing points of view.
Fourth, living outside the realm of civil society, political party is able to render services as an articulation of interests, aggregations and representations for the sake of democracy. Civil society can create access to power for women and for racial and ethnic minori |
After a Thursday declaration that cloned and conventional livestock are "virtually indistinguishable" and that products from cloned animals are safe to eat, the FDA said it would accept public comments on the issue over the next 90 days. They didn't | After a Thursday declaration that cloned and conventional livestock are "virtually indistinguishable" and that products from cloned animals are safe to eat, the FDA said it would accept public comments on the issue over the next 90 days. They didn't have to wait long for the comments to start coming in.
Some critics take issue with the FDA's recommendation that food from cloned animals should not be labeled any differently than food from conventional livestock. The International Dairy Foods Association's Susan Ruland says the introduction of products from clones may turn many consumers off of certain products.
"[Consumers] have concerns about the social, ethical, even religious," she says in a report by Marketplace (California). "And there's also a visceral reaction of, where is my food coming from and the animals and how are they being treated on the farm."
Gregory Jaffe, of the Center for Science in the Public Interest, tagged that visceral reaction a "yuck factor" in a CNN interview, due partly to peoples' tendency to associate animal cloning with human cloning.
Advocates of the technology point out that since clones are virtually indistinguishable from conventionally bred livestock, a label indicating that a food product came from a clone would be misleading.
"We don't want to misinform consumers with some sort of implied message of difference," says Barb Glenn of the Biotechnology Industry Organization. "There is no difference."
BIO and others defending cloning point out that cloned animals are not genetically modified, and the main purpose for clones - for the time being, at least - is for 'breeding, not eating.' The technology would allow producers to duplicate their most productive animals, which can then be bred to improve the overall quality of the herd. |
Quick quiz: which country is slated to be the world’s larger producer of oil in 2017? If you guessed Saudi Arabia, you’re mistaken.
The United States will overtake Saudi Arabia as the world’s leading oil producer by about | Quick quiz: which country is slated to be the world’s larger producer of oil in 2017? If you guessed Saudi Arabia, you’re mistaken.
The United States will overtake Saudi Arabia as the world’s leading oil producer by about 2017 and will become a net oil exporter by 2030, according to a new report released on Monday by the International Energy Agency.
That increased oil production, combined with new American policies to improve energy efficiency, means that the United States will become “all but self-sufficient” in meeting its energy needs in about two decades – a “dramatic reversal of the trend” in most developed countries, the report says.
“The foundations of the global energy systems are shifting,” said Fatih Birol, chief economist at the Paris-based organization, which produces the annual World Energy Outlook, in an interview before the release. The agency, which advises industrialized nations on energy issues, had previously predicted that Saudi Arabia would be the leading producer until 2035.
In the national elections that just wrapped up, it was fairly common to hear Republicans suggest President Obama and other Democrats are scaling back domestic oil production, and refuse to make use of domestic resources. The complaints seem a little silly in light of the International Energy Agency’s findings – not only is oil production up over the last four years, but the United States will soon pass the Saudis as the top oil producer on the planet.
What’s more, note that the IEA’s Birol said nearly half of the nation’s projected self-sufficiency is the result of “improving energy efficiency in the United States, primarily from the Obama administration’s new fuel economy standards for cars,” efficiency standards opposed by Republicans.
Indeed, the IEA’s report specifically emphasized the fact that “energy efficiency is just as important as unconstrained energy supply.”
That said, the IEA emphasized that more energy efficiency is needed, here and around the world, and the growing global energy market “could make it even harder to prevent dangerous levels of warming.” |
view a plan
This lesson looks at the Poetry of Music
Language Arts, Music
7, 8, 9
Title – Poetry of Music
By – Eric Blackman
Primary Subject – Language Arts
Secondary Subjects – Music
| view a plan
This lesson looks at the Poetry of Music
Language Arts, Music
7, 8, 9
Title – Poetry of Music
By – Eric Blackman
Primary Subject – Language Arts
Secondary Subjects – Music
Grade Level – 7-9
Concept/Topic to Teach: Poetic Devices
General Goal: The learner will respond to various literary genres using interpretive and evaluative processes.
Specific Objectives: 5.02-Study the characteristics of literary genres- poetry.
Required Materials: Lyrics of songs and an ELA textbook.
Anticipatory Set: Generate discussion by pointing out that most songs use the poetic device of rhyme.
1. The teacher must decide what poetic devices are to be introduced in the lesson.
2. Find lyrics of songs with these devices in them.
3. The device is reviewed in class.
4. Instead of illustrating the device by poems used in the textbook, the teacher will illustrate the device through a song.
5. Some poetic devices are not easily found in songs, such as concrete poems. The teacher may chose to introduce the device and have students reform the song so that it fits the criteria for the device.
*NOTE: I used the lyrics of the Beatles “White Album.” It went very well. Especially, with those students who were not much into poetry in the first place. I even won-over some anti-Beatle students.
Plan For Independent Practice: Have students write their own songs with the poetic devices in them.
Closure: Review various poetic devices using rhyme as the first concept.
Assessment Based On Objectives: Have students analyze a song(s) for various poetic devices.
Adaptations For Students With LD’s: Use lyrics of nursery rhymes.
Extensions For Gifted Students: Have the lesson based on lyrics that they find.
E-Mail Eric Blackman! |
Fruit and Vegetable Consumption Is Low among Black Men
Despite efforts to stress the importance of eating fruits and vegetables, daily consumption of these foods among men remains low, particularly among black men, according to researchers at Columbia and Temple universities, the University | Fruit and Vegetable Consumption Is Low among Black Men
Despite efforts to stress the importance of eating fruits and vegetables, daily consumption of these foods among men remains low, particularly among black men, according to researchers at Columbia and Temple universities, the University of Pennsylvania and the National Cancer Institute.
In a study of 490 American and foreign-born black men between ages 45 and 70, the researchers found the men ate an average of three servings of fruits and vegetables per day. The Dietary Guidelines for Americans recommend men eat nine servings per day. The researchers also found 94 percent of the participants in the study were not aware of the recommendations.
A diet rich in fruits and vegetables has been shown to lower risk for chronic illness. Compared with other racial groups, black men have higher incidence and mortality rates for many diet-related diseases, including high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes, obesity and some cancers.
According to th |
Contributing to the Linux Kernel—The Linux Configuration
The Linux kernel has always been one of the most prized gems in the Open Source community. Based around a philosophy of shared resources through modularity, it somehow is both well-written and written by | Contributing to the Linux Kernel—The Linux Configuration
The Linux kernel has always been one of the most prized gems in the Open Source community. Based around a philosophy of shared resources through modularity, it somehow is both well-written and written by committee. (Or, at least, by many individuals and teams which argue/agree over features.) One of the methods by which Linux keeps everything neat and modular is the kernel configuration system, often referred to as config, menuconfig and xconfig. These are the scripts that an installer of a source kernel must run in order to set up the kernel options, but you probably know that if you are reading this. On the outside, these look like three very separate programs with completely separate interfaces. In reality though, all three draw from the same fundamental rules that many programmers of the Linux kernel must know in order to spread their work or even to submit their patches to Linus. It is this fundamental system that gives Linux users the options they need to design a Linux system based on their needs.
Since the Linux kernel is an open-source project, it obviously accepts submissions from its users for new features. Often, however, programmers with the desire and the know-how to add features to the Linux kernel choose not to for a variety of reasons. In this article, I hope to clear up some of the mysteries surrounding the kernel configuration system that may be hindering users and keeping them from becoming developers. Every brain counts in open-source efforts, and every programmer who adds his or her changes into the kernel makes the kernel more robust for the rest of us.
To start off with, there has to be a reason you are mucking about in the kernel configuration scripts in the first place. Maybe you are just exploring the system and awaiting the day when you too will be submitting patches to the kernel. Or maybe (and more likely) you have added a particular feature to the kernel that you feel deserves some more widespread use, but you want to have it ready to integrate for Linus or Alan or another kernel-developing guru. For the purposes of this article, I will use a hypothetical patch to make the random device driver a compile-time option, although I should stress that in reality I had absolutely nothing to do with the creation of that driver. (This is the driver that controls the /dev/random and /dev/urandom devices.) Also, I will not be discussing in depth the creation of kernel modules in this text—I will assume you can extrapolate how to do it from this article, especially if you were smart enough to create a modularized driver in the first place.
The first step in modularizing your program should be obvious: you need some name that the C preprocessor can recognize to help it sort out the differences between what changes are yours and what are not. The kernel handles this distinction through the use of preprocessor instructions: the #ifdef... #else.. #endif constructs throughout the kernel.
The first thing to make sure of when you do this is to be consistent. In a system as complicated as the Linux kernel, a little bit of consistency can save a lot of headaches later. You should look in Documentation/Configure.help for similar options and check to see if they have a common prefix (after CONFIG_, of course). For example, all block device options start with CONFIG_BLK_DEV_. This is relatively easy to change later, of course.
Once the name is selected, you should make #ifdef...#endif blocks around portions of the code that your patch changes (having a Linus tree around when you do this helps, as you can diff it and easily see what you changed). If you removed existing code, you'll need to integrate the #else blocks from the real tree, unless you were smart enough to keep them around while you were writing your patch. (I usually use the construct “#if 0” early in the programming stage.) At this point, compiling the kernel should work, and your option will be correctly disabled and we can continue to the next step. If it doesn't work or portions of your patch are still present, you obviously need to go back and double-check your diffs.
For the purposes of my example, I would choose the name CONFIG_RANDOM for the option. The random devices are character devices, and at the time of this writing, there was no CONFIG_CHAR_( or similar) prefix in common use.
The next step we need to take is to add the new configuration option to the configure system. Fortunately, this is fairly easy with only a couple of warnings. In the directory where you have the majority of your patch (in my example, drivers/char), there will be a file called 'Config.in' which contains the configuration options for the code in that directory. It is possible to put the config option in a different directory's config file, but it obscures the readability a little and may make it difficult to locate your code later. However, if it definitely belongs somewhere other than where you have it (or if the location of your code does not have one of those files), you should use your own best judgment and be prepared to move it later. Browsing through this file, you will see tha |
National Wildlife Research Center (NWRC)
*Request for assistance
We are conducting research evaluating the movements of wing-tagged vultures. Each tagged bird has a cattle ear tag in its RIGHT wing and each tag has a letter and number ( | National Wildlife Research Center (NWRC)
*Request for assistance
We are conducting research evaluating the movements of wing-tagged vultures. Each tagged bird has a cattle ear tag in its RIGHT wing and each tag has a letter and number (ie. F47 or C20) or a series of 3 letters (ie. AMJ). The birds were marked and released in Virginia, South Carolina, and Florida, and the tags may be visible from below while the birds soar.
All sightings should be sent to the email or address below indicating the location of the sighting, tag number, species, as well as any other pertinent behavioral or other information. Any information of recoveries of tagged birds should also be sent to the USGS Bird Banding Lab in MD http://www.pwrc.usgs.gov/bbl/.
Thank you for any information you may provide.
John S Humphrey
USDA/APHIS/WS/National Wildlife Research Center
2820 E University Ave
Gainesville, FL 32641
Goal and Objectives
Vulture Publications only
FL, Field Station
Guidelines For Using Effigies to Disperse Nuisance Vulture Roosts
Solutions Through Science: Reducing Damage Caused by Vultures
Vulture Management Factsheet
Additional Wildlife Services Vulture Information
March 15, 2013 |
Just as physical activity has been shown to reduce the risk of ever getting cancer,
research indicates that exercise decreases the risk of a cancer recurrence and improves
survival. Oncologists agree that one of the best things cancer survivors can do
to | Just as physical activity has been shown to reduce the risk of ever getting cancer,
research indicates that exercise decreases the risk of a cancer recurrence and improves
survival. Oncologists agree that one of the best things cancer survivors can do
to remain healthy is to get regular exercise.
Studies have found that breast cancer patients who exercised moderately (three to
five hours of normal-pace walking a week) had improved emotional well-being and
better survival rates and than their more sedentary peers.
Being overweight increases the chance that some cancers, such as prostate, colon
and breast cancers, will return, and exercise helps control weight gain. In breast
cancer, physical activity reduces excess fat cells that produce the high levels
of estrogen associated with cancer. Exercise also may inhibit other hormones and
growth factors believed to play a role in breast tumor development.
While long-term data aren't yet available, exercise may turn out to have more influence
on breast cancer than diet, says Alexandra Heerdt, MD, an attending surgeon in the
breast service at Memorial Sloan-Kettering
Cancer Center in New York City. She is leading a pilot study in which breast
cancer patients are taught a home-based plan that combines aerobic exercise and
strength training; the latter is aimed at preventing lymphedema, a painful arm swelling
that troubles some women after lymph node removal. The goal is for women to learn
the program at the center while waiting for treatment, and to be motivated enough
to continue it on their own.
In studies of colon cancer patients, scientists at the
Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston found that patients who routinely
exercised lowered their risk for a cancer recurrence and increased by 50 percent
their overall chance for survival compared to inactive patients.
In addition to possibly preventing another bout of cancer, physical activity helps
protect against heart disease, diabetes, and the bone-thinning disease osteoporosis.
It also builds strength and stamina, boosts the immune system, and enhances quality
of life by lessening fatigue and depression and raising self-esteem.
for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommend that adults get a minimum
of 30 minutes of "moderate-intensity physical activity" on five days or more, or
at least 20 minutes of "vigorous-intensity activity" on three days or more. In addition
to the aerobic component, adults need muscle-strengthening activities at least two
days a week.
Don't worry if you've never been an athlete; there are many ways to be active. Moderate
aerobic activity can encompass anything from brisk walking to square dancing to
playing with your grandkids; vigorous activity can be jogging, playing singles tennis,
or downhill skiing.
Muscle strengthening—such as lifting weights, using resistance bands, or practicing
yoga—should target the body's major muscle groups, with each movement done until
you find it too taxing to do another repetition.
Solidifying exercise as a lifetime habit is a challenge. However, the period following
treatment is an opportune time, since many cancer survivors are looking for new,
empowering "tools" to keep them healthy, says Harriet Berman, PhD, executive vice
president of clinical programs at the Wellness Community-Greater Boston.
The key is finding something you enjoy and will stick with. If you lack motivation
to exercise alone, find a buddy or join a class.
That's what Randi Fox Tabb did. Never much of an exerciser, the Penfield, NY, preschool
principal was overweight when she was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2001 and gained
another 20 pounds during treatment. After two hip replacements, Tabb bought a cross
trainer and joined a Zumba class, an energetic dance workout done to salsa music.
She dropped 70 pounds and is now a Zumba enthusiast: "I just love it...I miss it
when I don't do it."
Nancy Passavant, a breas |
The Whole Child: An Integrated Approach (P-12)
Instructor: Ed Pino, Ph.D.
Spring, Summer & Fall (Ongoing)
Instruction Mode: Internet-Asynchronous (Online Class)
Academic Level: K-12 | The Whole Child: An Integrated Approach (P-12)
Instructor: Ed Pino, Ph.D.
Spring, Summer & Fall (Ongoing)
Instruction Mode: Internet-Asynchronous (Online Class)
Academic Level: K-12 Professional Development
Partner Course Fee: $695
Whether or not we look at the whole child, the whole child is looking at us. Considering the whole child will help educators engage students’ minds so they can learn needed skills. Participants will study the theoretical base and underlying concepts, principles and research as well as a variety of proven techniques including service learning, meaningful and appropriate expectations, emotional involvement, the power of positive relationships, and effective praise. This course will help educators replenish their repertoire of proven techniques and renew their energy and enthusiasm for educating youth to the end that student achievement will improve. Lots of ideas, materials, strategies and activities will be shared, analyzed and evaluated.
As result of taking this course, participants should know and understand:
1. The basic theoretical basic as well as underlying principles and concepts
2. To develop knowledge and understanding of the current research related engaging youth in the learning process.
3. To develop a knowledge of the relationship of emotional involvement to learning.
4. To develop knowledge and understanding of how being emotionally engaged improves skill development.
5. To develop a knowledge and understanding of positive ways to engage learner emotions.
6. To develop an understanding of the power of positive relationships.
7. To present models service learning.
8. To help students prioritize strategies to implement.
9. To help the student develop a specific implementation plan of action focusing on student achievement
10. To help the student develop a method to determine the effectiveness of their plan.
The required texts are:
Moorman, Chick, (2004). Our Classroom. Upper Saddle River, NY, Prentice Hall. (Copies forwarded under separate cover.)
Rief, Sandra F., & Heimburge, Julie A. ((2006). How to Reach and Teach All Children in the Inclusive Classroom. San Francisco, CA, Jossey-Bass.
Holt, John. (1967). How Children Learn. New York, NY, Pitman Publishing.
Glasser, William, M.D. (1969). Schools Without Failure. New York, NY, Harper & Row.
The total cost includes the NDSU graduate credit however textbook(s) are not included.
You will be directed to the IGS website for registration. |
Robert Mills, Architect
( Originally Published 1932 )
As our first native-born architect, regularly trained for the profession, Robert Mills is worthy of the interest of his colleagues today, and of the long and loving years of study which H. | Robert Mills, Architect
( Originally Published 1932 )
As our first native-born architect, regularly trained for the profession, Robert Mills is worthy of the interest of his colleagues today, and of the long and loving years of study which H. M. Pierce Gallagher has given to his career in an article in the Architectural Record, of April, 1929. Harrison, Hoban, Thornton, Hadfield and Latrobe were English born; L'Enfant, Hallet, Mangin and Godefroi were Frenchmen, Jefferson and Bulfinch were gentlemen self-trained in architecture.
Born in Charleston, in 1781, Mills placed himself successively under the best masters then in this country: Hoban, architect of the White House, who had learned buildings and drawings in the Dublin Society of Arts; Jefferson, with his great architectural library and five years of observation in Paris; Latrobe, surveyor of the public buildings of the United States, the pupil of Cockerell and Smeaton. They represented three phases of architectural progression in style: the Palladian, the Roman, and the Greek; in practice, the builder-architect, the amateur, and the professional.
From honest Hoban, who on occasion contracted for buildings as well as designed them, he acquired the rudiments of construction and of draughtsmanship and rendering. From Jefferson, who took him into his family in 1803, he derived a compelling impulse of the classic and a recommendation to Latrobe whom Jefferson had encouraged and placed in a position of authority. It was Latrobe, the first man to succeed in establishing himself in the United States in architectural practice as we understand it today, who placed on Mills the deepest impress. To him Mills owed not only his knowledge of Greek forms but his principles of professional practice and his scientific engineering skill.
From his first youthful competitive design for South Carolina College, in 1802, until his death on Capitol Hill, in 1855, Mills was engaged in constant and varied practice of his profession in Carolina, in Philadelphia, in Baltimore and in Washington. More than fifty important works were of his design, a great number still surviving. They included houses, churches, college buildings, prisons, hospitals, bridges, monuments and government buildings of all sorts. The old State capitol at Harrisburg, the Patent Office, and old Post Office in Washington, the Treasury with its superb colonnade, were among them. Mills created in America the auditorium type of evangelical church in the Congregational Church in Charles-ton, the Monumental Church in Richmond, the First Baptist -Round Top-in Philadelphia. It is by his monuments, how-ever, that Mills chiefly lives. The great Washington column in Baltimore, first of the colossal Greek Doric type, preceded the Wellington columns in London and Dublin, and inaugurated a line which reaches to our own day in the Monument to the Prison Ship Matyre, and the Perry Memorial on Lake Erie. The vast obelisk in Washington, long the highest of human structures, was his conception, in which the simplicity and grandeur of the forms are matched with the character of the subject.
In a day when Greece was to the modern world a new discovery there was no questioning of the validity of its forms which furnished the language of Robert Mills. We find his words a little stereotyped, a little arid but very sober, very competent, very dignified-contributing to that austere tradition that forms the basis of the simplicity even of our modern style.
Though Robert Mills was born and reared in Charleston, South Carolina, it is a noticeable fact that the French influence there was not shown in the houses he designed in Richmond, and which are described in this book. |
The purpose of this research project is to advance the science behind ecological risk assessment of environmental releases of mercury (methylmercury) to avian wildlife. This project will involve collection of data on the pharmacokinetics and toxicological effects of dietary | The purpose of this research project is to advance the science behind ecological risk assessment of environmental releases of mercury (methylmercury) to avian wildlife. This project will involve collection of data on the pharmacokinetics and toxicological effects of dietary exposures to methylmercury on the American kestrel (Falco sparverius), a small falcon found throughout the U. S. This work supports the research objectives identified in the Agency's Mercury Research Strategy, which calls fo |
Most of the Iberian peninsula, which includes both Spain and Portugal, has been inhabited since early prehistoric times. In fact evidence has been unearthed at Atapuerca in northern Spain which reveals that this particular area has been populated for | Most of the Iberian peninsula, which includes both Spain and Portugal, has been inhabited since early prehistoric times. In fact evidence has been unearthed at Atapuerca in northern Spain which reveals that this particular area has been populated for over eight hundred thousand years but modern man didn’t make his appearance until about 35,000BC.
In the centuries which have elapsed since his arrival, Spain has had many very different groups of settlers, all of whom had their own part in shaping the country’s history. Its central position on the peninsula between Europe and Africa meant that it was invaded frequently and had no choice but to follow the dominant religion and principles of the different groups of conquerors. Evidence of the influence of the Phoenicians, the Romans and the Germanic tribes can still be seen throughout Spain but those who had the greatest artistic and intellectual input into its development were the Islamic conquerors who ruled Spanish lands for over five hundred years – the Moors. In fact, their spectacular architecture and abstract designs continue to attract visitors from all over the world.
And, since this unique mélange of European and North African artistic style and flair began many centuries ago, Spain has continued to flourish in the world of the arts. Artists including El Greco, Goya, Picasso and Miro, writers such as Seneca, Cervantes and Nobel Prize-winner Camilo Jose Cela and singers including Montserrat Caballe and Placido Domingo have helped Spain become a major artistic player on a worldwide scale. Furthermore it is home to one of the most famous art galleries in the world, the Museo del Prado in Madrid as well as the site for the new and much talked about Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao.
Its natural landscape also helps maintain Spain’s enviable position in world tourism. It is Europe’s second most mountainous country after Switzerland and true alpine conditions in the north of the country make it one of the most popular ski destinations in the world. As well as the slopes, it also has many of the continent’s most impressive beaches, some of which are warm all year round including those on the Canary Archipelago. The perfect combination of both snow and sun holiday destinations all year round, as well as numerous man made attractions, clearly explain why Spain continues to remain such a popular choice. |
Comprehensive DescriptionRead full entry
BiologySpends most of its time in the sea, usually close to shore (Ref. 27547). Enters estuaries of large rivers and moves far inland to spawn (Ref. 572 | Comprehensive DescriptionRead full entry
BiologySpends most of its time in the sea, usually close to shore (Ref. 27547). Enters estuaries of large rivers and moves far inland to spawn (Ref. 5723). Individuals larger than 48.3 cm feed mainly on fishes; smaller ones feed mainly on chironomids, but also takes small crustaceans, other insects and mollusks (Ref. 1998). Feeding ceases just before spawning (Ref. 1998). Excellent food fish that is sold fresh, smoked or frozen (Ref. 9988). Eggs marketed as caviar (Ref. 1998). In the past, the airbladder was made into isinglass (Ref. 27547). |
Kate Wong notes the death of Mike Morwood, archaeologist, rock art expert, and co-discoverer of the Liang Bua people commonly known as the "hobbits":
Morwood, who passed away on July 23 from | Kate Wong notes the death of Mike Morwood, archaeologist, rock art expert, and co-discoverer of the Liang Bua people commonly known as the "hobbits":
Morwood, who passed away on July 23 from cancer, made important contributions in research areas ranging from the rock art of Australia’s Kimberly region to the seafaring capabilities of Homo erectus. But he will be best remembered for a discovery he and his colleagues made on the Indonesian island of Flores: the remains of a miniature human species that shared the planet with our own ancestors not so long ago.
Science needs shake-ups—findings that break all the rules, force researchers to reconsider what they thought they knew and remind us all that there is still so much to learn. Nine years after the Liang Bua team introduced the world to H. floresiensis, scholarly papers on it continue to fill the pages of scientific journals, presentations on it still attract standing room-only crowds at anthropology conferences, and the public remains enthralled with our hobbit cousin. No doubt Morwood’s discovery will continue to fire imaginations and inspire new inquiries for many more years to come.
Even without the Late Pleistocene skeletal evidence from Liang Bua, the clear demonstration that the human occupation of Flores began in the Early Pleistocene would rank as one of the truly important discoveries in paleoanthropology. |
fission product, in physics, any of the lighter atomic nuclei formed by splitting heavier nuclei (nuclear fission), including both the primary nuclei directly produced (fission fragments) and the nuclei subsequently generated by their radioactive decay. The fission | fission product, in physics, any of the lighter atomic nuclei formed by splitting heavier nuclei (nuclear fission), including both the primary nuclei directly produced (fission fragments) and the nuclei subsequently generated by their radioactive decay. The fission fragments are highly unstable because of their abnormally large number of neutrons compared with protons; consequently they undergo successive radioactive decays by emitting neutrons, by converting neutrons into protons, antineutrinos, and ejected electrons (beta decay), and by radiating energy (gamma decay).
One of the many known fission reactions of uranium-235 induced by absorbing a neutron results, for example, in two extremely unstable fission fragments, a barium and a krypton nucleus. These fragments almost instantaneously release three neutrons between themselves, becoming b |
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
- transitive v. To make simple or simpler, as:
- transitive v. To reduce in complexity or extent.
- transitive v. To reduce to | from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
- transitive v. To make simple or simpler, as:
- transitive v. To reduce in complexity or extent.
- transitive v. To reduce to fundamental parts.
- transitive v. To make easier to understand.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
- v. To make simpler, either by reducing in complexity, reducing to component parts, or making easier to understand.
- v. To become simpler.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English
- transitive v. To make simple; to make less complex; to make clear by giving the explanation for; to show an e |
St James is home to a rare 1891 Roosevelt pneumatic-tracker organs. Organs are custom built instruments for the space in which they reside.
One of the very few tracker-pneumatic organs known to exist in this country, the | St James is home to a rare 1891 Roosevelt pneumatic-tracker organs. Organs are custom built instruments for the space in which they reside.
One of the very few tracker-pneumatic organs known to exist in this country, the organ at St. James was installed in the rear gallery of the reverberant church in 1891 by Frank Roosevelt, younger brother and successor to Hilborne Roosevelt. The Roosevelt firm was known for some of the finest pipe organs built in the United States in the last quarter of the nineteenth century.
The pipe-work, all of generous scale, stands on patented Roosevelt pneumatic wind-chests. These wind-chests are activated by a mechanical (tracker) console that is connected to primaries in the chests. The key action that results from this arrangement is light and quick. There is also a mechanical adjustable combination action. The twenty-bell carillon in the tower of the church was formerly playable from a small keyboard under the right stop-jamb. A typically Roosevelt feature is the fact that, with the exception of the 16′ and 8′ Diapasons in the Great, the remaining Great stops are enclosed in the same expression-box as the Swell stops.
An account of the organ is given in the July, 1893 issue of The Organ edited by Everett Truett: “Probably the most elaborate musical service given in the city is that of St. James R. C. Church, on the south side of the city, of which the celebrated English organist, Fre |
The Beacon: admin's blog
Our team in Chile sent us this stunning picture today from just offshore of Robinson Crusoe Island, part of the remote Juan Fernandez archipelago 400 miles West of mainland Chile. In 1704 Scottish cast | The Beacon: admin's blog
Our team in Chile sent us this stunning picture today from just offshore of Robinson Crusoe Island, part of the remote Juan Fernandez archipelago 400 miles West of mainland Chile. In 1704 Scottish castaway Alexander Selkirk became marooned on the island, serving as the inspiration for Daniel Defoe's fictional Robinson Crusoe character (100 miles west is an another island, Alexander Selkirk Island, named in his honor).
The discovery came as a surprise to our Chilean team as dolphins are somewhat rare to the Juan Fernandez Islands. But marine life is not rare on this volcanic chain of seamounts, where nutrient rich water from the deep comes to the surface, powering a profusion of life.
Last month the Chilean senate voted to ban bottom trawling on all 118 of the country's seamounts, after years of advocacy by Oceana, a move that comes as a special relief to Juan Fernandez and its vulnerable marine inhabitants.
Learn more about about Oceana's work in South America.
A report out this week, “Resources Futures” by the venerable U.K. NGO, the Chatham House, issues a clarion call for wiser management of the world’s finite resources. In the face of a more crowded planet in the coming century, as billions aspire to a resource-intensive western lifestyle, pressure on the world’s food systems and its reserves of raw materials could become more acute.
This is especially true for the world’s fisheries and the report singles out practices, like unnecessarily generous subsidies for fishing fleets and the wide-scale waste of discarded fish as adding to the global decline of fish stocks. Interestingly, the report also asserts that overfishing poses not only a major threat to food security, but to broader world security as well. The authors write:
“Given the importance of fishing to livelihoods in many poor and rural areas, over-fishing can have other effects on security. Analysts have linked the rise of piracy off the Horn of Africa in recent years, for example, with the inability of the Somali state to prevent the overfishing of Somali waters by European, Asian and African ships. The reduction in fish stocks essentially raises the cost of legitimate livelihood. As one account puts it, ‘in a region where legitimate business is difficult, where drought means agriculture is nothing more than subsistence farming, and instability and violence make death a very real prospect, the dangers of piracy must be weighed against the potentially massive returns.’ Some pirates have even used this as a justification for their actions, arguing that they are protecting their resources and that ransom payments should be seen as a form of legitimate taxation. Overfishing also played an important role in the development of piracy in Southeast Asia.”
The report focused on fish that was purchased in the New York City area and subjected to DNA testing. That testing revealed, among other startling findings, that 79 percent of red snapper served in New York City restaurants and grocery stores was replaced with less expensive fish, like tilefish. The FDA warns pregnant women and young children to avoid tilefish altogether because of its high mercury content.
Similarly 94% of white tuna served at sushi restaurants was in fact escolar, a fish whose high levels of wax esthers can potentially cause diarrhea in diners.
Meanwhile the New York Times detailed Oceana's report in its Tuesday Science section, in the article "Tests Say Mislabeled Fish is a Widespread Problem":
The findings are broadly similar to those of studies Oceana has conducted in Los Angeles, Boston and Miami, where 55, 48 and 31 percent of samples, respectively, were mislabeled.
One finding that surprised the research team was that national chain supermarkets offered less mislabeled seafood than regional chains or small specialty markets. High prices were no guarantee of accurate labeling: one restaurant in the highest price range offered red snapper on its menu but, according to Oceana, was serving up lowly tilapia.
Learn more about seafood fraud and what Oceana is doing to fight it.
An article in today's New York Times science section details an effort by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to map the effects of human-generated noise in the ocean. Whether it's the drone of commercial shipping or the deafening blasts of seismic air guns, sounds that can travel for hundreds of miles, this noise has been on the rise for decades. For animals that depend on sound as their primary means for communicating or finding prey, this increasingly cacaphonous environment can have devastating consequences
The article articulates well the dangers posed to the ocean's inhabitants by an increasingly noisy ocean:
Sea mammals evolved sharp hearing to take advantage of sound’s reach and to compensate for poor visibility. The heads of whales and dolphins are mazes of resonant chambers and acoustic lenses that give the animals not only extraordinary hearing but complex voices they use to communicate.
In recent decades, humans have added raucous clatter t |
News of Riverton, Lander and Fremont County, Wyoming, from the Ranger's award winning journalists.
What's waiting in the wood
Oct 21, 2012 - By Randy Tucker
Every once in awhile I reconnect with my | News of Riverton, Lander and Fremont County, Wyoming, from the Ranger's award winning journalists.
What's waiting in the wood
Oct 21, 2012 - By Randy Tucker
Every once in awhile I reconnect with my stockpile of old-growth Douglas fir planks.
The fifth-grade social studies textbook would be very dated today, but it was avant garde when my class worked through it back in 1968.
The only chapters that survived the ensuing chasm of memory were two short sections on how the use of tools separated us from the other animals on the planet.
In a much-too-common quirk found throughout the educational fads of the tuned-in decade, the very next chapter showed clear color photos of a chimpanzee stacking boxes and tying a couple of yardsticks together to reach a bunch of bananas suspended just out of his reach. Our teacher never responded to questions from the class on which chapter was true.
Tools are the essence of mankind. With them we recreate the world around us in form that nature would never consider. Without them we are just chaff in the wind of chance.
Archaeologists indicate that man's first tools were made of wood. We often read about the Stone Age, but stones were just points to the spear of progress.Â
To many people, wood is just something they encounter each day. No different than cloth, plastic or metal, just a material they use and forget. To others, wood is a medium, an art form waiting to be released from its natural state.
Michelangelo, arguably the greatest sculptor of all time, said, "Every block of stone has a statue inside it, and it is the task of the sculptor to discover it."
The same is true of the artisan who works in the world of oak, fir, pine, cedar and walnut.Â
I've had a lifelong fascination with building things out of wood. Yes, I can weld and have restored a few Chevrolets over the last two decades, but I always find myself back at the saw or drill, or sanding away on a piece of rough stock.
Mr. Beauchamp was shop teacher at Mitchell Junior High School in Rancho Cordova, Calif., during my seventh- and eighth-grade years. His intro to wordworking class was my favorite.Â
We learned to work with hand tools before he allowed us near any of the power equipment. Our first project was a napkin holder made with two pieces of wood and a pair of wood dowels.It was far from cutting-edge joinery, but it was a start.Â
Gradually a few of us were allowed to progress to the band saw, the lathe and finally the radial arm and table saw.
I was hooked.
At the time it didn't seem strange at all but Mr. Beauchamp had Sierra Club posters displayed throughout his classroom. A card-carrying Sierra Club member and a wood shop teacher -- the paradox is a fascinating one today.
I recall him talking frequently about John Muir and the redwoods while we worked happily away on a piece of pine. In the fractionalization that has become America today he wouldn't be allowed to walk in both worlds without constant harassment.
In the four decades since junior high school my world has never been too far removed from the wood shop or the job site. A bit of free time invariably finds my small array of power tools purring away on a new idea.
Not everyone views the value of a straight piece of lumber as a connoisseur does.
A few years ago at one of the school districts I worked at, a construction crew removed a full set of bleachers from a wall as an old gymnasium was remodeled. A message went out offering the old seats to anyone who wanted to pick them up.
I hooked a trailer to my truck the next morning and went to harvest the free material.
What awaited me was a wooden treasure. The material was laminated, old-growth Douglas fir. "Doug fir," as it is often referred to is the strongest of the softwoods with amazin |
By reducing the expression of the SOD1 gene, ALS onset and progression is slowed, a new study suggests.
Researchers find degeneration of the fornix can identify those at risk of cognitive decline long before clinical symptoms appear.
New research suggests copper | By reducing the expression of the SOD1 gene, ALS onset and progression is slowed, a new study suggests.
Researchers find degeneration of the fornix can identify those at risk of cognitive decline long before clinical symptoms appear.
New research suggests copper could be one of the main environmental factors which can trigger the onset and enhance the progression of Alzheimer’s disease.
Researchers discover a chemical in an anti-wrinkle cream could help prevent the death of nerve cells damaged by mutations, which cause an inherited form of Parkins |
Paragraphs are so important to the construction of all writing projects that they deserve a little more attention. Here are some more tips on writing paragraphs:
- Every paragraph has a key sentence, called the topic sentence, which focuses the reader's attention on | Paragraphs are so important to the construction of all writing projects that they deserve a little more attention. Here are some more tips on writing paragraphs:
- Every paragraph has a key sentence, called the topic sentence, which focuses the reader's attention on the main or controlling idea. Where a writer puts that sentence is another judgment call. Most of the time the place that works best is the beginning. Why? Because the American audience likes the "up front" method--it's clear and direct. Most textbooks begin paragraphs with the topic sentence and then develop that idea with more specifics; journalists are taught to put their "leads"--the most important fact of the story--as the first sentence of their articles. It is a common practice that also happens to work well in many situations. With a friendly or neutral audience, this is the method that works best. For the hostile audience, however, a writer might want to adopt a different strategy. Since the audience is supposedly hostile to the writer's position, putting the topic sentence (which would indicate the writer's position) would make the audience members raise their guard and tune the writer out. If, however, the writer presented a series of neutral, specific details, and then made some benign conclusions from those details, and then arrived at the topic sentence (the statement of position), the hostile audience will be more likely to |
Cola Wars Fought in the Brain
One soft drink advertisement commands, "Obey your thirst," but your taste buds may get trumped by the sway of brand names. All those commercials and jingles and celebrity endorsements get stored in the | Cola Wars Fought in the Brain
One soft drink advertisement commands, "Obey your thirst," but your taste buds may get trumped by the sway of brand names. All those commercials and jingles and celebrity endorsements get stored in the brain, apparently biasing preferences, new research shows.
The study probed the effect of these cultural influences by returning to the classic blind taste test between Coke and Pepsi.
These two products are nearly the same in contents, and yet many consumers have strong feelings about their favorite. Is this because one tastes better?
In a study of 67 volunteers, researchers at Baylor College of Medicine tried to isolate the sensory input of tasting from the effects of brand recognition. They found that subjects chose the two colas equally in blind taste tests.
But when told that one of the cups they were drinking was Coke, these same subjects picked that cup about 75 percent of the time. This preference for a brand name occurred even though both cups in this round of testing actually contained Coke.
Interestingly, the same was not true in the parallel experiment when one cup was labeled as Pepsi, but both cups were filled with Pepsi. In this case, the subjects chose the labeled cup as often as the unlabeled one.
To explore how brand recognition operated in the brain, the scientists scanned the subjects with functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), which tracks blood flow. While sipping colas, a certain area of the subjects' brains showed increased activity - apparently because it was the taste reward center.
During a blind test, people generally picked the soda that caused more activity in this region of their brain.
But when a Coke picture flashed in front of the subjects prior to drinking, other parts of the brain - some dealing with memory - lit up. The researchers could not detect similar activity when a Pepsi picture was flashed.
The implication is that the reference to Coke elicited memories that biased the choice of some of the subjects, but the same recollections did not arise from a Pepsi cue - at least not in a way sufficient to override the direct taste sensation.
The study, which was financed by the National Institute on Drug Abuse and the Kane Family Foundation, was published in the Oct. 14 issue of the journal Neuron. |
Chemo May Not Harm Unborn Baby
Study: Children Exposed to Chemotherapy in Second and Third Trimesters Develop Normally
By Salynn Boyles
WebMD Health News
Reviewed By Laura J. Martin, MD
Feb. | Chemo May Not Harm Unborn Baby
Study: Children Exposed to Chemotherapy in Second and Third Trimesters Develop Normally
By Salynn Boyles
WebMD Health News
Reviewed By Laura J. Martin, MD
Feb. 9, 2012 -- There is reassuring news for women who are pregnant and facing treatment for cancer.
A new study shows little evidence that exposure to chemotherapy in the womb in the second and third trimesters leads to health problems or developmental delays in childhood.
Children in the study whose mothers had an average of three to four cycles of chemotherapy during pregnancy were subjected to a battery of tests to assess their general health, intelligence, and behavioral development.
The tests suggested that fetal exposure to chemotherapy after the first trimester is not associated with developmental and health issues.
Intelligence scores were significantly lower among children who were born prematurely, but early delivery, and not exposure to chemotherapy, was thought to be the cause.
Researcher Frederic Amant, MD, PhD, of Belgium's Leuven Cancer Institute says the findings make it clear that planned early delivery to avoid such exposure should be avoided in most cases.
“This is a common practice, but it is not a practice that can be supported,” Amant says. “After the first few months (of pregnancy), exposure to chemotherapy appears to be safer than premature delivery.”
Chemo After First Trimester Safe
As many as 1 in 1,000 pregnancies occur in women who have malignancies requiring treatment, according to one study.
Although there is general agreement that chemotherapy should be avoided during the first trimester of pregnancy -- when the birth defect risk is greatest -- there is less agreement about the safety of exposure to cancer drugs later in pregnancy.
Until now, there has also been little follow-up of children born to women treated for malignancies during pregnancy, Amant says.
The new study, published in the journal The Lancet, included 70 exposed children whose average age was just over 2 1/2. The youngest child in the study was 1 1/2 and the oldest was 18.
Two-thirds of the children were born early and were less than 37 weeks' gestation at delivery.
The children underwent standard IQ tests, along with tests to assess their heart function, hearing, and physical and behavioral development.
Measures of behavior, general health, hearing, and growth were all within the normal range, but IQ scores were lower for the children born prematurely.
The researchers concluded th |
The plaque reads: At the time of the Civil War, the farms of Sully and Little Sully (no longer standing) were the homes of the Barlow and Haight families respectively. These families, connected by marriage, had come to | The plaque reads: At the time of the Civil War, the farms of Sully and Little Sully (no longer standing) were the homes of the Barlow and Haight families respectively. These families, connected by marriage, had come to Virginia from Dutchess County, New York, and found themselves Unionists in a secessionist neighborhood. After the men fled to avoid capture, the women of Sully operated both farms for most of the war. Maria Barlow wrote to family members in New York that "we out here alone in Dixie have no appointed place of worship no gathering together for any purpose but fighting.... If any place sinks from weight of sin surely Virginia must."
On September 1, 1862, Confederate Gen. Stonewall Jackson fought Federal Gen. John Pope's retreating army at the Battle of Ox Hill (Chantilly), five miles east of Sully, after the Second Battle of Manassas. The farms were reportedly used as hospitals. In December 1862, Confederate Gen. J.E.B. Stuart's cavalry, returning from his "Christmas Raid" on Burke Station, stopped here and rested his men. Stuart, as well as Gens. Wade Hampton and Fitzhugh Lee, ate breakfast in the house and left Union wounded behind in Maria Barlow's care.
As the war continued, Confederate partisans fought on Sully lands. Confederate Col. John S. Mosby frequented the farms here, searching for supplies but also hoping to capture the men of the family. Neighbor Henry Ryer, reminiscing about the raids, called Mosby a "regular dare-devil."
Henry Lee I patented the 3,000 acres that became Sully in 1725. His grandson, Richard Bland Lee, built the present Federal-style house in 1794, served in the Virginia House of Delegates, and was also the first Congressman from Northern Virginia. Richard Bland Lee was the brother of the Revolutionary War Hero "Light Horse" Harry Lee and the uncle of Robert E. Lee. Sully remained in the Lee family until 1838.
I suggest to really learn about the home is take the tour. They take you practically through the house. The lovely lady who gave us a tour was awesome. She knew so much about the family and its history. We enjoyed it so much. A++
House Tours: Guided tours of the main house given on the hour. Open daily from 11am-4pm, closed Tuesdays. Last tour at 4pm. January, February and Holidays when open, last tour is 3:00pm.
Cost: $7/Adult, $6/Student (16+), $5/Senior (age 65 or older ), and $5/You |
Syracuse, N.Y. -- The Onondaga County Health Department is limiting the number of tuberculosis tests it performs because of a national shortage of a solution use to detect the infectious disease.
Dr. Cynthia Morrow, the county's health | Syracuse, N.Y. -- The Onondaga County Health Department is limiting the number of tuberculosis tests it performs because of a national shortage of a solution use to detect the infectious disease.
Dr. Cynthia Morrow, the county's health commissioner, said her department is only testing people considered at high risk of TB because of the shortage of Purified Protein Derivative Solution used to perform TB skin tests.
The department is giving top priority to individuals who are contacts of people with infectious TB, people being evaluated for suspected active TB, individuals at increased risk for TB because of medical conditions and people recently arrived from countries with high numbers of active TB cases.
The Health Department will continue to test individuals who meet the above criteria at the Onondaga County Civic Center, Room 80, from 8:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday.
TB is caused by bacteria that usually attacks the lungs.
The Health Department does about 300 TB tests per month.
As the shortage has worsened, health care providers and agencies in the community that also do testing have been referring patients to the Health Department, Morrow said.
"We don't have the capacity to do everyone," Morrow said.
She said the solution is expected to become more plentiful later this month.
Some employers require TB testing of job applicants.
TB is rare in the general population, but more common in high-risk populations like newly arrived refugees, Morrow said.
It was once the leading cause of death in the United States.
You can contact health writer James T. Mulder at [email protected] or (315) 470-2245. Follow him on Twitter @JamesTMulder |
C43H47N2O6S2Na, Molecular weight 775.
A tricarbocyanine type of dye with infrared absorbing properties; peak absorption
at about 800nm. Has little or no absorption in the visible | C43H47N2O6S2Na, Molecular weight 775.
A tricarbocyanine type of dye with infrared absorbing properties; peak absorption
at about 800nm. Has little or no absorption in the visible. It is used in
infrared photography and in the preparation of Wratten filters. It is also
used as a diagnostic aid for blood volume determination, cardiac output, or
hepatic function. --- Merck Index
Uses of ICG
The classic paper on the spectral absorption properties of ICG
is by Landsman who,
in the introduction of his paper says,
After its introduction by Fox et al. (1957) indocyanine green soon came
into general use for recording dye dilution curves, in particular for
the determination of cardiac output. The principal advantages causing
the rapid acceptance of the dye were the presence of an absorption
maximum near the isobestic point of hemoglobin and oxyhemoglobin
around lambda = 800nm, the confinement to the vascular compartment by
binding to plasma proteins, the very low toxicity, and the rapid
excretion, almost exclusively into the bile.
ICG has been used extensively in laser welding because of its absorption properties
at the laser diode wavelength of 800nm. ICG has somewhat bizarre light absorption behavior
as a function of concentration because it tends to aggegrate in water at high
concentrations. This means that the
effective absorption does not increase linearly with increasing concentration.
Furthermore, ICG tends to degrade with exposure to light. The photodegradation
is mitigated when ICG is bound to albumin, but it still proceeds slowly (days).
The photodegradation is also concentration dependent. For
details see the Landsman paper.
When ICG is added to blood plasma, it is rapidly bound to proteins in the
serum. This also changes its absorption spectrum. To summarize,
ICG absorption depend |
Production and planning clerks keep the flow of work and materials running smoothly. They make sure that orders are processed on time and correctly.
The duties of production and planning clerks are mainly clerical. They review and deliver production schedules and work orders | Production and planning clerks keep the flow of work and materials running smoothly. They make sure that orders are processed on time and correctly.
The duties of production and planning clerks are mainly clerical. They review and deliver production schedules and work orders. They confer with department supervisors to determine the progress of work. Clerks also compile reports on the progress of work and any problems that may have slowed down production.
Depending on the work setting, production and planning clerks may have a variety of other tasks. They may:
- Schedule workers
- Estimate production costs
- Route or deliver parts to departments
- Keep track of the inventory in departments
- Schedule the shipment of parts so that materials are available
- Talk to vendors to make sure that materials are shipped on time |
Walter Forward (1786 - 1852), a judge from Pittsburgh, was an active supporter of President William Henry Harrison and Vice President Tyler in the Presidential campaign of 1840 and was rewarded by Harrison with the appointment as Comptroller | Walter Forward (1786 - 1852), a judge from Pittsburgh, was an active supporter of President William Henry Harrison and Vice President Tyler in the Presidential campaign of 1840 and was rewarded by Harrison with the appointment as Comptroller of Currency in the Treasury Department. Upon Secretary Thomas Ewing's resignation in 1841, Forward was appointed Secretary of the Treasury in President Tyler's reorganized Cabinet.
Sec. Walter Forward
Oil on canvas
65 1/4 x 55 1/2 x 3 3/4"
That year, former Secretary Levi Woodbury's Independent Treasury System of 1840 was repealed and the Government's funds were deposited once more with commercial banks. Soon after Forward took office, he was asked by Millard Fillmore, then chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, to devise a plan to increase the tariff, in response to the serious decrease in revenue caused by the Panic of 1837. He was also asked to develop plans for a Board of Exchequer to receive and disburse Customs revenue, since the Independent Treasury System was no longer in effect. In August 1842 a strongly protective tariff was passed and Secretary Forward resigned that year to practice law.
About the Artist
Originally from Geneva, Ohio, the self-taught portrait artist Fr |
ARTICLES ABOUT POLAR BEARS
THE helicopter bucks and sways. Dr. Malcolm A. Ramsay is riding behind the pilot over the wind-whipped taiga of northern Manitoba. He anchors his left arm in the open window and aims | ARTICLES ABOUT POLAR BEARS
THE helicopter bucks and sways. Dr. Malcolm A. Ramsay is riding behind the pilot over the wind-whipped taiga of northern Manitoba. He anchors his left arm in the open window and aims a rifle at the lumbering yellowish-white shape below. The rifle gives a faint pop and a four-inch long Telazol tranquilizer dart jabs the shoulder of the big, hungry polar bear. Within four minutes it is temporarily immobilized.November 24, 1992, Tuesday
November is polar bear season in Churchill, a town of 800 on the gray and rocky western shores of Hudson Bay. One of the town's busiest men is Laury Brouzes, keeper of the bear jail. "My job is to protect people from bears and bears from people," he said early one recent morning while inspecting traps around the dump where the now ravenous bears, the largest nonaquatic carnivores on earth, prowl.November 23, 1992, Monday
LEAD: Below the small plane the results of the brief Arctic summer could be seen: inlets of clear water covered with broken patches of melting ice that looked like white lace tossed over the bright blue water. The landscape itself was austere and barren, covered with bare stone scoured out of the earth by ancient glaciers.August 19, 1990, Sunday
LEAD: YOU don't have to look far to see polar bears when you camp out with them on the shores of Hudson Bay near Churchill in Manitoba province. Eve |
Nuclear Technology / Volume 152 / Number 1 / October 2005 / Pages 105-117
Technical Paper / Nuclear Reactor Thermal Hydraulics
To ensure fuel integrity, light water reactor cores are designed to avoid the onset | Nuclear Technology / Volume 152 / Number 1 / October 2005 / Pages 105-117
Technical Paper / Nuclear Reactor Thermal Hydraulics
To ensure fuel integrity, light water reactor cores are designed to avoid the onset of boiling transition (BT) inside the fuel assembly that leads to a deterioration of the heat transfer characteristics and subsequent excessive rise of the fuel-cladding temperature in the anticipated operational occurrences (AOOs). However, some boiling water reactors' AOO events result in immediate scram or suppression of the reactor power due to an increase in the reactor coolant void fraction. Recent studies show that a short duration of dryout inside the fuel assembly only leads to a small rise in the fuel-cladding temperature and thus does not pose a threat to fuel integrity. Many tests on BT and an improved comprehension of its mechanism have led to the development of a methodology to appropriately assess the fuel-cladding temperature after BT has been reached. The Standard |
If dragonflies are the insects of Japan’s day, then the mysterious, magical fireflies are its bugs of the night.
About now, firefly grubs will be emerging from rivers around the country. They’ve been living in the mud in | If dragonflies are the insects of Japan’s day, then the mysterious, magical fireflies are its bugs of the night.
About now, firefly grubs will be emerging from rivers around the country. They’ve been living in the mud in larval form for the last year, and are ready to start the final, crucial part of their lives. They will pupate, and in June the chrysalis will split and the adult firefly — actually a beetle, because like all beetles they have a hard wing case while flies don’t — will emerge.
Fireflies have an unmistakable and quite beautiful feature: They generate their own light source through a process known as bioluminescence.
This phenomenon is actually a means of communication between male and female fireflies — but what no one knew until now was that, in Japan, it is the females who call the shots.
In North American species, a male advertises for females by flashing his light on and off. However, in the case of the Asian firefly (Luciola parvula) — the one found in Japan — it is the females who do the advertising.
It would be going too far to draw any parallels with human sexual behavior in North America and Japan, for instance, but it wouldn’t surprise me if someone does: Fireflies cause more buzz, much of it ill-informed, than most insects in Japan.
The two main species here, known as the Genji firefly and the Heike firefly, are named after two clans (aka Minamoto and Taira, respectively) who fought the Battle of Dannoura at sea off the southern tip of Honshu in 1185. The souls of the dead samurai were supposed to have transmuted into fireflies of the two different species. Not a bad place to go, I suppose, and quite samurai-like, as the adults live brief lives of only two weeks or so.
That they are deeply loved in Japan is nicely illustrated in a new study on firefly communication. The first author, Hideo Takatsu, is a member of the Aichi Fireflies Society — indeed, that’s the official affiliation given on the paper. His co-authors, more conventionally, are affiliated with Keio and Shizuoka universities.
Takatsu and colleagues suspected that female Heike fireflies signal to males, and set about building an electronic firefly to test the idea. By mimicking female flashing behavior with their fake firefly, Takatsu’s team showed that females specifically flash to attract males (Journal of Ethology, DOI: 10.1007/s10164-012-0332-2).
In other species of firefly, biologists know that females choose males on the basis of the signals the males send. This sets up opposing evolutionary pressures on the males. Natural selection acts to try to reduce the amount of light the males emit, as predators use the light to locate the insects and eat them. But sexual selection works in the other direction, to increase the light in order to attract more females, have more sex and sire more offspring.
Sexual selection, in this case, turns out to be more powerful, and signaling by phosphorescent light has evolved despite the dangers of predation.
Sexual selection usually acts strongly on males because they have more to gain from mating many times, whereas the benefits to females from multiple sexual partners are less obvious. In the famous example, it’s why male peacocks are colorful and elaborate but the females are drab.
So what’s happening here? For one thing, the study shows the diversity of behavior in these Asian insects. Females seem to be actively encouraging males to approach. They can even mate without the male signaling in response. “Spontaneous female flashes can lead to copulation without male flashes,” Takatsu and colleagues write.
Why would they do that? Could it be that they are more desperate to mate than other species of firefly?
One reason may be food, or more precisely, resources. Fireflies sip dewdrops of water from plants but don’t eat for the short time they are adults, relying on the stores of fat they laid down when they were larvae. (Gruesome aside: The larvae feed on mud snails, biting the snails and injecting digestive juices.)
Additionally, however, males offer some valuable victuals in the form of a nutritious protein capsule that they transfer along with their sperm when they mate. Females can turn the capsule into eggs, and increase their output by doing so.
So females have good reason to want to attract males. It doesn’t take much energy to produce a flash of light — it’s made by a chemical in the abdomen called luciferin which is stored in cells lined with a reflective layer of crystals. And though there |
Feb. 13, 2002 ST. PAUL, MN – Withdrawing from social interaction and communication is a hallmark of autism. Now, researchers have identified structural differences in the brains of autism patients that might explain the behavor.
Using | Feb. 13, 2002 ST. PAUL, MN – Withdrawing from social interaction and communication is a hallmark of autism. Now, researchers have identified structural differences in the brains of autism patients that might explain the behavor.
Using computerized imaging, researchers have observed minicolumnar abnormalities in the frontal and temporal lobes of autistic patients. The study by scientists at the Medical College of Georgia, the University of South Carolina, and the Downtown VA Medical Center in Augusta, Georgia, is reported in the current issue of Neurology, the scientific journal of the American Academy of Neurology.
Autism is a severe and pervasive developmental disturbance of childhood. The disorder is characterized by disturbances in social interactions and communication, as well as stereotyped patterns of interests, activities and behaviors.
A minicolumn is a basic organizational unit of brain cells and connective wiring allowing an individual to take in information, process it, and respond. Thus, any changes in size, shape or location of the minicolumn will have an effect on the processing capacity of the brain. For the study, scientists examined the brain tissue of nine autistic patients and nine controls using five measures: columnar width, peripheral neuropil space, mean interneuronal distance, compactness, and gray level index.
According to study author Manuel F. Casanova, MD, a neurologist and neuropathologist at the Downtown VA Medical Center in Augusta, Georgia, the examinations revealed that the cell minicolumns of autistic patients are significantly smaller, but there are many more of them.
Evolution of the brain has kept minicolumn size essentially constant while increasing total cortical surface area, which in larger brains has resulted in more columns per brain and thus more processing units and increased complexity, Casanova said.
This would be consistent with an existing theory that autistic individuals suffer a chronic state of overarousal, and portray abnormal behaviors to diminish the arousal. The lack of lateral inhibitors, contained in the cortex, would affect an individual's ability to discriminate between competing sensory information, said Casanova. Researchers do not yet know whether the difference in the number and size of the minicolumns is attributable to a gene mutation or some other factor.
The study was funded by grants from the Theodore and Vada Stanley Foundation and the VA Merit Review Board. Families donated the brain tissue used n the study.
The American Academy of Neurology, an association of 18,000 neurologists and neuroscience professionals, is dedicated to improving patient care through education and research. For more information about the American Academy of Neurology, visit its web site at http://www.aan.com.
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The above story is based on materials provided by American Academy Of Neurology.
Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.
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In Cognitive Pragmatics, Bruno Bara offers a theory of human communication that is both formalized through logic and empirically validated through experimental data and clinical studies. Bara argues that communication is a cooperative activity in which two or more agents | In Cognitive Pragmatics, Bruno Bara offers a theory of human communication that is both formalized through logic and empirically validated through experimental data and clinical studies. Bara argues that communication is a cooperative activity in which two or more agents together consciously and intentionally construct the meaning of their interaction. In true communication (which Bara distinguishes from the mere transmission of information), all the actors must share a set of mental states.
Bara takes a cognitive perspective, investigating communication not from the viewpoint of an external observer (as is the practice in linguistics and the philosophy of language) but from within the mind of the individual. Bara examines communicative interaction through the notion of behavior and dialogue games, which structure both the generation and the comprehension of the communication act (either language or gesture). He describes both standard communication and nonstandard communication (which includes deception, irony, and "as-if" statements). Failures are analyzed in detail, with possible solutions explained. Bara investigates communicative competence in both evolutionary and developmental terms, tracing its emergence from hominids to Homo sapiens and defining the stages of its development in humans from birth to adulthood. He correlates his theory with the neurosciences, and explains the decay of communication that occurs both with different types of brain injury and with Alzheimer's disease. Throughout, Bara offers supporting data from the literature and his own research. The innovative theoretical framework outlined by Bara will be of interest not only to cognitive scientists and neuroscientists but also to anthropologists, linguists, and developmental psychologists.
About the Author
Bruno G. Bara is Director of the Center for Cognitive Sciences at the University and Polytechnic of Turin, Italy.
Table of Contents
- Cognitive Pragmatics
- Cognitive Pragmatics
- The Mental Processes of Communication
- Bruno G. Bara
- Translated by John Douthwaite
- A Bradford B |
Northern California Coastal & Inland Valleys
Shorter days mean plants are using less water. Reduce the watering time on automatic irrigation clocks. Check potted plants before watering. The soil should be dry to the touch 1 inch below the surface | Northern California Coastal & Inland Valleys
Shorter days mean plants are using less water. Reduce the watering time on automatic irrigation clocks. Check potted plants before watering. The soil should be dry to the touch 1 inch below the surface prior to watering.
Clean Vegetable Beds
Pull out vegetable crops that have finished for the season. Spent squash, beans, tomatoes, and corn plants can be pulled and tossed into the compost pile now. Rake and clean the beds and amend soil if you will be planting a winter garden. Organic compost will enhance and enrich any soil. Work compost into the top 8 inches of soil and allow the bed to rest under a cover of mulch for a week or so prior to planting.
Protect Row Crops
Place floating row covers over new row crops to protect young plants from hungry birds and insect pests. Mylar flash tape or netting will also work to prevent birds from eating seedlings, however the row covers act like a greenhouse and will get your plants off to a good start.
Cut Back Rangy Fuchsias
My fuchsia is looking really ratty now. Cut back leggy branches almost to the main stems for one more flush of growth before cold weather sets in. No fertilizer please, new growth is susceptible to frost damage.
Let Roses Form Hips
If your roses are still blooming furiously, stop removing the faded flowers and allow them to go to hips. This will signal the plant to go dormant. No more fertilizer please, cut down on water, and keep watch for signs of fungus disease. Remove and destroy any foliage that shows rust, powdery mildew, or black spot. Rake and clean the soil under the plants. |
Año Nuevo State Park
Año Nuevo Trail
3 miles round trip
One of the best new year’s resolutions a walker could make is to plan a winter trip to Año Nuevo State Reserve. Here you’ll be treated to a wildlife | Año Nuevo State Park
Año Nuevo Trail
3 miles round trip
One of the best new year’s resolutions a walker could make is to plan a winter trip to Año Nuevo State Reserve. Here you’ll be treated to a wildlife drama that attracts visitors from all over the world—a close-up look at the largest mainland population of elephant seals.
From December through April, a colony of the huge creatures visits Año Nuevo island and point in order to breed and bear young. To protect the elephant seals (and the humans who hike out to see them), the reserve is open only through naturalist-guided tours during these months.
Slaughtered for their oil-rich blubber, the elephant seal population numbered fewer than 100 by the early 1900s. Placed under government protection, the huge mammals rebounded rapidly from the brink of extinction. Año Nuevo State Reserve was created in 1958 to protect the seals.
Male elephant seals, some reaching lengths of 16 feet and weighing three tons, arrive in December and begin battling for dominance. Only a very small percentage of males actually get to inseminate a female; most remain lifelong bachelors. The females, relatively svelte at 1,200 to 2,000 pounds, come ashore in January and join the harems of the dominant males.
La Punta de Año Nuevo (The Point of the New Year) was named by the Spanish explorer Sebastián Vizcaíno on January 3, 1603. It’s one of the oldest place-names in California.
At the time of its discovery, th |
By Joseph D’Aleo, CCM, AMS Fellow
All the data sources have updated now for June. NOAA GHCN data was a clear outlier. NOAA called this the eighth warmest June on record for the globe in the 129 | By Joseph D’Aleo, CCM, AMS Fellow
All the data sources have updated now for June. NOAA GHCN data was a clear outlier. NOAA called this the eighth warmest June on record for the globe in the 129 years since records began in 1880 with a positive anomaly of 0.5C (0.9F) for the month. The University of Alabama, Huntsville MSU satellite based global assessment reported that this June was the the 9th coldest in the 30 years of satellite record keeping (base period 1979-1998) with a value of -0.11C (-0.19F). The other NASA satellite source, RSS had June as the 13th coldest out of the last 30 years. Hadley came in today with their CRUV3 data update. They also were in disagreement with the satellite data sets with +0.316C, the 10th warmest June. However both the Hadley and MSU do show a downtrend since 2002 of 0.15 to 0.2C with a rather strong negative correlation (r = - 0.44 with Hadley) with CO2 which increased 3.5% over the period.
See larger image here
Recall the CO2 was negatively correlated for almost 4 decades from the 1940s through the 1970s. It was positively correlated from 1900 to 1930s and again 1979 to 1998. This on-again, off-again relationship suggests CO2 is not driving the climate bus but maybe a pas |
Astronomy lets us explore some of the most bizarre places and things that we can imagine, as well as many things that we can’t quite wrap our heads around. Pulsars definitely qualify as bizarre and unintuitive, and only seem more | Astronomy lets us explore some of the most bizarre places and things that we can imagine, as well as many things that we can’t quite wrap our heads around. Pulsars definitely qualify as bizarre and unintuitive, and only seem more so the every time we look.
Astronomers used data from the Fermi Space Telescope to find nine new pulsars that shine with gamma-ray light. Gamma-rays are the highest energy form of light that we know and thus are usually created by very powerful processes.
A pulsar is a neutron star, or a dense core left after a large star explodes as a supernova, that rotates very rapidly with a “hotspot” that blinks in and out of view.
The new pulsars were discovered in pre-existing data using a new, more powerful algorithm to find fainter gamma-ray emitting pulsars than were found in the initial search with Fermi. Since pulsars appear to blink on and off, a blind search for them requires a large computer to test multiple pulse periods for every point on the sky. Add to that the fact that gamma-ray photons are few and far between, and this makes for a painstaking process.
Many pulsars are also studied with radio telescopes, though only one of these new pulsars was shown to emit radio waves.
Even when a given pulsar does show up in both radio and gamma-rays, the signals don’t exactly match up. Thus, it is hypothesized that the different types of radiation can come from different zones around the magnetic pole hotspots on the neutron star.
Another group of astronomers discovered what they are calling a “super-energetic millisecond pulsar” with Fermi, as well.
When a pulsar is born, it usually rotates a few times a second, and slows its spin over hundreds of thousands of years as the magnetic field weakens. When the field is too weak, the pulsar stops emitting, or “dies.”
Occasionally, an old — or dead — pulsar in a binary system with another star can have gas dumped onto it by its companion, which causes to pulsar to “spin up” to a few hundred times a second, thus becoming a millisecond pulsar. In a way, the dead pulsar is “reanimated,” hence the shameless zombie reference.
Millisecond pulsars are often found in globular clusters which have some of the oldest star populations in the galaxy. This pulsar, affectionately called J1823-3021A, is the first millisecond pulsar to be seen giving off gamma-rays as well as radio light.
This indicates that the magnetic field for this pulsar is much higher than expected by our hypothesis for how millisecond pulsars are born. Once again, these enigmatic objects are even more mysterious every time we look.
Image: Still from a simulation of a pulsar showing he magentic fields and light from the hotspots. Credit: NASA
These results will be published in the Astronomical Journal and Science Express. If you don’t mind a little math, a great introduction to pulsars can be found here as part of a radio astronomy course designed by Condon and Ransom. |
What is biotechnology?
Biotechnology, or 'biotech', refers to the use of living organisms as a scientific tool to make a product or solve problems. Humans have been using biotechnology for centuries in activities ranging from plant and animal breeding through | What is biotechnology?
Biotechnology, or 'biotech', refers to the use of living organisms as a scientific tool to make a product or solve problems. Humans have been using biotechnology for centuries in activities ranging from plant and animal breeding through to brewing and baking.
Biotechnology includes genomics (DNA sequencing and gene discovery), functional genomics (understanding gene function and interactions), marker assisted selection (discovery of natural DNA markers to select more efficient plants and animals) and genetic modification or genetic engineering.
NSW biotechnology industry
NSW is a world research leader in biotechnology and medical technologies, as well as smart technologies – from next generation communications, quantum computing and advanced robotics to solar energy.
The State is home to 78 per cent of multinational pharmaceutical companies in Australia and 27 per cent of core biotech companies.
In 2009-10, $2.5 billion of medical equipment, pharmaceuticals and medicinal products were exported from NSW alone.
The biotechnology sector in NSW is underpinned by the State's world class research institutions which foster excellence and drive innovation to achieve health, environmental and economic outcomes.
The State is home to a number of research institutions at NSW Universities, Australian Research Council Centres of Excellence, Cooperative Research Centres and many others.
Australian and international companies, organisations and investors can access a range of confidential services through NSW Trade & Investment, including information about investment and partnership opportunities in the life sciences, biotechnology and biomedical sectors, and other sectors in NSW such as agribusiness, financial services, ICT, mineral resources and infrastructure.
Directory of NSW biotechnology companies
A directory of NSW biotechnology companies and research organisations is at www.ausbiotech.org/directory.
Talk to an expert
Office of Science and ResearchPhone: +61 (2) 9338 6787
or send an email to:Email:science.research@business [email protected] |
World grain and oilseed production has trended higher over the past twenty years, with oilseeds growing at an annual rate of 3.2 percent and grains at 1.1 percent.
Large production the last couple of years has led | World grain and oilseed production has trended higher over the past twenty years, with oilseeds growing at an annual rate of 3.2 percent and grains at 1.1 percent.
Large production the last couple of years has led to low international prices, while world harvested area of both grains and oilseeds declined in 2000/01. Higher average yield is forecast to boost world oilseed production to a new record. Total grain (wheat, coarse grains, and milled rice) production for 2000/01 is estimated at 1836.6 million tons, down 28.0 million or 2 percent from the previous year. Production of the seven major oilseeds (soybeans, rapeseed, cottonseed, peanuts, sunflowerseeds, copra, and palm kernel) is estimated at a record 302.5 million tons, up 2.4 million or 1 percent from 1999/2000.
Table of Contents:[images/pecad_timefooter.html] |
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
- n. A ring-shaped organic compound consisting of an oxygen atom bonded to two other atoms, usually of carbon, that are already bonded to each other.
- n | from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
- n. A ring-shaped organic compound consisting of an oxygen atom bonded to two other atoms, usually of carbon, that are already bonded to each other.
- n. A compound containing such a structure.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
- n. Any of a class of organic compound, cyclic ethers, having a three-membered ring; they are prepared by the selective oxidation of alkenes or by ring-closure of halohydrins; used to make plastics.
Sorry, no etymologies found. |
W49B, a distorted supernova remnant, may contain one of the youngest black holes in the Milky Way galaxy. This composite image shows X-rays from Chandra in blue and green, radio data from the NSF's VLA in pink | W49B, a distorted supernova remnant, may contain one of the youngest black holes in the Milky Way galaxy. This composite image shows X-rays from Chandra in blue and green, radio data from the NSF's VLA in pink, and infrared data from Caltech's Palomar Observatory in yellow.
July 30, 2013 2:31 PM PDT
Photo by: NASA/CXC/MIT/L.Lopez et al. and Palomar and NSF/NRAO/VLA |
Canada's milk policy costs consumers $2.5 billion
per year and is focused on helping political parties gain or
retain office rather than on the needs of consumers, according a
new electronic publication
The Politics of Milk in Canada
released | Canada's milk policy costs consumers $2.5 billion
per year and is focused on helping political parties gain or
retain office rather than on the needs of consumers, according a
new electronic publication
The Politics of Milk in Canada
released today by The Fraser Institute.
This new study shows that through a combination of a
government-mandated cartel for milk and tight constraints on
imports of milk and the products made from it, Canadian milk
producers have persuaded federal and provincial governments to
create policies that forcibly transfer about $2.47 billion per
year (in 2000) from Canadian consumers to them.
This constitutes an average income transfer of about $120,000 per
"Canada's milk policy is another example of the triumph of the
well-organized few over large numbers of people by using the
power of government," says William Stanbury, Professor Emeritus,
University of British Columbia and the study's author. "It is in
the best interest of politicians to create policies that benefit
vocal groups like milk producers because it increases their
chances of election or re-election."
Stanbury shows that as a result of these political pressures,
Canada's dairy policy has become increasingly counterproductive:
industrial milk prices have risen faster than the overall rate of
inflation, produced rising prices for milk quotas, (the right to
sell a certain volume of milk to a provincial milk board each
day) and required massive efforts by the federal government in
international trade negotiations to limit changes that would open
up the market and reduce quota values.
"Canada's dairy policy is an example of a policy that may be
'bad' in economic terms but is quite successful in political
terms and so is very difficult to change," notes Stanbury.
He argues that a political leader who seizes this issue and is
able to gain sufficient political support to get into power and
dismantle the system is necessary to bring about major reform.
Stanbury points out that the increased burden of the failed milk
policy may eventually provoke a strong reaction from Canadian
consumers and taxpayers. In the first half o |
Sep. 12, 2012 In a study that analyzed relationships between air quality and unemployment levels, a Tufts University researcher has developed a new statistical model that retrospectively estimates air pollution exposure for previous time periods where such information is not available | Sep. 12, 2012 In a study that analyzed relationships between air quality and unemployment levels, a Tufts University researcher has developed a new statistical model that retrospectively estimates air pollution exposure for previous time periods where such information is not available.
Mary Davis, an associate professor of urban and environmental policy and planning at Tufts University School of Arts and Sciences, analyzed traffic-related air pollution levels and unemployment rates in four separate regions of California for which extensive air monitoring data was available: San Francisco Bay, Sacramento Valley, San Joaquin Valley, and the south-central coast between 1980 and 2000.
Davis focused on predicting trends in pollutants that are emitted by engines and known to negatively impact human health -- haze, carbon monoxide, and nitrogen dioxide. She integrated into her model other variables such as weather, population density, unemployment levels, and environmental regulations. Air pollution data came from the California Air Resources Board.
The unemployment data was provided by the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics. It showed broad shifts in overall unemployment with highs in the early 1980s and 1990s. Unemployment levels for the trucking industry, which were tracked separately, matched the overall trend.
Davis's analysis revealed a pattern. During the highest periods of unemployment -- early 1980s and early 1990s -- concentrations of the three pollutants decreased in small but discernible amounts for every one percent increase in unemployment. The reason for the decrease, she says, was due to slowdowns in commercial trucking and car trips to work, shopping malls, or recreational destinations.
Importantly, Davis says the model allows epidemiologists to look backwards in time to predict public exposure to pollution in a geographical area. This data would ultimately help researchers discern public health trends.
"We can retrospectively estimate exposure levels for previous periods where direct data is lacking," says Davis, author of the paper titled "Recessions and Health: The Impact of Economic Trends on Air Pollution in California," which will be published in the October issue of the journal "American Journal of Public Health" (available online on August 16). "Without an accurate and historically relevant exposure model it is difficult to obtain estimates of lifetime human exposure which is critical in studies of chronic disease," she adds.
As an example of how the model could be used, Davis applied her formula to the years between 2006 and 2010 -- when unemployment rose from 4.9 percent to 12.4 percent in California. According to the model, there would have been a 16.8 percent |
& Tornado Alley
Having a Levy-Stable Distribution
Simulations of stochastic phenomena often use random variables with a normal distribution. The Central Limit Theorem seemingly provides a justification for such a practice. But the sum of a large number of independently | & Tornado Alley
Having a Levy-Stable Distribution
Simulations of stochastic phenomena often use random variables with a normal distribution. The Central Limit Theorem seemingly provides a justification for such a practice. But the sum of a large number of independently random variables does not always approach a normal distribution. The more general version of the Central Limit Theorem says that the limit will a stable distribution. The family of stable distribution includes the normal distribution as a special case. The more general family, identified by the French mathematician Paul Lévy, is characterized by four parameters.
For a normal distribution α=2, β=0, ν is equal to the standard deviation and δ is equal to the mean.
Three mathematical statisticians at Bell Laboratories in New Jersey developed an efficient algorithm for generating random variables with stable distributions with specified values for the above parameters. There names are J.M. Chambers, C.L. Mallows and B.W. Stuck. The algorithm will be referred to later as the CMS algorithm. It operates by taking two random variables which are uniformly distributed on the interval [0, 1] and combines them into a single variable which has the desired distribution.
The CMS takes as input the values of alpha and beta and generates a variable with μ (mean) zero and ν (dispersion) equal to unity. The output of the algorithm can be multiplied by any desired value of the dispersion parameter ν and an amount μ added to that result to give a random variable with the mean and dispersion.
The variable s has the desired distribution.
In the displays below samples of 2000 are generated using the CMS algorithm and the histogram compiled. Each time the refresh button is clicked new samples of 2000 are generated. The values that are beyond the lower and upper limits are tabulated at those limits.
First there is the normal distribution.
In this case the horizontal axis in terms of standard deviation units. Note the nearly complete absence of any values beyond four.
Note how much the distribution looks like that of a normal distribution except for the fact that there are many cases beyond four and even beyond eight.
This distribution is skewed to the left. Note the much higher frequency of the extreme cases of values of minus eight or beyond.
HOME PAGE OF Thayer Watkins |
Resource Map 23: Satellite Image of New Mexico
This spectacular composite LANDSAT image of New Mexico uses green for the infrared band making a more natural looking false-color image.
Residents of New Mexico will recognize many of the state's unique landforms | Resource Map 23: Satellite Image of New Mexico
This spectacular composite LANDSAT image of New Mexico uses green for the infrared band making a more natural looking false-color image.
Residents of New Mexico will recognize many of the state's unique landforms: the fertile valleys of the Rio Grande and Pecos River, Mount Taylor, Valle Grande, Elephant Butte Resrvior, White Sands, and the young lava flows near Grants and Carrizozo. For visitors, these and many more less distinctive features are labeled.
This map is a fine companion to the Geologic Map of New Mexico which uses the same scale and projection.
Satellite Image of New Mexico 2000, 47" x 54", scale 1:500,000 |
Results 1–4 of 4 for "Psychology Topic"X related to "Telecommuting Has Mostly Positive..." Refine Your Search Refine Your Search TopicTeens (2)Children (1)Kids & the media (1 | Results 1–4 of 4 for "Psychology Topic"X related to "Telecommuting Has Mostly Positive..." Refine Your Search Refine Your Search TopicTeens (2)Children (1)Kids & the media (1)Money (1)Parenting (1) 2 more... [+] Safety & design (1)Workplace issues (1)Hide detailsDocument TypePsychology TopicXYear2010 (1) Results 1–4 of 4 Relevance Title A-Z Title Z-A Newest First Oldest First Sort by: 1.Kids & the MediaEven very young children in our society get a big daily dose of television, video games and music lyrics. While such media can provide education and entertainment, they can also result in aggressive attitudes and violent behavior.Psychology Topic 2.Workplace IssuesWork defines people in the most basic way, which is one reason retirement is so difficult for many people. Other issues |
How does biodiversity relate to the UNCCD mandate?
Land degradation jeopardizes biodiversity. Desertification affects the global loss of biodiversity-- an estimated 27,000 species are lost each year.
Parties from both the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD | How does biodiversity relate to the UNCCD mandate?
Land degradation jeopardizes biodiversity. Desertification affects the global loss of biodiversity-- an estimated 27,000 species are lost each year.
Parties from both the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) and the UNCCD have repeatedly recognized the need for enhanced collaboration between the two secretariats. Parties expect increased efforts and synergies, starting at the national level, to support implementation of the new Strategic Plan for Biodiversity 2011-2020 and the 10-year Strategic Plan and Framework for the UNCCD 2008-2018, through a joint work plan for implementation and in collaboration with other relevant partners.
For further reading: |
Feet aren't the prettiest, or the sweetest-smelling parts of the human anatomy. Suffocated inside shoes and socks all day, feet become sweaty, stinky, and the perfect vehicles for all sorts of tiny germs | Feet aren't the prettiest, or the sweetest-smelling parts of the human anatomy. Suffocated inside shoes and socks all day, feet become sweaty, stinky, and the perfect vehicles for all sorts of tiny germs. Some of those germs lie in wait on the floors of locker rooms and pool changing areas. When they invade susceptible feet, they can cause a red, itchy condition called athlete's foot.
If you think athlete's foot is only for athletes, or that it just afflicts men, read on to learn why these and other ideas about athlete's foot are just myths.
Myth 1: Only athletes can get athlete's foot
You could argue that athlete's foot is one small payback for pro athletes' seven-figure salaries and luxury lifestyles. Only, you don't need to be a professional athlete -- or even an athlete at all -- to get this foot infection. Athlete's foot got its name because the fungus that causes it likes to hang out in places athletes frequent, like showers and locker rooms. Yet anyone who's exposed to that fungus can get infected -- including women.
Myth 2: Athlete's foot isn't the same as jock itch
Actually, athlete's foot and jock itch are caused by the same fungus (called tinea), which leaves scaly patches on the skin. The conditions are named by the part of the body where they occur. On the feet, tinea infection is called athlete's foot. In the groin area, it's called jock itch.
Myth 3: Showering regularly can prevent athlete's foot
Showering is actually one of the ways you can get athlete's foot. Step into a locker room or pool shower with bare feet and you can pick up the condition. Showering alone won't clear up the fungus that causes athlete's foot -- no matter how carefully you wash between your toes. But keeping your feet clean and dry can help prevent this fungus from returning.
Myth 4: Only people with poor hygiene get athlete's foot
Athlete's foot has nothing to do with cleanliness. Even if you wash your fe |
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