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With orbiting observatories and solar probes now available to scientists, it might seem that studying the Sun (and its effects on weather and climate) has largely shifted to space-based technology. But in fact, ground-based monitoring of the Sun provides significant opportunities that aren’t possible from space. And the future of looking at the Sun from Earth is primed to become brighter with the recent announcement that the National Solar Observatory (NSO) will be moving to the University of Colorado at Boulder.
The NSO currently operates in two locations: Kitt Peak National Observatory in Arizona and Sacramento Peak Observatory in Arizona. The consolidation of these two locations and the move to Colorado will be a multiyear process, with the actual physical relocation to begin around 2016.
The move will include the deactivation of older telescopes–some of which date to the 1950s–and will coincide with the construction of the Advanced Technology Solar Telescope (ATST), which when completed will be the largest optical solar telescope in the world. The ATST will be located in Hawaii, but the new NSO in Boulder will be the ATST’s science, instrument development, and data analysis center.
The dual projects should result in major advancements for solar exploration from the ground. The ATST will provide “unprecedented resolution and accuracy in studying the finescale magnetic field and solar activity that controls what happens in the solar atmosphere and beyond,” according to the NSO’s Stephen Keil.
Jeff Kuhn of the University of Hawaii explains how the ATST will be valuable in studying the Sun’s magnetic field, which drives much of the sun’s activity:
Most of the changes that happen on the Sun are caused by changes in magnetic fields, and the ATST is a very specialized instrument that allows us to see those changes, and in fact has a sensitivity to measure changes in the magnetic field at the same kind of magnetic field strength as the . . . magnetic field that exists on the Earth that makes your compass needle work.
The high-resolution images needed to study the Sun’s magnetic field require very large telescopes that are too expensive to send into space. With the development of adaptive optics technology, ground-based observations are now much sharper than in the past, allowing for the study of “extremely small, violently active magnetic fields that control the temperature of the corona, and the solar wind, that produce flares [and] x-ray emission,” according to Eugene Parker of the University of Chicago.
Additionally, ground-based observatories have the capability of not just creating images, but also of making movies that track solar changes on time scales of minutes or even seconds.
The NSO has created a video (available on this page) that explains more about the atmospheric effects of solar activity and other advantages of ground-based solar research. | <urn:uuid:61e142f3-025a-4b17-ae4b-2e658b396865> | CC-MAIN-2023-40 | https://blog.ametsoc.org/tag/sun/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2023-40/segments/1695233510100.47/warc/CC-MAIN-20230925215547-20230926005547-00441.warc.gz | en | 0.932952 | 583 | 3.390625 | 3 |
Seven Markers for
Up until today, a carefully designed set of indicators to measure and assess the extent of gender sensitivity within the system of governance in India have not been developed. In the absence of any suitable index to measure such efforts, it has been difficult to understand adequately whether or not gender inequalities in governance have been addressed.
Now, thanks to the indicators developed by the Centre for Women's Development Studies (CWDS), gender sensitivity in governance can be assessed to determine whether or not there has been any qualitative change in this critical aspect.
The New Delhi-based CWDS felt the need to develop a set of measurable indicators - in response to a UNDP initiative - because of the continued marginalization of women's concerns, despite claims that women had been given greater participatory opportunities in governance. In its draft country paper on gender and governance - prepared in consultation with a cross-section of government departments, research institutions, women activists, NGOs and others - CWDS contends that governments have shown a predilection towards the creation of ad hoc institutions with inadequately articulated mandates, resources and autonomy.
"There has been a lack of political will to translate policies into concrete action. This has negated the basic principles of equality enshrined in the Constitution," says Kumud Sharma of CWDS, and one of the four academicians to have authored the report. The others are CWDS director Vina Mazumdar, Nirmala Buch and C P Sujaya.
In order to judge gender sensitivity, CWDS says it is necessary to assess how men and women fare with respect to seven basic indicators. The first indicator is an assessment of the survival of women. According to CWDS, women's survival is dependent on mortality rates, which in turn, are good
indicators of the levels of development. All things being equal, lower mortality usually corresponds to higher development.
CWDS says that the crude death rate, the under-five years mortality rate, infant mortality rate, still birth rate, the maternal mortality rate, and sex ratio at birth should be used to monitor gender sensitivity. For example, if statistics of female mortality in the 1-4 age group is studied, it will indicate the extent of gender bias against the girl child.
The second indicator is a means to assess the quality of survival. In this context, it is necessary to analyze life expectancy at birth, whether a child has been given the complete course of immunization, her nutritional status, age at marriage and her first pregnancy. "Immunization and nutritional status have never been given the importance they deserve in assessing policy interventions required to balance gender inequalities. We feel it should be used, in conjunction with other factors, to measure whether or not the government has been sensitive to the health of women,"
Skill acquisition and workforce participation - the third and fourth indicators - are linked says CWDS. Literacy, enrolment, the dropout rate at the primary level of school, the completion of primary education, the dropout rate at the secondary level, and the completion of secondary and higher education, determine workforce participation. However, women who do acquire these educational skills may still be idle or if they work, may not be equitably employed. To assess their development in this sector, parameters like workforce participation rates, patterns of workforce participation, wage disparity, paid and unpaid work, workplace conditions, patterns of migration and women-headed households have to be analyzed and monitored.
While high female workforce participation rates indicate an improvement in the general status of women, it is the fifth indicator - control over resources - that tells the real story. According to CWDS, women's participation in surplus generating activity, their control over resources and the means of production, land ownership and property rights need to be studied to assess whether or not women have really been empowered.
"Women are usually allowed to engage in subsistence-level income generation. However, their ability to exercise control over the means of production, whether capital or land, gets restricted. This is the basis of gender inequalities. There has to be a greater effort by governments to sensitizing policies to address these concerns," points out Sharma.
Participation in the public sphere is the sixth indicator to determine gender sensitivity in governance. According to CWDS, the exposure to the external (public) sphere; participation in it, and decision-making abilities are determinants of the real status of women's empowerment. While the sex ratio of women vis-�-vis the sex ratio of the above-18 population, can measure the exposure of women to the public sphere, the sex ratio of the population exercising their franchise can gauge participation.
According to CWDS, the stability of tenure of the elected representative in local bodies can be an indicator of the degree of freedom in decision-making enjoyed by women.
CWDS points out that in order to assess gender sensitivity, indicators to assess women's participation in the public sphere should not be limited to positions dependent on the ballot but should also include self-help groups and trade unions, in which women could hold positions of power and decision-making.
However, women's participation in the public sphere is largely dependent on the law and order environment. Security - the last CWDS indicator - encompasses the incidence of rape and molestation, abduction, dowry and marriage-related violence and murder, and the unnatural death of women below and above the age of 20 years.
And because there are several loopholes in law and the attitude of the judiciary has been, in many cases, ambivalent and inconsistent, CWDS contends that a closer look has to be taken into the dependence on legislation. Greater gender sensitization, supplemented by implementation of the law will boost the confidence of women, encouraging her to participate in the public sphere.
Often, the central or a state government claims that it has raised gender sensitivity considerably by giving women reservations in local bodies through the panchayati raj institutions. But they have consistently failed to give a satisfactory explanation for the continually declining female sex ratio.
This paradox indicates not just conflicts in social values, but huge gaps - gender inequalities that the systems of governance have been unable to address. Unless there is a rethinking on the basic premises of governance and its participatory approach to development, indices to measure gender sensitivity in governance will continue to indicate failure. And, that as far as women's empowerment is concerned, governments do not practice what they preach.
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Top | Society | <urn:uuid:b7f93272-851a-4e58-812c-831f47c48178> | CC-MAIN-2023-23 | https://www.boloji.com/articles/6420/seven-markers-for-gender-balance | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2023-23/segments/1685224648245.63/warc/CC-MAIN-20230602003804-20230602033804-00399.warc.gz | en | 0.948865 | 1,330 | 2.953125 | 3 |
Who was René Quinton?
Quinton based his theory on a universal premise that formed the base of its therapy: to reconstitute the damaged cell with sea water.
Who was René Quinton
René Quinton covered many fields of human knowledge. His humanist and scientific training led him to be considered a wise man, and throughout his many works, including the unreleased, he had a maximum constant “Science of sensibility”, ie, he brought together the material and the spiritual fields to a harmonious whole.
In addition to his studies in the areas of Biology and Physiology, he was a philosopher, military hero, patron and promoter of aviation, etc., an enthusiastic humanist of his time.
“Facing the physical world that obeys stable laws, evolutionism had made us used to see the living matter as a plastic substance modified by the environment, adapting to survive the changing conditions of the earth”, he described in one of his books. However, in 1897, Quinton formulates a new principle -without denying evolution- to show the ultimate objective of life in all its forms. This way, he discovers that animal wildlife appeared in the sea, despite variations over time, tends to keep its original condition. Instead of passively obeying the influence of the environment, life resists these changes. The anatomical shape changes to help maintain the temperature and salt concentration of the original marine environment.
In the end, the living being -anywhere in the animal scale in which it may appear- remains a genuine marine aquarium, whose cells continue to live in the same water conditions as the primitive cell lived. The disease appears as an alteration of the essential means. This formulation led Quinton to base its scientific theory on a universal premise, which constituted its basic therapy: reconstituting the damaged cell using the water from the oceans, vital medium which mineralization remains identical to the one in our internal environment.
His work culminated in 1904, when he published the book “L’Eau de Mer, milieu organique” (Sea Water, organic medium) laying solid foundations and scientifically proven therapeutic virtues of Sea Water. For example, he found that “any alteration of the extracellular matrix alters cellular nutrition.”
Experimenting was vital to be able to prove that Sea Water, diluted to Isotony, is identical to the human internal medium.
In 1897, at the Professor Marey’s lab at the “Collège de France”, the first experiment takes place: to bleed dogs completely.
For 8 hours straight, a dog weighing 10 kgs is intravenously transfused 10,4 litres of sea water -104% of its weight- without a single issue. The renal elimination is perfect.
A dog is totally bled out through its femoral artery. The dog is left a step away from bleeding to death, losing its corneal reflex. It gets a transfusion of Sea Water for 11 minutes; the reflex reappears, the dog is brought back to life, stands up and the next morning walks around the whole lab. The dog, named “Sodium” would die 5 years later ran over by a trolley.
Between 1887 and 1904, René Quinton applies his marine treatment gathering observations that would allow him to get a “method” ready, together with some young enthusiastic doctors and prominent clinics’ chiefs.
Quinton begins his therapy in hospitals in Paris where he is allowed to treat the desperate cases: a patient of Typhus in a terminal coma who is believed would die that very day, somebody poisoned with oxalic acid, a woman with syphilis, a man with hepathic cirrhosis, a young woman in labor dying of overbleeding …
Isotonic Sea Water, called back at that time Quinton’s Plasma, in injections, always works out the unexpected: the dying get saved most times.
To conclude his experiments, René Quinton moves on to his study about white globules which, by its nature, are difficult to keep alive in an artificial means. Quinton carries out his study to every specie; fish, batrachians, reptiles, mammals and birds. In all and every case, white globules immersed in Marine Liquid keep presenting signs of normal life.
In a study made recently, Dr. Jose Miguel Sempere, professor in the Biotecnology Department at the University of Alicante, Spain, concluded: “I am convinced that white globules can stay alive in the Quinton Isotonic solution even longer than the 96 hours that we have measured up to now.”
Sea Water holds the totality of the elements on the Mendeleiev table and in the same proportion as our internal medium…
At the beginning of his studies, René Quinton discovered that Sea Water held 15 elements of the periodic classification on the Mendeleiev table and as he continued with his researching, he added 5 more elements, suspecting that they would all be included.
In effect, as the clinic testing tools evolved, more elements became evident to finally reach the same conclusion the Biologist sensed from the very beginning: Sea Water contains the totality of elements found on the Mendeleiev table and in the same proportion as our internal medium, made up of the different organic liquids as: extracellular liquid, blood plasma, tears, cerebrospinal fluid, etc…
This discovery was achieved by Henry Doffin, Biology Professor at the Science Faculty in Poitiers, France in 1950. More recently, some research done by the University Coral Gables (Miami, USA) which used a molar proximity by “neutron difraction spectometry” -the most accurate method up to date- to check the cualitative composition of TOTUM ionominerals of Sea Water and its concentration, which gives us 78 BIOAVAILABLE elements in the Sea Water at biologic temperature.
Sea Water in its origine was not as concentrated in mineral salts as it is now, that’s why the concentration needs to be deluted with Spring Mineral Water with a very low amount of minerals.
Every liter of Sea Water holds 300 milimetres of prebiotic derivated from Carbon as aminoacids, sugars, vitamins, etc. The ions (present in the liquid fase, absent in the solid fase) are natural chemical-electronic elements, transformed by the phytoplankton and zooplankton, in natural chains. They act by sinergy effect, in a natural symbiosis with our organism, which liquids natural formula are identical to Sea Water.
About a century ago, a group of influence was born in France, key to the development of the French aeronautics; the National Air League. The founder was René Quinton. | <urn:uuid:7a39f996-95ae-4235-a44f-8a2d3c611b97> | CC-MAIN-2020-10 | https://www.fundacionrenequinton.org/en/quinton/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2020-10/segments/1581875147154.70/warc/CC-MAIN-20200228104413-20200228134413-00440.warc.gz | en | 0.950574 | 1,422 | 3.15625 | 3 |
Reticulocytes are non nucleated, immature red blood cells (RBCs) that remain in the peripheral blood for 24 to 48 hours while maturing. They're generally larger than mature RBCs. In this test, reticulocytes in a whole blood sample are counted and expressed as a percentage of the total RBC count. Because the manual method of reticulocyte counting uses only a small sample, values may be imprecise and should be compared with RBC count or hematocrit.
- To aid in distinguishing between hypoproliferative and hyperproliferative anemias.
- To help assess blood loss, bone marrow response to anemia, and therapy for anemia.
- Explain to the patient that this test is used to detect anemia or to monitor its treatment.
- Tell him that a blood sample will be taken. Explain who will perform the venipuncture and when.
- Reassure him that drawing a blood sample will take less than 3 minutes.
- Explain that he may feel slight discomfort from the tourniquet pressure and the needle puncture.
- If the patient is an infant or child, explain to the parents that a small amount of blood will be taken from the finger or earlobe.
- Withhold antimalarials, antipyretics, azathioprine, chloramphenicol, corticotropin, dactinomycin, furazolidone (from infants),levodopa, methotrexate, phenacetin, and sulfonamides, as needed. If such medications must be continued, note this on the laboratory slip.
- Inform the patient that food or fluids need not be restricted before the test.
Procedure and posttest care
- Perform a venipuncture, and collect the sample in a 7-mllavender-top tube.
- If a hematoma develops at the venipuncture site, apply warm soaks.
- Examine a stained smear of peripheral blood for the percentage of reticulocytes in relation to the number of RBCs present.
- Resume administration of medications withheld before the test.
- Monitor a patient with an abnormal reticulocyte count for trends or significant changes in repeated tests.
- Completely fill the collection tube and invert it gently several times to mix the sample and the anticoagulant.
- Handle the sample gently to prevent hemolysis.
Reticulocytes compose 0.5% to 2.5% of the total RBC count. In infants the normal reticulocyte count ranges from 2% to 5% at birth, decreasing to adult levels in I to 2 weeks.
A low reticulocyte count indicates hypoproliferative bone marrow (hypoplastic anemia) or ineffective erythropoiesis (pernicious anemia).
A high reticulocyte count indicates a bone marrow response to anemia caused by hemolysis or blood loss. The reticulocyte count may also increase after therapy for iron deficiency anemia or pernicious anemia.
- Failure to use the proper anticoagulant or to adequately mix the sample and the anticoagulant.
- Prolonged tourniquet constriction (false-low or false-high).
- Azathioprine, chloramphenicol, dactinomycin, and methotrexate (possible false-low).
- Corticotropin, antimalarials, antipyretics, furazolidone (in infants), levodopa (possible false-high).
- Sulfonamides (possible false-low or false-high).
- Recent blood transfusion (possible false-low due to hemodilution. | <urn:uuid:ca5626a8-72a9-45a2-a4c2-b62615c21398> | CC-MAIN-2017-47 | http://www.diagnostic-medical-tests.com/hematology-coagulation-tests/reticulocyte-count.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-47/segments/1510934806421.84/warc/CC-MAIN-20171121170156-20171121190156-00575.warc.gz | en | 0.814577 | 800 | 3.46875 | 3 |
Helen Avalynne Tawes Garden
This garden was designed to reflect the variety of landscape types found in Maryland. From the sandy Eastern Shore to the mountains of Western Maryland, representative plants transport the visitor from a streamside landscape to a reforestation site in the short walk through the 5 acre grounds.
Helen Avalynne Tawes Garden is located adjacent to the Maryland Department of Natural Resources Building. The best entry is by following the small green signs next to the building along Herbert Sachs Drive. The garden is barrier-free and closes at sunset. Many of the trees and shrubs are labeled, making a self-guided tour very enjoyable.
Just inside the garden entry is a large map to help orient you. From the map area, turn left to follow the path in a clockwise direction. On the right side of the walk you will see a 6 ton waffle rock from Garrett County in Western Maryland. The interesting patterns on the rock are caused by erosion of the surface, leaving behind the deposits of iron ore. Just behind the stone are bigtooth aspens, identified by their light bark. Further along the path you will notice several non-native Chinese elms with showy bark. Just beyond the bench, at the edge of the pond are two birches; the first is a river birch and the second a paper birch similar to the type Native Americans used for making canoes from the bark.
Rounding the curve, you will see the patio to your left. A number of attractive planters line the path with herbs and other interesting plants plants. The trees on the patio are Japanese zelkova, relatives of elms but resistant to Dutch Elm disease. As you continue around the pond you will see a cluster of yellowwood trees, native to the southern Appalachians, used commercially to produce a yellow dye. These trees flower at unpredictable intervals of 2-5 years.
Directly ahead is a circle of annual and perennial flowering plants that add year around interest to the garden. This area offers the garden a real splash of color during the spring and summer. Heading toward the bridge, there are numerous sugar maples. In western Maryland, and northern States, this species is tapped to produce maple syrup. Just before the bridge is a white oak, Maryland’s State tree. The historic Wye Oak in Wye Mills, Maryland is a white oak. Next to the bridge is an interesting bald cypress, so called because it sheds its needle-leaves in the winter. This cypress has its “knees” showing just above the surface of the stream. Actually these are projections from the submerged roots.
Cross the bridge and you will come to a secluded pavilion surrounded by azaleas and rhododendrons. This spot is truly spectacular in the spring when the plants are in bloom.
Continuing down the path, turn left to view the boardwalk area of the Eastern Shore landscape. Further down is a plot that demonstrates commercial reforestation with native loblolly pines. Backtracking a bit through the Eastern Shore area, you will complete your tour by entering the Western Maryland landscape.
To make this landscape more realistic, more than 40 tons of Greenstone rock was brought into the garden from Cunningham Falls State Park in Western Maryland. Next to the bench is a large pin oak and further along on the right is a northern red oak, an important lumber species and popular street tree. As you pause in this area of the garden, the sound of the pond fountain sounds very much like that of the many waterfalls found in scenic Western Maryland.
The last stop is just down Taylor Avenue from where you are parked. Turn right on Taylor and continue to the Gateway Circle where you will take the first street off the circle, West Street. The National Cemetery will be on your immediate right with parking just inside the gate.
Last updated on November 20, 2001.
Other DNR info
DNR home page
Bays & Streams
Wildlife & Heritage | <urn:uuid:82a3cb91-32ff-42ee-b7f0-10c103b19355> | CC-MAIN-2013-48 | http://dnr.maryland.gov/forests/programs/urban/toa/site9.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-48/segments/1386164032288/warc/CC-MAIN-20131204133352-00062-ip-10-33-133-15.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.937463 | 825 | 2.625 | 3 |
Scientists have predicted that this upcoming season is going to show an explosion in tick populations. With the mild winter we have had, and the warm weather becoming stagnant they have stated we will also see an explosion in acorns and mice. Ticks carry a deadly disease called Lyme Disease that not all ticks carry, but the majority do. 300,000 cases of Lyme Disease are reported each year. According to the National Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, New York has the highest number of confirmed Lyme Disease cases nationwide. Ticks are among the family of crabs, so they have pincers that can latch onto clothing, skin or fur without a qualm. The most common type of ticks found on Long Island are the Deer Tick, The Lonestar Tick (brought up from the South) and the American Dog Tick. While Lyme Disease is the front-runner for deadly diseases carried by ticks, it is not all that they have. There are many other deadly pathogens and bacteria for both humans and animals. If you find a tick latched onto skin on you or your pet, remove it immediately, place it in a plastic baggie and bring it to your physician or vet to get checked for diseases. Here is a list of things you can do to protect you, your family and pets from ticks this summer.
- Avoid wooded and brushy areas with high grass and leaf litter.
- Stay on center trails when hiking, while also wearing long socks, sleeves and pants.
- Use bug repellents with at least 20 to 30 percent DEET on any exposed skin and clothing for an extra layer of protection.
- Examine yourself, your family and pets very carefully after being outside. A baby tick (or Nymph) can latch and is about the size of a poppy seed.
- Ticks like warm parts of the body (e.g. armpits, bellybuttons, behind the ears, knees, groin, or buried under hair.
- Remove any ticks immediately with a pair of tweezers. The pincers and clawlike mouth, allow the pest to bury itself in your skin. Act quickly.
- Wash any clothes that you have worn in tick infested areas immediately, then put in the dryer on the highest setting. It is impossible for the bugs to survive this.
- Check gear and toys you have brought with you thoroughly.
- Use a comb on pets, the ticks can burrow into fur and cause a plethora of infections in dogs regardless of size.
Thank you to Newsday for the original information, you can read more here. | <urn:uuid:bdf0d291-355b-4da8-9d74-3b6842b1e443> | CC-MAIN-2020-05 | http://vandykegardens.com/tick-outbreak-on-long-island/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2020-05/segments/1579250593295.11/warc/CC-MAIN-20200118164132-20200118192132-00124.warc.gz | en | 0.945983 | 530 | 3.0625 | 3 |
The air sucked in by the compressor contains a proportion of water, which must be reduced to varying degrees depending on the requirements of the downstream production process.
Since the water absorption capacity of air decreases with falling temperature, the cooling in the compressor's air aftercooler can reduce the air humidity by draining off the water.
However, if there is a demand for compressed air that is as dry as possible, an air treatment unit must be installed downstream.
An effective method of reducing air humidity is refrigeration drying, which allows the compressed air to be cooled down to approx. 2-5°C, a temperature at which the water absorption capacity of air is extremely low.
AKG – efficient cooling systems contributing to a greener and sustainable world
AKG supports the decarbonization of the global economy with efficient cooling and thermal management systems for alternative drive concepts and clean energy for customers in selected industries, such as wind energy, electronics and fuel cell cooling. It has always been our goal to improve thermal solutions, starting in 1919 with automotive cooling over the recent past with the cooling of combustion engines in different applications until today’s Green Thermal Solutions. We believe that we can help our customers all over the world to meet their “net-zero” emission targets. AKG Green Thermal Solutions is our approach to help creating a sustainable future. | <urn:uuid:03d7fc14-4ed8-47ea-aeff-6fe81c6eebf9> | CC-MAIN-2023-50 | https://www.akg-group.com/markets/refrigeration-dryers/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2023-50/segments/1700679100304.52/warc/CC-MAIN-20231201183432-20231201213432-00574.warc.gz | en | 0.92441 | 273 | 2.578125 | 3 |
Johnson was introduced to Claudia Alta "Lady Bird" Taylor on September 5, 1934 by a mutual friend in Austin, and arranged to meet again the next morning.
Lyndon and Lady Bird met for breakfast, spent the day together, and he purportedly proposed before the day was over. In the next few days, Lyndon introduced Lady Bird to his parents; she met his boss, Congressman Kleberg; and they drove to Karnack where Lady Bird introduced Lyndon to her father. Johnson then returned to his job in Washington, D.C. During the next 10 weeks, the two wrote approximately ninety courtship letters to each other before he returned to Texas, and they "committed matrimony," as Lady Bird described it, in San Antonio on November 17, 1934.
The entire collection is available on the LBJ Presidential Library website. | <urn:uuid:950a2077-b939-4136-a50a-9cd34b544fa3> | CC-MAIN-2014-23 | http://www.upi.com/blog/2013/02/14/Valentines-Day-LBJ-and-Lady-Bird-Johnsons-love-letters-released/3611360877579/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2014-23/segments/1406510261958.8/warc/CC-MAIN-20140728011741-00332-ip-10-146-231-18.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.979707 | 171 | 2.921875 | 3 |
Aboriginal and dual naming
The Aboriginal and Dual Naming Policy
provides for the naming of areas that have significance to Tasmania's Aboriginal history.
The policy provides for the preferential assignment of Aboriginal names for previously unnamed natural
features or places - such as rivers and mountains - as well as allowing for the addition of Aboriginal names to existing official names of natural
features or places.
The role of the Nomenclature Board in the implementation of this policy is outlined in the attachment below.
Aboriginal and Dual Naming (218 KB) | <urn:uuid:c0369cde-40c5-492e-8b14-f7a5834bada5> | CC-MAIN-2017-26 | http://dpipwe.tas.gov.au/land-tasmania/place-naming-in-tasmania/aboriginal-and-dual-naming | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-26/segments/1498128319933.33/warc/CC-MAIN-20170622234435-20170623014435-00330.warc.gz | en | 0.931241 | 115 | 2.609375 | 3 |
There are certain conditions under which you should not get pregnant even if you can. These conditions may be medical, situational or emotional. Where it is suitable for your to go ahead with a pregnancy, tests will have to decide. It is not necessary that you have problems conceiving; you can conceive normally and yet there might be conditions unknown to you because of which you cannot carry the baby full term.
As it may be a risk to both your life and the baby's you should not get pregnant under the following conditions.
When You Should Not Get Pregnant?
1. Hypothyroid: A thyroid hormone test before pregnancy is a must because if you have hypothyroid then the child may be born with a series of illnesses. First of all if you have hypothyroid you might have problems conceiving because it regulates the egg production of the ovaries. Even men who have hypothyroid have problems leading to infertility. If uncontrolled concentration of the thyroid hormone in the mother can cause haemorrhage and disrupt the neurological development of the baby.
2. Diabetes: It is not gestational diabetes we are talking about. If you have diabetes and want to get pregnant then you must first bring your blood sugar level under control. High blood sugar levels leads to underweight babies, preterm birth and also babies with congenital birth defects.
3. Hemophilia: This is condition under which the victim's blood does not clot easily. You simply must not get pregnant under these condition because child birth involves blood loss and if uncontrolled can lead to death.
4. Genetically Transmitted Diseases: Some rare diseases are such that they are passed on in the family through your genes. It may be a dormant gene in one generation and show in the next. Some mental illnesses and also hemophilia is one such disease. It is very difficult for normal tests before pregnancy to detect these; only a detailed history of the families on both sides might give a clue.
5. History Of High Risk Pregnancy: If you have already had a high risk pregnancy where you narrowly missed dying then you should not attempt another one. You may not always be second time lucky. Women who have history of low lying placenta, high blood pressure and prior miscarriages must not get pregnant without medical clearance.
6. Your First Child Is A Special Child: In case you have a child who suffers from cerebral palsy or is Mongoloid child then you must take your doctor's advice before conceiving again. It may be a genetic disorder that has a chance of recurring.
You can avoid risking your life and the chance of serious birth disorders for your baby if you do not get pregnant under the above conditions. | <urn:uuid:2ef0537b-fd26-4c2b-88ac-6ec7482ca33e> | CC-MAIN-2014-35 | http://www.boldsky.com/pregnancy-parenting/basics/2012/not-get-pregnant-130112.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2014-35/segments/1408500811913.46/warc/CC-MAIN-20140820021331-00035-ip-10-180-136-8.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.942065 | 549 | 2.6875 | 3 |
Other proposals from Pip Hall included finding a use for the names (gleaned from a local farmer) by which strips and grazing sites at Cairnhead were known: Dibben, Snab, Ewe Hill, Wedder Hill, Meikle Dibbin, Blairoch, Breil, Martour; also carving on river stones Scots words that would have been used by the inhabitants and incorporating them into some of the stone dykes there: bucht (sheep pen), coupie (sheep on its back), cruive (pigsty), cuddy (donkey), fanks (sheepfold), jibbins (last drops of milk when milking), yett (gate), parrack (small carved shelter for ewes and lambs), hurly (wheelbarrow).
For more information about Pip Hall and her work please visit www.piphall.co.uk
Pip Hall and the people of Cairnhead
Pip Hall runs a lettercarving studio in Cumbria, where she carries out commissions for many kinds of inscription in stone, including work for urban and landscape art projects. Recent landscape interpretation projects include Poetry Path at Kirkby Stephen, and illustrative bronze panels for Discover Eden, a series of walking routes in the Eden Valley (both in Cumbria).
When Pip Hall came to visit Cairnhead, she immediately began to delve into the human history of the place. After copious research and many conversations with local people, a picture began to emerge of the generations of landlords and farming people who once owned and worked the land here. Gradually fewer and fewer people farmed around Cairnhead; the last shepherd to live here left in the 1970s.
Records going back 500 years show that at least six farming settlements once stood in the area now mainly covered by trees. Impressed by the sense of a long line of changing lives taking their course in a relatively unchanging landscape, and by the sheer tenacity required to carve out an existence in this remote and sometimes inhospitable place, Pip Hall set about devising inscriptions to celebrate the people who have lived here.
Incorporated into the gateway leading to the Byre, greeting the visitor, are four sandstone slabs (the stone chosen to echo Andy Goldsworthy’s sandstone arch leaping out of the Byre) on which Pip Hall has cut a selection from the dozen or so names by which Cairnhead has been known over the last 500 years: Conraicht (1547), Konrick (1600), Conrig (1804) and Cairnhead (since 1911), styling the lettering partly to reflect the era in which each name was used.
Close to the Byre were the remains of a small wall. Keen to give visitors the opportunity to pause and contemplate this place, Pip Hall proposed that the wall should become a bench, topped with slabs of Caithness stone (selected for its durability and for the way that its colour combines with the existing stone structures in the landscape). Into this stone, she has carved the names of a selection of the many inhabitants of Cairnhead over the centuries, accompanied by motifs depicting objects that would have been part of everyday life here: a sickle, a scythe, a crook, a cornstook, a turnip, a chicken, a spade.
On a piece of slate placed on the ground near the Byre, Pip Hall has commemorated the contribution of a group of international volunteers by carving their names all over the stone, the gently curved lines formed by the letters echoing the rounded tops of the hills that surround Cairnhead (see The Byre section of this website for more information on the work camp attended by these volunteers).
Another fragment of slate, let into the wall on the left as you approach the Byre, bears enlarged representations of graptolites – fossils that appear in some of the sedimentary rock in the area. | <urn:uuid:78797e1a-75bb-4d38-907a-7a2bfb88d7d1> | CC-MAIN-2014-35 | http://www.stridingarches.com/pip_hall.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2014-35/segments/1409535917663.12/warc/CC-MAIN-20140901014517-00310-ip-10-180-136-8.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.958363 | 828 | 2.84375 | 3 |
The term meme was first coined back in 1976 by Richard Dawkins in his book “The Selfish Gene”. He defined a meme as “a unit of cultural transmission, or a unit of immitation”. As a scientific theory it’s had a bit of a rocky road with many prominent scientists opposing it as “pseudoscience”, but in recent years the meme has made it into popular culture to describe certain types of internet trend.
So what is a meme? People have been arguing over the definition ever since Richard Dawkins first proposed the idea. To understand more fully we need to take a look at content types.
Shared content – Many pieces of content are created every day that are intended to be shared. News articles, forum posts, You-tube videos, tweets, manuals, training guides, the list is almost endless. Typically the majority of shared content gets anything from a few reads to thousands of reads depending on the subject area and the distribution.
Viral Content – Every now and then a piece of shared content captures people’s imagination and goes viral. This means that it’s not just read as a primary source but it’s recommended by people to their peers. It spreads like a virus. The “Hey, you’ve *got* to see this!” factor. Some great examples of viral content include the German Coast Guard video (~2,000,000 views) on YouTube or Maria Aragon’s cover of “I was Born This Way” (37,000,000 views). Viral content is characterised by a sudden explosive growth of interest that fairly rapidly dies out. The ideas have the *wow* factor and capture our collective imagination but don’t have an explosive lifespan beyond a few days although they can be referred to for years afterwards.
Memes – Memes are the content equivalent of a pandemic. Massively viral they enter our collective consciousness and resist attempts to be forgotten or dismissed. They typically have tens if not hundreds of millions of views. They last for a significant length of time, months to weeks and perhaps most importantly, they spawn a huge amount of content all of which refers back to the original. A great examples of a meme is Star Wars Kid which although it was posted back in 2006 still has over 22 million views. Admittedly this is less than Maria Aragon’s video but bear in mind that this was five years ago, almost ancient social media history and more importantly it spawned an explosion of modified Star Wars Kid videos over several months. Star Wars Kid Drunken Jedi had 11,000,000 views; half as many as the original video. More recently Rebecca Black’s “Friday Friday” generated over 160,000,000 views before it was eventually removed from you tube. It spawned a landslide of content over several months with celebrities such as Katy Perry getting in on the act.
The Holy Grail of pretty much every Internet marketer is to actually create a meme, but is that a realistic goal? I think that the very nature of memes means that they’re not something that is easily crafted artificially. However it is possible as we’ll see a little later. So what makes something a meme?
The “You’ve Got to See This *Lulz*” Factor – Just like with a piece of viral content there has to be something that captures our imagination. With Star Wars Kid it’s the rather unkind humour of watching an ungainly teenager making a fool of himself in front of his friends. With Rebecca Black it’s how shockingly dreadful the song is but that it still has enough musicality in it for the words to stick in your head somehow. Ultimately, they’re entertaining and almost always funny.
Spin Off Content – The original piece of content is crying out for modification. It screams “take me and do something funny with me!” The plethora of content spawning from both the meme’s mentioned previously pays testament to this. It’s the spin off content that gives the meme its longevity.
Ordinary People – I think we like to see ordinary people with very ordinary skills, or even laughably inept skills, become popular. It’s a form of catharsis, we can believe that anybody has in them the ability to be a star but we’re glad it isn’t us, even if we secretly envy them some measure of their success.
Placement – Just like with ordinary content meme popularity is down in part to initial placement. There are many bizarre things on the Internet but only certain pieces of content become memes. Rebbeca Black’s video only had 1,000 views in the first month, then suddenly it went massively viral mostly thanks to tweeters and bloggers. A number of influencers almost certainly gave their probably very negative views on the song and before anyone knew it #rebbecaBlack was one of the most tweeted tags in Twitter history.
Media Coverage – The mainstream media tend to catch memes rather late in their viral growth stage just due to the nature of mainstream media. This being said, their late involvement is certainly another factor in the longevity of a meme.
Global Interest – Although not essential I think it always helps if a meme can cross cultural boundaries. Take a look at Star Wars Kid. Not a word is spoken in the original video but Star Wars is culturally pervasive enough so that anyone watching the video from almost any culture having access to media would immediately recognise why it’s funny.
Dumb Luck? – I think this certainly plays a part. For something to go meme it has to be in the right place at the right time.
So is it possible to craft a meme? Possible, yes. Easy, no. Marketing agencies have been crafting television memes for years. One of the latest in the UK has been The “Compare the Meerkat” campaign from the Internet cost comparison site ComparetheMarket.com. Although all the YouTube videos have probably only had a couple of million views on YouTube the meerkats have entered the collective conscience in the UK.
It’s unlikely that if you ended an explanatory sentence with the word “Simples” that people wouldn’t get the reference. Interestingly it was the advertising company responsible for Sergei the Meerkat that made most of the spin off content. They’ve effectively built the meme’s longevity.
Building a meme is always going to be a hit-and-miss affair but hopefully this article has at least provided some food for thought.
Published in Social Media Today, July 7, 2011 | <urn:uuid:2d979993-2a2a-42a2-aea3-a5ea7812668f> | CC-MAIN-2017-34 | https://camicusdotorg.wordpress.com/published-articles/how-to-build-a-meme/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-34/segments/1502886105961.34/warc/CC-MAIN-20170820015021-20170820035021-00323.warc.gz | en | 0.961554 | 1,375 | 2.578125 | 3 |
We are living in a time where Artificial Intelligence has already made a strong hold in our day to day life. It’s applications include manufacturing done in industries, weather forecasting, gameplays, robots and almost all the machines that we are using.
Future without Artificial Intelligence will make our lives difficult and we cannot think of a bright future without it. Some people argue of the fact that “ How Artificial Intelligence can be dangerous for our future?”. Computer Engineers are working hard in this field as they think that with Artificial Intelligence can be made easy and it can the greatest invention of Human Mankind if it is a Success. So This paper discusses some of the most interesting challenges to which the games research community members may face in the area of the application of artificial or computational intelligence techniques to the design and creation of video games. | <urn:uuid:797aa4a1-7b7a-40ca-a9e4-d37807a37853> | CC-MAIN-2017-47 | http://ijirt.org/Article?manuscript=144128 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-47/segments/1510934808254.76/warc/CC-MAIN-20171124142303-20171124162303-00084.warc.gz | en | 0.952096 | 167 | 3.109375 | 3 |
Dr. Robert Piccioni brings the excitement of modern scientific discoveries to general audiences. He makes the key facts and concepts understandable without “dumbing” them down. He presents them in a friendly, conversational manner, and includes many personal anecdotes about the people behind the science.
With 33 images and over 100 graphics, this book explains the real science behind the headlines and sound bites. Learn all about:
- Our universe: How big? How old? What came before?
- The Big Bang, black holes, and supernovae
- Quantum Mechanics and uncertainty
- How the immense and the minute are connected
- What is Special about General Relativity
- How mankind can become Earth’s best friend | <urn:uuid:eb12bcf4-57be-4fa8-92a1-18dec626ef86> | CC-MAIN-2023-40 | https://www.jaicobooks.com/shop/popular-science/einstein-for-everyone/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2023-40/segments/1695233510903.85/warc/CC-MAIN-20231001141548-20231001171548-00421.warc.gz | en | 0.885528 | 150 | 2.59375 | 3 |
It is well established that friends are an important part of child and adolescent emotional and psychological development ( Erikson, 1980/1959; Kohut, 1971; Rubin et al., 2004; Sroufe, Carlson, Levy, & Egeland, 1999; Sullivan, 1953). Friendships among twenty-first century children and adolescents develop not only in person but also through social media. Some of these friends are never seen “in the flesh,” yet there is no question they have an impact on the psyches of the youngsters involved. When it comes to eating disorders, both peer pressure and social focus on weight and size have long been recognized as having an impact on the development of eating disorders in children and adolescents. Adolescents susceptible to developing eating disorders often have a particular vulnerability to peer pressure and the demands of friends (Bunnell, 2016; Petrucelli, 2016; Zerbe, 2008, 2016). Friendships conducted through social media and electronic tools can significantly affect not only on how these young people feel about their bodies, their selves, and their general sense of the world in which they live but also on their specific eating behaviors (Bunnell, 2016; Defeciani, 2016; Lanzieri & Hildebrandt, 2016; Sales, 2016). | <urn:uuid:1df8b889-1d84-4f77-a320-719464350f19> | CC-MAIN-2023-23 | https://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/edit/10.4324/9781315203706-13/psychodynamic-importance-cyber-flesh-friends-psychotherapy-college-aged-adolescents-eating-disorders-diane-barth?context=ubx&refId=c959959a-0fbe-4671-9d4c-d6c3309bd661 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2023-23/segments/1685224645417.33/warc/CC-MAIN-20230530063958-20230530093958-00666.warc.gz | en | 0.946975 | 265 | 3.203125 | 3 |
WebMD Health News
Brenda Goodman, MA
Laura J. Martin, MD
Dec. 10, 2011 -- Sebastian Misztal recently cut himself shaving. The bleeding stopped.
Such a mundane occurrence wouldn’t usually make medical headlines. But for Misztal, a 31-year-old London businessman, and others with the inherited blood disorder hemophilia, it was a big deal.
“It’s huge,” says Katherine Ponder, MD, a professor of medicine at Washington University in St. Louis.
In the past, Misztal has given himself regular injections to replace a protein that his body can’t make. The protein is called Factor IX (FIX). It helps blood clot.
Those injections have kept him alive. People with the severe hemophilia can bleed even if they are not injured. Spontaneous bleeding in the brain can be fatal.
But injections of clotting factors are also inconvenient and expensive. Hemophiliacs generally need the shots two to three times a week. Treatment costs run from $150,000 to $200,000 a year.
So Misztal recently became one of six men to try an experimental repair for the genetic defect that causes their condition.
Researchers altered the DNA of a common virus so that it would include the instructions for making FIX.
They then injected the men with the altered virus. They hoped that it would do what all viruses do: infect cells and hijack their operating instructions.
Ordinarily when viruses infect cells, they turn the cells into factories that crank out more copies of the virus. That keeps the infection going.
In this case, the infected cells churned out the missing protein.
After a single treatment, four of the six men in the study have been able to stop their weekly protein injections altogether. Two others have been able to stretch the time between their shots from days to up to two weeks.
“You’ve got people who are maybe not quite cured,” says Ponder, an expert on blood disorders who was not involved in the research.
The study and an editorial by Ponder are published in The New England Journal of Medicine.
The results are also scheduled to be presented at the annual meeting of the American Society of Hematology in San Diego.
So far, researchers have only been able to coax the body to make the protein that helps people with the less common form of the disease, hemophilia B.
But researchers say this approach could work for people who have the more common form, hemophilia A, too. They just need to find the right virus to deliver the genes that would help that disease.
“I think this approach will lead to a cure. I think it’s not there yet,” says study researcher Andrew M. Davidoff, MD, a pediatric surgeon at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis, Tenn.
“We have made a significant impact on the severity of the disease,” Davidoff tells WebMD. “We are looking to cure patients, and I think with improvements in the vector and higher doses, we will be able to cure them.”
Before they were enrolled in the study, the six men all had levels of FIX protein that were less than 1%. After the gene therapy, their FIX levels improved to 2% to 11%.
That’s high enough to prevent spontaneous bleeding events. But it’s not enough clotting factor to keep them out of danger during surgery, for example, or in the event of other significant trauma.
Researchers think they may be able to give people with hemophilia B higher doses of the altered virus to help boost FIX levels even more.
But it’s unclear how much people will be able to tolerate.
In this study, patients who got the highest doses made the most FIX. But they also saw their liver enzymes spike, a sign of inflammation.
“We were able to control this inflammation with a very short course of steroids,” says study researcher Amit C. Nathwani, MBChB, PhD, a hematologist at University College London.
After steroid treatment, liver enzymes returned to normal. And patients continued to make FIX protein on their own, though their levels dropped slightly.
It’s also not clear how long the treatments may last.
All patients who got the gene therapy continue to make FIX protein. Some have been followed for nearly two years.
But as liver cells die, the treatment could wear off. In animal studies, results of gene therapies that target liver cells have lasted for 10 years or more.
Even if it’s temporary, the gene therapy is likely to save money. If it is approved by the FDA, the treatment is estimated to cost around $30,000 per patient.
It may also turn out to be safer than injecting blood products. In the 1980s, many hemophiliacs were infected with HIV after being treated with clotting factors that contained the virus.
Nathwani says many people with hemophilia in developing countries continue to face that risk, if they are able to get treatment at all.
“Eighty percent of hemophilia patients around the world have no access to treatment,” he says. “This is one of the reasons why we wanted to develop a simple gene transfer approach,” which could be delivered in almost any clinical setting, he says. “This is life changing.”
SOURCES:Ponder, K. The New England Journal of Medicine, published online Dec. 10, 2011.Nathwani, A. The New England Journal of Medicine, published online Dec. 10, 2011.News release, University College London.Katherine Ponder, MD, professor of medicine, Washington University, St. Louis.Andrew M. Davidoff, MD, chair, department of surgery, St. Jude Endowed Chair in Surgical Research, St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, Memphis.Amit C. Nathwani, MBChB, PhD, reader in hematology, University College London Cancer Institute, London.
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The views expressed here do not necessarily represent those of KOKI FOX23 - Tulsa
The Health News section does not provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. See additional information. | <urn:uuid:70693425-21f5-4ae7-a0a1-73769bb5f32a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.fox23.com/webmd/blooddisorders/story/Gene-Therapy-May-Reverse-Hemophilia/16wSpxFbRkWYY-R0SJGLsw.cspx | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368709037764/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125717-00026-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.958834 | 1,328 | 2.71875 | 3 |
hair games: competition, entertainment, and role-playing. These games were played with real objects, and were often used as a way to test one’s agility and skill. Some hair games were even designed to teach a certain game skill.
Hair Games. How many women were represented in the game?
The first part of the presentation focuses on hair games, a type of social interaction in which people engage in a game of hairwashing, where the objective is to keep the hair of the other person clean.
Fashion often involves making elaborate hair accessories for women. This is no different, but they are designed and sold as well. From their design to their presentation, men and women alike are influenced by the fashion and beauty industry.
Hair cutters have become one of the most popular types of online game. As such, it is a very popular type of game that people play online. However, hair cutters are not just about hair cutting. There are many other activities and activities consumers engage with online.
Play Hair Games
hair cut games is a game that teaches kids how to make quick, simple and safe hair cutting cuts. With hair cutting, you start by cutting a specific number of hair and cut it off. So, for example, if you cut off 8 hairs, you are then ready to start cutting a new set of 8 hairs this is something you can do in any number of ways. A hair cut game is a great way for kids to learn basic hair cutting skills and skills that are needed to be able to cut hair.
Hair cuts are a great way to teach children about the importance of being clean and having good . The games we designed to encourage children to be comfortable with hair and clean their hair are designed to be both entertaining and educational.
The hair cut game is a series of game-like activities that children play on a variety of types of platforms, such as with a stylus and a computer. The game focuses on increasing confidence, vocabulary skills, and speed. The child grows confidence by learning how to do the hair cut game from the very beginning.
Play Free Online Hair Games
The Hair Cut Game (or The Game of Hair cuts) is a social game in which players compete to earn the most points by cutting the hair of other players' on their heads. The game was originally based on a British television game show, where contestants competed to win the game by obtaining the best haircut. The object of the game is to be crowned (by the host or a judge) as the winner of the game and receive a prize.
The science of hair games growth is incredibly complex. We don't know for sure why our hair grows in the way it does, but we have learned a lot about it in the last two decades. Hair is made of dead cells. Those cells are mostly produced by the follicle located in the top part of the hair. | <urn:uuid:fd073aa9-18fa-4647-a3f7-fe8159518458> | CC-MAIN-2023-23 | https://gamespx.com/en/c/hair-games/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2023-23/segments/1685224648695.4/warc/CC-MAIN-20230602140602-20230602170602-00394.warc.gz | en | 0.987247 | 596 | 2.671875 | 3 |
A New Whitefly Material Registered in Arizona
A quick guide to the new product, Actara, by Syngenta
Ellsworth, P.C. 2001. A New Whitefly Material Registered in Arizona . University of Arizona, College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Cooperative Extension, Tucson, Arizona. 2 pp. URL: http://cals.arizona.edu/crops/cotton/insects/wf/actara.html; http://cals.arizona.edu/crops/counties/all/papers/pceactara.pdf
Actara ® by Syngenta has recently been registered in Arizona for the first time (7/13/01). It is a foliar material designed for whitefly and aphid control in cotton. Many questions abound about a new product, especially one that provides new options in whitefly control. Below are some basic facts about Actara (consult the label for specific use information and other restrictions).
While Actara is a new compound for commercial use, UA scientists have been studying thiamethoxam for several years. Several excellent field studies have been conducted in cotton, vegetables and melons in Arizona. In summary, these studies confirm the rather considerable activity on aphids and whiteflies. They also show general safety towards beneficials especially when compared to more conventional products.
How does Actara fit in Arizona cotton?
What about other insects in cotton?
Other Considerations... Rates?
Other Considerations... Resistance?
Where can I find more information on this or other products of
Some references to learn more about thiamethoxam include:
Ellsworth, P.C. 1999. Evaluation of chemical controls of Lygus hesperus in Arizona. In J.C. Silvertooth [ed.], Cotton, A College of Agriculture Report. Series P-116. University of Arizona, College of Agriculture, Tucson, AZ. pp. 428–447. URL: http://cals.arizona.edu/pubs/crops/az1123/az11237n.pdf (799KB)
Kerns, D.L. & T. Tellez. 1998. Efficacy of Experimental Insecticides for Insect Control in Cotton Grown in the Low Desert Region of Arizona, 1997. In J.C. Silvertooth [ed.], Cotton, A College of Agriculture Report. Series P-108. University of Arizona, College of Agriculture, Tucson, AZ. pp. 422–434. URL: http://cals.arizona.edu/pubs/crops/az1006/az10067o.html
Palumbo, J.C., P.C. Ellsworth, T.J. Dennehy & K. Umeda. (1999) Cross commodity management of whiteflies and chemical efficacy in Arizona. In D. N. Byrne [ed.], 1999 Vegetable Report. Series P-117, AZ 1143 , University of Arizona, College of Agriculture, Tucson, AZ. pp.108-120. URL: http://cals.arizona.edu/pubs/crops/az1143/az1143_24.pdf (71 KB)
Palumbo, J.C., C. Mullis, Jr., F. Reyes, A. Amaya & L. Ledesman. 1999. Application and Timing of Insecticides for Aphid Management in Head Lettuce. In D. N. Byrne [ed.], 1999 Vegetable Report. Series P-117, AZ 1143 , University of Arizona, College of Agriculture, Tucson, AZ. pp. 94–107. URL: http://cals.arizona.edu/pubs/crops/az1143/az1143_23.pdf (212 KB)
Li, A.Y., T.J. Dennehy, S. Li, M.E. Wigert, M. Zarborac, and R.L. Nichols. 2001. Sustaining Arizona’s fragile success in whitefly resistance management, In J.C. Silvertooth [ed.], Cotton, A College of Agriculture Report. Series P-125. University of Arizona, College of Agriculture, Tucson, AZ. pp. 278–291. URL: http://cals.arizona.edu/pubs/crops/az1224/az12247g.pdf (40 KB)
Issued in furtherance of Cooperative Extension work, acts of May 8 and June 30, 1914, in cooperation with the U.S. Department of Agriculture, James A. Christenson, Director Cooperative Extension, College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, The University of Arizona.
The University of Arizona is an equal opportunity, affirmative action institution. The University does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability, veteran status, or sexual orientation in its programs and activities.
Any products, services, or organizations that are
mentioned, shown, or indirectly implied in this web document do not imply
endorsement by The University of Arizona.
This material provided by:
Peter C. Ellsworth, [email protected] Specialist, IPM/Entomology
University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ
Material written July 2001.
Cotton Insects | Cotton Insect Pubs | Cotton Insect Data | Stickiness | Advisories | Pesticides | Photos
Home | Cotton | All Insects
document located at: http://cals.arizona.edu/crops/cotton/insects/wf/actara.html
Copyright © 2001 University of Arizona,
College of Agriculture and Life Sciences
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We think, with some justification, of the Greeks as thinkers and the Romans as doers. This doesn’t mean the Romans were ignorant. They commonly used Greek slaves as teachers for their children, and Greek learning was known to educated people throughout the Roman Empire – partly because the Greeks themselves lived throughout the Empire. The Ptolemys ruling Egypt, who included Cleopatra, were Greeks.
According to the history books, it was the Greeks who first suggested that our earth is a sphere. Aristotle argued this in On the Heavens around 340 BC. First, you always see the sails of a ship coming over the horizon first and only later its hull, which suggests that the surface of the ocean is curved. Second, he realized that the eclipses of the Moon were caused by the Earth casting its shadow on the moon. Third, the Greeks knew that the North Star appears higher on the northern firmament and lower in the south. Aristotle explained this correctly with the parallactic shift that occurs when moving between two observation points on a spherical object. Separately, the idea that the sun rather than the earth was the center of the universe was proposed by the Pythagoreans and by Aristarchus of Samos around 270 BC. (However, Aristotle dismissed the idea of this heliocentrism.)
Around 240 BC Eratosthenes (Libyan-born, living in Alexandria in Egypt) calculated the circumference of the earth; he knew that the sun was directly overhead at Aswan on the summer solstice; he observed from the shadow of a vertical pole that on that day the sun was a fraction over 7 degrees off from vertical in Alexandria (almost due north of Aswan); and, from generations of Pharaonic surveyors, he knew the distance between the two places: 5,000 stadia. He gave the earth’s circumference as 252,000 stadia. Depending on whether he meant the standard Greek stadium or the Egyptian stadium, he was accurate to within either 16% or 2% of the earth as it is.
He also calculated the distances to the moon and to the sun, and was reasonably correct about the moon (and possibly extremely accurate about the sun). Having created the armillary sphere when he was 20, and originated the term “geography”, and created a useful map of the known world, he still had time to be an athlete and a poet.
Uneducated people 250 years later in Palestine thought that a bright star had moved across the sky and stayed over the house in Bethlehem where a certain child was born. For them, the heavens were the physical abode of God and his messengers, a mile or two above the earth, up in the clouds with the sun, moon and stars.
Well-educated Greeks and Romans were beyond such nonsense. | <urn:uuid:f5a9119d-67c1-4545-bb1e-b65c8b28a76b> | CC-MAIN-2020-29 | https://robinhl.com/2012/01/30/what-the-romans-knew-of-the-universe/?replytocom=301 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2020-29/segments/1593655886865.30/warc/CC-MAIN-20200705023910-20200705053910-00066.warc.gz | en | 0.981374 | 578 | 3.90625 | 4 |
The Ratification of the Treaty of Münster, Gerard ter Borch (II), 1648
This depicts an exceptionally important historical moment: when the Dutch and Spanish ratified a peace treaty ending a war that had lasted 80 years. The event took place on 15 May 1648 in the town hall of the German city of Münster. The Dutch delegates are at the left, the Spanish ones at the right. Before them on the table are two copies of the treaty, which were placed in the little chests and delivered to Madrid and The Hague. | <urn:uuid:c8350b30-a5a6-4349-bc4b-5a3c752528b9> | CC-MAIN-2017-30 | https://www.rijksmuseum.nl/en/collection/SK-C-1683 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-30/segments/1500549448198.69/warc/CC-MAIN-20170728103510-20170728123510-00315.warc.gz | en | 0.975584 | 111 | 3.40625 | 3 |
The only time we use Bluetooth is to yap about in our cars while we're driving or for transferring photos to and from our computer, but Marine Lance Cpl. Joshua Bleill is using it to help him walk again. The Iraq veteran has dual prosthesis with Bluetooth transmitters on board that sends signals between each motor, which updates each piece of the legs on what the others are doing, how it's moving, and whether or not they need to make adjustments.
Older models of computer-controlled legs have to be "programmed" via wire by laptop computers before the amputee can use them. Those legs required more movement from the amputee's remaining thigh muscle to generate motion in the prosthetic leg. Because of built-in motors, the Bluetooth legs allow Bleill to walk longer before he tires.
"We've compared walking several laps in both sets of legs and one, your legs come out burning and tired and these, you know, you sometimes are not even breaking a sweat yet."
We weren't kidding when we said it helps him kick ass. "So sometimes the leg kicks harder than I want it to, or farther, and then I start perpetuating, and I start moving faster than I really want to." [CNN] | <urn:uuid:3478b921-b4c8-43b4-9ba8-c31adc04431b> | CC-MAIN-2014-35 | http://gizmodo.com/349081/bluetooth-prosthesis-helps-man-walk-kick-more-ass?tag=legs | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2014-35/segments/1408500830074.72/warc/CC-MAIN-20140820021350-00101-ip-10-180-136-8.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.956627 | 258 | 2.609375 | 3 |
Australian Bureau of Statistics
4922.0 - Information Paper - A Statistical Definition of Homelessness, 2012
Latest ISSUE Released at 11:30 AM (CANBERRA TIME) 04/09/2012 First Issue
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FACTSHEET: Homelessness - in concept and in some measurement contexts
Definitions of homelessness are culturally and historically contingent. They range from limited objective measures which conflate homelessness with rooflessness to more equivocal subjective definitions founded on culturally and historically determined ideas of 'home'. The ABS definition of homelessness is informed by an understanding of homelessness as 'home'lessness, not rooflessness. It emphasises the core elements of 'home' in Anglo American and European interpretations of the meaning of home as identified in research evidence (Mallett, 2004). These elements include: a sense of security, stability, privacy, safety, and the ability to control living space. Homelessness is therefore a lack of one or more of the elements that represent 'home'.
Over the last decade there has been increasing international attention on the need for a consistent definition of homelessness, particularly in Europe. Governments, researchers, statisticians, policy makers and service providers alike have recognised that the development of an agreed definition for statistical purposes that allows for consistent measurement of the scope and scale of homeless both within countries but also across countries. In Europe this has led to the development of the European Typology of Homelessness and Housing Exclusion (ETHOS) definition (European Federation of National Organisations working with the Homeless, 2011). Closer to Australia, the ETHOS definition informed the development of the Statistics New Zealand definition of homelessness (Statistics New Zealand, 2009).
In Australia, while debate about definitions has occurred among academics, policy makers and service providers over the last decade or so, a loose consensus was achieved around the tri-partite cultural definition proposed by Professors Chamberlain and MacKenzie (2008) that spans from rooflessness to insecure and inadequate housing. This definition has informed the estimation undertaken by Chamberlain and MacKenzie of homelessness using Census and other data sources.
In 2008, following widespread discussion in Australia about the meaning and measurement of social inclusion and exclusion, the ABS recognised the need to develop robust and transparent homelessness statistics across a range of ABS datasets. This decision coincided with the release of the Federal Government White Paper on Homelessness (The Road Home) (FaHCSIA, 2008a), which highlighted homelessness as an important social issue in Australia and identified the need to "turn off the tap", "break the cycle" and arrest chronic homelessness.
Up until 2008, ABS had neither developed its own definition of homelessness nor adopted any other definition, and it did not provide official estimates of homelessness. However, ABS did support research undertaken by academics Professors Chamberlain and MacKenzie who estimated the numbers of homeless people in Australia using the 1996, 2001 and 2006 Censuses of Population and Housing (Chamberlain, 1999; Chamberlain and MacKenzie 2003, 2008). Their estimation work was underpinned by the cultural definition of homelessness developed by Chamberlain and MacKenzie (2008). The ABS would like to make special acknowledgement of Professor Chris Chamberlain and Associate Professor David MacKenzie for their ground breaking work in establishing a world first approach to the use of Census data in estimation of the homelessness population.
Following the decision to develop official ABS homelessness statistics, the ABS began developmental work in this area by first reviewing the methodology employed by Chamberlain and MacKenzie to estimate homelessness through the Census of Population and Housing. During this review (Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2009, 2011a and 2011b) the ABS identified the need to develop a robust, defensible and evidence informed definition of homelessness for statistical purposes. The ABS began this work by reviewing key national (SAAP and Cultural) and international (ETHOS and NZ statistics) definitions.
A key outcome of the ABS review into the methodology for estimating homelessness from the Census, including the homelessness sector consultation that followed, was the establishment of the ABS Homelessness Statistics Reference Group (HSRG). The HSRG was established to provide advice to the ABS about the development of homelessness statistics. A definition sub-group of the HSRG was established to inform the work on the homelessness definition and a methodology sub-group of the HSRG was established to inform on the work on the methodology used to estimate homelessness from the Census of Population and Housing.
This move to producing official ABS statistics on homelessness represents an important development for the ABS and reflects commitment to improve the measurement of housing and homelessness in Australia. The ABS is working to improve the measurement across a range of ABS data sets. To date, the ABS has published information about people who have had a previous experience of homelessness from its 2010 General Social Survey, and will collect similar information in its 2012 Survey of Disability, Ageing and Carers. The ABS proposes to continue to collect this information in its 2014 General Social Survey in addition to other surveys, as appropriate.
Because of the complexity of homelessness from a social policy and service delivery perspective, there are a wide range of views on what constitutes homelessness. While the ABS has benefitted from expert advice, there are areas where it was not possible to obtain agreement among all experts. In these circumstances, the ABS has balanced the views of different experts and decided, from a statistical perspective, what the appropriate treatment of these circumstances should be. It acknowledges that there will continue to be differences of view, and in producing statistics on homelessness, the ABS will be intending to present the information in a way that alternative views of homelessness can be constructed to suit particular purposes.
These documents will be presented in a new window.
This page last updated 4 September 2012 | <urn:uuid:bd1cdc8a-6fac-4090-af04-a3d3f5e678ff> | CC-MAIN-2013-48 | http://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/[email protected]/Lookup/4922.0main+features32012 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-48/segments/1386163988740/warc/CC-MAIN-20131204133308-00025-ip-10-33-133-15.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.929906 | 1,162 | 2.515625 | 3 |
The EXACT project was established with funding from the National Science Foundation.
Motivation and Purpose. This project is concerned with repackaging exact analytical solutions, by adding information and tools, to make them better suited for engineering applications, and to make these widely available. Analytical solutions will never go out of style, because of the ongoing need: for verification of fully-numeric solutions; for precise solutions to support experimental measurement of thermal/diffusive properties (and heat flux); and, for rapidly-computed solutions in real-time process-control applications.
Information Added. The information added to each analytical solution in the Exact database may include: mathematical statement of the problem; pictorial diagram of the geometry; code for efficient computation of eigenvalues; algorithms and computer programs for accurate numerical evaluation; tables and plots of numeric values; and, intrinsic verification to demonstrate that the algorithm is correct and the values are accurate and precise.
Intrinsic Verification. Intrinsic verification is the concept that an analytical solution contains within itself the means for checking that numerical results from the solution are correct and precise. There are several methods of intrinsic verification, including: use of two independent representations of a solution; time partitioning; additive components; penetration time; and, deviation time.
Numbering System. A numbering system for heat conduction is used to identify each solution in the Exact database to make them easy to identify, store, and retrieve. The number system is transformative, because it provides a new way of viewing the entire body of solutions in heat conduction and diffusion. | <urn:uuid:6525f57d-aa8d-4657-9989-491a7e218e0e> | CC-MAIN-2020-05 | http://exact.unl.edu/exact/about/about.php | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2020-05/segments/1579251689924.62/warc/CC-MAIN-20200126135207-20200126165207-00097.warc.gz | en | 0.905702 | 323 | 2.609375 | 3 |
One of the many reasons free government information is useful is that it can be analyzed to reveal fascinating, and sometimes disturbing, facts about our history. An excellent example of this is Robert Lopresti's new book, When Women Didn't Count: The Chronic Mismeasure and Marginalization of American Women in Federal Statistics:
In the book,
society's (and government's) changing attitudes toward women are
chronicled through statistics on marriage, motherhood, heads of households,
occupations, health, crime, and military service, among other topics.
The focus isn't on the statistics themselves, but on how and why they
were collected as they were. It is, indeed, both fascinating and
(Lopresti is a librarian, but when he isn't examining the
mysteries of government statistics he's writing popular mystery stories.
You might want to check those out as well.)
Friday, June 9, 2017
If you're getting a little tired of the issues being discussed in the U.S. Government, it might be a nice change of pace to explore some international issues. The United Nations Digital Library System is now freely available for your searching or browsing pleasure. Enjoy! | <urn:uuid:cc4f573e-1ff8-4e1e-b0c6-8fe14b947b68> | CC-MAIN-2017-34 | http://govstuff4u.blogspot.com/2017/06/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-34/segments/1502886105955.66/warc/CC-MAIN-20170819235943-20170820015943-00032.warc.gz | en | 0.914712 | 253 | 2.6875 | 3 |
Hale Bathhouse Video
Hello, I'm Ranger Mark Blaeuer at the Hale Bathhouse in Hot Springs National Park. The Hale was named after John C. Hale who was an early bathhouse owner here, however he had died by the time this building opened. This was one of several buildings honoring his memory. This particular building opened in 1892. It's the earliest of the standing bathhouses on the row. It was first designed by George and Fremont Orff from Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minnesota. They were chosen to do the work because one of the owners, George Eastman, was from the twin cities where he had made money in the milling industry. So they designed the first version of this building. However, after a few years, there were renovations done. You had the south wing of the building added in the 19 teens by the local firm Mann and Stern, and in 1939, the Little Rock firm of Sanders, Johnson and Ginnochio ? gave it the Mission Revival look that it has today. That's what it's been restored back to, with the stucco on the outside walls, and the grille work on the windows, and the tile roof. I might mention also the dogwood emblem above the front door. This buiding operated as a bathhouse until 1978. It closed and was briefly a theater years later and closed again and is now for lease as part of the National Park Service historic leasing program.
Read more about the history of this building.
Did You Know?
The hot spring water at Hot Springs National Park becomes heated at a depth of approximately one mile before beginning the journey back to the surface through a fault. | <urn:uuid:efe95a94-73f3-44e9-bede-211eabb50ed0> | CC-MAIN-2014-10 | http://www.nps.gov/hosp/photosmultimedia/hale-bathhouse-video.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2014-10/segments/1393999675924/warc/CC-MAIN-20140305060755-00089-ip-10-183-142-35.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.988686 | 343 | 2.515625 | 3 |
Hearing loss is a common part of aging, and typically occurs gradually over time. The National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD) reports that about 25 percent of those between the ages of 65 and 74 experience hearing loss.
It may be common, but does that mean it is irreversible? Even if we can slow the decline, or, better yet, reverse the condition, it sure would be a gift for millions of people.
There are many causes of hearing loss, and many ways to address these. Blood sugar, blood pressure, high cholesterol and nerve aging may all play a role.
In this webinar, we’ll take a deep look at herbal remedies and other supplements, plus traditional therapies from naturopathy, Ayurveda and Chinese medicine to improve hearing. | <urn:uuid:601333d1-3195-4553-9055-e5a8a2b0a7a5> | CC-MAIN-2020-16 | https://internationalintegrative.com/shop/natural-remedies-for-hearing-loss/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2020-16/segments/1585370529375.49/warc/CC-MAIN-20200405053120-20200405083120-00247.warc.gz | en | 0.937024 | 166 | 2.546875 | 3 |
Research reveals more about TRAPPIST-1 planets, and the possibility of life
A series of four studies have shed new light on the properties of the TRAPPIST-1 planetary system, currently our most optimal hope for evidence of biological life beyond the Solar system.
Since the extent of the TRAPPIST-1 planetary system was revealed in February 2017, it has captured the imagination of people the world over.
The new studies, including papers published today in Nature Astronomy and Astronomy and Astrophysics, are the result of researchers working to better characterise the planets and collect more information about them.
The international team first refined the properties of the star at the centre of the system, and secondly improved the measurements of the planets' radii. A third study offers better estimates than ever for the planets' masses while in the fourth study the team performed reconnaissance observations of the planets' atmospheres.
The four international studies were produced in collaboration with University of Birmingham astronomer Dr Amaury Triaud. He explains, "After discovering this incredible planetary system our team was extremely eager to know more about TRAPPIST-1. A year on, we are reporting our results. Thanks to our efforts the TRAPPIST-1 planets are becoming the best studied worlds outside the Solar system."
The team found that all seven planets are mostly made of rock, with up to 5 percent of their mass in water - a significant amount. By comparison, our Earth's oceans account for only 0.02 percent of our planet's mass.
In addition, five of the planets appear devoid of an atmosphere made of Hydrogen and Helium, like for Neptune or Uranus. This new information reinforces the notion that the seven planets of TRAPPIST-1 are similar to the rocky worlds of the Solar system in many ways.
The form that water takes on TRAPPIST-1 planets would depend on the amount of heat they receive from their star, which is a mere 9 percent as heavy as our Sun.
The seven planets are considered temperate, meaning that under certain geological and atmospheric conditions, all could possess conditions allowing water to remain liquid. Work, including the team's series of results, is now proceeding to pinpoint which of these temperate planets are most likely to be habitable.
Of the seven, TRAPPIST-1e, the fourth from the star, is currently the most akin to Earth although much remains to be known, notably the conditions at the surface, and whether it holds an atmosphere.
Dr Triaud continues, "When we combine our new masses with our improved radii measurements, and our improve knowledge of the star, we obtain precise densities for each of the seven worlds, and reach information on their internal composition. All seven planets remarkably resemble Mercury, Venus, our Earth, its Moon, and Mars."
Professor Brice-Olivier Demory, co-author at the University of Bern, added, "Densities, while important clues to the planets' compositions, do not say anything about habitability. However, our study is an important step forward as we continue to explore whether these planets could support life."
As part of this series of work, the team used the Hubble Space Telescope while the planets passed in front of their star, attempting to catch minute signals while starlight interacts with the planets' atmospheres.
Their careful measurements found no evidence for hydrogen-dominated atmospheres on planets TRAPPIST-1d, e and f (b and c were done last year) although the hydrogen-dominated atmosphere cannot be ruled out for g. So far, the collected data is still consistent with, but cannot confirm whether the planets have atmospheres similar to Venus, or Earth. This identification will be carried out by new observations.
"Hubble is doing the preliminary reconnaissance work so that astronomers using Webb know where to start," said Nikole Lewis of the Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI) in Baltimore, Maryland, co-leader of the Hubble study. "Eliminating one possible scenario for the makeup of these atmospheres allows the Webb telescope astronomers to plan their observation programs to look for other possible scenarios for the composition of these atmospheres."
What is TRAPPIST-1?
TRAPPIST-1 is named for the Transiting Planets and Planetesimals Small Telescope (TRAPPIST) in Chile, which discovered two of the seven planets we know of today—announced in 2016. NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope, in collaboration with ground-based telescopes, confirmed these planets and uncovered the other five in the system. Since then, NASA's Kepler space telescope also observed the TRAPPIST-1 system, and Spitzer collected additional data. This new body of data helped the team paint a clearer picture of the system than ever before—although there is still much more to learn about TRAPPIST-1.
The TRAPPIST-1 planets huddle so close to one another that a person standing on the surface of one of these worlds would have a spectacular view of the neighbouring planets in the sky, which would sometimes appear larger than the Moon looks to an observer on Earth. They may also be tidally locked, meaning the same side of the planet is always facing the star, and each side is in perpetual day or night. Although the planets are all closer to their star than Mercury is to the Sun, TRAPPIST-1 is such a cool star that its planets are temperate.
What might these planets be like?
It is impossible to know exactly how each planet looks, because they are so far away. In our own solar system, the Moon and Mars have nearly the same density, yet their surfaces appear entirely different.
Based on available data, here are scientists' best guesses about the appearances of the planets:
TRAPPIST-1b, the innermost planet, is likely to have a rocky core, surrounded by an atmosphere much thicker than Earth's. TRAPPIST-1c also likely has a rocky interior, but with a thinner atmosphere than planet b. TRAPPIST-1d, meanwhile, is the lightest of the planets—about 30 percent the mass of Earth. Scientists are uncertain whether it has a large atmosphere, an ocean or an ice layer—all three of these would give the planet an "envelope" of volatile substances that would make sense for a planet of its density.
Scientists were surprised that TRAPPIST-1e is the only planet in the system slightly denser than Earth, suggesting it may have a denser iron core than our home planet. Like TRAPPIST-1c, it does not necessarily have a thick atmosphere, ocean or ice layer—making these two planets distinct in the system. It is mysterious why TRAPPIST-1e is so much rockier in its composition than the rest of the planets. In terms of size, density and the amount of radiation it receives from its star, this is the most similar planet to Earth.
TRAPPIST-1f, g and h are far enough from the host star that water could be frozen as ice across these surfaces. If they have thin atmospheres, they would be unlikely to contain the heavy molecules of Earth such as carbon dioxide.
How do we know?
Scientists are able to calculate the densities of the planets because they happen to be lined up such that when they pass in front of their star, our Earth and space-based telescopes detect a dimming of its light. This is called a transit. The amount by which the starlight dims is related to the radius of the planet.
To get the density, scientists take advantage of what is called "transit timing variations."
If there were no other gravitational forces on a transiting planet, it would always cross in front of its host star in the same amount of time—for example, Earth orbits the Sun every 365 days, which is how we define one year. But because the TRAPPIST-1 planets are packed so close together, they change the timing of each other's "years" ever so slightly. Those variations in orbital timing are used to estimate the planets' masses. Then, mass and radius are used to calculate density.
The next step in exploring TRAPPIST-1 will be NASA's James Webb Space Telescope, which will be able to delve into the question of whether these planets have atmospheres and, if so, what those atmospheres are like, and whether they allow adequate surface conditions to permit liquid water.
The nature of the TRAPPIST-1 exoplanets: www.eso.org/public/archives/re … eso1805/eso1805a.pdf | <urn:uuid:0a784501-e605-4177-823c-cee11208d93d> | CC-MAIN-2020-29 | https://phys.org/news/2018-02-reveals-trappist-planets-possibility-life.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2020-29/segments/1593655897027.14/warc/CC-MAIN-20200708124912-20200708154912-00058.warc.gz | en | 0.94217 | 1,773 | 3.8125 | 4 |
St. Teresa of Avila Roman Catholic Church dates back to the population explosion and development of the Yeatman estate after the Civil War in 1866. The present church dates from 1900, and as usual, defies the normal classification of architectural styles. The church, particularly the façade, reminds me of the Roman Baroque, but there are still Romanesque Revival elements. St. Teresa of Avila is perhaps most famous for her rendering by the Baroque sculptor and architect Gianlorenzo Bernini in the Cornaro Chapel.
The front is dominated by the massive Ionic order pilasters, and the whole church is set back from Grand Boulevard, giving it a stately setting. When St. Bridget of Erin was closed, the two names were combined into one parish, creating Sts. Teresa and Bridget.
This historic photograph shows the perhaps nonconventional interior; there is no Romanesque barrel vault as would be expected as one sees at St. Anthony of Padua (which isn’t a true example, anyway).
The towers are octagonal, which is common in St. Louis churches.
The church stretches far back in the block; there was once a convent and school but they were torn down in the 1970s. I wonder what is going on with the shingles on the wall of the nave above the roof of the apse. | <urn:uuid:310e1762-f308-498d-bf1c-c4f8635a835b> | CC-MAIN-2023-40 | https://stlouispatina.com/sts-teresa-and-bridget-roman-catholic-church-revisited/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2023-40/segments/1695233506429.78/warc/CC-MAIN-20230922234442-20230923024442-00490.warc.gz | en | 0.97224 | 290 | 2.859375 | 3 |
The parea is found only on the Chatham Islands. It is even larger than the mainland’s kererū, and was close to extinction in the 1980s. Numbers are slowly increasing, thanks to predator control, and forests being restored and protected from stock. Parea and kererū help the bush regenerate by spreading seeds from the fruit they eat.
Using this item
Department of Conservation
Photograph by J. L. Kendrick
This item has been provided for private study purposes (such as school projects, family and local history research) and any published reproduction (print or electronic) may infringe copyright law. It is the responsibility of the user of any material to obtain clearance from the copyright holder. | <urn:uuid:b7be922e-1609-488c-949b-dec250886cd3> | CC-MAIN-2023-40 | https://teara.govt.nz/en/photograph/10572/parea | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2023-40/segments/1695233510481.79/warc/CC-MAIN-20230929022639-20230929052639-00528.warc.gz | en | 0.947579 | 152 | 3.28125 | 3 |
Northern Water Snake (Nerodia sipedon)
Northern water snakes are one of the most common large snakes in Connecticut. They are often confused
with other species such as the venomous water moccasin or copperhead. The variable outward appearance of this water snake is not helpful in identifying the species from afar. Most adults have a darker color and are often coated with silt to help them bask and soak up the sun or aid them in hiding. When swimming, the light and dark bands of the snake on the rippled surface of the water may obscure the snake’s shape, so it is not clearly recognizable to predators.
In the New England Farmyard at Connecticut’s Beardsley Zoo, visit our Connecticut Reptile House, where you will find a variety of reptiles found throughout the state, including the northern water snake.
The northern water snake is very stout and is about 30-40 inches long. Varying in color and pattern, they are usually seen in tan or brown with dark bands on the backs and sides. Their bellies are often cream colored in patterns, but may come in other variations such as orange or yellow. When handled, these snakes will sometimes release a musky smelling substance.
Almost always found in or next to water. They prefer weak currents but can swim just as easily in a swift current. They are active during the day and night, and have been seen basking near their water source.
Found throughout the northeastern United States as far south as the Carolinas and as far west as Colorado.
Small fish, frogs, toads, and salamanders.
Up to 10 years in captivity.
Males are able to reproduce after approx. 21 months. Females, however, do not reach sexual maturity until their third year. Gestation can last from 3-5 months. Unlike many snakes, Northern water snakes are live-bearers, meaning they do not lay eggs. A female may give birth to as many as 60 young at a time, depending on her size. Offspring are usually born between August and October and are on their own after birth.
3rd Annual Animal Art Show & Sale
6pm - 9pm
December 10 & 11
10:30am - 11:15am
We are open...
9am to 4pm every day except Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year's Day
Connecticut's Beardsley Zoo
1875 Noble Avenue
Bridgeport, CT 06610
Main Number: (203) 394-6565 | <urn:uuid:76c3ae54-1c0e-4e65-969d-dd9e54509775> | CC-MAIN-2013-48 | http://beardsleyzoo.org/watersnake-fk1 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-48/segments/1386163837672/warc/CC-MAIN-20131204133037-00095-ip-10-33-133-15.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.966834 | 521 | 3.421875 | 3 |
Visitors to Green Hedges often are a bit surprised, and curious, to know why we teach French starting with our youngest students in Montessori. Our founders, the Kilmers, wanted to ensure that foreign languages started at an early age, along with the arts including music instruction and poetry. The choice of French was because they had very meaningful ties to France—Frances Kilmer was the daughter of prominent Impressionist painter Frederick Frieseke and spent her childhood in France, immersed in the study of music, literature, art and language. The Kilmers met in France for the first time in 1934.
This early introduction of French is the foundation for our world language curriculum. French instruction begins with our Montessori students at age 3 and continues through Grade 8. Why start early? Younger children are still honing their first language by mimicking what they hear and making sense of speech patterns. Therefore, they are well positioned to exercise those same skills to acquire a second language. And, unlike adults, they aren’t embarrassed when they make a mistake.
In Grade 5, our students have the opportunity to continue their instruction in French or switch to Spanish. Regardless of their choice, we add Latin instruction in Grade 6 for all students to provide additional depth. On average, our students move on to high school having attained the equivalent of two years of high school foreign language credit.
Just as we introduce world languages at an early age, we do the same with music for much the same reason. “Research has found that learning music facilitates learning other subjects and enhances skills that children inevitably use in other areas,” according to an article on pbs.org.
Music also helps in language development and is similar to learning another language. Music has its own vocabulary (the notes), syntax (the staff and measures), and grammar rules (time signatures, key notations, etc.). At Green Hedges, our students begin music class at age 3 and our French teachers often enhance the learning of the language in Montessori through the use of songs and music.
In Grade 3, each student learns to read music and play in a group setting through our recorder program. At the end of their Grade 3 year, with guidance from the Band Director, each student chooses an instrument for concert band instruction in subsequent years. All students participate in concert band through Grade 8, and many of our Middle School students also join the GHS Jazz Band whose performances are a staple at numerous Vienna community events.
Seventy five years ago, the Kilmers made a conscious effort to make the languages, music and the arts an important part of their curriculum. They intuitively realized what has been proven by recent research: there is strong overlap between these areas that benefits learning in each of them. There are long-term benefits of unifying the arts and academics to create well-rounded students and we continue to carry out these principles today. | <urn:uuid:01ba24ba-e547-4ae9-b54b-a68d0ab3c4ca> | CC-MAIN-2020-05 | https://www.greenhedges.org/lingual-musical-minds-giving-kids-joy-power-language-music/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2020-05/segments/1579250591431.4/warc/CC-MAIN-20200117234621-20200118022621-00466.warc.gz | en | 0.969238 | 595 | 3.203125 | 3 |
But what few people know is that Dickens had a very specific model in mind for his famous skinflint.
Ebenezer Scrooge has the following exchange with the charity collectors who call at the premises of Scrooge & Marley on that fateful Christmas Eve:
The inspiration for this chilling philosophy was drawn from the writings of the English political economist, Thomas Malthus (1766-1834), who wrote one of the longest-titled books in the history of publishing, to wit: An Essay on the Principle of Population or a View of its Past and Present Effects on Human Happiness with an enquiry into Our Prospects Respecting the Future Removal of the Evils Which it Occasions.
"At this festive season of the year, Mr Scrooge," said the gentleman, taking up a pen, "it is more than usually desirable that we should make some slight provision for the Poor and destitute, who suffer greatly at the present time. Many thousands are in want of common necessaries; hundreds of thousands are in want of common comforts, sir."
"Are there no prisons?" asked Scrooge.
"Plenty of prisons," said the gentleman, laying down the pen again.
"And the Union workhouses?" demanded Scrooge. "Are they still in operation?"
"They are. Still," returned the gentleman, "I wish I could say they were not."
"The Treadmill and the Poor Law are in full vigour, then?" said Scrooge.
"Both very busy, sir."
"Oh! I was afraid, from what you said at first, that something had occurred to stop them in their useful course," said Scrooge. "I'm very glad to hear it... I don't make merry myself at Christmas and I can't afford to make idle people merry. I help to support the establishments I have mentioned-they cost enough; and those who are badly off must go there."
"Many can't go there; and many would rather die."
"If they would rather die," said Scrooge, "they had better do it, and decrease the surplus population..."
Here's a sample of Malthus' gloomy speculation on the fate of humankind:
There are now those who believe that Dickens misunderstood and misrepresented Malthus' thinking and that the actions of Scrooge or any man - mean or generous - can no more affect the fate of humanity than they can alter the rising and falling of the tide.
The power of population is so superior to the power of the earth to produce subsistence for man, that premature death must in some shape or other visit the human race.
The vices of mankind are active and able ministers of depopulation. They are the precursors in the great army of destruction, and often finish the dreadful work themselves. But should they fail in this war of extermination, sickly seasons, epidemics, pestilence, and plague advance in terrific array, and sweep off their thousands and tens of thousands.
But Dickens wanted to remind his readers that Christmas, more than anything else, was a time to consider the welfare of those less fortunate.
As his nephew, Fred, observes:
"...I have always thought of Christmas time, when it has come round - apart from the veneration due to its sacred name and origin, if anything belonging to it can be apart from that - as a good time; a kind, forgiving, charitable, pleasant time; the only time I know of, in the long calendar of the year, when men and women seem by one consent to open their shut-up hearts freely, and to think of people below them as if they really were fellow-passengers to the grave, and not another race of creatures bound on other journeys." | <urn:uuid:2345100f-07f8-484f-a4a8-4398cce25430> | CC-MAIN-2017-30 | http://briansibleysblog.blogspot.com/2007/12/humbuggery.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-30/segments/1500550977093.96/warc/CC-MAIN-20170728183650-20170728203650-00502.warc.gz | en | 0.974615 | 783 | 2.53125 | 3 |
Introduction to the role of universities in education
Education is the foundation for personal and professional growth, and universities play a vital role in shaping the minds of future generations. As an experienced educator, I have witnessed firsthand the transformative power of higher education.
In this article, we will delve into the history, importance, and challenges faced by universities, along with their role in shaping the future workforce. By understanding the key role that universities play in education, we can better appreciate their significance in society and explore ways to enhance their impact.
History and evolution of universities
Universities have a rich history that dates back centuries. The concept of organized higher education can be traced back to ancient civilizations, such as the University of Bologna, established in 1088.
These early institutions served as centers of learning, where students and scholars gathered to exchange knowledge and ideas. Over time, universities evolved to include a broader range of disciplines and expanded their reach across the globe.
The importance of universities in society
Universities hold a position of great importance in society. They serve as hubs of knowledge and learning, fostering intellectual curiosity and critical thinking among students.
In addition to imparting academic knowledge, universities also instill important life skills, such as communication, problem-solving, and teamwork. Furthermore, universities contribute to the cultural and social fabric of communities, hosting events, conducting research, and engaging with the public.
Universities as centers of knowledge and research
One of the primary roles of universities is to generate and disseminate knowledge through research.
Professors and researchers at universities conduct studies that advance our understanding of various fields, from medicine to technology to social sciences.
This research not only contributes to the body of knowledge but also has practical applications that benefit society as a whole. Universities also serve as platforms for collaboration, where experts from different disciplines can come together to tackle complex challenges.
The role of universities in shaping the future workforce
Universities play a crucial role in preparing students for the workforce. Through their diverse range of academic programs, universities provide students with the necessary knowledge and skills to excel in their chosen careers.
In addition, universities often offer internships and co-op programs that provide students with real-world experience and industry connections. This combination of theoretical learning and practical application equips graduates with the tools they need to succeed in the competitive job market.
Challenges faced by universities in the modern era
Despite their significant contributions, universities face various challenges in the modern era.
One of the primary challenges is the increasing cost of education, which makes higher education inaccessible for many individuals. Additionally, universities must adapt to the changing needs of the job market and integrate emerging technologies into their curriculum.
Moreover, universities must navigate the complexities of funding and resource allocation to ensure they can continue to provide high-quality education and research opportunities.
Innovations and reforms in university education
To address the challenges faced by universities, there have been ongoing innovations and reforms in university education. For instance, online learning platforms allow universities to reach a broader audience and provide flexible learning options.
Blended learning models, combining online and in-person instruction, have also gained popularity. Additionally, universities are incorporating interdisciplinary approaches to education, recognizing the interconnectedness of various fields and the need for collaboration.
The impact of technology on university education
Technology has had a profound impact on university education. Digital tools and platforms have revolutionized the way students learn and interact with course material.
Online resources, such as e-books and virtual libraries, have made information more accessible. Moreover, technology has enabled collaborative learning through online forums and video conferencing. However, it is essential to strike a balance between technology and traditional methods of instruction to ensure a well-rounded educational experience.
The future of universities in a changing world
As the world continues to evolve, universities must adapt to meet the changing needs of students and society. The future of universities lies in embracing innovation, promoting inclusivity, and fostering lifelong learning.
Universities have the opportunity to harness the power of cutting-edge technologies, including artificial intelligence and virtual reality, to elevate the educational journey.
Furthermore, universities must prioritize diversity and equity to ensure equal access to education for all individuals. By continuously evolving and innovating, universities can remain relevant and continue to fulfill their vital role in education.
In conclusion, universities play a pivotal role in education and society as a whole. They serve as centers of knowledge, research, and learning, shaping the future workforce and contributing to the betterment of society.
However, universities also face challenges in the modern era, which require innovative solutions and reforms. By embracing technology, promoting inclusivity, and adapting to the changing needs of the world, universities can ensure their continued relevance and impact. As educators, it is our responsibility to support and strengthen universities as they continue to nurture and inspire the minds of future generations.
If you found this article insightful, consider exploring more articles on education and the future of learning on our website. | <urn:uuid:bdef8e58-1c44-491c-897a-50fed54eb222> | CC-MAIN-2023-40 | https://vizintee.com/university/the-key-to-success-exploring-the-role-of-universities-in-education/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2023-40/segments/1695233506669.30/warc/CC-MAIN-20230924191454-20230924221454-00311.warc.gz | en | 0.944155 | 1,023 | 3.25 | 3 |
Are you overtraining, or not training enough?
Those who train too hard, too often are weakening due to overload of the nervous and immune systems. Furthermore, inadequate periods of recovery leading to ‘weakness windows’ during which they inevitably continue to train. The result is pain, reduced muscle fibre recruitment and an inability to perform basic tests of functional strength, such as the grip and jump tests. So we have active, seemingly fit people, perhaps with large muscles but who lack fundamental strength.
By contrast, those who do not move and do not lift, push or pull heavy objects, are weak due to muscle disuse. Muscles not used atrophy over time, the consequence being reduced strength as well as reduced tolerance to loading, the result often being tendon injuries.
The sweet spot is somewhere in the middle. Muscles that are trained but not overtrained are lean, strong and work well to keep us functional and protected. Correct strength training, according to Dr Phill Maffetone, should not result in soreness or fatigue. He proposes regular sets of only 6 compound exercises such as squats or lunges, performed slowly, using a weight 80% of a one-repetition maximum. Less is often more.
If you are training hard, but picking up strength related injuries, or not training enough, you may need help. Please give us a call on 01 2834303 to book an appointment to get proper guidance and treatment.
Mount Merrion Physiotherapy & Health, 105 Upper Trees Road, Mount Merrion, Co Dublin, A94RX70 | <urn:uuid:38b7a0d0-6df6-447f-a84e-02e53196b1be> | CC-MAIN-2020-10 | https://www.mmphysiotherapy.com/team-talk/are-you-overtraining-or-not-training-enough.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2020-10/segments/1581875143784.14/warc/CC-MAIN-20200218150621-20200218180621-00103.warc.gz | en | 0.964913 | 325 | 2.625 | 3 |
Fresh water is an essential resource for the generation of electricity. It is used for the production of high purity steam, condensate cooling, supply of domestic water and miscellaneous operations including dust suppression.
Vales Point Power Stations draws water for condensate cooling from Chain Valley Bay on Lake Macquarie.
A water reclamation plant was installed at Vales Point in 2008. The Vales Point water reclamation plant was awarded an Energy Supply Association of Australia Sustainable Practice Framework Award in the category Industry Innovation/Best Practice Community Consultation and Stakeholder Support. The plant reclaims water from treated sewage so it can be used in the demineralisation plant. This is saving up to 230 million litres of fresh water a year. | <urn:uuid:5d01eb5f-c945-43d0-8c02-52a57a59e055> | CC-MAIN-2020-05 | https://www.de.com.au/environment/water | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2020-05/segments/1579250601040.47/warc/CC-MAIN-20200120224950-20200121013950-00211.warc.gz | en | 0.916613 | 151 | 3 | 3 |
IT 210 Week 3 DQ 1 and DQ 2
This file of IT 210 Week 3 Discussion Questions consists of:
DQ 1: Review the definition of control structure on p. 45 in Extended Prelude to Programming: Concepts and Design (2nd ed.). Then, think about the pseudocode algorithm you would write for a simple task (making a peanut butter sandwich, for example) as well as three simple control structures that could be used to create this algorithm.
What do you think is the most difficult part of creating the algorithm?
What can you do to make this process easier?
DQ 2: How do you use the three basic control structures | <urn:uuid:994becd5-ae8e-4937-8ad1-b9385f984880> | CC-MAIN-2023-40 | https://essaylift.com/it-210-week-3-dq-1-and-dq-2/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2023-40/segments/1695233511002.91/warc/CC-MAIN-20231002164819-20231002194819-00652.warc.gz | en | 0.916759 | 135 | 2.515625 | 3 |
This town is named in one chronicle as the home of King Lot.
Dunbar | 400-600 AD
The territory of Dunbar was originally inhabited by Celtic Britons who were part of the Kingdom of Alt Clut, also known as the Kingdom of Strathclyde. Alt Clut was one of the Brittonic kingdoms that emerged after the decline of Roman rule in Britain.
The people of Alt Clut were Celtic Britons, who were part of the larger Brittonic-speaking population in the region. They shared cultural and linguistic connections with other Celtic groups in Wales, Cornwall, and Ireland.
During this period, Christianity began to spread in the Kingdom of Alt Clut. Christian missionaries, such as Saint Ninian, played a role in the conversion of the population to Christianity.
From the late eighth century onwards, Viking raids on coastal regions of Britain, including Alt Clut, increased. Viking invaders targeted monasteries and settlements along the coast, disrupting local life and trade. In the early medieval period, there were interactions between the people of Alt Clut and the neighboring Anglo-Saxon kingdoms, particularly Northumbria to the south. These interactions included both trade and conflict.
Dunbar was home to a royal residence during this period, which was used by the rulers of Alt Clut. The strategic location of Dunbar overlooking the North Sea coast made it a significant site for the rulers to maintain control over the region. Over time, the political boundaries of Alt Clut fluctuated due to interactions with neighboring kingdoms, including Northumbria and the expanding Kingdom of the Scots to the north and east.
John Hardyng’s Chronicle | John Hardyng, 1457–1464 | <urn:uuid:5fca9700-2bf8-4334-8d74-ce5cbb415539> | CC-MAIN-2023-40 | https://nightbringer.se/the-legend-of-king-arthur/arthurian-locations/d-arthurian-locations/dunbar/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2023-40/segments/1695233510225.44/warc/CC-MAIN-20230926211344-20230927001344-00149.warc.gz | en | 0.968535 | 349 | 3.828125 | 4 |
Understanding the phenomenon of parity inversion in beryllium-11: It has been known since 1960s that the spectrum of beryllium-11 (11Be) has peculiar features, namely, its weakly bound ground state has positive parity contrary to the standard shell model picture. Yet, a first-principles explanation of this phenomenon has been lacking. As reported in Physical Review Letters (2016), TRIUMF nuclear theorists investigated this nucleus ab initio and demonstrated that the inclusion of continuum effects is crucial for a description of the 11Be system. The results showed that the spectrum is extremely sensitive to the details of the nuclear two- and three-nucleon interactions and constitutes an important benchmark for future forces. In particular, the parity inversion of the bound states could be achieved only by a nuclear force that provides accurate predictions of nuclear radii and matter saturation properties. | <urn:uuid:1d2f11e6-2c46-4288-b976-22ff69ed1e22> | CC-MAIN-2023-14 | https://fiveyearplan.triumf.ca/nuclear-theory-research-group-understanding-the-phenomenon-of-parity-inversion-in-11be/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2023-14/segments/1679296949642.35/warc/CC-MAIN-20230331113819-20230331143819-00510.warc.gz | en | 0.935272 | 179 | 3.265625 | 3 |
With the challenges facing educators today, including virtual instruction, hybrid classrooms, high absenteeism, and teacher shortages, teachers have done what they can to keep students learning while supporting them in their social-emotional growth. But summer can be a top contributor to learning loss. Small actionable steps made this spring can positively impact the future of our students. As we approach this final quarter of the school year, let’s shift our focus to the future and prevent any additional summer learning loss.
Addressing learning loss and unfinished learning requires an instructional approach that prioritizes making grade level content accessible to all students by using differentiated, targeted supports embedded into the instruction.
In my classroom I use a variety of strategies to remediate learning by differentiating instruction and providing personalized, target supports to meet the needs of all students. Although there are an abundance of resources out there, here are three strategies that I use to analyze data, engage with students, and develop flexible systems to prepare for spring and summer learning loss. These are three strategies that I have used individually and in tandem with one another over the past year.
Fill in the Gaps
Purpose: This is a strategy that is designed to review assessment data and set goals for improvement and can be used with any grade level.
Using the strategy: I have utilized this strategy many times with my high school students where prior to (or after) an assessment, I have students review their own work. They look for patterns in where they struggled and develop a plan on how to master the topic. I offer ideas for the plan including videos (including YouTube, Khan Academy, self-made, or other), practice sites (IXL, Savvas, etc.) or teacher-created practice problems aligned to the topic. Students work through their planning feeling a sense of ownership as they check off the boxes and move towards their goal. This strategy supports students with the unfinished learning within a unit but I also use it as preparation for summer work or end-of-year goals. Students work through a practice end of course assessment to check for learning gaps and develop plans accordingly.
Where to find it: View the strategy here on the BetterLesson Lab to see additional resources including self assessment analysis forms and work plan template.
Spiraled Weekly Formative Assessment and Remediation
Purpose: This is a strategy that can be immediately implemented to support students with both learning loss and unfinished learning.
Using the strategy: In this strategy, you will spiral weekly formative assessments so that students are able to revisit, practice, and quickly remediate content that they have already learned. By revisiting topics that have been taught in the past, you will be able to track students’ progress and growth using the data from regular formative assessments. By spiraling the material into current formative assessments, students are able to practice, reinforce, or master content that they have learned throughout the year.
An extension that I have added to this strategy in my high school course is adding in a spiral review station to any station rotation activity. If students are working on stations around types of energy in my 9th grade physical science course, I will add one additional kinematics station to review these topics. This allows the students to practice skills that they previously learned and supports students with any learning loss.
Where to find it: View the strategy here on the BetterLesson Lab to see additional resources including a math example incorporating a spiral review.
Hyperdoc Pathway to Mastery
Purpose: This is a strategy that can be used for a variety of purposes but can support all students with learning loss and unfinished learning.
Using the strategy: Hyperdoc pathway to mastery gives the students ownership of the pace and of standards they need to master. This strategy works best in a competency-based progression so students can reach a point of awareness of specific competencies or standards that they have already mastered and that they have yet to master. Students work at their own pace or a small group to master competencies. The teacher can provide students with playlists or other hyperdocs to support students as they progress through the content. This strategy can support students with unfinished learning or learning loss by working in tandem with the Fill in the Gaps strategy. Depending on the students’ needs, the hyperdoc can be one (or more) of the assignments that students can work through as they fill in their gaps. This can also be used in the summer to support students with lessening the “summer slide.”
Where to find it: View the strategy here on the BetterLesson Lab to see additional resources including templates and pacing calendars.
Offering grace and providing additional learning times and options can support students close any academic gaps. As you think about your students and the individual needs that they have, I challenge you to try one new strategy in your classroom. Once you implement the strategy, measure the success and growth areas of the strategy by reflecting on the effectiveness.
To learn more and gain additional support on how you can support your students with unfinished learning and minimizing learning loss, explore the resources in our BetterLesson Lab or reach out to BetterLesson to learn more. | <urn:uuid:f6ea88ac-cafc-48f9-89e3-19e740a813ef> | CC-MAIN-2023-40 | https://betterlesson.com/blog/strategies-spring-learning-loss | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2023-40/segments/1695233508959.20/warc/CC-MAIN-20230925083430-20230925113430-00589.warc.gz | en | 0.955571 | 1,053 | 3.046875 | 3 |
The past few months saw a devastating drought crawl across the United States, leaving withered plants and worried farmers in its wake.
Record temperatures and little to no rainfall left huge swathes of the country with water shortages, and agriculture took a dire blow. Key crops such as corn and soybeans were hit hardest, with 88% of corn affected.
For the countless workers whose livelihoods depend on these crops, the drought brought a desperate mood. It’s easy to get caught up in statistics and the big picture and forget the individual, but for each farm that suffers, so does a family.
The damage has not merely been limited to farmers, either. A drop in key agricultural production sends violent shocks cascading throughout the entire system.
In July, corn prices increased by more than 30% . Everyone from farmers purchasing animal feed to people shopping in grocery stores will feel the effects of that rise.
The average American already spends around 13% of their annual income on food, with poorer families spending up to 17%. So as with anything increasing the cost of living, high food prices will hurt the poorest people the most. And because 53% of global corn exports and 43% of soybean exports come from the U.S., the rest of the world will also feel the pain of rising prices - never mind that they have to deal with their own extreme weather.
The beginning of the year already saw rising food prices cause a food crisis in parts of Africa that affected more than 18 million people. Around a billion people worldwide are starving or malnourished. Extreme weather will only worsen the problem.
The New Normal
The heat wave this summer is not unprecedented, nor is it the worst drought on record (merely the worst in over five decades). What it is, though, is the shape of things to come.
As climate change intensifies, droughts and heat waves like the one this summer will become more common and more intense. Horrific heat waves and water shortages will become the “new normal.”
Not only will this devastate the livelihoods of the farmers and cause billions of dollars in economic damage, it will cause food prices to rise to dangerously high levels, and if it continues, it will lead to mass starvation. Ground water is already being depleted faster than it is being replenished all over the United States. That, combined with rapidly retreating glaciers, will make the effects of the droughts that much worse.
And the United States is not alone - climate change is a global phenomenon. Whereas the United States infrastructure can mitigate some of the problems, many countries all over the world, especially in the third world, will have a much more difficult time. Droughts and other blows to agriculture will be even more catastrophic. It’s hard to estimate how bad it will be and how many people will die as a result, but by all estimates the effects will be chilling to witness. Already, “normal” is being adjusted. An analysis of storm-related disasters shows they’ve been on the rise, from around 133 per year in the 1980s to more than 350 per year now
Why Isn’t Green Change Happening?
Despite the best efforts of the environmentalist movements, climate change is not slowing down; it is accelerating. Carbon dioxide emissions continue to rise, and a variety of natural feedback mechanisms will only compound the problem. As the ocean slows its absorption of heat and greenhouse gases, as the arctic permafrost melts (releasing around 1500 billion tons of methane and reflecting less sunlight), and as deforestation continues, climate change will intensify.
On the world stage, there has been failure after failure as bickering capitalist nations refuse to come to any real, binding agreement that would make even a fraction of the progress needed to end carbon dioxide emissions. While most governments seem to love to espouse flowery rhetoric about reducing emissions and changing paradigms, any agreements reached are either couched in terms of vague promises or are postponed until the distant future.
Several conferences have ended in such inadequate messes, with the most recent being Rio+20. There, the 190 governments participating reached no agreement that will even slightly mitigate climate change.
Recent events, such as a heat wave in July causing 97% of the surface ice of Greenland to begin to melt (compared to the usual 40%), or the fact that Arctic Sea ice is once again startlingly below average should serve as reminders to us all that real action needs to be taken.
In the U.S., the Republicans clearly aren’t concerned about climate change. Some don’t even acknowledge its existence. One might hope they would deny the existence of other theories with comparable evidence and then attempt to fly off a tall building after claiming disbelief of gravity. Those that do admit climate change is real either dismiss it as a minor concern or some sort of natural variation. Even when the U.S. faced 14 billion-dollar disasters in 2011, Republicans continued to rail against green technology.
Many people then look to the Democratic Party for solutions to climate change. Indeed, many Democrats like to talk about sustainability, green technology, and saving the environment. Like the Rio+20 conference, some Democrats are willing to issue poetic manifestos about stopping climate change and “going green.” They are not, however, willing to pass rules or regulations that have any real effect on carbon dioxide emissions, never mind other types of pollution.
For example, Obama’s approval of the southern portion of the Keystone XL pipeline clearly reveals his true colors. BP’s criminal negligence of safety features caused the Deepwater Horizon rig to explode, murdering 11 workers and causing the infamous catastrophic oil spill that did billions of dollars in damage. Obama, however, still not only takes campaign contributions from BP and other oil companies, in 2010 he opened a massive swathe of the U.S. coast to offshore drilling.
Meanwhile, subsidies and tax breaks for fossil fuel companies continue to hover around $70 billion, even as the corporations receiving them rake in record profits. The Democratic Party has made no meaningful effort to move the country towards carbon-free power. U.S. carbon dioxide emissions continue to rise.
What are the Solutions?
The truth is, both the Republicans and the Democrats are in the pockets of the corporations and the ultra-rich who are responsible for most pollution worldwide. Similar patterns can be seen all over the world. No capitalist politicians are going to stop climate change. They rely far too much on the campaign contributions of the fossil fuel industries, and the revolving door between the regulatory bodies and the industries they’re supposed to regulate continues to give corporations free reign to ravage the environment. There’s more money right now in gutting the planet, and not much in saving it.
Historically, change has come not by electing the right people, but by forcing the government’s hand through mass movements and popular pressure. Major environmental reforms were made under President Nixon - not because he was an environmentalist, but because of the protests at the time. Other examples can be seen in the labor, anti-war, civil rights, and women’s rights movements. The greatest reforms were made not through elections, but through protest, civil disobedience, strikes, and other tactics.
The solutions to end climate change already exist. We have the technology to build the zero-carbon energy sources we need, to develop clean energy transport (including streetcars, light rail, intercity rail, and major expansion of freight on rail), to retro-fit and build energy efficient buildings, and to drastically reduce the waste of resources and energy in producing our needs. All theses change will make life better and healthier for people and benefit the environment.
We have the labor, too - unemployment could be ended if people were put directly to work in a green jobs program. A jobs program reworking transportation infrastructure alone could provide 7 million jobs (enough to put back to work everyone who lost a job in the 2008 economic crisis).
The problem has never been scientific or physical; it has always been about politics and economics. The ultra-rich and corporations in the U.S. hold the vast majority of the wealth. Through that wealth, they buy power, but only if we let them. If we refuse to play by their rules, if we take direct action and are ceaseless in our efforts, we can not just mitigate, but actually stop climate change. But we need to act soon.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2012/jun/23/rio-20-earth-summit-document [rio +20] | <urn:uuid:2c91ba12-25ac-439c-8598-960993c32f9c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://socialistalternative.org/news/article19.php?id=1934 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706472050/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516121432-00080-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.941033 | 1,775 | 3.234375 | 3 |
In the Genesis creation accounts there are certain discrepancies- if read wrongly. The first two chapters of Genesis defy a wooden literal interpretation, not because they disagree with science but because they disagree with each other. Considering how well thought out that these chapters are this is not an oversight. Every letter has been carefully arranged, there are equidistant letter codes in the bible and in Genesis. In the original Hebrew going to the first letter "T"- Hebrew Tau- then counting an interval of forty-nine letters and taking the fiftieth then repeating the procedure until there are four Hebrew letters, the word TORAH is spelt, (in Hebrew this uses four letters not five). Torah is the name for the first five books of the bible. This is no coincidence and is true for the next book Exodus. In the third book Leviticus this is not the case, however the name of God, YHWH, is codified this way. In the fourth and fifth books, Numbers and Deuteronomy, the word TORAH is spelt backward in this equidistant letter spacing code. So the central book acts as the mirror line and there is a composed symmetry with the Law, (Torah), always pointing to the name of God. In the Hebrew numbers have meaning aside from the numerical value. The number seven means completeness, fullness, so forty-nine being seven sevens is very special. Refer to the book Cosmic Codes, by Chuck Missler, pages 126-129, copyright 1999 by Koinonia House.
The chapters of Genesis have been composed with a lot of care to arrange to such a high degree of structure and wording. There is certainly not going to be simple mistakes at the first level of reading. In chapter six there was the story of The Scientist, The Fundamental Biblical Literalist and Aesop's fable- The Tortoise and the Hare; this illustrated two ways of interpreting the fable of which both were wrong. The fable is never meant to be interpreted in either way. To interpret in such ways corrupts the meaning of the fable. This blatant example is used to shed light on the issue of Genesis and its interpretation that is subject to the same misinterpreting, but apparently not so obviously. The material of Genesis is not intended to be read in such a way as to contradict itself; this shows a dogmatic, hard literalistic approach to be wrong. The Genesis accounts only from the scientific standpoint would show them to be wrong. The Genesis accounts are not wrong. The Genesis accounts from a rigid literalistic belief system would attribute being correct to them but the reader would largely be wrong, what could be gained from this type of reading would be limited; there would be difficulty in explaining the apparent contradictions. The reader in this way either denies any contradictions or says that it is true but it is a mystery of God just how. At worst the reader would have to confabulate about the discrepancies. Often they do.
According to the first account in Genesis the creation of man was on the sixth day Gen. 1:26-31. In the second account man was made in the day God made the earth and the heavens Gen 2:4-7, which according to the first account, the heavens were made on the second day and the earth on the third, (although the earth existed as water before this). There is confusion (with a fundamental literal approach) as to what day man was made, the third day or the sixth?
The order when plants, animals and man are made also varies between the two records. In chapter two God forms man from the earth then causes plants to grow and then forms the animals, after this God makes woman from the rib of the man. In chapter one God creates man, both male and female last on the sixth day; the plants were already made on the third day, the sea creatures and birds were made on the fifth day and on the sixth the animals of the earth were made before man was. Was man made before or after the other creatures?
Examination of these chapters shows there are two different creations accounts, each a unit in their own right bridged together by verse 2.4. Genesis 1:1-2.4a makes up one unit and Genesis 2:4-2.25 makes up the next although it carries onto the next chapter with the fall of man and banishment from the Garden of Eden, and the generations and history of man.
It is not that the narratives conflict with each other they are just dealing with different concerns and expressing these concerns in a different manner to one another. Truths formulated into poetry, stories or lyrics are still valid even though the formats are different to each other, as they are to mathematics or philosophy for example.
The first unit has a profound and solemn form of declaration, a creation hymn celebrating the utterly transcendent God ordering into existence, with a word, creation. God works in creation giving form, structure and order more and more until the creation of human beings in the image and likeness of God, and then God rests on the seventh day. The important truths are theological and spiritual. It was written in an age of polytheism with the surrounding cultures having diverse religious beliefs. When the Zoroastrian religion worshipped light Genesis said light was only something created by God. When the earth and its fertility was worshipped the narrative said the earth was made by God and endowed by God with fertility, certainly not to be worshipped nor were temple prostitutes and other fertility rites true worship. Some worshipped the stars and other astral bodies, Genesis said God created the stars, the moon and the sun for the roles they had and were not God and as such were not to be idolized. When the ancient kings set up statues in their likeness to represent them in remote parts of their kingdoms Genesis said man was the image and likeness of God, not stone or wood, these things are not to have obeisance done to them. While some worshipped their own might or the greater human collective-Hab.1:11 "…guilty men, whose own might is their god!" - Genesis said that God had made and created people and so people are not God.
It is thought that this first part of Genesis was composed in refutation of the practices of the surrounding nations. The sequence of creation is strikingly similar to the Babylonian creation myth just as the theology is strikingly different. It is supposed the Babylonian myth or one like it was known to the authors of Genesis, and was reworked to be theologically correct. While other creation myths had a warrior deity battling chaos and hence creation arose, Genesis chapter one has sovereign God creating out of nothing that which is- a unique concept among that time. The use of this mythic format made for a parody, a spoof, on the incorrect pagan myths.
The second creation account in the next chapter uses other words to say God, often translated as Lord God; it is a singular, so again to the writers of Genesis it was God's own doing and intent in the creation of man and the universe. In order to remain accurate and true there is difficulty in Genesis, considering things outside our time zone and dimensions are being dealt with as well as our own then this is no surprise.
The second creation account differs in the vocabulary used and style of narration. It is a creation story dealing with aspects of human life to God, to one another and to the rest of creation. Man's role is as a guardian and servant placed in the Garden of Eden. Whereas in the first account man is the crown of creation having dominion and authority, created last as the climax of creation the second stresses a more holistic view of man as a center of a circle, an ecological existence. Man is defined by relationships. It is not a scientific account except in extremely broad terms- man made from mud and some geological points of interest in a certain land.
The truths are spiritual truths presented through the medium of a story. After the stage is set with man and woman placed in the utopian existence of the Garden of Eden the story goes on to say how a perfect existence became imperfect. The anomaly and ambiguity of life where good comes with evil, the habitat is hostile bringing up thorns, where food comes with bad toil and children are delivered in pain.
From the two accounts we know there is a complexity to human beings:
· Formed out of mud
· Made in the image and likeness of God
· Created male and female
· Containing the breath of life from God
· Related to the rest of creation and
· Set apart from the rest of creation
· Master of the earth and
· Servant of the earth
In both units man is special compared to the animals. In the first unit it is the earth that brings forth the animals at God's say so but God himself makes man. In the second unit God forms both man and animals from the earth but only man has God breathing life into man so that man becomes a living being.
A difficulty of this first Genesis account is the use by God of the plurals "us" and "our" when he decides to make man in God's own image and likeness. One explanation put forward for the use of the plurals is that it is a literary device to build the tension and show how momentous this next step as God comes to a big decision after a deliberation within himself Another explanation put forward that the use of plurals are a royal we but mean the singular, just like the Queen of England uses we in her speeches but is referring to herself. The word used for God in chapter one is Elohim, which literally translated means, Gods, however in the passage it is mainly treated as a singular. Christians were later to see the use of the plurals as being the trinity. These are a backward projection from another time and culture and are not the reason for the plurals. Actually there were other entities in existence at this stage; Psalm 82 has God passing judgment upon the gods of the divine council, Psalm 89:5-7 refers to an assembly of heavenly beings, of holy ones in a divine council. It would appear that in Genesis chapter one God operated through this heavenly court in the creation of man, the use of the terms "Gods" (Elohim), "us" and "our" reflect this. The terms and titles used for God denote the particular mode of operation or attributes of God relevant to the passage. The bible is quite clear to the existence of angelic entities yet Genesis does not record the creation of the angels, (unless the creation of the stars signifies this in that case it is not a literal interpretation). The second chapter also does not mention the angels as such but we know that the serpent is the Devil, a fallen angel, so again the true interpretation is not via a literal one. The issue of God/gods and explaining the plurals warrants a fuller explanation and is the next chapter.
This is not a full exegesis of these chapters but attention is drawn to the differences between the two accounts and apparent clashing on several points of what is said in each. This is done to highlight the need to read the chapters, as elsewhere of the bible, in a way relevant to drawing out what is said by how it is said. A dogmatic clinging to a literal absolute would have the chapters repudiating each other. | <urn:uuid:e3997d2c-b41c-40a7-ab3f-402b0b26988a> | CC-MAIN-2017-43 | http://smashingthegods.com/chapter7.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-43/segments/1508187825510.59/warc/CC-MAIN-20171023020721-20171023040721-00224.warc.gz | en | 0.967798 | 2,323 | 3 | 3 |
A science and an art
What causes macaroni to be hollow and curved? How are all those other shapes from alphabets to ziti made? Pasta manufacturing is both science and art. Let's start our plant tour outside on the loading dock where trucks or railroad cars deliver the coarse semolina flour that has been milled from durum wheat. A special vacuum hose pulls the wheat flour inside the plant and places it in gigantic bins. Small plant purchase the wheat flour in huge bags.
Let's step inside and follow the semolina to see how it becomes pasta. You won't need a jacket because the temperature in a pasta plant can sometimes be as high as 100 degrees! (You will find out why later.)
Under carefully controlled conditions, the wheat flour is mixed with water under vacuum in a huge industrial mixer to form a tough dough. For some products, eggs and natural flavorings, such as spinach and tomato powders, are added at this time.
Once it has reached the perfect consistency, the dough is ready for shaping. Most pasta shapes result when the dough is force or "extruded" through "dies," large metal discs full of holes. Since these dies can weigh from 300 to 350 pounds each, special cranes or carts are needed to hoist them into position.
The size and shape of the holes in these dies determines what the finished pasta shape will be. Round or oval holes produce solid rods, such as vermicelli and spaghetti. When a steel pin is placed in the center of each hole in the die, the dough comes out in hollow rods, such as macaroni. To give macaroni its curved shape, the pin has a notch in one side. This allows the dough to pass through more quickly on one side, causing it to curve before it is cut to size with a revolving knife.
Other pasta shapes are cut out of flat sheets of dough, such as noodles or bow ties. In fact, bow ties are one of the most difficult shapes to make, according to one expert US pasta manufacturer. This is because they are "stamped" out of the dough while simultaneously being crimped in the middle to create the bow shape. The dough must be neither too moist nor too dry or the bows will turn out lopsided.
Once the pasta is extruded, it is cut to the proper length and then begins its trip through the drying process. The machines that dry pasta can be up to 320 feet long -- about as long as a football field. (This is why you don't need that jacket!)
Drying is one of the most critical steps to achieving a perfect finished product. If the pasta is dried too quickly, it will break easily. If dried too slowly, it could spoil. Inside the dryers, the pasta is subjected to constantly circulating, very hot, moist air. Not surprisingly, different pasta shapes require different drying times according to their thickness. Today's high tech machines have come a long way from the early part of this century when pasta was hung on racks to dry outdoors in the sun. Then, a stretch of damp or rainy weather could seriously hamper a pasta maker's business!
The finished product is shuttled off to the plant's packaging area. Here, dexterous machines open brightly colored boxes which march by like toy soldiers to be filled and sealed. Other pasta shapes such as noodles whiz through a form-fill-and-seal machine which automatically creates a clear bag from a sheet of cellophane, drops in just the right amount of pasta, then seals it on its way to large shipping boxes. You might also see such delicate pasta specialty shapes as lasagne being packaged by hand to protect it from breakage.
The best part of any pasta tour, of course, is the trip to your own kitchen. By using different shapes, you can easily and quickly create an endless variety of delicious taste sensations. (And impress your friends and family with the true story of how pasta is made!)
And you'll see personalized content just for you whenever you click the My Feed .
SheKnows is making some changes! | <urn:uuid:f5c2ca5c-44d4-4cb3-a9a2-b10e63668c7b> | CC-MAIN-2017-43 | http://www.sheknows.com/food-and-recipes/articles/2638/how-pasta-is-made | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-43/segments/1508187824543.20/warc/CC-MAIN-20171021024136-20171021044136-00506.warc.gz | en | 0.955272 | 844 | 3.90625 | 4 |
Rail shipments allow cost effective movement of goods with less stress on the State's highway system as well as fewer emissions and less energy use. Major commodities shipped by rail include petrochemicals (including plastic pellets and crude oil), construction materials, food products, raw materials and finished goods for manufacturers.
New Jersey has approximately 1,000 miles of rail freight lines serving customers large
and small. Our state is served by short line regional and national railroads.
The New Jersey Department of Transportation (NJDOT) has a vital interest in preserving and improving the rail freight part
of its transportation network. NJDOT supports New Jersey's economic activity by providing a strong, multimodal transportation system that makes rail service available, safe and effective for as many businesses as possible through the following programs: | <urn:uuid:2e3689c7-02e3-46f4-8f9a-85f13e19edf1> | CC-MAIN-2017-26 | http://www.state.nj.us/transportation/freight/rail/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-26/segments/1498128320869.68/warc/CC-MAIN-20170626221252-20170627001252-00530.warc.gz | en | 0.969188 | 161 | 2.515625 | 3 |
HIV in US high down south
Recent estimates by the Center for Disease Control in the US has found nearly half of all new diagnoses of HIV/AIDS occur in nine southern states.
The states of Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee also make the region which has the highest level in the country of people living with and dying from AIDS.
AIDS United vice president of policy and advocacy, Ronald Johnson, urged southern politicians to direct more research and attention to the issue.
"When it comes to living with HIV/AIDS, where you live should not affect how well you live," he said.
"Making sure that people living with or affected by HIV/AIDS, especially those in the overburdened U.S. South, have access to crucial HIV prevention, care and treatment services should not be a partisan issue.
“The Members of Congress who join us today recognize this, and we ask for their help to increase awareness and spearhead research that will advance this important work."
Currently in the United States only 19 per cent of Americans living with HIV/AIDS are receiving the adequate care required to sustain and improve their lives.
The American Academy of HIV Medicine associates one of the causes of this in the south with the uneven distribution in the region of the states’ 240 HIV specialists. | <urn:uuid:d493370a-6745-4c09-8b4c-bc7470c8949c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://gaynewsnetwork.com.au/news/northern-territory/7233-hiv-in-us-high-down-south.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699036375/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516101036-00066-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.955479 | 277 | 2.65625 | 3 |
Includes another comprehensive list of the stages of child development. Describes baby milestones and infant milestones form birth to five years of age. Also provides information on developmental delay and what parents can do to augment their child’s development.
Selected sites for popular topics
Below we list one highly recommended site for several of our most popular topics. See the list on the left for a complete listing of topics. Click on a topic for a list of several sites.
Provides a month-by-month list of the stages of child development, from baby milestones to infant milestones up to five years of age. Also describes what parents can do to encourage proper linear development.
Provides detailed generic and prescription drug information for parents, students and professionals. Information on prescription and generic drugs includes medical uses, how to administer the medication, precautions, drug side effects and more. Find information on the drug Paxil, Lipitor, Zoloft or thousands more and the possible dangers in administering these drugs to children. Site offers prescription and generic drug identification and features such as a medical dictionary and encyclopedia.
Site’s Childhood Illness Index contains an alphabetical listing of childhood diseases, including chicken pox, thrush and ear infections. More specific information is also available, such as tips on fussy babies, and sleep problems.
Offers child immunization on specific vaccines such as chicken pox vaccine, pneumonia vaccine, and H. influenza b (flu) vaccine -- side effects, risks involved, disease information and other facts are provided. Features include video resources in Parents section, an immunization schedule and PDF files with printer-friendly formats.
Offers information about common dental problems for children. Gives information for parents about how to promote their children’s dental hygiene as well as who to seek for appropriate dental health services.
An article stressing the need for dental hygiene in children and providing statistics regarding common dental problems among youth. Offers recommendations regarding appropriate dental health care that children should be receiving. | <urn:uuid:43f7eb00-2e18-4ea8-ace6-bcb47636792b> | CC-MAIN-2014-35 | http://www.cfw.tufts.edu/?/category/medical/13/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2014-35/segments/1408500808153.1/warc/CC-MAIN-20140820021328-00363-ip-10-180-136-8.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.903944 | 406 | 2.859375 | 3 |
Updated April 3, 2023
Introduction to Algorithm Library in C++
The library defines a large number of specific functions to be used in various elements at a time or a range. Like any other language, C++ also has a wide range of functions in a library. In this article, we are going to see the Algorithm library in C++. The algorithm library contains various functions, each has its own purpose. Let’s discuss those functions.
C++ Algorithm Library Functions
C++ algorithm library functions can be categorized into 4 different parts as follows:
- Modifying Sequence Operations
- Non-Modifying Sequence Operation
- Sorting Sequence Operations
- Heap Sequence Operation
Let’s discuss them in detail.
1. Modifying Sequence Operations
Some Modifying algorithm functions are given as follows:
- Copy: This function will copy the range of the element
- copy_n: This function will copy the n elements of the range
- copy_if: If a certain condition is met, the function copies the elements of the set.
- copy_backward: This function copies the element in a backward manner
- move: This function moves the range of the element
- move_backward: This function moves the range of elements in a backward manner
- swap: The function switches between the value of two objects.
- swap_ranges: This function will swap the Value of two different range
- iter_swap: The variable flips the related values of two iterators.
- Transform: All values are converted into an array by this function.
- Replace: In the range, this function will replace the value with the help of specific Value
- replace_if: If a certain condition is met, the function replaces the value of the array.
- replace_copy: The function copies the value range by replacing the element.
- replace_copy_if: If a certain condition is met, this function copies the range of values by replacing them by an element.
- Fill: The function fills the value with a value in the array.
- fill_n: This function fills the value in the Sequence manner
- generate: This function will generate the value for the range
- generate_n: This function is used to produce sequence values.
- Remove: This function is used to remove the value from the range
- remove_if: If a condition is achieved, the function removes the values from the range.
- remove_copy: By removing it, the function copies the values of the range.
- remove_copy_if: If a condition is fulfilled, the function copies the values of the array.
- Unique: This function will Identify the unique element of the range
- unique_copy: The function copies the Unique elements of the set.
- Reverse: This Function reverses the range of the element
- reverse_copy: The function reverse values to copy the range.
- Rotate: The feature rotates the array elements to the left.
- rotate_copy: It copies the elements of the left rotating array.
- random_shuffle: In this function, the range randomly shuffles
- shuffle: With the help of a generator the function forms the array randomly.
2. Non-Modifying Sequence Operation
Some non-modifying algorithm functions are given as follows:
- all_of: The following function checks all elements of the array for one condition.
- any_of: The following feature checks certain elements in the array or some of them
- none_of: This function will check if none of the elements followed the condition of not followed
- for_each: The function applies the operation to all scope components.
- Find: This function will find the value in the range
- find_if: Finds the function for an element in the range.
- find_if_not: The function finds a component within the range but the other way around as above.
- find_end: The function is used to return the range’s last component.
- find_first_of: For the item that satisfies a condition, the function finds and occurs at first.
- adjacent_find: This function search and finds the equal and adjacent element in the range
- count: In the range, this function returns the count value.
- count_if: The function returns the number of values that a condition satisfies.
- Mismatch: The function returns the value of the first mismatch in sequence.
- Equal: This function is used to check whether two different ranges have equal elements or not.
- is_permutation: The function tests whether the reference set is another array permutation.
- Search: In the range the function search for the subsequence.
- search_n: The function is scanning the scope for an item to occur.
3. Sorting Sequence Operations
Some Sorting algorithm functions are given as follows:
- Sort: In the range, this function is used to sort all the elements.
- stable_sort: The role sorts the elements in the array to preserve the corresponding range.
- partial_sort: The role sorts the elements in the array in part.
- partial_sort_copy: After Sorting the function copy all the element
- is_sorted: This function will check all the ranges are sorted or not
- is_sorted_until: The function checks until a range is sorted for which element.
- nth_element: This function is used to sort the elements in the range
Binary Search Sequence Operations:
- lower_bound: Returns the lower border of the range feature.
- Upper_bound: Returns the range’s upper limit component.
- equal_range: The function gives the same elements to the subrange.
- binary_search: The feature will check whether or not values in the array are sorted.
Merge Sequence Operation:
- merge: The function fuses two ranges in a sorted sequence.
- inplace_merge: Two consecutive sets are mixed, which can be sorted.
- Includes: The function checks whether or not the sorted range covers a different range.
- set_union: The role returns to the two-sortiment group.
- set_intersection: The method returns the ordered intersection between two sets.
- set_difference: The method returns the two-sorted difference.
- set_symmetric_difference: The function returns the two-sortiment symmetric difference.
4. Heap Sequence Operation
Some Heap algorithm functions are given as follows:
- push_heap: The function pushes the heap with new elements.
- pop_heap: New elements appear in the heap of the variable.
- make_heap: The feature is used to create a heap.
- sort_heap: This Function is used to heap the sort
- is_heap: The function verifies if the range is a heap.
- is_heap_until: The function checks until the position of a heap is determined.
This is a guide to Algorithm Library in C++. Here we discuss the C++ algorithm library functions which include modifying sequence operations, non-modifying sequence operation, and sorting sequence operations. You may also look at the following articles to learn more – | <urn:uuid:b2bdb901-77ce-41e6-9b7b-6af3d5f07365> | CC-MAIN-2023-40 | https://www.educba.com/algorithm-library-in-c-plus-plus/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2023-40/segments/1695233511055.59/warc/CC-MAIN-20231003060619-20231003090619-00783.warc.gz | en | 0.703078 | 1,549 | 3.734375 | 4 |
Lean Manufacturing and Environment
Lean Thinking and Methods
Six Sigma consists of a set of statistical methods for systemically analyzing processes to reduce process variation, which are sometimes used to support and guide organizational continual improvement activities. Six Sigma's toolbox of statistical process control and analytical techniques are being used by some companies to assess process quality and waste areas to which other lean methods can be applied as solutions. Six Sigma is also being used to further drive productivity and quality improvements in lean operations.
Six Sigma was developed by Motorola in the 1990s, drawing on well-established statistical quality control techniques and data analysis methods. The term sigma is a Greek alphabet letter (σ) used to describe variability. A sigma quality level serves as an indicator of how often defects are likely to occur in processes, parts, or products. A Six Sigma quality level equates to approximately 3.4 defects per million opportunities, representing high quality and minimal process variability.
It is important to note that not all companies using Six Sigma methods are implementing lean manufacturing systems or using other lean methods. Six Sigma has evolved among some companies to include methods for implementing and maintaining performance of process improvements. The statistical tools of Six Sigma system are designed to help an organization correctly diagnose the root causes of performance gaps and variability, and apply the most appropriate tools and solutions in addressing those gaps.
Method and Implementation Approach
A sequence of steps called the Six Sigma DMAIC (Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve, and Control) is typically used to guide implementation of Six Sigma statistical tools and to identify process wastes and weaknesses. Six Sigma DMAIC phases include:
- Define. This phase focuses on defining the project improvement activity goals and identifying the issues that need to be addressed to achieve a higher sigma level.
- Measure. In this phase, the aim is to gather information about the targeted process. Metrics are established and used to obtain baseline data on process performance and to help identify problem areas.
- Analyze. This phase is concerned with identifying the root cause(s) of quality problems, and confirming those causes using appropriate statistical tools.
- Improve. Here, implementation of creative solutions - ways to do things better, cheaper, and/or faster - that address the problems identified during the analysis phase takes place. Often, other lean methods such as cellular manufacturing, 5S, mistake-proofing, and total productive maintenance are identified as potential solutions. Statistical methods are again used to assess improvement.
- Control. This phase involves institutionalization of the improved system by modifying policies, procedures, and other management systems. Process performance results are again periodically monitored to ensure productivity improvements are sustained.
Some organizations have opted to integrate their kaizen (or rapid continual improvement) processes with Six Sigma approaches. This typically results in the use of statistical tools to aid the identification and measurement of improvement opportunities during and following kaizen event implementation.
It should be noted that some lean experts believe that Six Sigma, as implemented in some organizations, can be contradictory to lean principles. In such cases, Six Sigma experts, often known as "black belts", lead improvement efforts without actively involving workers affected by the improvement effort. Lean experts typically contend that employee involvement and empowerment is critical to fostering the continual improvement, waste elimination culture that is a foundation of lean thinking.
It should be noted that Six Sigma techniques can be relatively sophisticated, and are most frequently utilized by larger organizations and organizations willing to devote resources and talent for developing Six Sigma statistical capabilities.
Several examples of Six Sigma statistical tools are described below.
- Capability Analysis. This tool assists in the maintenance of suitable product specifications. Using this statistical model and analyzing a frequency histogram of an observed production data sample, the long run defects per million opportunities can be determined. Such analyses can consider both "short-term" variability that determines the absolute best a process can produce, and a "long-term" variability that assesses how well a process responds to customer needs.
- Gauge Repeatability & Reproducibility Studies. These studies quantify measurement error by assessing whether measurement processes and equipment produced consistent and accurate measurement outcomes. Without such studies, satisfactory parts might be rejected and unsatisfactory parts accepted. Such errors can lead to lost sales and unnecessary waste.
- Control Charts. Control charts are often used to ensure that essential product characteristics remain constant over time, and to help identify when problems exist. Periodic sample measurements are plotted against the mean and range to see if any noticeable process shifts or other unusual events had occurred. When characteristics cannot be measured, charts are based on the proportion of defective items in a lot. CuSum (Cumulative Sum of Measurements) Charts can also be used to monitor the cumulative sum of deviations against a target value.
- Accelerated Life Tests. Statistical techniques such as a Weibull Distribution and Arrehnius Plot are used to estimate the failure time distribution of products, and to test products designed to last for long periods of time. Such tests are often essential when testing must be conducted under aggressive time constraints, and must engage "stress test environments" such as high temperature, thermal cycling, or high humidity, to evaluate product life.
- Variance Components Analysis. Isolating product variability problems is particularly critical to quality assurance. With this technique, different sources of variability are isolated to help assess where variations in product quality are occurring. Such analyses also provide insight into the sources of variability for process improvement efforts.
- Pareto Analysis. By weighting each type of defect according to severity, cost of repair, and other factors, Pareto charts are used to determine which types of defects occur most frequently. This information facilitates prioritization of response actions. Fundamental to the Pareto principle is the notion that most quality problems are created by a "vital few" processes, and that only a small portion of quality problems result from a "trivial many" processes.
Implications for Environmental Performance
- Potential Benefits:
- By removing variation from production processes, fewer defects inherently result. A reduction in defects can, in turn, help eliminate waste from processes in three fundamental ways:
- fewer defects decreases the number of products that must be scrapped;
- fewer defects also means that the raw materials, energy, and resulting waste associated with the scrap are eliminated;
- fewer defects decreases the amount of energy, raw material, and wastes that are used or generated to fix defective products that can be re-worked.
- Six Sigma tools can help focus attention on reducing conditions that can result in accidents, spills, and equipment malfunctions. This can reduce the solid and hazardous wastes (e.g., contaminated rags and adsorbent pads) resulting from spills and leaks and their clean-up. (See Total Productive Maintenance).
- Six Sigma techniques that focus on product durability and reliability can increase the lifespan of products. This can reduce the frequency with which the product will need to be replaced, reducing the overall environmental impacts associated with meeting the customer need.
- Potential Shortcoming:
- Lack of technical capacity to effectively utilize Six Sigma tools can potentially decrease effectiveness of the strategy, and/or result in unexpected waste if inappropriately applied.
Breyfogle, Forrest W. III. Implementing Six Sigma: Smarter Solutions Using Statistical Methods (New York: John Wiley & Sons, 1999).
Winiarz, Marek L., James Fang and Howard Fuller. Six Sigma Programs Yield Dramatic Improvement Through Application of Lean Manufacturing Methods in the Printed Circuit Board Industry. SAE Technical Paper Series (Warrendale, PA: SAE International, 2001). | <urn:uuid:c2d90b20-8f79-4f09-86f3-3daafdaf9fc9> | CC-MAIN-2013-48 | http://www.epa.gov/sustents/environment/methods/sixsigma.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-48/segments/1386164987957/warc/CC-MAIN-20131204134947-00022-ip-10-33-133-15.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.92982 | 1,552 | 3.25 | 3 |
Harmonising Physis and Techne: The Mediating Role of Philosophy
An interesting way of looking at the history of cultures is in terms of the increasing distance of human life from the natural course of events, thanks to an ever-thickening layer of technological mediations. A culture (not necessarily a good culture, let alone a civilization) emerges when a society is able to detach itself from the physical world (physis), and generate sufficient resources to express itself with some stability. From the division of labour to sheer oppression, from the invention of tools to the creation of weapons, there must be at least a fissure between surviving and living, where the seeds of a culture can take root non-ephemerally. A culture therefore can be pre-historical (no recordings) but hardly pre-technological; “hardly” because, exceptionally, such breaking away from physis may be achievable by barehanded individuals in unaided contexts. In theory, nothing prevents extraordinary people from planting some cultural seeds even when life is flattened into survival two-dimensionally, here and now. In practice, however, cultures tend to emerge and flourish only behind the dam provided by some techne. Even embittered stylites need pillars on which to stand, and peasants to bring food.
Once cultures are sufficiently advanced to be able to reflect critically on their technological conditions of possibility, they seem to encounter two traps.
One is the trap of nostalgia for some primordial authenticity. It leads a culture to believe that the future could improve if only there were no dam. Pristine nature, virgin phenomena and the humanly untouched are seen, from the safe distance afforded by techne itself and the accumulation of its benefits, as the regulative ideal one should at least aspire to implement. Physis appears as the promised land, lost because of techne, and hence progressively reclaimable only through the increasing removal of the latter. With a caricature: if only technology could be eradicated, our problems would be solved. Aristotle has a wonderful analogy that can be borrowed to chastise such illusion: it is as foolish as the dove's, which believed it could fly faster if there were no air.
The other trap is the hubris of ultimate power. In this case, a better future allegedly lies in ever smarter and more efficient uses of physis. The space on the other side of the dam is now seen as a reservoir of resources, which techne can appropriate and process more and more effectively. The other caricature in the diptych suggests that our problems would be solved if only we had more and better technologies. In this case, Hegel provides the insightful analogy which can be recycled to expose the mistake: the mastery culture foolishly fails to grasp that its increased technological reliance on the resources of the enslaved physis inevitably leads to the empowerment of the latter and its ultimate rebellion. Predictably, physis will take revenge, if the culture that exploits it is too careless.
In both cases, nostalgia or hubris, a lack of reflective discernment causes a seriously dangerous misunderstanding about the ecological relationship between physis and techne. Only together can they create the environment in which humanity may flourish. Ultimately, the equation is simple: culture requires resources, and resources are acquired and managed through technology. No techne, no resources, no culture. The question is not which side of the relation to drop or disregard, physis or techne, but rather how to negotiate the fine balance that can harmonise both.
Unfortunately, locating the traps and describing their nature are much easier than identifying the right course of action for the development of a successful marriage between physis and techne. Fortunately, it is exactly here that philosophy can help by exercising its mediating role, in the following sense.
The three-player game between physis, techne and philosophy can be complex, in the same way that chess is complex: not because of the basic rules, but because of the sophisticated ways in which they can be applied in a variety of circumstances full of implicit constraints, consequences and potential pitfalls. Indeed, the rules are trivial: avoid the two traps, nurture the right sort of physis (after all, we do wish to eradicate malaria once and for all, if possible), develop the right sort of techne, (e.g. renewable, non-polluting energy), and foster the right sort of culture. And all this thanks to the right sort of philosophy, which can enable us to make the right sort of moves that guarantee a harmonious and healthy decoupling of human history from natural events. The superficial simplicity of all these “the right sort” is misleading, as many examples of mistaken decisions and misdirected policies too often testify. The game is incredibly hard to master, not least politically and economically. And as if all this were not already bad enough, it is a game against the clock, in which time is running out, and one on which the future well-being of humanity is increasingly dependent. Nobody sufficiently informed can fail to feel a deep sense of urgency. This is why more philosophy is required, not less. We need to know the state of the game better, we need more discernment about the next promising moves, and we need more originality in envisioning the feasible strategies that may be successful. Analyses, syntheses, insights and intellectual creativity: this is how philosophy as conceptual engineering can help us to design a world in which, to use the previous metaphor, the marriage of physis and techne may be successful and bear fruit. We need to be stubbornly intellectual.
What I have sketched above is of course an enormous task, to which no contributing effort can be deemed too small. This is why, in presenting this first issue of Philosophy & Technology, I wish to express a sense of hope and pride. Hope that the new journal will join and support the crucial effort of ensuring that our future will be better than our present, in the ecological sense outlined above. Pride in expecting that the journal will serve both the specialised community of researchers interested in the interactions between philosophies and technologies, and the wider community of all those keen on making techne and physis work together to mutual benefit.
The project is to publish articles that will engage with the conceptual investigation and the critical discussion of the challenges posed by technologies and their impact or implications. We intend to publish the best research produced in all areas where philosophy and technology meet. Good philosophy knows no cultural barriers or geographical borders, so the journal welcomes high-quality submissions, regardless of the tradition, school of thought or disciplinary background from which they derive. Any rigorous approach or methodology may be adopted: ethical, epistemological, philosophico-political, hermeneutic, analytic and so forth. And every area of technological innovation may be addressed, from new technologies in healthcare (e.g. e-Health), to nanotechnologies and their industrial development, from military technological applications to recent innovations in renewable energies, from transformations in transport systems to new information and communications technologies and developments in AI. Of course, investigations of cultural and conceptual issues are also most welcome, as well as efforts to address purely philosophical problems and topics from a technologically informed perspective. Ultimately, Philosophy & Technology seeks to improve our critical understanding of the nature and practical consequences of technologies, and hence provide the foundation for their fruitful and sustainable developments.
Before closing this editorial introduction, I wish to thank all the staff at Springer, and in particular Marco Andal, Raul Boloron and Judy Pieren, for the outstanding work done in establishing and managing this new journal. Without Ties Nijssen, publishing editor at Springer, the project would have never been developed. His input and support have been extraordinary. There is something dreamlike about the two teams forming the executive editorial board and the scientific editorial board. Their quality could hardly find a match elsewhere, and I wish to thank them for their willingness to serve as members of each board. I have already relied heavily on their fine expertise, and I owe them more than I can express here. My debt is only going to increase.
Ultimately, the quality of a journal is only as high as the quality of the articles it publishes. So, my final word is to you reader. We at Philosophy & Technology hope that you will find the journal interesting to read and worth your submissions. We look forward to your feedback and research. | <urn:uuid:dc09b344-e857-4850-8c57-ed1c942acc04> | CC-MAIN-2017-39 | https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs13347-010-0012-5 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-39/segments/1505818686034.31/warc/CC-MAIN-20170919202211-20170919222211-00648.warc.gz | en | 0.946306 | 1,715 | 2.890625 | 3 |
vessels only. As the trace passes through the cortex to the leaf the actual number of both xylem- and phloëm- elements diminishes; hence it comes about that the bundles in the leaves consist to a relatively large extent of spiral vessels in the xylem and of sieve-tubes in the phloëm. As the bundles leave the midrib and larger veins the true continuous vessels disappear altogether, and only spindle-shaped tracheids with reticulated or spiral thickenings occur, fitting obliquely at their pointed ends, and which are shorter and shorter as we approach the ends of the bundles.
The phloëm also is at length reduced to little more than one or two sieve-tubes, the segments of which are shorter and shorter as we near the end. The shortening of the elements is in evident correlation with the early cessation of growth in length of the parts of the leaf, and the diminution of the number of elements with the decreased supply of fluids, etc., on the one hand, and the smaller weight and strains to be supported on the other.
We may sum up the changes in structure towards the ends of the vascular bundles thus: The thickening of the walls is less, and the elements become narrower and shorter; the xylem becomes simplified by the loss of fibers and vessels, until finally only delicate tracheids are left (Fig. 21), the thickenings of which are at length not spirals or nets for the most part, but irregular pittings. Moreover, they are nearly isolated. Nevertheless, the inner elements can be distinguished as primary | <urn:uuid:97331e55-cbe3-49a5-a2b4-2e9a9b9c4f4d> | CC-MAIN-2017-43 | https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Page:The_Oak.djvu/88 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-43/segments/1508187823731.36/warc/CC-MAIN-20171020044747-20171020064747-00010.warc.gz | en | 0.950101 | 336 | 2.953125 | 3 |
THE future is electric – at least for cars. The only real question is when that future will begin. There are two million fully electric cars on the world’s roads. The latest forecast from Deloitte predicts this number will rise to 12 million by 2025 and to 21 million by 2030.
But the numbers will depend on the development of a new generation of batteries that don’t cost the earth and allow electric cars to travel as far and efficiently as their hydrocarbon-fuelled cousins.
This is no easy task. Battery chemistry is fiendishly complex and the engineering challenge of safely storing so much energy in such a small space is not for the faint-hearted. And yet scientists at one of the world’s leading chemicals and sustainable technologies companies say they’re creating the most advanced battery materials yet.
The company in question is Johnson Matthey, a global leader in science that makes the world cleaner and healthier. It produces the catalytic converters found in a third of all cars worldwide, it manufactures the components at the heart of fuel cells and it has increased the sustainability of many industrial processes, such as the refining of precious metals, as well as using its science to enable life-enhancing pharmaceuticals. Now the task of applying its science to build better batteries is one of its most significant areas of development.
One of the keys to a battery’s capacity and performance is the design of the cathode electrode, which contains lithium ions. When the battery is used, positively charged lithium ions flow into the cathode inside the cell. At the same time, electrons flow around the external circuit, also into the cathode.
When the battery is charged, these processes occur in the opposite direction. So the cathode must also be able to release the lithium ions and electrons without compromising its physical structure. And it must be able to repeat this charging cycle many times over.
So the cathode’s ability to release and accept lithium ions and electrons is a key factor in the battery’s capacity and performance. “The amount of lithium you’re able to shuttle back and forth is the battery’s capacity,” says Joanna Clark, Head of Product Development for battery materials at Johnson Matthey. “The more lithium the cathode is able to release without the structure becoming unstable, the more capacity and energy you have, and the more miles in your tank.” How quickly you can move lithium in and out of the structure is also important – this is the power performance, and in electric vehicles it relates to acceleration and how long it takes to recharge the battery.
Johnson Matthey has been developing and testing better battery materials. Recently, its researchers came up with a novel combination of cathode materials that should significantly improve the range and acceleration of electric cars, while also making them quicker to recharge. The breakthrough could help bring electric cars into the mainstream, by lessoning the need for car driver behaviour changes, marking an important turning point for the industry.
To keep the arrangement stable, cathode electrodes are typically layered structures with lithium interspersed with other metal oxides. “Think about the cathode structure as a big pile of Jenga bricks,” explains Clark. “Every time you take a lithium ion out, it’s like taking one brick out of the tower. You can only take so many out before the structure collapses.”
To reach the energies required to combat range anxiety and encourage the mass-adoption of electric vehicles, battery manufacturers are moving to high-nickel chemistries. Nickel provides energy, but it comes at the cost of stability – so it gives you the miles in your tank but limits the useful life of the battery.
The key to harnessing this energy is taming the nickel. A traditional choice of stabilising material in lithium-ion cathodes is cobalt. However, cobalt is expensive, which makes its use in large electric car batteries uneconomic.
Furthermore, ethical sources are in short supply. So to keep everything stable, it’s necessary to add small amounts of
cheaper metals, such as manganese or aluminium – but these do not bring some benefits afforded by cobalt, so there are trade-offs.
The trick that Johnson Matthey’s scientists have perfected is to find just the right combination and arrangement of metals. Their work involves experimenting with and simulating the physical and chemical properties of various formulations.
The result is a portfolio of new ultra high energy cathode materials, known as eLNO, which have high levels of nickel but low levels of cobalt. The nickel-rich mix ensures a high-energy product but the other metals ensure the stability and safety of the design.
This combination maximises two crucial aspects of a battery’s design–its energy density (the amount you get in a certain volume or mass) and its cycle life (how many times you can discharge and recharge the battery without significant loss of capacity). In engineering terms, it is the result of many incremental steps that together make a significant difference to the efficiency and economics of large-scale battery manufacturing.
Finding the right combination is only one part of the challenge. “You can only get so far looking at materials composition alone,” says Clark. “You also have to process it into an electrode and get the best out of it in that way. We have an understanding of that. You cannot design the best material unless you understand how it performs as an electrode and in a battery cell.”
The trick, she adds, was to find a way to use the smallest possible amount of cobalt to stabilise the highest possible amount of nickel, essentially by putting all the component metals in the right places in the cathode structure. “This was engineering at the atomic level.”
All this is possible because of Johnson Matthey’s decades-long expertise in catalysis and materials science. The company has a team with diverse scientific and engineering backgrounds who played a major part in the achievement.
Andy Walker, Technical Marketing Director at Johnson Matthey, adds: “The class-leading energy density of our eLNO technology enables a significant increase in the distance that electric vehicles can drive before needing to recharge, which will increase customer pull for these vehicles, accelerating the electrification of the automobile market.”
The future of the electric car market, and the speed with which consumers switch from petrol and diesel vehicles in favour of the cleaner alternative, will depend on several factors, including cost, safety, driving performance, the time it takes to ‘refuel’ and how far you can travel on a full tank.
Most batteries currently on the market tick one of these boxes, but the batteries of the future will have to tick them all. With its new eLNO technology, Johnson Matthey says it has taken a big step towards that goal.
Much more needs to happen: electric vehicle infrastructure such as charging points is still woefully inadequate, for example. But as Clark points out, with the right batteries, “the potential is limitless”.
Find out more at: matthey.com/elno
eLNO is a trademark of Johnson Matthey | <urn:uuid:3039816a-7157-40f6-9db1-c4b83c722fff> | CC-MAIN-2020-34 | https://www.newscientist.com/article/2215718-building-the-battery-of-the-future-today/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2020-34/segments/1596439738015.38/warc/CC-MAIN-20200808165417-20200808195417-00298.warc.gz | en | 0.940091 | 1,489 | 3.5 | 4 |
The use of digital twins can have a positive impact on various industries and processes, since they establish that technology can complement human activity; however, there may be some reluctance on the part of organizations despite the benefits they represent.
Digital twins, in the words of Tata Consultancy Services futurist Frank Diana, are virtual representations of a physical object or system that are updated from data in real time. These are obtained by sensors in vital areas of the article and their objective is to run simulations to study a problem and generate possible improvements.
According to the study of more than 1,000 organizations worldwide by the Capgemini Research Institute, organizations that use them have seen a 15% improvement in operational metrics, in addition to a performance greater than 25% in their systems. .
These data, therefore, were a justification for 36% of the participating companies to mention that they plan to increase their implementation in the next five years. However, there are only 13% of key organizations in digital transformation through these systems.
Alejandro Caso, leader of the manufacturing sector at Capgemini, mentions that there is resistance to changing processes, because what they want to improve has not been clearly defined, but once the benefits are found, the reluctance disappears.
“Any option in which changes are implemented or adopted through a digital twin must have benefits that are tangible, because that way the executives will see them and have less resistance to change”, details Caso.
Competitiveness demands digital twins
The specialist mentions that this implementation can constitute a competitive advantage for companies in their sector. But if they’re new to your application process, he recommends finding some little-known area of the company or process to put it to the test and see how it works.
For example, sustainability is a priority issue for companies today. The vast majority seek to pollute and spend less, in addition to the fact that governments are paying more attention to this issue, therefore, Caso mentions, by using digital twins they can generate an environment to make changes in fewer steps or with fewer risks for their business.
In fact, companies in this sector are increasingly aware of the potential gain that digital twins can bring to them, as they also provide a unique opportunity to reconcile profitable growth and sustainability.
Data from the Capgemini study indicates that organizations have achieved an average improvement of 16% in their sustainability goals due to the use of digital twins.
Caso highlights that these use cases are ideal for understanding the importance of digital twins, since they are situations where the evolution of the physical world requires changes in the digital world. “The fact of not applying the adjustments when the environment requests it can represent a loss for the competitiveness of the company”, he concludes. | <urn:uuid:1894b67e-476e-4abe-bd2b-f385cb2da4d9> | CC-MAIN-2023-40 | https://padeye.news/do-you-want-your-company-to-be-more-optimal-use-digital-twins/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2023-40/segments/1695233511351.18/warc/CC-MAIN-20231004020329-20231004050329-00773.warc.gz | en | 0.958968 | 560 | 2.671875 | 3 |
T HE PROBLEM of what to teach might be simple if we had nothing else to consider. Unfortunately we do. We have to ask what are we able to teach, and how much time do we have, how much time should we have, and how much time will the administration give us ? We always seem to want more time but do we effectively utilize the time which we have?
Many of us teach without really appreciating what we are trying to accomplish. Objectives must be clarified. We must tell the student what dermatology is since he is not sure at first what our specialty involves. We want to train the student to take care of a patient with a cutaneous disease, but we are not trying to make medical students specialists in dermatology. Many students ask, "Well, why should we learn dermatology at all ?" I think one impressive way is
STOUGHTON RB. What Do We Teach? Arch Dermatol. 1965;91(4):313–315. doi:10.1001/archderm.1965.01600100029006
Customize your JAMA Network experience by selecting one or more topics from the list below.
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Upsalite Created By Uppsala University Researchers
A novel material with world record breaking surface area and water adsorption abilities has been synthesized by researchers from Uppsala University, Sweden. The results are published today in PLOS ONE.
The magnesium carbonate material that has been given the name Upsalite is foreseen to reduce the amount of energy needed to control environmental moisture in the electronics and drug formulation industry as well as in hockey rinks and ware houses. It can also be used for collection of toxic waste, chemicals or oil spill and in drug delivery systems, for odor control and sanitation after fire.
In contrast to what has been claimed for more than 100 years in the scientific literature, we have found that amorphous magnesium carbonate can be made in a very simple, low-temperature process, says Johan Gomez de la Torre, researcher at the Nanotechnology and Functional Materials Division.
While ordered forms of magnesium carbonate, both with and without water in the structure, are abundant in nature, water-free disordered forms have been proven extremely difficult to make. In 1908, German researchers claimed that the material could indeed not be made in the same way as other disordered carbonates, by bubbling CO2 through an alcoholic suspension. Subsequent studies in 1926 and 1961 came to the same conclusion.
A Thursday afternoon in 2011, we slightly changed the synthesis parameters of the earlier employed unsuccessful attempts, and by mistake left the material in the reaction chamber over the weekend. Back at work on Monday morning we discovered that a rigid gel had formed and after drying this gel we started to get excited, says Johan Gomez de la Torre.
A year of detailed materials analysis and fine tuning of the experiment followed. One of the researchers got to take advantage of his Russian skill since some of the chemistry details necessary for understanding the reaction mechanism was only available in an old Russian PhD thesis.
After having gone through a number of state of the art materials characterization techniques it became clear that we had indeed synthesized the material that previously had been claimed impossible to make, says Maria Stromme, professor of nanotechnology and head of the nanotechnology and functional materials division.
The most striking discovery was, however, not that they had produced a new material but it was instead the striking properties they found that this novel material possessed. It turned out that Upsalite had the highest surface area measured for an alkali earth metal carbonate; 800 square meters per gram.
This places the new material in the exclusive class of porous, high surface area materials including mesoporous silica, zeolites, metal organic frameworks, and carbon nanotubes, says Stromme.
In addition we found that the material was filled with empty pores all having a diameter smaller than 10 nano meters. This pore structure gives the material a totally unique way of interacting with the environment leading to a number of properties important for application of the material. Upsalite is for example found to absorb more water at low relative humidities than the best materials presently available; the hydroscopic zeolites, a property that can be regenerated with less energy consumption than is used in similar processes today.
This, together with other unique properties of the discovered impossible material is expected to pave the way for new sustainable products in a number of industrial applications, says Maria Stromme.
On The Net: | <urn:uuid:50868637-5fd2-4c9a-8ad4-1bb10e7ed3bc> | CC-MAIN-2013-48 | http://www.redorbit.com/news/science/1112901116/upsalite-created-uppsala-university-researchers-071813/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-48/segments/1387345762908/warc/CC-MAIN-20131218054922-00016-ip-10-33-133-15.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.943076 | 692 | 3.296875 | 3 |
I present the American Buckeye. This tree has odorous flowers, poisonous fruit and wood too weak for carpentry. It’s also absolutely one of my favorite trees. Allow me to explain.
American Buckeye trees use every excuse possible to bud, with several false starts late each winter. It’s as if our backyard Buckeye drew this American Robin from its winter shelter by budding this February.
As mentioned earlier, the flowers and even broken branches have a faint odorous scent. This led some pioneers (and I imagine University of Michigan fans) to call it the “fetid buckeye.”
Despite the scent, I think the flowers attract Baltimore Orioles. And I love seeing Baltimore Orioles in the yard, enough to declare the Buckeye one of my favorite trees. A few other birds seem to enjoy the Buckeye in spring as well.
The heat of summer wilts the flowers, which produce fruit better know as “buckeye nuts.” The deep brown color of the nuts is thought to have inspired the name “buckeye.” The nuts really are poisonous for humans. However, the nuts are used to create ornaments and necklaces. | <urn:uuid:5e6c8869-bfa4-4735-9a94-c18007a0dc4d> | CC-MAIN-2017-34 | https://digitalaviary.me/tag/baltimore-oriole/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-34/segments/1502886109803.8/warc/CC-MAIN-20170822011838-20170822031838-00397.warc.gz | en | 0.949384 | 250 | 2.546875 | 3 |
Edited by SmallFreezy, Teresa, Mia, Emily Hunter and 13 others
Journal writing is a creative form of recording your feelings freely, instead of bottling everything up inside. Writing is a great way of working through complex issues and exploring them more thoroughly. It can also be a way of relieving stress, rather than inadvertently taking out your unexplored feelings on someone else. Here's how to start writing your own journal.
Writing Your Own Journal
1Find a good composition notebook. You can also use a blog, too. Choose whichever way suits you; some people like using both.Ad
2Customize it. It can be anything up to you. From flowers, books, trees to computers, photographs and even Halloween costumes! If you're using a blog, try adding photographs and choosing colorful templates.
3Think of a journal entry. Dear Diary (or any name) is also a great entry that is popular among many journal writers. It can start with 'Monday, January 1, 1.00p.m., Bedroom'.
4Write in it. Your feelings, your dreams, your crush or your family; it's all about you.Just speak out your mind. Try paragraphing and single out some sentences.
5Once you finish writing the whole book, read it. It's always good to look at your finished work. Try editing it if you want.
6Add anything you want. Be it doodles, lyrics, photographs, newspaper articles and book reviews, it's all up to you.
7Your feelings are really important. If you'd like to check out some examples, try reading The Princess Diaries Series by Meg Cabot and Dear Papa by Anne Ylvisaker. They are good letter writing books.
8Keep writing! And enjoy.
9Carry your notebook and pen when you are going out even on a holiday,because you can still steal some moments to write your feelings about good and bad. Especially if you are going around nature, when you feel you are at ease write down how you feel about the surroundings and how it affects you as a human being. I mean note your best feelings whenever you come across,don't tear it off at times when you feel low because the words will help you understand who you are and how you want to be, someday.Ad
- It's best if it is a secret. It's better if no one reads about your feelings and your secrets.
- It's best to write with a pen because pencil can fade.
- Find a secluded and familiar place to write (for example, your bedroom with the door locked), but other secluded places are good too. (Your backyard.)
- If you'd like to write in school, make sure you are not seen by anyone. Choose a secluded place to write.
- Write till the end of your life. If you finished a book, write another.
- If you are a blog writer, lock your blog and keep it to 'blog authors only'.
- Share journals with your friends or sibling. Share secrets with them.
- Your secrets may be posted around the net if you don't lock it. (This is for blog authors only.)
- Always keep it in a safe no-one-knows box of secrets after writing. It's best if it has a lock.
- If this person does and reads it, confront them and tell them you absolutely do not want them to read it. Then take necessary precautions, such as getting a notebook with a lock.
- Someone could find out about your journal.
Things You'll Need
- A cheap but good composition notebook.
- A working pen or pencil.
- Colouring in pens or pencils.
Categories: Journal Writing
Recent edits by: Jeff, Obesch17, Tamzen Rillstone
In other languages:
Deutsch: Ein eigenes Tagebuch schreiben, Español: Cómo escribir en un diario, Français: Comment faire vivre un journal intime, Italiano: Come Scrivere un Diario Personale, Português: Como Escrever um Diário Pessoal, Русский: написать свой дневник, 中文: 写日志
Thanks to all authors for creating a page that has been read 31,638 times. | <urn:uuid:15e86e43-b7f4-4a63-9b73-78e6ebaf1f1d> | CC-MAIN-2014-15 | http://www.wikihow.com/Write-a-Journal | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2014-15/segments/1397609537308.32/warc/CC-MAIN-20140416005217-00185-ip-10-147-4-33.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.921631 | 943 | 2.6875 | 3 |
About the Vehicles
The stagecoach was a horse-drawn vehicle used to carry cargo between stations. They were primarily used to carry mail, express, gold, and people.
The stagecoach was used to travel in areas that had no rail transportation.
Freight Wagon Definition
The freight wagon was a horse-drawn vehicle used to carry freight to their destinations. They were primarily used to ship goods, supplies, equipment, and raw ore.
The freight wagon was used to transport freight in areas that had no rail transportation.
Coaches and wagons share many common terms. | <urn:uuid:5e5bd981-c7f5-4dc6-b4f6-5be93b1207a8> | CC-MAIN-2020-10 | http://stagecoachfreightwagon.org/NSFWA/Vehicles.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2020-10/segments/1581875144498.68/warc/CC-MAIN-20200220005045-20200220035045-00059.warc.gz | en | 0.988911 | 121 | 3.515625 | 4 |
However they’re found, though, dinosaurs are stomping out onto the public stage at a greater rate than ever before. Just last week, for example, paleontologist Hans-Dieter Sues and colleagues named a new, tiny tyrannosaur that once scampered around prehistoric Uzbekistan.
And if the latest estimate is correct, we’re not even close to hitting Peak Dinosaur yet.
We’ll never know precisely how many non-avian dinosaurs roamed the planet between their origin 235 million years ago and their decimation 66 million years ago. The fossil record is not complete—animals that lived in upland environments scoured by erosion had poor chances of being preserved, for instance—and that’s not accounting for sampling bias dictated by researcher interests and what field specialists can actually remove from the rock.
Even then, most of what we know about dinosaurs comes from their skeletal remains. This lets us tell the difference between Tyrannosaurus and Triceratops, but, like some modern birds and reptiles, some non-avian dinosaur species may have differed only in color, geographic range, or other squishy features that we just don’t have access to.
Even if we had the bones of every single dinosaur, we’d still probably underestimate the true number of species.
A Tuojiangosaurus with a thorny tail and rows of bony plates. Pixeldust Studios/National Geographic Creative
Still, given these caveats, University of Oslo researchers Jostein Starrfelt and Lee Hsiang Liow have created a new model they call TRiPS to estimate how many dinosaur species were around during the Triassic, Jurassic, and Cretaceous chapters of their history.
Drawing from known dinosaur records in the Paleobiology Database, the researchers extended the known record into estimations of origin and extinction for dinosaur species throughout their history and included a simulation of how likely it’d be for species to enter the fossil record.
The mouth of Masiakasaurus. Pixeldust Studios/National Geographic Creative
In all, Starrfelt and Liow write, the heyday of the dinosaurs saw the comings and goings of about 1,936 different species. About half this count are expected to be theropods—the lineage that includes T. rex and birds—with the rest split between the long-necked sauropodomorphs and ornithischians such as the armored, horned, and duckbilled dinosaurs.
Starrfelt and Liow acknowledge that they’re dealing with estimates and that refinements will likely alter their dinosaur count. But, for a first run, the results came out similar to what’s been proposed before. In 2006 paleontologists Steve Wang and Peter Dodson estimated that around 1,844 genera of dinosaurs lived during the Mesozoic.
A Deinocheirus with enormous arms and giant claws. Pixeldust Studios/National Geographic Creative
While the categories are different—a genus can contain multiple species, like Triceratops horridus and Triceratops prorsus—many dinosaurs described so far are what paleontologists call monospecific, or have only one species in a genus. This affects estimates drawn from the known span of dinosaur discoveries, and might be why the species count isn’t even higher.
The last time anyone did a major count, about eight years ago, paleontologists recognized about 648 valid genera and 675 species of Mesozoic dinosaur, including birds. Those numbers have continued to shift. In 2010, eight new dinosaur species were found in Utah alone, and debates over lumping genera or species continue, as tortured Torosaurus knows. And if the current estimates of dinosaur diversity are correct, discovery and debate will keep a frantic pace for decades to come. We’ve only just started to find all the dinosaurs, much less understand the lives of these impressive creatures. | <urn:uuid:7c91a371-22e6-45a5-a8a6-1873b5982d54> | CC-MAIN-2017-34 | http://www.nationalgeographic.com.au/animals/most-dinosaur-species-are-still-undiscovered.aspx | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-34/segments/1502886103270.12/warc/CC-MAIN-20170817111816-20170817131816-00653.warc.gz | en | 0.928584 | 821 | 3.796875 | 4 |
Serving New Jersey, New York, Puerto Rico, US Virgin Islands and Eight Tribal Nations.
Cleanup Program Summaries
Superfund: EPA's Superfund Program was established in 1980 under the Comprehensive Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) to locate, investigate and clean up hazardous waste sites throughout the United States. The EPA Region 2 program oversees long-term cleanups at National Priorities List (NPL) and other sites, short-term cleanups ("removal actions") and responses to chemical and oil spill emergencies.
Brownfields: Brownfields are defined as real properties, the expansion, redevelopment, or reuse of which may be complicated by the presence or potential presence of a hazardous substance, pollutant or contaminant. EPA's Brownfields Program provides funds and technical assistance to states, communities, and other stakeholders in economic redevelopment to work together to assess, safely clean up, and sustainably reuse brownfields.
Corrective Action: Under the Resource Conservation and
Recovery Act (RCRA) program, facilities that treat,
store, or dispose of hazardous wastes are required to clean up
environmental contaminants at their sites. Cleanup at these facilities
is termed RCRA corrective action.
Other Cleanup Programs: A number of other federal and state programs are active in assessing, cleaning up, and reusing waste sites, including underground storage tank programs, oil spill prevention/response and state-administered programs. | <urn:uuid:999bbc16-bf07-4a3e-b322-e6ef8e5029db> | CC-MAIN-2013-48 | http://www.epa.gov/region02/cleanup/index.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-48/segments/1386163806278/warc/CC-MAIN-20131204133006-00058-ip-10-33-133-15.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.879161 | 296 | 2.828125 | 3 |
The NASA African Monsoon Multidisciplinary Analyses (NAMMA) mission is a field research investigation where scientists are investigating how hurricanes are born off the African coast. It has been taking place in the Cape Verde Islands, 350 miles off the coast of Senegal in west Africa, in August and through mid-September, 2006.
Scientists are using airplanes, sensors, radar, computer modeling programs and NASA satellites to better understand hurricanes. Some of the NASA satellites include Aqua, the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM), and the recently-launched Cloudsat/CALIPSO satellite. Edward Zipser of the University of Utah, Salt City, is the chief mission scientist. Following is an on-location report from Dr. Zipser during the NAMMA Hurricane field mission.
Mission Scientist Report: August 23rd, 2006 - 3rd Science Flight
On August 23, 2006, scientists on the NAMMA mission took an eight hour flight into a tropical disturbance. Edward Zipser noted "surprisingly strong winds at 700 millibars (approximately 10,000 feet high), considering how the system seemed to be struggling to survive in the midst of the Sahara Air Layer."
Spotting Dry Air in a Storm
The Saharan Air Layer (SAL) is a mass of very dry, dusty air which forms over the Sahara Desert during the late spring, summer, and early fall and usually moves out over the tropical Atlantic Ocean. The SAL usually extends between 5,000-20,000 feet in the atmosphere and is associated with large amounts of mineral dust, dry air and strong winds (~25-55 mph).
Zipser said, "We saw evidence of dry air, typically from 750-550 millibars (10,000 to 19,000 feet), on almost all quadrants, but of course we won’t know right away how much of this air actually entered the inner core of the storm."
Communicating Between the Ground and Air
During the previous two flights into the tropical system, the scientists used a communications system called "X-Chat" system. The main advantage was that mission scientist, Jeff Halverson, who was on the ground, watched movie loops of the tropical system and he was able to pass information to the DC-8 aircraft, while the flight scientist could rapidly relay information back.
The scientists on the DC-8 aircraft noted that the storm structure they were flying over featured was not symmetrical (not identical on both sides of a central line) below about 6-7 kilometers (around 4 miles) altitude. They also noted that the system's strongest winds were on the east and north side.
Another benefit to flying into a storm was that the scientists were able to better determine its exact location. The storm was found to be north of the forecast position. Zipser and his crew dropped about 24 dropsondes into the storm. A dropsonde is a sensor that measures temperature, pressure, moisture and winds throughout different locations of a storm.
Looking at Air Circulations Like a Layer Cake
When the scientists flew into the tropical cyclone, they noticed that there were two different air circulations happening, like layers of a cake. In the top layer, higher than the surface, (above 500-400 millibars or 20,000 feet), the center of the cyclone seemed to be well southeast of the cyclone that was on lower level (at the surface).
When the scientists flew over the “eye” or center of the tropical cyclone at a height of 35,000 feet, they we were continuously in thick cirrus clouds (wispy clouds made of ice crystals). Later, however, they were able to look at data from the PR-2 (an airborne radar) showing a sloping eyewall to 7 kilometers (4.3 miles).
Convection (rising air that condenses higher in the atmosphere to form clouds and storms) decreased during the flight with little or no significant turbulence and no large areas of organized rainfall from stratiform clouds (layered clouds).
Measuring the Winds Above and on the Surface
The dropsondes were not spaced closely enough to give a proper description of the wind circulation close to the center of the storm, so the plane carrying Zipser and his crew descended to 10,000 feet (700 millibars) where they mapped the winds on the north and east sides of the storm. Winds were about 40 to 50 nautical miles per hour (45-55 mph), and there were some winds in excess of 60 knots (70 mph). There were no strong winds on the south side of the storm. The scientists estimated the winds on the surface around 40-45 knots (45-51 mph).
Every flight into a storm gives scientists more information about how tropical cyclones work. The NAMMA mission ends in mid-September, 2006.
Cite This Page: | <urn:uuid:8a8a1013-99c1-49d1-8a61-09a0c708746e> | CC-MAIN-2014-23 | http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/09/060911120525.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2014-23/segments/1405997894865.50/warc/CC-MAIN-20140722025814-00210-ip-10-33-131-23.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.958476 | 1,004 | 3.296875 | 3 |
Much like bones, hearing, and physical strength deteriorate with age, so do the eyes.
Glaucoma, macular degeneration, diabetic retinopathy, cataracts – the list goes on for those approaching and exceeding the age of 60. However, it isn’t quite as black and white as declaring all of these diseases as strictly age-related – also like with hearing and physical strength, much of it depends on lifestyle variables and nutrient consumption.
Age-related eye diseases are naturally-occurring phenomena, building as the years go by. By age 40, the lenses inside of the eyes harden to a point where presbyopia develops, making close-up focusing difficult. As the body ages further, it becomes increasingly vulnerable to disease, but may not be quite as “sudden” as some people describe it as being. Because these impacts snowball through the years, it is virtually impossible to detect a disease without careful monitoring – there is no “aha!” moment to be found upon turning 60 or 65, meaning that updates with your eye doctor are crucial to maintaining eye health and vision quality. Deposits accumulate in the eyes over decades, blood vessels enlarge, and intraocular pressure amps up as we go through decades of daily life, oblivious to the looming effects to be experienced in old age.
- Cataracts. Perhaps the most prevalent effect of age-related eye disease is cataracts, caused by denaturation of proteins in the crystalline lens within the eye – sometimes as a result of trauma. Mayo Clinic estimates cataracts appear in just about half of all Americans 65 and older. By 2020, the number of Americans with cataracts is expected to hit an all-time high of 30 million. Cataracts are generally treated or cured with insertion of multifocal lens implants and intraocular lenses that restore vision. In the meantime, cataracts can be warded off through consumption of vitamins A, C and E, all of which are antioxidants that work well in combination with UV ray-blocking sunglasses.
- Macular Degeneration. Occurring in two million people, 10 percent of who are age 66 to 74, macular degeneration can easily go unnoticed without being carefully monitored by a doctor, caused by abnormal growth of blood vessels and resulting in blindness if left untreated. The risk of contracting the disease can be decreased upon long-term consumption of antioxidants like Beta-Carotene, Vitamin C, Vitamin E, zinc and lutein. Supplements are especially advisable for those over the age of 60.
- Dry Macular Degeneration. Drusen, an extra-cellular deposit that becomes more common as we age, ultimately leading to the degeneration of rod and cone cells that make eyesight functional. About 90 percent of all macular degeneration cases are dry.
- Wet. By comparison, wet macular degeneration occurs in roughly 10 percent of all cases, resulting from leakage of blood and protein, damaging the macula and causing vision loss.
- Glaucoma. Described as the “thief of the night,” glaucoma can go completely unnoticed until it hits an advanced stage. This is largely because of an increase in intraocular pressure that, under normal circumstances, irrigates the eye and replenishes cells. However, increase in this pressure, over a long period of time can damage the optic nerve and affect peripheral and central vision. Nourishment can be provided to the optic nerve through intake of Vitamin A, C and E, as well as bilberries and fish oil.
- Diabetic Retinopathy. This disease is especially prevalent among people who have had diabetes for more than a decade – nearly 80 percent of those people, in fact. An accumulation of blood sugar hemorrhages the blood vessels in the eye, making them more fragile and likely to block nutrients from being properly distributed in the retina. The result is blurred vision and, if left untreated, blindness. This is commonly treated through surgery, and best prevented and regulated by being conscious of your blood sugar levels.
The Cure for Eye Problems
The take away: be proactive. It’s true that by the time you’ve reached the age of 60, little can be done to prevent the onset of diseases like cataracts and glaucoma, but it’s never too late to start making lifestyle and diet changes to build a defense against the aforementioned conditions. A healthy diet and regular visits to your optometrist can go a long way in keeping your eyes healthy and your vision near-perfect through your golden years.
This article was contributed by Rachael from ReplaceMyContacts.com, a retailer of contact lenses online. Find popular products such as Biofinity Toric, Acuvue Oasys for Astigmatism , and many more when you visit our site. | <urn:uuid:8f4cb278-5d8a-43fc-8398-292935346078> | CC-MAIN-2014-35 | http://tipsforboomeryears.com/basic-causes-of-poor-eyesight-due-to-age.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2014-35/segments/1408500820886.32/warc/CC-MAIN-20140820021340-00067-ip-10-180-136-8.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.940554 | 999 | 2.9375 | 3 |
This water vitalisation system will always be tailor-made. Vita Blue is available for households, greenhouses, industry and everything in between. Vita Blue has a capacity range from 10 litre per minute to 10,000 litre per minute.
Water vitalisation is key to human health. To begin with water is a vital life function. For instance about 71% of the earth’s surface is water. And up to 60% of the human adult body consists of water. Therefore, water is a vital component for production of our food and drinks.
In her natural state water is vital and dynamic. For example, it needs movement in the form of vortexes. However, in our current society we have ignored that fact. Instead, we use it for transportation in sewers and rivers, clean it with chemicals and store it without movement. Is it therefore still vital enough to enhance our overall health?
Modern science has proven that water is an information carrier. In comparison it picks up information like a recorder and gives it off when used. Therefore it is even more important to invest in water cleaning and water vitalisation. For instance, we need to remove negative information and give the water positive information instead.
Vita Blue water vitalisation will result in healthy water that enhances life in all its functions. Therefore it can be used to produce extremely high level clean and vital drinking water and abundant growing water for plants. Our food and drinks will be more nutritious than ever when using water vitalisation systems made by Blue Earth Innovations.
Methods of vitalisation
Blue Earth Innovation products use quantum physics technology to vitalize water. Depending on the required end result different methods will be used to ensure the relevant water vitalisation. In all cases the level of vitalisation is extremely high. For example in horticulture chemicals are no longer needed to keep the plants healthy and productive. The immune systems of plants are activated to an extraordinary quality.
Biodynamic farmers understand the importance of life energy for their produce. Pure Blue and Vita Blue systems have shown that the life energy of the water will remain nearly the same throughout the process. In other words, the output water has nearly the same level of life energy as the input water. The value of life energy remains between 100,000 and 200,000 Bovis, with an extremely high level of positivity. At Chateau Cortils where a Pure Blue water system has been installed, the water quality at its outlet points (after transport) even reaches the level of 430,000 Bovis. A full report can be download on the page applications/horticulture. | <urn:uuid:9a00a1c8-42ef-4d60-a54b-02ff4b8b222a> | CC-MAIN-2023-14 | https://blueearthinnovations.com/en/products/water-vitalisation/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2023-14/segments/1679296945144.17/warc/CC-MAIN-20230323100829-20230323130829-00007.warc.gz | en | 0.906467 | 547 | 2.640625 | 3 |
This blog looks at the discussion on Geo-engineering, climate change and risk management. I missed this lecture and therefore wanted to read some more external literature on geo-engineering and risk management theory.
The American Meteorological Society categorise climate change risk strategies in to four categories
1) mitigation—efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions;
2) adaptation—increasing society’s capacity to cope with changes in climate; resiliance
3) geo-engineering or climate engineering—additional, deliberate manipulation of the earth system that is intended to counteract at least some of the impacts of greenhouse gas emissions; by carbon dioxide removal or storage and Solar Radiation management
4) knowledge-base expansion—understanding the climate system to support proactive, risk management.
Carbon Dioxide Removal CDR – capturing CO2 and storing it either in land or ocean storage (afforestation, agricultural management, biochar, carbon capture and storage, ocean fertilisation, silicate weathering and ocean alkalinity
Solar Radiation Management SRM – increasing the earth’s reflectivity e.g. painting roofs Sulphate aerosols, space mirrors, cloud whitening,
(Australian Chief Scientist 2012)
Firstly I read pollard et al on environmental decision making and risk management. From this I decided to rank the information I had extrapolated from the literature out on geo-engineering according to the AMS categories of climate change risk. It was evident that authors had varying opinions on the capability safety and need for geo-engineering. This could cause different stakeholders to rank risks differently for example stakeholders for geo-engineering could state that climate change is already happening, we are already altering the atmosphere with CO2 emissions so we are not causing any more harm by altering it further with various geo-engineering strategies of CDR or DRM. Stakeholders against Geo-engineering would argue that we should try to address the root cause of climate change by reducing CO2 emissions rather than trying to mitigate the symptoms. Geo-engineering will not reduce the human activity emitting CO2 so therefore in the long term will not prevent climate change.
From my ranking system I established that some of the key concerns with Geo-engineering:
- Geo-engineering does not reduce or address human educed CO2 emissions, therefore leading to growing emissions of GHG, not reversing the underlying cause of climate change
- Two of the main techniques proposed for ocean fertilisation and sulphate aerosols lead to increased pollution or altering the ecosystem with unknown long-term consequences
- Affects to the hydrological cycle, profound changes to precipitation leading to extreme weather events
- Ocean acidification
- Affects to biodiversity, considerable risk to ecological system both on land and in the oceans
- Ozone depletion
- Once started geo-engineering cannot be stopped and with continued CO2 emissions how long can CDR and SRM continue to work
So evaluating from a from a risk perspective:
Indeterminacy – many of the issues cannot be determined, scientist state that it is still better to prevent CO2 emissions with emissions reductions strategies first
Risk – known risks are that CO2 emissions and human induced pollution have caused climate change. Unknown is what will happen to the hydrological cycle and ecosystem as a whole. What are the long term advantages, how long can these strategies continue to work.
Uncertainty – there is some research that geo-engineering can work but we do not know what the long term effects will be
Ignorance – We should certainly be adopting the precautionary principal to geo-engineering
Geo-engineering is certainly a controversial subject, I can see the views from both sides but I keep coming back to some of my basic concerns
Finite or infinite system – earth is a finite system cannot continue to try to respond to pollution with further pollution.
Ecological system – pollution is suffocating the ecosystem
Technology as a solution – how long can we continue to survive in a world of continued growth, and how long can technology continue to provide solutions to environmental problems
Social impacts – there is continued displacement of people and gaps between the rich and poor. In Geo-engineering the effects of changes in the hydrological cycle will cause food and resources stress firstly to the disadvantaged communities.
Governance – we need global action against climate change to | <urn:uuid:c6485569-b19e-4292-8bbc-34c3d17d3573> | CC-MAIN-2017-30 | https://iesinternships.wordpress.com/2015/10/12/rebecca-sturrock-z3314111-lecture-8/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-30/segments/1500549424770.15/warc/CC-MAIN-20170724082331-20170724102331-00655.warc.gz | en | 0.931639 | 879 | 2.9375 | 3 |
The different ways in which students are motivated can affect their learning experience. An NIE research team is looking into how teachers can help students turn potential negatives into positives.
Academic motivation has always been of interest to Assistant Professor Serena Luo because she knows how it can influence student learning.
“Motivation is the force that drives behaviour,” she says. “It’s the students’ own internal reasons or purposes that drive them to choose and engage in various learning activities.”
But different students can hold very different motivational beliefs. According to Serena, there are four types of beliefs:
- Self-efficacy: This refers to how confident students are in their learning.
- Value: Anything that students inherently enjoy doing will hold an intrinsic value for them. But if students perform a task for reward or because their parents or teachers want them to, the value is extrinsic.
- Goals: Students who set performance goals may study hard because they want to outperform others, but they may also withdraw effort when there is a risk of failure. Those who set mastery goals are keen to learn new things and seek new challenges.
- Attribution: When students succeed or fail in a task, do they attribute it to their innate ability, their hard work or other reasons?
Students’ motivational beliefs shape the emotions they experience while learning. “Both of these, in turn, affect students’ learning strategies, and ultimately, achievement.”
Maladaptive Learning Strategies
Students who tend to have negative learning experiences may end up adopting maladaptive learning strategies. Serena explains that maladaptive learning strategies are those that students use to avoid challenges they face in school:
Some students try to avoid challenges. Such students avoid challenging situations and have difficulty in planning for their studies effectively.
Some students copy answers from others. When they encounter difficulties, these students would rather copy the work of other students than do the work themselves.
Some students “handicap” themselves. When facing a challenge, these students feel they will not do well and will look for reasons to justify their expected poor performance. This expectation may be based on previous experiences or their low self-esteem.
Some students avoid seeking help. These students refrain from seeking help from peers or teachers although they may need it. Even if they do, it may be for the sake of finishing their work quickly with less effort.
Some students use emotional and avoidance coping. When such students encounter failures, they tend to feel despondent or that it is not their fault and shift the blame to others. They may also avoid the problem by shifting their attention to something else.
Turning Negatives into Positives
Students’ motivational beliefs constitute and are constituted by the context and situations in which they study.
To help students adopt positive motivational beliefs, emotions and learning strategies, Serena suggests that teachers can work on three aspects: (1) establish good teacher–student relationships; (2) make learning the classroom goal; and (3) consider students’ needs, opinions and difficulties.
It is important for teachers to show that they have high expectations of their students. In her study, Serena found that if teachers do this, students will tend to feel that they can do better.
Along with this, teachers can explicitly tell students that they can improve if they put in the effort. “We need to let students have that incremental belief about their ability, that their ability can be changed with effort and good learning strategies,” says Serena.
Teachers can also emphasize that the goal in the classroom is to learn, rather than to compare grades. This serves to build a classroom where students are not afraid to make mistakes. All answers and opinions are valued.
These methods will help create a positive classroom climate where students will have positive emotional experiences and learning behaviours.
But there is another way to motivate students that many of us may not think of: using assessment to engage students.
We need to let students have that incremental belief about their ability, that their ability can be changed with effort and good learning strategies.
– Serena Luo, Policy and Leadership Studies Academic Group
Assessment for Self-regulated Learning
For Serena, assessment is more than just about tests and exams.
“Assessment is part of the daily learning routine,” she says. “But they aren’t just about the students’ grades, and can also be used to promote self-regulated learning (SRL).”
Self-regulated learners take ownership of their learning and are highly motivated to learn, even when faced with challenging tasks.
While many focus on grades which may reflect how much students have learned, we must remember that assessment is also the time when teachers can give feedback that promotes SRL behaviour.
“Don’t just give a tick or cross,” Serena suggests. “Feedback does not need to be long, but it should be constructive and tell students how to do better.” Students will then know what is expected of them and how they can improve their own learning.
Serena also advises that feedback can be used to motivate if it links students’ improvement to the effort they have put in. A simple “Well done!” or “Good effort!” followed by why and what to do next will get students to see this link.
“Students will see their learning progress and it will enhance their self-efficacy. As long as they put in the effort, they can do better. Over time, students will tend to internalize the value of learning.”
Helping students to learn in such a positive manner is what Serena hopes to achieve and it motivates her to continue her work in this exciting area of education research.
Lee, K., Ning, F., & Hui, C. G. (2014). Interaction between cognitive and non-cognitive factors: The influences of academic goal orientation and working memory on mathematical performance. Educational Psychology, 34(1), 73–91. | <urn:uuid:3f341603-988d-46ca-b3f0-b01c560842c2> | CC-MAIN-2020-10 | https://singteach.nie.edu.sg/issue48-research03/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2020-10/segments/1581875145708.59/warc/CC-MAIN-20200222150029-20200222180029-00170.warc.gz | en | 0.962388 | 1,256 | 4.15625 | 4 |
UK hydrogen cars are coming - if you can fill up
LONDON (Reuters) - Britain's hydrogen fuel cell car fleet may hit top gear within five years, but only if there is enough investment in filling stations, the UK Hydrogen and Fuel Cells Association (UK HFCA) told Reuters on Friday.
Fuel cells convert hydrogen into electricity, with heat and water being the only by-products, with a number of car makers including Toyota, Ford, and Hyundai, pushing to commercialize the low-carbon hybrid fuel cell vehicle by 2015.
"Somewhere around 2015 to 2017 we'll be over threshold and I think we'll see a larger and growing fleet," HFC chairman Dennis Hayter said.
"It's all aligned with the rollout of the infrastructure. In order to get to a semi-ubiquitous availability of hydrogen, then yes, you're talking may billions of pounds, but it doesn't have to come at once."
Hayter said fuel cell cars only take minutes to refill with a range of around 250 miles range. Plug-in electric vehicles take hours to recharge with a range of around 100 miles.
Existing petrol filling stations could be converted, with hydrogen companies possibly leasing some of the pumps, while current hydrogen production capacity is seen as adequate for the next decade.
"You may find there's a deal to be made between the hydrogen gas and petroleum companies. Things are happening in the background and gradually a network is starting to appear," Hayter said.
"At present, the majority of hydrogen is derived from reforming of natural gas for industrial purposes such as refining and in chemicals.
"The quantities currently used and likely to be needed for transport in the next five to 10 years would still be minimal alongside hydrogen consumed for industrial use."
For the long term estimates of hydrogen costs, Hayter believes it will be competitive with petrol, or cheaper. Using U.S. hydrogen prices of $8 a kilogram, it would cost around $32 to fill up fuel cell car with a 250 mile range, he said.
"It's not comparing apples with apples, but if they're the long term costs, then it could be significantly cheaper but it depends on the fuel duty," Hayter added.
The UK HFCA is calling for hydrogen not to be taxed as a transport fuel, as petrol is, to help incentivize uptake.
Britain has around 30 hydrogen fuel vehicles, mostly buses and taxi in London, with two filling stations in the city and another four expected by 2012, the UK HFCA said.
Seen as a way to decarbonise the transport sector, Britain's former Labour government planned to subsidise low-carbon vehicle purchases from 2011, with a grant worth up to 5,000 pounds ($7,584).
(Editing by William Hardy)
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Minimalism Beyond the Nurnberg Funnel
". . . an action- and task-oriented approach to instruction and documentation that emphasizes the importance of realistic activities and experiences for effective learning and information seeking..."
By Andrew Dillon, Indiana University
Andrew Dillon is Associate Professor of Information Science and Core Faculty in Cognitive Science at Indiana University, Bloomington.
Minimalism Beyond the Nurnberg Funnel
John Carroll, ed.
416 pages. Illustrations, Index. Cambridge, Massachusetts and London, England:
The MIT Press, Massachusetts Institute of Technology 1998, $45.
The present volume is best seen as an update and companion volume to Carroll's (1990) The Nurnberg Funnel. The present volume contains 15 chapters by 13 authors which extend Carroll's initial concept of Minimalism into considerations of its application in software documentation design and training on the practical side, and into the emergence of supporting structures for conceiving Minimalistic interventions on the theoretical side.
Minimalism is described in the text as an action- and task-based approach to instruction that emphasizes the importance of realistic activities and experiences for effective learning. To the uninitiated, the term (and accompanying definition) might raise some eyebrows -- is there anything new here that has not been described before in different words in a hundred books on education? Well, the answer is yes and no. It is clear that many of the basic tenets of Minimalism are derivative (e.g., the principle of using real tasks for instructional activities, or the heuristic of encouraging and supporting exploration and innovation in learners), but this is unavoidable. Our knowledge of human learning is remarkably limited given the funding and publication rates of education theorists and schools. What is special about the minimalist approach is that it applies its simplification process to itself. The theoretical underpinnings seem sound, based less on the traditional logical decomposition of tasks common to much twentieth-century learning theory, but on the search for core cognitive and behavioral dispositions in learners that can best be supported through interventions. Meaningful human learning once again becomes a mainstream psychological concern -- and about time too!
In a wonderful chapter on misconceptions of Minimalism, Carroll and van der Meij (a leading contributor to the volume) show that there is much more to the Minimalist school than the mere restating of clichés or the targeting of specific learning contexts outside of which Minimalism is limited. Coupled with enough references and examples of Minimalism at work in the accompanying chapters, the volume demands a close reading to gain a full understanding of why Minimalism might be more important than the typical constructivist approaches that are now so fashionable.
It is difficult to divorce this volume from the original 1990 book, and to this reviewer, both should be read to gain the fullest understanding. However, this edited collection stands on its own and will serve as the standard text for the foreseeable future. As a strong critic of much educational theory applied to computer design and use, I find the present volume a significant addition to the literature. It's not perfect, and I would have liked to see an outside critic have a chance to enter the debate directly through one or two chapters of their own and less emphasis placed on individual accounts of Minimalist approaches, but for now we should be grateful that this approach is articulated so clearly and grounded comparatively firmly in data.
Copyright © 1998 Andrew Dillon
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The temple was constructed in 558 and its first master was Jinxian. As a result of this, the temple was also known as the Jinxian Court. The year 589 saw some expansion work done in the temple under the supervision of Master Shanwuwei. The temple was also rechristened Jinshan Monastery. More renonation work in the temple was carried out during the reign of the Ming and the Qing dynasty.
The temple housed around 60 monks in the year 1949, however the cultural revolution of 1965 took its toll on the temple and it was forcibly closed down. The deities and the statues of the temple were broken down and the monks had to leave the temple premises.
Reconstruction work on the temple began in December 1980. In 1983, the 36-year-old Master Yiran assumed the role of the head monk of the temple and later, in 1990, the 24-year-old Master Xuecheng replaced him.
As of today, the temple is open for public on the 1st and 15th of every lunar month. The maon structures inside the tempple include Gaoshan Gate, Tianwang Palace, Jialan Palace, Sanzang Palace and Dizang Palace. Apart from this, there is also a 10 m srone staircase with 199 steps infront of the temple.
Fujian is a south east province of the China. It is mostly mountainous and is traditionally described to be "8 parts mountain, 1 part water, and 1 part farmland". The main cities of this province include Fuzhou (Foochow) , Xiamen (Amoy), Quanzhou, Zhangzhou and Putian. The temple of Guanghua is located in the Putian. The best time to visit Putian is in between the months of April to December.
- Sakya Buddhist Pagoda : Standing on the east side of the Guanghua Temple, the Sakya Buddhist Pagoda was supposedly constructed in the year 1165 during the rule of the Southern Song Dynasty. The 36 m high Pagoda has five storeys and is distonctly different from other pagodas of the Fujian province. For example, the stone staircase inside is wide enough to allow the you to go up and down the pagoda extremely conveniently. The pagoda has a lot of carvings. The first floor has doors on the east and the west sides while on the other sides, there are niches with statues of Buddha inside them. Also, on both sides of doors and niches are sculptured images of Buddhist disciples, bodhisattvas, arhats and Kasyapa and Ananda, Buddha's two principal disciples. From the second to the fifth floor, there are doors on four sides and niches for Buddhist statues on the others. The sides of the door have carved images of celestial guards while the sides of the niches have images of bodhisattvas.
How To Reach
Fuzhuo airport is connected to destinations like Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Jinan, Shenyang, Harbin, Chongqing, Chengdu, Zhengzhou, Kunming, Haikou, Urumqi and Xian, etc. International flights from Singapore, Bangkok, Kuala Lumpur and Osaka to Fuzhou City are also available. There are daily scheduled flights from Hong Kong and Macau as well. From Fuzhuo, Putian can be reached by a bus. | <urn:uuid:4716d395-f634-4b51-ad25-e24aa6716e7e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.buddhist-tourism.com/countries/china/temples/guanghua-temple.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701806508/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105646-00020-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.963722 | 712 | 2.875 | 3 |
Fossil range: Ordovician–Recent
| A giant grouper at the Georgia Aquarium, seen swimming among schools of other fish|
The ornate red lionfish as seen from a head-on view
The ornate red lionfish as seen from a head-on view
A fish is any member of a paraphyletic group of organisms that consist of all gill-bearing aquatic craniate animals that lack limbs with digits. Included in this definition are the living hagfish, lampreys, and cartilaginous and bony fish, as well as various extinct related groups. Most fish are ectothermic ("cold-blooded"), allowing their body temperatures to vary as ambient temperatures change, though some of the large active swimmers like white shark and tuna can hold a higher core temperature. Fish are abundant in most bodies of water. They can be found in nearly all aquatic environments, from high mountain streams (e.g., char and gudgeon) to the abyssal and even hadal depths of the deepest oceans (e.g., gulpers and anglerfish). At 32,000 species, fish exhibit greater species diversity than any other group of vertebrates.
Fish are an important resource worldwide, especially as food. Commercial and subsistence fishers hunt fish in wild fisheries (see fishing) or farm them in ponds or in cages in the ocean (see aquaculture). They are also caught by recreational fishers, kept as pets, raised by fishkeepers, and exhibited in public aquaria. Fish have had a role in culture through the ages, serving as deities, religious symbols, and as the subjects of art, books and movies.
Because the term "fish" is defined negatively, and excludes the tetrapods (i.e., the amphibians, reptiles, birds and mammals) which descend from within the same ancestry, it is paraphyletic, and is not considered a proper grouping in systematic biology. The traditional term pisces (also ichthyes) is considered a typological, but not a phylogenetic classification.
The earliest organisms that can be classified as fish were soft-bodied chordates that first appeared during the Cambrian period. Although they lacked a true spine, they possessed notochords which allowed them to be more agile than their invertebrate counterparts. Fish would continue to evolve through the Paleozoic era, diversifying into a wide variety of forms. Many fish of the Paleozoic developed external armor that protected them from predators. The first fish with jaws appeared in the Silurian period, after which many (such as sharks) became formidable marine predators rather than just the prey of arthropods.
Proliferation of fish was apparently due to the hinged jaw, because jawless fish left very few descendants. Lampreys may approximate pre-jawed fish. The first jaws are found in Placodermi fossils. It is unclear if the advantage of a hinged jaw is greater biting force, improved respiration, or a combination of factors.
Fish may have evolved from a creature similar to a coral-like Sea squirt, whose larvae resemble primitive fish in important ways. The first ancestors of fish may have kept the larval form into adulthood (as some sea squirts do today), although perhaps the reverse is the case.
Fish are a paraphyletic group: that is, any clade containing all fish also contains the tetrapods, which are not fish. For this reason, groups such as the "Class Pisces" seen in older reference works are no longer used in formal classifications.
- Class Agnatha (jawless fish)
- Class Chondrichthyes (cartilaginous fish)
- Class Placodermi (armoured fish) †
- Class Acanthodii ("spiny sharks", sometimes classified under bony fishes)†
- Class Osteichthyes (bony fish)
The above scheme is the one most commonly encountered in non-specialist and general works. Many of the above groups are paraphyletic, in that they have given rise to successive groups: Agnathans are ancestral to Chondrichthyes, who again have given rise to Acanthodiians, the ancestors of Osteichthyes. With the arrival of phylogenetic nomenclature, the fishes has been split up into a more detailed scheme, with the following major groups:
- Class Myxini (hagfish)
- Class Pteraspidomorphi † (early jawless fish)
- Class Thelodonti †
- Class Anaspida †
- Class Petromyzontida or Hyperoartia
- Petromyzontidae (lampreys)
- Class Conodonta (conodonts) †
- Class Cephalaspidomorphi † (early jawless fish)
- Infraphylum Gnathostomata (jawed vertebrates)
- Class Placodermi † (armoured fish)
- Class Chondrichthyes (cartilaginous fish)
- Class Acanthodii † (spiny sharks)
- Superclass Osteichthyes (bony fish)
- Class Actinopterygii (ray-finned fish)
- Class Sarcopterygii (lobe-finned fish)
The position of hagfish in the phylum chordata is not settled. Phylogenetic research in 1998 and 1999 supported the idea that the hagfish and the lampreys form a natural group, the Cyclostomata, that is a sister group of the Gnathostomata.
The various fish groups account for more than half of vertebrate species. There are almost 28,000 known extant species, of which almost 27,000 are bony fish, with 970 sharks, rays, and chimeras and about 108 hagfish and lampreys. A third of these species fall within the nine largest families; from largest to smallest, these families are Cyprinidae, Gobiidae, Cichlidae, Characidae, Loricariidae, Balitoridae, Serranidae, Labridae, and Scorpaenidae. About 64 families are monotypic, containing only one species. The final total of extant species may grow to exceed 32,500.
Diversity of fish
- Main article: Diversity of fish
The term "fish" most precisely describes any non-tetrapod craniate (i.e. an animal with a skull and in most cases a backbone) that has gills throughout life and whose limbs, if any, are in the shape of fins. Unlike groupings such as birds or mammals, fish are not a single clade but a paraphyletic collection of taxa, including hagfishes, lampreys, sharks and rays, ray-finned fish, coelacanths, and lungfish. Indeed, lungfish and coelacanths are closer relatives of tetrapods (such as mammals, birds, amphibians, etc.) than of other fish such as ray-finned fish or sharks, so the last common ancestor of all fish is also an ancestor to tetrapods. As paraphyletic groups are no longer recognised in modern systematic biology, the use of the term "fish" as a biological group must be avoided.
Many types of aquatic animals commonly referred to as "fish" are not fish in the sense given above; examples include shellfish, cuttlefish, starfish, crayfish and jellyfish. In earlier times, even biologists did not make a distinction – sixteenth century natural historians classified also seals, whales, amphibians, crocodiles, even hippopotamuses, as well as a host of aquatic invertebrates, as fish. However, according the definition above, all mammals, including cetaceans like whales and dolphins, are not fish. In some contexts, especially in aquaculture, the true fish are referred to as finfish (or fin fish) to distinguish them from these other animals.
A typical fish is ectothermic, has a streamlined body for rapid swimming, extracts oxygen from water using gills or uses an accessory breathing organ to breathe atmospheric oxygen, has two sets of paired fins, usually one or two (rarely three) dorsal fins, an anal fin, and a tail fin, has jaws, has skin that is usually covered with scales, and lays eggs.
Each criterion has exceptions. Tuna, swordfish, and some species of sharks show some warm-blooded adaptations—they can heat their bodies significantly above ambient water temperature. Streamlining and swimming performance varies from fish such as tuna, salmon, and jacks that can cover 10–20 body-lengths per second to species such as eels and rays that swim no more than 0.5 body-lengths per second. Many groups of freshwater fish extract oxygen from the air as well as from the water using a variety of different structures. Lungfish have paired lungs similar to those of tetrapods, gouramis have a structure called the labyrinth organ that performs a similar function, while many catfish, such as Corydoras extract oxygen via the intestine or stomach. Body shape and the arrangement of the fins is highly variable, covering such seemingly un-fishlike forms as seahorses, pufferfish, anglerfish, and gulpers. Similarly, the surface of the skin may be naked (as in moray eels), or covered with scales of a variety of different types usually defined as placoid (typical of sharks and rays), cosmoid (fossil lungfish and coelacanths), ganoid (various fossil fish but also living gars and bichirs), cycloid, and ctenoid (these last two are found on most bony fish). There are even fish that live mostly on land. Mudskippers feed and interact with one another on mudflats and go underwater to hide in their burrows. The catfish Phreatobius cisternarum lives in underground, phreatic habitats, and a relative lives in waterlogged leaf litter.
Fish species diversity is roughly divided equally between marine (oceanic) and freshwater ecosystems. Coral reefs in the Indo-Pacific constitute the center of diversity for marine fishes, whereas continental freshwater fishes are most diverse in large river basins of tropical rainforests, especially the Amazon, Congo, and Mekong basins. More than 5,600 fish species inhabit Neotropical freshwaters alone, such that Neotropical fishes represent about 10% of all vertebrate species on the Earth.
- Main article: Fish anatomy
Most fish exchange gases using gills on either side of the pharynx. Gills consist of threadlike structures called filaments. Each filament contains a capillary network that provides a large surface area for exchanging oxygen and carbon dioxide. Fish exchange gases by pulling oxygen-rich water through their mouths and pumping it over their gills. In some fish, capillary blood flows in the opposite direction to the water, causing countercurrent exchange. The gills push the oxygen-poor water out through openings in the sides of the pharynx. Some fish, like sharks and lampreys, possess multiple gill openings. However, bony fish have a single gill opening on each side. This opening is hidden beneath a protective bony cover called an operculum.
Fish from multiple groups can live out of the water for extended time periods. Amphibious fish such as the mudskipper can live and move about on land for up to several days, or live in stagnant or otherwise oxygen depleted water. Many such fish can breathe air via a variety of mechanisms. The skin of anguillid eels may absorb oxygen directly. The buccal cavity of the electric eel may breathe air. Catfish of the families Loricariidae, Callichthyidae, and Scoloplacidae absorb air through their digestive tracts. Lungfish, with the exception of the Australian lungfish, and bichirs have paired lungs similar to those of tetrapods and must surface to gulp fresh air through the mouth and pass spent air out through the gills. Gar and bowfin have a vascularized swim bladder that functions in the same way. Loaches, trahiras, and many catfish breathe by passing air through the gut. Mudskippers breathe by absorbing oxygen across the skin (similar to frogs). A number of fish have evolved so-called accessory breathing organs that extract oxygen from the air. Labyrinth fish (such as gouramis and bettas) have a labyrinth organ above the gills that performs this function. A few other fish have structures resembling labyrinth organs in form and function, most notably snakeheads, pikeheads, and the Clariidae catfish family.
Breathing air is primarily of use to fish that inhabit shallow, seasonally variable waters where the water's oxygen concentration may seasonally decline. Fish dependent solely on dissolved oxygen, such as perch and cichlids, quickly suffocate, while air-breathers survive for much longer, in some cases in water that is little more than wet mud. At the most extreme, some air-breathing fish are able to survive in damp burrows for weeks without water, entering a state of aestivation (summertime hibernation) until water returns.
Air breathing fish can be divided into obligate air breathers and facultative air breathers. Obligate air breathers, such as the African lungfish, must breathe air periodically or they suffocate. Facultative air breathers, such as the catfish Hypostomus plecostomus, only breathe air if they need to and will otherwise rely on their gills for oxygen. Most air breathing fish are facultative air breathers that avoid the energetic cost of rising to the surface and the fitness cost of exposure to surface predators.
Fish have a closed-loop circulatory system. The heart pumps the blood in a single loop throughout the body. In most fish, the heart consists of four parts, including two chambers and an entrance and exit. The first part is the sinus venosus, a thin-walled sac that collects blood from the fish's veins before allowing it to flow to the second part, the atrium, which is a large muscular chamber. The atrium serves as a one-way antechamber, sends blood to the third part, ventricle. The ventricle is another thick-walled, muscular chamber and it pumps the blood, first to the fourth part, bulbus arteriosus, a large tube, and then out of the heart. The bulbus arteriosus connects to the aorta, through which blood flows to the gills for oxygenation.
Jaws allow fish to eat a wide variety of food, including plants and other organisms. Fish ingest food through the mouth and break it down in the esophagus. In the stomach, food is further digested and, in many fish, processed in finger-shaped pouches called pyloric caeca, which secrete digestive enzymes and absorb nutrients. Organs such as the liver and pancreas add enzymes and various chemicals as the food moves through the digestive tract. The intestine completes the process of digestion and nutrient absorption.
Saltwater fish tend to lose water because of osmosis. Their kidneys return water to the body. The reverse happens in freshwater fish: they tend to gain water osmotically. Their kidneys produce dilute urine for excretion. Some fish have specially adapted kidneys that vary in function, allowing them to move from freshwater to saltwater.
- Main article: Scale (zoology)#Fish scales
The scales of fish originate from the mesoderm (skin); they may be similar in structure to teeth.
Sensory and nervous system
Central nervous system
Fish typically have quite small brains relative to body size compared with other vertebrates, typically one-fifteenth the brain mass of a similarly sized bird or mammal. However, some fish have relatively large brains, most notably mormyrids and sharks, which have brains about as massive relative to body weight as birds and marsupials.
Fish brains are divided into several regions. At the front are the olfactory lobes, a pair of structures that receive and process signals from the nostrils via the two olfactory nerves. The olfactory lobes are very large in fish that hunt primarily by smell, such as hagfish, sharks, and catfish. Behind the olfactory lobes is the two-lobed telencephalon, the structural equivalent to the cerebrum in higher vertebrates. In fish the telencephalon is concerned mostly with olfaction. Together these structures form the forebrain.
Connecting the forebrain to the midbrain is the diencephalon (in the diagram, this structure is below the optic lobes and consequently not visible). The diencephalon performs functions associated with hormones and homeostasis. The pineal body lies just above the diencephalon. This structure detects light, maintains circadian rhythms, and controls color changes.
The hindbrain or metencephalon is particularly involved in swimming and balance. The cerebellum is a single-lobed structure that is typically the biggest part of the brain. Hagfish and lampreys have relatively small cerebellae, while the mormyrid cerebellum is massive and apparently involved in their electrical sense.
Most fish possess highly developed sense organs. Nearly all daylight fish have color vision that is at least as good as a human's (see vision in fishes). Many fish also have chemoreceptors that are responsible for extraordinary senses of taste and smell. Although they have ears, many fish may not hear very well. Most fish have sensitive receptors that form the lateral line system, which detects gentle currents and vibrations, and senses the motion of nearby fish and prey. Some fish, such as catfish and sharks, have organs that detect weak electric currents on the order of millivolt. Other fish, like the South American electric fishes Gymnotiformes, can produce weak electric currents, which they use in navigation and social communication.
Fish orient themselves using landmarks and may use mental maps based on multiple landmarks or symbols. Fish behavior in mazes reveals that they possess spatial memory and visual discrimination.
- Main article: Vision in fishes
Vision is an important sensory system for most species of fish. Fish eyes are similar to those of terrestrial vertebrates like birds and mammals, but have a more spherical lens. Their retinas generally have both rod cells and cone cells (for scotopic and photopic vision), and most species have colour vision. Some fish can see ultraviolet and some can see polarized light. Amongst jawless fish, the lamprey has well-developed eyes, while the hagfish has only primitive eyespots. Fish vision shows adaptation to their visual environment, for example deep sea fishes have eyes suited to the dark environment.
- Main article: Hearing in fishes
Capacity for pain
Experiments done by William Tavolga provide evidence that fish have pain and fear responses. For instance, in Tavolga’s experiments, toadfish grunted when electrically shocked and over time they came to grunt at the mere sight of an electrode.
In 2003, Scottish scientists at the University of Edinburgh and the Roslin Institute concluded that rainbow trout exhibit behaviors often associated with pain in other animals. Bee venom and acetic acid injected into the lips resulted in fish rocking their bodies and rubbing their lips along the sides and floors of their tanks, which the researchers concluded were attempts to relieve pain, similar to what mammals would do. Neurons fired in a pattern resembling human neuronal patterns.
Professor James D. Rose of the University of Wyoming claimed the study was flawed since it did not provide proof that fish possess "conscious awareness, particularly a kind of awareness that is meaningfully like ours". Rose argues that since fish brains are so different from human brains, fish are probably not conscious in the manner humans are, so that reactions similar to human reactions to pain instead have other causes. Rose had published a study a year earlier arguing that fish cannot feel pain because their brains lack a neocortex. However, animal behaviorist Temple Grandin argues that fish could still have consciousness without a neocortex because "different species can use different brain structures and systems to handle the same functions."
Animal welfare advocates raise concerns about the possible suffering of fish caused by angling. Some countries, such as Germany have banned specific types of fishing, and the British RSPCA now formally prosecutes individuals who are cruel to fish.
- Main article: Fish locomotion
Most fish move by alternately contracting paired sets of muscles on either side of the backbone. These contractions form S-shaped curves that move down the body. As each curve reaches the back fin, backward force is applied to the water, and in conjunction with the fins, moves the fish forward. The fish's fins function like an airplane's flaps. Fins also increase the tail's surface area, increasing speed. The streamlined body of the fish decreases the amount of friction from the water. Since body tissue is denser than water, fish must compensate for the difference or they will sink. Many bony fish have an internal organ called a swim bladder that adjusts their buoyancy through manipulation of gases.
Although most fish are exclusively ectothermic, there are exceptions.
Certain species of fish maintain elevated body temperatures. Endothermic teleosts (bony fish) are all in the suborder Scombroidei and include the billfishes, tunas, and one species of "primitive" mackerel (Gasterochisma melampus). All sharks in the family Lamnidae – shortfin mako, long fin mako, white, porbeagle, and salmon shark – are endothermic, and evidence suggests the trait exists in family Alopiidae (thresher sharks). The degree of endothermy varies from the billfish, which warm only their eyes and brain, to bluefin tuna and porbeagle sharks who maintain body temperatures elevated in excess of 20 °C above ambient water temperatures. See also gigantothermy. Endothermy, though metabolically costly, is thought to provide advantages such as increased muscle strength, higher rates of central nervous system processing, and higher rates of digestion.
Fish reproductive organs include testes and ovaries. In most species, gonads are paired organs of similar size, which can be partially or totally fused. There may also be a range of secondary organs that increase reproductive fitness.
In terms of spermatogonia distribution, the structure of teleosts testes has two types: in the most common, spermatogonia occur all along the seminiferous tubules, while in Atherinomorph fish they are confined to the distal portion of these structures. Fish can present cystic or semi-cystic spermatogenesis in relation to the release phase of germ cells in cysts to the seminiferous tubules lumen.
Fish ovaries may be of three types: gymnovarian, secondary gymnovarian or cystovarian. In the first type, the oocytes are released directly into the coelomic cavity and then enter the ostium, then through the oviduct and are eliminated. Secondary gymnovarian ovaries shed ova into the coelom from which they go directly into the oviduct. In the third type, the oocytes are conveyed to the exterior through the oviduct. Gymnovaries are the primitive condition found in lungfish, sturgeon, and bowfin. Cystovaries characterize most teleosts, where the ovary lumen has continuity with the oviduct. Secondary gymnovaries are found in salmonids and a few other teleosts.
Oogonia development in teleosts fish varies according to the group, and the determination of oogenesis dynamics allows the understanding of maturation and fertilization processes. Changes in the nucleus, ooplasm, and the surrounding layers characterize the oocyte maturation process.
Postovulatory follicles are structures formed after oocyte release; they do not have endocrine function, present a wide irregular lumen, and are rapidly reabsorbed in a process involving the apoptosis of follicular cells. A degenerative process called follicular atresia reabsorbs vitellogenic oocytes not spawned. This process can also occur, but less frequently, in oocytes in other development stages.
Over 97% of all known fish are oviparous, that is, the eggs develop outside the mother's body. Examples of oviparous fish include salmon, goldfish, cichlids, tuna, and eels. In the majority of these species, fertilisation takes place outside the mother's body, with the male and female fish shedding their gametes into the surrounding water. However, a few oviparous fish practice internal fertilization, with the male using some sort of intromittent organ to deliver sperm into the genital opening of the female, most notably the oviparous sharks, such as the horn shark, and oviparous rays, such as skates. In these cases, the male is equipped with a pair of modified pelvic fins known as claspers.
Marine fish can produce high numbers of eggs which are often released into the open water column. The eggs have an average diameter of 1 millimetre (0.039 in).
The newly hatched young of oviparous fish are called larvae. They are usually poorly formed, carry a large yolk sac (for nourishment) and are very different in appearance from juvenile and adult specimens. The larval period in oviparous fish is relatively short (usually only several weeks), and larvae rapidly grow and change appearance and structure (a process termed metamorphosis) to become juveniles. During this transition larvae must switch from their yolk sac to feeding on zooplankton prey, a process which depends on typically inadequate zooplankton density, starving many larvae.
In ovoviviparous fish the eggs develop inside the mother's body after internal fertilization but receive little or no nourishment directly from the mother, depending instead on the yolk. Each embryo develops in its own egg. Familiar examples of ovoviviparous fish include guppies, angel sharks, and coelacanths.
Some species of fish are viviparous. In such species the mother retains the eggs and nourishes the embryos. Typically, viviparous fish have a structure analogous to the placenta seen in mammals connecting the mother's blood supply with that of the embryo. Examples of viviparous fish include the surf-perches, splitfins, and lemon shark. Some viviparous fish exhibit oophagy, in which the developing embryos eat other eggs produced by the mother. This has been observed primarily among sharks, such as the shortfin mako and porbeagle, but is known for a few bony fish as well, such as the halfbeak Nomorhamphus ebrardtii. Intrauterine cannibalism is an even more unusual mode of vivipary, in which the largest embryos eat weaker and smaller siblings. This behavior is also most commonly found among sharks, such as the grey nurse shark, but has also been reported for Nomorhamphus ebrardtii.
Immune organs vary by type of fish. In the jawless fish (lampreys and hagfish), true lymphoid organs are absent. These fish rely on regions of lymphoid tissue within other organs to produce immune cells. For example, erythrocytes, macrophages and plasma cells are produced in the anterior kidney (or pronephros) and some areas of the gut (where granulocytes mature.) They resemble primitive bone marrow in hagfish. Cartilaginous fish (sharks and rays) have a more advanced immune system. They have three specialized organs that are unique to chondrichthyes; the epigonal organs (lymphoid tissue similar to mammalian bone) that surround the gonads, the Leydig's organ within the walls of their esophagus, and a spiral valve in their intestine. These organs house typical immune cells (granulocytes, lymphocytes and plasma cells). They also possess an identifiable thymus and a well-developed spleen (their most important immune organ) where various lymphocytes, plasma cells and macrophages develop and are stored. Chondrostean fish (sturgeons, paddlefish and bichirs) possess a major site for the production of granulocytes within a mass that is associated with the meninges (membranes surrounding the central nervous system.) Their heart is frequently covered with tissue that contains lymphocytes, reticular cells and a small number of macrophages. The chondrostean kidney is an important hemopoietic organ; where erythrocytes, granulocytes, lymphocytes and macrophages develop.
Like chondrostean fish, the major immune tissues of bony fish (or teleostei) include the kidney (especially the anterior kidney), which houses many different immune cells. In addition, teleost fish possess a thymus, spleen and scattered immune areas within mucosal tissues (e.g. in the skin, gills, gut and gonads). Much like the mammalian immune system, teleost erythrocytes, neutrophils and granulocytes are believed to reside in the spleen whereas lymphocytes are the major cell type found in the thymus. In 2006, a lymphatic system similar to that in mammals was described in one species of teleost fish, the zebrafish. Although not confirmed as yet, this system presumably will be where naive (unstimulated) T cells accumulate while waiting to encounter an antigen.
- Main article: Fish diseases and parasites
Like other animals, fish suffer from diseases and parasites. To prevent disease they have a variety of defenses. Non-specific defenses include the skin and scales, as well as the mucus layer secreted by the epidermis that traps and inhibits the growth of microorganisms. If pathogens breach these defenses, fish can develop an inflammatory response that increases blood flow to the infected region and delivers white blood cells that attempt to destroy pathogens. Specific defenses respond to particular pathogens recognised by the fish's body, i.e., an immune response. In recent years, vaccines have become widely used in aquaculture and also with ornamental fish, for example furunculosis vaccines in farmed salmon and koi herpes virus in koi.
Some species use cleaner fish to remove external parasites. The best known of these are the Bluestreak cleaner wrasses of the genus Labroides found on coral reefs in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. These small fish maintain so-called "cleaning stations" where other fish congregate and perform specific movements to attract the attention of the cleaners. Cleaning behaviors have been observed in a number of fish groups, including an interesting case between two cichlids of the same genus, Etroplus maculatus, the cleaner, and the much larger Etroplus suratensis.
The 2006 IUCN Red List names 1,173 fish species that are threatened with extinction. Included are species such as Atlantic cod, Devil's Hole pupfish, coelacanths, and great white sharks. Because fish live underwater they are more difficult to study than terrestrial animals and plants, and information about fish populations is often lacking. However, freshwater fish seem particularly threatened because they often live in relatively small water bodies. For example, the Devil's Hole pupfish occupies only a single 3 by 6 metres (10 by 20 ft) pool.
- Main article: Overfishing
Overfishing is a major threat to edible fish such as cod and tuna. Overfishing eventually causes population (known as stock) collapse because the survivors cannot produce enough young to replace those removed. Such commercial extinction does not mean that the species is extinct, merely that it can no longer sustain a fishery.
One well-studied example of fishery collapse is the Pacific sardine Sadinops sagax caerulues fishery off the California coast. From a 1937 peak of 790,000 long tons (800,000 t) the catch steadily declined to only 24,000 long tons (24,000 t) in 1968, after which the fishery was no longer economically viable.
The main tension between fisheries science and the fishing industry is that the two groups have different views on the resiliency of fisheries to intensive fishing. In places such as Scotland, Newfoundland, and Alaska the fishing industry is a major employer, so governments are predisposed to support it. On the other hand, scientists and conservationists push for stringent protection, warning that many stocks could be wiped out within fifty years.
A key stress on both freshwater and marine ecosystems is habitat degradation including water pollution, the building of dams, removal of water for use by humans, and the introduction of exotic species. An example of a fish that has become endangered because of habitat change is the pallid sturgeon, a North American freshwater fish that lives in rivers damaged by human activity.
Introduction of non-native species has occurred in many habitats. One of the best studied examples is the introduction of Nile perch into Lake Victoria in the 1960s. Nile perch gradually exterminated the lake's 500 endemic cichlid species. Some of them survive now in captive breeding programmes, but others are probably extinct. Carp, snakeheads, tilapia, European perch, brown trout, rainbow trout, and sea lampreys are other examples of fish that have caused problems by being introduced into alien environments.
Importance to humans
- Main article: Fishkeeping#Conservation_and_Science
- Main article: Fish as food
- Main article: Fishkeeping
In the Book of Jonah a "great fish" swallowed Jonah the Prophet. Legends of half-human, half-fish mermaids have featured in stories like those of Hans Christian Andersen and movies like Splash (See Merman, Mermaid).
Among the deities said to take the form of a fish are Ika-Roa of the Polynesians, Dagon of various ancient Semitic peoples, the shark-gods of Hawaiʻi and Matsya of the Hindus. The astrological symbol Pisces is based on a constellation of the same name, but there is also a second fish constellation in the night sky, Piscis Austrinus.
Fish feature prominently in art and literature, in movies such as Finding Nemo and books such as The Old Man and the Sea. Large fish, particularly sharks, have frequently been the subject of horror movies and thrillers, most notably the novel Jaws, which spawned a series of films of the same name that in turn inspired similar films or parodies such as Shark Tale, Snakehead Terror, and Piranha.
In the semiotic of Ashtamangala (buddhist symbolism) the golden fish (Sanskrit: Matsya), represents the state of fearless suspension in samsara, perceived as the harmless ocean, referred to as 'buddha-eyes' or 'rigpa-sight'. The fish symbolizes the auspiciousness of all living beings in a state of fearlessness without danger of drowning in the Samsaric Ocean of Suffering, and migrating from teaching to teaching freely and spontaneously just as fish swim.
They have religious significance in Hindu, Jain and Buddhist traditions but also in Christianity who is first signified by the sign of the fish, and especially referring to feeding the multitude in the desert. In the dhamma of Buddha the fish symbolize happiness as they have complete freedom of movement in the water. They represent fertility and abundance. Often drawn in the form of carp which are regarded in the Orient as sacred on account of their elegant beauty, size and life-span.
Shoal or school?
- Main article: Shoaling and schooling
A random assemblage of fish merely using some localised resource such as food or nesting sites is known simply as an aggregation. When fish come together in an interactive, social grouping, then they may be forming either a shoal or a school depending on the degree of organisation. A shoal is a loosely organised group where each fish swims and forages independently but is attracted to other members of the group and adjusts its behaviour, such as swimming speed, so that it remains close to the other members of the group. Schools of fish are much more tightly organised, synchronising their swimming so that all fish move at the same speed and in the same direction. Shoaling and schooling behaviour is believed to provide a variety of advantages.
- Cichlids congregating at lekking sites form an aggregation.
- Many minnows and characins form shoals.
- Anchovies, herrings and silversides are classic examples of schooling fish.
While school and shoal have different meanings within biology, they are often treated as synonyms by non-specialists, with speakers of British English using "shoal" to describe any grouping of fish, while speakers of American English often using "school" just as loosely.
Fish or fishes?
Though often used interchangeably, these words have different meanings. Fish is used either as singular noun or to describe a group of specimens from a single species. Fishes describes a group of different species.
For a topical guide to sharks, see Outline of sharks
- Angling (sport fishing)
- Catch and release
- Deep sea fish
- Fish anatomy
- Fish as food
- Fish development
- Fishing (fishing for food)
- Forage fish
- List of fish common names
- List of fish families
- Marine biology
- Marine vertebrates
- Otolith (Bone used for determining the age of a fish)
- Walking fish
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- ANGFA – Illustrated database of freshwater fishes of Australia and New Guinea
- Fischinfos.de – Illustrated database of the freshwater fishes of Germany (German)
- FishBase online – Comprehensive database with information on over 29,000 fish species
- Fisheries and Illinois Aquaculture Center – Data outlet for fisheries and aquaculture research center in the central US
- Philippines Fishes – Database with thousands of Philippine Fishes photographed in natural habitat
- The Native Fish Conservancy – Conservation and study of North American freshwater fishes
- United Nation – Fisheries and Aquaculture Department: Fish and seafood utilization
- University of Washington Libraries Digital Collections – Digital collection of freshwater and marine fish images
- 12px Chisholm, Hugh, ed (1911). "Fish". Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. Template:Diversity of fish | <urn:uuid:dfa931ef-df01-46a9-934b-b6478c1efec3> | CC-MAIN-2020-16 | https://allbirdsoftheworld.fandom.com/wiki/Fish | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2020-16/segments/1585371810807.81/warc/CC-MAIN-20200408072713-20200408103213-00375.warc.gz | en | 0.8967 | 11,215 | 3.671875 | 4 |
Gender variance (non-conforming gender behaviour or presentation) is an inclusive term that captures those (in this case children) whose non-conforming gender behaviour or presentation is observable and causes a level of consternation in those that care for them. Gender variance, therefore, may also apply to children whose behaviour indicates a diagnosis of Gender Identity Disorder in Childhood (GIDC) (Zucker and Wood 2011). For the purposes of this paper, gender variant refers to non-conforming gendered behaviour in children and transgender is an umbrella term that includes all adults from those with gender-variant expression or behaviour to transsexuals (Bockting 1999; Green 1994; Lev 2004). Historically, resources for gender-variant children and their parents have been lacking as non-conforming gendered behaviour has been considered abnormal, and significant cultural and ethnic differences exist in pressures to conform (Bullough and Bullough 1998). More recently, however, there is recognition that pressuring children to conform to gender stereotypes creates suffering not only in their childhood, but also through adolescence and into adulthood (Grant et al. 2010; Gray, Carter, and Levitt 2012; Grossman and D’Augelli 2006; Institute of Medicine 2011; Plöderl and Fartacek 2009; Toomey et al. 2010; Whittle, Turner, and Al-Alami 2007). Moreover, a number of studies have found that supportive family responses to gender variance contribute to improved mental health and psychosocial resilience in childhood, adolescence and adulthood (Bowes et al. 2010; Rutter 1985; Ryan et al. 2009; Wyman et al. 2000). Also, it is unknown which gender-variant children are likely to become transgender adults. The study described here aimed to identify the needs of gender-variant children (aged 12 or less) and their parents, and to provide research-based evidence to enhance programmes, training and policies that support gender-variant children and their parents.
The literature review for this study was generated through systematic searches of the electronic databases PsycINFO via OvidSP (1806-present), Ovid MEDLINE and Scopus for the past 10 years, using combinations of the words and terms ‘child’, ‘parent’, ‘gender variant’, ‘transgender’, ‘transsexual’, ‘gender identity’, ‘gender atypical’, ‘cross dress’, gender confusion’, ‘gender non-conforming’, ‘gender orientation’, ‘gender dysphoria’ and ‘gender identity disorder’. Through this search, a number of ‘needs’ studies related to the psychological, emotional and medical health of transgender individuals were found, although the focus of these studies was the needs of transgender adults. The limited discussion of the needs of gender-variant children and their parents in the literature is based on clinical practice (Brill and Pepper 2008; Di Ceglie 1998; Di Ceglie et al. 2002; Hill et al. 2010; Mallon 1999, 2006; Rosenberg 2002), support groups organised for parents (Crawford 2003; Di Ceglie and Coates Thummel 2006; Menvielle and Tuerk 2002), life stories of transgendered identifying individuals or their parents (Boenke 2003; Costa and Matzner 2007) and research examining parents’ attitudes and acceptance of their gender-variant children (Hegedus 2009; Hill and Menvielle 2009). Gender-variant children’s needs identified from the above-mentioned authors are for unconditional love, a safe place to discuss their feelings and for the proper use of pronouns. Parents’ needs are for professional intervention, information, peer contact, help in setting boundaries for their child’s behaviour and access to informed professionals.
Following the above-mentioned work, a series of Internet surveys were designed to investigate and understand the experiences of people who have the requisite experience and knowledge to determine the needs of gender-variant children and their parents. Using an online survey system called Zoomerang (MarketTools 2011), three groups of participants were chosen and surveyed: parents with gender-variant children aged 12 or under, transgender adults and clinical professionals with experience of working with the transgender community. The survey development team included clinicians, researchers and academics experienced with transgendered presentations as well as transgender individuals who were consulted for input and feedback. Ethics approval was granted in August 2008 by the Human Research Ethics Committee at the University of Sydney. Participants were recruited via advertising in newspapers (e.g. Sydney Star Observer, Sydney Morning Herald, Sun Herald), magazines (e.g. Sydney’s Child, Polare), radio programmes (e.g. Life Matters - Radio National, Transmission time - Joy 94.9), websites (e.g. University of Sydney, The Gender Centre, Joy) and via the Listserve and conference proceedings of the World Professional Association for Transgender Health.
Purposeful and strategic sampling (Charmaz 2006; Patton 2002) was employed to capitalise on the knowledge and experience of these three groups. A snowball sampling technique was employed whereby participants were invited to refer others within the target populations who might like to take part in the survey. International participants were also sought to elicit a broad range of views and to provide a sufficient number of participants for the study.
All surveys included closed- and open-ended questions. To ensure that responses to all questions were voluntary, the survey was structured to allow participants to skip questions. The closed-ended questions were used to gather demographic data while the open-ended questions were used to obtain reflective elaborated responses in which participants could articulate their experiences, behaviours, feelings, knowledge and opinions, and which would allow the researchers to develop an appreciation of the extent and depth of the participants’ experiences (Huberman and Miles 2002; Patton 2002).
Open-ended questions directed at the parent cohort enquired about their challenges, experiences, needs and concerns for themselves and their children. The transgender adults were asked about their experiences of gender variance as a child, their families’ responses and their own and their parents’ needs at that time. The professionals were asked about their general understanding of the issues faced by gender-variant children and their parents, and then specifically about the needs of these two groups.
To ensure that the analysed data were representative of the participants represented in the demographics, analysis was conducted only on data in which participants responded to at least one of the open-ended questions. In addition, with respect to the parent and transgender adult respondents, results were excluded where gender variance had been identified after the age of 12 years. However, it is acknowledged that some children do reach puberty before the age of 12 and that at puberty, the needs of gender-variant children are likely to change as adolescent factors significantly affect their circumstances (Cohen-Kettenis, Delemarre-van de Waal, and Gooren 2008; de Vries et al. 2011; de Vries, Cohen-Kettenis, and Delemarre-van de Waal 2007; Olsen, Forbes, and Belzer 2011). No limitation was placed on the professionals’ responses as the research team believed that the needs of gender-variant children and their parents could potentially be gleaned from any focussed work with transgender people. From the total of 244 participants who responded to the survey, 170 were finally included in the data analysis. The participant numbers are presented in Table 1.
Table 1. Participants who entered the survey
|Number of participants who responded to the survey||Number of participants who did not meet the inclusion criteriaa||Number of participants included in the data analysis|
a Either identified the age of gender variance after the age of 12 or did not respond to any open-ended questions.
The number of responses from all participants to the open-ended questions was high (97.3%), as shown in Table 2.
Table 2. Number of responses to open-ended questions.
Number of responses
All possible responses
|14 (12 from 2)||9 (5 from 1)||49 (43 from 6)||72|
|247 (94.6%)||518 (98.3%)||1821 (97.4%)||2586 (97.3%)|
In the parent group, out of a possible 537 responses from 17 open-ended questions, only nine responses were left blank and five of these were from one participant. In the transgender adult group, out of a possible 1870 responses from the 17 open-ended questions, 1821 answers were received. Of the missing answers, 43 were from six people. In the professional cohort, from a possible 261 answers to 9 open-ended questions, 247 responses were obtained. Of the 14 missing responses, 12 were from two participants.
The qualitative data were analysed using grounded theory and content/thematic analysis (Charmaz 2006; Grbich 2009; Spradley 1980) which involved an ongoing reflective-interpretive process (Moustakas 1994; van Manen 1997). Responses were considered separately with respect to each question, each participant and each group of participants, and then summarised as a whole. Coding followed Buckingham and Saunders’ (2007, 142) rules of: (a) ‘discrete categories’ where codes are unique for each category; (b) ‘exhaustive categories’ where all responses are represented; and (c) ‘discriminatory categories’ where variations are initially coded separately for later group identification. Although Weft Qualitative Data Analysis (Fenton 2006) was initially used to organise and code the data, this was quickly replaced with a manual method that more readily provided a logical trail of thinking using colour coding as well as full access to all previous steps and saved versions of the analysis.
The findings were first derived from the responses of participants in the three groups: parents raising children with gender variance, transgender adults and professionals working with the community. Six sets of needs (i.e. the child’s needs and the parents’ needs as identified by each group) were then compiled to create two sets of needs: one for the children and one for the parents.
Study findings are described first via a summary of needs as identified across the three groups. Then, the needs of gender-variant children and those of their parents are each focused upon in more detail.
The needs of gender-variant children
In the parent data, children with gender variance emerged as having the following needs: being able to discuss gender issues with parents; having access to information; knowing that having gender variance is valid and okay; being loved unconditionally; being accepted and respected; having their issues and well-being made a priority; being permitted to make their own choices in friends, clothes and activities; being referred to by the pronoun of their choice; not having to conform to society’s gender expectations; having peer support and learning the skills to create friendships and cope with bullying; having supportive counselling; having acceptance and support from school authorities; and being safe. The need to not be blamed or punished for their gender differences, the need to not be anxious and in fear of others’ reactions to them and the need to not be cast out and isolated by others were also included (Riley et al. 2011a).
The transgender adults data identified the following needs for gender-variant children based on their experience: the need for education and information about gender variance; the need for parental love and support; the need for permission to express their gender; the need for knowledge about similar others; the need for recognition as having gender variance and for support; the need for parents to overcome their negative biases and influences; the need for society to be more tolerant and accepting of gender differences; the need to have an understanding and supportive school environment; the need to have access to other transgender persons; the need to have medical intervention where suitable; and the need to be protected from abuse and violence (Riley et al. 2013).
Professionals who work with transgender individuals and their families identified the needs of gender-variant children as the following: to be loved; to be listened to; to be respected and accepted; to be offered general, school and professional support; to be free to express their true gender; to have gender-variant friends; to be safe and have the same opportunities as other children; and to have access to a delayed puberty where indicated (Riley et al. 2011b).
In summary, the needs of gender-variant children as identified by parents, transgender adults and professionals can be represented by the acronym H-A-P-P-I-N-E-S-S. These needs are: to be Heard; to be Accepted; to have Professional access and support; to have Peer contact; to have access to current Information; Not to be bullied, blamed, punished or otherwise discriminated against; to have freedom of Expression; to feel Safe; and to have Support. Although some of the needs identified by the three groups of participants were given similar names, further investigation revealed that the reasons behind these needs were sometimes different. Where relevant, these differences are explained below.
To be heard
This need encompasses children being given permission to discuss gender with their parents; to have their parents listen to them and provide them with a safe and comfortable environment for the interaction. Transgender adults described their suffering due to being unable to share their concerns and feelings about their gender in various ways, as reflected in the following comments from the data: ‘I thought if I told anyone they might put me away in some mental institution. I dared not even tell my parents’; ‘I promptly came out to my family [and] received a forceful message that what I was doing was wrong’- and:
I tried to talk with my mother about my ‘problem’ but it was too difficult for her. I was sent to a private all-boys school. As if that would ‘cure’ me ... [It was] the only time I have endured beatings ... I was definitely not cross-dressing at school. Somehow people just knew ... I will never get over that.
To be accepted
The need for acceptance involves being valued, respected and loved unconditionally by parents and being referred to in the preferred gender. This need includes both family acceptance and acceptance beyond the family, for instance, the tolerance of diversity at schools and in the wider community. A lack of acceptance was particularly noted in the responses of transgender adults. Several participants related the following:
As a teen I told my mum I was gay and was forced to leave home.
[Even though] I’d have been killed quite literally, if I transitioned where I grew up, either way, feeling loved and valued, no matter what, by those who cared for me is what would have helped me the most.
Participants also suggested that parents need a better understanding of sex and gender to help them accept their children’s expression of gender variance. They stressed that children ought to be accepted as they are and be given adequate time to determine their unique gender. Gender differences should not be merely tolerated, but respected, embraced and valued.
To have access to professional support
Access to professionals includes access to counselling and medical practitioners with the knowledge and expertise to recognise gender variance and provide intervention and referrals (where indicated) for children anxious about their developing bodies. Access to knowledgeable school counsellors, general practitioners and community groups was also highlighted as it was noted that children also need options for support beyond their immediate families. Transgender participants expressed their dismay at the lack of local support services available to them as children and described instead how they were subjected to reparative therapies. Professionals mentioned the need for their colleagues to be able to recognise gender identity issues and offer sensitive and friendly support in a positive environment.
To have peer contact
The need for connection with peers includes opportunities to meet similar others and to have access to support groups, either face-to-face or online, to alleviate feelings of isolation, to learn about different ways of coping and to make friends. Transgender adults also stressed the importance of having access to transgender role models and described how they, as children, needed to know that gender variance is a naturally occurring phenomenon and to see how transgender people are treated. They noted that this would have helped them to situate their experience in the wider world and to see a future for themselves.
To have access to information
Information and education for children was a key component of gender-variant children’s needs and was emphasised by all groups. It was recommended that resources and education programmes related to gender variance be freely available in libraries, schools, doctors’ surgeries and other public places. This suggestion also includes implementing strategies for dealing with bullying referrals, for making available suitable websites and for offering face-to-face assistance. The onset of puberty was identified as a crucial time when children need to have access to reliable and age-appropriate resources. This availability of resources was also considered to be a way for children to ‘better understand who they are and what might help them to become more comfortable’ and to know that ‘gender is not sex and not binary’. From the parents’ perspective, knowing that appropriate and correct information regarding sex and gender was available to their children would have reduced the burden they felt in needing to know, but not knowing, about gender variance.
Not to be bullied, blamed, punished or otherwise discriminated against
This need advocates for gender-variant children’s rights to be treated equally without fear and anxiety and not to be pressured to conform to gender stereotypes; to have their diversity affirmed; to be offered the same opportunities as other children; and to have the potential for a satisfying and successful future.
To have freedom of expression
The need for freedom of expression involves allowing gender-variant children to make choices regarding their presentation, selection of clothes, and friends and activities, with the flexibility to have a blended or fluid gender expression. Participants commented that children need permission to explore their gender identity without pressure, judgement or restriction, and to know that gender variance is okay. Joan wrote:
Basically I felt like my life was pretty much an act in which I walked around in a vehicle that wasn’t quite right, whereby no one could really see me or know me and [where] I couldn’t be authentic. I was depressed, anxious, desperate, alienated, but managed to act nearly all the time as if everything was fine.
To feel safe
Safety and protection from abuse and violence was identified as a priority for gender-variant children. Participants noted that safety could only be established in schools and communities where there is suitable education and advocacy in conjunction with punishment for offenders and resources for children to cope with bullying and harassment. Parents highlighted their concerns for the safety of their gender-variant children specifically with respect to the lack of support from schools and community in their (the parents’) absence. Transgender adults described the fear and anxiety that a lack of protection generated for them as children and the ongoing impact of living with bullying and violence. Helen wrote of how ‘the constant fear of being beaten’ affected their choices and impacted their self-confidence. Many described how these kinds of experiences continue to impede their progress as adults.
To have support
The need for support includes the need for proactive intervention comprising emotional and physical support from parents, professionals, schools, community and religious groups, and society generally. Culture, tradition and religion were seen as imposing such strict rules on behaviour that some transgender adults were convinced that their parents would have been incapable of accepting their gender variance. Participants expressed the need for children to be supported in expressing their authentic selves (instead of being punished). They felt that gender stereotyping in schools and society in general severely limits the amount of support, safety and protection that is available to gender-variant children and furthermore, that most schools lack the understanding, strategies and resources for positioning the gender-variant child’s behaviour within their established frameworks.
The parents identified their own needs as being for specific and correct information about gender variance in children as derived from books, guidelines, research and the media; information about parenting strategies, sharing of stories with other parents, peer support and contact with members of the transgender community; skills to counteract bullying and negativity towards themselves and their children; access to competent medical and counselling professionals; school policies, special needs and disability support; community education and government assistance to support them and their children; and the ability to tolerate the uncertainty of not knowing the future outcomes for their child. Parents also appealed for financial and legal aid, political advocacy and lobbying to gain support for themselves and their children (Riley et al. 2011a).
The needs for parents as described by the transgender adults in the study encompassed needs for information; the opportunity to meet other similar parents; trained professionals who can advocate for gender-variant children; access to counselling; familiarity with role models of successful transgender people; legal and financial support; and social and religious groups that are aware and supportive of gender variance (Riley et al. 2013).
Parents’ needs, as seen by the professionals, were for information and emotional support from families, friends, local communities and society in general; professionals who are knowledgeable and competent in dealing with gender-variance issues; the prioritisation of the child’s well-being; contact with other similar parents; schools that are accepting and supportive of their children; and access to the latest research regarding gender variance.
The needs of the parents of gender-variant children in this study are for information; education; support from family and friends; support from schools; counselling and professional support; peer and community support; contact with transgender people; and financial, legal and government support. These are described in detail below.
Participants suggested that information could be provided in the form of books and stories about gender-variant children and their families; up-to-date research published in the media; and guidelines and strategies for parenting. Information should be available not just online but in doctors’ waiting rooms, in libraries and on television and radio programmes. Requested guidelines and strategies were related to setting limits on their child’s behaviour, handling negativity towards their child and advice on choosing schools sympathetic to diversity in gender expression. Professional participants noted that a lack of correct information feeds into parents’ fears. Parents commented that their uncertainty about what to do or who to turn to was a major contributor to their inability to support their children.
Education was identified as a need for counsellors and medical professionals, for school staff, for parents and for community programmes. The aim of education is to increase knowledge and general awareness about gender variance. Education across the various sectors was identified as a way to increase acceptance of gender variance and counter assumptions that biological sex is always in alignment with gender expression and/or identity. Parents, in particular, commented that the ignorance and fear of other people contributed significantly to the difficulties they faced and due to this they felt misunderstood, blamed and judged for supporting their child. Parents also cited the need for the education of ‘special needs’ and disability staff.
Support from family and friends
Participants suggested that an accepting and caring environment, for instance, respect, compassion, help and encouragement from family and friends, allows parents to manage their child’s needs. Professionals noted that this kind of support builds parents’ confidence and helps them to advocate for their children in public.
Counselling was identified as being a foundation to providing reassurance, understanding and guidance for parents as well as for other family members. Counselling helps parents with decision-making and provides a context within which they can discuss their values, fears and concerns without fear of judgement. Professionals emphasised parents need to know that they are not at fault, that it is okay to advocate for their child and that there are other families dealing with similar issues.
Support from professionals
Professionals need to be informed and be aware of the issues for transgender individuals, trained and caring. Parents voiced the need for a diagnosis and treatment pathway for their children as they enter puberty; professionals’ prioritisation of their child’s well-being and speaking publicly about the needs of gender-variant children. Transgender participants noted that support from knowledgeable professionals would have improved their own parents’ ability to cope and thereby reduce the pressure on them as children. Competent professionals would respect parents’ reactions and give them the time to adjust their approach to raising their gender-variant child.
Contact with other parents of gender-variant children and access to support groups, both face-to-face and online, were identified as being necessary to help parents understand that they are not alone. Meeting other families would provide parents with emotional support and give them the opportunity to learn about issues that other parents had dealt with. This would also allow parents to create a network of support to draw on in times of distress.
The need for support from local and wider community networks includes assistance and acceptance from religious groups, local clubs and schools, and more tolerance of gender variance in society generally. A supportive culture and society that do not impose and enforce stereotypes were seen as critical in ensuring consistent support for their child. It was also recommended that school counsellors liaise with gender specialists to provide a broader support base for parents.
Access to transgender people
The need for access to transgender people includes the visibility and positive portrayals of transgender individuals and communities. Some participants noted that parents would benefit from ongoing social contact with transgender persons.
Financial support was considered to be necessary to ensure that parents could afford the costs of counselling and other professional expenses likely to be required to meet the child’s needs.
Legal and government support
Politicians and leaders with an awareness of the issues faced by parents of gender-variant children were identified as being important for recognising the rights of parents and their children. This type of support included lobbying and legal protections. Although legal and government support was identified as a need by all groups, it was the parents in particular who would like leaders and politicians to demonstrate leadership and direction for the wider community by legitimising their concerns.
Although this study focussed on children under the age of 12, parents, professionals and transgender adults all identified the need for puberty-delaying hormones to be available for children as they enter puberty. Parents of older children felt that the lack of access to puberty blockers significantly increased their child’s suffering. Transgender adults described the misery they felt during puberty and the ongoing issues that not having had access to puberty- delaying hormones had created for them as adults. Professionals, as witnesses to the distress of adolescents with extreme gender dysphoria, described the need for adherence to best- practice guidelines for adolescents in need of puberty-delaying hormones.’
The various sets of needs described above provide more insight into the experiences and requirements of gender-variant children in their day-to-day lives. The literature has rarely discussed the needs of gender-variant children, while those needs that have been identified tend to be the by-products of support programmes organised in support of gender-variant children. Mallon (1999) in ‘Practice with Transgendered Children’, for example, put forward a framework which can be used by clinicians who work with gender-variant children and their families. He recognised gender-variant children’s needs for information; acceptance and unconditional love; support; and advocacy. Brill and Pepper (2008), in their guidelines for trans-positive support of gender-variant children, discuss gender- variant children’s need to discuss their situation, be actively loved and supported by their parents and be allowed to make their own choices regarding clothes, activities and toys. Although Wyss (2004) identified several safety needs for gender-variant school children, their information was related to teenagers only.
There are occasional references in the literature to the needs of parents with gender-variant children, mainly in studies of parents’ experiences and parent support groups. For example, a study by Hill and Menvielle (2009) focussed on the experiences of parents with gender-variant children and teens. They identified parents’ needs for education and the setting of limits on their child’s dressing. Parents’ need for peer contact was first recognised by Pleak (1999), who organised a group for parents of boys diagnosed with GIDC. Pleak reported that parents who were able to speak openly about their situation demonstrated greater acceptance and support of their own children. Menvielle and Tuerk (2002) provided a support group for parents of gender non-conforming boys and reported on the benefits for parents in finding support related to the issues of disclosure, grieving, embarrassing situations and the use of humour. Rosenberg (2002) organised a group for parents of children diagnosed with GIDC. The reported outcomes for parents were relief in speaking about their situation and strategies for coping with family members, teachers and neighbours. Mallon (1999) recommended that social workers be aware that parents of gender-variant children need to have resources, family support and strategies for negotiating with their children and other people.
The data in the present study suggest that even when gender-variant children actively endeavour to conform, their efforts are often thwarted by individuals who seek to marginalise and victimise them for their difference. Children therefore suffer from an invisibility and lack of recognition of their needs, on the one hand, and (in some cases) a violation of their personal boundaries that can foster a general anxiety, on the other. The well-documented need of all children for acceptance and affirmation places even moreresponsibility on adults to be compassionate and make provisions for gender-variant children. The cohort of transgender adults in this study provided some evidence of the consequences of reparative therapy and indicated support for alternative approaches that would allow children to either come to terms with, or confidently develop, their own sense of identity in a caring environment.
It is notable that most of the transgender adults who responded to the survey had experienced childhood prior to 1980. Since then, there has been a substantial change in attitudes towards transgender individuals, indicating perhaps that the experiences of individuals in this study were more negative than might be the case today. However, in the first author’s (Elizabeth A. Riley) clinical experience, there are still many children whose parents and families are not accepting of the child’s presentation of gender variance.
Although this exploratory study breaks new ground in understanding the needs of gender-variant children and their parents, several limitations may restrict its impact and significance. Some of these are inherent in the nature of this style of research while others are specific to the study itself.
One limitation of the project is that all data were collected via online surveys. Some participants may have found that having to rely on written text restricted their ability to express themselves. In addition, not only were participants required to express themselves in written text but the surveys also had to be completed in English. Consequently, the online surveys not only excluded those without access to computers or the Internet, but also those who could not express themselves effectively in written text or in English. This use of the Internet also prevented the researcher from a further probing of answers or the use of other cues, such as physical presence, body language or voice, to enhance understanding; although, it has been questioned whether these elements are necessary, distracting or even relevant (Markham 2005). It is also acknowledged that participants may have either minimised or overstated their difficulties or the impact of gender variance on them to match their current beliefs, needs or values.
It was assumed that the context of the professionals who entered the survey would be clinical. This turned out not to be the case as only 76% identified as using a clinical setting for their clients. The other 24% (directors/coordinators, educators, one lawyer and one researcher), however, did appear to have a significant and ongoing association with transgender people as suggested by the thoughtful and significant responses they provided to the survey’s open-ended questions.
Lesbian and gay individuals also have experience of gender-variant childhoods (D’Augelli 2008; Grossman, D’Augelli, and Frank 2011; Toomey et al. 2010). Research focussing on the childhoods of lesbian and gay individuals would enable a more complete study of the needs of gender-variant children.
Finally, this study did not attract those parents who do not accept gender variance in their child. The circumstances and views of these non-accepting parents were only represented in this study through the experiences of transgender adults who reported this attitude in their own parents. Therefore, non-accepting parents were likely to be under-represented in the results.
This study has attempted to understand the needs and experiences of gender-variant children and their parents. There is currently, however, little existing information against which the findings of the study can be easily validated. Specifically, the aims of this study were to identify the support needs of children with gender variance and the support needs of parents raising a gender-variant child. The current and future objectives are to contribute to information, resources and curriculum development in the education of professionals, schools, parents and the community in supporting gender-variant children; to influence the development of evidence-based health and policy in support of gender-variant children and their parents; to invite professionals to advocate for and reduce the stigma of gender variance; and to pave the way for future research.
The various attitudes and biases of the three groups of participants – parents of gender-variant children, transgender adults and professionals working with gender-variant children – were outlined where relevant with reference to the specific needs identified. Across all three groups of participants, the findings indicated a significant shortfall in compassion towards gender-variant children; education available to professionals; support available to parents; awareness of gender variance in schools; and the management of bullying of gender-variant children in the school context.
Parents described their experience of watching their children struggle with the pressure to conform to societal gender expectations and one-third wrote that their children were at times sad, depressed or suicidal. They recounted their struggles in attempting to stem bullying and deal with hostility towards their children and lamented their inability to make the world a safer place for their children as they approached puberty. Parents also conveyed their sensitivity to the fear and anxiety they had observed in their children and their search for strategies to alleviate their discomfort and to help place appropriate boundaries around their children’s presentation in order to prevent negative reactions and hostility from others. They also disclosed their concerns, challenges, needs and fears about making the right parenting decisions and wrote extensively about their need for resources and support.
Transgender adults expressed a finely tuned awareness of the challenges faced by gender-variant children and described their own parents’ ways of coping. They described their anguish at having to ‘perform’ in their assigned gender and the ongoing ramifications of dealing with the anxiety and hostility even when they felt they were conforming. They recommended that children be encouraged to discuss gender rather than keeping their experiences and feelings hidden. They also described what they felt were the unnecessary constraints that had inhibited their parents’ acceptance and support of them as children, and expressed the frustration arising from the lack of resources and support to alleviate their confusion and concerns. They also identified parents’ needs for family counselling, financial support and legal protection, and the need for public advocacy and presentations by clinicians.
Professionals’ views in this study were both compassionate and pragmatic. They proposed mechanisms to help parents cope and make informed decisions that would best serve the interests of their children. The professionals’ responses reflected a broader perspective as the parents’ and children’s stated needs were described as ‘rights’. They offered practical solutions and emphasised that gender-variant children ought to be heard and believed, given choices and loved unconditionally. Some professionals felt that pressure and disapproval from society was the cause of many difficulties and consequences for both the child and the family. They identified needs for general education and for parents to have access to the latest research, for legal support and, notably, for the child to be happy.
The process of identifying the needs of gender-variant children and their parents has generated input for training programmes and recommendations for enhanced roles for government. This study has indicated the need for further research in many areas associated with gender variance in children. First, knowledge of the needs of gender-variant children and their parents in non-Western countries would assist in developing a multicultural approach towards transgender individuals. Second, sourcing the perspectives of lesbian and gay individuals (given the association between gender variance in childhood and a homosexual adulthood) would shed light on the needs of gender-variant children and their parents. Third, the views of teachers would help facilitate the integration of knowledge about gender variance into various aspects of the school curriculum. Fourth, understanding the psychological dynamics of shame and stigma could help in developing therapeutic approaches for working with clients who have been subject to stigmatisation. Fifth, an exploration of the experiences of gender-variant people who have had successful and productive lives would provide a basis to ascertain the elements that may have contributed to their success. Sixth, long-term treatment outcomes (including for those individuals exposed to coercive and reparative approaches) could help determine which approaches are likely to provide the most positive, successful and healthy outcomes for gender-variant children. Seventh, information about the motivations for transphobia and homophobia would provide critical input to anti-bullying programmes in support of gender-variant children. Eighth, identifying the impact of the media on people’s belief systems, values and behaviour would help to identify the power of the media in perpetuating beliefs about gender variance and determine how best to more effectively use the media to promote tolerance and acceptance of diversity.
This study on the needs of parents of gender-variant children has engaged with the voices and insights of three groups of participants. It has incorporated the knowledge and experience of parents of gender-variant children; the understanding and insight of transgender adults who have described their parents’ needs when they themselves were gender-variant children; and insights from professionals who work with members of the transgender community. The combined wisdom of these three groups has delivered a comprehensive understanding of needs that could be used to inform programmes in support of gender-variant children and their parents.
Although children have no choice but to live in the world that is made available to them, society does have a choice about how to treat them. With respect to gender variance, we may ask: can society, professionals and schools facilitate a child’s self-identification instead of policing conformity to gender norms? Can the stigma of gender variance be eliminated so that children whose behaviour harms no one can live in peace while embracing their differences? | <urn:uuid:33aef573-5c0f-4fe1-b9ba-fc5c24e177fe> | CC-MAIN-2013-48 | http://www.hawaii.edu/PCSS/biblio/articles/2010to2014/2013-recognizing.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-48/segments/1386164692455/warc/CC-MAIN-20131204134452-00091-ip-10-33-133-15.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.96791 | 8,024 | 3.609375 | 4 |
Ides of March, 2002
Caesar (to the soothsayer): The Ides of March are come.
Soothsayer: Ay, Caesar; but not gone.
Shakespeare’s "Julius Caesar"
On this day, 2046 years ago, Julius Caesar was assassinated by his friend Brutus and other conspirators. Caesar had it coming, of course. He had crossed the Rubicon with his army – something that was forbidden under Roman law – and had seized power by force. But when Caesar fell to the ‘unkindest cut of all’ it set off a power struggle in Rome that soon had armies on the march all around the Mediterranean and ended up by – among other things – ending Ptolemaic rule of Egypt with the death of Marc’s Anthony’s lover, Cleopatra.
What a marvelous story – full of power, war, deceit, back-stabbing, jealousy, sex… even animals! No wonder people love politics… it is so much like real life.
As promised, today’s letter will not ask long-term Daily Reckoning sufferers to reckon with Alan Greenspan, nor with the Japanese economy.
Instead, we will render unto Caesar what is his – turning our reckoning away from markets and towards politics. That is, away from illusions of wealth towards delusions of grandeur… away from greed and fear towards hypocrisy and larceny… and away from charming rogues towards rogues with no charm whatsoever.
We turn, in other words, from the distortions and hype of the financial pages to the empty headed pomposity of the editorial pages.
In particular, we turn to the newspapers to find out what is happening in the War Against Terror (WAT).
"Fierce fiery warriors fought upon the clouds, In ranks and squadrons and right form of war, Which drizzled blood upon the Capitol; The noise of battle hurtled in the air, Horses did night, and dying men did groan, And ghosts did shriek and squeal about the streets."
Caesar’s wife, Calpurnia, might have been describing the WAT. Instead, she was recalling a nightmare and giving her husband a warning: Beware the ides of March.
But what husband listens to his wife’s bad dreams? Caesar went forth, fearless. "Danger knows full well," says he, "that Caesar is more dangerous than he."
We do not read the news as others do – that is, to avoid doing anything useful or uplifting. Instead, we consult the headlines the way the Romans consulted augurers – looking for things that might cause trouble. Is something happening in the world that might trump the normal patterns of boom and bust, or overrule a financial trend… like WWII is said to have brought an end to the Great Depression?
A preliminary conclusion: nothing in the news suggests that the Axel of Evil is turning any more slowly today than it was before the WAT was announced. ‘Terrorists’ have been rounded up or killed by the thousands. But like the terrorists who bedeviled Roman legions… there will be plenty more to take their places.
And a sneaking suspicion: if the terrorists fail to come forward on their own… we will create them.
The nice thing about being the world’s only super-power, you can launch the most absurd campaigns on the basis of the most preposterous pretenses – and who’s going to stand in your way?
And a further reflection: little noticed in the celebration of America’s victory over Afghanistan – a country hosting one of the world’s governments that is least able to defend itself – is that the U.S. military has far outpaced the rest of the world. It has gotten so far ahead of the competition that it represents a threat to everyone – including itself. With nothing to stand it in its way, it ends up in places it ought not be. And with no enemy capable of delivering a decisive strike – it may have to blow itself up.
"If Congress cranks up the Pentagon’s budget as much as George W. Bush would like," reckons a N.Y.TIMES editorial, "the U.S. will soon be spending more on defense than all the other countries of the world combined. That is just one measure of America’s armed might – and of a global imbalance of power the likes of which has probably not been seen since the height of the Roman Empire."
Even in Caesar’s day, Rome did not enjoy the margin of power that the U.S. does today. There was still another great empire in Persia," writes Paul Kennedy, "and another one in China." (Crassus, a rich Roman, had tried to make a name for himself by launching a military campaign against Parthia [near present day Iraq]. The Parthians attacked on camels – so destabilizing the Roman mercenaries that many broke and ran. Crassus was captured and met his end by having molten gold poured down his throat. His imprisoned soldiers ended up, believe it or not, as mercenaries to a Chinese general and were eventually settled in China.)
"No equivalent concentration of power to a U.S. carrier task forces exists in the world," writes Kennedy, "the few UK, French and Indian carriers are minuscule by comparison, the Russian ones are rusting away."
"This array of force is staggering. Were it ever assembled en masse the result would be the largest concentration of naval and aerial force the world would have seen."
Kennedy notes that he was able to follow the buildup and execution of WAT by looking at the navy’s own websites. "Accompanying the enormous flagship [the carrier Enterprise] by that time," writes Kennedy, "were two cruisers, six destroyers and frigates, two attack submarines, two amphibious vessels with their troops, and supply-dock ships – in all, 15 vessels and 14,300 mean (including 3,250 troops)."
This really is a new era in warfare. As recently as half century ago, the U.S. Navy would scarcely give out to the public the configuration of its battle groups. "Loose lips sink ships," was the motto of the WWII era.
But the enemy today has no weapons to match against U.S. forces. American armies march around the globe – and appear to be invincible. Why not advertise their whereabouts? What can the enemy do about it?
The conclusion that most people draw from the Afghan war is "almost beside the point," Kennedy believes. "The larger lesson – and one stupefying to the Russian and Chinese military, worrying to the Indians, and disturbing to proponents of a common European defense policy – is that in military terms there is only one player on the field that counts."
"Everyone knew," he continues, "that with the Soviet Union’s forces in a state of decrepitude, the U.S. was in a class of its own. But is simply staggering to learn that this single country – a democratic republic that claims to despise large government – now spends more each year on the military than the next nine largest national defense budgets combined.
"Nothing has ever existed like this disparity of power; nothing… "
What does it mean? Has the U.S. military – and its economy – become too big to fail? More to come.
March 15, 2002 — Paris, France
The consumer shopped valiantly throughout the ‘recession.’ He bought a new SUV and mortgaged up his old house – or bought a new one. What more can he do now?
That question, posed in the Daily Reckoning a few days ago, was on Alan Greenspan’s mind as he spoke to bankers on Wednesday.
"Although household spending should continue to trend up," said the Fed chairman, "the potential for significant acceleration in activity in this sector is likely to be more limited than in past cycles."
"That puts the onus on business investment," notes the Bloomberg reports. But businesses have a problem too – they have no money. Profits have declined in each of the last five quarters – with a 21.6% drop in the last 3 months of 2001 alone. But while profits fell, debt rose. And now businesses are finding it harder to borrow more. Post-Enron, lenders are becoming more careful about whom they trust with their money.
What’s more, the cost of carrying debt is going up. As Eric notes, below, long-term yields are rising.
Besides, with no increase in consumer spending on the horizon, why would businesses spend money (at rising rates) to make capital investments?
"The recovery in spending on business fixed investment is likely to be only gradual," Greenspan said. "In particular, its growth will doubtless be less frenetic than in 1999 and early 2000 – a period during which outlays were boosted by the dislocations of Y2K and the extraordinarily low cost of equity capital available to many firms."
The recovery may be modest. Or, it may not happen at all.
"The Fed chairman also discussed the need for Americans to increase their rate of saving," continues the Bloomberg report, "… given the rising share of elderly who will be claiming Social Security benefits. It has two implications, he said.
"First, additional saving will help pay the retirees’ claims. Second, it will add to the store of capital available for investment, which should benefit the economy.
"The rate of saving," said the nation’s central banker, "… surely affects capital investment, which it finances, and the productivity that it engenders."
Uh… yes. But in order for people to save more they must spend less. If they spend less, business sales will go down. Profits will not rise, but unemployment will. And the economy will finally sink into the well-padded easy chair of recession – for a much needed rest.
Eric… over to you…
Eric Fry on Wall Street…
– Nuthin’ much doin’ in the stock market yesterday. The Dow inched up 15 points to 10,517, while the Nasdaq dropped half a percent to 1,854.
– Meanwhile, a very interesting story is unfolding in the Treasury bond market. The story is a very simple one: Treasury prices are falling, which means yields are rising. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note spiked to 5.39% yesterday from 5.26% the day before. Rates have jumped almost 1.25% since last fall and have hit their highest level since July.
– Rising yields – like budding daffodils – are often a harbinger of an imminent economic "spring." From a macro-economic standpoint, therefore, rising yields could be considered a hopeful sign. However, we at the Daily Reckoning get no warm and fuzzy feeling from the rising interest rate trend. Rather, we suspect that higher rates might be just the thing to stop the ‘recovery that isn’t happening’ dead in its tracks.
– After all, rising interest rates are no friend to leveraged companies and consumers.
– It’s also possible that Treasuries are selling off because some folks are growing concerned about the dollar’s health. The euro touched a seven-week high against the dollar yesterday, while gold has been acclimating itself to the thinner air around the $290 level.
– "We are actually about one year into a new gold cycle," Chris Thompson, chairman of Gold Fields Ltd., proclaimed recently. "There’s much more to come. Load up and enjoy!"
– Consider that since the beginning of 2001, the XAU Index of gold and silver stocks has gained more than 20%, while all the major stock indices have LOST ground. Is this merely a head-fake or the beginning of a long- term trend reversal? It’s happened before… but in reverse.
– In 1983, buying gold below $500 per ounce probably seemed like a pretty savvy idea. Only two years earlier, the yellow metal had touched $800 per ounce. Any price below $500 had to be a bargain, right?
– Meanwhile, the stock market, which had gone absolutely nowhere over the 10 years prior to 1983, was self- evidently NOT the place to be. The "smart money" bought gold and avoided stocks. We all know what happened next.
– Ten years later, stocks had more than tripled and gold had gone nowhere. Remarkably, even in 1993, it was almost as easy to find an investor who was bullish on gold as it was to find an investor who was bullish on stocks.
– Isn’t it curious how long perception can survive reality?
– Ten years after the fact, many investors still held a candle for the yellow metal. Bad habits can be so tough to break. Some of us eat a little too much cheesecake, others drink a little too much red wine and others of us hang on to losing investments a little too long… hoping for a turnaround.
– You know, it’s possible that the investment world is already in the throes of another dramatic trend reversal. Maybe stocks have already entered a bear market and gold has entered a bull market. Wouldn’t that be funny?
– "There’s an old Wall Street adage that says, ‘Put 10 percent of your assets into gold and hope it doesn’t work,’" says James Vail, manager of the Pilgrim Precious Metals Fund.
– These days, most investors put zero percent of their assets in gold because they are CERTAIN it won’t work.
– This entrenched bearish sentiment is a propitious contrary indicator, private investor Kevin Duffy told me yesterday.
– "My favorite intermediate-term contrary indicator on gold is warming up," says Duffy. "The assets in the Rydex Precious Metals Fund have ranged from about $25 million to $90 million the past two years. Assets are back down to $44.1 million, towards the low end. Yet the fund’s NAV is just 8% off its recent high and up 65% from its low of late 2000. Obviously, the 22-year bear market has conditioned investors to sell rallies – that’s very bullish. Meanwhile, just 1.25% of total "sector fund" assets are gold-oriented – only $2.2 billion worth. By comparison, tech and telecom funds hold $70.6 billion, or 39.7% of all sector fund assets.
– Duffy concludes, "We’re still in the top of the first inning on the gold rally."
Back in Paris…
*** "Generally, we can find one overriding idea in every major cycle," writes Joe Granville. "This is when virtually everyone is brainwashed into total agreement on one thing. In this case, virtually everybody is looking for an economic recovery this year… everybody agrees that a recovery will take place sometime in 2002.
But "the technical indicators are now saying that the anticipated upturn will not take place this year," says Granville, and "since most people don’t have the slightest idea of how to read the language of the market, they will then be counted among the majority – looking for the economic upswing which won’t take place."
*** Speaking of language… "Let’s get some sarnies," said one of my English associates.
"He was skint," said another.
"When you’re on the coal face… " began a sentence.
""A cracking idea… " concluded a conversation.
When did the Brits stop speaking English? I don’t know, but I spent much of yesterday overcoming the language barrier in London. For the benefit of Daily Reckoning readers, I asked for a translation.
"Sarneys" are sandwiches. "Skint" means penniless. Being "on the coal face" is equivalent to being in the trenches… it is where you can’t really see what is going on around you. And a "cracking" idea is a good one. | <urn:uuid:bddee1d8-0054-47e0-8063-6a17fd988225> | CC-MAIN-2017-30 | https://dailyreckoning.com/ides-of-march-2002/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-30/segments/1500549424961.59/warc/CC-MAIN-20170725042318-20170725062318-00358.warc.gz | en | 0.965431 | 3,377 | 2.75 | 3 |
The biofuel story can be a confusing one, since there are so many different types from so many different sources that are used in so many different ways. Let’s see if we can make some kind of sense of all this while gaining some understanding of where they come from and how they are produced.
Biofuel producers often speak in terms of generations, which are really more of a historical classification than a functional one. First generation biofuels are the ones that have been around for a while. They generally come from the starches and sugars found in food crops, along with animal fats and vegetable oils. Like most biofuels, they can be divided into two types: biologically derived material that can fermented to produce alcohol (starch), and natural oils that can be processed to create biodiesel (lipids).
Alcohol-based biofuels are produced in much the same way as liquor, though, of course with different emphasis. In fact, ethyl alcohol, or ethanol, which is the most commonly used bio-alcohol, is the same type of alcohol that is found in whiskey, vodka, gin, etc. All of these are based on the fermentation of starches and sugars. The ingredients are gathered, ground up, mixed with water and left to ferment with the help of yeast or other organisms for some period of time (three years for Scotch whiskey!) before it is finally distilled into the final product. Whiskey is made from barley. Vodka was traditionally made from potatoes, though various grains are often used now. Bourbon contains 51 percent or more corn. Tequila is made from agave. Rum is made from molasses, and gin comes from juniper berries. Brandy and cognac both come from grapes. All of these are fermented to produce alcohol. In the case of biofuel, which primarily uses corn, because of the quantities required, the emphasis is on productivity, which is why enzymes are often used to accelerate the breakdown of starches into sugars.
Biodiesel, on the other hand, is derived from plants that produce vegetable oils or from animal fat. The most common oil-rich plants used include palm and soybeans, though many other feedstocks can be used including recycled grease and vegetable oil from restaurant deep fryers. In some cases, cooking oil can be burned directly in diesel engines, though it doesn’t flow well at cold temperatures, which is why it is generally converted into diesel first.
These fats can be converted into fuel through a process called transesterification. This is a long word to describe a chemical process in which glycerine is removed from vegetable oil (or grease) to produce biodiesel, which is otherwise known as methyl ester. The process consists of mixing the oil with methanol and sodium hydroxide and then removing the glycerine. It is really a fairly straightforward process which is why people are able to do it at home. Generally speaking, fairly pure feedstocks must be used to ensure a usable product, but the range of inputs can be expanded through the use of enzymes to allow for lower purity and lower cost inputs.
Other first generation biofuels include biogas, which is made by anaerobic digestion of vegetable matter and syngas, which is made from wood. Biogas generally takes the form of methane. It is being produced successfully in conjunction with both landfills and farming operations. Syngas is produced in a process called pyrolysis, in which wood or other biomass is heated in an oxygen-deprived environment. The byproduct of this process is called biochar, which is being hailed as a potential climate change solution, since, when produced as described above and added to the soil, it has a carbon negative impact, pulling net carbon out of the atmosphere and sequestering it in the ground, where it will remain for centuries.
Second generation biofuels utilize dense cellulosic inputs such as wheat straw, wood chips, corn stover, and municipal solid waste. Among them are Fischer-Tropsch diesel, bio-DME, DMF, biobutanol, biomethanol, biohydrogen, and wood diesel. Ethanol is another well-known second generation biofuel.
The Fischer-Tropsch process is a series of chemical reactions that convert carbon monoxide and hydrogen into liquid hydrocarbons. Feedstocks can come from coal, natural gas or biomass. It was developed in Germany in the 1920s, and was used by the Germans during WWII to fuel their military machinery. Oil companies are currently pursuing it as a way of converting natural gas into liquid fuel (GtL), but it also holds promise as a means to produce biodiesel. Biomass–to–liquids, or BtL, based on this same technology, might be seen as a green alternative to GtL.
Bio-DME refers to di-methylether, which is derived from methanol. It is currently used as an aerosol propellant, but it also has an application as a diesel substitute. It can be produced through the collection of pyrolysis gases from garbage or waste.
DMF, or Dymethylfuran, is another new biofuel that can be made from sugar which shows promise as a possible direct replacement for gasoline. Biomethanol and biobutanol are both types of alcohol that can be used like ethanol. Biomethanol can be synthesized from the glycerine by-product of biodiesel. Biobutanol, which is produced like ethanol, is considered by many to be another excellent candidate to directly replace gasoline. Biohydrogen uses microbes to produce hydrogen from sunlight using photosynthesis. Wood diesel can be made from forest products, the long time source of methanol,which also known as wood alcohol. This could either be made directly from certain plant gums, or from synthesis gas through the Fischer-Tropsch process.
Another high-tech biofuel input is algae. Algae-based biofuel is being hailed as a possible substitute for either gasoline or diesel. Still highly experimental, much of the production has moved indoors, away from shallow ponds and into bio-reactors. It is touted as having the potential to produce far more energy per unit area than any other biofuel. The airlines have shown great interest and a number of experimental flights have been successfully conducted using algae-based fuel blended with conventional jet fuel at ratios as high as forty percent. The National Renewable Energy Laboratory, after testing 3000 types, concluded that algae could potentially replace fossil fuels for both home heating and transportation purposes. Though there are still many unanswered questions, the big cause for excitement is the fact that the land required, at 100,000 gallons per acre per year, compares very favorably with the less than 500 gallons per acre of corn or other crops.
The carbon balance looks very good with all these biofuels, provided the amount of fertilizer required to grow them is not too great. Excessive use of fertilizers could tip the balance away from these fuels, so developing a methodology that provides for recycling of nutrients is vital to the ultimate success of any of these fuels. Opponents have also raised concerns about the use of water to grow biofuels. Some studies have shown that unless biofuel crops can be grown without irrigation, they will be more water-intensive than fossil fuels, which could be a problem in a water-constrained world. However, these constraints will need to be balanced with the environmental challenges of other fuel sources. In the future, when we talk about miles per gallon, we might need to specify if we’re talking about fuel or water.
[Image credit: Luc V. de Zeeuw: Flickr Creative Commons]
RP Siegel, PE, is an inventor, consultant and author. He co-wrote the eco-thriller Vapor Trails, the first in a series covering the human side of various sustainability issues including energy, food, and water in an exciting and entertaining format. Now available on Kindle.
Follow RP Siegel on Twitter. | <urn:uuid:3589662c-a53a-4186-9c26-7bed3f674e1b> | CC-MAIN-2017-34 | http://www.triplepundit.com/2012/10/biofuel-made/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-34/segments/1502886102993.24/warc/CC-MAIN-20170817073135-20170817093135-00059.warc.gz | en | 0.963251 | 1,658 | 3.421875 | 3 |
The sustainable forest management promotes financial revenues while keeping the forest cover and most of its environmental services. Nevertheless, the logging operation inevitably causes changes in the forest and canopy structure; this paper has the objective of evaluate the changes in the forest canopy following logging. We used hemispherical photography to determine the Canopy Openness (CO), Leaf Area Index (LAI) and the radiation absorption (fAPAR) in nine sample units before and after the logging. The canopy variables did not present relation to the forest structure (basal area and density) before or after the logging. There was a significant increase of the canopy opening and consequent decrease of the other canopy variables after logging. The increase in canopy opening and decrease in radiation absorption had statistical correlation with the logging intensity, while the leaf area index did not showed the same pattern at the study area.
Keywords: forest management, atlantic forest, hemispherical photography, canopy, leaf area index, canopy openness | <urn:uuid:56806d3d-adb5-4b25-9fae-64bbb72d88d5> | CC-MAIN-2020-24 | https://academicjournals.org/journal/JHF/article-in-press-abstract/changes_in_the_canopy_structure_of_a_secondary_atlantic_rain_forest_after_selective_logging_in_brazil | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2020-24/segments/1590347389355.2/warc/CC-MAIN-20200525192537-20200525222537-00421.warc.gz | en | 0.911754 | 196 | 2.84375 | 3 |
The Fibonacci Series is a naturally occurring sequence of numbers which was discovered by Leonardo Fibonacci in 1202. These numbers are found in many things in nature including subatomic particles, plants, spirals. The Fibonacci Sequence is also believed to commonly mark the extension or correction of trend patterns and ranges in financial markets.
The Fibonacci Series is the sequence of numbers; 0,1,1,2,3,5,8,13,21,34,55,89 etc etc, where each item is the sum of the two numbers preceding it. Mathematically, the Fibonacci Series are defined by F(n+1)=F(n)+F(n-1), n=2,3,4… You need two numbers F(0) and F(1) to start up the process. These numbers are F(0)=0 and F(1)=1. Now you can generate F(2)=F(0)+F(1)=1 F(3)=F(1)+F(2)=2 ….If you take the squares of these numbers you will get a nice spiral.
The spiral can be found in many natural structures and processes such as the cross sections of the seashells or wind-driven ocean waves.
The trading systems do not use the Fibonacci numbers directly. Instead, they use indicators based on the so-called Fibonacci ratios. The most popular are 0.618 and 0.382, and 1.618, and 1.382 and their multiples. These numbers are simply the ratio of each number in the Fibonacci series with those preceding or succeeding it. For example, 21/13 is equal to 1.618(the Golden Ratio) , while, 13/21 is equal to 0.618. And when we subtract 0.618 from 1, otherwise known as the inverse of Golden Ratio, we get 0.382, which is usually the smallest ratio used in trading. It is also interesting that the number 1.618 is unique in that its value equals the ratio of its integer part to its fractional part, i.e. 1:0.618~ is identically 1.618~:1.
The Fibonacci trading assumes that if each leg of a trend is extended, the size of the next movement can be predicted by the Fibonacci ratios. For example, if the first leg of a trend is 20 points long, than the second leg is likely to be 1.618*20pts= 32pts.
There are many variations this idea. Some traders like to start the extension from the peak of the previous leg, some like to do it from the start of the leg you are trying to calculate the extension for. Similarly, choosing which part of the “move” you are trying to mark the retracement for can be a task in itself.
The main tools attributed to the Fibonacci trading are the Fibonacci extension, Fibonacci retracement, and Fibonacci time cycles. If you are forex beginner and are not familiar with these methods of forex trading, you may use metatraders. Many of them have fibonacci retracements, extentions, time cycles and fibonacci circles.
There are also indicators for doing real time intraday calculation of “Fib” retracements and extensions.
So, why don’t you just start it with the Fibonacci trading, learn it and make your first million bucks ?
Unfortunately, there are plenty of bad news too. If markets moved mathematically and scientifically, there would be no markets at all. There are many natural processes which do not follow the Fibonacci sequence.Generally speaking, Fibonacci numbers have nothing to do with the markets.Markets are barometers of human emotions, economic conditions and political situations. Millions of variables play a part. Trading can not be an absolute process. It is just is not the case.Becoming a successful trader is more an art than a science.
However, many forex traders claim the success with the Fibonacci trading strategy. Do they lie? Not at all. It simply means that at this particular instance of the market cycle the ups and downs of the currency appears to show the Golden Ratio pattern. The successful Fibonacci trader spots these types of the market movements, enters the game with the Fibonacci trading strategy and wins.
Top Forex Brokers Reviews here | <urn:uuid:df60e602-226b-425e-95de-067ed947fa95> | CC-MAIN-2017-26 | http://forexsure.net/advanced-forex/trading-strategies/90-the-fibonacci-trading-myth-or-reality.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-26/segments/1498128320003.94/warc/CC-MAIN-20170623045423-20170623065423-00263.warc.gz | en | 0.927715 | 925 | 3.484375 | 3 |
Research says nearly 20 million children in the US have asthma. Asthma is a chronic disease that affects your airways. Airways help you to breathe by carrying air in and out. If a child gets asthma, their lungs or airways might get swollen when they have a cold, which will affect their daily activities. Both children and adults face the same difficulties if they have asthma.
Eating Excessive Meat Causes Asthma?
New study says that eating excessive meat can cause asthma in children. A research article recently published that cooked meat or dietary meat contains many pro-inflammatory compounds which can cause advanced glycation end products(AGEs). Researchers with the help of NHANES data found that excessive meat-eating causes many health hazards for children which mainly includes wheezing.
Advanced Glycation End Products(AGEs)
Meats are mostly made in prolonged time in high heat or temperature which causes AGEs. AGEs are harmful components that formed naturally inside the body when protein or fat combine with sugar. Recently many children are affected by asthma because of our new method of cooking which includes barbequing, grilling, frying, and other cooking methods that require extreme heating. So eating excessive meat can cause AGEs which can cause asthma in children. Advanced Glycation end products can damage your cells and molecules in the body and it is one of the main factors in aging and other age-related diseases.
Other Diseases AGEs Can Cause
Glycation can damage an enzyme called MIF. Advanced glycation end products in the brain can cause stress, aging, and depression which eventually results in Alzheimer’s disease.
Advanced glycation is the main factor that develops many diabetic complications which include nephrotomography, retinography, and neuropathy.
Atherosclerosis develops with fat and cholesterol in the artery wall. Which later blocks or restricts the blood flow.
Chronic Kidney Disease
Eating excessive meat can produce advanced glycation end products which can slowly damage your kidney. This can eventually lead to kidney failure.
Tips to Control/Reduce AGEs Level
- Cook on low or medium temperature for shorter periods
- Avoid eating meat outside
- Avoid barbecuing, grilling, and frying; instead Boil, poach, stew
- Eat Fruits, vegetables, and grains to reduce AGEs level
Eating too much meat will not only cause asthma but also many health issues. From obesity to heart problems it can even lead to premature death. | <urn:uuid:5adf2f4d-c082-4bd3-b6bf-faabad3e6a8f> | CC-MAIN-2023-40 | https://www.completehealthnews.com/eating-excessive-meat-can-cause-asthma-in-children/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2023-40/segments/1695233510427.16/warc/CC-MAIN-20230928162907-20230928192907-00484.warc.gz | en | 0.948656 | 533 | 2.875 | 3 |
The landscape plan for Het Rossumerveld en de Lemseler Esch (H.W. de Vroome, 1949) in Twente shows the new design for the heathland reclamations that was developed in 1948 and 1949. An interplay of old plantings, careful tracing of new roads and planting provides an interesting experience of the landscape. With canals and rows of trees, the field is transformed into an agricultural landscape with a succession of green rooms.
In 1949, Benthem and De Vroome gave the board of the provisional Nature Conservation Council and representatives of the agricultural sector and Staatsbosbeheer a tour of the Rossumerveld. This meeting was intended to prevent the exploitation of several important natural areas in the ‘most vulnerable part of Twente.
De Vroome probably had a first version of the landscape plan ready at time of the excursion and might have elaborated on it during the excursion. The foresters could no doubt envision the landscape on the landscape plan. The question is whether the others could – or wanted to – form an image of this new Twente landscape. Maybe even Benthem and De Vroome, as nature lovers, had mixed feelings on the project. They will have realized that the fields of peat fluff would disappear.
More information on Rossumerveld en de Lemseler Esch is available in database TUiN. | <urn:uuid:bd076d32-a927-43a3-84d2-42f5f282b60a> | CC-MAIN-2023-50 | https://exhibitions.wur.nl/dutch-landscape-designed-1946-1954/landscape-types/heathland-reclamations-heideontginningen/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2023-50/segments/1700679100603.33/warc/CC-MAIN-20231206194439-20231206224439-00202.warc.gz | en | 0.916546 | 292 | 2.78125 | 3 |
Nature Play & Learning Places is a tool for those who manage areas where children gather, including park and recreation professionals, educators, urban planners, and developers. The guidelines explain how to design a nature play and learning area and provide detailed descriptions of activity setting designs including entrances, pathways, plants, and permanent play structures. Guidance is also provided for managing soil, plants, and other natural elements at nature play areas, and for managing risk, including an eight-step risk management protocol.
12th Annual Design Institute
NLI will host the 12th Annual Design Institute Oct. 3-4 in Chapel Hill to provide participants with tools to develop spaces that encourage today’s “indoor children” to go outside and stay outside. Arboretum, botanical garden, zoo, nature center, park, public land, childcare center, school, and museum professionals will experience first hand how to make nature a part of children’s environments through plenary presentations and interactive workshops. | <urn:uuid:88b179ca-17f1-47ea-a89c-5d184bae8e71> | CC-MAIN-2017-26 | http://www.advocatesforhealthinaction.org/2014/09/15/new-national-guidelines-to-bring-nature-play-to-communities/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-26/segments/1498128320679.64/warc/CC-MAIN-20170626050425-20170626070425-00240.warc.gz | en | 0.914899 | 201 | 2.90625 | 3 |
What is in this article?:
- Valley crop year depends on water, good crop choices
- Valley still productive
- Lower valley ag focuses on water.
- Annual rainfall averages have mostly been falling since the early 1950s.
- 2012 was a year of slight recovery for most.
Deep in the boot of Texas, the fertile Rio Grande Valley is the soul of successful Texas farming. Abundant cultivated crops of grains and cotton, as well as vegetables, nuts and fruits (with an emphasis on citrus), have long earned the region a reputation as a fertile agricultural playground.
As early as 1870 a sophisticated but simply designed system of area-wide irrigation was developed that tapped water from the swift-running Rio Grande River for farms that popped up from the tip of Texas northwest up the riverbank as far as Mission and north along the coast to Raymondville, and it wasn’t long before the Valley was supplying fresh foods to distant cities and states.
But time has brought changes. U.S. and Mexico have struggled with water rights and treaties, have compromised with a few joint water projects, and have fumbled through diplomatic attempts at détente to satisfy disgruntled farmers and cities on both sides of the border. But the bickering has brought less water to the Valley, and that was only the first setback.
As food demand rapidly grew and agricultural technology provided more efficient methods of farming various land types, farmers in Southern New Mexico and the San Luis Valley of Colorado began expanding their operations to meet the growing demands. With that came new geo-political tensions, and eventually agreements were reached between three states and two nations on how the water of the Rio Grande would be divided. And then the rains stopped.
Some call it climate change and others say it is a simple cyclic transition of weather patterns over an extended period of time, but regardless the reason, annual rainfall averages have mostly been falling since the early 1950s with only brief periods of respite, usually perpetuated by tropical storms or hurricanes.
By the early 1990s, rich farming lands in Mexico began exporting well-received fruits and vegetables from across the border, and the water disagreements grew, further hampering the flow of water in the Rio Grande and decreasing allocations to water districts all across the Valley.
It would be fair to say that agricultural production in the Valley “is not what it once was.” | <urn:uuid:4d25c834-4221-4ff3-836e-0bc83f23dc38> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://southwestfarmpress.com/irrigation/valley-crop-year-depends-water-good-crop-choices | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703326861/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112206-00067-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.970267 | 486 | 3.4375 | 3 |
Most of your child’s physical development (gross and fine motor skills) occurs quickly between the ages of two and five. Probably the most obvious changes are shown in body shape and size. Also, they experience crucial changes in other areas like brain and central nervous system maturity.
Along with the maturity of the brain, five-year-old children will master some motor skills, that will set them apart from the toddler in early childhood.
One of the main changes of body shape is experienced in the lower body. Limbs grow and with it, some infancy fat is burned off. The overall result is slimmer children during the preschool years. Baby features like sharp stomach, round appearance and tiny limbs are no longer present. Several changes are happening in their little bodies and parents and teachers must be aware of them to help the child go through.
Some of the changes children experience during early childhood include the increase in their height and body weight and changes in physique proportions. Generally, children see gains of around three inches in height and putting on about four pounds per year!
By age five, a normally developed child can weight about forty-six pounds and measure an average of one hundred and sixteen centimeters (116 cm) tall.
Gross And Fine Motor Skills
Generally, gross motor skills involve large body movements. For instance, activities like running, throwing, climbing and jumping.
Gross motor skills improve considerably when children turn five. Most children exercise their gross motor skills wherever they are. They could be climbing on a slide, or strolling sidewalk curbs for balancing. It is a set of skills that are important as they encourage the child to be focused, audacious, spirited and playful.
In contrast, fine motor skills, involve small body movements. Often kids find hand and finger movements a bit more challenging than gross motor skills.
Activities such as grabbing a jug to pour water into а glass without spilling it, or using cutlery to cut food are good examples of fine motor skills. Preschoolers need to develop muscular control in order to learn fine motor activities, like tying their shoelaces.
Motor Skills In School
Some five year old’s can jump, climb, run and throw. Teachers should encourage the use of children hands, and work and play with а wide variety of objects, when teaching to five-year-old kids. Lightweight balls, beads, and other fine motor manipulative objects can help teachers to enhance student learning.
Using scissors is perhaps one of the biggest issues that every child experiences someplace along the line between holding а pencil and starting school. Parents should encourage children to use scissors and be there to help them and show them the proper way. Practice at home should be a complement to what they do at school. You can also read our post “Is Tripod Grip The Best Way To Teach Your Child How To Write?” to learn more about techniques and tips to help your child develop fine motor skills needed for writing.
Ideas For Fine Motor Skill Development
Helping your child to develop strong fine motor muscles which are crucial for cutting and writing, should be a priority for all parents. To assist you, we have put together a list of tips and a series of fun activities for the kids. Encourage your children to try them and you’ll be helping them to get ready for school.
- Playing with BBQ tongs is useful to help kids develop the cutting action. To do it properly, place a few small items such as balls, blocks or Lego pieces, around a table. Then play a game to see who picks up the most.
- Get them to practice regularly squeezing their thumb and index fingers to help strengthening their hand muscles.
- Another great exercise is getting the child to squeeze some play dough through a garlic press or similar. It is a fun experience for them seeing the worms come out. There are several toys that accomplish the same effect and are safer that the kitchen utensils.
- Singing along finger action songs. The finger movements help strengthening them to help with scissor and pencil gripping. Incy Wincy Spider, Baa Baa Black Sheep, Galump and Open- Shut Them are great illustrations.
- Spray bottles are also great to help with muscle development. Let your child spray water around the garden with a spray bottle filled with water.
- Meal times are great opportunities to exercise. Put out chopsticks and encourage your child to try.
- Squeezing, rolling and pushing play dough regularly is good training as it fortifies little muscles and feels awesome.
- Punching holes with а hole punch in cardboard piece is another great supervised activity for your child.
- Hold а thin strip of paper with both of your hands and encourage your child to cut across it with а single trim.
- Get уоur child to softly snip the ends of piece of paper so that it styles а fringe. Then create а hat or decorate art work with the fringes your child make.
- Organise a cutting session to make grass for а collage by cutting thin paper strips.
- On a piece of cardboard draw thick straight lines and encourage your child to cut following the as straight as possible. As they improve their skills draw some shapes like squares, triangles or circles and get your child to cut around them.
- Spoil your child with creative activities such as drawing, colouring, finger painting or clay moulding. Connect-the-dot picture books and basic jigsaw puzzles are also great for fine motor skill development.
The list above describes just some easy activities that will not take much of your time to reinforce what they do at school. We list some other ideas on our post “Best Toys And Activities That Will Help Your Child’s Development“.
Wannabees Family Play Town, an indoor play centre in Sydney runs workshops and daily activities for kids in preschool to improve their fine motor skills through craft and role-play! The best part is that there is no extra cost for you. All our activities are included with every child admission. Make sure you bring your child along to Wannabees for the best fun and educational time ever. | <urn:uuid:966ae998-c4ae-4dba-92fd-fcf67eedcc03> | CC-MAIN-2017-30 | http://wannabees.com.au/physical-development-improve-fine-motor-skills-preschooler/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-30/segments/1500549423774.37/warc/CC-MAIN-20170721122327-20170721142327-00465.warc.gz | en | 0.948008 | 1,275 | 3.53125 | 4 |
Comparing Muslim Pilgrimage to Mecca and Elija’s Coming to the Mount Horeb
This essay investigates the elements of rituals that are performed when followers of Islam make their pilgrimage to Mecca and the rituals that take place when God appears to Elijah in the mount of Horeb after which Elijah had fled away to escape the wrath of Jezebel. The study is focused on the meaning of elements in the two rituals and on the way they are physically conducted and symbolically conveyed. The meanings are then discussed in the perspective of transformation and with regards to how they relate to my personal experiences. Finally, similarities and differences in ritual elements that are witnessed in the two rituals are analyzed.
Muslims are obligated to make at least one trip to the holy city of Mecca in Saudi Arabia during their lifetime. This trip is called Hajj; it takes its origin in the time of Abraham (Ibrahim), a prophet and the forefather of many ethnicities who is respected by Christianity, Islam and Judaism, when he had to live in wilderness with his wife Hagar and child Ishmael. Prophet Mohammed used to take part in the pilgrimage in the 7th century.
When the Prophets of Baal died, Jezebel was disgusted and wanted Prophet Elijah to be killed. Elijah fled and hid; he wished death could come upon him. The angel of the Lord appeared to him and gave him food; he reminded Elijah about the long journey to the mount Horeb he still had to do. Elijah arose, ate the food and begun his 40-day journey to Horeb where he hid himself in a hole in the mountain.
RITUALS PERFORMED DURING MUSLIMS’ PILGRIMAGE TO MECCA
The rituals begin with performance of tawaaf when pilgrims enter the sacred mosque – Masjid Al Haram. Every Muslim has to walk counter – clockwise around a cube-shaped construction called Kabah, which is the object a prayer is directed to. The movements are supposed to be repeated seven times. Each time a pilgrim walks around Kabah, he has to say that God is great and that all praises are to Him. Pilgrims kiss the black stone in the corner of the Kabah known as Hajr Al Aswad. Those who are not able to approach the stone are supposed just to point to it with their right hand. After kissing the stone, pilgrims are supposed to run back and forth between Al-Safa and Al-Marwa; an obligatory drink from the well of Zam Zam then ensues. After approaching the well, pilgrims go to the plains of the Mount Ara fat where they stand in vigil; after that, they come to Muzdalifah and throw stones as a mark of defiance to devil. Animal sacrifice is finally conducted. The pilgrimage finishes with the celebration of the Eid al-Adha (Shariati 3).
RITUALS PERFORMED WHEN GOD APPEARS TO ELIJAH AT THE MOUNTAIN OF HOREB
On the mount Horeb/Sinai, God gave Moses the Ten Commandments that were to guide the Israelites in their everyday lives. When Elijah hid in the cave, a strong wind that rented the mountains and broke the rocks suddenly started to blow. But God did not manifest Himself in these strong winds; there are the signs of the earthquake beginning. Fire burns, but God is not in it. Finally a weak voice is heard, and it is certainly God’s revelation. By wrapping his face with a mantel, Elijah took place at the cave’s entrance. By hiding his face from God, Elijah showed readiness for whatever God was to give. The instructions from God to Elijah are that he is supposed to ensure that Elisha is installed as a prophet; Jehu recaptures his seat as the Israelites’ king while the kingdom of Syria goes to Hazel. With these instructions, Elijah’s mission seems to come to the end, as these three individuals are expected to carry on with his mandate (Provan 145).
ELEMENTS OF RITUALS THAT FEATURE IN THE HAJJ
Counter-clockwise walking is fulfilled because Muslims consider it to be a kind of worship. Running between Safa and Marwah seven times symbolizes the effort that Hagar made when looking for water for her son Ishmael. Eventually, in her frantic search of water, an angel came to her and showed her the Zam Zam well. The angel hit the ground with his heel, and the water gashed out. Running can be done in the open air or in tunnels. Pilgrims are strongly advised to do the circuit between the green pillars: they mark the shortest section they are supposed to run. At the Mount Arafat, pilgrims are expected to stand in contemplation. During this time, they are expected to pray and recite the Koran. This is the hill where Muhammad gave his last sermon, and it is also known as the Hill of Forgiveness. Pilgrims are obliged to spend at least one afternoon in the area around Mount Arafat till dusk. They are expected to reflect on the lives when praying in the plains of the mountain. In other words, it is useless to conduct pilgrimage without spending an afternoon around Arafat. From Arafat, pilgrims set out for Muzdalifah where they collect stones used in stoning of the devil-Shaitan. Throwing stones is a symbol of the pilgrims’ defiance to the devil: it symbolizes the tribulations of Abraham when he was demanded to sacrifice his son by Allah. The devil tempted Abraham three times, but Abraham never gave in to the demands of the devil. The pillars symbolize the number of times Abraham was tested by the devil. The biggest pillar is placed first and is followed by the other two remaining pillars. Each individual has to throw seven pebbles.The last ritual involves animal sacrifice that refers to God’s mercy to Abraham when he finally gave Him a ram to offer instead of his son. Pilgrims slaughter the animal to be sacrificed by themselves. The meat from the sacrifice is then given to those who are suffering from poverty. Pilgrims then walk around Kaaba to show their love to God (Shariati 3).
ELIJAH AND MOUNT HOREB AND THE RITUALISTIC FEATURES INVOLVED
God uses the destructive powers of nature, such as the earthquake, wind and fire. However, unfortunately, God is never found in these destructive powers. In Old Testament, earthquake, wind and fire are commonly used to show God’s coming to judge the evil. Elijah expected God to do the same to his enemies, but God never does that. The blowing wind is a sign of a change of strategy that God uses to treat the evil. This is why God asks Elijah to anoint Elisha, Hazael and Jehu to continue with God’s mission of eradicating the worship of Baal (DeVries 237).
HAJJ AND TRANSFORMATION
Hajj is capable to transform one spiritually: it brings pilgrims closer to God. It marks the end of confusion and fallacies that take place in people’s lives. People get the opportunity to correct the mistakes that they have made before. One acquires impeccable moral standards, as he/she keeps thinking about the Lord and His doctrines. When one raises his/her hand towards Hajr-i-Aswad, they touch God’s hands and make a solemn promise. Magnitude of Abraham’s devotion is only realized when one is blessed with a son (Rizwan 1).
ELIJAH’S PILGRIMAGE TO HOREB AND TRANSFORMATION
Elijah certainly suffers from spiritual and physical exhaustion. God transforms him by sending an angel who gives him food and water to support his ability to continue his journey to Horeb. God then reassures him in still voice, which completes his transformation. Elijah thereby retraces his steps and embarks on his ministry (Epp-Tiessen 33).
SIMILARITIES AND DIFFERENCES BETWEEN PILGRIMAGE TO MECCA AND ELIJAH’S JOURNEY TO HOREB
The Hajj and Elijah’s journey to Horeb are both pilgrimages which are geared towards establishing the relationship with God. From these pilgrimages, Elijah gets the renewed strength to carry out his prophetic duties while pilgrims who come to Mecca also revise their life and feel closer to God.
The significant difference is witnessed when sacrifice is offered during Hajj; during Elijah’s pilgrimage, the outstanding elements are the earthquake, strong wind, fire and the small voice.
DeVries, Simon. 1 Kings, Word Biblical Commentary. Waco, TX: Word, 1985.
Epp-Tiessen, Dan. “1 Kings 19: The Renewal of Elijah”. Direction 35 (2006): 33 – 34.
Provan, Iain. 1 and 2 Kings, New International Biblical Commentary. Peabody, MA: Hendrickson, 1995.
Rizwan, Haider. The Blessings of Hajj. Renaissance.Com.n.d. 4 June 2011.
Shariati, Ali. HAJJ: Reflection on Its Rituals. USA: Islamic Publications International, 2005. | <urn:uuid:01b0baba-52de-4772-9fe5-014874a30fc3> | CC-MAIN-2020-16 | https://youressayhelper.com/samples/comparing-muslim-pilgrimage-to-mecca-and-elijas-coming-to-the-mount-horeb.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2020-16/segments/1585371883359.91/warc/CC-MAIN-20200410012405-20200410042905-00219.warc.gz | en | 0.960283 | 1,932 | 2.671875 | 3 |
QWERTY Home row keys: asdf jkl;
Home row keys of a Qwerty keyboard - are keys above which your hands are positioned. On Qwerty keyboard home row keys for the left hand are: ASDF with left hand forefinger positioned on F and right hand home row keys are: JKL; with right hand forefinger being positioned on J.
Hands positioning over Qwerty keyboard - Left hand is position over left hand home row keys with left forefinger lightly touching F key, middle finger D key, ring finger S key and little finger A key. Right hand is position over right home row keys with forefinger touching J key etc.. From home key you reach to a key you want to type and return back to home key. Home row keys are your base from where you reach out and return to. Usually, one of home row keys, one for each hand, has a little dent which lets you know, without looking, that your fingers are positioned above the key board correctly.
Errors - acceptable number of typing errors is one error per minute regardless of how fast you type.
wpm - words per minute typing rate. Word is consider to be 5 key strokes including spaces. If you type 50 key strokes per minute your typing rate is 10 wpm.
Rhythm - you must learn to type with even rhythm. Good even rhythm will rid you of tension, anxiety and will minimize mistakes made. Instead of focusing on "quick where is the next letter" even rhythm will let you focus on what to type. If you slow down to achieve even rhythm you will in effect speed up.
About typing lessons for Qwerty keyboard - Qwerty keyboard was great when people were using typewriters. Today computer keyboard do not need Qwerty layout. Learning to type Qwerty style is an effort to be backward compatible. If you don't know why to learn typing Dvorak or why was Dvorak keyboard layout developed. | <urn:uuid:678ef603-4354-463c-82d0-59c224c093e9> | CC-MAIN-2014-41 | http://www.powertyping.com/qwerty/lessonsq.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2014-41/segments/1410657128304.55/warc/CC-MAIN-20140914011208-00240-ip-10-196-40-205.us-west-1.compute.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.898646 | 406 | 3.40625 | 3 |
"In the past, it was thought that one of the selective advantages of having a large brain is that it facilitates the development of new behaviour to respond to the ecological challenges that the individual has not experienced before, such as a sudden reduction in food or the appearance of a new predator ", César González-Lagos, main author of the study and researcher at the Centre of Ecological Research and Forestry Applications (CREAF) associated with the Autonomous University of Barcelona, highlights to SINC.
The results, which are published in the Journal of Evolutionary Biology, reveal that "species which have developed large brains live for longer than those with small brains, as the protective brain theory suggests, and therefore, can reproduce more times", the researcher stresses.
If the animal is protected by a large brain, this results in greater survival and a longer life. "However until recently there has been little evidence and there had been no agreement on whether species with larger brains live longer", the scientist points out.
According to this hypothesis, the brain would adopt a "protective" role which would help to reduce mortality and lengthen the reproductive live of the individuals, thereby compensating the energetic and development costs associated with a large brain.
The evidence is correlative, not cause-effect
The team analysed 493 species of mammals from different regions of the planet. According to the authors, the evidence resulting from the study is "correlative", in other words they do not "necessarily" indicate cause-effect, but the analysis indicates that the link between a large brain and longevity is not only due to the fact that species with large brains are greater in size and develop more slowly, they also live in specific regions or share the same evolutionary ancestors.
"As extension of life duration is central to many hypotheses on the advantages of developing large brains, these results offer a solid base which can be used to continue building a general theory on the evolution of the brain", concludes the scientist.
The first observations of Darwin
Throughout their evolutionary history some mammals, such as primates, cetaceans and elephants, have developed much larger brains than would be expected for their body size. But a large brain involves energetic costs and development time.
In El descendiente del Hombre (The descendent of Man) (1871), the British naturalist Charles Darwin, always attracted by this question, thought that a large brain, such as that of humans, improved the mental capacity of individuals, because natural selection favours the appearance of large brains.
Darwin believed that with a large brain mental capacity is improved. But, what selective advantage does it offer? The controversy on the advantages of having a larger brain continues.
Bibliographical reference: Gonzalez-Lagos, C.; Sol, D.; Reader, S.M. "Large-brained mammals live longer" Journal of Evolutionary Biology 23(5): 1064-1074, May 2010. doi:10.1111/j.1420-9101.2010.01976.x
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system. | <urn:uuid:1eef11d0-cd5c-49d9-8075-f6100c2a0ff3> | CC-MAIN-2014-10 | http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2010-07/f-sf-tpb071610.php | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2014-10/segments/1393999654003/warc/CC-MAIN-20140305060734-00004-ip-10-183-142-35.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.944006 | 665 | 3.78125 | 4 |
In a recent interview, Pope Francis mentioned Chechens and Buryats as the “cruelest” perpetrators of the war in Ukraine. “When I speak about Ukraine, I speak about the cruelty because I have much information about the cruelty of the troops that come in. Generally, the cruelest are perhaps those who are of Russia but are not of the Russian tradition, such as the Chechens, the Buryati and so on,” the Pope shared in an interview with America The Jesuit Review magazine published on November 28, 2022. CNN reported on the Pope’s remarks on November 29, but mainstream media in Europe and the U.S. has previously amplified this misinformation, which is steeped in racism. On August 9, 2022, coincidentally International Day of the World's Indigenous Peoples, journalist and author of "Killer in the Kremlin" John Sweeney in an interview with CNN stated, “On the outskirts of Bucha…the Russian soldiers we saw weren’t ethnic Russians, they were Buryats, Mongols…” implying Buryats and Mongols were solely responsible for the atrocities.
Enough is enough!
We denounce this racist and hateful rhetoric and call the world’s attention to the fact that these narratives are created and promoted by the Russian State, which is now attacking Ukrainian independence. Minorities and Indigenous Peoples in Russia face stereotypes, discrimination, and marginalization, and Russian propaganda has deliberately used them as faces of the war in order to distance violence and injustice from the Russian political regime. The Pope’s repetition of Russian propaganda is an ill-informed and dangerous accusation that perpetuates harmful, racist and colonial myths that stem from Russia’s long and violent imperial history. These accusations by the Pope are forms of double colonialism, genocide, and a horrific history set to repeat.
The Russian Federation is home to millions of people of diverse ethnicities, including Indigenous populations spread across roughly two-thirds of Russian territory and representing 2% of that region’s population. There are 47 Peoples recognized as Indigenous under Russian law and defined as “Indigenous small-numbered Peoples of the Russian Federation.” Within the Federation, to be recognized as “Indigenous”, a group must fit distinct qualities, including numbering under 50,000 individuals, practicing traditional customs, inhabiting a remote area, and maintaining a distinct ethnic identity. This State-imposed definition prevents approximately 140 Indigenous Peoples, including Buryats, Altaians, Sakha, and Peoples of southwestern Russia, from claiming Indigenous rights through official recognition by Russia.
Many see Putin’s recent forced mobilization of soldiers for the war against Ukraine as an “ethnic cleansing of Indigenous Peoples” as it has disproportionately affected ethnic and Indigenous people in Russia.
This summer, Pope Francis made an apology to Indigenous Peoples in Canada for the Church's role in the genocidal atrocities that took place at boarding schools and apologized for the "colonizing mentality" of the times. But his latest interview with America shows that colonial mentality is yet to be overcome. As the head of the Catholic Church, the Pope needs to acknowledge the Church’s role in past atrocities around the world and actively work to stop the perpetuation of racist, colonial narratives.
We, representatives of Indigenous Peoples, other nations, and civil society:
Demand the Pope apologize to Chechens and Buryats for perpetuating colonial stereotypes. Whole Peoples should not be vilified and blamed for the actions of the Russian State.
Strongly encourage Pope Francis to meet with Indigenous Peoples from Russia to start a discussion about overcoming the stereotypes of our common colonial history.
Also demand that mainstream media, like CNN, recognize their role in sustaining these stereotypes and call them out outright. | <urn:uuid:0641e9a8-5faf-43eb-895f-5a788511202c> | CC-MAIN-2023-40 | https://www.culturalsurvival.org/news/cultural-survival-denounces-popes-racist-rhetoric-against-ethnic-minorities-and-indigenous | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2023-40/segments/1695233511364.23/warc/CC-MAIN-20231004084230-20231004114230-00292.warc.gz | en | 0.953523 | 776 | 3.109375 | 3 |
The ten most important items for camping will depend on the specific needs and preferences of the individual, as well as the location and duration of the trip. However, some common items that are often considered essential for camping include:
- Tent: A tent is an essential item for camping, providing a sheltered place to sleep and protect against the elements.
- Sleeping bag: A sleeping bag is essential for staying warm and comfortable while sleeping in a tent or other outdoor location.
- Sleeping pad: A sleeping pad can help to provide extra cushioning and insulation from the ground, improving the comfort of sleeping in a tent or on the ground.
- Backpack: A backpack is essential for carrying all of your gear and supplies while camping, and it should be sturdy, comfortable, and of the appropriate size for your needs.
- Water bottles or hydration system: Staying hydrated is essential while camping, so it is important to bring plenty of water or a hydration system to ensure that you have a reliable source of clean drinking water.
- Food and cooking supplies: Camping food and cooking supplies, such as a stove, pots, and utensils, will be necessary to prepare and eat meals while camping.
- First aid kit: A first aid kit is an essential item to have while camping, as it can help to treat minor injuries and emergencies.
- Headlamp or flashlight: A headlamp or flashlight is essential for providing light in the dark and can be useful for activities such as setting up camp or finding your way around after dark.
- Multitool: A multitool is a handy item to have while camping, as it can be used for a variety of tasks such as cutting, sawing, and opening cans or bottles.
- Sun protection: Sun protection, such as sunscreen, sunglasses, and a hat, is essential while camping to protect against the sun’s harmful UV rays.
Overall, these are some common items that are often considered essential for a successful and comfortable camping trip. However, it is important to carefully plan and prepare for your trip | <urn:uuid:4ce38685-0c97-463b-ae41-8fa18d4d555f> | CC-MAIN-2023-23 | https://ravenrising.com/ten-most-important-items-for-camping-according-to-ai/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2023-23/segments/1685224648245.63/warc/CC-MAIN-20230602003804-20230602033804-00108.warc.gz | en | 0.944276 | 427 | 2.546875 | 3 |
If you’re not sure which description best fits a graph, you can use the following format: table, graph, or caption. Whenever possible, you should include a title, trend, or axes for the graphical data. A pie chart’s color keys and scale are not necessary for visually impaired readers. It’s better to give the value of the pie and leave the color key out. If you’re presenting a bar chart, you can write a short, simple caption or use a longer description.
Graphs with an overlaid mathematical function are called line graphs. They can represent small changes and are often more accurate than bar graphs. Line graphs can be used to compare changes in two groups. Despite its name, they don’t represent changes over time. They’re better suited for comparing things within one group or across two groups. In contrast, pie charts are more useful when comparing the same variables but are not suitable for comparing different groups over time.
When a single subject is being measured, a line graph can be a better option. The X-axis represents the subjects and the Y-axis represents the time in hours. Using a line graph, you can compare the changes in one group to another over time. The lines in the graph represent the same height at various times, and the curves fall through all of the points of data, indicating the change is gradual.
The X-axis indicates the subjects, while the Y-axis shows the number of hours. The Y-axis is time measured at intervals of two hours. The X-axis represents the corresponding numbers of subjects. A line graph is a line graph. A curve in this shape does not fall through all the data points. Therefore, a line graph represents a continuous trend.
A line graph shows the hours of sleep in a period of four days. Its Y-axis represents the time in hours in intervals of two hours. The subject’s age is shown on the X-axis, and the Y-axis represents the time in minutes. The subjects are not age-related, so they’re aged in a similar way. The Y-axis is the time in years.
A line graph shows the amount of sleep a subject had at various points over time. The X-axis represents the subjects, while the Y-axis represents the time in hours at intervals of two hours. The trend is not continuous, but the slope of the best-fit line is not flat. Its slope is not linear, and the curve falls through all of the data points. The graph is a comparison between different groups.
Visit the rest of the site for more useful articles! | <urn:uuid:a7f83a6f-bc9d-4264-be90-d7f9715fe282> | CC-MAIN-2023-40 | https://royalpitch.com/which-description-best-fits-the-graph/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2023-40/segments/1695233510810.46/warc/CC-MAIN-20231001073649-20231001103649-00115.warc.gz | en | 0.930642 | 547 | 3.84375 | 4 |
Wednesday, June 10. General Joseph Hooker, commanding the Federal Army of the Potomac, wrote to President Abraham Lincoln that General Robert E. Lee’s Confederate Army of Northern Virginia was moving north. Hooker proposed to ignore Lee’s army and advance on the Confederate capital at Richmond. Lincoln replied, “I think Lee’s Army, and not Richmond, is your true objective point… Fight him when opportunity offers. If he stays where he is, fret him, and fret him.” Northerners were growing alarmed by news of Lee’s invasion, and the Maryland governor called on citizens to defend the state.
General Darius N. Couch assumed command of the Federal Department of the Susquehanna. General Braxton Bragg, commanding the Confederate Army of Tennessee, was confirmed in the Episcopal Church at Chattanooga. On the Virginia coast, Confederate prisoners aboard the steamer Maple Leaf ran the ship ashore and escaped. Skirmishing occurred in Virginia and Tennessee.
Thursday, June 11. In Ohio, Democrats nominated former Congressman Clement Vallandigham to run for governor. Vallandigham had been arrested and banished to the Confederacy last month for voicing opposition to the war, which made him highly popular among “Copperheads,” or Peace Democrats. However, Vallandigham was unwelcome in the South and was shipped to Canada, where he campaigned for governor while in exile.
In Louisiana, Confederate outposts were captured during the Federal siege of Port Hudson. Skirmishing occurred in South Carolina, Georgia, Tennessee, and Mississippi.
Friday, June 12. The vanguard of General Lee’s Confederate army crossed the Blue Ridge into the Shenandoah Valley, where various skirmishes occurred with Federal troops. C.S.S. Clarence, commanded by Lieutenant Charles Read, captured the Federal ship Tacony off Cape Hatteras. Read transferred his crew to Tacony, destroyed Clarence, and continued pirating operations in the north Atlantic.
Confederate President Jefferson Davis approved Vice President Alexander Stephens’s plan to conduct a mission to obtain “a correct understanding and agreement between the two Governments.” This was a minor effort to negotiate a peace, but Davis and Stephens agreed that no peace could be accepted without granting each state the right “to determine its own destiny.”
In response to a complaint about arbitrary arrests and suppressions that unconstitutionally infringed upon civil liberties, President Lincoln stated, “I must continue to do so much as may seem to be required by the public safety.” General Quincy Adams Gillmore replaced General David Hunter as commander of the Federal Department of the South. Skirmishing occurred in Virginia, Tennessee, and Mississippi.
Saturday, June 13. In Virginia, General Lee’s vanguard drove Federals from Winchester and occupied Berryville. General Hooker’s Federals began moving north toward the Potomac River, leaving positions along the Rappahannock River they had held for nearly seven months.
President Davis asked General Bragg at Tullahoma if he could send reinforcements to the Confederates under siege at Vicksburg. Skirmishing occurred in Kentucky and Mississippi.
Sunday, June 14. Both General Hooker and President Lincoln were unaware of General Lee’s exact location. Lincoln wrote to Hooker, “If the head of Lee’s army is at Martinsburg and the tail of it on the Plank road between Fredericksburg and Chancellorsville, the animal must be very slim somewhere. Could you not break him?”
As part of the Federal siege of Port Hudson on the Mississippi River, Federal General Nathaniel Banks demanded the garrison’s surrender. When the besieged Confederates refused, Banks attacked at dawn. Two Federal advances gained some ground but failed to break the lines before being repulsed with heavy losses. The campaign had cost about 4,000 Federal combat deaths, while another 7,000 had either died or fallen ill with dysentery or sunstroke. The siege of Port Hudson continued, and the defenders were growing weaker.
In Arkansas, Federal forces destroyed the town of Eunice after guerrillas attacked U.S.S. Marmora. Skirmishing occurred in Tennessee.
Monday, June 15. In Virginia, the Second Battle of Winchester occurred as Lee ordered General Richard Ewell to clear the northern Shenandoah Valley of Federals as the Confederates moved north. Part of Ewell’s force captured 700 Federals, along with guns and supplies, at Martinsburg. Meanwhile, Ewell’s remaining force attacked the Federal garrison at Winchester and Stephenson’s Depot. Some Federals escaped to Harper’s Ferry, but the Confederates captured 23 guns, 300 loaded wagons, over 300 horses, and large amounts of supplies.
General Hooker informed President Lincoln that “it is not in my power to prevent” a Confederate invasion of the North. In response, Lincoln called for the mobilization of 100,000 militia from Pennsylvania, Ohio, Maryland, and West Virginia.
The Federal Navy Department dispatched a force to capture C.S.S. Tacony, the Federal ship that had been seized and used for Confederate pirating operations by Lieutenant Charles Read. Skirmishing occurred in Tennessee and Louisiana.
Tuesday, June 16. General Richard Ewell’s Second Corps led the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia in crossing the Potomac River from Virginia to Maryland in its northern invasion. A reporter stated that the Pennsylvania capital of Harrisburg was in a “perfect panic” as residents and politicians hurried to evacuate the city in the face of a potential Confederate invasion.
General Hooker moved most of the Federal Army of the Potomac to Fairfax Court House. Hooker argued with General-in-Chief Henry W. Halleck, who wanted Hooker to follow General Lee’s Confederates and possibly relieve Harper’s Ferry. Hooker wanted to move north of Washington to confront Lee’s vanguard. When Hooker complained to Lincoln, the president instructed him to follow Halleck’s orders.
Federal troops began a campaign against the Sioux Indians in the Dakota Territory. Skirmishing occurred in Kentucky, Tennessee, Mississippi, Louisiana, and the New Mexico Territory.
Primary source: The Civil War Day-by-Day by E.B. Long and Barbara Long (New York, NY: Da Capo Press, Inc., 1971) | <urn:uuid:8ec3587b-7e3c-4df2-88d1-c43b1c46fae5> | CC-MAIN-2017-43 | https://civilwarhistory.wordpress.com/tag/alexander-stephens/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-43/segments/1508187823630.63/warc/CC-MAIN-20171020025810-20171020045810-00199.warc.gz | en | 0.946558 | 1,336 | 2.71875 | 3 |
The facial muscles (or muscles of facial expression) are situated within the subcutaneous tissue and are responsible for the movements of skin folds, providing.
Anatomical terms of muscle. [edit on Wikidata]. The facial muscles are a group of striated skeletal muscles supplied by the facial nerve (cranial.
The muscles of facial expression are located in the subcutaneous tissue, originating The facial muscles can broadly be split into three groups; orbital, nasal and oral. . Our 3D anatomical model provides you with hands-on, interactive and.
This is an article on the anatomy and functions of the muscles of the face. Learn all about the muscles of facial expression here. | <urn:uuid:7af47516-1693-48e8-8e80-ded2813b545c> | CC-MAIN-2020-16 | https://biodiversity-worldwide.info/adult11-2019-50/facial-muscle-anatomy-40.php | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2020-16/segments/1585370496523.5/warc/CC-MAIN-20200330023050-20200330053050-00351.warc.gz | en | 0.928967 | 142 | 3.625 | 4 |
The California Superior Court’s ruling this past June in Vergara v. California has the school reform rightfully excited over the promise of using the courts to advance systemic reform for our children. But before reformers get too excited, they must keep in mind an important lesson learned by activists in the Civil Rights Movement of the last century: That it is important to aggressively pursue our efforts on all playing fields in American politics — including the grassroots as well as courtrooms, statehouses, and the confines of Capitol Hill — in order to achieve the political, social, and institutional changes needed to help all kids succeed.
Starting in the 1930s, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People took to the courts to invalidate Plessy v. Ferguson, the U.S. Supreme Court ruling that gave blessing to Jim Crow segregation laws passed by southern state legislatures at the turn of the century. Over the next three decades, the NAACP won successive legal victories invalidating separate-yet-equal laws. This included Murray v. Pearson, the Maryland state court decision that was the first to strike down segregation by public institutions of learning, the U.S. Supreme Court’s 1939 ruling in Missouri ex rel. Gaines v. Canada (which built upon Murray v. Pearson at the federal level to end segregation in the Show Me State’s main law school), and Morgan v. Virginia, which found bus terminals to be interstate transit subjected to the U.S. Constitution, which meant states could not apply Jim Crow to any form of interstate commerce.
This legal approach to ending Jim Crow reached its crescendo in 1954 when the U.S. Supreme Court handed down its decision in Brown v. Board of Education. Yet governors and legislators in southern states refused to enforce the court rulings and did all they could to circumvent them. Declaring that “unelected” federal and state judges were engaging in “undemocratic actions” and “judicial activism” that harmed their way of life, southern politicians continued segregation by political and extralegal means. The fact that civil rights litigation was undertaken not just by NAACP, but also by organizations such as the International Labor Defense affiliate of the American Communist Party, allowed Jim Crow segregationists to tar any efforts by civil rights activists as being seditious and treasonous.
States such as Arkansas and Virginia would respond to Brown by refusing to integrate scho0ls and even shutting down entire school districts in a form of massive resistance; others would continue segregating bus stations and other transportation hubs with the acquiescence (forced and otherwise) of businesses. That the NAACP itself was a toothless tiger, unwilling to go beyond litigation (and later, public policy) to advance civil rights, effectively weakened its own efforts.
Civil rights activists learned that it was folly to just expect state and local governments (and the players who financed and shared political ties with the politicians who ran them) to obey and enforce laws. So NAACP, along with the emerging National Urban League, began expanded their efforts from lawsuits to leveraging the federal government’s role in ensuring that all citizens had equal opportunity under the law. This began in 1948 when then-President Harry S. Truman was forced into signing Executive Order 9988, which desegregated the nation’s armed forces. Then it continued into the 1950s with the NAACP and others working with then-Sen. Lyndon Baines Johnson to pass the nation’s first civil rights law, as well as the decision by Truman’s successor, Dwight David Eisenhower, to send National Guard troopers to integrate Little Rock’s Central High School a decade later.
But by the beginning of the 1960s, civil rights activists learned that presidents and congresses would only go so far in passing and enforcing civil rights legislation. For Truman, Eisenhower, and by 1961, John F. Kennedy, equal opportunity before the law for blacks was a secondary concern to fighting the Cold War. The fact that southern segregationists such as Richard Russell, James O. Eastland, and J. William Fulbright held great influence over legislation through their control of Senate and House committees often led to Johnson’s civil rights proposals being weakened (when they weren’t killed outright).
Then the civil rights movement began to fully embrace a final step: Grassroots activism to force states and the federal government to end Jim Crow as well as to win over the public. The roots began in the 1940s with the emergence of the nonviolent resistance approach begun Bayard Rustin and the Congress of Racial Equality with efforts such as the Journey of Reconciliation bus rides into southern cities, then accelerated with the protests and boycotts by Martin Luther King and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. By the 1960s, a younger generation of civil rights activists — young black collegians from the South who formed the Student Non-violent Coordinating Committee, along with military veterans like the legendary James Meredith who demanded that that the rest of the world reflected the integrated military settings in which they served — advanced even more-aggressive activism, dragging King and the NAACP along. They would be joined by celebrities such as comedian Dick Gregory who would help whites and others realize that state-sanctioned discrimination was immoral and unsustainable.
While none of the camps within the civil rights movement were fond of each other, they slowly realized that they needed each others’ efforts and strategies to end Jim Crow. It worked. The Freedom Rides of CORE and SNCC in 1961 forced Kennedy to finally enforce the Morgan ruling. Meredith’s successful lawsuit (filed with help from the NAACP) against Mississippi state government, along with his messianic and militant push to integrate Old Miss, would force states to integrate universities and schools throughout the country. The 1963 Birmingham campaign led by Fred Shuttlesworth and SCLC (along with the brutal response to the protests by the notorious Bull Connor) would, along with the bombing of the 16th Street Baptist Church killing four young girls, forced the Kennedy Administration to begin the push for the passage of what would become the Civil Rights Act of 1964. By the end of the decade, the passage of that law, along with the Voting Rights Act and the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, would fuel lawsuits, protests, and new laws that ultimately lead to America finally fulfilling its promise of equal legal and social opportunity for all under law.
The civil rights movement learned two key lessons. The first? That no one tactic on its own will lead to political and social progress. The limits of every approach, political and otherwise, made such silver-bullet approaches impossible. Secondly: That all political tactics would have to be used to achieve the final goal. Gomillion v. Lightfoot and other rulings ending poll taxes and other restrictions on voting would have remained just paper if not for the Freedom Vote three years and the much-larger Freedom Summer effort in 1964. Freedom Summer, in turn, would have amounted to nothing if it wasn’t followed up by the passage of the Voting Rights Act in 1965, Meredith’s famed march through Mississippi in 1966 (which fomented into the last great civil rights demonstration of the era and led to voter registration drives throughout the South), and the small-yet-brave-and-powerful acts such as that of entrepreneur Booker Wright (a subject of this week’s Dropout Nation Podcast).
More than five decades later, school reformers must also embrace those same lessons — and put them to work — in order to sustain the movement’s mission.
The Vergara ruling, which effectively ended near-lifetime employment policies that have long-shielded laggard teachers at the expense of kids, has excited reformers. For good reason. The success of the case so far has finally proven the point your editor has been making over the past three years that civil suits can help advance reform, both by using courts to hold legislators, governors, and school leaders accountable for providing kids with high-quality education, as well as rallying families and communities who want better for their kin. Therefore it is heartening to see Vergara suits such as Wright v. New York, filed earlier this week by Campbell Brown’s Partnership for Educational Justice, as well as the tort filed earlier last month by the New York City Parents Union.
But reformers must not think that lawsuits alone are the most-important or even only tactic necessary for transforming American public education. This matters because reformers have a penchant for not using every avenue available to tackle the failed policies and practices at the heart of the education crisis. The movement has long focused on winning over policymakers at the federal, state, and local levels, as well as on launching institutions such as Teach for America and KIPP, often at the expense of equally-important grassroots activism, civil litigation, and political campaigning. The consequences of these neglected tactics can be seen today in the battles over implementing Common Core reading and math standards, as well as in the limited success of the No Child Left Behind Act in systemic reform.
Certainly stepping up litigation offers plenty of possibilities for the movement. As Andy Rotherham noted back in June after the Vergara ruling, reformers have never been adept at campaign politics. Just as importantly, eight decades of court rulings — driven by the courtroom work of civil rights activists and school funding equity advocates – also provides reformers with the legal arguments necessary to challenge tenure laws and other policies that impede the constitutional obligation of states to provide children with high-quality education.
Yet reformers must keep in mind that litigation, like policymaking and institution-oriented reform efforts, have its own limitations. As civil rights activists and funding equity advocates have long ago learned, courts are limited in their ability to actually enforce the rulings they hand down. That is because the judiciary branch is constitutionally restricted to the role of interpreting law and ensuring that laws are constitutional, not in the business of law enforcement (an executive branch job) or passing legislation itself (which rests within statehouses). Unless judges step up and push enforcement of their rulings through such measures as appointing special masters and fining governments for non-compliance, they have little power beyond the bench.
Even when judges take those steps, this leaves them (and, ultimately, plaintiffs) vulnerable to being accused by recalcitrant politicians and their allies of engaging in judicial activism, of being “unelected dictators” and other buzzwords used by all of different ideological stripes to oppose any effort. They can then engage in massive resistance that will rile up their allies, especially since the latter is also opposed to any change. This was a lesson the NAACP’s Yonkers, N.Y., branch, along with U.S. District Court Judge Leonard Sand, learned all too well in the late 1980s during the effort to desegregate housing and zoning in that northeastern locale. Even if politicians follow the law as they are supposed to, they can still impede reforms by merely following the letter of the ruling and not the spirit. California’s state legislature, which is thoroughly beholden to the National Education Association’s and American Federation of Teachers’ affiliates, may end up on the path to doing just that in the aftermath of the Vergara ruling.
These sobering realities shouldn’t stop reformers from taking to the courts. Far from it. What it does mean is that the movement must build upon successful court action with strong, thoughtful policymaking, successful and thorough implementation, aggressive grassroots advocacy, and single-issue voter efforts. This is also true for successes achieved in statehouses, on the ground, and in political campaigns. No one victory on one front will survive if it isn’t augmented by efforts on others. Because long-term success in American politics — and education is a part of it — is won by victories on all fronts.
This also means that all players within the movement — from Beltway policy wonks to Parent Power activists on the ground — have to work together. It isn’t easy. Even the civil rights movement struggled to agree upon strategies and even mesh conflicting personalities. But it can be done. More importantly, it must. Systemic reform isn’t possible without the respectful interplay of every activist, thinker, school leader, and teacher working to transform these failing super-clusters.
So the movement should embrace Vergara and the potential of lawsuits for reform. But lawsuits alone won’t work. Our children need a movement working on all fronts to build brighter futures for them.
When it comes to providing children with the worst American public education has to offer, few operators are as woeful as the U.S. Bureau of Indian Education the federal agency that is a hybrid traditional district, state education agency, and charter school authorizer serving 48,000 native children. Fifty-nine percent of BIE eighth-graders scored Below Basic in 2013, double the 26 percent national average, according to results from the National Assessment of Educational Progress; the average BIE eighth-grader’s math performance is three grade levels below the national average for all middle-schoolers heading into high school. If it were a traditional district, BIE would rank as the second-worst in the nation after Detroit Public Schools.
Thanks to the federal government’s spectacular mismanagement of BIE — including five leadership changes since 2007 — the agency’s operations are in shambles. As the U.S. Government Accountability Office pointed out in a report released last year, the logic-defying decision by the U.S. Department of the Interior to deny BIE control of its operations has resulted in bureaucratic dysfunction. The fact that BIE has failed to replace or repair many of the 65 school buildings identified back in 2009 as being dilapidated, hazardous, and unsafe — in some schools, exposed asbestos fibers, the presence of lead and other toxic materials, and water leaks near electrical outlets are the norm and not the exception — borders on the criminal. The shoddiness of BIE’s operations is especially horrific when compared to how well the federal government runs schools serving children of the nation’s military. All the while, the Obama Administration, which has been charged with running BIE for the past five years, has done little to address its woes.
Simply put, BIE needs an overhaul. So it is good news that the Obama Administration is finally announcing plans today to revamp its operations. But the initiatives won’t mean much if both the administration and Congress doesn’t make them a reality.
At the heart of the Obama Administration’s proposed overhaul of BIE is a move to fully transform the agency into a state education agency. Over the next two years, the 58 remaining schools BIE operates will be handed off to American Indian tribes. One hundred fifteen of the BIE’s schools are already run by tribes while another nine off-reservation boarding schools are privately-run. This move will certainly please tribes and Native activists who believe that Native communities are the ones best-fit to operate schools serving their own kids.
While BIE spins off its remaining schools, it is also revamping its operations to become a “school improvement organization” for the entire education system (including 115 schools already operated by tribes, along with the nine privately-run off-reservation boarding schools still in operation), helping tribes overhaul failing schools and address their teacher quality woes. This includes the creation of a “School Improvement Solutions Team” charged with helping tribes overhaul failing schools and developing comprehensive college-preparatory curricula that also appropriate to Native cultures. BIE will also develop of School Support Solutions Teams to help with operations.
BIE will also focus on improving teacher quality throughout the system. This includes providing professional development to teachers already on the job. But it also likely means that BIE will work with teacher quality outfits, most-likely organizations such as TNTP and Teach for America (the latter of which already does plenty of work in providing teachers to schools serving Native children), to recruit talented collegians into classrooms.
Meanwhile BIE will now directly oversee construction and maintenance of school buildings, taking the work out of the hands of its former direct parent, the Bureau of Indian Affairs. It is likely a key step to drafting a six-year plan to spend $1.3 billion on replacing and repairing BIE’s dilapidated schools. Interior is also reversing it made last year to shift BIE’s administrative operations from one Indian Affairs division — the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Management — to the agency’s regional directors without fully informing BIE’s bureaucracy.
Even bigger plans may become reality in the near-future. One of them: Embarking on its long-stalled plan to develop a unified accountability and school data system monitoring the performance of all of the schools BIE operates and oversees in 23 states throughout the nation. The proposal was developed two years ago as part of its No Child waiver request. Such a move would mean that BIE’s schools would no longer be monitored by a patchwork of state education departments. It would also pave the way for BIE to embark on other possible efforts, including developing its own teacher certification process that the schools it oversees would follow instead of that of individual states.
Another is the launch its competitive grant programs similar to those such as Race to the Top championed by the Obama Administration throughout the rest of American public education. Through the move, BIE would spur reform by rewarding tribes and schools implementing such reforms as developing new teacher evaluation systems using objective student test score growth data. Such a move is critical because BIE is not allowed by law to require tribes to improve teacher evaluations. BIE could also end being granted full status as a state education agency, giving it the ability to fully participate in Race to the Top and other existing competitive and formula-based grants.
All of this is good news. By fully ditching its role as school operator, BIE gets out of a business that it has proven long ago it is too incompetent to do. By becoming a state education agency, BIE can also help tribes develop their own capacity to operate schools; this, in turn, helps Native communities take important steps toward providing their own children with the high-quality education they deserve. By giving BIE full control of its capital maintenance and administrative functions, it ends the fragmentation of operations that has made it difficult for it to engage in smart strategic planning needed to undertake reforms and handle such basic activities as supplying textbooks.
For reformers, BIE also offers an opportunity to advance systemic reform and build cultures of geniuses for Native students on a New Orleans-level of scale. BIE would be among the nation’s smallest state education departments, yet at the same time, covers a wider geographic scale than any of them. Addressing the underlying causes of the education crisis on a large scale will both yield important lessons for reform throughout the nation, and help some of our most-vulnerable children gain high-quality education they need to help preserve their cultures as well as build up their communities.
The biggest benefit of all lies in the federal government taking an important step towards making amends for subjecting generations of Native children to what can best be called educational genocide. Starting with the launch of the notorious Carlisle Indian Boarding School in 1879, the federal government focused its schools on assimilating Native children into American culture. By the mid-20th century, what is now the BIE opened 26 boarding schools (along with overseeing 450 others operated by missionaries) that subjected Native children to physical abuse, molestation, and educational abuse. As a Brookings Institution panel declared in the 1928 Meriam Report, the average Native child left school “poorly adjusted to conditions that confront him”.
By the 1970s, the federal government had abandoned the assimilationist approach to schooling Native children. But the damage done can be seen, not only in the high levels of young Native men and women dropping out into poverty and prison, but even in the high levels of unemployment that have helped perpetuate poverty in many Native communities (especially those without casinos). The continued mismanagement of BIE remains a moral stain, both on the Obama Administration’s checkered-yet-otherwise admirable record on school reform as well as on the nation as a whole.
Yet it remains to be seen whether any of the plans will become a reality.
For one, as I detailed last September, the Obama Administration hasn’t exactly done well when it comes to actually helping BIE make its reform initiatives a reality. The proposal to develop the unified accountability and school data system have been stalled since former Director Keith Moore left the agency in July 2012; the U.S. Department of Education still has not moved on the BIE’s No Child waiver proposal even as it has approved waivers (and made a mess of its entire gambit) in that time. Last year, Interior declined to allow BIE to launch its own battery of tests, a key step towards making accountability a reality.
Secondly, the Obama Administration hasn’t shown much in the way of commitment to providing BIE with stable leadership. It took nearly two years for the administration to appoint Moore as permanent director; after he left, the job was held by placeholders until current Director Charles Roussel (one of the interim bosses) was given the spot permanently. Considering the instability of BIE leadership, it can’t be helped that some Native education activists are skeptical that the new reform effort will become reality.
Thirdly, you must remember that BIE’s struggles as a school operator are matched by its failures as an oversight agency. Schools weren’t informed by BIE about whether or not they made Adequate Yearly Progress during the 2011-2012 school year until April 2013, seven months after the new school year began. During 2012-2013, BIE allowed schools in Arizona, Mississippi, and South Dakota to use NWEA’s assessments instead of those in the respective states in which they are located, then changed its mind and told those schools to use state assessments, forcing them to scramble for the test materials.
These problems are compounded by the reality that BIE staffers don’t fully understand the increasingly complex roles state education departments are now being asked to play in education governance, a consequence of the Obama Administration’s reform efforts (along with the impact of No Child and three decades of reform). BIE will need plenty of help, especially from reformers, to make any of its plans a success. Whether it will be accepted, especially given the skepticism of Natives to anything proposed by mostly-white school reformers (and even black and Latino reform activists, who are not always welcomed in Native circles) is an open question.
The biggest problem of all lies with the one group with which the Obama Administration hasn’t worked well at all: Congress. As the administration admits, some of the future plans on the table (including requiring tribe-operated schools to utilize new teacher evaluations) will require both Senate Democrats and House Republicans to pass a new version of the Tribally Controlled Schools Act. Given the preoccupation of the former on holding on to its slim majority, the unwillingness of the latter to give President Barack Obama a legislative victory, and the ire among both over Obama’s penchant for using executive orders to get around their opposition, let’s just say that any BIE reform plan that needs congressional approval is a no go for sure.
But the good news is that Obama Administration is finally taking steps to help Native children in the schools the federal government directly operates. Not only will this help end the nation’s education crisis, it will make amends for a legacy of near-genocidal practices that have damaged the communities of Native children deserving better.
Every now and then, we are reminded that all that we achieve are often the fulfillment of the unrealized (and often, unexpressed) hopes and dreams our parents and grandparents had for themselves. This was made clear to me while looking through a folder of old photographs taken eight decades ago by my grandfather. And this reality serves as a reminder of why we must provide all of our children the high-quality education they need to fulfill both the ambitions of their families as well as their own.
The photos, taken by my grandfather in his hometown of Camden, N.J., between May and July of 1942, aren’t simply a collection of poses and family portraits. One is an action shot of a young man sliding into home plate during a baseball game. A few others are of young men in batter’s stances, ready for the next pitch (or strike out). Then there are others: A mother holding her baby standing on a sidewalk in front of a delivery truck. Three kids sitting on the stoop of a dilapidated apartment house, probably near the home on Federal Street where my grandfather grew up. A photo, likely of my great-grandfather, William, looking toward the camera as a gas station attendant fills up the tank of a streamlined automobile.
As the grandson of the photographer, I will admit to my bias. But the photos are as good as any done by the average budding photojournalist of the time. One would dare say that if my grandfather had the opportunity to graduate from high school and go to college, he could have ended up working on the photo staff of The Courier-Post or the Philadelphia Inquirer, or, given how the racial bigotry of the time shut out so many talented young black men and women from careers in the mainstream press, shooting photos for any of the black-owned newspapers that provided news about the triumphs and challenges of African-Americans of the time.
But this didn’t happen. Within a year of the photos being taken, Grandpa was in the Pacific as a soldier in World War II. By the end of the decade, my grandfather had moved to New York City, had two sons by his first wife, and was working on the construction of what would become John F. Kennedy International Airport. Eventually, as a chef, he would build his family, take care of his sons and three daughters — including my mom — and with my Grandma, help the children become part of the American middle class. Everywhere Grandpa went, from the shore of Guam to the streets of Los Angeles, he took photos. But save for those photos, and those he took of the kids and grandchildren at birthday parties, whatever dreams he may have had of being a photographer or journalist went unfulfilled.
As I looked at the photos, it dawned on me that I had fulfilled both my own ambitions and the dreams he had for himself. The smile he had for me when I came back to New York back in 1999 for an internship with ABC News, and the kudos he gave me when I published my first article on the pages of Forbes wasn’t just about knowing that I was making something of myself. Through the work I did, I was also carrying hopes and dreams unfulfilled — that of Grandma and his own. And when I think about it, I am also realizing the unfulfilled hopes and dreams of Grandpa’s ancestors as well as that of my Grandma’s forebears.
The older we get, the more we realize that our lives are neither just our own or lived for ourselves. Each of us, in all that we do, carry responsibilities, made plain and otherwise, to our parents and forebears to make real they dreams and ambitions they possess for us and themselves. We are all our grandfathers born anew. This is also true for all of our children. No matter who they are or where they live, every child bears an awesome, sometimes unfair, charge to fulfill hopes and wishes that their parents and grandparents have for themselves, but could never realize.
But our children can only succeed in achieving these dreams, both their own and those of their families, if they are provided the high-quality teaching and curricula they need and deserve. And this is no truer now, in an increasingly knowledge-based economy and society, than at any other time in history.
As this week’s data from the National Assessment of Educational Progress has shown, far too many young men and women are leaving high school without the literacy and numeracy they need to survive and succeed. That’s just the kids who graduate. There are the 1.2 million young men and women in the original Class of 2014 who have already dropped out of school into poverty and prison, the 1.2 million fifth-graders who are reading Below Basic levels of proficiency (and likely to drop out over the next seven years), and the 5.8 million young adults are neither working, finishing high school, or studying in traditional colleges, apprenticeships and other forms of higher education.
The futures for these young men and women are absolutely bleak. In an economy in which what you know is more important than what you can with your hands — and in which annual compound growth in real weekly wages for high school dropouts has declined between 1963 and 2008 (even as high school grads, those with some higher ed training, and collegians have seen compounded annual wage growth of at least four-tenths of one percent) — these young adults are ill-equipped to either fulfill their own ambitions much less those of their parents. Twenty-seven percent of households in the lowest 20 percent of income earners were high school dropouts and another 36 percent were high school grads without some form of higher education, according to data from the U.S. Census Bureau. Even worse, they will be unable to help their own children achieve dreams, both their own and those that they as parents have that remain unfulfilled. Forty-one percent of high school seniors whose parents were dropouts — and 36 percent of those whose parents were high school graduates without some higher ed education — read Below Basic on NAEP 2013.
Yet poverty and educational underachievement need not be destiny. As the Jack Kent Cooke Foundation determined in a 2007 study, 3.4 million children from poor backgrounds — many of which came from homes where parents were either dropouts or merely received high school diplomas — were among the top-performers in their schools. But the inherent genius within these children must be nurtured in schools where cultures of genius, fostered by high-quality teaching, strong school leadership, and comprehensive college preparatory curricula, are the norm.
The problem largely lies with the nation’s education crisis, which has condemned at least two generations of men and women to economic and social despair. Children from poor and minority households — especially those where families are poorly-educated — are more likely than middle-class peers to attend schools staffed by low-quality teachers. Even worse, those laggard teachers tend to perform even worse than equally poor-performing peers serving middle-class kids to educational neglect. The average low-performing teacher in North Carolina working in school serving mostly-poor kids was four-hundredths of a standard deviation worse in performance in math than a laggard in a middle-class serving school, according to a 2010 study conducted by a team led by Tim Sass, an economist now with Georgia State University.
Meanwhile poor and minority children are often denied opportunities to attain comprehensive college-preparatory curricula. Only two percent of Detroit’s seventh- and eighth-grade students — including 1.6 percent of black middle-schoolers — took Algebra 1 in 2011-2012, according to a Dropout Nation analysis of data from the U.S. Department of Education. This lack of choice extends even to poor and minority kids in suburbia, where high quality learning is supposed to be the norm. Just 24 percent of black middle-schoolers took Algebra 1, versus an also-low 39 percent of white peers. This lack of access to high-quality learning is a problem caused largely by a century of racialist- and class-driven rationing of education, including the overuse of special ed ghettos to condemn those considered unteachable by those unwilling (and often, lacking the talent) to instruct them. Add in Zip Code Education policies such as school residency laws and the lack of high-quality information on the performance of schools and districts, and it’s little wonder why only so many of our most-vulnerable children end up on the path to despair.
The nation’s education crisis doesn’t just affect poor and minority children. Seventeen percent of young white male high school seniors whose parents graduated from college read Below Basic on NAEP 2013, as did 16 percent of their Asian peers from the same background. Twenty-seven percent of fourth-graders from suburbia were functionally illiterate. High schools sophomores from middle class backgrounds lagged behind peers in 15 countries in science literacy, according to an analysis of the 2009 Program for International Student Assessment by America Achieves. The reality is that the educational abuse borne upon poor and minority children visits their middle-class peers in the form of academic neglect. When our poor and minority kids are provided high-quality education, all children will succeed.
Systemic reform is about helping our children achieve brighter futures. At the same time, it is also fulfilling the dreams of our ancestors — especially those of earlier generations of black men and women like my grandfather, whose ambitions were deferred because of centuries of racial bigotry. As Virginia Tech historian Wilma Dunaway documented in her tomes on slavery in the southern communities surrounding Appalachia, the practices of slavery — from the hiring out of black men to other plantations to impregnate slave women (and thus, keeping three-quarters of black slave men from serving as fathers to their own children), to the denial of slave families to live together as families, to the forcing black women to nurse the children of slave masters (and deny nutrition to their own kin) — was as much about whites denying the humanity of black people (and their dreams for better lives) as it was about leveraging free labor for profit. This was also true of Jim Crow segregation in the American South, de facto discrimination in the northern states, and federal laws such as the Davis-Bacon Act, which denied employment on New Deal projects to blacks who couldn’t join all-white labor unions. School reform is a fulfillment of the dreams — and a long-overdue apology — to past generations of black people who labored hard to help this country prosper, yet were denied chances to reap the fruits of their labors.
Transforming American public education is key to helping all kids fulfill their ambitions as well as the dreams fulfilled of earlier generations. This includes overhauling how we recruit, train, compensate, and evaluate teachers and school leaders. It also includes the implementation of Common Core reading and math standards — as well as the development of high-quality curricula aligned with the standards — in order to provide our kids with comprehensive college preparatory curricula. And we must continue to expand school choice as well as Parent Power efforts, along with developing school data systems that provide all families with information they need to make smart decisions.
Our kids cannot make their ambitions real — or achieve that which their parents and forebears dreamed about — without high-quality education. For that, we must engage in systemic reform.
Back in 2011, your editor took a look at the work of the See Forever Foundation and how its Maya Angelou charter schools broke away from the approaches embraced by traditional districts to help former high school dropouts and kids in Washington, D.C.’s juvenile jail graduate from high school and gain college degrees. Finding that few of its high school graduates — many of whom were the first in their families to even be accepted into college, much less graduate from high school — were actually enrolling once they were accepted, much less graduating with a degree, See Forever had to take on new approaches that would not only help their students graduate from high school, but then successfully navigate the complexities of staying in college. This included providing its graduating students with counselors, who work to keep the students on track both while in high school and in college; working with families to annually fill out federal financial aid forms (a challenge made even more difficult when relatives are earning incomes through informal means such as day labor); and supplying other forms of counseling to the kids so they can deal with emotional challenges of being the first in their families to move out of neighborhoods and move onto the path to economic and social achievement.
What See Forever’s experience, and that of other outfits working with struggling children, made clear was that the traditional district model lacked the nimbleness for such work, even though the emphasis of scale at the heart of it should theoretically make it possible. In fact, the very scale that, in theory, should allow traditional districts to help ex-dropouts and traditional students stay on the path to educational and economic success (and, more importantly, keep students from dropping out in the first place), is of little use in an age in which ensuring all children get a high-quality education is more-important than how many students attend in the first place.
Two years later, this reality once again comes to mind, courtesy of Thomas B. Fordham Institute honcho Michael Petrilli, who partially walked back his piece last month in Slate declaring that we shouldn’t bother providing college-preparatory learning to all children. Conceding your editor’s point that struggling kids who aren’t “college material” wouldn’t succeed in the vocational ed programs he and others of this mindset propose as alternative “pathways” (as well as acknowledging that we must improve education at the early grades), Petrilli then complains that yours truly and other reformers are not being as “realistic” as he supposedly is about the challenge of helping kids, especially those from poor and minority backgrounds in failing big city districts, get up to speed academically. Then Petrilli challenges his critics to offer solutions to this aspect of the education crisis. Wonders Petrilli: “What should we do with these students while they are in high school?”
The obvious answer to Petrilli’s last question starts with providing those children with intensive remediation, especially in reading and math, the two subjects which hinder their lifelong success the most. But let’s go beyond that because Petrilli is asking an important question that deserves a serious answer. What Petrilli fails to acknowledge is that reformers, especially those working in big cities, have provided some important solutions for some time. There’s See Forever, where 87 percent of its graduates make it through their first year of college, and 60 percent of graduates leave college with a degree, the latter being higher than that for ex-dropouts and for all American students attending higher ed in six years. Then there is the work of YouthBuild, whose charter schools also work with children either on the verge or have already dropped out, as well as those operated by Goodwill Industries’ Indianapolis branch. Another possibility comes courtesy of New Visions for Public Schools, whose successful work with the New York City Department of Education on developing small high schools has been well-documented.
None of these school operations are unqualified successes. Nothing wrought by man can ever be. What all they do have in common is that they operate in one form or another outside of the traditional district model. While some, such as New Visions for Public Schools, work in conjunction with traditional districts, others such as See Forever and YouthBuild are charters that have developed their own unique approaches to helping kids poorly-served for years by traditional district schools get up to speed and head into the economic and social mainstream. All of them take unique, radical, and sensible approaches to education that fit the contexts in which they work and best serve the children in their care. And they models that have emerged in the past decade, long after the traditional district model became the norm in American public education.
Petrilli could have considered some of these models, as well as others. Those models include applying the approach of treating struggling students the same way we would those in gifted-and-talent programs developed by Project Bright Idea, an outfit working in North Carolina’s schools focused on elementary age children. Another can be gleaned from the Response to Intervention approach developed to keep illiterate children out of the nation’s special ed ghettos. As with so much in transforming American public education, there will not be one answer that solves the complex crisis before us. Yet Petrilli didn’t put any time into offering a solution. Why? Largely because he, like so many reformers and traditionalists, are still stuck in a traditional district paradigm that has long ago proven to be useless.
All this points to three critical realities. The first? That helping all kids succeed — especially those suffering from years of educational neglect and malpractice — requires ditching the traditional district model altogether. As Petrilli managed to point out in his response to my points, and as Dropout Nation has consistently illustrated since it began publishing six years ago, American public education has long ago been scaled for failure. From the collective bargaining agreements and state laws that essentially protect laggard teachers and fail to reward high-quality teachers (all of which are artifacts of industrial-era thinking and a time in which teacher performance could not be measured), to the bureaucratic nature of traditional districts (which foster cultures of mediocrity and failure that are difficult to overhaul), it is clear that the scale-oriented model embraced by the traditional district doesn’t work now (if it ever did). So we must stop fetishizing scale — something that reformers deserve criticism for doing — and toss the traditional district model into the ashbin of history where it belongs. We must instead embrace new models of education that focus on providing high-quality teaching, curricula, and school cultures to every child.
The second reality: That moving away from the traditional district model requires reformers, especially folks such as Petrilli, to ditch mindsets that embrace it. Sure, it is easy for Petrilli to demand that his fellow-travelers be realistic about the challenges before them. We should be. But realism is often used, both by traditionalists as well as the likes of Petrilli, to justify doing little or nothing to help all children succeed. As history has consistently shown, both in the success of social movements such as the end of the slave trade and in the advancements in technologies such as the personal computer and smartphones, the world is changed not by those who rigidly embrace realism, but by what Martin Luther King once called creative radicals who both acknowledge the challenges facing them and take imaginative, daring, even seemingly unrealistic approaches to solving them.
The final reality: That the school reform movement must continually bring in new and energetic voices to revive and sustain its efforts. The success of the school reform movement has come from the emergence of men and women from different backgrounds who strongly take on both traditionalists more-concerned with preserving their ideologies and paychecks, and hold accountable longtime reformers who lose sight of the goal of building brighter futures for all children. It can become easy for the current generation of reformers to become so jaded about the challenges before them that they end up being more-concerned with “reality” than with transforming education.
To paraphrase Marvin Gaye, you can’t solve America’s education crisis by simply hollering and tossing up your hands. We must embrace new models of providing education that focus on providing all children, especially those who have suffered the most from the traditional district model’s failures, teaching and learning they need and deserve.
Reading is fundamental — and not just for our children. School reformers, in particular, must always read more than just the wide array of op-eds and policy texts churned out of think tanks in order to continue fostering the intellectual dynamism that has helped the movement battle strongly for building brighter futures for all children. This means reading lots of books, especially ones on history, economics, and other subjects outside of education, in order to develop even more-cohesive arguments for the myriad solutions needed to transform American public education.
This is why Dropout Nation offers its help with the 2013 edition of The Top Eight Books That School Reformers Should Read. Culled from more than 100 books, the selections include a wide range of texts. This includes two history books — including a biography of how urban politics and social reform shaped the career of Theodore Roosevelt, and a look at political maneuvering by Jim Crow segregationist senators to preserve failed and bigoted thinking — from which reformers can glean lessons on how to use politics and activism to transform American public education. It also includes a primer on the develop of Western art and culture that can also serve as a rallying call for expanding experiences for all of our children.
As Dropout Nation does every year, the selections were judged on five criteria: Does it have a strong narrative or polemical power (also known as “is it well-written”)? Are the lessons relevant to the reform of American public education? Is the book thought-provoking (or does it offer new arguments or new thinking on familiar issues)? When research is involved in the narrative, does it stand up to scrutiny? And would you pay at least $14 to put it on your tablet (or, for those of you still reading traditional books, pay at least $20 for the paperback or hardcover)?
Below are this year’s selections. Offer your own suggestions in the comments. And just read, read, read.
Ungifted: Intelligence Redefined: There are plenty of reasons why psychologist Scott Barry Kaufman’s books on the misuses of IQ tests — and mistaken views overall about the potential of children — was the subject of last September’s Conversation at Dropout Nation podcast. For one, Kaufman smartly explains how IQ tests such as the Stanford-Binet — which were originally developed to help children identify and address their learning issues — have been warped by IQ determinists such as Charles Murray, who use the tests to argue that cognitive ability is genetically-driven and that only some kids (usually white) are deserving of college-preparatory education. Kaufman also explains in clear terms why concepts such as learning disabled (which are used to condemn far too many kids to the nation’s special ed ghettos) and giftedness fail to keep in mind all the factors that play into how children learn (including the role of deliberate practice). For reformers, Ungifted is one that should be read. And read. And read again. So go do it.
I Got Schooled: One of the new voices emerging for advancing reform this year is filmmaker M. Night Shyamalan, who has written one of the more-thoughtful polemics on the steps needed to address the nation’s education crisis. Written as a travelogue of sorts about his six-year exploration of education policy issues, the director of The Sixth Sense manages to do in a mere 249 pages what most think tankers fail to do after thousands of pages: Quickly explain flaws in traditionalist thinking — including class-size reduction efforts — and outline five key steps (including giving power to principals to make hiring and firing decisions, and embracing the use of data) to transform education. Just as importantly, in discussing how high-quality teachers “want to want” to stem achievement gaps while laggards don’t desire this goal, Shyamalan also hits upon the importance of talent in building cultures of genius that help all kids succeed. Shyamalan’s book isn’t without flaws; his citing of the rather flawed 2009 report on charter schools by Stanford’s Center for Research on Education Options, arguing that it proves that charters are no better than traditional district schools, is rather problematic. But overall, Shyamalan’s arguments are worth considering.
Endangering Prosperity: A Global View of the American School: Eric Hanushek, Paul Peterson, and Ludger Woessmann have offered up one of the most-exhaustive polemics on how the nation’s education crisis is making it harder for the nation and its children to succeed in an increasingly global and knowledge-based economic landscape. Through their analysis of international student achievement data, Hanushek, Peterson, Woessmann detail why arguments from traditionalists that all is well with education don’t stand up to scrutiny. At the same time, Hanushek, Peterson, and Woessmann take the time to chastise political leaders for not meeting their promises to advance reform, look at already-ongoing fiscal battles between retiring Baby Boomers and families of young children, and explain how reformers must explain to the public that the battle over reforming American public education is one “between the needs of school-age children” who will be the ones charged with keeping the nation prosperous long into the future versus “the interests of those adults who agreed to educate them in our public schools”.
Glittering Images: A Journey Through Art from Egypt to Star Wars: Why should reformers pick up cultural critic and intellectual provocateur Camille Paglia’s primer on the history and development of Western art and culture? Reason one: Paglia’s book is the kind that textbook writers should aspire to provide children and adults alike. A simple-yet-comprehensive tome, Paglia’s book details the historical forces that shaped — and were shaped by — works of art such as The Book of Kells (which helped inspire the 19th century Celtic revival that led to the Irish War of Independence from Great Britain) and The Death of Marat, Jacques-Louis David’s ode to the French Revolution. The second reason: Paglia’s strong arguments about the failures of traditional districts to provide children with knowledge about the arts and its role in shaping and being shaped by society (a problem Paglia argues is a problem that is a problem for American culture as a whole) is a clarion call to reformers to do more to expand cultural experiences for all children.
Heir to the Empire City: New York and the Making of Theodore Roosevelt: Certainly you should pick up Edward P. Kohn’s book because it is about the very fascinating life of America’s 26th president — the man who showed the power of the bully pulpit in advancing social change. But reformers can learn plenty from Kohn’s narrative about how Roosevelt’s thinking and activism was shaped by his disgust for the shameless graft of the Big Apple’s infamous Tammany Hall regime, disdain for the equally unabashed corruption of upstate New York politicians, and experience on the ground working with poor and minority families of that time forced into tenements unfit for living. And by discussing how Roosevelt and other social reformers of the time took on the woeful conditions of the time for the Big Apple’s poorest families, Kohn’s book — which will be the subject of an upcoming Dropout Nation Podcast on embracing grassroots leadership — also provides reformers lessons on how it will take plenty of strong steps to help the children of today succeed in school and in life.
Strife and Progress: Portfolio Strategies for Managing Urban Schools: It is easy to talk about overhauling (and, more to the liking of DN Editor RiShawn Biddle, abandoning) the obsolete and dysfunctional traditional district model. It is even easier to talk about how it should be done, including moving away from centralized bureaucracies to a portfolio approach under which traditional and public charter schools are managed under a mayoral control structure. But as former Center for Reinventing Public Education boss Paul Hill and his onetime colleagues, Christine Campbell and Bethany Gross, point out in their 140-page primer on portfolio district, making it work — along with dealing with the political challenges of moving away from the traditional district model — is a different matter entirely. In Strife and Progress, Hill, Campbell, and Gross provide some important lessons, both political and operational, from efforts by New York City and other reform-minded districts that institution-oriented reformers and their counterparts among activists and think tankers should heed.
The Smartest Kids in the World and How they Got That Way: An observer can easily argue that Amanda Ripley’s 307-page volume on the success of school systems around the world versus the failures of America’s super-clusters has been over-hyped by reformers. Maybe. But Dropout Nation would have to say that the kudos given to Ripley’s book are all well-deserved. Why? Because it is a strong polemic that explains, both the experiences of three young adults and through strong reporting how American public education is doing poorly for its children and for the nation as a whole. The narrative provides strong contrasts between how traditional district schools focus too many resources on expensive buildings and other matters that have little to do with learning with the more judicious use of resources by systemics in other countries. And in explaining how white middle class children are doing almost as poorly academically (especially as measured on PISA and other international exams) against their counterparts around the world as their black and Latino peers at home, Ripley offers everyone a reminder that the high cost of educational abuse to the least of our children also ends up being borne by the wealthiest of them.
Delaying the Dream: Southern Senators and the Fight Against Civil Rights: There’s plenty for reformers to learn from political historian Keith M. Finley’s text on how politicians such as Georgia U.S. Senator Richard Russell, Louisiana’s Russell Long, and J. William Fulbright of Arkansas (now better-known for the international education program he helped create through law) used every political tactic — including arcane Senate rules and faux compromises that effectively kept Jim Crow segregation laws in place — to slow down the civil rights movement’s efforts to end state-sanction segregation. One of the lessons — that those defending a status quo will use any step taken by activists they oppose to rally their side — is one that reformers should always keep in mind; after all, traditionalists are essentially using the same tactics leveraged by defenders of Jim Crow this past century. Just as importantly, reformers can be heartened from another lesson: That those defending failed policies and practices ultimately don’t have time on their side, especially when activists and others continually challenge them at all levels.
As always, there are a number of books that are also deserving of praise, but didn’t make the Top Eight cut this year. This Next Six includes Tilting at Windmills, Richard Lee Colvin’s profile of former San Diego Unified Superintendent Alan Bersin’s struggle to overhaul the Southern California district; Apostles of Reason, Molly Worthen’s history on the development — and battles between factions within — the modern American evangelical movement; The One World Schoolhouse, education innovator Sal Khan’s tome on the development of his flipped classroom approach to teaching; I Am Malala, the autobiography on the teenage activist’s battle against Islamicists in Pakistan opposed to providing teaching and curricula to young women; Margaret Thatcher—The Authorised Biography, Volume I by Charles Moore; and Brad Stone’s The Everything Store, which details how Amazon founder Jeff Bezos revolutionized online retail and (to use a supermarket phrase) so much more.
One can easily say that in many ways, outgoing New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s 11-year effort to transform public education in the Big Apple has helped improve life for families and communities within it. Between 2003 and 2011, the percentage of fourth-graders reading Below Basic declined by eight points (from 47 percent to 39 percent) while the percentage of fourth-graders reading at Proficient and Advanced levels increased by eight percentage points (from 21 percent to 29 percent). The declines in illiteracy for the Big Apple’s poorest children were also pronounced, with a 10 percentage point decline (from 51 percent to 41 percent) in that period while the percentage of poor families reading at Proficient and Advanced levels increased by seven percentage points (from 18 percent to 25 percent). Bloomberg’s reform efforts have not been perfect — and as this piece points out, his shortcomings have been especially troubling when it comes to education for black and Latino children regardless of economic background. But the mayor is leaving the Big Apple with a better district than it had before he took it over in 2002. And it will be up to his successor, Bill de Blasio to both build upon Bloomberg’s successes and address the shortcomings of the regime.
Over the next few days, Dropout Nation‘s editors will offer their own advice on what de Blasio should do. Today, Contributing Editor Michael Holzman focuses on what de Blasio should do to address one of Bloomberg’s shortcomings: The low (albeit improving) achievement of the Big Apple’s black and Latino children. Tomorrow, Editor RiShawn Biddle will discuss the choices de Blasio must make to build upon the most-successful aspects of Bloomberg’s reform efforts. And on Friday, Biddle and Holzman will both offer additional thoughts on two problems that have remained unaddressed by Bloomberg: Accurate data on school performance to state and federal agencies; and the $31 billion in unfunded pension liabilities that will complicate New York’s fiscal future (and de Blasio’s plans to expand early childhood educational opportunities for the city’s children).
When Bill de Blasio takes over as New York City’s mayor, he will face a task his predecessor, Michael Bloomberg, admitted is the most-important of all: Educating the nation’s largest city’s one million children. And the current mayor-elect is right when he declared that the Big Apple has become two cities. This is especially true when it comes to education.
Students from white non-Latino and Asian (especially Indian) homes are more-likely to live in families with two parents who are college-educated. Just four percent of white and Asian families consist of single women with children under age 18. The poverty rate for white families alone is just 19 percent in 2012, lower than the average of 26 percent.
Students from black and Latino households are not likely to be so fortunate. They are less likely to have received baccalaureate and graduate degrees. They are more likely to be single-parent households; 16 percent of black and Latino families in New York City consist of single women with children under age 18. And 40 percent of black and Latino families are living in poverty.
This is a challenge that New York City doesn’t undertake nearly as well as it should. On average, 86 percent of young black and Latino men in eighth-grade, and 82 percent of their female peers score below Proficient and Advanced levels (or at grade level), according to the 2011 National Assessment of Educational Progress. As a result, most black and Latino students do not graduate college- and career-ready in four years.
The results can be seen in U.S. Census data on college completion for adults in the city. While nearly half of the New York’s White, non-Latino, and Asian adults over 25 years of age have a Bachelor’s degree or higher, only about one-fifth of black adults and 15 percent of Latino adults have achieved that level of education which is a crucial predictor of the educational achievement of their children and increasingly necessary for a middle class income.
The failure to educate black and Latino children is especially problematic because New York City isn’t a majority white or Asian district. Roughly equal numbers of New York’s children are Latino, black and white. Asian students (including Asian Indians, Chinese, Japanese, Filipinos and others) number between one-third and half the size of the other groups. When it comes to education, New York is a tale of two cities – and not a good one for black and Latino children.
What, then, is the task of the public schools? Is it to allocate public resources in proportion to private resources, so that children from comparatively well-off and highly educated families receive more public resources than others? Or is it to fulfill the ideals of the Founders that the quality of education should not depend on where children live or the class status of their parents?
All evidence points to a de facto decision in New York City to allocate public resources in proportion to the private resources available to students. Pre-kindergarten classes are more available in wealthier neighborhoods. Gifted and talented classes are more available in wealthier neighborhoods (and the qualifying tests are not even given in some poorer neighborhoods).
College-preparatory curricula are available in wealthier neighborhoods and not in poorer neighborhoods, The peak of the system, the selective high schools, as a matter of fact select so few black and Latino students as to be simply a rounding error in some of those schools, and the test is designed in such a way as to be virtually impossible to pass with the courses available in the city’s schools serving poorer (Black and Latino) students, while the city’s students from wealthier families not only have the requisite coursework for a solid foundation in their schools, but benefit from expensive private tutorials.
Given this situation, what is a new Mayor to do? The details are difficult to define. The goals are not.
First, bring equality to the allocation of resources across the school system. The differences in facilities, equipment and maintenance among the city’s schools is grotesque. It is incredible that this situation should exist. It must end.
Second, bring equity to the allocation of resources across the school system. The measure of this should not be clever book-keeping devices, but outcomes: Every school should have the resources to provide every student with a good education. Neighborhood schools in the Bronx and central Brooklyn should offer educations at least as good as those on the upper West Side and eastern Queens.
It is not difficult to measure the resources necessary for providing a student with a good education. The new administration need only identify those schools now providing high quality education, as shown by any of the usual measurements and determine the total resources—public and private—available to the students in those schools. Schools serving students living in poverty, with parents whose own educations are limited, will require compensatory resources: pre-school, all day kindergarten, after-school tutorials, summer school, high-standards for curricula and teaching. Schools serving students from wealthier families may find some of these items to be redundant for most of their students. The budget for each school should follow those determinations. | <urn:uuid:1822714e-0431-482a-a1fb-92e70226c7c2> | CC-MAIN-2014-35 | http://dropoutnation.net/category/building-a-culture-of-genius/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2014-35/segments/1408500825341.30/warc/CC-MAIN-20140820021345-00408-ip-10-180-136-8.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.96693 | 12,945 | 3.09375 | 3 |
First Grade Students Welcome Author Stacy McAnulty
Acclaimed author, Stacy McAnulty, got up early Tuesday morning, November 19, and drove from her home in Kernersville to entertain and instruct first grade students at Morris Grove Elementary School and then Estes Hills Elementary School, and from all appearances, everyone had a grand time, talking about the Universe series of books, and nonfiction writing in general.
Media specialists Gretchen Westman (MGES) and Laura Fox (EHES) combined forces to apply for a Public School Foundation grant to bring McAnulty to their schools. Their shared goals for the author visit were numerous and multi-faceted, beyond providing an energy-packed session about the moon, the sun and the stars. They wanted their first grade students to better understand the process of researching and writing informational text, and to help them recognize that genre of writing comes in many forms. Through McAnulty’s books, they wanted to help students explore the concept of narrative nonfiction. And again, they had fun!
Westman said, “She was fantastic, and I was so proud of all our students,” who managed to sit for over 45 minutes, fully engaged and eager to ask and answer questions. Westman said the teachers told her “how excited the students were to meet a working author and how engaged they've been with the format of her books. One thing that stuck out to me was how amazed they were to hear how many times she edits and revises. That's a powerful thought when we're working to help students develop persistence and problem-solving skills.”
Fox said, “The nonfiction books in this series include: Earth: My first 4.54 billion years, Moon: Earth’s best friend and Sun: One in a billion. As part of the grant, each classroom received copies of all three books. Teachers are using the books during their science unit on the Earth-Moon-Sun system.”
Fox read Earth to all of the EHES first grade classes. “Students gave the book a star rating, and wrote and illustrated their favorite part of the book. We also talked about how these books are examples of narrative nonfiction in which Earth is a character in the book. While the book reads like a story, Earth shares facts about our planet.”
McAnulty took time and care to explain, with humor and specific examples, how she starts with a concept and builds each book through extensive research, feedback from her trusted readers and plenty of revisions. When she mentioned that she had been pleased that one book only required seven revisions, a student exclaimed dramatically, “Seven times?”
Talia Smart, events manager at Flyleaf Books, accompanied McAnulty to both schools and distributed books that had been purchased (some as gifts) for children. “I was really impressed by the kids' responses to the question, ‘How can we be kinder to the Earth?’ It’s super open-ended, and I was pleasantly surprised at how much the kiddos already seemed to know about environmentalism, from cleaning up litter, to carpooling, to buying metal straws and decreasing plastic consumption.”
After McAnulty finished her presentations for the day, she tweeted a photo of a Post-It note from the MGES media center board created in preparation for her visit. “Love this!” she tweeted. “My books are ‘kinduve funee.”
After the author visit, the plan is to help students create a class slideshow. Each student will contribute a slide on a nonfiction topic similar to the style in Ms. McAnulty’s books. They will share the completed slideshows between the two schools, which will fulfill another of the project goals, to provide students an opportunity to communicate with their peers across the district . | <urn:uuid:25494617-8f48-49ee-a1bf-fce85bdf0cad> | CC-MAIN-2020-29 | https://www.chccs.org/site/default.aspx?PageType=3&DomainID=11&ModuleInstanceID=49&ViewID=6446EE88-D30C-497E-9316-3F8874B3E108&RenderLoc=0&FlexDataID=22921&PageID=15 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2020-29/segments/1593655887360.60/warc/CC-MAIN-20200705121829-20200705151829-00002.warc.gz | en | 0.977916 | 810 | 2.53125 | 3 |
Missing teeth can be replaced by dentures. This can be made for the upper or lower jaw. They are supported on the soft and hard tissues in the mouth.
This type of denture replaces some of the teeth. Dentures can be made in acrylic or on a metal framework. Both have some advantage and disadvantages. Further discussion with your dentist will guide you on the best option.
Good oral hygiene and denture care is very important after fitting of denrures
Full dentures will replace all missing teeth. They can be used in either upper or lower jaw or both. They are made of acrylic resin and rely on suction to retain them. | <urn:uuid:71a22d71-7cbb-411c-b97e-9fe956e7ab99> | CC-MAIN-2020-10 | https://www.leedentalcare.co.uk/treatments/dentures | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2020-10/segments/1581875145316.8/warc/CC-MAIN-20200220224059-20200221014059-00345.warc.gz | en | 0.932634 | 133 | 2.609375 | 3 |
Study Journalism in the US
Journalism is a great career for students with keen insight and deep-seated curiosity. It is the industry responsible for disseminating news accurately, fairly, and quickly and encompasses all types of social media. International students who wish to study journalism in the US will need to work well under pressure and tight deadlines, have excellent writing skills, and an inquisitive nature.
Covering a wide-range of writing styles and issues, journalism appeals to students from a variety of backgrounds. Students who wish to study journalism in the US should make sure the school they apply to offers journalism courses in the specialty of their choosing. Specialties include broadcast journalism—in radio or television; print journalism—encompassing newspapers and magazines; online journalism—including online newspapers, blogs and other social media; or photojournalism.
Choose a school
A decent bachelor's and master's degree program can be found throughout the country. When searching, take a good look at location. Gaining experience—and making connections with news outlets and journalists in the industry—while still in school is a major advantage, especially for international students looking to work in the US after graduation. Students interested in an internship or job with a specific news outlet should research schools where that internship is based. Likewise, students interested in reporting for a specific industry may want to stick to schools near that industry's headquarters: for example, technology is based in the Silicon Valley near San Francisco, politics near Washington D.C, and finance in New York City.
Some top journalism schools (or j-schools) include the world's first journalism school, opened in 1908, at the University of Missouri, UNC Chapel Hill in North Carolina, which offers combined programs in business, science, health, or law to better prepare students looking to practice journalism in those industries; or most well-known is Columbia University, situated in the heart of the publishing industry in New York City. Renowned for its graduate journalism programs, it does not offer a bachelor's degree in journalism.
In addition to the requirements for American citizens, international students who wish to study journalism in the US may be asked to supplement their applications with the following:
- TOEFL (Test of English as a Foreign Language) or IELTS (International English Language Testing System) scores; in most cases these are only required for students who's first language is not English. Keep in mind that admissions committees are looking for students with a strong grasp of the English language. Journalism is very heavy in writing and these scores will need to reflect that.
- English translations for any transcripts or writing samples/clips.
- Proof verifying there are sufficient funds to cover the total cost of attending school in the US. This can be a bank statement or an official form provided by the school. In some cases, this is only necessary once accepted.
In the US, a bachelor's degree in journalism takes four years where, upon graduation, students will receive either a Bachelor of Science (BS) or Bachelor of Arts (BA). Students will begin with core journalism courses such as writing, reporting, editing, media law, journalism history, and ethics. To gain practice, professors will expect students to work outside of the classroom and report on community and/or school issues for class assignments. Once these basics are mastered, students will focus on the area of their interest and take journalism courses tailored to their specialties -in photojournalism, magazine writing, or newspaper writing for example.
However, a good journalist is a well-rounded one, and the majority of a journalism major's classes are not journalism related. In addition to the courses mentioned above, students are expected to gain a broad base of knowledge in the arts and humanities—students can choose classes in history, literature, science, philosophy, religion, art, etc. What journalism students might also consider is a double major in another subject. Having expertise in another field, political science, for example, will make a student interested in reporting politics that much more knowledgeable, as well as give them a more competitive resume when job hunting after graduation.
The only thing that will make a good journalist better is practice, and many schools require that students complete an internship. J-schools will help students find a placement, but if the internship is located in a different city it is the student's responsibility to find and pay for housing.
Additionally, take advantage of the campus newspaper, magazine, radio, or broadcast station. These are present on nearly every college or university across the country and are an important and accessible way to gain experience.
International students interested in a master's degree can expect an additional 1-2 years of schooling. While a bachelor's degree is a prerequisite, potential graduate students need not obtain a bachelor's in journalism to be considered for a journalism graduate degree program.
Journalism doesn't necessarily mean a career in investigative journalism—in fact, those jobs, while not unattainable, are limited and highly selective. Career prospects for journalism majors are varied and include:
- Foreign / War Correspondent
- Technical Writer
- Sports Commentator
- Broadcast news anchor
- Radio Commentator
- Journalism/Communications Professor
- Public Relations Specialist | <urn:uuid:5e04ade1-49c7-4261-8d63-f1fdabf3cc3d> | CC-MAIN-2014-23 | http://www.internationalstudent.com/study-journalism/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2014-23/segments/1406510264575.30/warc/CC-MAIN-20140728011744-00314-ip-10-146-231-18.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.949435 | 1,060 | 2.65625 | 3 |
An eXtreme deep field Hubble image.
This image shows the position of the most distant galaxy discovered so far within a deep sky Hubble Space Telescope survey called GOODS North. The survey field contains tens of thousands of galaxies stretching far back into time.
The remote galaxy GN-z11, shown in the inset, existed only 400 million years after the Big Bang when the universe was only 3 percent of its current age. It belongs to the first generation of galaxies in the universe, and its discovery provides new insights into the early universe. This is the first time that the distance of an object so far away has been measured from its spectrum, which makes the measurement extremely reliable.
GN-z11 is actually ablaze with bright young blue stars, but these look red in this image because its light was stretched to longer, redder wavelengths by the expansion of the universe. | <urn:uuid:bd84f21d-af51-4e64-b187-b545d39a7d2e> | CC-MAIN-2017-30 | https://fisquiboh.wordpress.com/2016/11/08/the-most-distant-galaxies-ever/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-30/segments/1500549423723.8/warc/CC-MAIN-20170721062230-20170721082230-00163.warc.gz | en | 0.939325 | 179 | 3.21875 | 3 |
Information provided from The American Heartworm Society A Message to Take to Heart While the risk of infection in dogs varies from one region of the country to another and even from one community to another, one fact remains: heartworm disease is a threat to unprotected dogs in every state, even some parts of Alaska. Unprotected dogs, foxes, coyotes, and wolves act as reservoirs, or sources, for the spread of this serious disease. The relocation of dogs, as with humanitarian efforts following natural disasters such as Hurricane Katrina, can introduce heartworm disease into parts of the country where it is not normally found. Furthermore, unprotected dogs traveling with their owners to areas where heartworms exist will be at risk for heartworm exposure. Heartworm disease is a complicated and deadly illness–the best approach is prevention. What is Heartworm Disease? Canine heartworm disease develops when a dog is bitten by a mosquito carrying microscopic larvae of a parasite called Dirofilaria immitis. As a mosquito feeds, these microscopic larvae infect and begin their migration into the dog’s bloodstream, where they grow into adult worms. Adult female heartworms are larger than male heartworms and can grow 10 to 12 inches in length. They make their home in the right side of the heart and vessels of the lungs (pulmonary arteries), often causing lung disease and heart failure. Although easy to prevent, heartworm disease continues to be a major health problem for dogs living in the United States and wherever mosquitoes live. If you every see or get bitten by mosquitoes, your dog is at risk! Heartworm Life Cycle When a dog has a mature heartworm infection, female worms release their young (microfilariae) directly into the dog’s bloodstream. When a mosquito bites a dog with microfilariae in the blood, it ingests the microfilariae along with the blood. Over the following 10 to 14 days, these microfilariae develop and mature into infective larvae inside the mosquito. When the mosquito bites another dog, the larvae are left behind to enter the fresh wound. In 6 to 7 months, these infective larvae migrate inside the dog, eventually reaching the heart and vessels of the lungs, where they continue to grow to full maturity. The mature adult worms produce microfilariae of their own, which are available in the dog’s blood to infect other mosquitoes. Because heartworms may live for 5 to 7 years in the dog, each mosquito season can lead to increasing numbers of worms as they accumulate in unprotected dogs. Signs of Heartworm Disease Some dogs can be infected for several years before symptoms develop, so heartworm disease in younger dogs may not be obvious. As heartworms slowly cause damage to the pulmonary arteries of the lungs, signs of disease may include a mild persistent cough, reluctance to exercise, fatigue after moderate activity, decreased appetite, and weight loss. Eventually, as blood flow through the diseased lungs becomes more restricted, some dogs can develop heart failure. This is commonly recognized by a buildup of fluid in the abdomen and the appearance of a “swollen belly.” Although less common, a large number of heartworms can lead to a sudden obstruction of blood flow through the heart and lungs. This blockage often becomes a life threatening form of heart failure referred to as caval syndrome. Signs of caval syndrome often include a sudden onset of labored breathing, pale gums, dark red or “coffee-colored” urine, and an inability or unwillingness to move. Most dogs suffering from caval syndrome will not survive without prompt surgical removal of the heartworm blockage. Detecting Heartworm Infection Numerous blood tests are available for detecting heartworm infections in dogs, and your veterinarian will perform the test most appropriate for your dog. Keep in mind that no diagnostic test can accurately detect all heartworm infections. For example, tests cannot consistently detect infection until heartworms are least 7 months old. Some heartworm infections may not be picked up by routine tests and more extensive testing, such as x-rays or ultrasound imaging, may be required if the doctor suspects heartworms. Your veterinarian might also repeat the blood test at suggested intervals. Who Should be Tested? Annual testing is recommended for all dogs to ensure that heartworm prevention is achieved and maintained. If an infection is diagnosed in it’s early stages, the disease may be less severe and easier to treat. All dogs 7 months of age and older should be tested for heartworms prior to beginning a preventative program. More frequent testing might be necessary in some cases–for example, if you know that a dose of the preventative medication has been missed, if you have switched from one preventative medication to another, or if your dog has clinical signs of heartworm infection or other individual risk factors. The frequency of testing should be discussed with your veterinarian. At a minimum, retesting is recommended 6 months after first starting on the preventive medication or a missed dose, and annually thereafter. Treatment Without treatment, heartworm disease will worsen and may lead to more serious illness. Unless medical reasons identify a dog as a poor candidate, heartworm-positive dogs should be treated. A thorough physical examination, x-rays, and blood and urine tests may be needed prior to treatment to assess your dog’s level of risk. To reduce complications, your veterinarian will educate you in great detail before initiating treatment of your dog. While the heartworm medication melarsomine hydrochloride is extremely effective in eliminating adult worms, some dogs will not be completely cleared with a single course of treatment. Testing is recommended 6 months after treatment to ensure all heartworms were killed. If tests are still positive, additional testing and further treatment may be indicated. Prevention Heartworm preventative medications are very effective when given properly on the prescribed schedule. It is important to monitor your pet’s weight to ensure your pet falls within the weight range listed on the package. All approved heartworm preventatives are typically safe, very easy to use, and relatively inexpensive, and some provide treatment for additional parasites. Prevention is always safer and more affordable than treating adult heartworm infections. It is your responsibility to faithfully give your dog the preventative medication as prescribed. The best way to reduce the risk of heartworm infection in your dog is to give the preventative medication year-round. Be certain to have all dogs tested prior to initiating or restarting any heartworm prevention program, as administration of some preventives can cause life-threatening reactions when given to heartworm-infected pets. Routine testing is critical to avoid a delay in detecting early infection and starting life-saving therapy. | <urn:uuid:15c7c467-39fe-4a3c-9c8f-c8fffb580f31> | CC-MAIN-2017-39 | http://www.shilohvethospital.com/heartworm-disease-in-dogs/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-39/segments/1505818689779.81/warc/CC-MAIN-20170923213057-20170923233057-00443.warc.gz | en | 0.935346 | 1,343 | 3.671875 | 4 |
In 2014, the Los Angeles Unified School District announced a spectacular improvement in its graduation rate: Fully 77% of students who had come in as 9th graders four years earlier were now going to graduate as seniors. But there was a bit of a trick behind the number: It included only students who attended what are called “comprehensive” high schools. Those who had been transferred to alternative programs — the students most at risk of dropping out — weren’t counted. If they had been factored in, the rate would have been 67% — still good, but not nearly as flashy a number.
Here’s another example of a misleading number: In May of this year, the California Department of Education reported a rise in the statewide graduation rate, to 82%. But one reason for that was the cancellation of the high school exit exam, which used to be required for graduation and which students could pass only if they had attained a modicum of understanding of algebra and English skills.
The question, though, is whether schools will bring those numbers up the hard way, by improving the quality of education – or by falling back on shortcuts and gimmicks. Early indications suggest that they’ll do a combination of both. States and school districts, not just locally but across the nation, have already come up with a wide array of ways to make graduation rates look good on paper:
-- When large numbers of students across the country failed high school exit exams over the past decade, states made it easier for them to pass. California devised a simpler test; in New Jersey, students who failed were permitted to take a far easier exam that asked them only one question for each subject area. And if they still failed, they could appeal by doing an essay or another project. Last year in Camden, N.J., after nearly half the students flunked the initial exam, almost all of them were able to get their diplomas through one of the other routes.
-- Several states, including California, have eliminated their high school exit exams altogether. And California was among at least six states — including Texas and Georgia — to award retroactive diplomas to students who had failed their exit exams in previous years.
-- In Chicago, low-performing public school students were counseled to leave school for job-training or graduate-equivalency programs, and then counted as transfers rather than dropouts. When an outcry ensued, the school district lowered its previously inflated graduation rates in 2015.
--Texas allows schools to count students as “leavers” rather than dropouts if they say they’re moving elsewhere or doing home-schooling, without checking into whether those assertions are true.
-- Perhaps the newest and most widespread method that schools are using to boost graduation rates are online credit-recovery courses such as the ones that L.A. Unified offered this academic year when only about 54% of seniors were on track to graduate. After a hefty dose of online credit-recovery courses and other efforts, the latest but still preliminary figure is now reported to be 74%. These courses can be rigorous and valuable educational tools – but they also sometimes allow students to too quickly and too easily make up the courses they have failed.
Russell Rumberger, director of the California Dropout Research Project at UC Santa Barbara, is not a fan of measuring a school’s success by its graduation rate for precisely that reason: Doing so encourages schools to lower their standards or to use misleading numbers or to find ways to get failing students out of their schools without having to count them as dropouts. In any case, he says, “a diploma is a blunt instrument” for measuring learning; one study found that low-income students need to show better mastery of the material than merely a pass in order to have a real shot at reaching the middle class.
Under pressure to produce better numbers, school officials in California and nationwide have often done whatever it takes to get to those numbers.
Like it or not, Rumberger says, higher standards — such as those in the Common Core curriculum standards recently adopted in California and most other states — tend to mean lower graduation rates, and it’s disingenuous for states to say they can raise both at once, and quickly.
It’s not that schools, including those at L.A. Unified, haven’t made some authentic progress in graduating more students. The district deserves credit for taking steps to follow up on absent students before they become chronically truant. It has eliminated out-of-school suspensions for relatively minor misbehavior. (Rumberger was involved in a recent study showing that suspension increases a student’s risk of dropping out.) These days, high school staff at many schools seem to be more personally familiar with students than they used to be, and the students in turn seem more comfortable interacting with the adults. Counselors more often take the initiative, sitting students down to talk about how they will make up missing credits. And the district has been offering after-school and Saturday makeup classes as well as the online credit-recovery courses.
But under pressure to produce better numbers, school officials in California and nationwide have often done whatever it takes to get to those numbers, including lowering standards while pretending to raise them, and reclassifying students instead of educating them. These students then go on to college or the workplace, mistakenly thinking they have the skills they’ll need.
The irony is that the school-reform movement that has been leading the push for higher graduation rates got its start years ago in a struggle to raise academic standards. It arose in response to complaints from employers that a high school diploma hardly meant anything anymore. School reformers and Chamber of Commerce representatives complained that high school graduates couldn’t pass the written test to become delivery drivers or construction apprentices. Standardized tests, including high school exit exams, were supposed to ensure that students reached at least a minimal level of proficiency.
The federal No Child Left Behind Act, which never did much to encourage higher graduation rates, might be dead, but its successor will have little chance of succeeding if policymakers aren’t realistic about the work and patience required to raise standards, test scores and graduation rates. It’s slow, hard, incremental work without magic solutions, and improved numbers aren’t always evidence of better-educated students.
This piece is the second in a two-part series. Read part one here. | <urn:uuid:50ddc000-d18a-4b76-896d-b0395e542b1d> | CC-MAIN-2020-24 | https://www.latimes.com/opinion/editorials/la-ed-graduation-rates-20160624-snap-story.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2020-24/segments/1590347387219.0/warc/CC-MAIN-20200525032636-20200525062636-00420.warc.gz | en | 0.976106 | 1,326 | 2.75 | 3 |
Data From HTML
Data from Html function is used to extract data from Html File:
Sheetkraft contains the data from html option which can be accessed by the Import From Button present in the SheetKraft Toolbar ( See figure)
Importing Data From a File:
The Following Guidelines show how data can be imported from a file using Data from HTML. Click on the Import From Button and select the HTML option to open this dialogue box. Given below is preview of Data From HTML Function.
The Data From HTML Function Contains Following Parameters:
● File_Location:- The file_Location is the path from where the data is to be imported.
● Width:- Width is the number to columns required in the result.
● Selector:- Selector is the tag which is used to select the data from the HTML file. Selector is defined as $(‘tag’). In the below Screenshot if we use option as selector it must be defined as $(‘option’).
For eg: In the Below Figure we use “OPTION” as a Selector to fetch data inside the option tag.
● Pattern:- Pattern is used to fetch the data inside the selector.
Pattern is defined as attr(‘attribute name’).
In the above fig if we want to fetch data for attribute “value” it is defined as attr(‘value’).
The below screenshot shows the overall preview of how Data from Html works. | <urn:uuid:4077cb1b-c4f0-47c6-ba82-e1208de5c206> | CC-MAIN-2023-14 | https://docs.sheetkraft.com/functions/import-functions/data-from-html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2023-14/segments/1679296949097.61/warc/CC-MAIN-20230330035241-20230330065241-00515.warc.gz | en | 0.841795 | 313 | 3.203125 | 3 |
Let’s start with saturated fat. Saturated fat is found in meat, eggs, coconut and palm oil. Saturated fat has a wonderful property in that it is very difficult to oxidize, which means two things: it doesn’t go rancid easily and it doesn’t cause oxidative stress in your body. The saturated fat in meat and eggs is a long-chain saturated fat. It is not the unhealthy fat that was once wrongfully accused as the cause of cardiovascular disease, but how healthy it is for you is still under debate. My suggestion is to not worry about it, but don’t go out of your way to eat more of it either. Coconut and palm oil contain a medium chain saturated fat and this is very special. It can actually be used directly for energy by your cells, without modification and without a spike in insulin or blood sugar. When I desperately need a snack between meals, I often choose coconut as a way of maintaining my insulin sensitivity.
Saturated fats are the only fats you should cook with on a regular basis. This is because poly-unsaturated fats do something very bad when they get heated up: they oxidize and produce Advanced Glycation End-Products (AGEs). This means two things: they do go rancid much more easily and, if they do produce AGEs, they can cause oxidative damage to the cells in your body.
“Wait, wait, wait. What are AGEs?” you say. Good question. Without delving too deeply into the biochemistry, AGEs are produced inside your body when sugar molecules (most often fructose) bind to fat or protein. The resulting molecule can cause oxidative damage and inflammation, and is generally considered to be one of the major contributors to aging. Don’t freak out too much because some production of AGEs is normal and healthy. The problem is when our bodies produce too much or when we consume too much in our food. The best way to limit your body’s production of AGEs is to limit your intake of carbohydrates, especially fructose. You don’t need to go crazy; maybe try and keep under 100g of carbohydrates a day (unless you’re trying to lose weight, and then aim for 30-50g). And while it probably isn’t as important, it’s also generally sensible to try and limit your consumption of AGEs. This means not burning your food and not cooking with polyunsaturated fats (like olive, sesame, and flax oils).
It is also important to reduce your intake of omega-6 fatty acids to the best of your ability (and budget). This means no modern vegetable oils or products made from them, like mayonnaise or store-bought salad dressings. Also, be mindful of your nut consumption and try to eat grass-fed meat, free-range poultry, and wild game whenever it’s not prohibitively expensive. At the same time, try and increase your omega-3 intake by eating more wild caught fish (canned salmon and sardines are great inexpensive options), omega-3 eggs, and maybe also using a fish oil supplement.
In summary: You still have lots of great options. You can get your “raw” fats from avocados, avocado oil, olives, olive oil, flax meal, flax oil, sesame oil, nuts and seeds (in moderation), and coconut and coconut products. The best sources of “cooked” fats are grass-fed meat, free-range poultry, wild game, omega-3 eggs and wild-caught fish. For cooking, I suggest using coconut oil (extra virgin or naturally refined), palm oil, grass-fed butter (if you tolerate it–many don’t, so use with caution), suet, lard, tallow or other animal fat (especially, if pasture-fed). And remember, this isn’t supposed to increase your stress. If you can only afford conventional ground beef (like I can), then don’t worry about it. Do what you can and know that you will feel better for every positive change you make! | <urn:uuid:c0fd1f6b-7b96-4d08-b9ee-052b1696ff12> | CC-MAIN-2014-10 | http://www.thepaleomom.com/2011/12/which-fats-should-you-eat.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2014-10/segments/1393999639602/warc/CC-MAIN-20140305060719-00068-ip-10-183-142-35.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.946504 | 868 | 2.875 | 3 |
Things to Know About Compassion Fatigue
The compassion displayed by emergency, healthcare or community services professionals could be emotionally, psychologically, and financially costly.
In essence exposure to clients or patients suffering from distress or trauma can adversely affect a professional’s mental and well-being, and the wellbeing of their families, the individuals they care for, as well as their employers.
The term “compassion fatigue” (CF) was used to describe the effect of stress caused by the exposure of a traumatized person instead of experiencing the trauma the trauma itself. An extreme state of tension and anxiety over the physical or emotional anxiety of those who are being helped can result in a secondary trauma tension (STS) to the carer.
Moreover, when it is combined with chronic burnout (BO) which is an emotional and mental exhaustion triggered by a diminished ability to handle one’s daily life. Take help from best Clinical Psychologist and talk about your emotional exhaustion and burnouts. They can guide and assist you with techniques to manage your compassion fatigue.
Compassion Fatigue is defined by anger, exhaustion, as well as negative coping behaviors such as alcohol and drug use as well as a decreased capacity to feel empathy and sympathy.
It is a decreased sense of satisfaction or enjoyment at work, a rise in absenteeism and a diminished ability to make choices and take care of patients and/or clients.
The negative consequences of caring for patients are made worse by the intensity of the traumatizing material which caregivers are exposed, for example, close contact with victims, especially when exposure is graphic nature.
This puts certain professions that require healthcare as well as emergency and community service workers, at a higher chance of being diagnosed with CF and possibly more severe disorders like anxiety and depression, and even post-traumatic anxiety disorder (PTSD).
These ailments are known to cause an increase in the frequency of sickness absence, psychological injury claims, as well as job turnover and negatively impact productivity.
Key factors that can contribute to the phenomenon of compassion fatigue are:
If our role is to assist others experiencing trauma or distress, we must take on the perspective of the individual who is suffering, and be able to sympathize with the person who is suffering.
When we do this we will be exposed to the emotional turmoil and the trauma of the specific person we work with, which could cause secondary stress from trauma. Talk to an best clinical psychologist, who will give you therapy and will make you feel better.
In essence, we should be able to see the viewpoint from the patient we’re working with to know the best method to aid them. Thus, therapists are directly exposed to the emotional state of the patient as well as motivated by their desire to alleviate or ease their suffering by their compassionate reactions.
If the therapist is feeling an ongoing need to ease the suffering of the client which can lead to anxiety and stress. Connect with Best clinical psychologist near me.
Other elements that contribute to suffering from compassion fatigue include:
Feeling of responsibility of helping someone in pain for a prolonged amount of time – breaks and vacations are essential to prevent this.
The client’s emotional memories creates for the therapist — these may be a reflection of the experiences of other clients who were particularly demanding, difficult or suffered greatly.
Every life event that alters you routines, plans or your ability to handle and manage your daily obligations.
Check for these indicators of fatigue caused by compassion
The earlier you begin to notice signs of fatigue in your compassion. The earlier you notice signs of fatigue and compassion, the more you are able to take care of yourself, and replenish the reserves of compassion. Keep an eye out for:
- Physically and mentally exhausted
- Feeling hopeless, helpless, or in powerlessness
- You’re feeling angry, angry sad or numb
- Feeling detached or feeling less enthused about things
- Thinking about other people’s suffering, and getting angry over the circumstances or the people who cause the suffering
- You are blaming yourself and thinking of not doing enough to assist those who are suffering
- A diminished perception of personal and professional success
- Changes in your perspective or your spirituality
- Physical symptoms, like problems with appetite and sleep dizziness and nausea
Here’s how to stop and treat compassion fatigue.
It is essential to take measures to lessen the effects of the symptoms of compassion fatigue. If not treated, the signs of the condition could lead to mental health problems such as depression, anxiety, obsessive compulsive disorders and addiction disorders.
Here are a few suggestions:
- Making a compromise between your professional and private life, and making time off if you’re able to.
- Incorporating self-care practices into your routines: get enough rest make healthy choices about food workout regularly, and maintain social connections.
- Beware of information overload and pay particular attention the way that stressful and frightening information impacts you.
- Recognizing your top priorities and engaging in activities that help you replenish and revitalize you.
- Engaging in gratitude and staying aware of your present.
- The realization that pain and suffering are part of the human experience in general and that you don’t always control them.
- Concentrating on areas that you control such as your thoughts and feelings instead of setting unrealistic expectations of changing things which are beyond your control.
- Get help from a professional from best online therapist India, if you require it
Helping others while not replenishing your own, can be overwhelming and result in the condition of compassion fatigue.
If you spot certain signs of warning, begin to take action and care of yourself and remain one step ahead of suffering from compassion fatigue.
If you require help from a professional in overcoming the effects of suffering from compassion fatigue, connect with TalktoAngel, an online counselling platform and receive the best online therapy for your emotional and other psychological concerns.
You may connect with an best Clinical Psychologist and can feel better. | <urn:uuid:4a7f7e59-6440-47e2-a2df-05578a0a3fe2> | CC-MAIN-2023-14 | https://forbesmagzines.com/things-to-know-about-compassion-fatigue/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2023-14/segments/1679296943845.78/warc/CC-MAIN-20230322145537-20230322175537-00786.warc.gz | en | 0.93824 | 1,246 | 2.6875 | 3 |
This documentary is the second in an assumed trilogy by Pamela Yates that centers on the indictment of General Efraín Ríos Montt for his perpetuation of the Mayan genocide during the 80’s-armed conflict. Yates’ previous film, When the Mountains Tremble, released in 1983, centered on the Guatemalan armed conflict between the Guatemalan national army and the guerrilla, rebel forces. Many of those affected by the conflicted were the countless Mayan indigenous people and ladino peasants (non-indigenous, mestizos who were poor). This was very astounding given that 40% of Guatemala’s population consists of indigenous Mayan people. In the aftermath of this violence, there were brutal murders of nearly 200,000 Mayan people and many more disappeared.
This film in particular flashes back to her previous film, which she filmed at the center of the armed conflict in Guatemala because there was a lot of first-hand witnessing of the Guatemalan soldiers in action and interviews with many of them. Granito serves as a reflection on capturing the Mayan genocide that was taking place during the time of filming the initial film. As seen in the film, Yates’ original film seemed to be the only first-hand evidence that human rights lawyers could use to indict General Ríos Montt. The lawyers, specifically in Spain, wanted to indict him of knowing that the Mayan people were being killed in genocide under his rule and power, but they had no other evidence that could prove such claim. Throughout the film, you hear and see from Yates as she reflects on her film from 1983, recounting moments when she interviewed Ríos Montt to her, and other indigenous people, speaking to a judge so that his trial could take place.
This film reflects on the previous film of the armed conflict recounting trauma from the Mayan people and seeking accountability and justice on the part of Ríos Montt for the violence he enacted on indigenous people in Guatemala.
Stoll, David. “Genocide in Guatemala?” Academic Questions, vol. 31, no. 2, 17 Apr. 2018, pp. 219–226., doi:10.1007/s12129-018-9702-8.
(by Andrés Pérez Correa) | <urn:uuid:787e3aaf-aae5-4b5a-87b2-ae5b315243d2> | CC-MAIN-2023-40 | https://femfilm.swarthmore.edu/filmmaker/pamela-yates/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2023-40/segments/1695233511170.92/warc/CC-MAIN-20231003160453-20231003190453-00048.warc.gz | en | 0.970438 | 470 | 2.84375 | 3 |
4. Outreach Programs
Studies by the National Science Foundation and the National Academy of Sciences have indicated that in order to meet the scientific and economic challenges expected in the year 2000 the nation will need to attract and retain more students in degree completion activities in science, mathematics, and engineering. Approximately 70 percent of the adults entering the work force between now and the 21st century will be women and minorities. Yet, women and minorities are two groups historically under-represented and underutilized in science and engineering. To counteract this trend, DoD task force studies have urged the creation of intervention programs designed to increase the availability of scientific, engineering, and technical skills in the DoD work force. A number of these Army outreach efforts are described in this section.
a. Women in Science and Engineering
There is a significant underrepresentation of women in engineering and the physical sciences, compared with their participation in the general workforce. Despite significant increases during the last generation, only about 9 percent of all working engineers are women, and in recent years the proportion of new women engineering graduates has remained constant at about 16 percent. Absent significant intervention or major social change, the proportion of women in engineering is therefore likely to increase gradually and then level off. Perhaps because of their scarcity and/or because only the best survive, women engineering graduates receive 103 percent of the starting salary of men.
The Army has outreach activities whereby it employs women college students from local universities, studying engineering and the sciences, in a cooperative education program that alternates school and work cycles. High school and college summer employment opportunities are also available (Figure VII-4). In addition there are employment programs for women instructors in high school and higher education who are interested in keeping current in their areas of technical expertise.
Figure VII-4. Army Outreach Programs Include Attracting Women Scientists and Engineers
The Army actively ensures promotion opportunities for both women and minorities. All proposed selections to senior- and executive-level science and engineering career positions are carefully reviewed before the development of candidate referral lists. A mandatory recruitment/outreach plan is formulated to locate all best qualified women and minorities. The entire process is audited at the Army major command level.
b. Youth Sciences Activities
A major need for the future U.S. competitive edge is maintaining or increasing the scientific and technical human resources available to both the government and private sectors. To accomplish this, education, especially in science, mathematics, and technology, is critical.
Many Army laboratories have outreach programs which are actively supporting innovative ways to improve science and technology education and improve the cost effectiveness of local school systems. These initiatives to support educational systems, at all levels, are accomplished under a wide variety of established programs such as adopt-a-school, education partnerships, and student/faculty employment programs.
Services provided by hundreds of Army scientists and engineers have helped to improve science, mathematics, and technology education through such contributions as technical lectures, career education, science fair judges, field trips, mentors for student research projects, library support, computer support, loaning/donating surplus equipment, providing students an opportunity to work on defense laboratory research projects for academic credit, and teaching classes or assisting in the development of courses and materials.
A key element of education is the classroom teacher. To keep up with the changing world of science and technology, classroom material taught must be continually updated so that students are prepared to take their places in a more technologically complex world. This means teachers have to be updated. They can't teach what they do not know. They can't prepare their students for a career in a work world they haven't seen. Army laboratory personnel are working with teachers from school systems throughout the nation to enable them to experience firsthand some of the recent changes in science and technology and to develop methods for discarding out-dated information and incorporating the new material into the classroom.
School systems have derived substantial benefits from direct involvement with key scientists and engineers at Army laboratories, as evidenced by numerous awards, certificates, and letters of appreciation for Army support in partnership programs in math, science, and technology programs with local school systems.
The Army also sponsors a number of specific youth programs at the high school and pre-college levels to promote participation in science and engineering activities. For example:
- The Junior Science and Humanities Symposium (JSHS) was initiated by the Army in 1958 and joined by the Office of Naval Research in 1995. Its activities promote research and experimentation at the high school level, identify and recognize talented youth and teachers, and increase the country's pool of young adults interested in pursuing careers in the sciences. JSHS reaches over 10,000 students and 250 teachers annually.
- The Uninitiates Introduction to Engineering (UNITE) program provides socially and economically disadvantaged secondary school students with tutorial assistance, primarily in mathematics. Through their participation, these students can acquire the prerequisites for beginning science and engineering careers in college. The program began in 1980. At least 2,254 students have participated during its first 14 years. Of these, 71 percent had enrolled in college through 1994, with 51 percent enrolling in technical fields, 44 percent in engineering, and 5 percent pursuing the humanities.
- The Research and Engineering Apprenticeship Program (REAP) is a cooperative work-study program that gives high school students hands-on experience in R&D activities through interactions with mentors. Drawn from socially and economically disadvantaged groups, as defined in P.L. 95-507, these students are selected on the basis of their potential to pursue careers in science and engineering. The program began in 1980. At least 1,700 students have participated through 1996. Of these, 90 percent entered college, with 86 percent of these undertaking engineering or science studies.
- The International Mathematical Olympiad (IMO) was started by eastern European countries following World War II. As a means to encourage young mathematicians, the United States began participating in 1976 with the selection of an American team under the auspices of the Mathematical Association of America. Along with the Navy, the Army contributes to this effort by providing funds. Annually six American students (from over 400,000 that compete) and three coaches travel to the site of the Olympiad for approximately 10 days of individual competition. American students often achieve first place honors at the IMO, which is one of the most prestigious competitions in mathematics at this level. In 1994, each U.S. team member scored a perfect score on their testing for the first time in the history of the program.
- Since 1960, the Department of the Army has sponsored special awards in the nationwide Science and Engineering Fairs as a means to stimulate and encourage the future technical development of our nation's youth. Army personnel participate as judges in regional, state, and international fair competitions and present awards on behalf of the Secretary of the Army. The International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF) brings together two students from each of approximately 400 regional and state science fair competitions that involve over 100,000 high school students. Winners in 13 scientific and engineering categories are each awarded a certificate of achievement, a $3,000 prize, and a gold medallion. In addition, one student is selected to attend the London International Youth Science Forum at the University of London, where students from over 35 nations participate in a 2-week program of scientific lectures and cultural tours. Two students are selected to visit Tokyo as part of an exchange program between the United States and Japan, where the two Army winners are recognized at the Japan Student Science Awards Ceremony. The three trip winners each receive a certificate of achievement, a medallion, a $3,000 prize and $150 from the Association of the United States Army.
- The National Science Center (NSC), established by Public Law 99-145, is designed to increase interest in science, math, and technology among students, improve the skills of teachers, and provide math and science education support in the classroom. The Center offers hands-on workshops/camps for students and teachers in science, math, electronics, and computers. In addition, the NSC operates a Discovery Center which offers school groups and the general public interactive experiences with scientific exhibits. A mobile version of the Discovery Center travels to schools across the country. The NSC also reaches out nationally with satellite teleconference programs on science education. Finally, the Center offers a Science-by-Mail program, which encourages a pen pal relationship between students and scientists, and a STARLAB program, which ends portable planetariums to classrooms for instruction in space science, astronomy, geography, and biology. At the direction of the Chief of Staff of the Army, the NSC is expanding its programs to target audiences in inner cities and rural areas nationwide. Over 80,000 participants will be touched by NSC programs, both on and off site, in 1996. 5. | <urn:uuid:91ecb3b8-adf0-4a38-a339-4c3560fe14a4> | CC-MAIN-2014-15 | http://www.fas.org/man/dod-101/army/docs/astmp/c7/P7C4.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2014-15/segments/1397609523265.25/warc/CC-MAIN-20140416005203-00035-ip-10-147-4-33.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.956694 | 1,796 | 3.09375 | 3 |
Desolate expanses of ravaged rock scar a grimly picturesque landscape. Upturned millions of years ago by a prehistoric turbulence, the land is still slowly but relentlessly being torn apart. No place on Earth is more aptly named than the Badlands of South Dakota, in the United States.
A forbidding vista of barren, jagged hills and saw-toothed ridges, criss-crossed with sharp ravines and slashed by shadowy gullies – a more inhospitable place is difficult to imagine. Narrow, flat-topped hills loom menacingly like battlements on the horizon, capped in places by threatening masses of rocks and boulders.
The local Sioux Indians called this landscape mako sica and to an intrepid band of 18th-century French-Canadian fur trappers it was les mauvaises terres. (Both names translate as ‘bad lands’). The trappers were travelling southwards down the Missouri River in search of pelts and trade. Just north of the White River they stopped suddenly in their tracks; they had entered the Badlands, a terrain more hostile than any they had ever encountered. The seemingly endless landscape, eerily empty and searingly hot, was also arduous to cross. Heavy summer cloudbursts had rendered the clay underfoot a morass of mud that made every step treacherous.
The plateau that is now the Badlands began to form about 80 million years ago. Extending over 6000 sq. miles (15,500km), between Mount Rushmore in the west and the Missouri River in the east, the area during that period was a shallow sea, its bed rich with a variety of sediments. Around 65 million years ago, the same upheaval in the Earth’s crust that created the Rocky Mountains shattered the seabed and pushed it upwards to create an immense marshy plain. As the region gradually became drier, it evolved into a rolling prairie of lush green grassland dotted with conifers. But erosion started to take its toll, and the combined potent forces of wind, water and freezing temperatures sculpted spires and ravines, transforming the rich pasture land into a gloomy wilderness with an atmosphere of decay.
The process of erosion is constant: the semi-arid Badlands are being worn away each year by the sudden, torrential June rains. About 15m (38cm) of rain falls every year, but most of it arrives in intermittent downpours so violent that a network of powerful rivers and gullies is created that covers the landscape and tears at the earth before vanishing. Water thunders from ridge to ridge, rushing through the narrow ravines with astonishing force. The ancient sedimentary layers, never compressed by harder rock and with no vegetation to anchor them, offer no resistance to running water and are easily washed away. The enormous run-off of clay, stones and gravel pours into the great White River and from there flows into the Missouri. (Among the sediments are chalky grains which do not dissolve but remain churning constantly in the water – hence the name White river). With each new summer storm, the ridges are further eroded and the gullies carved deeper. In this way, some pinnacles of rock, among them Vampire Peak, are shrinking by as much as 6m (15cm) every year.
As the elements relentlessly wear away the soft surface of the Badlands, a wealth of giant fossils is exposed, irrefutable evidence of the many species that have appeared and then disappeared as the area has undergone geological changes. The fossil species include fish and reptiles from the Cretaceous period, when the region was a vast sea, and land animals from the Oligocene period (which ended 23 million years ago). During this era, sabre-toothed tigers, three-toed horses and a type of camel no larger than a dog ranged the fertile grasslands.
For many years, the Badlands were stripped off their wealth of fossils by traders and trippers. Now that the area is acknowledged as the richest Oligocene fossil bed in the world, constantly yielding up more fascinating finds, it is protected as a precious paleontological resource. The contrasting tints in the soft, multi-layered rock reflect its development from prehistoric times. Various strata contain shale (once mud on the floor of an ancient inland sea), sandstone deposited by long vanished rivers, bands of compacted volcanic ash and a frosting of pale ash from the final volcanic phase. Since agriculture was banned in the Badlands in 1978, the region’s natural vegetation has grown without hindrance.
Despite their virtually barren appearance, the Badlands support a variety of animal and plant life. Coyotes, cotton-tails and jackrabbits make these forbidding plains their home, but rodents, including the Badlands chipmunk, and reptiles such as bullsnakes and rattlesnakes, are the principal inhabitants. Plants have great difficulty gaining a permanent foothold here, since a site that has provided them with a protected niche for more than a generation is apt to disappear overnight. Yet some sheltered pockets exist, especially on the fringes of the Badlands where the soil has gradually taken on many of the characteristics of the surrounding prairies. In this more stable environment plants are able to grow, thus binding the topsoil and so preventing erosion. Here, buffalo grass and the prairie golden pea thrive, plants that once provided grazing for the vast herds of bison that roamed the prairies. On the outer fringes, too, prairie dogs – not dogs at all but in fact burrowing squirrel-like rodents – establish their elaborate homes. Known as towns, these underground colonies include designated areas for sleeping, feeding and excretion. The region also supports a few tree species, including the juniper, red cedar and yellow willow, while rock wrens nest in crannies in the rock face.
The Badland’s story is not exclusively one of the constant decay and struggle for survival. During the 1960’s, small numbers of bison and bighorn sheep were successfully reintroduced into the area, together with the near-extinct pronghorn, which inhabits the outlying areas. In 1978, the Badlands were designated a national park. | <urn:uuid:123901dc-a5f1-4ec0-9e7b-7974185de444> | CC-MAIN-2023-14 | https://searchoflife.com/brutal-badlands-of-usa-2013-11-11 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2023-14/segments/1679296945289.9/warc/CC-MAIN-20230324211121-20230325001121-00728.warc.gz | en | 0.955252 | 1,297 | 3.71875 | 4 |
It is perhaps not a surprise that the first epic poem known to humanity deals with the subject of immortality. The Epic of Gilgamesh (c. 1800 BC) has the eponymous hero, shocked by the premature death of his best friend, Enkidu, travelling in search of eternal life. Gilgamesh seeks out Utnapishtim (‘the Distant’) and his wife, who were the only mortals to ever be granted immortality by the gods. After numerous wanderings, he comes to their abode, but fails in the basic test that Utnapishtim gives him, not to fall asleep for seven nights in a row. Having thus proven his unfitness to be immortal, Utnapishtim sends his home, but gives him a consolation prize – a plant that restores Gilgamesh’s youth. Even this is lost, however, when Gilgamesh goes bathing in a lake; a snake comes and picks it up, shedding its own skin and becoming young again.
The conclusion of this poem is clear: human beings are mortal and cannot escape their fate. There is no solution to this reality, so one must accept it, with some consolation given in the fact that those worthy will be remembered in the following generations. It is true that there are two aspects that complicate this straightforward assessment. For one, the poem also allows for the existence of an underworld where the dead live, but this is a sad and grey existence deprived of pleasure. For the other, the unique case of the deification of Utnapishtim opens the rather intriguing possibility that humans could be immortal, though only some (or in this case, two) people can actually achieve it.
The sense of doom that pervades most literature about immortality is unescapable. Many writings have analysed the subject only to conclude that immortality is fundamentally undesirable, and its pursuit ludicrous. One of the most pervasive themes is that of achieving immortality without the preservation of youth. This theme originates in The Homeric Hymns, which features the myth of Tithonus, a hero pursued by the goddess Eos. Tithonus demands, and lo and behold, is actually granted immortality, but doesn’t ask for eternal youth. The result is dire, as Tithonus becomes an old man who ‘babbles endlessly’ and ‘has strength no more.’ Mindless immortality strapped in a bed seems the stuff of one’s nightmares. Tithonus’ myth was reprised by several famous poets, like Sappho, Johann Gottfried Herder and Alfred Tennyson but its most famous retelling is that of Jonathan Swift’s satire Gulliver’s Travels. In his Voyage to Laputa, Swift describes a race of humans called Struldbruggs, who live forever but cannot stop aging. The mortals pronounce them dead at eighty, and their existence is pathetic and pitiful. The story of Swift gave birth, in the twentieth century, to a story by Jorge Luis Borges, The Immortal (1949). Here, the hero encounters a race of ‘troglodytes’ who live in shallow pits, naked, withered, indifferent and apathetic. But his story is not so much of one of decay, but of loss of interest in life, a theme that recurs in the twentieth century.
Unhappiness is another theme that is linked to immortality. That arch-defender of prolongevity, William Godwin, who wrote in his upbeat Enlightenment manifesto Political Justice (1793) that one day people could become immortal through the powers of progress, presented a much toned-down perspective of immortality in his novel St Leon (1799). His alchemist hero discovers the recipe of the philosophers’ stone and becomes wealthy and immortal, but his life is one of isolation and unhappiness. Godwin’s daughter, Mary Shelley, would also write her short story, The Mortal Immortal (1833), in a similar style. Her hero Winzy accidentally consumes an elixir of life and becomes immortal, but turns melancholy after seeing everyone else, including his beloved wife, grow old and die. He sets upon himself to commit suicide, though the success of his endeavour is by no means guaranteed and seems in fact impossible.
The theme of the boredom of immortality, which we already saw in Borges, had already occurred in Karel Čapek’s play The Makropoulos Affair (1922), which has particularly become more famous as an opera by Leoš Janáček. The play centres on Elina Makropoulos, who has already lived 300 years due to an elixir discovered by her alchemist father. Elina is adulated as a diva of the opera, but she has become incredibly bored, indifferent, and cynical. Although the story begins with her looking for the elixir to extend her life another 300 years, she eventually gives up on it.
The same theme also occurs in the third volume of Douglas Adams, The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (1982), albeit in a tongue-in-cheek manner. Adams invokes the character Bowerick Wowbagger the Infinitely Prolonged, to point out the incredible boredom of being immortal:
To being with, it was fun… But in the end, it was the Sunday afternoons he couldn’t cope with, and that terrible listlessness which starts to set in at about 2:55, when you know that you’ve had all the baths you can usefully have that day, that however hard you stare at any given paragraph in the papers you will never actually read it.
Still, Wowbagger does come up with a solution: he invents a game whereby he decides to insult everyone in the universe in alphabetical order. When he finally insults a being that is more powerful than him, the Great Prophet Zarquon, the latter kills him, ending his torment.
Such readings can make us conclude that there is no point whatsoever in attempting to become immortal, that immortality can only be accompanied by decrepitude, loneliness, and boredom. Can we imagine a circumstance where immortality can actually be happy and fulfilling? If we now briefly look back at the Utnapishtim story, there is no indication that the latter feels lonely or isolated in his private paradise. It is true that he is not alone there, but with his beloved wife, and he has commerce with the gods. There is another, recent example that counteracts the prevailing narrative – except it doesn’t come from literature, but film. The series Black Mirror (on Netflix) is usually known for its dystopian technological themes. However, in the acclaimed episode ‘San Junipero’, the ending is uncharacteristically positive. The two protagonists, Yorkie and Kelly, find themselves in a technologically-driven simulated reality made for the elderly and the dying. This place is a kind of paradise where the minds of the deceased can live forever. Yorkie and Kelly, falling in love, choose to live in this paradise forever. The fairy tale theme of ‘happily ever after’ finds here a technological embodiment. In other words, love can give sense to immortality. | <urn:uuid:89dfe556-ca88-4373-ac3a-600b0420c7a4> | CC-MAIN-2023-23 | https://letstalkaboutbooks.blog/2020/11/26/a-brief-review-of-immortality-in-literature-and-film/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2023-23/segments/1685224649348.41/warc/CC-MAIN-20230603233121-20230604023121-00080.warc.gz | en | 0.964815 | 1,498 | 3.28125 | 3 |
The swift fox is small, weighing only five to seven pounds fully grown and gets it name from its ability to run up to 30 mph. There is some confusion about its relationship to the kit fox, which is slightly smaller, but is almost identical in appearance. Some mammalogists consider them to be separate species, while others consider the kit fox to be a subspecies of the swift fox. To add to the confusion, the term “kit fox” is used to describe the young of any fox species. The swift fox inhabits the Great Plains region from the Texas panhandle northward into Canada, while the kit fox, resides in the desert southwest.
To view images larger and sharper, just click anywhere in a photo and click on sides to move through them. | <urn:uuid:990cb3a8-3527-449b-ac3e-55860a878b84> | CC-MAIN-2020-05 | http://larrydbrown.com/tag/swift-fox/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2020-05/segments/1579251672440.80/warc/CC-MAIN-20200125101544-20200125130544-00198.warc.gz | en | 0.954797 | 157 | 2.640625 | 3 |
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