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A color slide of Cha standing before her work "Repetitive Pattern." "Repetitive Pattern" consists of 60 different size white
strips of cloth sewn horizontally to a piece of white cloth. Stenciled in black ink | A color slide of Cha standing before her work "Repetitive Pattern." "Repetitive Pattern" consists of 60 different size white
strips of cloth sewn horizontally to a piece of white cloth. Stenciled in black ink individually on the strips of cloth are
the following words: "Repetitive", "Pattern", "one", "an", "other", "-", "=" and half circle. The words are repeated in
four columns. In the slide Cha stands before a "Repetitive" "Pattern" column. Another woman stands behind Cha, face unseen.
As if Cha is |
Sir George-Étienne Cartier National Historic Site of Canada
Did You Know That...
Thanks to George-Étienne Cartier, the Quebec Stalwart of the Grand Coalition, the Confederation Was Brought Into Existence.
| Sir George-Étienne Cartier National Historic Site of Canada
Did You Know That...
Thanks to George-Étienne Cartier, the Quebec Stalwart of the Grand Coalition, the Confederation Was Brought Into Existence.
Sir John A. Macdonald, 1868
© National Archives of Canada / C-6513, 1868
Surely the greatest contribution of Cartier to his country was the
entry of Canada East (Quebec) into the Confederation. Following the rebellions
in 1837/1838 and the Durham Report, Upper and Lower Canada were merged into
a single colony. However, by the end of the 1850s, the Act of Union was no
longer attuned to the new realities of the colony. Great Britain had gradually
begun to loosen its ties to the North American colonies. The United States
was becoming more and more powerful, and represented a threat to Canada.
In addition, the Union of the Canadas experienced a series of serious economic
and political hardships. Ten different governments came and went in as many
years. The stablest of these governments was formed by John A. Macdonald
and George-Étienne Cartier.
In 1864, George Brown, leader of the Clear Grits in Canada West (Ontario),
proposed an alliance with the Conservatives of Macdonald and Cartier for
the purpose of advancing the project of a Canadian confederation. In 1867,
following a series of discussions and conferences |
Efficacy Study of Community-Based Treatment of Serious Bacterial Infections in Young Infants
Recruitment status was Active, not recruiting
Approximately one-third of neonatal deaths in developing countries are due to infections acquired through the birth canal and | Efficacy Study of Community-Based Treatment of Serious Bacterial Infections in Young Infants
Recruitment status was Active, not recruiting
Approximately one-third of neonatal deaths in developing countries are due to infections acquired through the birth canal and/or exposure to an unclean environment soon after birth. Current World Health Organization recommendations for the management of infants younger than 2 months of age who have serious bacterial infections involve hospitalization and parenteral therapy for at least 10 days with antibiotic regimens containing penicillin or ampicillin combined with an aminoglycoside.However, in many settings throughout the developing world, this is not currently possible, nor is this standard of care likely to be feasible in the near future. Several studies have reported that for a variety of sociocultural reasons many families are unable or unwilling to access hospital-based care and their sick young infants do not get hospitalized, and instead, receive a variety of home-based antibiotic therapies, or none at all. In our community field sites, approximately 70% of families refuse hospital referral for a sick newborn, despite provision of transport.
Thus, there is an urgent need to define the role of community/first-level facility-based care versus hospitalization for the management of young infants with serious bacterial infections, and the potential for community-based parenteral antibiotics as an alternative strategy in resource poor areas with high neonatal mortality rates. Bang and colleagues have demonstrated significant reductions in neonatal mortality from infections in an underdeveloped rural district in Maharashtra, India by a field-based case management approach which used oral cotrimoxazole and intramuscular gentamicin given for 7 days as treatment for neonates with sepsis.
This study is an equivalence randomized controlled trial (RCT) comparing once daily IM ceftriaxone injection to once daily IM procaine penicillin and gentamicin injection, to once daily intramuscular gentamicin injection and twice daily oral cotrimoxazole, given for 7 days in babies with clinically-diagnosed possible serious bacterial infection (pneumonia, or sepsis with or without local infections such as skin or umbilical infections) whose families refused referral to a hospital. After supplementary informed consent, patients meeting specific inclusion and exclusion criteria are randomly allocated to one of the three regimens being tested. The study hypothesis is that all 3 regimens will perform equally well in the treatment of sepsis in a first-level facility setting.
Drug: ceftriaxone, procaine penicillin and gentamicin, oral cotrimoxazole and gentamicin
|Study Design:||Allocation: Randomized
Intervention Model: Single Group Assignment
Masking: Open Label
Primary Purpose: Treatment
|Official Title:||Randomized Controlled Trial of Intramuscular Ceftriaxone Versus Procaine Penicillin Versus Cotrimoxazole and Gentamicin for Management of Serious Bacterial Infections in Young Infants in Community Settings|
- The primary outcome of success rate will be defined as patient cured or improved with the regimen assigned to, on day 7 of therapy.
- Completion rates
- Adverse events
- Relapse rates
|Study Start Date:||November 2003|
|Estimated Study Completion Date:||December 2005|
|Aga Khan University community field sites|
|Karachi, Sindh, Pakistan, 74800|
|Principal Investigator:||Anita KM Zaidi, MBBS, SM||Department of Pediatrics, Aga Khan University| |
Thoreau notices that the ice on the pond is pretty sensitive to shifts in temperature.
Speaking of ice and temperature, Thoreau has a story about that. There was an old local who decided to go duck hunting at Walden Pond. | Thoreau notices that the ice on the pond is pretty sensitive to shifts in temperature.
Speaking of ice and temperature, Thoreau has a story about that. There was an old local who decided to go duck hunting at Walden Pond. This guy decided to hide and wait for ducks, and he thought he heard the sound of an enormous flock landing on the pond. When he looked, it was just the melting ice plates rubbing up against the shore. Fooled!
Thoreau enjoys the sight of melting sand and clay, which turn into funny shapes like branches when they melt. It's almost as if the earth is expressing itself with its own poetry. Thoreau wonders if like melting sand and clay, human beings could change, too, under a more benevolent (nicer) influence.
Thoreau describes spring as a sudden burst of animation (no Pokémon, sorry), brought in by birds, squirrels, frogs, and tortoises. It's a time when people suddenly feel, innocent, cleansed of all their sins.
On April 29, Thoreau observes a night-hawk dancing in the sky. This is probably a personification. As far as we know, birds don't dance.
Fast-forward to May, when more kinds of birds make their appearance, and the pine trees cover the earth with their pollen. Pretty pretty, we'd say. |
Senator Edward M. Kennedy
A Champion for Immigrants and the American Dream
(For a more detailed timeline of Kennedy’s work, visit the Senator’s Web site)
1962: In his first speech announcing his candidacy for the U.S. | Senator Edward M. Kennedy
A Champion for Immigrants and the American Dream
(For a more detailed timeline of Kennedy’s work, visit the Senator’s Web site)
1962: In his first speech announcing his candidacy for the U.S. Senate, Edward M. Kennedy called for immigration reform.
1964: A cornerstone of Kennedy’s argument for passage of the Civil Rights Act centered on America’s history of becoming stronger by including immigrants and new cultures in our society. He then challenged critics of the Civil Rights Act to extend that same legacy to African Americans.
1965: The Immigration Act of 1965 was the first major piece of legislation Senator Kennedy managed on the floor. It ended a race-based immigration quota system and made professional skills and family relationships a priority in immigration decisions. Kennedy said that his family’s immigrant history drove his passion to extend opportunity to all immigrants.
1980: The Refugee Act was written and passed by Sen. Kennedy. “The act sought to eliminate the prevailing geographic and ideological preferences and to emphasize that persecution, not provenance, was to be the basis for determining refugee eligibility.”
1986: Sen. Kennedy was instrumental in passing immigration reform that provided legal status for an estimated 2.7 million undocumented workers living in the shadows.
1990: Senator Kennedy was also a key player in passage of the Immigration Act of 1990, which expanded immigration quotas to reunite families in the U.S. and meet economic needs. The bill also created important programs like Temporary Protected Status (TPS), which provides temporary safe haven to persons fleeing oppressive governments or natural disasters.
1994: Sen. Kennedy sponsored the landmark Violence Against Women Act, which created special routes to immigration status for certain battered noncitizens. These provisions were updated in 2000 in the Battered Immigrant Women’s Protection Act.
1996: Kennedy was a harsh opponent of the three 1996 laws that represented our nation’s harshest crackdown on the rights of immigrants—including legal immigrants—in decades. While he did not succeed in stripping all of the anti-immigrant provisions from the Illegal Immigration Reform and Control Act, Anti-Terrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act, and Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act, Kennedy did make important improvements to the legislation as it was advancing, and continued to fight for improvements after the legislation became law.
1997: President William Jefferson Clinton signed Kennedy’s Nicaraguan Adjustment and Central American Relief Act into law, granting permanent residence status to Central American and Cuban immigrants fleeing repressive governments.
2001: Sen. Kennedy lead the fight for the Legal Immigration Family Equity Act, which granted access to permanent residence status for certain immigrants excluded from the 1986 law, opened up a short window of time for undocumented immigrants with family or employer sponsors to apply for legal permanent residency, and created other visa programs to reunite American families.
2002: Senator Kennedy was the lead Democratic sponsor of the Enhanced Border Security and Visa Reform Act to strengthen the security of our borders and improve our nation’s ability to deter potential terrorists.
2005: Senator Kennedy and Senator John McCain of Arizona crafted the bipartisan Secure America and Orderly Immigration Act of 2005.
2006: Senators Kennedy, McCain, Salazar (D-CO), Graham (R-SC), and others lead the charge to pass a comprehensive immigration reform bill in the U.S. Senate with a vote of 62 to 36. Unfortunately, the House of Representatives refused to move forward. Kennedy was given a hero’s welcome by a crowd of over 250,000 on the national mall as a part of the historic marches for immigration reform.
2007: Senator Kennedy once again lead the charge to pass comprehensive immigration reform in the U.S. Senate, but the bill failed in a 46 to 53 vote. Even after the immigration reform legislation failed Kennedy said “I’m encouraged by what the leaders said…that they have every intention of continuing the immigration bill on the front order of business for the agenda of the United States Senate.” |
In what does the practice of faith (çraddhâ) consist?
This part of the Discourse is intended for those beings who have not yet entered into the order of constant truth (samyaktvaniyata-râçi | In what does the practice of faith (çraddhâ) consist?
This part of the Discourse is intended for those beings who have not yet entered into the order of constant truth (samyaktvaniyata-râçi).
What is meant by faith? How should one practise faith?
There are four aspects of faith. [As to faith in general]: (1) To believe in the fundamental [truth], that is, to think joyfully of suchness (bhûtatathatâ). [As to particular faiths:] (2) To believe in the Buddha as sufficingly enveloping infinite merits, that is, to rejoice in worshipping him, in paying homage to him, in making offerings to him, in hearing the good doctrine (saddharma), in disciplining oneself according to the doctrine, and in aspiring after omniscience (sarvajñâna). (3) To believe in the Dharma as having great benefits, that is, to rejoice always in practising all pâramitâs. (4) To believe in the Samgha as observing true morality, that is, to be ready to make offerings to the congregation of Bodhisattvas, and to practise truthfully all those deeds which are beneficial at once to oneself and others.
Faith will be perfected by practising the following five deeds: (1) charity (dâna); (2) morality (çîla),(3) patience (kshânti); (4) energy (vîrya); (5) cessation [or tranquilisation, çamatha] and intellectual insight (vidarçana or vipaçyana).
How should people practise charity (dâna)?
(1) If persons come and ask them for something, they should, as far as their means allow, supply it ungrudgingly and make them rejoice in it. (2) If they see people threatened with danger, they should try every means of rescuing them and impart to them a
feeling of fearlessness (vaiçâradya). (3) If they have people who come to them desiring instruction in the Doctrine, they should, so far as they are acquainted with it, and, according to their own discretion, deliver speeches on religious discipline.
And when they are performing those three acts of charity, let them not cherish any desire for fame or advantages, nor covet any worldly rewards. Only thinking of those benefits and blessings that are at once for themselves and others, let them aspire to the most excellent, most perfect knowledge (anuttarasamyaksambodhi).
How should they practise morality (çîla)?
Those Bodhisattvas who have families [i.e., lay members of Buddhism] should abstain from killing, stealing, adultery, lying, duplicity, slander, frivolous talk, covetousness, malice, currying favor, and false doctrines. 1
In the case of Çramanas, they should, in order to vanquish all prejudices (kleça or âçrava), retire from the boisterousness of worldly life, and, abiding in solitude (aranya), should practise those deeds which lead to moderation and contentment as well as those of the Dhûtaguna. 2 Even at the violation of minor
rules (çila) they should deeply feel fear, shame, and remorse. Strictly observing all those precepts given by the Tathâgata, they should not call forth the blame or disgust of the outsider, but they should endeavor to induce all beings to abandon the evil and to practise the good. 1
How should they practise patience (kshânti)?
If they meet with the ills of life they should not
shun them. If they suffer sufferings, they should not feel afflicted. But they should always rejoice in contemplating the deepest significance of the Dharma. 1
How should they practise energy (vîrya)?
Practising all good deeds, they should never indulge in indolence (kausîdya). They should think of all their great mental and physical sufferings, which they are now vainly suffering on account of their having coveted worldly objects during their existences in innumerable former ages (kalpa), and which do not give the least nourishment to their spiritual life. They should, therefore, in order to be emancipated from those sufferings in the future, be indefatigably energetic, and never raise the thought of indolence, but endeavor, out of deep compassion (mahâkaruna), to benefit all beings. Though disciplining themselves in faith, all novice Bodhisattvas, on account of the hindrances of their evil karma (karmâvarana) produced by the violation of many important precepts in their previous existences, may sometimes be annoyed by evil Mâras, sometimes entangled in worldly engagements, sometimes threatened by various diseases. As these things will severally disturb their religious course and make them neglect practising good deeds, they should dauntlessly, energetically, unintermittently, all
six watches, day and night, pay homage to all Buddhas, make offerings (pûjâ) to them, praise them, repent and confess (kshamâ) to them, aspire to the most excellent knowledge (samyaksambodhi), make great vows (mahâpranidhâna); and thereby annihilate the hindrances of evils and increase the root of merit (kuçalamûla).
How should they practise cessation [or tranquilisation, çamatha] and intellectual insight (vidarçana or vipaçyan |
» View our vacations to Colombia
Among the cultures scattered in the Andean region before Europeans arrived were the Tayrona, Sinú, Muisca, Quimbaya, Tierradentro, and San Agustín. The | » View our vacations to Colombia
Among the cultures scattered in the Andean region before Europeans arrived were the Tayrona, Sinú, Muisca, Quimbaya, Tierradentro, and San Agustín. The first recorded Spanish visit occurred when Alonso de Ojeda stepped ashore on the Guajira Peninsula in 1499. As Spain took control over much of the country, colonial towns began to prosper—including Cartagena (founded in 1533).
Throughout the 18th century, the Spaniards held tight control over the land. Protests for autonomy increased during the turn of the 19th century, but it was actually events in Europe that would spark Colombia’s independence. As with many other Spanish colonies, it was the news that Spain had been attacked by Napoleon that forced the issue to the surface. In Colombia, the news divided the country. Many cities or regions formed their own autonomous governments, which is why this period is sometimes nicknamed “la Patria Boba,” or “the foolish fatherland.” In the end, the great unifier of these various groups was the Venezuelan liberator Simón Bolívar. His troops defeated the Spanish at Battle of Boyaca on Aug. 7, 1819.
Colombia’s struggles with political division were far from over. Conflict between the Conservatives and the Liberals ignited in 1948 with La Violencia (The Violence), which resulted in the death of 300,000 people. A 1953 military coup by General Gustavo Rojas Pinilla helped bring an end to the bloodshed, but did not result in the hoped-for reforms. In the end, the Conservative and Liberal parties collaborated to launch a counter-coup against the general in 1957. The two parties—now called the National Front—agreed to alternate power for the next 16 years.
The National Front agreement ended in 1974 with the election of Liberal President Alfonso López Michelsen, but some semblance of the two-party system continued. Meanwhile, left-wing guerrilla groups were surfacing: the National Liberation Army (ELN), Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), and the April 19 Movement (M19). Drug cartels in Medellín and Cali were also gaining power and influence at this time—often through violence, but also through newfound wealth. The relations between the burgeoning cartels and guerilla groups eventually became violent.
In 1991, government control was strengthened with the signing of a new constitution and the surrender of Pablo Escobar, the head of the Medellín cocaine cartel. After Escobar was killed by police, and after other key drug kingpins were arrested, many of the large cartels began to break up into small groups that turned on each other.
The 1990s also saw a change in public sentiment about politicians’ relationship with the cartels. Although it was widely understood that corruption was rampant, many had been hesitant to speak out. But in the late 1990s, accusations arose that claimed President Ernesto Samper’s campaign had been financed by drug money. Independent conservative Andres Pastrana, who had blown the whistle on Samper's Cali connections, won the 1998 election. It was Pastrana who first unveiled “Plan Colombia,” a comprehensive plan that continues to this day to combat drug trafficking, strengthen the democratic process, and improve Colombia’s human-rights record. |
On a massif in Laiyuan, north China's Hebei province, 73 years ago, Chinese communist soldiers won a major battle against Japanese invaders.
Altogether, 221 Chinese soldiers lost their lives at Dongtuanpu | On a massif in Laiyuan, north China's Hebei province, 73 years ago, Chinese communist soldiers won a major battle against Japanese invaders.
Altogether, 221 Chinese soldiers lost their lives at Dongtuanpu, and 173 heavily armed Japanese officers were killed.
"The Japanese put the ashes of their soldiers in the Yasukuni shrine, but until today, a cemetery for the Chinese martyrs who lost their lives safeguarding their homeland has yet to be finished," said Liu Chunyang, tourist chief of Laiyuan County, on Wednesday.
A column of the Chinese Eighth Route Army made a surprise attack on a Japanese officer training camp at Dongtuanpu on Sept. 22, 1940.
The victory at Dongtuanpu was part of the One Hundred Regiments Campaign in the north China region, the longest campaign by the Chinese communist army against the Japanese during World War II.
Wednesday marked the 82nd anniversary of the Japanese invasion of northeast China
On Sept. 18, 1931, Japanese troops blew up a section of a railway and bombarded the barracks of Chinese troops near Shenyang, starting the invasion of northeast China.
The incidents were followed by a full-scale invasion of China and the rest of Asia, triggering the 14-year War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression.
Liu said the Laiyuan cultural department has found a poem written during the war, engraved on two stone tablets in Chinese characters by Koshiba Toshio, a Japanese officer, depicting how fierce the fighting at Dongtuanpu was. The battle lasted five days and nights, and "the ashes of the dead Japanese soldiers were sent back to the Yasukuni Shrine for worship."
Liu, who is in his 50s said his uncle was among a Chinese squad who fought in the battle. He said the main Japanese forces rushed to support the battle front in Dongtuanpu after the training camp was raided. Chinese troops made a rapid sweep of the battlefield before moving elsewhere, but the Japanese recaptured the battlefield, cremated the dead and took the ashes away.
The remains of the Chinese soldiers, however, were scattered after floods washed away their burial mounds.
After the New China was founded in 1949, the Laiyuan county government mobilized the people to collect the remains of the martyrs, who only found 197 of them and buried the remains together.
In 2006, Liu made a design for a cemetery, hoping to give a decent burial to the Dongtuanpu martyrs.
"People shed tears as they wrapped up the 197 remains in red cloth, relocating them to the cemetery in 2008. There were 24 empty tombs." said Liu.
In the cemetery, there is a screen wall behind a tall white monument. Inside, the 221 tombs of white-painted cement blocks are in neat alignment.
Liu plans a bas-relief of red sandstone on the screen wall and a memorial hall in the cemetery, but the county lack the funding to support the construction.
The hilly revolutionary base of Laiyuan, about 160 km southwest of Beijing, is one of China's most impoverished counties.
"Most of the Chinese soldiers who died in the battle were local farmers who had taken up weapons to defend their homeland. Some of them were only aged 16 or 17, when they died," Liu said, adding the cultural department had searched for the names of the dead warriors.
Liu said years ago, some Japanese wanted to come to Laiyuan to mourn the Japanese soldiers who died at Dongtuanpu. Their appeal was rejected by the county government.
"We welcome Japanese tourists to visit Laiyuan, not to worship the dead soldiers but to reflect on history and apologize to the Chinese people for their war crimes," Liu said. |
For what it's worth, the Wright Brothers invented the first aircraft engine. It had no cooling at all in the usual sense -- just pistons embedded in a large block of aluminum (I think it was) that acted as a heat sink. | For what it's worth, the Wright Brothers invented the first aircraft engine. It had no cooling at all in the usual sense -- just pistons embedded in a large block of aluminum (I think it was) that acted as a heat sink. They got away with this for the Wright Flyer because the engine was not intended to run for extended periods of time.
Message: The Wright Brothers were the first true aeronautical engineers. They didn't simply cobble together an aircraft that happened to fly. Their engine design was speci |
The answer might surprise you
Sixteen years ago, Dr. Gregg Gerety was driving his two young children home from a day of swimming and outdoor activities. One minute, he felt a little light-headed. The next, his car was totaled | The answer might surprise you
Sixteen years ago, Dr. Gregg Gerety was driving his two young children home from a day of swimming and outdoor activities. One minute, he felt a little light-headed. The next, his car was totaled, having veered off New York’s Taconic State Parkway. Fortunately, Dr. Gerety and his children were unharmed. But his experience underscores the danger that driving can pose for diabetics.
“I felt fine when I got behind the wheel, but I failed to take into account how that afternoon’s physical activity may have affected my blood sugar levels,” says Dr. Gerety, a physician who also suffers from type 1 diabetes. As explained in a recent New York Times article, research shows that drivers with diabetes are 12 to 19% more likely to get into an accident. That risk jumps to 40% among people who have suffered from bouts of hypoglycemia, or dangerously low blood sugar, according to one recent study.
“I think it’s a more common problem than we appreciate,” Dr. Gerety says. Warning signs of low blood sugar can be subtle at first. They include blurry vision, sweating, or feeling tired and cranky. Low blood sugar can also trigger mild cognitive impairment, leading people to get lost or make a wrong turn, he adds. “The lower your blood sugar falls, the greater your risk of a serious accident.”
More from Prevention: Fast Food That Won't Spike Blood Sugar
When should you worry about getting behind the wheel? Extra physical activity, a skipped meal or snack, or any recent bouts of hypoglycemia can all be causes for concern, Dr. Gerety says. And those taking medications to control their blood sugar need to be especially careful. “Low is better when it comes to preventing eye, kidney, and nerve disease, and that’s why doctors prescribe those medications,” he says. “But there are risks involved, and hypoglycemia is certainly one of them.”
For those who may be at risk, Dr. Gerety offers the following safety precautions:
Test your blood sugar before driving. “And not just once,” Dr. Gerety says. Instead, check your blood sugar twice—15 to 30 minutes apart—before getting behind the wheel. If you only test once, you may not notice that your blood sugar levels are steadily declining, which could lead to an accident.
Keep a “safety kit” in the car. This should contain a juice box, energy bar, sports drink, and glucose tablets, Dr. Gerety advises. If you experience blood sugar problems during a drive, they’re all quick fixes to keep things under control until you can park the car.
Raise your targets. If you’ve recently experienced symptoms of hypoglycemia, talk to your doctor about raising your blood sugar targets. “Adequate levels vary from person to person, and you might be aiming too low and putting yourself at risk if you drive frequently,” Gerety says.
Consider a sensor. If you have a tough time controlling your blood sugar levels, ask your doctor about an implantable glucose sensor, also known as a continuous glucose monitoring system (CGMS) can measure your blood sugar levels every five minutes. When you move out of a safe range, the system will alert you ASAP.
More from Prevention: Fats That Fight Diabetes
Questions? Comments? Contact Prevention's News Team.
Published February 2013, Prevention |
Well, it’s too large to satisfy Dr. Evil’s request for frickin’ laser beams attached to shark heads, but the world’s most powerful laser does have the potential to create fusion energy. Fusion energy is what powers the sun and | Well, it’s too large to satisfy Dr. Evil’s request for frickin’ laser beams attached to shark heads, but the world’s most powerful laser does have the potential to create fusion energy. Fusion energy is what powers the sun and can produce more than 30 to 40 times more energy than what is required to ignite a fusion reaction. The result of a fusion reaction is green nuclear energy which produces little to no radiation with only helium as a waste product. I know, just imagine the potential for the helium balloon industry.
The laser, located at the National Ignition Facility (NIF) at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratories, just outside of San Francisco, is actually made up of 192 separate laser beams spread across an area equivalent to three pro football fields. When fired the beams are combined in a 30-foot diameter sphere. NIF began its construction in 1997 and cost an estimated $3.5 billion to build. Wired reports the facility had its first dry on September 29th when its laser was fired on a cryogenically-cooled pellet of nuclear fuel at 75% power which crushed it instantly with a 1 megajoule zap. No fusion was produced, as planned, since the laser was not fired at full power and the pellet had less-than-perfect fuel.
Richard Petrasso, a fusion scientist at MIT who has responsibilities over the laser’s diagnostic equipment, explained why researchers are proceeding with caution before firing the laser under full power by saying:
You don’t hit the pedal all the way down to the ground the first time. You have to tune it to get all of the conditions |
On the chilly fall evening of November 9, 1965, a bright, full moon in a cloudless sky shone down on the streets of New York City. Workers on Wall Street poured out of the myriad office buildings and headed toward | On the chilly fall evening of November 9, 1965, a bright, full moon in a cloudless sky shone down on the streets of New York City. Workers on Wall Street poured out of the myriad office buildings and headed toward the subways and bus stations on their way home.
Most left work at 5 p.m. and soon were down the subway stairs, through the turnstiles and boarding the trains. The IRT line picked up riders at the Wall Street Station, and then headed under the East River toward Brooklyn.
At 5:27 p.m., the train suddenly stopped just as it went under the East River, and the lights went out. Down in the caverns of the city subway, it was pitch black. The subway cars were overcrowded as usual. People routinely put up with cramming because of the relatively short ride. Every seat was occupied, and double rows of standers held onto high bars or onto poles by the entrance doors in the cars.
Sighs were heard and the impatient shuffling of feet. There were no announcements explaining why the lights were out or why the train had stopped. The passengers began to sing songs to pass the time. A few arguments broke out. It was hard to breathe without circulating air and with so many bodies. After a while, the conductor and driver walked along the catwalk with flashlights, asking for patience until the situation was made clear. The stuffiness in the train was becoming oppressive.
An hour passed and no news. Passengers thought the problem was with their particular train. Some started chatting to calm nerves and pass time. However, several riders could not really take the tension and began smoking in the now sweltering cars. It was hard to breathe as it was. Now the smoke was choking the other riders. The majority overruled, and the smokers put out their butts.
Two, three, four hours passed. Conditions were critical with some feeling too unnerved, some feeling ill. There were arguments and testiness as the passengers sat and stood in the dark, literally, uninformed of the problem. Then, after four hours stuck under the East River in a dark tunnel, there was some change.
City firefighters descended onto the tracks and began evacuating the train. They guided those stranded riders to pass to the back of the train holding hands in a human chain, through all the subway cars and out the last car. There, three firefighters helped each rider down |
MEDICAL NOTES about gynecology in ancient times. For women, certainly, anatomy is destiny. Not so much because of what they lack as because of what they possess, which is to say wombs, vaginas, breasts: the female | MEDICAL NOTES about gynecology in ancient times. For women, certainly, anatomy is destiny. Not so much because of what they lack as because of what they possess, which is to say wombs, vaginas, breasts: the female reproductive system is a weakness of both the body and the mind. That, at any rate, is how men seem to have thought of it for millennia. At the beginning of this century, male educators argued that women would injure their wombs if they studied Greek or mathematics. Ancient doctors believed that the womb could move about in a woman's body, putting pressure on other organs and so causing serious illness, and even death... Tells about Egyptian beliefs of 1900 B.C.: a woman who was unwell was said to be "womby"... How could such diseases of the womb be cured? According to 4th century Hippocratic doctors, there were two viable courses of treatment. One was sexual intercourse, especially if it resulted in pregnancy. The other course of treatment involved medication... Tells about various treatments, including sweet-scented vaginal suppositories, fumigations or vapors, animal excrement, and human excrement mixed with beer froth. Greek doctors prescribed cow or goat dung or bird droppings, often in combination with fragrant wine or rose oil (Cures derived from animal excrement are used today: a form of estrogen used in hormone-replacement therapy is extracted from the urine of pregnant mares... Even today, when wombs have stopped wandering, medicine tends to pathologize the vagaries of the female reproductive system, from menarche to menopause. Women of ancient times themselves looked back with nostalgia on the carefree years of their childhood. Who could blame them for dreading, in sickness and in health, the prospect of their womb-dominated years?
THE WANDERING WOMB
by Mary Lefkowitz February 26, 1996
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To search for New Yorker cartoons and covers, visit the Cartoon Bank. |
Third World Food Shortage
Stymied Efforts to Aid Starvation Victims
Hundreds of thousands of people in Africa are dying from starvation or diseases related to malnutrition, victims of the worst drought in a decade. The toll could surpass the | Third World Food Shortage
Stymied Efforts to Aid Starvation Victims
Hundreds of thousands of people in Africa are dying from starvation or diseases related to malnutrition, victims of the worst drought in a decade. The toll could surpass the drought of the early 1970s when an estimated half million Africans died. In the intervening 10 years, the population in many African countries has increased more rapidly than food production, forcing them to rely on foreign sources for food.
Even when food is available in sufficient quantities, much of it never reaches the people in need. In Chad, where millions of people need immediate food relief, there is no rail or paved road system to transport food. There, as in Ethiopia, political unrest and civil war make distribution even more difficult.
The drought may also spell catastrophe for some of the few African nations that have viable economies. Kenya, one of the few drought-stricken nations to have accumulated sizable currency reserves from its exports to the developed world, is facing widespread hardship. The East African country's food needs far outstrip its production capacity, largely because of its 4 percent annual population increase. |
This sky map shows where the moon and Mars will appear at 4 a.m. local time on Aug. 25, 2011 to observers in mid-northern latitudes with clear skies.
Credit: Starry Night Software
The | This sky map shows where the moon and Mars will appear at 4 a.m. local time on Aug. 25, 2011 to observers in mid-northern latitudes with clear skies.
Credit: Starry Night Software
The planet Mars currently appears rather dull and uninteresting in the night sky, yet it is also drawing nearer to us with each passing day.
As we noted last month, 2011 is an "off year" for the fabled Red Planet, since it does not come to opposition — that point in the sky placing it opposite to the sun. Having only emerged from the glare of the rising sun during June, Mars is now visible in a dark sky, rising this week shortly before 2:30 a.m. local time.
And during the predawn hours of Thursday (Aug. 25), Mars will have a visitor: a slender waning crescent moon that will appear to rise side-by-side with Mars from beyond the east-northeast horizon. The pair will be separated by about 4 degrees. Your clenched fist held at arm's length measures roughly 10 degrees, so early on Thursday morning Mars will appear as a bright "star" situated less than a “half fist” to the left of the moon.
The sky map of the moon and Mars here shows how the two objects will appear early Thursday.
A couple of hours later, as dawn is about to break, Mars and the moon will climb higher up in the sky, and you may notice also how Mars forms a striking isosceles triangle with the "Twin Stars" of Gemini, Pollux and Castor.
There's a wonderful symmetry of colors and illumination here: Orange Pollux shines at magnitude +1.2 on the scale used to identify a sky object's brightness (the lower the number, the brighter the object). Meanwhile, yellow-orange Mars glows at magnitude +1.4 and whitish Castor is magnitude +1.6.
On the moon, you may also notice the phenomenon known as earthshine; sunlight reflected off of the Earth and re-reflected back toward the moon.
That eerie blue-gray glow apparently lighting up the dark side of the moon is sunlight that has bounced off the clouds and oceans of our home planet and directed up to the moon. Check out the moon with binoculars or a small telescope and this effect will impart a striking three-dimensional appearance.
Mars is currently 188 million miles (302 million km) from Earth, and approaching us at a rate of 521,000 miles (838,000 kilometers) per day. But the planet is still more than six months from opposition — March 3, 2012.
So while Mars is indeed getting nearer, any brightening, at least for now, will be very slow.
And if you have a telescope, certainly try it out on the moon, but don't bother with Mars just yet. It's still much too small — only 4 1/2 arc-seconds across — to be of any telescopic interest. That's only 1/400 the apparent size of the moon.
Joe Rao serves as an instructor and guest lecturer at New York's Hayden Planetarium. He writes about astronomy for The New York Times and other publications, and he is also an on-camera meteorologist for News 12 Westchester, New York. |
Jaisalmer Fort is one of the largest forts in the world. It was built in 1156 AD by the Bhati Rajput ruler Rawal Jaisal, from where it derives its name. The fort stands proudly on the summit | Jaisalmer Fort is one of the largest forts in the world. It was built in 1156 AD by the Bhati Rajput ruler Rawal Jaisal, from where it derives its name. The fort stands proudly on the summit of the 80 meter high Trikuta Hill and has been the scene of many battles during Jaisalmer’s turbulent past. Its massive yellow sandstone walls are a tawny lion color during the day, turning to a magical honey-gold as the sun sets and camouflages the fort making it appear a part of the picturesque yellow desert. Thus, it is sometimes called the "Golden Fort". The Fort has 99 bastions around its circumference. Still inhabited, it contains palaces and bazaars, and approximately one quarter of the city’s inhabitants still live within its walls.
Also visit the "Havelis" of Jaisalmer. Wealthy merchants built their exquisite homes with profusely carved stone facades. The famous ones are the Patwon Ki Haveli, Salim Singh Ki Haveli and Nathmal Ki Haveli.
One of the main reasons to visit Jaisalmer is to take an excursion to Sam for a camel safari, and to watch the shifting sand dunes here on the edge of the Great Indian (or Thar) Desert - about 45 kms from the city Jaisalmer. Enjoy the breath taking view of the sunset as it touches, then disappears behind the sand dunes. |
August 10, 2000
Planning a Special Bar/Bat Mitzvah
In 1987, when Joel Hornstein stood before over 200 congregants, family members and friends to recite his Bar Mitzvah | August 10, 2000
Planning a Special Bar/Bat Mitzvah
In 1987, when Joel Hornstein stood before over 200 congregants, family members and friends to recite his Bar Mitzvah Torah portion in English and Hebrew, he had only been able to speak for a few years. No one expected a child with autism, or any other significant disability, to undertake the rigorous training in a foreign language needed to prepare for this significant Jewish rite of passage. Jewish special education was almost nonexistent. Yet Joel's family wanted to provide him with the opportunity to declare his value and dignity before God and their community, and celebrate his journey out of the solitude of autism.
In the years since Joel's Bar Mitzvah, increasing numbers of Jewish children with disabilities have sought to prepare for similar celebrations. A Bar or Bat Mitzvah is a milestone in a person's development as a Jew. A public celebration of reaching the age of Jewish majority, it indicates the acquisition of a certain amount of Jewish knowledge as well as interest in ongoing participation in Jewish life. People with severe disabilities may not have acquired formal learning at a level comparable to those without disabilities, nor may they have the ability to make an ongoing commitment to education. However, they do recognize their emotional and psychic ties to the Jewish people and wish to participate in the community to the best of their ability.
Misconceptions, even prejudices, about people with disabilities linger. Some people question whether a child with a severe disability can and should have a Bar or Bat Mitzvah ceremony. They may doubt that such a person can sustain the desire to become a bar or bat mitzvah. They may harbor rigid id |
Purple Line (Maryland)
|Type||Light rail transit|
|System||Maryland Transit Administration|
|Locale||Montgomery County, MD and
Prince George's County, MD
New Carrollton (east)
|Daily ridership|| | Purple Line (Maryland)
|Type||Light rail transit|
|System||Maryland Transit Administration|
|Locale||Montgomery County, MD and
Prince George's County, MD
New Carrollton (east)
|Daily ridership||64,800 daily by 2030|
|Track length||16.3 miles|
The Purple Line, previously designated as the Bi-County Transitway |
Build upon your current knowledge of programming logic by writing Graphical User Interface (GUI) applications in the C# programming language. This course will show you how to write professional looking applications with many of the common GUI controls, such as buttons, labels | Build upon your current knowledge of programming logic by writing Graphical User Interface (GUI) applications in the C# programming language. This course will show you how to write professional looking applications with many of the common GUI controls, such as buttons, labels, text boxes, check boxes, and radio buttons. You'll also learn how to put menus and toolbars into your program to make them easier to use. And later in the course, you'll find out how to make your program interact with sequential files, random access files, and databases.
This six- |
Forecasting the impact of climate change on water supplies using groundwater residence times
Lapworth, D.J.; MacDonald, A.M.; Darling, W.G.; Gooddy, D.G.; Bonsor, H.C.. 2011 Forecast | Forecasting the impact of climate change on water supplies using groundwater residence times
Lapworth, D.J.; MacDonald, A.M.; Darling, W.G.; Gooddy, D.G.; Bonsor, H.C.. 2011 Forecasting the impact of climate change on water supplies using groundwater residence times. [Lecture] In: 23rd Colloquium of African Geology, Johannesburg, South Africa, 8-14 January 2011.Before downloading, please read NORA policies.
This paper describes the methodology and preliminary results of the West Africa hydrogeological case study undertaken during 2010. Due to the near absence of monitoring data in Africa to assess performance of water supplies to past climate variability, it is clear that a different approach is required to understand the vulnerabilities of relatively ‘young’ (less than ~100 years) groundwaters that currently form the most reliable and accessible sources of water for much of Africa. Over the last 20 years the use of a suite of environmental tracers has proved to be an important tool to understanding groundwater processes, complimenting modelling and other established hydrogeological methods. In this study groundwater residence times from rural supplies were assessed in both high storage (Cretaceous sediments) and low storage (Precambrian basement) aquifers, across 4 different climate zones in a sampling transect extending from the wet climate of southern Nigeria (1800-2000 mm.y-1) to the semi-arid climate of central Mali (<400 mm.y-1). The figure below shows the |
White Citizens' Council leader Asa Earl Carter denounces school integration in Clinton, Tenn., on Aug. 31, 1956.
White Citizens' Council leader Asa Earl Carter denounces school integration in Clinton, Tenn., on Aug. | White Citizens' Council leader Asa Earl Carter denounces school integration in Clinton, Tenn., on Aug. 31, 1956.
White Citizens' Council leader Asa Earl Carter denounces school integration in Clinton, Tenn., on Aug. 31, 1956. AP
In the early 1990s, The Education of Little Tree became a publishing phenomenon. It told the story of an orphan growing up and learning the wisdom of his Native American ancestors, Cherokee Texan author Forrest Carter's purported autobiography.
The book was originally published in 1976 to little fanfare and modest sales, but in the late 1980s, the University of New Mexico Press reissued it in paperback — and it exploded. By 1991, it reached the top of The New York Times nonfiction best-seller list. It was sold around the world, praised by Oprah Winfrey and made into a Hollywood film.
The Education of Little Tree would go on to sell more than 1 million copies. But the book and its author were not what they seemed.
Meet Asa Earl Carter
Three decades earlier, in Alabama, Asa Earl Carter was a Ku Klux Klan organizer, a rabid segregationist and a talk show host who expounded on the dangers of integration. In 1963, he drafted an inaugural address for Alabama Gov. George Wallace that would become one of the most notorious speeches of the civil rights era.
"In the name of the greatest people that have ever trod this earth," Wallace said, "I draw the line in the dust and toss the gauntlet before the feet of tyranny, and I say segregation now, segregation tomorrow, segregation forever!"
Wallace's words came from Carter's pen, but as the decade progressed, Carter turned against Wallace. According to Tom Turnipseed, Wallace's national campaign manager, Carter felt that Wallace had gone soft on the issue of segregation. By 1970, Turnipseed says, Carter's ideas had become "too extreme" and Wallace pushed him aside.
Alabama reporter Wayne Greenhaw covered Wallace's 1971 inauguration. Before he died last year, Greenshaw said he found Carter behind the Capitol after his speech. "He started crying," Greenhaw said. "He said that Wallace had sold out to the liberals."
Then Carter got up, turned around and bid Greenhaw farewell. "And that was the last time I ever saw Asa Carter," Greenhaw said. "It's like he just vanished, dropped off the face of the earth."
Ron Taylor was a close friend of Asa Carter's. He remembers Carter calling him one day to say he was going away. "He just pulled up out of the Choccolocco Valley, tanned himself up, grew a mustache, lost about 20 pounds," Taylor says, "and became Forrest Carter."
Thomas S. England/Time
Forrest Carter's Western adventure novel Gone to Texas tells the fictional story of Josey Wales, an outlaw-to-be who loses his family and goes on to become the most wanted man in Texas.
Forrest Carter's Western adventure novel Gone to Texas tells the fictional story of Josey Wales, an outlaw-to-be who loses his family and goes on to become the most wanted man in Texas. Thomas S. England/Time
From Asa Earl To Forrest
And then Forrest Carter became a novelist. Through the 1970s, he published four books: Gone to Texas (later made into the Clint Eastwood western The Outlaw Josey Wales), The Vengeance Trail of Josey Wales, The Education of Little Tree and Watch for Me on the Mountain.
Chuck and Betty Weeth were running a bookstore in Abilene, Texas, when, in 1975, Forrest Carter walked in and introduced himself. He was dressed in jeans and a cowboy hat, had a dark complexion and told the couple that he was Cherokee and had been raised by his grandparents in a Tennessee cabin. "I liked him from the start," Chuck Weeth says.
That same year, author Forrest Carter appeared on The Today Show, where he was interviewed by Barbara Walters. "She'd ask him questions and he'd mumble these answers," Greenhaw said. "He said he wrangled horses and, when he was in Oklahoma, he was the storyteller to the Cherokee Nation."
Ron Taylor says when he saw the interview, "I literally got down on the floor laughing. Asa's on TV! He had pulled it. He had fooled them."
"I was bumfuzzled," Greenhaw said of his own reaction to the broadcast, so the reporter decided to look into what Forrest — or Asa — was up to. He started calling around, interviewing people who knew Asa and after a few days, Forrest Carter got in touch.
Greenhaw said he had clear memories of the call: "He said, 'You don't want to hurt old Forrest, do you now?' And I said, 'Come off of it, Asa, I recognize that voice.' "
In 1976, Greenhaw published a New York Times article drawing the connection between Asa and Forrest Carter.
Readers Saw What They Wanted
Historian and George Wallace biographer Dan Carter (no relation) is working on a book about Asa. He says fans of The Education of Little Tree should have known that it wasn't what it appeared to be. For one thing, the Cherokee words that Forrest Carter used in the memoir weren't Cherokee — they were just made up.
"Most people who loved the book couldn't imagine that a former Klansman, racist, anti-Semite could |
STEAMBOATING IN THE OLD DAYS.
The fact that steamboats have plied regularly from Manitoba to
Edmonton, and have even reached Medicine Hat will come as a surprise
to many. In the eighties it was not contemplated that | STEAMBOATING IN THE OLD DAYS.
The fact that steamboats have plied regularly from Manitoba to
Edmonton, and have even reached Medicine Hat will come as a surprise
to many. In the eighties it was not contemplated that the Saskatchewan
would ever cease to be a navigated river. Forty years ago there were
two steamboat companies in Winnipeg handling the interior shipping of
the North-West. Each had its own boats and did not interfere with each
other's trade. The North West Navigation Co., had four steamers of
which the Princess was the leader with a tonnage of about 300 tons. She
was a side-wheeler. The Marquette was a light draught stern-wheeler.
The Colville was a freighter and the Glendevon a tug of eighty tons. She
was used almost entirely for towing logs to the mills at Selkirk.
The main province of this company was Lake Winnipeg. The Winnipeg and
Western Company's steamers plied on the Saskatchewan between Lake
Winnipeg (or Grand Rapids), and Edmonton. This company had three
steamers. From Grand Rapids near the mouth of the river to Edmonton
is about 1,200 miles, and it took a steamer about a month to make the
round trip. The steamers were three in number, the famous Northcote,
the Marquis and North West. Most of the freight handled by both com-
panies was Hudson's Bay Company's merchandise. The North West
Company laid down freight at Norway House for the posts in that dis-
trict. Vast quantities were taken up the Saskatchewan by the other
company for the posts along the river, up to Edmonton at which latter
point it was distributed to the northern stations. There was also gen-
eral merchandise for the river towns. The excitement was great, when
the steamboats arrived. It was a great event. |
Rapid response is making a difference in invasive species control in the Adirondacks. Photo: Matt Miller/TNC
By Matt Miller, senior science writer
Many invasive species stories follow a similar narrative. When the non-native species first shows | Rapid response is making a difference in invasive species control in the Adirondacks. Photo: Matt Miller/TNC
By Matt Miller, senior science writer
Many invasive species stories follow a similar narrative. When the non-native species first shows up, people either don’t notice it, or they don’t take the threat seriously. Suddenly, the invader explodes across the landscape, and conservationists spring into action. but so often, it’s too late.
That’s why invasive species success stories are so few and far between.
The Adirondacks is different. Here, over a huge landscape, the Conservancy and partners have excelled at a coordinated approach that’s making a difference: early detection and rapid response.
“Our team wakes up every morning thinking about invasive species and how we can stop them in the Adirondacks,” says Hilary Smith, director of the Adirondack Park Invasive Plant Program, a program hosted by the Conservancy involving state agency partners and dozens of other cooperators. “We started with an idea fifteen years ago, an idea that we could address this problem at a meaningful scale. Today, we’re a model program for the State of New York. We are seeing incredibly positive results.”
Invasives Problem, What Invasives Problem?
The Adirondacks is a huge and ecologically intact landscape, but invasive species can still make inroads. Photo: Matt Miller/TNC
The first thing you notice traveling around the Adirondacks is its tremendous size: forest stretching as far as the eye can see, connected to expansive wetlands and wild rivers.
It’s huge. Six million acres of protected area, to be exact—larger than Yellowstone and Yosemite and the Grand Canyon combined. It’s one of the largest intact temperate forests in the world. That ecological health means that invasive species do not dominate here as they do in many ecosystems.
So what’s the problem? Why worry about species that are only located in small patches throughout a huge forest?
Beginning in the 1990s, conservationists realized those were the wrong questions to be asking. An assessment of the landscape revealed that some invasive plants were indeed taking hold and spreading into the forest.
“Conservationists and philanthropists have spent hundreds of millions of dollars in protecting lands and waters in the Adirondack Park over the past decades,” says Michael Carr, director of the Conservancy’s Adirondack Chapter. “It’s a huge investment in conservation. If you fail to address the threat of invasive species, you’re not fully respecting those contributions.”
Some of these invaders were particularly concerning. Take Japanese knotweed. In the United Kingdom, this non-native weed covers close to one-third of the country, costing millions annually to control. It not only chokes out streams; it can also grow through pavement and even weaken roads.
Japanese knotweed becomes a dense monoculture, choking out other plants and even weakening roads. Photo: Hilary Smith/TNC
Or purple loosestrife: a flowery plant that thrives in moist areas, transforming once productive habitat into a monoculture of weeds. Given the 600,000 acres of wetlands in the Adirondacks, this plant offers mind-boggling potential to wreak ecological havoc.
“When we first recognized that invasives were making inroads to the region, we realized that we could catch infestations early, before they had a chance to spread, and that could make a huge difference,” says Smith. “We came to a realization. We can think big about this. Let’s use the best science and get the support of partner groups and local communities, and start to think and act as a region.”
The ecological intactness of the Adirondacks wa |
In 1987 Fijians of Indian descent began to emigrate in large numbers. Spurred by a political coup they felt damaged relative prospects at home, they left for places like Canada, Australia, and New Zealand, all of which privilege | In 1987 Fijians of Indian descent began to emigrate in large numbers. Spurred by a political coup they felt damaged relative prospects at home, they left for places like Canada, Australia, and New Zealand, all of which privilege skilled, educated immigrants. As smart Indian Fijians left for Sydney, observers lamented the "ominous," "crippling," even "horrific" loss of human capital. One population researcher charmingly compared the migration to a massive increase in the death rate.
Economist Michael Clemens decided to find out what, exactly, was going on. By using the (static) ethnic Fijian population as a control group, he and Satish Chand decided to test the effect of labor movement on human capital stocks.
They found that as the exodus accelerated, young Indian Fijians began investing in tertiary education at levels never seen before. (Today Indo-Fijian children are more likely to go to college than American children.) Many left for jobs and lives off the islands. But the shift was so large tha |
Do you use a computer every day? When something goes wrong, do you know why? Can you make the computer do what you want it to do – without there being an app for that? Ever taken a computer science class? Your answer to | Do you use a computer every day? When something goes wrong, do you know why? Can you make the computer do what you want it to do – without there being an app for that? Ever taken a computer science class? Your answer to the first question is probably “yes,” and the rest get an emphatic “no.”
Most people who write computer programs aren’t professional programmers. Scientists and engineers write programs on a daily basis. But even non-technical professionals rely on deep knowledge of computing. Graphic designers work with many images with multiple layers, and they write programs to automate operations. An estimate out of Carnegie Mellon University says that for every professional software developer in 2012, there will be four people who write programs but aren’t professional software developers.
Here’s the problem with this picture: Few of those non-professional programmers had any computer science (CS) classes. Either the CS classes weren’t there, or they avoided them. Research at Georgia Tech has found that pre-teen Girl Scouts already think computer science is “geeky.” Brian Dorn, an assistant professor at University of Hartford |
Let’s look more closely. One of the major molecules in our body that plays a role in Alzheimer’s is apolipoprotein E (APOE), a gene found in all our bodies. The gene comes in two forms: a “good | Let’s look more closely. One of the major molecules in our body that plays a role in Alzheimer’s is apolipoprotein E (APOE), a gene found in all our bodies. The gene comes in two forms: a “good” APOE gene and a “bad” APOE gene. The latter is called “APOE4.” In animal models, they investigated the effects of diet and environment on carriers of APOE4. We know that 50% of Alzheimer’s patients have APOE4, so it is believed to put people at risk.
Researchers found, oddly, that exercise and brain stimulation are great for people with the good APOE — but actually negative for those with APOE4. It actually caused the death of brain neurons in the APOE4 mice. The researchers say, if you look at the human population, those with the bad APOE4 gene are more susceptible to stress caused by an environment that stimulates their brain.
Now for the diet angle. APOE is a lipoprotein that we know can be influenced by the good oil found in fish. Fatty fish are rich in omega-3 fatty acids, famous the world over for their healthful nature and capability to help humans withstand disease. In the study, the researchers introduced three different types of diets: a normal diet; a “bad” diet high in cholesterol;
The subjects were mice, which is where these exploratory studies always begin. The message that arises from the study is that good diets can alleviate the effects of bad genes. While nutritionists have trumpeted this for a long time, here we see specific proof from a study. Omega-3 fatty acids, a superpower in the world of nutrition, can counteract the effects of APOE4.
Even if you are at genetic risk for a disease, never give up.
And remember, you can always get more natural health advice, the latest alternative health breakthroughs and news, plus information about nutrition, alternative remedies and cures and doctors health advice, all free when you sign up for the Doctors Health Press e-Bulletin. Visit http://www.doctorshealthpress.com now to find out how to start your free subscription.
The Snack That Makes You Smarter & 11 Other Brain-Boosting Super Foods
FREE report reveals the foods that could help you maintain your healthy brain function and also could help you remember names and places easier. It will be like your mind has turned back the clock! Click here to get your FREE report.
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from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
- n. Chiefly British A wishbone.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
- n. The furcula or wish | from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
- n. Chiefly British A wishbone.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
- n. The furcula or wishbone.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English
- n. The forked bone of a fowl's breast; -- called also wishbone. See furculum.
from The Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. The furcula or wishbone of a fowl's breast: so called from the sport of breaking it between two persons of whom each pulls at one of the two ends, to determine which is to be married first, or which is to have a wish gratified that has been mentally formed for the occasion, the winner being the one who gets the longer fragment.
From merry + thought, traditionally explained with reference to the pleasant thoughts imagined when the bone is ritually broken. (Wiktionary) |
Better Students Ask More Questions.
In The Scarlet Letter, by Nathaniel Hawthorne, what does Hester say when Chillingworth...
1 Answer | add yours
High School Teacher
The Scarlett Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne is set in the | Better Students Ask More Questions.
In The Scarlet Letter, by Nathaniel Hawthorne, what does Hester say when Chillingworth...
1 Answer | add yours
High School Teacher
The Scarlett Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne is set in the world of Puritanism, a time marked by great judgment against sin by the people as well as the religious leaders. When Hester Prynne was caught and convicted as an adulteress (because she had a child but had no husband living with her), she was sentenced to stand on the scaffold with her child for an entire morning. There she was exposed to the scrutiny of the accusing townspeople and not allowed to hide her face in shame. She was also forced to wear a scarlet letter on her breast to indicate her sin of adultery.
Some years later, after the townspeople have grown accustomed to Hester and her good works and are no longer afraid that her sin will somehow contaminate their lives, there is talk of allowing her to remove the letter. The person who brings her this news is her husband, Roger Chillingworth, though no one in town knows of his connection to Hester--by his choice.
In chapter fourteen of the novel, he and Hester (as well as Pearl) meet in the forest and he shares what he thinks will be good news for her:
Why, Mistress, I hear good tidings of you on all hands! No longer ago than yester-eve, a magistrate, a wise and godly man, was discoursing of your affairs, Mistress Hester, and whispered me that there had been question concerning you in the council. It was debated whether or no, with safety to the common weal, yonder scarlet letter might be taken off your bosom. On my life, Hester, I made my entreaty to the worshipful magistrate that it might be done forthwith!”
Your question asks what Hester's reply |
janilye on Family Tree Circles
Journals and Posts
Category: Member Interest
Because of embarrassment and the desire to gain status in their community, there was a widespread cover-up involving ordinary families and officials to keep their convict past secret | janilye on Family Tree Circles
Journals and Posts
Category: Member Interest
Because of embarrassment and the desire to gain status in their community, there was a widespread cover-up involving ordinary families and officials to keep their convict past secret. During the early nineteenth century some families who had aquired wealth thought their convict antecedants were a handicap to them attaining status and respect. A case in point is Mary REIBY, nee HAYDOCK 1777-1855, the first female retailer in Sydney. At 13 she was transported to New South Wales for dressing up as a boy and stealing a horse. She arrived in 1792 on the 'Royal Admiral' and spent two years as a nursemaid. She married Thomas REIBY 1769-1811, an irish officer she had met on the voyage from Britain. Mary and Thomas set up a store near Sydney H |
Geographical Position, Qazvin Province
The province of Qazvin, geographically is like a bridge connecting the capital of the country to the northern and western parts. In recent decades, Qazvin has become one of the significant developing | Geographical Position, Qazvin Province
The province of Qazvin, geographically is like a bridge connecting the capital of the country to the northern and western parts. In recent decades, Qazvin has become one of the significant developing poles of the country. Qazvin province was established in 1996. The same comprises of the township of Qazvin, which was formerly a part of the province of Tehran, and the township of Takestan, which was a part of the province of Zanjan. The townships of the province are Qazvin, Takestan and Bo'inn Zahra. In1996 the population of Qazvin province was about 968,000 out of which 57% lived in the urban areas and 43% in the rural regions.
With regards to natural geography, this province is divided into two mountainous and plain areas. The mountain regions are located in the north of the province, while the valleys of the Alborz Mountains lie in its southern skirts.
Climate, Qazvin Province
The climate of the province in the northern parts is cold and snowy in winters and temperate in summers. In the southern parts the climate is mild with comparatively cold winters and warm summers.
History and Culture, Qazvin Province
Qazvin's historical background dates back to the Medes era, the 9th century BC. At that time, Qazvin was frequently attacked by tribes such as the Dialameh of Tabarestan. In the early years of the Islamic era Qazvin served as a base for the Arab forces. In the early Safavid period, Qazvin was selected as the capital. During the Qajar Dynasty and contemporary period, Qazvin has always been one of the most important governmental centers due to its proximity to Tehran. Prominent literary and social figures such as Obeid Zakani, Hamd Ol Lah Mostowfi, Mohamad Qazvini, Alame Qazvini, Alame Dehkhoda and Aref Qazvini (a talented poet of Constitutional Revolution era) and many others, were native residents of Qazvin. |
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Additionally, the main odorous components characterizing Turkish rose oil are indicated. Results of phytosol | Raw Materials Sponsored by
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Additionally, the main odorous components characterizing Turkish rose oil are indicated. Results of phytosol and SFE experiments, and headspace and headspace-SPME (Solid Phase Micro Extraction) techniques on living rose plants and freshly picked rose flowers are presented.
Rose oil is produced in Turkey and Bulgaria by water distillation of fresh flowers of R. damascena Miller (damask rose). It is a cultivated hybrid of R. gallica L. and R. phoenicia Boiss. The cultivated variety is called “trigintipetala,” meaning “having 30 petals.” The characteristic scent given off by these flowers is highly regarded by perfumers.
Rose distillation for the production of rose oil and rose water probably originated in Iran. By the 17th century, rose cultivation had spread from Iran to India and Turkey. There is evidence of rose cultivation for the production of rose water in European Turkey dating to the 17th century. Towards the end of that period, rose cultivation was introduced by a Turkish merchant to Bulgaria, which was then a province of the Ottoman Empire. B |
The soluble glutathione transferases (GSTs, EC 188.8.131.52) are encoded by a large and diverse gene family in plants, which can be divided on the basis of sequence identity into the phi, tau, | The soluble glutathione transferases (GSTs, EC 188.8.131.52) are encoded by a large and diverse gene family in plants, which can be divided on the basis of sequence identity into the phi, tau, theta, zeta and lambda classes. The theta and zeta GSTs have counterparts in animals but the other classes are plant-specific and form the focus of this article. The genome of Arabidopsis thaliana contains 48 GST genes, with the tau and phi classes being the most numerous. The GST proteins have evolved by gene duplication to perform a range of functional roles using the tripeptide glutathione (GSH) as a cosubstrate or coenzyme. GSTs are predominantly expressed in the cytosol, where their GSH-dependent catalytic functions include the conjugation and resulting detoxification of herbicides, the reduction of organic hydroperoxides formed during oxidative stress and the isomerization of maleylacetoacetate to fumarylacetoacetate, a key step in the catabolism of tyrosine. GSTs also have non-catalytic roles, binding flavonoid natural products in the cytosol prior to their deposition in the vacuole. Recent studies have also implicated GSTs as components of ultraviolet-inducible cell signaling pathways and as potential regulators of apoptosis. Although sequence diversification has produced GSTs with multiple functions, the structure of these proteins has |
Watson, Anne and Mason, John (2005). Mathematics as a constructive activity: learners generating examples. Studies in Mathematical Thinking and Learning. Mahwah, New Jersey, USA: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
|Google Scholar:||Look | Watson, Anne and Mason, John (2005). Mathematics as a constructive activity: learners generating examples. Studies in Mathematical Thinking and Learning. Mahwah, New Jersey, USA: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
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The Japanese obsession with adorable icons is rooted in cultural tradition
Learn the Language of Mascots
At the end of the twentieth century, Japan exported to the Western world a design language that seemed naïve and a long way from the graphic nature of | The Japanese obsession with adorable icons is rooted in cultural tradition
Learn the Language of Mascots
At the end of the twentieth century, Japan exported to the Western world a design language that seemed naïve and a long way from the graphic nature of Hiroshige and Sharaku. Generations of cute icons, such as Pokemon and Hello Kitty, have been adored by the Japanese and openly adopted by Westerners who grew up with anime [Japanese animation] and Nintendo. They even started to create their own – Julius the monkey appeared on everything belonging to Californian girls, while a slanted eyed, large-headed, girl mascot was adopted by Selfridges department store for its ‘Tokyo Life’ theme. Designers such as The Designers Republic and Futurefarmers started to incorporate their own characters into their design work. In the West, cute mascots have become a ‘trend’ but they may quickly disappear when their freshness becomes stale. In Japan, however, cute will continue to flourish because it is a part of the culture developed through history, rather than mere fashion. High-school girls carrying satchels with small Kyoro-chan attached and professionals talking on their mobile phones with Kogepan (‘burnt bun head’) characters hanging from the straps are not rejecting the traditional beauty of Zen gardens or woodblock prints in favour of wasting energy and money on useless objects. The popular taste for these mascots is based, in many ways, on traditional aesthetic qualities associated with Japanese art and nature, and plays an important role in the everyday lives of Japanese people today.
Say Hello, Wave Goodbye
Japanese aesthetics can be roughly divided into three characteristics: simplicity, irregularity, and perishability. The flag of Japan is based on a simple form – a red circle on a white background. It is also based on a Japanese aesthetic, kirei, which means ‘beautiful’, and implies ‘simple’ and ‘refined’. Japanese see beauty in a minimalist room, distilling decorations to a single, small camellia in a bamboo vase. Cute mascots are a result of this kind of simplification. The faces are reduced to lines and dots and their bodies are simplified to child-like, basic shapes.
Tea bowls for tea ceremonies are often not regular in shape, as incompleteness suggests the possibility of future growth and allows the objects to become a part of nature with their imperfect and organic forms. Similarly, Japanese girls add an oddly colourful, cute and round character to a dark rectangular school bag. The funny mascot introduces an irregular, personal element to the restrained forms of everyday items, such as electronic devices and uniforms.
Cherry blossom is known for its short blooming period, and this fleeting quality makes it more special to the Japanese. But when I heard about a British man who tattooed his ankle with a miniature version of Hello Kitty, I suddenly felt very foreign. A Japanese person may apply a Hello Kitty tattoo sticker because Hello Kitty is a product to consume temporarily. Stickers are cheap, and new styles are introduced seasonally. They are valued because of their ephemeral quality.
Communicate with Stylised Pictures
The love for visual representation can be seen in Japan’s history and society. The Chinese characters, known as kanji, are highly stylised pictures. For example, the kanji for ‘river’ is patently developed from its actual form. Since the Japanese know these visual forms are an effective way of transmitting information, cute characters are used everywhere: on the street, utility bills, and cash cards.
Manga is one of the best examples of Japanese visual culture. Manga targets everyone – men, women and children – with a wide range of topics from comedy and romance to philosophy and history. The origin of Japanese narrative comic art could be traced back to the Bishop Toba’s Chojugiga (Animal Scrolls) in the twelfth century. In this visual society, mascots are just evolved examples of an endless variety of visually representative figures.
See Afro Ken!
This taste for humour, exemplified by Afro Ken, the afro-hair dog, or the sushi-shaped seals, or small photo stickers (print club or prikura) displaying boys and girls surrounded by steaming poop, might be explained by the Japanese habit of self-deprecation. Japanese tend to enjoy funny topics for daily conversation, such as ‘what kind of dumb things they’ve done’ or descriptions of their own mistakes. This is an attempt to disarm the listener, and to develop more intimate relationships. Similarly, funny mascots tell you that the owner is friendly and unpretentious.
Amae: Act Like a Child
If you invite a Japanese acquaintance to dinner, and ask them what kind of restaurant they would like to go to, they will probably answer, ‘anywhere you like.’ Not having an individual voice is considered a traditional virtue in Japan and this attitude is based on the idea of amae. This could mean ‘indulging oneself by depending on somebody else’, but the Japanese amae me |
But the Klallam’s home did not remain pristine. In 1910, a Canadian settler named Thomas Aldwell started spanning the river with a 108-foot-high hydroelectric dam. As told in Aldwell’s autobiography, “Con | But the Klallam’s home did not remain pristine. In 1910, a Canadian settler named Thomas Aldwell started spanning the river with a 108-foot-high hydroelectric dam. As told in Aldwell’s autobiography, “Conquering the Last Frontier,” construction was such a spectacle that crowds gathered to watch. Two onlookers died when a guy cable snapped. The dam itself later ruptured, taking out a bridge downstream, but in the end Aldwell was able to proclaim, “Suddenly the Elwha was no longer a wild stream crashing down to the strait; the Elwha was peace, power and civilization.” The turbines churned, and in 1927 the 210-foot-high Glines Canyon Dam was built upstream on the Elwha. The two dams electrified the nearby Bremerton navy yard. They powered the sawmills and paper mills that would put Port Angeles on the map.
For centuries before, though, the Klallam’s economy has been based on salmon fishing. Now when the fish confronted the sheer wall of the dam, they could not swim upstream and spawn. Their populations slowly dwindled. Today, the Elwha is home to 3,000 salmon as it wends through Olympic National Park and the tiny reservation of the Lower Elwha Klallam Indians.
The story of the Elwha is, in essence, the story of the Northwest, where I have lived for 25 years. There are scores of hydroelectric dams here, and the dams power everything: Think of the Portland shipyards that built cargo ships for World War II; think of Kurt Cobain playing “Smells Like Teen Spirit” on an electric guitar in Olympia in 1991. The dams also freight a deep sadness. A Native American saying holds, “Every time you turn on a light, a salmon jumps out,” and the writer Timothy Egan has meanwhile averred, “In the Northwest, a river without salmon is a body without a soul.”
Most Northwest rivers now have only a glimmer of spirit left in them — a few remnant salmon. I was in Olympic National Park because the Elwha is undergoing a resurrection. Late in 2011, its two dams began coming down. The National Park Service, along with the Bureau of Reclamation, started tearing out Aldwell’s Elwha Dam, with plans to dynamite Glines Canyon later on, so the river could run free again. The feds vowed to spend $351 million on the whole project, making this the largest dam removal in U.S. history. Wildlife biologists were joyously |
Infrared Thermometer Quickly and Safely Takes an Individuals Temperature without Contact
Thermometers are a staple in accurately determining whether or not an individual is sick but they aren’t instant which means you’re stuck with a thermometer in your mouth until it | Infrared Thermometer Quickly and Safely Takes an Individuals Temperature without Contact
Thermometers are a staple in accurately determining whether or not an individual is sick but they aren’t instant which means you’re stuck with a thermometer in your mouth until it gets a reading. The problem with that, aside from seemingly always taking forever, is it can lead to cross contamination and the spread of germs. For a family imagine how many people use the thermometer. Now think about if it is truly sterilized after each use. With the Non-Contact Thermometer from Kidz-Med these are questions and worries that are no longer relevant because it will determine the person’s temperature using infrared technology. All it takes is the push of a button to instantly receive an accurate body temperature reading on the large, back-lit LED display. The device doesn’t need to touch the sick or potentially sick individual and thus decreases the risk of germ transfer to the one taking the temperature. It operates whisper quietly leaving parents free to even take their child’s temperature while they are sleeping without worry that it will wake them.
How accurate is it? The Non-Contact IR Thermometer is as accurate as using an ear or rectal thermometer. It is recommended that the person taking the temperature reading be within 2-4 inches of the individual when using the thermometer for an accurate read. Its mode can be set to provide temperature readings in either Fahrenheit or Celsius and will record the previous 32 readings. Though the Non-Contact Thermo |
Pruning, attachment to trellis wires, ploughing, green harvesting and trimming are all crucial for optimum growth and the selection of the best berries. This magnificent heritage is also carefully preserved. Each year, dead or accidentally damaged vines are | Pruning, attachment to trellis wires, ploughing, green harvesting and trimming are all crucial for optimum growth and the selection of the best berries. This magnificent heritage is also carefully preserved. Each year, dead or accidentally damaged vines are replaced with young plants. This technique is called "complantation" and accounts for about 2% of the vine plants every year. It helps to maintain the potential quality and yields of the plots. In these plots, the young plants are tagged and harvested separately so that they do not affect the potential of the older vines. Sometimes, when the average age of the vines in a plot is |
by Staff Writers
Rio De Janeiro (AFP) June 18, 2012
The United States, Rwanda and a coalition of Brazilian groups on Monday vowed to restore at least 18 million hectares (45 million acres) of damaged forests.
| by Staff Writers
Rio De Janeiro (AFP) June 18, 2012
The United States, Rwanda and a coalition of Brazilian groups on Monday vowed to restore at least 18 million hectares (45 million acres) of damaged forests.
The commitments are the first in a voluntary initiative launched nine months ago, which aims at restoring 150 million hectares (375 million acres) of deforested and degraded lands by 2020.
Fifteen million hectares (37.5 million acres) will be restored "in 20 forest watersheds, including tribal regions, across the United States," Elise Golan, director of sustainable development at the US Department of Agriculture, told journalists at the "Rio+20" conference.
Two million hectares (five million acres) will be restored in the east African state of Rwanda under a government pledge there, and a million ha. (2.5 million acres) will be restored in the Mata Atlantica forest on the eastern coast of Brazil through a coalition of government agencies, NGOs, corporations and an alliance of indigenous peoples.
The so-called Bonn Challenge was initiated at a German-led ministerial roundtable in September 2011.
The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), which is supporting the initiative, says that once restored, 150 million hectares (375 million acres) of forest would provide economic benefits of more than $80 billion.
It would also narrow the "emissions gap" -- the difference between current output of climate-altering greenhouse gases and what is needed to bring it to a safer level -- by between 11 and 17 percent.
"The largest restoration initiative the world has ever seen is now truly underway, and will provide huge global benefits in the form of income, food security and addressing climate change," said Julia Marton-Lefevre, the IUCN's chief.
"We urge other countries and landowners to follow suit."
According to the IUCN, two billion hectares (five billion acres) of damaged land also provides good opportunities for reforestation.
Since 1992, coverage of primary forests around the world has shrunk by 300 million ha. (750 million acres), an area almost as big as Argentina. Deforestation is the third biggest source of greenhouse gases.
The biggest losses have been in tropical regions that also have the greatest biodiversity. In the northern hemisphere, reforestation has now overtaken deforestation, though.
In a separate presentation at the UN Conference on Sustainable Development in Rio, the UN's Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) said 350 million of the world's poorest people, including 60 million indigenous people, depend on forests for their daily subsistence and long-term survival.
It made a pitch for sustainable forestry as a "renewable source of energy," saying wood is still the dominant source of heating and cooking for a third of the world's population.
Forestry News - Global and Local News, Science and Application
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Bulgarian president vetoes controversial forest act changes
Sofia (AFP) June 16, 2012
Bulgaria's president vetoed on Saturday a parliamentary decision to relax planning restrictions on forests to boost the development of ski resorts, his press office said. "The Forest Act amendments raise just fears for contravening the constitution and the law of the EU and for unbalanced decisions which might face us with irreparable consequences for the environment," President Rosen Plevne... read more
|The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2012 - Space Media Network. AFP, UPI and IANS news wire stories are copyright Agence France-Presse, United Press International and Indo |
by Scott G. Kenney
Sidney Rigdon (1793–1876) was a leading figure in founding two American religious traditions, Mormonism and the Churches of Christ. Born ten miles south of Pittsburgh on February 19, | by Scott G. Kenney
Sidney Rigdon (1793–1876) was a leading figure in founding two American religious traditions, Mormonism and the Churches of Christ. Born ten miles south of Pittsburgh on February 19, 1793, his and his uncle’s families belonged to the denomination called Regular Baptist (three cousins would become ministers). Regulars were strict Calvinists who adhered to the tenets of the Philadelphia Confession of Faith (1742), including original sin, total depravity of human beings, predestination, irresistible grace, saving faith, and spiritual rebirth.
Ordained in 1820, Sidney became minister of the Pittsburgh Baptist Church in 1822 and embraced the movement of reformer Alexander Campbell, who called for the “restoration of the ancient order of things.” Campbell denounced creeds and all other “inventions of men” in favor of the authority of the New Testament. Instead of faith as the transformative operation of the Spirit on the elect, Campbell preached faith as a simple, reasoned response to the testimonies of the apostles in the New Testament. Instead of baptism as an emblem of spiritual rebirth—the outward sign of an inward grace—he insisted that baptism was for the remission of sins. In baptism the sins of the penitents were formally washed away.
For teaching these and related heresies, Rigdon was expelled from the pulpit by the Redstone Baptist Association in 1823. Moving to Ohio, he affiliated with the Mahoning Association of his mentor and brother-in-law, Adamson Bentley. Campbell also migrated to the Mahoning group, as did Walter Scott, Campbell’s and Rigdon’s non-denominational cohort in Pittsburgh. There was a natural affinity between Scott and Campbell, both being products of the Scottish Enlightenment—Walter a graduate of the University of Edinburgh and Campbell having attended the University of Glasgow.
Engaged as the evangelist for the Mahoning group in 1827, Scott developed an innovative method of teaching. The gospel, he came to believe, came first through faith as a rational assent of Jesus as Lord; next came repentance, a determination to turn from sin; third, baptism by immersion for the remission of sins; and fourth, the gift of the Holy Spirit, leading to eternal life. At the end of an address, he called for the converted to come forward and be baptized. This emphasis on baptism for the remission of sins was tantamount to Catholic “sacramentalism” in the minds of mainstream Protestant clerics. However, the simplicity and immediacy of Scott’s approach were appealing to many people at the time. In four weeks he baptized 150 converts, most of them Regular Baptists.
As pastor of the Regular Baptist Church that served Painesville, Mentor, and Kirtland, Rigdon adopted Scott’s approach, as did his brother-in-law. In six months the three immersed eight hundred people, wreaking havoc among the Regular Baptist Churches and leading the editor of one Presbyterian paper to exclaim, “Look at the Baptist Church in this part of the country. It has been thrown into the greatest confusion, torn and lacerated to the bone—divided and subdivided, and is now bleeding at every pore.”
Sidney organized five “Reformed” congregations, and the moniker “Rigdonites” began to be applied to his followers. He was, Alexander Campbell acknowledged, “the great orator of the Mahoning Association.” But by early 1830, differences between Rigdon and Campbell were becoming apparent. In his Christian Baptist, Campbell frequently referred to the “restoration” of primitive Christianity, but Rigdon went further and said the people of the Old Testament had been Christians. Contrary to Campbell, Rigdon believed that miracles and gifts of the Spirit were still needed in the world. People needed to be “called” to preach the gospel, as opposed to Campbell’s view that those who had a desire to preach should do so. The millennium, said Campbell, had already begun.
By early 1830 the differences between Rigdon and Campbell had become apparent. In February 1830 three members of Rigdon’s flock, Isaac Morley, Titus Billings, and Lyman Wight, combined their assets as a “common-stock company” patterned after the New Testament Church. Soon eight more families joined. At the annual meeting of the Mahoning Association in late August, Rigdon promoted the practice. Campbell was repulsed by this fanaticism and argued that the biblical franchise had been instituted in a specific time and place and was no longer relevant. The two argued, and in the end Campbell prevailed.
Enter the Mormons
Within days, one of Sidney’s protégés, Parley Pratt, met Joseph Smith in New York and was reb |
Tornado expert Gary Conte joined a Weather Watch bulletin board from September 5-24, 2003.
Student: Is your work hard?
Gary Conte: Forecasting the development and track of mostly weak tornadoes across the New York City Metro | Tornado expert Gary Conte joined a Weather Watch bulletin board from September 5-24, 2003.
Student: Is your work hard?
Gary Conte: Forecasting the development and track of mostly weak tornadoes across the New York City Metro Area is quite difficult, even when trained skywarn spotters supplement radar observations.
Student: Hi. I am in an Earth and Space Science class and we are supposed to do a project. I am doing a project on F4 and F5 tornadoes. Can you give me any interesting information on those two types you know?? Thanks.
Gary Conte: F4 and F5 tornadoes are classified as violent tornadoes. Less than 1% of all tornadoes that occur are violent, resulting in 70% of all tornado deaths. The lifetime can exceed 1 hour and wind speeds are greater than 205 miles per hour.
Student: What do you do when a tornado strikes?
Gary Conte: I would take cover in a house or building. I would go to the lowest floor and proceed to a central location, away from windows. If your house has a basement, go to it. If not, the best place is usually an interior bathroom or closet on the first floor.
Student: How do tornadoes start?
Gary Conte: Before a thunderstorm forms, a change in wind direction and a rapid increase in wind speed with increasing height above the earth's surface creates an invisible horizontal spinning effect in the lower atmosphere. Rising air within a thunderstorm updraft tilts the rotating air from horizontal to vertical. An area of rotation, 2-6 miles wide now extends through much of the storm. Most tornadoes form within this area of strong rotation.
Student: How do they stop?
Gary Conte: When tornadoes move into an atmospheric environment that is unfavorable, they dissipate by lifting back up to the sky.
Student: How far can they go?
Gary Conte: Weak tornadoes |
1321 Thisanotia chrysonuchella
(Scopoli, 1763)Wingspan c. 25 mm.
A local species, occurring in dry, sandy or calcareous soils and coastal localities. | 1321 Thisanotia chrysonuchella
(Scopoli, 1763)Wingspan c. 25 mm.
A local species, occurring in dry, sandy or calcareous soils and coastal localities. It is distributed in southern and south-eastern England in suitable habitats.
The moths fly in May and June, in a single generation. They can be encountered by day, but their natural flight time is from dusk onwards.
The larvae feed on various grasses, such as sheep's fescue (Festuca ovina) and meadow-grass (Poa spp.), living in a silken tube at the base of the stems. |
Improving you balance is as easy as standing on one leg.
THE MOVES: Single leg balance with hip rotation.
WORKS ON: Hip and leg strength. Vestibular and "visual flow" balance.
PRECAUTIONS: Ensure | Improving you balance is as easy as standing on one leg.
THE MOVES: Single leg balance with hip rotation.
WORKS ON: Hip and leg strength. Vestibular and "visual flow" balance.
PRECAUTIONS: Ensure your safety. As with any balance exercise, the risk of falling is a real concern. When practicing this exercise, protect yourself by standing in a doorway. Or stand with your back to a wall with a piece of sturdy furniture in front of you.
|GET HIP - Firefighter Dave Orozco works on balance, leg and hip strength as he stands on one leg and turns his torso to the side. CNS Photo. |
SETUP/START POSITION: Stand on one leg (the other foot can be held just off the ground). Stand fully erect with your head and eyes level and your eyes focused on something across the room. Hold this position for 10 seconds.
STEPS: If you are stable in the starting position, slowly turn your entire torso and pelvis to the right as far as possible. Keep the supporting leg straight. The torso, pelvis and head should stay in line and move as a unit. Hold for a count of three. Then rotate as far as possible to your left.
REPETITIONS: Perform three to five rotations to the right and left on each leg.
OPTIONS: For more of a challenge, add slow head movements up and down, or side to side, as the torso is rotating. |
Peek is portable and cheap (Photo: Peek)
Peek can test for several eye diseases (Photo: Peek)
Peek-enabled smartphones could be charged with solar panels (Photo: Peek)
Peek is a smartphone-based eye-testing kit being | Peek is portable and cheap (Photo: Peek)
Peek can test for several eye diseases (Photo: Peek)
Peek-enabled smartphones could be charged with solar panels (Photo: Peek)
Peek is a smartphone-based eye-testing kit being developed in the UK (Photo: Peek)
Peek is capable of several eye tests such as visual field, acuity (clearness of vision), color vision, contrast sensitivity, lens imaging for cataracts, retinal imaging and image grading (Photo: Peek)
A new smartphone-based portable eye examination kit called Peek is aiming to bring hope to people suffering from eye problems who live in remote parts of the world. Besides being portable and easy to use, system makes it possible to perform complex eye tests with no need for expensive equipment.
Other Images from this Gallery |
While the Prophet Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery were translating the Book of Mormon, the Lord, in a revelation to them, tenderly referred to his restored kingdom as a “little flock” (D&C 6:34). Continuing, | While the Prophet Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery were translating the Book of Mormon, the Lord, in a revelation to them, tenderly referred to his restored kingdom as a “little flock” (D&C 6:34). Continuing, he told them to fear not, for “earth and hell” combined would not prevail against his Church. Thus, from the Church’s very beginning, prophetic knowledge of its eventual success has provided hope, encouragement, and optimism to the Latter-day Saints. Often the Lord and his prophets have used the metaphor of a “stone which is cut out of the mountain without hands [that] shall roll forth, until it has filled the whole earth” to describe the Church’s destiny (D&C 65:2).
The Little Stone
At the request of John C. Wentworth, editor and proprietor of the Chicago Democrat, the Prophet Joseph Smith wrote a brief history of the Latter-day Saints. The article was published in the Times and Seasons on 1 March 1842. This provided the Prophet with an opportunity to reflect upon the early history of his life and that of the Church and to prophesy regarding the destiny of the restored gospel. He wrote:
“Persecution has not stopped the progress of truth, but has only added fuel to the flame. … Proud of the cause which they have espoused, … have the Elders of this Church gone forth, and planted the Gospel in almost every state in the Union; it has penetrated our cities, it has spread over our villages, and caused thousands … to obey its divine mandates. … It has also spread into England, Ireland, Scotland, and Wales … ; there are numbers now joining in every land.
“… No unhallowed hand can stop the work from progressing; persecutions may rage, mobs may combine, armies may assemble, calumny may defame, but the truth of God will go forth boldly, nobly, and independent, till it has penetrated every continent, visited every clime, swept every country, and sounded in every ear, till the purposes of God shall be accomplished, and the Great Jehovah shall say the work is done.”1
After the martyrdom of the Prophet Joseph Smith and the expulsion of the Saints from Nauvoo, the Church moved on to the Salt Lake Valley under the leadership of Brigham Young. While President Young traveled back to Winter Quarters the Saints in the Salt Lake Valley met in conference in October 1847. The small group assembled in Salt Lake was in sharp contrast to the thousands of Church members still in Winter Quarters and in Great Britain.
John Young, brother of Brigham Young, nine years later said of that gathering: “So I walked down to where they were holding Conference, and I found them by the side of a haystack. There was Father John Smith and a little handful of men that might have been covered with a small tent, and they were holding the Semi-Annual Conference of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.”2
Elder Orson Pratt provided a scriptural foundation for having been led to such a remote place.3He quoted Isaiah’s prophecy that “the Lord’s house [would] be established in the top of the mountains” (Isaiah 2:2).
President Brigham Young described his feelings regarding the Church and its destiny in a letter to Elder Orson Hyde, who was presiding over the Saints in Kanesville: “We feel no fear. We are in the hands of our Heavenly Father, that God of Abraham and Joseph who guided us to this land, who fed the poor Saints on the plains with quails, who gave his people strength to labour without bread, who sent the gulls of the deep as Saviours to preserve the Golden Wheat for bread for his people and who preserved his Saints from the wrath of their enemies, delivering them. … We live in this light, are guided by his wisdom, protected by his strength.”4
Over a century later in the April 1976 general conference of the Church, President Spencer W. Kimball bore testimony that he knew the Church was the little stone that was cut out of a mountain without hands. He also bore witness that it would fill the earth as prophesied, and that life eternal was promised to those who would accept and abide by its precepts.5In the April 1979 conference he spoke of temples dotting the United States and other lands “from end to end,” of significant increases in the number of missions and missionaries, and of an upsurge in spirituality. He spoke of a readiness for the Latter-day Saints to accomplish things that could not have been done in the past.6In the October general conference of that same year President Kimball spoke of the challenges facing us: |
Daniel C. Church
Clyde Ford Road, Westover, Somerset County
Salisbury Plantation has two principal sections: a 19th century, two-story plus attic clapboard section whose roof ridge runs east to west, and a | Daniel C. Church
Clyde Ford Road, Westover, Somerset County
Salisbury Plantation has two principal sections: a 19th century, two-story plus attic clapboard section whose roof ridge runs east to west, and a first quarter 18th century 1 1/2 story brick section with its ridge running north to south. Facing north the clapboard section is three bays wide by one bay deep. The entrance, in the east bay, is framed by fluted pilasters beneath an architrave with triglyphs. The center and west bays have a single window. There is a window in each bay in the second story. All the windows on this facade have 9/6 lights. The house rests on a brick foundation and has a dentil molding under the eaves. The west end, with all new clapboards, has three tiers of windows. The one in the gable has 2/2 lights while the other two have 9/6 lights. The east end is identical except that most of the clapboards are old. On the second story west bay on the south side is a small 6/6 sash window, which overlooks the roof of the brick wing. On the south side is the older brick wing, two bays wide by two deep. On the west side is a barge batten door in the north bay and a 9/6 light window in the south bay. These bays apparently were built at different times. Both bays are laid in Flemish bond but the courses do not align. There are also obvious areas of repair work in the brick. The areas of old brickwork have grapevine mortar. The west side also has a batten door in the north bay and a 9/6 light window in the south. However, the bonds are different, with English bond in the north and Flemish in the south. Above the south bay there is a 9/6 light gable-roofed dormer window on both the east and west sides of the steep gable roof. The roof has an obvious buckle between the two bays. The rafters are also butted differently. The five rafters in the north bay have pegged, overlapping joints while the seven rafters in the south bay have pegged, mortise-and-tenon joints. The south end has random glazing in the Flemish bond. A 20th century screened porch extends across the two-bay width. There is a batten door near the west edge and 9/6 light window in the east bay. Small, single-light windows flank the flush chimney near the peak of the roof on the south gable end.
Salisbury Plantation is architecturally significant because it is a combination of an 18th century brick wing and a 19th century clapboard addition, and historically significant because of its association with the Handy Family. |
Memoirs of a qubit: Hybrid memory solves key problem for quantum computing
An international team of scientists has performed the ultimate miniaturization of computer memory: storing information inside the nucleus of an atom. This breakthrough is a key step in bringing | Memoirs of a qubit: Hybrid memory solves key problem for quantum computing
An international team of scientists has performed the ultimate miniaturization of computer memory: storing information inside the nucleus of an atom. This breakthrough is a key step in bringing to life a quantum computer - a device based on the fundamental theory of quantum mechanics which could crack problems unsolvable by current technology.
In the quantum world, objects such as atoms are allowed to exist in multiple states simultaneously -- that is, they could literally be in two places at once or possess a number of other seemingly mutually exclusive properties. Quantum computing is seen as the holy grail of computing because each individual piece of information, or ‘bit’, can have more than one value at once, as opposed to current technology which is limited to either 1s or 0s. This yields unprecedented processing power and thus dramatically widens the scope of what computers can do.
The problem: How do you isolate a quantum bit from a noisy environment to protect the delicate quantum information, while at the same time allowing it to interact with the outside world so that it can be manipulated and measured?
The team, with scientists and engineers from Oxford and Princeton universities and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, reported a solution to this problem in the Oct. 23 issue of the journal Nature.
The team’s plan was to devise a hybrid system using both the electron and nucleus of an atom of phosphorous embedded in a silicon crystal. Each behaves as a tiny quantum magnet capable of storing quantum information, but inside the crystal the electron is more than a million times bigger than the nucleus, with a magnetic field that is a thousand times stronger. This makes the electron well-suited for manipulation and measurement, but not so good for storing information, which can become rapidly corrupted. This is where the nucleus comes in: when the information in the electron is ready for storage, it is moved into the nucleus where it can survive for much longer times.
The experiments were made possible by the use of silicon enriched with the single 28Si isotope, painstakingly grown by the Berkeley team into large crystals while keeping the material ultra-pure and free from contaminants.
“The electron acts as a middle-man between the nucleus and the outside worl |
High crop prices contributing to loss in grassland
Full story: Vallejo Times-Herald
The study referenced by this article does not quantify biofuel production at all or provide any substantive link between biofuels and land use change they measured. | High crop prices contributing to loss in grassland
Full story: Vallejo Times-Herald
The study referenced by this article does not quantify biofuel production at all or provide any substantive link between biofuels and land use change they measured. For a better study on biofuels see the University of Illinois paper at http://www.academicjournals.org/jaerd/PDF/Pdf.... Those researchers actually looked at biofuel production and found there is more than enough farmland available to meet our goals for energy independence.
The strength of this study is the measurement of land use change. However, the link to biofuels and the judgment on the value of biofuels policy is not supported by the data in this research and does not merit the headlines. A more accurate interpretation of the recent land use change is that farmers are once again finding it economical to grow food on cropland that was previously abandoned due to low commodity prices. Farmers are not tilling up virgin grasslands, but are instead putting land back to work that is being expelled from the Conservation Reserve Program due to Farm Bill budget cuts. Find more facts at http://www.biodieselsustainability.com/2013/0...
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|WWCC seeks alternative fuel vehicles program (Apr '12)||Nov 30||Sally||2|
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|Study: Utilities should brace for solar power rise||Nov 28||Solarman||1| |
Any of seven species of annual climbing vines, also called vegetable sponge or sponge gourd, that make up the genus Luffa in the gourd family, native to the Old World tropics. Two species cultivated in temperate areas (L | Any of seven species of annual climbing vines, also called vegetable sponge or sponge gourd, that make up the genus Luffa in the gourd family, native to the Old World tropics. Two species cultivated in temperate areas (L. acutangula and L. aegyptiaca) produce 1-ft- (30-cm-) long cucumber-shaped fruits. Edible and greenish when young, these fruits become straw-coloured with age. On removal of the skin, pulp, and seeds, there remains a complex of closely netted vascular bundles (food- and water-carrying tubes) that resembles a sponge in texture. This spongelike product is used for bathing, for was |
Editorial: Malala Yousafzai sets example for women to fight for education
Published: Monday, October 14, 2013
Updated: Monday, October 14, 2013 22:10
If you | Editorial: Malala Yousafzai sets example for women to fight for education
Published: Monday, October 14, 2013
Updated: Monday, October 14, 2013 22:10
If you hit a Talib (a member of the Taliban), then there would be no difference between you and the Talib, you must not treat others with cruelty. … You must fight others through peace and through dialogue and through education” stated Malala Yousafzai on “The Daily Show” with Jon Stewart.
On the eve of the anniversary of the attempt on her life, Malala Yousafzai, continues to send a powerful message to the entire world education, not violence, is the best way to fight terrorism.
On Oct. 9, 2012, Malala, 14, decided to go to school, something she had been doing for years. However, she had been defying the Taliban’s order that prevented women and girls alike from attaining an education.
Nonetheless, Malala continued to go to school in order to promote education on behalf of all girls. Malala was shot in the head and neck, point-blank, on her way back from school.
Education, the key to moving vertically in the socioeconomic ladder, is taken for granted, in most well-developed nations like the United States of America. The benefits and power of education are underrated. As governments try to implement education to all demographics of the population from poor to under-represented minorities, education is simply handed to most citizens.
However, across the world, communities are being terrorized and stripped of their basic human right: the right to attaining an education. Women in Pakistan have to fight for their education. Why? Because by not providing proper education to its population, the Taliban can continue to command control in certain areas of Pakistan.
Education is the Achilles heel of terrorist groups. To attain an education is to attain the key to escape the rule of terrorist governments. Thus terrorist groups continue to terrorize oppressed groups that try to learn.
Malala sends a very powerful message to the world; not only does everyone deserves an equal opportunity to education, but the best way to fight oppression is not through war, but education.
A year after the Taliban shot Malala, she continues to advocate for equal opportunities for education. She was recently nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize, met with President Obama and argued for equal education at the United Nations. Malala’s story of defiance and activism should be a lesson for the global community, that education, not war, is the best way to stifle terrorism. |
A hidden danger has been found in an item used daily at child care centers in Massachusetts.
Nap mats from Massachusetts, California, New York, Washington, Alaska, Vermont and Connecticut contain harmful flame-retardant chemicals, according to independent testing commissioned | A hidden danger has been found in an item used daily at child care centers in Massachusetts.
Nap mats from Massachusetts, California, New York, Washington, Alaska, Vermont and Connecticut contain harmful flame-retardant chemicals, according to independent testing commissioned by the Center for Environmental Health.
The flame-retardant chemicals found in the nap mats have been linked to cancer, genetic damage, impacts on fertility and reproductive health, allergies, hormone disruption and other serious health problems, researchers said.
The nap mats were purchased at major retailers including Babies R Us, Target and national online day care supply companies, according to a report released Tuesday.
Researchers collected 24 nap mats and sent them to Duke University researcher Heather Stapleton for testing. Flame-retardant chemicals were found in all but two of the nap mats.
The testing found 10 different flame-retardant chemicals (or chemical mixtures) in the nap mats; 19 of the nap mats contain more than one harmful flame-retardant chemical. Eleven of the nap mats were advertised as flame resistant.
“I go out of my way to protect my daughter from toxic hazards, but a toxic free home is an impossible task, and I will have even less control over what she is exposed to when she gets old enough to go to pre-school,” said Miriam Katz of West Roxbury, mother of 2 and half year old Dalia. “As long as the government fails to regulate toxic chemicals in consumer products, my daughter will be in harm’s w |
Dedicated to the 70th anniversary of the Soviet deportation of Lithuanians to Siberia, Hope & Spirit, a series of ongoing exhibitions and programs, will be presented by the Balzekas Museum of Lithuanian Culture between June | Dedicated to the 70th anniversary of the Soviet deportation of Lithuanians to Siberia, Hope & Spirit, a series of ongoing exhibitions and programs, will be presented by the Balzekas Museum of Lithuanian Culture between June 18 and January, 2012. From 1940 to 1953, more than 132,000 Lithuanians were deported to remote areas of the USSR including Siberia, the Arctic Circle zone and Central Asia. More than 70 percent of the deportees were women and children. By the end of the deportations, some 30,000 Lithuanians had died as a result of slave work and starvation. Another 50,000 never returned to Lithuania. During this same period, another 200,000 people were thrown into prisons. More than 150,000 were sent to Gulags, the name for USSR concentration camps, situated mostly in Siberia.
The first mass deportation began the night of June 14, 1941. Thousands of unsuspecting people were awakened from their sleep and ordered to leave their homes immediately. Most failed to take anything with them. Crammed into cattle cars, women, the elderly and children were sent to remote villages were they were required to do hard labor; the heads of families were sent to prisons and camps. In that first week, more than 18,000 Lithuanian people were deported. The number would have been even greater had not the war between Germany and Russia started on June 22. Deportations resumed after the end of World War II, when Lithuania was occupied by the Soviet Union.
Starting June 18, 2011 and in the succeeding months, please join us at the various Hope & Spirit exhibits, lectures, film viewings and book discussions as we commemorate this tragic chapter in Lithuania's history and remember its innocent victims: the hundreds of thousands of Lithuanians and the millions of people from all Soviet-occupied nations--of all ages, religions, nationalities and races--who suffered persecution once, through forced exile, imprisonment, torture and genocide, and again, through the denial, minimization and suppression of their victimization and suffering. To all of t |
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) -- Bull trout are going to be put back in the upper reaches of the Clackamas River on the flanks of Mount Hood in Oregon after being gone for nearly 50 years.
The U.S. | PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) -- Bull trout are going to be put back in the upper reaches of the Clackamas River on the flanks of Mount Hood in Oregon after being gone for nearly 50 years.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service said Monday that bull trout from the Metolius River near Sisters will be transplanted into the Clackamas on the Mount Hood National Forest starting June 30.
Bull trout are a threatened species found in five states. Their demand for very clean and cold water put them at the center of a court battle that ended up restricting logging, mining and grazing on federal lands in the West.
The last one was observed in the Clackamas in 1963.
Federal biologists hope to finish a plan this year for restoring healthy bull trout populations. |
Want a portable piece of history that helped send astronauts to the moon? You better have a powerful pickup truck.
NASA this week announced that it is seeking bidders for its three mobile launcher platforms. The 3700-tonne hunks of steel | Want a portable piece of history that helped send astronauts to the moon? You better have a powerful pickup truck.
NASA this week announced that it is seeking bidders for its three mobile launcher platforms. The 3700-tonne hunks of steel were used at Kennedy Space Center in Florida to ferry large rockets to the launch zone and serve as launch pads.
The two-story structures contain a maze of pathways, plumbing and electrical cabling used to assist launches and safely vent rocket exhaust. They carried Saturn V rockets during the Apollo era, then were modified for the space shuttles.
With the shuttles now museum artefacts, NASA is out of uses for the platforms. Its next big rocket, the Space Launch System (SLS), is due to fly in 2017 and will use a newer platform built for the Ares rocket, a large launch vehicle that was part of a now-cancelled programme to send humans back to the moon.
"That mobile launcher will undergo some minor modification to support the SLS programme," says NASA spokesperson Tracy Young.
A watery end?
The historic platforms could be made into museum pieces, but sheer logistics mean that none will go to the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum in Washington DC: "Although their historic value is without question, there is no practical way to physically move one of them to the DC area," says museum curator Paul Ceruzzi. Another option might be to place one of the platforms under the unflown Saturn V rocket currently on display at the Kennedy Space Center, he adds.
NASA would ideally like the platforms to be reused |
New York prisoner Tanya Ross, November 1998.(1)
This report describes violations of the internationally guaranteed human rights of women incarcerated in prisons and jails(2) in the United States of America. The violations include rape and other forms of | New York prisoner Tanya Ross, November 1998.(1)
This report describes violations of the internationally guaranteed human rights of women incarcerated in prisons and jails(2) in the United States of America. The violations include rape and other forms of sexual abuse; the cruel, inhuman and degrading use of restraints on incarcerated women who are pregnant or seriously ill; inadequate access to treatment for physical and mental health needs; and confinement in isolation for prolonged periods in conditions of reduced sensory stimulation.
Amnesty International calls on the federal and state and local governments and authorities at all levels to take urgent action to ensure that the laws, regulations, policies and practices for which they are responsible rigorously conform to international standards and respect the human rights of women deprived of their liberty.
US RESISTANCE TO INTERNATIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS COMMITMENTS
The USA has played a leading role in the development of the international system of human rights protection over the past 50 years.(3) However, it has been reluctant to submit itself to international human rights law and to accept the same minimum standards for its own conduct that it demands from other countries.
As described below, the USA has declined to ratify key human rights treaties, it has reserved the right not to implement important provisions of treaties that it has ratified and has refused to permit people within the USA to bring complaints about alleged violations of their human rights to international monitoring bodies.
TheInternational Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) is the principal international treaty setting out fundamental civil and political rights for everybody. One hundred and forty nations have ratified the treaty, that is, have agreed to be legally bound by its provisions which include the obligation to protect the right of every person not to be subjected to torture or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment (Article 7).
The USA became a party to the ICCPR in 1992 but it reserved the right to refrain from implementing certain provisions or to restrict their application. For example, the US government stated that the United States considered itself to be bound by the prohibition of "cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment or punishment" in the ICCPR only to the extent that this "means the cruel and unusual treatment or punishment prohibited by... the Constitution of the United States." That is, it was not willing to prohibit conduct that was not already prohibited by US law.
The ICCPR establishes a body of experts, the Human Rights Committee, who monitor governments' implementation of the treaty. Under a treaty called the (first) Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the Human Rights Committee may consider complaints by individuals that a government which is a party to the Optional Protocol violated rights guaranteed by the ICCPR. Ninety-two governments have agreed to be parties to the Optional Protocol. The USA has not.
The Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (Convention against Torture) requires governments to prohibit and punish torture in law and in practice. The USA ratified the treaty in 1994. As with the ICCPR, the government made a reservation stating that it considered itself obliged to prevent "cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment" only insofar as the term meant the cruel, unusual or inhumane treatment or punishment prohibited by the US Constitution.
The treaty has a provision under which governments may make a declaration to permit the Committee against Torture, which monitors implementation of the Convention by governments, to consider complaints by individuals that their rights under the treaty have been violated. Thirty eight countries have made such a declaration. The USA has not done so. |
Sports participation always has a risk of injury.
Generally, sports injury can be divided into
Many injuries (eg, fractures, dislocations, soft-tissue contusions, blunt trauma, sprains and strains) are not unique to sports participation and | Sports participation always has a risk of injury.
Generally, sports injury can be divided into
Many injuries (eg, fractures, dislocations, soft-tissue contusions, blunt trauma, sprains and strains) are not unique to sports participation and can result from activities that are not athletic or from accidents (see Fractures, Dislocations, and Sprains). However, athletes may need to learn how to modify faulty techniques that predispose to injuries or may resist taking an adequate period of rest to recover from a sports injury (working through the pain).
Overuse is one of the most common causes of athletic injury and is the cumulative effect of excessive, repetitive stress on anatomic structures. It results in trauma to muscles, tendons, cartilage, ligaments, bursae, fascia, and bone in any combination. Risk of overuse injury depends on complex interactions between individual and extrinsic factors. Individual factors include muscle weakness and inflexibility, joint laxity, previous injury, bone malalignment, and limb asymmetries. Extrinsic factors include training errors (eg, exercise without sufficient recovery time, excess load, building one group of muscles without training the opposing group, and extensive use of the same movement patterns), environmental conditions (eg, excessive running on banked tracks or crowned roads—which stresses the limbs asymmetrically), and training equipment characteristics (eg, unusual or unaccustomed motions, such as those made while on an elliptical trainer). Runners most often sustain injury after too rapidly increasing their intensity or length of workouts. Swimmers may be least prone to overuse injuries because buoyancy has protective effects, although they still are at risk, particularly in the shoulders, from which most movement occurs.
Blunt athletic trauma can result in injuries such as soft-tissue contusions, concussions, and fractures. The mechanism of injury usually involves high-impact collisions with other athletes or objects (eg, being tackled in football or checked into the sideboards in hockey), falls, and direct blows (eg, in boxing or the martial arts).
Sprains and strains:
Sprains are injuries to ligaments, and strains are injuries to muscles. They typically occur with sudden, forceful exertion, most commonly during running, particularly with sudden changes of direction (eg, dodging and avoiding competitors in football). Such injuries also are common in strength training, when a person quickly drops or yanks at the load rather than moving slowly and smoothly with constant controlled tension.
Symptoms and Signs
Injury always results in pain, which ranges from mild to severe. Physical signs may be absent or may include any combination of soft-tissue edema, erythema, warmth, point tenderness, ecchymosis, instability, and loss of mobility.
Diagnosis should include a thorough history and physical examination. History should focus on the mechanism of injury, physical stresses of the activity, past injuries, timing of pain onset, and extent and duration of pain before, during, and after activity. Diagnostic testing (eg, x-rays, ultrasonography, CT, MRI, bone scans, electromyography) and referral to a specialist may be required.
Immediate treatment of most acute sports injuries is RICE.
Rest prevents further injury and helps to reduce swelling.
Ice (or a commercial cold pack) causes vasoconstriction and reduces soft-tissue swelling, inflammation, and pain. Ice and cold packs should not be applied directly to the skin. They should be enclosed in plastic or a towel. They should be left in place for no more than 20 min at a time. An elastic bandage can be wrapped around a tightly closed plastic bag containing ice to keep it in place.
Wrapping an injured extremity with an elastic bandage for compression reduces edema and pain. The bandage should not be wrapped too firmly because doing so may cause swelling in the distal extremity.
The injured area should be elevated above heart level so that gravity can facilitate drainage of fluid, which reduces swelling and thus pain. Ideally, fluid should drain on an entirely downhill path from the injured area to the heart (eg, for a hand injury, the elbow, as well as the hand, should be elevated). Ice and elevation should be used periodically throughout the initial 24 h after an acute injury.
Pain control usually involves use of analgesics, typically acetaminophen or NSAIDs. However, if pain persists for > 72 h after a seemingly minor injury, referral to a specialist is recommended. For persistent pain, evaluation for additional or more severe injuries is indicated. These injuries are treated as appropriate (eg, with immobilization, sometimes with o |
[author: Jackie Wernz]
Another hot topic that came up at our TechCon 2012 presentation on social media policies (which I blogged about earlier this month here) is whether to allow teachers to use social media in the classroom | [author: Jackie Wernz]
Another hot topic that came up at our TechCon 2012 presentation on social media policies (which I blogged about earlier this month here) is whether to allow teachers to use social media in the classroom. Reports about why social media belongs in the classroom (such as this one from NBC News, which was later picked up by the Huffington Post) make compelling points about the need to meet students where they are and teach them how to use (and responsibly use) technology such as social networking. But there are serious legal concerns school districts should consider. At the conference, we discussed some of these concerns.
Age Appropriate Behavior?
For instance, some students, particularly at the elementary level, may be too young to establish a page on a social media website without violating the terms and conditions of the website. Teachers shouldn’t use social media pages for classroom activities if student participation would violate those sites’ policies. Our conclusion on this point: teachers probably should not be allowed to use any social media websites that have age restrictions for younger students. That means no Facebook, friends. Does that mean there must be a brick wall between elementary school students and technology? Not at all. There are fantastic free social media tools for teachers out there that are not open to the public in the same way as Facebook, and so do not have the same age restrictions.
We also discussed that teachers’ use of personal social networking websites can create issues for schools that need to supervise or investigate such use. This is especially true in states like Illinois that have laws prohibiting public employers from asking for passwords to social networking accounts, even if they are used for a business purpose. School districts in Illinois and other states with similar laws may find themselves in a bind if they need to access the social media websites to investigate misconduct, for litigation purposes or to respond to a public records request. Notably, the Illinois law suggests that public employers can’t even ask for information from social networking pages of employees. This could prohibit school districts from asking teachers to make their personal social networking pages accessible to administrators when used for classroom purposes. I wrote on this topic in the most recent issue of the Illinois Association of School Board Journal in an article titled Locked out…Strategies for complying with the Facebook Password Law.
Now, there are arguably very good reasons for locking school administrators (and other employees) out of employees’ personal social networking webs |
Screen Reader Simulation
This simulation provides a way to experience what it is like to use a screen reader. A web site, the University of the Antarctic, is presented as a screen reader user would experience it. Keyboard shortcuts are provided to navigate within | Screen Reader Simulation
This simulation provides a way to experience what it is like to use a screen reader. A web site, the University of the Antarctic, is presented as a screen reader user would experience it. Keyboard shortcuts are provided to navigate within the site and find specific pieces of information.
When you enter the simulation, you will see a screen with some keyboard shortcuts that you can use to navigate through the web site. These are not exactly the same keyboard shortcuts as real screen readers, but the idea is the same: you can't use your mouse; you are limited to the functionality in your keyboard.
You will also see a list of tasks within the simulation.
- Find the last name of the founder of the University of the Antarctic (U of A).
- Find the phone number of U of A.
- Find the current enrollment for the Bio 250 class.
See if you are able to complete these tasks. If you find that you are somewhat frustrated at finding this content, that's because WebAIM planned it that way. Blind computer users are often frustrated by difficulties in finding or accessing web content.
WebAIM has compiled a list of keyboard shortcuts and tasks to aid those who may be accessing this simulation using a screen reader or refreshable braille device.
This simulation requires the Shockwave plug-in. Although Shockwave is generally not considered very accessible, WebAIM has added captions and audio which increases its accessibility for deaf and blind users. WebAIM recognizes, however, that certain disability types (such as those who are both deaf and blind) may not be able to fully access the simulation. These individuals probably don't need to, though, since WebAIM is attempting to simulate something that they are probably already quite familiar with.
Open the WebAIM Screen Reader Simulation (This simulation is a large 2.42 MB file due to extensive audio content.) |
There are two generations of active Meteosat satellites, Meteosat First Generation (MFG) and Meteosat Second Generation (MSG), providing images of the full Earth disc, and data for weather forecasts.
Today, weather satellites scan the | There are two generations of active Meteosat satellites, Meteosat First Generation (MFG) and Meteosat Second Generation (MSG), providing images of the full Earth disc, and data for weather forecasts.
Today, weather satellites scan the whole Earth, meaning not a single tropical storm or severe weather system goes undetected. The early detection and warnings they provide have saved thousands of lives.
Meteosat data is of unique value to nowcasting of high impact weather in support of safety of life and property.
It has been shown to improve weather forecasts and severe weather warnings which, in turn helps limit damage to property and benefits industry e.g. transport, agriculture and energy.
|Meteosat-10 (MSG)||05/07/2012 – Nominal fuel lifetime is until 2022||0°/36,000 km||0º |
|Scientific Name:||Squatina nebulosa|
|Species Authority:||Regan, 1906|
|Taxonomic Notes:||Diagnostic features include pelvic fin tips which do reach the first dorsal origin, angular pelvic, dorsal | |Scientific Name:||Squatina nebulosa|
|Species Authority:||Regan, 1906|
|Taxonomic Notes:||Diagnostic features include pelvic fin tips which do reach the first dorsal origin, angular pelvic, dorsal and caudal fins, and a upper lip arch which is semi-oval in shape. This species does not possess distinct ocelli or midback spines. This poorly known species is often misidentified as S. formosa, but in a recent revision of this genus Walsh and Ebert (2007) resolved some of the characteristics between these two species. Some of the confusion resulted from the original description of S. formosa which was partially based on three designated paratypes that were all in fact S. nebulosa.|
|Red List Category & Criteria:||Vulnerable A2d+4d ver 3.1|
|Assessor/s:||Walsh, J.H. & Ebert, D.A.|
|Reviewer/s:||Valenti, S.V., Gibson, C.G. & Fowler, S.L. (Shark Red List Authority)|
The Clouded Angelshark (Squatina nebulosa) is a large angel shark found in the northwest Pacific, in the Sea of Japan, the Yellow Sea and the East China Sea. It is found on the continental shelf and upper slope. It is caught as bycatch in fisheries, which operate down to 600 m, and in particularly large numbers in demersal trawl fisheries. It is not known to be targeted, but is a retained bycatch, with individuals found in local fish markets in northern Taiwan, Province of China and Japan, although this species, like other northwest Pacific angel sharks, has frequently been misidentified. This species? generation period may be ~15 years, based on biological information from better-known angel sharks. Other angel shark populations (for example Squatina squatina and Squatina guggenheim) have proved particularly vulnerable to trawl and gillnet fishing gear, resulting in significant population depletion because of their low reproductive potential and low potential for re-colonisation. Where population data are available for other angel sharks, declines greater than 80% have been observed in less than three generations within areas where target or bycatch fisheries take place. Although trend data are not available for Clouded Angelshark, there is concern that it has already declined significantly as a result of fisheries, which possibly operate throughout its range. Based on current knowledge of fishing pressure in this region, these trends are likely to continue. This species, however, has a fairly wide geographic and bathymetric range, which may offer some areas of refuge from fisheries. It is therefore assessed as Vulnerable A2d+A4d, based on suspected declines approaching 50%, but it may prove to have been more seriously depleted than this. Further research into this species? abundance, distribution, life-history and population trends is urgently needed.
|Range Description:||Endemic to western north Pacific including southern Japanese waters, central and eastern north China Sea, western Taiwan Straits (Shuyuan 1994), and waters surrounding northern Taiwan (Compagno et al. 2005a, Walsh and Ebert 2007).|
Native:China; Japan (Hokkaido, Honshu, Kyushu, Shikoku); Korea, Democratic People's Republic of; Korea, Republic of; Taiwan, Province of China (Taiwan, Province of China (main island))
|FAO Marine Fishing Areas:||
Pacific – northwest
|Range Map:||Click here to open the map viewer and explore range.|
Population size for this species is unknown, but individuals are found in local fish markets in Taiwan and Japan (H. Ishihara and D. Ebert pers. obs. 2007). Little data exist due to no known catch records for this species and confusing taxonomic information used to distinguish individuals of this species from other northwest and western central Pacific Squatini |
Every one knows about Graphene - a two dimensional sheet of carbon that holds lot of promise in a wide variety of applications. Graphene synthesis is possible using a wide number of ways. One important way is to reduce Graphene oxide and get " | Every one knows about Graphene - a two dimensional sheet of carbon that holds lot of promise in a wide variety of applications. Graphene synthesis is possible using a wide number of ways. One important way is to reduce Graphene oxide and get "Reduced Graphene Oxide" / "Graphene Sheets". This is where i wish to place before all of you an interesting proposal. i request all of you for your comments.
i learned from a research paper that ammonia and zinc powder combination can reduce graphene oxide and lead to production of graphene. Human Urine has plenty of urea which gets converted to ammonia by bacteria. So, mix zinc powder and human urine to get "Zinc Ammonia solution due to bacterial action" which will turn help in reducing graphene oxide and get "Graphene Sheets".
ISN'T THIS A GOOD USE FOR HUMAN URINE???
of course if urine has sugars it can reduce Graphene oxide but it will be time consuming.
i don't have access to certain facilities to check this. Nevertheless i am placing it on the web for all of you to look at it and comment on it.
If anyone of you is willing to do this experiment, please give credit to my idea......
i am Prakash Vaithyanathan from India. i teach Science and Math for middle school children. |
0 pts pendingThe asker has
chosen a Best Answer and the points will be awarded within 24 hours.
A block of mass M is at rest on a horizontal surface. A force Facts on it as shown. It moves a distance d without | 0 pts pendingThe asker has
chosen a Best Answer and the points will be awarded within 24 hours.
A block of mass M is at rest on a horizontal surface. A force Facts on it as shown. It moves a distance d without friction. GivenM = 1.5kg, F = 4.5N, d = 1.3m and
q =29o, what is the work done by F on the block? |
Planning for Life After High School
High School Courses: Every student in the San Diego Unified School District will be completing the University of California's "A-G" entrance requirements before graduation, beginning with the Class of 2016. Although the minimum | Planning for Life After High School
High School Courses: Every student in the San Diego Unified School District will be completing the University of California's "A-G" entrance requirements before graduation, beginning with the Class of 2016. Although the minimum requirements vary depending on the selected college or university, the A-G are among the most rigorous college preparation requirements. Every high school in the district has courses that meet these requirements; see counselors at individual schools for the courses that fit these requirements.
The California State University has an excellent website that will help you reach your dreams by getting a college or university degree.
Tests: To gain admission to college, students must also take and submit scores from either the ACT Assessment plus Writing, or the SAT Reasoning Test. Students applying to University of California campuses must also take two SAT subject tests. The high school counseling office can provide the testing information, dates and location. Students and parents/guardians can access additional information from the University of California and California State University.
What are you going to do after you finish high school? To prepare for that day, consider taking the career technical education courses offered at your school. Career technical education (CTE) courses offer a unique opportunity to try out in variety of industries, with diffferent academic, creative and technical skills. CTE courses meet college admission requirements, provide mentor and internship opportunities, provide articulated community college credit and/or certification recognized by industry. CTE provides opportunities nowhere else represented in education, preparing you for your future – college and career ready. |
Polylactic acid (PLA) is a renewably sourced plastic material notorious for its poor mechanical properties. To make up for this, composites of PLA with many types of reinforcing materials have been produced, often creating additional problems such as partly | Polylactic acid (PLA) is a renewably sourced plastic material notorious for its poor mechanical properties. To make up for this, composites of PLA with many types of reinforcing materials have been produced, often creating additional problems such as partly reducing the renewable character of the final composite.
Now Larsson et al., in an article published in the Journal of Applied Polymer Science, have strengthened PLA with cellulose nanofibers by a process that overcomes the incompatibilities between hydrophilic fibrils and hydrophobic matrix. The two ingredients are mixed as aqueous suspensions, with a method similar to papermaking, to achieve good dispersion also at very high content of nanofibers.
This is the first time PLA has been mixed with cellulose fibers of such dimensional uniformity, obtained by a process that is close to commercial scale. The good dispersion and high uniformity of the fibers generate a material that shows the highest mechanical properties, such as strength and resistance to fracture, to date for this type of composite, which could perhaps be used in packaging applications. Renewable plastics are finally useful, besides being good for the environment. |
Lasers in Science and Industry
Today scientists, lab technicians, engineers, and industrial technicians regularly utilize lasers to perform a wide range of important tasks. They measure distances, both short and long, with lasers, giving astronomers, geographers, and | Lasers in Science and Industry
Today scientists, lab technicians, engineers, and industrial technicians regularly utilize lasers to perform a wide range of important tasks. They measure distances, both short and long, with lasers, giving astronomers, geographers, and surveyors much more accurate figures than were available before the invention of these devices. They also use lasers to drill, weld, cut, and mark all sorts of materials; to study microscopic objects, including molecules; and even to fight crime.
Astronomy, Geography, and Surveying
One of the most important scientific uses for lasers is that of an advanced measuring tool. The potential of these devices to give precise figures for very long distances was shown in 1969 when the Apollo 11 astronauts became the first men ever to walk on the moon. Before blasting off on their return flight they left behind a bizarre-looking mirror. A short time later scientists on Earth claimed that the strange mirror had revealed to them the distance from Earth to the moon, a figure that was accurate to within the length of a person's finger. This moon mirror was neither mysterious nor magical, though it would have seemed so to many people only a few years before. In reality, National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) scientists had instructed the astronauts on exactly how to position the mirror as part of a plan to measure the Earth-to-moon distance with a laser beam.
Before lasers existed, scientists already had a fairly good idea of how far away the moon is. But "fairly good" is not good enough in science. Scientists want their measurements to be as exact as possible, and bouncing a laser beam off the mirror promised to give
Measuring distance by means of lasers and mirrors works just as well on Earth as it does in space. Every day, surveyors use lasers to measure the distances between houses, roads, and mountains. A device called a range finder utilizes the same principle as the moon mirror; a surveyor aims a laser beam at a reflective target and the beam bounces back to the range finder, which records the time of the round-trip and uses this figure to calculate the exact distance to the target. This method is more accurate and also much faster than older surveying methods, which required many calculations with poles and telescopes that had to be lined up with one another. Erecting skyscrapers, excavating tunnels and canals, laying pipelines, drilling wells, leveling farmland (making it flatter and easier to exploit) are only a few of the many other projects made easier by precise laser measurements. Such measurements also have led to more exact and reliable maps; using lasers, mapmakers have now charted almost every square mile of Earth's surface.
Laser Toolbox Technology
Such precise measurement is just one of several jobs that, before the advent of lasers, were associated with what engineers and others call "toolbox" technolo |
People with celiac disease have an increased risk for certain types of cancer, research has shown. But do people with non-celiac gluten sensitivity also carry a higher risk of cancer? Here's what we know (and don't know).
Research into | People with celiac disease have an increased risk for certain types of cancer, research has shown. But do people with non-celiac gluten sensitivity also carry a higher risk of cancer? Here's what we know (and don't know).
Research into gluten sensitivity is in its infancy in fact, clinicians haven't yet coalesced around a definition of the condition, and there's still no accepted way to diagnose it. Therefore, few studies have looked specifically at the risk of cancer in people determined to be gluten-sensitive.
In addition, the two main studies that have been done conflict with each other: one shows an increased risk of certain types of cancer, while the other shows no overall increased risk. It's possible that the discrepancy comes from the study methods (each study used a different definition for gluten sensitivity), but it's clear that any questions about gluten sensitivity and cancer risk haven't yet been answered.
Study: Higher Cancer Deaths Overall in Gluten-Sensitive Individuals
In a large medical trial conducted in Ireland, researchers found more deaths from cancer plus more deaths from all causes in people they defined as sensitive to gluten.
The researchers looked at cancer rates in people deemed "gluten sensitive," which they defined as someone who had a positive AGA-IgA or AGA-IgG blood test (meaning their immune systems were reacting to gluten), but negative results on the EMA-IgA blood test, which is specific to the type of intestinal damage found in celiac disease. (The AGA-IgA and AGA-IgG blood tests indicate the presence of antibodies against the gluten protein, but cannot determine if there's intestinal damage.)
Cancer rates in the gluten-sensitive population were higher than normal, but that doesn't tell the whole story: men in the group had a significantly higher-than-normal risk for all cancers, while women had a lower risk overall, apparently because of a lower risk of breast cancer. It's not clear why women with gluten sensitivity may have a lower-than-average risk of breast cancer, but it may result from overall immune system dysfunction, the auth |
Title: What science educators should know about psychometrics
Group Meeting Date & Time: Thursday, February 28, 2013 @ 2:00 pm
View the slides from Dr. Bergner’s Group Meeting
Yoav Bergner | Title: What science educators should know about psychometrics
Group Meeting Date & Time: Thursday, February 28, 2013 @ 2:00 pm
View the slides from Dr. Bergner’s Group Meeting
Yoav Bergner earned his Ph.D. in theoretical physics at MIT before becoming a sculptor and furniture-maker for five years, a public school science teacher for three years, and subsequently an education researcher. Dr. Bergner is currently a postdoc in Professor David Pritchard’s RELATE (Research in Learning, Assessment, and Tutoring Effectively) group at MIT, analyzing data from online learning environments like edX with tec |
Volunteering can be bad for your health
Volunteering may be good for the community but not so good for the individual volunteer's health, say Australian researchers.
"A lot of the work on voluntary group involvement and health has shown it to | Volunteering can be bad for your health
Volunteering may be good for the community but not so good for the individual volunteer's health, say Australian researchers.
"A lot of the work on voluntary group involvement and health has shown it to be positive but it's been done at an aggregated level," Ziersch told ABC Science Online.
For example, she said research had shown that U.S. states with a high proportion of volunteers had better health than other states. "But it doesn't necessarily mean that it's better for each individual."
The researchers surveyed 530 people about participation in voluntary groups and their mental and physical wellbeing. They also carried out 16 in-depth interviews.
More than half the respondents had been involved in a volunteer group in the past 12 months with sports and recreation groups being the most popular group. Other volunteer groups were co-operatives, church and service clubs, professional, residents' and political organisations.
"We found that the more types of groups people were involved in, the worse their physical health was," Ziersch said, adding that the findings controlled for age.
The surveys didn't show a relationship between involvement and mental wellbeing, although in interviews people suggested that involvement also had a negative effect on their mental health.
Ziersch said previous studies that had looked at the effect of volunteering on individuals had found no clear effect on health and this was the first study to find a definite and detrimental effect.
But the researchers stressed there were some uncertainty about their conclusions.
"The point to be careful about is that because it's a cross-sectional study, we just take one snapshot view, we're not sure that involvement in groups actually leads to poorer health or whether people with poorer health are more likely to be involved in groups," said Ziersch.
But she said the in-depth interviews suggested there was a casual relationship. While respondents said voluntary involvement was often worthwhile and fulfilling, they more commonly said it had been mentally and physically taxing.
"It's not that everyone's necessarily going to have a negative physical outcome from being involved in a group but that assumption that if you're involved in a group it's going to be good for your health doesn't hold up," Ziersch said.
Regardless of whether people who volunteered were more likely to have physically problems in the first place, Ziersch said she felt the fin |
Heartworms on the march
In her first expert column for Pet Shed, Dr Sally talks about an unexpected consequence of the 2005 Hurricane Katrina disaster which will affect dog and cat owners across the United States for years to come.
All animal | Heartworms on the march
In her first expert column for Pet Shed, Dr Sally talks about an unexpected consequence of the 2005 Hurricane Katrina disaster which will affect dog and cat owners across the United States for years to come.
All animal lovers will recall the glimmer of joy we felt when many lucky pets were relocated to new homes across the United States after the devastation Katrina caused throughout the southern states.
While this was great news at the time, nobody realized that moving these pets meant they would unwittingly create problems for 'native' pets - by spreading heartworm into areas the parasite had never been before.
Heartworms are very common in the states which were worst hit by Katrina - in fact it is endemic in dogs and wild canids in Louisiana, Mississippi and neighbouring states.
Relocating thousands of these parasite-infected dogs into other states has created an 'heartworm infection reservoir' which is targetting unprotected dogs in their host states. The threat is caused mainly via mosquitoes feeding, which transmit the parasite from animal to animal.
|"Heartworm prevention in cats has been sporadically recommended by vets in the past, but with this new wave of disease upon us, the times they are a-changing."|
Heartworm disease in dogs is now emerging as a real problem in many areas of the US, where is was previously considered unlikely.
Also concerning is the increasing incidence of cats in these new areas of heartworm disease. Cats are an abnormal host for this parasite, with a much lower prevalence of the disease than dogs. With greater numbers of dogs contracting the disease, the probability of a mosquito feeding upon an infected dog and contracting the parasite increases. And as we all know, mosquitoes are not very selective in who or what they bite - a greater number of mosquitoes carrying the disease means that more cats will be infected with heartworm as a spillover effect.
|"Heartworm disease in dogs is now emerging as a real problem in many areas of the US, where is was previously considered unlikely."|
We can help to stop this trend by protecting our own pets from heartworm. Fewer infected animals means a smaller'reservoir' of the disease and a lower likelihood of mosquitoes transmitting the disease to others. In the future, this could mean that both dogs and cats are on preventative medication. Heartworm prevention in cats has been sporadically recommended by vets in the past, but with this new wave of disease upon us, the times they are a-changing.
The main heartworm transmission season is closing fast, so it may be wise to talk to your vet and find out what their recommendations are for your feline friends and stock up on prevention for your cat as well as your dog. |
Hydraulic fracturing or “fracking” has been associated with water contamination, global warming-causing air pollution, health problems, falling property values and even earthquakes. Each year fracking pumps billions of gallons of water and chemicals deep underground under high pressure | Hydraulic fracturing or “fracking” has been associated with water contamination, global warming-causing air pollution, health problems, falling property values and even earthquakes. Each year fracking pumps billions of gallons of water and chemicals deep underground under high pressure to force open cracks and release natural gas.
Natural Gas Fracking Problems Exposed
According to the House Energy and Commerce Committee, the chemicals used in fracking fluids include over 750 different chemicals. Some are innocuouse (salt, gelatin) while others pose significant human health hazards (methanol, isopropanol and 2-butoxyethanol). About 650 of the 750 chemicals used in fracking operations are known carcinogens, according to the report filed with the U.S. House of Representatives in April 2011. They include toxic chemicals like benzene and tholuene.
Returning fracking fluids are referred to as “flowback” and in addition to chemical additives, they can include many naturally occurring substances that pose hazards, including methane, heavy metals like barium and radioactive matter.
Fracking can unlock 2,552 trillion cubic feet of natural gas in the U.S., which is enough to power the country for more than a century. However, there are some serious problems with natural gas fracking as well as natural gas itself.
Although natural gas burns cleaner than other fossil fuels (combustion of natural gas releases less carbon dioxide per BTU than combustion of either coal or gasoline), when all things considered, natural gas is not cleaner than other fossil fuels and may even be worse.
Water contamination from fracking
According to American Rivers, fracking threatens rivers and streams that provide clean drinking water, habitat for fish and wildlife, and recreational opportunities, such as fishing and boating. Many of America’s greatest rivers are under threat from natural gas development. They include the Upper Delaware, Susquehanna, Monongahela, and Hoback Rivers.
A PNAS study found that drinking wells near the Marcellus Shale contained 17 times as much methane as those half a mile away. Part of the problem is that natural gas development enjoys exemptions from keystone environmental laws, such as the Safe Drinking Water Act and the Clean Water Act.
“Unchecked by adequate safeguards, natural gas production has the potential to pollute clean water for millions of people. We have already experienced instances of surface and groundwater pollution, air pollution, soil contamination, habitat fragmentation, and erosion from extracting gas from shale using fracking,” American Rivers said.
Earthquakes on the rise
While it is widely suspected that natural gas fracking pollutes waterways, it is becoming increasingly apparent that the practice can also cause earthquakes. According to scientists with the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), the oil and gas industry is “almost certainly” responsible for the earthquakes in the U.S. Midwest.
The midsection of America is a relatively quiet geologically zone, but in 2009 USGS seismologist Bill Ellsworth noticed a dramatic increase in the number of quakes in this area. Ellsworth and his colleagues watched the number of quakes go from an average of 20 tremors a year to more 50 in 2009, 87 in 2010 and 134 last year.
What makes the earthquakes in this area so anomalous is the fact that the thick basement rock underlying the U.S. Midwest is relatively static and it is not near an active volcano. This has led him and his team to conclude that the startling increase is “almost certainly man-made.”
Ellsworth’s closer inspection revealed that many of the new quakes were clustering around the wastewater wells, which are very deep holes where companies dump the frack water once it has been used.
Natural Gas Fracking Causes Air pollution
As reported in the Washington Post, another problem with fracking is the fact that it inevitably causes methane to escape into the atmosphere. Methane is a potent greenhouse gas, it is more than 20 times the heat trapping capacity of carbon dioxide. Modeling studies have suggested that if more than 2 percent of the methane from natural-gas production escapes out into the air, then natural gas may not offer much of a climate advantage over coal. The EPA pegs the leakage rate at around 2 percent, but a study from Cornell’s Robert Howarth suggests that the leakage rate could be as high as 7.8 percent. An NOAA study estimated the methane leakage at around 4 percent, but this study did not include inevitable leaks from distribution pipelines.
In addition to contributing to global warming, the air pollution associated with fracking also endangers human health. A Texas hospital serving six counties near drilling sites reported asthma rates three times higher than the state average; one-quarter of young children in the community had asthma.
Opponents to fracking point to numerous cases of health problems such as headaches, nosebleeds and rashes in humans, and reproductive problems in livestock in areas of the country with heavy gas-drilling activity.
Gas companies are using state legislatures to push ahead with an agenda that destroys the environment and endangers public health. In at least two states it is now illegal for medical professionals to report the human health effects from fracking. On May 15, the Ohio State Senate approved legislation that would prevent physicians from sharing information about patients’ exposure to hydrofracking chemicals (the oil and gas industry has given hundreds tho |
Archives and Library Division
PILGRIMAGE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION COLLECTION:
NUTT FAMILY PAPERS
Haller Nutt, younger son of physician and planter Dr. Rush Nutt and Eliza Ker Nut | Archives and Library Division
PILGRIMAGE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION COLLECTION:
NUTT FAMILY PAPERS
Haller Nutt, younger son of physician and planter Dr. Rush Nutt and Eliza Ker Nutt, was born at Laurel Hill Plantation in Jefferson County, Mississippi, on February 17, 1816. Nutt was educated at the University of Virginia from 1832 to 1835. Upon returning to Mississippi, he assisted his father in plantation management.
Julia Augusta Williams, daughter of Austin and Caroline Routh Williams, was born at Routhlands in Natchez, Mississippi, on August 11, 1822. Much of her youth was spent at Ashburn, also in Natchez. Williams was eighteen at the time of her marriage to Haller Nutt in 1840.
The Nutts had eleven children, some of whom did not survive to adulthood. They were Caroline Routh (b. ca. 1841-1842), Mary Ella (b. 1844), Fanny Smith (b. 1846), Haller, Jr. (b. 1848), John Ker (b. 1850), Austin (b. 1852), Sargeant Prentiss (b. 1855), Julia (b. 1857), Calvin Routh (b. 1858), Lillie (b. 1861), and Rushworth (b. 1863).
Haller Nutt acquired several plantations through inheritance or purchase, including Araby, Evergreen, and Winter Quarters in Louisiana and Cloverdale and Laurel Hill in Mississippi. The cultivation of cotton, sugar cane, and other cash crops on these plantations brought him considerable wealth. Nutt owned nearly 43,000 acres of land and 800 slaves, and he had made a net profit of more than $228,000 from agricultural enterprises in 1860. His fortune prior to the Civil War was estimated at more than three million dollars.
When Haller and Julia Nutt were ready to build Longwood in the late 1850s, they chose Philadelphia architect Samuel Sloan. The couple worked closely with Sloan to create plans for the mansion. Sloan designed a multistory octagonal villa in the Oriental Revival style, with a domed cupola, full basement, and more than thirty rooms. Construction on Longwood began in the spring of 1860, and the exterior was virtually complete at the beginning of the Civil War. However, work on the interior was soon halted as Sloanís artisans, fearing for their safety, hastily returned to the North. The basement story was completed by slave labor and was ready for occupancy by 1862. Although Julia Nutt later received bids for the completion of the interior of Longwood in the 1890s, the upper floors were never completed. Longwood is the largest octagonal house in the United States.
Haller Nutt suffered large financial losses during the Civil War from the destruction of cotton and real estate and the expropriation of stores and supplies by the Union and Confederate armies. This situation caused severe cash-flow problems that ultimately led to the foreclosure on the mortgages to Nutt family plantations in Louisiana. During the war, Nutt took steps to document the value of assets lost to the Union army in the hope that reparations would someday be paid. After the war, these records were filed with the federal government to substantiate the reparations claim of the Haller Nutt estate.
The Nutt family continued living at Longwood after the death of Haller Nutt from pneumonia on June 15, 1864, but Julia Nutt was left with the responsibility of rearing and educating several minor children. The remaining plantations, Cloverdale and Lochland, were not always productive, thus creating financial difficulties for the Nutt family. Nevertheless, Julia Nutt managed to support her children and provide them with what educational and social opportunities she could afford. However, without the counsel and support of Julia Nuttís son, Sargeant Prentiss, her task would have been nearly impossible.
Sargeant Prentiss Nutt (later Knut) was educated in Philadelphia and at the University of Virginia. After reading law in Natchez, Knut moved to Washington, D.C., to pursue a legal career. Knut was briefly employed as a tutor to the children of Mrs. John Adolphus Bernard Dahlgren, widow of a Union admiral, prior to undertaking the practice of law in Washington. He had a large circle of friends that included politicians and military figures and their families. Although living on relatively modest means, Knutís background provided him with the cachet necessary to enjoy the best that Washington society had to offer.
Knut persistently lobbied for the passage of a bill that would partially compensate the Nutt family for losses due to the Union army. His efforts in promoting the bill for reparations were often thwarted by the indifference and procrastination of the Congress, despite the assistance of those sympathetic to the Nutt family claim, such as L. Q. C. Lamar. Knut corresponded regularly with his mother during the many years he spent in Washington, keeping her apprised of recent developments regarding the reparations claim |
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
- adj. Causing shame; disgraceful.
- adj. Giving offense; indecent.
- adj. Archaic Full of shame; ashamed.
from Wik | from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
- adj. Causing shame; disgraceful.
- adj. Giving offense; indecent.
- adj. Archaic Full of shame; ashamed.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
- adj. causing or meriting shame or disgrace; disgraceful
- adj. giving offense
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English
- adj. Bringing shame or disgrace; injurious to reputation; disgraceful.
- adj. Exciting the feeling of shame in others; indecent
from The Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- Modest; shamefaced.
- Full of shame; tinged or permeated with a feeling of shame.
- That brings or ought to bring or put to shame; disgraceful; scandalous; as, shameful conduct.
- Synonyms Dishonorable, disreputable, outrageous, villainous, heinous, nefarious.
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- adj. (used of conduct or character) deserving or bringing disgrace or shame
- adj. giving offense to moral sensibilities and injurious to reputation
shame + -ful (Wiktionary) |
Gardening with Kids
Why Youth Gardens?
We use gardening as a vehicle for encouraging children to make good food choices, augmenting classroom studies with experiential learning, building a love of nature, stimulating social interaction, facilitating cultural exchange, | Gardening with Kids
Why Youth Gardens?
We use gardening as a vehicle for encouraging children to make good food choices, augmenting classroom studies with experiential learning, building a love of nature, stimulating social interaction, facilitating cultural exchange, and more. Click here to learn more about the benefits of school and youth gardens.
- Kids Gardening
- Create a School Garden
- Junior Master Gardener Program
- Benefits of Gardening with Kids
- Why Youth Gardens?
- Kids + Gardening = Healthier Children
- Easy Drip Watering Project
Gardening with children can be one of the most rewarding activities you can do with a kid. In this video segment, our Backyard Blogger gives step by step instructions on how to make a bucket garden with and for kids! |
Whether you’re 35 or 75, there is plenty you can do to protect against fractures.
Here’s what’s happening to your bones—and what you can do to stay strong.
Ages 20 to 34
What’s happening to | Whether you’re 35 or 75, there is plenty you can do to protect against fractures.
Here’s what’s happening to your bones—and what you can do to stay strong.
Ages 20 to 34
What’s happening to your bones: In your 20s, your bones are still growing. By age 30, you achieve peak bone mass, meaning your bones have reached their maximum strength and density, according to the National Institutes of Health (NIH).
Stay-strong strategy: Make sure you’re getting enough calcium and vitamin D and exercising regularly. The National Osteoporosis Foundation (NOF) recommends that women 50 and younger aim for 1,000 mg of calcium daily. Dairy is the main source of calcium, but the nutrient is also found in seafood, spinach and broccoli. Also, be sure to consume 400 to 800 IU of vitamin D daily, since it helps your body absorb calcium. Good sources include salmon and fortified milk.
If you’re not getting enough, ask your healthcare provider about a supplement. Also, make time for weight-bearing exercise, such as walking. Aim for 30- to 40-minute sessions three to four days a week, as well as light weight lifting two to three times a week. “The more you build your bones now, the more you’ll have later in life,” says Abby Abelson, MD, director of education at the Center for Osteoporosis and Metabolic Bone Disease at the Cleveland Clinic Foundation in Ohio. “That will reduce your risk of developing osteoporosis.”
Ages 35 to 49
What’s happening to your bones: You begin to lose a small amount of bone.
Stay-strong strategy: It’s possible to prevent bone loss with regular exercise, according to the NIH, so continue to follow the fitness guidelines for younger women. Also, consume 1,000 mg of calcium and 400 to 800 IU of vitamin D daily.
Ages 50 and up
What’s happening to your bones: After menopause, most women experience rapid bone loss, thanks to a drop in bone-protective estrogen. During this time, women can lose up to 10% of their bone density. In fact, more than half of people age 50 and older have osteoporosis, according to the NOF.
“How much bone you lose often depends on how much you were able to build when you were younger,” Dr. Abelson says. Women who exercised regularly and consumed enough calcium and vitamin D when they were younger m |
Satellite images can tell researchers where penguins nest even when the birds are hard to see, because they leave a lot of penguin poop. One such image pointed to a huge, previously unknown colony of thousands of Emperor penguins. So Antarctic | Satellite images can tell researchers where penguins nest even when the birds are hard to see, because they leave a lot of penguin poop. One such image pointed to a huge, previously unknown colony of thousands of Emperor penguins. So Antarctic scientist Alain Hubert took a team out to find them.
They finally came upon the colony at 11 p.m. on December 3, when the sun was still shining during the Antarctic summer. Spread out on the ice were 9,000 emperor penguins, about three-quarters of them chicks. Despite his polar experience, Hubert had never seen a full colony before. "You can approach them," he said. "When you talk to them, it's like they are listening to you."
The penguin colony had selected a nesting ground on an area of ice that is less likely to melt than many spots they could have chosen, which is good news for future generations of Emperor penguins. Link
(Image cre |
10.7. Governments at the appropriate level, with the support of regional and international organizations, should review and, if appropiate, revise planning and management systems to facilitate an integrated approach. To do this, they should:
(a) Adopt | 10.7. Governments at the appropriate level, with the support of regional and international organizations, should review and, if appropiate, revise planning and management systems to facilitate an integrated approach. To do this, they should:
(a) Adopt planning and management systems that facilitate the integration of environmental components such as air, water, land and other natural resources, using landscape ecological planning (LANDEP) or other approaches that focus on, for example, an ecosystem or a watershed;
(b) Adopt strategic frameworks that allow the integration of both developmental and environmental goals; examples of these frameworks include sustainable livelihood systems, rural development, the World Conservation Strategy/Caring for the Earth, primary environmental care (PEC) and others;
(c) Establish a general framework for land use and physical planning within which specialized and more detailed sectoral plans (e.g., for protected areas, agriculture, forests, human settlements, rural development) can be developed; establish intersectoral consultative bodies to streamline project planning and implementation;
(d) Strengthen management systems for land and natural resources by including appropriate traditional and indigenous methods; examples of these practices include pastoralism, Hema reserves (traditional Islamic land reserves) and terraced agriculture;
(e) Examine and, if necessary, establish innovative and flexible approaches to programme funding;
(f) Compile detailed land capability inventories to guide sustainable land resources allocation, management and use at the national and local levels. |
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Beate Winkler called on authorities at European, national and local | - Send with Email
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Beate Winkler called on authorities at European, national and local level to step up efforts to address the entrenched discrimination of Roma and Travellers in education, employment, access to health care and services. She encouraged governments to make use of ‘positive action' to achieve equality in practice.
"Nothing is more unfair than the equal treatment of unequals. To remove deep-rooted discrimination against Roma and Travellers, we need more than just equal treatment. Take the example of the labour market. The unemployment rate among Roma in several EU Member States is as high as 70-90%. The EU anti-discrimination law specifically allows for positive action. Employers could, for instance, run targeted recruitment campaigns or offer vocational training to Roma and Travellers. We need more such measures to enable Roma and Travellers to compete on equal terms with other job applicants," Beate Winkler commented.
She continued: "When, if not during this European Year of Equal Opportunities for All, will we make real progress in turning these principles of equality into reality? The Year must raise awareness of the ongoing discrimination against Roma and Travellers and encourage action to combat it."
Roma form one of the largest ethnic minority groups in the EU-27. They are amongst the groups most vulnerable to discrimination. According to a recent Eurobarometer survey on discrimination, 77% of Europeans believe that being a Roma tends to be a disadvantage in their country. The Fundamental Rights Agency has documented that Roma and Travellers are subjected to racially motivated violence. They face systemic discrimination in education, public health care, services and employment. Romani women and children often fall victim to multiple discrimination on the grounds of age, ethnicity and gender.
Notes to Editors:
Information about FRA:
- The European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA) is an independent body of the European Union. Its objective is to provide assistance and expertise on fundamental rights matters to the EU and its Member States, when they are implementing Community law. The aim is to support them to respect fully fundamental rights when they take measures or formulate courses of action. FRA was established through Council Regulation (EC) No 168/2007 of 15 February 2007. It is based in Vienna and is being built on the former European Monitoring Centre on Racism and Xenophobia (EUMC).
- A broad majority of Europeans (77%) believe that being a Roma is a disadvantage in th |
UK Health and safety site. Safety information on fire, radiation and biological hazards. Good links to other sources of information.
European Agency for Health and Safety at Work. Has an excellent A-Z index covering all the major hazard groups. Includes downloadable fact | UK Health and safety site. Safety information on fire, radiation and biological hazards. Good links to other sources of information.
European Agency for Health and Safety at Work. Has an excellent A-Z index covering all the major hazard groups. Includes downloadable fact sheets.
The Irish Health and Safety Authority. Includes general information on health and safety in the workplace with links to relevant publications (available for purchase).
The Environmental Protection Agency (Ireland). Includes a web page on GMO regulations and licensing. Also includes a page on regulations pertaining to the use of solvents.
World Health Organisation – Health Topics. A comprehensive A-Z index covering both work-related and general health hazards.
National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (USA; a subsidiary site of the Centre for Disease Control). Access to a number of comprehensive chemical databases. Links to chemical data sheets and other general safety information.
Office of Laboratory security – Canadian Health Authority. Contains comprehensive information on biohazards including pathogen classification.
Environmental Health and Safety (hosted by Cornell University, USA). A very useful site with searchable databases. It has detailed information on most aspects of safety in the workplace, including fire, chemical, radiation, biological and occupational safety.
Material Safety Data Sheet (MSDS) databases. An excellent site with links to several very extensive databases. For specific in formation a particular chemical this is probably the best site to start at (no registration required). |
Inhalant Abuse: Nothing to Sniff At
Know what to look for and learn how to talk with your kids
Inhalant abuse first occurred in the 1950s when young people in search of a cheap high would sniff no | Inhalant Abuse: Nothing to Sniff At
Know what to look for and learn how to talk with your kids
Inhalant abuse first occurred in the 1950s when young people in search of a cheap high would sniff noxious glue fumes. Today, more young people than ever abuse inhalants – and not just glue. Seventeen percent of American youths admit to sniffing nail polish remover, snorting nitrous oxide, huffing butane or abusing some other inhalant at least once.
And once is all it takes. Sudden sniffing death, which occurs when fumes replace oxygen in the body and suffocate the victim, can kill a person the first, fifth or 100th time he or she uses an inhalant. Even if they don’t kill, inhalants change brain chemistry and may permanently damage the central nervous system. They can also cause hepatitis, liver failure, muscle weakness, aplastic anemia and cardiac arrest.
The Trouble with Sniffing
For many young people, the low cost and availability seem to outweigh the risks of inhalant abuse. Children can find correction fluid or nail polish remover at home or school. They can hide paint thinner or butane under a bed or in a drawer, and they can buy rubber cement without breaking the law.
Inhalant abuse seems to appeal to very young individuals, sometimes starting as early as elementary school and diminishing as they become older. The problem is growing: national surveys report that inhaling volatile solvents has become as popular with our nation’s youth as smoking marijuana.
What to Look For
Adults may dismiss sniffing as youthful experimentation, but inhalants are often a gateway to further substance abuse. Recognizing the signs of inhalant abuse may help save a child’s life. The following are some signs to watch for:
Problems in school
Paint or stains on body or clothing
Spots or sores around the mouth
Red or runny nose or eyes
Chemical odor on breath
Drunk, dazed or dizzy appearance
Nausea, loss of appetite
Excitability, anxiety, irritability
How to Talk with Your Kids
Teach your children how to deal with peer pressure and say no. The Partnership for a Drug-Free America insists it’s never too early to talk to your children, and suggests using these guidelines:
Listen carefully. When you listen attentively, children feel more comfortable talking to you about their feelings and concerns.
Teach them to act independently. If your child refuses to participate in a family activity, don’t force him or her to play along and don’t insist that the rest of the family skip the activity. Let your child know it’s okay to stand on his or her own.
Promote choice. Allow children to make their own decisions, whether it’s selecting an outfit for the day or joining a school activity. With practice, they’ll become skilled in making all kinds of good decisions.
Heading Off a Problem
Inhalant abuse is not new. American youths have used common household products to get high for 50 years. But with toxic products readily available and their use on the rise, it’s more important than ever to heed the warnings and learn the facts. |
An irony of human services work in general and child welfare in particular is that practice often must resist the temptation to categorize and label, but that categorization and labeling are often essential to the job. The children and families we serve are diverse, | An irony of human services work in general and child welfare in particular is that practice often must resist the temptation to categorize and label, but that categorization and labeling are often essential to the job. The children and families we serve are diverse, and culturally competent practice demands that we avoid the generalizations that come with categories and labels. Nonetheless, there are times when the mandates of both language and practice require some form of standard reference that categories and labels can provide.
No doubt, visitors to this website have encountered a number of terms and differing acronyms. The most common is LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender; also seen as GLBT). To this "root" acronym, professionals in the field often add Q (for one who may be questioning his or her sexual identity) or I (intersexed). One might also encounter LGBTQQI (in which the second Q stands for queer).
As a matter of general style, CWLA traditionally has used the acronyms GLBTQ and LGBTQ interchangeably, although it has moved to the more universally accepted LGBTQ.
Like our language itself, the practice of child welfare work with LGBTQ youth is dynamic and constantly evolving. Definitions and understandings change over time. This is particularly true with the language of diversity and the terms or labels we use to identify ourselves. As respectful individuals in a civil society, we should strive to ensure that our language does not demean, exclude, or offend. We must allow others to self-identify, for definitions of terms will vary for everyone. Our hope is that the following terms and definitions will lend some clarity for our readers and provide a starting point for discussion and understanding.
Bisexual. A person who experiences the human need for warmth, affection, and love from persons of either gender. Sometimes this includes sexual contact. A person can identify as bisexual without having had same-sexual experiences with a man or a woman; a person can identify as bisexual without having had any sexual contact at all.
Closeted. Denotes an individual who is not open about his or her sexual orientation. Also referred to as "in the closet."
Coming out. A lifelong process of self-acceptance. People forge a lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender identity first to themselves, and then may reveal it to others. Publicly identifying oneself as lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender, however, may or may not be part of "coming out."
Crossdresser. A person who dresses in the clothing of the opposite biological gender. Crossdressers generally want to relate as, and be accepted as, a person of the gender they are presenting. Crossdressing may be partial or total in amount of time and amount of clothing worn. Crossdressers may identify as heterosexual, lesbian, gay, or bisexual.
Domestic partners. Adults who are not legally married, who share resources and responsibility for decisions, share values and goals, and have commitments to one another over a period of time. Legal definitions may vary among city ordinances, corporate policies, and individuals and families.
Domestic partnership. A civil or legal contract recognizing a partnership or a relationship between two people that sometimes confers limited benefits to them. Such a partnership can be formed by lesbians or gay men, by unmarried heterosexual life partners, or by others making a home together. Members of such a commitment may be referred to each other as partners or companions.
Down low (or DL). A term coined by some bisexual men of color that describes a cultural phenomenon of men who have sex with other men without informing their female partners.
Drag. Dressing in the clothing of the opposite biological gender, or in a manner different than how one will usually dress (i.e. "corporate drag" or "military drag"). Drag often is theatrical and presents a stereotyped image. Individuals who dress in drag may or may not consider themselves part of the transgender community. They may also identify as heterosexual, gay, lesbian, or bisexual.
Gay. A term often applied to both men and women who are attracted to the same gender, much in the same way that man, used generically, has been used in the past to encompass both men and women. Many object to the use of gay applied to both gay men and lesbians, and the term is often used to identify homosexual males only.
Gender bending/blending. Dressing in such a way as to question the traditional feminine or masculine qualities assigned to articles of clothing or adornment. Gender bending may be part of a fashion trend, or possibly a political statement. Gender bending often has no correlation to issues of gender identity or sexual orientation.
Gender expression. External representation of one's gender identity, usually expressed through "masculine" or "feminine" behavior, clothing, haircut, voice, or body characteristics. Typically, transgender people seek to make their gender expression match their gender identity, rather than their birth-assigned gender.
Gender identity. An individual's basic self-conviction of being male or female. This conviction is not contingent upon the individual's biological gender. The exact process by which boys and girls come to see themselves as males or females is not known, but research indicates that gender identity develops some time between birth and age 3. (See also Transgender.)
Gender identity disorder (GID). A controversial diagnosis, contained in the American Psychiatric Association's Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (Fourth Edition), given to transgender and other gender-variant people. Because it labels people as "disordered," GID often is considered offensive. The diagnosis frequently is applie |
The Desert Sisters
Too Wild for One Country
|Tinajas Altas mountains, with cottontop cactus in foreground
photo by Jack Dykinga
A map of the US-Mexican border reveals a unique opportunity. Both | The Desert Sisters
Too Wild for One Country
|Tinajas Altas mountains, with cottontop cactus in foreground
photo by Jack Dykinga
A map of the US-Mexican border reveals a unique opportunity. Both countries have large desert reserves astride the line in southwestern Arizona and northwestern Sonora. Together these areas are a wildland despoblado of nearly 5.8 million acres. Thats 9,000 square miles of wild silence, and a stark, secret beauty.
Its a region where people never quite figured out how to make a living. Its too hot, too dry, too rocky, too sandy, too hostile for us to stay. Even the conquistadors, pioneers, and miners moved on. Both countries have recognized the natural worth of this place by designating two biosphere reserves, two national monuments, and a wildlife refuge. It is home to endangered species, vivid sunsets, and more open space than we can see in a lifetime. Its beauty fills hearts; its intrigue fills books.
But just as any building needs fresh paint and fire insurance, any land needs upkeep to resist ruin, and updated policies to maintain its value. In conservation, taking care of land is far easier and less expensive than massive efforts to repair it, and of course no one can build new wild places.
Thats why a group of citizens is proposing some changes in the heart of the Sonoran Desert. First, re-name Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument as a national park. This move needs an act of Congress, but its called for in the monuments management plan and requires no new |
Pheromone preference, and the initiation of a complex programmed sexual behavior, is determined by the specificity of a single sex pheromone receptor protein expressed in a population of olfactory receptor neurons in the silkmoth (Bombyx | Pheromone preference, and the initiation of a complex programmed sexual behavior, is determined by the specificity of a single sex pheromone receptor protein expressed in a population of olfactory receptor neurons in the silkmoth (Bombyx mori). The study, which will be published on June 30th in the open-access journal PLoS Genetics, provides the first direct proof of the long-held belief that the control of sexual behavior in male moths originates in the chemical specificity of the pheromone receptor proteins expressed in pheromone receptor neurons.
Sex pheromones are chemical signals found in a wide range of organisms. They serve as stimuli inducing behavioral responses in conspecifics (especially opposite-sex members of the same species). In most moth species, male moths depend on sex pheromones emitted by conspecific females to recognize and locate appropriate mating partners. Thus, behavioral preference of male moths for conspecific pheromones is a critical factor for successful reproduction. Although sex pheromone receptor proteins reportedly play a central role in sex pheromone detection and discrimination, the causal relationship between sex pheromone receptor specificity and behavioral preference remained to be proven.
The researchers, from The University of Tokyo, National Institute of Agrobiological Sciences, Fukuoka University, and Keio University, address this question using the silkmoth, which displays the simplest possible pheromone system, in which a single pheromone substance, bombykol, elicits full sexual behavior. They generated transgenic silkmoths which express a different sex pheromone receptor: PxOR1, of the diamondback moth (Plutella xylostella). Ectopic expression of PxOR1 elicited the same physiological and behavioral responses in the silkmoth when it was exposed to its specific ligand, which is a major sex pheromone component of the diamondback moth.
These results demon |
Surrealism and the Dream
8 October 2013 to 12 January 2014
<exchanging gazes> 7: The Rhythm of the Earth. 17th century Dutch and 19thcentury American | Surrealism and the Dream
8 October 2013 to 12 January 2014
<exchanging gazes> 7: The Rhythm of the Earth. 17th century Dutch and 19thcentury American Landscape Painting
New Display of the Collections
From 24 September 2013 to 6 January 2014
Giulio Carpioni was born in 1613, probably in Venice. He is first documented in 1630, the date when he began his training as a painter in the workshop of Alessandro Varotari, known as Il Padovanino. From the outset his style reveals a quest for realism an objectivity in the manner of Saraceni, Jean Leclerc and other Venetians, and interest that probably resulted from his trip to Bergamo in 1631 in the company of his teacher and where he became familiar with Lombard painting. Carpioni’s first documented works, The Glorification (Museo Civico, Vicenza), and The Martyrdom of Saint Catherine (Vicenza) date from 1647 and 1648. His work also reveals the influence of the bamboccianti, in particular Pietro Vecchia.
From 1638 he is documented in Vicenza, the city in which he permanently settled and Carpioni was influenced by the colourful, elegant style of Francesco Maffei that prevailed there. Together they collaborated on the decoration of the Zitelle and San Nicola oratorios, also in Vicenza. Following Maffei’s departure from the city in 1657, Carpioni embarked on his most productive phase. Over the following decades he produced numerous religious compositions, among them the paintings for the Oratorio of Santa Clara, the Palazzo Trissino Baston and an important cycle for SS. Filippo e Fortunat |
Nitrogen is, of course, an essential plant nutrient – but it also can negatively affect both growth and quality of a crop and so must be carefully managed.
Crops take up nitrogen that is released to the soil as a direct result of several | Nitrogen is, of course, an essential plant nutrient – but it also can negatively affect both growth and quality of a crop and so must be carefully managed.
Crops take up nitrogen that is released to the soil as a direct result of several catalysts, including atmospheric deposition … soil organic matter mineralization … crop residue decomposition … and animal manure and/or inorganic fertilizer applications.
A deficiency in nitrogen causes severe damage to crop yields – and can even cause a catastrophic, total crop failure. However, an excess of nitrogen may lead to excessive vegetative growth, lodging, delayed maturity, increased disease susceptibility and low crop quality. Excesses also may contribute to acid rain, destruction of the ozone layer in the stratosphere, the greenhouse effect, an increase in chemical nutrients in surface waters, contamination of ground water, and fish and other marine-life kills, among other negative side effects.
It’s clear, then, that it’s important to growers – both from an economic and an environmental standpoint – to carefully control the nitrogen content of field soil. The ideal situation is to maintain adequate inorganic nitrogen during the growing season and to minimize the occurrence of inorganic nitrogen during the off-seasons, when nitrogen may be introduced into field soil via surface and groundwater.
The PSNT is different from routine soil tests in that nitrogen testing shows specifically when nitrogen fertilizer applications need to be adjusted to suit crop- and field-specific conditions.
The PSNT generally is most useful for confirming legume and manure nitrogen content and for determining the amount of nitrogen in a specific field. It’s especially important to do a PSNT when not enough hard data is available to determine nitrogen content using more standard techniques.
For example, a PSNT can answer a lot of questions when a grower doesn’t know the previous manure application rate or nutrient content of a particular field. It’s also useful when the stand density of a previous crop is unknown. (Stand density is an absolute measurement based on basal area, number of trees per acre or volume per acre. It reflects the degree of crowding of stems within a stand.) Another instance when PSNT is of particular value is when unusually cool weather conditions may have impacted nitrogen mineralization rates, or when excessive rainfall causes a dramatic loss of inorganic nitrogen – both of which conditions would be missed without the PSNT.
Soil samples for the PSNT generally are taken after planting, when the crop has begun its initial growth and is several inches above the ground. By this stage of the growing cycle most of the conversion of organic nitrogen sources to forms of nitrogen able to be utilized by plants has occurred.
PSNT core soil samples are collected to a specific depth, determined by the type of crop, and are collected randomly over the f |
To many parents, text messaging is an enigma – a practice their children engage in when they could just make a phone call or walk down the street to their friends' houses. It seems to be a strange but harmless means of communication.
What | To many parents, text messaging is an enigma – a practice their children engage in when they could just make a phone call or walk down the street to their friends' houses. It seems to be a strange but harmless means of communication.
What most don't know is that too much texting can actually be detrimental to their teens' health. That's because new technologies, such as cell phones and social networking sites, give teenagers easy access to their friends 24 hours a day.
“The more technology we develop, the more we rely on technology,” said Dr. Myrza Perez, a pediatric pulmonologist at Capital Allergy & Respiratory Disease Centers |
Reporting Pat Kessler
ST. PAUL (WCCO) — Concussions are a major health concern for young people who play sports. If a student returns to play too soon after suffering a concussion, there are growing concerns that it could | Reporting Pat Kessler
ST. PAUL (WCCO) — Concussions are a major health concern for young people who play sports. If a student returns to play too soon after suffering a concussion, there are growing concerns that it could cause permanent brain injury, even death. So, Minnesota lawmakers are talking about a concussion law for student athletes.
At a legislative hearing at the Capitol Tuesday, there was a lot of talk about how every concussion is different and must be treated differently. Unlike a broken bone or sprain, you just can’t see them, which is why some say, guidelines need to be put in place.
Sports concussions are one of the leading causes of brain injury for people aged 15 to 24.
“Yeah, I hit right around this area,” said 15-year-old Kayla Meyer showing the back of her head.
Meyer has been playing hockey since she was five years old, but it all came to an end last year after she suffered two concussions. Even then, her coach encouraged her to get back out on the ice.
“All they could say was, ‘Let’s put a helmet on you and skate you through it,’” she said. “And it hurt too much to wear a helmet. And it still does now.”
Meyer testified in support of a bill that would educate coaches, athletes and their parents about the symptoms and treatment of concussions.
“On a day to day basis, I have a headache every second of every minute of every day,” Kayla told the committee.
Introduced by Senator Michelle Benson (R-Ham Lake), the law would establish return-to-play standards.
“A broken ankle or a sprained wrist would prevent playing, give pain feedback to the athlete themselves, causing them to stop the activity,” said Benson. “Concussions, however, are different.”
Meyer doesn’t want to see another student athlete go through the pain she’s experiencing.
“Don’t be afraid to s |
In this set of novitiate conferences from the late 1950s, Thomas Merton provides a vivid and detailed introduction to the traditional pattern and practices of the monastic day during the period immediately preceding the momentous changes that would be introduced | In this set of novitiate conferences from the late 1950s, Thomas Merton provides a vivid and detailed introduction to the traditional pattern and practices of the monastic day during the period immediately preceding the momentous changes that would be introduced in the wake of the Second Vatican Council. Combining practical instruction with spiritual and theological reflection, this fifth volume of Merton's teaching notes brings the reader into the choir and chapter room, scriptorium and cloisters of the Abbey of Gethsemani, and provides insight into the ecclesial, contemplative, paschal, and Trinitarian dimensions of Cistercian life.
Patrick F. O'Connell is professor in the departments of English and theology at Gannon University, Erie, Pennsylvania. A founding member and former president of the International Thomas Merton Society, he edits The Merton Seasonal and is coauthor (with William H. Shannon and Christine M. Bochen) of The Thomas Merton Encyclopedia. He has edited four previous volumes of Thomas Merton's monastic conferences for the Monastic Wisdom series: Cassian and the Fathers; Pre-Benedictine Monasticism; An Introduction to Christian Mysticism; and The Rule of Saint Benedict.
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Fescue renovation workshop to focus on novel endophytes
Fescue has long been blamed for causing a variety of problems in livestock. Heat stress, lameness, lack of milk and poor reproduction are the main problems sometimes related to toxins | Fescue renovation workshop to focus on novel endophytes
Fescue has long been blamed for causing a variety of problems in livestock. Heat stress, lameness, lack of milk and poor reproduction are the main problems sometimes related to toxins that are produced by the plant.
For years the problems were known by farmers and researchers, but the reason fescue caused such damaging problems remained a mystery according to Eldon Cole, a livestock specialist with University of Missouri Extension.
"Thanks to sound research efforts, the mystery was solved to a certain extent, with the discovery of an endophyte that resides within many fescue plants. The endophyte fungus gives the plant beneficial properties such as disease, insect and drought tolerance. Unfortunately, certain endophytes produce ergot alkaloids that cause more serious side-effects under certain conditions," said Cole.
Researchers have found there are endophytes that give the plant protection without the damaging effects mentioned earlier. These endophytes are referred to as novel or friendly endophytes and have now been introduced into several varieties of fescue.
A fescue renovation workshop is being offered at two locations in March to acquaint producers with tips on replacing toxic fescue with the novel endophyte fescue. Out with toxic fescue and in with new novel-endophyte fescue is the theme for the grazing schools,
The first "endophyte school" will be held at the University of Missouri Southwest Research Center in Mt. Vernon starting at 10 a.m. on March 18. The second school will be at the University's Forage Systems Research Center at Linneus on March 21, also starting at 10 a.m.
During the daylong school the topics include: fescue toxicosis, testing for the endophyte, establishing the novel varieties, new fescue variety management, cost-share incentives and more.
Speakers include University of Missouri Extension faculty, representatives from natural Resource Conservation Service, seed company reps as well as producers. The cost, includes meals, is $60 or $110 per couple.
"The schools are being conducted by |
|Auburn University Digital Library|
|Microlivestock - Little-Known Small Animals with a Promising Economic Future|
source ref: b17mie.htm
|Part V : Deer and Antelope|
Several types of tropical deer | |Auburn University Digital Library|
|Microlivestock - Little-Known Small Animals with a Promising Economic Future|
source ref: b17mie.htm
|Part V : Deer and Antelope|
Several types of tropical deer' and antelope are no bigger than an average-size dog. These "microdeer" and "microantelope"2 are the smallest of all ruminants. Although there is considerable experience with rearing and utilizing the larger species, little is known about these miniature ones.
Given research, mouse deer, muntjac, musk deer, pudu, brocket, huemul, and water deer, as well as half a dozen small antelope, might prove to have considerable potential. Collectively, they come from diverse habitats, ranging from equatorial to subarctic and from moist rainforest to arid savanna. They are adapted to some environmental conditions that are only marginal for production of conventional livestock because of drought, heat, diseases, altitude, or other constraints.
Deer appear to be unlikely candidates for livestock, but reindeer were probably among the first domesticated animals and have been draft animals for perhaps 2O,OOO years. Even today, tens of thousands of reindeer pull sleighs in the European arctic. On military expeditions, the ancient Romans took along herds of fallow deer as a source of meat, and more than 1,000 years ago deer were annually herded off the Scottish Highlands for winter meat supplies.
In recent years, there have been breakthroughs in the "domestication" of deer. Species already being [armed are: red deer (New Zealand, Australia, Taiwan, Korea, Russia, China, Scotland, the United States), elk (New Zealand, Canada, the United States), fallow deer (New Zealand, Australia, England, Denmark, Sweden, Switzerland, Germany, the United States), ruse deer (Australia, Mauritius, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea), sika deer (Taiwan, New Zealand), musk deer (China, India), and PFre David's deer (New Zealand). Although not truly domesticated, even the moose has been tamed in Scandinavia and the Soviet Union, the calves being bottle-raised from three days of age.
New Zealand has made particular progress in domesticating large deer (see sidebar). It seems probable, therefore, that similar success with small deer could be achieved. For those seeking interesting, pioneering research, microdeer are good candidates.
ANTELOPE RANCHING AND FARMING
The worldwide experiences in domesticating various deer species suggest that the organized production of small antelope should also be considered. Several large species have already been studied and are used in game farming in eastern and southern Africa. Similar research on the smaller species, which so far have received little or no attention, is one of the more speculative ideas in this report. We put it forward only for consideration by researchers, but if exploratory studies prove successful, this is a topic deserving international support.
In some parts of Africa there are large expanses of uninhabited lands, and producing any sort of livestock there is limited by aridity and by the presence of tsetse flies. But in this habitat live tiny antelope such as dikdik, suni, and klipspringer. In the rainforests and secondary forests are found duikers and the royal antelope. All these c |
The seventeenth tropical depression of the eastern Pacific Ocean hurricane season formed early on October 30 and quickly strengthened into Tropical Storm Rosa. Infrared data from NASA's Aqua satellite revealed strong convection in the storm's center, hinting at that intens | The seventeenth tropical depression of the eastern Pacific Ocean hurricane season formed early on October 30 and quickly strengthened into Tropical Storm Rosa. Infrared data from NASA's Aqua satellite revealed strong convection in the storm's center, hinting at that intensification.
When NASA's Aqua satellite flew over Tropical Depression 17E at 5:41 a.m. EDT (0951 UTC) on Tuesday, October 30, the Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) instrument took an infrared picture of the storm. The AIRS data showed a large, circular area of very strong convection (rising air that forms thunderstorms that make up a tropical cyclone) around the storm's center. Scientists identify the convection as strong, because the air pushes cloud tops of those thunderstorms to the top of the troposphere where temperatures are as cold as or colder than -63 Fahrenheit (-52 Celsius). The AIRS data showed that those clouds were near that temperature, indicating they were high in the atmosphere, and when they're that high, they're powerful, and are typically indicative of heavy rainfall.
At 8 a.m. EDT (1500 UTC) the center of Tropical Storm Rosa was located near latitude 14.5 north and longitude 116.5 west. Rosa is moving toward the west-northwest near 7 mph (11 kph) away from the mainland. Rosa is expected to continue in that direction and turn more to the west in the next couple of days. Rosa's estimated minimum central pressure is 1004 millibars.
Rosa's maximum sustained winds were near 40 mph (65 kph) and the National Hurricane Center expects some strengthening later today and October 31 before weakening on November 1.
Explore further: NASA sees rainfall quickly fade in dying Depression 33W |
Named to differentiate non-military engineering from military engineering, civil engineering is the earliest branch of engineering after military engineering and broadest of all the other engineering fields. Civil engineers shape the infrastructures of the world. It includes building and maintaining homes, | Named to differentiate non-military engineering from military engineering, civil engineering is the earliest branch of engineering after military engineering and broadest of all the other engineering fields. Civil engineers shape the infrastructures of the world. It includes building and maintaining homes, community centers, factories, industrial complexes, offices, museums, water works, sewage systems and dams, power plants, transmission towers and lines, railroads, highways, bridges, tunnels, canals, river navigation, shipping canals, traffic controls, and more.
In this field, the real learning happens when the students can learn on the job, and internships are an ideal way to accomplish this goal. Civil engineering internships ensure that interns get to learn the basics by doing and can assist senior engineers on real projects. Practical experience gained during your internship can be as important as your grades in engineering courses, but with the hands-on training, you can learn how to apply class-taught skills to your surrounding environment.
Ready for a career in civil engineering? Start your search below! |
Vaginitis, by its simplest definition, is inflammation of the vagina. Vaginitis is not, however, a simple condition. Its pathophysiology
is poorly understood, prohibiting our ability to treat it specifically. This article is | Vaginitis, by its simplest definition, is inflammation of the vagina. Vaginitis is not, however, a simple condition. Its pathophysiology
is poorly understood, prohibiting our ability to treat it specifically. This article is a review of what we know about this
common condition, with suggestions for diagnosis and treatment.
FORMS OF VAGINITIS
Two forms of vaginitis are recognized in dogs—juvenile, or puppy, vaginitis and adult-onset vaginitis.
Illustration by Joel and Sharon Harris
Juvenile vaginitis is vaginal inflammation and associated clinical signs in bitches that have not yet undergone puberty. No
breed predisposition has been reported. Most affected dogs show minimal or no clinical signs; scant mucoid discharge at the
vulvar lips is most commonly described. Often this discharge is an incidental finding at a routine physical examination, seen
as whitish-yellow discharge gluing together the vulvar lips. Some bitches may exude a large enough volume of discharge to
be of concern to the owner, and some bitches may lick at the vulva.
Adult-onset vaginitis is much more common in spayed bitches than in intact ones. The age at onset of clinical signs is variable,
and no breed predisposition has been reported. In 80% to 90% of cases, the presenting complaint is mucoid to purulent vulvar
discharge.1,2 The next most common presenting complaints are vulvar licking, pollakiuria, and urinary incontinence.2 Occasionally, dogs have clinical signs associated with a concurrent disease (e.g. diabetes mellitus or hepatic disease) that exacerbates the vaginitis.
Several physiologic and pathologic conditions in dogs may be evidenced by vulvar discharge and vulvar licking. Such physiologic
conditions include estrus, whelping, and postpartum lochia. Such pathologic conditions may arise from the reproductive tract
(e.g. ovarian remnant syndrome, pyometra or uterine stump pyometra, vaginitis, vaginal neoplasia, a vaginal foreign body such as
a foxtail), the urinary tract (e.g. urinary incontinence, a urinary tract infection [UTI], urinary tract neoplasia), or a systemic condition (e.g. canine brucellosis, canine herpesvirus infection, a coagulopathy, atopy).
Diagnostic test are the same for juvenile and adult-onset vaginitis. These tests include a cytologic examination of vaginal
epithelial cells and vaginal discharge, vaginal and urine bacterial cultures and antimicrobial sensitivity testing, urinalysis,
a digital vaginal examination, and vaginoscopy (Figure 1). Juvenile dogs, who generally have mild, self-limiting vaginitis, may not require a complete work-up.
Figure 1. Diagnosing and Treating Canine Vaginitis
A cytologic examination of the vaginal epithelium in dogs with vaginitis reveals noncornified epithelial cells (Figure 2). Vaginal discharge usually appears mucoid to mucopurulent on cytologic examination. In a survey of 15 dogs with vaginitis,
33% had mucoid discharge, 20% had mucopurulent discharge, and 27% had purulent discharge.1 Occasionally, dogs with vaginal inflammation have no vulvar discharge.1,2 Rarely, the discharge is blood-tinged; however, true hemorrhagic discharge has not been described in dogs with uncomplicated
Figure 2. Cytologic examination of a vaginal specimen from a dog with vaginitis reveals noncornified vaginal epithelial cells
and polymorphonuclear cells (modified Wright's stain; 100X). |
Hot and Cold
Whether your greenhouse is heated or not will determine the types of plants you grow and the timing of your greenhouse gardening activities.
If your greenhouse is unheated you can use it to grow hardy plants in pots and containers to | Hot and Cold
Whether your greenhouse is heated or not will determine the types of plants you grow and the timing of your greenhouse gardening activities.
If your greenhouse is unheated you can use it to grow hardy plants in pots and containers to coax them into early flowering. You can sow and grow early salad leaves, hardy flowers and vegetables much earlier than you can outside. You can even get a head start with spring bulbs, planting them into pots in the autumn and then letting them grow in the protected environment of the greenhouse. Many gardeners also use the greenhouse as winter protection for more exotic patio and tub plants.
In a heated greenhouse the possibilities are endless. You can sow and grow a wider variety of plants much earlier and keep them growing for longer right into the winter. With greenhouse heating you can nurture your more tender plants during the winter months and protect them from frosts. |
Support the Dominion
Support the Dominion
In the past few weeks, much has been written about Prime Minister Stephen Harper's so-called Komagata Maru apology, delivered at the "Gadhri Babian Da Mela" (Marty | Support the Dominion
Support the Dominion
In the past few weeks, much has been written about Prime Minister Stephen Harper's so-called Komagata Maru apology, delivered at the "Gadhri Babian Da Mela" (Martyrs Festival) in Surrey, B.C., on August 3, 2008. The debate has focused on whether the apology needed to be made in the House of Commons for it to be afforded the respect and dignity it deserves. Many South Asian Canadians have expressed that the racist discrimination inherent to the Komagata Maru incident in 1914 is mirrored today in the treatment of members of the South Asian Canadian community as second-class citizens who are not considered worthy of a full apology from the Conservative government.
Beyond the location of the apology, there are other reasons to believe that the apology was disingenuous. Consider this: Harper left the stage before hearing the response of the 8,000 people gathered; the prime minister’s office pre-screened and approved the thank-you speech to be given by festival organizers; and Secretary of State for Multiculturalism and Canadian Identity Jason Kenney insisted that, “The apology has been given and it won't be repeated.”
History of Exclusion
In order to discourage South Asian migration, in 1908 the Canadian government amended the Immigration Act with the Continuous Journey Regulation, under which travel to Canada required continuous passage from the country of origin, and entry with at least $200 cash. In conjunction with policies such as the Chinese Head Tax, these restrictions were intended to reinforce a "White Canada" policy, restricting non-white migrants at a time when massive numbers of European immigrants-–over 400,000 in 1913 alone-–were entering Canada.
The Continuous Journey Regulation was emphatically challenged in May 1914, when 376 Indians aboard the Komagata Maru out of Hong Kong arrived in Vancouver harbour. The steam-liner was not permitted to dock and its passengers were deprived of food and water by Canadian authorities, subject to a legal challenge, intimidated, and finally coerced to depart by Royal Navy boats. The Komagata Maru was eventually forced back to India and the Continuous Journey Regulation remained in effect until 1947.
Symbolism and the politics of apologies
What is behind the string of recent Conservative government apologies, not only to Indo-Canadians, but also for the internment of Japanese-Canadians, the Chinese-Canadian Head Tax, and the survivors of the residential school system?
According to a May 16, 2008, Globe and Mail article, “The motivation and timing behind the announcements are the subject of much debate...What is clear is that many of those Canadians most affected by these acknowledgements live in some of the most competitive ridings in Canada--particularly in British Columbia and Central Canada.”
Government apologies have been politically expedient for the Conservatives. They are cognisant of the emotional appeal of apologising to a constituency that is otherwise cautious about voting for them. Savvy politicians are acutely aware that these apologies are not intended to further a substantial discourse about the state’s responsibility and complicity in perpetuating racist subjugation, or to bring about practical change in people's lives.
It is, in fact, just the opposite. Through the politics of symbolism, apologies are a painless way of achieving closure while reinforcing the superficial veneer of Canadian multiculturalism and benevolence.
While formal acknowledgements from governments-–particularly in light of their resistance to doing so-– are one part of a reconciliation process, movements pushing for government apologies rarely further the demands for restitution, reparations, transformation of power, abolition of a repressive system, or solidarity with other communities. Instead, such movements often reinforce the status quo by seeking equality with, and financial compensation from, an oppressive and colonial state that continues to maintain the power to grant or withhold citizenship.
Putting racism behind us
Such apologies are also a form of political opportunism that seeks our blind loyalty and gratitude for a government that hypocritically continues to perpetuate the very realities for which it is apologising. There is a strong temptation when hearing an apology, particularly for an incident that happened almost 100 years ago, to think that amends have been made and that racism is in the past.
In response to the Harper Government’s recent apology to Indigenous residential school survivors, the Quebec Native Women’s Association issued a statement, declaring, “In or |
Damage from Hurricane Hazel, 195431 August 2011
Staff Person: Maury York
Hurricane Hazel, a Category 4 storm, hit North Carolina on the morning of October 15, 1954. It cut a wide | Damage from Hurricane Hazel, 195431 August 2011
Staff Person: Maury York
Hurricane Hazel, a Category 4 storm, hit North Carolina on the morning of October 15, 1954. It cut a wide path of destruction in eastern and central North Carolina before heading up the East Coast to Canada. Hazel caused some 19 deaths, 200 injuries, and millions of dollars in property damage in the state, making it one of the worst natural disasters of the twentieth century. |
Researcher Silvia Gori works inside the Sant'Orsola monastery in Florence, Italy, Tuesday, July 24, 2012. Archeologists found a skeleton buried inside the monastery that could belong to Lisa Gherardini | Researcher Silvia Gori works inside the Sant'Orsola monastery in Florence, Italy, Tuesday, July 24, 2012. Archeologists found a skeleton buried inside the monastery that could belong to Lisa Gherardini, the first model of Leonardo da Vinci's 'Mona Lisa' painting. Lisa Gherardini was the wife of a silk merchant called Francesco del Giocondo (in fact, Italians refer to the Mona Lisa as the ìGiocondaî). According to art historian Giorgio Vasari, del Giocondo commissioned Leonardo to paint a portrait of his wife. Leonardo took about 15 years to complete what was to become one of the most famous paintings in the world. When her husband died, Lisa retired to the SantíOrsola convent where she died age 63, on the 5th of July 1542. (AP Photo/Fabrizio Giovannozzi)
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Springtails are extremely numerous in compost. They are very small wingless insects (the maximum size is 6 mm/0.2 in. in length; 1 to 2 mm/.05 in. avg. length) and can be | Springtails are extremely numerous in compost. They are very small wingless insects (the maximum size is 6 mm/0.2 in. in length; 1 to 2 mm/.05 in. avg. length) and can be distinguished by their ability to jump when disturbed. They run in and around the particles in the compost and have a small spring-like structure (called a furcula) under the belly that catapults them into the air when the spring catch is triggered. A springtail 5-6 mm in length can jump 75-100 mm. Springtails that do not have a furcula cannot "spring".
Springtails come in many colors such as white, yellow, gray, red, orange, metallic green, and lavender. They chew on decomposing plants, pollen, grains, and fungi and are beneficial organisms in the bin. Springtails usually diminish in numbers when the bedding dries out a bit.
Springtails are in order Collembola, class Insecta, phylum Arthropoda.
For control of springtail populations use Hypoaspis miles. This tiny (0.5 mm) light-brown mite naturally inhabits the top 1/2" layer of soil where fungus gnats, as well as springtails and thrips pupae dwell. The female Hypoaspis mites lay their eggs in the soil, which hatch in 1-2 days, and the nymphs and adults feed on the soil-dwelling pests.
Each Hypoaspis mite will consume 5-20 prey or eggs per day. They survive by feeding on algae and/or plant debris when insects aren't available. Their entire life cycle is 7-11 days.
Soldier Fly Larvae
Black Soldier flies (Diptera: Stratiomyidae) are true flies that resemble wasps in their appearance and behavior. These flies do not bite or sting. Adult flies are often found on flowers and vary in color from black, metallic blue, green or purple, to brightly colored black and yellow patterns. You can tell that they are flies and not wasps because flies have just two wings, unlike wasps that have four wings. When at rest, the wings are folded scissor-like across their abdomens.
The larvae are very aggressive consumers in the worm bin. So much so that the passive worms may temporarily retreat to the lower parts of the bin until the soldier fly
larvae have grown into adults and flown away. If your worms do retreat be sure you have food in the lower parts of your bin so they dont starve. The larvae change in color
from off white, to light brown, to gray. Some describe them as big, ugly, segmented maggots. They have about 10 segments and are somewhat flat on the underside. One
end is round and the other end comes to a slight point.
The larvae are found in large groups in the organic material, and can tolerate very hot conditions. When disturbed, they will retreat from the light, just as worms do.
Some folks raise these in the bins and use them as fishing bait. Others remove them by hand and feed them to the birds. We have heard of one worm farmer who placed their
chicken in the bin to dine upon the tasty morsels and found this to be a very effective method of soldier fly larvae control. My concern is that the bird might find the worms
and eat them as well.
Soldier fly larvae are harmless to you, your worms and your plants. They are very good decomposers and, if allowed to stay in your vermicomposting system, will help to recycle
your waste. Just be sure that your worms get plenty to eat as well. The soldier fly manure does make good worm feed, as well.
There are approximately 1,500 species of soldier flies worldwide.
Adult Soldier Fly with Larva
Mites are the one of the most common invertebrates found in compost. They have eight leg-like jointed appendages. Some can be seen with the naked eye and others are microscopic. Some can be seen hitching rides on the back of other faster moving invertebrates such as worms, millipedes and beetles. Some species eat fungi, yet others are predators and feed on nematodes, eggs, insect larvae and other mites and springtails. Some are both free living and parasitic. One very common compost mite is globular in appearance, with bristling hairs on its back and red-orange in color. Most mites are not harmful to you, your worms, or your plants. Brown predatory mites are very rarely found in worm bins.
Conditions That Can Lead To Mite Infestation
1. Too much water - Bedding that is too wet creates conditions that are more favorable to mites than worms. Avoid excessively wet beds by improving drainage, and turning bedding frequently.
2. Overfeeding - Too much food can cause an accumulation of fermented feed and heat up worm beds plus lower the pH of the beds. Adjust feeding schedules so that all feed is consumed within a few days. Modify feeding schedules as the seasons (and temperatures) change because worms consume less food in colder temperatures. Maintain beds around a neutral pH 7.
3. Excessively wet or fleshy feed - Vegetables with a high moisture content, pulp from juicing, or |
The tradition and the folk of Spain are different and various, in which peoples participates intensely in the festivals and holidays. By the year in all the territory many festivals are celebrated, these are some of them:
In many of towns and grand cities are | The tradition and the folk of Spain are different and various, in which peoples participates intensely in the festivals and holidays. By the year in all the territory many festivals are celebrated, these are some of them:
In many of towns and grand cities are celebrated fiestas ( holidays ), is as an anniversary of town (in the name of a saint of the town. Allot of festivals are celebrated in the summer and participates the inhabitants of the town, neighboring localities and tourists that want to enjoy the diversion, animated festivals, attractions and/or confinements and races of bulls.
Sanfermines de Pamplona,
It is celebrated in honor of San Fermin (7 july) and during a week, the city lives an environment of festival stop sign. Culminates with morning confinements and bull race in the afternoon.
Feria de Andalusia,
Is a festival of color, happiness and Sevillana dance and the women’s suite flamenco they light up along the pretty streets. Is eaten Tapas food, drinking good vines and mucha fiesta...
Fallas de Valencia,
Is celebrated en march en honor of San Jose is evident in a festival of fire and culminates with the night of fire (Nit of foc) when they burn some gigantic dummies.
Carnaval, in the Canary Islans
in Tenerife the carnivals are celebrated of greater tradition being prepared many suits and actions and in peninsula they are more animated
Bullfights and/or bull race,
Normally they are celebrated in greater festivals Fiesta Mayor of Seville of Madrid San Isidro, Pamplona San Fermines, Valencia and many other places... |
Assented to 2004-04-22
An Act to establish the Library and Archives of Canada, to amend the Copyright Act and to amend certain Acts in consequence
WHEREAS it is necessary that
(a) the documentary heritage of Canada | Assented to 2004-04-22
An Act to establish the Library and Archives of Canada, to amend the Copyright Act and to amend certain Acts in consequence
WHEREAS it is necessary that
(a) the documentary heritage of Canada be preserved for the benefit of present and future generations;
(b) Canada be served by an institution that is a source of enduring knowledge accessible to all, contributing to the cultural, social and economic advancement of Canada as a free and democratic society;
(c) that institution facilitate in Canada cooperation among the communities involved in the acquisition, preservation and diffusion of knowledge; and
(d) that institution serve as the continuing memory of the government of Canada and its institutions;
NOW, THEREFORE, Her Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate and House of Commons of Canada, enacts as follows:
Marginal note:Short title
INTERPRETATION AND APPLICATION
2. The definitions in this section apply in this Act.
« patrimoine documentaire »
“documentary heritage” means publications and records of interest to Canada.
« institution fédérale »
« document fédéral »
“government record” means a record that is under the control of a government institution.
“Librarian and Archivist”Version anglaise seulement
“Librarian and Archivist” means the Librarian and Archivist of Canada appointed under subsection 5(1).
« ministre »
“Minister” means the member of the Queen’s Privy Council for Canada who is designated by the Governor in Council as the Minister for the purposes of this Act.
« document ministériel »
“ministerial record” means a record of a member of the Queen’s Privy Council for Canada who holds the office of a minister and that pertains to that office, other than a record that is of a personal or political nature or that is a government record.
« publication »
“publication” means any library matter that is made available in multiple copies or at multiple locations, whether without charge or otherwise, to the public generally or to qualifying members of the public by subscription or otherwise. Publications may be made available through any medium and may be in any form, including printed material, on-line items or recordings.
« document »
“record” means any documentary material other than a publication, regardless of medium or form.
- 2004, c. 11, s. 2;
- 2006, c. 9, s. 179.1.
- Date modified: |
Dark matter filament studied in 3D for the first time! NASA/ESA Hubblecast 58: “Caught in the Cosmic Web – Dark Matter Structure Revealed by Hubble Space Telescope”.
Astronomers using the NASA/ESA | Dark matter filament studied in 3D for the first time! NASA/ESA Hubblecast 58: “Caught in the Cosmic Web – Dark Matter Structure Revealed by Hubble Space Telescope”.
Astronomers using the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope have studied a giant filament of dark matter in 3D for the first time. Extending 60 million light-years from one of the most massive galaxy clusters known, the filament is part of the cosmic web that constitutes the large-scale structure of the Universe, and is a leftover of the very fir |
Preston Trail, later known as the Old Preston Road, was a road created by the Republic of Texas in 1841 from Preston, Texas on the Red River south to Austin, Texas. This road closely followed an existing trail that led | Preston Trail, later known as the Old Preston Road, was a road created by the Republic of Texas in 1841 from Preston, Texas on the Red River south to Austin, Texas. This road closely followed an existing trail that led across the area that had been used for centuries. This road was a main transportation artery from Central Texas to North Texas in the latter half of the 19th century. Today Texas State Highway 289 follows near this former road.
The Preston Trail followed an ancient Indian trail extending from Mexico through central Texas all the way to what is now St. Louis, Missouri and even on to Ohio where the Shawnee Indians lived. Parts of this old trail became known as the Chihuahua Trail.
The original Preston Trail crossed almost no streams from the Red River to Cedar Springs. It followed a geographic spine of topography that still exists today where rainwater draining to the west flows into the Elm Fork of the Trinity and rainwater draining to the east flows into the East Fork of the Trinity until the rivers merge below Dallas, Texas. Preston Trail followed this ridge that separates the East and Elm forks of the Trinity River.
The route of the Preston Trail followed the earlier cattle trail that came to be known as the Shawnee Trail. Cattle drovers in the 1850's referred to this trail as the Kansas Trail. This trail was later known as the Shawnee Trail; the name appeared in print by at least 1874.
The Shawnee Trail was in use in the early 1840's.
Preston Trail became part of the first official Texas military road in 1839.
In Fall of 1839 Albert Sidney Johnston, Secretary of War for the Republic of Texas, had sent soldiers under the command of Colonel William G. Cooke to create a military road from the Brazos to the Red River and establish frontier forts to protect settlers from Native American attacks.
In 1840 the 23 year old William Preston was the commander in charge of a group of Republic of Texas soldiers stationed at a newly founded Fort Preston near Preston, Texas on the Red River. These soldiers were responsible for creating a road from Preston, Texas to Austin, Texas.
The road had been surveyed in 1840.
In Dallas the route north to the Red River was known as the Preston Road.
Today Texas State Highway 289, also known as the modern Preston Road, closely follows the path of the original Preston Trail. |
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