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Comparing Viruses -- HIV and Hepatitis C in Mostly Men
In high-income countries today, HIV is most commonly transmitted in the following ways:
Hepatitis C virus (HCV) is also transmitted in similar ways, particularly among HIV | Comparing Viruses -- HIV and Hepatitis C in Mostly Men
In high-income countries today, HIV is most commonly transmitted in the following ways:
Hepatitis C virus (HCV) is also transmitted in similar ways, particularly among HIV positive men. Co-infection with both of these viruses can affect the immune system and liver. Researchers have wondered what impact co-infection might have on the kidneys. To find out more about this issue, doctors in France conducted a study. Their findings suggest that HCV co-infection can make kidney health worse.
In the span of nine years 100 people underwent a kidney biopsy because of various complaints at the Pitie-Salpetriere Hospital in Paris. Researchers there reviewed the health records of these people and were able to perform an analysis of their kidney health based on their viral infection history.
The average profile of participants when they first sought medical care was as follows:
Participants were divided into the following three groups:
Biopsies of the kidneys revealed that some participants had kidney inflammation, particularly the parts of the kidney that filter blood. Inflammation of this part of the kidney is called MPGN (membranorproliferative glomerulonephritis).
MPGN can occur because antibodies get deposited in the membranes of the filtering units of the kidney -- the glomerulus. These membranes help to filter wastes out of the blood into the urine. MPGN can happen in some cases of chronic viral infections. The proportion of people with MPGN in each of the three groups was as follows:
Biopsies revealed that the blood vessels in the kidneys of some of the people with HIV monoinfection were prematurely stiffened, suggesting cardiovascular disease.
When the kidneys are severely injured, wastes can build up in the body. To help remove waste materials artificial filtration of the blood can be done. This is called dialysis. Only a small number of people needed this procedure, as follows:
Not all people co-infected with HCV and HIV received treatment for these infections in the French study. However, those co-infected people who were treated had their kidney health improve.
Twenty-one people in this study subsequently died, most of whom had either HCV or HCV and HIV. Participants who had MPGN and HCV infection were at heightened risk of death. Other factors that played a role in contributing to the death of HCV-HIV co-infected people were as follows:
Medicines called ACE-inhibitors (angiotensinconverting enzyme) are used to reduce blood pressure and were commonly prescribed to participants along with lipid-lowering medications called statins. Neither group of drugs seemed to have any negative impact on participants' survival.
The factors statistically linked to death (in general) in this study were as follows:
This latter problem occurs when the kidneys are not able to flush water out of the body.
The findings from this study highlight the kidneydamaging potential of HCV infection and the need to help HCV positive people engage in and access the care that they need. The French study was done with a group made up mostly of males. Our next report focuses on co-infected women and the impact HCV might have on their kidney health.
Want to read more articles in the July/August 2009 issue of Treatment Update? Click here.
This article was provided by Canadian AIDS Treatment Information Exchange. It is a part of the publication Treatment Update. Visit CATIE's Web site to find out more about their activities, publications and services. |
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Complete the puzzle.
A type of material that tries to prevent the flow of thermal energy.
The transfer of thermal energy by direct contact between objects.
Sound waves travel through ____, but cannot travel through empty space.
Light and sound energy travels in the form of ____.
Heated air that is lighter than the surrounding air will ____.
____ waves can travel through empty space.
The movement of thermal energy through liquids and gases.
The complete path where an electrical current flows.
Conduction, convection, and radiation are three forms of ____ transfer.
Light waves travel ____ than sound waves.
Thermal energy that travels in waves and can pass through empty space as well as some objects.
Sound energy is formed from particles that are ____.
Sound waves travel ____ than light waves. |
As our cats age, they go through a lot of significant physical changes. Their nutritional requirements change as well. The lack of knowledge in the area of animal physiology has led many pet owners to unknowingly overfeed their aging pets, which has led | As our cats age, they go through a lot of significant physical changes. Their nutritional requirements change as well. The lack of knowledge in the area of animal physiology has led many pet owners to unknowingly overfeed their aging pets, which has led to a growing population of overweight and obese pets and the illnesses that accompany these conditions.
The way the body uses energy changes, along with the amount of substance needed to produce energy. This process, known as metabolism, tends to slow down so that the need for fat and calories decreases. Cats can generally be maintained on the same level of calories into their later years, but still must be observed for weight changes and their diet adjusted accordingly.
The Health and Disease Link
Older cats are already at an increased risk for developing kidney and heart disease, diabetes, arthritis, and various forms of cancer. The immune system also weakens with age, leaving older cats at a higher risk for infection and slowed healing times. For some, there is a genetic breed link that predisposes them to disease. To combat, or to at least mitigate the effects of these conditions, there are diets that have been specially formulated for the special needs of cats.
For example, older cats with kidney disease are fed highly digestible proteins, and those with heart disease are fed diets that are lower in sodium content. Cats that have developed problems with brain function may benefit from the addition of certain antioxidants to their daily diets; and cancer patients often benefit from the addition of omega-3 fatty acids, along with additional antioxidants in their diets.
Depending on your cat’s health status, immediate dietary changes may be necessary to halt the progression of a disease that has come about. Even when the disease cannot be resolved entirely, diet changes can often reduce the more severe effects of the disease. Foods that are made with highly digestible sources of fats and proteins can make a significant difference, as they are more readily absorbed, placing less stress on the digestive system and allowing for the body to balance its energy reserves more efficiently.
Maintaining the strength of the aging immune system is also a priority, and this can be done with the addition of antioxidants and omega-3 fatty acids in the diet -- both of which are known to boost immunity and improve the body's ability to heal itself.
Even if your cat is not suffering from a diseased condition, changes such as these are a practical disease deterrent. Consult your veterinarian so that you are tailoring your cat’s diet to his or her specific physical needs.
Checkups Are Important At All Ages
Because you want to maintain your cat’s health, it is important to remember that veterinary checkups are still as important as when your cat was a small and inexperienced risk taker. Monitoring your cat's organ functions will allow your veterinarian to determine if a special diet is necessary or if you can just stick to a modified health maintenance and strengthening diet for aging cats. But aside from diet, the yearly checkup can catch the first symptoms of an impending disease before it has become apparent to you, saving money and heartache over the long term.
Image source: Stevie-B / via Flickr
The study of the functions of the body
The group of processes that involve the use of nutrients by the body
A medical condition in which the joints become inflamed and causes a great deal of pain. |
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MA1 Large-Scale Investigations of Contaminated Sediments
() The condition of the estuarine sediments of the United States: National Coastal Assessment.
Summers, J.1, | |HOME SCHEDULE AUTHOR INDEX SUBJECT INDEX|
MA1 Large-Scale Investigations of Contaminated Sediments
() The condition of the estuarine sediments of the United States: National Coastal Assessment.
Summers, J.1, 1 US EPA, ORD/NHEERL/GED, Gulf Breeze, FL, USA
ABSTRACT- The purpose of the EPA National Coastal Assessment (NCA) program is to estimate the status and trends of the condition of the coastal resources of the United States on state, regional and national scales. During 1999-2003, 100% of the nation's estuarine waters were representatively sampled at over 4500 locations using indicators and indices which describe the condition or health of the benthic and fish communities, water quality, sediment and tissue contamination, sediment toxicity, and SAV. Data from the NCA survey were used to assess sediment quality using an index based on bulk sediment chemistry, sediment toxicity using the 10-day Ampelisca test, and sediment total organic carbon (TOC). The estuarine sediments of the United States were rated fair to poor with 13% of sediments receiving a poor rating for one of these sediment quality components. The largest proportional areas of estuarine sediment in poor condition occurred in Puerto Rico (61%), the Northeast (16%) and the West Coast (14%). Sediment toxicity was characterized by statistically significant Ampelisca mortalities in 6% of the estuarine sediments of the US; 7% showed exceedances of sediment contaminant guidance values; and, 3% displayed high TOC content greater than 5%. Using a set of benthic indices and measures developed by the NCA program, 18% of estuarine sediments did not support the expected abundances and types of benthic organisms. Seventy-one percent of sediments, characterized by poor benthic communities, co-occurred with poor sediment quality.
Key words: contaminants, NCA, sediment, monitoring
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The tailings pond at the Syncrude mine north of Fort McMurray, Alberta, Canada.
The tailings pond at the Syncrude mine north of Fort McMurray, Alberta, Canada. Tailings ponds in the tar sands are un | The tailings pond at the Syncrude mine north of Fort McMurray, Alberta, Canada.
The tailings pond at the Syncrude mine north of Fort McMurray, Alberta, Canada. Tailings ponds in the tar sands are unlined and leach toxic chemicals into the surrounding environment. In addition, thousands of birds a year are killed when they land on the oil covered waste water lakes. The tar sands are the largest industrial project on the planet, and the world's most environmentally destructive. The synthetic oil produced from them is 3 times more carbon intensive than conventional oil supplie
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|Grand Marais Light||Seeing The Light|
While the fur trade declined, lumber camps began to spring up along Superior's south shore, and Grand Marais soon found itself in the center of a lumbering boom, with stacks of lumber on | |Grand Marais Light||Seeing The Light|
While the fur trade declined, lumber camps began to spring up along Superior's south shore, and Grand Marais soon found itself in the center of a lumbering boom, with stacks of lumber on its docks awaiting the arrival of vessels to carry the forest's bounty to the southern lakes.
With the associated increase in maritime traffic through the late 1870's, the absence of a safe haven for mariners coasting the treacherous waters between Whitefish Bay and Grand Island became a matter of grave concern to maritime interests. Deducing that the natural harbor could be modified to serve as an excellent harbor of refuge, the Army Corps of Engineers embarked on an ambitious harbor improvement project at Grand Marais in 1881. Work continued over the following ten years, with the construction of a 5,770-foot timber pile breakwater stretching across the bay from Lonesome Point to a dredged channel at the western shore. Two protective piers were constructed on each side of the channel, and the protected harbor area dredged to a depth of 40 feet, allowing access to the protection of the harbor by the largest vessels of the day.
As the forests close to the shore were lumbered-out, operations moved west where timber could still be harvested easily, and the Grand Marais mill ceased operations in 1884. With the closing of the mill, the town's population decreased dramatically, and turned to fishing to support itself, with Grand Marais eventually becoming one of Superior's leading bluefin fisheries.
With the Corps of Engineers work on the harbor of refuge nearing completion in 1892, the Light-House Board determined that inbound navigation would be improved significantly with the erection of a light and fog bell on the west pierhead. To this end, the Board's annual report to Congress of that year included a request for an appropriation of $15,000 for such a light.
The Manistique Railroad was completed to Grand Marais in 1893, and with the resultant conduit for transporting lumber from the virgin forests of interior, the town experienced another period of rapid growth. The old mill was reactivated, enlarged and outfitted with the latest equipment, and the harbor was once again filled with lumber hookers, their decks stacked perilously high to transport the lumber to feed the insatiable appetite of the rapidly growing industrialized cities to the south.
The wheels of the government machine turned typically slowly, and the Congress was not forthcoming with the requested appropriation for a pierhead light until March 2, 1895. However, the Board reacted quickly to the appropriation, with plans and specifications for a skeleton iron tower and elevated walk drawn-up, and the awarding of contracts for fabrication of the tower's components. The original estimate of cost included funds for the purchase of a new fog-bell and striking mechanism, however with the upgrading of the fog signal at Point Iroquois from a bell to a steam-whistle being undertaken that same year, the old Iroquois bell and mechanism was shipped to Grand Marais for use in the new tower.
Construction on the pierhead began that same summer with the bolting of the tower's framework to the pier, and upon completion in November, the new white painted tower stood thirty-four feet tall, its octagonal iron lantern housing a sixth-order fixed white Fresnel lens. Samuel Rodgers was transferred-in as the station's first keeper, and he exhibited the light for the first time on the night of December 10. Since no dwelling had been constructed to accompany the station, Rodgers found himself forced to construct a temporary shanty on Corps of Engineers property at the inner end of the west pier.
Perhaps as a result of the cost savings resulting from the use of the old fog-bell machinery, or perhaps due to the oversight of not building a keeper's dwelling, the project was brought-in significantly under budget. Realizing that a second light to form a rear range for the pierhead light would further improve navigation into the harbor, the Lighthouse Board requested that the unexpended portion of the appropriation be applied to the construction of a rear range light to be located at the inner end of the west pier.
Congress approved the redirection of the balance on June 4, 1897, and District Engineer Majo |
Enter a grandparent's name to get started.
Interviewer: Edwin Driskell
Person Interviewed: Henry Bland
Henry Bland is one of the few living ex-slaves who was born on a plantation near Edenton, Ga | Enter a grandparent's name to get started.
Interviewer: Edwin Driskell
Person Interviewed: Henry Bland
Henry Bland is one of the few living ex-slaves who was born on a plantation near Edenton, Ga., in 1851. His parents were Martha and Sam Coxton. In this family group were three other children, two girls and one boy, who was the oldest. When questioned regarding the birthplace and the movements of his parents, Mr. Bland stated that his father was born in Hancock County, Ga. His mother along with her mother was brought to Georgia by the speculator with a drove of other slaves. The first thing that he remembers of his parents is when he was quite small and was allowed to remain in the Master’s kitchen in the “big house” where his mother was cook.
Mr. Coxton, who was the owner of Mr. Bland and his family, was described as being very rich and influential man in the community where he lived. Says Mr. Bland, “His only fault was that of drinking too much of the whisky that he distilled on the plantation.” Unlike some of the other slave owners in that section, Mr. Coxton was very kind to his slaves. His plantation was a large one and on it was raised cotton, corn, cane[TR:?], vegetables, and live stock. More cotton was grown than anything else.
From the time he was 1 year and 6 months of age until he was 9 years old he lived in the “big house” with his mother. At night he slept on the floor there. In spite of this, his and his mother’s treatment was considerably better than that received by those slaves who worked in the fields. While their food consisted of the same things as did that of the field slaves, sometimes choice morsels came back to the kitchen from the Master’s table. He says that his mother’s clothes were of better quality than the other slave women (those who were not employed in the house).
As a child his first job was to cut wood for the stove, pick up chips, and to drive the cows to and from the pasture. When 9 years old he was sent to the field as a plow boy. Here he worked with a large number of other slaves (he does not know the exact number) who were divided into two groups, the plow group and the hoe group. His father happened to be the foreman of the hoe gang. His brothers and sisters also worked here in the fields being required to hoe as well as plow. When picking time came, everyone was required to pick. The usual amount of cotton each person was required to pick was 200 lbs. per day. However, when this amount was not picked by some they were not punished by the overseer, as was the case on neighboring plantations, because Mr. Coxton realized that some could do more work than others. Mr. Coxton often told his overseer that he had not been hired to whip the slaves, but to teach them how to work.
Says Mr. Bland: “Our working hours were the same as on any other plantation. We had to get up every morning before sun-up and when it was good and light we were in the field. A bugle was blown to wake us.” All the slaves stayed in the field until dark. After leaving the field they were never required to do any work but could spend their time as they saw fit to. No work was required on Saturday or Sunday with the exception that the stock had to be cared for. Besides those days when no work was required, there was the 4th of July and Christmas on which the slaves were permitted to do as they pleased. These two latter dates were usually spent in true holiday spirit as the master usually gave a big feast in the form of a barbecue and allowed them to invite their friends.
When darkness came they sang and danced and this was what they called a “frolic.” As a general rule this same thing was permitted after the crops had been gathered. Music for these occasions was furnished by violin, banjo and a clapping of hands. Mr. Bland says that he used to help furnish this music as Mr. Coxton had bought him a violin.
On the Coxton plantation all slaves always had a sufficient amount of clothing. These clothes which were issued when needed and not at any certain time included articles for Sunday wear as well as articles for work. Those servants who worked in the “big house” wore practically the same clothes as the master and his wife with the possible exception that it met the qualification of being second-handed. An issue of work clothing included a heavy pair of work shoes called brogans, homespun shirts and a pair of jeans pants. A pair of knitted socks was also included The women wore homespun dresses for their working clothes. For Sunday wear the men were given white cotton shirts and the women white cotton dresses. All clothing was made on the plantation by those women who were too old for field work.
In the same manner that clothing was sufficient, so was food plentiful. At the end of each week each family was given 4 lbs. of mea |
This was printed in the Boulder Daily Camera on Saturday, January 14, 2012.
The Boulder City Council’s website touts a “Climate Action Plan” as one of its primary goals. “The current goal is equivalent to the Kyoto | This was printed in the Boulder Daily Camera on Saturday, January 14, 2012.
The Boulder City Council’s website touts a “Climate Action Plan” as one of its primary goals. “The current goal is equivalent to the Kyoto Protocol target – to reduce emissions to a level seven percent below 1990 levels by 2012,” it says. With the city’s carbon tax set to end early next year, it’s worth asking: Is reducing carbon dioxide emissions the best way to respond to global warming?
Reviewing analysis by retired NCAR Senior Scientist Tom Wigley, Boulder’s University Corporation for Atmospheric Research (UCAR) states that even if the “industrialized and nearly industrialized countries called upon to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the protocol … continued to abide by Kyoto’s limits” through 2100, global average temperatures would be at most 0.38 degrees Fahrenheit less than midpoint warming projections. Put in perspective, global temperatures decreased by this amount between 1900 and 1910, according to NASA.
Given this tiny effect, I’m not surprised that expert climate economists commissioned by the Copenhagen Consensus Center ranked emission reductions last among cost-effective responses to climate change. More efficient methods, listed at FixTheClimate.com, include adaptation, climate engineering, and carbon storage technologies.
With or without global warming, people — especially those in developing nations –face threats from extreme temperature, coastal flooding, hurricanes, malaria, poverty, starvation, and water stress. While global warming may increase these risks, scholars including Indur Goklany and Bjorn Lomborg convincingly argue that directly reducing these threats and promoting prosperity save more lives at lower cost than attempts involving emissions reductions. |
The use of upset as a noun in sports writing to indicate an unexpected result in a contest dates to the late 19th century. It was a fairly common term dating back to 1877. From the New York Times of 17 July | The use of upset as a noun in sports writing to indicate an unexpected result in a contest dates to the late 19th century. It was a fairly common term dating back to 1877. From the New York Times of 17 July of that year:
The programme for to-day at Monmouth Park indicates a victory for the favorite in each of the four events, but racing is so uncertain that there may be a startling upset.
It is commonly claimed, however, that this use of upset as a noun stems from a classic 1919 horse race that pitted Man o’ War, probably the greatest race horse of all time, against an unlikely opponent named Upset.
Duri |
A new study has found that listening to mainstream rock music from artists such as Bruce Springsteen and the White Stripes made white students more apt to look out for the interests of other whites rather those of blacks and Latinos.
SEE ALSO: China’s | A new study has found that listening to mainstream rock music from artists such as Bruce Springsteen and the White Stripes made white students more apt to look out for the interests of other whites rather those of blacks and Latinos.
SEE ALSO: China’s Female Tycoons
However, white students who listened to Top 40 pop acts like Gwen Stefani or Akon were more likely to be fairer to other ethnic groups, according to a Daily Mail article about the study published in the Journal of Broadcasting and Electronic Media‘s March 2012 issue.
Researchers tested nearly 150 students by having them listen to different genres then asking them questions on how funds should be distributed in college between a range of ethnic-based groups.
The findings showed that because rock is associated with white people, white listeners unconsciously favored their own race after listening. During the study, the students recommended that money be doled out mostly to other white students. When they listened to more pop songs from artists like Fergie, the students divided money more equitably between whites, blacks and Latinos.
Heather LaMarre, an assistant professor of journalism and mass communication at the University of Minnestoa, explained the results.
“Rock music is generally associated with white Americans, so we believe it cues white listeners to think about their positive association with their own in-group. That was enough for them to show more support for a student group representing mostly whites.”
Associate professor Silvia Knobloch-Westerwick, who also worked on the study, explained further:
“Music has a lot of power to influence our thoughts and actions, more than we often recognize. It has the power to reinforce our positive biases toward our own group, and sometimes negative biases toward others.”
Read more here.
Do you agree with the study’s findings? Does listening to rock music make whites racist? Let us |
Remembering the Destruction of Zion
By John J. Parsons
Hebrew for Christians Ministries
- “He who does not mourn over the Destruction of Zion
will not live to see her joy."
Tish’ah B'Av ( | Remembering the Destruction of Zion
By John J. Parsons
Hebrew for Christians Ministries
- “He who does not mourn over the Destruction of Zion
will not live to see her joy."
Tish’ah B'Av (the Ninth of Av) is a tzom (fast) day of mourning to remember the many tragedies that have befallen the Jewish people over the centuries, some of which coincidentally(?) have occurred on the Ninth day of the month of Av. In particular, the following tragedies are all said to have occurred on this day:
1. The LORD decreed that the original generation rescued from Egypt would die out in the desert and be deprived from entering the Promised Land because of the sin of the Spies (Num. 13)
2. The destruction of the First Temple (Babylonians, 586 B.C.E.)
3. The destruction of the Second Temple (Romans, 70 C.E.)
4. The expulsion of the Jews from England in 1290
5. The expulsion of the Jews from Spain in 1492
Tish’ah B'Av is the low point of a three week period of mourning, starting with the fast of the 17th of Tammuz (undertaken to recall the first breach in the walls of Jerusalem by the Babylonians before the First Temple was destroyed). During this three week period, weddings and parties are forbidden. It is a time for solemn reflection and mourning for Israel.
Tishah B'Av resembles a shivah (mourning for the dead). On this fast day, you cannot bathe, eat, drink, laugh, or adorn yourself. As a mourner you enter the synagogue and take off your shoes; you sit on low stools or on the floor. No greetings are exchanged. The parochet (the curtain over the Ark) is usually removed before the fast and a drape of black cloth is substituted for it. Services at the synagogue include the reciting of Lamentations and singing mournful dirges.
“On the Ninth of Av it was decreed on our fathers that they would not enter the Promised Land [Numbers 14], the Temple was destroyed [both] the first time and the second time, Beitar (the stronghold of the Bar Kochba rebellion) was captured, and the city (of Jerusalem) was plowed under.” (Talmud Taanit 26b)
Pray for the peace of Jerusalem, chaverim....(Psalm 122:6)
The three week period from Tammuz 17 to the Tishah B’Av is called bein ha-Metzarim - “between the straights” (based on Lamentations 1:3), a period of time during which many calamities befell the Jewish people. Since both Temples were destroyed during this period (i.e., between the 4th and 5th months), the chaza’l (sages) established this extended period as a time of mourning for the Jewish people.
Typically marriages are not held during this period, and many Jews deliberately refrain from ostensibly pleasurable activities, such as listening to music, dancing, taking vacations, and sometimes even shaving! In fact, most Orthodox Jews will refrain from any activity that might require the recitation of the Shehecheyanu blessing.
In short, the Three Weeks of Sorrow is a time for reflection and mourning over the destruction of the Temple and constitutes a time of corporate reflection intended to lead Israel to teshuvah.
Fasts Surrounding the destruction of the temple:
Event: Jerusalem Beseiged
10th of Tevet (Asarah B’Tevet)
Event: Walls Breached
Fast: 17th of Tammuz (Fast of Tammuz)
Event: Temple Destroyed
Fast: 9th of Av (Tisha B’Av)
Event: Self-imposed Exile
Fast: 3rd of Tishri (Tzom Gedaliah)\
Related story: Tishah B’Av: The Day of Remembrance and Mourning
Christianity's Jewish Roots on CBN.com
More from Hebrew for Christians Ministries
© John J. Parsons, Hebrew for Christians Ministries, Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA. Used with permission.
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TItle IX Celebrates 40 Years, but Black Women and Girls Benefit Less
June 23 marked the 40th anniversary of Title IX, the federal law that prevents discrimination against women in any education program that receives federal funding.
Although | TItle IX Celebrates 40 Years, but Black Women and Girls Benefit Less
June 23 marked the 40th anniversary of Title IX, the federal law that prevents discrimination against women in any education program that receives federal funding.
Although we commonly associate Title IX with women and sports, the law covers a range of issues, including equal pay for women in the academy and gender-based quotas.
Although the impact of Title IX is clear, black women and girls have not benefited in the ways that white women have.
“According to a 2007 report by the United States Department of Education, among high school sophomores, white girls had a 51 percent participation rate in sports, compared with 40 percent for black girl |
Single Nucleotide Polymorphism
A Single Nucleotide Polymorphism (or SNP, often pronounced snip; also called a point mutation) is a location within a genome in which a single nucleotide may take the form of either | Single Nucleotide Polymorphism
A Single Nucleotide Polymorphism (or SNP, often pronounced snip; also called a point mutation) is a location within a genome in which a single nucleotide may take the form of either of two or more bases. SNPs are a simple example of polymorphism. Here is an example of two aligned sequences, containing two SNPs:
Approximately 0.1% of all bases in the human genome are SNPs; the remaining 99.9% are identical in virtually all humans, barring the occasional mutation. Locating SNPs is an important ongoing task in genomics. If all of the SNPs on the human genome can be located, it will no longer be necessary to sequence an individual's complete genome; it will only be necessary to examine the SNPs and identify their values, and the rest of the genome can be assumed. One of the caveats to locating SNPs through the assembly process is that it may be difficult to distinguish between a genuine SNP and a sequencing error in which a single base is mis-called.
Conservative SNP picking
For some purposes (e.g. genome typing), one would like to be as conservative as possible when picking SNPs, i.e. the false positive rate should be as low as possible, with the understanding that also some real events will be lost. We accomodate this by a three-step approach (implemented in MapSnps and SnpAnalyzer):
Identifying SNPs via read-to-read alignments
First, we look for SNPs between overlapping reads (see MapSnps), using the neighborhood quality score (NQS) criterion (base qualities near thye event have to be above a certain threshold). In addition, we require to be at least two reads voting for one base and two voting for another.
Filtering by repeats
Next, we discard all events that are in or close to repeats (based on repetitive 48-mers, requiring SNPs to be at least 500 bp away on both ends).
Filtering by disagreement
Since we still cannot completely rule out overcollapsing that went undetected by the repeat finder, we also now require that a certain minimum number of reads agrees with contig consensus in a SNP region (extending 48 bases to each side) as well as a minimum and maximum number of disagreeing reads (which have to match exactly 48 bases with contig consensus on each side). By doing this, we discard regions in which the read coverage is unusually high or low. All surviving SNPs are then considered "trustworthy", meaning that we assume that the false positive rate is now very low. |
determiner & pronoun
- 1 [usually with negative or in questions] used to refer to one or some of a thing or number of things, no matter how much or how many: [as determiner]:I don’t | determiner & pronoun
- 1 [usually with negative or in questions] used to refer to one or some of a thing or number of things, no matter how much or how many: [as determiner]:I don’t have any choice do you have any tips to pass on? [as pronoun]:someone asked him for a match, but Joe didn’t have any you don’t know any of my friends
adverb[usually with negative or in questions, as submodifier]
When used as a pronoun any can be used with either a singular or a plural verb, depending on the context: we needed more sugar but there wasn’t any left (singular verb) or are any of the new videos available? (plural verb). |
The race to fix America’s broken system of standardized exams.
In America, high-caliber tests like AP exams are usually the province of elite, high-achieving students on the college track. And so you might think that this two-tier assessment | The race to fix America’s broken system of standardized exams.
In America, high-caliber tests like AP exams are usually the province of elite, high-achieving students on the college track. And so you might think that this two-tier assessment system is an inevitable result of inequality—that underprivileged kids wouldn’t have a prayer on these more demanding tests. Yet the industrialized nations that consistently outshine the United States on measures of educational achievement—countries like Singapore and Australia—have used such assessments for students across the educational and socioeconomic spectrum for years. Although some are multiple-choice tests, most are made up of open-ended questions that demand extensive writing, analysis, and demonstration of sound reasoning—like AP tests. “There is no country with a consistent record of superior education performance that embraces multiple-choice, machine-scored tests to a degree remotely approaching our national obsession with this testing methodology,” says Marc Tucker, the president of the National Center on Education and the Economy and an expert on testing. “They recognize that the only way to find out if a student can write a competent twenty-page history research paper is to ask that the student write one.” In other words, the kind of knowledge you can measure with a multiple-choice test is ultimately not the kind of knowledge that matters very much.
For that reason, experts have for years pleaded for the U.S. to adopt the kinds of tests that mea -sure and advance higher-order skills for all students. You won’t be surprised to hear they ’ve been frustrated. Part of the reason why they haven’t gotten their way is economic. Viewed in a certain light, “basic skills tests” are in fact just “cheaply measurable skills” tests. According to Tucker, superior assessments cost up to three times more than a typical state accountability test. Quite simply, scoring essay questions and short answers is expensive.
The other big problem is that the American testing market is fragmented. If there were some unified, standard curriculum across states—like an AP course in “What You Need to Know by |
'It's not like a field camera; it's more like a precision instrument," says Graham Flint. Flint, an aerospace physicist and photographer, started the Gigapxl Project with his wife, Catherine Aves, in 2000 to create " | 'It's not like a field camera; it's more like a precision instrument," says Graham Flint. Flint, an aerospace physicist and photographer, started the Gigapxl Project with his wife, Catherine Aves, in 2000 to create "an ultra-high-resolution portrait of America." A handful of almost 800 images completed to date -- depicting landmarks and cityscapes throughout the United States and Canada -- will be on display at the Museum of Photographic Arts beginning June 12. A gigapixel image is a photograph consisting of one billion pixels (a pixel is a single dot of color in the final photograph). To create clear photographs up to 22 feet long and nearly 4 feet high, Flint had to build his own camera. In an image taken of San Diego's city skyline from Coronado, clear shapes inside the rooms of office buildings can be seen despite the fact that the photograph was taken from over a mile away.
"The lens is the key element," says Flint. After analyzing and dismissing commercial lenses, Flint enlisted the help of long-time colleague Paul Weissman to "design and produce the Asymmagon, an ultra-wide-angle lens." It took a year of computer design and testing to complete the lens. The Asymmagon is an eight-element lens, meaning it contains eight pieces of glass.
A high-performance, wide-angle lens was necessary for Flint's 9"x18" camera. Weissman's design eliminated color fringing -- the distortion created when colors of light pass through glass and are refracted at different angles, like a prism.
Through experiments and testing, Flint developed a chart that tells him how to set three dial indicators (controlling the orientation of the lens) based on the distance of the subject from the camera to ensure accurate focus at every point on the film. To gauge the distance of an object on which he wishes to focus, he uses a laser rangefinder originally designed for golfers.
Another feature of the Gigapxl camera (which, with tripod and filters, weighs 160 pounds) is the 20x riflescope. Once he has the camera focused, Flint looks through the riflescope and centers between the crosshairs at a point in the distance. If there is a breeze, the crosshairs will wiggle. Because he needs the camera to be completely still, Flint waits until the crosshairs are not moving and then snaps the picture. The magnification of the riflescope allows him to see camera movement that would result in as little as half a pixel of blurring.
The second half of the Gigapxl process is in Aves's hands. "Ansel Adams spent more time in the darkroom than he did taking the pictures," says Flint. "The real skilled work is done after the scan takes place -- none of this could be done without Catherine." A consultant for Adobe, Aves is an expert in the use of Photoshop and color management.
To ensure color correctness, Aves uses samples of the actual objects in Flint's photographs. "She prefers me not to be at home," says Flint. "I'll say, 'I remember those leaves being a little darker,' and she'll say, 'No, I have the samples right here, and they're not.'" For the photograph of White Sands, Aves was sent the sand from the area in which her husband had been shooting. For a picture of Balboa Park, she examined terra cotta chips from the buildings, and for one of a battleship, she obtained paint chips from the vessel. "Our intent is to have the image be as faithful to the real thing as possible."
Digital scanning is performed on either of two flatbed scanners. Flint and Aves pr |
Constitution of the United States, Part II: Articles of the Constitution
The text of the articles of the Constitution, along with expert commentary
- Grades: 6–8, 9–12
[Note: This is the second | Constitution of the United States, Part II: Articles of the Constitution
The text of the articles of the Constitution, along with expert commentary
- Grades: 6–8, 9–12
[Note: This is the second of three articles on the Constitution of the United States. It provides the text of the Articles of the Constitution, with commentary. The entry Constitution of the United States covers the genesis of the Constitution and its framework.]
The text of the Constitution appears below, retaining the original spelling and capitalization. Comments by Harold W. Chase on its provisions are preceded and followed by double asterisks.
The Constitution of the United States
We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.
**Comment: These stated objectives make clear the framers' commitment to the proposition that government should serve to enhance the value and dignity of the individual, as opposed to the proposition to which authoritarian governments have traditionally adhered, that the individual's highest duty is to serve the state.**
Section 1. All legislative Powers herein granted shall be vested in a Congress of the United States, which shall consist of a Senate and House of Representatives.
Section 2. The House of Representatives shall be composed of Members chosen every second Year by the People of the several States, and the Electors in each State shall have the Qualifications requisite for Electors of the most numerous Branch of the State Legislature.
No Person shall be a Representative who shall not have attained to the age of twenty five Years, and been seven Years a Citizen of the United States, and who shall not, when elected, be an Inhabitant of that State in which he shall be chosen.
Representatives and direct Taxes shall be apportioned among the several States which may be included within this Union, according to their respective Numbers, which shall be determined by adding to the whole Number of free Persons, including those bound to Service for a Term of Years, and excluding Indians not taxed, three fifths of all other Persons. The actual Enumeration shall be made within three Years after the first Meeting of the Congress of the United States, and within every subsequent Term of ten Years, in such Manner as they shall by Law direct. The Number of Representatives shall not exceed one for every thirty Thousand, but each State shall have at Least one Representative; and until such enumeration shall be made, the State of New Hampshire shall be entitled to chuse three, Massachusetts eight, Rhode-Island and Providence Plantations one, Connecticut five, New-York six, New Jersey four, Pennsylvania eight, Delaware one, Maryland six, Virginia ten, North Carolina five, South Carolina five, and Georgia three.
When vacancies happen in the Representation from any State, the Executive Authority thereof shall issue Writs of Election to fill such Vacancies.
The House of Representatives shall chuse their Speaker and other Officers; and shall have the sole Power of Impeachment.
Section 3. The Senate of the United States shall be composed of two Senators from each State, chosen by the Legislature thereof, for six Years; and each Senator shall have one Vote.
Immediately after they shall be assembled in Consequence of the first Election, they shall be divided as equally as may be into three Classes. The Seats of the Senators of the first Class shall be vacated at the Expiration of the second Year, of the second Class at the Expiration of the fourth Year, and the third Class at the Expiration of the sixth Year, so that one third may be chosen every second Year; and if Vacancies happen by Resignation, or otherwise, during the Recess of the Legislature of any State, the Executive thereof may make temporary Appointments until the next Meeting of the Legislature, which shall then fill such Vacancies.
No Person shall be a Senator who shall not have attained to the Age of thirty Years, and been nine Years a Citizen of the United States and who shall not, when elected, be an Inhabitant of that State for which he shall be chosen.
The Vice President of the United States shall be President of the Senate, but shall have no Vote, unless they be equally divided.
The Senate shall chuse their other Officers, and also a President pro tempore, in the Absence of the Vice President, or when he shall exercise the Office of President of the United States.
The Senate shall have the sole Power to try all Impeachments. When sitting for that Purpose, they shall be on Oath of Affirmation. When the President of the United States is tried, the Chief Justice shall preside: And no Person shall be convicted without the Concurrence of two thirds of the Members present.
Judgment in Cases of Impeachment shall not extend further than to removal from Office, and disqualification to hold and enjoy any Office of Honor, Trust or Profit under the United States: but the Party convicted shall nevertheless be liable and subject to Indictment, Trial, Judgment and Punishment, ac |
GNU E definition
A persistent C++ variant
GNU E is a persistent, object oriented programming language developed as part of the Exodus project. GNU E extends C++ with the notion of persistent data, program level data objects that can be transparently | GNU E definition
A persistent C++ variant
GNU E is a persistent, object oriented programming language developed as part of the Exodus project. GNU E extends C++ with the notion of persistent data, program level data objects that can be transparently used across multiple executions of a program, or multiple programs, without explicit input and output operations.
GNU E's form of persistence
is based on extensions to the C++ type system to distinguish potentially persistent data objects from objects that are always memory resident. An object is made persistent either by its declaration (via a new "persistent" storage class qualifier) or by its method of allocation (via persistent dynamic allocation using a special overloading of the new operator). The underlying object storage system is the Exodus storage manager, which provides concurrency control and recovery in addition to storage for persistent data.
restriction: Copyleft; not all run-time sources are available (yet)
requires: release 2.1.1 of the Exodus storage manager |
GRAND RAPIDS, MI – As a study shows more young women are being diagnosed with advanced breast cancer, a Grand Rapids specialist advises women to be proactive about their breast health.
The study published Wednesday, Feb. 27, found a | GRAND RAPIDS, MI – As a study shows more young women are being diagnosed with advanced breast cancer, a Grand Rapids specialist advises women to be proactive about their breast health.
The study published Wednesday, Feb. 27, found a slow but steady increase in cases of metastatic breast cancer in women 25 to 39 over the past three decades.
In 1976, there were 1.53 cases per 100,000 women in that age group. By 2009, that rose to 2.9 cases. The increase averages to a little more than 2 percent a year.
The findings predict that more women will be diagnosed with advanced breast cancer “in an age group that already has the worst prognosis, no recommended routine screening practice, the least health insurance and the most potential years of life,” the researchers wrote.
The study did not find an increase in older women. And the rate of earlier-stage breast cancers stayed the same for younger women.
“What is important to remember is that while the rates of advanced breast cancer in young women are increasing, we still see less than 3 in every 100,000 young women with advanced breast cancer,” said Dr. Jessica Keto, a breast surgeon and associate medical director of the Comprehensive Breast Center at Saint Mary’s Health Care.
“Because the risk of breast cancer in this group is so low, routine screening with mammography is not recommended for women of this age group at average risk.”
However, Keto said she encourages all women "to be proactive with their breast health.”
They should know their family medical history, because those with a significant family history of breast cancer may benefit from screening at an earlier age.
Women should perform self breast exams monthly and have a breast exam by a physician every year, she said.
And Keto advised women to “work on lifestyle changes that are protective against breast cancer including avoidance of obesity, regular exercise, a well-balanced diet, and alcohol in moderation."
The study, reported in the Journal of The American Medical Association, did not examine the cause of the increase.
Keto said several theories have been suggested, including improved diagnostic tests finding advanced cancer, pregnancies being delayed until later ages, increasing rates of obesity, changes in lifestyle including alcohol use, or unknown environmental exposures. Genetics also likely play a role in the young age group, she said.
The lead researcher, Dr. Rebecca Johnson, of the University of Washington in Seattle, said future studies should look into the reasons behind the change
“I think the rapidity of the increase suggests possibly the change could be due to something toxic in the environment rather than a genetic cause,” she said in a story reported by the American Cancer Society.
In the study, the researchers analyzed data from three U.S. National Cancer Institute Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) registries. The registries provide data spanning 1973-2009, 1992-2009, and 2000-2009.
The registries define advanced breast cancer as one that has spread to remote areas of the body, such as the bone, brain or lung.
The greatest increase in advance breast cancer was found in women 25 to 34. Progressively smaller increases occurred in older women by five-year intervals, with no statistically significant increase in women 55 and older.
The trend was seen among all races and ethnicities and in urban and non-urban settings. The increase was greater for estrogen receptor-positive subtypes than for estrogen receptor-negative disease. |
How Can Innovative Measures of Beginning Teacher Competence Help Improve Teacher Quality?
Several new and developing teacher assessment systems use a variety of testing and assessment methods, including assessments of teaching performance. These include multiple measures of candidates’ knowledge, skills, abilities, | How Can Innovative Measures of Beginning Teacher Competence Help Improve Teacher Quality?
Several new and developing teacher assessment systems use a variety of testing and assessment methods, including assessments of teaching performance. These include multiple measures of candidates’ knowledge, skills, abilities, and dispositions. In these systems, assessments are integrated with professional development and with ongoing support of prospective or beginning teachers.
New and developing assessment systems warrant investigation for addressing the limits of current initial teacher licensure tests and for improving teacher licensure. The benefits, costs, and limitations of these systems should be investigated.
Research and development of broad-based indicators of teacher competence, not limited to test-based evidence, should be undertaken; indicators should include assessments of teaching performance in the classroom, of candidates’ ability to work effectively with students with diverse learning needs and cultural backgrounds and in a variety of settings, and of competencies that more directly relate to student learning.
When initial licensure tests are used, they should be |
The Digital Renaissance
The Renaissance was a period of unprecedented intellectual, social, philosophical and artistic growth in Europe between the Fourteenth Century and the Seventeenth Century. It is widely accredited as a time that bought Europe out of the Dark Ages or Middle | The Digital Renaissance
The Renaissance was a period of unprecedented intellectual, social, philosophical and artistic growth in Europe between the Fourteenth Century and the Seventeenth Century. It is widely accredited as a time that bought Europe out of the Dark Ages or Middle Ages, when scholarship was held in check by religious dogma, and bought Europe into the Modern Age.
Most notable luminaries of the Renaissance include polymaths such as Michelangelo Buonarottiand Leonardo da Vinci; thinkers such as Francis Bacon; writers such as Dante and Shakespeare; essayists such as Michel de Montaigne; and scientists such as Nicolaus Copernicus. The list of notable geniuses that represent the flowering of the Renaissance is too long to list here.
There are two notable reasons for the Renaissance. The first is the emergence of lost Greek manuscripts from such people as Aristotle and Plato. The church had suppressed knowledge of the Latin and Greek classics for hundreds of years. They had been kept by Muslim scholars since the fall of the Roman City of Constantinople. These missing texts had an enormous effect on all branches of knowledge.
Secondly, the new intellectual spirit of the age was carried to the furthest corners of Europe and beyond by the invention of the printing press by Johannes Gutenburg, a German inventor in 1450 AD. This took the dissemination of books out of the hands of monks who hand-copied scripts into the hands of the masses. Books became cheap and easy to get hold of. Books also that would have been previously overlooked deliberately now found their way to the public. This bought a great forment of ideas that was to change the mid-sets of each generation and that was eventually to lead to the French Revolution and the overthrow of the Ancient Regime.
The Digital Revolution
Computers started developing in the 1950s. Internet Protocol Suite was invented in 1982, and by the 1995 the internet was opened to all with access to the new technology. Since that time the speed of microprocessors has increased year upon year. Both software and hardware has progressed so rapidly that systems soon become outdated.
In terms of communication, in 1993 only 1% of communication was carried out using the internet. By 2007 more than 97% of the world’s communication was through the internet and the World Wide Web. Cables have been laid all around the world to facilitate faster and better communication. A number of platforms such as SMS messaging and Skype have made real time communication a mundane part of life.
The World Wide Web grows with every second that passes. Estimates now reckon it is at least 7.85 billion pages (http://www.worldwidewebsize.com/). Google is at present attempting to scan every book ever published and put it online. They have already photographed the world and put up the most comprehensive map ever known. They have even mapped the stars.
It is very tempting to compare the internet and the World Wide Web with the invention of the printing press - they are both technological backbones behind new artistic, intellectual and social movements. The Renaissance bought us naturalism, rational inquiry, the scientific method and political meta-understanding. The internet has bought us a digital renaissance whereby a library of information beyond our wildest dreams has now become available and accessible to anyone who can get online.
Since we are in the middle of the digital renaissance it is hard to tell the final legacy of such a sea-change. The notions of knowledge power and knowledge creation have come to the fore. Whereas the upper classes and the business classes have tried to maintain the status quo of an asymmetry of knowledge to benefit themselves, the internet has made this virtually impossible. Everything from learning to perform heart surgery to growing magic mushrooms to making your own solar panels is now available for free on the web.
Moreover, sites like Wiki Leaks as well as ‘on the ground blogs’ have removed the power of journalism from corporate identities and allowed people to report and access news anywhere. It is hard to cover up the truth and we are gradually getting a better idea of how the world is secretly run for the benefit of the few. Where the first Renaissance could arguably be said to have led to the French Revolution and the end of the monarch system, it is tempting to think that the digital renaissance will lead to a farther fundamental change in social structures and the body politic. We have already seen how Facebook has been a powerful tool for change in North Africa and the Middle East. This trend will no doubt continue.
In terms of the arts, the digital age has lead to ever increasing perfection in the copying of nature. Nature can be digitized and an almost exact replica can be produced. This is the dream of Michelangelo come true. We now have 3D digital renditions and holograms on the net are surely not far behind. The Arts are and will continue to undergo massive paradigm shifts as a result of the digital renaissance.
The old Chinese curse of ‘May you live in interesting times’ is very applicable to the age we live in. On the one hand we have unprecedented levels of consumerism, resource depletion and pollution; but on the other hand we are in the throes of a new epoch defined by an all embracing technology that is changing our world view, and threatens for better or for worse to bring whole scale social and intellectual change as well.
Modern technology is advancing at an extremely rapid rate. Not just in computers, but in the world in general. Luxuries on cars are getting more and more advanced to the point where the car practically drives itself these days, cellphones now have more processing power than the first computers used to put a man on the moon, and everything is moving even |
Research & Commentary: National ‘Common Core’ Curriculum Standards
The Common Core State Standards Initiative, supported and created by the National Governors Association and Council of Chief State School Officers, sets grade-by-grade content requirements for K–12 in English language arts | Research & Commentary: National ‘Common Core’ Curriculum Standards
The Common Core State Standards Initiative, supported and created by the National Governors Association and Council of Chief State School Officers, sets grade-by-grade content requirements for K–12 in English language arts and math. The consortium is also developing science and history/social studies standards.
The Obama administration made adoption of the Common Core a criterion for winning part of $4.35 billion in federal Race to the Top grants in 2010, and states receiving Title I appropriations in the future may be required to adopt the standards. The administration and Common Core supporters say the standards will harmonize wide-ranging tests, curriculum, and teaching approaches and set a high bar for student achievement.
Forty-two states and the District of Columbia adopted the standards in 2009 and 2010 in hopes of winning Race to the Top money. In 2011, the Minnesota and South Carolina legislatures, which had previously adopted some of the Common Core, decided the standards represented too much federal control over education and began dismantling them.
In May 2011, more than 150 policymakers, researchers, educators, and citizens signed and released an "anti-manifesto" against adoption of Common Core, saying it will lead to a national curriculum and warning the Department of Education is already developing such a curriculum against explicit prohibitions in the department’s authorizing legislation and all federal law thereafter. Common Core critics also say national curriculum, criteria, and tests will squelch innovation and limit options for the nation’s widely different families and students.
The following documents offer additional information on Common Core national standards.
More than 150 education leaders signed this "anti-manifesto" against the federal government’s Common Core initiative and the Albert Shanker Institute’s manifesto, "A Call for Common Content." They decry the trend towards centralizing and federalizing education and remind the U.S. Department of Education that federal law prohibits it from creating or supervising curriculum in any way. A one-size-fits-all curriculum, they argue, will quash educational freedom, creativity, and innovation and undermine education in America.
This report from the journal of the American Educational Research Association says the Common Core standards represent a significant departure from states’ previous individual standards and international standards held by other countries. The alignment between states’ standards and the Common Core is generally a statistically low 0.2. The alignment is even lower when comparing states whose students do best on national standardized tests. In addition, the Common Core represents an "opportunity to create a national curriculum" because so many states have adopted them and the federal government has strongly and financially supported the standards and curriculum and test development based on them.
At the Chronicle of Higher Education, Peter Wood examines the Common Core standards in detail: their antecedents, advocates, detractors, and the controversy over their adoption. He lists the players involved and discusses their influence, calling the standards a "sweeping" change to American schools.
This New York Times article goes behind the scenes to track millions of dollars in Gates Foundation money spent to generate support for Common Core standards and develop the standards and curriculum attached to them. This included millions spent to get presidential candidates to focus on specific education issues in 2008, funding the groups creating and advocating the Common Core, and influencing requirements for Race to the Top.
Manhattan Institute fellow Jay Greene demonstrates that the Department of Education’s funding of curriculum development and use of federal money to incentivize states to do its bidding violates the 1979 law authorizing the department. That law specifically prohibits the department from exercising "any direction, supervision, or control over the curriculum … or over the selection or content of library resources, textbooks, or other instructional materials."
When the federal government ties millions of dollars in school funding to adopting specific standards and curriculum, argues Jane Robbins of the American Principles Project, it essentially mandates them. Parents have no recourse to change the mandates when unelected officials at the Department of Education create them, she notes.
The Pioneer Institute’s Jamie Gass reports that Massachusetts’ standards and related reforms propelled the state to the top of the nation in student achievement. With the state having discarded its standards in favor of the weaker Common Core, he says, it has retreated from self-government and become subject to special-interest groups while lowering its standards to those of low-performing states like Mississippi and Alabama.
Nothing in this Research & Commentary is intended to influence the passage of legislation, and it does not necessarily represent the views of The Heartland Institute. For further information on this and other topics, visit the School Reform News Web site at http://www.schoolreform-news.org, The Heartland Institute’s Web site at http://www.heartland.org, and PolicyBot, Heartland’s free online research database, at www.policybot.org.
If you have any questions about this issue or The Heartland Institute, contact Research Fellow Joy Pullmann, at 312/377-4000 or [email protected]. |
A water, or hydraulic, turbine is used to drive electric generators in hydroelectric power stations. The first such station was built in Wisconsin in 1882. In a hydraulic turbine falling water strikes a series of blades or buckets attached around a shaft | A water, or hydraulic, turbine is used to drive electric generators in hydroelectric power stations. The first such station was built in Wisconsin in 1882. In a hydraulic turbine falling water strikes a series of blades or buckets attached around a shaft, causing the shaft to rotate, this motion in turn being used to drive the rotor of an electric generator. The three most common types of hydraulic turbine are the Pelton wheel, the Francis turbine, and the Kaplan turbine. Toward the end of |
Here's some information on using an ATX computer power supply. The ATX is the most common supply out there and is in use in most desktop computers today. This is just general information to help you get started. Not all power supplies are | Here's some information on using an ATX computer power supply. The ATX is the most common supply out there and is in use in most desktop computers today. This is just general information to help you get started. Not all power supplies are identical. Individual power supply specifications are usually listed on the case.
Additional information can be obtained by doing a search for "ATX power supply" on the web. Here's a link to one site with a lot of good info.
The diagram at right shows the main output connector of the power supply when viewed from the end. The colors represent the different colored wires going into it. Common colors represent common functions, ie all red wires are +5 volts, all black wires are common and so on. The connections most useful to us as haunters are the +5V (red wires), +12V (yellow wire) and the Common or ground (black wires). Both 5 and 12 volt lines normally deliver ample current for our needs.
Of the other voltages available, the +3.3V connection delivers ample current, it's just not a very useful voltage. The +5VSB (5 volts, always on), -12V and -5V are normally very low current lines and are of little use to us.
The green wire, pin 14, is the on/off switching line. To turn the power supply on, the green line needs to be shorted to a Common line. An easy way to do this is to insert a jumper between pin 14 and pin 13.
Most power supplies require a load across one or more of the outputs to operate. The link I give above shows how to add a resistor across the 5 volt side of the supply to act as a load.
The smaller connectors coming out of the power supply use the same color codes. As an example, a connector with a yellow, a red and two black wires will have +12 volts (yellow), +5 volts (red) and two commons.
To use the power supply, for 12 volts, you'd connect a yellow wire to the + input of your project and a black wire to the - input. For 5 volts, you connect a red wire to the + and a black wire to the -.
|Halloween Home||last update 10/2007| |
The most commonly used indicator of thermal comfort is air temperature – it is easy to use and most people can relate to it. But although it is an important indicator to take into account, air temperature alone is neither a valid nor an accurate indicator of | The most commonly used indicator of thermal comfort is air temperature – it is easy to use and most people can relate to it. But although it is an important indicator to take into account, air temperature alone is neither a valid nor an accurate indicator of thermal comfort or thermal stress. Air temperature should always be considered in relation to other environmental and personal factors.
The six factors affecting thermal comfort are both environmental and personal. These factors may be independent of each other, but together contribute to a worker’s thermal comfort.
This is the temperature of the air surrounding the body. It is usually given in degrees Celsius (°C) or degrees Fahrenheit (°F).
Thermal radiation is the heat that radiates from a warm object. Radiant heat may be present if there are heat sources in an environment.
Radiant temperature has a greater influence than air temperature on how we lose or gain heat to the environment. Our skin absorbs almost as much radiant energy as a matt black object, although this may be reduced by wearing reflective clothing.
Examples of radiant heat sources include: the sun; fire; electric fires; furnaces; steam rollers; ovens; walls in kilns; cookers; dryers; hot surfaces and machinery, molten metals etc.
This describes the speed of air moving across the worker and may help cool the worker if it is cooler than the environment.
Air velocity is an important factor in thermal comfort because people are sensitive to it.
Still or stagnant air in indoor environments that are artificially heated may cause people to feel stuffy. It may also lead to a build-up in odour.
Moving air in warm or humid conditions can increase heat loss through convection without any change in air temperature.
Small air movement in cool or cold environments may be perceived as draught. If the air temperature is less than skin temperature it will significantly increase convective heat loss.
Physical activity also increases air movement, so air velocity may be corrected to account for a person's level of physical activity.
If water is heated and it evaporates to the surrounding environment, the resulting amount of water in the air will provide humidity.
Relative humidity is the ratio between the actual amount of water vapour in the air and the maximum amount of water vapour that the air can hold at that air temperature.
Relative humidity between 40% and 70% does not have a major impact on thermal comfort. In some offices, humidity is usually kept between 40-70% because of computers. However, in workplaces which are not air conditioned, or where the climatic conditions outdoors may influence the indoor thermal environment, relative humidity may be higher than 70% on warm or hot humid days. Humidity in indoor environments can vary greatly, and may be dependent on whether there are drying processes (paper mills, laundry etc) where steam is given off.
High humidity environments have a lot of vapour in the air, which prevents the evaporation of sweat from the skin. In hot environments, humidity is important because less sweat evaporates when humidity is high (80%+). The evaporation of sweat is the main method of heat loss in humans.
When vapour-impermeable PPE is worn, the humidity inside the garment increases as the wearer sweats because the sweat cannot evaporate. If an employee is wearing this type of PPE (eg asbestos or chemical protection suits etc) the humidity within the microclimate of the garment may be high.
Clothing, by its very nature, interferes with our ability to lose heat to the environment. Thermal comfort is very much dependent on the insulating effect of clothing on the wearer.
Wearing too much clothing or personal protective equipment (PPE) may be a primary cause of heat stress even if the environment is not considered warm or hot. If clothing does not provide enough insulation, the wearer may be at risk from cold injuries such as frost bite or hypothermia in cold conditions.
Clothing is both a potential cause of thermal discomfort as well as a control for it as we adapt to the climate in which we live and play. You may add layers of clothing if you feel cold, or remove layers of clothing if you feel warm. However, many companies remove this ability for their employees to make reasonable adaptations to their clothing.
It is important to identify how the clothing may contribute to thermal comfort or discomfort. It may also be necessary to evaluate the level of protection that any PPE is providing – can less or other PPE be used?
The work or metabolic rate, is essential for a thermal risk assessment. It describes the heat that we produce inside our bodies as we carry out physical activity.
The more physical work we do, the more heat we produce. The more heat we produce, the more heat needs to be lost so we don’t overheat. The impact of metabolic rate on thermal comfort is critical.
When considering these factors, it is also essential to consider a person's own physical characteristics.
A person's physical characteristics should always be borne in mind when considering their thermal comfort, as factors such as their size and weight, age, fitness level and sex can all have an impact on how they feel, even if other factors such as air temperature, humidity and air velocity are all constant. |
An instrument on LRO, Cosmic Ray Telescope for the Effects of Radiation (CRaTER), gauged the radiation dose of cosmic rays after passing through a plastic material that simulates how space radiation interacts with human muscle tissue. CRaTER | An instrument on LRO, Cosmic Ray Telescope for the Effects of Radiation (CRaTER), gauged the radiation dose of cosmic rays after passing through a plastic material that simulates how space radiation interacts with human muscle tissue. CRaTER initially was designed to characterize the global lunar radiation environment and biological impacts. Recent findings from data collected by LRO also may help scientists validate their understanding of the radiation environment and help engineers develop shielding that may reduce health risks to astronauts as they travel to an asteroid and eventually to Mars.
"We are actively sampling the radiation environment throughout the solar system so that we're prepared to send humans to a variety of destinations far from Earth," said Michael Wargo, NASA's chief scientist in the agency's Human Exploration and Operations Mission Directorate. "The data provided by LRO is an example of how the agency's robotic activities are informing how we develop our thinking on ways to execute future human missions."
The findings by space scientists from the University of New Hampshire and the Southwest Research Institute were published in the American Geophysical Union's journal, Space Weather. They provide in-space data without the influence of Earth's magnetic field, indicating lightweight, hydrogen-bearing shielding materials could enhance radiation protection for future spacecraft during space missions, confirming what ground studies and studi |
Facts About Giraffe
Being the tallest of all land-living species, the giraffe is a very fascinating animal. The male giraffe is known to have a height of 4.8 to 5.5 metres (16 to | Facts About Giraffe
Being the tallest of all land-living species, the giraffe is a very fascinating animal. The male giraffe is known to have a height of 4.8 to 5.5 metres (16 to 18 feet tall) and weighs up to 1300 kilograms (i.e. 3,000 pounds). The female giraffe is comparatively short in height and also weighs less. The name ‘giraffe’ is born out of an Arab word, ‘Xirapha’ meaning ‘one that can walk very fast’. This animal is one unique creature because despite its very long neck, the giraffe has equal number of cervical vertebrae as a human being. Read this article to know more interesting and amazing facts about the giraffe.
Facts About Giraffe
Class - Mammalia
Order - Artiodactyla
Family - Giraffidae
Genus - Giraffa
Species - Camelopardalis
Names – male: bull
Range – Mostly south of Sahara and East Africa.
Habitat - Dry savannas and open woodland.
Size (Height) - Males are about 5.5 m (17 ft) tall, whereas females are about 4.3 m (14 ft) tall.
Feeding Habits - Giraffes are herbivores. They generally eat leaves from acacia, mimosa and wild apricot trees.
Offspring – Female giraffe begins breeding when of around four years of age. The gestation period is usually of about 15 months. Mothers nurse for a year and the calf stays close for several more months.
Life Span – About 25 years in the wild.
Interesting and Amazing Information on Giraffe
- A just born giraffe measures around six (6) feet in height.
- The giraffe is an animal that is born with a horn.
- Its scientific name is Giraffa Camelopardalis.
- The coat pattern on each giraffe is unique.
- The adult giraffe’s tongue is 27 inches long.
- The giraffe is a vegetarian animal, which survives on the leaves of the baobab tree.
- Each step taken by the giraffe is 15 feet in length.
- Giraffe holds things like leaves with the assistance of its long tongue.
- A five to 30 minutes’ sleep a day is enough for the giraffe.
- The neck of the giraffe has got flexible blood vessels, which make it possible for it to have water from the flowing stream.
- A group of giraffes is called a herd.
- Giraffes engage in neck wrestling matches to command authority in a herd.
- The giraffe is regarded as being amongst the largest, strongest and the most peaceful animals on this planet.
- The adult male giraffe is called a bull.
- The adult female giraffe is called a cow
- A young giraffe is called a calf.
- A big male giraffe can consume about 100 pounds of food in one day.
- The age of the giraffe can be calculated from its spots. The darker the spots, the older is the giraffe.
- The biggest enemies of the giraffe are lions and huge packs of hyenas.
- Giraffe’s kick is so strong that it can also kill a lion.
- The heart of the giraffe weighs 24 pounds and is two feet in length.
- Giraffes are social animals that live in open herds.
- You will seldom see a giraffe lying down. It can nap as well as give birth standing up.
- The giraffe is a silent and peaceful creature, but it is definitely not voiceless. Sounds like the bleating of calves and the bellowing of cows have been heard.
- The giraffe can live without water for long durations.
- Giraffes have excellent eyesight, which assists them on keeping an eye on each other from a distance.
How to Cite |
Tess was a minor character in this book who made a huge impact on the plot. How did she accomplish this, and how would the plot have been altered had she not been included in the story line?
Training and education are topics of discussion | Tess was a minor character in this book who made a huge impact on the plot. How did she accomplish this, and how would the plot have been altered had she not been included in the story line?
Training and education are topics of discussion in this book. Where do these topics appear in this book, and what effects do they have on the characters involved in those scenes?
Friendship is a central theme of this book. What are the main friendships, and how did their inclusion in this book affect the outcome of the plot?
Stephenson presents the idea that there are two sides to every man. Choose three of the characters from the book and write about their dual natures and how this duality affected the characters around them.
Protection is a strong theme in this story. Where does this theme ap |
With the anticipated arrival of West Nile Virus in Utah this summer, residents and property owners need to take action now to reduce their risk of infection. Officials at Southeastern Utah District Health Department are encouraging stepped up surveillance and control efforts.
"Residents need | With the anticipated arrival of West Nile Virus in Utah this summer, residents and property owners need to take action now to reduce their risk of infection. Officials at Southeastern Utah District Health Department are encouraging stepped up surveillance and control efforts.
"Residents need to be vigilant about not breeding mosquitoes around their homes and properties this summer," says Health Officer, David Cunningham. "This is especially important for Southeastern Utah residents who live in areas without mosquito abatement services. The mosquitoes are breeding and increasing their populations now."
"Residents need to dump out standing water in buckets, used tires, barrel, tarps, gutters and wheelbarrows," he states. "Any item that may hold or contain water should be covered, inverted or have drainage holes. Water in animal drinking troughs should be changed frequently and not left to stand longer than five days, if possible."
The Southeastern Utah District Health Department is asking for the public's help in monitoring the spread of the virus and is asking residents to report any recently deceased birds they may find by calling the Division of Wildlife Resources toll free at (877) 592-5169.
"We are relying on the public to report any wild birds which have died of apparently mysterious causes," states Cunningham, "With the need for reporting dead birds ceasing when the West Nile Virus has been positively identified." Road killed birds need not be reported.
Birds are considered what is called "sentinals" because they are easily infected by the bites of mosquitos. The state of Utah has also set out several sentinel chicken flocks throughout the state which are having their blood tested more regularly than in years past for the virus.
Birds, horses and humans become infected with West Nile Virus through the bite of an infected mosquito. Less than one percent of people infected with the virus become seriously ill from the disease. Last year, the Centers for Disease Control reported, 5,156 human cases and 284 deaths in the United States.
Although there is no human vaccine for West Nile Virus, a vaccine is available and highly recommended for horses. The death rate of infected horses in much higher than for humans. Local veterinarians should be contacted about horse vaccinations as soon as possible since the mosquito season is beginning.
"There is little doubt that the virus will reach Utah this year," reports Cunningham. "There are only six states left where the West Nile Virus has not been found yet. Utah is one of them." The other states in are Arizona, Nevada, Oregon, Hawaii and Alaska.
Southeastern Utah District Health Department has several recommendations to reduce the chances of becoming ill by using the proper protection.
Apply insect repellent containing DEET to exposed skin whenever you are outdoors. Children less than 12 years of age should only use DEET concentrations of 10 percent or less. DEET-containing products should never be sprayed into the face and eyes. Rather, the spray should be |
This is a standardised way of representing an electrochemical cell
, making the contents of the two half-cells clear.
The half-cell with the more negative electrode potential is written on the left. If it consists of a solid metal and its | This is a standardised way of representing an electrochemical cell
, making the contents of the two half-cells clear.
The half-cell with the more negative electrode potential is written on the left. If it consists of a solid metal and its ions in solution, e.g. Cu and Cu2+, it is written like this:
Cu | Cu2+
The | symbol represents the boundary between the solid and the solution.
If both species are in solution they are written next to a platinum wire, Pt |, with the more reduced species placed next to the platinum and separated from the other by a comma:
Pt | 2Br-, Br2
If one of the species in solution actually has two components, e.g. O2 and 2H2O, they are written in square brackets:
Pt | 4OH-, [O2 + 2H2O]
The other half-cell is written in the same way on the right, and the two are separated by the symbol ¦¦, which represents the salt bridge. Thus a complete cell diagram will look like this:
Cu | Cu2+ ¦¦ [O2 + 2H2O], 4OH- | Pt
This cell consists of water and oxygen oxidising copper to copper(II) ions, and reducing themselves to hydroxyl ions in the process. |
DRUGSLast Updated: 07/06/2011
Drugs can impact a person’s life in many ways. They have many harmful side effects which can vary in degree from irritability to anxiety to death. Drugs can be very | DRUGSLast Updated: 07/06/2011
Drugs can impact a person’s life in many ways. They have many harmful side effects which can vary in degree from irritability to anxiety to death. Drugs can be very dangerous and life changing for anyone who uses them, even once. It is important to be educated on drugs and what effects they can have on you or someone you know.
Harmful Effects Include:
- Cocaine: Increased temperature, heart rate and blood pressure, hyperstimulation, irritability, anxiety, restlessness, nausea, paranoia
- Hallucinogens: Hallucinations, anxiety, behavioral changes, illusions, and losing control. Long-term effects also include: Brain damage, psychological problems, coma, heart and lung complications, convulsions, and death.
- Marijuana: Anxiety, paranoia, respiratory complications, increased heart rate, memory impairment, lack of coordination, destroyed nerve cells.
- Heroin: Nausea, anxiety, liver/lung/brain damage, illusions, increased risk for HIV/AIDS, respiratory depression.
- Pills: Addiction, anxiety, restlessness, brain damage, internal organ damage.
*It is very important to seek help if you or someone you know is involved with drugs. Even experimenting just once can cause serious problems or lead to death. |
ADVERTS that claim depression is caused by a chemical imbalance, and that antidepressants correct it, are false and should be banned, say two mental health specialists.
Popular antidepressants such as Prozac and Celexa block the uptake of the | ADVERTS that claim depression is caused by a chemical imbalance, and that antidepressants correct it, are false and should be banned, say two mental health specialists.
Popular antidepressants such as Prozac and Celexa block the uptake of the neurotransmitter serotonin and have been shown to be slightly better than placebo in treating depression. But low serotonin levels are no more the cause of depression than low aspirin levels are the cause of headaches, argue Jonathan Leo at Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine in Bradenton, Florida, and Jeffrey Lacasse at Florida State University in Tallahassee (Public Library of Science Medicine, DOI: 10.1371/journal.pmed.0020392).
"It has become an absolute mainstay of popular culture," says Leo. "But there's very little support for this. We really don't know what chemicals are involved."
Wayne Goodman, chair of the psychopharmacologic advisory committee of the US Food and Drug Administration admits they have a point. He calls...
To continue reading this article, subscribe to receive access to all of newscientist.com, including 20 years of archive content. |
As the mercury climbs and the rains fall with the waxing of spring, weeds will invariably begin to encroach on your garden, threatening to choke out those precious vegetables.
While it may be tempting to cheat a little, to sneak unholy spr | As the mercury climbs and the rains fall with the waxing of spring, weeds will invariably begin to encroach on your garden, threatening to choke out those precious vegetables.
While it may be tempting to cheat a little, to sneak unholy spritzes of industrial weedkiller when the neighbors aren’t looking, a recent study published in the journal Ecological Applications may help you stay true to your organic convictions.
Exposure to Roundup, it turns out, makes polliwogs change shape.
Responding To Predators That Aren’t There
Somewhere over the course of frog evolution, tadpoles developed an amazing ability: if chemicals in their aquatic habitat indicate the presence of a predator, they will grow longer tails than they would have if predators hadn’t been there.
This adaptation helps the small and vulnerable amphibians swim out of harm’s way more quickly, so they can survive into adulthood and reproduce.
What researchers have found, however, is that compounds in Monsanto’s world-famous weedkiller not only induce this effect when no predators are around, but they actually can produce hyper tail-growth, which potentially puts larvae at a disadvantage.
The real worry, of course, is that Roundup’s impacts on development aren’t isolated to the little swimmers occupying the world’s ponds and drainage ditches. More experimental work will need to be done to ascertain the herbicide’s impact on other vertebrates — humans included.
In the mean time, you might want to play it safe and do things the old fashioned way. Put on some old clothes, roll up your sleeves, and tell your kids to go pull some weeds. |
CLL; Leukemia – chronic lymphocytic (CLL)
Definition of Chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL)
Chronic lymphocytic leukemia is cancer of a type of white blood cells called lymphocytes.
Causes, incidence | CLL; Leukemia – chronic lymphocytic (CLL)
Definition of Chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL)
Chronic lymphocytic leukemia is cancer of a type of white blood cells called lymphocytes.
Causes, incidence, and risk factors
Chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) causes a slow increase in the number of white blood cells called B lymphocytes, or B cells, in the bone marrow. The cancerous cells spread from the blood marrow to the blood, and can also affect the lymph nodes or other organs such as the liver and spleen. CLL eventually causes the bone marrow to fail, resulting in low blood counts, and weakens the immune system.
Symptoms usually develop slowly over time. Many cases of CLL are detected by blood tests done in people for other reasons or who do not have any symptoms.
Signs and tests
Patients with CLL usually have a higher-than-normal.
For most patients with early stage CLL, no treatment is started. However, these people must be closely watched by their doctor.
The outlook depends on the stage and behavior of the disease. Half of patients diagnosed in the earliest stages of the disease live more than 12 years. Some people may not require any treatment at all, while others may have faster spreading disease that requires aggressive therapy with multiple chemotherapy agents.
David C. Dugdale, III, MD, Professor of Medicine, Division of General Medicine, Department of Medicine, University of Washington School of Medicine; Yi-Bin Chen, MD, Leukemia/Bone Marrow Transplant Program, Massachusetts General Hospital. Also reviewed by David Zieve, MD, MHA, Medical Director, A.D.A.M., Inc. – 3/2/2010 |
State and local governments can have a positive impact on transportation-related greenhouse gas emissions through policies that reduce the number of vehicle miles traveled on Minnesota’s roadways. Two other approaches -- better fuel efficiency and cleaner fuels -- also are important but more strongly influenced | State and local governments can have a positive impact on transportation-related greenhouse gas emissions through policies that reduce the number of vehicle miles traveled on Minnesota’s roadways. Two other approaches -- better fuel efficiency and cleaner fuels -- also are important but more strongly influenced by federal policy, and the potential gains from these two strategies will be undermined unless we reverse our historical pattern of more and more roadway travel. Four key findings from Growth & Justice's initiative on Smart Investments in Transportation for Minnesota can help guide policymakers as they strive to cut greenhouse gas emissions from transportation. Read More
To drive fewer miles, Minnesotans will need to change how we use land and how we structure our communities. Shorter and fewer car trips will require denser development and a greater mix of uses within those developed areas. Changes in land use -- coupled with and driven in part by expanded transit service for the Twin Cities area in particular -- hold promise for reduced environmental impacts from travel. Read More
Transit use -- especially when passengers riding transit would otherwise drive cars -- can reduce emissions per passenger mile, because as a rule transit vehicles in urban areas churn out fewer emissions than automobiles. A combination of increased transit use and smart growth land-use patterns will achieve greater reductions in greenhouse gas emissions than either transit initiatives or land-use changes on their own. Read More
Policies and arrangements that increase the obvious costs of driving can yield corresponding reductions in vehicle miles traveled and in greenhouse gas emissions, as well as other transportation-related pollutants. And roadway pricing initiatives can provide corollary benefits as well. For example, the MnPASS lanes on I-394 and I-35W can mitigate traffic congestion problems that may plague the thoroughfares leading into and out of concentrated employment centers. Pricing policies have great potential for reducing greenhouse gas emissions, but many of them face significant opposition for the very reason they work -- because they increase the costs directly tied to operating a car. Read More
Web Development by Creative Arc, a Minneapolis Web Design firm. |
What Is Elavil Used For?
Elavil is a tricyclic antidepressant. Tricyclic antidepressants are an older group of medications that have been used to treat depression for many years. Even though Elavil has | What Is Elavil Used For?
Elavil is a tricyclic antidepressant. Tricyclic antidepressants are an older group of medications that have been used to treat depression for many years. Even though Elavil has been around for a long time, it is not entirely clear how it works. Elavil affects several chemicals in the brain, including serotonin and norepinephrine.
Elavil is not recommended for use in people less than 12 years old, as it has not been thoroughly studied in children. Antidepressants have been shown to increase the risk of suicidal thoughts and behaviors in short-term research studies involving children and teenagers (see Amitriptyline and Suicide for more information on the risks of suicide with Elavil). Talk with your healthcare provider about treatment options for childhood or teen depression.
On occasion, your healthcare provider may recommend Elavil for something other than the condition(s) discussed above. This is called an "off-label" use. At this time, there are several off-label Elavil uses, including:
- Chronic pain: Elavil works best for chronic pain that is nerve-related, such as nerve pain from having shingles (including postherpetic neuralgia).
- Anxiety disorders: Many antidepressants (including Elavil) are used to treat anxiety disorders.
- Bedwetting: Elavil has been used to help people stop bedwetting.
- Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD): Elavil can be used to treat ADHD, especially if other ADHD medications have not been effective or have caused side effects.
- Fibromyalgia: Elavil has been used to treat pain and other symptoms of fibromyalgia.
- Prevention of migraine headaches: Elavil can be used on a daily basis to prevent migraine |
The conquest of Chichen Itzá by Hunac Ceel and his allies is without doubt one of the most interesting and puzzling episodes in Maya history. It might well be called the Trojan War of Yucatan, for tradition ascribes as | The conquest of Chichen Itzá by Hunac Ceel and his allies is without doubt one of the most interesting and puzzling episodes in Maya history. It might well be called the Trojan War of Yucatan, for tradition ascribes as its cause the theft of the wife of a powerful ruler by the chieftain of another great and famous city. As in the case of its classical counterpart, the immediate cause of the trouble may have been the abduction of the wife, but the struggle doubtless originated in political jealousies of long standing and the desire of one city to obtain control of economic resources previously enjoyed by another.
From about the year 1000 A.D. the three cities of Chichen Itzá, Mayapan and Uxmal had ruled over the rest of northern Yucatan, and there is evidence that the most powerful of them was Chichen Itzá. 1 Then late in the Twelfth Century, Hunac Ceel, the ruler of Mayapan, organized a conspiracy against Chichen Itzá, as the result of which he conquered the latter city aided by seven foreign Mexican captains and probably also by the people of Izamal. The consequences were far-reaching. Not only was there a permanent readjustment of the political forces of northern Yucatan by which the country was governed solely from Mayapan for the next two centuries and a half, but also it resulted in the migration of a considerable portion of the Itzá nation to the distant region of Lake Peten in what is now the Republic of Guatemala.
The outstanding personality of the episode was Hunac Ceel. 2 Although we do not know the details of his conspiracy, it is evident that he played a sinister part in the affair. Incomplete accounts of the event occur in the formal chronicles of the Books of Chilam Balam, and confused details are also contributed by the fragmentary historical narratives which are to be found in these manuscripts. The episode still remains a puzzle, because these details are given in a more or less incoherent form and it is difficult to determine the order in which they occurred.
We have seen a number of references to the event in the present work, but the most complete account is to be found in the chronicle of the Book of Chilam Balam of Mani which is as follows: "In <Katun> 8 Ahau the halach-uinic, or head-chief, of Chichen Itzá was driven out because of the treachery of Hunac Ceel; and this happened to Chac-xib-chac of Chichen Itzá because of the treachery of Hunac Ceel, 3 the head-chief of Mayapan, the for-
tress. Four score years and ten years; it was in Tun 10 of <Katun> 8 Ahau. That was the year when <Chichen Itzá> was depopulated by Ah Zinteyut Chan, Tzuntecum, Taxcal, Pantemit, Xucheueut, Itzcuat and Kakaltecat. It was in this same Katun 8 Ahau that they went to drive out Ah Ulmil, the ruler, because of the banquet 1 with Ulil, the ruler of Itzmal. It was thirteen folds of katuns 2 when they were driven out by Hunac Ceel because of the giving of the questionnaire." 3
So far as we can tell from our present knowledge of Maya history, this appears to have been a struggle between two branches of the Itzá nation, one of which was at Chichen Itzá and the other at Mayapan. The Itzá occupation of Chichen Itzá in the Tenth Century is well known, and we learn from the Relaciones de Yucatan that "Izamal was conquered by Kak-u-pacal and Uilo, valorous captains of the Itzá who were the people who founded Mayapan." 4 Moreover this was not the first conflict between these two Itzá factions, for we have already seen in the third Chumayel chronicle that Chakanputun, the former home of the inhabitants of Chichen Itzá, was depopulated by the same Kak-u-pacal and Uilo (or Uilu) in the Tenth Century A.D. 5 It has never been satisfactorily explained just who the Itzá were. Although their connection with the history of Yucatan began at a very early period, the native literature always refers to them as a people apart. They were feared and hated, but at the same time regarded as holy men. They spoke the Maya language, but are called ah-nunob which means "those who speak our language brokenly." Their customs were certainly different from those of the rest of the people of northern Yucatan, for they are called rogues, people without fathers or mothers and people who are disobedient to their fathers a |
Definitions for one after another
This page provides all possible meanings and translations of the word one after another
one by one, one after another, one at a time(adverb)
in single file
"the prisoners came out one by one"
| Definitions for one after another
This page provides all possible meanings and translations of the word one after another
one by one, one after another, one at a time(adverb)
in single file
"the prisoners came out one by one"
one after another(Adverb)
In single file.
Find a translation for the one after another definition in other languages:
Select another language:
Use the citation below to add this definition to your bibliography:
"one after another." Definitions.net. STANDS4 LLC, 2013. Web. 11 Dec. 2013. <http://www.definitions.net/definition/one after another>. |
Principles of Organic Farming
Organic foods set the standard for top quality freshness, texture, flavor, and variety. These foods are produced without the standard array of modern toxic and persistent chemicals commonly used on conventional food products since the | Principles of Organic Farming
Organic foods set the standard for top quality freshness, texture, flavor, and variety. These foods are produced without the standard array of modern toxic and persistent chemicals commonly used on conventional food products since the 1950s. Yet organic farming isn't primitive, it's actually farming with our future at heart.
Basic Conventional Farming
To help understand the differences, here is a quick look at conventional farming practices. Conventional growers use an assortment of synthetic pesticides, fertilizers, genetically engineered organisms and growth enhancers to stimulate their soil and crops. Their focus is on short-term yield increases rather than long term soil health. When the soil is found lacking in various nutrients, they are added through the use of synthetic fertilizers. Crops may be grown from genetically engineered seeds. Pesticides or fungicides may be used to control insects in crop storage and transportation. Conventional farmers can use manure without restrictions and are not required to keep records of their production practices.
Basic Organic Farming
Organic farmers manage their crops using proactive practices to prevent problems. They strive to:
Replenish and maintain soil fertility.
Eliminate the use of toxic and persistent chemical pesticides and fertilizers.
Restore, maintain, and enhance ecological harmony.
Build and support biologically diverse agriculture.
To be certified as organic, all organic farmers must keep records verifying their practices and products used.
Organic Farming Practices
Organic farmers select the most environmentally friendly solutions to the pests and disease problems that affect their crops. These strategies include:
This means alternating the crops grown in each field, rather than growing the same crop year after year (mono-cropping). Different plants contribute varying nutrients to the soil. By rotating crops, the soil is naturally replenished. This time-honored practice can eliminate the need for insecticides in many crops since the insect's life cycle and habitat are interrupted and destroyed.
Cover crops can protect the soil, add nutrients, prevent weed growth, aerate the soil with deep root systems, and fertilize the soil by building organic matter when plowed under. Sometimes referred to as "green manure crops," cover crops also conserve soil moisture and feed the soil's microflora and fauna, such as earthworms. By encouraging the lifecycles of beneficial soil organisms, problematic bacteria, fungi, nematodes, diseases and insects are prevented from proliferating.
Release beneficial insects
Organic farmers utilize natural predators to control pests that destroy their crops, which eliminates the need for chemical insecticides that remains in the soil for years.
Add compost and plant wastes
Use of manure in organic production (including raw animal manure) is highly regulated, unlike the animal manures and fertilizers used in conventional farming. The continuous cycling of naturally occurring materials helps the soil retain moisture and nutrients. Correctly made compost kills pathogens and weed seeds, producing a fertilizer that encourages soil life and healthy crops.
Organic Livestock Practices
A healthy environment for their animals is foremost for organic livestock producers. Fresh air, clean water, outdoor access, proper housing and 100% organic feed all help reduce stress and keep the animals healthy. This decreases the need for antibiotics, which are not allowed in animals raised for their organic meat (some vaccines are allowed). If an animal needs antibiotic treatment, then the animal is not allowed to be sold as "organic." Other livestock practices include:
No growth hormones or genetically engineered products.
No animal by-products in feed.
Cows and other ruminants must have access to pasture.
Slaughtering practices must be humane.
Manure must be managed to prevent contamination of crops, soil or water by plant nutrients, pathogenic organisms, heavy metals or residues of prohibited substances.
The National List of Allowed and Prohibited Substances
As part of the USDA Organic Rule, the National Organic Standards Board (NOSB) established the National List of Allowed and Prohibited Substances. This list contains synthetic substances that are allowed in organic farming and production as well as a list of natural substances that are prohibited. The NOSB reviews substances to be added or removed from the National List on an ongoing basis. They recommend that all agricultural inputs be evaluated for long-term effects on the environment, not simply on whether these inputs are synthetic or natural. Their decisions are based on:
Effect on human health.
Effect on the farm eco-system.
Toxicity and mode of action.
Availability of gentler alternatives.
Probability of environmental contamination during manufacture, use and disposal.
Potential for interactions with other materials used.
Overall compatibility with a system of sustainable agriculture. |
What is it about solid state drives that excites such emphatic claims? SSDs use non-volatile NAND flash memory to store data and access it very much faster than rotating hard disk drives, and with an infinitesimal risk of mechanical damage that | What is it about solid state drives that excites such emphatic claims? SSDs use non-volatile NAND flash memory to store data and access it very much faster than rotating hard disk drives, and with an infinitesimal risk of mechanical damage that can cause data loss. But they have a trio of negative characteristics.
- Unlike hard drives, with solid state drives you need to delete data before writing new data. Two cycles are needed, rendering solid state drives slower to write data than to read it.
- Solid state drives wear out; the ability of a flash cell to be rewritten declines over time until it simply stops accepting new data. In comparison, hard drives go on forever.
- Solid state drives are accessed in quite large chunks of data -- typically 4 KB at a time -- whereas a hard drive is accessed 512 bytes at a time. Applications and system software tailored to hard drive access can use SSDs inefficiently, wasting much of the SSD's speed.
Windows in flash doesn't boot too fast
Flash SSDs were added to notebooks without anyone carrying out, or making public, any thorough tests of whether these SSDs delivered I/O acceleration and prolonged battery life. Once news of real-life disappointments started coming in, magazines started tests and the surprising results were that battery life extension was sometimes non-existent and I/O speed-up patchy and often trivial. Specifically, Windows in flash didn't boot appreciably faster than from a hard drive.
SanDisk boss Eli Hariri has said Vista needs changing to make better use of flash. It reads data in chunks that are too small and so reads the same page of flash data again and again.
Real-world battery life results were equally surprising. A closer look showed that flash actually uses quite a lot of power.
Flash used only for notebook "extremes"
The result of the speed-up disappointment and power profligacy is that flash is now only being used for notebook extremes, the high-end MacBook Air and low-end Asus Eee netbook type products. Both need the lightness of flash and, with netbooks especially, its greater reliability, while the supposed speed and battery life extension is less important.
Both Lenovo and HP have added high-end notebooks with flash. Lenovo's new ThinkPad X301 doesn't have a hard drive option. It ships only with solid state storage in 64 GB or 128 GB capacities and costs from £1,880 for the privilege. It uses a better flash controller than before and gets a top-of-the-class gold rating from the US EPEAT environmental rating organisation. HP is less enthusiastic about flash and only offers an 80 GB SSD option alongside various hard drives for its high-end Elitebook.
For the notebook mainstream, flash is currently a waste of time, being insignificantly faster than hard drives, no good for extending battery life and too expensive to justify its reliability over hard drives prone to breakdown. Currently flash stores one binary digit per cell. Multi-layer cells (MLCs) will store, initially, two and then three bits per cell and bring the cost per flash GB down. But flash will still be more expensive than hard drives, so, unless a new generation of flash memory actually does speed up apps or extend battery life, it's hard to see it encroaching much on mainstream notebook hard drive use.
This may happen. Intel and Micron have both announced flash that can do sustained read I/O at 240/250 MB/sec which is almost 100 MB/sec faster than the current average OCZ/Super Talent/Samsung SSD used in notebooks. That may well start to significantly shrink Windows boot time and accelerate Office applications as well as intensive disk-bound photo-editing and DTP applications.
The new controllers used in the Intel and Micron flash as well as new generation controllers from OCZ, Super-Talent and others will help boost power efficiency and extend write endurance time so the flash doesn't wear out before the notebook gets changed.
The time for mainstream notebook flash use is not yet upon us. But that time may be coming, as new power-efficient and fast controllers are taken up by notebook manufacturers. As soon as the notebook flash acid test -- faster Windows startup -- is passed and flash is less than 10 times the cost per GB of hard drives – with the arrival of MLC flash chips, the mainstream flash notebook era will have begun. In five years time hard drives may disappear from notebooks. Flash will have crossed the notebook chasm and hardware, once again, will have rescued us from Windows bloat. Bring it on.
About the author: Chris Mellor has been active in storage writing for many years, editing the UK's first print storage magazine, then its first dedicated online storage news channel |
Forest Fires Add To Growing Global Warming Problem
According to a study released on Sunday, global warming is driving forest fires in northern latitudes to burn more frequently and fiercely.
The study found that increased intensity of fires in Alaska over the last decade | Forest Fires Add To Growing Global Warming Problem
According to a study released on Sunday, global warming is driving forest fires in northern latitudes to burn more frequently and fiercely.
The study found that increased intensity of fires in Alaska over the last decade has changed the region from a sink to a source of carbon dioxide, which is the greenhouse gas most responsible for global warming.
Boreal forests in the northern hemisphere may now soak up less of the heat-trapping gas than they give off now.
The majority of the CO2 comes from what is on the ground and not from the burning trees.
“Most of what fuels a boreal fire is plant litter, moss and organic matter in surface soils,” Merritt Turetsky, a professor at the University of Guelph in Ontario, Canada and lead author of the study, wrote in a perss release.
He said that the findings were something to worry about because about half of the world’s soil carbon is trapped in northern permafrost and peatlands.
“This is carbon that has accumulated in ecosystems a little bit at a time for thousands of years, but is being released very rapidly.”
The study focused on Alaska’s 45 million acres of forest, but it could be applied to wilderness in Siberia, Canada and northern Europe as well.
Wildfires have taken over 2.5 million acres in Russia earlier this year, destroying whole villages and leaving over 50 people dead.
The study said that the shift of subarctic forests and peatlands from a CO2-absorbing sponge to a net source of the gas means that these regions could help trigger accelerated global warming.
“Essentially, it represents a runaway climate change scenario in which warming is leading to larger and more intense fires, releasing more greenhouse gases and resulting in more warming,” Turetsky told the AFP new agency.
The same vicious-circle effect is true of the shrinking Arctic ice cap, which has likewise become both symptom and cause of climate change
More of the Sun’s radioactive force is absorbed by dark-blue ocean water rather than bounced back into space by reflective ice and snow as ice cover recedes decade-by-decade.
The Arctic and subarctic regions have been hit particularly hard by global warming, with temperatures rising two to three times faster than the global average.
Turetsky and colleagues examined nearly 200 forest and peatland sites in Alaska shortly after blazes were extinguished to measure how much biomass had burnt.
They found that the amount of earth that has been set on fire has doubled in interior Alaska over the last 10 years, |
Final preparations for a scientific mission to Mercury, the closest planet to the sun, were being made by Nasa officials yesterday.
The US space agency's $427m (£235m) Messenger probe is due to launch from Cape Canaveral in | Final preparations for a scientific mission to Mercury, the closest planet to the sun, were being made by Nasa officials yesterday.
The US space agency's $427m (£235m) Messenger probe is due to launch from Cape Canaveral in Florida shortly after 7am BST on Monday, sending it on a 4.9bn mile journey that will see it loop around the sun 15 times and slingshot past Venus, before entering into orbit around Mercury.
The one-tonne Messenger probe is only the second spacecraft to set its sights on the tiny planet. The first, another Nasa probe, called Mariner 10, took pictures as it flew past in 1974, a time when Carl Douglas topped the UK charts with KungFu Fighting.
While Mariner 10 was a successful mission, it only managed to gather information on less than half of the planet's surface.
"Mariner 10 left us with even more questions than it answered," said Orlando Figueroa of the solar system exploration division at Nasa in Washington.
"Now, 30 years later, advances in technology, mission design and materials have enabled us to go back with a much more capable mission, which can help us understand and unravel the mysteries of the closest planet to the sun."
The Messenger probe will settle into a year-long orbit around Mercury in 2011 and will provide the first images of the entire planet. The mission will also collect information on the composition and structure of Mercury's crust, its geological history and the nature of its ultra-thin atmosphere, which contains only traces of hydrogen, |
Genealogists are always digging.
So are backhoe operators.
It was a good thing that the Fosterburg Water District was digging for a waterline in Prairietown, Illinois, because while digging they found a long-abandoned historic cemetery | Genealogists are always digging.
So are backhoe operators.
It was a good thing that the Fosterburg Water District was digging for a waterline in Prairietown, Illinois, because while digging they found a long-abandoned historic cemetery.
No one had remembered that there was an old cemetery there. The tombstones had fallen and over the years were buried and forgotten.
Credit: John Badman, The Telegraph (Alton, Illinois), 28 June 2013.
The dig for the waterline unearthed these long-lost gravestones. Anthropologist Dawn E. Cobb from the Illinois Historic Preservation Agency began studying why these tombstones were there. She looked at old Illinois maps and quickly found that there was a cemetery located at that spot in 1873, and a church was shown there on an 1892 map.
Years ago St. Mary’s Roman Catholic parish was merged with a parish in Macoupin County, Illinois. Now she is investigating how many people were buried there and researching the old records to find their names and genealogical details. Read the entire story in The Telegraph (Alton, Illinois), 28 June 2013: http://bit.ly/1aZp9Ac.
How many small cemeteries are gone from our memories?
How many tombstones have tipped over—with solid genealogical information buried—waiting to be rediscovered?
Take the time this summer to research and found out where the old cemeteries were in your area 150 and 200 years ago. Are they all still accounted for?
Let us know if you rediscover a “lost” cemetery and what you found in the comments. |
Genetic mating system and timing of extra-pair fertilizations in the Kentish plover
Kupper, C., Kis, J., Kosztolanyi, A., Szekely, T., Cuthill, I. C | Genetic mating system and timing of extra-pair fertilizations in the Kentish plover
Kupper, C., Kis, J., Kosztolanyi, A., Szekely, T., Cuthill, I. C. and Blomqvist, D., 2004. Genetic mating system and timing of extra-pair fertilizations in the Kentish plover. Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology, 57 (1), pp. 32-39.
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It is still unclear why females in many bird species pursue extra-pair copulations. Current hypotheses focus mainly on indirect benefits such as obtaining particular "good genes" for their offspring or maximizing genetic compatibility between themselves and the father of their offspring. Supporting the latter, a recent study of shorebirds suggests that extra-pair matings may function to avoid the negative effects of genetic similarity between mates. Here, we further investigate genetic parentage in the Kentish plover, Charadrius alexandrinus, a shorebird with a highly variable social mating system. DNA fingerprinting revealed that most pairs were genetically monogamous: 7.9% of the broods (7/89) contained extra-pair young, comprising 3.9% of all chicks (9/229). These cases represented, however, three alternative reproductive behaviors: extra-pair paternity, quasi-parasitism (extra-pair maternity) and intraspecific brood parasitism. This is the first study showing the occurrence of all three behaviors in one shorebird species. We also found that extra-pair fertilizations (extra-pair paternity and quasi-parasitism) were more frequent later in the breeding season. There was no consistent relationship between genetic similarity of mates and laying date; the pattern, as well as the degree of genetic similarity, differed among breeding sites within the study population.
|Creators||Kupper, C., Kis, J., Kosztolanyi, A., Szekely, T., Cuthill, I. C. and Blomqvist, D.|
|Departments||Faculty of Science > Biology & Biochemistry|
|Additional Information||ID number: ISI:000224754000005|
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May 20, 2011 Aggressive male mating behavior might well be a successful reproductive strategy for the individual but it can drive the species to extinction, an international research team headed by evolutionary biologist Daniel Rankin from the University of Zurich has demonstrated | May 20, 2011 Aggressive male mating behavior might well be a successful reproductive strategy for the individual but it can drive the species to extinction, an international research team headed by evolutionary biologist Daniel Rankin from the University of Zurich has demonstrated in a mathematical model.
Evolutionary biologists have long debated whether the behavior of the individual is able to influence processes on a population or species level. The possibility of selection at species level is still controversial. Using a mathematical model, an international team of researchers led by Daniel Rankin, an evolutionary biologist at the University of Zurich, has now demonstrated that aggressive male sexual behavior not only harms the female, but can also cause entire populations to die out.
The paper recently published in the journal The American Naturalist was made possible by funding from the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF).
For their study, the scientists concentrated on the extreme sexual conflict of seed beetles, which are considered as pests in agriculture. Male seed beetles have barbed penises which make it impossible for the female to shake off an unwelcome mate. The aggressive males have a higher reproductive rate as they are more successful than less aggressive males; however, they harm the female during the mating process. The researchers have now shown that the greater mating success of aggressive males can result in the males of a species becoming more aggressive in general. The aggression spiral has dramatic consequences for the population and species: More females are harmed during mating and die from their injuries. This means the females become scarcer as a resource for the males and the species eventually dies out. Individual interests and the interests of the population contrast greatly in the present case.
In economics, such clashes of individual and group interests are referred to as the "tragedy of the commons." The principle refers to the overexploitation of collective res |
A Conventual Franciscan Priest
St. Maximilian Kolbe (1894-1941) was born on January 7, 1894, in Poland. His baptismal name was Raymond. As a youngster he was drawn | A Conventual Franciscan Priest
St. Maximilian Kolbe (1894-1941) was born on January 7, 1894, in Poland. His baptismal name was Raymond. As a youngster he was drawn to the priesthood, entered religious life with the Conventual Franciscans friars in 1910, and was given the religious name Maximilian. He made solemn vows in 1918, and because of his devotion to the Blessed Mother, added Mary to his religious name. He was sent to Rome where he studied philosophy and theology and was ordained to the priesthood in 1918. He contracted tuberculosis, and because of his illness, returned to Poland.
Father Kolbe became a lecturer in church history in Krakow, Poland, but he is most remembered for his zeal for Mary. Before he was ordained, he established a society to foster devotion to Mary known as the Militia of Mary, an organization of priests, religious, and laity dedicated to promote her as the queen and mother of society and a special aid in the road to conversion to God and holiness. After ordination he also founded The Knights of the Immaculata, a monthly magazine which he edited.
A Traveling Priest
Father Kolbe traveled extensively over the next few years. He was transferred to Grodno, near Warsaw, where he founded a Franciscan community and continued his writings. After another bout with tuberculosis, he moved to Niepokalanow, also in Poland, which means “town of the Immaculata.” In 1930 he made a missionary journey to Nagasaki, Japan, where he founded a second “town of the Immaculata.” He returned to Poland in 1935 due to illness, and upon recovery, he made a second missionary expedition, this time briefly to India, then back to Nagasaki, only to be recalled to Poland to be the superior of 760 Franciscan friars.
The New Information Age
Wherever he was, at home or abroad, Father Kolbe used multimedia – newspapers, magazines, and radio broadcasts – to continue his special ministry to spread devotion to Mary, and his writings reached millions of people around the world.
World War II
The Germans invaded Poland in 1939, and Father Kolbe was arrested by the Gestapo, detained for ten weeks, and released. He continued his writ |
Unearthing the Weeping Time: Savannah's Ten Broeck Race Course and 1859 Slave Sale
|Kwesi DeGraft-Hanson, Michael Page, and Kyle Thayer, Superimposition: Re-imaged Ten Bro | Unearthing the Weeping Time: Savannah's Ten Broeck Race Course and 1859 Slave Sale
|Kwesi DeGraft-Hanson, Michael Page, and Kyle Thayer, Superimposition: Re-imaged Ten Broeck Race Course on 2007 aerial photo of site, looking northeast, Savannah, Georgia, 2010.|
In 1859, one of the largest slave sales in U.S. history took place at the Ten Broeck Race Course, now an obscured landscape, on the outskirts of Savannah, Georgia. 436 enslaved persons from the Butler plantations near Darien were sold in an event remembered as "The Weeping Time." Despite the prevalence of historic monuments in the U.S. South, memorials to slavery are rare or recent arrivals. Not until 2008 did the city of Savannah and the Georgia Historical Society place a marker near the site of the sale. In this essay, Kwesi DeGraft-Hanson examines how this once hidden landscape can be re-imagined into Savannah's historic memory through archival research, oral history, physical observations of the landscape, and the art of mapmaking.
The blades of grass on all the Butler estates are outnumbered by the tears that are poured out in agony at the wreck that has been wrought in happy homes, and the crushing grief that has been laid on loving hearts.
—Mortimer Thomson (Philander Doestick |
Volume 4, Number 3—September 1998
Zoonotic and Vector-borne Issues
Resurgent Vector-Borne Diseases as a Global Health Problem
Vector-borne infectious diseases are emerging or resurging as a result of | Volume 4, Number 3—September 1998
Zoonotic and Vector-borne Issues
Resurgent Vector-Borne Diseases as a Global Health Problem
Vector-borne infectious diseases are emerging or resurging as a result of changes in public health policy, insecticide and drug resistance, shift in emphasis from prevention to emergency response, demographic and societal changes, and genetic changes in pathogens. Effective prevention strategies can reverse this trend. Research on vaccines, environmentally safe insecticides, alternative approaches to vector control, and training programs for health-care workers are needed.
In the 120 years since arthropods were shown to transmit human disease, hundreds of viruses, bacteria, protozoa, and helminths have been found to require a hematophagous (blood-sucking) arthropod for transmission between vertebrate hosts (1). Historically, malaria, dengue, yellow fever, plague, filariasis, louse-borne typhus, trypanosomiasis, leishmaniasis, and other vector-borne diseases were responsible for more human disease and death in the 17th through the early 20th centuries than all other causes combined (1). During the 19th and 20th centuries, vector-borne diseases prevented the development of large areas of the tropics, especially in Africa; it was not until these diseases were controlled that engineering feats such as the Panama Canal could be completed (1,2).
Not long after the 1877 discovery that mosquitoes transmitted filariasis from human to human, malaria (1898), yellow fever (1900), and dengue (1903) were shown to have similar transmission cycles (2). By 1910, other major vector-borne diseases such as African sleeping sickness, plague, Rocky Mountain spotted fever, relapsing fever, Chagas disease, sandfly fever, and louse-borne typhus had all been shown to require a blood-sucking arthropod vector for transmission to humans (2).
Prevention and control programs were soon based on controlling the arthropod vector. Yellow fever in Cuba was the first vector-borne disease to be effectively controlled in this manner, followed quickly by yellow fever and malaria in Panama. Over the next 50 years, most of the important vector-borne public health problems were effectively controlled (Table 1). Most of these programs established vertically structured vector control organizations that emphasized elimination of arthropod breeding sites (source reduction) through environmental hygiene along with limited use of chemical insecticides. By the 1960s, vector-borne diseases were no longer considered major public health problems outside Africa. Urban yellow fever and dengue, both transmitted by Aedes aegypti, were effectively controlled in Central and South America and eliminated from North America; malaria was nearly eradicated in the Americas, the Pacific Islands, and Asia. The discovery and effective use of residual insecticides in the 1940s, 1950s, and 1960s contributed greatly to these successes.
However, the benefits of vector-borne disease control programs were short-lived. A number of vector-borne diseases began to reemerge in the 1970s, a resurgence that has greatly intensified in the past 20 years (3-7). Although the reasons for the failure of these programs are complex and not well understood, two factors played important roles: 1) the diversion of financial support and subsequent loss of public health infrastructure and 2) reliance on quick-fix solutions such as insecticides and drugs.
The Global Emergence/Resurgence of Vector-Borne Diseases
Evidence of the reemergence of vector-borne diseases such as malaria and dengue was first observed in the 1970s in Asia and the Americas (5-9). Warnings, however, were largely ignored until recently (10), and now it may be difficult to reverse the trend.
Figure 1 shows some vector-borne parasitic, bacterial, and viral diseases that have caused epidemics in the 1990s. While malaria is the most important vector-borne disease because of its global distribution, the numbers of people affected, and the large number of deaths, the vector-borne viruses (arboviruses) are clearly the most numerous.
The resurgence of malaria in Asia in the late 1960s and early 1970s provides a dramatic example of how quickly vector-borne disease trends can change. Malaria, transmitted to humans by anopheline mosquitoes, had been nearly eliminated in Sri Lanka in the 1960s, with only 31 and 17 cases reported in 1962 and 1963, respectively. By 1967, 3,468 cases were reported. In 1968, however, a major epidemic caused 440,644 cases. In 1969, 537,705 cases were reported (Figure 2a); the disease has never been effectively controlled since then. In India, a similar resurgence of malaria occurred (Figure 2b), with sporadic outbreaks of disease beginning in the early 1970s and nearly seven million cases by 1976. Sri Lanka and India are classic examples of the lack of sustainability of vertically structured prevention/control/elimination programs. Complacency, dwindling financial and political support, and a change in strategy from vector control to case finding and drug treatment were mainly responsible for the |
|Annu. Rev. Astron. Astrophys. 1982. 20:
Copyright © 1982 by. All rights reserved
4.3. Extranuclear Ionized Gas
A wealth of extranuclear emission-line | |Annu. Rev. Astron. Astrophys. 1982. 20:
Copyright © 1982 by. All rights reserved
4.3. Extranuclear Ionized Gas
A wealth of extranuclear emission-line regions (ELR) have been studied in the past five years. The relevance of much or all of this information to the causes of galactic activity is uncertain, however. Recombination and cooling times in these nebulae are short (typically 107 yr) compared to dynamical time-scales; this suggests that the agents that ionize and heat the gas must be continuously supplied, presumably directly or indirectly by the active nucleus. Energy estimates (1052 - - 1055 erg in the ionized nebulae, 1058 ergs in the nucleus or associated lobes of radio galaxies) add credence to this suggestion. Thus we must view the ionized nebulae with caution because clues to the origin of galactic activity implanted in the gas may be obliterated by the energy sources that power the ionized component.
ACTIVE GALAXIES At the risk of adding credence to speculation, we have chosen to organize the following discussion by the mechanisms proposed to explain the ELRs and the origin of nuclear activity.
Accretion flows in dominant cluster galaxies Such flows are unique, at least in a quantitative sense, to giant cluster-centered ellipticals (or cDs), as discussed in Sections 2.1, 3.1, and 3.3. Ionized gas is observed in nearby cDs, including M87 and NGC 1275, and more than half of thirteen cDs surveyed by Heckman (1981) (see also Fabian et al. 1981). Heckman's limits on the nondetected galaxies do not exclude emission at the intrinsic level of M87. Ford & Butcher (1979), Kent & Sargent (1979), Stauffer & Spinrad (1979), and others find that the filaments in M87 and NGC 1275 are probably collisionally ionized. The galaxies detected by Heckman (1981) have spectra similar to these two closer cDs; moreover, their luminosity correlates with X-ray luminosity and cluster richness, as might be expected for an accretion flow (e.g. Binney & Cowie 1981, Mushotsky et al. 1981; see also Section 2.1). The ELRs probably arise in cool (104 K) thermal instabilities, perhaps triggered by the radio source pushing outward through the accretion flow (Ford & Butcher 1979).
In any event, the ELRs are associated with material involved in the flow to the nucleus, and useful abundance and kinematic information can be obtained. In M87 and NGC 1275, abundances are comparable to the respective nuclear (and solar) abundances, and point-to-point velocity differences and line widths are on the order of the sound speed in the adjacent X-ray-emitting gas (~ 102.5 km |
American Bison once ranked among the most widespread and abundant wildlife in North America -- and certainly the largest. It was unthinkable that bison might vanish, with a range spanning two-thirds of the continent and a population estimated at 40 to 60 million | American Bison once ranked among the most widespread and abundant wildlife in North America -- and certainly the largest. It was unthinkable that bison might vanish, with a range spanning two-thirds of the continent and a population estimated at 40 to 60 million. And yet they nearly did; by 1900 the wild population hovered near 100 and thoughts had turned to conserving the few remaining animals.
In 1908, the National Bison Range was established with 41 captive bison on 19,000 acres of rolling prairie hills, narrow canyons, and forested creek bottoms. The herd has done well; today it is managed for an optimum size of 400, with surplus animals sold off every year. Other large grazers and browsers make use of the site, including Elk, Pronghorn, White-tailed and Mule Deer, Bighorn Sheep, and occasional Mountain Goats. The rangeland is composed of now rare Palouse Prairie Bunchgrass. Mission Creek flows down from the hills and through richly forested bottoms of aspens, junipers, birches, and cottonwoods. Blue Grouse inhabit the woodlands, along with Yellow-breasted Chats and Lazuli Buntings, among others.
Start your tour at the visitor center, which has some fine interpretive displays. Viewing out on the range is limited primarily to roads: a 19-mile loop road is open summer through early fall and takes about two hours to complete. There is also a half-hour tour route, open year-round. Bear in mind that this is a wild preserve, not a theme park, and locating most of the larger animals requires patience and a pair of binoculars. Bison are active grazers, and they steadily cover ground as they feed; this means the herds seldom stay in the same area for long. An 800-pound bull Elk bedded down amid sagebrush will become all but invisible save for his antlers poking above the shrubs. Newborn bison calves are a sight to behold from mid-April through May, and Bighorn Sheep visit the grasslands in summer. Birdlife is abundant everywhere; watch for Grasshopper Sparrows in the grasslands, and Lewis’s Woodpeckers and Clark’s Nutcrackers in the upper forested areas. The rugged Mission Mountains form a spectacular backdrop to the grasslands.
Have you been to this park? How many stars would you give it? |
Steamboat Springs Steamboat Springs Middle School Principal Tim Bishop was sitting in his office about three weeks ago when he saw something strange through his window.
"I saw (Director of Food Services) Max Huppert come in here one day pushing a cart | Steamboat Springs Steamboat Springs Middle School Principal Tim Bishop was sitting in his office about three weeks ago when he saw something strange through his window.
"I saw (Director of Food Services) Max Huppert come in here one day pushing a cart full of dirt down the middle of the arcade, and I'm like, 'What are you doing with this dirt?'" he said. "He just said he had an idea, and so he brings me into the school's greenhouse two weeks later, and there are these pots sprouting green."
Pumpkins, green beans, lettuce, tomatoes and onion sprouts are now growing from dozens of pots in the school's small greenhouse, which is about the size of the bed of a pickup.
Huppert said he created the small biosphere with seventh-grade teacher Lisa Lorenz and a few volunteers with the goal of teaching students about nutrition and where their food comes from. It's a concept he calls "farm to fork."
"We hope to get to a point where we are growing a lot of our own produce and having it year-round so they are still getting fresh things in the lunchrooms in January and February," he said. "I don't know how much money it will actually save us, if any, but it's just to give the kids some fresh things. And if it does save us some money, it would be great."
Lorenz plans to incorporate the greenhouse, which is connected to the back of her classroom, in her lesson plans.
"We are starting our plant unit next week and we have been having some discussions about having the kids grow their own raw meal," she said. "We will have a nutritionist come in and talk about nutrition and raw foods. Kids will plan a meal and grow it from seedlings and then learn about plant structure and organisms."
Students don't parti |
Notes from the field: Child Friendly School Clubs and the Potential for Gender Equality
By Chemba Raghavan, Regional Focal Point for East Asia and Pacific UN Girls Education Initiative
Last month, Dr. Cliff Meyers (UNICEF | Notes from the field: Child Friendly School Clubs and the Potential for Gender Equality
By Chemba Raghavan, Regional Focal Point for East Asia and Pacific UN Girls Education Initiative
Last month, Dr. Cliff Meyers (UNICEF’s Regional Education Advisor) and I visited Papua New Guinea (PNG) as part of a country support mission. My role was to offer a regional perspective on gender in education and early childhood policies, initiatives and activities in the country.
One of the most enriching parts of this trip was a visit we made to two schools in the Kupiano District of Central Province, a picturesque four-hour drive from Port Moresby. One school was a government school and the other is church run. In schools such as these, UNICEF is helping train teachers to run weekly child friendly school clubs. These clubs are supported by parents and community members.
The school clubs are particularly attractive to children because they are fun, relevant and help build children’s skills. As I chatted with the school administrators I saw that these clubs had great potential to bring children currently not in school back into the education system.
As the UNGEI Regional Focal Point, I was also looking around me with a “gender lens”. This made me more aware of the potential of school clubs to promote gender equality. At Gavuone Primary School it was heartening to see both boys and girls taking part in the Creative Arts club, and to see girls participating actively in the carpentry club – a stereotypically masculine profession. The cooking club was also run by a male teacher. Nonetheless, as in many other countries, cooking remained a favorite activity for the girls while boys opted for fishing.
It occurred to me that, while these clubs can provide a context for promoting gender equality, they also involve the notion of choice. The challenge for UNICEF is to work out how to develop the clubs and use them as a strong medium for dialogue on gender equality without preventing children from choosing the activities that they find most interesting and relevant.
Many of us living in industrialized countries take school clubs for granted. It’s easy to view them as an extra-curricular luxury. Yet, particularly in the contexts of disadvantaged remote areas, and for marginalized groups such as ethno-linguistic minorities, investing in low cost programmes like school clubs can boost student motivation, community involvement and create a pressure-free environment for children to pursue their talents. They can also serve as a powerful platform for advancing gender equality in education. |
Abstract: Will Natural Gas Fuel America in the 21st Century?
Natural gas is being promoted as a "bridge fuel" to a clean energy future, and even as an abundant, long-term energy source. The claims are audacious, but | Abstract: Will Natural Gas Fuel America in the 21st Century?
Natural gas is being promoted as a "bridge fuel" to a clean energy future, and even as an abundant, long-term energy source. The claims are audacious, but do they match with reality?
Advocates — bolstered by recent publicity over claims of large discoveries of unconventional natural gas sources (i.e., shale gas) in the U.S. — are promoting gas as a "clean" alternative to coal for electricity production and petroleum for transportation. Indeed, some climate change activists and coal opponents have encouraged the conversion of existing coal-fired power plants to burn natural gas until renewable energy sources can effectively scale up.
Meanwhile, other environmentalists, as well as some journalists and policymakers, are voicing opposition to shale gas production based on concerns about the health and environmental impacts of hydraulic fracturing ("hydrofracking") technology.
The stakes couldn't be higher, but a lack of data and rigorous analysis about the feasibility, risks, and rewards of natural gas could lead us down a dangerously false path. While a few recent studies have examined some aspects of the natural gas question, none has provided a comprehensive, systemic analysis of the role it can and should play in our nation's energy future.
In May 2011, Post Carbon Institute will release a report for policymakers, NGOs, and foundations that provides an objective, easily accessible analysis of the following:
- Recoverable, affordable supplies of conventional and unconventional natural gas in North America, including the latest actual production and depletion rates.
- Technical feasibility and scaling considerations of converting existing coal-fired plants |
For some of the characters in "Dry September," a story set in post-slavery, pre-Civil Rights Mississippi, life is black and white. For such characters, most notably John McLendon, contact between black people and white people is governed | For some of the characters in "Dry September," a story set in post-slavery, pre-Civil Rights Mississippi, life is black and white. For such characters, most notably John McLendon, contact between black people and white people is governed by a strict unwritten code that must be constantly enforced from within the community itself. Breaches of the code (or even rumors of breaches) result in severe consequences. Other characters, like Henry Hawkshaw, see past color to the character of the individual, regardless of color. The interplay between these two modes of vision sparks much of the tension in this story, hopefully inspiring the reader to think deeply on the nature of racial divides.
Faulkner's "Dry September" is still relevant because it explores a problem still present in contemporary American society – crimes motivated by racism.
When Hawkshaw defends Will Mayes by describing him as "a good nigger" we get our first clue that Hawkshaw's attitude toward black people is conflicted; this conflict is repeated at several other points in the story, but ultimately left unresolved (1.2). |
The Common Core standards that are hitting the news recently are not new to educators.
In fact, most of the educators in McHenry County and across the country have been preparing for their implementation since 2010. Curriculums are being adjusted | The Common Core standards that are hitting the news recently are not new to educators.
In fact, most of the educators in McHenry County and across the country have been preparing for their implementation since 2010. Curriculums are being adjusted to the consistent, rigorous standards that will be the benchmark for nearly all students in the U.S.
Why do we need a new set of standards? The Illinois State Standards under which I started teaching were failing most of our students. The Illinois standards essentially told what facts to teach. They did not provide students with the skills they needed to be ready for a career and/or college.
Consequently, many students weren’t (aren’t?) equipped for some of their high school classes. These students are less likely to graduate from high school as they quickly get behind in high school credits. Many students going to college have to take remedial math or English classes since their training is not adequate to succeed in college courses. This is costly to parents and taxpayers. Yet most significantly, these shortcomings in our current standards leave so many of our youth discouraged, without the prospect of a successful future.
So when did this all start and why? The National (State) Governors Association and the Chief State School Officers, leaders and educators from across the country, came together and agreed that there was a crisis in education in America. Students were taught differently around the country and at various levels of difficulty or rigor. The new Common Core standards are five years in the making. The NGA and CSSO initiated the standards in 2009. Illinois and 44 other states adopted the standards in 2010.
Yes, students still need to know the times tables and how to write grammatically correct essays for different purposes: expository, persuasive, etc. But, more importantly, students need to learn how to think critically and use what they learn. Students not only need to know how to write each type of essay, but when each type of writing is appropriate to use – persuasive writing is probably not fitting for a cookbook. Young people need to be able to compare ideas; read instructional, informational texts; and apply concepts, collaborate with classmates and solve problems. These are the skills that will serve them in a career, college and beyond. And, most importantly, this ingrains the habit of engaging with information/knowledge.
For a quick comparison of the Illinois and Common Core standards in similar subject areas for eighth grade, let’s look at Illinois State Standards Goal 1A3b Middle/Jr. High School: “Read with understanding and fluency, analyze the meaning of words and phrases in their context.” In other words, the student needs to determine the meaning of a word based upon the sentence or paragraph in which it is used.
The Common Core English Language Arts standards CCSS ELA – Literacy RL 8.4 require eighth-grade students to “determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in text, including figurative and connotative meanings, analyze the impact of a specific word chosen on meaning and tone including analogies and illusions to another text.”
The Common Core expects students to not only determine word meaning from how it is used within the text, but also to identify how the word is used and why the author may have chosen to use the word. Finally, the stud |
The Internet has had an enormous impact on almost every aspect of society. It has radically transformed the way we live, work, shop, communicate, and find information. Never before has information been so easily accessible to us, and yet, as much | The Internet has had an enormous impact on almost every aspect of society. It has radically transformed the way we live, work, shop, communicate, and find information. Never before has information been so easily accessible to us, and yet, as much as the Internet enhances our lives, the "digital gap" between us and our aging population is widening. Studies show that most seniors do not process and interact with web content the same way as other segments of the population. As people age, they experience difficulties with vision, hearing, dexterity, and memory. Visual sensory systems as well as auditory, tactile and vestibular systems start to gradually decline. Even with important advances in assistive technology, browsers today do not lend themselves to be easily used and understood by the aging. It is no surprise why most seniors are apprehensive about computers, overwhelmed mainly by modernity but also by their inability to process so much information at one time. As human beings liv |
Developing an Effective Emergency Communication Program
By Jon M. Evenson - March 2011 - Emergency Preparedness
On June 26, 1996, an Air Force sergeant noticed suspicious activity near a building in the Khobar Towers complex | Developing an Effective Emergency Communication Program
By Jon M. Evenson - March 2011 - Emergency Preparedness
On June 26, 1996, an Air Force sergeant noticed suspicious activity near a building in the Khobar Towers complex in Khobar, Saudi Arabia. Thanks to his quick work, several floors of the building were evacuated before a truck bomb exploded and devastated the building. But not all occupants got word in time; 20 people were killed and hundreds injured.
Since that day, a series of attacks — from school shootings to 9/11 — has reinforced the importance of being able to communicate quickly and reliably with building or campus occupants during an emergency. Indeed, NFPA 72-2010 — the National Fire Alarm and Signaling Code — addresses emergency communication systems. Organizations looking to implement a comprehensive emergency management program, however, should not only look at systems and software but also operations and training to effectively plan, prepare and respond to emergencies.
When developing an emergency management program, the goal should be to integrate systems and procedures into an overall program that is communicated to individuals through training and drills. A crucial step is to review what building and site systems are installed and may be included in the emergency management program. The systems could include:
- Public address systems and equipment
- Fire and life safety systems and equipment
- Radio communication systems
- Distributed recipient notification systems
- Building management systems
When the review has been completed, facility managers should look at how the systems will be utilized before, during and after an emergency to manage the response and coordination process in accordance with the emergency management program.
When developing an emergency management program facility managers should review its operations to determine risks and threats.
After risks have been identified, facility managers should develop operational protocols to coordinate how the organization should respond to various emergencies. As part of the protocols, the use, management and coordination of various systems should be clearly identified and addressed.
Tiers of Training
To have an effective emergency management program, facility managers need to conduct training and drills to ensure that people understand the emergency management program's elements and how they are to respond in the event of an emergency. There are three tiers of training. Tier 1 is classroom training; it is easy to organize but only provides an overview of the emergency management program and the basic response protocols. Tier 2 is scenario training and involves creating a mock scenario in a controlled environment to test the attendees' ability to coordinate a response to a given event. Ideally, Tier 2 training offers a real-life feel to a response, but unless planned carefully and moderated properly, some attendees may be disinterested and not understand the value of the training.
Tier 3 training — conducting live drills — is the most effective method, but it is the most difficult to coordinate. Organizations may not be willing to interrupt operations or meetings to participate in the drill. What's more, if the drill time and date are announced ahead of time, response team members may cheat and prepare themselves to respond at the appropriate time. This may not indicate their actual ability to coordinate response efforts.
No matter what training is conducted, the training should include the local authorities. Be sure to use and discuss the specific systems and operational protocols for the organization. Lack of training and comprehension could lead to serious challenges in coordinating a response to an emergency. |
Scientists believe they've discovered why the moon has no active volcanoes, despite containing plenty of liquid magma.
The Russian Space Agency (Roscosmos) has suffered a string of embarrassing space-related debacles over the past few months.
Planets with | Scientists believe they've discovered why the moon has no active volcanoes, despite containing plenty of liquid magma.
The Russian Space Agency (Roscosmos) has suffered a string of embarrassing space-related debacles over the past few months.
Planets with two suns - like Star Wars' Tatooine - could really be habitable, astrophysicists have concluded - and they say they know where to look.
NASA's two GRAIL probes have now successfully been placed in orbit around the moon.
NASA's twin GRAIL spacecraft will be placed into orbit around the moon over the New Year weekend, in preparation for their mission to study its composition and gravity field.
Two Arizona State University scientists are calling for a thorough scan of images of the moon to try and identify signs of aliens.
Solar storms and Coronal Mass Ejections (CMEs) are powerful enough to erode the surface of the moon, NASA simulations indicate.
The European Space Agency (ESA) has managed to re-establish communications with Russia's Phobos-Grunt spacecraft.
Scientists believe they finally have an explanation for why magnetized rocks are found on the moon, even though it now has no magnetic field.
NASA has released an animated clip depicting the proposed 2014 test flight of its Orion spacecraft.
If you have any moon rocks at home you may want to forget about ever trying to sell them. A California grandma learned the hard way that the feds don’t like it when you try to sell moon rock dust.
The moon may be a harsh mistress, but Russian scientists say they want to establish a colony below the lunar surface.
Neil Armstrong - the first person to walk on the moon - recently told Congress that America simply cannot maintain a realistic leadership position without human access to space.
Although Apollo 18 didn't take off at the box office, it certainly did boast an interesting "high concept" pitch.
NASA is hoping to launch its twin Grail spacecraft this morning, after a temporary delay because of poor weather.
Engineers from NASA and the US Department of Energy (DOE) are working on a suitcase-sized nuclear reactor for use on the moon and other planets.
A new analysis of a piece of lunar rock indicates that the moon is much younger than previously thought - or else scientists have been dramatically wrong about the way in which it was formed.
The Earth once had two moons circling in the same orbit, say scientists, until a collision between |
A r c h i v e d I n f o r m a t i o n
Planning and Evaluation Service
Analysis and Highlights
The National Study of the Operation of the Federal Work-Study Program
The Federal Work-Study ( | A r c h i v e d I n f o r m a t i o n
Planning and Evaluation Service
Analysis and Highlights
The National Study of the Operation of the Federal Work-Study Program
The Federal Work-Study (FWS) program, begun in 1965, disburses federal funding to postsecondary institutions to provide students with part-time employment opportunities to help finance their education. In FY 2000, the federal government provided $934 million through the FWS program to help support 1 million postsecondary students. This report, based on a nationally representative survey of Federal Work-Study (FWS) administrators and recipients conducted in 1998, analyzes student and institutional experiences with the FWS program and describes how the program is operated.
Students indicated high levels of satisfaction with the FWS program and felt that it contributed positively to their academic studies. Students also felt that they received the supervision and training they needed. Institutions generally tried to match FWS students with jobs and routinely followed up with employers. However, institutions rarely followed up with students regarding their satisfaction with the program. Both students and institutions indicated a high level of interest in participating in America Reads and the vast majority of students who held community service jobs felt that this would have a positive effect on their future participation in community service activities.
- Students almost unanimously reported that participation in the FWS program was a positive experience. More than 95 percent of FWS students indicated that overall they were satisfied with the program, they would participate in the program again, and they would recommend the program to a friend who was eligible for it. The most commonly reported features of the program that helped create a satisfying experience for students were flexibility of job hours, the opportunity to obtain valuable job skills, and the relationship with their supervisor and coworkers.
- According to students, FWS jobs often made a positive contribution to their studies. Almost half the students said that their FWS job had a positive effect on academic performance with only 7 percent indicating their FWS job negatively affected their academic performance. Students reporting a positive effect most often credited the study and organization skills they gained on their FWS job for this effect. Not surprisingly, the approximately 40 percent of students who indicated that their FWS jobs were related to their academic or career interests were twice as likely to report a positive effect on academic performance than were students in unrelated jobs. Also, students who attended less-than-four-year institutions were more likely to report a positive effect on academic performance than were students at four-year institutions (68 percent versus 45 percent).
- On average, FWS students worked 11 hours per week and were paid $6.10 per hour. Clerical/office work was the most common type of FWS job held by nearly 40 percent of students. Other common FWS jobs included lab/research assistant, resident/student life assistance (e.g., campus security or lifeguard), and library worker. Among the one-third of students who offered a suggestion regarding types of FWS jobs that should be made available to students, 42 percent indicated they wanted more career- and academically-related jobs. More than 25 percent of FWS students had a second job and the majority of these students would have preferred additional hours in their FWS jobs rather than taking on a second job.
- FWS students believe they are receiving the training and supervision required for their jobs. More than 80 percent of students received some type of training for their job and almost all of these |
heparin, anticoagulant drug that is used to prevent blood clots from forming during and after surgery and to treat various heart, lung, and circulatory disorders in which there is an increased risk of blood clot formation. Discovered | heparin, anticoagulant drug that is used to prevent blood clots from forming during and after surgery and to treat various heart, lung, and circulatory disorders in which there is an increased risk of blood clot formation. Discovered in 1922 by American physiologist William Henry Howell, heparin is a naturally occurring mixture of mucopolysaccharides that is present in the human body in tissues of the liver and lungs. Most commercial heparin is obtained from cow lungs or pig intestines. Heparin was originally used to prevent the clotting of blood taken for laboratory tests. It |
Fascinating seeing the Castle Clinton with a roof! It was actually the New York Aquarium during this time period…
he New York Aquarium opened on December 10, 1896, at Castle Garden in Battery Park. Its first director was the | Fascinating seeing the Castle Clinton with a roof! It was actually the New York Aquarium during this time period…
he New York Aquarium opened on December 10, 1896, at Castle Garden in Battery Park. Its first director was the respected fish expert, Dr. Tarleton Hoffman Bean (1895–1898). On October 31, 1902, the Aquarium was adopted into the care of what was then the New York Zoological Society. At the time, the Aquarium housed only 150 specimens of wildlife. Over time, its most famous director, the distinguished zoologist Charles Haskins Townsend, enlarged the collections considerably, and the Aquarium attracted hundreds of thousands of visitors each year.
Early in October 1941, the Aquarium at Battery Park was controversially closed based on claims of NYC Parks Commissioner Robert Moses that the proposed construction of a tunnel from Lower Manhattan to Brooklyn might undermine Castle Clinton’s foundation. Many of the Aquarium’s sea creatures were temporarily housed at the Bronx Zoo until the new aquarium was built after World War II. On June 6, 1957, the Aquarium opened its doors at its new location i |
|Jmol-3D images||Image 1|
|Molar mass||61.874 g/mol|
|Appearance||Coating of golden color|
2930 °C, 3203 K, 5306 °F
|Sol | |Jmol-3D images||Image 1|
|Molar mass||61.874 g/mol|
|Appearance||Coating of golden color|
2930 °C, 3203 K, 5306 °F
|Solubility in water||insoluble|
|Crystal structure||Cubic, cF8|
|Space group||Fm3m, No. 225|
| (what is: /?)
Except where noted otherwise, data are given for materials in their standard state (at 25 °C, 100 kPa)
Titanium nitride (TiN) (sometimes known as “Tinite” or “TiNite” or “TiN”) is an extremely hard ceramic material, often used as a coating on titanium alloys, steel, carbide, and aluminium components to improve the substrate's surface properties.
Applied as a thin coating, TiN is used to harden and protect cutting and sliding surfaces, for decorative purposes (due to its gold appearance), and as a non-toxic exterior for medical implants. In most applications a coating of less than 5 micrometres (0.00020 in) is applied.
- Vickers hardness 18-21 GPa
- Modulus of elasticity 251 GPa
- Thermal conductivity 19.2 W/(m·°C)
- Thermal expansion coefficient 9.35×10−6 K−1
- Superconducting transition temperature 5.6 K
- Magnetic susceptibility +38×10−6 emu/mol
TiN will oxidize at 800 °C at normal atmosphere. It is chemically stable at room temperature and is attacked by hot concentrated acids.
TiN has excellent infrared (IR) reflectivity properties, reflecting in a spectrum similar to elemental gold (Au), which gives it a yellowish color. Depending on the substrate material and surface finish, TiN will have a coefficient of friction ranging from 0.4 to 0.9 versus itself (non-lubricated). Typical formation has a crystal structure of NaCl-type with a roughly 1:1 stoichiometry; however TiNx compounds with x ranging from 0.6 to 1.2 are thermodynamically stable. A thin film of titanium nitride was chilled to near absolute zero converting it into the first known superinsulator, with resistance suddenly increased by a factor of 100,000.
A well-known use for TiN coating is for edge retention and corrosion resistance on machine tooling, such as drill bits and milling cutters, often improving their lifetime by a factor of three or more.
Because of TiN's metallic gold color, it is used to coat costume jewelry and automotive trim for decorative purposes. TiN is also widely used as a top-layer coating, usually with nickel (Ni) or chromium (Cr) plated substrates, on consumer plumbing fixtures and door hardware. As a coating it is used in aerospace and military applications and to protect the sliding surfaces of suspension forks of bicycles and motorcycles as well as the shock shafts of radio controlled cars. TiN is non-toxic, meets FDA guidelines and has seen use in medical devices such as scalpel blades and orthopedic bone saw blades where sharpness and edge retention are important. TiN coatings have also been used in implanted prostheses (especially hip replacement implants) and other medical implants.
Though less visible, thin films of TiN are also used in microelectronics, where they serve as conductive barrier between the active device and the metal contacts used to operate it. While the film blocks diffusion of metal into the silicon, it is conductive enough (30–70 μΩ·cm) to allow a good electrical connection. In this context, TiN is classified as a "barrier metal", even though it is clearly a ceramic from the perspective of chemistry or mechanical behavior. Recent chip design in the 45 nm technology and beyond also makes use of TiN as a metal material for improved transistor performance. In combination with gate dielectrics (e.g. HfSiO) that have a higher permittivity compared to standard SiO2 the gate length can be scaled down with low leakage, higher drive current and same or better threshold voltage.
Due to their high biostability, TiN layers may also be used as electrodes in bioelectronic applications like in intelligent implants or in-vivo biosensors that have to withstand the severe corrosion caused by the body fluid. TiN electrodes have already been applied in the subretinal prosthesis project as well as in biomedical microelectromechanical systems (BioMEMS).
The most common methods of TiN thin film creation are physical vapor deposition (PVD, usually sputter deposition, cathodic arc deposition or electron beam heating) and chemical vapor deposition (CVD). In both methods, pure titanium is sublimated and reacted with nitrogen in a high-energy, vacuum environment. TiN film may also be produced on Ti workpieces by reactive growth (for example, annealing) in a nitrogen atmosphere. PVD is preferred for steel parts because the deposition temperatures exceeds the austenitizing temperature of steel. TiN layers are also sputtered on a variety of higher melting point materials such as stainless steels, titanium and titanium alloys. Its high Young's modulus (values between 450 and 590 GPa have been reported in the literature ) means that thick coatings tend to flake away, making them much less durable than thin ones. Titanium nitride coatings can also be deposited by thermal spraying whereas Ti |
A recent study published in the peer-reviewed journal Food and Chemical Toxicology is indicating that rats fed on GM maize have a significantly heightened risk of developing tumors. In turn, the French government has asked a health watchdog to conduct an investigation, possibly leading | A recent study published in the peer-reviewed journal Food and Chemical Toxicology is indicating that rats fed on GM maize have a significantly heightened risk of developing tumors. In turn, the French government has asked a health watchdog to conduct an investigation, possibly leading to an EU-wide suspension of the Monsanto product. But the study has also instigated a firestorm of criticism, with many scientists complaining that the results are completely unreliable.
First, the study. European researchers conducted a two-year experiment in which 200 male and female rats were split into 10 groups (including a control). Three groups were given conventional rat food with increasing doses of the herbicide, Roundup (reflecting its presence in the food chain). The other groups were fed rat food which contained Monsanto's NK603 corn, and in amounts of 11, 22, and 33% (with controlled and variable levels of Roundup).
What they discovered was that the GM maize and the herbicide both caused similar damage to the rats' health (when consumed together or alone). Females were particularly susceptible, leading to sickness and premature deaths. When the experiment reached the 14-month stage, females developed cancer at a rate of 10 to 30%. At the same time, none of the mice in the control groups showed any signs of cancer. And by the end of the experiment, 50-80% of female rats had developed tumors in all treated groups (with up to three tumors per animal), whereas 30% of controls were affected. Of the males who got sick, they experienced liver damage, kidney and skin tumors, and digestive problems.
So, that's the study. And as noted, it did pass through peer-review. But that hasn't stopped the onslaught of criticism — something the French researchers are well accustomed to by know; their seemingly anti-GM studies have been criticized in the past.
After speaking to several scientists, Emily Sohn of Discovery News reports:
One immediate problem, [Martina] Newell-McGloughlin said, is that the line of rodents used in the study, known as Sprague-Dawley rats, are frequently used in cancer research because a large majority of them naturally develop tumors at a high rate, regardless of what they eat or how they're raised.
What's more, the rats were allowed to eat an unlimited amount of food, which increases their chances of developing tumors. And two is a very old age for these rats, which could account for the large rate of cancer seen across all groups, including the controls.
The small size of the control group also raised red flags. Even experienced scientists in the field had trouble interpreting data in the study, as seen in comments collected by the UK's Science Media Center, but it appears that the study included just 10 or 20 control animals.
That means there were at least nine times more test animals than control animals. If anything, studies of this kind usually include two or three times more controls than experimental animals.
The results don't make a lot of sense, either. No matter how much of either herbicide-laden or genetically modified maize the rats ate in proportion to their other food, rates of cancer and premature death remained the same. However, to be meaningful, toxicology studies like this should show a dose-dependent response, which means that if something is toxic, more of it should be more toxic.
Sohn also notes microbiologist David Tribe's complaint that the researchers did not account for random effects, and that rats are ill-suited for such short-length investigations.
Over at Forbes, Tim Worstall has put together a comprehensive list of criticisms from various scientific circles, many of which complain about the methodology used, the deliberate use of unsightly pictures of tumor-ridden rats, and the potential (hidden) political agenda of the researchers (one of whom is a homeopath).
It certainly appears that the study has its problems, and that the proliferation of the researchers' findings in the press will cause a lot of problems for Monsanto, while potentially giving the public a false sense of the dangers of GM corn.
More to the point, however, this episode also shows that peer-review ain't always what it's cracked up to be. Oftentimes, where there's a will to get something published, there's a way.
As a last note, what needs to happen now is for an independent research group to corroborate or disprove the study. Words are just words; what's needed is due dilligence and the presentation of more meaningful data to settle this once and for all. Given the stark implications of the study's findings, this is only common sense.
Other source: France24. Image: Madlen/Shutterstock.com |
THE HARE AND THE TORTOISE
Once upon a time, a hare went to a pool to quench his thirst. As a matter of chance, he saw a slow-moving tortoise over there and mocked at him. The tortoise | THE HARE AND THE TORTOISE
Once upon a time, a hare went to a pool to quench his thirst. As a matter of chance, he saw a slow-moving tortoise over there and mocked at him. The tortoise felt pinched and challenged the hare for a race.
The hare accepted the challenge with a smile. The next morning, they both met at the starting point and the race began. As expected, the hare went far ahead of the tortoise.
After covering more than half of the distance, he started feeling bored. As the tortoise was quite far behind, the hare thought of taking some rest. So he stopped and began eating blades of green grass. Having his had fill, he felt asleep. Nearby, he saw a |
Why are there white dots on the Obama birth certificate, and how did they get there?
These are questions asked by Tom Harrison, a software designer with more than 30 years experience in graphic design. Harrison – a 58 year-old Dartmouth | Why are there white dots on the Obama birth certificate, and how did they get there?
These are questions asked by Tom Harrison, a software designer with more than 30 years experience in graphic design. Harrison – a 58 year-old Dartmouth graduate with a background in mathematics, physics and computer science – believes the dots prove the document is a forgery.
The Oregon-based computer software business he manages, TS4, has done general computer consulting, embedded design, software and web design, and integration and networking since 1980.
He has used Adobe Illustrator since 1989.
Harrison’s expertise is demonstrated in his report to WND, which includes detailed instructions that allow the reader to duplicate his results using Adobe software.
“I’ve read a lot about the purported Obama birth certificate, but I have not seen anywhere (until now) the simplest proof that it is a forgery: the overwhelming evidence provided by the presence of two ‘white dot’ groups in the image,” he explained to WND.
“While many apologists have claimed the layering of the document is a natural outcome of optimized scanning, there is one thing that the scanning process cannot do, even if it is separating layers: it cannot create two separate colors for any given pixel,” he said.
In other words, if you lift an item out of an image, what is left is nothing: transparent space. In fact, all the apologists claiming validity of the document point out that the “white” (actually, transparent) space behind the lifted images is expected. In this case, however, there are two colors associated with the pixels in those two subgroups – green underneath and opaque (not transparent) white on top, and – if anyone is confused by the difference between transparent (rendered white by convention) and opaque white – the “white is not underneath the subgroup, visible when the subgroup is made not visible, but is actually the pixel color when the subgroup is visible – exactly the opposite of claimed “normal” effects.
Put simply, the white dots, he contends, are evidence of two different colors occupying the same pixel, a result that is not possible if the Obama birth certificate were simply a scan.
Two separate colors occupying the same pixel result when one color is in one layer and the second color is in another layer, demonstrating that the document was created electronically, with the layers being used to transplant manipulated information into the final product.
“If the document were indeed scanned, there could not be varied green hues behind the white dots,” Harrison insisted. “No scanner has X-ray vision. Nothing really complicated: No pixel can have two colors from a scanner.”
What is Harrison’s explanation for why the white dots were left in the final Obama birth certificate?
“I suspect it was an early attempt at visually editing out some inconvenient spots, somewhere else in the document,” he answered. “That method wouldn’t work too well, so I think the composer simply dragged them off to the side to try something different, then forgot about them.
“Once de-selected, they would be practically invisible when placed as they were, over the mottled safety paper background.”
As evidence of this, Harrison cites the two blue boxes that pop up to surround the dots when image groups 1 and 2 are selected in the Adobe Illustrator’s pop-up box, as demonstrated in the next section of this article.
To the untrained eye, the blue boxes appear to contain nothing of importance, and it is difficult to understand why the boxes are on the document, unless the person who assembled the electronic birth certificate file placed the boxes there for some reason.
Harrison believes the creator of the document made the error because of a “tight schedule, difficult job, guilty conscience” and “didn’t double-check the removal of ‘junk.’”
White dots in the Obama birth certificate
When the Obama birth certificate is viewed in Adobe Illustrator, two groups of white dots are identifiable in two separate layers in the document.
As seen in Exhibit 1, Harrison says the top group of white dots – identified when a blue rectangle pops onto the document when the first image group in the layers pop-up box is clicked on – was placed into the document as an outside link that was scaled 24 pe |
Available from Cambridge University Press
Right of Election:
in the corporation
Number of voters:
11 in 1628
|10 Mar. 1604||SIR WILLIAM KILLIGREW I|
|c. Mar. 161 | Available from Cambridge University Press
Right of Election:
in the corporation
Number of voters:
11 in 1628
|10 Mar. 1604||SIR WILLIAM KILLIGREW I|
|c. Mar. 1614||RICHARD CONNOCK|
|15 Dec. 1620||SIR EDWARD COKE|
|20 Jan. 1624||WILLIAM WREY|
|25 Apr. 1625||WILLIAM CORYTON|
|23 Jan. 1626||JOSEPH JANE|
|SIR FRANCIS STEWART|
|4 Mar. 1628||JOHN HARRIS III|
|SIR FRANCIS STEWART|
There was a settlement at Liskeard by around AD 1000. The town received its first charter from Richard, earl of Cornwall in 1240, and like many of the earl’s possessions it was absorbed into the duchy of Cornwall in 1337, along with Liskeard manor, castle and park. The borough was important enough to be enfranchised in 1295, and ten years later it was designated as one of Cornwall’s five coinage towns, where tin could be assayed. Liskeard’s location on a major thoroughfare encouraged its development as a centre for the cloth trade, and in the early sixteenth century Leland considered it to be the county’s best market town apart from Bodmin. The privilege of coinage, which had lapsed several centuries earlier, was restored in 1568, though by this time the focus of tin production had shifted to western Cornwall.1 In 1603 Liskeard processed just 146 pieces of the metal, compared with the 1,251 coined at Truro, and by 1622 the local coinage house was ‘much decayed and ruinous’. Indeed Liskeard itself had experienced serious economic contraction. Writing in about 1600, Richard Carew† observed: ‘coinages, fairs, and markets, (as vital spirits in a decayed body) keep the inner parts of the town alive, while the ruined skirts accuse the injury of time and the neglect of industry’.2
Liskeard was incorporated in 1587. The governing body consisted of nine senior or capital burgesses, one of whom served as mayor, and around 15 lesser burgesses. Provision was made for both a chief steward and a recorder, though the latter post was not filled until 1604.3 The corporation owned a moderate amount of property, and was wealthy enough to retain the services of high-profile lawyers such as Sir John Hele†, John Glanville* and Henry Rolle*.4 At least one mayor during this period, John Hunky |
External HDD’s (Hard Disk Drives) are everywhere, and quite popular. These allow one to increase the storage capacity of a system greatly, quickly and easily, for not that much money. We now have many sizes, and many connection types | External HDD’s (Hard Disk Drives) are everywhere, and quite popular. These allow one to increase the storage capacity of a system greatly, quickly and easily, for not that much money. We now have many sizes, and many connection types. Some connection types are better than others, if one is doing more than off-loading data to archive it, and perhaps free up internal HDD space. With the right connection type, one can also edit to/from the external HDD’s. Again, some connection types are better than others. Note: for editing Video, the physical HDD’s need to be at least 7200 RPM.
For simple archiving, any connection type will work well. In that process, files are just written to the external HDD, and when needed, read from the external HDD. The problem comes in, when one tries to edit to/from the external HDD. Most current computers are faster than the slower connection types can manage. The OS is firing commands for reads/writes too fast. The OS expects rapid response, and can overwhelm the external HDD. When one adds in an NLE (Non Linear Editor) program, there is a great deal of HDD activity, and this requires many reads and writes, and requires them quickly. The files are very large too. Suddenly, the I/O (Input/Output) sub-system is overwhelmed, but the requests keep coming.
Here is a real-world look at the data transfer of some common connection types:
Average transfer rates in MB/s for different interfaces:
- USB2: 20 - 25, depending on other USB devices sharing the same bandwidth
- FW400: 30 - 35
- FW800: 50 - 60
- USB3: 65 - 80, depending on other USB devices sharing the same bandwidth
- eSATA: 100 -140
- SATA: 100 - 140
Raid0: 0.9 x N disks over a single disk
Raid3/5: 0.8 x (N-1) disks over a single disk for read, 0.6 x for write. ICHR10 figures are a bit lower than hardware controllers.
Note: “FW” refers to FireWire, which might also be referred to as IEEE-1394a (FW-400) or iLink, and as IEEE-1394b (FW-800). The connectors are different, as are the cables. Also, one needs the appropriate controllers. Most computers have FW-400/IEEE-1394a/iLink controllers on the MoBo and connectors available for the cables. For FW-800/IEEE-1394b, one usually needs to add a controller, either on a PCI card, or via PCMCIA, or ExpressCard. More on controllers later.
As one can see, the USB 2.0 connection is slower than the rest. Problems can arise, when trying to edit to/from such an external HDD. They can be plagued with read/write errors, as they cannot maintain the data transfer, required by the OS and by the NLE program. When the allowed time has expired, based on the OS’s expectation of data transfer, it stops the process, and issues a read/write error. In a worst-case scenario, the OS will have routed the write data into a buffer, waiting for the external HDD to catch up. These buffers are finite in their capacity to store the data, while the OS is waiting. It does not take too long, before the dreaded “Delayed write failure” rears up. This can lead to a catastrophic failure of the external HDD, as the data is only partially written, and the File Allocation Tables are not completely written, causing the loss of ALL data on the external HDD. At that point, all data on the external HDD is lost. It might be possible to do a recovery with a program, like Stellar-Phoenix, but it is not cheap, not is it fail-safe. Depending on the value of the files lost, one might hire a data recovery service, but these are anything but cheap. Probably best to just do a complete low-level Format of the external HDD and then do an OS Format.
Also, while speaking of Format, most external HDD’s come from the factory, Formatted to FAT-32, an older Format type. Besides being slower, FAT-32 has a max. file size of about 4GB, and AV files are often much larger. One needs to CONVERT the Format to NTFS for the PC, or to the Mac OS’s Format, to allow for the larger files, and to increase the speed a bit. On the Mac/PC front, a PC can read/write to FAT-32, or NTSF. However, a Mac can ONLY read/write to a PC external HDD, Formatted to FAT-32. If one is migrating the HDD’s between Mac’s and PC’s, the external needs to remain in FAT-32 with its limitations. Just one consideration, when setting up external HDD’s for use with an NLE program.
For editing Video, I have found that the connection types should be considered this way:
- USB 2.0 - archiving for storage only
- FW-400 - archiving for storage, and light editing to/from (just very slow)
- FW-800 - archiving for storage, and regular editing to/from (fairly fast)
- eSATA - archiving for storage, and regular editing to/from (about as fast as an internal SATA)
- I have not tested USB 3.0 in editing situations, so cannot comment on their acceptability.
Obviously, a SATA internal i |
During his conquest of Mexico, Hernán Cortés declared himself the Marqués del Valle of Oaxaca, claiming province over the state’s rich mineral deposits. Today, Oaxaca has become a top tourist destination thanks to its miles of | During his conquest of Mexico, Hernán Cortés declared himself the Marqués del Valle of Oaxaca, claiming province over the state’s rich mineral deposits. Today, Oaxaca has become a top tourist destination thanks to its miles of sandy beaches and fascinating archeological sites.
Owing to the region's rich volcanic soils and strategic location, Náhuatl-speaking Indians once developed a complex civilization in Puebla; today, many monumental ruins can be found throughout the state. Puebla is also the home of Mole Poblano, a traditional Mexican dish.
Guanajuato is the birthplace of famed muralist Diego Rivera. Teotihuacán features sophisticated ancient architecture, the Pyramid of the Sun, Pyramid of the Moon and Ciudadela, a great sunken plaza.
Morelos is the birthplace of revolutionary hero Emiliano Zapata, and has long been home to Nahua Indians, who still engage in subsistence farming throughout the state. The state's largest city Cuernavaca is nicknamed the "City of Eternal Spring" because its climate is so consistent.
Nuevo León is situated on the border between Mexico and the United States and is famous for its adventure sports, including rock climbing and rappelling, but most of the state’s revenue comes from its brewery, ironwork, steelwork and smelting plants.
Did You Know?
The Zapoteca were skilled in astronomy and excavation, and leveled the top of a local mountain around 450 B.C. and created the ceremonial center now called Monte Albán. One of the most densely populated cities in Mesoamerica, Monte Albán is estimated to have had 18,000 Zapotecan residents at its peak.
Between approximately 1500 and 500 B.C., the Zapotecan city of San José Mogote in what is now the state of Oaxaca was the largest and most important settlement in the region. Historians estimate that during the pre-colonial period, Oaxaca was home to 16 separate cultures, each with its own language, customs and traditions. However the Zapotecas and Mixtecas constituted the largest and most sophisticated societies with villages and farmlands located throughout the region.
San José Mogote, considered the oldest agricultural city in the Oaxaca Valley, was probably the first area settlement to use pottery. Historians also credit Zapotecas with constructing Mexico’s oldest-known defensive barrier and ceremonial buildings around 1300 B.C. The culture also predates any other in the state in the use of adobe (850 B.C.), hieroglyphics (600 B.C.) and architectural terracing and irrigation (500 B.C.).
Skilled in astronomy and excavation, the Zapoteca leveled the top of a local mountain around 450 B.C. and created the ceremonial center now called Monte Albán. One of the most densely populated cities in Mesoamerica, Monte Albán is estimated to have had 18,000 Zapotecan residents at its peak.
Before migrating to Oaxaca, the Mixtecas lived in the southern portions of what are now the neighboring states of Guerrero and Puebla. By the end of the 7th century, Mixtecas established themselves in the western and central parts of Oaxaca, building cities such as Apoala and Tilantongo. During the 13th century, the Mixtecas continued to move south and east, invading the Central Valley and conquering the Zapotecas.
By the 15th century, the Aztecs had arrived in Oaxaca and quickly conquered the local inhabitants, establishing an outpost on the Cerro del Fortín. Consequently, trade with Tenochtitlán and other cities to the north increased, but the basic fabric of living was unchanged by the Aztec presence.
In 1519, conquistador Hernán Cortés set out to conquer central Mexico on behalf of Spain. Two years later, through mass killings and strategic alliances, he succeeded in overthrowing the Aztec Empire. Cortés promptly sent Pedro de Alvarado and Gonzalo de Sandoval to the Pacific and into the Sierra Madre region in search of gold. On November 25, 1521, Francisco de Orozco took possession of the Central Valley in the name of Cortés. The arrival of de Orozco prompted the construction of housing for Spanish newcomers under the administration of Cortés' brother-i |
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30 FUN WAYS TO LEARN ABOUT TIME AND MONEY
Time and money are challenging, abstract concepts with concrete everyday importance. This makes them essential for children to master, and 3-6 year olds | |Product #: GR-13549|
30 FUN WAYS TO LEARN ABOUT TIME AND MONEY
Time and money are challenging, abstract concepts with concrete everyday importance. This makes them essential for children to master, and 3-6 year olds are beginning to get curious about what they mean. Using role-playing, games, songs, and dramatic play,30 Fun Ways to Learn About Time and Money explores these difficult concepts through props, real-life scenarios, and imaginative play.
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There are several stages in the development of alphabets – mnemonic, pictographic, ideographic. A further improvement is the phonetic alphabet with alphabets consisting only of consonants, also known as syllabic, being more primitive. The | There are several stages in the development of alphabets – mnemonic, pictographic, ideographic. A further improvement is the phonetic alphabet with alphabets consisting only of consonants, also known as syllabic, being more primitive. The last stage of the phonetic alphabets are vowel-consonant alphabets which have signs for all sounds. They are handled more easily and are able to express abstract concepts.
A nation's possession of its own alphabet is a measure of its spiritual ascension and degree of cultural development. Since antiquity, the literate nations were given the role of spiritual leaders, of kernels for unification of humanity. It is not rare in history when people who own writing are able to survive under the most severe tests of fate, while the illiterate disappear from the historical scene after relatively mild crises.
Few ancient peoples had writing. Written records, which they left on clay tablets or papyrus, on the walls of temples or on stones, vessels, coins, etc., still arouse admiration and constant interest in historians, archaeologists, linguists. Some of these ancient peoples such as Sumerians and Phoenicians disappeared, others survived for centuries. Their descendants are rightly proud of the cultural achievements of their ancestors.
Few Bulgarians, however, know that they have had their own letters since ancient times – long before Cyril and Methodius and their students had created Glagolitic and Cyrillic. In the last decades numerous inscriptions written with the ancient alphabet have been found and continue to be found at present everywhere Bulgars/Bulgarians lived – in Pamir (Imeon), Bactria (Balkhara), the Caucasus, Urals, Volga region, the territory of modern Ukraine, Romania, Hungary, Serbia, Macedonia, Greece and, of course, in Bulgaria.
Not in any way belittling the work of the Solun brothers and their disciples we must admit that these geniuses used the millennial Bulgarian experience in this cultural field. The creation of Glagolitic and Cyrillic was an important stage in the advancement of Bulgarian culture. Thanks to the diplomatic talents of khana subigi Boris, to the selfless work and courage of Cyril and Methodius and their disciples, Glagolitic was consecrated by the Pope in Rome. Bulgarian language was legitimated as a sacred language, together with the other three languages in which the Scriptures were to be written – Jewish, Greek and Latin. Thus, the Danubian Bulgars became the spiritual leaders of the Slavs, cultivated them and associated them to the European civilization. In order to complete the picture, we must go back in time.
Glagolitic and Cyrillic alphabets
The tables and text can be rendered using a font that contains both Glagolitic and Cyrillic letters such as Dilyana which can be downloaded from the Institute of Literature at the Bulgarian Academy of Science page.
Kunig – the old Bulgar runes
The root of the word
kunig (OBg: кънигъı) comes from the Old Chinese k'üen'scroll' (ModCh: 纸卷 zhǐjuǎn). The word was loaned directly in the Bulgar language (*kün'ig > *küniv) restoring two individual Old Chuvash forms: 1. *k'ün'čьk > кўнчěк
kind of ornament on a woman's garment; *k'ün'-gi / *k'ün'-üg > k'ün'iv
book, codex, which is evidenced by the Hungarian könyv
book and Mordvinian konov
paper borrowings; 2. *k'ün'i- > *k'ün'i-gi > к'әn'iγь > кънигъı. This word has been preserved in Sumerian as kunuku (inscription) and kəniga (writing, knowledge). It is inherited from Bulgar to Slavic: книга (Bulgarian and Russian), књига (Serbian, Croatian and Slovenian), kniha (Czech and Slovak), książka (Polish), and non-Slavic: könyv (Hungarian) languages.
Kunig letters (kuni) have been known from archeological finds for more than 100 years already; however, until recently, no attempt has been made to decipher them, find their phonological value, or connect them to their natural successors: the Glagolitic and Cyrillic alphabets.
The oldest mention on the Bulgar runes is found in the mid-9th c. AD work On the Letters by the Bulgarian writer Chernorizets Hrabъr. Being already a Christian, he wrote pejoratively about the pagan Bulgars
with lines and nicks... they [the old Bulgars] read and divined
In 1905, the Czech-Bulgarian archeologist Karel Škorpil began collecting and publishing kuni that he found on artifacts. For the next 75 years, those were neglected, for the most part deliberately.
In 1980, Lyudmila Doncheva-Petkova published a comprehensive and systematic presentation of kuni which included their interpretation, as well as a catalogue with their location, aspect, the object they were written upon, and their discoverers. The Appendix contains 42 tables with a total of 1337 symbols of which 783 are defined |
Best Known For
Menachem Begin was prime minister of Israel from 1977 to 1983. He was the co-recipient of the 1978 Nobel Peace Prize.
Think you know about Biography?
Answer questions and see how you | Best Known For
Menachem Begin was prime minister of Israel from 1977 to 1983. He was the co-recipient of the 1978 Nobel Peace Prize.
Think you know about Biography?
Answer questions and see how you rank against other players.Play Now
Begin is perhaps best known for negotiating a Middle East peace with Egyptian President Anwar el-Sadat, in the Camp David Accords brokered by President Jimmy Carter. The terms of the treaty, signed on March 26, 1979, included Israel gaining full diplomatic recognition in return for ceding the Sinai Peninsula, which it had occupied since the 1967 war, to Egypt. For this,
Begin and Sadat shared the Nobel Peace Prize for 1978.
After the 1981 general election, Begin formed another coalition government. His territorial surrender had nothing to do, however, with his firm belief that the establishment of a Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza Strip was out of the question. An invasion of Lebanon in June 1982, ostensibly to break the military power of the Palestine Liberation Organization there, led to the deaths of numerous Palestinian civilians. In addition, the underlying motive of his defense minister, Ariel Sharon, was to install a right-wing pro-Israeli regime in Beirut. This turned world opinion against Israel.
That, and the death of his wife in November of that year when he was on a diplomatic trip to Washington, D.C., were likely factors in Begin stepping down in October 1983.
Menachem Begin had long been suffering from diabetes and heart disease. In addition, severe depression after his wife's death and guilt over the Lebanon events led him to live quietly after leaving public office, rarely leaving his Tel Aviv apartment except to visit his wife's grave. He suffered a massive heart attack on March 3, 1992, from which he could not recover, dying on March 9. He was survived by a son, two daughters and eight grandchildren.
Begin wrote two books during his life: The Revolt, about the struggle against the British from 1944 to 1948, and White Nights: The Story of a Prisoner in Russia.
In 2005, he was ranked fourth in an Israeli news poll to determine the 200 greatest Israelis.
© 2013 A+E Networks. All rights reserved.
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When Swedish industrialist Alfred Nobel died in 1896, he left his fortune to create an annual series of prizes for the individuals who confer "the greatest benefit on mankind." The most prestigious of the awards is the Nobel Peace Prize. Historians believe Alfred Nobel wanted to award people who work for peace to compensate for his own role in inventing dynamite. Since its establishment, the prize has gone to many courageous individuals who have fought for peace and human rights around the world.
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Learn more about some of the world's most famous prime ministers, including "Iron Lady" Margaret Thatcher, the first woman to hold the position; Winston Churchill, who stood against Adolph Hitler's threat to control Europe during World War II; Jawaharlal Nehru, India's first prime minister; and his daughter, Indira Gandhi, who served three consecutive terms as prime minister before she was assassinated by her bodyguards in 1984.
Famous Prime Ministers 67 people in this group |
La Befana Vien di Notte (Culture Shot)
For learning: Italian
Base language: English
||5.0 (1 WK096)
|Created||Jan 12, 2009|
Just a few days ago, | La Befana Vien di Notte (Culture Shot)
For learning: Italian
Base language: English
||5.0 (1 WK096)
|Created||Jan 12, 2009|
Just a few days ago, on January 6th, Italian children of all ages have celebrated “il giorno della Befana”. “La Befana”, the benevolent witch who comes riding a flying broomstick, is a national holiday in Italy, and it also represents the end of the holiday season for millions of children, who are going back to school from their Christmas holidays the following day. So, let’s dedicate today’s culture shot to this old lady who comes and makes children happy one more day before they have to go back to the “everyday life”. We will also review and practice “relative pronouns”, those little words so important to make your Italian flowing more natural and ultimately to make you sound like a “real Italian”. Enjoy! |
UK experts warned on Friday that two strips of some bacon contain half the recommended daily salt intake and are "saltier than seawater."
Consumer watchdog Consensus Action on Salt and Health (CASH) says the problem has been compounded in the UK | UK experts warned on Friday that two strips of some bacon contain half the recommended daily salt intake and are "saltier than seawater."
Consumer watchdog Consensus Action on Salt and Health (CASH) says the problem has been compounded in the UK due to the economic crisis in the country in that households are turning to bacon as a cheaper cut of meat.
In a survey of supermarkets, researchers looked at some 130 bacon products and found a wide discrepancy in the amount of salt in bacon products, with the worst offenders having a higher salt concentration than seawater, the report said. Some bacon brands contained as much as 5.58g per two strips. Other brands contained as much as three times the salt of similar brands found within the same supermarket.
Current recommendations are that adults consume no more than 6g of salt a day. Children aged seven to 10 are advised to consume no more than 5g of salt a day. For younger children aged four to six, to recommendation is no more than 3g.
"In times of austerity we have a lot on our minds already, without the extra worry that our budget meal choices contain too much salt," says CASH nutritionist Hannah Brinsden. "It is down to manufacturers to ensure that the salt in bacon is reduced and to provide us with a consistent labelling system so we are able to us to choose lower salt products and protect our health."
"We can all do our bit to make our cooked breakfasts healthier by grilling rather than frying, including more fruit and reducing portion sizes," adds Victoria Taylor, senior dietitian for the British Heart Foundation. |
Find muskrat information at Animal Diversity Web
680 to 1800 g; avg. 1135.80 g
(23.94 to 63.36 oz; avg. 39.98 oz)
410 to 620 | Find muskrat information at Animal Diversity Web
680 to 1800 g; avg. 1135.80 g
(23.94 to 63.36 oz; avg. 39.98 oz)
410 to 620 mm
(16.14 to 24.41 in)
Muskrats have large, robust bodies, with a total body length of twelve and a half inches. The tail is flat and scaly and is nine and a half inches in length. Muskrats have dense fur that traps air underneath for insulation and buoyancy. Their heads are very large and their ears are almost invisible underneath the fur. Muskrats have short legs and big feet; their rear feet are webbed for swimming. Adult muskrats have glossy upperparts that are dark brown, darker in winter and paler in the summer
Muskrats are only native to the Nearctic region, but have been introduced to the Palearctic and Neotropical regions. They are found throughout North America as far south as the southern United States, they are excluded from the southernmost portions of the United States by lack of appropriate habitat. The placed muskrats have been introduced to are Japan, parts of South America, Scandinavia, and Russia.
Muskrats are semi-aquatic and prefer locations with four to six feet of water. Muskrats are found in ponds, lakes, and swamps, but their favorite locations are marshes, where the water level stays constant. Marshes provide the best vegetation for eating and constructing nests and burrows. Muskrats find shelter in bank burrows and nests that they build. Bank burrows are tunnels excavated in a bank. Nests are made by piling vegetation on top of a solid base, for example a tree stump, generally in 15 to 40 inches of water.
Varies with latitude.
30 days (high)
3 to 4 weeks
7 to 12 months
7 to 12 months
Southern muskrat populations can breed year round while northern populations only breed in the warmer months (March to August). Females are pregnant for 25 to 30 days and have usually 6 to 7 young per litter. Northern populations have larger litters. Young are born in a grass lined nest. When born, muskrats have short dark fur, closed eyes, and weigh around 22 grams. They are able to swim at 10 days and by 21 days can eat green vegetation. In 3 to 4 weeks young muskrats begin to feed on their own. They will reach their adult size by 200 days old.
Young are cared for and nursed by their mothers in the nest until they are about 2 weeks old, when they begin to swim and eat vegetation. They are fully weaned by 3 to 4 weeks old and leave their mother's home range after their first winter, usually when they are less than a year old.
10 years (high)
3 years (average)
Although muskrats have been known to live to 10 years old in captivity, they probably live about 3 years in the wild.
Muskrats live in large family groups with definite territories. If conditions are crowded, females will kick their offspring out of the group. Muskrats continue to live in large groups even when they fight amongst themselves. Muskrats are active at all times of the day but most active from mid-afternoon until just after dusk, and at night. Muskrats are good swimmers and can stay underwater for about 15 minutes. They paddle with their large, webbed rear feet and use their long, flat, and scaly tail to change their direction. Muskrats move slowly on land. They are affected by quick changes in temperature, and dry, hot weather is especially bad for them. Their homes and burrows protect them from the elements. Muskrats also have a special adaptation called regional heterothermia, which regulates the flow of blood to the feet and tail, allowing these structures to be cooler than the body core. This adaptation allows them to stay warm in cold water.
Muskrats communicate by a secretion from their glands called musk. This scent also serves to warn intruders. They are capable of vocalizing by squeaks and squeals. Muskrats have poorly developed senses of sight, hearing, and smell.
Muskrats are mainly vegetarians but will eat animals as well. Muskrats consume about one-third of their weight every day. Their digestive system is designed for green vegetation. In the summer they eat the roots of aquatic plants. In the winter, they swim under the surface ice to get to the plants. Muskrats also eat agricultural crops.
Muskrats are excellent swimmers and can evade many predators by escaping into water or into their burrows and nests. They can remain under water for up to 15 minutes.
Muskrats are very abundant in areas of good habitat, making them important prey animals for predator populations. By grazing on vegetation, muskrats influence the composition |
Latest global monthly temperature estimate: UAH
Global monthly average lower troposphere temperature since 1979 according to University of Alabama at Huntsville, USA. This graph uses data obtained by the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) TI | Latest global monthly temperature estimate: UAH
Global monthly average lower troposphere temperature since 1979 according to University of Alabama at Huntsville, USA. This graph uses data obtained by the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) TIROS-N satellite, interpreted by Dr. Roy Spencer and Dr. John Christy, both at Global Hydrology and Climate Center, University of Alabama at Huntsville, USA. The thick line is the simple running 37 month average, nearly corresponding to a running 3 yr average. The cooling and warming periods directly influenced by the 1991 Mt. Pinatubo volcanic eruption and the 1998 El Niño, respectively, are clearly visible. Reference period 1981-2010. Last month shown: July 2013. Last diagram update: 4 August 2013.
GISS – Goddard Institute for Space Studies and home of James Hansen,
Hadl |
Basil is a popular herb and easy to grow in the garden. One of the main tricks to getting abundant harvests is to regularly pinch the tips of the plants to both encourage branching and to prevent it from going to flower. Once basil plants | Basil is a popular herb and easy to grow in the garden. One of the main tricks to getting abundant harvests is to regularly pinch the tips of the plants to both encourage branching and to prevent it from going to flower. Once basil plants initiate flowering, it is difficult to stop the process and when it flowers, the leaves of the basil plants are smaller and less flavorful.
Basil plants, if left to their own desires, grow one main stem. When they reach around 6 inches tall, pinch the stem back by half and leaving ¼ inch above a set of healthy leaves (see illustration). This causes branching and encourages the plant to grow more leaves. As they send out new branching stems, continue to pinch the tips of these stems back. During the heat of summer, basil should be pinched about once a week to encourage a long abundant harvest. Along with pruning, it is also important to provide regular fertilization. Basil grows best in a sunny, warm spot in well-drained, fertile soil. |
The always-inquisitive Jada Pinkett-Smith recently posed a question that has many people scratching their heads and some folks outright upset. In short, she’s wondering if black women ask to be represented in mainstream media, on the covers of magazines | The always-inquisitive Jada Pinkett-Smith recently posed a question that has many people scratching their heads and some folks outright upset. In short, she’s wondering if black women ask to be represented in mainstream media, on the covers of magazines like Vanity Fair, shouldn’t white women be represented on the covers of traditionally black magazines like Essence, Ebony and JET?
The answer? Yes and no.
It’s not enough to have this discussion without a little bit of context. We didn’t come to this dilemma out of nowhere. There is a long, difficult history that informs our current dynamics around race that can’t and shouldn’t be overlooked. This country has a long history of exclusion and the many movements for equal rights and access including the women’s movement and the Civil Rights movement (both of which black women fought in) reminds us that every person is not considered deserving and some of us had to, and still have to, fight for representation.
Magazines like Ebony and Essence were created from a need for black people to see ourselves featured prominently and positively. Ebony, which was founded in 1945, aimed to focus on the achievements of blacks from “Harlem to Hollywood” and to “offer positive images of blacks in a world of negative images.” Back then it was rare for mainstream magazines like LIFE and LOOK to feature black people in a non-discriminatory way. During a time when blacks were fighting so diligently for equal rights, it must have been a devastating blow to morale to be disparaged in the folds of corporate media. We’ve seen other marginalized communities like the LGBT and fat communities create their own media for fair and just representation. This plight is not exclusive to black people.
However, Pinkett-Smith’s question forces us to think about something a little deeper than representation. There are two things at stake here: the common good and the self-determination of the individual. It feels almost impossible for these two things to co-exist” common good means that we have a shared vision that benefits everyone (which we don’t just want realized for the people who look like us, but for all people) and individual self-determination is a philosophy that exists because many people don’t believe in the common good but instead in prejudices that exclude. Blacks were self-determined to create positive media representation because there was none. Pinkett-Smith suggested wholly integrating media so all of society, regardless of color, can start seeing ourselves as cohesive (benefiting the common good) and that while there is still a need for black women (and other communities who have been traditionally excluded) to be represented, we would all benefit from a shared presence in corporate and specialized media.
I don’t disagree entirely. But I would be remiss if I didn’t name the obvious issue with this suggestion: racism still exists. Ebony and Essence were birthed because people were racist. That hasn’t changed. People are still racist and some of those people work for and make up the readership of corporate magazines. These people have no desire to see black people on the cover or inside of their magazines and until their non-racist co |
Short Essay Questions
1. Describe the area of Soledad, California.
2. Describe the character of Lennie in the first scene of the novel.
3. Describe the character of George in the first scene of the novel.
4. | Short Essay Questions
1. Describe the area of Soledad, California.
2. Describe the character of Lennie in the first scene of the novel.
3. Describe the character of George in the first scene of the novel.
4. What does George tell Lennie about the water in Chapter 1?
This section contains 2,565 words
(approx. 9 pages at 300 words per page) |
Integrated vector management (IVM) is a rational decision-making process for
optimal use of resources for vector control. The aim of the IVM approach is to
contribute to achievement of the global targets set for vector-borne disease control | Integrated vector management (IVM) is a rational decision-making process for
optimal use of resources for vector control. The aim of the IVM approach is to
contribute to achievement of the global targets set for vector-borne disease control, by
making vector control more efficient, cost-effective, ecologically sound and
sustainable. Use of IVM helps vector control programmes to find and use more local
evidence, to integrate interventions where appropriate and to collaborate within the
health sector and with other sectors, as well as with households and communities. By
reorientating to IVM, vector control programmes will be better able to meet the
growing challenges in the control of malaria, dengue and other vector-borne diseases
in the face of dwindling public sector human and financial resources.
This handbook presents an operational framework to guide managers and those
implementing vector-borne disease control programmes in designing more efficient,
cost-effective systems. As a national IVM policy and an intersectoral steering
committee are essent |
Target: Governor of Oklahoma, Mary Fallin
Goal: Encourage policies that lead to green job creation in Oklahoma.
The state of Oklahoma ranks number 48 in the nation in terms of green jobs. The reason for this, in part, | Target: Governor of Oklahoma, Mary Fallin
Goal: Encourage policies that lead to green job creation in Oklahoma.
The state of Oklahoma ranks number 48 in the nation in terms of green jobs. The reason for this, in part, is that Oklahoma still relies on an outdated dirty economy dependent primarily on fossil fuels and the production of high-pollutant products. This leaves a lot of room for improvement which can be reasonably achieved through the implementation of new sustainability-oriented policies. Encourage Oklahoma Governor, Mary Fallin, to move her state in this important direction.
This ranking comes from a new study by the Economic Policy Institute (EPI), an impartial nonprofit think-tank. The study found that Oklahoma has only 22,411 jobs that can be classified as green according to the standards of the Bureau of Labor Statistics. EPI senior policy analyst and author of the study, Ethan Pollack, said “A dirty economy subsidizes the well-off by taxing the poor and disenfranchised, distorts the market, and short-changes future generations by leaving the world a worse place for them to live.” In contrast, EPI found that green jobs display better resistance to financial hiccups and provide more opportunities for workers lacking college degrees.
A green job is a position in a business that provides services or produces goods that conserve natural resources or protect the environment. Workers’ duties involve streamlining production to prevent unnecessary use of materials to ensure that business processes are more sustainable. Oklahoma, according to the study, currently performs better than only Florida and Nevada from a green jobs standpoint. The top three ranked states by the study are Vermont, Pennsylvania, and Washington.
Causing a change in Oklahoma’s economy is a considerable task which will require action from top-ti |
1) Active Listening -- Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.
2) Reading Comprehension -- Understanding written sentences and paragraphs | 1) Active Listening -- Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.
2) Reading Comprehension -- Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work related documents.
3) Speaking -- Talking to others to convey information effectively.
4) Mathematics -- Using mathematics to solve problems.
|Part 1||Part 2||Part 3||Part 4||Part 5|
|Duties / Tasks||Activities||Skills||Abilities||Knowledge / Experience|
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THE DUAL PURPOSES OF THE KINDER GOAT
By: Sandra Mauerhan, Chevon Director KGBA 06/21/00
Web Site:Kinder Chevon Project
About the Author
Brief History of the | THE DUAL PURPOSES OF THE KINDER GOAT
By: Sandra Mauerhan, Chevon Director KGBA 06/21/00
Web Site:Kinder Chevon Project
About the Author
Brief History of the Breed
Created out of a "crisis," but developed because of potential. Following the sudden death of their Nubian buck Art & Pat Showalter of Zederkamm Farm found themselves facing a challenge to continue their milk supply. Available to them were their two Nubian does and a Pygmy buck. Since they were interested simply in freshening for milk supply this seemed like an easy solution. What they never expected was the development of a practical dual-purpose goat. The first Kinder were born in the summer of 1986 on the Zederkamm Farm. The Kinder Goat Breederís Association was formed in 1988 and Kinders were introduced nationally in 1989. In 1997, WMMíS Cobby Hobby Montana, a First Generation Kinder buck became the first Permanent Grand Champion Buck. Today there are breeders throughout the United States, in Canada and Brazil.
Standing between 20" - 26" for does and 20" - 28" for bucks at the withers Kinders are a mid-sized goat that is well proportioned in body length and legs. Itsí compact physique conforms to dairy characteristics despite itsí somewhat heavy bone and lean, yet well muscled structure. On average a mature doe weighs 115 pounds and a mature buck 135 pounds. The Kinder goat is a prolific, productive, alert, animated, good-natured and gregarious breed.
Like the Pygmy goat, Kinders are aseasonal breeders. Preliminary research indicates a correlation between the month of breeding and the number of kids. While breeding in August through December does appear to produce an increase in the number of multiple births, triplets through sextuplets. Breeding from January through July still results in a twin average. Therefore, the Kinder can be utilized to freshen for dairy production year around or focused for meat production. Artificial insemination may be utilized in the development of a Kinder herd. Several National Pygmy Goat Associations breeders have straws for sale and Kinder straws are available from KGBA breeders as well.
The Dairy Purpose
Kinder fulfill the same requirements as those set by the ADGA for standard dairy goats. Good production for a yearling first freshner is four to five pounds per day. This can increase to six to eight pounds (or more) by the third freshening. Butterfat average runs 5.5 to 6.5 percent and has been recorded over eight percent. Protein average is four and a half percent. In 1998 Bramble Patch Kinder Ruppel earned her Star by milking ten pounds of milk with a 4.1 percent butterfat and a score of 18.8. A partial list of Star Milkers and DHIA results can be found online at http://members.aol.com /kgbassn/stars.htm. Like the Nubian, Kinder have stronger udder attachments than many other dairy and meat breeds, and extended lactations.
The Chevon Purpose
Average birth weight is four to five pounds in a triplet or greater birth. Data on a single herd presented at the 1997 Virginia State University Goat Expo indicated that the number of kids in a birth is significantly affected by the age of the doe. The yearling average of twins was increased to a quadruplet average at age four. Other breeders have experienced a higher average; additional studies are continuing. Average growth rate is seven to nine pounds a month through the first eight months of life. Typical production of a six-month-old wether can develop a kid of 50 pounds on the hoof and a dressed chevon yield of 30 pounds (60%). A fourteen-month-old wether can develop to 80 pounds on the hoof and a dressed chevon yield of 50 pounds (63%). Like the Pygmy goat, Kinder are able to digest and convert food into lean meat. Their heavier muscling translates into the higher yields that are shown above.
To date, Kinders have been managed in a pasture with supplemental feeding, routine deworming and vaccination. With the assistance of Texas A&M University an open range program is being evaluated. With the ease at which a Kinder doe delivers and cares for multiple births, the excellent feed conversion ratio and the hardiness of the breed very positive results are expected.
The Nubian/Pygmy cross produces the First Generation Kinder. After that first cross, Kinder is bred to Kinder to produce succeeding generations. The KGBA maintains a two level registry. Generations one to four receive a Certificate of Merit. The Fifth Generation and above receive a Certificate of Registry. The Nubian, usually the doe, must be registered with the American Dairy Goat Association, the American Goat Society or the Canadian Goat Society as a purebred or 100% American Nubian. The Pygmy, usually the buck, must be registered with the National Pygmy Goat Association, |
Macdonald-Laurier Institute Blog
June 7, 2010
by Christopher Sands
On May 27, the Obama administration released its first National Security Strategy, a public document that every U.S. administration is required to produce | Macdonald-Laurier Institute Blog
June 7, 2010
by Christopher Sands
On May 27, the Obama administration released its first National Security Strategy, a public document that every U.S. administration is required to produce every four years by Congress – it is a statutory requirement under section 108 of the National Security Act of 1947, as amended (50 U.S.C. 404a).
The purpose of the document is to provide an outline of how the United States government sees the threats and opportunities confronting U.S. interests in a dangerous world in a public way, so that citizens can join a democratic debate about U.S. national security policy (and, not coincidentally, generate public pressure that can strengthen Congress in U.S. foreign policymaking).
Here is the sum total of the document’s explicit mentions of Canada (pages 42-43):
“North America: The strategic partnerships and unique relationships we maintain with Canada and Mexico are critical to U.S. national security and have a direct effect on the security of our homeland. With billions of dollars in trade, shared critical infrastructure, and millions of our citizens moving across our common borders, no two countries are more directly connected to our daily lives. We must change the way we think about our shared borders, in order to secure and expedite the lawful and legitimate flow of people and goods while interdicting transnational threat that threaten our open societies.
“Canada is our closest trading partner, a steadfast security ally, and an important partner in regional and global efforts. Our mutual prosperity is closely interconnected, including through our trade relationship with Mexico through NAFTA. With Canada, our security cooperation includes our defense of North America and our efforts through NATO overseas. And our cooperation is critical to the success of international efforts on issues ranging from international climate negotiations to economic cooperation through the G-20.
“With Mexico, in addition to trade cooperation, we are working together to identify and interdict threats at the earliest opportunity, even before they reach North America. Stability and security in Mexico are indispensable to building a strong economic partnership, fighting the illicit drug and arms trade, and promoting sound immigration policy.”
In addition to the above section, Canada is also addressed (without being named) as part of the discussion of NATO (which is part of a section on European allies, and part of the section on Afghanistan and Pakistan) and the G-8 and G-20.
Reading the Obama administration’s framing of Canada in the context of U.S. global interests and relationships, a few things stand out.
First, the Obama administration gives about the same weight (and space) to Canada as the George W. Bush administration did. Canadian energy, which rated attention for Bush, is not emphasized here. The Obama team offers to “rethink” border security approaches, rather than toughening border security, which holds out the hope of at least a dialogue on easing border barriers to legitimate flows of people and goods.
The Obama strategy follows the Bush strategies by placing Canada firmly in the North American region, along with Mexico. Toward the end of the Bush administration, several prominent Canadians called for a re-emphasis on bilateral dialogue with the United States, with trilateral conversations including Mexico continuing on an “as needed” basis. The Obama administration’s response here is to continue to emphasize North American diplomacy.
At the same time, the 2010 U.S. National Security Strategy’s language on U.S. cooperation on security and prosperity with Canada and Mexico is not very specific. In the second of the George W. Bush administrations’ National Security Strategy documents (issued in 2006) the rhetoric of cooperation was translated into action in the form of the Security and Prosperity Partnership of North America, or SPP. The elaborate SPP process – it had twenty trilateral working groups, regular ministerial steering committee meetings, reports to the leaders and annual North American leaders’ summits – was dropped at the 2009 North American leaders’ meeting in Guadalajara in favour of a simpler, bureaucratically-driven and top-down led model of results-oriented, limited cooperation in a handful of priority areas.
Of the old SPP structure, only the annual leaders’ meetings remain and it is Canada’s turn to host in 2010. Amidst the preparations for the upcoming G-8 summit in Huntsville, Ontario and the subsequent G-20 meetings in Toronto, it is striking that the date and location for a 2010 North American leaders’ meeting have not been announced.
It remains unclear when the three leaders will meet to address regional issues and follow-up on the agenda they agreed to in Guadalajara. If the North American leaders’ meeting in 2010 is reduced to a press conference on the side of the G-8 or G-20 meetings later this month, it will confirm the vague approach to North American cooperation in the 2010 U.S. National Security Strategy as a down-grade of the level of formal intra-regional diplomacy from the previous administration’s SPP benchmark.
Unlike past national security strategy documents, the 2010 edition has a lengthy section on the U.S. economy, entitled “Advancing Our Interests: Prosperity” (pages 28-34). There are references to international markets, competitiveness, and innovation here – but no recognition of the continental linkages that bind th |
This section provides a short description of all the major objects in the book. This can be printed out as a study guide for students, used as a "key" for leading a class discussion, or you can jump to the quiz/homework | This section provides a short description of all the major objects in the book. This can be printed out as a study guide for students, used as a "key" for leading a class discussion, or you can jump to the quiz/homework section to find worksheets that incorporate these descriptions into a variety of question formats.
Infant Rooms - This is where five-year-old students were placed at the school.
Maori Transitional Primers - These were developed by the teacher to combine English language with Maori customs.
English Primers - These were developed by English and American educators to teach all children in New Zealand.
New Zealand - This is the country where the teacher lived and attempted to teach Maori children.
Omahu - This is an inland city where the school was located.
Fernhill School - This is where the teacher tried to teach Maori children to...
This section contains 205 words
(approx. 1 page at 300 words per page) |
Sewer-tunnels plan might get streamlined
New techniques to handle heavy rain could change plans for two
The Ohio Environmental Protection Agency is allowing Columbus to delay construction of the second of three huge tunnels while the city looks for ways to make | Sewer-tunnels plan might get streamlined
New techniques to handle heavy rain could change plans for two
The Ohio Environmental Protection Agency is allowing Columbus to delay construction of the second of three huge tunnels while the city looks for ways to make a mandated, 40-year plan to stop sewage overflows a little greener.
A total of 18 engineering proposals for pilot projects in Clintonville and the South Side were submitted to the city by last week’s deadline. If those and other projects go well, Columbus could reduce the scale of the two tunnels or eliminate them altogether.
“We’re very excited about it,” said Susan Ashbrook, the assistant director for sustainability at Columbus’ Department of Public Utilities. The city announced plans in 2005 to fix sewer overflows after two settlements with the state. Water from heavy rainstorms seeps into old sanitary sewer lines, overwhelming them and forcing sewage into the Scioto River and other waterways.
Together with sewage-plant upgrades and other work, the tunnels make up the largest public-works project in the city’s history. The city’s $2.5 billion proposal included building three deep tunnels. One, from the Jackson Pike wastewater-treatment plant to near the Arena District, already is under construction. It’s supposed to carry rainwater and sewage.
The two other tunnels designed to carry sewage only — a 14-mile-long one along Alum Creek and an 11-mile-long one along the Olentangy River — could be changed.
Construction on the Alum Creek tunnel was set to begin in 2014. The Olentangy tunnel project would follow. The Ohio EPA is giving the city until 2015 to present a plan for improvements.
The city wants to explore techniques “that mimic natural processes” to deal with rainwater during heavy storms, said Dax Blake, administrator of Columbus’ Division of Sewerage and Drainage. Rain gardens, for example, allow deep root systems to absorb the water. Porous pavement, another possibility, helps with absorption into the soil.
If those and other options deal effectively with the rainwater in Columbus, the scale of the proposed tunnels could be reduced, Blake said. If they don’t, the Ohio EPA will make sure the problem is addressed.
“Both the city and the EPA realize that the Alum Creek relief tunnel may be the best solution,” said Erin Strouse, an agency spokeswoman.
While those pilot projects play out, the city has agreed with the state to accelerate work on the Southerly wastewater-treatment plant, located in the village of Lockbourne in southern Franklin County.
That plant will increase its capacity and implement a high-rate treatment system. Work on such a system was originally scheduled to be finished by 2025. Now, it should be finished in 2019, Strouse said. |
Old Testament Reading
The sons of Noah who went forth from the ark were Shem, Ham, and Japheth. Ham was the father of Canaan. These three were the sons of Noah; and from these the whole earth was pe | Old Testament Reading
The sons of Noah who went forth from the ark were Shem, Ham, and Japheth. Ham was the father of Canaan. These three were the sons of Noah; and from these the whole earth was peopled.
Noah was the first tiller of the soil. He planted a vineyard; and he drank of the wine, and became drunk, and lay uncovered in his tent. And Ham, the father of Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father, and told his two brothers outside. Then Shem and Japheth took a garment, laid it upon both their shoulders, and walked backward and covered the nakedness of their father; their faces were turned away, and they did not see their father's nakedness. When Noah awoke from his wine and knew what his youngest son had done to him, he said, "Cursed be Canaan; a slave of slaves shall he be to his brothers." He also said, "Blessed by the LORD my God be Shem; and let Canaan be his slave. God enlarge Japheth, and let him dwell in the tents of Shem; and let Canaan be his slave." After the flood Noah lived three hundred and fifty years. All the days of Noah were nine hundred and fifty years; and he died. These are the generations of the sons of Noah, Shem, Ham, and Japheth; sons were born to them after the flood.
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The English Old Testament text is taken from the Revised Standard Version of the Bible.
The Revised Standard Version of the Bible is copyrighted 1946, 1952, 1971, and 1973 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the U.S.A. and used by permission. |
People & Events
Henry Highland Garnet
1815 - 1882
|Resource Bank Contents|
Henry Highland Garnet -- born a slave, well educated, known for his skills as an orator, a leading abolitionist, a clergy | People & Events
Henry Highland Garnet
1815 - 1882
|Resource Bank Contents|
Henry Highland Garnet -- born a slave, well educated, known for his skills as an orator, a leading abolitionist, a clergyman -- stood before the delegates of the 1843 National Negro Convention in Buffalo, New York. In a speech given just the previous year, he had stated his belief that responsibility for the abolition of slavery lay chiefly with the whites. Freedom, he thought, would come about politically. Sometime since then, however, Garnet had a radical change of mind. In what has come to be known as his "Call to Rebellion," Garnet gave an impassioned speech in which he encouraged slaves to revolt against their masters.
Frederick Douglass and other abolitionists aligned with William Lloyd Garrison's doctrine of moral suasion -- a non-resistant approach to abolish slavery -- spoke after Garnet and denounced the speech. Should Garnet's "call" be officially endorsed by the convention? A committee worked to tone down the message, but the convention's delegates still found the language too harsh. Garnet's address was rejected, but by only one vote.
By 1849 Garnet began to favor emigration. Liberia, a country in Africa inhabited by freed blacks from the New World, had declared its independence two years earlier. Garnet saw no reason not to advocate the emigration to other lands as well as the fight against slavery at home. Still a prominent abolitionist, he travelled to England and Scotland, where he lectured. Although he considered remaining in England, he left for Jamaica in 1852 to work as a missionary. Several years later he returned to the United States.
Garnet's role as an abolitionist leader would diminish as the years progressed, although he would contin |
Search The Library's Lexicon
An attorney who advises and represents a party in a legal proceeding.
An officer of court. One who undertakes to conduct suits and actions in court. The same as counsellor. By the term counsel is | Search The Library's Lexicon
An attorney who advises and represents a party in a legal proceeding.
An officer of court. One who undertakes to conduct suits and actions in court. The same as counsellor. By the term counsel is also understood counsellor at law.
Advice given to another as to what he ought to do or not to do.
To counsel another to do an unlawful act is to become accessory to it if it be a felony, or principal if it be treason, or a misdemeanor.
Practice, Crim. Law. In the oath of the grand jurors there is a provision requiring them to keep secret 'the commonwealth's counsel, their fellows, and their own.' In this sense this word is synonymous with knowledge; therefore, all the knowledge acquired by grand jurors, in consequ |
Over the last few months the USEPA has begun to implement rules to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Not the traditional way by having affected facilities measure and reduce GHG emissions, but instead by encouraging operational changes to accomplish the same goal | Over the last few months the USEPA has begun to implement rules to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Not the traditional way by having affected facilities measure and reduce GHG emissions, but instead by encouraging operational changes to accomplish the same goal. 2 rulings that can affect businesses are discussed here.
1. Alternative refrigerants. This past December the USEPA announced approval of 3 alternative refrigerants to replace hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) in commercial and household freezers which had previously been encouraged because of their negligible effects on stratospheric ozone. HFCs are potent GHGs with global warming potentials in the range of 93 to 12,100 (CO2’s GWP: 1). The use of propane, isobutane, and R-441A (a hydrocarbon blend known as HCR188C) are now suitable replacements for chlorofluorocarbon CFC-12 and hydrochlorofluorocarbon HCFC-22 in household refrigerators, freezers, combination units, and commercial stand-alone units. See: http://yosemite.epa.gov/opa/admpress.nsf/0/eed8a9f289e19d3f85257966005dbf51?OpenDocument
According to the USEPA, such replacement of refrigerants will reduce GHG emissions by about 600,000 metric tons by 2020.
2. Heavy-duty engines and vehicles. Late last year, the USEPA also announced new GHG emission standards for heavy-duty engines and vehicles, necessary due to a US Supreme Court ruling a few years ago that the USEPA was required to regulate GHG emissions from mobile sources. These standards do not apply to typical passenger vehicles, but do apply to trucks, buses, heavy-duty pickups and vans, concrete mixers, ambulances, etc. Certain small business trucks are exempt.
As summarized in 40 CFR Part 1037, beginning with model year 2014, heavy duty vehi |
Anwohner was the German name commonly used for the landless Mennonites of South Russia who settled in little shacks on the outskirts of prosperous villages eking out a meager living. The literal meaning of the word is "living | Anwohner was the German name commonly used for the landless Mennonites of South Russia who settled in little shacks on the outskirts of prosperous villages eking out a meager living. The literal meaning of the word is "living adjacent" and it implied the same as "across the tracks." The problem of this Mennonite proletariat arose for the following reasons: families were usually large, government regulations prohibited the subdivision of standard farms, surplus land was either not available or had already been distributed, and additional industries had not been sufficiently developed to absorb this labor. By 1860 nearly two-thirds of the Molotschna families were landless or Anwohner. They were forced to become artisans, or farm hands, with a few acres of land for gardens, and had no voice in the conduct of secular government. The problem of the landless was gradually solved by making all surplus land available to them, by dividing farms, by establishing a mutual aid system through which daughter settlements were established, and the development of industries. Nevertheless, most of the settlements continued to have a surplus population living as Anwohner. The Alexanderwohl village may be typical. In 1874 40% of the population were landless. At that time the pressure was relieved by a large migration to North America.
Cite This Article
Krahn, Cornelius. "Anwohner." Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. 1953. Web. 22 Dec 2013. http://gameo.org/index.php?title=Anwohner&oldid=74869.
Krahn, Cornelius. (1953). Anwohner. Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. Retrieved 22 December 2013, from http://gameo.org/index.php?title=Anwohner&oldid=74869.
Herald Press website.
©1996-2013 by the Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. All rights reserved. |
Submitted to: International Geoscience and Remote Sensing Symposium Proceedings
Publication Type: Proceedings
Publication Acceptance Date: November 7, 1995
Publication Date: N/A
Technical Abstract: Over the past decade interest in the application | Submitted to: International Geoscience and Remote Sensing Symposium Proceedings
Publication Type: Proceedings
Publication Acceptance Date: November 7, 1995
Publication Date: N/A
Technical Abstract: Over the past decade interest in the application of video imaging technology for remote sensing has greatly increased. The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), Agricultural Research Service (ARS), Remote Sensing Research Unit (RSRU) at Weslaco, Texas has designed and assembled several video systems and demonstrated the potential and versatility of videography for natural resource assessment. This paper presents an overview on the application of video remote sensing by the RSRU, with special emphasis on agriculture and rangeland management. Multispectral black-and- white (B&W) video with visible/near-infrared (NIR) sensitivity, color-infrared (CIR), conventional color, and B&W mid-infrared (MIR) video have been used to detect or assess a variety of ecological ground variables including plant communities and species, phytomass levels, nutrient deficiencies, alfalfa root rot infestations, soil drainage and salinity, water pollution, and insect infestations. The digitization, computer processing, and integration of videography with global positioning system and geographic information system technologies also has been demonstrated. Current research on development of high resolu |
Every child has likely grown up with the dream of traveling into space and exploring the universe. Even a few adults have imagined taking a break from the rat race to see the Earth and the stars the way the astronauts do.
Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield | Every child has likely grown up with the dream of traveling into space and exploring the universe. Even a few adults have imagined taking a break from the rat race to see the Earth and the stars the way the astronauts do.
Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield is making those dreams a reality, thanks to Twitter.
Hadfield is currently beginning a stay on the International Space Station, and will be in command of the station in March. But before taking charge, Hadfield is taking to Twitter to show some amazing pictures of Earth from the ISS, as the module orbits the planet.
Click on the above video to see some of Hadfield’s photos.
"This new view of the historical supernova remnant Cassiopeia A, located 11,000 light-years away, was taken by NASA's Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array, or NuSTAR. Blue indicates the highest energy X-ray light, where NuSTAR has made the first resolved image ever of this source. Red and green show the lower end of NuSTAR's energy range, which overlaps with NASA's high-resolution Chandra X-ray Observatory.
Light from the stellar explosion that created Cassiopeia A is thought to have reached Earth about 300 years ago, after traveling 11,000 years to get here. While the star is long dead, its remains are still bursting with action. The outer blue ring is where the shock wave from the supernova blast is slamming into surrounding material, whipping particles up to within a fraction of a percent of the speed of light. NuSTAR obser |
Rembrandt's angels, and ours
Bringing a spiritual perspective to daily life
Boston's Museum of Fine Arts is hosting a major exhibition of Rembrandt's etchings ("Rembrandt's Journey: Painter, Draftsman | Rembrandt's angels, and ours
Bringing a spiritual perspective to daily life
Boston's Museum of Fine Arts is hosting a major exhibition of Rembrandt's etchings ("Rembrandt's Journey: Painter, Draftsman, Etcher") through Jan. 18. As a student of the Bible, I was captivated by Rembrandt's many etchings of biblical characters and stories, especially his depiction of angels.Skip to next paragraph
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Artists often portray angels as winged beings who appear out of heaven's clouds, bathed in light. But Rembrandt's angels do more than appear. They act vigorously to comfort and save. The etching "Abraham's Sacrifice" pictures Abraham about to sacrifice his son Isaac, because he believes this is required to prove his devotion to God. Rembrandt's angel doesn't just appear to Abraham and tell him that's not what God wants. It wraps its arms around Abraham and forcibly restrains him from doing this evil thing.
The Bible tells us that on the night before he was to be crucified, Jesus prayed that this "cup" (the humiliation and agony of crucifixion) might be spared him. As he prayed, "there appeared an angel unto him from heaven, strengthening him" (Luke 22:43). Rembrandt's etching "The Agony in the Garden" pictures this angel strengthening Jesus - kneeling by him, hugging him, holding him up in its arms, lifting him up.
As Mary Baker Eddy, this newspaper's founder, wrote in her book "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures," angels are not beings with human form and feathery wings, but they are "pure thoughts from God" that strengthen and save (page 298). They are "spiritual intuitions, pure and perfect." They are "the inspiration of goodness, purity, and immortality" (page 581).
That description of angels has made me think more deeply about the 300 or so Bible passages that mention angels. An early mention of angels is when "the angel of the Lord found" a runaway slave - a pregnant, friendless Egyptian woman named Hagar, who had been mistreated. The angel assures Hagar that God will bless her with two of the things esteemed most highly in ancient life: a son and a great lineage. The angel also gives her divine guidance: Return home.
Hagar's encounter with the angel changes her, and she does return home - not fearfully as a runaway slave, but with the dignity conferred by a new view of herself, of her future, and of God's tender care for her. This new awareness of God's care prompts her to call Him by a new name: "You are the God who sees me." And Hagar says of herself, "I have now seen the One who sees me" (Genesis, chapter 16, New International Version). Some years later, Hagar is freed from slavery, and Arabs trace their lineage through her son, Ishmael.
I have found it helpful to remember that the angel that changed Hagar's life was not a feathery messenger. It was "pure thoughts from God." Such thoughts, replacing fear and despair, change our view of ourselves and our prospects. While our thoughts are fixed on the divine, we cannot be stymied by the harsh experiences of life.
Years ago, shortly after I separated from my husband whom I later divorced, I hurt my ankle at the gym. I lived in a duplex apartment and slept downstairs. By morning my ankle was so sore that I couldn't make it up the staircase; all I could do was sit on the bottom step and weep. Eventually I called a friend who agreed to come and help me. I also prayed. As I turned to God for help, I realized that what hurt most was that I was alone and stuck in the basement, and I realized that I had been feeling this way for months, long before I hurt my ankle. I yearned to abandon the notion that I was a lonely young woman whose life was a mess. I longed to understand that what the Bible says is true: that God is Love itself and that He cares for us.
As I prayed that day, you migh |
Many cases of a fallen bladder in women are asymptomatic meaning that there are no apparent signs or symptoms. This can occur for years despite a mild droop being present and could remain asymptomatic throughout life. It is believed that almost all women who | Many cases of a fallen bladder in women are asymptomatic meaning that there are no apparent signs or symptoms. This can occur for years despite a mild droop being present and could remain asymptomatic throughout life. It is believed that almost all women who have undergone multiple vaginal deliveries have some degree of a prolapse after menopause but not all are diagnosed since it is asymptomatic or the symptoms are so mild that it is never reported.
A fallen bladder or cystocele is when the urinary bladder fails to remain in its normal position and protrudes through the vaginal wall. This arises when the support structures in the pelvic cavity, namely the pelvic floor muscles and pelvic ligaments, are weakened and stretch. This compromises the support necessary to maintain the various organs in its normal position. Refer to dropped bladder for more information on the causes of a prolapsed bladder.
Grades of Cystocele (Fallen Bladder)
The severity of a fallen bladder is classified according to different grades :
- Grade 1 is the mildest type where the bladder protrudes slightly into the vagina.
- Grade 2 is where the protruding bladder can push against the vaginal wall all the way to the opening of the vagina.
- Grade 3 is the most severe type of cystocele where the drooping bladder protrudes all the way out of the vagina.
Signs and Symptoms of Cystocele
Most women seek attention for urinary problems, urinary pain (dysuria), or a visible protrusion through the vagina and are then diagnosed with a fallen bladder. However the symptom that is most commonly reported – dull, bearing down pain/discomfort – may have been present for months or years prior.
The bearing down sensation in the pelvis or lower abdomen is also described as a feeling of fullness or pressure. In the early stages, it is often so mild that many women feel that it is unnecessary to seek medical attention for it. Generally the discomfort is worse when straining and standing for long periods. It momentarily exacerbates, even leading to pain, during coughing, sneezing, laughing, bending over and with sudden pressure to the abdomen. Lying down may help relieve the discomfort.
Urinary symptoms may vary from urinary incontinence, specifically stress incontinence, to difficulty urinating and incomplete emptying of the bladder. Other symptoms like episodes of burning during urination, cloudy urine and blood in the urine may be due to repeated bladder infections (cystitis) which is a risk with a fallen bladder. The incontinence, like the bearing down sensation, is exacerbated by coughing, sneezing, laughing or even during sexual intercourse.
Article reviewed by Dr. Greg. Last updated on February 1, 2011 |
Phila (in Greek Φιλια; died in 287 BC), daughter of Antipater, the regent of Macedonia, is celebrated by the ancient sources as one of the noblest and most virtuous women of the age in which | Phila (in Greek Φιλια; died in 287 BC), daughter of Antipater, the regent of Macedonia, is celebrated by the ancient sources as one of the noblest and most virtuous women of the age in which she lived. Her abilities and judgment were so conspicuous even at an early age, that her father, Antipater, was in the often consulted her in regard to political affairs.
According to Antonius Diogenes2, she was married to Balacrus (probably the satrap of Cappadocia of that name) as early as 332 BC. In 322 BC, her father gave her in marriage to Craterus as a reward for his assistance to Antipater in the Lamian war.1 After the death of Craterus a year later, she was again married to the young Demetrius Poliorcetes, the son of Antigonus.3
The date of her marriage is assumed to have taken place between 319 BC and 315, since the remains of her late husband were consigned to her care by Ariston, the friend of Eumenes in 315 BC.4 Despite the large difference in age, Phila appears to have had great influence over her youthful husband, who treated her with the utmost respect and consideration, and towards whom she had great affection, in spite of his numero |
4 trillion degrees Celsius FEB 22 2010
Using the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider at the Brookhaven National Laboratory on Long Island, particle physicists have succeeded in creating quark-gluon plasma, the temperature of which is | 4 trillion degrees Celsius FEB 22 2010
Using the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider at the Brookhaven National Laboratory on Long Island, particle physicists have succeeded in creating quark-gluon plasma, the temperature of which is 4 trillion degrees Celsius (about 250,000 times hotter than the center of the Sun). The plasma is believed to be the state the universe was in a microsecond after its creation.
The departure from normal physics manifested itself in the apparent ability of the briefly freed quarks to tell right from left. That breaks one of the fundamental laws of nature, known as parity, which requires that the laws of physics remain unchanged if we view nature in a mirror.
This happened in bubbles smaller than the nucleus of an atom, which lasted only a billionth of a billionth of a billionth of a second. But in these bubbles were "hints of profound physics," in the words of Steven Vigdor, associate director for nuclear and particle physics at Brookhaven. Very similar symmetry-breaking bubbles, at an earlier period in the universe, are believed to have been responsible for breaking the bala |
Shepherds of Arcadia
Shepherds of Arcadia is a painting at the centre of the controversy
of the Priory of Sion. New evidence is able to offer a final analysis
of this famous painting, which offers intriguing | Shepherds of Arcadia
Shepherds of Arcadia is a painting at the centre of the controversy
of the Priory of Sion. New evidence is able to offer a final analysis
of this famous painting, which offers intriguing prospects on
the worship of the dead… and the elixir of life.
Shepherds of Arcadia is a painting from the hand of the French
painter Nicolas Poussin. It exists in two versions. Our interest
is in the second version, now on display in the Louvre. The painting
has become a key ingredient in the enigma of the so-called Priory
of Sion, because a code indicates that "Poussin has the key".
Henry Lincoln, who popularized the enigma of the Priory in the
Anglophone countries, requested that Christopher Cornford of the
Royal College of Art performed an expertise on Poussin’s
techniques. Cornford concluded that at the base of this painting
is a pentagram, which Poussin had used for the composition of
the characters on the fabric. For Lincoln, it was the green light
to conclude that the territory of Rennes-le-Château and
other villages were built on a pentagonal design, which for him
remains the true secret of Rennes-le-Château. Nevertheless,
one needs to ask how Saunière had the possibility of receiving
millions of francs from his benefactors because of some type of
sacral geometry. At the very least, there needs to be more to
it than that…
sacral geometry in the landscape of the Aude has probably nothing
to do with Poussin. But this Poussin painting remains of interest,
if only because of the use of the inscription ET IN ARCADIA EGO.
Latin is often without the inclusion of the verb "to be",
so that this sentence is actually saying: "And in Arcadia
I am…" the central question is who is this person that
says he is there. A second question has to be: why is there an
"and"? This suggests a preceding sentence: "This,
blablabla, and I am in Arcadia…".
This version goes back to ca. 1640. Poussin apparently used the
poem of Jacopo Sannazaro, dating from 1502, who transforms the
Arcadia of Virgil in a Utopian world. Apparently, the specific
lines of interest of this poem are 257-267 and speak about the
tomb of Phyllis: "I will make your tomb famous among these
rustic people. The shepherds will come from the hills of Tuscany
and Liguria to adore this corner of the world only because you
were here in the past. And they will read on the beautiful square
monument the inscription which pains my heart at all time, and
the scars strangle me with so much pain inside:'she who was always
shown so haughty and rigid in Meliseo we now find buried, soft
and humiliated, in this cold stone'."
First observation: this inscription is different from the inscription
in the Poussin painting: ET IN ARCADIA EGO.
This contradiction was noticed, because in 1672, Giovanni Pietro
Bellori, in the first Poussin biography, explains that "…
the tomb must be found in Arcadia and there death occurs even
in those pleasurable surroundings". He adds that the topic
"was apparently suggested by pope Clement IX, when he was
a prelate". In 1685, the second biography, of Andre Félibien,
thinks that "this inscription underlines the fact that the
person buried in this tomb lived in Arcadia".
many researchers pay only attention to this inscription. Such
an approach is difficult to validate, because it is a detail,
which excludes the other aspects from this painting. Equally,
Lincoln made too much about another detail of the landscape in
the background, which for him is identical to the landscape near
original painting, from 1629
people have studied the characters – the shepherds –
that are obviously the main focus. It is noted that these characters
are painted with a very visible symmetry: the two figures on the
extreme left and right-hand side place a hand on the tomb. Those
in the middle are sitting, and with their fingers indicate letters
of the inscription. But it appears difficult to go beyond these
It was Henri de Lens who saw the correspondence between these
characters and the constellations: "the shepherdess on the
right-hand side is the constellation Virgo. The shepherd on the
shoulder of Virgo is without any possible doubt the constellation
Bootes, known as the “shepherd”. One even took the
care to paint him with a foot on a stone, which corresponds with
the old representations of the Shepherd. The shepherd of the left,
knelt and indicating one of the letters of the inscription, is
none other than the constel |
"...the angel of the LORD appeared to him in flames of fire from within a bush. Moses saw that though the bush was on fire it did not burn up. When the LORD saw that he had gone over to look, God called to him | "...the angel of the LORD appeared to him in flames of fire from within a bush. Moses saw that though the bush was on fire it did not burn up. When the LORD saw that he had gone over to look, God called to him from within the bush, 'Moses! Moses!' And Moses said, 'Here I am.'"
– Exodus 3:2,4 (NIV)
Ordered to be put to death because he was a Hebrew son. Rescued by Pharoah’s daughter out of the Nile River. Called through a “burning bush” experience. These powerful statements characterize the Old Testament hero, Moses—Israel’s most-honored leader.
This 30-minute, animated Bible video recounts the traumatic early years of Moses’ life, his privileged youth in Pharaoh’s household, and his dreary days of tending sheep in the Midian desert. Watch God’s awesome hand as He moves a tiny baby from a papyrus basket coated with tar and pitch to become the eventual deliverer of Israel!
Did You Know? Moses’ name means "I drew him out of the water" Moses’ parents were named Amram (his father) and Jochebed (his mother) Pharoah’s daughter ended up paying Moses’ mother to nurse her own child!
Pharaoh and his men; the Pharaoh’s daughter; the Hebrews, Jochebed and Amram, their son Moses; the Hebrew shepherd Jethro, his family and his daughter, Zipporah.Scriptural References:
Exodus 1:9-22, Exodus 2:1-21, Exodus 3:1, Exodus 4:1-20Overall Theme:
The ancient Hebrews are enslaved by the Egyptians and forced to build the great cities of the Pharaohs. They suffer every indignity, including the slaying of every Hebrew son. One family tries courageously to save their newborn child. God chooses this infant as the one who will deliver his people from slavery. When the time comes, God reveals his plan to Moses who obeys God every step of the way.Summary:
Except for a mother’s desperate plan, the strong will of an Egyptianprincess, and the mighty hand of God, Israel’s most honored leader maynever have seen his first birthday.
Pharaoh needs the Hebrews to build the great cities and pyramids of Egypt, but he’s also worried about their growing numbers. To solve this problem, Pharaoh takes a drastic step: He orders all Hebrew infant sons be killed.
Shortly after the decree, a son is born to the Hebrews Jochebed and Amram. They decide to ignore the Pharaoh’s command. Jochebed places her infant son in a basket and floats him out into the river, where he is discovered by the Pharaoh’s daughter. Knowing it is a Hebrew child, she declares that God has chosen this child to be saved and names him Moses, because he was drawn from the water. The child is taken to Pharaoh’s palace where he is raised as a prince.
battlefield. Moses sees one of the Hebrews being beaten and murders the Egyptian overseer. The Pharaoh declares that Moses must die for spilling Egyptian blood.
Moses escapes across the burning desert. Coming upon an oasis, he drives a band of renegades from the well of Jethro and his family, who are Hebrew shepherds.
Moses later marries Jethro’s daughter, Zipporah, and has a loving family. The persecution of the Hebrews in Egypt continues and God speaks to Moses through a burning bush that Moses is the one to free the Hebrews. Moses obediently returns to Egypt to carry out His wishes, freeing his people from slavery.Background:
About 430 years before Moses was born, the Lord told Jacob to take his family to Egypt. There, God promised, He would make Israel a great nation and then return them to the promised land. Moses reminds us that the Lord keeps His promises to
us and demonstrates the power of faithful obedience.BONUS Resource & Activity Books
Each interactive DVD includes a 48-page Instant Download Resource & Activity Book full of skill-developing activities, word games, puzzles, coloring pages, and more! Provides hours of fun and learning for the entire family! The special "Certificate of Achievement" located in the back of the book serves as an excellent award your child can display after completing the activities.
DVD Chapter Index:
- Pharaoh Orders Death of Every Infant Hebrew Son
- Moses is Born
- Moses is Hidden in the River
- Pharaoh’s Daughter Adopts Moses
- Moses is Nursed by His Mother
- Moses Protects Israelite Slaves
- Moses Defends Israelites
- Moses is Sentenced to Death and Flees
- Moses Flees to Midian
- "Moses’ Song"
- God Calls Moses to Deliver Israelites from Bondage
Principles and Values Taught in This Video
Courage, Faith, Obedience, Empathy, and Leadership. |
MARINE BIODIVERSITY The virtual encyclopaedia of fish
With 29 200 species, more than 211 200 common names in ten languages, almost 41 000 photos, references to over 37 500 | MARINE BIODIVERSITY The virtual encyclopaedia of fish
With 29 200 species, more than 211 200 common names in ten languages, almost 41 000 photos, references to over 37 500 scientific articles, 1 300 collaborators and 23 million hits a month, FishBase is unique. Created with the support of the European Union and the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), Fishbase is the biggest ichthyological virtual library in the world. It can be used by anybody – fishing professionals, scientists or the merely curious – seeking to find out more about the characteristics and biodiversity of fish resources in all the seas and oceans on the planet.
Anybody can use the FishBase site. Just type in the word 'Cod', for example, and you will learn that this fish, which has many common names, is the species Gadus morhua, the adult male of which can reach two metres in length and weigh almost 100 kilograms. Depending on the waters, the cycle for the renewal of fish shoals varies from just over a year to almost four and a half years. The species is particularly abundant in the North Atlantic, but recent years have seen a marked decline in populations close to Greenland and Newfoundland.
With just a few clicks, you can discover a great deal more about the cod or the tens of thousands of other fish species listed in this huge database. It provides key figures on the genetic heritage of fish, tracks developments in their geographical distribution and provides details of threats of stock depletion and protective measures to prevent this happening. One of the FishBase objectives is to help all the fishery sector players - politicians, industrialists, fishery sector employers, etc. - to manage these valuable oceanic resources in the interests of sustainability. Another aim is to offer marine science researchers a rapid overview of our knowledge of species and details of scientific articles and current studies.
Fishbase is the culmination of long and patient efforts supported by the FAO and the European Union - in particular in the context of international co-operation between the EU and ACP (African, Caribbean and Pacific) countries - that supported the project from start to finish. The initial impetus came from two marine biologists, Daniel Apuly and Rainer Froese, in the late 1980s. As experts on tropical fish species, they were working at Living Aquatic Resources Management (ICLARM) in the Philippines (1) at the time. Frustrated at the 'jungle' of disparate data so characteristic of their discipline, these researchers wanted to see a computerised classification of the available knowledge developed. With the backing of the European Union and United Nations, their efforts attracted growing interest as the need for sustainable development - which is particularly pertinent for the oceanic bio-resources - assumed a global dimension following the 1st Earth Summit in Rio de Janiero (1992) and the subsequent developments to which this gave rise, in particular the World Convention on Biological Diversity and the present implementation of Agenda 21.
Fishbase thus developed into the most important international reference in its field, with new data being added all the time that can be accessed by anyone on the internet. One could even describe it as the site of the 'united fish organisation'.
In addition to the FAO and European Commission, the consortium of institutions that supports FishBase financially and scientifically includes the WorldFish Centre, Penang (Malaysia) where the idea was born, Ifm-GEOMAR in Kiel (DE), the National Museum of Natural History in Paris (FR), the Royal Museum...
In addition to the FAO and European Commission, the consortium of institutions that supports FishBase financially and scientifically includes the WorldFish Centre, Penang (Malaysia) where the idea was born, Ifm-GEOMAR in Kiel (DE), the National Museum of Natural History in Paris (FR), the Royal Museum of Central Africa in Tervuren (BE), the Natural History Museum in Stockholm (SE), the Fisheries Centre at the University of Vancouver (CA) and Aristotle University in Thessaloniki (GR). More than 1 000 private individuals and institutions also contributed publications, information, documents, photographs, etc. |
Text by: Gulshan Chunara
Photos by: Salina Hasan
The Pivotal Role of the 46th Ismaili Imam, Shah Hasan Ali Shah, Aga Khan I
This vintage engraving depicts the portrait of Ag | Text by: Gulshan Chunara
Photos by: Salina Hasan
The Pivotal Role of the 46th Ismaili Imam, Shah Hasan Ali Shah, Aga Khan I
This vintage engraving depicts the portrait of Aga Khan I (1804 – 1881), the 46th Imam of the Nizari Shia Ismaili Ismaili Muslims. © iStockphoto.com
Amir Pir, a minor town with indefinite boundaries is located in the interior Sindh Province in Pakistan. It is situated on the banks of Kinjar (commonly known as Kalri) and Sonari lakes, and lies approximately 130 kilometres from Karachi. The Ismaili connection to the town of Amir Pir goes back more than 170 years, to the time when the 46th Ismaili Imam, Shah Hasan Ali Shah (Aga Khan I), was forced to leave Iran in 1840. He was accompanied on his eastbound journey by many of his faithful followers and Shiite soldiers. Upon the Imam’s arrival in Sindh, Sir Charles Napier, the then British governer, asked him to be stationed at nearby Jerruck with a mission to secure communications and restore peace between Karachi and Hyderabad. However, a certain Baluchi leader at the time, Mir Sher Muhammad Khan attacked Imam Hasan Ali Shah ‘s soldiers, and the Imam was forced to fight against overwhelming odds. In the skirmish, the Imam fell from his horse and was wounded, and transported to Hyderabad for treatment.
(Text continues after photos of Imam’s Jerruck residence)
The JerruCk Residence of Shah Hasan Ali Shah (Aga Khan I)
A wall inside the residence of Imam Shah Hasan Ali Shah
In need of repairs – a section of the interior of the 46th Imam’s residence
A close-up of the pillar shows the much-needed restorative work required on this important historical site – once the residence of the 46th Ismaili Imam, Shah Hasan Ali Shah, Aga Khan I
Exterior of Jerruck Jamatkhana today
A section of the interior of Jerruck Jamatkhana, which is a few miles from the town of Amir Pir
Shah ja kadam and the Alam
Soon after the battle at Jerruck, while the Imam was still in Hyderabad, the Imam’s soldiers were attacked again by Baluchis between Jhimpir and Kotri. In the ensuing battle there were fatalities and casualties among the Imam’s troops, and the dead were buried at a location around Amir Pir.
When Imam Hasan Ali Shah returned to Jerruck from Hyderabad, he visited the location with his troops and followers. Crossing shallow waters of Sonari and Kinjar Lakes on his horse, he dismounted at the hilltop and offered fatiha at the gravesite of his loyal Shiite soldiers. His followers noticed the marks left by the Imam’s footprints, and built walls around these. These footprints are known as Shah ja Kadam and an alam (a standard) was placed there to commemorate his visit to Amir Pir.
(Text continues after Alam photos)
Interior photos of Amir Pir (above and below)
A November 1951 plaque in Gujarati recognizing the contribution made for repairs to Shah Ja Kadam by Tajdinbhai, in memory of his father Mohamadbhai Kurji.
The visit to Amir Pir brought satisfaction to Imam Shah Hasan Ali Shah. He found the climate suitable and decided to purchase the hilltop. On his return to Jerruck he announced to his Jamat from Muscat, Gwadar, Kutch and Gujarat that they should hold an annual gathering at this place, although by this time the Ismailis from Sindh had already begun a pilgrimage. The Imam intended such a gathering for scattered Ismailis to come together and to discuss and solve their social, matromonial and religious issues. This was the beginning of the Jhimpir Mela in 1851. However its name was formally changed to Amir Pir Mela (lit. a fair or a gathering).
IMAM SHAH ALI SHAH
Imam Shah Ali Shah (1830 – 1885), Aga Khan II, 47th Imam of Ismaili Muslims
Imam Hasan Ali Shah’s son and successor to the throne of Imamat, Shah Ali Shah had often visited lower Sindh on hunting expeditions from Karachi paying homage to Amir Pir Mela, staying for days at his hilltop palace, which he |
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