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Chilean journal of agricultural research
versión On-line ISSN 0718-5839
PIRZAD, Alireza et al. Influence of Water Deficit on Iron and Zinc Uptake by Matricaria chamomilla L. Chilean J. Agric. Res. [online]. 2012, vol.72, n.2, pp.232-236. ISSN 0718-5839. http://dx.doi.org/10.4067/S0718-58392012000200011.
Iron and zinc deficiency are a yield-limiting factor with major implications for field crop production in many agricultural regions of the world; this production is essential source of Fe and Zn in human and animal diets. Two experiments were conducted under greenhouse conditions to evaluate Fe and Zn uptake by German chamomile (Matricaria chamomilla L.) grown under several drought conditions. Treatments were arranged in four irrigation regimes (95%, 80%, 65%, and 50% field capacity) and six irrigation disruptions (stem formation, flower onset, full bloom, first harvest, second harvest, and control without disruption) based on a randomized complete block design with five and four replicates in experiments 1 and 2, respectively. In Experiment 1, the irrigation regimes had no significant effect on Fe and Zn uptake by German chamomile, which reached total means of Fe (39.68 mg kg4) and Zn (29.15 mg kg4). In Experiment 2, the highest amount of Fe (39.0 mg kg4) was obtained from irrigation disruption at first harvest; this is similar to the results of irrigation disruption at flower onset and full bloom. However, irrigation disruption in stem formation (21.3 mg kg4), second harvest (12.95 mg kg4), and the control (7.79 mg kg4) had a decreasing trend of Fe uptake. The maximum value of Zn (40.0 mg kg4) occurred at irrigation disruption at the full bloom stage, which was also similar to irrigation disruption at flower onset and stem formation. However, later irrigation disruptions at the first and second harvest stages caused lower amounts of Zn uptake by chamomile. Therefore, the lowest Zn values were obtained from irrigation disruption at second harvest (5.0 mg kg4) and the control (5.5 mg kg4). Regressions between both Fe or Zn uptake and irrigation showed a binomial function.
Palabras clave : Irrigation; Fe; micronutrients; Zn. | <urn:uuid:c0e17da3-3178-4e05-a664-2750829f501d> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.scielo.cl/scielo.php?script=sci_abstract&pid=S0718-58392012000200011&lng=es&nrm=iso&tlng=en | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783393533.44/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154953-00091-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.924554 | 531 | 2.625 | 3 |
Martin Luther King, Jr. Monument
Description: A metal bust of Martin Luther King Jr, stands on a stone base featuring plaques on both the front and the back. Martin Luther King Jr., who appears to gaze into the distance, is depicted as he looked the day of his death.
Front plaques | Rear plaque
Front small plaque: DR. MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR. / BY WILBUR LEE MAPP / 1994
Front large plaque, below the smaller one: DR. MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR., / PLANNED TO SPEAK AT / TRINITY AME ZION CHURCH / IN GREENSBORO (A FEW BLOCKS / FROM HERE) ON APRIL 4, 1968. HE / CANCELED HIS VISIT TO GREENSBORO / TO REMAIN IN MEMPHIS WHERE HE / WAS ASSASSINATED ON THAT DAY
Rear: HATRED CONFUSES LIFE, / LOVE HARMONIZES IT. / HATRED DARKENS LIFE, / AND LOVE ILLUMINATES IT. / ---DR. MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR.
Dedication date: 12/3/1994
Creator: Wilbur Lee Map, Designer, Sculptor
Materials & Techniques: Bronze, granite
Post dedication use: The monument is often used as the end point in Greensboro's MLK Jr. Day parade.
Subject notes: Martin Luther King, Jr. was a prominent leader in the Civil Rights Movement.
Location: The bust looks west towards South Elm St.
Landscape: The bust stands on the corner of South Elm Street and Martin Luther King Jr. Drive. Surrounded by sidewalks on two sides, the sculpture is visible from the road.
Subjects: Historic Political Figures | <urn:uuid:afd0f8e0-de8d-4c44-8038-58f484d8aa8e> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://ncpedia.org/monument/martin-luther-king-jr | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783402516.86/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624155002-00173-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.814619 | 381 | 3.109375 | 3 |
Charles Rennie MACKINTOSH
Scottish architect, furniture designer and painter
At the peak of the Arts & Crafts Movement in Scotland or England, Charles Rennie Mackintosh was the founder of the "Glasgow School", an outstanding architecture and decoration style, forerunner of Modern Movement in Scotland.
He collaborated to the 1900 Vienna Secession and with Austrian architect-designer J. Hoffmann, greatly influencing his work. In 1902, he presented his "Mackintosh" room furniture at the Turin International Exhibition and he later designed houses and various Tea-Rooms interior decorations.
In 1884 he trained as an architect in a local firm and studied art and design at evening classes at the Glasgow School of Art, in Scotland. In 1890, he established his own practice and in 1894 he founded a group called "The Four" with fellow artists he met at art school. Influenced by Continental Art Nouveau, Japanese art, Symbolism and new-Gothic styles, they successfully exhibited metalwork, furniture and illustrations in Glasgow, London, Vienna and Turin. The majority of Mackintosh's works and innovative designs were created within a short period of intense activity between 1890 and 1911.
Very appreciated all over Europe, but nearly ignored at home, in 1914 he retired and dedicated himself to painting, producing a beautiful collection of fine watercolour flower studies.
Charles Rennie Mackintosh is one of the most influential figures of Art Nouveau, as he developed his original, incomparable and linear style in architecture and decorative arts. He finely exploited natural and artificial lighting and explored new spatial concepts, based on strong traditional Scottish elements adapted to modern way of life. His buildings were treated as whole works of art, where every detail was carefully designed into clear and pure lines.
His elegant decorative interiors complemented his wooden furniture, designed with minimal decorations, such as brass fittings or leaded glazed glass panels, often enriched by a typical recurrent motif, the stylized rose, also known as the "Glasgow rose".
One of his most famous piece of furniture is the "Hillhouse chair", in dark oak wood, designed into geometrical shapes, perpendicular delicate lines and a tall ladder back with applied ornaments. Very popular today, Mackintosh's designs, stylized flowers and decorative elements have inspired many modern graphic works, furniture re-editions, as well as jewelry and silverware designs.
New Glasgow School of Art ("Mackintosh Building"), Glasgow, Scotland (1897-1899);
Tea-Rooms interiors, Glasgow (1897-1911);
Furniture, dinning chairs, tables and cabinets, in dark oak or white painted wood (c1900);
"Mackintosh chair", in dark oak (1898);
Flower Studies collection, watercolors (c.1914). | <urn:uuid:ddf5952b-82f0-4b0e-9886-7e21b9b2fe83> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.senses-artnouveau.com/biography.php?artist=MAC&Currency=GBP&Vat=none&action_cur=set | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783395039.24/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154955-00014-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.958334 | 592 | 2.640625 | 3 |
Mapping Memory by National Museums LiverpoolMapping Memory National Museums Liverpool
Excerpt from 'Three Cathedrals' by Angus Tilston
This memory is in:
Transcript for Excerpt from 'Three Cathedrals' by Angus Tilston
By the early 70s work on the marathon job of constructing the Anglican Cathedral was nearing completion. Stone was cut and taken from Woolton quarries to the Cathedral site in the early days it would have been horse drawn transport, the best pieces were chosen. In the workshops stone masons worked on the stone, cutting it with the use of templates to give the final shapes and sizes. In the later days of building more modern tools could be used compared to 1904 when construction began. Working on top of the Cathedral was a tricky, cold and windy job for most of the year, today workers would have to wear hard-hats and protective clothing but even as late as the 1970s that was not even considered. By October 1978 work was finished in time for the Queen to officially mark its completion. What a contrast it was to that day in June 1904 when Edward VII laid the foundation stone at what was to be a 74 year project, designed by the young architect Giles Gilbert Scott and spanning the reigns of four monarchs. 24th October 1978 and the Queen, dressed in Royal Blue mounted the steps and entered thereby marking the completion of one of the biggest Cathedrals in the world. | <urn:uuid:899c676b-294a-4c88-b6ed-024b80ea4839> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.liverpoolmuseums.org.uk/maritime/research/mappingmemory/themes/memories/memory-207.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783396538.42/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154956-00180-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.979029 | 294 | 2.828125 | 3 |
Guide to Library User Needs Assessment for Integrated Information Resource Management and Collection Development
Collection Management & Development Series, No 11
Dora Biblarz, Stephen Bosch, and Chris Sugnet
(Lanham, Md.: Scarecrow Press, 2001) 72p. $17.50 ISBN: 0-8108-4131-2.
Needs assessment can be defined as the process of using one or more techniques to collect and analyze data on library users or potential users. This guide, applicable for all types of libraries, includes the methodology and techniques for carrying out needs assessment projects, ranging from short-term assessments to long-term research or comprehensive collection assessments. Various types of data, techniques, and methodology are described, as are associated pointers and pitfalls.
About the Authors
- Dora Biblarz is Associate Dean of TQS/Continuous Improvement at Arizona State University.
- Stephen Bosch is Information Access Librarian at University of Arizona.
- Chris Sugnet is Assistant Director for Collections at University of Nevada, Las Vegas. | <urn:uuid:547736a3-d9c7-4921-9fab-fa0d5873eb27> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.ala.org/alcts/resources/collect/collmgt/userneeds | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783402699.36/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624155002-00145-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.842589 | 218 | 2.625 | 3 |
By Kelly Braun
Students this week are learning lessons in nature and music from the Bamboo Orchestra of Japan.
The orchestra has traveled to Coldwater, St. Henry and Fort Recovery schools to perform and teach students about the 20-plus instruments made from the bamboo plant. On Saturday the group will be giving a public concert at Arts Place in Portland, Ind.
The musicians told the students each instrument's Japanese name, described how the instruments are made and demonstrated how each instrument is played. Different types and sizes of bamboo are used and crafted in such a way to create various tones -- from the booming bass tones of the large jegog marimba to the graceful whistle of the shinabue flute.
"The hollow structure makes great musical instruments," the musicians' translator told the students about the bamboo plant.
The musicians performed on various sizes of flutes and percussive instruments. They even performed a few songs the students would recognize, such as "Under the Sea" and "Happy And You Know It." The translator said the group performs year-round throughout the world and recently traveled to France and Costa Rica. They are also well known in Japan, where the traditional music is popular, she said. Performing for the students this week was a four-member troupe, but the public performance on Saturday will include six members. Two of the members this week were working to repair some of the bamboo instruments that were effected by the drier climate in Ohio.
The students also learned about bamboo, which is actually a type of grass. The musicians, through the translator, told the students there are 1,200 different kinds of bamboo in the world, and bamboo can grow to 50-60 feet high. They also showed the students some of the other ways the Japanese use bamboo by holding up chop sticks, cooking utensils, a fishing pole and toys.
The translator said the group enjoys traveling and teaching students about Japanese culture.
The performance of the Bamboo Orchestra was brought to the local schools by Arts Place as part of its Midwest World Fest. The fest is a community-wide cultural program, based out of Minneapolis, Minn., that uses music and performance art to teach students in the Midwest about diversity and other cultures. | <urn:uuid:450694ad-9b2e-4f66-9559-8fbe855c6a89> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.dailystandard.com/date/2005/02/10/news/headline2.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783396100.16/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154956-00021-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.97303 | 457 | 2.53125 | 3 |
Spanish finance minister Luis de Guidos flew to Berlin earlier this week for crisis talks amid soaring borrowing costs. But according to Reuters, the German capital now has a considerable debt problem of its own to worry about.
An old outstanding certificate of debt recently found in a regional archive reveals that Mittenwalde, a small town located in eastern Germany, lent Berlin 400 guilders on 28th May 1562 – a sum which was to be repaid at a rate of 6% interest per year.
The debt, according to estimates, would be equivalent to roughly €112m today. After adjusting for compound interest and inflation the total figure would, it is claimed, be somewhere in the trillions.
Naturally, the town’s mayor Uwe Pfeiffer is intent on reclaiming the old debt from Berlin. But while experts have confirmed the certificate’s authenticity, the requests made by Mittenwalde have for the most part fallen on deaf ears. A small reimbursement has been made however. Recently, Berlin’s finance senator Ulrich Nussbaum met Pfeiffer to ceremonially present her with a historical guilder from the year 1539, reportedly worth up to €100,000.
But with the German capital already €63m in the red according to recent reports, Mittenwalde may have to wait yet another 450 years for the rest. | <urn:uuid:0016dd04-a6b7-45d1-a01f-aab6a0f6fe28> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://treasurytoday.com/2012/07/trillion-euro-debt-finally-catches-up-with-berlin-450-years-later | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783391519.0/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154951-00124-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.957277 | 280 | 2.53125 | 3 |
May 21, 2014
In Your Genes: Family History Reveals Predisposition To Multiple Diseases
Researchers have identified nine simple questions that can be used to identify people who may be at increased risk of various cancers, heart disease and diabetes because of their family history of these conditions.The family history screening questionnaire can be used to provide insight into people’s susceptibility to breast, ovarian, bowel and prostate cancer, melanoma, ischaemic heart disease and type 2 diabetes.
These findings will lead to greater insight into the process of preventative treatment for cancer in primary care and provide a cost-effective intervention for tailored disease prevention in Australian primary care..
Lead researcher Professor of Primary Care Cancer Research at the University of Melbourne Jon Emery said this research is the first of its kind to validate the family history screening questionnaire as a tool to cover multiple conditions.
“No brief tool has been developed to cover a range of conditions in primary care that has been validated to the same extent as ours.”
“This finding could be used as a screening tool in general practice to identify people who need a more detailed discussion about their family history of cancer, diabetes or heart disease,” Professor Emery said.
“Some people may require referral to a genetics clinic to discuss genetic testing, many more may require earlier cancer screening and lifestyle management,” he said.
Family medical history remains the most relevant genetic risk took in use in clinical practice.
Evidence suggests that having knowledge of a family history of a specific condition is associated with improved uptake of a range of disease-preventative activities, such as cancer screening and reduced sun exposure.
The research was led by in collaboration with Dr Fiona Walter at Cambridge University, Dr Gabrielle Reid and Professor David Ravine at the University of Western Australia and Professor Toby Prevost at Kings College London. | <urn:uuid:77e81a18-2933-4719-a229-14b80aca4cd1> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.redorbit.com/news/health/1113151811/in-your-genes-family-history-reveals-predisposition-to-multiple-diseases/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783393997.50/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154953-00030-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.946172 | 378 | 2.671875 | 3 |
Health officials have a new suspect in the E. coli outbreak that has killed 22 people and sickened more than 2,200 across Europe: bean sprouts. Test results today are expected to link the outbreak to sprouts from a single farm in northern Germany, potentially offering clarity in a crisis that has bedeviled authorities for weeks. But the mystery is still far from solved, because even if bean sprouts are confirmed as the culprit, it won't be easy to figure out how they were contaminated in the first place. E. coli normally lives in mammals' digestive tracts, and while it can be spread by manure fertilizers, none were used on this sprout farm. "The salad sprouts are grown only from seeds and water, and they aren't fertilized at all," the farm's managing director tells the BBC. "There aren't any animal fertilizers used in other areas on the farm, either."
Cucumbers, tomatoes and lettuce had all faced suspicion before the spotlight fell on sprouts this weekend, and until today's test results are final, authorities are cautious about drawing conclusions. "While we have strong and clear indications that a farm in Uelzen is involved, we have to wait for the official lab results," German Health Minister Daniel Bahr said late Sunday, referring to a town south of Hamburg. "Until then, we cannot give an all-clear." Bahr probably couldn't give an all-clear for at least another week anyway — health officials say more cases of the E. coli infection are likely to pop up for days, as contaminated sprouts may have already been delivered to restaurants and grocery stores across Germany. The farm in question was shut down Sunday and all of its produce was recalled, including fresh herbs, fruits, flowers and potatoes, the AP reports. A total of 18 different sprout varieties from the farm are now under suspicion, including those of mung beans, broccoli, peas, chickpeas, garlic lentils and radishes.
While no manure was used to fertilize the suspected sprouts, they were grown using steam in 100-degree barrels, conditions that a local agriculture minister calls an "ideal" breeding ground for all types of bacteria. That may explain how they proliferated, but it offers little insight on where they came from, the BBC reports — in fact, they still might have originated somewhere other than the farm in Uelzen. "E. coli can stick tightly to the surface of seeds needed to make sprouts, and they can lay dormant on the seeds for months. During germination the population of bugs can expand 100,000 fold," clinical microbiologist Stephen Smith tells the BBC. "However, and this is probably the key to the German outbreak, the bacteria are inside the sprout tube as well as outside. Thus washing probably had no effect. The bottom line is that it is crucial to source where the seeds came from and recall any stock."
California is among the states trying to blaze a trail toward clean energy, but as the Los Angeles Times reports today, that trail is becoming increasingly littered with dead eagles and other threatened birds. The Bay Area's Altamont Pass Wind Resource Area, for example, has been killing 67 golden eagles every year for three decades, tainting the benefits of emissions-free electricity the wind farm has been providing to thousands of homes since the 1980s.
"It would take 167 pairs of local nesting golden eagles to produce enough young to compensate for their mortality rate related to wind energy production," says field biologist Doug Bell, manager of the East Bay Regional Park District's wildlife program. "We only have 60 pairs." Wind turbines kill thousands of birds and bats across the U.S. every year, raising serious ecological concerns about a form of renewable energy that's supposed to be helping mitigate ecological damage caused by coal-fired power plants. And now that Gov. Jerry Brown has signed a new law mandating that a third of California's electricity come from renewable sources by 2020, the Golden State is poised to become a laboratory for figuring out how green energy can safely co-exist not just with golden eagles, but with all forms of winged wildlife.
The U.S. [skipwords]Fish[/skipwords] and Wildlife Service allows some incidental mortality and disturbance of eagles at wind farms, the Times reports, as long as operators take steps to reduce the losses. These measures can include replacing older turbines with newer, bird-friendlier models, removing turbines from the paths of hunting raptors, and turning off certain turbines during periods of heavy bird migration. No wind-energy company so far has been prosecuted for killing birds under the Migratory Bird Act, the Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act or the Endangered Species Act, but some bird activists say it may only be a matter of time if bird deaths don't slow down soon. "We taxpayers have spent millions of dollars saving the California condor from extinction," says Gary George, spokesman for Audubon California. "How's the public going to feel about wind energy if a condor hits the turbines?"
(Source: Los Angles Times)
After staying quiet for half a century, the Puyehue volcano in southern Chile awoke in a fury Sunday, pumping out an ash cloud 6 miles high and 3 miles wide, according to Chilean authorities. The eruption led some 3,500 people to evacuate nearby cities, and winds have pushed the expanding ash cloud across the Andes Mountains, forcing the Argentine tourist town of San Carlos de Bariloche to close its airport, New Scientist reports. Scientists believe the sudden outburst may be related to last year's magnitude-8.8 earthquake off the Chilean coast.
The Argentinean health ministry has sent face masks and eye drops to the affected region, the BBC reports, hoping to preempt health problems from falling ash. Chilean officials are also closely monitoring the ash cloud's behavior, especially after a wind shift Sunday sent ash streaming back across the Andes. "The situation is very complicated," says Santiago Rozas, mayor of Lago Ranco, about 40 miles north of the volcano range. "The shift [of wind direction] means that we will have a rain of ash, with damage for the population and a threat to smallholder farming." This is the volcano chain's first serious bout of activity since 1960, when an eruption was preceded by a major earthquake. Chile is one of the most volcanically active countries on Earth, with more than 3,000 volcanoes total and about 80 active ones, and some geologists suspect this most recent eruption may have been triggered by last year's earthquake off the coast of Santiago.
"People have seen that volcanic activity can be triggered within 100 kilometers of the earthquake, though no one knows the mechanisms behind this," University of Oxford geologist David Pyle tells New Scientist. "The 2010 earthquake meant a fault system 500 km long slipped by a few meters at a depth of 20-30 km." Such a shift could have compressed the magma under the volcano, Pyle suggests, making it more likely to erupt. And following the earthquake that devastated Japan in March, Pyle adds that the Pacific Rim can likely expect more volcanism in the next 6 to 12 months. "I'd expect to see an increase in the number of eruptions, but the net effect won't be much different from the typical background activity of these volcanoes," he says.
The 2011 Atlantic hurricane season is less than a week old, but the Caribbean Sea is already churning to life, AccuWeather reports, mirrored by a similar burst of activity in the eastern Pacific. A center of low pressure has begun swirling in the central Caribbean, about 175 miles south of Grand Cayman, and has grown increasingly organized during the past 36 hours. The National Hurricane Center gives the system a 40 percent chance of developing into a tropical cyclone, and as wind shear fades, AccuWeather projects it could strengthen into a tropical depression sometime this week. If it does strengthen further, it would be christened "Arlene," the first named storm of 2011.
Meanwhile, the Pacific cyclone season is gearing up, too, with a low-pressure system spinning about 450 miles south of Acapulco, Mexico. It could develop into a tropical depression within the next 24 hours, according to AccuWeather meteorologist Kristina Pydynowski, and some computer models even show it reaching hurricane strength. Its projected path would most likely keep it over open waters in the eastern Pacific, Pydynowski reports, although a turn toward the western tip of central Mexico is still a possibility. The Pacific hurricane season typically gets started before the Atlantic one, with an average start date of June 9. The first tropical storm normally forms in the Atlantic Basin around July 10.
Regardless of whether the Atlantic low-pressure system turns into a named storm, it will almost certainly bring heavy rain and winds to some Caribbean islands, with a risk of flash floods and mudslides in Jamaica, southeastern Cuba and Hispaniola. Most projections of the 2011 Atlantic hurricane season foresee an above-average summer — the National Hurricane Center expects 18 named storms to develop, including three to six major hurricanes. The seasonal average is 11 named storms, six hurricanes and two major hurricanes.
Mudslides bury Colombian villages, an Amazon logging ring is broken up, and more.
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Photo (bean sprouts in Germany): ZUMA Press
Photo (wind turbines): Joshua Winchell/USFWS
Photo (Chilean volcano on June 5): ZUMA Press
Image (Atlantic hurricane map): NHC | <urn:uuid:c56cdf8e-f517-4765-b20b-e97ecf653c65> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.mnn.com/home-blog/green-news-roundup/blogs/daily-briefing-mon-112 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783397562.76/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154957-00114-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.95811 | 1,979 | 2.609375 | 3 |
Saving wild plants for food and medicine
Helping communities protect their plant resources
Faced with a choice about which plants we save from extinction first, which would we choose?
For many people direct utility value comes high on the list of criteria. However, if we take into account all those wild species used for food, medicine, timber, fuelwood, livestock grazing and a whole host of other minor uses, that still presents a vast array of species.
Antrema villager with medicinal plant
Ibity villagers selling peanuts
Antrema villager with wild harvest
In Madagascar, alongside the IUCN/SSC Madagascar Plant Specialist Group, we are preparing a consolidated checklist of medicinal and nutritional plants and Important Plant Areas (IPAs) of the island and are carrying out conservation assessments in line with IUCN Red List Categories and Criteria. This baseline information will inform practical, on-the-ground conservation strategies.
Our pilot projects are underway in the Ibity inselberg region and in the coastal area of Antrema. In these regions, where rural communities are likely to suffer disproportionately with rapid climate change, livelihoods and species are conserved in tandem.
Given the deteriorating environmental and economic situation in Madagascar, plant conservation is an urgent priority within the country and this is widely recognised by the global botanic garden community. Missouri Botanical Garden has for example been working in Madagascar for over thirty years, undertaking taxonomic work and building up local capacity for plant taxonomy, red listing and conservation. BGCI is working closely with Missouri scientists on-the-ground in Madagascar.
Two pilot projects will be initiated in Uganda. One will be undertaken by the Nature Palace Botanical Garden located in Wakiso District near Kampala. The land surrounding the garden is mainly farmland but there are some good remnant patches of forest in the vicinity. The project will document knowledge on use of medicinal and food species and increase conservation efforts for those that are in decline.
The second pilot project will be carried out by Tooro Botanical Garden which is situated in Fort Portal at the foot of the Ruwenzori Mountains in west Uganda. BGCI, working with Makerere University, will support the documentation of the local medicinal plants, as well as developing community-based conservation for species under threat.
These projects form part of our Wild Plants for Food and Medicine programme, generously funded by SwedBio. | <urn:uuid:d03939f2-af8b-4697-af42-6ddb45820feb> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.bgci.org/ourwork/2242/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783391766.5/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154951-00147-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.919632 | 491 | 2.796875 | 3 |
In The Americas With David Yetman
The Cry For Mexican Independence
On September 16 each year, Mexicans from all parts of the Republic flock to the small city of Dolores Hidalgo, Guanajuato to commemorate the "Grito," the call for independence from Spain. The grito's originator, the popular but unconventional priest Miguel Hidalgo, issued the call in 1810 from the steps of the town's stately church. The annual celebration involves the entire community but we are offered a special tour by one of Father Hidalgo's descendants.
Share your thoughts, questions, and comments on "In The Americas With David Yetman" here. | <urn:uuid:29dabeb5-6da7-436e-8b2a-681411309212> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.vpt.org/show/19171/109/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783397213.30/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154957-00038-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.931971 | 136 | 3 | 3 |
Keeping a three-year-old entertained all day in a way that's both enjoyable for her and for me isn't always easy. That's why I love finding games of all kinds that we can play together, which also help her develop new skills.
Since Riley has mastered her alphabet and is beginning to learn letter sounds and phonics in order to start reading, I'm always on the lookout for fun and entertaining games to help her practice these basics. Educational Insights allowed me to review their newest word game for children: Grandma's Trunk Alphabet Game. Keep reading to learn more!
Grandma's Trunk Alphabet Game from Educational Insights contains 26 alphabet picture cards, 26 riddle cards and a nifty "trunk" for game play. This learning game was created by a preschool teacher and is designed for children ages 5 years old and up. Grandma's Trunk offers kids 5 different games to play with the cards included, all of which will help develop mastery of the alphabet.
- What Comes Next? - Take turns placing the letter cards in the trunk in alphabetical order.
- Memory Time - Take turns repeating the sequence of cards already in the trunk, then adding one of your own and challenging other players to remember them all, in order.
- Letter Sequence Memory - Deal the cards and take turns putting them in the trunk in alphabetical order, repeating the items already in the trunk and challenging other players to remember them all, in alphabetical order.
- Grandma's Riddles - Deal the cards, then read a riddle and race to see who has the letter card that answers it!
- Grandma's Adventures - Place the letter cards in the trunk and take turns pulling them out to tell a story. For instance, Once upon a time there was a Grandma. She saw an iguana. It said, "Do you like my necklace?"
I really liked the Grandma's Trunk Alphabet Game, though I have to say that the first three games are basically the same. So, in my opinion, there are 3 games you can play with this set of cards. The Grandma's Adventures game is an absolute riot and my favorite by far. It encourages the use of letter sounds as well as blows the roof off of creative storytelling. Riley created a few hilarious yarns while playing this game, which had both of us rolling with laughter!
If you have a toddler or preschooler who needs a little more practice with the fundamentals of the alphabet, then I highly recommend the Grandma's Trunk Alphabet Game from Educational Insights. The variety of card games included with this set will have your child mastering new skills in a fun, interactive way.
Disclosure: I received the Grandma's Trunk Alphabet Game from Educational Insights in order to facilitate my review. No other compensation was received. This product review is based on my own personal experiences with this item and is completely honest and objective.
I'm a former 7th grade Science teacher turned stay-at-home mom that lives in Houston, Texas. I am married to my college sweetheart and have a beautiful daughter named Riley, who definitely keeps me on my toes! I am also involved in starting a small business which would both manufacture and sell an invention that I've patented, called Toothpaste 2 Go. I love interacting with my readers and hope to learn as much about you as you learn about me! | <urn:uuid:fb0a7bde-77cf-481d-988c-0c3d85278ee6> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.mommylivingthelifeofriley.com/product-reviews/giveaway-educational-insights-grandmas-trunk-alphabet-game-arv-15/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783396027.60/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154956-00056-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.971033 | 696 | 2.921875 | 3 |
Born in England. Arrived in Massachusetts in 1633-34 and later settled in Connecticut and
Thomas Judd traveled from England to the Massachusetts colony in about 1633-34 with his wife and possibly one or two children born in England. The name of his wife is not known to us, although he was probably not married to “Sarah Freeman”, as some sources indicate. It is not known from what part of England they came, but the name of Judd has long existed in County Essex, England, from which many of the settlers of Cambridge, Massachusetts came. According to some sources, Thomas Judd was born in Langley, Kent, England.
Thomas immigrated to Cambridge, Massachusetts, where he was granted a home lot of 4 acres in August 1634, on which he built a house. He was admitted a freeman at Cambridge on 25 May 1636. Later in 1636, a company of about one hundred, including Judd, his wife, son, and daughter, went with Rev. Thomas Hooker, minister and leader, through the wilderness to the new settlement of Hartford on the Connecticut River. As such, the name of Thomas Judd appears on the “Founders Monument” in Hartford’s Ancient Burying Ground of the First Congregational Church of that city, presently known as “Center Church”.
Thomas Judd was one of the original proprietors of Hartford. His house lot at Hartford is thus described in the records:
…one parcel of land on which his dwelling house now standeth, with other out houses, yards and gardens thereon being, containing by estimation two acres, more or less. Abutting on the highway leading from William Gibbon’s to the ox pasture on the east, on James dole’s land on the south, on the highway landing from Moody’s towards Wethersfield on the west, and on Mr. Wylly’s land on the north…
This property therefore adjoined on the south the Wyllys property on which stood the historic Charter Oak.
Later, Thomas Judd, along with five of his six sons, was among the 84 original proprietors of Farmington, Connecticut, to which place he removed about 1644, and where he also was a substantial farmer and influential citizen.
Thomas Judd was one of the two deputies to the General Court at Hartford in 1647, serving 17 sessions until 1679 when he moved to Northampton, Massachusetts. He was a member of the church under the care of Rev. Thomas Hooker and Rev. Samuel Stone both at Cambridge and Hartford, and his connection with the Hartford church continued until a church was gathered at Farmington on 13 Oct 1652, of which he was a charter member (i.e., one of the “Seven Pillars”). Some of his children were carried from Farmington to Hartford to be baptized. The first pastor of the Farmington church was Rev. Roger Newton (1652), and the second was Rev. Samuel Hooker (1661). Stephen Hart was the first deacon, and Thomas Judd was the second. He is therefore styled “Deacon” in the Connecticut Colony records in 1668 and following, and he bore the same title in Northampton.
Thomas Judd was one of the 84 proprietors of Farmington among whom the lands of that extensive township, now embracing five or six townships, were to be divided, according to an agreement made 8 Jan 1673. Many divisions were made after his decease, and administrators of his estate were appointed once or twice after 1708. Large tracts of his lands were distributed to his children and grandchildren on several occassions between 1708-30. Five of Thomas’ sons were also among the 84 proprietors. In March, 1662, the General Court granted to Thomas Judd, probably for some public services, 200 acres of land, which were located and called Judd’s Farm, but some years after, the land was found to be within the bounds of Wallingford, and was given up, and an equivalent taken elsewhere.
Thomas’ wife died about 1678 at Farmington. In 1679, he then married Clemence, the childless widow of Thomas Mason of Northampton, Massachusetts, who had died the year before. She had a good estate and he removed to her homestead on the east side of Pleasant Street in Northampton where he spent the remainder of his life. At Northampton Thomas was one of the selectmen in 1682, and he owned 40 acres of meadow land there. Thomas’ death in 1688 at age 80 was registered by County Clerk at Springfield, Massachusetts.
Thomas Judd and his unknown spouse had nine children (six sons and three daughters). No records of their births have been found, but from records at Hartford and Farmington, the order of the births is as indicated below, except for the two oldest (it is not known which is the elder). Some knowledge is obtained in regard to the years in which they were born, though not so exact as is desirable. The children of Thomas Judd and his unknown spouse are listed as follows: (1) Elizabeth, born 1633-36, married Samuel Loomis; (2) William, born 1633-36; (3) Thomas, born about 1638, married Sarah Steele; (4) John Judd, born about 1640 (36 years of age in 1676) and died about 1715. He married Mary Hawkins; (5) Benjamin, born about 1642, married Mary Lewis; (6) Mary, born about 1644, married Thomas Loomis on 1 Jan 1663; (7) Ruth, born about 1647 (baptized 7 Feb 1647) , married John Steele; (8) Philip, born 1649 (baptized 2 Sep 1649), married Hannah Loomis and (9) Samuel, born about 1651-53.
The daughter of John Judd and Mary Hawkins is Ruth Judd, born about 1676 and died about 1751, both in Farmington, Connecticut. In about 1704 she married Matthew Clark, born about 1674 and died 24 Sep 1751, both in Farmington, Connecticut. Their lineage is continued under the heading of John Clark (1637-1712).
Although there is no documentation to prove it, it is not unlikely that the Judd family arrived on the Griffin voyage of 1633, which also carried Rev. Thomas Hooker and members of his congregation.
Several of our ancestors were part of Thomas Hooker’s congregation and joined in the migration to the Connecticut Valley. Additional background on Rev. Thomas Hooker and this movement is discussed under the heading of William Kelsey (1600-1676).
The Charter Oak was an unusually large white oak tree which grew from around the 12th or 13th century until 1856 on what the English colonists named Wyllys Hyll, in Hartford, Connecticut. The name “Charter Oak” stems from the local legend in which a cavity within the tree was used in late 1687 as a hiding place for the Constitution charter. King Charles II, in 1662, granted the Connecticut Colony an unusual degree of autonomy. His successor, James II, consolidated several colonies into the Dominion of New England, in part to take firmer control of them. He appointed as governor-general over it Sir Edmund Andros who stated his appointment had invalidated the charters of the various constituent colonies, and presumably seeing symbolic value in physically reclaiming the documents, went to each colony to collect them. Andros demanded the document and it was produced, but during ensuing discussion, the lights were doused, concealing the spiriting of the parchment out a window and thence to the Oak by Captain Joseph Wadsworth. The oak thus became a symbol of American independence. The oak was blown down in a violent storm about 150 years later.
My 9th g-grandfather, discussed under his own heading.
Samuel was not of age in 1673 and not a proprietor. | <urn:uuid:3be2ce85-11f7-49ae-904a-8898977cff4f> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://hylbom.com/family/maternal-lines/maternal-he-to-la/judd-4020/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783402516.86/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624155002-00078-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.985892 | 1,656 | 2.8125 | 3 |
OHSU (Behavioral Neuroscience) Scientists Help Decode Songbird Genome
04/02/10 Portland, OR
New data aids neuroscience studies at Oregon Health & Science University and demonstrates that songbirds are not “bird-brained” when it comes to communication
Researchers at Oregon Health & Science University are part of an international research effort to decode the genome of the zebra finch, a songbird species found in Australia. The zebra finch has been studied in labs around the world because it shares many complex behavioral traits with humans. At OHSU, songbirds are studied because the process in which they learn their songs is very similar to the ways that humans learn spoken language. The research is published in the April 1 online edition of the journal Nature.
"The zebra finch is one of a few known animal species, other than humans, in which juveniles learn their vocalizations from adult animals, typically the father," explained Claudio Mello, Ph.D., an associate professor of behavioral neuroscience in the OHSU School of Medicine. "In our lab, we have mapped the brain centers involved in hearing and learning in the zebra finch and find that there are many similarities with humans."
By studying a more experimentally tractable system in birds, researchers can learn much about how humans learn speech and language and the various problems that can limit or impede these skills. For example, traumatic injury, stroke and autism often lead to speech and language problems. In addition, it is hoped that speech difficulties such as stuttering can be better understood through the use of animal-based studies combined with human research.
The zebra finch genome is only the second bird genome to be decoded; the first was the chicken. Since the chicken and zebra finch lineages diverged nearly 100 million years ago, this research provides important insights into some major differences in evolution of bird genomes. However, the differences that are of the greatest interest to researchers at OHSU pertain to brain-based vocal learning abilities. While chickens vocalize through "clucks," they do not have the same genetically based brain structures to communicate through vocal learning that zebra finches do.
At OHSU, the Mello lab has been playing a central role in identifying gene regulatory mechanisms associated with song learning. The lab recently was awarded a grant from the National Institute of General Medical Sciences to generate a molecular atlas of the zebra finch brain by mapping the expression of genes of physiological and comparative interest, with a focus on vocal brain centers. In conjunction with the genome, this resource is expected to shed light on the genetic specializations related to speech and language function and impairments, as well as on important properties of the song system such as sensitivity to sex steroids and extended neurogenesis throughout adulthood.
More than 20 institutions, including OHSU, took part in the sequencing of the zebra finch genome. The project was led by the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. The research was funded by the National Human Genome Research Institute, a component of the National Institutes of Health.
Oregon Health & Science University is the state's only health and research university and Oregon's only academic health center. OHSU is Portland's largest employer and the fourth largest in Oregon (excluding government). OHSU's size contributes to its ability to provide many services and community support activities not found anywhere else in the state. It serves patients from every corner of the state, and is a conduit for learning for more than 3,400 students and trainees. OHSU is the source of more than 200 community outreach programs that bring health and education services to every county in the state. | <urn:uuid:6f210daa-5259-439d-9a63-b5952ed6786f> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.ohsu.edu/xd/education/schools/school-of-medicine/departments/basic-science-departments/behn/news/mello04022010.cfm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783397748.48/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154957-00050-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.96137 | 756 | 2.921875 | 3 |
Gale, Maggie and Ball, Linden J. (2002) Does Positivity Bias Explain Patterns of Performance on Wason’s 2-4-6 Task? In: Proceedings of the Twenty-Fourth Annual Conference of the Cognitive Science Society. Lawrence Erlbaun Associates, Mahwah, New Jersey.Full text not available from this repository.
In the standard form of Wason’s (1960) 2-4-6 task, participants must discover a rule that governs the production of sequences of three numbers. Studies typically show success rates of approximately 20%, which Wason attributed to a cognitive deficit that he labeled ‘confirmation bias’. In Tweney et al.’s (1980) formally equivalent Dual Goal (DG) form of the task, however, success rates are at least double to those seen on the standard task. If this facilitated performance could be accounted for, then this would go some way toward explaining the normally low performance on the standard problem. The present experiment examined two competing accounts of the DG superiority effect: Evans’ (1989) positivity bias explanation, and Wharton, Cheng and Wickens’ (1993) goal complementarity theory. The experiment independently manipulated the number of goals that participants had to explore (a single goal vs. two complementary goals) and the linguistic labels used to provide feedback (DAX and MED vs. ‘fits the rule’ and ‘does not fit the rule’). Results supported the goal complementarity account in that facilitation was evident in both DG conditions irrespective of the polarity of the feedback provided. We also discuss a novel finding: that it is the production of at least a single ‘negative’ triple that is most closely associated with task success.
|Item Type:||Contribution in Book/Report/Proceedings|
|Subjects:||B Philosophy. Psychology. Religion > BF Psychology|
|Departments:||Faculty of Science and Technology > Psychology|
|Deposited By:||Dr Linden J. Ball|
|Deposited On:||01 Aug 2008 14:02|
|Last Modified:||18 Jun 2016 01:24|
Actions (login required) | <urn:uuid:92d33d51-6dbe-4905-99f8-566bc5004578> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://eprints.lancs.ac.uk/11136/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783397873.63/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154957-00083-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.855601 | 461 | 2.515625 | 3 |
PASADENA, Calif., April 23 (UPI) -- Astronomers say they've observed the most "energy efficient" galaxy ever seen, one that's converting fuel into stars with almost 100-percent efficiency.
Researchers used NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, the Hubble Space Telescope and the IRAM Plateau de Bure interferometer in the French Alps to observe the galaxy known as SDSSJ1506+54.
"This galaxy is remarkably efficient," lead study author Jim Geach of McGill University in Canada said. "It's converting its gas supply into new stars at the maximum rate thought possible."
Stars are formed out of collapsing clouds of gas in galaxies, but usually only a fraction of the total gas supply is actively forming stars, with the bulk of the fuel lying dormant, the astronomers said.
In the newly observed galaxy nearly all of the gas has been driven to its central core where it has ignited in a powerful burst of star formation, they said.
Astronomers say they're seeing the galaxy in a short-lived phase of evolution, possibly triggered by the merging of two galaxies into one. The rate of star formation is so prolific that in a few tens of millions of years -- in the blink of a cosmic eye --the gas will be used up
"We are seeing a rare phase of evolution that is the most extreme -- and most efficient -- yet observed," Geach said.
Hubble images show the galaxy is extremely compact, with most of its light emanating from a region just a few hundred light-years across, demonstrating a lot of star-making in a very little space, NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., reported.
"While this galaxy is forming stars at a rate hundreds of times faster than our Milky Way galaxy, the sharp vision of Hubble revealed that the majority of the galaxy's starlight is being emitted by a region with a diameter just a few percent that of the Milky Way," Geach said. | <urn:uuid:3bd77097-4b57-49ce-a860-9a7fdfd4db91> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.upi.com/Science_News/2013/04/23/Astronomers-wowed-by-efficiency-of-distant-star-making-galaxy/UPI-55161366761332/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783396106.71/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154956-00003-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.939655 | 407 | 3.28125 | 3 |
F. distichus plays an important ecological role in the temperate rocky intertidal. Unlike the majority of marine algae that grow better when submerged, Fucus demonstrates consistent growth patterns when exposed (3). In the high rocky intertidal, physical stressors and herbivory are the main factors limiting algal distribution (3). Fucus, however, forms dense homogenous carpets in this high-stress environment. Various physiological adaptations have allowed this genus to settle and thrive here(1).
Initially, Fucus zygotes are highly resilient to freezing temperatures, desiccation and heat stress; all of which increase settlement in the high rocky intertidal (1). Furthermore, germination can occur in light or dark environments, which allows for greater temporal flexibility (1).
In terms of species interactions, Fucus colonization of the high intertidal sequesters moisture and forms important refuge habitat for many intertidal invertebrates including littorina spp., various isopods, etc (personal observation).
This refuge habitat, however, is home to numerous algal grazers. F. distichus allocates a large portion of available resources toward the production of phlorotannins: polyphenolic compounds that act as repellants against these abundant grazers (3). Intermittent sloughing-off of epidermal cell layers and copious external mucus production function to ward off epiphytic growth (2). | <urn:uuid:cba00dfa-8ab1-445c-bdb7-74a13b4935b2> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://depts.washington.edu/fhl/mb/Fucus_Ben/ecology.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783395548.53/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154955-00183-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.86197 | 303 | 3.453125 | 3 |
In 1683 Francis Daniel Pastorius was commissioned by the Frankfort Land Company and a group of merchants from Crefeld, Germany to form a settlement in America. They purchased fifteen thousand acres in Pennsylvania and Germantown was born.
Pastorius was born in Frankenland, Germany, studied at the University of Altorf and later studied law at Strasbourg, Basle, and Jena. He also studied international polity at Ratisbon. He received his degree of doctor of law at Nuremberg. He studied the Pietism, the teachings of the pastor Spener. He joined the sect of the Pietists and with some other followers Pastorius planned to create a settlement in Pennsylvania, William Penn's religious haven. Pastorius met Penn himself and soon converted to Penn's Quaker doctrines.
Pastorius led the settlement in Germantown on June 20, 1683 as a settlement of Mennonites and Quakers. Soon Pastorius became the town's leader and lawmaker, as well as one of the most dedictated members of the Society of Friends. In 1688 he drafted the first protest against slavery in America. He served in town office on several occasions.
On November 26, 1688 Patorius married Anneke Klosterman. Pastorius was an avid gardner, writer and poet. And he often wrote about the pleasures of gardening. He left behind forty-three volumes of manuscripts. He was on intimate terms with William Penn, Thomas Lloyd, Chief Justice Logan, Thomas STory, and other Pennsylvania leadrs. Pastorius died in Germantown between December 26, 1719 and January 13, 1720.
Copyright ©2000-2013 by the Independence Hall Association,
electronically publishing as ushistory.org.
The IHA is a nonprofit organization in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, founded in 1942.
On the Internet since July 4, 1995. | <urn:uuid:bad242fe-622b-47f3-a208-5dd1732e5c39> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.ushistory.org/germantown/people/pastorius.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783396147.66/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154956-00021-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.977671 | 384 | 2.78125 | 3 |
Kepler-78b, a planet about 400 light-years away, is like hell on Earth.
Astronomers described it yesterday as the first Earth-size planet that seems to be made of the same mixture of rock and iron as Earth, and that orbits a star similar to our sun.
But Kepler-78b would not be a pleasant place to visit. It whirls around its parent star, Kepler-78, at a distance of less than 1 million miles, and its year — the time it takes to complete one orbit — is just 8 1/2 hours. (By contrast, Earth is 93 million miles from the sun and, of course, completes its yearly orbit in a little more than 365 days.)
At that close proximity, the surface of Kepler-78b is infernally hot: 3,500 to 5,000 degrees, or “well above the temperature where rock melts,” said Andrew W. Howard, an astronomer at the University of Hawaii and the lead author of one of two papers being published in the journal Nature. “This is probably one of the most hellish planets that have been discovered yet."
Viewed from the surface of Kepler-78b, its star would cover 80 times more of the sky than the sun does in Earth’s sky.
“It’s certainly not a habitable planet,” said Francesco Pepe, a professor of astronomy at the University of Geneva and the lead author of the other Nature paper.
Kepler-78b is one of more than 150 planets spotted by NASA’s Kepler spacecraft, which noted the dimming of the starlight when a planet passed in front. | <urn:uuid:379b9a71-5231-433b-a79c-49a4bf6edab7> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/national_world/2013/10/31/faraway-earth-size-planet-is-hotter-than-you-know-where.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783393518.22/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154953-00036-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.95404 | 347 | 3.78125 | 4 |
As we all know that without energy leading the life is very difficult. Transportation, heating our homes, preparing the foods, our health and communication all are based on the energy.
To deliver the energy, the primary source is the destruction of world’s life support system. This destruction results in nuclear radiation, acid rain, smog, and harmful climate changes, which are fundamentally destructive and threaten our and future generation.
So, the main solution to avoid these harmful effects to the earth and human beings is to use eco friendly alternative energy. People have to check their lifestyle to see where the changes can be done in their everyday life.
Here are some eco friendly alternative energy sources:
- Solar energy is a great supply of renewable energy and uses sun light to produce heat and energy. Solar power uses the direct transfer of radiation into the form of solar PV program. The other types of solar power include solar water purification systems and solar hot water systems. Solar power is used by several properties to generate electrical power and as the technology turns much more cost effective, solar energy will become a genuine option for people who want to save their money.
- Wind power is also an eco friendly alternative energy source. The utilization of wind power can greatly cut the costs on energy as well as dependence on fossil fuels. The installation costs of wind power are also reasonably low. Running the tiny wind turbines can generate about 20 kilowatts of energy, which is enough for our everyday house needs.
- Geothermal energy is also a super renewable eco friendly alternative energy source. When the water is heated under the earth’s surface, it produces steam and heat. The temperature and pressure produced from this is used to move the gears that generate the power to the generators. The steam is vaporized quickly and produces heat from the earth’s core.
- Also, foods can be transferred into the renewable sources. Biodiesel is commercially stocked up and generated with soybeans, sunflower and rapeseed oils. This oil can be used in standard diesel based engines, either this can be used alone or mixed with petrodiesel. Also this is used as low carbon alternative to the heating oil.
- Hydroelectric power is also an ultimate eco friendly alternative energy. The force generated from the running water can be utilized to generate the power. This produced force is sent to the turbines to generate electricity. But, there are very limited options available for hydroelectric power plants. | <urn:uuid:9c7529bc-f144-4fa8-bcbd-4f6e64565ec9> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.ecologistnews.com/eco-systems/eco-friendly-alternative-energy.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783396100.16/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154956-00046-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.933674 | 497 | 3.34375 | 3 |
More information about this Work
This work by Joan Mates falls within the framework of the International Gothic of the late 14th century at a time when most of the arts were influenced by both France and Siena, resulting in highly decorative works with subtle, delicate colouring. The first documentary reference to Mates, son of a leather worker, is dated 1391 and states that he was living in Barcelona. The fact that Mates’ name is associated in the document with that of the painter Pere Serra has led to the assumption that Mates may have trained in Serra’s workshop. The fact that they worked together is known, as after Serra’s death Mates completed the Saint Thomas and Saint Anthony altarpiece for Barcelona cathedral. Mates was a celebrated artist in his day and art historians have subsequently organised his oeuvre around three documented altarpieces: that of Saint Ambrose and Saint Martin in Barcelona cathedral of 1411, that of Saint Sebastian for the refectory chapel of the Pia Almoina in Barcelona of 1417–25, of which the central part survives (Museu Nacional d’Art de Catalunya), and the main altarpiece for the church Vila-Rodona of 1422. This was destroyed in 1936 but old photographs survive.
Saint John the Baptist and Saint John the Evangelist with a Donor entered the Thyssen-Bornemisza collection in 1955 and was catalogued until 1989 as the work of an anonymous International Gothic master. Prior to its acquisition, the painting had been studied by Mayer in 1921, who was the first to suggest a Catalan painter. Chandler Rathfon Post subsequently associated it with a group of paintings that he published as the “Peñafiel group”. These works were later attributed to Joan Mates.
Mates located the two saints beneath two lobed arches. They can be identified by their attributes. On the left Saint John the Baptist has a closed book and a lamb, to which he elegantly points. He wears his traditional hair shirt, visible on his right arm but mainly covered with a fine blue and pink tunic held together at the shoulder by a twig. On the right and unusually holding a martyr’s palm is Saint John the Evangelist with the chalice in which the poison has already turned into a small dragon. At the feet of these two elegant figures is the kneeling donor. He is dressed in a costly style indicative of elevated social rank and has been identified as Henry V of England, leading to the suggestion that this work was by one of a group of English painters active in the early 15th century.
The panel may have been part of the central section of an altarpiece which also included the following episodes from the lives of the two saints: Saint John the Evangelist on Patmos (Musée Goya,
Castres), The Birth of Saint John the Baptist, The Beheading of Saint John the Baptist, The Martyrdom of Saint John the Evangelist, and Saint John the Evangelist and the poisoned Chalice, in the Carreras Candi collection in Barcelona, according to Gudiol and Alcolea. | <urn:uuid:782bc3a6-1d32-4892-b17e-ca240318960f> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.museothyssen.org/en/thyssen/imprimirFicha/269 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783398873.39/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154958-00021-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.973487 | 660 | 2.875 | 3 |
Human Rights from an Islamic Worldview
An outline of Hudud, Ta'zir & Qisas
By: Mohammed Salam Madkoar
In order to properly understand the Muslim world's concept of Human Rights under the law, it is helpful to have a basic grasp of the concepts of Islamic law. First World Student of Human Rights will find the following article by Mohammed Salam Madkoar a most useful aid in attempting to understand the struggle for human rights in the Islamic world.
The general public and many academics have several preconceived notions about Islamic Law. One such notion is that Islamic judges are bound by ancient and outdated rules of fixed punishments for all crimes. This paper explores that idea and looks at other myths in an attempt to present Islamic Law from a non-biased view of Sharia Law.
Some contemporary scholars fail to recognize Islamic Law as an equal to English Common Law, European Civil Law and Socialist Law. A few academics have even attempted to place Islamic Law into the Civil Law tradition. Other writers have simply added a footnote to their works on comparative justice on the religious law categories of Islamic Law, Hindu Law, which is still used in some parts of India, and the Law of Moses from the Old Testament which still guides the current thought of the Israeli Knesset (Parliament) today. This survey will attempt to alter some of these inaccurate perceptions and treatments in both the contemporary literature and academic writings. Mohammed Salam Madkoar explains the theoretical assumptions of Islamic Law:
In order to protect the five important indispensables in Islam:
Islamic Law has provided a worldly punishment in addition to that in the hereafter. Islam has, in fact, adopted two courses for the preservation of these five indispensables:
the first is through cultivating religious consciousness in the human soul and the awakening of human awareness through moral education;
the second is by inflicting deterrent punishment, which is the basis of the Islamic criminal system.
Therefore "Hudud," Retaliation (qisas) and Discretionary (Tazir) punishments have been prescribed according to the type of the crime committed.
Islamic Law and Jurisprudence is not always understood by the western press. Although it is the responsibility of the mass media to bring to the world's attention violations of human rights and acts of terror, many believe that media stereotyping of all Muslims is a major problem. The recent bombing at the World Trade Center in New York City is a prime example. The media often used the term "Islamic Fundamentalists" when referring to the accused in the case. It also referred to the Egyptian connections in that case as "Islamic Fundamentalists."
The media has used the label of "Islamic Fundamentalist" to imply all kinds of possible negative connotations: terrorists, kidnappers, and hostage takers. Since the media does not use the term "Fundamentalist Christian" each time a Christian does something wrong, the use of such labels is wrong for any group, Christians, Muslims, or Orthodox Jews.
A Muslim who is trying to live his religion is indeed a true believer in God. This person tries to live all of the tenets of his religion in a fundamental way. Thus, a true Muslim is a fundamentalist in the practice of that religion, but a true Muslim is not radical, because the Quran teaches tolerance and moderation in all things. When the popular media generalizes from the fundamentalist believer to the "radical fundamentalist" label they do a disservice to all Muslims and others.
No Separation of Church and State
To understand Islamic Law one must first understand the assumptions of Islam and the basic tenets of the religion. The meaning of the word Islam is "submission or surrender to Allah's (God's) will." Therefore, Muslims must first and foremost obey and submit to Allah's will. Mohammed the Prophet was called by God to translate verses from the Angel Gabriel to form the most important book in Islam, the Quran, Muslims believe.
There are over 1.2 billion Muslims today worldwide, over 20% of the world's population. "By the year 2000, one out of every four persons on the planet will be a Muslim," Rittat Hassan estimated in 1990. There are 35 nations with population over 50% Muslim, and there are another 21 nations that have significant Muslim populations. There are 19 nations which have declared Islam in their respective constitutions. The Muslim religion is a global one and is rapidly expanding. The sheer number of Muslims living today makes the idea of putting Islamic Law into a footnote in contemporary writings inappropriate.
The most difficult part of Islamic Law for most westerners to grasp is that there is no separation of church and state. The religion of Islam and the government are one. Islamic Law is controlled, ruled, and regulated by the Islamic religion. The theocracy controls all public and private matters. Government, law, and religion are one. There are varying degrees of this concept in many nations, but all law, government and civil authority rests upon it and it is a part of Islamic religion. There are civil laws in Muslim nations for Muslim and non-Muslim people. Sharia is only applicable to Muslims. Most Americans and others schooled in Common Law have great difficulty with that concept. The U.S. Constitution (Bill of Rights) prohibits the government from "establishing a religion." The U.S. Supreme Court has concluded in numerous cases that the U.S. Government can't favor one religion over another.
That concept is implicit for most U.S. legal scholars and many U.S. academicians believe that any mixture of "church and state" is inherently evil and filled with many problems. They reject all notions of a mixture of religion and government.
To start with such preconceived notions limits the knowledge base and information available to try and solve many social and criminal problems. To use an analogy from Christianity may be helpful.
To ignore what all Christian religions except your own say about God would limit your knowledge base and you would not be informed or have the ability to appreciate your own religion. The same is true for Islamic Law and Islamic religion. You must open your mind to further expand your knowledge base. Islamic Law has many ideas, concepts, and information that can solve contemporary crime problems in many areas of the world. To do this you must first put on hold the preconceived notion of "separation of church and state."
Another myth concerning Islamic Law is that there are no judges. Historically the Islamic Judge (Qadi) was a legal secretary appointed by the provincial governors. Each Islamic nation may differ slightly in how the judges are selected. Some nations will use a formal process of legal education and internship in a lower court. For example, in Saudi Arabia there are two levels of courts. The formal Sharia Courts which were established in 1928 hear traditional cases. The Saudi government established a ministry of justice in 1970, and they added administrative tribunals for traffic laws, business, and commerce. "All judges are accountable to God in their decisions and practices" (Lippman, p.66-68).
One common myth associated with Islamic Law is that judges must always impose a fixed and predetermined punishment for each crime. Western writers often point to the inflexible nature of Islamic Law. Judges under Islamic Law are bound to administer several punishments for a few very serious crimes found in the Quran, but they possess much greater freedom in punishment for less serious (non-Had) crimes. Common law is filled with precedents, rules, and limitations which inhibit creative justice. Judges under Islamic Law are free to create new options and ideas to solve new problems associated with crime.
Elements of Sharia Law
Islamic law is known as Sharia Law, and Sharia means the path to follow God's Law. Sharia Law is holistic or eclectic in its approach to guide the individual in most daily matters. Sharia Law controls, rules, and regulates all public and private behavior. It has regulations for personal hygiene, diet, sexual conduct, and elements of child rearing. It also prescribes specific rules for prayers, fasting, giving to the poor, and many other religious matters. Civil Law and Common Law primarily focus on public behavior, but both do regulate some private matters.
Sharia Law can also be used in larger situations than guiding an individual's behavior. It can be used as guide for how an individual acts in society and how one group interacts with another. The Sharia Law can be used to settle border disputes between nations or within nations. It can also be used to settle international disputes, conflicts, and wars. This Law does not exclude any knowledge from other sources and is viewed by the Muslim world as a vehicle to solve all problems civil, criminal, and international.
Sharia Law has several sources from which to draw its guiding principles. It does not rely upon one source for its broad knowledge base.
The first and primary element of Sharia Law is the Quran. It is the final arbitrator and there is no other appeal.
The second element of Sharia Law is known as the Sunna, the teachings of the Prophet Mohammed not explicitly found in the Quran. The Sunna are a composite of the teachings of the prophet and his works. The Sunna contain stories and anecdotes, called Hadith, to illustrate a concept. The Quran may not have all the information about behavior and human interaction in detail; the Sunna gives more detailed information than the Quran.
The third element of Sharia Law is known as the Ijma. The Muslim religion uses the term Ulama as a label for its religious scholars. These Ulamas are consulted on many matters both personal and political. When the Ulamas reach a consensus on an issue, it is interpreted as a ijma. The concepts and ideas found in the ijma are not found explicitly in the Quran or the teachings of the Prophet (Sunna). Islamic judges are able to examine the ijma for many possible solutions which can be applied in a modern technical society. They are free to create new and innovative methods to solve crime and social problems based upon the concepts found in the ijma. These judges have great discretion in applying the concepts to a specific problem.
The Qiyas are a fourth element of Sharia Law. The Qiyas are not explicitly found in the Quran, Sunna, or given in the Ijma. The Qiyas are new cases or case law which may have already been decided by a higher judge. The Sharia judge can use the legal precedent to decide new case law and its application to a specific problem. The judge can use a broad legal construct to resolve a very specific issue. For example, a computer crime or theft of computer time is not found in the Quran or Sunna. The act of theft as a generic term is prohibited so the judge must rely on logic and reason to create new case law or Qiyas.
The fifth element of Sharia Law is very broad and "all encompassing." This secondary body of knowledge may be ideas contained in the other written works. The New Testament is an example of this area of information, and legal discourses based upon Civil Law or Common Law may be another example. All information can be examined for logic and reason to see if it applies to the current case. It also may be a local custom or norm that judge may find helpful in applying to the issue before him. The judge may also weigh the impact of his decision upon how it will effect a person's standing in the community.
Crimes in Islam
Crimes under Islamic Law can be broken down into three major categories. Each will be discussed in detail with some common law analogies. The three major crime categories in Islamic Law are:
Had Crimes (most serious).
Tazir Crimes (least serious).
Qisas Crimes (revenge crimes restitution)
Had crimes are the most serious under Islamic Law, and Tazir crimes are the least serious. Some Western writers use the felony analogy for Had crimes and misdemeanor label for Tazir crimes. The analogy is partially accurate, but not entirely true. Common Law has no comparable form of Qisas crimes.
Fairchild, in her excellent book on comparative justice, makes the following observation of Islamic Law and punishment (Fairchild, p.41).
"Punishments are prescribed in the Quran and are often harsh with the emphasis on corporal and capital punishment. Theft is punished by imprisonment or amputation of hands or feet, depending on the number of times it is committed..."
Had crimes are those which are punishable by a pre-established punishment found in the Quran. These most serious of all crimes are found by an exact reference in the Quran to a specific act and a specific punishment for that act. There is no plea-bargaining or reducing the punishment for a Had crime. Had crimes have no minimum or maximum punishments attached to them. The punishment system is comparable to the determinate sentence imposed by some judges in the United States. If you commit a crime, you know what your punishment will be. There is no flexibility in the U.S. determinate model or in the punishment for Had crimes of Islamic Law.
No judge can change or reduce the punishment for these serous crimes. The Had crimes are:
Apostasy from Islam - making war upon Allah and his messengers;
Defamation - false accusation of adultery or fornication;
The first four Had crimes have a specific punishment in the Quran. The last three crimes are mentioned but no specific punishment is found.
Some more liberal Islamic judges do not consider apostasy from Islam or wine drinking as Had crimes. The more liberal Islamic nations treat these crimes as Tazir or a lesser crime.
Had crimes have fixed punishments because they are set by God and are found in the Quran. Had crimes are crimes against God's law and Tazir crimes are crimes against society. There are some safeguards for Had crimes that many in the media fail to mention. Some in the media only mention that if you steal, your hand is cut off.
The Islamic judge must look at a higher level of proof and reasons why the person committed the crime. A judge can only impose the Had punishment when a person confesses to the crime or there are enough witnesses to the crime. The usual number of witnesses is two, but in the case of adultery, four witnesses are required. The media often leaves the public with the impression that all are punished with flimsy evidence or limited proof. Islamic law has a very high level of proof for the most serious crimes and punishments. When there is doubt about the guilt of a Had crime, the judge must treat the crime as a lesser Tazir crime. If there is no confession to a crime or not enough witnesses to the crime, Islamic law requires the Had crime to be punished as a Tazir crime.
Modern Islamic Society has changed greatly from the time of the Prophet. Contemporary Sharia Law is now in written form and is statutory in nature. Islamic concepts of justice argue that a person should know what the crime is and its possible punishment.
For example, Egypt has a parliamentary process which has a formal penal code written and based upon the principles of Islamic Law, but Saudi Arabia allows the judge to set the Tazir crimes and punishments. Modern Islamic Law recognizes many differences between these two nations. It also allows for much greater flexibility in how it punishes an offender. The major myth of many people is that judges in Islamic nations have fixed punishments for all crimes. In reality, the judges have much greater flexibility than judges under common law.
Tazir crimes are less serious than the Had crimes found in the Quran. Some common law writers use the analogy of misdemeanors, which is the lesser of the two categories (felony and misdemeanor) of common law crimes. Tazir crimes can and do have comparable "minor felony equivalents." These "minor felonies" are not found in the Quran so the Islamic judges are free to punish the offender in almost any fashion. Mohammed Salam Madkoar, who was the head of Islamic Law at the University of Cairo, makes the following observation (Ministry of the Interior, 1976,p.104):
Tazir punishments vary according to the circumstances. They change from time to time and from place to place. They vary according to the gravity of the crime and the extent of the criminal disposition of the criminal himself.
Tazir crimes are acts which are punished because the offender disobeys God's law and word. Tazir crimes can be punished if they harm the societal interest. Sharia Law places an emphasis on the societal or public interest. The assumption of the punishment is that a greater "evil " will be prevented in the future if you punish this offender now.
Historically Tazir crimes were not written down or codified. This gave each ruler great flexibility in what punishments the judge was able to dispense. The judge under Islamic Law is not bound by precedents, rules, or prior decisions as in common law. Judges are totally free to choose from any number of punishments that they think will help an individual offender. The only guiding principle for judges under Sharia Law is that they must answer to Allah and to the greater community of Muslims.
Some of the more common punishment for Tazir crimes are:
3. public or private censure
4. family and clan pressure and support
5. seizure of property
6. confinement in the home or place of detention
7. and flogging
In some Islamic nations, Tazir crimes are set by legislative parliament. Each nation is free to establish its own criminal code and there is a great disparity in punishment of some of these crimes. Some of the more common Tazir crimes are: bribery, selling tainted or defective products, treason, usury, and selling obscene pictures. The consumption of alcohol in Egypt is punished much differently than in Iran or Saudi Arabia because they have far different civil laws. Islamic law has much greater flexibility than the Western media portrays. Each judge is free to punish based upon local norms, customs, and informal rules. Each judge is free to fixthe punishment that will deter others from crime and will help to rehabilitate an offender.
Qisas Crimes and Diya
Islamic Law has an additional category of crimes that common law nations do not have. A qisas crime is one of retaliation. If you commit a qisas crime, the victim has a right to seek retribution and retaliation. The exact punishment for each qisas crime is set forth in the Quran. If you are killed, then your family has a right to seek qisas punishment from the murderer. Punishment can come in several forms and also may include "Diya."
Diya is paid to the victim's family as part of punishment. Diya is an ancient form of restitution for the victim or his family. The family also may seek to have a public execution of the offender or the family may seek to pardon the offender.
Traditional qisas crimes include:
Murder (premeditated and non-premeditated).
Premeditated offenses against human life, short of murder.
Murder by error.
Offenses by error against humanity, short of murder.
Some reporters in the mass media have criticized the thought of "blood money" as barbaric. They labeled the practice as undemocratic and inhumane. qisas crimes are based upon the criminological assumption of retribution. The concept of retribution was found in the first statutory "Code of Hammurabi" and in the Law of Moses in the form of "an eye for an eye."
Muslims add to that saying "but it is better to forgive."
Contemporary common law today still is filled with the assumptions of retribution. The United States federal code contains "mandatory minimum" sentences for drug dealing, and many states have fixed punishment for drugs and violence and using weapons. The United States justice system has adopted a retribution model which sets fixed punishments for each crime. The idea of retribution is fixed in the U.S. system of justice. qisas crime is simple retribution: if one commits a crime, he knows what the punishment will be.
Diya has its roots in Islamic Law and dates to the time of the Prophet Mohammed when there were many local families, tribes, and clans. They were nomadic and traveled extensively. The Prophet was able to convince several tribes to take a monetary payment for damage to the clan or tribe. This practice grew and now is an acceptable solution to some qisas crimes.
Today, the Diya is paid by the offender to the victim if he is alive. If the victim is dead, the money is paid to the victim's family or to the victim's tribe or clan. The assumption is that victims will be compensated for their loss. Under common law, the victim or family must sue the offender in a civil tort action for damages. qisas law combines the process of criminal and civil hearings into one, just as the "civil law" is applied in many nations of the world. qisas crimes are compensated as restitution under common law and civil law.
The qisas crimes require compensation for each crime committed. Each nation sets the damage before the offense and the judge then fixes the proper Diya. If an offender is too poor to pay the diya, the family of the offender is called upon first to make good the diya for their kin. If the family is unable to pay, the community, clan, or tribe may be required to pay. This concept is not found in common law or the civil law of most nations. It acts as a great incentive for family and community to teach responsible behavior. What happens to the debt if the offender dies and has not paid it? Historically, it was passed on to the offender's heirs; today, most nations terminate the debt if the offender left no inheritance.
One question that is often raised is "What happens if a victim takes the diya without government approval ?" The victim or family has committed a Tazir crime by accepting money which was not mandated by a judge: taking diya must be carried out through proper governmental and judicial authority.
Another concept of qisas crimes is the area of punishment. Each victim has the right to ask for retaliation and, historically, the person's family would carry out that punishment. Modern Islamic law now requires the government to carry out the qisas punishment. Historically, some grieving family member may have tortured the offender in the process of punishment. Now the government is the independent party that administers the punishment, because torture and extended pain is contrary to Islamic teachings and Sharia Law.
Contemporary treatment of Islamic Law and "Radical Muslims" is filled with stereotypical characterizations. Some in the Western media have used the "New York City bombings" as a way to increase hate and prejudice. They have taken the views of a few radicals and projected them onto all Muslims.
This action has done a great disservice to the Muslim world. Some academic writings also have been distorted and not always completely accurate and some researchers have concluded that Islamic Law requires a fixed punishment for all crimes. These writers also have concluded that Islamic judges lack discretion in their sentences of defendants in the Sharia Court System. There are four Had crimes that do have fixed punishments set forth in the Quran, but not all the Had crimes are bound by mandatory punishment.
Islamic Law is very different from English Common Law or the European Civil Law traditions. Muslims are bound to the teachings of the Prophet Mohammed whose translation of Allah or God's will is found in the Quran. Muslims are held accountable to the Sharia Law, but non-Muslims are not bound by the same standard (apostasy from Allah). Muslims and non-Muslims are both required to live by laws enacted by the various forms of government such as tax laws, traffic laws, white collar crimes of business, and theft. These and many other crimes similar to Common Law crimes are tried in modern "Mazalim Courts." The Mazalim Courts can also hear civil law, family law, and all other cases. Islamic Law does have separate courts for Muslims for "religious crimes" and contemporary non-religious courts for other criminal and civil matters.
Mohammed Salam Madkoar. | <urn:uuid:c0c27df8-7c5a-47a5-9f75-5943f7bb64cb> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.muhajabah.com/docstorage/hudud.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783397873.63/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154957-00032-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.960391 | 4,949 | 3.28125 | 3 |
(a) The adder-subtractor circuit of the figure has thefollowing values for mode input M and data inputs A and B:
M A B
(a) 0 0110 0101
(b) 0 1100 1101
(c) 1 0110 0011
(d) 1 0000 0001
In each case determine the values of the four SUM outputs, thecarry C, and the overflow V.
(b) Using the conditional operator (:?), write a Verilogdataflow description of the four-bit adder-subtractor of thefigure. | <urn:uuid:9f448f8b-b220-429b-a0f6-a5c8052d49a9> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.chegg.com/homework-help/questions-and-answers/adder-subtractor-circuit-figure-thefollowing-values-mode-input-m-data-inputs-b-m-b-0-0110--q657137 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783396147.66/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154956-00078-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.671946 | 124 | 2.84375 | 3 |
November 20, 2008
UW, volunteers join forces trying to save Washington’s imperiled plants
Salish fleabane. Cotton’s milkvetch. Green keeled cotton-grass. Mt. Rainier lousewort.
Collecting seeds from these rare alpine plants in Washington can involve clambering up steep ridges and facing winds up to 50 miles per hour on the exposed rocky slopes. In spite of such difficulties, plants that make up these “pincushion communities” are favorites of Wendy Gibble, program manager of the Washington Rare Plant Care and Conservation program at the UW Botanic Gardens. Both are parts of the UW College of Forest Resources.
Pincushion communities? They’re so called because the tiny plants, sometimes only an inch tall because of the harsh growing conditions, can look like bright pin heads poking out of the cracks between rocks.
Seeds of these and other Washington rare plants are being collected and stored in a climate-controlled vault on the UW campus in the event a population gets so low it needs a boost or the plant dies out completely and seed is needed so it can be reintroduced. One of the effects of global warming may be that plants will have to “migrate” farther north to have the right growing conditions, Gibble says. Imagine how difficult it would be for seeds of alpine plants high atop ridges to be carried by wind or animals to the tops of ridges farther north. That’s where having seeds in the deep freeze in the Miller Seed Vault would be so important.
Collecting and storing seeds, research on rare plants and monitoring Washington’s rare plant populations are tasks of the Washington Rare Plant Care and Conservation — or Rare Care — program that just celebrated its 10th anniversary.
Gibble thinks the program’s greatest contribution to date is the monitoring which helps update the database of the Washington Natural Heritage Program, a part of the Washington Department of Natural Resources. That database is important because organizations and people need to know how many and what kinds of rare plants might be on land they are considering buying or including in a preserve or park in order to protect what’s there, Gibble says.
Rare Care has updated 20 percent of the 3,000 records in the database, Gibble says. Some of those records are from the ’60s and ’70s and some populations of rare plants haven’t been visited for years.
Much of the monitoring work is done by volunteers, none of whom have ever gotten lost in spite of the sometimes challenging task of trying to find plants when the only location information is a dot on a map. If there aren’t details, then volunteers have to do research: Are there logging roads in the area? Trails? Many choose to take extra Rare Care training on using maps, compasses and the Global Positioning System.
Searches can take volunteers to some of the most interesting natural sites in the state, Gibble says, and sometimes they get to go on lands that are otherwise closed to the public. Lots of brown bears and other wildlife are observed and there’s been one grizzly bear and one wolverine sighting. When volunteers find the plants, they’ve been trained to either count or estimate the number of plants. And if the plant is in bloom, they’re asked to be on the lookout for ants, beetles, bees, flies or whatever might be pollinating the plant.
“We’ve got 350 rare plants in the state but only about 20 have been studied,” Gibble says.
Altogether 250 to 300 persons have been trained since 2001, when UW associate professor of forest resources Sarah Reichard and graduate student Laura Zybas modeled the volunteer monitoring program on the one at the New England Wildflower Society.
Becoming a volunteer involves submitting an application and attending a one-day training. To thwart rare-plant rustling, volunteers pledge not to collect any rare plants or tell others of their locations. Those interested in volunteering for monitoring or for work in the seed vault can visit http://courses.washington.edu/rarecare/Volunteer2.html.
Learn more about Rare Care and the UW Botanic Gardens by visiting http://courses.washington.edu/rarecare/index.htm. | <urn:uuid:45ea300d-cff1-427a-b432-5d0173ffbae0> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.washington.edu/news/2008/11/20/uw-volunteers-join-forces-trying-to-save-washingtons-imperiled-plants/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783395620.9/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154955-00018-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.921807 | 901 | 3.375 | 3 |
Over the past three days, visitors to the Museum have had the opportunity to have a sneak preview of one of Museum’s great hidden treasures which will be going into the new Europe Galleries.
Technicians, conservators and ceramics curators have been working in the Raphael Court, assembling the many parts of our impressive Meissen ceramic table fountain. This moment has been the culmination of hundreds of hours of work by numerous individuals.
A table fountain is exactly what its name suggests – a fountain that would have been displayed on a table, as part of an elaborate decorative dining arrangement. This porcelain table fountain would need to have been on a particularly large table, as it is at least 4 metres wide! Its great size is one of the reasons why we have had to make use of the Raphael Court to undertake this first complete assemblage of it – we needed to have plenty of room to move around the structure and also to erect lighting for it to be professionally photographed for an upcoming publication.
The fountain was originally made for Count von Brühl, Prime Minister of Saxony. It was notably used as the centrepiece of the desert-course during a royal wedding celebration banquet in Dresden in 1747.
In a letter from 1748, Sir Charles Hanbury Williams’ described seeing a similar fountain in operation:
‘I was once at a Dinner where we sat down at one table two hundred and six People … When the dessert was set on, I thought it was the most wonderful thing I ever beheld. I fancyd myself either in a Garden or at the Opera, But I [could] not imagine that I was at Dinner. In the middle of the Table was [a] Fountain … , which ran all the while with Rose-water, and ‘tis said that this Piece alone cost six thousand Thalers.’
Its design was based on that of a sculptural fountain in the grounds of von Brühl’s Dresden palace, which had been the work of the architect Zacharias Longuelune (b. Paris 1669, d. Dresden 1748) and the sculptor Lorenzo Mattielli (b. Vicenza, d. Dresden 1748).
The porcelain fountain was originally modelled in 1745-6 by Meissen’s chief modeller J.J. Kaendler, with help from his assistants for Count Heinrich von Brühl, who was then Director of the Meissen factory. Some parts of the fountain were later replaced in around 1775. The Museum bought the fountain at auction in 1870, together with white porcelain parts from other sculptural Meissen works. The fountain was fragmentary and incomplete when acquired and was described as:
‘FOUNTAIN. Dresden porcelain, comprising centre group of Neptune, with other groups of marine figures and monsters, vases &c. (Much shattered.). German. 18th Centy.’
‘Much shattered’ was a very accurate description, as you can see from the size and state of some of the pieces below.
Recent research has enabled us to establish how the fountain was originally assembled. Working in collaboration with the Royal College of Art in London, we have been able to recreate missing parts in porcelain. Being able to visit the conservation studios to see this work in progress has been a real treat.
Over the past few days, the whole ensemble has been put together for the first time in 150 years.
This was an invaluable opportunity to test out the bespoke mounts that will join the porcelain pieces together safely and securely when displayed in the galleries.
The fountain is being dismantled today before being permanently installed in the new galleries, opening in early 2015. | <urn:uuid:efb0fa93-d0de-4578-98d4-e2af3c6f2bd0> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.vam.ac.uk/blog/creating-new-europe-1600-1800-galleries/in-the-middle-of-the-table-was-a-fountain-which-ran-all-the-while-with-rose-water | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783395346.72/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154955-00051-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.97256 | 772 | 2.609375 | 3 |
ABRAHAM AND ISAAC.ToC
Abraham feared God and obeyed His commandments; and God promised to bless Abraham very greatly. He gave him riches in cattle, and silver, and gold; and said that the land of Canaan should belong to him and his descendants. God also gave him a son in his old age, whom he loved, very dearly and named Isaac. But God intended to try Abraham, to see if he loved Him above all else.
One day God told Abraham to take his son Isaac, and to journey into the land of Moriah; there to build an altar and offer Isaac as a sacrifice upon it. It was a strange command, but Abraham knew that God would not bid him do what was wrong, and believed that even if he slew his son, God was able to raise him to life again. So he rose early in the morning, saddled his ass, took two of his young men, and wood for the fire; and then, accompanied by Isaac, started on his journey. On the third day they came near the place God had pointed out, and Abraham left the young men with the ass, while he and his son journeyed up the mountain alone. As they went along, Isaac—who carried the wood, while his father carried the knife and the fire, said: "My father." And Abraham replied, "Here am I, my son." Then Isaac said: "Behold the fire and the wood: but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?" Abraham answered: "My son, God will provide Himself a lamb for a burnt offering."
The altar was built, Isaac was bound and laid upon it, and Abraham's arm was uplifted to strike the blow that was to take his son's life away. Then God called to Abraham, "Lay not thine hand upon the lad, neither do thou anythingunto him; for now I know that thou fearest God, seeing that thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son from Me." Abraham looked up, and behind him saw a ram which was caught in a thicket by its horns; this he took and offered as a sacrifice to God.
So God tried Abraham; and also Himself provided the lamb for the burnt offering, as Abraham had said. | <urn:uuid:779686d0-142b-45e7-be8a-173c7b041d74> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://kidsbiblestoriess.blogspot.com/2012/07/childrens-bible-story-of-abraham-and.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783397636.15/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154957-00045-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.992762 | 466 | 2.75 | 3 |
XRF for Today’s Quality Assurance
X-ray Fluorescence (XRF) is an attractive analytical technique for quality assurance.
Modern XRF has become a common analytical instrument technique for the quality assurance of manufactured products, including out-going product verification and production quality control as well as incoming inspection. Functional characteristics that make XRF so attractive to these quality applications are: the broad application to many kinds of materials, the ease of operation of the equipment, the short analysis time (often less than 30 seconds), and the noncontact and nondestructive nature of the technique.
Overview of XRF
XRF is an atomic spectroscopy. The analysis is based on the interaction of incident X-rays that are today mostly generated by an X-ray tube and the material under inspection. British physicist Henry Moseley demonstrated that certain characteristic X-ray emissions from ionized chemical elements were proportional to the atomic number of the elements1. This is the basis of modern XRF spectrometry. The wavelength or energy of fluoresced emissions acquired from a material is characteristic of the elemental composition of the sample material. The energy of the fluoresced peak provides identification of the element. The number of emitted photons at those specific energies represents the number of atoms (mass) of the emitting element that is present in the material.
Applying these basic physics to an analytical instrument requires a source of X-rays; as noted above, this is typically an X-ray tube, a means of determining the energy of the emitted X-rays and a means of counting the fluoresced photons. In earlier instruments and still used today, natural crystals (now often layered devices as well) were placed between the fluorescing sample and a counter, like a Geiger Counter and now gas filled or gas flow proportional counters. The crystals or layered devices disperse the emitted X-rays that can then be collected (counted) at specific angles that identify the wavelength or energy (E~1/λ where E is Energy and λ is wavelength) based on the Bragg equation, nλ=2dSinθ where d is the crystal lattice spacing and θ is the angle of diffraction. XRF spectrometers using dispersing devices are known at Wavelength-Dispersive XRF Spectrometers (WDXRF).
Evolution of XRF spectrometers for QA/QC Applications
As described in the previous section, the first XRF Spectrometers were what we now call WDXRF systems. WDXRF systems are now manufactured with a single detector (or tandem detectors, one to capture long wavelengths and the other shorter wavelengths) and switchable dispersing devices where the detector is driven to various Bragg angles θ around a goniometer circle. These are known as Sequential WDXRF systems. Or, they are configured with multiple, fixed dispersion devices and detectors specific to the desired wavelengths (elements) to be determined. These are known as Simultaneous WDXRF systems because multiple elemental spectra are acquired simultaneously.
Simultaneous systems are commonly used in quality control applications where high sample throughput is required. Common markets/applications for these kinds of spectrometers are steel manufacturing and cement manufacturing where a complete and specific suite of elements can be determined simultaneously and with very good precision in literally seconds per sample. These instruments, due to the optical benches consisting of dispersion devices and detectors that make them up, are floor standing and can be quite large.
The remainder of this article focuses on Energy Dispersive XRF Spectrometers (EDXRF). EDXRF systems are typically smaller than WDXRF systems and can often be installed and used near production, shipping or receiving areas as opposed to in a laboratory. There are also portable handheld EDXRF systems available today.
The name is a bit of a misnomer in that there is no dispersion device. Energies are determined electronically (pulse height discrimination). The level of discrimination or resolution is a function of the type of detector and pulse processor used in the spectrometer. Today, there are three types of detectors commonly use in EDXRF systems: gas filled proportional counter detectors and solid-state silicon detectors (Si-PIN and Silicon Drift Detectors – SDD). The choice of detector is driven by the application(s). From an X-ray spectrometry perspective, this means the material matrix that is being analyzed, i.e., what is the elemental composition of the sample material and what are the nominal concentrations, and for layered systems (thin-film applications) the thickness of the layer(s) as well.
Resolution is expressed in terms of Full-Width-Half-Max (FWHM) at 5.95 keV, which is the energy of the Mn Kα emission. Typical resolutions for the detectors listed above are: 900 eV for prop counters, 200 eV for Si-PIN detectors and 140 eV for SSDs. If the sample matrix is complicated—many element emissions and/or there are heavily overlapped emissions (adjacent atomic numbers)—then Si detectors are preferred or even necessary. If the emissions from the sample are well separated then the prop counter will do a very good job, i.e., Sn coating on a copper substrate. There is a significant cost benefit to the prop counter, if it can do the job. Concentration of an analyte element or a very thin layer will impact detector selection as well. The better resolution Si detectors provide much better peak-to-background (signal-to-noise) response than do prop counters, and therefore, much better detection limits whether in ppm concentration or nanometer thickness.
The SDD is one of the most recent technology advances commercialized in EDXRF. As noted above the SDD provides the best resolution in today’s commercial spectrometers, and therefore, the best detection limits. Another enabling capability of the SDD is sensitivity to lower energy emissions that as demonstrated by Moseley (where we began) are associated to lower atomic number elements. Two demanding applications that SDDs have improved on and in one case enabled are in quality assurance areas of functional coatings for electronics: RoHS compliance and ENEPIG (Electroless Ni-Electroless Pd-Immersion Au) coatings on PCBs and chip connectors.
The RoHS (or anti-RoHS, i.e. exempted defense contractors) applications can range from a very thin Sn-Pb solder finish to Cd based pigments in polymers. Plating companies doing quality control on outgoing parts and contract manufacturers or end-users doing quality assurance for incoming inspection of components want to assure that the parts are RoHS compliant. SDD-configured spectrometers manufactured for small area (chip leads) can reliably and nondestructively measure Pb content down to 120 ppm levels2, even in thin finishes. Detection limits can also be very important to the defense contractor that needs to provide components with greater than 3% Pb content. This may seem like a relatively high concentration until one is measuring thin finishes where the total areal mass of Pb (µm/cm2) is quite low. Figures 1 and 2 show spectra from a prop counter configured system and SDD configured system respectively. The spectra were acquired from the same sample, which is a 371 micro-inch thick Sn coating on Cu substrate having RoHS action Pb content of 1,000 ppm. The Pb is marginally detectable with prop counter, but easily detected and measured with the SDD configured instrument.
RoHS compliant levels of Cd in a plastic or polymer is a challenge, even to Si-PIN configured spectrometers. Low average atomic number matrices have high scatter cross sections to the incident beam, the major contributor to XRF spectrum background. Often primary beam filters are used to remove incident X-rays in the energy region of the analyte peak, thereby, improving the analyte peak-to-background response. Beam filters capable of removing background in the energy region of Cd K emissions are not practical because they would have to be so thick that they would greatly reduce excitation efficiency and analysis times would become impractical. The better resolution of an SDD configured instrument is sufficient to enable Cd measurement at the 100 ppm RoHS compliance level in 300 seconds with 5% precision.
As with many functional film applications, ENi thickness plating control and incoming inspection is an important parameter. Linear thickness measurements in XRF are based on converting the measured mass thickness (mass/unit area) to linear units (microns, microinches). This is achieved by dividing the mass-thickness by the material density, which requires knowledge of the material composition. The phosphorus content the ENi (NiP) layer has been historically assumed, i.e., 6%, 8% or 12% phosphorus, because P (Z=15) emits at a relatively low energy (2.02 keV) where air will absorb much of the signal and the noise characteristics of Si-PIN detectors prohibit the direct measurement of P, unless the sample is measured in a vacuum chamber, which takes time, limits the size of the chamber, and adds cost. With SDD detectors in a closely coupled X-ray tube-to-sample-to-detector design have sufficient sensitivity to measure P content even in air. So that P content, and therefore density, are no longer an assumption and thickness measurement accuracy is improved.
ENi layers are often covered by other layers. Some are at thicknesses that that will completely absorb the phosphorus signal, so that, if the P content is to be determined it must be done prior to adding the final layer(s). ENEPIG coatings that are becoming commonly used in the PCB industry to improve board shelf life and solderability have a thin Pd or PdP layer on the ENi and then a final very thin immersion Au layer. These layers are often thin enough to pass the P signal and sensed with an SDD configured instrument, so that, all three layers can be accurately measured simultaneously with the accuracy and precision required by the recently released IPC IPC-4556 Standard3 (Association Connecting Electronics Industries).
Computing, Software Algorithms & Summary
The technological basis for XRF has been around for a century, but it wasn’t until the introduction of compact and affordable computing (mini computers and PCs) in the 1970s and 80s that XRF spectrometry was able to become widely accepted and the preferred method for compositional analysis of many materials, including the characterization of functional and decorative thin-films—single layer and multi-layer. As a nondestructive technique, measurements are sample matrix dependent. There are physical X-ray matrix effects that can be complicated to deal with. Historically, correcting for these effects required many standards. Today, most spectrometers are supplied with what is termed fundamental parameters (FP) software. FP algorithms use well established X-ray physical constants to correct for matrix effects often without any calibration standards. With fast processing and FP software even complicated sample matrices like the ENEPIG functional coating system described above can be computed in seconds.
Today’s EDXRF spectrometers are compact and fast. FP software and current detector technology have enabled simple solutions to demanding applications, often a single button operation—ideal for many quality measurement requirements.
1 “The High-Frequency Spectra of the Elements,” Philosophical Magazine 26 (1913): 1024-34; 27 (1914): 703-13. 1 plate.
2 Fischer Technology Application Note (AN004en), “Determination of Harmful Substances in Very Small Concentrations – RoHS”
3 IPC Standard 4556, “Specification for Electroless Nickel / Electroless Palladium / Immersion Gold (ENEPIG) Plating for Printed Circuit Boards” | <urn:uuid:fe24ee0a-f446-4945-ab95-bcb6f4647bc2> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.qualitymag.com/articles/91644-xrf-for-todays-quality-assurance | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783408828.55/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624155008-00090-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.933494 | 2,458 | 3.640625 | 4 |
Rainforest collapse drove reptile evolution
Press release issued: 29 November 2010
Global warming devastated tropical rainforests, 300 million years ago. Now scientists report the unexpected discovery that this event triggered an evolutionary burst amongst reptiles – and inadvertently paved the way for the rise of dinosaurs, a hundred million years later.
Dr Howard Falcon-Lang of Royal Holloway, University of London, UK explained: “Climate change caused rainforests to fragment into small ‘islands’ of forest. This isolated populations of reptiles and each community evolved in separate directions, leading to an increase in diversity.”
Professor Mike Benton of the University of Bristol, UK added: “This is a classic ecological response to habitat fragmentation. You see the same process happening today whenever a group of animals becomes isolated from its parent population. It’s been studied on traffic islands between major road systems or, as Charles Darwin famously observed in the Galapagos, on oceanic islands.”
Ms Sarda Sahney, also of the University of Bristol, UK said: “It is fascinating that even in the face of devastating ecosystem-collapse, animals may continue to diversify through the creation of endemic populations.” However, she warned that: “Life may not be so lucky again in the future, should the Amazon rainforest collapse.”
To reach their conclusions, the scientists studied the fossil record of reptiles before and after rainforest collapse. They showed that reptiles became more diverse and even changed their diet as they struggled to adapt to rapidly changing climate and environment.
The new findings are published today in the journal, Geology.
Rainforest collapse triggered Carboniferous tetrapod diversification in Euramerica by Sarda Sahney, Michael J. Benton, and Howard J. Falcon-Lang in Geology | <urn:uuid:01a88ea8-854b-439b-ac4d-ad70ee8f5597> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.bristol.ac.uk/news/2010/7343.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783395620.56/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154955-00082-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.926542 | 378 | 3.515625 | 4 |
You could argue that for many communities in the US the science will come too late. Here the industry is loosely regulated and there have hardly been any scientific studies so far.
By the time the hard evidence comes in, their wells will be fracked and their communities destroyed: people will have been the unwitting guinea pigs in the frack industry’s experiment with their health.
Often we think of America’s fracking wells out in rural areas, but over 15 million Americans now live within a mile of a well that has been drilled and fracked since 2000. That is a lot of people.
In the UK, where there is much greater population density, people would have to live near fracking wells, too.
So in the UK will things be any different?
One of the industry’s biggest cheer-leaders, Lord Browne, argues that it could take five years and the drilling of 20 to 40 fracking wells to judge whether the UK even has a viable shale gas industry.
Although Browne believes that drilling fracking wells should be “a national imperative” for the British, he has a problem. We already have several studies which show significant harm to health and the environment.
In the five years to find out if the UK’s shale gas industry is viable, so many more scientific studies could have been published showing evidence of harm. The million dollar question is – how many studies showing evidence of harm will be published before a politician stands up for the health of local communities rather than their friends in the oil industry?
Last month I blogged about new research linking fracking to impacts on babies. Research was presented at the annual meeting of the American Economic Association which examined the impact of fracking on birth weight in Pennsylvania, home to many fracking wells. The scientists found that the closer babies were to fracking sites, the lower the birth weight.
Now a new study has been published, in the journal Environmental Health Perspectives, examining the health of women in rural Colorado. It too found evidence of harm.
Researchers from the Colorado School of Public Health analysed birth defects among 125,000 births from towns with fewer than 50,000 people between 1996 and 2009. They examined the relationship between the proximity to natural gas wells and birth defects. And once again what they found should be another red flag.
Babies born in areas with the highest density of wells were more than twice as likely to have neural tube defects, such as spina bifida, than those living with no wells within 10 miles. Those living in the areas with most wells also had a 30 percent greater risk of congenital heart defects than those who did not live close to wells.
“What we found was that the risk of congenital heart defects (CHD) increased with greater density of gas wells — with mothers living in the highest-density areas at greatest risk,” Lisa McKenzie, a research associate at the Colorado School of Public Health and the lead author of the study, told the media.
Interestingly, the researchers did not find a relationship between low birth weight and fracking as the Pennsylvania study had done. What this tells us is that two surveys have shown a link between fracking and harm to babies. More research is urgently needed, say the authors, who argue that air pollution could be causing the defects: “exposure to benzene is a plausible explanation for the observed associations”.
They concluded: “Taken together, our results and current trends in natural gas development underscore the importance of conducting more comprehensive and rigorous research on the potential health effects of natural gas development.” | <urn:uuid:91e1cb83-3e64-4e45-a4f9-ba237cbcfc0e> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://priceofoil.org/2014/02/03/second-study-shows-health-link-fracking-babies/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783393997.50/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154953-00094-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.968264 | 730 | 2.8125 | 3 |
The Canyon Pintado Historic District includes hundreds of archeological sites, most deriving from the Fremont culture (ca.100-1300 AD) and Ute occupations (ca. 1300-1881) of Douglas Creek Canyon. The name “Cañon Pintado,” meaning painted canyon, comes from the 1776 Dominguez-Escalante expedition, the first EuroAmerican expedition to traverse the canyon.
Seven interpreted archeological locations in Canyon Pintado and four on the Dragon Trail are available to the public as recreation areas. Each are highlighted on the downloadable map and brochure (see right column) with additional information provided at site interpretation panels.
The East Four-Mile Draw Recreation Site within the Canyon Pintado Historic District features a shaded picnic area, a restroom, and a trail loop from which one can see such archeological sites: a line shack related to early ranching in the area and multiple rock art sites, including the Sun Dagger Site. | <urn:uuid:fc2d4b73-835e-4829-b3d4-8def5c97bd94> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.blm.gov/co/st/en/fo/wrfo/wrfo_cultural_resources/canyon_pintado_historic.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783397873.63/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154957-00163-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.857462 | 204 | 3.09375 | 3 |
The Voyager 1 and 2 Saturn encounters occurred nine months
apart, in November 1980 and August 1981. Voyager 1
the solar system. Voyager 2 completed its encounter with
Uranus in January 1986 and with Neptune in August
and is now also en route out of the solar system.
a summary of scientific findings by the two Voyagers at
Saturn, click here. | <urn:uuid:53882dfd-00a9-4bc4-9d74-afb63390c924> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://voyager.jpl.nasa.gov/gallery/saturn.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783397213.30/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154957-00171-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.925555 | 78 | 2.515625 | 3 |
If you think climate change just means hotter summers in California, think again. The writer of this week’s guest post argues that we’ll all “feel the heat” in myriad ways, both obvious and subtle.
Climate and Nature
by Anthony Barnosky
Some impacts of climate change in California are pretty obvious, things like rising sea level submerging large parts of the San Francisco Bay region, or drought cutting into our water supplies. Less obvious, but every bit as important, are impacts on something you probably don’t even know you have: your relationship with nature.
One part of that relationship is the concept of “ecosystem services;” the direct benefits you get from nature. California’s Climate Action Team highlighted some of the state’s ecosystem services in their recent report. Examples include the ski trip you may have taken this winter, the salmon fillet you may have bought at the grocery store, or surprisingly, even your hamburger.
Snow will be less, soggier, at higher elevations, and on the ground for fewer days of the winter, melting some of the $500 million-per-year revenues of the ski industry–not to mention melting your favorite ski run. Altered river dynamics and temperatures will almost certainly cut into the state’s $33-million-per-year salmon industry. Climate-caused loss of forage means that in 2070 California’s cattle ranchers will be losing up to $92 million in comparison to today’s markets, which means higher beef prices at the grocery store. Combined, the losses in these ecosystem services likely will cost the state’s already suffering economy well over a hundred million dollars per year as we move into the next few decades. And those are just three of many ecosystem services that will be affected.
A second part of your relationship to nature is the species around you, that is to say, biodiversity. Simply put, biodiversity is which species live in a place, and the extent to which those species are rare or common. In general, biodiversity means more productive and healthier ecosystems, which translates as more benefits to humans that inhabit those areas. As it turns out, California is a globally recognized biodiversity hotspot, unique in the world. But biodiversity losses from global warming promise to be severe: one study predicts that two-thirds of the 2387 plant species found only in the state will lose 80% of their range within the century.
The third part of your relationship to nature is how it makes you feel. There’s no question: you can’t get the same feeling you get looking at a giant redwood anywhere but in a redwood forest. Among species that may have little or no suitable climate left in California, however, are its coastal redwoods and sequoias.
Such impacts of climate change on nature are not confined to California. Many other reports indicate that global warming is redefining our relationship to nature worldwide. As with other impacts, this one can be partially mitigated by reducing greenhouse gas emissions immediately, but also will require some new management strategies for preserving nature in the age of global warming. California, in particular, has a lot to lose.
Anthony D. Barnosky is a Professor of Integrative Biology at the University of California, Berkeley and author of the recently published Heatstroke: Nature in an Age of Global Warming. You can read more on this topic in his blog. Photos by the author.
Barnosky is scheduled to appear Saturday as part of Berkeley’s “Cal Day” activities. His talk is scheduled for noon at the Valley Life Sciences Bldg, Room 2060, followed by a book-signing at the T-Rex (which is hard to miss). | <urn:uuid:64ed0d08-95d2-4c2f-8778-2190b66bea2d> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://blogs.kqed.org/climatewatch/tag/desert/page/3/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783392099.27/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154952-00156-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.950071 | 778 | 2.796875 | 3 |
Daily Topic for February 25, 2007
Returning to Jerusalem and entering the temple, Jesus began driving out those who were buying and selling there. In an act of righteous judgment, Jesus upset tables and benches and prevented anyone from carrying merchandise through the temple courts. Merchants had been using the fore court (a place set aside as a court of prayer for the Gentiles) for fraudulent activities. Jesus’ action restored this court as a place where the Gentiles could worship according to God’s original intention (1 Kings 8:43).
Lord, open our eyes so that we may see how our ignorance and selfishness might keep other peoples from coming to You.
In the 8th century, a small group of Jewish people in Mesopotamia split off from the main body of rabbinical Jews. They believed that the Scriptures should be the only source of authority, not the teachings and traditions of the rabbis. They called their belief system a Mosiac (i.e., a Moses-based) religion, and explained that their beliefs grew out of Judaism in the same way as Christianity.
Centuries later, this group had migrated to Eastern Europe and become known as the Karaim people. In the 1930s, they successfully petitioned the German government to declare them non-Jews so they wouldn’t face Nazi persecution. Some were murdered anyway, before knowledge of the new law reached all Nazis.
A small group to begin with, in 1991 there were only about 150 Karaim people in Poland (50 each in Warsaw, Gdansk and Varcelova). Most were over the age of 50. The Karaite language faces extinction, partly because it was not taught during the communist years. Today it is used only by a few older people in two communities.Learn more at joshuaproject.net
Pray that the New Testament would be translated into the Karaite language. Pray they would seize the opportunity to read the New Testament, and to grasp its significance. Pray they will soon turn to Jesus to give them everlasting life.-JWS | <urn:uuid:2433abe0-4bc7-4a4c-ac3b-dcde6978f52e> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.globalprayerdigest.org/index.php/issue/day/2007/02/25 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783393146.70/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154953-00039-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.973879 | 422 | 2.53125 | 3 |
Peter Cartwright on Cane Ridge and the New LightsThen the Methodist Episcopal Church had war, and rumors of war, almost on every side. The dreadful diversity of opinion among these New Lights, their want of any standard of doctrines, or regular Church discipline, made them an easy prey to prowling wolves of any description. Cartwright describes a restoration movement among many denominations and the good and evil results of attempting a Restoration Movement with charismatic exercises. This Harper's Weekly would have been inspired by the sort of figure cut by Peter Cartwright. Billy Graham Center. Another picture.
Howard A. Snyder writes: "Colorful apostle of frontier American Methodism during its great westward surge, Peter Cartwright (1785-1872) was in may ways the successor to Francis Asbury as pioneer evangelist and church planter.
Born in Virginia, Cartwright moved with his family to the Kentucky wilderness frontier as a child. In the wake of the Cane Ridge revival he was converted in a combined Presbyterian-Methodist camp meeting after weeks of spiritual struggle. He soon joined the Methodists, to the joy of his devout Methodist mother.
In 1802 Cartwright, then sixteen, was licensed to exhort and some months later, when he and his family moved further west, was shocked to learn he had been commissioned to carve out a new frontier Methodist circuit. He traveled over Tennessee, Kentucky and surrounding areas.
In his Autobiography of Peter Cartwright, The Backwoods Preacher edited by W. P. Strickland (New York: Carlton & Porter, 1856), pgs. 30-33 he notes that:
"Somewhere between 1800 and 1801, in the upper part of Kentucky, at a memorable place called "Cane Ridge," there was appointed a sacramental meeting by some of the Presbyterian ministers, at which meeting, seemingly unexpected by ministers or people, the mighty power of God was displayed in a very extraordinary manner; many were moved to tears, and bitter and loud crying for mercy.
"The meeting was protracted for weeks. Ministers of almost all denominations flocked in from far and near. The meeting was kept up by night and day. Thousands heard of the mighty work, and came on foot, on horse back, in carriages and wagons. It was supposed that there were in attendance at times during the meeting from twelve to twenty-five thousand people. Hundreds fell prostrate under the mighty power of God, as men slain in battle. Stands were erected in the woods from which preachers of different Churches proclaimed repentance toward God and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, and it was supposed, by eye and ear witnesses, that between one and two thousand souls were happily and powerfully converted to God during the meeting. It was not unusual for one, two, three, and four to seven preachers to be addressing the listening thousands at the same time from the different stands erected for the purpose. The heavenly fire spread in almost every direction. It was said, by truthful witnesses, that at times more than one thousand persons broke into loud shouting all at once, and that the shouts could be heard for miles around.
"From this camp-meeting, for so it ought to be called, the news spread through all the Churches, and through all the land, and it excited great wonder and surprise; but it kindled a religious flame that spread all over Kentucky and through many other states. And I may here be permitted to say, that this was the first camp- meeting ever held in the United States, and here our camp-meetings took their rise.
"As Presbyterian, Methodist, and Baptist ministers all united in the blessed work at this meeting, when they returned home to their different congregations, and carried the news of this mighty work, the revival spread rapidly throughout the land; but many of the ministers and members of the synod of Kentucky thought it all disorder, and tried to stop the work. They called their preachers who were engaged in the revival to account, and censured and silenced them. These ministers then rose up and unitedly renounced the jurisdiction of the Presbyterian Church, organized a Church of their own, and dubbed it with the name of Christian. Here was the origin of what was called the New Lights.
"They renounced the Westminster Confession of Faith, and all Church discipline, and professed to take the New Testament for their Church discipline. They established no standard of doctrine; every one was to take the New Testament, read it, and abide his own construction of it. Marshall, M'Namar, Dunlevy, Stone, Huston, and others, were the chief leaders in this trash trap. Soon a diversity of opinion sprang up, and they got into a Babel confusion. Some preached Arian, some Socinian, and some Universalist doctrines; so that in a few years you could not tell what was harped or what was danced. They adopted the mode of immersion, the water-god of all exclusive errorists; and directly there was a mighty controversy about the way to heaven, whether it was by water or by dry land.
"In the meantime a remnant of preachers that broke off from the Methodist Episcopal Church in 1792, headed by James O'Kelly, who had formed a party because he could not be a bishop in said Church, which party he called the Republican Methodist Church, came out to Kentucky and formed a union with these New Lights.
"Then the Methodist Episcopal Church had war, and rumors of war, almost on every side. The dreadful diversity of opinion among these New Lights, their want of any standard of doctrines, or regular Church discipline, made them an easy prey to prowling wolves of any description.
"Soon the Shaker priests came along, and off went M'Namar, Dunlevy, and Huston, into that foolish error. Marshall and others retraced their steps. B. W. Stone stuck to his New Lightism, and fought many bloodless battles, till he grew old and feeble, and the mighty Alexander Campbell, the great, arose and poured such floods of regenerating water about the old man's cranium, that he formed a union with this giant errorist, and finally died, not much lamented out of the circle of a few friends. And this is the way with all the New Lights, in the government, morals, and discipline of the Church. This Christian, or New Light Church, is a feeble and scattered people, though there are some good Christians among them. I suppose since the day of Pentecost, there was hardly ever a greater revival of religion than at Cane Ridge; and if there had been steady, Christian ministers, settled in Gospel doctrine and Church discipline, thousands might have been saved to the Church that wandered off in the mazes of vain, speculative divinity, and finally made shipwreck of the faith, fell back, turned infidel, and lost their religion and their souls forever. But evidently a new impetus was given to the work of God, and many, very many, will have cause to bless God forever for this revival of religion throughout the length and breadth of our Zion.
Then on page 38 he describes the Cane Ridge meeting:
"The power of God was wonderfully displayed; scores of sinners fell under the preaching, like men slain in mighty battle; Christians shouted aloud for joy." (p. 38)
"I have seen more than a hundred sinners fall like dead men under one powerful sermon, and I have seen and heard more than five hundred Christians all shouting aloud the high praises of God at once; and I will venture to assert that many happy thousands were awakened and converted to God at these camp meetings. Some sinners mocked, some of the old dry professors opposed, some of the old starched Presbyterian preachers preached against these exercises, but still the work went on and spread almost in every direction, gathering additional force, until our country seemed all coming home to God" (p. 43).
"Just in the midst of our controversies on the subject of the powerful exercises among the people under preaching, a new exercise broke out among us, called the jerks, which was overwhelming in its effects upon the bodies and minds of the people. No matter whether they were saints or sinners, they would be taken under a warm song or sermon and seized with a convulsive jerking all over, which they could not by any possibility avoid, and the more they resisted, the more they jerked. If they would not strive against it and pray in good earnest, the jerking would usually abate. I have seen more than five hundred persons jerking at one time in my large congregations. Most usually, persons taken with the jerks, to obtain relief, as they said, would rise up and dance. Some would run, but could not get away. Some would resist; on such the jerks were generally very severe.
"To see those proud young gentlemen and young ladies, dressed in their silks, jewelry, and prunella, from top to toe, take the jerks, would often excite my risibilities. The first jerk or so, you would see their fine bonnets, caps, and combs fly; and so sudden would be the jerking of the head that their long loose hair would crack almost as loud as a wagoner's whip" (p. 45).
"I always looked upon the jerks as a judgment sent from God, first, to bring sinners to repentance; and, secondly, to show professors that God would work with or without means, and that he could work over and above means, and do whatsoever seemeth to him good, to the glory of his grace and the salvation of the world.
"There is no doubt in my mind that with weak-minded, ignorant, and superstitious persons, there was a great deal of sympathetic feeling with many that claimed to be under the influence of this jerking exercise [i.e. mere human emotion]; and yet, with many, it was perfectly involuntary. It was, on all occasions, my practice to recommend fervent prayer as a remedy, and it almost universally proved an effective antidote" (p. 46).
"There were many other strange and wild exercises into which the subjects of this revival fell; such, for instance, as what was called the running, jumping, barking exercise. The Methodist preachers generally preached against this extravagant wildness. I did it uniformly in my little ministrations, and sometimes gave great offense; but I feared no consequences when I felt my awful responsibilities to God" (p. 46).
And later in 1809 Peter Cartwright wrote:
"At the close of the meeting we had many seekers who had not obtained comfort. Twelve of them got into a two-horse wagon, and myself with them. We had to go about fifteen miles, but before we reached our home every one of them got powerfully converted, and we sung and shouted aloud along the road, to the very great astonishment of those who lived along the way" (p. 84).
In 1812 a slave owner, Sister S. was struggling in agony for a clean heart. Cartwright recounts: "She then and there covenanted with the Lord, if he would give her the blessing, she would give up her slaves and set them free.
She said this covenant had hardly been made one moment, when God filled her soul with such an overwhelming sense of Divine love, that she did not really know whether she was in or out of the body.
She rose from her knees, and proclaimed to listening hundreds that she had obtained the blessing.... She went through the vast crowd with holy shouts of joy, and exhorting all to taste and see that the Lord was gracious, and such a power attended her words that hundreds fell to the ground, and scores of souls were happily born into the kingdom of God that afternoon and during the night" (p. 94).
Autobiography of Peter Cartwright : Backwoods Preacher (Hardback)
5.26.05 10:32p 2700 12.13.13 8000 | <urn:uuid:bf46af6c-1197-47de-bdfe-fdfdbb95055a> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.piney.com/RMCart.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783396027.60/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154956-00075-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.981388 | 2,486 | 2.515625 | 3 |
Seal EggsLanguage brain teasers are those that involve the English language. You need to think about and manipulate words and letters.
Translate each word group into a phonetic sound, and then string them all together to form the name of a body of water.
polar or grizzly, finger jewelry, not curved
Translation... Bear, Ring, Straight
Answer... Bering Strait
1. Vehicle, curved bone, to exist, not yang, to look at
2. Circle segment, bloodsucking arachnid, to be in debt, tibia
3. Cat sound, dreidel letter, 18-hole sport
4. Unaffiliated film, Japanese currency, interjection, to eschew
5. Helper, flightless South American bird, clock sound, programming language
HintSome of these are stretches, but they'll be obvious if you focus on the sounds.
Answer1. Car - Rib - Be - Yin - See == Caribbean Sea
2. Arc - Tick - Owe - Shin == Arctic Ocean
3. Purr - Shin - Golf == Persian Gulf
4. Indie - Yen - Oh! - Shun == Indian Ocean
5. Aid - Rhea - Tick - C == Adriatic Sea
See another brain teaser just like this one...
Or, just get a random brain teaser
If you become a registered user you can vote on this brain teaser, keep track of
which ones you have seen, and even make your own.
Back to Top | <urn:uuid:9f703ac2-7115-4c66-bd84-a39c3f3f69dc> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.braingle.com/brainteasers/teaser.php?op=2&id=24778&comm=0 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783397749.89/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154957-00110-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.861014 | 315 | 2.84375 | 3 |
Here’s one for the “why didn’t we figure this out sooner” file, or maybe the “gee – those of us air-breathers really are different from our gilled cousins!” You see, for years one of the primary methods of determining the ability of a chemical to accumulate in living creatures was to study the accumulation (or bioaccumulation) of the chemical in fish. The model is based on the idea that fat-loving chemicals, which includes most bioaccumulative chemicals, are essentially absorbed from the surrounding water by fish, or, more or less technically, by “swimming bags of lipid.” Those that are not rapidly metabolized are retained in the fat, allowing not only for accumulation in our little fish, but also for the proverbial big fish that eats the little fish all the way up the food chain to polar bears, bald eagles and homo sapiens. Some infamous lipid-loving chemicals that we all know and fear include certain PCBs, dioxins, and DDTs.
Most governments, including the
Great! No more bioaccumlative chemicals climbing up the food chain. Problem solved. Or is it? A recent report by Barry Kelly, Frank Gobas and others, published in Science (Volume 317, pages 236-239) suggests that our current method for evaluating bioaccumulation may miss – and in a big way. According the study, some chemicals that don’t accumulate in fish, or chemicals that might pass the “swimming lipid bag” test with flying colors, can accumulate land mammals and marine mammals.
What’s the difference? After all fat is fat – be it a swimming or walking bag of lipid (which I must admit sometimes I’ve felt myself as I struggle to squeeze into my favorite jeans at the end of the summer.) Turns out, as with anything, there’s more to bioaccumulation than hanging out in fat. Living organisms are dynamic creatures, and most things that enter the body have the potential to be metabolized and/or excreted. Even chemicals that hide out in fat can be eliminated given enough time. But what’s different between fish and polar bears or fish and humans (among other things) is that according to Kelly and others, “…air-breathing organisms in this analysis exhibit higher [biomagnification factors] than those in water-respiring organisms because of their greater ability to absorb and digest their diet, which is related to differences in digestive tract physiology and body temperature.” Additionally, note the author, air-breathers may be less efficient when it comes to eliminating certain chemicals from their bodies than water-respirers.
Go figure. This is where, as a toxicologist who bought into the “bag of lipid” model years ago without question, now wonders – what was I thinking? Chemicals that might pass (and have passed) the fish bioaccumulation test, wouldn't pass a mammalian test, according to the authors who note that these chemicals, “representing a third of organic chemicals in commercial use, constitute an unidentified class of potentially bioaccumulative substances that require regulatory assessment to prevent possible ecosystem and human-health consequences.”Time once again, to reconsider how we evaluate and regulate, and release chemicals into our environment. | <urn:uuid:6d55aedf-5595-42f8-be35-90ff93afc916> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://theneighborhoodtoxicologist.blogspot.com/2007/07/doh-theres-more-to-bioaccumulation-than.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783397567.28/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154957-00068-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.955298 | 698 | 2.5625 | 3 |
My code will compile, but will not populate the table, or it runs an infinite loop. This version shows the empty table. The infinite loop happens when i move the fallDistance function outside of the for loop. I thought it needed a while loop since the value of seconds and meters weren't determined.
My textbook is only pseudocode, the C++ Language Companion is very sparse. I have 3 C++ books I have been consulting for, oh gee, let's say the last 6 hours.
Please help me find where it is out of sequence or whatever I've done wrong. This is the first problem using srand(), time(0, and the #include <cstdlib> and #include <ctime>
Line 44: I copied that from the Celsius to Fahrenheit program I had written for another assignment because I thought that may have been a missing piece. -- took that out
Line 58: I set the seconds to 10, that only displayed 10. I renamed the variables of the function and that made it display correctly but only 1 second. Then I uninitialized those variables and it worked!
The program is to calculate how far (in meters) a star falls per second ( ranging from (1-10 seconds). I should start writing that at the top. | <urn:uuid:e24a3283-163c-485c-b000-a23d89b6e636> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.cplusplus.com/forum/beginner/115462/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783396029.85/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154956-00042-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.930839 | 263 | 2.75 | 3 |
Don't let inaccuracy hold you back in lab! This video introduces the proper methods for measuring precise volumes of liquid using pipets, burets, volumetric flasks, and syringes.
Learn how to master the art of titration in this video – with a detailed demonstration of an acid/base titration using phenolphthalein.
Thin-layer chromatography is the most commonly used analytical technique in many research labs. This video walks you through every step, from setting up a developing chamber to calculating Rf values.
Discover a few of the more complicated skills related to thin layer chromatography – cutting glass TLC plates, flame-pulling spotters, and using TLC stains to visualize spots.
|5||Reaction Work-Up I|
Extracting, Washing and Drying: It ain't over 'til it's over. Learn how to "work up" your reaction using a separatory funnel to perform a liquid-liquid extraction. This is one purification technique you don't want to miss!
|6||Reaction Work-Up II|
Using the Rotavap: The rotary evaporator is your friend in the lab. This video will ensure that you build a safe and productive relationship.
The easiest way to separate a liquid from a solid? Filtration! Learn how to effectively carry out gravity and vacuum filtrations in this video.
From solid to gas, and then straight back to solid. This purification technique is both beautiful and useful. Find out why by watching the atmospheric pressure sublimation of ferrocene in this video.
Recrystallization takes patience, but it's worth it! This video walks you through the procedure, from solubility tests to cold filtration, with information on one-solvent and two-solvent recrystallizations.
It takes considerable practice to master the art of "running a column". This video will get you started, with tips on picking appropriate conditions, packing and running a column, monitoring separation, and even making a micro-column from a pipet.
|11||Using a Balance|
Correct usage and maintenance of a balance is a basic skill that is essential in any laboratory procedure.
|12||Melting Point Determination|
Throughout your laboratory experiences, you will frequently need to assess the purity or identity of a crystalline solid. Both of these goals can be accomplished by determining a compound's melting point.
|13||Using an Automatic Pipet|
The most accurate method of transferring liquids less than 1 mL in volume involves the use of an automatic pipette. Learn the proper techniques for ensuring accuracy and precision in your laboratory work.
|14||Making Buffers and Using a pH Meter|
Many chemistry and biochemistry procedures will require you to perform a reaction at a specific pH. This video demonstrates two methods of buffer preparation and proper use of the pH meter.
|15||Distillation I: Simple & Fractional Distillations|
Learn how to separate or purify liquid mixtures that boil below 150°C with or without a fractionating column.
|16||Distillation II: Vacuum Distillations|
Do you need to purify a liquid that boils above 150°C? This video shows you how to perform a distillation under vacuum.
|17||Refluxing a Reaction|
Most organic reactions occur slowly at room temperature and require heat to allow them to go to completion in a reasonable time frame. Running a reaction under reflux allows you to heat a reaction without losing solvent due to evaporation and with causing an explosion. | <urn:uuid:5172bb33-63fc-40fd-ba51-1a5fc23daddc> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://ocw.mit.edu/resources/res-5-0001-digital-lab-techniques-manual-spring-2007/videos/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783395613.65/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154955-00147-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.849107 | 750 | 2.828125 | 3 |
Hopeful step in fight against Ebola virus
US authorities have given the green light for human volunteers to be tested with a new treatment for Ebola, a notorious African virus and feared future weapon of bioterrorism.
The move follows research findings, appearing online in the journal Nature Medicine, which show the treatment is 60% effective when given to rhesus monkeys within an hour of them being infected by the deadliest strain of Ebola.
The research also showed a companion drug was 100% effective in shielding cynomolgus monkeys against Ebola's cousin, the Marburg virus.
After studying the findings, the US Food and Drug Administration has approved trials of the treatment on a small group of human volunteers.
Ebola and Marburg are part of a family of so-called filoviruses, which cause haemorrhagic fever - a disease with mortality rates of up to 90% where, in some cases, the patient bleeds to death.
The drugs are in a class of compound called PMO, for phosphorodiamidate morpholino oligomers.
They are designed to hamper the virus' replication in cells, thus buying time for the immune system to mount a response and crush the invader.
The research was conducted by the US Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases in collaboration with a Washington-based biotech firm, AVI BioPharma.
The Pentagon pumped funding into research for a vaccine and treatment for Ebola-type viruses in the wake of the 9 September 2001 terror attacks on the US.
Filoviruses are on the list of pathogens such as anthrax that are considered tempting sources for biological warfare or terrorism.
An important step in combating Ebola was announced in May this year, again using tests on lab monkeys but involving a somewhat different technique to disrupt viral replication.
A team at the US National Emerging Diseases Laboratory Institute at Boston University Medical School designed drugs with small interfering RNAs, or siRNAs, which hamstring reproductive enzymes.
Despite this progress, a long road lies ahead before any treatment is licensed for humans, experts say.
Testing a prototype drug is a three-phase process that starts with a tiny group of volunteers, where it is initially assessed for safety, and then broadens out to successively bigger groups, where effectiveness becomes a parallel question.
According to the World Health Organization, about 1,850 cases of Ebola, with some 1,200 deaths, have occurred since 1976.
The virus has a natural reservoir in several species of African fruit bat. Gorillas and other non-human primates are also susceptible to the disease. | <urn:uuid:aa841124-6b31-4194-b6cd-12230bd54a83> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.abc.net.au/science/articles/2010/08/23/2990702.htm?site=science/basics&topic=latest | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783392159.3/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154952-00154-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.94499 | 531 | 3.234375 | 3 |
Pick a number x between 0 and 1. Then repeatedly replace x with 4x(1-x). For almost all starting values of x, the result exhibits chaos. Two people could play this game with starting values very close together, and eventually their sequences will diverge.
It’s somewhat surprising that the iterative process described above can be written down in closed form. Starting from a value x0, the value after n iterations is
sin( 2n arcsin( √ x0 ) )2.
Now suppose two people start with the same initial value. One repeatedly applies 4x(1-x) and the other uses the formula above. If both carried out their calculations exactly, both would produce the same output at every step. But what if both used a computer?
The two approaches correspond to the Python functions
g below. Because both functions are executed in finite precision arithmetic, both have errors, but they have different errors. Suppose we want to look at the difference between the two functions as we increase
from scipy import arcsin, sin, sqrt, linspace from matplotlib import pyplot as plt def f(x0, n): x = x0 for _ in range(n): x = 4*x*(1-x) return x def g(x0, n): return sin(2.0**n * arcsin(sqrt(x0)))**2 n = 40 x = linspace(0, 1, 100) plt.plot(x, f(x, n) - g(x, n)) plt.ylim(-1, 1) plt.show()
When we run the code, nothing exciting happens. The difference is a flat line.
Next we increase
n to 45 and we start to see the methods diverge.
The divergence is large when
n is 50.
And the two functions are nearly completely uncorrelated when
n is 55.
So which function is more accurate,
g? As noted in the comments, the two functions have different kinds of numerical errors. The former accumulates arithmetic precision error at each iteration. The latter shifts noisy bits into significance by multiplying by 2^
n. Apparently both about the same overall error, though they have different distributions of error.
g using 100-digit precision with
mpmath and used the results as the standard to evaluate the output of
g in ordinary precision. Here’s a plot of the errors when
n = 45, first with
and then with
The average absolute errors of
g are 0.0024 and 0.0015 respectively. | <urn:uuid:66436b6d-e153-4a72-94d7-9d3fc4d9a847> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.johndcook.com/blog/2013/02/25/exact-chaos/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783402746.23/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624155002-00029-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.89251 | 550 | 3.796875 | 4 |
Principles of Organic Land Care
The mission of the Organic Land Care Program is to extend the vision and principles of organic
Agriculture to the care of the landscapes where most people carry out their daily lives. We do this by educating land care professionals and the general public about the virtues of organic land care and about practices which maintain soil health, eliminate synthetic pesticide and synthetic fertilizer use increase landscape diversity and improve the health and well-being of the people and web of life in our care.
The Organic Land Care Program, formed in 1999, has developed these standards as part of the process of educating land care professionals about the meaning of the word "organic" and to present our vision of how these principles can be applied to the landscaping profession. Through an education and Accreditation program, we hope to make available to the public landscaping services that will meet or exceed the standards presented here. We also hope to educate the public about the meaning of "organic" and the benefits of this option for care of the land around their own homes, neighborhoods, and communities.
Basic Principles of Organic Land Care
Adapted from the "Principles of Organic Agriculture," International Federation of Organic Agriculture
1. Principle of health. Organic Land Care should sustain and enhance the health of soil, plant,
animal, human, and planet as one and indivisible.
2. Principle of ecology. Organic Land Care should be based on living ecological systems andcycles, work with them, emulate them, and help sustain them.
3. Principle of fairness. Organic Land Care should build on relationships that ensure fairness with
regard to the common environment and life opportunities. Fairness is characterized by equity, respect, justice, and stewardship of the shared world, both among people and in their
relationships to other living beings.
4. Principle of care. Organic Land Care should be managed in a precautionary and responsible
manner to protect the health and well-being of current and future generations and the environment.
Health is not simply the absence of illness, but the maintenance of physical, mental, social, and
ecological well-being. Our role is to sustain and enhance the health of ecosystems and organisms from
the smallest in the soil to human beings, and with the future of the planet in mind. We seek to maintain and increase the long-term health of soils, and the diversity, resilience and sustainability of ecosystems. We strive to avoid all forms of pollution in the establishment and care of landscapes.
Right Plant, Right Place
Plant health depends on growing the plant in the right place and in healthy soil appropriate to the habitat and needs of the plant. Plants have evolved to occur in certain niches in the landscape. Choosing plants suited to a specific site, rather than modifying a site for the plants, is the embodiment of "Right Plant, Right Place."
We seek to work with natural systems rather than trying to dominate them, and to encourage and enhance biological cycles involving microorganisms, soil flora and fauna, plants, and animals. These cycles are universal, but their operation is site-specific. We work as much as possible within a closed system with regard to organic matter and nutrient elements, and, when inputs are needed, to use renewable resources from local sources. We must protect the diversity of the land and its surroundings, including protection of native plant and wildlife habitats.
Organic Land Care depends upon the principles of ecology and sustainability for long-term health of
plants and soils. Ecology describes the relationships among living things and their surroundings.
Sustainability relates to the ability of living things to survive. When plants are carefully chosen for a site and planted and maintained according to these principles, they will thrive for the long term.
An integral part of organic land care is stewardship of the earth's inhabitants, including humankind. To be an organic land care employer entails a strong belief in this ethic, including fair distribution of assets and benefits, development of business systems that respect the requirements of nature, family needs, personal values and goals, and sustainability. To be considered sustainable, our businesses must be economically sound, socially acceptable, and environmentally benign. Each company should set a required amount of hours to be worked. Any work beyond this should be voluntary, and the employee
paid for the time in accordance with all applicable laws.
We offer this as a philosophical statement, rather than a mandate. Business owners must be free to define honest and ethical social conduct within their own personal beliefs and conditions. In any case, all federal, state, and local laws must be complied with.
Employees involved in organic land care must receive compensation which meets their basic needs and
allows fair return and satisfaction from their work. Included in this compensation is a safe, respectful,
working environment that ensures their basic dignity. Employees are entitled to at least one day of rest out of every seven. Employees are to be informed in a timely and thorough manner of their legal rights and the policies of the company. Employees must be informed of any hazards in the workplace (e.g., toxic materials, dangerous equipment), be properly trained, provided all necessary personal safety equipment and be instructed in its use, and be well protected from such hazards. Employees are to be allowed sufficient and adequate breaks for rest, intake of food and water, and use of sanitary facilities.
Employers are entitled to an honest day's work from their employees, adherence to all agreed-upon
company policies, as well as reasonable care of company property and respect for clients and vendors.
Employers are encouraged to go beyond the minimal employer-employee relationship by increasing
participation and responsibility of employees in the business, with wages and benefits commensurate
with such increased responsibility. Employers are entitled to fair and equitable treatment and pricing
from vendors, as well as acceptable terms of payment, and to be treated with respect and compensated in a timely manner by their clients.
Clients of the company are entitled to honest and ethical business practices, a fair price for materials and services provided, and a job performed to their fair, reasonable satisfaction.
Vendors of the company are entitled to honest and ethical business practices and to compensation within the terms agreed upon with the company.
We must consider the wider social and ecological impacts of the materials and techniques used and the landscapes created.
Do No Harm
Every land use decision we make will have a positive or negative effect on the land in our care. One of
the tenets of organic land care is to protect and enhance the natural elements that exist on a site-to do no harm. Elements that benefit the whole ecosystem--such as indigenous plants and soils, wildlife
corridors and habitat, riparian buffers and watershed drainage, and their interaction with each other and their surroundings--should be carefully considered before any site "improvements" are made. If these natural elements are damaged or nonexistent, then restoration or establishment should be the aim. This can be best done by studying natural areas or remnant woods with similar landforms that are close by and using this ecology as a model for restoration.
Genetically Engineered Organisms
In recent years, the organic community has had to address the use of genetically engineered organisms and their products in light of the principles and goals listed above. The National Organic Standards of the United States Department of Agriculture contain the category "excluded methods" for organic growing, and they describe and define "excluded methods" as: "A variety of methods used to genetically modify organisms or influence their growth and development by means that are not possible under natural conditions or processes and are not considered compatible with organic production. Such methods include cell fusion, microencapsulation and macroencapsulation, and recombinant DNA technology (including gene deletion, gene doubling, introducing a foreign gene, and changing the position of genes when achieved by recombinant DNA technology). Such methods do not include the use of traditional breeding, conjugation, fermentation, hybridization, in-vitro fertilization, or tissue culture." | <urn:uuid:d15e6f3c-dbb5-47c1-9cef-d5d539a111d2> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.organiclandcare.net/sites/default/files/newsletters/aolcp/july_2010.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783395620.56/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154955-00018-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.944048 | 1,635 | 2.96875 | 3 |
|Gareth Barnes et al. (2010), Scholarpedia, 5(7):3172.||doi:10.4249/scholarpedia.3172||revision #91452 [link to/cite this article]|
The magnetoencephalogram (MEG) is a record of magnetic fields, measured outside the head, produced by electrical activity within the brain. Typically MEG sensors are housed in a helmet shaped container (or dewar) in which the subject places their head during the measurement process. The magnetic fields are produced by the same underlying electrical changes that give rise to the electroencephalogram (EEG), that is they are due mainly to post-synaptic currents flowing across pyramidal neurons. Unlike the electroencephalogram however the magnetic fields outside the head are hardly affected by the conductivity of the tissues within the head. Accurate reconstruction of the neuronal activity that produced the external magnetic fields therefore requires simpler models than with EEG. The high spatial and temporal resolution with which brain activity can be measured can be used to reveal how groups of neurons communicate and has important clinical applications.
The magnetic fields outside the head due to electrical activity within the brain are in the hundreds of femto (10-15) Tesla, that is approximately 100 million time smaller than the earth's magnetic field. Although the first Magnetoencephalogram was based on a million turn coil (Cohen et al. 1968), modern systems rely on the superconducting quantum interference device or SQUID (Clarke 1994) for sensitivity. These devices convert the sub-quanta changes in magnetic flux into voltage changes. Typically the SQUIDs are coupled to superconducting coils or flux transformers which are situated as close as possible to the subject's head (within 2cm typically). Magnetic field changes in the flux transformers cause a change in superconducting current in the transformer coils that is passed via an input coil to the SQUID itself. The ability to measure such small fields also makes the devices very sensitive to other magnetic field changes in the environment. For example a car at 2km distance would cause a similar change in magnetic flux to that due to brain activity (Weinstock 1996). The next major problem is to separate the brain signal from the external noise.
Magnetically shielded rooms
Typically MEG systems are housed in magnetically shielded rooms. These rooms are often composed of a number of layers of materials with different magnetic properties. For example aluminium shielding is relatively inexpensive and attenuates high (>1Hz) frequency magnetic interference, whereas mu metal shielding () is used to attenuate very low frequency (0.01Hz) interference. Passive shielding factors of 1630 and 240.000 at 0.1 and 1Hz respectively have been reported (Cohen et al. 2002).
The simplest type of flux transformer is the magnetometer. This is a single superconducting coil (radius typically 1cm) situated as close as possible to the subject's head. Such devices are extremely sensitive but also pick up all environmental changes in magnetic field. Most MEG systems therefore contain gradiometers, or a combination of magnetometers and gradiometers, as flux-transformers. A gradiometer comprises two or more oppositely wound coils separated by a certain distance or baseline (typically 5cm), with the coils separated in the direction perpendical to the coils (radial gradiometer, see Figure), or the coils placed in the plane formed by the coils itself (planar gradiometer). Magnetic interference from distant sources will be relatively uniform across the two coils giving an overall net current flow of zero (as they are oppositely wound). Conversely nearby electrical sources (such as those in the head) will differentially effect the coils leading to a net current flow to the SQUID. In practice it is very difficult (even using thin-film fabrication technology) to create two coils of exactly the same dimensions and orientation to better than 0.1% tolerance or balance (Nurminen et al. 2008), which means that 0.1% of a perfectly homogeneous field is measured instead of the required zero output of the gradiometer in this case. Consequently, this imbalance will lead to a small percentage of external noise arriving at the SQUID.
Software noise cancellation
An array of reference channels can be used to compensate for the effects of imbalance, and to noise signals, by subtracting a weighted sum of the reference sensor signals from each signal sensor. The reference sensors are placed in such way that they are least sensitive to the signals of interest, and so contain mostly a record of external noise sources. These weightings can be determined at the factory and effectively create a higher order gradiometer (Vrba et al 1995). Another elegant method is the decomposition of the measured magnetic field into a spherical harmonic set (Taulu and Kajola 2005). Using the assumption that there are no magnetic sources inbetween the sensors and the outside of the brain, one can then show that this set can be split in two part: certain members of this set must have arisen from within the sphere surrounding the head, whilst other harmonics must have arisen at a distance. The removal of these external harmonics means that a large proportion of interference can be rejected. For both these approaches to work effectively, the dynamic range of the MEG electronics should be sufficient to measure the interferences precisely.
The forward problem
This is the problem of computing what the output of the MEG sensors would be if a certain region of cortex were active. To do this, it is necessary to make some assumptions and simplifications:
Dipolar source models
Most measurable MEG signals arise from intracellular longitudinal currents (due to post-dynaptic potentials) within the dendrites of pyramidal cells that are orientated perpendicular to the cortical surface. The electrical current due to a group of adjacent, aligned pyramidal cells can be modelled as an equivalent current dipole. A current dipole is an abstraction that has the dimensions of current times length, though the length is defined as being infinitesimally small. A patch of active cortex may be considered as a set of current dipoles distributed in a palisade. This forms a current dipole layer, which can be considered as a single current dipole when observed from a distance much larger than the dimensions of the area of active cortex. Modelling brain activity with current dipoles has been quite successful, mainly because at a typical measurement distance (at least 2 cm from the source) many current configurations seem dipolar. For larger areas of active cortex, the higher order terms in a multipolar expansion may need to be included in the model (Jerbi et al. 2002). Action potentials are brief and travel in two directions along an axon, which is best modelled as two opposing current dipoles in close proximity, which in turn causes a rapid decay of the produced magnetic field with distance. Temporal and spatial summation, required for a measurable MEG signal, therefore seems unlikely. However, recent work has shown that action potentials may also contribute to the MEG signal (Murakami and Okada 2006), suggesting that alternative models may be required (e.g. a starting or arriving action potential could be modelled as a single stationary dipole).
Volume Conductor Models
The advantage of MEG over EEG lies in the relative simplicity of the volume conductor model required. For example, approximating the outer skull surface by local spheres seems to perform as well as computationally intensive boundary element methods (Huang et al. 1999). This simplicity is due to the fact that MEG is relatively (but not completely) insensitive to secondary currents that flow through the head volume to balance the current flow at the neuronal source (the primary current flow). The price paid for this simplicity is two-fold. Firstly, a substantial loss in sensitivity with distance (proportional to distance squared between source and sensor). That is, MEG is relatively insensitive to sources deep within the brain. Secondly, relative insensitivity to radial sources which theoretically give rise to no external magnetic field (Sarvas 1987) in a perfect spherically symmetric volume conductor (but do produce volume currents, the effect of which are measurable with EEG). Simulation studies have shown that, even if one takes the head to be perfectly spherical, the regions of cortex that are most radial (the crests of the gyri) are also closest to the sensors and surrounded by off-radial cortex to which the MEG system is extremely sensitive. Given that the MEG signal is due to the spatial summation of neuronal currents over at least a few square millimeters, at least part of such gyral sources remain highly visible (Hillebrand and Barnes 2002). The main empirical barrier to MEG is therefore its depth resolution. That said, recent studies have shown that the thalamus (Timmerman et al. 2003), amygdala (Cornwell et al., 2008), and hippocampus (Riggs et al. 2009), can all be reconstructed with MEG.
The inverse problem
For a given magnetic field outside the head, there are an infinite number of electrical current distributions that could have created it. This means that the MEG inverse problem is theoretically ill-posed, having many solutions to a single problem. Such ill-posed problems are however commonly encountered in everyday life. For example, watching television involves the recreation of a three dimensional scene from a two dimensional picture. This is easy for us to do as knowledge of the world, such as the size of people, helps us to mentally place the characters in their correct locations. The MEG inverse problem is therefore certainly soluble, it is simply necessary to understand more about the brain in order to do this. All source localization methods make assumptions about how the brain might work. For example one might assume that no two parts of the brain have exactly the same electrical activity (beamforming). The appropriateness of a certain approach depends on the validity of these assumptions for a particular MEG recording. Source reconstruction is comprehensively addressed elsewhere (see source localization), but it is worth mentioning the two main most popular classes of algorithm.
|Media:Retmovie.AVI||Movie shows MEG beamformer images of electrical changes in the 18-22Hz band in response to a flickering 10Hz rotating checkerboard wedge in a single recording session from one subject (data from Brookes et al. 2010). As the stimulus moves from left to right, upper to lower, visual field the evoked electrical activity in primary visual cortex traverses from right to left and inferior to superior, respectively, consistent with known human retinotopy. That is, although the inverse problem is theoretically impossible to solve, the set of assumption used here produce empirically plausible results.|
Often the underlying assumption is that only one region of cortex is strongly time-locked to an external stimulus. By averaging the brain responses across many presentations of that stimulus the signals due to all other non time-locked sources are attenuated. One can model the electrical activity using a simple dipole model and, in order to estimate the exact location of the active piece of cortex, move it around the brain until the magnetic field it produces matches the measured magnetic field. One can do this for a number of time points or time ranges and for more complex dipole models. Such methods have been used to show basic somatotopy (Baumgartner et al 1991) and even retinotopy (Supek et al. 1999) in MEG. The disadvantages are that the methods are generally poorly suited to characterising responses that do not average very well, such as responses related to higher cognitive functions. Moreover, the more dipoles one incorporates the less stable the fits become (Supek et al. 1993).
Minimum norm based approaches
If one assumes that many electrical sources are active across the cortical sheet at any one time then the number of parameters that need to be estimated are larger than the number of measurements. Additional constraints are therefore needed to obtain a unique solution. With the traditional minimum norm method this is achieved by assuming that out of all source configurations that can explain the measured data, the one that has the minimum overall source power is the optimum one. Or in other words, it assumes that the brain is efficient in terms of its energy use. However using this single assumption results in electrical source estimates that are entirely superficial (as deeper sources would need to have larger amplitude to have the same impact on the sensors), although this can be overcome by depth/noise weighting. Modifications of this approach add additional assumptions, for example that the distribution of source activity across the brain is spatially smooth (Pasqual-Marqui et al. 1994), the use of Bayesian approaches to determine the optimum source parameters (Baillet and Garnero 1997;Sato et al. 2004; Mattout et al. 2006), or the assumption that there is no perfect correlation between any two spatially distinct active brain regions (Hillebrand et al. 2005).
Statistics for MEG images
At the sensor level random field theory has been used to produce statistical images that naturally account for the comparison of multiple channels and the smoothness of the time-frequency changes (Kilner et al. 2005). Several methods have been developed to test the significance of the reconstructed source activity. At the individual level, Monte Carlo approaches are in use for dipole fitting (Mosher et. 1993) and random field and permutation/randomisation approaches for imaging methods (Pantazis et al. 2005). The latter approaches can also be used to assess the significance of results across or between different groups (Singh et al. 2003). Note that these approaches test the significance of the reconstructed activity, but not the correctness of the assumptions that were made by the source reconstruction approach. However, anatomical information may be used to test these assumptions (Barnes et al. 2006).
MEG has many inherent advantages in a clinical setting. The passive nature of the recordings means that scans can be carried out in a safe and silent environment even allowing for a patient’s companion to be present within the shielded room. In many clinical cases the relative insensitivity of MEG localization to tissue inhomogeneities (such as holes in the skull) is a considerable advantage (Flemming et al. 2005). To provide critical functional information pre-surgically MEG is regularly used to map out sensory/motor cortex (Ganslandt et al. 1996; Pang et al. 2008; Nagarajan S 2008). In situations where the dominant site for language needs to be established MEG methods have been shown to compare favourably with invasive surgical procedures such as the WADA test for language (Hirata et al. 2004; Fisher et al. 2008 ). The brain’s resting electrical state provides clear markers of certain pathologies. The localization of ictal and inter-ictal spike complexes with MEG is now widely used to identify epileptic foci for the surgical treatment of intractable epilepsy (Knowlton and Shih 2004; Tanaka et al. 2008; Stufflebeam et al. 2009). In turn focal slow wave activity is characteristic of unhealthy brain tissue. The localization of this very slow wave activity has been shown to arise from tumors or tumor boundaries (Baayen et al. 2003; Oshino et al 2006) and its amplitude has been shown to correlate with cognitive deficit in low-grade glioma patients (Bosma et al. 2008). Indeed in mild head trauma patients with cognitive complaints such low frequency oscillations seem to be diagnostically useful even though no anatomical changes are visible (Lewine et al. 2007) . More recently, graph analysis has been applied to the estimated networks of interacting neurons in order to establish the characteristics of functional networks. One particular type of functional network, the small-world network, seems to meet the dualistic requirements of the modular brain, namely that of simultaneous functional integration and segregation in neurocognitive networks. Clinically, such analysis has been shown to differentiate patient and control groups in Alzheimers (Stam et al. 2008) and Parkinsons disease (Stoffers et al. 2008), and has demonstrated disturbed functional connectivity in brain tumor patients (Bartolomei et al. 2006).
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SQUID Sensors: Fundamentals, Fabrication and Applications. Edited by Harold Weinstock. NATO ASI Series. Series E: Applied Sciences-Vol 329. 1996. | <urn:uuid:89a06c18-700c-4036-842b-763bb52b1c9e> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.scholarpedia.org/article/MEG | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783396945.81/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154956-00026-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.847437 | 6,214 | 3.78125 | 4 |
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DON BRUNELL: Disorder in the American court system
As the debate rages over the causes and consequences of global warming, one impact is certain: global warming is about to create an avalanche of lawsuits against the federal government and private industry.
In October, the U.S. Court of Appeals in New Orleans ruled that residents and landowners along the Gulf Coast of Mississippi could sue 33 energy companies and utilities for damages they suffered from Hurricane Katrina.
The plaintiffs claim the companies emitted greenhouse gases that contributed to global warming, raised sea levels and created conditions that strengthened the Category 5 hurricane.
In September, the Second Circuit Court of Appeals in New York gave the green light to a coalition of eight states, New York City and environmental groups who filed suit against several coal-burning utilities for contributing to global warming.
In August, a group in California sued to block construction of a 123-mile energy transmission line, contending that regulators failed to get concessions from the utility company for the greenhouse gases that would be emitted during the construction project.
James Malloy, with the international law firm K&L Gates, warns that companies across the nation are being threatened by lawsuits alleging that their emissions are contributing to global warming.
Malloy points out that, rather than states and cities suing to reduce emissions, most of the suits are filed by people seeking money for alleged damages.
“The rise of private, often class-action, lawsuits,” warns Malloy, “has the potential to greatly increase the exposure of all affected companies.”
Pete Glaser, a Washington, D.C., attorney, says the recent court decisions indicate that any greenhouse gas emitter can be sued. “The amount of emissions didn’t seem to matter…basically any emitter of greenhouse gases and any producer of fossil fuels…can also be sued.”
Congress is wading in as well. The 1,427 page energy bill passed by the House of Representatives gives enforcement powers over greenhouse gas emissions to “…citizens, states, Indian tribes and all levels of government...”
Simply put, that means everybody can sue everybody.
In addition, the bill says that, even though the effects of global warming aren’t certain, people are still harmed by actions that might worsen global warming.
Interesting concept. No need to prove actual harm, just the likelihood of harm. Does that mean that, if I’m afraid I’ll get hit by a bus someday, I can sue the bus company now?
Why should we care about all this? Because we’re paying for it.
When federal agencies are sued for not adequately policing greenhouse gas emissions, the taxpayers pay the bill through higher taxes.
When individuals and groups sue utilities and energy producers, our utility bills go up. It doesn’t matter if the lawsuits are successful. Companies pay enormous legal fees to battle lawsuits or pay hefty settlements to avoid litigation costs.
When any individual in the country can file a lawsuit against any company, process or activity that emits greenhouse gases, it creates an intensely anti-business climate that will further cripple our economy and drive companies out of business – or out of the United States. And, if a law firm happens to win a huge new class action lawsuit, it means millions, and perhaps in some cases billions, for lawyers who sued.
Ironically, all this litigation could end up harming the environment rather than helping it. Rather than face a future of endless litigation, companies that employ millions of Americans will simply move to countries with less stringent environmental regulations – and our jobs will go with them.
If we are to have any chance of putting millions of Americans back to work, we need climate change all right. We need to change the business climate in this country to encourage, rather than discourage, employers to do business here.
Don Brunell is the president of the Association of Washington Business. | <urn:uuid:96e1d8ff-5fa4-4427-9ffa-4f85338ca944> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.courierherald.com/opinion/78181402.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783394987.40/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154954-00044-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.937897 | 831 | 2.671875 | 3 |
12 June 2012 by Andrew
Artwork created by students from Childwall Sport and Science College go on display in the Anthony Walker Education Centre at the International Slavery Museum from Thursday June 14.
Exhibited as part of the Heroes project, students from year 9 were inspired to produce portraits of historical and contemporary Black role models, from actors such as Morgan Freeman and Denzil Washington to politicians such as Barrack Obama and Malcolm X.
Researching their subject matter meant understanding the contributions of Black and Minority Ethnic people to society.
The Heroes project was devised by Caroline Ihiekwe, Equality and Diversity Advisor at the Criminal Records Bureau in partnership with Childwall College and the International Slavery museum. She said, “Heroes seeks to raise the self-esteem of pupils. The project sends a message to young people of all backgrounds that they can and should aspire to achieve great things. The chance for these young people to exhibit their work at the International Slavery Museum is brilliant because visitors from all over the world will see what they have achieved.”
(Comments are closed for this post.) | <urn:uuid:078347e7-4b20-42b5-ae12-908c3866b3f6> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://blog.liverpoolmuseums.org.uk/2012/06/picture-perfect-heroes/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783396106.25/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154956-00014-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.959024 | 224 | 2.625 | 3 |
Nano-Mesoscopic Interface: Hybrid Devices
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The continuous size reduction associated with the development of microelectronics will, sooner or later, face the need of manipulating single molecules, addressing and contacting them to wanted regions of the device. Although the manipulation of individual molecules is already possible using the scanning tunneling microscope and their functional characterization is usually achieved for thiol-terminated molecules grafted to gold electrodes, both the process (individual management by scanning tunnel microscopy) and material (gold) are, however, incompatible with the integrated-circuit (IC) technology. Batch processing requires that the molecules are addressed to (photolithographically predefined) regions by a difference of chemical potentials. In turn, that requires a control of the chemical terminations of the surfaces of the most important IC films. Among them, the unique single crystalline surface is that of the silicon substrate, which makes it the most serious candidate for the growth of ordered functional films. Of the several producible orientations of silicon, the (100) surface is that with the largest applications. In usual technological cases, the (100) surface of silicon is hydrogen-terminated (immediately after aqueous HF etching) or covered by oxo terminations (after the formation of the native oxide). Although neither one nor the other has the necessary chemical and crystalline order required to be a seed for the deposition of molecular devices, they can, however, be used to prepare clean silicon surfaces with 2 × 1 reconstruction or hydrogen-terminated silicon surfaces with 2 × 1 or 1 × 1 reconstruction. Alkenes or alkynes can be used to functionalize the silicon via cycloaddition to the clean 2 × 1-reconstructed surface or via hydrosilation on the hydrogen-terminated surfaces. | <urn:uuid:39899f5e-158b-42e6-bca6-7d6fc1469fcc> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.nanoscienceworks.org/publications/dekker/120009395/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783396029.85/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154956-00026-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.89231 | 371 | 2.625 | 3 |
The first 'Global economic summit' was convened by the former French President Giscard d'Estaing and the then Federal Chancellor Helmut Schmidt in 1975. Six Heads of State and Government met at Château Rambouillet for informal discussions (Valéry Giscard d'Estaing, France; Helmut Schmidt, Germany; Aldo Moro, Italy; Takeo Miki, Japan; Harold Wilson, UK; Gerald Ford, USA).
Following the first oil crisis and the collapse of fixed exchange rates (Bretton Woods) the participants met to decide their position regarding international economic policy. They agreed on initial measures to counter the continuing global economic downturn.
G6 becomes G7
Photo: BMWi Development of the G8After Canada's accession to the Group at the 1976 summit in Puerto Rico the members met as the G7. Discussions continued to be dominated by monetary issues.
The eighties saw the G7 expand its interest into foreign and security matters. The meetings agendas were strongly influenced by current challenges such as the Iran - Iraq conflict and the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan.
Role of the European Union
The first discussions between the European Community and the G7 were held in London in 1977. Detailed foreign policy discussions with the European Community were then held at the Venice Summit in 1980.
The European Community has regularly taken part in all the sessions since the Ottawa Summit in 1981.
The requirement for the permanent representation of the European Union (EU) in the G8 process is based on its role as one of the most powerful economic areas in the world. An additional factor is the EU's increased involvement in global security issues.
Following the resolution of the East West confrontation, the then Soviet General Secretary Gorbachev applied to join the Group. Gorbachev was first invited to discussions on the fringe of the London Summit in 1991. In 1992 Russia was able to become a member of the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
Following the collapse of the Soviet Union Russia gradually became increasingly involved in the G8 process between 1993 and 1998. The Group of Eight was finally constituted at the Birmingham Summit in 1998: Russia was now a member.
At Kananaskis in 2002 the Heads of State and Government decided that Russia should assume the G8 Presidency for the first time in 2006. The first summit under a Russian Presidency was held in St. Petersburg in July 2006.
The G7 structure continues to be used for discussing certain financial issues. | <urn:uuid:59d6f53b-f822-4123-a566-ee5abe083fc8> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.g-8.de/Webs/G8/EN/Background/History/geschichtlicher-ueberblick.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783396455.95/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154956-00001-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.954424 | 508 | 3.140625 | 3 |
Don’t miss out. Stay Informed. Get EcoWatch’s Top News of the Day.
Research from organizations such as the Children’s Food Trust shows that improving our children’s diet now—and for the rest of their lives—means teaching them about food and giving them the skills they need to cook healthy meals from scratch. Food literacy helps children to make better food choices and reflect on their choices’ ecological and social implications, as Kirk Bergstrom, executive director of the Nourish initiative writes.
This map from Center for Science in the Public Interest‘s Food Day and Jamie Oliver Food Foundation USA highlights examples of food and nutrition education activities in schools across the country, from mandatory nutrition education to hands-on programs where kids can touch, feel, taste and cook food.
From California to Virginia, programs are sprouting up that teach kids the importance of choosing nutritious, responsibly raised food. Like in Arizona, where children tour farms. Or in Delaware, where children grow gardens as part of an integrated health and science curriculum. Or in Montana, where farmers make classroom visits to talk about how they raise their food. These programs help children consider the issues of where their food comes from, how it was grown and how it came to them. | <urn:uuid:ba7e3765-cac6-4c9b-ac80-dba8dba1ad17> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://ecowatch.com/2013/10/25/food-education-inspires-kids-to-eat-healthy-and-support-sustainable-farming/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783393997.50/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154953-00036-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.955666 | 262 | 3.828125 | 4 |
NASA?s new spaceship intended to send astronauts into space and ultimately the moon has passed an early design review amid uncertainty over whether the rocket slated to launch it into orbit will ever fly.
The spacecraft, a capsule-based vehicle called Orion, passed a preliminary review this month to make sure there are no glaring problems with the design, which NASA plans to replace its aging space shuttle fleet. Orion capsules are slated to begin operational flights in 2015 and, under the current plan, return astronauts to the moon by 2020.
?I?m very excited about the design of this spacecraft,? said Jeff Hanley, manager of NASA?s Constellation program developing Orion and its Ares I rocket booster. ?It?s a very capable spacecraft not just for low-Earth orbit, but also for returning astronauts to the vicinity of the moon.?
The Orion spacecraft is a 16.5-foot (5-meter) wide capsule designed to carry at least four astronauts on crew change flights to the International Space Station or on longer expeditions to the moon. NASA originally envisioned launching six people aboard Orion, but scaled down the crew size for the first flights earlier this year in order to maintain the 2015 flight schedule.
Orion?s preliminary design review, a major project milestone, comes as uncertainly looms over the spacecraft?s Ares I rocket, a two-stage booster slated to make its first test flight on Oct. 31.
Earlier this month, an independent committee appointed by the White House to review NASA?s plans for human space exploration came up with four general options for consideration by President Barack Obama. Only one of those options, a baseline study, included the Ares I rocket while others replaced it with existing rockets or NASA?s larger, heavy-lift Ares V booster planned to support eventual moon missions.
The committee, led by former Lockheed Martin CEO Norman Augustine, is expected to file a final report to the White House in upcoming weeks. Any presidential decision to eliminate the Ares I rocket would add years to Orion?s development, project managers said, but NASA has a wealth of experts that could be ready to review that option.
?It?s important for folks to understand that the rocket and the spacecraft fly as an integrated system,? Hanley said in a Tuesday teleconference. ?So whatever we do with respect to the launcher, we would have to go back and redo, to some extent, work that is already done.?
That could mean a considerable reevaluation of Orion?s design, adding up to two years to NASA?s already extended development schedule. An independent report released this month found that NASA would have to spend billions more than planned if it abandoned the Ares I rocket and replaced it with an human-rated Delta 4 Heavy rocket currently available for unmanned satellite launches.
?I think we?re very much staying on the plan right now until we receive new direction,? Hanley said.
To date, NASA has spent $3.1 billion developing the Orion spacecraft and $7.7 billion on the Constellation program as a whole. The agency plans to spend about $35 billion on the program through 2015. The Augustine committee has said NASA does not have the budget to meet its ultimate target - returning astronauts to the moon by 2020 - unless it receives a substantial boost from the Obama Administration.
Orion work ahead
Currently, the Orion crew capsule is about 300 pounds (136 kg) heavier than its target weight of about 21,400 pounds (9,706 kg), spacecraft project manager Mark Geyer told reporters. NASA has about 1,000 pounds (453 kg) of margin and expects to hit its weight target soon, he added.
Geyer added that engineers still have to complete a design review of a critical cover for Orion?s landing parachutes to make sure it is safe and efficient. That is expected to be completed soon.
The final critical design review for Orion, the Ares I rocket and other systems are not scheduled until about 2011 or later, when NASA would begin building flight hardware, Hanley added.
Once the Augustine committee submits its report, the options it compiled will be evaluated by the Obama Administration and NASA?s new chief Charles Bolden, a former shuttle commander.
?We have a few weeks left to wait and see what happens with this review and what direction Charlie Bolden and the team wants to take us,? Hanley said. ?So we wait with great anticipation.?
- New Video - NASA?s Ares I-X Test Flight Unveiled
- Video - Back to the Moon with NASA's Constellation
- New Video Show - NASA's Vision for Humans in Space | <urn:uuid:39b56b74-1341-4cea-a4ee-0dbaf7ec4c7f> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.space.com/7217-nasa-moonship-passes-review-rocket-uncertainty.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783394414.43/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154954-00015-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.934663 | 946 | 2.828125 | 3 |
Intermediate ASP.NET Web Development with C#
ASP.NET is a web application framework developed by Microsoft that allows developers to build dynamic web sites, web applications and XML web services. ASP.NET can be used to create anything from small, personal websites through to large, enterprise-class web applications.
Learning how to connect and interact with a database is the next step in learning ASP.NET as this class continues from the Introduction to ASP.NET Web Development class.
Students will learn the database class framework, ADO.NET that is used with ASP.NET to connect and interact with different types of databases such as SQL Server, ORACLE, XML and even MySQL. Understanding the syntax of structured query language (SQL) that communicates with the database is covered. Students will be taught different techniques in working with a database to retrieve, filter, display and format data on a web page.
Learning what and how AJAX can be added to an existing ASP.NET to improve visitor interactivity and responsiveness.
Students will be using Visual Studio 2010 Express and SQL Server 2005/2008.
Applicable Job Roles: ASP.NET developer, web developer, software engineer, and database engineer
Objectives for this class are:
Topic 1: Data Sources on the Web
Topic 2: SQL Statements, Data Controls and Code
Topic 3: Interacting with Data
Topic 4: SQL Server Programming
Topic 5: ASP.NET AJAX
Topic 6: AJAX Toolkit
Software: For web development students can use either:
Web Hosting: Students are required to have a Windows web host that supports ASP.NET 4.0, including AJAX and SQL Server 2005/2008. Contact the instructor before purchasing web host if do not have one already. | <urn:uuid:152f10d2-f360-4e1b-941d-02093977b229> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://iwa-hwg.eclasses.org/courseP189/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783404405.88/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624155004-00137-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.826012 | 362 | 2.890625 | 3 |
Fascinating facts about Ferdinand
von Zeppelin inventor of the rigid dirigible in 1900.
AT A GLANCE:
On July 2, 1900 the first rigid dirigible (zeppelin) made its maiden
flight. It carried
five persons; it attained an altitude of 1300 ft and flew a distance of
3.75 miles in 17 minutes. The success of
this and future military and civilian Zeppelins were to have a lasting effect on
airpower strategists and Ferdinand Graf Zeppelin will always be remembered
for the graceful mammoths of the sky which he pioneered.
Adolf August Heinrich von Zeppelin, (Count)
to patent. First practical. Entrepreneur.
1838 in Konstanz, Baden, Germany
1917 in Berlin, Germany
||noun / dir·i·gi·ble
||A large dirigible
balloon consisting of a long, cylindrical, covered framework
containing compartments or cells filled with gas, and of various
structures for holding the engines, passengers, etc.
||621,195 (US) issued
March 14, 1899
1838 Ferdinand von Zeppelin born in Konstanz, Baden, Germany
1858 After Ludwigsburg Military Academy and University of Tübingen he
enters the Prussian Army
1863 Assigned to America during the U.S. Civil War, flies balloon for
1864 Returns to Germany with a keen interest in human flight
1869 Marries Isaballa Freiin von Wolff, who bears him a child ten years
1887 Ppblished a comprehensive plan for a civil air transportation
1891 Retires from the Prussian Army as a brigadier general
1897 Zeppelin files U.S. patent application for a Navigable Balloon
1899 Zeppelin awarded patent for Navigable balloon
1900 On July 2, first rigid dirig8ble (zeppelin) flies carring five
passangers a distance of 3,75 miles
1908 A zeppelin airship provided the first commercial air service for
1917 Zeppelin died on March 6, in Berlin Germany
CAPS:Zeppelin, Ferdinand von Zeppelin,
Ferdinand Adolf August Heinrich von Zeppelin, Graf Zeppelin, Ferdinand
Graf Zeppelin, Hugo Eckener,
ARY, zeppelin, dirigible, rigid dirigible, airship, navigable
balloon, SIP, history, biography, inventor, invention.
Ferdinand von Zeppelin was the inventor of the rigid drigible
or airship balloon. He was born July 8, 1838, in Konstanz, Baden, Germany, and
educated at the Ludwigsburg Military Academy and the University of Tübingen.
He entered the Prussian army in 1858. Zeppelin went to the United States in
1863 to work as a military observer for the Union army in the American Civil
War and later explored the headwaters of the Mississippi River, making his
first balloon flight while he was in Minnesota.
He returned to Germany at the end of the war with a
keen interest in balloon flight
and devoted himself to the design and construction of airships..
He married, in 1869, to Isaballa Freiin von Wolff from Livonia; they had a
daughter, Hella, born in Ulm in 1879. In 1887, he published a
comprehensive plan for a civil air transportation system based on large
lighter-then-air ships. Zeppelin retired
from the army in 1891 with the rank of brigadier general.
He subsequently founded an airship factory at Friedrichshafen using his own
funds. Zeppelin proceeded to devote the remainder
of his life to the design and construction of engine-powered dirigibles.
He completed his first
rigid dirigible in 1900. This ship had a rigid frame
and served as the prototype of many subsequent models. The first zeppelin airship
consisted of a row of 17 gas cells individually covered in rubberized cloth; the whole was
confined in a cylindrical framework covered with smooth surfaced cotton cloth. It
was about about 420 ft long and 38 ft in diameter; the hydrogen-gas capacity totaled
399,000 cu ft. The ship was steered by forward and aft rudders and was driven by two
15-hp Daimler internal-combustion engines, each rotating two propellers. Passengers, crew,
and engine were carried in two aluminum gondolas suspended forward and aft. At its
first trial, on July 2, 1900, the airship carried five persons; it attained an altitude of
1300 ft and flew a distance of 3.75 miles in 17 minutes.
Despite many setbacks,
Zeppelin continued his research and in 1908 he established at Friederichshafen the Zeppelin
Foundation for the development of aerial navigation and the manufacture of airships.
That same year, one of his airships provided
the first commercial air service for passengers.
Zeppelins were making routine commercial mail and passenger flights over
Germany, with a remarkable safety record despite the risks in using highly
flammable hydrogen gas to inflate the airships. Up until 1914 the German
Aviation Association (Deutsche Luftschifffahrtsgesellschaft or DELAG)
transported nearly 35,000 people on over 1500 flights without an incident.
During World War I, zeppelins were used in German air raids over Britain and
France but were found to be vulnerable to antiaircraft fire.
Zeppelin aircraft were effectively removed from front line service at Verdun
in 1916, as improved Allied aircraft succeeded in achieving a higher
destruction rate. Even so, newer models were introduced that could fly
higher and higher, although this impacted their bombing accuracy. Their use
was more or less discontinued in 1917 as Allied bombers demonstrated a
consistent ability to destroy the airships.
Count Zeppelin died March 8, 1917, before the end of World War I. He
therefore did not witness either the provisional shutdown of the Zeppelin
project due to the Treaty of Versailles or the second resurgence of the
zeppelins under his successor Hugo Eckener.
After the war
they were widely used in commercial flights. However, safety problems that led to
accidents, including the crash of the Hindenburg in 1937, brought on the end of the
The Zeppelin qualities of streamlined-shape, light rigid framework, and
maneuvering power, made them successful when heavier than air machines were
yet undeveloped. His quest for a light metal led directly to the invention
of Duraluminum, which was to later make the all-metal airframe practical.
The Entrepreneur from The Great Idea Finder
Transportation History from The Great Idea Finder
ON THE BOOKSHELF:
The History of Science and Technology
by Bryan Bunch, Alexander Hellemans / Hardcover: 768 pages / Houghton Mifflin Company; (2004)
Highly browsable yet richly detailed, expertly researched and indexed,
The History of Science and Technology is the perfect desktop reference
for both the science novice and the technologically advanced reader
Germany and the Airship, 1900-1939
by Guillaume De Syon / Hardcover: 295 pages / Johns Hopkins Univ Press (December 2001)
These phenomenal rigid, lighter-than-air craftthe invention of Ferdinand Graf von
Zeppelin (1838-1917)approached the size of a small village. Although they moved
slowly, there was no mistaking their excitingor ominouspotential.
The Great Dirigibles: Their Triumphs and Disasters
by John Toland / Paperback: 352 pages / Dover Publications; Revised
edition (June 1, 1972)
The story of the Great Dirigibles)is sure to please even the most
knowledgeable airship reader. Toland investigates the origins of airships
and includes many of the pre-Zeppelin era narratives. The book is full of
first hand accounts and includes an excellent index and an acknowledgement
section (which will be of interest to serious readers)
Zeppelins: German Airships 1900-40
by Charles Stephenson, Ian Palmer / Paperback: 48 pages / Osprey
Publishing (July 25, 2004)
On 2 July 1900 the people of Friedrichshafen, Germany, witnessed a momentous
occasion - the first flight of LZ 1, Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin's first
airship. Although deemed a failure, a succession of better craft (LZ2 to 10)
enabled the Zeppelin to expand into the consumer market of airship travel,
whilst also providing military craft for the German Army and Navy.
ON THE SCREEN:
DVD / 1 Volume Set / 50 Minutes / History Channel / 73282 / Less than $25.00
They are among the most romantic machines ever built, enormous craft
held aloft by lighter-than-air gas trapped beneath their vast skins. In
the 20th century, they have played a vital role in war, transportation
and commerce?and been involved in one of the most famous tragedies of
ON THE WEB:
This web site gives you a place to begin learning, both the history and the
future, of Zeppelin airships.
First World War: Who's Who
Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin (1838-1917) was born in Konstanz, Baden on 8
April 1838 and was the first large-scale builder of the rigid dirigibles
which eventually became synonymous with his name.
The Zeppelin Museum brings all aspects of the history and technology of
airship flight to life. Here you may experience the great dimensions of the
"Giants of the air".
Centennial of Flight
Zeppelin died on March 8, 1917 in Berlin, Germany.
After the war, they were used in commercial flights until the crash of the
Hindenburg in 1937.
From the U.S. Centennial of Flight Commission
International Aerospace Hall of Fame
Pioneer Airship Designer, Born Kostantz, Baden, Germany. Inducted into Hall
of Fame in 1975.
Aviation History (Timeline)
From the Montgolfier Brothers construct the first lighter-than-air
vehicle (a balloon) in 1873 through 2003 and the celebration of Aviation
first century. Special consideration to Charles Lindberg at the
Foundation Web site that bears his name.
In 1898 Zeppelin, with a team of 30 workmen, had assembled his first airship. The
main principle of Zeppelin's invention was that hydrogen-filled gas-bags were carried
inside a steel skeleton.
The blimp tradition began in 1925 when Goodyear built its first
helium-filled public relations airship, the Pilgrim. The tire company
painted its name on the side and began barnstorming the United States.
Humble beginnings to an illustrious history.
Airship and Blimp Resources
The main focus is on contemporary
development, rather than history. Explore this site and you will see why
airships are destined to a bright future.
AIRSHIP: DJ's Zeppelin
Provides photographs of and ephemera from airships . Maintained by Daniel J.
Association - the only worldwide body catering solely for people interested
in powered lighter-than-air aviation.
WORDS OF WISDOM:
"All of the biggest technological inventions created by man -
the airplane, the automobile, the computer - says little about his
intelligence, but speaks volumes about his laziness." - Mark Kennedy
DID YOU KNOW?
- The Zeppelin Airships still fly today. The newest was built in
- In modern common usage,
zeppelin, dirigible and airship are used interchangeably for any
type of rigid airship, with the terms blimp or airship alone used to
describe non-rigid airships.
- In modern technical usage,
airship is the term used for all aircraft of this type with zeppelin
referring only to aircraft of that manufacture and blimp referring
only to non-rigid airships.
- Graf is a title, translated as
Count, not a first or middle name. The female form is Gräfin. When
"Graf" or its translation "Count" is used, it is correct to omit the
"von." Thus, "Ferdinand von Zeppelin," but "Graf Zeppelin."
trademarks and brands are the property of their respective owners.
Reference Sources in BOLD Type.
This page revised September 12, 2006.
Berners-Lee's invention has revolutionized the world like nothing
The invention of the Internet,
should be classed with the greatest events of the 20th Century.
The Aero Sport All-Terrain Bed
with Dual Power Pump is the perfect addition to any camping trip or weekend
book, is the perfect desktop reference for both the science novice and the
technologically advanced reader alike.
CELEBRATE WITH US
Help us improve! | <urn:uuid:93f16bc6-cc49-4741-b13c-0a66fe6ed842> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.ideafinder.com/history/inventors/zeppelin.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783394605.61/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154954-00201-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.898468 | 2,777 | 3.46875 | 3 |
Traditions represent the Actual Identity of particular society, while getting rid of them is supposed to be a sign of modernity. Traditions, quite often, keep us United, but modernity, usually, takes us apart from each other.
A tradition implies an established method or practice; belief or custom, passed on to us by our ancestors. Much of what we do today has its roots in the past. Usual rituals, like the practice of throwing rice over the shoulder and a bride kicking a container of rice before entering her new house after marriage, have their origin in our traditions and are, in no way related to any logic or religion.
Modernism is in total contras with the ideas or methods of the traditional ones. Old, it is said, is gold and should be preserved carefully. But it is also an unavoidable fact that old is to be given up for good to enter the New Era. We cannot go on sticking to our past customs traditions and roots simply because they have come by inheritance.
The world has to move on. Hence the presence of the conflict between the traditional and the modern. What must not be forgotten, however, is that in spite of our desire to be modern, we must maintain a proper balance between the two? Too much observance of traditions and customs is contrary change.
We start believing that there is nothing wrong with them. There is a lot in our ancient customs, still practiced today, that is not only meaningless, but even evidently harmful the modern society. Take for example, the practice of dowry.
In the modern context, dowry is an evil that forces ambitious girls, whose parents are poor, to remain unwed. The practice needs to be done away with entirely. Another evil practice of the same magnitude is the child marriage.
We must adapt ourselves with the changing times, else shall deprive ourselves of the opportunity to make any progress or development. Science and technology force us into ways of living that were hitherto thought unimaginable.
Traditions need to be known to us. And what is good in them be retained. But what is bad in them must definitely be can be discarded.
Quite often, even some good traditional practices are discarded in the name of modernity and change. India is famous for its hospitality and the treatment of guests. But today no one has the time to offer a visitor even a glass of water.
He is rather considered a nuisance, though extending hospitality to guests is our age-old tradition. To get even a cup of tea in someone’s home has become difficult these days.
We need to face tradition squarely, remove from it what is unwanted and retain what is good in it. Then alone will we be able to preserve and revive our old virtues that made the country great and famous all over the world in the past. | <urn:uuid:da568610-4910-43dc-93c7-a679bc716dea> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.shareyouressays.com/2269/487-words-essay-on-traditionalism-vs-modernism | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783399117.38/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154959-00057-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.964472 | 575 | 2.796875 | 3 |
Heads and shoulders knees and toes...
A famous song sung by Boowa and Kwala.
King of the jungle
He is the king but he loves to be colored in! PLEASE color him bright yellow (or red if you like!)
Brother Proverb's tools
Brother Proverb is working and he'll need all his tools. Can you give him the correct tool when he...
The Magic Harp
Grandpa Koala just made a harp appear by magic. Color it quick, before it disappears !
Help the bee make honey
Help the bee find the flower and collect the nectar... Then guide it back to the beehive, so it's...
Help Kwala take her shower
Turn on (and off!) the hot and cold water. Be careful, though. Kwala likes her shower WARM!
Bimbella and Sinistra singing the blues
Colorful AND rock AND roll!
Marcelino and the hen - coloring puzzle
Can you find all the correct colors for this drawing ? It may take a while but it will be worth it...
Boowa & Kwala
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™, ® , © 1999 - 2016 UpToTen All rights reserved. | <urn:uuid:e66d68a0-f0e0-4a1e-bc94-f0e5f446fb7b> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://boowakwala.uptoten.com/kids/boowakwala-world-dance-songdance.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783402746.23/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624155002-00005-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.881072 | 296 | 2.546875 | 3 |
Taking a critical perspective more political than that usually adopted by classicists, John Alvis demonstrates in this study that the "Iliad, Odyssey" and "Aeneid" each present a distinct political teaching regarding human ends and the form of civil society most conducive to the realization of those ends. Referring to the mysterious "plan of Zeus" announced in the opening lines of the "Iliad" but never explained, Alvis argues that both Homer’s Zeus and Virgil’s Jupiter guide their heroes to embody principles of natural justice that in turn found political constitutions. "The Political Plan of Zeus" represents the first comprehensive theory of the meaning of Zeus’s providence in both Homeric poems, a new interpretation of "the muse" in Homer, and the first attempt to compare the "Aeneid" with Platonic-Aristotelian teaching on the nature of man and the problem of empire. This book will be of interest to upper-level undergraduates and scholars of politics, philosophy, and the classics.
- The Plan of Zeus and the Reversals of Achilles
- Care and Daring in the Odyssey
Part II – Virgilian Providence: Jupiter’s Blessing and Its Problems
- Virgil’s Rome: An Empire by Nature?
- The Tripartite Soul in the Aeneid
TABLE OF CONTENTS:
Part I – The Political Plan of Zeus | <urn:uuid:14cdd57c-9244-4866-a2db-a6d3cdd3aa33> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://ashbrook.org/programs/citizens/books/0847680150/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783397864.87/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154957-00048-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.901456 | 295 | 2.609375 | 3 |
Under the theme of “Make Walking Safe”, the Second UN Global Road Safety Week 2013, is being celebrated worldwide from 6 to 12 May. On Thursday 9 March, Sudanese children marched through the streets of Khartoum calling for pedestrian safety with representatives of WHO, the Federal Ministry of Health, Ministry of Interior, and Alfaisal Cultural Center.
In developing countries, children make up a high proportion of pedestrian fatalities – many on their routes to and from school. This is due in part to their size relative to vehicles, limitations in judgment in terms of the speed or distance of a vehicle, and a lack of supervision.
In Sudan, children account for 14% of road traffic fatalities, as per the Global Road Safety Report 2013. Pedestrian deaths constituted more than a third of road traffic deaths (33%) in Sudan.
The programme for the day to raise awareness of road safety commenced in the Children’s Library of Alfaisal Cultural Center, where individuals received messages on pedestrian safety; co-reflectors were distributed to children and their use explained.
The Week offers a unique opportunity to draw attention to the needs of pedestrians; generate action on measures to protect them; and contribute to achieving the goal of the Decade of Action for Road Safety 2011-2020 to save 5 million lives. Given that we know what works to protect pedestrian lives and make walking safe, it is the duty of governments around the world to take the urgent action needed. The National Road Safety Council in Sudan has showed great commitment to improving road safety, through the implementation of the national road safety strategy that has been set and prioritized by all involved sectors.
WHO has assisted in highlighting many of the measures which are urgently needed to better protect pedestrians. These include:
- adopting and enforcing new and existing laws to reduce speeding and curb drink-driving;
- putting in place infrastructure such as sidewalks, raised crosswalks, refuge islands, speed bumps, rumble strips and roadway lighting;
- improving mass transit route design;
- and enhancing trauma care systems to guarantee the prompt treatment of those with life-threatening injuries
Leaflets providing information on pedestrian safety were disseminated to drivers and passersby during the march. To improve awareness, a session on pedestrian safety was delivered after the march in Alfaisal Cultural Center by the Ministry of Health road safety focal point, Dr Suad Eltahir. | <urn:uuid:c999c838-ca25-4d73-a8ac-53918998c312> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.emro.who.int/sdn/sudan-news/sudanese-children-call-for-making-walking-safe.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783397567.28/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154957-00045-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.949625 | 490 | 3.015625 | 3 |
April’s birthstone is the diamond.
Diamonds are the rich cousins of graphite. Both are crystalline forms of pure carbon. The enormous differences in their properties are a result of the way the carbon atoms are bonded together. In graphite, carbon atoms are arranged in sheets that easily slide past each other, which makes graphite ideal as a lubricant and, of course, pencil lead. Diamond crystals, on the other hand, are a tight-fisted network of carbon atoms securely held in four directions, making it the hardest naturally-occurring substance in the world.
In order to achieve such a compact and strongly-held network of carbon atoms, it is believed that diamonds must have crystallized deep under the Earth’s surface. At these depths the proper conditions for the formation of diamonds exist; at 90 to 120 miles deep, pressures are more than 65,000 times that of the atmosphere at the Earth’s surface, with temperatures exceeding 2,700 degrees Fahrenheit. Such pressures and temperatures reproduced in laboratories have successfully yielded synthetic diamonds.
There are many kinds of diamonds: transparent, translucent, or opaque; ranging from colorless to sooty black, with many colors in between. Mostly transparent diamonds, colorless or tinted, are used as jewelry. Others are used widely in industry. The color of a diamond depends on the kind of impurities embedded inside it. Yellow diamonds, for example, betray minute quantities of nitrogen, while boron imparts a bluish hue. There are other inclusions in diamonds that have great scientific value. Such samples are time capsules that yield valuable information about conditions deep in the Earth’s upper mantle where diamonds formed, as well as clues to the formation and age of the diamond.
Diamonds are found in alluvial deposits – gravel swept by streams, rivers, glaciers, and ocean currents. They are also found in sedimentary rock where gravel deposits and organic material have been compressed into rock. Diamonds can be found in some samples of kimberlite – a type of volcanic rock first identified in Kimberley, South Africa. Diamonds found in kimberlite are thought to be very old, perhaps as much as three billion years old. Tiny flecks of diamond have even been found inside meteorites – bits of rocky space debris that land on Earth.
Diamonds are crystals. Crystals are the ultimate form of symmetry in nature. Their shape reflects the internal orderly arrangement of atoms within the crystal. In diamonds, atoms of carbon are held tightly by covalent bonding, where two neighboring atoms share an electron, endowing the diamond crystal with great strength. But despite that hardness, diamonds can be cut with saws and polished with grinding wheels coated with tiny industrial diamond fragments. In their natural form, diamonds can appear quite unimpressive. They are cut and polished by skilled craftsmen in a pattern that reflects and refracts the light among its facets to reveal the hidden beauty of the stone.
Diamonds’ cold, sparkling fire has held us spell-bound for centuries, inspiring rich, passionate myths of romance, intrigue, power, greed, and magic. Ancient Hindus, finding diamonds washed out of the ground after thunderstorms, believed they were created by bolts of lightning. In our place and time, the diamond is a symbol of enduring love, and often graces engagement rings.
Some diamonds seem to have lived lives of their own. One legendary stone in the diamond hall of fame is the Koh-i-noor (“Mountain of Light”). The Koh-i-noor diamond’s early history is shrouded in time. It is believed to be 5,000 years old, and was featured in the great Sanskrit epic The Mahabharata. Originally owned by the Rajah of Malwa in India, the Koh-i-noor has since been a player in victories and defeats spanning India, Persia, and Afghanistan. It was in the possession of the great Mogul dynasty from 1526 to 1739. Its owners included Shah Jehan, who built the Taj Mahal in memory of his queen Mumtaz. The Persian invader Nadir Shah briefly possessed it until his assassination in 1747. The jewel then fell into the hands of Afghan rulers who eventually surrendered it to the Rajah of Punjab, Ranjit Singh.
Two years after Ranjit Singh’s death in 1839, Punjab became part of India under British rule. The stone was presented to Queen Victoria, who had it cut from its original 187 carats to 108 carats in an attempt to further enhance its beauty. After her death, the diamond became part of the British crown jewels. Queen Elizabeth (later the Queen Mother) wore it in her crown at her 1937 coronation.
Find out about the birthstones for the other months of the year. | <urn:uuid:00a833aa-273e-40a6-9ddd-5d63eafa7199> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://earthsky.org/earth/april-birthstone-diamond | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783403502.46/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624155003-00116-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.954883 | 992 | 3.71875 | 4 |
Experience the full might of Soviet Union: Mi-24 “Hind” heavy attack helicopter, also known as “Aligator”. Developed in late sixties this helicopter is not only big and strong but also heavily armed and versatile. If you fancy a chopper and airplane in the same time, buy one of these: it can land as airplane.
Keep receipt though if your tires worn off.
During the early 1960s, it became apparent to Soviet designer Mikhail Leont’yevich Mil that the trend towards ever-increasing battlefield mobility would result in the creation of flying infantry fighting vehicles, which could be used to perform both fire support and infantry transport missions. The first expression of this concept was a mock-up unveiled in 1966 in the experimental shop of the Ministry of Aircraft’s factory number 329 where Mil was head designer. The mock-up designated V-24 was based on another project, the V-22 utility helicopter, which itself never flew. The V-24 was similar in layout and configuration to the UH-1A Huey, with a central infantry compartment that could hold eight troops sitting back to back, and a set of small wings positioned to the top rear of the passenger cabin, capable of holding up to six missiles or rockets, with a twin-barreled GSh-23L cannon fixed to the landing skid.
Mil proposed the design to the heads of the Soviet armed forces, and while he had the support of a number of strategists in the armed forces, he was opposed by several more senior members of the armed forces who believed that conventional weapons were a better use of resources. Despite the opposition, Mil managed to persuade the defence minister’s first deputy, Marshal Andrey A. Grechko, to convene an expert panel to look into the matter. While the panel’s opinions were mixed, supporters of the project eventually held sway, and a request for design proposals for a battlefield support helicopter was issued.
Mil engineers prepared two basic designs: a 7-ton single-engine design and a 10.5-ton twin-engine design, both based on the 1,700 hp Izotov TV3-177A turboshaft. Later, three complete mock-ups were produced, along with five cockpit mock-ups to allow the pilot and weapon station operator positions to be fine-tuned.
The Kamov bureau suggested an army version of their Ka-25 Hormone ASW helicopter as a low-cost option. This was considered but later dropped in favor of the new Mil twin-engine design. A number of changes were made at the insistence of the military, including the replacement of the 23 mm cannon with a rapid-fire heavy machine gun mounted in a chin turret, and the use of the then-under development 9K114 Shturm (AT-6 Spiral) anti-tank missile.
The core of the aircraft was derived from the Mil Mi-8 (NATO reporting name “Hip”), two top-mounted turbo shaft engines driving a mid-mounted 17.3 m five-blade main rotor and a three-blade tail rotor. The engine configuration gave the aircraft its distinctive double air intake. Original versions have an angular greenhouse-style cockpit; Model D and later have a characteristic tandem cockpit with a “double bubble” canopy. Other airframe components came from the Mi-14 “Haze”. Two mid-mounted stub wings provide weapon hard points, each offering three stations, in addition to providing lift. The load-out mix is mission dependent; Hinds can be tasked with close air support, anti-tank operations, or aerial combat. The body is heavily armored and the titanium rotor blades can resist impacts from .50 caliber (12.7 mm) rounds. The cockpit is over pressurized to protect the crew in NBC conditions.
The Boeing B-52 Stratofortress is a long-range, subsonic, jet-powered, strategic bomber operated by the United States Air Force (USAF) since 1955.
Beginning with the successful contract bid on 5 June 1946, the B-52 went through several design steps; from a straight wing aircraft powered by six turboprop engines to the final prototype YB-52, with eight turbojet engines. The aircraft made its first flight on 15 April 1952 with “Tex” Johnston as pilot.
B-52 Stratofortress: older but stronger. Eight engines, 31 tons of cargo and operational range of 7.000 kilometres will make difference in flight: you will be piloting a 53.4 million dollars wort of steel and avionics. Owning one of these would make you a millionare (or broke if you pay for it).
On 23 November 1945, Air Materiel Command (AMC) issued desired performance characteristics for a new strategic bomber “capable of carrying out the strategic mission without dependence upon advanced and intermediate bases controlled by other countries”. The aircraft was to have a crew of five plus turret gunners, and a six-man relief crew. It had to cruise at 300 Miles per hour (240 kn, 480 km/h) at 34,000 feet (10,400 m) with a combat radius of 5,000 statute miles (4,300 nmi, 8,000 km). The armament was to consist of an unspecified number of 20 mm cannon and 10,000 pounds (4,500 kg) of bombs. On 13 February 1946, the Air Force issued bid invitations for these specifications, with Boeing, Consolidated Aircraft, and Glenn L. Martin Company submitting proposals.
You like falcons, you want them to fight: F-16 fighting Falcon is the perfect formula then. Late seventies introduction means nothing to it: it’s equiped with modern electronics and can reach 2.000 km/h speed, enough to have a nice ride. When you run out of fuel, just look for some air tanker: problem is solved.
The F-16 is a single-engined, supersonic, multi-role tactical aircraft. The F-16 was designed to be a cost-effective combat “workhorse” that can perform various kinds of missions and maintain around-the-clock readiness. It is much smaller and lighter than its predecessors, but uses advanced aerodynamics and avionics, including the first use of a relaxed static stability/fly-by-wire (RSS/FBW) flight control system, to achieve enhanced maneuver performance. Highly nimble, the F-16 can pull 9-g maneuvers and can reach a maximum speed of Mach 2+.
The F-16 is equipped with an M61 Vulcan 20 mm cannon in the left wing root, and early models could be armed with up to six AIM-9 Sidewinder heat-seeking short-range air-to-air missiles (AAM), including a single missile mounted on a dedicated rail launcher on each wingtip. Some variants can also employ the AIM-7 Sparrow long-range radar-guided AAM, and more recent versions can be equipped with the AIM-120 AMRAAM. It can also carry other AAM; a wide variety of air-to-ground missiles, rockets or bombs; electronic countermeasures (ECM), navigation, targeting or weapons pods; and fuel tanks on eleven hardpoints under the wings and fuselage – eight under the wings and three under the fuselage.
You MUST see these cool photo galleries too!
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Leave a comment | <urn:uuid:afa41e3d-9711-49dd-a216-e17b85503403> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.allpics4u.com/technology/modern-aviation.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783397744.64/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154957-00128-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.951916 | 1,560 | 2.53125 | 3 |
Veterinary Behavior Experts Seek Cat-Owning Families for Survey
March 2, 2011
Ben and Lynette Hart, companion animal behavior experts at UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine, seek members of the public to take a survey about interactions between cats and children.
Some evidence shows that domestic cats have a calming influence on people, particularly the elderly, the sick and children with special needs. However, little is known of the mechanisms of those relationships, environmental influences on interactions between children and cats, or a possible genetic basis for human-animal interactions.
The Harts, working with veterinary geneticist Leslie Lyons, have begun a multi-part study to tease out how those relationships benefit children and whether feline genetic traits can help identify positive behavioral characteristics in cats.
Study seeks public input
In their part of the study, the Harts are asking adult cat owners in families with children to respond to an online survey to help develop a picture of children's relations with cats. The anonymous questionnaire asks about the family and the behavior of their cat around children, including its friendliness, aggression and fearful behavior.
A family member over age 18 may take the survey at http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/ucdcatbehavior. The survey takes about 15 minutes to complete. Respondents also have the opportunity to provide some personal details about the family cat in a special comments section.
The researchers expect to gather more than a thousand usable responses for their study.
A second study component will contain information from telephone interviews with about 300 families that have been identified as having children with special needs. These families will be drawn from participants in the CHARGE (CHildhood Autism Risks from Genetics and the Environment) Study, a project of the M.I.N.D. Institute.
Genetic components of feline behavior?
As the Harts gather behavioral data, Lyons will be working to characterize certain genes that may affect a cat's temperament: whether it is friendly, calm, aggressive, or bold, for example. In the course of her work, Lyons has collected DNA samples from a wide variety of cat breeds, including some breeds associated with a calming temperament.
Whether a strong connection can be found between certain breeds and their ability to provide a therapeutic effect on children with special needs is open to question, but the multi-pronged approach by Hart, Hart and Lyons may begin to provide important clues. | <urn:uuid:259d6568-8e31-4f82-8646-f6832b677f64> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.vetmed.ucdavis.edu/whatsnew/article2.cfm?id=2342 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783397797.77/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154957-00131-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.937312 | 491 | 3.1875 | 3 |
Neuralstem Cell Therapy:
Repairing and Replacing Damaged Cells
Different regions of the brain and spinal cord house different, specialized cells. Neuralstem's technology enables the isolation and expansion of human neural stem cells from each of these regions of the developing central nervous system (CNS) in virtually unlimited numbers from a single donated tissue.
The goal of cell therapy is to replace and/or repair dead or diseased cells. Unlike other stem cell technologies, Neuralstem is growing regionally specific cells that are already suited to the task prescribed to them once transplanted into the CNS. In spinal cord indications, for instance, the company will be using human NSI-566 spinal cord stem cells only. Additionally, once inside the body, Neuralstem cells also do not become any cell other than that to which they are fated.
There are two primary ways that these cells can provide therapeutic effects.
Create: The transplanted cells may help create new circuitry
Express: The transplanted cells may express factors that protect existing cells
We believe that Neuralstem's cells do both.
In preclinical work conducted at major research centers across the U.S., Neuralstem cells integrated and made synaptic contact with the host. The cells also expressed one or more growth factors. These are special chemicals that the CNS uses to operate and thrive. Many of these growth factors are protective of cells. View published papers here: 1, 2, 3.
Neuralstem’s transplanted cells survive in patients and integrate into the host tissue, creating new circuitry and expressing growth factors. This dual function is important. In spinal cord injury, for instance, the company hopes to create circuitry that will help signals from the brain get to where they need to go. In many indications, the goal is to slow down or halt the degeneration of cells caused by disease, or by injury, by expressing neuroprotective growth factors into the system.
Delivering the Cells into the Spinal Cord and Brain Safely and Effectively
A vital component to the Neuralstem cell therapy platform is the delivery of the cells directly into the gray matter of the spinal cord, where they can protect and integrate with the patient's spinal cord neurons.
Neuralstem's proprietary Spinal Cord Delivery Platform and Floating Cannula were designed specifically by Neuralstem's ALS trial neurosurgeon, Nicholas M. Boulis, MD, for the world's first intraspinal delivery of stem cells. The safety of the device was first reported in data presented at the American Association of Neurologists' 2011 Annual Meeting, and its safety has since been repeatedly validated in the company’s completed two ALS clinical studies, in a total of thirty patients, which met primary safety endpoints. In addition to ALS, NSI-566 is also in a Phase I trial in chronic spinal cord injury at UC San Diego School of Medicine. You can view this breakthrough medical device in surgery here.
The Spinal Cord Delivery Platform and Floating Cannula will be utilized to deliver Neuralstem cells in the spinal cord safely and effectively for myriad diseases and injuries. Expected to be the standard in the industry and research community for intraspinal procedures, Neuralstem is licensing the breakthrough cell therapy device to industry and academia.
Delivery of neural stem cells into the brain will be accomplished using well-established stereotactic injection procedures. NSI-566 is in clinical development to treat ischemic stroke utilizing one-time treatments of these intracerebral injections to safely transplant cells near the stroke lesions of ischemic stroke patients. | <urn:uuid:a44c417c-e085-4c73-aa4e-93c25ae5ae0e> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.neuralstem.com/cell-therapy | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783396100.16/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154956-00108-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.92636 | 727 | 3.1875 | 3 |
Use caution and common sense in and around the pool to prevent injuries that can result from slipping on wet surfaces or hitting the bottom of the pool.
- Develop a safety action plan for the facility and have the plan visibly posted.
- Inform swimmers and spectators of the location of the first aid room and trainers who can help in case of an emergency.
- Make sure coaches are certified in CPR and first aid.
- Keep pool decks and other floors as dry as possible. Use signs to warn people of areas of potential danger.
- Wear sunscreen when swimming outdoors.
- Prevent insect and bee stings by making sure trash cans have lids and are placed away from high traffic areas.
- Learn to dive off the starting block properly. A coach can instruct you how to perfect a shallow entry into the pool to avoid head and neck injury.
- Perform racing starts in water four feet or deeper (according to USA swimming regulations) during practices and competitions. If a swimmer is learning a racing dive, the water depth should be greater than five feet.
- Secure starting blocks. A coach, lifeguard or swim meet official should be notified of wobbly or shaky blocks.
- Know the distance your teammates are swimming during a relay race. For example, know if he is swimming 50 or 100 yards. Don’t get up on the block too early and risk diving into the water on top of your teammate.
- Enter the water feet first during the warm-up period, unless the coach has designated a lane for practicing starts.
- Get out of the water if lightning is seen or thunder is heard—all activity should be suspended.
- Instruct everyone in the area to seek shelter in a safe place, preferably a sturdy building or a hard-topped vehicle with closed windows.
- Stay indoors 30 minutes following the last thunder or lightning.
Read more about staying healthy in the pool. | <urn:uuid:2de042bd-fdff-4630-b9e4-69b01670387e> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://choa.org/Childrens-Hospital-Services/Orthopaedics/Programs-Services/Sports-Medicine/Programs-Services/Swimming/Safety | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783397636.15/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154957-00121-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.942751 | 393 | 3.171875 | 3 |
I have very much enjoyed reading all of the comments (more than 70!) on my review of the Ben Stein documentary Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed.
I am going to comment on the comments and the controversy over the movie shortly, but for now I will begin by reprinting one of my Chicago Tribune columns, which deals with the key issue of how we know what we know, how we determine the difference between fact, spin, bias, faith, and especially competing theories.
Help children learn critical thinking skills
By Nell Minow
Special to the Chicago Tribune
Published March 9, 2005
Columnists get paid to promote Bush administration initiatives; bloggers expose the mistakes in a network news broadcast; and young people are more likely to get their headlines from the self-described fake news of Comedy Central’s “Daily Show” than from newspapers.
These days, it seems like we all could use some extra guidance in telling the difference between data, reporting, opinion, advocacy and advertising. Developing this life skill is part of growing up, and parents can help kids practice how to evaluate the validity of what they read, hear and watch.
Even the youngest child can learn to think critically about the data they digest. As a starting point, watch for characters in books and movies who test the information they are given to make sure that it is accurate.
In current movies, for example, characters in “Pooh’s Heffalump Adventure” jump to conclusions about someone who is “not like us” until Roo figures out that the Heffalump just wants to make friends. Opal, the little girl in “Because of Winn-Dixie,” finds out the local “witch” is just a nice lady who doesn’t go out much because she can’t see very well.
Families who see these movies together can talk about how Roo and Opal learn the importance of making judgments based on facts and how they decide which facts are more important than others.
Slightly older children need special discussions about truth and the Internet, because that’s where they turn for so much information.
When we did our homework, my generation used reference books and encyclopedias that had been carefully fact-checked before they were published. But today’s schoolchildren run to Web-based search engines such as Google to point them to the answer for any question from the life cycle of the Monarch butterfly to the highest score in the history of the World Series.
The Internet is wonderful for finding things out, but kids need to realize a site that turns up on a search engine isn’t guaranteed to be trustworthy or authoritative, and information they find on the Internet isn’t necessarily correct.
Reliable ones near the top
One reason Google is so popular is it uses a formula for ranking search results that is likely — though not guaranteed — to put the most reliable ones at the top. Google also gets points for putting its “sponsored links” — sites that pay to be listed — off to the side and labeling them clearly so that users can tell they are ads.
But not all search engines play by those rules, and children need to know that. They also need to understand that no search engine guarantees the information it points to is factual or even unbiased.
The same applies to some popular online reference sites like the Internet movie database at The Internet Movie Database, and Wikipedia, an online encyclopedia. The entries in both are written and assembled by amateurs and volunteers — which doesn’t mean the entries are wrong, but it doesn’t mean they are right, either.
Skepticism is an important research skill, and parents should make sure even the youngest children learn to ask “Who says so? How do they know? Are they fair?”
Middle school children are old enough to join in debates about opinions and the way information is presented. Current topics might include banned books, “intelligent design” (a theory designed to get Bible-based theories classified as science) and the Focus on the Family objections to the “We Are Family” video message about tolerance featuring SpongeBob SquarePants and other characters.
Parents may also want to discuss recent news stories about Buster the bunny, a cartoon character who makes video postcards about different communities and cultures he visits for his friends back home. On his PBS show, Buster has met such diverse families as Muslims, Mormons, Orthodox Jews and evangelical Christians. However his visit with a group of children whose parents included lesbian couples was controversial enough for some PBS stations to keep it off the air.
Teenagers are natural challengers of authority, so adults can help them sharpen their skills at sizing up information before they use it.
A good point of discussion with teens as well as younger children who use the Internet for research is how a Web site establishes credibility. One place to start: Look on a site’s main page for a link labeled something like, “about us.”
On Wikipedia, the link “About Wikipedia” is at the bottom of the home page. It takes readers to a detailed, annotated page that explains the Wikipedia project, among other things.
A more sophisticated discussion is how an organization or individual uses the Internet to answer critics. The Nizkor Web site links to the claims of those who deny the Nazi Holocaust occurred and refutes them, point by point. Similarly, Michael Moore’s Web site offers detailed responses to the people who challenged his presentation of the facts in the film “Fahrenheit 9/11.” Parents and older children can debate whether these techniques make the Web sites more believable, and why.
Teens also are sophisticated enough to understand the value in recognizing a Web site’s point of view — and using it. The Democratic National Committee’s page and the Republican National Committee’s page are unlikely to agree on much, but reading both for information about a proposed law will give a teen more insight than one without the other.
Backing it up
Similarly, the Heritage Foundation, a self-styled politically conservative think tank, does a good job documenting its perspective on current events — as does the Brookings Institution, which describes itself as independent and nonpartisan.
Consulting an array of views helps a teen better understand an issue and form his or her opinions.
There’s no substitute for a child learning to develop and apply his own judgment. Parents can show their children that Web sites, television shows, even newspaper articles are just the starting point for finding an answer, that information is not just the accumulation of data but requires sifting, analysis and a sense of proportion.
Giving children the skills they need to evaluate what they see and hear will help them from feeling so overwhelmed that they don’t trust anyone.
The best way to keep them from being cynical is to train them to be skeptical. | <urn:uuid:ed14a1f5-5dbc-4217-ac71-62b2d580d5f9> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.beliefnet.com/columnists/moviemom/2008/04/expelled-intelligence-welcome.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783395613.65/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154955-00171-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.95632 | 1,438 | 2.625 | 3 |
Also referred to as the Xoloitzcuintli, the Mexican Hairless is one of the rarest and oldest breeds in the world. Dating back over 3,000 years, the Mexcian Hairless were highly prizeed for their healing and magical powers. Aztec Indians found this breed useful as bedwarmers, and considered them sacred. Once in danger of extinction, the Mexican Hairless breed was revived and today makes a cherished companion.
The most distinctive feature of this breed are the upright, large bat-like ears which provide acutely keen hearing. A primitive breed, the Mexican Hairless is hardy, well-built, extremely agile, and elegant.
Does your Mexican Hairless Dog bark, howl, and cry whenever you leave the house? Separation anxiety
is extreme anxiety experienced by your dog when you are away from him.
The Mexican Hairless breed is affectionate, loving, intelligent, and devoted. They are highly protective of their family, home, and territory. This breed is not recommended for first time dog owners. The Mexican Hairless breed typically does not bark. Instead, they emit a howl to alert their family to danger. They do best in a home with older considerate children and dogs they have been raised with. They may be aggressive toward dogs they do not know. The Mexican Hairless breed is a sensitive and emotional breed that demands an inordinate amount of attention. They will become destructive if left alone for extended periods of time, and are prone to digestive problems and neurotic behavior if they become stressed.
The Mexican Hairless breed is not suited for cold climates, and requires a sweater in cooler temperatures. The health of the skin is extremely important. Only bathe this breed when absolutely necessary, as over bathing can harm the skin. While it is also important to use lotion and sunscreen on the Hairless variety, caution must be exercised. Too much lotion or sunscreen results in clogged pores and acne. The Coated variety of this breed requires very minimal brushing. The Mexican Hairless is prone to such health issues as early tooth loss, allergies to food, skin infection, and drug sensitivity.
If your dog is displaying behavior uncharacteristic of his normal actions, call the Vet
The Mexican Hairless comes in two varieties: Hairless and Coated. The Hairless only possesses a short tuft of hair on the head and tail. The skin is smooth, soft, and sufficiently hardy to withstand the elements. The Coated variety has a full coat of hair that is short, sleek, and glossy. This breed is non-shedding and odorless.
Early and intense socialization is an absolute must. The Mexican Hairless is quick to learn but requires a dominant handler. It is important that training be done with respect, love, firmness, fairness, and consistency. The Mexican Hairless excels in agility, obedience, and as service and therapy dogs. Teaching your dog to sit, lie down, and stay
is vital to the training of your new puppy. There are several accepted methods of house training your new Mexican Hairless Dog puppy.
Consider crate training
if you need to adapt your dog to a safe and confined environment for various safety and comfort reasons.
The Mexican Hairless breed is well suited for apartment living. They are relatively inactive and enjoy going for securely leashed walks, sunbathing in a securely fenced yard, and spending time with their family. It is important that during any outdoor activity this breed is appropriately covered for the climate. Socialization
is one of the single most important things you can do for your puppy.
Toy: 5-15; Miniature: 15-30; Standard: 25-40 lbs
Toy: 9-14; Miniature: 15-20; Standard: 20-30 inches
Black, slate, gray, brindle, fawn, red, bronze; spotted or solid.
|Good With Dogs:| | <urn:uuid:0e842448-d0cf-42d0-9f9e-b32f171c25f7> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.nextdaypets.com/Mexican-Hairless-Dog.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783397428.37/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154957-00032-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.959192 | 808 | 2.796875 | 3 |
Lack of physical eyes, inherent Force Sight
Up to 84 standard years
They differed from Humans in that they lacked eyes, instead bearing only vestigial eye sockets, and perceived the environment around them through Force Sight instead of regular vision. This vision was so strong that if a Miraluka looked upon a Jedi or Sith they could "see" Force radiating off them. The strength of a Miraluka's connection to the Force varied by individual.
Miraluka, as Near-Humans, could interbreed with baseline humanity. Humans with Miraluka blood included Krynda and Lucien Draay. It was said that such mating would result in unknown difficulties.
Their adopted homeworld was Alpheridies, a planet the Miraluka migrated to when their original homeworld was rendered uninhabitable. A colony world of the Miraluka named Katarr was stripped of all life by Sith Lord Darth Nihilus in approximately 3,952 BBY, during a Jedi convocation.
Miraluka were a thoughtful, cautious, and deliberative species. They had little interest in personal gain or glory. For social reasons, Miraluka hid their appearance by wearing a headband, a mask, or similar concealing headwear. In addition all Miraluka were very united by race. They called themselves "brothers" and were considered as members of a great family. As a Force-using species, Miraluka were often quite shocked if 'shown' life not connected to the Force. The Miraluka that lived on Katarr were strong enough that even they felt the Battle of Malachor V.
Because of their connection to the Force, many Miraluka have been drawn to the Jedi Order. Miraluka Jedi fought in the Great Sith War, and helped shape the Jedi Order for centuries to come. In the waning days of the Galactic Republic, there were not only many Miraluka Jedi, but many Miraluka, unsuited to becoming full-fledged Jedi, who served the Order as teachers and administrators. Miraluka Sith were seemingly rare, as the species' own outlooks on life and the Force are largely incompatible with Sith teachings. However, as with all who feel the Force, a fall to darkness is possible with the Miraluka just as it is with any other.
Amongst the notable Miraluka was Visas Marr, the only survivor of the Devastation of Katarr and the companion of the Jedi Exile. Other Miraluka were Shoaneb Culu, a Jedi Shadow, and the Dark Jedi Jerec, a member of the Inquisitorius. | <urn:uuid:000e9e31-1e14-43b0-8947-fc469d3156d5> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://misc.thefullwiki.org/Miraluka | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783408828.55/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624155008-00160-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.978804 | 540 | 3.1875 | 3 |
Throughout the ages, people have always needed to calculate things.
Tools such as the abacus were invented by the early Chinese to help keep track of large numbers.
It is probably hard for you to imagine, but as little as thirty years ago students only had pen, paper, slide rules and log books to help them in their maths exams.
There were no such things as calculators and certainly no personal computers.
Calculators eventually became commonplace tools and certainly helped to speed up calculations and improve accuracy.
But even they weren't really good enough to solve complex problems or deal with large amounts of repetitive work.
And so, once the technology was available, spreadsheets were developed. | <urn:uuid:71400b3a-ec73-45ec-963b-2abffdf72712> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.teach-ict.com/gcse_new/spreadsheets/spreadsheets/miniweb/index.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783396538.42/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154956-00075-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.992216 | 141 | 3.390625 | 3 |
The Entrepreneur - Recognizing Market Opportunities
Source: Bessie Moore Center for Economic Education | Type: lesson/chapter
Chapter 3 of Entrepreneurship: Arkansas Style: This lesson demonstrates the importance of entrepreneurship to a dynamic economic system. In this lesson students research their closets and homes and determine what items are new to the marketplace. They create an Innovation Museum in the class displaying these items. | <urn:uuid:6bfc92d5-5588-44ee-9295-2bd19d20ab80> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://econedreviews.org/lesson.php?id=1583 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783391519.0/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154951-00175-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.806921 | 82 | 3.28125 | 3 |
This old adage has some truth. While you can’t see it or taste it, there are many benefits of drinking fluoridated water. February is National Children’s Dental Health month. Parents looking to make an impact on their child’s oral health, which ultimately impacts overall health, can make one simple change. Next time you fill your child’s sippy cup, don’t reach for the juice container, but rather the good old-fashioned kitchen sink. Over 91 percent of Wisconsin’s community water is fluoridated, providing you and your child with one of the top ten greatest public health achievements of the 20th century.
Not only is drinking fluoridated water a healthier alternative to sugary juice, but the preventive properties of fluoride strengthen both your child’s primary and adult teeth. If left untreated dental disease can have a profound impact on your child’s life. Think for a minute how difficult it might be to sit in class all day with a toothache. In some cases, dental disease has caused other systemic infections leading to death.
There is a lot of inaccurate information about the dangers of drinking fluoridated water and parents should know the truth. Pew Center on the States has developed a useful resource to help the public better understand the benefits, and more importantly the safety, of fluoride. Fluoridated water is often called the most cost-effective way of protecting oral health, but in order for it to work, we have to drink it.
Parents, do your child a favor and fill those sippy cups with water.
~ Matt Crespin, MPH, RDH, associate director, former oral health project manager, Children’s Health Alliance of Wisconsin | <urn:uuid:b7bea877-34c9-4429-85ee-c95affc6ac2e> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://blog.chw.org/2012/02/there-must-be-something-in-the-water/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783395039.24/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154955-00029-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.948449 | 353 | 2.84375 | 3 |
Home » World Maps » Asia Map » Map of Mongolia
Mongolia Map - Mongolia Satellite Image
Mongolia Bordering Countries: China, Russia
Regional Maps: Map of Asia, World Map
Where is Mongolia?
Mongolia Satellite Image
Mongolia Country Information: Mongolia is located in northern Asia. Mongolia is bordered by China to the south, east, and west, and Russia to the north.
Google Earth is a free program from Google that allows you to explore satellite images showing the cities and landscapes of Mongolia and all of Asia in fantastic detail. It works on your desktop computer, tablet, or mobile phone. The images in many areas are detailed enough that you can see houses, vehicles and even people on a city street. Google Earth is free and easy-to-use.
Mongolia is one of nearly 200 countries illustrated on our Blue Ocean Laminated Map of the World. This map shows a combination of political and physical features. It includes country boundaries, major cities, major mountains in shaded relief, ocean depth in blue color gradient, along with many other features. This is a great map for students, schools, offices and anywhere that a nice map of the world is needed for education, display or decor.
If you are interested in Mongolia and the geography of Asia our large laminated map of Asia might be just what you need. It is a large political map of Asia that also shows many of the continent's physical features in color or shaded relief. Major lakes, rivers,cities, roads, country boundaries, coastlines and surrounding islands are all shown on the map.
Mongolia Cities: Altay, Arbayheer, Bayan, Bayanhongor, Bayshint, Bugat, Bulgan, Buyant-Uhaa, Choybaisan, Darhan, Dund-Us, Erdenet, Hatgal, Hongor, Jargalant, Moron, Olgiy, Onon, Ovoot, Suhbaatar, Tseel, Tsetserleg, Ulaanbaatar (Ulan Bator), Ulaangom, Urdgol and Zakamensk.
Mongolia Locations: Altay Mountains, Boonstagaan Nuur Lake, Buyr Nuur Lake, Dzavhan River, Gobi Desert, Gurvan Sayhan Uul Mountain Range, Hangayn Nuruu Mountains, Har Nuur Lake, Har Us Nuur Lake, Herlen (Kerulen River), Hovsgol Nuur Lake, Hyargas Nuur Lake, Orhon River, Orog Nuur Lake, Sangiyn Dalay Nuur Lake, Selenge River, Telmen Nuur Lake and Uvs Nuur Lake.
Mongolia Natural Resources: Mongolia has fossil fuel deposits which include oil and coal. There is a large number of metal resources some of which are copper, molybdenum, tungsten, gold, silver, iron, tin, nickel and zinc. Other resources for this country include phosphates and fluorspar.
Mongolia Natural Hazards: Mongolia has natural hazards such as grassland and forest fires. Others occurrences include drought, dust storms, and "zud", which is the country's harsh winter conditions.
Mongolia Environmental Issues: There are a number of environmental issues in the country of Mongolia. The policies of the former Communist regime promoted rapid urbanization and industrial growth which had negative effects on the environment. Due to the lack of enforced environmental laws, the air in Ulaanbaatar is severely polluted from the burning of soft coal in power plants. The land issues include deforestation, overgrazing, soil erosion, and desertification. The action of converting virgin land for agricultural production has increased the erosion from wind and rain. Mining activities have also had a deleterious effect on the environment. In some areas of Mongolia there are limited natural fresh water resources.
Copyright information: The images on this page were composed by Angela King and Brad Cole and are copyright by Geology.com © 2008. These images are not available for use beyond our websites. If you would like to share them with others please link to this page. The satellite image was produced using Landsat data from NASA and the map was produced using data licensed from and copyright by Map Resources © 2008. | <urn:uuid:7264cc62-b9b9-4124-953b-f8aa27bd35a5> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://geology.com/world/mongolia-satellite-image.shtml | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783396106.25/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154956-00036-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.917245 | 899 | 2.875 | 3 |
In 1885, Pyotr Ilich Tchaikovsky rented a cottage in a small village some 50 miles northwest of Moscow. After years of restless wandering through Europe, the 45-year-old composer found his new living arrangement a wonderful relief. “What a joy to be in my own home!” he wrote to his patroness. “What a bliss to know that no one will come to interfere with my work, my reading, my walks.”
Those walks were especially important. Before sitting down to work in the morning, Tchaikovsky took a short stroll, lasting no more than 45 minutes. Then, after lunch, regardless of the weather, he went out again. Tchaikovsky's brother later wrote, “Somewhere at sometime he had discovered that a man needs a two-hour walk for his health, and his observance of this rule was pedantic and superstitious, as though if he returned five minutes early he would fall ill, and unbelievable misfortunes of some sort would ensue.”
Tchaikovsky’s superstition may have been justified—his walks were essential to his creativity, and he often stopped to jot down ideas that he would develop later at the piano. But then this is true of the majority of the composers in my Daily Rituals book—most of them required a long (and sometimes very long) daily walk to keep the ideas flowing.
Beethoven went for a vigorous walk after lunch, and he always carried a pencil and a couple of sheets of paper in his pocket, to record chance musical thoughts. Gustav Mahler followed much the same routine—he would take a three- or four-hour walk after lunch, stopping to jot down ideas in his notebook. Benjamin Britten said that his afternoon walks were "where I plan out what I’m going to write in the next period at my desk." Working outside of Paris in 1971, Morton Feldman described his routine: "I get up at six in the morning. I compose until eleven, then my day is over. I go out, I walk, tirelessly, for hours."
But the most extreme example is the French composer Erik Satie, who each morning would walk from his home in a Paris suburb to the city's Montmartre district, a distance of about 6 miles. There he would visit friends, work on his compositions in cafés, eat dinner, and go out drinking—often missing the last train home, in which case he would walk back again, slipping into bed just before sunrise (and then getting up and walking back a few hours later). The scholar Roger Shattuck once proposed that Satie’s unique sense of musical beat, and his appreciation of “the possibility of variation within repetition,” could be traced to this “endless walking back and forth across the same landscape day after day.”
Of course, it is not just composers who take long walks. Søren Kierkegaard had his best ideas during his daily walks, and sometimes he would be in such a hurry to get them down that, returning home, he would write standing up before his desk, still wearing his hat and gripping his walking stick or umbrella. Immanuel Kant took a walk every afternoon at precisely 3:30. Milton walked up and down his garden most afternoons, for three or four hours. And, according to one biographer, "If it rained, he would swing himself to and fro in a seat suspended from the ceiling, pulling on a rope."
Most artists prefer a solitary walk, but I ran across some figures who enjoyed company. Mahler liked to drag his wife along on his afternoon hikes. Ludwig Wittgenstein would ask a close associate to accompany him on his walks. “A walk with Wittgenstein was very exhausting,” wrote Norman Malcolm, in a memoir of his friendship with the philosopher:
“Whatever we talked about, he turned his mind to it with great seriousness and intensity, and it was a formidable strain on me to keep up with his thoughts. He would walk in spurts, sometimes coming to a stop while he made some emphatic remark and looking into my eyes with his piercing gaze. Then he would walk rapidly for a few yards, then slow down, then speed up or come to a halt, and so on. And this uncertain ambulation was conjoined with the most exacting conversation!” | <urn:uuid:da425582-a0ae-400e-ab88-981f1013161a> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.slate.com/articles/arts/culturebox/features/2013/daily_rituals/tchaikovsky_beethoven_mahler_they_all_loved_taking_long_daily_walks.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783392099.27/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154952-00165-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.987428 | 918 | 2.515625 | 3 |
New data collected at South Pole indicates light polarized in a way that can only be caused by gravity waves that were specifically predicted to have been generated by inflation of the universe just after the Big Bang… One of the most interesting outcomes is that theorists say it’s very difficult to build a model that doesn’t include multiverses! Venus showing signs of CURRENT volcanic activity – If confirmed, it indicates that Venus is possibly still building its crust and is internally very hot. Planets still strung across the sky evening into pre-dawn. Jupiter, Mars, Saturn, Venus, Mercury! Venus farthest west for this orbit.
March 24, 2014
[Dave Heller] Last week’s announcement by physicists indicating they’ve discovered a signal from just moments after the universe began — now begets the question, which universe? Lending gravity to the discussion is Derrick Pitts, chief astronomer at the Franklin Institute. Derrick, what is gravity?
[Derrick Pitts] Hopefully as a result of the discoveries last week, we might be able to get a better grip on what gravity actually is. I mean, last week wasn’t the first time that we knew that gravity waves existed, because we’ve been able to see gravity waves coming from the interaction of neutron stars orbiting each other. In this case, what astronomers discovered was the leftover signature from this period of time called the inflationary period — an extraordinarily short period of time in which the universe expanded from an infinitesimally small to something not far from what we see today in size.
Are we now in the post-inflationary period?
Oh, we’re definitely in the post-inflationary period in that the major inflation occurred back at that time, almost 14 billion years ago. One of the effects of that is that the universe is still expanding, faster and faster and faster. So as we go and look at the greatest distances out, we see that the galaxies are receding at higher and higher rates. But it’s not that the galaxies are flying through the volume of the universe, it’s that the universe is expanding at this ever increasing rate and the galaxies are being dragged along with that expansion of the universe.
So stuck in our three dimensions, I’m left to wonder when we’ll bump up against the next universe?
Well that’s a really fabulous question. And the reason why it is is because any model that really indicates an inflationary period also includes the very strong possibility that there are many other universes — not just this ONE. Now, do we have any information about those other universes? No, we don’t. But the model that shows that inflationary period occurring also includes that there must be other universes, too.
This image provided by the BICEP2 Collaboration shows slight temperature fluctuations, indicated by variations in color, of the cosmic microwave background of a small patch of sky and the orientation of its polarization, shown as short black lines. Researchers say since the cosmic microwave background is a form of light, it exhibits all the properties of light, including polarization. The changes in a particular type of polarization, indicated here, are theorized to be caused by gravitational waves. These waves are signals of an extremely rapid inflation of the universe in its first moments. (AP Photo/BICEP2 Collaboration)
Listeners cannot see my eyes right now rolling around in my head … Let’s talk about something we know a little bit more about: Volcanoes on Venus.
And I’m more than happy to talk about something that’s much more concrete, because it makes my brain roll around in my head trying to grapple with this stuff. Yeah, volcanoes on Venus — Who thought that that could be possible? When we look at how these planets are put together in our solar system, particularly the inner rocky planets, one might assume that there would be volcanic activity still happening on these planets. And as we look around, we can see that there are volcanic cones on Venus, certainly activity on the Earth, volcanic cones on Mars indicating that at some point in Mars’ past there were volcanic eruptions. But now we’ve seen what could be evidence that there’s still ongoing volcanic activity on Venus. It was thought that perhaps that could be, but no evidence had been seen. The Venus Express Orbiter has been photographing the surface and has detected what looks like a signature of four eruptions on the surface of Venus. Now, it could be a 16 mile-long lava flow, or it could be four cinder cones, or it could be a hotspot on the surface. But the temperature is significantly above the ambient temperature of Venus, which is about 700 – 800 degrees Farenheit. So at 1500, these show up very, very brightly on a detector, showing that there is some kind of activity going on there on Venus.
Is Venus among the pantheon of planets available to be seen in the night sky this week?
In fact it is, but the way you trace it down is you either get up very early in the morning, at 6 a.m., or you can stay up all night. But here’s a nifty way to see five planets of the solar system without very much stress. Do it like this: If you start on a clear evening this week right after sunset, you can look high overhead in the south, southwest and you’ll see brilliant Jupiter among the stars of Gemini. Well now you can go to bed and get up early the next morning; first you’ll see Mars over in the southwest, and if we move to our left over toward the southeast, we’ll then be able to catch the planet Saturn. And then lower on the eastern horizon — and we’re now talking at around 6 a.m., 6:15 a.m. — we’ll find brilliant Venus over in the east, shining brilliantly, can’t miss it. And then down a little closer to the horizon, you’ll see the elusive planet Mercury. You might need binoculars for that, clear view of the eastern horizon. But, you’ll be able to see four planets in the predawn sky with Jupiter in the evening sky. | <urn:uuid:83736ae4-871c-4e60-8649-a55758cc13e4> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://whyy.org/cms/skytalk/is-ours-the-universe-or-a-universe/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783395621.98/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154955-00060-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.949597 | 1,303 | 2.671875 | 3 |
THE UK government drew up plans to introduce “Scottish passports” almost half a century ago, Scotland on Sunday has learned.
Last month Alex Salmond unveiled plans to issue Scottish travel documents and create a network of Caledonian embassies around the globe.
However, newly released state documents reveal that Labour ministers seriously considered passports for Scots. Civil servants in the Harold Wilson administration concluded it would be relatively simple and inexpensive to arrange for all passports issued north of the Border to have the Scottish coat of arms.
However, the idea was quietly shelved amid fears foreign authorities would refuse to recognise it and that it could inspire similar demands from Northern Ireland, the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man.
Government correspondence, which has been opened and placed in the UK National Archives in Kew, shows that MP Norman Buchan raised the issue with the Foreign Office in November 1966. The then Labour member for West Renfrewshire wrote to Foreign Secretary George Brown, stating: “I have received a petition signed by several hundred people on the possibility of using the Scottish coat of arms on the British passport.”
A memo sent by a Foreign Office official the following month confirms the suggestion was considered at the highest levels. It states: “I have discussed this proposal with the Passport Office and with the department of the Home Office dealing with constitutional matters. It seems that the English version of the UK coat of arms has appeared on the passport certainly since 1914 and possibly since 1890.
“The Home Office has invited me to give details of the proposal and of the practical difficulties and expenses that would be involved if we are to accept it.”
Officials then produced a paper on the possibility of passports where the rampant lion of Scotland took precedence over England’s three lions.
It read: “A request has been made to the Foreign Secretary that passports bearing the Scottish coat of arms should be introduced for the use of Scots travelling abroad. There would, in fact be no great expense or difficulty involved in arranging that all passports issued by the passport office at Glasgow should bear the Scottish coat of arms.”
However, the document also contained arguments that the move would generate problems, stating: “It would mean all persons applying to the office would receive ‘Scottish passports’ whether or not the applicant were a Scot.
“A much more serious objection would be recognition by foreign immigration or police authorities. There is a risk that holders of the ‘Scottish passport’ could find themselves being required to obtain visas, at least in the initial stages of the new arrangements.”
It concluded: “A further possible complication is that it could lead to similar requests being made by Northern Ireland, the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man.”
Another Home Office report claimed nothing would be gained by agreeing to the plan and the idea of creating distinctive Caledonian documents was officially rejected by the Treaty and Nationality Department. They wrote in February 1967: “Careful consideration has been give to the request by all the departments concerned and the conclusion reached is that the idea is impracticable. The complications arising from introducing an alternative passport are so substantial that the task could not be undertaken.”
The Scottish Government’s recent White Paper set out the SNP’s position on passports if voters say Yes. It states: “In an independent Scotland all British citizens born or habitually resident in Scotland on day one of independence will have the right to acquire a Scottish passport.” | <urn:uuid:458aaa53-de10-41da-b7fa-bcd8fbefb64d> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.scotsman.com/news/uk/scottish-passports-planned-in-sixties-archive-reveals-1-3224594 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783397428.37/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154957-00117-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.972112 | 719 | 2.546875 | 3 |
Editor’s Note: In advance of Super Tuesday, this is part 5 of 5 in Education News’ series on the 2016 US Presidential candidates’ stances on education. The order of publication was determined by random drawing. Links to descriptions of each candidate’s education platform are included at the end of each piece.
In 1993, President Clinton appointed First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton to chair a national task force on healthcare. Under his wife’s leadership, Clinton hoped to replicate the success of different committee led by Mrs. Clinton that reformed another major area of public policy, education.
When serving as First Lady of Arkansas, Hillary Clinton was appointed to chair the Arkansas Educational Standards Committee. In that position, she worked to overhaul her state’s public education system; Bill Clinton made education reform one of the chief priorities of his governorship. Mrs. Clinton rolled out an initiative to help homeschooled children improve their preschool preparedness and literacy known as the Arkansas’s Home Instruction Program for Preschool Youth, and she waged an uproarious campaign against the Arkansas Education Association to establish mandatory teacher testing and state standards for curriculum and classroom size.
Political observers remember Mrs. Clinton’s education reform effort in Arkansas as her introduction into politics. Indeed, Mrs. Clinton’s battle against the Arkansas Education Association previewed the kind of career she would have in public life: reformist, hard-nosed and controversial. Unlike her successful education initiative in Arkansas, the campaign to expand national healthcare failed, but Mrs. Clinton has been indefatigable in pushing for the improvement and expansion of education.
She has made education a cornerstone of her most recent presidential campaign. From preschool to university, Mrs. Clinton wants to overhaul the nation’s education system.
Early Childhood Education
Mrs. Clinton touts the importance of investing in children’s education from the earliest possible stage. “I believe that getting off to a good start should be our children’s birthright, part of the basic bargain that we have with each other as a nation. Every child should have the tools and the skills to thrive in tomorrow’s economy, especially those kids from our most vulnerable and at-risk communities,” Mrs. Clinton said in June of 2015.
As detailed on her campaign’s website, Clinton would as President double investments in early childhood programs like Early Head Start, which brings educational services to low-income families and help ensure that every 4-year-old has access to high-quality preschool by providing new federal funding to the states. She hopes that universal pre-school could be achieved in ten years.
The Clinton campaign also features an interesting blurb about the linguistic discrepancy between underprivileged children and those born into more affluent families, known by educators and researchers as the “word gap.” Lower-income children hear about 30 million fewer words by the time they are 4-years-old than their peers born into wealthier families. This disparity slows down some children’s language development and impedes their school readiness. No candidate has drawn attention to this issue in the way that Mrs. Clinton has.
Part of her inspiration to raise awareness about the burgeoning “word gap” among American children stems from the birth of her granddaughter, Charlotte, last year. Mrs. Clinton says that no child, whether or not they were born into the family of a former president, should enjoy an unfair advantage in unlocking his or her potential.
K – 12 Education
Mrs. Clinton wants to ensure that every American child “in every ZIP code” has access to high-quality education after their earliest years. “We need a president who will fight for strong public schools in every ZIP code and every community across the country. I want to be that president. I want to fight for you and for educators, and for students and for families. I think they go together,” she said at an event in July of 2015.
Mrs. Clinton’s campaign emphasizes her experience as a U.S. Senator from New York serving on the Health, Education and Labor Committee, which played a major role in shaping the No Child Left Behind Act. As president, she pledges to work to ensure teachers receive the support and training needed to thrive in the classroom and says that she will expand the resources provided to students with learning disabilities.
Her campaign also highlights the promise of the Every Student Succeeds Act, which recently passed through Congress and intends to hold schools and teachers accountable while also giving them the needed flexibility to succeed. The bill will require districts to invest in struggling schools, expand high-quality charter schools and teacher development resources, and allow communities to “strike a balance on testing” as a barometer of student success.
Clinton’s campaign website repeatedly talks about education in reference to minority students. Mrs. Clinton highlights her role in chairing “the first-ever convening on Hispanic children and youth, which focused on improving access to education opportunities,” and she promises to serve the needs of “students of color” and “English Language Learners.” Earning the support of these groups will be essential in Mrs. Clinton’s bid to secure the Democratic nomination for president.
The issue of higher education reform has been a point of contention between Mrs. Clinton and her main rival for the Democratic nomination, Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders. The senator emphasizes that public college tuition should be completely free, whereas Mrs. Clinton wants public college to be debt-free. In other words, Mrs. Clinton doesn’t think “taxpayers should be paying to send Donald Trump’s kids to college.”
She will work to ensure no student needs to borrow money for tuition, books or fees to attend a four-year public-college in their state, and will enable Americans with existing student loan debt to refinance at current rates. Clinton also has vowed to hold colleges accountable for controlling costs and offering affordable tuition. Of note, Pell Grants will not be included in the calculation of no-debt-tuition, so recipients of Pell Grants will be able to use their grants to cover their living expenses. Mrs. Clinton calls her plan the “New College Compact.”
“We need to make a quality education affordable and available to everyone willing to work for it, without saddling them with decades of debt,” Mrs. Clinton’s said over the summer.
Mrs. Clinton, a former First Lady, Senator and Secretary of State, offers bold initiatives to reform the American education system. Her plans primarily rely on increased federal spending to level the playing field among students of differing socioeconomic backgrounds and expanding educational opportunities to ensure that every American is offered a high-quality education from daycare through university.
Other Candidates’ Education Platforms | <urn:uuid:64b71b74-fc21-41e7-bf48-263e8a97a83c> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.educationnews.org/education-policy-and-politics/2016-us-presidential-candidates-on-education-hillary-clinton/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783403825.35/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624155003-00182-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.967009 | 1,403 | 2.6875 | 3 |
A statistical test, a two-group mean-comparison, can show whether differences are meaningful between benchmarks
With the data from the ongoing survey of General Counsel Metrics, it will be possible to tell whether departments in the UK, for example, differ in their fundamental metrics from departments in France. Certainly the metrics will differ, such as internal spend as a percentage of all legal spend. But how can we know if the difference is big enough to deserve commentary? Might it simply be an artifact of the particular participants or random fluctuation in values?
A statistical test called the two-group mean-comparison can look at the average of both countries and calculate the standard deviation of the metric in both. It then calculates the 95 percent confidence interval, which means the likelihood that 95 times out of a hundred the difference is real. This final step calculates that so-called p-value. The lower the p-value, the more likely the difference is significant from the statistical standpoint. Whether the difference is meaningful in the real world is an entirely different question. | <urn:uuid:2f97139e-7497-4462-a7b5-028e7a4d87aa> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.lawdepartmentmanagementblog.com/law_department_management/2010/04/a-statistical-test-a-two-group-mean-comparison-can-show-whether-differences-are-meaningful-between-benchmarks.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783398209.20/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154958-00178-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.926311 | 215 | 2.984375 | 3 |
Ojibway Nature Centre
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July 1998 Sightings
Monday, July 20:
Male dog-day cicadas (Tibicen sp.)have started singing their loud, buzzing songs during the day (first heard on July 16). Dog-day cicadas are about 5 cm long with dark, greenish marked bodies and clear wings. Females lay their eggs in the twigs of trees but when the nymphs hatch they fall to the ground, and enter the soil where they remain for many years.
The first Northern True Katydids (Pterophylla camellifolia) were heard on the evening of July 18. Their loud, distinctive "katy did, katy didn't" song is common over much of the Northeastern US. In Ontario they can be heard only in the Carolinian region.
This is the start of the flight season for Underwing moths. Ilia, Woody and Ultronia Underwings are some of the first species to appear in July. Click here for information on how to attract these colourful insects.
Monday, July 13: More wildflowers are coming into bloom on the prairie. Virginia Mountain Mint Pycnanthemum virginianum, Gray-headed Coneflower Ratibida pinnata, Black-eyed Susan Rudbeckia hirta, Bergamot Monarda fistulosa, Culver's root Veronicastrum virginicum and Flowering Spurge Euphorbia collorataare conspicuous along trails through the nature reserve.. A few Dense Blazing Stars Liatris spicata, and Tall Ironweeds Vernonia gigantea are also beginning to bloom.
The first fall migrant, a Tennessee Warbler was recorded on July 9 at Ojibway by Fred Urie.
Monday, July 6: The Windsor butterfly count was held on Saturday, July 4th. Flight seasons are well advanced this year and many species typical of mid July such as Common Wood Nymph, Wild Indigo Duskywing, Mulberry Wing, Dion Skipper, and Duke's Skipper were recorded in good numbers. Butterflies more typical of June such as Meadow Fritillary, Silvery Checkerspot, European Skipper and Hobomok Skipper were found to be rare or absent. Morning rain and cloudy conditions also reduced the total count for swallowtails, whites/sulphurs and other common species. Click here for the complete results.
Information last updated : 04 August 1998
URL of this page : http://www.ojibway.ca/july98.htm
Copyright © 1998. All rights reserved
|You are on the City of Windsor World Wide Web Site.| | <urn:uuid:8b5c2f2b-9f5a-48d6-828e-c0f1ac60014a> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.ojibway.ca/july98.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783391519.2/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154951-00004-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.946794 | 563 | 2.640625 | 3 |
A Brief History
According to mute maker Tom Crown, “Mutes actually go back a long way, maybe even
to King Tut. The first mention in writing of mutes was in 1511, in Giorgio Vasari's
biography of Piero di Cosimo,although the mute is such a basic principal it must
have been in use for centuries before. Monteverdi, in 1607 used mutes for the first
time in a written musical score, in the Toccata preceding l'Orfeo.”
These first mutes resembled wooden chalices turned on a lathe. The “bowl” of the
“chalice” was tapered to fit in the bell of the trumpet. The throat of the the mute
was an open passage through the center of the “stem” of the “chalice”, and terminated
in a small cup. These were transposing mutes ( which raised the pitch of the instrument.
The closest relative of this mute is still in use the Stopping mute for french horn.
Italian references to mutes were indicated on sheet music by the directions con sordino
(“with mute”, often abbreviated con sord) and the senza sordino (or senza sord -
“without mute”). The equivalent German terms are mit Dämpfer and ohne Dämpfer, respectively.
When written in English the directions, "mute" and "open" are used.
A variety of mutes have been used and continue to be used with brasswinds. They all
either are placed in the interior of the bell, or clip on the outside lip of the
bell. Mutes have been made of wood, cardboard, metal, glass, leather, celluloid,
rubber, plastic, and fibre ( resin impregnated cardboard).
The basic type of interior mute is the straight mute, a hollow, cone-shaped device,
open at the small end of the cone and closed at the large end. This mute that fits
into the bell of the instrument and is held in place by strips of cork or felt. Interior
mutes provide in a more metallic, nasal sound, and often are louder at certain frequencies
Interior mutes include:
- Open Tube
- Wah Wah
Exterior mutes typically clip onto the rim of the bell, or are held up to the bell.
Exterior mutes include:
All types of mutes are commonly made for trumpet/cornet and trombone. Less common
are mutes for flugelhorn. Even more restricted is the selection available for piccolo
trumpets, alto horns, euphoniums, tubas which are generally restricted to straight,
cup, and bucket mutes. Novelty types ( such as Wah Wah, Open Tube and Buzz) are
not commercially available for lower brass. This author believes the main reason
for this is that, besides the lack of demand, these effects do not transfer well
to very large bore instruments.
French horns are a subject unto themselves. As mentioned previously, they use stopping
mutes, which perform the same function as hand stopping (the technique of the hornist
inserting his/her hand into the bell of the instrument to raise the tone a semitone).
A stopping mute is a stubby straight mute made of brass or fibre, with a small branch
and tiny opening or brass bell.
Not much is heard about woodwind mutes.. This is because they are usually impractical,
ineffectual, or both. The primary reason for this is because the sound of a woodwind
instrument emanates from all the holes that cover the darned thing (I guess you can
tell the author of this site is a brass player by now).
Woodwind mutes usually take the form of a “donut” mute ( a hard ring covered with
soft cloth or velvet which is inserted in the bell of a sax or clarinet), or a portable
chamber or cloth bag that the instrument can be placed in and played, reducing the
Some bassoonists have been known to use mutes, and occasionally a handkerchief has
been used to occlude the oboe or clarinet bell, but these usages are really too rare
to merit discussion here. They are too obscure for even this obscure web site! | <urn:uuid:3f4e4299-39d8-4eb1-bf8d-b9c4226e85af> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.vintagemutes.com/vm_history.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783398628.62/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154958-00099-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.926973 | 929 | 3.421875 | 3 |
About Prostate Cancer
Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia (BPH)
English | Español
Benjamin Franklin reportedly suffered from it, as did Thomas Jefferson. So will most men, if they live long enough.
This almost inevitable condition is called benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH), or enlargement of the prostate. The risk of BPH increases every year after age 40: BPH is present in 20% of men in their fifties, 60% of men in their sixties, and 70% of men by age 70.
Important Note: BPH is not prostate cancer, and having BPH doesn't mean a man is more or less likely to get prostate cancer. They are two different diseases. Prostate cancer begins in the outer peripheral zone of the prostate, and grows outward, invading surrounding tissue. BPH begins in an area of the inner prostate called the transition zone, a ring of tissue that makes a natural circle around the urethra. In BPH, the growth is inward toward the prostate’s core, constantly tightening around the urethra (the tube that carries urine from the bladder through the prostate to the penis) and interfering with urination. This is why BPH produces such annoying, difficult-to-ignore symptoms—but why prostate cancer is often “silent,” producing no symptoms for months or even years.
The key word here is benign. (The word hyperplasia simply means an increase in the number of cells in the prostate, which causes it to become enlarged.) By itself, an enlarged prostate causes no symptoms and does no harm. If it weren’t for the fact that the prostate encircles the urethra, BPH might never require treatment.
However, one-quarter of men with BPH—more than 350,000 a year in the United States alone—eventually will require treatment, some more than once, to relieve the urinary obstruction BPH causes.
In recent years, as medical therapy has become available, more men have sought treatment to relieve their symptoms. Based on the figures mentioned above, it’s likely that after age 60, a majority of men will either be taking medication for BPH or considering it. However, not all of these men will be helped by the medicine: for men with severe symptoms or men who wait until the disease is far advanced before they seek treatment, surgery is still the best option.
BPH Treatment Options
Current treatment options for BPH include medications that relax the muscles of the urinary sphincter, called alpha blockers, or medications that shrink the volume of the prostate, called DHT inhibitors. . Currently approved alpha blockers include: terazosin (Hytrin), doxazosin (Cardura), tamsulosin (Flomax), alfuzosin (Uroxatrol), and silodosin (Rapaflo). Approved DHT inhibitors include: finasteride (Proscar) or dutasteride (Avodart). For more severe cases of BPH, these classes of medications will often be used in combination to prevent urinary obstruction and help with symptoms.
The DHT inhibitors have also been shown to reduce a man’s risk over time of developing prostate cancer by about 25%. The ability to prevent prostate cancer may have a real benefit in preventing the treatments down the road that cause side effects. It can also make prostate cancer a bit easier to detect, by shrinking the gland. However, aggressive prostate cancers may not be as effectively prevented with these hormonal agents, and these medicines have not been shown to save lives due to prostate cancer. As always, it’s important to discuss the risks and benefits of these medicines with your doctor.
(Some of the information on this page is adapted from Dr. Patrick Walsh's Guide to Surviving Prostate Cancer.) | <urn:uuid:3f0cab6c-2402-4fa0-b87f-b1b314e8b646> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.pcf.org/site/c.leJRIROrEpH/b.5780045/k.3758/Benign_Prostatic_Hyperplasia_BPH.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783395992.75/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154955-00093-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.943422 | 799 | 2.59375 | 3 |
Postal and telephone directories, family histories and almanacs are fantastic resources that paint a picture of what life was like in the cities, towns, and villages your ancestors lived in at any given point in time. Some of the records provide information on specific trades and professions, while others reveal the titles and land holdings of your wealthier ancestors.
Looking for the old search?
There are more than 2.6 million records in this category. The record sets included in this category are mostly of interest to those with Canadian ancestors or ancestors who emigrated to Canada over the years. This collection includes directories of elected representatives and civil servants, businesses, transport, and of telephone numbers.
There are also histories of various provinces, counties, towns, and churches in Canada.
A number of record sets relating to European emigrants, settlers, and missionaries are included in this category, particularly the Scotch-Irish who went to live in Canada and various parts of the United States. Their influences in law and politics is written about in extracts from the Officers of the Scotch-Irish Society of America.
The phrase Scotch-Irish refers to settlers who were born in or lived in Ireland but whose earlier origins were in Scotland. They have also been referred to as "Scots-Irish," "Ulster Scots," and "Irish Presbyterians." Many thousands of Scotch-Irish immigrants came to America before 1776, with large-scale immigration beginning in 1718, due to such factors as high rents and religious persecution. Most of the Scotch-Irish came freely to the American colonies, but some were deported as prisoners or came as indentured servants. Others arrived with British Army regiments and stayed in the American colonies.
The most comprehensive online collection of historical Irish directories in the world can be found on Findmypast, dating back to 1783, including national, regional and local directories. National directories, like those by Pigot, Slater, and Thom, are usually organised by province. They list the principal office holders, gentry, professionals, tradesmen, hotels, schools, public institutions, churches, and even pubs for the cities and larger towns of Ireland. Regional and local directories concentrate on smaller towns and villages and usually include detailed introductions, as well as a full alphabetical directory of office-holders, professionals, merchants and tradesmen, farmers and other residents not listed by trade. Some of the directories on Findmypast are also devoted to particular groups, trades or the gentry.
Furthermore, there are Irish almanacs and newspapers abstracts, which feature filtered information from publications that is particularly useful to the family historian such as farming lists, society registers, obituaries and legal cases.
The record sets included in this category are an index of British business indexes, a dental surgeons’ directory, and a directory of house directors of UK companies. Trade directories only contain a bare listing of local businesses but Business Indexes of Britain 1892 – 1987 have at least a paragraph about each shop or company, often with a photograph of it or the proprietor, along with details of when and from whom the business was acquired. In addition, family members working in the business are usually listed and, if a person is prominent in local society, the entry often mentions membership of the corporation and leisure activities including involvement with clubs, charities and other institutions. This kind of information tells a lot about an individual's character and is extremely difficult to find elsewhere in such a comprehensive form. Kelly’s Handbook 1901 provides an alphabetical guide to more than 28,000 peers of the realm, titled, gentry, higher officials and principal landowners. Pigots Directory of Herefordshire 1835 includes over 3,100 records of locals of note in eight towns or districts in the county.
There are almost 1.2 million records of Australian and New Zealand directories and documents of interest to social history. Government Gazettes were weekly newspapers published by governments to communicate with officials and the general public. They’re useful to monitor the actions of the government, as well as valuable primary source documents for family historians, as they contain a vast amount of historical and genealogical information. Tens of thousands of ordinary people and localities are mentioned every year in Government Gazettes and they will help you reconstruct events and circumstances in the life of individuals and communities.
Examples of the types of information you will find are government notices, public works notices, land sales, tenders notices, appointees to government positions, appointments of magistrates and Justices of the Peace, crown land leases, deceased estates, dissolution of business partnerships, bankruptcy and insolvency, notices or rewards for lost or stolen property and stock, unclaimed letters and property, witnesses to executions and so much more.
Some of the other valuable resources include the Australian Handbook, which covers a wide variety of topics such as statistical information about Australian colonies, police, banking, emigration and more. The Strays Collection Australasia is a great tool if your ancestors married, lived or died away from their place of birth. | <urn:uuid:97dbdd20-f08d-4cb4-812e-1a0ec0721a0e> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://search.findmypast.com/search-world-records-in-directories-and-social-history | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783391519.2/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154951-00029-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.963611 | 1,020 | 2.84375 | 3 |
Catheter ablation therapy
Also known as:
Cardiac catheter ablation therapy
Catheter ablation is a procedure used to selectively destroy areas of the heart that are causing a heart rhythm problem. During this procedure, thin, flexible wires are inserted into a blood vessel in the thigh, groin, neck, or elbow and threaded up through the blood vessel and into the heart under X-ray guidance. The wires allow the doctor to record the electrical activity of your heart and determine what kind of heart rhythm problem you have.
Then, your doctor will find the tiny areas that are causing the rhythm problem. The wires are used to send energy to those areas in the heart. This energy is in the form of heat or freezing cold. The heat or cold destroys, or ablates, the heart tissue. Destroying this tissue can cure your heart rhythm problem.
Catheter ablation can be called different names based on the type of energy used to create the heat or cold. If heat from radio waves is used, it is called radiofrequency catheter ablation. If cold temperatures are used, it is called cryoablation. | <urn:uuid:6cfcd07f-f550-4e66-8685-7b844da0ba7b> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://oregon.providence.org/our-services/c/catheter-ablation-therapy/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783400031.51/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624155000-00043-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.896865 | 231 | 3.15625 | 3 |
Be the first to like this
What is HIIT, or High Intensity Interval Training? Put simply, it simply means running a relatively short but intense distance, and alternating with recovery intervals - then repeating until the target distance or time has been reached!
Your body adjusts to any exercise routine quickly and high-intensity interval training workouts increase your endurance and health and fitness levels because they keep your body "guessing".
HIIT is an incredibly effective method of losing weight. The intense intervals really get the heart rate pumping, which results in increased cardiovascular fitness and fat burning. HIIT is also a more efficient way to exercise than long distance running or cycling - burn more calories in less time!
Find out all about HIIT with our presentation. | <urn:uuid:711ba77d-d1c6-451d-b161-a455902e352f> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.slideshare.net/warrenbeck188/high-intensity-interval-training | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783395992.75/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154955-00063-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.932395 | 152 | 2.5625 | 3 |
River dolphins living in a stretch of the Ganges in the Bihar area were reported to have increased from 175 to 223. The count was performed by Vikramshila Biodiversity Research and Education Centre (VBREC) of Tilka Manjhi Bhagalpur University (TMBU). Vikramshila Gangetic Dolphin Sanctuary is where the endangered dolphins live, and it is supposed to be a protected area for them. It is about fifty kilometers in length and was designated in 1991.
Ganges river dolphins are still hunted by some fisherman for the meat and oil. The oil is used sometimes as an ointment and aphrodisiac. It isn’t likely to have any particular effect and sounds more like superstitions humans have made about consuming animals or animal parts based on unfounded traditional beliefs. Since the 1980s there may have been over 10,000 Ganges river dolphins, yet now there may only be 2,000. Pollution of the Ganges with chemicals, and dam construction also have contributed to the steep decline. The Bihar government has set up a task force for river dolphin conservation. In February another dolphin count will be conducted.
Bihar’s economy is mainly agricultural, and employs about eighty percent of all workers there. The government is trying to organize more organic farming so if that practice gains popularity, perhaps there will be less pollution of the Ganges, which obviously would be better for all the aquatic wildlife, including the river dolphins.
Image Credit: 7 Wonders of India | <urn:uuid:3d54fe92-7bd5-420b-b881-70ae41c61010> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.care2.com/greenliving/endangered-river-dolphins-increase-slightly.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783393518.22/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154953-00099-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.973067 | 307 | 3.609375 | 4 |
Fishery practices that help reduce marine litter includes activities that are aimed to curbing fishing-related wastes, e.g. by bringing ashore the litter that is gathered in nets during fishing or by activities that encourage fishermen to deliberately fish for litter.
United States Environmental Protection Agency Coastal Cookbook. 'Innovations in Coastal Protection: Searching for Uncommon Solutions to Common Problems', more commonly referred to as the 'coastal cookbook', is an organized collection of successful coastal protection initiatives from across the U.S and includes: Marine Debris Collection and Recycling Program, Reduction of Foam Debris: Foam Encapsulation for Floating Structures in Oregon, Fish Net Collection and Recycling.
Fishing for Litter in The Netherlands aims to clear the North Sea from litter by bringing ashore the litter that is gathered in nets during fishing. Subsequently the litter is being properly destroyed.
Hands On: Fishing For Litter-Denmark is part of the Save the North Sea campaign which encourages fishermen to 'fish for litter', so that debris can be returned to a marine litter recycling unit in Skagen Municipality. | <urn:uuid:48f0f8e6-7e16-41eb-867c-3d4dc00ccd11> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.unep.org/regionalseas/marinelitter/other/fisheries/default.asp | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783397744.64/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154957-00081-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.927459 | 232 | 3.53125 | 4 |
Truth, learning and global norms
Everyone now knows that only 47 percent of Malaysians elected the current federal government. That is how the rules of the game are written within the context of ‘Kampung Malaysia;’ our variety of the colonial nation-state Westminster parliamentary system of governance. Therein also, a race is defined by religion premised upon any ethnicity, but wherein the majority behave as if they are in a minority, as if to create a new race with human rules.
For the rest of this story and more, subscribe for only RM150 a year. If you're already a subscriber, please Sign in.Sign in Subscribe now | <urn:uuid:4c517010-5cbc-4e7e-b15a-18b29dbed26b> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.malaysiakini.com/columns/230719 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783393442.26/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154953-00116-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.929531 | 133 | 2.640625 | 3 |
Negro Playwright Theatre
The American Negro Playwright Theatre (ANPT) is a local theatre company housed at Tennessee State University’s Thomas Edward Poag Auditorium. Students perform various roles, including acting in major productions, and also have an opportunity to work with professionals in the area of theatre. ANPT aims to bridge theatre arts and the community, inviting anyone to witness the black experience, regardless of their own race or family background. These plays are drawn from the experiences of black Americans and are intended to dissipate stereotypes and promote cultural diversity.
Belle Meade Plantation
This historic venue showcases the 1853 Greek revival mansion and seven outbuildings including the colossal Carriage House and stables housing an antique carriage collection. Experience the stories of enslaved African Americans who helped build and maintain the world-famous thoroughbred plantation in the 19th century. One hundred years of history come to life as costumed guides tell stories of life at Belle Meade.
Civil Rights Room
The Civil Rights Room is located in the Downtown Public Library. With a $1 million donation earmarked for establishing a collection of materials documenting Nashville’s contributions to the Civil Rights Movement, the room features a replica lunch counter with timelines of local and national events in the Civil Rights Movement.
The nationally historic Nashville sit-ins of the 1960s were the inspiration for the special collection. Large format photographs of those sit-ins form the backdrop of the room. In the center of the room resides a circular lunch counter surrounded by stools designed to replicate the settings of many nonviolent demonstrations led by students from local universities that began in Nashville on February 13, 1960.
Additionally, the Nashville Public Library continues to grow its Civil Rights Oral History collection. Seeking to collect the oral histories of participants and witnesses of the student sit-ins in Nashville, the library has collected 40 interviews to date, which will be available to researchers once the interviews are transcribed and cataloged.
Founded by the American Missionary Association and the Western Freedman’s Aid Commission, Fisk University began in 1866 as the Fisk School, a free school for blacks in Nashville. Jubilee Hall, completed in 1875, was the first permanent building erected for the higher education of African Americans in the United States, and is now a National Historical Landmark. Money for its construction was raised by the Jubilee Singers whose worldwide singing tours brought them international acclaim. Additionally, the Little Theatre, built in 1860, is the oldest structure on the campus of Fisk University. Erected as part of the Union Army Hospital barracks during the Civil War, it was readapted for use as the campus theatre in 1935.
Also on Fisk’s campus is the Carl Van Vechten Art Gallery, named for the New York music critic, art collector and photographer who inspired the 1949 donation of the Stieglitz Collection to the university by Alfred Stieglitz’s widow Georgia O’Keeffe. The collection includes original works by Cézanne, Picasso, Renoir, O’Keeffe, and others. Furthermore, in the gallery’s collection are paintings by Harlem Renaissance artist Aaron Douglas who headed the Fisk Art Department for many years.
Fort Negley was the largest and most important fortification built by Union troops occupying Nashville during the Civil War. Built in 1862 on St. Cloud Hill, the complex fort was designed with European features. Using a partial star-shape design, the unique layout of the fort allowed crossfire against the Confederate army.
Intent on keeping control of Nashville because of its important transportation means with river and rail, the Union army constructed the 180,000-square-foot fort covering four acres. Two thousand African- American workers, some slaves and some free blacks, built the fort for the Union army in preparations for the Battle of Nashville. Approximately 800 people died while building the fort, and many more African-American soldiers died during the Battle of Nashville. Because the Union army would not supply weapons to the black soldiers or slaves, they were forced to protect themselves with shovels and picks.
The fort fell into disrepair after the war but was restored in the 1930s by the Works Progress Administration only to deteriorate again. Because of its rich Civil War history, the fort was again renovated and reopened to the public in 2004 and the Fort Negley Visitor Center opened in 2007. Fort Negley is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
In 1906, Preston Taylor established Greenwood Park adjacent to Greenwood Cemetery. The privately-owned park opened at a time when African-American citizens were not permitted in public parks. Encompassing almost 40 acres of open land, Greenwood Park included a clubhouse, theater, skating rink, roller coaster, shooting gallery, merry-go-round, and baseball park (home of the Greenwood Giants). Today you can visit the former site of the park at the northwest corner of Elm Hill Pike and Spence Lane adjacent to Greenwood Cemetery.
Established in 1912, Hadley Park is thought to be the first public park for African-American citizens in the United States. The 34-acre park stands on part of the antebellum plantation of John L. Hadley, a white slaveowner committed to helping post Civil War freed men and women adjust to their new status. At Hadley’s invitation, Frederick Douglass spoke to former slaves in 1873 from the porch of the Hadley house, which stood in the park until 1948. Tennessee State University stands on another portion of the Hadley land. Today, Hadley Park also offers baseball fields, tennis courts, picnic shelters, a playground, and summer concerts. The park is located at the intersection of 28th Avenue North and Centennial Boulevard.
Andrew Jackson's Hermitage: Home of the People's President
Born a slave on The Hermitage plantation, and known simply as Alfred, this now-legendary man assisted with the horses and maintained the wagons and the farm equipment. After emancipation, he chose to remain on the plantation as a tenant farmer and lived at The Hermitage longer than anyone else, white or black. Additionally, when The Hermitage was opened to the public as a presidential home, Alfred was the first tour guide telling visitors authentic stories about President Andrew Jackson. When Alfred died in 1901, his funeral was held in the center hall of the mansion, and he was buried in the family garden next to the President himself. Alfred was the only non-family member buried in Rachel’s garden.
Home of the Stars
As the home of the Stellar Awards, Nashville is also home to entertainers such as:
- BeBe Winans
- CeCe Winans
- Take Six
- Kirk Whalum
- Ben Tankard
- Tommy Sims
George W. Hubbard, a professor in local African-American schools after the Civil War, built a house in 1920 when he retired as president of Meharry Medical College. The house, designed by Moses McKissack III, is a four-square Colonial Revival style structure and is the last vestige of the original Meharry campus. Now on the property of the Seay-Hubbard United Methodist Church, the house is listed on the National Register of Historic Homes.
From the 1930s through the early 1960s, Jefferson Street was one of America’s best-known districts of jazz, blues, and rhythm and blues. Famous African-American musicians played regularly in the many clubs — Club Baron, Del Morocco and the New Era Club. Little Richard, Jimi Hendrix, Ray Charles, Fats Domino, B.B. King, Ike and Tina Turner, and Memphis Slim performed here regularly. Etta James recorded a live album, Etta James Rocks the House, at The New Era Club. Nashville artists, many with hit records, made the district their home.
Show business headliners stopped in Nashville to try their acts. The Silver Streak, the great off-Jefferson Street ballroom, booked such big names as Duke Ellington, Cab Calloway, Count Basie, and Ella Fitzgerald.
Members of the old Negro Baseball League and recording artists such as Ruth Brown, Nat King Cole, Duke Ellington, and Ella Fitzgerald stayed at Brown’s Hotel and played the famous Blue Room at Del Morocco, owned by “Uncle” Teddy Acklen.
In 1994, a group of concerned citizens — homeowners, business owners, longtime residents and developers with new construction in mind — met to create a framework for advancing Jefferson Street. The result of their vision of progress was the Jefferson Street United Merchants Partnership (JUMP), a non-profit organization whose mission is “To develop, foster and promote cooperative economic development through revitalization, acquisition, education and public safety programs in North Nashville.”
Today more than 111 individuals and organizations make up JUMP’s active membership with one thing in common: keeping Jefferson Street alive and thriving. www.jumptojefferson.com
Mount Ararat Cemetery
Founded in 1869, Mount Ararat Cemetery was Nashville’s first African-American cemetery. The cemetery, acquired in 1982 by Greenwood Cemetery, has been restored and renamed Greenwood Cemetery West. One of the many leaders buried there is Dr. Robert Fulton Boyd. Boyd was an African-American physician and graduate of Meharry Medical College who helped found the National Baptist Association, a national association for black physicians.
National Museum of African American Music
On October 25, 2004, Governor Phil Bredesen set aside 3.86 acres of prime real estate in the northwest corner of the Bicentennial Capitol Mall for the development of a national museum for African-American music, history, and culture in Nashville. The 30-year lease included a “no charge” agreement to develop the state-owned property and also included the option to purchase the property for $1 at the expiration of the lease.
The National Museum of African American Music, opening date TBD, will stand as an international iconic cultural museum dedicated to the vast contributions African Americans have made in music. As the only museum in the nation with a dedicated focus on all dimensions of the contributions African Americans have made to American music, NMAAM will encompass musical distinctions that reinforce the impact of African Americans across the country and around the world. | <urn:uuid:eefaf45d-85df-4650-b389-437b6ab355d4> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.visitmusiccity.com/media/aboutmusiccity/multiculturalattractions | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783395039.24/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154955-00013-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.950501 | 2,122 | 2.8125 | 3 |
Filled with tables, chairs and computers, Eamonn Keogh’s lab at the University of California, Riverside Bourns College of Engineering looks like many computer science labs.
That changes when the closet door is opened. Inside are a couple dozen shoebox-size plastic containers, each filled with up to 100 insects and connected to a laser that shines through the container to an optical sensor on the opposite side. When the insect passes through the laser, the sensor collects a short snippet of the sound it makes.
The contraptions, which Keogh and his collaborators and students designed and built, are a step toward merging computer science and entomology – a field Keogh has dubbed computational entomology. His goal is to create an inexpensive way to count and classify insects to help solve pressing global problems, such as insect damage to food crops and insect-borne diseases, such as malaria.
With that in mind, he has launched an insect classification contest that uses a computer program he developed that takes two insect audio snippets and calculates their similarity. Keogh is making the program available for free to people in hopes that they can improve the accuracy of the program.
Yanping Chen, one of Keogh’s Ph.D. students, has figured out a way to classify the flying insects with about 80 percent accuracy, but the goal is 99 percent or better accuracy.
“We have no idea what is possible,” Keogh said. “It’s possible the first person could improve it to 100 percent. I doubt it. But it’s possible.”
As a contest incentive, Keogh is offering a $500 prize and an engraved trophy for the winner. Keogh’s insect work is supported by Vodafone America, but the prize money is coming from his own pocket.
Those interested in taking part in the contest can visit: http://www.cs.ucr.edu/~eamonn/CE/UCR_Insect_Contest.pdf. For more information, potential contestants can send an e-mail to: UCR.email@example.com.
Humans and insects have a longtime love-hate relationship. Insect-borne diseases annually kill a million people and destroy tens of billions of dollars worth of crops. At the same time, insects pollinate the majority of crop species, and an estimated one third of all food consumed by humans is directly pollinated by bees.
For hundreds of years humans have attempted to kill unwanted insects. While some blanket methods have been successful, they can be costly and create environmental problems.
The wireless bug sensor Keogh is developing aims to change that by counting and classifying the insects so that the substance used to eradicate the harmful insects can be applied on a targeted level.
Keogh – who originally developed the sensor with Legos, a 99-cent store laser pointer and a photodiode from a television remote control – believes the sensors can be built for less than $10 and be powered by solar power or a battery that lasts a year.
In creating the contest, Keogh was inspired by several other successful crowdsourcing projects, including one by Netflix in 2009 to improve the accuracy of predictions about how much a person will like a movie.
“Using crowdsourcing has worked for others in problems as diverse as medical image analysis and whale song identification, Keogh said. “But this is the first time it has been applied to insect classification” | <urn:uuid:a1016622-3e9e-47e4-a6e4-26ce3d307895> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://westernfarmpress.com/print/management/insect-classification-contest-helps-crop-protection | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783397873.63/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154957-00060-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.952999 | 723 | 3.40625 | 3 |
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In Arthur Miller's "Death of a Salesman", Willy describes his father as being a very successful salesman. In fact, Willy mentions that when his father died, for his funeral, people came from everywhere. He was such a well-liked and successful salesman that his business contacts filled the funeral parlour. However, Willy who thought he was also as well-liked and who also assumed he was a successful business man has an empty funeral parlour. When he is planning his suicide, he thinks that people will come from everywhere, just as they had with his father. The reality, however, demonstrates that Willy had no friends and was disillusioned his entire life.
This is in fact incorrect. The man you refer to is Dave Singleman-a salesman acquaintance of Willy's who he blindly emulates for having so many sales 'correspondences' which Willy takes to mean friends. Willy has little memory of his actual father, except the flute song that he hears in lucid moments and Ben's assurance that he was a travelling salesman who sold flutes. The significance of Willy's father therefore are threefold:
a) He symbolises Willy's longing to escape, travel and live a simple life e.g. selling flutes-and his inability to understand this desire. He considers his father to have been successful despite him only ever having sold simple instruments.
b) He symbolises Willy's core self-doubt because he was abandoned as a child. He so needs a father figure to guide him on the right path and yet can remember nothing but loneliness. Perhaps this is why he abandons his own sons.
c) He symbolises the great 'secret' of sales which Willy longs for, and is in fact imaginary. He presumes his father must have had it, and is tortured by its being just out of his reach. In fact, he just needs to have more work discipline.
We’ve answered 327,621 questions. We can answer yours, too.Ask a question | <urn:uuid:4c1a1a38-acc7-483a-85c3-4ceeaadfbff7> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.enotes.com/homework-help/who-does-willys-father-symbolize-218935 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783395346.6/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154955-00013-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.992266 | 433 | 2.5625 | 3 |
Inside this remarkable guide to outer space, you'll find everything from detailed planetary topography to the most current facts and figures about our amazing Universe. In addition to extensive maps of outer space, this atlas also includes constellation charts; diagrams and cross sections of space objects like asteroids and meteorites; the latest information on space shuttles and missions; and stunning, oversize images that capture exploding supernovas and distant galaxies, Designed for the next generation of space enthusiasts, Atlas of the Universe contains everything you need to navigate the night sky -- and the farthest reaches of the cosmos.
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Rent Atlas of the Universe 1st edition today, or search our site for other textbooks by Mark A. Garlick. Every textbook comes with a 21-day "Any Reason" guarantee. Published by Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers.
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Every political-economic system stands on a foundation, the societys culture. Ultimately, culture is a tacit system of values and virtues that guide the everyday activities of the people. When the political-economic system is out of sync with a societys underlying cultural values, the result is instability, which most likely will result in a transformation of the system in the direction of those values. For example, the political economy originally known as liberalismbased on the institutions of individual rights, private property, personal responsibility (individualism), free markets, and the rule of lawrequires cultural attitudes consistent with those institutions. Should there develop widespread resentment against achievement, accumulation of wealth, privacy, and consumption, the foundation of liberal institutions will inevitably erode and eventually collapse. Authoritarianism and even totalitarianism will likely follow.
The process can work in the reverse: changes in political institutions can, over time, effect changes in cultural attitudes. Welfare-state programs sooner or later encourage an entitlement mentality in people. Where they once understood that benefits are to be obtained through work, persuasion, and voluntary exchange, they now expect a bureaucracy to provide them as a matter of right. Mediation by a government agency masks the reality that taxpayers are forced to provide such benefits. Left unchecked, the welfare state (aided by government-run schools) acculturates new generations into this entitlement mentality. A vicious circle results: entitlement programs strengthen the entitlement mentality, which produces demands for new and expanded programs. More and more of peoples income is collectivized, and the scope of individual choice is diminished. The very character of people is transmogrified. Self-responsibility atrophies and dependence grows. This is what Nobel Laureate Friedrich A. Hayek called The Road to Serfdom.
Similarly, just as liberal institutions are supported by and reinforce attitudes favorable to voluntary exchange, cooperation (through the division of labor), and peace, the institutions of warfareprotectionism, interventionism, imperialism, and militarisminstill collectivism, nationalism, and belligerence. This in turn weakens the natural abhorrence of the brutality of war. The murder of innocents is sanitized as collateral damage, and unprovoked invasions are euphemized as regime changes.
The political and economic interact intimately. The governments response to crises erodes not only liberty, but also its cultural underpinnings. Thus government intervention in the economy creates hardships (unemployment, inflation, depression, etc.) that are glibly blamed on others at home and abroad, resulting in domestic regulation, trade restrictions, foreign intervention, and sometimes war. When government exploits crises and expands its power, people become accustomed to looking to the state to solve problems. The irony is that the cultural values proclaimed by both conservatives and so-called modern liberals are systematically subverted by the political and economic measures they support.
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Walker, Jesse. Review of the book Radio Goes to War: The Cultural Politics of Propaganda during World War II by Gerd Horten, The Independent Review, Vol VIII, No. 1 (Summer 2003), pp. 132-135. | <urn:uuid:6156017b-567a-4b75-b652-6e38f628dd23> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.onpower.org/crises_culture.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783397797.77/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154957-00002-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.795095 | 4,208 | 3.25 | 3 |
By: Richard Gottheil
A family of northern Africa, several members of which figure in Jewish literature. The family name was originally Aldahhan. In Old Arabic this signifies "an oil merchant"; in the modern Arabic of Morocco it means "a painter" or "decorator" ("Z. D. M. G." xlix. 573; compare Steinschneider, in "Jew. Quart. Rev." x. 130). 1. Moses Adhan is known from a rabbinical decision that he published in Iyyar, 1732 (printed in "Kerem Ḥemed," the "Responsa of Abraham Alnaqua," ii. 40a, Leghorn, 1869 and 1871). A manuscript in the collection of David Kaufmann contains a "lamentation" for the Ninth Day of Ab, with the acrostic "Moses Adhan." The style of this hymn (Stade's "Zeitschrift," ii. 1, xii. 261, etc.) shows that he was a writer of some merit ("Z.D.M.G." 1. 236). 2. Jacob Adhan was the author of a combined Hebrew and Arabic piyyuṭ, in which the community of Israel (Keneset Yisrael) is represented as pouring out its feelings to God, its beloved, and asking for renewed assistance (J. K. Zenner, "Z.D.M.G." xlix. 573; Kaufmann, ib. l.238). Though evidently written in Morocco, the manuscript in which this piyut is found came from Tampa, in the state of Rio Grande do Sul, in Brazil. | <urn:uuid:47959bd3-9ce4-4229-91ee-b3039acd4dd2> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/799-adhan | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783391519.2/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154951-00072-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.95004 | 355 | 2.578125 | 3 |
Fire Prevention Week a Great Time to Plan for Safety
Monday, October 6, 2008 - 9:43am
The City of Madison Fire Department is inviting the community to get involved in fire prevention and safety to mark Fire Prevention Week.
The week was established to commemorate the Great Chicago Fire of 1871. That fire killed more than 250 people, left 100,000 homeless, destroyed more than 17,400 structures and burned more than 2,000 acres. The fire began on October 8, but continued into and did most of its damage on October 9, 1871.
While the Great Chicago Fire was the best-known blaze to start during this fiery two-day stretch, it wasn't the biggest. That distinction goes to the Peshtigo Fire, the most devastating forest fire in American history. The fire, which also occurred on October 8th, 1871, roared through Northeast Wisconsin, burning down 16 towns, killing 1,152 people, and scorching 1.2 million acres before it ended.Those fires changed the way that firefighters and public officials thought about fire safety.
On the 40th anniversary of the Great Chicago Fire, the Fire Marshals Association of North America (today known as the International Fire Marshals Association), decided that the anniversary of the Great Chicago Fire should be observed not with festivities, but in a way that would keep the public informed about the importance of fire prevention.
In 1920, President Woodrow Wilson issued the first National Fire Prevention Day proclamation, and since 1922, Fire Prevention Week has been observed on the Sunday through Saturday period in which October 9 falls. According to the National Archives and Records Administration's Library Information Center, Fire Prevention Week is the longest running public health and safety observance on record.
Throughout October, the Department's Community Education Unit is visiting the City's elementary schools with a baseball-themed safety presentation. Students in grades K-3 will find a miniature baseball diamond set up with "coaches" at each base to share information on key safety concepts. The ultimate goal - just as in baseball - to be "Safe at Home".
The Department will also open all 11 City firehouses to the public on Saturday, October 11, from 9-11 a.m.The City of Madison Fire Department encourages everyone to take simple steps to ensure home safety:
1. Check your smoke detectors each month - Change the batteries when you change your clocks.
2. Make an escape plan for emergencies and make sure everyone knows the plan.
3. Practice your plan at home.
- Lori Wirth, 608-266-5947 | <urn:uuid:f89e0812-d333-444d-977d-e63110bb8805> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.cityofmadison.com/news/fire-prevention-week-a-great-time-to-plan-for-safety | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783408840.13/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624155008-00130-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.953398 | 524 | 2.890625 | 3 |
A criminal lawyer and popular journalist, Henry C. Castellanos lived nearly three-quarters of the nineteenth century in New Orleans. In his later years, between 1892 and 1895, he wrote more than 120 articles for the Times-Democrat on the history and mores of his beloved city, and in 1895 he published a selection of those episodes in New Orleans as It Was. This facsimile reproduction of the volume includes a new introduction by historian Judith Kelleher Schafer, which pieces together the little-known life of Castellanos and provides insights about a period when New Orleans was the queen city of the South.
Castellanos's collection of vignettes, incidents, anecdotes, personalities, and descriptions focuses on the years 1820 to 1860 and reflects the interests of a city newspaperman. The reader encounters duels, voodoos, executions, and piracy, and meets mayors, generals, slaves, masters, princes, paupers, judges, prisoners, and jailers. Castellanos describes in detail buildings, public parks, suburbs, notable houses, churches, and neighboring plantations as well as the characteristics, customs, dress, food, and amusements of New Orleanians. In capturing what he called New Orleans's "unwritten history," Castellanos brings alive for readers today America's most interesting city at a younger age.
Found an Error? Tell us about it. | <urn:uuid:4bdc1389-f937-459f-a226-fd4ad302acd0> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://lsupress.org/books/detail/new-orleans-as-it-was/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783396147.66/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154956-00063-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.944376 | 286 | 2.546875 | 3 |
New treatment -- first in years -- demonstrated for dangerous staph infections
DURHAM, N.C. -- Duke University Medical Center researchers have demonstrated in an international clinical trial the effectiveness and safety of a new drug for treating bloodstream and heart infections caused by Staphylococcus aureus bacteria, a major cause of sickness and death worldwide.
Based on the trial, the Food and Drug Administration already has approved the drug -- daptomycin -- for treating heart infections and bacteremia, also known as bloodstream infection or blood poisoning, caused by S. aureus, according to Vance G. Fowler Jr., M.D., an associate professor of infectious diseases who participated in the study.
"This is the first new drug the FDA has approved in two decades for treating these types of potentially life-threatening infections," Fowler said. "This advance adds a new weapon to our dwindling arsenal of antibiotics against these difficult-to-treat infections."
Daptomycin had been approved by the FDA in 2003 for treating skin infections caused by S. aureus. But until now, Fowler said, no one knew definitively whether the drug would be effective against the more serious bloodstream and heart infections.
The researchers published their findings in the August 17, 2006, issue of the New England Journal of Medicine. Cubist Pharmaceuticals, which manufactures daptomycin, funded the study.
S. aureus bacteria are common in the environment. People whose immune systems have been weakened by disease or certain medical treatments, including surgery or receiving intravenous catheters, are at greater risk of infection. For patients in hospitals, S. aureus is a leading cause of bloodstream infection and infection at surgical sites, among other problems.
S. aureus now causes up to 2 million infections and 90,000 deaths per year worldwide, most of them in health-care settings, Fowler said.
Treating S. aureus infections is difficult because many strains have developed resistance to all penicillin-related antibiotics, according to the researchers. For these highly resistant strains -- called methicillin-resistant S. aureus, or MRSA -- the drug vancomycin has been the only consistently reliable treatment alternative. Recently, however, MRSA strains with resistance to vancomycin have appeared.
"The rising prevalence of S. aureus infections and the organism's increasing resistance to drugs make these bacteria a growing threat to medical care throughout the world," said Ralph Corey, M.D., a professor of infectious diseases who participated in the study.
In the study, the research team tested daptomycin's ability to combat two specific types of infection caused by S. aureus, including MRSA strains. The first type was bacteremia, or bloodstream infection. The second was infective endocarditis, which is an infection of the inside lining of the heart. Endocarditis due to S. aureus is a particularly severe form of the infection. It can involve either the tricuspid, mitral, or aortic valves and often occurs in patients with pre-existing heart disease.
The randomized, controlled trial enrolled 246 patients with bacteremia, with or without endocarditis, from 44 centers in four countries. Patients were randomly assigned to one of two treatment groups. One group received six milligrams of daptomycin per kilogram of body weight, administered intravenously once daily. The other group received standard antibiotic therapy, which consisted of an initial four-day course of the antibiotic gentamicin plus a full course of either an antistaphylococcal penicillin or vancomycin, depending on bacterial susceptibilities.
The researchers evaluated patients during antibiotic treatment until discharge. In addition, because up to 10 percent of S. aureus infections can reoccur after antibiotics are stopped, all patients were evaluated again six weeks after treatment ended.
The results showed daptomycin was as effective as standard therapy, Fowler said. Daptomycin was more successful at eliminating drug-resistant S. aureus, at 44.4 percent success versus 31.8 percent. However, the standard therapy slightly outperformed daptomycin for S. aureus without drug resistance, at 48.6 percent success versus 44.6 percent. Neither of these differences was statistically significant, Fowler said. Both types of treatment took roughly the same amount of time -- eight or nine days -- to clear an MRSA infection.
"Having another drug in our armamentarium against S. aureus not only will give physicians a new treatment option, but also may help slow the current troubling spread of drug resistance among these bacteria," Fowler said.
The study also was designed to assess daptomycin's safety, because the doses given to study participants were higher than dosages approved for skin infections (four milligrams per kilogram of body weight). Previous studies performed before FDA approval of daptomycin had suggested that higher doses might cause significant side effects in humans.
Daptomycin proved to be easier on the kidneys than standard therapy, Fowler said. The researchers suggest this probably is due to the use of gentamicin in the study group, given that drug's potent renal toxicity. Patients receiving daptomycin experienced fewer adverse events that caused kidney impairment (6.7 percent versus 18.1 percent). Daptomycin also affected kidney performance less than standard therapy, as measured by the organ's ability to filter creatinine protein from the bloodstream.
Fowler has served as a consultant for Cubist, as well as for the pharmaceutical companies Inhibitex and Merck, which manufacture other agents used to treat or prevent S. aureus infections. He also has received grant support from Inhibitex, Merck and two other pharmaceutical companies, Nabi and Theravance, and lecture fees from Cubist, Nabi and Pfizer, another pharmaceutical company.
Corey has served as a consultant for Cubist and has received grant support from Theravance, Merck, and Inhibitex.
Other researchers involved in the study were Helen W. Boucher, Elias Abrutyn, Adolf W. Karchmer, Mark E. Rupp, Donald P. Levine, Henry F. Chambers, Francis P. Tally, Gloria A. Vigliani, Christopher H. Cabell, Arthur Stanley Link, Ignace DeMeyer, Scott G. Filler, Marcus Zervos, Paul Cook, Jeffrey Parsonnet, Jack M. Bernstein, Connie Savor Price, Graeme N. Forrest, Gerd Fätkenheuer, Marcelo Gareca, Susan J. Rehm, Hans Reinhardt Brodt, Alan Tice, and Sara E. Cosgrove.
Last reviewed: By John M. Grohol, Psy.D. on 30 Apr 2016
Published on PsychCentral.com. All rights reserved. | <urn:uuid:a79a609a-9ccd-4ac6-873d-bfd1950e49ab> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://psychcentral.com/news/archives/2006-08/dumc-nt-081806.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783397873.63/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154957-00022-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.94297 | 1,431 | 2.859375 | 3 |
Understanding the endocrine gland system of a dog is necessary to understanding Cushing’s disease. The endocrine system delivers messages, in the form of hormones, to every part of the dog, by means of the blood stream. The pituitary gland, located at the base of the dog’s brain, and the two adrenal glands, located near the kidneys, are the endocrine glands in charge of controlling the levels of cortisol. Cortisol is a hormone that helps maintain the homeostasis of the body, by converting protein into energy, improving fight or flight instinct, supporting the immune system, memory, and general coping with psychological and physiological stresses.
The pituitary gland produces the hormone adrenocorticotrophic (ACTH), which modulates the release of cortisol, by sending a message to the adrenal glands, about whether or not the body is under stress, and to what degree. The more stress, the more cortisol the adrenal glands are told to produce. This process is integral to the balance of the animal’s entire system. There are three types of Cushing’s disease; pituitary dependent, adrenal dependent, and iatrogenic Cushing’s.
Pituitary Dependent Cushing’s Disease
Pituitary dependent Cushing’s disease is caused by small tumors on the pituitary gland itself. These small tumors, known as microadenomas, prevent the pituitary gland from understanding that the blood cortisol levels are high. Therefore the adrenal glands continuously produce cortisol, effectively poisoning the blood.
Physically, a dog with pituitary dependent Cushing’s disease, tends to have very large adrenal glands, due to constant work. Occasionally, the tumors may metastasize to over one centimeter, and may cause other problems, such as blindness, not associated directly with Cushing’s disease.
Adrenal Dependent Cushing’s Disease
Adrenal dependent Cushing’s disease is caused by similar tumors to the pituitary dependent Cushing’s. However, they directly impede the cortisol level receptors. The adrenal gland no longer understands, or just ignores the information from the pituitary gland, pertaining to cortisol release. These tumors are adenomas, and half the time are benign, but the other half of the time they are malignant, or adenocarcinomas.
A dog with adrenal dependent Cushing’s disease typically has tumors on one adrenal gland, causing the overproduction of cortisol, resulting in enlargement. If the other adrenal gland remains free of tumors, it tends to shrink from underproduction to compensate. A dog with adrenal dependent Cushing's Disease might benefit from a medicine like Vetoryl.
Iatrogenic Cushing’s Disease
Iatrogenic Cushing’s is caused by extended exposure to powerful external steroids. If a dog suffers from chronic conditions, such as allergies, and is administered external steroids, such as prednisone, in high doses for an extended period of time, the adrenal glands can no longer control the hormone levels in the blood and then will atrophy.
A dog with iatrogenic Cushing’s disease typically has very small atrophied adrenal glands from lack of work.
This information is for informational purposes only and is not meant as a substitute for the professional advice of, or diagnosis or treatment by,your veterinarian. Always seek the advice of your veterinarian or other qualified professional with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition. Never disregard or delay seeking professional advice due to what you may have read on our website. | <urn:uuid:6af15423-487e-454f-83a2-2aeb8b3d0612> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | https://www.petcarerx.com/article/causes-of-cushings-disease-in-dogs/317 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783403823.74/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624155003-00178-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.912137 | 764 | 3.3125 | 3 |
ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — Sunday marks the start of Wildfire Prevention Week in Minnesota.
Larry Himanga, wildfire prevention coordinator for the Department of Natural Resources, encourages people to make a special effort to control their fires not only this week, but all year long. The No. 1 cause of wildfires in Minnesota is debris-burning fires that escape.
Spring wildfire activity normally begins in southern Minnesota and moves northward as the snow disappears. Most wildfires occur in the spring, between the time when snow melts and the vegetation turns green. DNR personnel respond to more than 1,500 wildfires every year.
Official wildfire prevention efforts in Minnesota began after the Great Hinckley Fire of 1894, which killed 418 people and destroyed the town of Hinckley and nearby communities in east-central Minnesota.
(© Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.) | <urn:uuid:496f7b32-3765-4702-bc76-bda3cc8ec3c1> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://minnesota.cbslocal.com/2011/04/16/minnesota-wildfire-prevention-week-starts-sunday/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783395620.9/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154955-00027-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.916075 | 194 | 3.296875 | 3 |
The Three Mile Island generation station consists of two pressurized light-water reactors built by Babcock & Wilcox[?] with electrical design capacities of 786 MW (TMI-1) and 900 MW (TMI-2). The plant was at the time run by Metropolitan Edison[?] Company. As of early 2003, TMI-1 was fully operational (operator: AmerGen Energy Co., LLC) and scheduled for decommissioning in 2014.
No injuries due to radiation occurred, but it was a serious economic and public relations disaster. It also furthered a serious decline in the public popularity of nuclear power. By coincidence, the event occurred a mere three days after the release of the movie The China Syndrome, which portrayed a similar fictional incident.
The accident began about 4:00 a.m. on March 28, 1979, when the plant experienced a failure in the secondary, non-nuclear section of the plant. The main feedwater pumps stopped running, caused by either a mechanical or electrical failure, which prevented the steam generators from removing heat. First the turbine, then the reactor automatically shut down. Immediately, the pressure in the primary system (the nuclear portion of the plant) began to increase. In order to prevent that pressure from becoming excessive, the pressurizer relief valve (a valve located at the top of the pressurizer) opened. The valve should have closed when the pressure decreased by a certain amount, but it did not. Signals available to the operator failed to show that the valve was still open. As a result, the stuck-open valve caused the pressure to continue to decrease in the system.
Meanwhile, another problem appeared elsewhere in the plant. The emergency feedwater system (backup to main feedwater) was tested 42 hours prior to the accident. As part of the test, a valve is closed and then reopened at the end of the test. But this time, through either an administrative or human error, the valve was not reopened - - preventing the emergency feedwater system from functioning. The valve was discovered closed about eight minutes into the accident. Once it was reopened, the emergency feedwater system began to work correctly, allowing cooling water to flow into the steam generators.
As the system pressure in the primary system continued to decrease, voids (areas where no water is present) began to form in portions of the system other than the pressurizer. Because of these voids, the water in the system was redistributed and the pressurizer became full of water. The level indicator, which tells the operator the amount of coolant capable of heat removal, incorrectly indicated the system was full of water. Thus, the operator stopped adding water. He was unaware that, because of the stuck valve, the indicator can, and in this instance did, provide false readings.
After almost eighty minutes of slow temperature rise the primary loop pumps begin to shudder as steam rather than water began to pass through them. The pumps were shut down, and it was believed that natural circulation would continue the water movement. Steam in the system locked the primary loop, and as the water stopped circulating it was converted to steam in increasing amounts. After around 130 minutes since the first malfunction, the top of the reactor core was exposed and the heat and steam drove a reaction involving hydrogen and other radioactive gases with the zirconium rod cladding. The quench tank ruptured, and radioactive coolant began to leak out into the general containment building. At 6 a.m. there was a shift change in the control room. A new arrival noticed that the temperature in the holding tanks was excessive and used a backup valve to shut off the coolant venting. Around 250,000 gallons of coolant had already been lost from the primary loop. It was not until 165 minutes after the start of the problem that radiation alarms activated as contaminated water reached detectors, by which time the radiation levels in the primary coolant water were around 300 times expected levels.
It was still not clear to the control room that the primary loop water levels were low and that over half of the core was exposed. A group of workers took manual readings from the thermocouples and obtained a sample of primary loop water. Around seven hours into the emergency, new water was pumped into the primary loop. The backup release valve was opened to reduce pressure. At around nine hours the hydrogen within the reactor exploded, but this was largely unnoticed. After almost sixteen hours the primary loop pumps were turned back on and the core temperature began to fall. A large part of the core had either melted or vapourized, and the system was still dangerously radioactive. Over the next week the steam and hydrogen were removed from the reator using a recombiner and, more controversially, by venting straight to the atmosphere. It is estimated that 2.5 million curies of radioactive gas were released by the accident.
Three Mile Island has been of interest to human factor engineers[?] as an example of how groups of people react and make decisions under stress. There is general consensus that the accident was execerbated by incorrect decisions made because the operators were overwhelmed with information, much of it irrelevant, misleading, or incorrect. As a result of the TMI, nuclear reactor operator training has been changed. Before TMI, operator training focused on diagnosing the underlying problem. After TMI, operating training has focused on reacting to the emergency by going through a standardized checklist to ensure that the core is receiving enough coolant.
The reactor cleanup started in August 1979 and officially ended in December 1993 at a cost of around $975 million. From 1985 to 1990 almost 100 tonnes of radioactive fuel were removed from the site. TMI-1 was restarted in 1985.
Note: the accident at the plant occurred a few days after the release of the movie "The China Syndrome", which featured Jane Fonda as a newsanchor at a California TV station. She is doing a series on nuclear energy and while she and her cameraman are at the plant, an accident almost happens, and she attempts to raise awareness of how unsafe the plant is. During one scene, she is talking with a nuclear safety expert, who ironically says that a meltdown could force an area "the size of Pennsylvania" to be evacuated. In another irony, the fictional near accident in the movie also occurred when plant operators misunderstood the amount of water within the core. | <urn:uuid:464ed90f-592e-45ec-a7b1-aba6971226fb> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://encyclopedia.kids.net.au/page/th/Three_Mile_Island?title=Babcock_%26_Wilcox | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783395546.12/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154955-00019-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.97904 | 1,297 | 3 | 3 |
[hist-analytic] Menger/Bohm-Bawerk "Paradox"
Baynesr at comcast.net
Baynesr at comcast.net
Sun Feb 21 12:00:22 EST 2010
Karl Menger and Bohm-Bawerk had to make use of the
term "class of wants" in order to refute the objections raised
by those who considered bread as such more valuable than
silk because the class "want of nourishment" is more important
than the class "want of luxurious clothing." (Von Mises, Human
Action, Foundation for Economic Education, p. 123)
First, it should be noted that Von Mises is a fictionalist with respect
to classes. That is, he believes they are "entirely superfluous."
However, what is interesting is the relation of this "paradox" and the
matter of marginal utility in economics. We must distinguish total utility
and marginal utility. Take gold. If we consider its marginal utility, where
'marginal utility' means something like "the change that would accrue in
satisfaction upon producing one additional unit product or service." In
this case the marginal utility of gold is greater than iron: if I get one
additional ounce of gold I'm financially better off that receiving one
additional ounce of iron.
BUT if we talk about total utility iron is more valuable that gold,
since the world would lose considerably if ALL the iron disappeared
as opposed to all the gold. What I find interesting about
marginal utility, aside from its importance to economics, is how it
resembles other notions that trade on the "margin." For example we can
think of a morpheme as the smallest unit that makes a difference to
meaning. So 'ly' may indicate t he adverbial. Thus morphology is a
study of morphemes not definitions of meaning etc. There are other examples.
Consider for example 'calorie' (in grams): "the energy required to raise the
temperature a gram of water 1 °C." Now this is very similar to the "marginal"
notions except that the "margin" is predetermined. In any event, the
Menger/Bohm-Bawerk "paradox" may conceal some interesting issues in
philosophy of science. In future posts I may dealing with issues in philosophy
of economics that interface the usual discussions in physics.
What I'm "fishing" for is middle ground between Schumpeter and the
business cycle people and the Austrians, even though Scumpeter was a
student of Bohm-Bawerk.
More information about the hist-analytic | <urn:uuid:98c483a5-c5e5-40ca-b542-a63534be6394> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.rbjones.com/pipermail/hist-analytic_rbjones.com/2010q1/000776.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783395546.12/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154955-00064-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.927195 | 570 | 2.53125 | 3 |
Botox Can Correct the Effects of Bell's Palsy
Scientists at Melbourne's Brain Research Institute have discovered that certain areas of the brain may reorganize themselves after injections with botox, including damaged areas responsible for facial movements. Researchers studied 20 subjects suffering from Bell's Palsy before, immediately after, and up to six months following botox injections and facial exercises.
Researchers found a reduction in facial drooping and an improvement in control functions with these injections. These changes were associated with a shift in brain activity in the affected motor cortex. In some, the brain reorganized itself to adapt to controlling facial function.
Botox is normally used as a cosmetic injection of botulism toxin that reduces frown lines, forehead creases, crows feet, and thick bands in the neck. The toxin blocks nerve impulses to temporarily paralyze muscles which gives the skin an artificial smooth appearance. Other studies have found that Botox is effective in relieving migraine headaches, excessive sweating, and muscle spasms in the neck and eyes.Disclaimer | <urn:uuid:d8df8ca5-39f9-40c1-bf9b-07de267812fc> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.empowereddoctor.com/botox-can-correct-the-effects-of-bells-palsy | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783397562.76/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154957-00045-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.940959 | 208 | 2.546875 | 3 |
|Heraldry of the World
Civic heraldry of Germany - Deutsche Wappen (Gemeindewappen/Kreiswappen)
Unter goldenem Schildhaupt, darin eine liegende schwarze Hirschstange, fünfmal geteilt von Grün und Gold.
Grötzingen was the seat of the Lords of Bernhausen in the 12th century and received city rights in the early 14th century. In 1337 the city became a possession of Württemberg.
The oldest seal dates from 1377 and shows the deer antlers of Württemberg. Later seals until the 18th century also show only the antlers. The city, however used since the 16th century the above arms, which show the bars of the arms of the Lords of Bernhausen, with one a single antler in the chief.
The arms were placed on the seals in the late 18th century and have not changed since. As the arms were not clearly defined, different variations of the arms have been used, with green or blue bars, and with different numbers of bars.
The arms by Hupp in the Kaffee Hag albums +/- 1925
Literature : Stadler, K. : Deutsche Wappen - Bundesrepublik Deutschland. Angelsachsen Verlag, 1964-1971, 8 volumes. | <urn:uuid:6180cc19-0640-4a9d-86d2-b1b0f396ca25> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.ngw.nl/heraldrywiki/index.php?title=Gr%C3%B6tzingen | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783402516.86/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624155002-00177-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.849468 | 298 | 2.890625 | 3 |
The effects of calving to first service interval on ...
|Title||The effects of calving to first service interval on reproductive performance in normal cows and cows with postpartal disease|
|Author(s)||Ian R. Dohoo|
|Journal||Canadian Veterinary Journal|
|Abstract||The relationships between the calving to first service interval and several measures of reproductive performance were examined in 1738 lactation records from cows in 32 southern Ontario Holstein herds. Lactation records were divided into three separate health categories based on postpartal disease histories. Relationships between the calving to first service interval and the first service conception rate, number of services per conception and open interval were similar for all three categories. The first service conception rate was lower and the average number of services per conception higher in cows first mated before 60 days when compared to cows first mated after 60 days. The relationship between the calving to first service interval and the open interval indicated that for each day that mating was delayed the open interval was extended by 0.86 days. Overall conception rates may be lower for cows first mated very early or very late, but differences in the overall conception rate were only significant for cows with a reproductive tract infection. Unless very expensive semen is being used, it is suggested that disease free cows be mated at the first heat occurring after 40 days postpartum, and that cows with postpartal disease be mated at the first heat occurring after 60 days postpartum..|
Using APA 6th Edition citation style.
Times viewed: 398 | <urn:uuid:5a0e5a98-ee33-4809-b188-9a080c02816e> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.islandscholar.ca/scholartest/fedora/repository/ir%3Air-batch6-4292 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783408840.13/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624155008-00068-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.939734 | 322 | 2.515625 | 3 |
There are different degrees or grades of nipple inversion.
- Grade 1: The inverted nipple is easily pulled out, maintains its projection fairly well without traction. Gentle finger pressure around the areola or gently pinching the skin causes the nipple to pop back out. It is believed to have minimal or no fibrosis. There is no soft-tissue deficiency of the nipple. The lactiferous duct should be normal without any retraction (photo)
- Grade 2: The inverted nipple can be pulled out, but not as easily as in Grade I. After releasing traction, the nipple tends to fall back and invert again. Grade II nipples have a moderate degree of fibrosis. The lactiferous ducts are mildly retracted but do not need to be cut for the release of fibrosis. On histologic examination, these nipples have rich collagenous stromata with numerous bundles of smooth muscle. Most inverted nipple will fall into this category. (photo)
- Grade 3: The nipple is severely inverted and retracted. It is very difficult to pull out these nipples manually. Despite application of pressure on the nipple to force it to protrude, it promptly retracts. A traction suture is needed to hold these nipples protruded. The fibrosis is remarkable and lactiferous ducts are short and severely retracted. The bulk of soft tissue is markedly insufficient in the nipple. Histologically, there are atrophic terminal duct lobular units and severe fibrosis.
Grade I--a non-incisional, purse-string suture technique
- The nipple is popped out manually. A small vertical incision (2 to 3 mm) is made at the 6 o'clock position at the base of the nipple. By using 5-0 nylon with a straightened needle, a purse-string suture is placed around the neck of the nipple. The knot is buried under the skin. One stitch is enough to close the skin
- The nipple is pulled out manually, and a 4-0 nylon traction suture is used for easy handling. An incision is made at the 6 o'clock position and deepened to the breast parenchyma. The fibrous tissues are released in the vertical direction by using scissors, and all lactiferous ducts are identified and preserved. Fibrosis is released to a degree that the nipple can maintain its projection without any traction (this is very important). An intradermal purse-string suture is done by using 5-0 nylon. Care should be taken not to apply too much force, which could compromise the blood supply of the nipple.
Grade III--requires a technique that releases the fibrosis, often the ducts will need to be cut, dermal flaps will be needed along with the purse-string suture
- The nipple is pulled out forcibly by using a traction suture. The neck of the nipple is marked. Two or three deepithelialized flaps are elevated at the 10, 2, and 6 o'clock positions. The deepithelialized dermal flap is bigger than the skin excision. The tissue beneath the nipple is dissected, and the fibrosis is released. The retracting lactiferous ducts are cut mainly from the central portion of the nipple. All the fibrosis and retracting ducts are released until the nipple can maintain its eversion by itself without any traction. The dermal flaps are turned down through the tunnel and sutured together to give bulkiness to the nipple. A 5-0 buried purse-string suture is placed at the base of the nipple. The newly everted nipple is maintained by a sombrero splint in place with sutures for 1 week to keep the nipple projection. (diagram is from 4th article--modified Namba technique)
Recently (see 3rd reference article) a technique using nipple piercing has been described. It is worth considering in Grade I and II inverted nipples. The authors suggest trying it in Grade III also, and maybe it is worthwhile when you consider that bone length can be achieved with distraction therapy. If the patient would gently tug on the nipple ring each day, the duct/skin can often be stretched.
Correction using Nipple Piercing
- With the patient in a sitting position, an entrance and exit point is marked on the nipple base in either horizontal or vertical plane, depending on the patients’ preference. Then with the patient in the supine position, the nipple is prepared with Betadine. Local, may or may not be used. A usual piercing technique was used. A 14-gauge needle was passed horizontally through the base of the nipple. A 5/8 -inch stainless steel nipple ring is advanced following the needle and through the tract. The procedure is completed within seconds. No local anesthetic is used. The nipple ring is cleaned daily. At 4-6-month follow-up the nipple ring is removed. (photo credit)
Risks of Surgical Correction:
The Inverted Nipple: Its Grading and Surgical Correction; Plastic & Reconstructive Surgery. 104(2):389-395, August 1999; Han, Sanghoon M.D.; Hong, Yoon Gi M.D.
A Contemporary Correction of Inverted Nipples; Plastic & Reconstructive Surgery. 107(2):511-513, February 2001; Scholten, Erik Ph.D.
Surgical Correction of Inverted Nipples Using the Modified Namba or Teimourian Technique; Plastic & Reconstructive Surgery. 113(1):328-336, January 2004; Lee, Kyung Young M.D.; Cho, Byung Chae M.D.
Pictures of Correction Surgery (some may consider them graphic) | <urn:uuid:de1f8972-aebc-48d0-a37e-c0f8d7d5a16b> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://rlbatesmd.blogspot.com/2007/11/inverted-nipples.html?showComment=1230411960000 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783399117.38/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154959-00053-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.934716 | 1,176 | 2.671875 | 3 |
How Search Engines Work - The Beginners Guide to SEO. Search engines have two major functions: crawling and building an index, and providing search users with a ranked list of the websites they've determined are the most relevant.
Imagine the World Wide Web as a network of stops in a big city subway system. Each stop is a unique document (usually a web page, but sometimes a PDF, JPG, or other file). The search engines need a way to “crawl” the entire city and find all the stops along the way, so they use the best path available—links. Crawling and IndexingCrawling and indexing the billions of documents, pages, files, news, videos, and media on the World Wide Web. Term Extractor SEO Tool. Get started with our free SEO tools.
Explore your link profile, dive into your social media analytics, and more. Open Site Explorer Identify content and link building opportunities. Research and compare competitor backlinks, identify top pages, view social activity data, and analyze anchor text. Free SEO Software Tool & Text Browser, Search Engine Optimization Tools - SEO Browser. | <urn:uuid:2df53373-661d-4726-9c2e-c115eb7918d1> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.pearltrees.com/mikev/seo/id3608615 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783396029.85/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154956-00024-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.807434 | 232 | 3.21875 | 3 |
|Location||Australia, Western Australia|
|Central coordinates||119o 31.31' East 33o 14.17' South|
|IBA criteria||A1, A3|
|Altitude||310 - 400m|
|Year of IBA assessment||2009|
Summary This large IBA supports populations of the endangered Carnaby's Black-Cockatoo, the vulnerable Malleefowl and six species restricted to the mallee and south-western biome.
Site description The IBA is defined by the remnant vegetation associated with Dunn Rock, Lake King and Pallarup Nature Reserves and adjacent unallocated Crown Land. It is situated in the southern Western Australia wheatbelt, about 250 km north-east of Albany. The IBA was identified from expert opinion that it supports a significant viable population of Malleefowl, as determined by records in relevant databases (notably the Malleefowl Preservation Group database of 1200 sightings over 15 years, WA Dept of Environment and Conservation, WA Museum and Birds Australia Atlas), and other literature and knowledge, that population viability is greatest within large areas of contiguous mallee or Acacia shrubland. The IBA excludes the Lake King complex of lakes and wetland habitat which is unsuitable for mallee birds. It represents core habitat for the Malleefowl as it contains a large amount of dense mallee favoured by the species. The area represents one of the largest remaining mallee remnants within the wheatbelt and contains vegetation assemblages that have largely been cleared elsewhere, and typically receives around 400 mm of rain per year. The site consists primarily of mallee, mallee-heath and salt pans, with small amounts of woodland.
Key Biodiversity Other birds have not been documented for this IBA.
|Species||Season||Period||Population estimate||Quality of estimate||IBA Criteria||IUCN Category|
|Malleefowl Leipoa ocellata||resident||-||frequent||-||A1||Vulnerable|
|Western Rosella Platycercus icterotis||resident||1998-2008||uncommon||-||A3||Least Concern|
|Red-capped Parrot Purpureicephalus spurius||resident||1998-2008||uncommon||-||A3||Least Concern|
|Regent Parrot Polytelis anthopeplus||resident||1998-2008||uncommon||-||A3||Least Concern|
|Blue-breasted Fairywren Malurus pulcherrimus||resident||1998-2008||common||-||A3||Least Concern|
|Purple-gaped Honeyeater Lichenostomus cratitius||resident||1998-2008||frequent||-||A3||Least Concern|
|Western Yellow Robin Eopsaltria griseogularis||resident||1998-2008||uncommon||-||A3||Least Concern|
|Short-billed Black-cockatoo Zanda latirostris||breeding||1998-2008||frequent||-||A1, A3||Endangered|
|2008||high||not assessed||not assessed|
|Good - based on reliable and complete / representative data|
|Invasive & other problematic species, genes & diseases||invasive non-native/alien species/diseases - named species||happening now||majority/most of area/population (50-90%)||no or imperceptible deterioration||low|
|Natural system modifications||fire & fire suppression - increase in fire frequency/intensity||happening now||majority/most of area/population (50-90%)||slow but significant deterioration||high|
|Protected area||Designation||Area (ha)||Relationship with IBA||Overlap with IBA (ha)|
|Dunn Rock||Nature Reserve||27,349||protected area contained by site||27,349|
|Lake King||Nature Reserve||40,096||protected area overlaps with site||18,674|
|Pallarup||Nature Reserve||4,185||protected area contained by site||4,189|
|Un-named (No. 20349)||Nature Reserve||1,770||protected area contained by site||1,770|
|IUCN habitat||Habitat detail||Extent (% of site)|
|Savanna||Eucalypt open woodlands||5%|
|Shrubland||Heath; Mallee shrublands & woodlands||80%|
|Wetlands (inland)||Saline lakes||15%|
Land ownership Western Australian State Government with the nature reserves and the unallocated Crown Land managed by WA Dept of Environment and Conservation, although the unallocated Crown Land is not formally listed.
|Land-use||Extent (% of site)|
|nature conservation and research||70%|
|Notes: Nature Reserve.|
|Notes: Unallocated Crown Land.|
Protection status Four - see separate section for details.
Access/Land-Owner requests Permits are required for access to Dunn Rock, Lake King and Pallarup Nature Reserves.
Acknowledgements Thanks to Blair Parsons for writing the nomination and to Carl Gosper for his assistance.
References Barrett, G.W., Silcocks,A., Barry, S., Cunningham, R. and Poulter, R. (2003) The New Atlas of Australian Birds. Melbourne: Birds Australia.
Benshemesh, J. (2000) National Recovery Plan for Malleefowl. Adelaide: Department of Environment and Heritage.
Bureau of Meteorology (2007) Climate Data Online (on-line). http://www.bom.gov.au/climate/averages Accessed December 2007.
Department of Environment and Heritage (2003) National Vegetation Information System (NVIS). Pre-European and Present Native Vegetation. (Published Data-Stage 1, Version 2) National Land & Water Resources Audit (on-line) Accessed 2006.
Parsons, B.C., Short, J.C. and Roberts, J.D. (2008) Contraction in the range of Malleefowl (Leipoa ocellata) in Western Australia: a comparative assessment using presence-only and presence-absence datasets. Emu 108: 221-231.
Parsons, B.C., Short, J.C. and Roberts, J.D. (in press) Using community observations to predict the occurrence of Malleefowl (Leipoa ocellata) in the Western Australian wheatbelt. Biological Conservation.
Contribute Please click here to help BirdLife conserve the world's birds - your data for this IBA and others are vital for helping protect the environment.
Recommended citation BirdLife International (2016) Important Bird and Biodiversity Area factsheet: Dunn Rock and Lake King. Downloaded from http://www.birdlife.org on 27/06/2016
To provide new information to update this factsheet or to correct any errors, please email BirdLife | <urn:uuid:975db69e-c635-4986-969b-1adb20272ec1> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.birdlife.org/datazone/sitefactsheet.php?id=24842 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783396027.60/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154956-00042-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.768162 | 1,501 | 2.984375 | 3 |
It’s no secret that India has an incredible design legacy. But in Mighty Maharajas | Forts & Palaces of India, we are introduced to many of the forts and royal palaces that illustrate not only the architectural history but social and political aspects as well.
India’s history is a long and complicated one, and generations of these fortifications, built to guard against enemies, are scattered throughout the subcontinent. Many, like India’s largest fort, Chittorgarh, were built into the hillside. Not only beautiful, the fort included clever engineering feats that enabled it to last for centuries. With 84 bodies of water (22 of which still exist), the fort featured a sophisticated water system interconnecting the reservoirs so that there was always an ample supply.
The City Palace, once the royal residence is now a plush hotel in Rajastthan. Famous for its terraces and pavilions, this entry featured the vivid colors and decoration typical of the fort.
It is amazing to realize that work on the old palace Juna Mahal in Dungarpur started in 1282. With many intricately painted walls in a variety of styles, it is a museum-like residence that author Amita Baig likens to mansions in Italy such as the Palazzo Pitti in Florence.
In the mid 18th century, following the decline of the Mughal Empire, the Nizams emerged as powerful and wealthy. While they built many palaces, the most splendid was certainly the Chaumahalla, combining Indian and European neo-Classical architecture. In the center of the palace is Khilwat Mahal, an enormous durbar (the king’s public court) including 19 chandeliers made of Belgian crystal.
The fusion of European and Indian art and architecture of the early 20th century is epitomized in the Mysore Palace. Designed by British architect Henry Irwin, it is an extravagant ode to exoticism. The Amba Vilas below (the hall for private audiences) features an inlaid teakwood ceiling.
In Delhi, The Red Fort is the precursor to the Taj Mahal. Also built by Shah Jahan, “The fort has always represented the heart of India’s power, passing from Mughal to British to finally independent India’s hands.” The royal apartments show the magnificent details.
I loved the story of Ahilya Bai, the female leader of Maheshwar in the 18th century. She not only led battle on an elephant with four bows and quivers, she was a great patron of the arts and a tremendous builder. While building temples all over India, she also renovated the Maheshwar Fort.
In 1867, to celebrate the Prince of Wales’ visit to India, work commenced on building the Victory Palace. Combining French, Italian and Victorian styles, it was one of the most ambitious and lavish projects of its day. The grand double staircase has a crystal balustrade.
Author Amita Baig has worked tirelessly to protect India’s historic sites and architectural legacy. Mighty Maharajas celebrates these works, calling for increased responsibility in preserving an important part of the country’s heritage. | <urn:uuid:0c045c8b-afcd-4e77-b2a1-9a9775db10e8> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://quintessenceblog.com/mighty-maharajas-forts-and-palaces-of-india/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783391634.7/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154951-00131-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.952602 | 675 | 3.140625 | 3 |
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